(Continued from page 244.)
THOUGH the British Government has been culpably involved for generations in this iniquitous traffic, there have been men in Parliament who recognised the evil, and from time to time called attention to it. Lord Ashley, afterwards Earl of Shaftesbury, and well known as an eminent philanthropist, moved a resolution in the House of Commons in 1843, in which he asserted that the trade in opium and its growth in British India were destructive of all friendly relations between Britain and China, injurious to lawful commerce, and “utterly inconsistent with the honours and duties of a Christian kingdom,” and pled that steps would be taken as soon as possible to abolish the evil. His speech was “the first great indictment of the trade in Parliament.” He again, in 1857, renewed his attack in the House of Lords. Others took up the subject on similar lines in subsequent years, but it was not until 1891 that the assailants of the drug scored a victory. A motion, proposed by Sir J. W. Pease, was carried, as follows: “That this House is of opinion that the system by which the Indian opium revenue is raised is morally indefensible, and would urge upon the Indian Government that it should cease to grant licences for the cultivation of the poppy, and the sale of opium in British India, except to supply the legitimate demand for medical purposes; and that they should at the same time take measures to arrest the transit of Maliva opium through British territory.” This motion was followed up by another of a similar character in 1893, the result of which was the appointment of a Royal Commission to make inquiry in regard to the whole range of the opium question in India. The terms of the Commission, however, were not satisfactory to those who were thoroughly opposed to the trade. Its relation to the Chinese, which was the chief source of the controversy, was ignored. This Commission pursued its labours, and tendered its Report in 1895, with no beneficial result. With the exception of one member, it would appear as if the Commission had only been occupied in a search for apologies for the trade. Manifestly the attachment to the revenue accruing from the business prevented an impartial view of the situation. And although the Commissioners did go beyond the express terms of their commission, and get evidence from China, one is compelled to adopt the conclusion of Mr. Rowntree—that the treatment they gave to that evidence was “discreditable to a Royal Commission.”
It is agreeable, however, to observe that the subject has again been revived in Parliament, and that there is a hope that Britain—not looking at the matter from a purely mercenary point of view, but from a high moral one—will co-operate with China to secure the abolition of the traffic. The special reason for the co-operation of our country is the existence of international treaties that were entered into with China as the result of the Opium Wars. China is not entirely free to act in the matter as it pleases owing to these engagements with Britain regulating the traffic.
It is impossible for us here to enter into the many important phases of this subject that are handled in Mr. Rowntree’s book. It may be sufficient to conclude with some reference to one specially interesting aspect, namely, its bearing on missionary work. As our readers may well understand, Christian missionaries find the opium traffic and habit great bars to the progress of the Gospel. For one thing, the lamentable fact that Great Britain has been for generations the persistent importer of the poisonous drug into China, has prejudiced the Chinese against the religion of Christ which our missionaries profess to propagate. The following incident, narrated by an American writer on the Chinese question, will shed striking light on this point:—”The writer listened for some time one afternoon to a missionary addressing a large gathering of natives upon the street of an interior city of China. Near by, and upon the outskirts of the crowd, stood a middle-aged Chinese, evidently of the literary class, and having a countenance of much intelligence. Physically he was a mere walking skeleton. The tiny opium jar in his hand, the expression of his eyes, and the brown stain upon one of his fingers, all marked him as a slave to the narcotic poison. After listening a few minutes to the preacher, he turned away with an indescribable scowl of hatred on his face, and snarled out as he left: ‘You foreigners exhort us to virtue! First take away your opium, and then talk to us about your Ya Su (Jesus).'” This is the prejudice that the missionary is confronted with in every part of China, and there is not the slightest doubt that the removal of it, by action on the part of Britain, would give an extraordinary impetus to mission work, for the Chinese are not insensible to the superior character of the Gospel of Christ as compared with the teaching of their sages.
The Christ of the Gospel has indeed shown that “all power in heaven and in earth” has been given unto Him by the Father by the measure of success which has attended the work of the various missions in China, in spite of apparently insurmountable obstacles. Even the Boxer outbreak, which resulted in “the cruel slaughter both of missionaries and native converts,” has not retarded the good work. It is stated that since then “there has been an increased willingness on the part of the Chinese in many districts to listen to the evangelists of the new faith, and the number of its native adherents has grown largely.” An important part of the work of the missions has been to endeavour to cure the opium habit by medical remedies, and much good has been accomplished in this way. “The Chinese Inland missionaries alone are maintaining fifty-two opium refuges or hospitals for the special cure of the habit at the present time.” It is, however, to the divine blessing and power, exercised in connection with the use of means, that the missionaries must look for effectual assistance in this as in their other work. For the history of this department of their labours has proved that the opiumist cured simply by medicine is very liable to return to his habit again. The grace of God is the only infallible remedy.
A remarkable testimony to this is to be seen in the life of Pastor Hsi (Shee), a wonderful man, who died recently in China. His striking career has been related in two volumes by Mrs. Howard Taylor, and the narrative, written in a very attractive style, is intensely interesting. We purpose giving a sketch of the life of Pastor Hsi in a future number, and so refrain at present from entering into details. Suffice it to say meantime that this man, who was a Chinese scholar of high attainments, became a subject of the grace of God in very interesting circumstances, mainly by the reading of the New Testament; that previously he was for years a victim of the opium habit, and that his deliverance from it, after a great struggle, is an impressive testimony to the power of divine grace. Further, he became a most devoted missionary of Christ to his fellow-countrymen, and accomplished, amidst overwhelming difficulties, an eminent work for the Lord in that great country. For prayerfulness of spirit, entire dependence upon power from above, self-sacrificing toils, obedience to the example of the Redeemer, and Christian wisdom of the highest order, all combined with superior intellectual powers, Pastor Hsi stands out as an eminent epistle of our Lord Jesus Christ. We feel ashamed of our unprofitableness in reading the memorials of his life. He established many opium refuges, but his confidence for all healing of soul and body was fixed in the Lord. His work is now being taken up by others, who, we trust, are endeavouring to follow his steps in so far as he followed Christ.
As our final word meantime, let it be noted that “the United States and Russia are already bound by treaty not to import opium into China,” and that Japan, though an un-Christianised country, absolutely prohibits its importation, while other peoples are following suit. Great Britain has a grand opportunity at the present moment. The Chinese Government have issued very thorough regulations to put down the cultivation and sale of opium within ten years, and are manifestly in dead earnest in what they are about. May the Lord in His infinite mercy incline and enable our rulers to lend all the aid in their power towards the abolition of this nation-killing poison, and thus prove the honoured helpers, under God, of emancipating China from a soul-ruining slavery!
Corrections.—We regret that there were some printer’s errors in the Gaelic which appeared in last issue, and that a footnote on “The Gospel Call and the Atonement” had appended “Hugh Miller, D.D.,” instead of “Hugh Martin, D.D.”