Collected Documents > Student Newspapers and Journals
Oberlin College

"The Future of China." Oberlin Review. (October 10, 1901): 40-41.

"The Future of China."

Those who attended Dr. Ament's lecture on "The Future of China," in the First Church last Monday evening, had the double satisfaction of realizing that the plan for aiding Dr. Burroughs had proven eminently successful, and of listening to a most interesting lecture.

After a violin solo, entitled "A Reverie," by Benberg, had been beautifully rendered by Miss Lottie Demuth, President Barrows stated the circumstances under which the lecture was given, referring in well-chosen words to Dr. Burroughs and the high esteem in which he-is, held by all.

After prayer by Professor Bosworth, President Barrows then introduced Dr. Ament, who held the close attention of the large audience for an hour and a quarter with the interesting and thrilling account of the recent Boxer uprising in China, during which he almost lost his life.

As the audience listened to this account by an eye-witness, the terrors of those terrible days of bloodshed and the magnificent heroism with which the brave missionaries met death was brought home most forcibly.

Dr. Ament said in part: "China is a nation aroused from its lethargy and reaching out for better things. No nation is so little understood as China. The Chinaman has good cause for feeling self-satisfied and proud of his history. China's civilization dates back eleven centuries. The Chinese intellect, after being at rest for five centuries, is now developing in a remarkable way, and promises to make China one of the most powerful nations of the earth." Then, speaking of the Boxer movement, Dr. Ament said: "It was religious in its origin, and was not antagonistic to foreigners until the Empress Dowager, animated by intense hatred of foreigners, conceived the scheme of instilling this hatred for foreigners into the hearts of the Boxers, and then, making them an auxiliary to her army, which was too inadequate for her purposes."

Dr. Ament graphically portrayed the fiendish methods of the Boxers in torturing their victims, and pictured the' howling, frenzied mob sorrounding the city of Pekin, and told in glowing terms of the heroic manner in which so many Christian missionaries, among the bravest of whom were Oberlin's representatives, met death for the sake of the cross.

In closing Dr. Ament spoke in very optimistic terms of China. It does pay to continue the attempt to Christianize China. The Christian church has there a magnificent future. The strong faith of the native Christian is a powerful influence for Christ. The Boxer movement was a great advertisement, as a result of which there will be a mighty ingathering of souls.

The Chinaman is the man of destiny. His only need is that of a leader who will bring him out from the darkness which envelopes him into the light of the gospel of Christ.

The REVIEW takes pleasure in announcing that at least three hundred dollars will be realized from Monday evening's lecture for the benefit of Dr. Burroughs.

This material may be protected by copyright law [Title 17 U.S. code]. These reproductions are copies of documents deposited in the Oberlin College Archives. They have been furnished solely for this special, multi-institutional project and for the purpose of private study, scholarship, or research. Photographs cannot be reproduced for publication without the permission of the Oberlin College Archives.

student newspapers and journals
collections | about the project | colleges | links
home | search

The American Context of China's Christian Colleges project is based at Wesleyan University.
For more information, please contact the Project Director or Website Coordinator.
http://www.library.yale.edu/div/colleges/
Last updated:

design by reedsparrow.com