COMBACONUM

[s. 198] : The most sacred town in situated 22 miles N. E. of Tanjore in the most fertile part of the Cauvery River delta. Population (1901), ^9,673, ninety-five per cent, of whom are Hindus. Station of the Leipzig Mi ionary Society (1856), with (1900) 1 mi ionary and his wife, 12 native workers, 10 chapels, 7 elementary schools, 1 high school, and 664 profe ing Christians. Madras, India; COMBE. See Paramaribo, of which it is part, for joint statistics. COMITY of Mi ions Comity implies courtesy and kindly consideration and sympathy shown: 181 to others. The comity of nations is defined in the dictionaries as “that friendly and mutual courtesy under which various beneficial acts and recognitions, not obligatory, take place between nations.” A certain self-restraint or even self denial accompanying such kindly courtesy is suggested by this definition. Since Christians do not feel self-denial in doing kindly deeds for fellow Christians, we must modify the definition Interdenominational com comity of mi ions, is that friendly and mutual courtesy under which various beneficial acts and recognitions take place between mi ionary societies or mi ionaries of different organizations because they are working for one purpose under the one Master and Lord, slightly in this place. ity of mi ionaries, or Jesus Christ. In the presence of the principle of love to all men explained and enforced by Jesus Christ, there is hardly need to point out other reasons why mi ionaries struggling with a gigantic task in an unsympathetic multitude should be kindly and courteous to one another. Yet other elementary factors enter into the obligation to cultivate comity in the enterprise of mi ions. These are underlying truths such as God’s unswerving purpose that His word shall be as the rain which waters the whole earth, making it to bud and bring forth, and give seed to the sower and bread Because of that eternal purpose to the eater. the work of di eminating knowledge of the Gospel is one and indivisible. Again, the effective agency in this work is God’s word and not man’s deductions from it. Hence the resulting fruitfulne of barren lands shall be to Jehovah not to the men who are used as God’s instruments in the work, but to Jehovah for a name. Another of these elementary factors is the aim of mi ions. This aim is not to publish a human philosophy of the plan of salvation. It is to make Jesus Christ known to those who know Him not, in order that they may yield allegiance to Him and follow Him. In such a work all evangelical mi ions are united, becoming branches of a single, vast enterprise in which self-will of men must be subordinate to the King. This implies that the heresy must be resisted which would rate differences of interpretation and outward practise as a division of Christen dom. Denominational differences cannot destroy unity of purpose and action unle the spirit of self-will has taken the place of the Spirit of Christ as the impelling power. Those who are in Christ are one body. The conclusion is irresistible that Warneck has struck a right note in urging upon all evangelical mi ionaries the point that when evangelical denominations are admitted to “po e such a measure of truth as is sufficient to show a sinner the way of salvation,” believing that salvation is not by any church but by the Lord Jesus Christ, comity of mi ions is the logical consequence. All those who, in love to Jesus Christ, labor for the extension of His kingdom are fellow workmen in the one undertaking that is directed by the Divine purpose. Comity of Mi ions, then, implies on the part of the mi ionary: 1. truly affectionate sympathy for all others who seek to advance the Kingdom; 2. Readine to aid such fellow work- — A ers in their problems and difficulties; and 3. Revulsion from any impulses to foster selfish aims at the expense of other Christian laborers. In other words, Comity of Mi ions is the application of the Golden Rule throughout interdenominational relations. Colar Comity It is the exhibition by mi ionary workers of those very principles of love for God and man which they seek to commend to the adoption of heathen and Mohammedans. A practical result of comity to the lonely worker in a heathen land is a ma of kindly sympathy, of experience, and of fraternal support from fellow workers of other names and nations; for those off by their calling from home influences it provides a spiritual environment; it places the resources of every mi ion at the service of all, and it so unites the mi ionary interests in any heathen land that they cannot who are cut be attacked with impunity nor disregarded with AVhile a lack of comity produces distrust, anxiety, resentment over injuries, and waste of strength, the practise of comity brings to all mi ionaries in any land a quiet confidence, a mutual support in prayer, a mutual trust, and a courage strengthened by the sense that the great aim is being furthered by many instead of by few. The truth has been gradually receiving emphasis in the mi ion field that converts in Asia and Africa are not to be taught to copy the customs and dre and mannerisms of Europe and America. Little by little this rule will be extended until it also deprecates the teaching of the forms and customs of merely European or American types of Christianity. For the rule of mi ions requires subordination of personal preftemerity. erences, of private interests, and of national or denominational rivalries to the general interests of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. The demand of this great interest is similar in kind to current demands for the subordination of personal rivalries and interests in great busine enterprises to the needs of economical administration and larger strength and busine succe . The time has come when lack of comity imperils the whole enterprise. Dr. W. Newton Clark has said: “It is the work of foreign laborers in the East to bring into existence a native evangelizing force and a body of Christians that can permanently maintain Christianity in all the future.” But when this delicate and important work is anywhere in progre , if another denomination appears in that place claiming a mi ion to preach some denominational peculiarity of observance, it not only throws despite on the whole teaching of the earlier mi ionaries in the field, but, by supplying the people with numerous foreign preachers, it tends to destroy the po ibility of growth of infant churches into self-reliant and permanent aggre ivene for the Kingdom. To a layman, accustomed to consider the claims of courtesy in dealing with strangers and even with rivals, it may seem incredible that Christians engaged in this struggle for a new race type in the midst of hostile ma es of people are not always able to suppre personal tastes for the sake of such a But lack of the spirit of comity can some cause. times be detected even in the periodicals which represent the mi ionary societies. These sometimes declare that a territory as large as New York State depends for light upon a single mi ionary. In actual fact a dozen mi ionaries are in the district besides the one referred to, but they are not within the circle of vision of the writer, because they belong to another denominaOr in another of these magazines one may read the report of a mi ionary who accompanies his list of the year’s additions to his church with tion. the naive explanation that the number would Comity have been more, had not all been won from the church of another denomination — “since it takes twice as much effort to convert one who is already a Christian as it does to convert a heathen.” Such peculiarities of mi ionary literature suggest the direction of the selfish discovirtesy and unkindne sometimes practised by mi ionaries toward those of another denomination. i\Iany instances might be cited of the entrance of some narrow enthusiast into the mi ion field of another evangelical denomination to ply the church members with objections to some detail of the teaching by which they have been brought to Christ, and to present with feverish industry enticements to enter a different fold. Then some veteran mi ionary, aghast at such intrusion, writes liome in humiliation, “Men whom I baptized in infancy thirty years ago, and whom I have lovingly nurtured into Christian manhood, are now being invited by these newcomers, who have neither called on me nor seen me, to canva the question whether or not I am a minister of Clirist.” Moved by such a spirit of discourteous rivalry, the intruding mi ionary gathers up native workers who have been dismi ed for cause, and church members who are under discipline, and lavishes upon them sympathy for the harshne with which they have been treated. The case has happened more than once that a rival enterprise, entering a field long cultivated, has taken up and trusted a native helper dismi ed for grave misconduct. The act causes scandal in the older church and double scandal when the unrepentant sinner, thus encouraged to be bold, repeats his misconduct in Such intrusions work farhis new position. reaching harm to the general cause of the Kingdom. A clear-headed mi ionary, grieved in soul at the short-sighted ne of those who can see no field so attractive as one which is already occu”China can never be Christian i zed pied, says: on the principle of putting half a dozen denominations together in one town. It is too big and too hard-headed.” This contempt of comity causes what the late Dr. A. C. Thompson called “evangelistic anarchy.” It affects not unbelievers but Christians; it is an utterly needle waste of forces, and it imperils the welfare of the Church as a whole. This blind and heartle proceeding is an outrage which, by contrast, throws emphasis upon both the meaning and the beauty of comity of mi ions. Happily, discourtesy is not the rule of evandenominations on the mi ion field. Brotherly love is the rule. To quote Dr. A. C. Thompson again: “In general. Christian brother gel i cal hood is nowhere so warmly felt as among laborers from different sections of the Church, toiling in the same great harvest-fields of heathendom.” The veteran expert on mi ion theory and practise, Warneck, says: “The concord between mi ionaries of the different societies is greater than the discord; the esteem shown on all sides is stronger than the distrust, and respect for one another’s bounds is more general than infraction of them.” When infringements of comity occur through inadvertence or insufficient information, kindly negotiations may often save the day; as, for instance, when a few years ago the Reformed Church in America had its Arcot field in India entered for a sectarian raid by another zealous denomination. The Society calmly explained to the intruder’s superiors the effects of such intru- 183 and these wise and Christian men at home promptly ordered the indiscreet agent to leave the Arcot field and to save his energies for sion, enlightening the heathen. From the beginning of modern mi ions attempts have been made to secure full practical application on the mi ion field of the principle of comity of mi ions. A favorite experiment has been to attempt delimitation of fields or spheres of influence. The natural feeling underlying such efforts led the Baptist (U. S.) Triennial Convention, as long ago as 1835, when contemplating an enlargement of their enterprise of foreign mi ions, to authorize the board of managers to establish new mi ions in every unoccupied field. The the or}’ of territorial delimitation has generally suggested that in fields already occupied mi ionaries be instructed to keep out of the districts where others are laboring, and that in new fields mi ionary societies arrange among themselves bounds within which each will conduct operations. It is then a umed that priority of occupation must bar other denominations from entering territories so a igned. The action of Abraham and Lot in dividing Canaan is often urged as a model to be followed by mi ionary societies. Rev. Dr. Alexander Duff, on seeing the envious glances cast by some of his colleagues toward a prosperous field occupied by another society, said: “I would as soon leap into the Ganges as to think of going to Tinnevelli except as a brother to see the good work that is going on.” A striking instance of a similar comity was seen a few years ago in the Island of Fernando Po. The island was once occupied by the Baptist Mi ionary Society (England), until it was expelled by the Spanish Government. After many years people in one part of the island asked the Primitive Methodists (England) to send mi ionaries for their instruction. People in another part of the island asked the Baptist Mi ionary Society to send mi ionaries. About the same time Bishop Crowther, of the CMS, hearing that there was now toleration in the island, went there with a view to opening mi ionary work. Residents in the island immediately begged the Bishop to send them preachers, and put into his hands $1,000 toward the expense But when the Baptists, of building a chapel. who had a claim of former occupancy, and the Bishop, who had a claim of present readine , heard that mi ionaries of the Primitive Methodist Society were already on the way, they both withdrew; the $1,000 was given back to its donors, and when the Methodists arrived they found a clear field. Similar cases abound of territorial divisions and of spheres of influence respected the different societies. by Recent action respecting mi ion fields in Porto Rico and the Philippines, taken in conference together by the several American mi ionary societies, seems to show that this method of securing the fruit of comity is practical and effective. Dr. J. C. Gibson, of Swatow (in Mi ion Problems and Mi ion Methods) has published a diagram showing in a very telling way the waste of legitimate influence by the mi ionary enterprise through crowding centers of influence too closely together. Yet, notwithstanding all that can be said in favor of the plan of territorial lines which aim to secure, observance of comity by keeping denominations apart, the result is often satisfactory. Where a mi ionary society is laboring among people of which some clans branch off into a region inhabi- 183 ted by people of another race and language, and already occupied by another society, it claims the right to followup the people, disregarding merely territorial divisions. The pa ing of boundaries is conscientiously defended as nece ary in cases lilie that of the Reformed Presbyterian mi ionaries to the Nusairiyeh in North Syria and Cilicia, of the mi ionaries of the Methodist Episcopal Church among low caste people of the Narbada Valley in India, and of mi ionaries to the Jews everywhere. Furthermore, with the increase of Anglican communities, both native and foreign, in India, the Church of England has decided (in 1900) that mi ionary agreements as to “spheres of influence” can no longer be observed. The Church of England must work under the usual principles of parish and diocese in territory whicli is part of the British Empire. Moreover, aside from these cases of objection to the theory of setting off districts and spheres of influence, the plan is not entirely effective in practise. The real end sought through such divisions of territory, besides avoidance of overlapping, and wastefulne , is relief from injury through disregard of the principle of comity. But those who will not regard the principle of comity will certainly not regard territorial limitations that exist on paper only. A source of many violations of comity on the mi ionary field is discontent of native workers with the rules of the mi ion, and especially with those tending to develop self-support in the churches. It sometimes happens that such malcontents offer to transfer their service to mi ionaries of another denomination. It requires both coolne and common sense to refuse such applicants. And yet to accept them without close scrutiny will be unkind and unwise. In 1838 native workers of the Church Mi ionary Society in India, having been dismi ed for cause, offered themselves, together with the field and its equipment, to the London Mi ionary Society. Of course the offer was refused. At a later period an able native minister in the employ of the ABCFM in Turkey became di atisfied and appealed to the Church Mi ionary Society, offering to convey his whole congregation to the Anglican Church if a mi ionary could only be sent to teach them. The CMS refused to enter the field of the ABCFM, and after a time the party, which had vainly hoped to profit by sectarian feeling, returned to its former connection. Many attempts have been made to secure a general adoption by the mi ionary societies of rules looking to the erection of barriers which will prevent one denomination from becoming a house of refuge for church members under discipline in another, and salary from becoming a lodestone to draw men from their posts. The case has even arisen where enactments have been preventing adherents from applying uncomplimentary names to the adherents of sought another mi ion. As a means of settling such grievances, the establishment of “boards of conciliation” by the different mi ions has often been proposed. The proposal has never met with general favor. For all such troubles of the mi ionary a sincere adoption of the principle of comity would be a sufficient remedy, securing the same ends as a cumbersome board of conciliation. Discu ions of these various plans for securing mutual regard among mi ionaries and mi ionary societies have proved the value of regular Comity conferences between mi ionaries of different denominations. Such conferences are a regular event in India, China, Japan, South Africa, etc., and similar conferences are established between tlie officers of mi ionary societies in Germany, Holland, Scand in a via, Great Britain, and the North American Continent. These Interdenominational Conferences have proved potent agencies for fostering comity of mi ions. It now seems that what territorial limitations and detailed rules as to the minutiae of mi ionar}’ practice have so far failed to secure in the way of mutual confidence and consideration is in a fair way to be secured tlirough acquaintance and face to face conferences. It is now clear that, when mi ionaries of different denominations become acquainted with each other, they see that the aim of all is the same, and tlie spirit of all, tlie spirit of the Master. One of the more recent results of this mutual fellowship between mi ions of different denominations is the discovery that various forms of cooperation between societies are po ible, and also advantageous to all. An example of such cooperation may be seen in the Madras Cliristian College, founded long ago by the Free Cliurch of Scotland, and now subsidized by the Church Mi ionary Society and the Wesley an Mi ionary Society, and patronized by all societies, so that it has become the great representative of Christian liigher education in South India. A similar representative institution at Peking, China, seems likely to be the ultimate result of the destruction of Methodist, Presbyterian and Congregationalist colleges there during the Boxer troubles of 1900. In Japan, in Mexico, and in other fields the pre es of different denominations cooperate in producing literature that all can, and In several coundo, use in evangelistic work. tries the different branches of the Presbyterian Cliurch have secured a degree of cooperation amounting to organic union between their misAnd in Japan the world has seen the sions. thrilling spectacle of all evangelical Christian churches cooperating in repeated evangelistic campaigns through a union of Christian hearts and abilities which did not originate so much with the mi ionaries as with the native Chris- When tians who demanded and would have it. a stage of development has been reached that makes such things po ible, the history of discu ions respecting practical applications of the comity of mi ions seems to be near its close. There may be advantage, however, in summarizing, before leaving the subject, the points which seem to be now settled as to the practical applications of the principles of comity in the broad field of the mi ions of Protestant Christen dom. There seems to be general agreement that: 1. Carele overlapping of mi ion forces and needle reduplications of apparatus and plant is not only a sin against comity but against the Lord of all mi ions, AVliose resources are thus wasted. 2. All evangelical denominations have rights which must be respected on the mi ion field; and these rights are equal. 3. The presentation to pagans or Mohammedans of an impre ion of division in the Christian ranks must be avoided by all po ible means. Hence (a) Every society will abstain from efforts to draw converts from other societies or to prove to the public its own superiority to other societies; (6) In choosing fields of action each society should select places where it will come in contact with persons not reached by other societies; («) Commerce Mi ionaries of different denominations should meet together, at stated times, wherever po ible, for prayer and mutual encouragement and stimulus, and should hold general conferences for exchange of views on mi ionary problems at regular intervals. Financial or other stringency has taught all that cooperation between evangelical mi ionary societies must be so extended as to make needle the reduplication of publishing houses, hospitals, and institutions lor higher education. 5. For the better cultivation of interdenominational comity mi ionary candidates should receive instruction on the subject, and official organs of mi ionary societies should give the public, besides information respecting their own work, ample descriptions of important results gained by others. Realization of the meaning and the basis of comity of mi ions carries the mind to a fuller grasp of the fact that in the many-sided mi ionary enterprises of the various denominations we have before us a movement resembling the m^rch of the different columns of a great army, each independent and differently circumstanced, but all moving under the orders of one Chief, upon a single strategic point, with the certainty that at the critical moment all will be there, all ready for action, and all glad harmoniously to apply their whole power to the one It is object sought by the great Commander. the victorious march of the armies of Jesus Christ which we watch as we see this steady 4. development of closer relations between its units, even while they are absorbed in the Or, to adopt the figure struggle with antichrist. and language of Rev. Canon Edmonds, of Exeter, “As we look at the work of mi ions we are watching the coming down from God, out of heaven, of the city of God.” Let there be no trifling at such a supreme moment of history! Report of the Centenary Mi ionary Conference, London, 1888; Report of the Ecumenical Mi ionary Conference, New York, Conference of Foreign Mi ionary Boards of the 1900 United States and Canada, New York, 1893-1903; Report of a Conference of the Foreign Mi ion Boards of Great Britain and Ireland, London, 1901.; 202