Edinburgh, Oct. 24.
At the Scottish Churches Missionary Congress, addresses on "China—Yesterday and To-day" were delivered by the Rev. Dr. James Webster, secretary of the United Free Church Foreign Mi: sion Committee, and by the Rev. Dr.. Dugald Christie, superintendent of Mukden Medical Mission. Dr. Webster said that in his opinion the change from empire to re-ublic in China had neither brought peace to the people nor purity of administration to the Government. Civil war had been raging more or less continuously since the revolution, and graft was as rife as ever. Yet the revolution Had no doubt brought changes for good. Wor one thing the age-Tong system of examination and effete education had been abolished. the old prejudice against everything foreign had disappeared and new ideas were being explored. Christian missions had their share in bringing about whatever good results were to be found in the revolution. Speaking of the development in education, he said it had led to the liberation of the womanhood of China. To-day educated women were taking a prominent part in social, educational, industrial, and religious questions, A feature of the China of to-day was the new-thought movement among the intellectuals. This movement had sprung up within recent years among some of the best educated and most advanced young men of China. They questioned everything. They were digging at the roots of society and asking why. it was a scientific, democratic, rationalist movement. Its members were very active propagandists, and had brought to their aid some of the leading scientists of the day, men like Professor Bertrand Russell, of Cambridge, and Professor Dewey, America. The movement was utterly opposed to all religions—Christianity among the rest—classing them all as superstitions. The members of that movement were about the only active opponents that Christian missions and missionaries had in China in these days. They were not afraid of them, but the movement was a challenge to the Churches to send their very best men to present to China the other side of the shield. A remarkable change had come in the attitude of China towards missions and missionaries. He questioned if there was any class of foreign community in China more respected and esteemed to-day than the missionaries. Along with this changed attitude on the part of the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.