European occupation--Government--Trader--Missionary--Contribution of the Papuan race: (1) Consciousness of the unseen; (2) Simplicity of faith and life; (3) Corporate spirit; (4) Faithfulness.--Summary.
The proclamation of the British Protectorate in 1884 over a large portion of the country, followed by the assumption of sovereignty in 1888, has led to far-reaching changes, and has greatly modified native ways and habits of thought. These simple barbarians have been brought into the rushing stream of European life. They have been protected by a most humane and vigilant Government against most of the evils which have followed the incursion of white men into the islands of the Pacific. Recruiting for work outside their own country has never been sanctioned. Native rights in land have been most scrupulously respected. The Papuan is uninjured by the white man's grog, and when he is willing to leave his home and work the conditions under which he is engaged are carefully regulated. Never were nobler injunctions given to the ruler of a subject race than are contained in the Royal Instructions which guide the Administrator of British New Guinea. Clause 31 may be quoted:--
"The Administrator is, to the utmost of his power, to promote religion and education among the native [51/52] inhabitants of the Possession, and he is especially to take care to protect them in their persons and in the free enjoyment of their land and other possessions, and by all lawful means to prevent and restrain all violence and injustice which may in any manner be practised or attempted against them; and he is to adopt and support such measures as may appear to him conducive to their civilization and as tend to the suppression of barbarous customs among such natives." [Dated June 8, 1888.]
What have been the effects upon the native character of the barriers of exclusion being thrown down and European life entering in?
The chief result may be looked for in the relaxation of the old village discipline. The days have now gone by when a young man would not walk close to one of his elders sitting on the ground, when he would not think of interrupting their conversation, when all food wTas at first put before the old men that they might have their choice of it. Those who have worked for the white men come back to their villages rather contemptuous of the old customs. They show often very scanty respect for their elders who complain bitterly of the changed condition of things. A greater laxity of morals is induced in some districts, and some of the barriers which the native even in his most barbarous state set to curb and limit men's passions have been disregarded. This loss of respect is certainly to be regretted, but reverence based on ignorance was bound to be severely shaken when intelligence had full play and the belief in witchcraft and superstitions was undermined. These young men who have travelled far beyond the limits of their fathers' and grandfathers' experience, will eat their totem emblems, scorn to pay blackmail to the sorcerer, laugh at the old men's fears and be regarded as the great men of the village when [52/53] they tell of their travels in distant regions, of the white man's strange ways, of dangers overcome and hardships endured. Some have contracted the fatal gambling habit, which leads natives to stake and lose all that they possess--clothes and tomahawks and tobacco, even their monthly wage before it comes due.
The Papuan is strong in the imitative faculties, and is quick to reproduce the gait, the language and the reckless levity which characterize so many who seek a home in a country newly opened up to trade and commerce. The "return" native is not much impressed with the white man's moral qualities. On hearing at the village service of some of the wonderful acts of power and mercy wrought by our Lord during His life on earth the story seemed too wonderful; one man was quite incredulous: "I do not believe what he says; he must be a trader, not a missionary." It must be carefully explained that all traders are not worthy of so trenchant a criticism, but the few often spoil by their untruthfulness and dishonesty the good name of the many.
It would be wrong to overlook the good results to which contact with the white employer of native labour as surely leads. The men become brighter and more intelligent; they are prompter in action, less inclined to put duties off until a later day; they work more regularly and are more reliable in their promises. They will imitate what is good in their master as well as what is bad, but many of the outward acts which they reproduce are void of meaning to them.
In the early days of the mission a returned labourer from Queensland was possessed with a sense of the great importance of "taparoro," or religious services. He had picked up very little, if any, Christian teaching but he understood the practice of Sunday observance and instituted in his district imitation services. He was a man of [53/54] considerable force of character, and travelled long distances to hold his "taparoro." Compulsion was put on all to attend and the stick was freely used. His efforts brought him a considerable return for he levied blackmail wherever he went. Hymns and prayers as they appeared to the outsider were used, and the system was found in full swing when the missionaries landed on the northeast coast. Some time passed before they could make out the meaning of the words used. After some little trouble, one hymn was discovered to be a recitation of the names of the daj^s of the week; another, of the numerals. The men who took a leading part in this "New Guinea taparoro" were very backward in accepting the true religion when presented to them. The one was a formal repetition of words, the other called on them to forsake sin. Here a great weakness in the native character is at once revealed. He runs a great danger of becoming a formalist. He will attend classes but is slow in giving up evil practices. Hymns attract him especially, and his hearty singing of them is quite compatible with no sort of knowledge of the meaning of the words. His own native "wela," or songs are gibberish like his incantations. A returned labourer from the Mamba River remembered some nouns of the local dialect and stringing them together made a rhyming song. On the principle of omne ignotum pro magnifico, this "wela" was much admired and before long was taken up universally and the village resounded with it, though no one had the least idea as to its meaning. If they were asked, they would merely remark, "Wela "--that is, "It is a song. You must not expect a meaning."
Ritual and ceremonial acts will be readily accepted and copied. Great care should be exercised on this score. The mission teacher so often takes it for granted that the outward act springs from a realization of an [54/55] inward principle or meaning. Frequently it is a piece of pure imitation.
This tendency to be superficial is accompanied, as may be expected, by a lack of penitence. Sorrow for sin is rare indeed. A double process, it has been said, must take place amongst these people--two conversions: one from heathenism to Christianity as a system, the other from sin to God. Time must be allowed for the Christian graces to show themselves. The first generations of converts, though often full of zeal, have not altogether plucked out the weeds of heathenism. Another generation will commence, to some extent, where its predecessor leaves off and under the Holy Spirit's guidance will bear nobler and richer fruit.
One feature, which seems to be quite lacking in the Papuan "religion," is any sense of retribution in the future life. On this side of the grave their penalties are severe. Punishment promptly follows disobedience. To break a "tabu" laid on a cocoa-palm tree, or other food or fruit, involves suffering or death unless the "tabu-maker" removes the curse. The only risk a man runs after death is the failure of his relatives to fulfil their obligations to him. If the death-feasts are not given, and their food not bountifully provided, some mysterious loss threatens the departed; but his own past life is not a determining factor in his future. Christian teaching, with its clear, vigorous insistence upon personal responsibility, has greatly affected native conceptions and ideas. In many cases there is a great eagerness for Baptism from fear lest without it a man may suffer severe loss in the world to come. On the other hand, the obligation to lead clean, pure Christian lives here and now and the seriousness of post-baptismal sin, have been so emphasized that some fear the responsibility of the Christian calling. "If there was only a way of getting right away from God, I would [55/56] not become a catechumen," was the cry of one, who was afterwards won by the Love of the Eternal and without losing his awe put away his dread.
The influence of the white invasion of New Guinea has, on the whole, benefited the Papuan. The work of the Government has been wholly for his good. It has put down raiding and cannibalism and made life and property secure. The peace which has resulted has greatly developed the trading propensities of the native. Its retributive system has strengthened and purified his innate sense of justice. Its incorruptible impartiality has done something to implant right principle in his heart. There is a power in the land, visible and tangible, that is not swayed by caprice or influenced by spells or presents--a power which he fears, yet gradually learns to respect, one that plays no little part in unifying tribes of diverse speech, hitherto without cohesion, and inspiring them with a budding sense of national consciousness. The representative of trade and commerce has contributed his share towards the progress of the native race. He has helped to break up its exclusiveness and to destroy its conceit. Many whom he has trained to work have displayed very real capacity and intelligence and have returned to their homes greatly impressed with the wonderful skill and power of the dominant race. This awakened intelligence and developed capacity have often been put to good use. Active help on the mission boats, on the one hand, and a truer understanding of mission work and purpose on the other, have resulted. The trader and miner clearly come to benefit themselves the intelligent native sees; he can also argue that the motive of the Christian teacher is different and he puts this before his friends in the long discussions that take place in the village after the sun has sunk below the distant horizon.
[57] That there are losses no one will deny. The moral qualities drawn forth by the old unsettled life of hourly danger were of value. The reverence and respect for age and experience were useful checks on youthful impertinence. The tendency to imitate the not very elevated characters of many of their white masters, and the superficiality which empties the outward act of its inward meaning and induces formalism, do not make for true progress. It is useless to add to the list. The white man has come to stay and those who work for his salvation as well as for that of his coloured brother, will accept and make the best of the situation, and while keenly alive to the dangers and perils that may arise will carefully treasure up all that may be consecrated to God's service and utilize it for the extension of His kingdom.
What, then, will be the contribution of this child-race to the Universal Church? What will the latter receive back from it in return for the lives consecrated to its evangelization, the treasure expended in this enterprise and the prayers offered on its behalf? What will the Universal Church receive? Far more, is the answer of faith, than it has ever given. But the children are weak and poor and sick. Can they give anything back to the great mother, the Bride of Christ, who welcomes them, even the least and the weakest and the poorest, and needs their offerings? Perhaps what has been written has given the answer; but it may be summarized and emphasized at the close.
"You missionaries," said a Government officer not long ago, "always seem to pick out the best-looking, most presentable characters." It is not difficult to explain. Those who have watched the steady growth of conscience, morality, character, goodness, know that a Power is at work in the hearts of these simple people that must lead to outward signs and proofs of its influence. The [57/58] "glory," which these Christians will bring into the Holy City, will be qualities such as these--
In the first place, consciousness of the unseen.
The spiritual world is to the Papuan the most real world. As a Christian he has truer conceptions of its nature, and learns its harmony and beauty. God fills it with His Presence, and sends good angels to execute His Will and render service to mankind. The mission teacher is often surprised at the vividness with which spiritual verities are realized. Shortly after the death of one of the small band of mission clergy a boy sat down and quite spontaneously wrote a letter to his "dear teacher in Paradise." He told him how he was looking forward to see his face there. The death-beds of native Christians bring out how keenly conscious they are of spiritual influences. A lad who had once since his Baptism fallen into an evil native custom grieved sincerely over it when a year afterwards he was laid on a bed of sickness. One day he seemed greatly comforted and he related how he had seen the Master, whom he had crucified afresh, stand at his bedside, and had heard Him speak these words: "My child, you fell into sin for you were weak, but you have repented and I have forgiven you." It was something so real to him. He suffered greatly; his heathen mother ascribed his illness to the bite of an evil spirit, due to his attachment to the mission station. She urged him to leave it and go to the native village. But the lad's faith and resolution never wavered. The vision was clear and he passed to Paradise trusting in the Lord who had sealed his repentance with the assurance of forgiveness.
The keen realization of the event which Good Friday commemorates has been already noticed, and so it is all through the verities of the Christian Faith and the events of the Christian year. The devout and earnest native [58/59] Christian has a real vision of spiritual things. He always believed in a world outdistancing sense and touch. The Faith of Christ has cast out its devils and repeopled it with beings who bear him no spite, hatred, or ill-will, but watch his path and his bed with loving care, and allay for ever his haunting fears.
Secondly, simplicity of faith and life.
The native of New Guinea receives Christian teaching with the most simple faith. It arouses no questionings in his mind; it corresponds to his needs; it is taught him by one he has learnt to trust and love; it demands an obedience which he desires to render. His life is simple, his habits and needs could hardly be more so. He has no social obligations to readjust or binding etiquette to bow before. His weakness of character may at times make him fail but he has the honest intention to be faithful, and he quite understands that the teaching, if he submits to it, involves the ready will to obey. The members of the Church of Papua will never be attracted by metaphysical subtleties or be tempted along the path of over-definition of the Faith. But there will be no stauncher believers in the eternal verities, and in days when the Apostles' Creed seems too definite and complete for critical intellects, the simple faith of the Christian in New Guinea is a protest against those who would recklessly "lighten the ship" in a doubtful attempt to "bring relief to burdened consciences." The Church's sick children need the comfort of a clear and un-diminished Creed. It has been the instrument in the Holy Spirit's hands to rescue them from untold ignorance and degradation. It is a weapon that has helped to win great victories in the holy war, and the voice of these new-won converts to the Faith will ever be lifted in its defence. It may be that these simpler races are being gathered in at this time, in the all-seeing providence of God, for no less a purpose than this--to preserve the simplicity of the Faith. [59/60] Theirs is the childlike acceptance of fundamental facts, not an intellectual grasp of metaphysical subtleties. The Pacific Islander has been described as having a "genius for religion." His religion will be based on a simple theology but the truths therein contained will be implicitly believed and unfalteringly held.
His simplicity of life marks him as possessing special fitness for the work of an evangelist. He travels along the coast, or up the steep hills, lightly equipped. He can start off at the shortest notice. He is capable of great endurance. He is possessed by a real desire to give his message. Here, again, a native trait has been consecrated to Christ's service. There is always great eagerness to pass on information. The news may be good or bad--that is a matter of indifference if it is "news"--and the imparting of it will rouse interest and gain credit for the bearer. The "good news" is thus borne from village to village. An opportunity for its delivery may unexpectedly present itself and will be utilized. A native Christian, who held the magistrate's permit as "shooting-boy" for the mission station, was out one Saturday afternoon looking for pigeon or wallaby, when at some distance away he came unexpectedly upon a small party from the hills on their way to the beach. At once the gun was laid aside, the people gathered round, and a simple service was offered up in that open-air cathedral, which had never before resounded to the sounds of Christian prayer and praise. This is not an isolated instance. "When the native evangelists go forth on each Lord's day to proclaim their message they report on their return the results of their efforts. After recording their visits to, and services at, the villages to which they were sent, they will frequently tell how, their work done, they were seeking their homes, but here or there a group of people were found who had not had [60/61] their "taparoro." The message was for them as for others, and be they only three or five they were not forgotten. The native Christian has seldom any difficulty in speaking in public so far as fluency of language is concerned. Few are troubled with shyness or struck with that unexpected dumbness, which many young preachers have to face. There seems an entire absence of self-consciousness in relation to their religious life. Quite naturally they will sing or pray or preach if occasion demands. The missionary finds very early in his career that a native is always ready and willing for a religious service, nor does the occasion ever seem inopportune for such an act.
In another way the Papuan Christian is well qualified as an evangelist. He has great facility in learning the new dialects, which will confront him if he journeys up the coast to a fresh district. It is much better that he should go right away from his home to teach those who are strangers to him. Leaving his beloved village is the greatest sacrifice he can make for his Master's sake. In his own district he is just his father's son---to the new one he comes as the accredited representative of the mission, and with the obvious sincerity of one who has made sacrifices for Christ. New dialects will confront him, and to the average native this presents nothing like the difficulty that it does to his white brother. Thus, perhaps, his special work is marked out for him and bis gifts utilized for the spread of the kingdom.
Thirdly, the Papuan will give evidence of the corporate spirit of the Church.
It has been pointed out how completely in the olden days the individual was sunk in the community. The white incursion has tended to break up the communal life and emphasize the individual. But the old idea will always be deeply imbedded in the native mind, for [61/62] the love of home asserts itself. The young men may "sign on" for work and leave their villages, but when they reach a certain age the great longing to "make a garden" takes hold of them and they leave their home no more. The communal system has a firm hold on village life and will remain in possession. The attitude of mind formed by it helps the Papuan Christian to grasp the truth of the Communion of Saints. Baptism into the Church is admission into a new and a great family. New ties are formed, new obligations incurred, new relationships created. "The idea of the collective responsibility of a family or tribe for the acts of an individual member of it is recognized. This produced the collective duty of the members of the tribe or family to protect the individual member from the vengeance of those whom he has injured. Often a village constable has brought in a near relative of the culprit, because he is such. It is hard to get recognized the justice of regarding only the guilty individual as answerable for his misdeeds." [Government Report, B. N. G., 1897-8, p. 69.] This native trait is not destroyed by the introduction of a sense of individual responsibility. It was active and alert in certain prisoners confined some years ago in the Government gaol, and led to the following incident: "The old prisoners several times reported the intention of newer hands to make their escape. In one case they informed the authorities that a new man was trying to cut his leg-irons with a tomahawk; but before reporting this they took the law into their own hands, and beat him and cast him into a ditch for bringing discredit on the prisoners." [Ibid., 1893-4, p. xxvi.]
The native Christians are taught their collective responsibility for each other. They have their special services to which they only are admitted, their times of devotion, the native anniversary to which they send [62/63] representatives, and the village council, a majority of whom they elect. In this way an ideal of Christian conduct and a healthy Christian opinion is being formed. For as part of this idea of collective responsibility the native has an enormous respect for public opinion. The community decides how to act in given circumstances, and the individual is guided accordingly. To go contrary to such a decision, or generally to act differently to the rest, is to expose himself to the most powerful weapon in the Papuan armoury--the ridicule and abuse of the old people. Few natives can stand being laughed at. The foreigner may well wonder what keeps young men dancing a wearily, monotonous dance all through the long hours of the night. At times of feasting and visits of strangers daylight may seem to come too soon. But at other times it is hard to understand how night after night is passed in this weary way. An explanation will be given. The old people would laugh at them if they stopped at midnight or at any time before dawn. They would boast how when they were young men they never tired, but, easily kept on till morning light appeared. The truest, purest courage was that shown by a native evangelist who at a time when the zeal of many Christians grew cold remained faithfully at his post. He was practically a voluntary worker, only a few pence a week being given him to avoid the necessity of journeys to the hills for food. Night after night he would ring the bell for service though no one would come. But he never failed to go into the little native church and say his Evensong alone. His friends ridiculed him; his father and mother cast him off. At last came the bitterest blow of all, when his much-loved brother who was under discipline but whom he was longing to lead back along the path of penitence to restoration to his lost privileges, gave him up. The grace of God enabled His persecuted servant to stand [63/64] firm, till the cloud passed over and the sun shone out once more. No harder test could be devised to shake a man's resolution and constancy. The opinion of the community guides and rules the individual. This native trait will be consecrated to God's service. In each village occupied by the mission the Christian community is making its opinion felt. It feels its responsibility for all its members and seeks to shield and protect them from temptation and ridicule. The mission teachers use freely the help of the older and more experienced native Christians in deciding the many difficult questions which come before them. For the days are too young for questions of conduct to be left entirely to the individual conscience. Eules have to be laid down, and in forming those rules an intimate knowledge of native life and its difficulties is necessary. Thus gradually a Christian public opinion is formed, an ideal of Christian conduct created, and the Brotherhood in Christ endows its members with a new collective sense in place of that which is no longer a true guide to thought and action. The native Church speaks clearly, intelligently, and unitedly.
Lastly, there will be faithfulness.
With all his collectivism, the Papuan is marked by a capacity for making strong personal attachments. He may be at first suspicious, but when once that is allayed and he has learnt to trust a man, he will prove faithful to him. In nearly every district, in which the mission has commenced its work, some old native of influence has been attracted to it and has proved a true friend. In Collingwood Bay a friendship of this kind stood the mission party in good stead, for soon after their arrival, and before they had any acquaintance with the language, a proposal was made in their presence to the friendly chief by one, who was ill-disposed, to fall upon the [64/65] foreigners and give them no quarter. The friend of the mission listened to the proposal in silence. He had but to raise his head as the sign of his consent and that would have been the signal for the massacre; but he kept his head down and the danger passed away.
This man was never brought closely under Christian influence, for within three months a mountain band raided his food gardens and when he went out to protect them he was pierced through the heart by a death-dealing spear.
Under Christian teaching and the personal influence of Christian missionaries this loyal and affectionate faithfulness has been wonderfully developed. If a trained lad is given any work to do, or entrusted with any responsible post, his one thought is to carry out to the letter his master's will. In danger he will follow one whom he trusts and will lay aside his fear. In times of privation and hardship his first concern will be that his master has not his usual food or appliances, and he will unselfishly do all in his power to make him comfortable before considering how to supply his own simple needs. Can he be inspired with a feeling of personal devotion to our Lord, as the incentive to self-sacrifice and the sustaining power under difficulties? This will depend greatly on those who have the care of his spiritual life. If they are so moved, they will be able to set this motive before their hearers and it will prove as strong and potent an influence in Papuan hearts as it has proved in older lands. The mission teacher must desire nothing less than to bring these men to the feet of Christ and to leave them with Him. It has not always been kept steadily in view. Missionaries are tempted at times to make this supreme purpose secondary to other interests that have taken possession of them in their new life. Explorations into the country, the study of native customs, the acquisition [65/66] and comparison of dialects, the pursuit of natural history, are all interests that may take the place of that which has led Christ's soldier to go on his distant warfare. The value of these various objects and lines of study should not be ignored. In so far as they lead to a patient understanding of the native character, they will enable the missionary to present Christ to the heart in the way best calculated to draw out its faculties of love and faithfulness. Thus the Papuan will know Christ as his Friend and weigh His claims to a lifelong service.
Some of the last recorded words of our Lprd on earth convey a promise of power which was to fit the leaders of the Christian army for a work that would test their resolution and try their faith and patience more than they themselves realized. The promise of the Personal gift of the Holy Spirit was to supply all they needed for the task. Christ's followers still require the same warning and encouragement. The future is not unfolded to them; they can only carry on their work for Him in faith and patience, and by example and teaching minister His Word and Sacraments. But they can watch the opening and expanding of hearts to the Sun of Eighteousness, and note down special ways in which the Heavenly Light is caught and reflected back from erstwhile heathen hearts. The races of the vast Pacific, savage in the past, are now being transformed under Christian influence, and make up much that is lacking in the Anglo-Saxon presentation of the perfect life. They are doomed, it is freely prophesied, to pass away from the earth's surface before a hardier race. They are even now sick and dying; they are like the children living in the slums of the great cities of the modern world, whose wan, pinched faces haunt men's thoughts and stir their sympathy. Like the crippled little ones gathered into some Christian home for incurables, they [66/67] claim their share of love and pity, and they repay it by revealing traits of character which the strong men who watch them have failed to produce.
Amongst these races the Papuan has his offering to bring, his gold and frankincense and myrrh to present on bended knee to the Lord who has a special care for the weak, the sick, and the dying. His gold is his simplicity of faith and life, which accepts the teaching of the Christian verities, and sets forth with lit lamp and girt loin to spread their influence. His frankincense is the prayers and aspirations which spring from a vivid realization of the invisible world. His myrrh is the , faithfulness and self-sacrifice with which he will follow One whom he trusts and loves in scorn of consequence. These are the offerings of men who have learnt from Christ the value and worth of the individual soul, the personal responsibility of each for grace received and pardon won. Yet they have not forgotten to consecrate the great master principle of their old life, that men live in communities and are guided in thought and action by the opinions and wishes of those who are joined with them in a common life. The Christian Creed contains words which recognize this community principle, and the servants of the Crucified in distant Papua will hold it fast, and work out with it the salvation of their race.
Thus the Universal Church will receive back from these people more than the full sum of her gifts on their behalf. She will learn to preserve, whole and undefiled, the Faith once delivered to the Saints, for these island children have been won to it and love it. She will learn lessons of simplicity, to which races surfeited with luxury and indulging in every form of easa and comfort are gradually becoming strangers. She will gain inspiration from the lengthening record of lives new won from the grossest degradation, freely offered to [67/68] the spread of the Gospel, and laid down in the service of her Head. This is no meagre return for what has been offered in one short century for the evangelization of the islands of the "Peaceful" Sea.
Is there not a message from the Papuan to inform the white race? The world of modern life is a stern battleground of competition, and a ceaseless struggle for existence. The race tends to harden under its influence. Then as it extends beyond white lands and reaches the rich islands of the Pacific with their balmy air and soft zephyrs, it passes as it were from the place of business to the playground and the nursery, and the hard nature, the unimpassioned spirit comes into contact with native races simple in habits, unselfish in heart and unassertive in disposition. It is as though Christ takes, as of old, a little child, and sets him in the midst and draws out lessons for the grown-up disciples. The passive virtues are wonderfully revealed in the Papuan who is growing in grace. In his gentleness, unselfishness, patience, good temper, this bright child of nature displays many of the elements that make up the Perfect Life. Will not his influence avail to melt the icy heart, and soften the stony nature of that rougher race, which has come to settle in its midst? Such a drawing out of sympathy and affection is not impossible. Many a stem, cold man has thawed under the sunny influence of a sweet unconscious child. The Papuan race arouses no racial antipathy for it in no way challenges competition with the white race. It remains in its own land ready to help in the development of the wealth which lies beneath the surface of the ground. It will furnish labour for the mines and plantations which will follow the influx of the white man, and will to a very limited extent learn the trades in which the European artisan so keenly resents competition.
If it be trained in the Christian faith, it will rise above [68/69] the low moral standards of many white men, and will keep itself free from that intermixture of race, the incentive to which isat present all on the side of the incomers. Any plea, which is raised in the interest of the purity of the white race, can be supported still more vigorously in the interests of the native race, and the two can exist side by side and be mutually serviceable. Their interests in no way conflict, and a thrifty, industrious settler will greatly welcome the assistance of native labour ready to hand. Prejudices will never be wholly dispelled, but the work of the Church will bring white and coloured more and more into close union and agreement, and from her teaching and influence will go forth a purer, higher spirit, which will dispel suspicion, turn antipathy into friendship, and unite all the members of the body in vital union and concord. For this all men of good-will must pray and strive.