General Books

INTRODUCTION "If thou hast the right, O Erin,to a champion of battle to aid theethou hast the head of a hundredthousand, Declan of Ardmore"(Martyrology of Oengus). Five miles or less to the east of Youghal Harbour, on the southern Irish coast, a short, rocky and rather elevated promontory juts, with a south-easterly trend, into the ocean [about 51 deg. 57 min. N / 7 deg. 43 min. W]. Maps and... more...

INDIA'S UNREST India has been called the land of quiet repose, content to remain anchored to the hoary past, and proud of her immobility. Invasion after invasion has swept over her; but—"The East bowed low before the blast,In patient, deep disdain;She let the legions thunder past,And plunged in thought again." Yet this same India is now throbbing with discontent, and is breathing, in all... more...

The custom of mingling together historical events with the incidents of travel, of amusement with instruction, is rather a Spanish than American practice; and in adopting it, I must crave the indulgence of those of my readers who read only for instruction, as well as of those who read only for amusement. The evidence that I have adduced to prove that the yellow fever is not an American, but an African... more...

CHAPTER I.—INTRODUCTION. SOURCES.—DATES.—METHODS OF INTERPRETATION.—DIVISIONS OF SUBJECT. SOURCES. India always has been a land of religions. In the earliest Vedic literature are found not only hymns in praise of the accepted gods, but also doubts in regard to the worth of these gods; the beginnings of a new religion incorporated into the earliest records of the old. And later, when, about 300... more...

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION—SOURCES AND SCOPE The conditions of our knowledge of the native religion of early Rome may perhaps be best illustrated by a parallel from Roman archæology. The visitor to the Roman Forum at the present day, if he wishes to reconstruct in imagination the Forum of the early Republic, must not merely 'think away' many strata of later buildings, but, we are told, must... more...

The Defects of the Negro Church. The writer does not undertake to point out all the defects of the Negro church. He does not lay any claim to omniscience. The limits of time and the scope of the subject prevent him from discussing even what he knows in part. It is only some of the leading defects in the Negro Church which will be presented for discussion. It may be necessary to state at the onset that... more...

CHAPTER I PRE-CHRISTIAN PANTHEISMIts Origins Doubtful and Unimportant. It has been the customary and perhaps inevitable method of writers on Pantheism to trace its main idea back to the dreams of Vedic poets, the musings of Egyptian priests, and the speculations of the Greeks. But though it is undeniable that the divine unity of all Being was an almost necessary issue of earliest human thought upon the... more...

"The Commission" Did Christ command his disciples to baptize with water? Let us search the New Testament and see what it says. We find the four evangelists and Peter each render Christ's command to his apostles in very different language. Matthew's version is generally adduced to support water baptism. We cannot assume that in Matthew, our Saviour's words are quoted verbatim,... more...

CHAPTER I THE NATURE OF GODS Before dealing with the special varieties of the Egyptians' belief in gods, it is best to try to avoid a misunderstanding of their whole conception of the supernatural. The term god has come to tacitly imply to our minds such a highly specialised group of attributes, that we can hardly throw our ideas back into the more remote conceptions to which we also attach the... more...

INTRODUCTION. It has been my endeavour in the ensuing narratives to bring together such of the more distinguished Missionaries of the English and American nations as might best illustrate the character and growth of Mission work in the last two centuries.  It is impossible to make it a real history of the Missions of modern times.  If I could, I would have followed in the track of Mr. Maclear’s... more...