Four Centuries of Christianity in America. every man a vote, and proclaims full religious liberty. But especially in the struggle to free the Church from State control may the example of America be seen in Europe. The old Lutherans in Germany rejected the liturgy imposed upon their churches in 1822 by the king, and many emigrated to America, where they formed the powerful Missouri Synod. In Holland, Switzerland, Italy, and France free Churches have arisen from 1834 on. The British colonies, Canada, Australia, and others, follow the American system of free Churches in a Christian State. The Free Church in Scotland left the Established Church to escape government interference in 1843: In 1869 the Church of Ireland was disestablished by Gladstone after appeals of millions of Irish Catholics, who pointed to the free system of America. The English government has already taken steps toward the disestablishment of the Church in Wales; and it is only a question of a few years when the Church of Scotland shall be separated from State control. Even in conservative England the increasing numbers of dissenters, the Methodists, Congregationalists, Baptists, and others without the Church, and not a few within the Church, especially the ritualistic party, who in their Romish tendencies chafe at secular interference, point to America as the happy land where every man is religiously free, and wish more and more for similar freedom in England. There is no doubt at all but the whole movement of modern life in both Church and State is toward what De Tocqueville called "the general equality of conditions," an equality which puts all men religiously on the same level before God, and all citizens legally on the same level before the law. The drift is as certain as the movement of time away from kings and lords and oligarchies, and the rule of the classes, and toward government of the people, by the people, and for the people. It is equally certain that a like current of triumphant democracy is carrying the Church in every land away from popes and bishops and hierarchies of every sort, and bearing it toward the organized priesthood of all believers, the equality of all Christians, and the rights of the Church to selfgovernment. These free ideas are in the air everywhere; they fill the sky of Christendom, as the star dust fills great spaces in the astronomer's heaven; but in America these new thoughts of full religious liberty have first taken shape upon a grand scale; here this star dust has come out of chaos into cosmos, and spun itself into a world of light, resplendent in the heavens, a guide and an inspiration to all true lovers of country and all true lovers of God. Two things which mark American Church life in a preeminent degree are congregationalism and spirituality; the claim of the local church to manage its own affairs, and a sharp separation between the Church and the world. It does not matter much in 541 America whether a congregation is called Methodist or Presbyterian, Baptist or Episcopalian; in every case it is full of the spirit of self-government; and the man who in civil life rejects taxation or legisla tion without representation demands the same rights in the Church, even though general assemblies and houses of bishops may form part of the system. In like manner the church member and the citizen are sharply distinguished. It is not taken for granted that a man is a Christian because he goes to church occasionally. Everywhere in our country the spiritual character of the Church is recognized; its demands for holiness are respected; and its exercise of discipline indorsed by public opinion. PROTESTANTISM AND ROMAN CATHOLICISM. In this connection we may notice a further important contribution which America has made to Christianity; I refer to the far-reaching influence which Protestant North America has exerted upon the Roman Catholic Church. This influence is felt of course most powerfully by Catholics living in our country; but it is also recognized through every part of the Roman Church. The social, political, and ecclesiastical system of America rests upon the free, republican, Calvinistic principles of the Pilgrims and Puritans, who made the town meeting and the church meeting the sources of law, order, and discipline. Now the Roman Catholic system arose in the Roman Empire; it is a priestly imitation of Cæsarism; it is an ecclesiastical absolutism. Hence the conscientious Roman Catholic in America finds himself an imperialist of the most unquestioning sort in his religion, while he is an out-and-out republican, believ ing in the sovereignty of the people, in politics. Here then is a glaring inconsistency; the town meeting is all right, but the church meeting is all wrong; the voice of the people is the voice of God in national affairs, but in matters of religion the cry of a million is as nothing in opposition to the utterance of a priest. The consistent man, therefore, will very likely choose the one and reject the other; if he decides to be a faithful citizen he will break with his church; if he hold to his church he will more or less forsake the free institutions of his country. The outcome of this state of things in America can be seen in two results: first in the great loss of followers which the Romish Church has sustained, and second in the much more liberal spirit which prevails among American Catholics than is found in such lands as Italy, Spain, Austria, or Ireland. A Roman Catholic scholar thinks there are now about twelve million Catholics in America,* of whom eight millions are Irish and of Irish descent; but he says there ought to be fifteen million Irish Catholics alone; hence seven millions have been lost to the Churchnearly half its followers. And German Catholics *The last census gave only 6,250,045 Roman Catholic communicants in America. 542 Four Centuries of Christianity in America. show equal loss. In 1870, of a population of thirtyeight millions, twelve per cent were Catholics; in 1880, of a population of fifty millions, only twelve and one half per cent were Catholics, showing that the growth of Catholics has barely equaled that of the nation. Doubtless many Catholics in America have drifted into infidelity; but many have also become Protestants, and are active in Christian work. On the other hand those who cling to the Church do so in a more independent spirit than is found elsewhere. The free air of America, the rights of citizens, the public meetings, the public schools, the free press, the abundance of reading, the facility of travel, the equality of all men before the law, the rights of private judgment every where claimed in public opinion-all these influences carry congregationalism and ideas of spiritual liberty even into the dark recesses of Polish and Italian Catholic churches among us. We have but to listen to sermons in Romish churches in America, see their Sunday schools, notice their young people's societies, observe their parish papers, see how futile are priestly threats, or follow the discussions going on in Church publications, in which the American party in the Church is led by Archbishop Ireland, supported by our American cardinal, blessed by the papal legate and favored by the pope himself; we need only glance at these things to see the great forward step taken by American Catholicism. And wherever these advanced American ideas spread there a similar disintegration of Roman Catholicism begins; for constitutional theories and practices in the State can never flourish side by side with arbitrary, absolutist claims and usages in the Church. We see South America full of republics, all imitating our great republic, but all trying to continue Catholic. The result is, on the one hand, that the free State is constantly in collision with the autocratic Church; and, on the other, the priestly Church every little while favors a revolution, to upset some troublesome government. There can never be a stable republic in a Roman Catholic land, for the true republicans must forsake their Church, and infidels and men of no Church never develop patriotic convictions strong enough to hold a government together. The men of piety and of deep convictions will stay in the Church, and the Church as an absolute monarchy can never favor republican ideas. Hence the failure of the republic so often in France, Spain, Mexico. But these free ideas are in the air, and they are spreading fast. Mexico and South America are developing the republican system, and in doing so they are limiting and modifying Catholicism by the new ideas. Switzerland and France are republics; Belgium is apparently on the eve of becoming also a republic; and in all these lands the recognition of the rights of the people in the State is being followed with increasing recognition of their rights also in the Church. The papacy itself has lost its temporal power, and leans more than ever upon religious influences. Leo XIII has heartily recognized the French Republic, and seems inclined to favor popular institutions. When we add the remark that the public school system, which has been such a power in promoting liberal ideas in America, is taking strong hold of leading Catholic countries, all our hopes grow brighter. In France six hundred and eighty-one of every one thousand children of school age were in school in 1878. In Spain nearly one half of the children between six and twelve years of age (453 in 1,000) were in school at the same time. In Italy, since the overthrow of the civil rule of the pope, where there were one million children in school in 1861 there were over two millions in 1878, not to speak of nearly half a million men and women learning to read in night schools and Sunday schools. MORAL AND SOCIAL REFORMS. I will refer to a few moral and social reforms in which America has contributed to the advance of Christian civilization. And first of all we may notice the recognition and the honor given to woman. The Congress of the United States appointed a board of women to cooperate with the board of men in organizing and carrying out the World's Columbian Exposition. That is the first official national and international recognition of woman upon so splendid a scale, and naturally enough America first took such a step, for American legislation and American usage lead the world in favor of woman. In all matters of property and business, of personal earnings, of relation to children, our laws now give woman essentially all the rights enjoyed by men. She is free to do anything which she is qualified to undertake. Hence female physicians are numerous, lady lawyers are not uncommon, not a few are public lecturers, and some are preachers of the Gospel. In certain occupations they enjoy almost a monopoly; stenographers and typewriters are nearly all ladies, they form a large proportion of clerks, while of the teachers in our public schools 104,000 are male and 191,000 female. Besides colleges especially for women, many prominent institutions are open to both sexes, putting woman on an educational equality unknown in other lands. The thought and heart of woman are by such advantages stirred to an extent greater than in Europe; hence, as Bryce remarks, "the number of women who write is infinitely larger in America than in Europe." This intellectual activity also brings our women to the front in all works of charity and philanthropy. Most of our orphan asylums, "homes" for the poor, and charitable institutions are conducted by women. Bryce says, "In no other country have women borne so conspicuous a part in the promotion of moral and philanthropic causes." Think alone of what the Woman's Christian Temperance Union has done for the training of the young, for raising the fallen, and for the advancement of woman. The Conversion of a Leading Japanese. Another great reform, in which America leads the way, may naturally be noticed here, that is, temperance, the reform of drunkenness. Our churches take higher ground on this question than the churches of any other land. The great majority of our ministers are total abstainers, and most church members follow their example. In very many churches unfermented wine is used at the Lord's Supper. In the social life of American Christians the appearance of wine is exceptional compared with the custom in similar circles in Europe. Temperance societies are strong and active in every part of our country. Not a few cities have the sale of liquor excluded from residence districts. Some towns, college towns and others, allow no saloons in their midst. America also has first introduced absolute constitutional prohi bition of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors within a State. Maine, Iowa, Kansas, Dakota have adopted this system in the North, while in the South some States, as Georgia, have introduced prohibition by districts. The Woman's Christian Temperance Union has done very valuable work, not the least in having systematic instruction respecting the evil of alcoholic beverages introduced into the public schools of most of our States. It is true that the use of liquor and the power of the saloon in America are frightful to contemplate, but it is also true that beer drinking and whisky drinking have their strongholds among the German, Irish, Jewish, and other foreign elements of our population. Fully seven eighths of city saloons are in their hands. It is further true that the American churches, the American religious papers, the American temperance literature, the best American homes, and American legislation recognize the evil in a way not seen elsewhere, and are grappling with the drink problem with an earnestness and thoroughness which turn the eyes of all social reformers upon us. I can refer to but one other direction in which American Christian life is leading the way toward higher things; it is in our efforts to mitigate the inhumanity of war, and if possible to have the arbitration of peace take the place of the decision of the sword. We are the only great nation that keeps no standing army. The twenty thousand soldiers in the service of the republic are only a national police, and when our Indians become citizens even this small force may be diminished. The founders and framers of the republic were farmers and business men and not soldiers, hence our whole history and traditions run in favor of peaceful pursuits. Our wars have been almost entirely in defense of our liberties, our rights, or our very existence as a nation. And in such wars we have sought to introduce the tenderest respect for human rights even upon the fields of death. The code of instructions published by our government during the war of the rebellion shows the most advanced ethics ever prescribed to belligerents. America believes in the principles of peace and 543 fraternity as no other land does; and America by her providential situation has no enemies to fear, and needs to keep no great armies within her borders; hence America is in a position, as no other nation, to help France, Italy, Germany, Austria, lands now groaning beneath vast military burdens, toward the place of disarmament and peace. In all those lands the Socialists, the Republicans, the Liberals oppose the vast expense and the danger to peace involved in keeping such mighty armies. And in all these nations the happy condition of America is pointed to as the true solution of the problem. The burden of six millions of soldiers, active and reserved, kept by the five chief nations of Europe at an expense of $500,000,000 a year, is one of the saddest stumbling-blocks in the way of Christian civilization, and shows how far Christendom yet is from following the teachings of the Prince of Peace. The only reason for such armaments is fear, and fear springs from hate, and hate is the child of injustice; hence Europe shakes beneath the tread of armed men because might is considered right, and, as Napoleon said, God is believed to be on the side of the strongest battalions. If nations would submit to the decision of justice, if European parliaments would follow in the wider field what America does in the narrower field, and submit to the claims of some great international Constitution, the day might not be far off when the sword should be beaten into the plowshare and the spear into the pruning hook, and man learn the art of war no more.- Our Day. The Conversion of a Leading Japanese. BY PROFESSOR S. K. SASAKI. MR. SANTO is a well-known Japanese gentleman. His conversion was in some respects unusual and shows God's wonderful way in leading men to himself. He was born in a province named Kii, in Japan. His father was a farmer, and the family was not fortunately situated. The child as he grew older became dissatisfied with a peasant's life, and was not content to remain at home and work with his father. At that time the social condition of Japan was very different from what it is at present. The feudal system prevailed throughout the empire; even geniuses and profound scholars could not gain a high position, while ignorant persons proudly occupied good situations, if born in a family of high rank. The only way open to learned and ambitious men was the priesthood. In order to better his fortunes Mr. Santo, when quite young, entered a famous temple and diligently studied the Chinese language and Buddhism; but paganism did not attract the mind of the intelligent lad. He determined to examine carefully the images regarded as sacred. In the temple where he was 544 The Conversion of a Leading Japanese. there were images esteemed so holy that if anyone save the high priests were to touch them it was said that punishment from heaven would follow. They were guarded, and it was difficult to approach them; but the bold lad secretly eutered the shrine, and beat, scratched, and soiled the images. Not being attacked by any aches or pains, he wisely concluded that gods of that sort were of no value. At the present day even an ignorant boy might easily arrive at the same conclusion; but at that time the only elements of Western civilization introduced into Japan were the art of plain surgery and the use of simple firearms. When the youthful iconoclast discovered that idolatry was shameful and unwarranted, he also came to believe that there was no nobler being than man, and that all religions were superstitions; and for forty years he did not believe in the existence of the one true God. He was a rationalist. Turning his attention to literature he studied poetry, hoping to become a famous poet. At that period many people had begun to weary of feudalism; they received an impulse from Western nations, and the cloud of revolution became denser than in previous ages. Mr. Santo devoted all his powers to the affairs of the revolution, casting aside his pen and taking up the sword. One of his friends opened the first revolutionary battle in Yamato, but before the battle he himself was sent to the Northern provinces to gather ammunition and reinforcements, and during his absence his friend was killed on the field. On receiving the melancholy intelligence his purpose became firmer than before to work for his country; and while patiently doing his duty he was arrested, imprisoned, and was about to be beheaded. On the night of a snowstorm, however, taking advantage of the negligence of the guard, he escaped from the prison; but to run rapidly was very difficult, for the snow lay in heaps upon the ground and blockaded the hills. After much suffering he reached Kioto (then the capital), and there he, with many famous patriots, planned to achieve the purposes of the revolution, encountering hazardous trials, great as those they had met in the Northern provinces. At this period Russia secretly began to encroach on the Northern islands, taking advantage of the civil tumults in Japan. The keen eye of Mr. Santo quickly noticed Russia's policy; and with a few comrades, he went to the Northern islands, inhabited by very few Japanese, and defeated the plans of Russia. The war of the revolution ceased, a new order of government was established, and Mr. Santo gained a high position. While he was in the North he had become acquainted with Father Nicolai, a Russian missionary of the Greek Church, and studied the Russian language with him. One day the missionary talked about the heavenly Father, but his pupil gave no attention. After his conversion, however, he told his acquaintances that the light of God first reached him through Father Nicolai, and that he could not forget the gentle face of the missionary, although many years had passed since he met him. At length, Mr. Santo, partly satisfied with the new government established by the patriots of therevolution, retired to private life, hoping to promotethe welfare of the common people. Doing mercantile business by wise methods, he achieved much success.. At this period of his life, though yet an infidel, he willingly associated with missionaries and Christian scholars, and respected them. Seeing that a great many accomplished ladies and gentlemen left their pleasant homes, and came to a strange country, sacriticing their own interests and devoting themselves to the work of doing good to others, he recognized the fact that the Christianity which they professed was not a common religion. When he learned from historical facts the cause and effect of Western civilization, he discovered that Christianity was a most powerful element in civilization; but when he read and listened to lectures on Christianity, he became perplexed about the doctrine of the Trinity and other things; and the more he read the Bible and listened to discourses founded on it, the more he doubted. After much thinking he came to the sorrowful conclusion that Christianity was not founded on rational theory or principle. Having an obscure idea of religion, he passed many years in a condition of unhappiness. One winter morning he burnt his face severely, and through the advice of physicians entered a hos pital. Here were some young women acting as nurses, and they were so kind and careful in their treatment of him that even the kindness of his own family could not compare with it. Knowing that such kind and faithful service can only be rendered from a sense of duty, he asked them whether they were Christians. They answered, "Yes, we are members of the Northern Tokio Church, and are devoting ourselves to the good of others, and desire their salvation." As soon as he heard the words of the nurses, a ray from the light of salvation pierced the dense clouds that darkened his heart, and the voice of God reached his ear. Almost dazed he reflected that philosophy and science may improve man's knowl edge and civilize the outward condition of the world, but all these have no worth in saving the soul of man or in purifying the world from evil, and that what he had read in the Bible and heard from the missionaries was true, that the only means of saving mankind is the sacred blood of Christ. Moved by these thoughts he zealously read the Bible, and examined the doubts which had kept him from the light of God for so long a time. He declared himself a great sinner. God had often called him, but he had not heeded. Yet divine mercy had saved his life many times that he might seek and find The Future State of the Heathen. the true Christ; and, bursting into tears, his full heart found utterance in these words, "By what means can I reward thy great mercy? All the deeds which I have done in behalf of my country and for others cannot compensate for even one atom of my sin. I offer now my whole body and soul to the Cross. O Father, take me as thou dost wish to do; from this moment I am thy child!" Then and there happiness came into his heart, such as he had never known in his life before, a comfort to which he had been a stranger. We must not conclude that evangelical work cannot be carried on by people who have not profound knowledge; from ancient times God has used simple people to teach his mighty works to scribes and scholars. A single act and a few simple words by God's children, whose souls are regenerated by the Holy Spirit. can lead many a dark soul from the power of Satan into the kingdom of God. "All Christians should be evangelists; all Christians living in an antichristian country should be missionaries, although not ordained by the Church. A genuine example to everyone is in the fact that the humble nurses in the hospital taught the grace of God to a gentleman of culture and high social position. "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." Since Mr. Santo received this special blessing from God his whole family have become God's children. At his residence, once a week, is held a blessed meeting; the members are increasing, and many infidels and others are being converted through its instrumentality. The Future State of the Heathen. BY J. M. BUCKLEY, D.D. THE doctrines of Methodism concerning the future of the heathen are simple, comprehensive, and scriptural. They are, that the Spirit of God enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world; that it was not necessary for the ancient Jews to know the historic Christ, nor even to comprehend the meaning of the prophecies relating to him. Concerning the heathen who live in harmony with the light, Methodism holds they need no future probation; that the state of their minds and hearts is such that there would be a spontaneous adaptation of their intellectual perceptions to any degree of truth that may be communicated to them in the future life; that without a second's hesitation, if the opportunity were accorded them, they would instantly recognize Jesus Christ. We believe it compatible with their salvation through Christ, without their ever having known or seen him, even if they should be unable to discern him in the message which some of the missionaries of our own and other Churches may imperfectly deliver. 545 We acquire this view from the sacred Scriptures through the inspired apostle Peter, who, when the Holy Ghost was upon him, perceiving the character of Cornelius, exclaimed, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him." We find it most admirably stated by that man, who under God was the means of manifesting the truth of the Gospel to such multitudes, namely, John Wesley, who in his sermon upon the text, "Without God in the world," says, "I have no authority from the word of God to 'judge those that are without; nor do I conceive that any man living has a right to sentence all the heathen and Mohammedan world to damnation. It is far better to leave them to Him that made them, and who is Father of the spirits of all flesh;' who is the God of the heathens, as well as the Christians, and who hateth nothing that he hath made" (WESLEY, vol. ii, p. 485). In the Minutes of the Conferences, to be found in Wesley's works, vol. v, p. 239, Wesley further declares: "Once more review the whole affair: "(1) Who of us is now accepted of God? "He that now believes in Christ with a loving, obedient heart. "(2) But who among those that never heard of Christ? "He that, according to the light he has, 'feareth God and worketh righteousness.'" In his notes upon Acts 10. 34, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him," John Wesley says, Is accepted of him "through Christ, though he knows him not. The assertion is express and admits of no exception. He is in the favor of God, whether enjoying his written word and ordinances or not. Nevertheless, the addition of these is an unspeakable blessing to those who were before in some measure accepted." This is the doctrine upon which the Methodist missions have been founded, and upon which they are prosecuted successfully. It avoids the necessity of inventing the hypothesis of future probation; it does not require us to believe that all the heathen are marching down to hell. It recognizes the jurisdiction of Jesus Christ over the whole dispensation, maintains the necessity of conversion and regeneration, and makes accountability depend upon fidelity to any amount of light, however small. It enables us to believe that many a man bowing down to stocks and stones, vainly searching for truth, led by the Holy Spirit to act in harmony with everything that he knows and believes to be right, may be advancing toward everlasting salvation. It applies the same standard of condemnation, determined by conscious guilt and rebellion against light, to all classes ani conditions of men.- Christion Advocate. |