Page:China's spiritual need and claims.djvu/32

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18
Sphere of one Missionary.

the reader to realise the number of persons we suppose each missionary to reach, the following statistics are given as a standard of comparison. On this assumption, speaking in round numbers—

Bradford containing 183,032 inhabitants, would have 2 men
Brighton containing 107,528 inhabitants, would have 1 man
Bristol containing 206,503 inhabitants, would have 2 men
Leeds containing 309,126 inhabitants, would have 3 men
Liverpool containing 502,425 inhabitants, would have 5 men
Manchester containing 341,508 inhabitants, would have 4 men
Newcastle containing 145,225 inhabitants, would have 2 men
Nottingham containing 186,656 inhabitants, would have 2 men
Sheffield containing 284,410 inhabitants, would have 3 men
Edinburgh containing 228,190 inhabitants, would have 2 men
Glasgow containing 511,532 inhabitants, would have 5 men

Such a comparison will make it sufficiently obvious that no missionary, even with the help of his native brethren, could adequately evangelize 100,000 individuals. A recent article in "The Regions Beyond" has so strikingly shewn the difficulty of reaching large numbers, that we quote the following paragraphs:—

"We must remember that human powers are very limited, and that the most earnest missionary can only reach a certain number with his message. No men could preach more frequently or to larger audiences than Messrs. Moody and Sankey, the beloved and honoured American evangelists now labouring in our great metropolis. The halls in which they preach hold about five thousand. The crowded audiences which fill them strike the mind with an overwhelming sense of the solemnity of the task of proclaiming the word of life to such a mass of human beings. Filled four times on Sunday, and nine or ten times in the week besides, sometimes with men, sometimes with women, and sometimes with mixed audiences, we may presume that in the course of each fortnight's mission to a given locality, the evangelists preach and sing the gospel to perhaps 25,000 different individuals.

"They have already completed five such missions in different parts of London, and hope to hold ten more, if the Lord permit, before they leave.

"Two halls are occupied alternately, the one being taken down and re-erected while the other is being used. No- time is lost between the missions. The day after the work at Stratford ends, that at New Cross begins, and so on.

"The strain on the evangelists of thirteen such services, each lasting two hours on an average, is very great indeed. Unless they were men of iron constitution, in splendid health and spirits, they could not stand it at all; and, moreover, unless they were backed up by abundant and efficient assistance, even their tremendous energies could not accomplish a tithe of what they do accomplish. The movement happily is thus backed up. Active and competent helpers of one sort or other may be reckoned by the hundred. Committee-men and secretaries; choir leaders and choirs; assistant preachers and Christian workers; ladies and gentlemen; ministers and young converts; all help to water the word and bring in the sheaves, whilst money almost ad libitum is freely forthcoming that the people may hear the gospel. Architects, contractors, writers,