LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3006, 25 October 1911, Page 10

LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

REPORTS FROM CPIINA

FRENCH RULE IN MADAGASCAR. Misa Ford, of Shanghai, and the Rev T. Lord, of Madagascar, who are at present doing deputation work in 'Dunedin on behalf of the London Missionary Society, pdclressed .1 meeting on the 17th inst. Mr Peter _ Banr occupied the " chair, and said, he was glad to notice that the meeting was representative of the various churches.- Miss Ford was one of the band of young women who had been sent from Australia to the foreign mission field. The. Rev. Mr Lord had visited Dunedin twice before, and they were very pleased to see him once more. Miss Fcrd referred to the present troubles in China and to the great Boxer movement of 1900, which was really a religious movement. It was a movement something like that of the anarchists in western countries, and in their meetings the Boxers openly worshipped the devil. In those days the Chincce Govefrnment thought the missionaries were foreign spies, but now they knew they .were not. Speaking of recent changes in .China, she said that in 1900 there was only one daily paper in Shanghai, but now there were 10 dailies and many ethers. Railways, telephones, and telegraphs were being extended everywhere, and there were now 3500 cities with pest offices. Much also had been done during the last 10 years in the political and educational world. There had also been great social and moral progress. Rice crops were now being grown where the poppy used to flourish. All the opium shops in Shanghai were closed in one diay and the owners compensated by the Government. The trade was continued in the foreign quarter, which was beyond the Chinese jurisdiction; but there, too, it was being stamped out. There, was a strong movement against the cruel custom of footbinding, and two years ago an edict"*went forth from the throne saying that footbinding must cease. More recently a further edict had been sent out declaring foetbinding to be punishable. Active steps were also being taken by the. Government against, slavery, though that was not yet made punishable. For many inenths last year great trouble had been unti<"ipated in Shanghai. The rebellion in Portugal nad altered the attitude of the Government, and it agreed to have a parliament opened in three years' time. The present rising had commenced at Wuchang, which was the old centre of Government; and there, as far as could be gathered from the cablegrama the new reformers wanted to set up a republic. Hankow, which was juist across the river from Wuchang, was one of the chief centres of China where Dr John had worked for very many years. - The London Missionary Society had a very Large work ■there, with hundreds of churches, and the work no doubt would be stopped. This rising, however, was not a rising against foreigners. J3ince 1900 the people seemed to realise trial; foreigners, especially missionaries, could not be expelled from their country. She referred to a great missionary conference recently held in Shanghai, as a result of which the various denominations had agreed to band together as they had never done before for evangelistic work throughout the whole of China. There was always an uneasy uncertainty about Chinese affairs as a great movement might rise very suddenly. The Government had coped successfully with great rebellions in the past. The work of the missions was going on splendidly, and their progress had been specially marked since 1900. Wherever there was an educational opening the missionaries were there. Many of the people of China to-day were realising that nothing could help their country but Christianity. Even if more persecutions did come out of this rebellion they were quite prepared for it The Chinese were .extremely faithful and loyal. The Rev. Mr Lord said he had very pleasant memories of previous visits to Dunedin. They were all glad to hear of the triumphs of the Gospel, but he took it that also they were wot indisposed to listen to some of the trials and difficulties of mission work. Madagascar was a French colonial possession. An administrator who had become friendly to the missionaries was succeeded by a Governor-general of an entirely different stamp. He declared that justice was the one great passion of his breast, but before 12 months had passed they got some startling revelations of what he considered justice. At the same time the speaker made it plain that the French Government had done a good deal for Madagascar, for instance in the matter of roads and railways, police organisation 1 , and a postal system. The thing that had caused the missionaries anxiety and surprise was that this governor had thought it wise to interfere with the religious life and beliefs of the" people. He had taken steps which had resulted .in, the closing of four-fifths of the mission schools throughout Madagascar, Roman Catholic and Protestant alike. In a pamphlet, understood to be inspired by the governor and circulated through France, many strange and startling charges were made against the missionaries. He disliked the idea of a penny piece being spent in religious work. The speaker quoted and refuted a number of these remarkable statements. The pamphlet said that Protestant influence tended directly towards a native Malagasy church, and that would be a menace to French authority. The governor held that missions were not only useless

but dangerous. In. one case the governor

made the mistake of giving a reason in support of the allegations he made, and refexed to a native code of laws made in 1881 as showing that the Malagasy were naturally virtuous and required no missionaries. The speaker said he had been present at the promulgation of that code of laws, which were intended for a very simple state of society. They marked a great advance, and they were drawn up by a Christian prime minister and promulgated by a Christian queen. They were a striking proof of the upliftin.fr influenos of Christianity. This governor prevented the operation of the Young Men's Christian Association in Antananarivo on the ground that he disliked any association of natives for any purpose whatsoever. The mission schools had had a splendid influence on the natives, but the governor bitterly hated the _ idea of the children being taught the Christian religion. He issued an edict ordering that all buildings used as churches must cease to be used as schools. As a result" fourfifths of the schools were closed, and tens of thousands of the Malagasy boys and girls were unable to obtain an education. There was a law in Madagascar that no church was to_ built or repaired without official per mission, and the governor used this to close many churches, though some of them he was compelled to reopen later. In a variety of ways the governor showed that he would like to have closed every church in the island. He had a very strong objection 'to the idea of native agents standing and speaking or ■ preaching to their fellows. Mr Lord gave an interesting and amusing _ outline of a native sermon from the original notes of the preacher. The outlook for the missions Was, in spite of their troubles, very bright, he said, and the native Christians were not going to be bluffed or frowned out of their religion. Mission work in Madagascar was not closed because a number of schools had been closed, and the people were not being cowed or frightened by the attitude of officials. They meant to abide by their faith, and would bo found faithful in the face of any persecution.