25th November.
-THE controversy at present agitate ing mission circles, as to the extent to which missionaries and their converts interfere in lawsuits, is one which, on all sides, is regarded as of the first importance. The native officials are full of it, and- want to know how best to.rectify this abuse. At the recent trenoial examinations, when the wisdom of whole provinces was stored up in the Examination Halls, like water from a thousand springs in a reservoir, one of the taps applied was question on this topic. Unfortunately, the resulting trickle of wisdom as altogether too slender to be of any. practical value. When Sir James Mackay was engaged on his Commercial Treaty, the Chinese Commissioners were exceedingly anxious to flavour it with a few missionury anti-abuse items, which they had with them made and ready. Sir James wisely contrived to get the discussion of this matter postponed toa more convenien! season. However gingerly the Commissioners might tackle commercial abuses, there would have been no call to accuse them of a lack of zeal concerning missionary ones had the question been open to discussion, But certain of the missionary body are as warm as the Chinese. themselves about it. The Shanghai Missionary Alliance officially says "Unworthy men, by making insincere professions, enter the church, and seek to use their connection to interfere with the ordinary course of law in China. We all agree such conduct is entirely reprehensible, and we desire-it 10 be known that we give no support to thisunwarrantable practice. On this account we desire to state, for the information of all, that the Protestant Churc! does not wish to sin cases. All cases between Christians and non-Chris-tious must be settled in the Courts lin the ordinary way. Officials are ed pon to' fearlessly and impar-Hy administer justice to all within their jurisdiction! Native Christians forbidden to use the Church or its officers in en they appear before' the f strengthening their posi-
magistrates, ete."
Peru ps the most complete contri-ion 9 Ulus discussion we have yet seen, is found in the report of the Aankow Missionary Association Meeting, which appeared yesterday in our calumss, The various speakers look at the question from all sides, with the usual result that their apparently contradictory statements now make it exceedingly difficult for outsiders to know what to think about a matter that, at first, seemed plain and simple enough. Itis no longer a question standing by itself, like a thistle by the roadside which may be cut down ata stroke. It is more like a thicket of thorns, whose roots and branches are hopelessly entangled with everything else that grows in the field. Still, the following conclusions which we draw are probably not far on considering this, and similar questions, the " personal equation must never be lost sight of. Beciuse the Chinese officials strenuously insist on a thing, it by no means follows that all they sty about it is gospel trath, They are past masters in the art of juggling With fictions, and never d" themselves more justice than when engaged in stuffing. a few confiding foreign functionaries with the east wind. Neither are missionary statements to be accepted without question. Certain men are naturally strong in emphasis and, in stating facts, are apt to overstate them. Said the man to his friends: "I hetieve in plain sp-och, an'! always call a spade a spade." Said the friend to the man: " Pou! you always call a spade a sanguinary shovel." In such cases it is necessary to asozrtain indep2ndently what size of spade is covered by that forcible term. When we are told that this interferenc> on the pw of missionaries and Christians' with aw cases does moe harm than all the good mission work can do, that missionaries place their converts above the law and back them up in law-breaking; that mission stations are dens of sedition, and chiefly used as an agency for doing mischief to harml.ss heathen, &e., we my safely wi down as s0 much sanguinary shovel. The statements plainly cannot be true, or the honest men who make them would long ago, putting sackcloth on their joins and anointing their heads with ashes, have taken the first boat for home.
2—No a'temps seems to have been made as yet to ascertain with any measure of certainty the extent to which the abuse complained of prevails, The evidence offered is entirely contradictory. One says all Protestants engige in it, another, that Protestants never d", but the Roman Catholics always, Dr. Griffich John says, and be is not one who talks at random, that the ewery is a gross exaggeration, and that, out of 10,000 Protestaat converts in Centra! China, only four cases of the abuse have come under his notice, Clearly enough the first thing to be done is to ascertain the actual facts. This ought not ce be difficult task, All she missionaries ina province might easily be asked to state how many cases they know of where missionaries or their converts interfered in legal basines which did not concern them. The Consuls might also ask the Chines: officials for similar information; and, once the actual facts are known, it
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.