and Social Progress A Sociological Study of Foreign Missions By the Students' Lecturer on Missions, Princeton, 1893 and 1896; Author of PREFACE THE attempt to collate the manifold results of modern missions, and to present in an orderly and comprehensive survey their bearings upon social progress, is a task which has not been free from difficulties; nor has it been even thus imperfectly accomplished, without patient and exacting labor. The original plan of issuing this work in two volumes, made before the magnitude of the undertaking was realized, has now been changed, and it will appear in three volumes of corresponding size, the last of which will contain the four remaining divisions, or groups, of Lecture VI., and also extended statistical summaries giving a detailed survey of missionary operations throughout the world. The student will observe that the full force of the demonstration presented in this treatise does not depend alone upon the measure of social transformation which has been actually accomplished by missions up to the present time, although there is nothing to fear even now from that test, however searching. The argument rests rather upon the evidence of a clear trend or tendency in missionary activities to work for social betterment, and a consequent reasonable assurance concerning the ultimate outcome. If it can be made apparent, on the basis of evidence now discoverable, that the continued success of missionary effort will be almost certain to secure results similar but more decisive than those already outlined, then the hidden glory of missions comes to light. Their power to transform the higher phases of environment and to supply forces which will be effective in modifying and directing social development is thus sufficiently attested. If the existence of a certain definite purpose on God's part to benefit mankind is assured, and His adaptation of means to the end in view is evident; if at the same time progress towards the accomplishment of His designs is manifest, to an extent which justifies the conviction that He has inaugurated a movement which He intends to carry through to a final issue, then unbelief may well give place to certitude. We may quietly fulfil our task in a spirit of hearty and cheerful obedience, leaving the question of results with God. Faith when thus supported and established need never falter. It is not necessary to the validity of the argument, nor would it be fair or right, to claim that missions represent the only agency working in the interests of civilization, thus excluding or minimizing the coöperation of a wise and upright government policy, whether foreign or native, and of honorable commercial enterprise. Christianity has its own sphere and its distinct mission. It works steadily in the direction of moral enlightenment and discipline, and at the same time arraigns the evils and corruptions of society in a spirit which seeks their reformation or extinction. In its special domain of the higher life of the soul its influence is unsurpassed, and its power is superior to law or force; yet a righteous administration on the part of civil rulers is a coöperating instrumentality of immense value. Where a wise and liberal policy on the part of colonial officials or native rulers acts in sympathy and harmony with missionary effort, and in its own sphere guarantees civil and religious freedom, generous economic privileges, and just legislative enactments, with an open door for native progress, the advance in social betterment is sure to be greatly accelerated. The service of missionaries, although a quiet factor in the growth of civilization, making no great stir in the world, produces effects which are of decisive import in social, and even national, development. When we consider the comparatively small number of laborers-only a few thousand, widely dispersed in many lands, and in the case of medical missionaries only a few hundred-the results are remarkable in their volume and dynamic force. This, however, is a point which may well be left to the judgment of intelligent readers, who, as they scan these pages, will recognize hidden currents of power revealed in missionary influence, and discover marvelous sequences of spiritual forces which work and give no sign until suddenly-sometimes unexpectedlymighty social changes come quietly to pass and silently join the march of history. In a sense altogether unique, Christian missionaries may be regarded as the makers of the twentieth-century manhood of advancing races. They stand for upward social movements among backward peoples. There are indications that strong and earnest minds in Christian circles fully recognize this fact, and regard the foreign mission enterprise with deepening interest and ampler vision. The transcendent significance of the purpose of God is becoming more apparent; the sublimity of the task as a divinely appointed method, its power as a divinely commissioned agency, its increasing momentum as a world |