A Tour of the Missions - Observations and Conclusions

Augustus Hopkins Strong

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• Publié par: hojom
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 28
• Langue: English

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The Project Gutenberg eBook, A Tour of the Missions, by Augustus Hopkins Strong This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org Title: A Tour of the Missions Observations and Conclusions Author: Augustus Hopkins Strong Release Date: December 8, 2008 [eBook #27452] Language: English Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 ***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A TOUR OF THE MISSIONS*** E-text prepared by a Project Gutenberg volunteer from digital material generously made available by Internet Archive (http://www.archive.org) Note: Images of the original pages are available through Internet Archive. See http://www.archive.org/details/MN41413ucmf_5 A TOUR OF THE MISSIONS Observations and Conclusions A TOUR OF THE MISSIONS Observations and Conclusions BY AUGUSTUS HOPKINS STRONG, D.D., LL.D., Litt.D. PRESIDENT EMERITUS OF THE ROCHESTER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AUTHOR OF "SYSTEMATIC THEOLOGY," "PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION," "CHRIST IN CREATION," "MISCELLANIES," "CHAPEL-TALKS," "LECTURES ON THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT," "THE GREAT POETS AND THEIR THEOLOGY," "AMERICAN POETS AND THEIR THEOLOGY" PHILADELPHIA THE GRIFFITH AND ROWLAND PRESS BOSTON CHICAGO ST. LOUIS NEW YORK WINNIPEG LOS ANGELES TORONTO MCMXVIII Copyright, 1918, by GUY C. LAMSON, Secretary Published March, 1918 A PERSONAL FOREWORD The forty years of my presidency and teaching in the Rochester Theological Seminary have been rewarded by the knowledge that more than a hundred of my pupils have become missionaries in heathen lands. For many years these former students have been urging me to visit them. Until recently seminary sessions and literary work have prevented acceptance of their invitations. When I laid down my official duties, two alternatives presented themselves: I could sit down and read through the new Encyclopædia Britannica, or I could go round the world. A friend suggested that I might combine these schemes. The publishers provide a felt-lined trunk to hold the encyclopædia: I could read it, and circumnavigate the globe at the same time. This proposition, however, had an air of cumbrousness. I concluded to take my wife as my encyclopædia instead of the books, and this seemed the more rational since she had, seven or eight years before, made the same tour of the missions which I had in mind. To her therefore a large part of the information in the following pages is due, for in all my journey she was my guide, philosopher, and friend. Our tour would not have covered so much ground nor have been so crowded with incidents of interest, if it had not been for the foresight and assistance of the Reverend Louis Agassiz Gould. He was a student in our seminary forty years ago, and after his graduation he became a missionary to China. Though his work abroad lasted only a decade, his interest in missions has never ceased, and he is an authority with regard to their history and their methods. I was fortunate in securing him as my courier, secretary, and typewriter, and his companionship enlivened our table intercourse and our social life. But he was bound that we should see all that there was to be seen. Without my knowledge he wrote ahead to all the missions which we were to visit, and the result was almost as if a delegation with brass band met us at every station. We were sight-seeing all day, and traveling in sleeping-cars all night. Though I had notified the public that I could preach no more sermons and make no more addresses, I was summoned before nearly every church, school, and college that we visited, and fifty or sixty extemporized talks were extorted from me, most of them interpreted to the audience by a pastor or teacher. My letters to home friends were often written on the platforms of railway stations while we were waiting for our trains, and after six months of these exhausting labors I still survived. These preliminary remarks are intended to prepare the reader for a final statement, namely, that the papers which follow were written with no thought of publication. They were simply a record of travel, set down each week, for the information of relatives and friends. I have been urged to give them a wider circulation by putting them into print. In doing this I have added some reflections which, for substance, were also written at intervals on my journey, and these, with sundry emendations and omissions, I have called my "Conclusions." I submit both "Observations" and "Conclusions" to the judgment of my readers, in hope that my "Tour of the Missions" may lead other and more competent observers to appreciate the wonderful attractions and the immeasurable needs of Oriental lands. [v] [vi] [vii] I cannot close this personal foreword without expressing to my former students and the many friends who so hospitably entertained us on our journey, my undying sense of their great kindness, and my hope that between the lines of my descriptions of what I saw they will discover my earnest desire to serve the cause of Christ and his truth, even though my impressions may at times result from my own short-sightedness and ignorance. Only what I have can I give. AUGUSTUS H. STRONG . R OCHESTER, August 3, 1917. CONTENTS [ix] I. A WEEK IN J APAN An ocean truly pacific brings us to a rainy Japan The novel and the picturesque mingle in our first views of Yokohama Visit to the palace of a Japanese millionaire A museum of Japanese art and a unique entertainment Our host, an orthodox Shinto and Buddhist Conference of missionaries and their native helpers The pastor of the Tokyo church invites us to his home Reception at the Women's College of Japan, and an address there A distinguished company of educators at dinner We give a dinner to Rochester men and their wives A good specimen of missionary hilarity and fellowship The temple of Kamakura and its great bronze Buddha 1-11 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 6 7 7 7 The temple of Hachiman, the god of war Supplemented by the temple of Kwannon, the goddess of mercy Japan enriched by manufacture of munitions A native Christian church and pastor at Kanagawa Immorality, the curse of Japan, shows its need of Christianity Wonders of its Inland Sea, and great gifts of its people 8 8 8 9 10 10 II. A WEEK-END IN CHINA Hongkong, wonderful for situation and for trade Swatow, and our arrival there Chinese customs, and English collection of them The mission compound of Swatow, one of our noblest Dr. William Ashmore, and his organizing work William Ashmore, his son, and his Bible translations A great Sunday service in a native New Testament church The far-reaching influence of this mission, manned by many Rochester graduates Our expedition to Chao-yang, to see the heart of China Triumphal entry into that city of three hundred thousand inhabitants Impressed by the vastness of its heathen population Mr. Groesbeck, the only minister to its needs An address to the students of his school A great procession conducts us to our steamer at Swatow Shall we be saved if we do not give the gospel 13-22 15 15 16 16 17 17 [x] 18 18 18 19 20 21 21 21 to the heathen? 22 III. MANILA, SINGAPORE, AND PENANG A Yellow Sea, and white garments American enterprise has transformed Manila Filipinos not yet ready for complete selfgovernment Visit to Admiral Dewey's landing-place, and also to Fort McKinley The interdenominational theological seminary and its influence Printed and spoken English is superseding native dialects Singapore, one of the world's greatest ports of entry British propose to hold it, in spite of native unrest Heterogeneous population makes English the only language for its schools Germans stir up a conspiracy, but it is nipped in the bud British steamer to Penang, an old but safe method of conveyance Kuala Lumpur, the capital of the Malay Confederated States Penang furnishes us with a great Chinese funeral Its immense preparation and cost show worship of ancestors Mourners in white, with bands of hired wailers Glorification of man, but no confession of sin or recognition of Christ 23-32 25 25 26 26 26 27 27 27 28 28 28 29 29 29 31 32 IV. THREE WEEKS IN BURMA Burma, the land of pagodas The Shwe Dagon of Rangoon is the greatest of these 33-46 35 35 [xi] Its immense extent and splendor The religion of Burma is Buddhism, a religion of "merit," so called Pagoda-building in Burma, coeval with cathedral-building in Europe The desolation in which many pagodas stand shows God's judgment on Buddhism Burma is consecrated by the work of Adoniram Judson, and his sufferings Our visit to Aungbinle, and prayer on the site of Judson's prison Met and entertained by missionaries, our former pupils Fruitful Burma and its Buddhism attracts famine-stricken India with its Hinduism Baptist missions in Burma antedate and excel both Romanist and Anglican Far outstripping these in the number and influence of converts The work of our collegiate and other schools is most encouraging The Baptist College at Rangoon and the theological seminaries at Insein The lieutenant governor invites us to meet Lord Chelmsford, viceroy of India, at afternoon-tea A royal reception, with great conglomerate of races A demonstration of loyalty to the British Crown The dinner of our Rochester men at the house of Rev. Mr. Singiser, including representatives of the Mission Press and the Baptist College Our final reception at Dr. D. W. A. Smith's, on Mrs. Smith's birthday 35 36 36 36 37 37 37 38 40 40 41 42 44 44 45 45 46 V. MANDALAY AND GAUHATI Mandalay, in Burma, the type of Buddhism; Gauhati, in Assam, the type of Hinduism 47-56 49 Visits to Maulmain and Bassein, in Burma, preceded both these King Thebaw's palace, at Mandalay, a fortress built wholly of wood The Hill of Mandalay and its pagoda, four pagodas in one We ascend eight hundred steps by taking extemporized sedan-