A CHINA MISSIONARY'S VIEW.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7410, 12 August 1895, Page 4

A CHINA MISSIONARY'S VIEW.

CRITICISM OF GREAT BRITAIN'S POLICY. The Rev, George Nicoll, of the China Inland Mission, who spent 15 years in mission work in China, and witnessed the Itchang riots some years ago (well known in Gisborne), is at present in Wellington. He is acquainted with Kucheng and the neighborhood, and is of opinion that the Society of Vegetarians which is responsible for the outrage is an isolated one. In an address on Wednesday night he said that in June last: Archdeacon Wolff wrote from the mission that after an experience of 33 years in China, he had never known such an interest to have been awakened in the Christian religion as existed at that time over, the whole territory. The Missionary Society was unable to comply with the many requests for teachers. The people seemed to have suddenly discovered their " idolatry," and offered their hearts to the Lord. The societies as a rule restricted themselves to vegetable diet, fe ' j that they might not take life, but '* ° particular one evidently had f" mis else for its object, The - ' the Kucheng stat*"" uiissionaries on with great »•" .^ A had previously met been'"" .access. Miss Newcombe had v • .v the country some seven years, and was a devoted worker, though a weakly woman. Miss Gordon, of Ipswich, had : baen connected with the mission for about five years. Dr Griffith John, another missionary, in a recent letter wrote that the late war had induced a wonderful change iv the demeanor of the Chinese officials towards the missionaries. Travelling had never been safer or more pleasant. Though the massacre would no doubt give rise to great feelings of repugnance and hatred of the Chinese on the part of the British, it should be remembered how we j had. treated .the Chinese.' In the days of the opium war, British soldiers murdered far more Chinese men and women than the Chinese had ever done as to Europeans, and furthermore had forced upon them this deadly drug. England had been taking millions of pounds out of the country and giving nothing in return but opium, which was gradually destroying the moral vigor and usefulness of the Empire. He believed that the opium habit was largely responsible for the non-success of the Chinese in the recent war with Japan, because the soldiers were largely opium smokers. The death-rate from the effects of opium one . season in a certain district was from 20 to to 30 every morning. The guilt of these deaths lay at our door, and, though we might feel unkindly and bitter towards these barbarians who had massacred Christian missionaries, we had much to be ashamed of for our treatment of them. The remedy was to stop the opium traffic and send more missionary laborers into the country to preach the Gospel, although it would probably mean the sacrifice of further lives. The heathen Chinese were taught from childhood to hate foreigners, and it was for the missionaries to teach them better. In the last five years 481 male and 672 female missionaries had buen sent into the country, and had done an enormous amount of Christianising work. He asked for the prayers of his audience for the preservation of those who were still carrying on the work, because news of the present massacre would spread like wildfire through the^whole country, and possibly incite the population in other districts to similar acts of horror and violence.

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