The Light of the Morning. By Mary E. Darley. (Marshall
Brothers.)—This is a story of persistent effort which, after some years of apparent failure, is now beginning to show results. We cannot profess to be quite clear about the right course of action for missionaries to take. On pp. 165-68 there is given a strong appeal for protection made to the British Government. One of the points is "that tho rights of native Christians should be insisted upon, and true religious liberty obtained for them." "True religious liberty" is a very comprehensive ex- pression. It does not exist in any country under unfettered Mahommedan rule ; it does not exist in Russia. Have we any more right to demand it for Chinese Christians than we have to say to the Sultan, "You must impose no penalty on the Moslem who abandons Islam " ; or to the Czar, "You must leave the Stundists in peace " ? Apart from this question, there is much that is most interesting in this book. A Chinaman makes a very sturdy confessor.
Previous page
