REGISTERED No. M-775

T he H arvest F ield

FEBRUARY, 1923

Vol. XLIII. New Series CONTENTS Editorial Notes: P a g e In d i a n P o l i t i c s a n d Je s u s C h r i s t ; T h e M i s s io n W o r k FORMERLY CARRIED ON BY THE BASEL MISSION ; T h e National Missionary- Counc il Ourselves ; Index to “The Harvest Field” .j ...... 41 Articles: - C h a n g i n g A t t i t u d e s a n d t h e M i s s i o n a r y T a s k i n I n d i a 45 W o r l d C o n f e r e n c e o n F a i t h a n d O r d e r . . . . S3 Literature: Henry Martyn, Confessor of the Faith; Directory of Christian Missions in India, Burma, and Ceylon, 1922; A Sunduy School in Utopia: a Manual of Psyckdtogy and Method,for the Sunday School Teacher; Impasse or Opportunity? The Situation after Lambeth; India on the.March'; Hymns from Ihe'Rigveda, Selected and Metrically Translated; Child Training through, Kindergarten Methods Vanity Fair; Year Book for 1923 ; Selections from the Qur'an .. .. ' ., 60 Correspondence: . D r . S h e r w o o d E d d y 's V i s i t t o I n d i a 66 T y p e w r i t e r s a n d V e r n a c u l a r S c r ip t s 66 R a c e . . . . 67 A S i m p l i f i e d A l p h a b e t f o r I n d i a n V e r n a c u l a r s 67 T h e D r i n k T r a f f ic 68 A H o s p it a l L i b r a r y . ,■ Obituary: M r . F r a n c is D . P h i n n e y 70 B is h o p Ja m e s M i l l s T h o b u r n 70 R e v . E l i a s W i l l i a m K e l l y . . 72 Current Mission News : South India Missionary Association .. .. 73 The India Sunday School Union ...... 73 Special Period of Evangelism, 1923 _ .. ... 75 The C.M.S. Crisis ...... 76 Missions of the Church of England .. .. 77 A Comradeship of Love ...... ' 77 A Motor Tent ...... " .=. 78 World Conference on Faith and-Order .. . ; 79 Gleaning: Young Women’s Christian Association Summer School. . 80

NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS, Literary Communications only should be sent to the Editor, the Dr. J. H. Hoyland, Holyrood, Nagpur. The W riter s name and address must accompany each contribution. _ All letters regarding subscriptions, advertisements, etc., should be addressed to The Manage«, The Harvest Field, Mysore-My City. -

Ê k . T h e H a r v e s t F ield

A MAGAZINE DEVOTED TO THE INTERESTS OF MISSIONARY WORK IN THE INDIAN EMPIRE

VOL. XLIII FEBRUARY, 1823 No. 2

Editorial Notes Indian Politics and Jesus Christ The Indian National Congress held its sessions at the close of last year, and the President, Mr. Desabandhu C. R. Das, gave an elaborate address. As far as we can understand it, the speaker attempted to show that the efforts made by Government to maintain “ Law and Order ” restrained or destroyed “ freedom.” We are not going to follow the address through all its wanderings, for in it is a lack of clear statement as to what constitutes “ freedom ” and “ Law and Order,” but we are interested in the way in which Mr. Das appeals to Jesus Christ. There is plenty of appeal to history, to various authors, but there is no reference to the sacred books of the Hindus or Muhammadans. Jesus Christ is the only religious authority appealed to, and it is interesting to see in what way the appeal is made. The address begins with a reference to the trial of Mr. Gandhi, now in prison, and the speaker said, “ To read a story equal in pathos, in dignity, and in sublimity, you have to go back over two thousand years, when Jesus of Nazareth, 1 as one that perverted the people,’ stood to take his trial before a foreign tribunal.” He proceeded to read from St. Matthew’s Gospel the account o f Jesus standing before Pilate, silent and innocent. But the speaker admitted that Mr. Gandhi took a different course, and pleaded guilty to the charge of sedition, “ that his guilt was greater ” than the prosecution had alleged. The people who mocked at Mr. Gandhi were the “ Scribes and Pharisees of the days of Christ.” The next reference in the address to Christ is to show how He dealt with Law and Order. The speaker said, , “ There was a law in the time of Christ which forbade the people from eating on the Sabbath, but allowed the priests to profane the Sabbath. And how Christ dealt with the law is narrated in the New Testament.” 4 2 EDITORIAL NOTES

He proceeded to read the account as contained in St. Matthew's Gospel. Our readers will see at a glance that the speaker was not familiar with Jewish customs, but is prepared to turn the incident to his own purpose. The same method is more clearly seen when he tries to justify the action of the Congress in urging pupils to disobey their parents and leave schools under Government recognition. These are his words : “ We have been denounced by the Moderates for having corrupted the youth of the country. It has been asserted that we have taught sons to disobey their fathers, pupils their teachers, and the subject the Government. We plead guilty to the charge, and we rely upon a very- spiritual movement as argument in our support. Christ himself was tried for having corrupted the people, and the answer which he gave in anticipation is as emphatic as it is instructive. “ Think not that I am come to send peace on earth : I come not to send peace, but a sword. “ For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother- in-law.” It requires the pleading of an astute lawyer to use Christ’s teaching to justify the immense amount of useless suffering Mr. Gandhi and his followers have wrought in India. In his peroration Mr. Das appeals for courage and sacrifice to meet the difficulties that lie in the way of success, and again he refers to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He said, “ But though the ultimate success of the movement is assured, I warn you that the issue depends wholly on you, and on how you conduct your­ selves in meeting the forces that are arrayed against you. Christianity rose triumphant when Jesus of Nazareth offered himself as a sacrifice to the excessive worship of law and order by the Scribes and the Pharisees. The forces that are arrayed against you are the forces, not only of the Bureau­ cracy, but of the modern Scribes and Pharisees, whose interest it is to maintain the Bureaucracy in all its pristine glory. Be it yours to offer yourselves as sacrifices in the interest of truth and justice, so that your children and your children’s children may have the fruit of your sufferings. Be it yours to wage a spiritual warfare so that the victory, when it comes, does not debase you, nor tempt you to retain the power of Government in your own hands.” One cannot but recognise the idealism that runs through the address, but the whole of it is historical and theoretical and has not clear reference to the actual facts of the situation. If it were shownhow the modern “ Scribes and Pharisees ” were tyrannis­ ing over people of India to-day, there would be more sympathy with the movement. A more patient and thorough study of Jesus Christ would lead to more practical methods. The Mission Work formerly carried on by the Basel Mission It may not be generally known that a great part of the funds for financing the mission work carried on by the Basel EDITORIAL NOTES 4 3

Mission in India was obtained from the profits of the industries maintained by them. The Government of India transferred these industiies to the Commonwealth Trust on the condition that the profits for some years were to be devoted to maintaining the work after five per cent, had been paid to the shareholders.- The Commonwealth Trust manages the industries formerly belonging to the Basel Mission in India and on the West Coast of Africa. The industries in Africa have fallen on evil days, and instead of a profit there has been great loss, which has more than swallowed up the profits made in India. The result is that the Trust has practically no funds to distribute to the societies that took over the work of the Basel Mission. All of these societies are in a most difficult position this year. The societies involved are the South India United Church, which has the care of the work in Malabar ; the Kanarese Evan­ gelical Mission, which carries on the work in South Canara and South Maratha ; the Wesleyan Mission, that has charge of the Nilgiris and Coorg; the National Missionary Society, which is working in North Canara; and the Madras Christian College, which is responsible for the college in Calicut. About two lakhs of rupees have been distributed yearly among these societies for the work, and this year very little will be available. Each society is making plans for the cutting down of the work, and it is evident a very large amount must be abandoned, unless help is speedily found. The times are everywhere hard, and appeals for assistance of all kinds are found in the press. We believe the depression is but temporary, and if help could be found for two or three years, funds would be again forthcoming from the Trust. It will be sad in the extreme' to abandon good work, because of temporary loss. Some means can surely be found to obviate the closing of these mission activities. It is difficult to know to whom to appeal, but the leaders of intermission and international mission movements are doubtless aware of the need and are seeking to meet it. Up to the present the outluok is exceedingly gloomy, and many promising pieces of work will have to be given up, while aggressive work will be altogether out of the question. We bring the matter before our readers that they may ponder the situation and see whether prayer and combination may not avert the evil that is likely to befall the work. Those in charge are making most strenuous efforts to maintain the various institutions, but financial help is urgently needed and that speedily. The National Missionary Council The last meeting of this Council under its old name and organisation was held in the Bishop Westcott Girls’ School at 4 4 EDITORIAL NOTES

Namkom, near Ranchi, Bihar, on January 10th to 16th. Far- reaching changes were made in the organisation, and the name by which the Council will in future be known is the National Christian Council of India, Burma, and Ceylon. The change in name indicates that the Christian Church in India and not missionary societies are to determine the policy of the future. A spirit of harmony and good fellowship prevailed, and there was abundant opportunity for exchange of views, as all were together under one roof. We do not give any details of the business transacted, as the next issue will be devoted chiefly to a description of the various meetings and the work done. Ourselves In our last issue we stated that the National 'Council would again consider the offer of the proprietors of The Harvest F i e l d to transfer the magazine to the Council. The question was carefully considered, and the Council agreed to take over The Harvest Field and make it its official organ from the March issue. The resolutions passed will clearly indicate the action taken. It was agreed— “ That this Council gratefully accepts the offer of the proprietors of T h e Harvest Field to hand it over to the National Christian Council,'and invites Dr. Macnicol, Mr. J. S. Hoyland and the Rev. D. A. Yardi to form the Editorial Committee of the journal, which is to be the official organ of the National Christian Council. “ That the Council express its gratitude to the proprietors of T h e Harvest Field for their generous offer. “ That the Council express their appreciation of the services rendered in the past by The Harvest Field and thank its various editors, especially the Rev. H . Gulliford.” The proprietors and editors are grateful to the National Council for its resolutions of appreciation, and express the confident hope that under the new conditions The Harvest F i e l d will have a larger sphere of usefulness and exert a more powerful influence upon the Christian Church in India. Our one aim has been to help all who are working for the establish­ ment of God’s Kingdom in India, and we are fully persuaded it will continue to pursue the same purpose. As this will be the last issue of the magazine under existing arrangements, we take this opportunity of again tendering our hearty thanks to the many correspondents and contributors that have made The Harvest Field so helpful for the last forty-two years. Index to “ The Harvest Field ” A n index, title page, and table of contents have been prepared for the last volume, and copies can be had from the Manager of The Harvest Field, Mysore City. Changing Attitudes and the Missionary Task in India*

By the Rev. Albert J. Saunders, M.A., F.R.Ecm.S.

“ There is a tide in the affairs of (Indian Missions), Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortxine. Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat ; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our venture.” NY adequate treatment of Indian nationalism must be for A the most part a study of the psychology of a social movement. I shall only'attempt in this short article to point out this social movement’s chief bearing on the future task of the missionary in India, with special reference to nationalism, economic improvement, and the Indian Church.

I The first thing that the foreign missionary in India must recognise to-day is that nationalism is a tremendously important fact in the thought and life of the whole people. It is not a merely passing interest; it is a national passion ; it has come to stay. And moreover it is a natural and legitimate expres­ sion of a truly, wonderful, social awakening. We have been too prone to regard it purely as political unrest: it is that, but vastly more than,that. It is the birth pangs of a new age and a new nation. It is the cry, or rather one should say it is developing into the earnest desire, of thousands upon thousands of educated people in India for political, economic, and religious emancipation. “ The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: . . . upon them hath the light shined.” Western culture and the history of her institutions, the East India Company and the British connection, and two hundred years of missionary enterprise have been the stimulus, while the response of awakening that we see throughout India to-day is the most natural result of all this seed sowing. We are experienjing the harvest in a significant social movement. The whole thing, as I see it, is the most natural response to the sociological forces which the West has been systematically setting in operation during the last two hundred years. Why need we be alarmed ? Why need we be discouraged ? It is

* A Sermon preached at Kodaikanal Hill Station, April 30,1922. 46 CHANGING ATTITUDES AND THE MISSIONARY TASK

our day of opportunity. The only great question in the problem, and it is true of every social movement, is—the mechanism and technique of control. And what I shall say, as we proceed in this study, is with a view to effecting a control and finding out a direction which shall save this significant awakening to the good and peaceful progress of the peoples of India. Another thing that it is most essential for the missionary to study, and study so as to thoroughly understand, is—the psychological bases of Indian Nationalism. What we see operating in India to-day is the most far-reaching and fruitful social movement that the Indian peoples have ever known. It has within its process wonderful possibilities of good or evil for India, and its influence will be felt for a century to come. In my study of Indian unrest and nationalism I have tried to find out the psychology underlying this social phenomenon with the view of ascertaining in what way the missionary should react to it. One big trouble in the way of this necessary understanding is that many missionaries, I fear, are still thinking in the terms and living in the mental environment of the last decade of the nineteenth century. They unfortu­ nately do not seem to recognise the significance of the profound social movements which are characteristic of this twentieth century, and still less do they perceive that -a new world of thought and methods of action was born out of the storm and stress of the great war. One reason, and I think the chief reason, for this failure to readjust our thinking to modern social movements and conditions is the inadequate theological training which missionaries of every country have received. We were drilled in ancient history, dead languages, and outworn theological concepts and doctrines, until we were more at home in a museum than in a modern city or country throbbing with social problems. This utterly inadequate preparation for modern missionaries will have to be changed. I predict that the curriculum of our theological colleges will be completely changed within the next ten years. The whole course of studies must be altered if the future missionary is to be equipped to meet the changed social conditions and the changing attitudes of these new days. The future task of the missionary will be to stimulate and direct great social interests, such as economic betterment, the unity and brotherhood of races, a wholesome nationalism and internationalism, and a national church looking towards the establishment of a world religion. For this tremendous task the missionary must have adequate training, not along narrow and specialised lines, but along the lines of the broad and human social interests of mankind. I mean the missionary of the future must be CHANGING ATTITUDES AND THE MISSIONARY TASK 47

thoroughly trained and experienced in the great human and social sciences—in sociology, in psychology, in ethnology, in economics, and in the philosophy, history and comparison of religions. Such a training will develop in the mind of the missionary an attitude of sympathy and appreciation for the good which he sees in another civilisation; and it will stimulate his desire to cultivate that good as an indigenous product. It seems to the writer that we must build upon the foundation of the indigenous good, and not be for ever denationalising the natives of the country by utterly rejecting their own culture and superimposing a civilisation and religious forms, interpreta­ tions, and means of expression, which are absolutely foreign to them. That leads me to the next point that I wish to make, which is— the task of the missionary in the future will be not only to understand the psychology of a profound social change, but also to have a sympathetic and appreciative attitude towards the good which may be in the movement, and a genuine desire to co-operate in its recognised worthy activities. Yes, I mean that the missionary should be sympathetic towards and should co-operate with the social movement of Indian nationalism. We have already seen that to limit nationalism to a political programme is unjust and insufficient; nationalism is a social movement, and takes within its purview all the great social interests of the people, including political, social, economic, and religious. It is a social awakening ; it is the birth pangs of a new age ; it is the natural cry of the human heart for emancipation from a dead past; it means life and progress and a national ideal; it is national se]f-conscioUsness, and a burning desire for self-expression. Can we deny such a request ? That is what I understand by the concept—nationalism. That definition has come from contact with the people themselves, and from a wide reading of Indian literature on the subject. It is concerning that higher nationalism that I say the missionary should have an attitude of sympathy and appreciation, and if he is the leader that he ought to be, he should be able to direct the movement into those channels of good and peaceful progress that shall help the people to realise their highest ideals. Moreover, let me also say that if a missionary cannot sympathise with and co-operate with such a national programme of social advancement, he ought to resign and go home as soon as possible, for his work in India is done. Do not misunderstand me. Unfortunately the nationalist movement has been captured for political ends. The revolutionary extremists are at present using the extensive body of nationalist sentiment for their own selfish and ruinotis purpose. I regard the non-co-operation and non-violence move­ 48 CHANGING ATTITUDES AND THE MISSIONARY TASK ment as most unfortunate, and if persisted in as disastrous to true nationalism in India. The extremist agitators are the enemies of their country. They do not represent what I am advocating—a higher nationalism, and of course missionaries cannot sympathise with such a lawless and revolutionary agitation. But I am thinking of the large and influential moderate party ; those who are advocating national advance along constitutional and educational lines ; it is with such a movement that the missionary as a natural leader can, and the writer thinks should, become identified, and seek to direct that movement so as to make it the means of expressing the national ideal of freedom and evolution. The missionary has here a great opportunity for real leadership, but he has, I fear, too often neglected it by holding himself and his work too much aloof from the worthy and legitimate national aspirations of the people. And so I advocate strongly that the future task of the missionary should be to show a sympathetic attitude towards and a real desire to co-operate with the sane and worthy national aspirations of the people, meaning by that a much larger thing than Home Rule in the political sphere ; meaning rather to stimulate a, larger, richer, and fuller national life along all lines that shall lead the people to unity, to independence, and to the highest moral and religious values. II There is a growing conviction, especially among the younger missionaries in India, that the economic approach is a legitimate and truly Christian missionary method of work. The former method of preaching the gospel, organising churches, and establishing schools and hospitals, is now conceived to be inadequate to meet all the needs of modern Indians. Those splendid forms of missionary activity have done wonders for the peoples of India, but they have been individualistic in principle, and have not done all that needed to be done. There still remained the need of improving the economic conditions of whole groups and communities. That means the application of the social conception of the gospel, which is the characteristic message of our times. The first requisite in the gospel message to innumerable villages throughout India is to improve the economic condition of the villagers as a group, and the second thing, which is a comparatively new method of missionary work, is to seek to christianize the whole group, not by appealing to the individual, but by appealing to the group, not a mass movement, but the joint family, the group or community. That will necessitate creating new sentiments within the group, introducing new motives, developing a new set of responses to new stimuli, and organising new loyalties CHANGING ATTITUDES AND THE MISSIONARY TASK 4& and new group reactions. It will mean organising a new creation in Christ Jesus, but with the group as the unit and not the individual. This is the new social gospel which modern scientific sociology is advocating as the future task of the missionary. The old individual appeal is failing to-day. It is unscientific, especially in a caste-ridden country like India. The individual is the product of this group. His sentiments and motives and loyalties have all come from his group. You cannot pluck the individual out of his group, and hope to- change him. A few, but very few, havs been reached that way, but at what a cost! I admire those few from the depths of my soul for what they have been willing to endure for their new faith. But I am coming to see clearly that it is asking far too much, and I am convinced that India as a whole will never be won to Christ in that way. If we establish ourselves in a village, and through community service, economic improvement, education, religion, seek to win the group as a unit, we shall have the individual, because he gets his sentiments and loyalties from the group. But to try to win the individual by himself is asking too much, and, as we all know, thousands in all parts o f India refuse to become Christians simply because the price of separation from their group is too great. Why does our method of mission work require that ? Because we are bound by the old philosophy of individualism. I am one of a growings number who believes that the day is quickly coming when we shall repudiate that old doctrine, and socialise our missionary method—dealing with the group as the unit, and winning the individual through the group. And the first approach in that process to the great mass of Indian villagers is through economic betterment. That people are coming to see the truth and importance of this new missionary approach is evidenced by the following statements: “ But there are two missionary activities which are having a considerable effect upon India. The first is the medical mission, and the- second is the missionary school and college. Both indicate a form of propaganda, which, though indirect, is really changing India. Many missionaries have given up the notion that India is to be christianized by- individual conversions, and look to a change in the mental points of view of the people. . . . This has much to be said for it from the point of view of scientific sociology. The life of a people as a whole and important departments of it cannot be abstracted from the rest and changed.” Mr. C. F. Andrews wrote as far back as 1909, “ I am led more and more by my missionary experience to regard the conversion of India, not as the aggregate of so many individual conver­ sions, but far rather as a gradual process of growth and change in thought, idea, feeling, temperament, conduct—a process which half creates and half reconstructs a truly Christian religious atmosphere, Indian at its best, and Christian at its best. . . . This does not of course mean that I 50 CHANGING ATTITUDES AND THE MISSIONARY TASK

•cease to believe in the conversion of the individual, but I seem to see other ¡and more silent processes of the spirit, which lead, it may be, to more distant, but to no less important results.” The growing conviction of many in India to-day is that the task of the missionary in the future must be to provide or rather to stimulate more than in the past the desire for economic improvement among the less fortunate and backward ■of the population, and further the belief that that work of community betterment in agriculture, in industries, in sanitation and health, in housing, in the principles of co-operation or self- help, and in a higher standard of living are just as much -a necessary part of the Christian message as teaching a class in a school, or preaching a sermon, or organising a church. In other words, there are two essential parts to an adequate Christian message for India ; they are—economic improvement •and soul salvation. The one without the other is inadequate, but both working side by side at the joint family or the group will furnish the Christian gospel which India needs to-day. That is, it seems to me, the kind of practical Christian endeavour which the village Indian can understand; it makes a direct appeal; and it is foundational to the success of the Christian message. I ll And in this time of changing attitudes, of transitional political institutions, of opportunity mixed with great uncer­ tainty, what shall we say of the future task of the missionary in reference to the Indian Church ? The first thing that one notices in approaching this question is the fact that nationalism is greatly affecting the attitudes of Indian Christians in reference to the Indian Church, and as a result there is growing up a strong demand for far more Indian initiative, leadership, and administration in the Church than has been allowed thus far. This demand has been well stated in a recent “ Memo­ randum on the Further Development and Expansion of Christianity in India,” presented by the Christo Samaj to J. H. Oldham, Esq., Secretary of the International Missionary Conference, at Bangalore, on the 3rd December, 1921. That statement was evidently carefully prepared, and emphasises a number of things which show the drift of Indian Christian opinion in reference to the Indian Church. In addition to this statement of the case there should be mentioned several other important studies, which appeared before the memorandum just quoted, as for instance—D. J. Fleming’s “ Devolution in Mission Administration ” ; S. C. Mukerjee’s “ Mission Policy and the Indian Church ” ; and K. T. Paul’s “ Indian Leadership in Mission and Church.” CHANGING ATTITUDES AND THE MISSIONARY TASK 51

The future task of the missionary in reference to the Indian Church, as I see it, is to recognise as soon as possible, and work for the realisation of, four important forward steps; they are unity, independence, the church to absorb the mission, and Indian financial obligations. For Christianity to win India there must be an Indian Church practising the spirit of Christian unity and co-operation. I do not mean church union, nor a great religious organisation for the whole of India. Our work is too much organised and centralised now to suit the Indian mind. What is needed is a campaign for Christian unity and co-operation among the many religious forces operating in India; not a large, central organisation, but a sentiment growing into a definite attitude of fellowship and goodwill, of unity and co-operation on the part of all the Protestant missions in India. That is the first thing, and it must come before we shall be ready to consider church union or an all-Indian church. The second thing which we missionaries of the future must more and more recognise is the growing spirit of independence of the Church in India. “ One of the marked expressions of the growing national and racial self-consciousness of Asia is the development of independent Christian Churches.” An informal conference of leading Indian Christians at Allahabad in April, 1919, declared that— “ The Church must be given an opportunity to develop itself on its own lines, keeping in contact with the national currents. This can only be accomplished by allowing the Indian Church itself to lay down the policy and be responsible for its actual carrying out, European man-power, wherever needed, being subordinated to the Indian organisation that may be evolved for this purpose.” We are quickly coming to that position, and let us recog­ nise it with good grace, where our policy must be to allow the Indian Church to become independent of foreign initiative and control. Why not let the Indian leaders direct the policy and expansion of their own church ? And to begin that new policy, would it not be well as an experiment for missions to retire completely from certain areas where Christians are numerous, and transfer the whole Christian enterprise to the Indian Church ? Has not the time come for a change of policy and an experiment in this direction ? Another important change that is widely demanded to-day is the absorption of the mission by the church ; that is, that the church be made the centre of all religious work, that the mission as such be dissolved, and that the distinctly religious work of the mission and the foreign missionaries be under the control and direction of the church working through its councils. A number of missions already have this reform as their definite 52 CHANGING ATTITUDES AND THE MISSIONARY TASK

policy. The plan is to gradually decrease the importance and leadership of the mission, and increase the responsibility of the church council in which there is always a large majority of Indian delegates. When the time comes that the church council can direct and control all the activities of the Indian church, then there will be no further use for f-he mission as a separate organisation, and it will pass over into the church council. The medical, higher educational, and industrial institutions may not come under the control of the church, but will become separate and distinct units under the control of their own constitutions and councils. But all the distinctly church work, including the elementary educational work, will pass to the control of the Indian Church. The American Madura Mission, South India, for instance, is working consistently along these lines, and has this objective before it. In September, 1919, the following significant action was taken, and now forms the definite policy of the Mission : “ Be it resolved, that while the mission recognises the impossibility of foreseeing future developments and realises the necessity of keeping a mind open to the leadings of God’s Spirit, it places on record its convic­ tion that the time has come to take a further and important step in trans­ ferring responsibilities from the mission to the Indian Church, looking towards the entire transfer, ultimately, of all departments of mission work to the church.” This question of Indian Church responsibility brings up the related problem of finances. Home rule, whether in Church or State, brings with it financial obligations as well as political privileges. And the Indian Church must recognise her financial responsibility. The Indian Church cannot expect to receive money from abroad, and yet deny to the foreign missionaries the administration of that money. For a while longer West­ ern Christianity will continue to send money to India for the establishing of Christian work, and foreign Christians will continue to send such money even after its administration has passed into Indian hands. But eventually, as soon as the Indian Church has had time to adjust itself to this new responsibility, that flow of foreign money must stop, and a self-governing Indian Church must finance its own enterprise. That is the objective, and the Indian Church will be well advised to fully recognise it now and prepare for it. It is the writer’s firm conviction that far too much foreign money has been put into Christian work in India. Christianity has been spoon-fed in this country to the lasting injury of the strength and independ­ ence of Indian Christianity. Many are coming to the position, both Indians and foreign missionaries, that foreign money is neither necessary nor desirable in India to-day for distinctly religious work. WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER 53

In conclusion, let me say that these are stirring times in which to live and work in India. “ We are living, we are dwelling In a grand, but awful time ; In an age on ages telling, T o be living is sublime.” Both the responsibilities and the opportunities are tremend­ ous, but the future is bright with promise. India is experiencing a social and religious awakening such as she has never experienced before. Our task is to direct this social movement into channels of peaceful and progressive self-realisation along the lines of the highest moral and religious values. But to do that the foreign missionary must be willing to adjust himself to the new forces which are stirring Indian society, for the people which sat in darkness have seen a great light, and the Christians of India must rise in the spirit of Christ to the opportunities and responsibilities of this new day ; for the future of Christian­ ity and the Indian Church is bright, if the people have a mind to work. “ New occasions teach new duties ; Time makes ancient good uncouth ; They must ever up and onward Who would keep abreast of Truth.”

World Conference on Faith and Order

HE World Conference on Faith and Order will meet in T Washington, the capital of the United States of America, on the first Monday of May, 1925. The President of the United States will deliver the address of welcome. The Continuation Committee will meet the year before, probably in the Jerusalem Chamber in Westminster Abbey, in London, England, to make the final arrangements, but vigorous, patient and persistent efforts must begin at once to prepare to make the Conference effective. That requires the immediate help, not only of every member of every Commission and of every officer of every Church, but of every one, clerical or lay, who longs for that visible unity of Christians which will convince and convert the world to Christ. The best preparation for the World Conference will be a great number of small conferences of members of the same church by themselves, so that they may see clearly the values of the truths for which their own church stands, and of members of different churches, so that they may learn to understand one another and the value of the other’s positions. Thus will be 5 4 WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER brought out the fundamental beliefs which all hold in common, and the special treasures which have been entrusted, in centuries- of Christian experience, to the stewardship of particular churches will be made available for all. These conferences should begin with only a few members, gradually increasing in numbers as the conference spirit and method are more clearly understood. Lay men and women have not yet, in sufficient numbers,, been reached by the movement. Reunion will come only by the action of the whole church and not merely of those in official position. The conferences herein proposed should therefore include the officers of the churches, their best theologians and their most competent laity. To make the movement more widely known please send to the General Secretary, Robert H. Gardiner, 174, Water Street, Gardiner, Maine, U .S.A ., names, and addresses of persons who would be interested to receive this circular or the printed publications.

P r a y e r Every person whom this circular reaches is asked to give himself to prayer for the guidance of the movement, of the conferences now proposed, of the meeting of the Continuation Committee in 1924, and of the W orld Conference in 1925. Let each of us do what he can to increase the practice of such prayer in his church and among his acquaintances.

T h e O b je c t of V is ib l e U n it y If we remember always that Our Lord prayed for the visi­ ble unity of His disciples as the best evidence to convince the world that the Father has sent Him, we shall be lifted up out. of all sectarianism and mere ecclesiasticism so that we shall catch something of His vision of the church He founded. This topic should be the first matter of conference.

T o p ic s f o r C o n f e r e n c e s To be helpful, a conference must begin with the funda­ mentals and limit itself to a few topics. The divisions of centuries cannot be healed in a few months or years, nor at all except by patient and thorough effort. Hasty attempts at agreement merely conceal differences or provoke more bitter divisions. The Preliminary Meeting at Geneva revealed clearly how ill-prepared the churches were to consider subjects which seem­ ed then, and still seem, to the Committee to be fundamental. What was true then is equally true now. After two years the set of topics then formulated remain not merely unexhausted but also in the main unconsidered, except by a few choice groups, chiefly in Great Britain and her overseas Dominions. However, the good judgement of the Geneva Conference is; indicated by the fact that where its topics have been seriously WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER 5 5 discussed in the order proposed, a degree of mutual under­ standing and agreement has been reached that promises much for the future. Let all Christian communions once grapple whole-heartedly with the meaning, history and mission of the Church of Christ, and the value and place in the united church of creeds, and then we shall be in a position to move steadily forward into other questions which cannot be profitablj^ approached in conference until these have been disposed of. Let it be further stated that these are seed topics. All else is involved in them. For fruitful conference on them the whole weight of scholarship and piety is essential. There can be no stable judgement on them that is not based on an accurate reading of theology and history. When we have honestly dealt with this responsibility, we shall be in a favourable position to pass on to a consideration of the sacraments and ministry with all which they involve. It is desirable that as soon as may be we should have an outline of the probable agenda of the World Conference. Such a tentative programme can be prepared so as to meet with general approval only by securing careful reports of many group conferences. It is one of the first duties of the various Com­ missions to take action upon this matter and report to the General Secretary for the Continuation Committee. In the meantime we would again reiterate that until there is- a general and well-organized movement to study the topics already submitted, the Continuation Committee is barred from further action. The topics as originally presented are :— Those discussed at Geneva : — 1. The Church and the nature of the United Church. 2. What is the place of the Bible and a Creed in relation to reunion ? The first series proposed by the Subjects Committee :— 1. What degree of unity in Faith will be necessary in a reunited Church ? 2. Is a statement of this one Faith in the form of a Creed necessary or desirable ? 3. If so, what Creed should be used ? or what other for­ mulary would be desirable ? 4. What are the proper uses of a Creed and of a Confes­ sion of Faith ? The second series proposed by the Subjects Committee a re :— 1. What degree of unity in the matter of order will be necessary in a reunited Church ? 2. Is it necessary that there should be a common Ministry universally recognised ? 5 6 WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER

3. If so, of what orders or kinds of Ministers will this Ministry consist ? 4. Will the reunited Church require as necessary any conditions precedent to ordination or any particular manner of ordination ? 5. If so, what conditions precedent to ordination and what manner of ordination ought to be required ? Note.—Copies of these topics in English, French, German and Greek can be had from the General Secretary. With this circular a pamphlet is enclosed containing reports of remarkable conferences in England and Australia. They are tentative and need, and will doubtless receive, careful revision, but the fact that even tentative results have been reached shows what may be accomplished by the conference method.

C o n f e r e n c e s The primary responsibility rests upon the Commissions which have been appointed by the several churches to co-operate in arranging for the World Conference. Until the invitations had been issued and accepted, there was not much for a Com­ mission to do. It is believed that this plan will require all their powers and test their interest in unity. The Business Committee hereby requests : 1. Each Commission to convene at the earliest possible date to consider the plan herein presented and report to the General Secretary its suggestions with regard to the plan. Then to take active steps to carry out this plan by the promotion o f conferences in large and in small areas, and to report in detail what steps it has taken, i.e., dates and places of confer­ ences, topics and speakers to open the conferences. 2. Each Superintendent, Bishop, Moderator or other officer having a territorial jurisdiction to initiate conferences in his jurisdiction and to report what he has done or will do. 3. Each pastor, priest or rector to organize conferences in his neighbourhood and to report to the General Secretary. 4. Each lay man or woman to urge upon the authorities of his or her local Church the formation of conferences and to report his or her success or failure. 5. Each conference in a large area should plan to organize a number of smaller conferences in that area. Each conference in a small area should invite neighbouring conferences to meet with it occasionally.

R e p o r t s As there is not yet money enough to provide the Subjects Committee with a paid secretary and office force sufficient to follow up this programme, the Business Committee thinks it will WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER 57 be better if all reports are sent to the General Secretary, Robert H. Gardiner, who will record and transmit them to the Bishop of Bombay, Chairman of the Subjects Committee, for the preparation by that Committee for submission to the Continuation Committee in 1924. It is to be understood that we are asking, not for individual, but for group opinions, both those formulated after conference or at the instance of the respective Commissions and by joint local conferences of representatives of different communions. Both are important, especially the latter. Such reports will be helpful to the Subjects and Continuation Committees by enabling them to see what are the exact points of agreement and continued difference, and so to prepare a programme for the world Conference which shall direct atten­ tion closely to the important and essential matters. Often it will be helpful for Commissions or for conferences in neighbouring areas to communicate directly with one another, and sometimes the secretary, in his discretion, will transmit reports to other conferences, but always making it clear that such reports are merely tentative and are transmitted only by way of suggestion and that they are subject to revision at any time by the group which makes them.

T h e C ontinuation C o m m i t t e e If this plan is carried into effect promptly, the next two years will be a sufficient advance to make it worth while for the Continuation Committee to meet in 1924 to consider the pro­ gress made and to arrange a programme for the World Conference itself in 1925. But the conferences herein proposed are urged to continue until the World Conference convenes. The W orld Conference A tentative programme for the World Conference will be sketched out as soon as material has been gathered and sys­ tematized. It will then be sent to each member of every Commission for final suggestions before presentation to the Continuation Committee. Upon convening, the World Confer­ ence itself will adopt its official programme on the basis of that prepared by the Subjects and Continuation Committees as the result of such suggestions and the reports of group conferences. An important question on which suggestions are requested at once is what shall be the basis of representation in the World Conference ? How many delegates shall there be ? How shall they be appointed ? Each Commission must decide and report whether the delegates from its church are to be appointed by it or by the governing body of its church. The latter course would seem most proper, but there may be churches whose governing bodies will not meet before May, 1925. 2 5 8 WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER

No delegate to the World Conference will have any power to commit his church to anything, for the World Conference will meet only “ for the purpose of study and discussion, with­ out power to legislate or to adopt resolutions.” That means that it will not try to secure the universal adoption or restatement of any particular creed or confession or to formulate a new one, but simply to prepare the way for the reconciliation of what have been supposed to be differences. Official action will be left entirely to the governing bodies of the several churches.

M o n e y The minimum ordinary expenses for each of the calendar years 1922, 1923 and 1924 are Salary of assistants to the secretary, stenographers and clerks .. .. $ 7,000 Office rent, $ 1,000 ; postage, $ 2,500 .. $ 3,500 Stationery and office sundries $ 500 .. $ 500 Translations $ 2,500 ; publicity $ 2,500 .. $ 5,000

$16,000 But it is hoped that this plan will be adopted so promptly and generally that the secretary will again receive 50 to 100 letters a day in eight or ten languages. That will require a larger office force and expenses and the increase of the above estimates. It is also of the greatest importance that a paid secretary for at least three years should be provided for the chairman of the Subjects Committee, who, in addition to the cares of his large diocese and his important share in the encouraging m ove­ ment for reunion in South India, will be overwhelmed with work, if the suggestions herein made are accepted and carried out promptly and generally. The present General Secretary, who serves without salary, must support himself by his profession and so cannot take much time for travel. There should be at least two or three paid secretaries who could give their whole time to organizing and guiding the preparatory conferences. Each such secretary should receive at least $ 6,000 a year for salary and travelling expenses. In 1924, provision must be made for the expenses of mem­ bers of the Continuation Committee, many of whom will be unable to pay their own or to obtain them from their churches. There are fifty members of the committee, scattered all over the world. It is supposed that the average expense to each would be $1,000, or if only half the committee attend the meet­ ing, $25,000 in all. It is impossible yet to estimate the expenses of the World Conference. It ought to remain in session at least a month, WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER 59 and board and lodging will probably be at least $5 a day each. There will probably be several hundred, perhaps a thousand or more delegates, and provision must be made also for the travell­ ing expenses of many of them. There will be sent, as soon as possible, to each member o f each Commission and, so far as possible, to the governing body of each church, a tentative apportionment of the above annual budget of $16,000, asking each to appropriate, or secure the appropriation, or raise as it deems best, its share of that annual budget and of the sum of $25,000 for the meeting of the Continu­ ation Committee in 1924. But some of the governing bodies will not meet at all in 1922, and others will meet so late that their appropriations will not be available for the immediate need of paying the present debt of the committee (about $16,000), or for its expenses next month and the ensuing months. Gifts from individuals are therefore greatly needed at once, in large or small sums. They may be sent to the Secretary, or to the United States Trust Company, 49, Wall Street, New York City, U. S. A., marked for the Continuation Committee. Many persons and some churches have already given generously. They will be asked to repeat their gifts annually. It is hoped that we shall hear promptly from many others.

T h e U n i v e r s a l C o n f e r e n c e o n L i f e a n d W o r k This has no official connection with the World Conference on Faith and Order, though there are a number of men who serve on both Committees. It is to deal with practical ques­ tions of the application of Christ’s laws to international, national, social and industrial questions. The Business Com­ mittee has suggested that it shall hold its first international gathering in Washington, either just before or just after the World Conference, so that the interdependence of Faith and Works and the full content of the Christian Faith may be made clear. For the Business Committee,

C h a r l e s H. B r e n t , Bishop of Western New York, Chairman.

R o b e r t H. G a r d i n e r , General Secretary. 6 0 LITERATURE

Literature

Henry Martyn, Confessor of the Faitht by C o n s t a n c e E. P a d w i c k . London: Christian Student Movement, 32, Russell Square, W.C. 1. Price 5s. We have often wished that the lives of the pioneer missionaries in India should be rewritten and published for the workers of the present generation. The old volumes are scarce and written in a style that does not appeal to the present age. Still, the facts recorded, the example set, the labours undertaken, the difficulties faced, the success achieved, should be known to those who are following in their footsteps. The Student Christ­ ian Movement has felt the same need and is beginning to supply it. The first volume is before us in the form of the life of that man of God, Henry Martyn. The writer of the book has made the author live before us, and has deftly sketched the mighty men who lived and inspired Henry Martyn in his life purpose. Martyn was a Cornishman, born in 1781. At that time Cornwall was alive with the gospel as proclaimed by John Wesley, and this force is briefly delineated. Martyn goes to Cambridge, where the influence of Simeon was very strong. That is set forth. The story of how Martyn was led to offer himself for work in India and how he became a chaplain in the East India Company’s service is clearly described. Calcutta and the state of the European in India in the days of the East India Company are brought into the picture. The voyage to India, his experiences at-the Cape, his welcome in Calcutta by David Brown and Claudius Buchanan, the difficulties confronting a godly chaplain of the strong evangelical type, the meeting with Carey and other missionaries are all graphically and sympatheti­ cally told. Martyn was a scholar and a linguist of no mean order, and he soon found the work which he having wrought will abide. He was impressed with the value of the work being done by Carey and his colleagues in the way of translations of the Holy Scripture, and Martyn, as soon as he had acquired a knowledge of Hindustani and Persian, began a translation of the New Testament into those tongues. How he toiled with munshis and strove to secure a scholarly yet idiomatic trans­ lation is told in an attractive way. His journey to Persia in order to be certain that his "translation was readable and idiomatic, his life there when his body was wasted by consump­ tion, his ardent devotion to his Lord, his death alone in a strange land, all are set down to stimulate and encourage us upon whom the lines have fallen in pleasanter places and who have entered into his labours. LITERATURE 6 1

Martyn’ s devotional life was rich in experience, but he was more human than his journal would lead one to think. The author has shown the human side of Martyn, who was fond of home life, and enjoyed the society of his fellow-men. No missionary can rise from the reading of this austere life without being better fitted for his task. The book will be an inspira­ tion to many. 5(< * sj: Directory of Christian Missions in India, Burma, and Ceylon, 1922. The Scottish Mission Industries Company, Ajmer, Rajputana. The thirteenth edition of this useful book has come out in a greatly improved form and will prove most useful to mission workers and those interested in the progress of mission work in India. The divisions of the great territory are taken in alphabetical order, and the area and population are given. A summary of the workers comes next. We notice that in some cases Indian workers are given, in others they are not. This is unfortunate, as it vitiates any conclusions that may be drawn. All the facts are not recorded. In this summary we think more are included than there should be, judging by our investigation of the parts with which we are familiar. A list of the societies and secretaries working in that area follows, with the distribu­ tion of their work in that area. Then comes the Directory proper according to the Government Districts. The Districts are not in alphabetical order, and it is not easy to see what principle has been followed. Every District is named, and it can be seen at a glance how many missionaries are at work therein. Though no missionaries may be mentioned, it is possible there may be Indian workers, whose names are not recorded. There are many Districts followed by the word “ Nil,” but whether this means that no mission work is done in these areas is uncertain. In some cases we know that work is being carried on by Indians, though no Europeans are resident. The second section of the book gives information about mission organisations of general interest and about Roman Catholic Missions. The third section contains a full index of names of missionaries and of stations as well as a General Index. The last section gives a list of economic, educational, evangelistic, general, medical, and philanthropic institutions, and a list of periodicals published by the different missions. The labour of gathering, sorting, and correcting the information contained in the book must have been enormous, and we trust the compilers may be rewarded by seeing the results of their labours appreciated by a large number of persons who will have the book at hand for consultation. The compilers would be the last to say that the book is perfect, but it is far ahead of anything published hitherto. 6 2 LITERATURE

A Sunday School in Utopia : a Manual of Psychology and Method {or the Sunday School Teacher, by Rev. E. F. B r a l e y , M .A., LL.M., Vice-principal and Master of Method of Culham Training College for Schoolmasters. Macmillan and Co., St. Martin’ s Street, London. Price 5s. net. In Utopia, Sir Thomas More tells us, they endeavour to put into the heads of children “ good opinions and profitable for the conservation of their weale.” These, once rooted, abide. This book aims at helping the Sunday school teacher to accomplish the same object. The book has an Introduction and is divided into three parts. The first deals with psychology and child study, the second with pedagogy and lesson prepara­ tion, while in the third part various subjects are discussed, including psycho-analysis. The book is written in a very attractive and non-technical style, and many a teacher will be glad of the sane instruction contained therein. Sunday school teachers are often unequipped for their task, and this book will put them on the right lines in studying the children and preparing lessons for their instruction. * * * * * Impasse or Opportunity ? The Situation after Lambeth, by M a l c o l m S p e n c e r , M.A., with a Preface by the Most Rev. the Metropolitan of India. Association Press, Calcutta. Price 12as. We welcome the publication of this book in India. It was first issued by the Student Christian Movement. It is written apparently by a Congregationalism who is married to a High Anglican, and here in India it is commended by the Metropolitan of India. It ought therefore to appeal to all 'classes and have a wide circulation. There are some who think the Lambeth appeal is not making headway, but we believe it is powerfully influencing the churches, and especially the Anglican Church that issued it. The feeling had grown up in the Anglican Church that all Nonconformists were schismatics. Nonconformists were able to give an answer for the faith they held, and did not desire recognition by the Chruch that held itself aloof. The Lambeth appeal has altered all that, though there are vast numbers on both sides who do not realise this. The Lambeth Appeal recog­ nises all the churches in theory, and indicates ways by which this recognition can be manifest. It is not at present prepared to go as far as Nonconformists desire, and Mr. Spencer gives weighty reasons for this action. The Anglican Church is moving towards unity, but many Nonconformist Churches are not. They do not clearly understand how great the approach the Anglican Church has made. Time is required to let the LITERATURE 6 3 position be understood. It will be best made known by the Anglican clergy in their relations to other churches. We believe a great advance towards a better understanding has been made. Here in India, while to a great extent we are bound by the polity of our different churches, yet the spirit of denominationalism has not dominated the Indian Christian community. It will be far easier to unite the various churches in India than in the home lands. Here there has never been any formal separation. The members of the churches are Christians first, and denominationalists by training and not by conviction. Denominationalism has never been made an essential part of Christian teaching, and probably 99 out of a 100 Indian Christians care little about denominational labels. For this reason we should like to see this book have a wide circulation and a careful study by the leaders in the Indian churches. Mr. Spencer would not wish any denomination to give up that which makes it a living church. He believes in interdenominationalism. He sees that no church, not even the Roman or the Anglican, has fully manifested the mind and spirit of Christ. The abundance and the wealth of all the denominations must flow together, and out of all arise a truly catholic Church, holding the faith of Jesus Christ in all its richness, fulness, and variety, and enjoying that authority and freedom which the Holy Spirit gives to the Body of Christ. Mr. Spencer pleads for a thorough study of the Lambeth Appeal and urges all parties to take advantage of the oppor­ tunity that it affords to explore all the ways by which unity may be achieved. The tendency of some Anglicans and some Nonconformists is to think that the differences are so great that unity is impossible, and that an impasse has been reached. Mr. Spencer has a totally different view, and he discusses some of the obstacles to union, such as the sacraments, ordination, episcopacy, in a way that will help the Nonconformist to realise the catholic position. It is manifest that most Noncon­ formist churches have never posed as catholic churches. One of the notes of the Church is lacking. Should they not seek that note, and so unite with others that there may be one, true, catholic, and apostolic church ? Here in India there is need for much more study of the question. The Anglican and South India United churches have begun to explore the possibilities of union. They need to be encouraged to go on. On the Anglican side Lambeth has bid them go on. Will the Free Churches respond and see how far they can bring into a united church the treasures they possess ? This book ought to help on the work of union in India, and we trust many will read and ponder its suggestions. 6 4 LITERATURE

India on the March, by A l d e n H. C l a r k . Missionary Educa- cation Movement of the United States and Canada. New York. The Christian Church in the home lands is striving to enlighten the young people and the members of the churches with regard to the work of foreign missions. Mr. Clark has written a very breezy and interesting book about India and the work of missionaries there. It is full of incident and will encourage Christians in America to support the work. Mr. Clark’s experience was gained in the Maratha country, and many of his illustrations are drawn from that region, though he does not by any means confine himself to that part of India. The book is intended chiefly for North American readers, but persons in other lands will profit by reading it.

Hymns from the Rigveda, Selected and Metrically Translated, by A. A. M a c d o n e l l , M .A . Ph.D., LL.D. Association Press, Calcutta. Price, cloth, Re.l as.8; paper, Re.l. “ The Heritage of India Series ” has been enriched by this volume, which contains forty hymns from the Rigveda, translated in the metre of the original, together with an Introduction, which gives all that the ordinary reader wishes to know with regard to the date, origin, and contents of the Rigveda. The gods are largely the personifications of nature. A hymn to each of the gods is given, and a short account of the god as described and worshipped in the Rigveda is prefixed to the hymn. The reader has therefore an account of all the gods qf the Rigveda and a specimen of the hymns in which their praises are sung. Prof. Macdonell has recently visited Calcutta and delivered in the University a course of lectures on Comparative Religion. He H : * H : 5|C Child Training through Kindergarten Methods, by Mrs. W. J. L o n g l e y . Christian Literature Society, Madras. Price 5as. This little book is the outcome of practical work at Nellore, and is illustrated with pictures of games played and methods employed. Good habits are to be learned by this method, such as promptness, orderliness, quietness, cleanliness, truthfulness, unselfishness, kindness, bravery, obedience, courtesy. The things to be taught are observation, colour and form, letters or reading, counting or arithmetic, nature study, simple geography, and religion. A useful time table is given. Works of this kind in the vernacular are greatly needed. ^ * From Messrs. Macmillan and Co., St. Martin’s Street, London, we have received a copy of Thackeray’s Vanity Fair, LITERATURE 6 5 with Introduction and Notes by Michael Macmillan, B.A., D. Litt.; price 4s. 6d. The notes will help Indian readers of this classic. They have also sent A Modem Dictionary oi the English Language with Supplement and Appendix ; price 4s. 6d. Words that came into existence during the war and those referring to aeroplanes and other modern inventions are all in the book, which dees not profess to be a complete dictionary of the English tongue. The student will find all the words used in modern newspapers and magazines. From the same firm has come Chaucer’s The Princess' Tale and The Tale of Sir Thopas, with an introduction giving an account of Chaucer and his Age, and the Grammar and Metre of Chaucer. The book will be very helpful to students of Chaucer. It is edited by Lilian Winstanley, M.A., Lecturer in English in the University College of Wales, Aberystwith. The same firm has sent us a copy of The Pupils' Class-Book of Geography: The Americas, by Ed. J. S. Lay, F.R.G.S.; also Pait 4 of their Geographical, Regional, Economic Atlas of Africa, price Is. 6d. net. Both books will be most useful to pupils. ***** The Rev. J J. Lucas, Allahabad, has published through “ The Milton Stewart Evangelistic Funds” in Hindi the following for free distribution:—“ Power in Prayer;” “ Are You Ready ? ” “ A Wonderful Prophecy,” “ The Question of Questions—Who is Jesus of Nazareth ? ” “ How the Death of Christ Differs from the Death of Prophets, Patriots, and Martyrs,” “ Introduction to Gospel of Luke,” “ Dr. Robert E. Speer’s Message to the People of India.”

Every Christian Endeavourer in India that knows English should have a copy of the Year Book for 1923. It can be obtained from the C.E. Office, Coimbatore, price 6 as. Topics for meetings with notes, messages from officers, and other useful matter fill a book of 116 pages.

Selections from the Qur an, arranged by the Rev. H. U- W e i t b r e c h t S t a n t o n , Ph.D., D.D. Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. This is No. 28 of “ Texts for Students,” and contains a large number of selections from the Qur’an, taken from Rodwell’s Translation. The selections are in chronological order, so that the student can trace the development o f Muhammad’s revelations. 6 6 CORRESPONDENCE

Correspondence

DR. SHERWOOD EDDY’S VISIT TO INDIA

To the Editor of T h e H a r v e s t F i e l d D e a r S i r ,—Dr. Sherwood Eddy and Dr. Stanley Jones will be return­ ing to India from their tour in China and the Far East about Jan. 18th. In letters which we have received from them they tell us of the tremendous opportunity in China to-day. There is an open-mindedness and a readiness to receive new power which is not found anywhere else in the East. Wherever they have been, numbers of young men have come out boldly and definitely to accept Christ. Dr. Eddy will be in India only a short time, and will be making a special study of industrial and social problems. He will only be available for a few meetings. He will probably be visiting the following places :—Calcutta, Nagpur, Cawnpore, Lucknow, Bombay, Madras, Maraman, Madura, Colombo. He will be leaving Colombo March 7 th. Dr. Stanley Jones, after a short rest, will start work again in India. We ask your prayerful remembrance of these brethren. Yours sincerely, H . A . P o p l e y .

TYPEWRITERS AND VERNACULAR SCRIPTS

To the Editor o f The Harvest Field. Dear Friend,— Typewriters have key-board arrangements for printing 90 characters. They can be operated at 600 letters a minute. The typing may be as clear as print. Can they be used for vernacular scripts ? The answer is, Yes, if the vernacular scripts are more or less modified. A printer’s fount of type for a vernacular script has from 500 to 1,000 different types. Tamil alone, having no double or conjunct consonant forms has only over 150 types. Telugu has over 500 types, also Kanarese, Mfilayalam takes some 750 types and Nagari up to l',000. The vernacular types are not only numerous but they are very complicated, the forms are intricate and often come above or below the general line, and some of them vary considerably in the width of the characters. It would be absurd to expect the typewriter with only arrangements for 90 letters, and equal spacing, to type the hundreds of characters as in printed books. But when we examine Tamil we find that the reason Tamil has only over 150 printer’s types whilst Malayalam has over 750 such types is because Tamil has no double or conjunct consonant charac ters. (Malayalam has no less than seven different ways of doubling a consonant letter). If the other vernacular scripts would follow the Tamil system of graphic signs, they too would do away with hundreds of very complicated types. Kanarese, for instance, on the Tamil system would only require 13 typewriter-types for the initial vowels, 34 for the consonant letters, and 13 for medial vowel signs, 60 in all. T o this add 10 for numerals, 10 for punctuation signs, and 10 for commercial and other signs and we have 90 in a!l. So for other vernaculars. (The Nagari has seven or eight hundred conjunct types.) The above would be a great simplification of vernacular scripts, but a still further simplification might be effected. This would be to use only the primary letters. In Kanarese this wrould mean only 14 vowel letters and 34 consonants, 48 in all. To obtain the best results from such simplifi­ CORRESPONDENCE 6 7 cation a number of the vernacular characters need to be very much simplified, especially in the width of the types. But with such simplifications any Indian vernacular script could be typed so that any ordinary reader of, say, the Telugu script would be able to read it after a few minutes’ explanation. Mr. Lazarus in his Tamil Grammar shows how it could be effected in Tamil. All the above means in other words simplifying the vernacular scripts so that they become alphabets with just one letter for each elementary sound. On an average there would be only 37 elementary sounds, with 37 letters for reading and writing, and needing- only 37 types for printing (48 if the ten super-aspirates are reckoned separate sounds). Seeing that 90 per cent, of the words in the Dravidian languages are the same, that except for two or three sounds the sounds are the same, would it not be far better to take in the other vernaculars and have one typewriter for all the Indian vernaculars ? What is wanted is an Indian Commission to decide upon an alphabet, a common, phonetic, simple alphabet, out of which each vernacular could take the letters for its sounds. With best wishes to primary education, 53 Parkgate Road, Yours sincerely, Chester. J. Knowles.

RACE

To the Editor of T he Harvest Field My d e a r S i r ,—What I wished to say on this subject was simply this— 1. There is such a thing as race-consciousness. 2. There is such a thing as racial animosity. It is not really a help to call them something else. But, while 1 may be present, 2 should be absent where the Spirit of Christ is. In the Body of Christ there may be awareness of racial difference, but animosity should disappear, be non-existent. Trichur, Yours sincerely, January 15, 1923. W. S. Hunt.

A SIMPLIFIED ALPHABET FOR INDIAN VERNACULARS To the Editor of The Harvest Field Dear Sir,—As a member of the Madras Representative Council’s Committee on Simplified Script I would like to “ take off my hat ” to the illiterate peasants ” of the districts of which Mr. H. C. Scholberg writes in the January number of T h e H arvest F ield, who find theNagri character “ easy to learn and to bow my head in wonder (my Dictionary defines “ wonder ” as “ that emotion which is excited by. . . . the presentation to the sight or mind of something new, unusual, strange, extraordinary, or not well understood, something that arrests the attention or strikes the mind by its novelty, grandeur, or inexplicableness, that which causes surprise, etc., etc.” ) as I read the following statement in Mr. Scholberg’s letter:—“ Mr. Knowles made the statement in one of his articles recently that ‘ the cause of illiteracy in India is the intricacy of the alphabet.’ My last question dealt with this statement, and brought most indignant replies and emphatic denials, so far as the Nagri character is concerned. Some admitted a certain degree of truth so far as the Persian character is concerned, and on Mr. Knowles’ word it is doubtless true in South India, but we hold out for the exception in the vast Nagri area. Here we have the case for the Nagri character in a nutshell ; easy to learn even by illiterate peasants, calls for no simplification, and the exception to the statement regarding illiteracy.” 6 8 CORRESPONDENCE

I have endeavoured to copy some of the Hindi characters,* as well as their complexity would allow me, and as I look at them and again read the above quoted passage I—wonder—and wonder—and wonder. Mr. Scholberg, and the many who replied to his questionaire, say these characters are “ not intricate,” “ call for no simplification,” and “ are easy to learn,” and so, of course, it must be so. 1 take off my hat also to him, and to all who think with him, and then turn away and express my humble gratitude to God that our South Indian illiterates (and 1, too) have not to learn Nagri. It does appear to me that the characters* chosen by the Madras Council’s committee are fewer in number, simpler, and easier to learn than the Nagri, but this view may to Mr. Scholberg and his friends be “ unusual, strange, extraordinary or inexplicable ” and so excite in them that emotion which both this and his former letter excited in me. How­ ever, as the “ illiterate peasants ” of those parts can “ easily learn ” the Nagri characters, I am encouraged to hope that the illiterates in these parts may not find it very difficult to learn the Simplified Script now to- be tested by the M.R.C. committee. Chagallu, Kistna District, Yours sincerely, January 12, 1923. E. Chas. Adams.

THE DRINK TRAFFIC To the Editor o f The Harvest Field D e a r S i r ,—In reply to Mr. Brockbank’s letter in your December issue, the policy of the Calcutta Temperance Federation has been to use its influence on the Licensing Board of the city to reduce the number of shops year by year, and, where local opinion has been clearly expressed, to abolish shops entirely from one or more areas of the City. Both methods have only been partially successful. The Board has an official majority, and the temperance proposals have been out-voted. The Calcutta and Suburban Licensing Boards have been the only ones in India until this year. The Minister has promised to give shortly a much more satisfactory Board. On the larger question, what has been done to secure local option in India, the influence of the reforms by which excise administration has been transferred to Provincial Governments and placed in charge of an Indiau Minister has been satisfactory. The Punjab Legislative Council have definitely applied local option to municipal areas,and district boards have power to veto the number of shops. The Bengal Legislative Council disapproved a total prohibition policy by 48 votes to 41, but called for immediate restriction of consump­ tion by the application of the principle of local option. The United Provinces Legislative Council have inaugurated a local option policy by establishing licensing boards in 16 urban areas. The Central Provinces and Berar have accepted prohibition as the ultimate goal of excise policy. The Ceylon Legislative Council have resolved that Government should so direct its administration as to attain total prohibition within a reason­ able time. In Madras, Bengal, and Bombay, Excise Committees are thrashing the subject out. It will thus be seen that prohibition has become a very real issue for all provincial legislative councils in India and Ceylon, and it is one which no council can afford to ignore. From the above it is plain that the most effective instrument of temperance reform for South India is to bring public opinion to bear upon * We regret that we cannot reproduce the characters, as we have not the type. A casual glance at the two scripts will show which is the simpler.—E d i t o r . CORRESPONDENCE 6 9 the Excise Committee and upon the Legislative Council in Madras. Claim the right of the people to control the traffic by securing licensing boards in all cities, with five or seven members, a non-official majority and a non­ official chairman elected by the boards. Secure for district boards and municipal councils the right to decide on the number and location of shops in such areas as licensing boards do not administer. Stir up much more interest in the question in the community by active temperance propaganda, and make the programme of the future—Prohibition in a reasonable time through local option. If there is official objection to the amendment of the present Excise Acts in force in provincial areas, I should advise the introduc­ tion into the provincial legislative councils by private members of a short local option or local veto bill such as Scotland possesses. Yours faithfully, H e r b e r t A n d e r s o n , Hony. Secretary, Calcutta Temperance Federation.

A HOSPITAL LIBRARY

To the Editor o f T h e H a r v e s t F ie l d D e a r Si r ,— W e have opened two libraries, one in the hospital for indoor patients and their attendants, and the other in our Convalescent Home in town for out-door patients staying here for a long time. Our Physician-in-charge, Dr. W. J. Wanless, M.D., F.A.C.S., with other local missionaries, has equipped the rooms with furniture, books, etc. These libraries are becoming popular and useful. But in a hospital where ten thousand patients receive treatment annually, the number of books, magazines, papers, etc., on hand is very small and not varied enough to meet our needs. Moreover, a hospital that treats 60 per cent, patients free, gives hospital diet to the poor at its own expense, cannot afford to spend a large amount on libraries for patients. W e therefore request you to send us free a copy of your publication, either magazine or paper, and thus help us in a good cause. Incidently it may help your publication as our hospital offers a very large advertising agency made up of people coming from almost every part of the country. Here are some of the figures that tell their own story. They are taken from our last year’s report and will convince you of our need and our inability to spend on libraries more than we are doing. Last year there came to our hospital 10,877 new patients, of whom 2,539 were treated as in-door and 8,338 as out-door patients. These ten thousand with such attendants as are able to read form a very large reading constituency—a constituency composed of various castes and creeds. Here is an opportunity for editors and owners of Christian papers, magazines, etc., to help us to give these people, mostly non-Christian, re­ ceiving treatment'in a Christian institution, good, helpful, Christian litera­ ture that will rouse their interest in things Christian, provide them good -mental recreation, and also help them to a better understanding of Christ and His teaching on the present-day problems. We believe your publica­ tion is able, in its own way, to contribute towards this end. We hope you will grant our request and put down the name of our institution on your regular mailing list. It would give us a great pleasure if it ever comes to our lot to help you in any way we can. A copy of your paper or magazine may kindly be sent to the “ Hospi­ tal Evangelist and Librarian,” Mission Hospital, Mira j, S.M.C. Thanking you in advance, I am. Sincerely yours, Miraj, S.M.C., P. P. G o r d e , January 2, 1923. Hospital Evangelist and Librarian. 7 0 OBITUARY Obituary

MR. FRANCIS D. PHINNEY •it Visitors to Rangoon interested in mission work will miss the superin­ tendent or the large mission press, which he so controlled and built up as to become the chief press in Burma. The Indian Witness states that he was attorney of the American Baptist Foreign Mission Board and Superin­ tendent of the Mission in Burma, and attached to the press for over thirty years. Mr. Phinney, who was sixty-five years old, was a member of the Senate of Rangoon University, and highly respected as a mission controller, educationist, and business-man.

BISHOP JAMES MILLS THOBURN Thousands in India will learn with regret of the passing of Bishop Thoburn on November 28th. He has left his mark in India by the way in which the Methodist Episcopal Church expanded in India under his guidance. We copy from The Indian Witness the following appreciation by the Rev. Brenton Thoburn Badley : — The translation of Bishop Thoburn brings the church in many lands to a new appreciation of our great heritage in his life and labours. Probably the most striking thing about Bishop Thoburn was the way in which he combined the supernatural and spiritual elements with the practical and business qualities of life. This combination was in his case so perfect that it gave to his life a symmetry and value altogether unusual. His piety was of the type that could stand any test, yet his ideas and plans fitted in perfectly with the daily life of “ small things ” that mark all our lives. He touched great affairs of the kingdom and petty matters of daily routine with the same consciousness of God’s presence and realization of His leading. In the councils of the Church, whether in America or on the foreign field,. Bishop Thoburn was pre-eminently the man of vision. His awareness o f the spirit world was complete, yet he gave no “ uncanny ” feeling to those who met him. He was mystical to an unusual degree, yet he kept his feet always on our earth ; talking of spiritual things as one who bolds them in this present life for the fullest possible use, not as possessions: to be looked forward to when the physical conditions of life yield to the supernatural state. Bishop Thoburn made spiritual life a matter of every-day experience and use. Back of this unusual combination of characteristics there was a very real inner experience of divine things Early in life, he established a contact with Jesus Christ that never ceased. “ The Man of Calvary ” was always at his side. The fact of God and His constant dealings with men were never doubted. Bishop Thoburn did not think of himself as sometimes working together with God and sometimes just venturing forth alone to try his hand on something in the way of experiment. He was always working at God-appointed tasks, with his Lord at his side to direct and empower. This led him in all the long years of his preaching to place a value on the presence and power of the Holy Spirit that constituted the main emphasis of his life. The Church of Pentecost was to him not a memory of the apostles of the past, nor a mere historical event in the life of the Church. It was the Church in which he was living, for which he was working, and whose triumph he saw from a fa r; bringing it near by a faith and a zeal that will make his name immortal in the Christian annals of both India and America. It follows naturally that Bishop Thoburn was a man of great faith. He also “ endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” The faith that Moses needed for his desert experience was of the type that Thoburn depended oa OBITUARY 7 1 in bis mii^ionary career. Obstacles, distances, trials could not daunt a soul like his. Obstacles were made to be surmounted, distances existed just to be overcome, and trials were sent to stiffen our fibre for the severest tests. The powers of darkness and the enticements of the lower nature are helpless before a man of this kind. In the heart of Bishop Thoburn existed a Christian empire, the product of his faith. What had been born there, he knew could be established in Tndia and the world. He had seen the “ Pattern ” in the “ Mount,” and he had no other intention than to build according to it. He was willing that this should take as long as God willed and planned, but he was not content to let the coming of that day be delayed by any lack of zeal or faithfulness on his own part. Where God had made the fulfilment of prophecy dependent on human instrumentalities, Thoburn saw to it that there was no lack of belief or co-operation on his part, or the part of those whom he could influence. These characteristics imply that Bishop Thoburn's life wns one of prayer. Being still in the flesh, it was his chief means of communication, with God. He never cut his communications, nor did he permit anyone or anything else to do so. If you dealt with Thoburn, you had also to deaL with Christ. The two were inseparable: for him to “ live was Christ.” Thoburn did not “ agonize ” much in prayer. He lived in a generation when such a thing was common ; but, for him, the more reasonable attitude in prayer was to ask, believing, and to take it for granted that God had heard and would answer. His prayers were short, definite and direct. He knew what he wished to ask for, he knew how to put it into words, and he did so with a sincerity and conviction that presupposed the truth and faithfulness of his “ God and Father.” His communion was of the type, we expect between those who are on intimate terms, and where no shadow of a doubt exists on either side. To hear Thoburn pray was to know that God was listening. Such words were never thrown to the winds, or sent forth in a vague hope that somewhere in the universe there might be an ear to take them in. Partly as a consequence of all this, and in part as a special endowment in his case, Bishop Thoburn was essentially a prophet. This aspect of his life escaped no one who knew him intimately. He saw great things ahead, and did not hesitate to give expression to his visions. Many of the great things he saw were fulfilled during his lifetime. One great hope of his, a prophecy in most respects, was not fulfilled. Many times he spoke of his expectation that, before he was called from earth, there should be a million members in the Methodist Episcopal Church in India. As a matter of fact, only the half million mark was touched before his death. It may well be, however, that this was not due to a flaw in his vision, but to a fault in the Church. Certainly the goal was not beyond attainment in the time prescribed. He lingered long, apparently that the Church might have added years in which to reach the objective. His death did not come till he was nearly eighty-seven years old, and not until sixteen years after his retirement from active service on the field. Along with all these high spiritual endowments, Bishop Thoburn had a personality full of charm. He was thoroughly human. He was one of the: best story-tellers in the mission. His sense of humour was keen and unfailing,.. He was companionable at all times, interested in the small concerns of daily family life, as well as in the great affairs that constantly confronted him.. He was considerate and brotherly in an unusual degree, and always carried with him a delightful courtesy. Bishop Warne has remarked of him that he was singularly free from any sense of his own greatness, which kept from him the unpleasant egotism that so mars many otherwise beautiful personalities. He was devoted to his family, in a family that gave most beautiful expression to the highest type of love. His sister, Isabella, once said to a friend with whom she spoke of her having remained unmarried,, that if she had ever met a man like her brother James, she could give no. 7 2 OBITUARY

assurance that she would have remained single ! He was a welcome guest, interested in the children, unselfish in his outlook, cultured and informed to the highest degree, and good cheer wherever he went. It was difficult to find any weak part in his many-sided personality. What brought the greatest fame to Bishop Thoburn was his preaching and his missionary addresses. Probably he has not been surpassed as a speaker on the theme of missions. Nor was his eloquence the only greatness displayed by him on the platform. Even more commanding was the spiritual power of his utterances and the way in which they took hold of the hearts of men and women, young and old. He not only touched lives, but he transformed them, shaping them in the interests of Christ whose love ever “ constrained ” him. His preaching was simple and direct, but massive in its thought. He did not merely exhort, and tell interesting stories. He was a master of illustration, but he put into his preaching a great amount of thought. His mind was wonderful! He might have been a famous lawyer, a great mathematician, a supremely successful teacher, a keen business man, a statesman of national influence. Instead, he was a missionary, simple in life and habits to the end. Some men achieve great results in the service of God with only ordinary mental and social endow­ ments : Thoburn had great endowments and put them all to marvellous use. His writings were many, both in books and newspaper articles. Probably his first book, “ My Missionary Apprenticeship,” published by him in 1884, was his greatest. His “ India and Malaysia ” is worth while, and all he wrote was well done ; but the Indian missionary who has failed to read “ My Missionary Apprenticeship ” has robbed himself of a privilege both rare and wonderful. It is a book for to-day as well as yesterday. It is not less a book for to-morrow. Such a life has meaning for the entire Church. Thoburn did not live to himself and did not die to himself. His life and words spoke to the Christian world : his example speaks still. The years will not dim his memory nor tarnish his fame. He exalted Christ, and Christ has exalted him. Wherever Thoburn is respected, Christ will be honoured. In all that Thoburn said and did, there was a prophetic note. He looked into the future. He looked at totals, not at items. This ability was a native gift, disconcerting to small minds. Bishop Thoburn’s statesman­ ship in his generation should be a challenge to the Church of to-day that it seize the opportunities lying on every hand.—Bishop McConnell.

REV. ELIAS WILLIAM KELLY Elias William Kelly, Ph.D., D.D., K-I-H., former Principal of Judson College, died on Thursday morning, October 12, at 12-30 a.m., at his residence, Mission Road, Rangoon. His illness was one of only twelve and a half hours, and his death was a shock to the Missionary Conference then in session. Though Dr. Kelly had been in failing health for some time, his illness had not been acute. He attended the morning session of the Conference, at which he offered prayer, and after which he spoke to several of his friends. He expected to preach a sermon at the evening session of the Conference on Thursday. At 2 p.m. on Wednesday, after returning to his home, he suffered a relapse of a former sickness, oedema of the lungs. He soon became unconscious, but recognized his friends and thanked them for their kindness just before his death. Dr. Kelly was born in Coilma, Canada, on April 17th, 1854. He was educated at Acadia College and Newton Theological Institution, U.S.A. He received his ordination at Windsor, Nova Scotia, June 23rd, 1876. He arrived in Burma on November 6th, 1882, under appointment as a missionary to the Burmans at Moulmein. At the close of the 3rd Burman war he went to Mandalay and opened up the Burman work there. After the death of Dr. Cushing in 1904 he was appointed to the principalship of Cu r r e n t m i s s i o n n e w s 13

Judson College, a post which he retained for several years. Since his resignation he had given his time and last strength to the Burman work in Rangoon. He died at the age of 68 years and 6 months. His long life in Burma, 40 years dedicated to the service of others, won for him the warmest of friends. Many who looked to him for his generous sympathy, kindness, and wise counsel, will feel themselves heavily robbed by his death.—Baptist Missionary Review.

Current Mission News

SOUTH INDIA MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION A circular letter was sent to the members of the S.l.M.A. on 4th December, 1922, notifying its present condition, and stating that in the opinion of the Honorary Secretary the time had finally come when it should be wound up and its affairs definitely closed. Votes on the subject were received from half the members. The unanimous opinion was that in the circumstances the Association should now cease to exist. This decision will be carried out. The question of taking over the one remaining sub-committee, that on the Disabilities of Indian Christians ; the lump sum set aside for its publishing of a Hand-book ; the balance of funds of the S.I.M.A ; such of its records as ought to be kept ; and its almirah, will be laid before the Executive of the Madras Representative Council of Missions at its meeting in February. It is expected that the M. R. C. will accept these responsibilities. A final annual report of the S.l.M.A. will then be issued and circulated to members and the Association be dissolved. Mylapore, Madras, G. H. M. 4th January, 1923.

THE INDIA SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION The India Sunday School Union, which was founded in 1876, has recently been through a period of re-organisation under the auspices of the National Missionary Council. This transition period reached its culmination at the annual meeting held in the Y.W.C.A. Hall, Jubbulpore, on December 14th, under the chairmanship of the Rev. J. Passmore, of Madras. About thirty delegates were present, these all being members of the Union and representing the General Committee, a committee to whom was committed the work of re-organisation, and some of the’ Auxiliary Unions. The gathering was a representative one, members of various sections of the church in India being present. One of the important things accomplished at this meeting, and one that promises a great deal for the future, was the uniting of the former work of the I.S.S.U. with the Teacher Training work of the W orld’s Sunday School Association under Mr. E. A. Annett. It had been the aim of those responsible for re-organisation to effect “ one organisation for Sunday School work in India.’ ’ This has been attained both by constitution and by the consent of the parties concerned. All departments of the work will now be under the General Committee of the newly-constituted I.S.S.U. Another thing that was aimed at was the “ re-organisation of the I.S.S.U. on a thoroughly representative basis.” Besides the officers of the union, the committee as now constituted will contain representatives appointed by the Auxiliaries, nominees of the National Missionary Council, the premier missionary organisation in India, and also nominees of the Provincial Council of Missions of the Province in which the head­ 3 74 c u r r e n t m i s s i o n n e w s quarters is situated. It is hoped this will strengthen the whole organisa­ tion, and tighten the bonds between it and its Auxiliaries on the one hand, and between it and the whole Christian forces of India on the other. In all this it is recognised that this forward policy is only possible because of the strong and wide ramifications of the Union that have been established in former years. The work of the late secretary, the Rev. R. Burges, is well known, and it is expected that the fruits of the earnest efforts of the past will, with the changes of the present, lead to yet more useful days to come. The Jubbulpore meeting had to ratify the appointment of a new Secretary to take the place of the Rev. R. Burges, who has retired after 26 years in the I.S.S.U. The Rev. A. G. Atkins was nominated for the appointment by a sub-committee charged by a conference held at Poona in January last with the work of finding a new Secretary. The appointment made by this sub-committee was heartily confirmed. Mr. Atkins has been working for 7* years in the Regions Beyond Missionary Union in North Bihar, and lias also been for some time the Secretary of Bihar and Orissa Representative Council of Missions. It is agreed that Mrs. Atkins and he go on furlough for one year early in 1923, thus giving them the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the problems of Sunday school work in England and America, and with the leaders in those countries who will be largely responsible for the financial resources of the I.S.S.U. Mr. Atkins’ work will be carried on in the mean time by several members of the committee. Sunday school supplies will be sent out as usual from Jubbulpore. The meeting had the pleasure of receiving the deed of gift of a property in Coonoor known as Keswick Cottage, which has been generously given to the Union by Mr. E. W. Fritchley for the purpose of the erection of an institution for the training of leaders in religious education. The plan was to build on this land, but another proposition was brought before the meeting, which was adopted instead. This alternative plan was the purchase of the property adjoining the plot of land already given to the Union. This property comprises a large bungalow and two cottages all furnished, and standing upon 21 acres of land. The purchase was made possible by the Scottish Sabbath School Union who expressed the desire that ¿-1,600 already given by them for the work in India should be devoted to this project and that a further sum of ¿400 would be found by them to complete it. These generous gifts were thankfully received by the general meeting and a committee appointed to complete the purchase and to make all necessary arrangements for the future. The institution will be under the care of Mr. and Mrs. Annett, who with their Indian colleagues will use it for the holding of schools for leaders. The thanks of those who have been associated with the Union in the past and of those who carry it forward into the future were heartily ac­ corded to the Rev. W. B. Alexander of the Disciples’ Mission, and the Rev. T. H. Sheriff of the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society, who have ably borne the heavy burden of the Union’s work during transition days in addition to their ordinary duties. The meeting had to deal with some intricate and difficult problems, but one notable feature was the cordiality and unanimity that prevailed throughout. The unfailing good humour and tact of the chairman con­ tributed in no small measure to this. It is a rare thing that in such meetings so much can be accomplished with the support of all. Those present felt that a new era of valuable service is opening out before the Union that has for so long had as its special care the religions and spiritual education of the young people of India. E. A. A n n e t t , A . G . A t k i n s . CURRENT MISSION NEWS 75

SPECIAL PERIOD OF EVANGELISM, 1923

Reports from the different churches and missions during the past few years have made it quite clear that wherever a special period of intensive evangelistic effort is observed with thoroughness and enthusiasm great good results both to the churches and to those outside. Last year quite a number of reports which were received testified to the value of this period. It is a fact, however, that some of the churches which were formerly very enthusiastic about this special evangelistic work have now slackened, and are not getting the value out of it that they might do. The Evangelistic Forward Movement Committee is therefore issuing this fresh call to all the churches in South India to plan for such a definite period some time during the year. The majority of churches seem to prefer the period in March or April, while a few decide on September. We are therefore suggesting for all those churches and missions who wish to adopt the earlier period certain dates in March and April. One of the defects of this work hitherto, which has been noticed by many people, is that the length of the period is usually too short to lead to sustained and permanent work. We therefore propose this year a slightly longer period, and we are suggesting that it be divided into two portions. The earlier portion to be given up to work in the churches, and the later portion to work among those outside. Easter makes the separating point. I. Work in the Church. Period, March 18-31. The definite aims of this period should be something like the following : — 1. To lead church members to definite Bible reading, daily, private and family prayers. 2. To get them to give up bad habits and customs, particularly drink and participation in idol ceremonies, where such persist. 3. To lead men to whole-hearted consecration of life and possessions to Jesus Christ. 4. To get men to decide to make evangelistic work a part of their ordinary life programme. 5. To get a band of young people to agree to do some constructive social work for the village. WTe suggest that the latter portion of the Passion Week should be made a time of very special consecration and dedication to this task During the whole of this period there should be a daily meeting in the church for prayer and for inspiration. II. Work among those outside the church. Period, April 1-14. April 1st is Easter Sunday and so will make a good beginning for the work of evangelism, which is after all the proclamation of the Gospel of the Risen Christ. It is suggested that we should in this part of our work aim at certain objectives such as the following :— 1. To get people who have hitherto had nothing to do with the church to agree to attend Christian meetings such as the Sunday service or some small Christian study group. 2. To ask men and women individually to decide that they will pray to God daily to help them to find the truth and to follow it in their life. 3. To lead men to find in Christ the Helper and Redeemer of their life. 4. To get individuals to promise to study Christ’s life and teaching and endeavour to apply it to their own life. 5. To make a special effort to distribute as many Gospel portions and other Christian books as possible. With regard to this last item it has been reported that owing to the higher price of the Gospels the sale has fallen off very materially. This means that fewer copies of the Gospels are finding their way into the hands 7 6 CURRENT MISSION NEWS of people. One of thè reasons for this is probably that we have not been laying the same emphasis upon the sale of the Gospels in our evangelistic campaign period às we had done formerly. We should make a special point of this this year. We do not propose to issue any new leaflet of topics and suggestions for workers this year. Copies of last year’s leaflet in Tamil and Telugu are available with the C. L. S. The subject last year was Jesus the Water of Life, and we may well have this also this year. White’s Garden, Royapettah, Madras, H. A. P o p t .e y . January 17, 1923.

THE C.M.S. CRISIS A corespondent in England sends us the following, which all interested in the work of the Church Missionary Society will read with thankfulness:— The grave crisis which has for many months confronted the Church Missionary Society has been, it is believed, brought to an end through a decision now reached by its General Committee in adopting a statement which expresses a common and clear understanding on the fundamental evangelical verities. This statement unites men who differ on some questions, but are at one in these essentials. The statement declares “ unwavering acceptance of the supreme authority of the Holy Scriptures and our full belief in their trustworthiness in all matters of faith and doctrine. “ We fervently acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ to be our Lord and our God, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Who spake as never man spake, and w’ho made upon the Cross (by His one oblation of Himself once offered) a full, perfect and sufficient sacrifice, oblation and satisfaction for the sins o f the whole world, and we believe in the absolute truth of His teach­ ing, and that His authority is final. “ In the interpretation which we, as Evangelical Churchmen, place upon the Creeds and Thirty-nine Articles of Religion, we humbly believe that we have been and are being guided by the ever-present power of the Holy Spirit and by the teaching of the Holy Scriptures.” The agreement was reached in a meeting of' the Committee attended by over 6Ò0 members and the ultimate adoption of the statement was all but unanimous. It is significant that a short speech by Bishop Lander (late of Hong Kong) putting with passionate vigour the needs of the world and the insistent claims of the missionaries at the front for a united backing, revealed the fundamental unity of spirit in the committee and prepared the way for the common adoption of the statement. This feeling has found expression in a widely circulated letter written by sixteen Bishops from Japan, China, India, Africa and Persia, in which they say :— “ We write in the name of the army of men and women, European and native, who depend upon this Society for their supplies. We write on behalf of the vast multitudes who are stretching out their hands to it as never before, many of whom are literally asking to be told of the Saviour of the world. We write as those who can understand as friends at home cannot understand, the responsibility of a Society again and again in great areas alone representing the whole Church of Christ with the exception sometimes of the Church of Rome. The knowledge that the whole Society is once again, without distraction and in deepened fellow­ ship, giving itself to its great missionary work with its old warm-hearted enthusiasm and devotion, will change sorrow and fear into new strength and joy. For this we plead, believing that it will mean renewed health and life in the Society at home, and above all that it will mean saving health to multitudes abroad.” CURRENT MISSION NEWS 7 7

MISSIONS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND A step having world-wide significance has been taken by the Missionary Council of the National Assembly of the Church of England, of which the Bishop of Salisbury is chairman. In view of the national and international responsibilities that have been put upon the Council’s shoulders, the Archbishops of Canterbury and York at its suggestion have invited the Rev. Cyril Bardslev, D.D., Honorary Secretary of the Church Missionary Society, to be its Secretary. Dr. Bardsley has this week accepted the position. The importance of the work that lies in front of Dr. Bardsley can be gauged from the fact that the official relationship of the Church of England with its enormous extension all over the world will be carried on through the Missionary Council. To use a rough analogy the new Council constitutes a kind of permanent cabinet and the range of Dr. Bardsley’s work will be analogous to those of the Foreign and Colonial Secretaries of the British Government. The Missionary Council is also the expression of the fact that the Church of England recognises the central place of the missionary enterprise in the life of the Church. It will therefore be a part of Dr. Bardsley’s work to foster and create a world-outlook in the vast membership of the Anglican Church, taking full advantage of the machinery recently brought into being ; while the missionary societies remain the natural and recognized channel through which this attitude will find practical expression in service. Dr. Bardsley’s career gives him unique qualifications for this task. As head of the C.M.S. staff for the past twelve years, as a leader in the international movement for world-wide co-operation ever since the Edin­ burgh World Conference in 1910, and as a member of the International Mis­ sionary Council which is now directly representative of the non-Roman Catholic missionary work of the whole world, Dr. Bardsley has intimate know­ ledge at once of the problems and the personnel of the overseas work of the Church. The “ Visitors’ B ook ” at his home in Hampstead must be unique in its thousands of signatures of men from everj' part of the world, and there are few dioceses in Asia or Africa whose bishops and many of whose clergy have not stayed in that house, where his infectious enthusiasm and his fine camaraderie have won him friends all over the world. Dr. Bardsley, by his deputation visits in 1912 and 1913 to Canada, to China and to Japan, and in 1921-22 through the length and breadth of India, has acquired an unsurpassed first-hand knowledge of conditions in the Asiatic mission fields and in our great dominion, while as one of the secretaries of the National Mission in 1916 he kept his close touch on home conditions.

A COMRADESHIP OF LOVE An All-India Movement Lovers of India are recognizing as never before that if this great and beautiful land is to realize its high destiny to the full, it can only be in an atmosphere of love ; that is to say, an atmosphere in which love can release all the wonderful gifts that dwellers in India can bring into its treasury. At present India is divided by different languages, nationalities, castes, and sects, and such division always spells waste of wealth. Every language, every nation, every caste, and every sect has something to bring into the common treasury, but as yet each gift is hoarded in private coffers, and only love can unlock those hoards. Yet India stands at the crisis of her life history : never before has she so needed every particle of the spiritual wealth which her children possess. How is this wealth to be made available ? How can her children help their Mother now in her hour of need ? Only by spreading the atmosphere of love. 78 CURRENT MISSION NEWS

Every rude action, every boorish word spoken to one of her children, every carping, whining criticism locks out of sight some talent that might perhaps have altered the history of the Orient. How are we to guard against this impoverishment of India's untold spiritual gifts? How are dwellers in India to spread the atmosphere of love, and so release all her potential wealth ? Slander, prejudices, foolish criticism, unlovely acts, all breed dark, foul clouds of suspicion, and it is only in the clear sunlight of love that India’s statesmen will be able to reconstruct her future. Let us as individuals realize our personal responsibility : what can we do to clear the air? How can we at least avoid increasing the fogs and mists ? How can we help to let the sunshine into our part of India ? Some lovers of India, feeling very humbly, yet very intensely, their own responsibility, are banding themselves together into a Comradeship Of L o v e , a comradeship which shall include Indian and English, Hindu and Muhammadan, Christian, Jain, and Parsi, European official and Christian missionary, Brahman pandit and humble labourer, village farmer and city clerk, merchant and professional man. The comradeship is to be neither political nor missionary,neither sectarian nor racial. Nor will those who join it have to leave their ordinary daily avocations. It only aims at binding together meir and women of good will who love India in a common effort to spread everywhere the happy, trustful atmosphere of lovingkindness. It has no organization, no office bearers, and no subscription. It has, however, stringent rules :— Those who join it pledge themselves in the sacred name of Love that they themselves will strive to live always in an atmosphere of love, and particularly 1. That they will love in deed, trying every day to do something that will make someone else happy and "to show some act of courtesy to a member of another community. 2. That they will love in word, in neither speaking harshly to anyone, nor repeating any unkind slander or criticism of anyone, least of all a member of another race; but that instead they will deliberately pass on any kind thing they hear about anyone else, especially one from whom they differ. 3. That they will love in thought, sending out loving thoughts to all against whom they bear a grudge, forgiving any unkindness that may have been done to them, and abstaining from imputing any wrong motive to those from whom they differ. Lastly, in order that they may be able to carry into practice this Three­ fold Jewel of Love, in Thought, Deed, and Word, every day at some fixed hour, morning, evening, or noonday, they will deliberately for two minutes open the doors of their being, that True Love may enter in and take possession of their whole personality. Anyone who desires to link him or herself to this Comradeship of Love does so by simply signing the following declaration : — For the Sake of India, I. . . . Solemnly and Deliberately Pledge Myself to a Life o f Love in Thought, Word, and Deed.

A MOTOR TENT A missionary gives the following description of how he made a motor tent in The Missionary Review o f the World:— In due time, with the help of friends during a trip to America on furlough in 1912, the long cherished dream of the missionary—“ better transportation facilities ” —was realized in the form of a one-ton truck. The chassis came from America but the body was constructed according to my own plan in the Boys’ Industrial Home in Gujranwala. The bed is nine feet long by five feet wide. On moving days, I put my Indian motorcycle, CURRENT MISSION NEWS 79

our boxes, bedding, bed, small bureau, camp table, chairs and large water- can, made out of an old hundred-pound zinc carbide tin ; five or six small tents, with their poles, etc., for the Indian helpers, their small boxes, bedding, etc., and themselves, into this capacious truck and transport it to our new camp. The body of the truck is so constructed as to enable us by letting down the two sides and end on to supporting arms, raising the top on its four sliding corner posts so as to be high enough for us to walk about inside, letting the side and end curtains down and buttoning them securely to the floor, to transform it in a few minutes from a transporting truck to a delightful little room in which my wife and I live and work each winter season in Gurdaspur district. For eight years this truck has proved one of the most useful adjuncts in my mission work. There is almost no end to the useful purposes which it has served. Besides comprising our transporting vehicle and living quarters in camp, it has given the exhilarating pleasure of the first motor ride to thousands of people, it has drawn together crowds of hundreds and sometimes thousands of people and given us the opportunity of preaching the Gospel to them, it has proved invaluable in the Evangelistic Campaigns carried on from year to year. It has helped out in numerous ways at the annual Sialkot Convention in transporting people as well as tents, goods and provisions. It has transported almost the whole Presbytery at times both for regular stated meetings and in organizing new congre­ gations in Gurdaspur district. It has done duty as a hearse and in many other ways it has proved its wonderful utility.

WORLD CONFERENCE ON FAITH AND ORDER Everywhere Christians are recognizing that the only hope of the world is the establishment of Christ’s law of peace and righteousness and love, and that, until the churches are visibly united, they cannot proclaim that law effectively. Local efforts for partial reunion are therefore being made all over the globe, and the effort for the World Conference on Faith and Order, to prepare the way for the unity of the churches, is arousing increased interest. In Canada, the Congregationalists, Methodists, and Presbyterians have reached almost the final stage of union, and Methodists and Anglicans are appointing Commissions to confer. In England, members of the Church of England and of the Baptist, Congregational, Methodist, Moravian, and Presbyterian Churches held remarkable conferences last winter. In Australia, Anglicans, Baptists, Christians, Congregationalists, Methodists, and-Presbyterians are disscussing the matter seriously. The South India United Church and the Church of England are con­ tinuing their hopeful negotiations. The Presbyterians, Church of England, Methodists, Congregationalists and other missionaries are continuing their efforts at Kikuyu in East Africa. Informal discussions are going on in the West Indies. The Church of Scotland and the United Free Church of Scotland have almost completed their reunion. In China a National Christian Council has been formed by members, foreign and native, of most of the Christian missions, which it is hoped will prepare the way for direct efforts for one Church in China. In Egypt, members of the Church of England and the Greek Orthodox, Coptic, Syrian Orthodox, Armenian and Presbyterian Churches are continuing hopeful conferences. In Ireland the Presbyterians and the Church of Ireland are considering the matter. 8 0 CLEANING

The recognition by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of the Holy Orthodox Eastern Churches of the validity of Anglican orders is a long step toward reunion between the Eastern Orthodox Churches and the Anglican Communion. The decision of the Ecumenical Patriarchate will need the assent of the other Patriarchates and autonomous Eastern Orthodox Churches before it becomes effective. The Ecumenical Patriarchate and the Old Catholic Churches of Europe are approaching each other, and the relations between the Eastern Orthodox and the Armenian and Coptic Churches are closer. Viscount Halifax has been having conversations with Cardinal Mercier as to reunion between the Churches of Rome and England. In the United States the Episcopal Church has made canonical provisions by which its Bishops will be enabled to give to ordained ministers of other churches an Episcopal commission. While federation is not a substitute for unity, it is a step towards it, and the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America is becoming more and more effective. The Federal Council of the Free Churches in England is likewise gaining in importance and efficiency, and federation movements are well advanced in Germany and Switzerland. The Northern and Southern bodies in the United States of the Methodists, Presbyterians and Baptists are still continuing their negotia­ tions. Tw o of the largest bodies of Lutherans in the United States have united under the name of the United Lutheran Church of America, and the Evangelical Association of North America and the United Evangelical Church have just united under the name of the Evangelical Church, which has voted to destroy all records of the division which separated them many years ago. The World Conference on Faith and Order, 174, Water Street, Gardiner, Maine, U.S.A., has published, for free distribution to all who apply, pamphlets reporting some of these efforts and explaining the World Conference movement towards Christian Reunion, and a list in English, French, German and Greek of topics for the consideration of groups of Christians as preliminary to the approach to unity. The interest in Christian Reunion is especially keen in England. The Secretary has been receiving each week this autumn from fifty to one hundred cuttings on the subject from English papers. For instance, in the last week, that ending November 18, there came sixty-five, twenty-eight from religious and thirty-seven from secular papers, aggregating one thousand inches of space.

Gleaning

Young Women’s Christian Association Summer Schools.—The schools will be held at Grace Cottage, Ootacamund, Nilgiri Hills. The Dates: —April 4, House open for holiday ; April 25—May IS, School for Students and Teachers ; May 23—June 5, School for Committee members. June 8-18, Girls’ Conference. The Features:—Bible Study, Y.W.C.A. Discussions, Talks to Teachcrs, Physical Drill, Health Talks, Outdoor and Indoor Recreation, Excursions. The Cost: —To Members of the School: One Rupee registration ; Rs. 18 per week and up for room and European board ; Rs. 12 and up for room and Indian board. To guests and special students, proportionately higher fees.

P r i n t e d a t t h e W e s l e y a n M i s s io n P r e s s , M y s o r e C i t y .