Madagascar[1] is one of the most interesting mission fields.
Work was begun by the London Mission in 1819, and the work of
civilization and evangelization went steadily forward till 1835,
when a period of repression and severe persecution set in, which
lasted till 1861. When the work was recommenced it was found
that the native Christians had multiplied and developed during
the harsh treatment of the 25 years. In 1869 the idols were
publicly destroyed and the island declared Christian by royal
proclamation. The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel
(1864), the Norwegian Missionary Society (1866), and the Friends’
Foreign Missionary Association joined in the work, the prosperity
of which received a severe check by the French annexation in
1896. The French authorities were hostile to the English
missionaries, and even the handing over of part of the field to
the Paris Evangelical Society did not do much to ease the situation.
Laws were first enacted against private schools, then
against elementary schools, and in 1906–1907 measures were
passed which practically closed all mission schools. Family
prayers were forbidden if any outside the immediate family
were present, and religious services at the graveside were prohibited.
Missionary work in the island has thus passed
through a peculiarly trying experience, but happier conditions
are now likely to prevail. In Mauritius and the Seychelles the
Church Missionary Society and the Society for the Propagation
of the Gospel are at work, especially among the coolies on the
sugar plantations.
The outstanding problem of African missions at least north of the Equator (south there is the Ethiopian question) is not the degradation of the black races, nor the demoralizing influences of heathen Christians, nor even the slave dealer, though all these obstacles are present and powerful. The all-decisive conflict is that between Christianity and Islam, and the Christian agencies must show much more co-operation if they are to be successful. The lines of missionary work have been, generally speaking, simple gospel preaching followed by education and industrial work. So rare were the ordinary comforts, and even necessities of life, that the latter had to take a prominent place from the beginning: the missionary had to be farmer, carpenter, brickmaker, tailor, printer, house and church builder, not only for himself but for his converts. The work of Bible translation has been particularly long and difficult; for the innumerable peoples who did not speak some form of Arabic the languages had first to be reduced to writing, and many Christian terms had to be coined.
India.[2]—The earliest missionaries to India, with the possible exception of Pantaenus of Alexandria (c. A.D. 180), were the Nestorians from Persia. The record of their work is told elsewhere (see Nestorius and Nestorians). The Jesuits came in the 16th century, but were more successful quantitatively than qualitatively; in the 18th century the Danish coast mission on the coast of Tranquebar made the first Protestant advance, Bartholomaus, Ziegenbalg (1683–1719), Plutschau and Christian Friedrich Schwartz (1726–1798) being its great names. Up to this time the chief results were that (1) Christianity had gained a footing, (2) it had continued the monotheistic modification of Indian thought begun by Mahommedanism, and (3) the futility of sporadic and fanatical proselytism had been shown. A new era began with the arrival of William Carey and the founding of the Serampur Mission (15 m. north of Calcutta), though the hostility of the East India Company made the early years of the 19th century very unproductive. When Carey died in 1834 he and his colleagues Marshman and Ward had translated the Bible into seven languages, and the New Testament into 23 more, besides rendering services of the highest kind to literature, science and general progress. They founded agricultural societies and savings’ banks, and helped to abolish suttee, infanticide and other cruelties. At Travancore in the south, Ringeltaube, an agent of the London Missionary Society, had begun a work, especially among the Shanars or toddy drawers, which by 1840 had 15,000 Christians; and the Church Missionary Society, led by Rhenius, had equal success in Tinnevelly. The Baptists, drawn by the fame of the temple of Jagannath at Puri on the east coast, established a mission in Orissa in 1821 which soon bore fruit; the Wesleyans were in Ceylon, Mysore and the Kaveri valley, the London Missionary Society at the great military centres Madras, Bangalore and Bellary, agents of the American Board at Ahmednagar and other parts of the Mahratta country around Bombay. The headquarters of Hinduism, the Ganges valley, was occupied by the Baptists, the Church Missionary Society and the London Missionary Society, these entering Benares in 1816, 1818 and 1820 respectively. Alexander Duff, a Scottish Presbyterian, had begun his great educational work in Calcutta, and Bible tract and book societies were springing up everywhere. Chaplains and bishops of the Anglican Church like James Hough in Tinnevelly, Henry Martyn in the north, Daniel Corrie in Agra, T. F. Middleton in Calcutta, and Reginald Heber all over India, were eagerly using their opportunities. In 1830 ten societies with 106 stations and 147 agents were at work; 1834 saw the founding of the Basel Mission on the west coast, the American Mission in Madura, the American Presbyterian Mission in Ludhiana. It would be impossible to trace in detail the work done by the different societies since Carey’s time. The task as it presented itself may be analysed as follows: (1) to replace the caste system and especially the oppressive supremacy of the Brahmins by a spirit of universal brotherhood and the establishment of social and religious liberty; (2) to correct and raise the standard of conduct; (3) to attack polytheistic idolatry with its attendant immoralities; (4) to replace the pantheistic by a theistic standpoint; (5) to elevate woman and the pariah. Besides these matters which concerned Hinduism there was the problem of converting sixty million Mahommedans. The chief methods adopted have been the following: (1) vernacular preaching in the large towns and on itineraries through the rural districts, a work in which native evangelists guided by Europeans and Americans played a large part. (2) Medical missions, which have done much to break down barriers of prejudice, especially in Kashmir under Dr Elmslie of the Church Missionary Society, and in Rajputana at Jaipur under Dr Valentine of the United Presbyterians. (3) Orphanages, in which the Roman Catholics led the way and have maintained their lead. (4) Vernacular schools, a good example of which is seen in the American Board’s Madura Mission. (5) English education, in which the missionary societies have amply supplemented the efforts of the government, outstanding examples being the Madras Christian College (Free Church of Scotland), so long connected with the name of Dr William Miller, the General Assembly of Scotland’s Institution at Calcutta, founded by Duff, Wilson College, Bombay (Free Church of Scotland), and St Joseph’s College (Roman Catholic) at Trichinopoly. Work of this kind is followed up in some centres by lectures and conversations with educated Hindus. The Haskell Lectureship, which grew out of the Parliament of Religions in Chicago, belongs here. (6) Female education and zenana work. (7) Uplifting work among the Panchamas or low-castes, which has been strikingly successful among the Malas (American Baptists) and the Madigas (London Missionary Society) of the Telugu-speaking country, who come in mass movements to the Christian faith. (8) Missions among aboriginal tribes, e.g. the Kols and Santals of Chota Nagpur (Berlin Gossner Mission and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel), and the tribes of the Khassia Mountains east of Bengal (Welsh Calvinistic Methodists). (9) Christian literature, in which connexion the name of Dr John Murdoch will always be honourably remembered. (10) Pastoral work and the care of the churches.
The great changes that have been wrought in India, politically, commercially, intellectually and religiously, by the combined action of the British government and the Christian missions, are evidenced among other tokens by the growth of such societies as the Arya Samaj and the Brahmo Samaj. Orthodox Hindus, especially those whose social status and very livelihood are imperilled by the revolution, have shown their alarm either by open opposition, subjecting converts to every sort of caste coercion, or by methods of defence, e.g. Hindu tract societies and young men’s associations, which are modelled on
