FOREWORD

W E set out on our journey to China

resolved that we would not write a

book . But circumstances have be en too strong

for u s . The official report wh ich we presented

on ou r return almost bulked as a volume, and

so many other things needed still to be said

that our determination was worn down bit by

bit . So here is the book that was not to be .

If our actiofi does not gain the approval of

readers, it may at least be hoped that our

resolution will be applauded if the book secures

favour,our readers will forget that our resolu

tion has been broken . In either case we cannot

be wh olly wrong .

We are indebted to many friends in China,

to whom we now return our sincere thanks,for

Forew ord

such knowledge of the country as we gained

during our visit . We also gratefully recogn ise

the assistance of Mr . W . E . Cule, of the Baptist

Mission House , in the selection and preparation

of our materials .

If what we have recorded but deepen s the

intelligent interest of Christian men and women

in the men and women of China, especially if

it leads some to dedicate their lives to the service

of China in the love of Christ, this book will be

su fficiently justified .

THE AUTHORS.

PREFACE

AM thankful the record of the‘ journey and

the conclusions of my friends Mx . Fuller

ton and Mr . Wilson are being published in bookform . For China is far away, and it is imperfectly

realised that it is the great land of opportunitywhere the Sav iour is especially setting beforeHis Church an open door . "

T here are few of the great societies which are‘hot rejoiciiig in their success th ere . Th e Church

Missionary Society has gathered a large com

munity of souls to Christ . The missions of the

Presbyterian Church in Southern China, Man

churia, and Formosa celebrate an extraordinarytriumph . Th e first of the modem societi es to

enter China— the London Missionary Society— has

had its reward in a varied work’

of great helpful

ness to all the rest, and in a success which has

amply recompensed the patien ce, the scholarship,and the devotion so abundan tly shown . The

vii

v iii Pre face

China Inland Mission has given richly service ofheroic love and consecration, has sufiered much in

the martyr trials,and rejoices in the large number

it has gathered to the Saviour . And the American

and Canadian societies— pursuing somewhat dif

ferent lines of work— have had good measure,pressed down

,shaken together, and runh iog

over,”

paid into their bosom .

Amidst this abundant service, we acknowledgewith grateful huniil ity that the work

'

done by

our brethren of the Baptist Mission has infin ite lysurpassed in usefulness anything of which wehad dreamed . It is true that we had started

work in various places about th e time of theTaiping Rebellion changing our location f rom

time to time . At first in Shanghai, then in the

company of the rebel army (f rom which’ in the

beginning much was hoped), afterwards our

brethren settled in Chefu . But di saster seemedto dog out steps, and our present mission began

with‘ Dr . Richard ’s work'

ih . Ch ’ ing-chu -fu inthe year 1874 . Only a generation has elapseds ince then . In

' that year we had turned over

our converts in Chefu to others, ande‘ we had

not one convert in our present fie ld ; to-daywe have betv‘

veen five thousand and six thousand .

9

Pre face ix

And we have this number after losing some

hundreds in the Boxer persecution by martyrs ’

deaths, and after the sifting influ ence of the

greatest persecution recorded in history— the

winnowing out of the fearful and the half .

converted .

The thoroughness of the work Has been shown

in the large amount of voluntary labour

elicited both from men and women, in the

variety and thoroughness of ou r educational and

medical work,and in the self — reliance developed

and the heroic bearing of the Church'

during the

persecution‘It i s well for o u r heartening to trace the

heroism God ’s sain ts have shown in this work,and the greatness of the result they have been

helped to gather .

To enable their Committee to realise the

greatn ess of the work, and to guide them in

helping the workers,two deputations were sent

out by the Baptist Mi ssmnary Society— the first

consisting of Mr . Morris and myself in 1890 -

91 ,

and the second two years ago, consisting of

Mr . Fullerton and Mr . Wilson, our secretary .

Certainly the first served its purpose, and still

more surely will the visit of two men of such

1: Pre fa ce

gif ts, such insight, and such sympathy Help us

in this part of our work for many years to come .

In the process of their travel they wrote th eir

impressions as they were gathered; and their

reports deepened the interest of our home

Churches greatly in the work . These papers,with additions, are now submitted in the follow

ing pages . They contain facts which should

stir all our hearts to penitence on account of our

coldness and faithlessness . They help u s to see

more vividly the land, the people, their circum

stan ces, and their way of thinking . They awake

sympathy with our brethren the missionaries,overtaxed with labour and overburdened by theirvery success . And they present to us a v ision

of many in the Farthest East crying, Come

over and help as .

May God’s blessing rest alike on writers and

readers, and both rejoice in the renewal of theirconsecration to Him that redeemed as .

RICHARD GLOVER.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

PREFACE

CHAPTER

I. THE HEART OF THE EMPIRE

1 1 . THE JEWS 1N~ cmNA

THE FIFTEENTH DAY or THE EIGHTH MOON 18

i v. OUR ROAD JOURNEY TO su snsx

THE ANCIENT CAPITAL

“ GOSPEL V ILLAGE

vn . THE cm wrm THE BUSY BRIDGE

v m. U NTRAVELLED smmsx

OU R ROAD JOURNEY THROUGH smmsx 71

x . THE MODERN MARTYR cm ! or THE WORLD 90

x x. rwo OTHER MARTYR CITIES m3

x n . U NTRAVELLED SHANSI

xm. FROM sum si TO SHANTUNG

THE SHANTUNG CHRISTIAN UNIVERSITY

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

WELCOME AT cnou r’sun

COOK-SHOP,SHANGHAI

,NATIVE CITY

MR. FULLERTON ON THE WAY TO WEIHSIEN‘

MR. WILSON m CHINESE DRESS

AT THE SPRINGS OF LIN T'U NG

A CHINESE JUNK

A GENTLEMAN’S GARDEN, SAN YUAN, sum s:

BLIND EVANGELIST, CHANG AND LIU

A suow LION AT r’Ax YUAN FU

SHENTZU AND BICYCLE

EVANGELIST CHAO

TEMPORARY BURYING-PLACE or m e EIGHT MARTYRS,

HSIN-CHOU

THE EAST GATE,HSIN-CHOU

SCENE or THE MARTYRDOM,n sm-cu on

TEMPLE AT KOU YUAN

x iv List of Il lu strations

PAGE

READY FOR A WHEELBARROW JOURNEY

CHI-NAN—FU msrtru '

ra : INTERIOR

CHI-NAN-E‘U msru ‘

um z'

ran READING ROOM

CHl -NAN-FU msrxrurE : THE MUSEUM

OUR LAST MEAL m AN mu YARD

WHEELBARROWS LOADED wim cnocx nnv

MARTYR MONUMENT, CHANG SHEN, SHANTUNG

THE LADiEs’GU EST ROOM,

SUAN w ,sm msr

ROUTE MAP

NEW CHINA

CHAPTER I

Th e He art of th e Empire

T is among the many surprises that awaitthe stranger in Chin a to find one of its

greatest treaty ports six hundred miles from thesea . The journey of four days from Shanghaito Hankow by one of the commodious and wellfitted steamers that ply the Yang-tze River ismost pleasant . The stream is so broad and fullthat ocean-going vessels, i ncluding the warshipsof the various Europe an nations that patrol itswaters, are able to sail up as far as Hankow,

and sma ller steamers are able to ply five hundredmiles farther still . The scenery on either sideis very similar to that of the Ganges or Brahmaputra . Picturesque fishing villages on the banksand quaint Chinese junks sailing up river undertheir large firibbed sails engage the attention constantly ,

and at inte rvals the old -world appear

2 Th e Heart of th e Empire

ance of great walled cities, well guarded withhigh towers and heavy gates, are unmistakablereminders that one is far from home .

Bound as we were from Shanghai, where wehad first landed, to the far inland province ofShensi

,we were very glad to find it necessary

that we should cal l at the city of Hankow .

We passed by all the other cities on the river .It is true we pace

'

d an hour or two at midnightalong the Bund at Chin -kiang

,the city where

Hudson Taylor is buried, and at Kien -kiang spent

an afternoon amidst the squalid streets, meetinga procession with an image of a long paperdragon, by means of which the people wereendeavouring to stay the cholera that raged inthe city . Because of the cholera we were notallowed to see the native city at Shanghai, nor

to land at Wu -hu . Nanking and Ngankin werepassed without pause, though we desired to stopat both cities — at the first because of its historicinterest, culminating in the defeat of the Taipinghosts by Chinese Gordon at the second in orde rto

,

see the new hospital about to be opened byDr .

‘

Woodward, of the American EpiscopalMission, who had been our fellow -traveller fromJapan . Like all voyagers along the river

,we

gazed with wonder at the great rock, theOrphan,

" in th e channel, and wondered how itgot there we welcomed on board a number of

Th e Triple Metropol is 3

missionaries returning from Kuling,the mountain

sanatorium to which foreigners resort in suchlarge numbers ; we saw with some misgivingthe great c igarette factory near Hankow, misgiving which deepened into sorrow when subse

quently we found cigarettes widely advertised oncity walls everywhere over North China ; butwe rested nowhere until we came to the greattriple metropolis at the conflu en ce of the Yang-tzeand the Han Rivers .Hankow, with its sister cities of Wuchang, on

the opposite bank of the Yang-tze, and Hanyang,

on the opposite bank of the Han ,b ids fair to

be th e most important centre of commerce inChina in days to come

,as well as one of the

busiest,as it was one of the earliest

,scenes of

missionary enterprise . Already the railway runsnorth to Peking

, and the terminus of the linefrom Canton is to be here so that in the future,with only the necessary break in crossing theYang-tze

,there will be direct communication

between Canton,in the south, and Peking, in

the north,while Hankow will be m idway, and

travellers from Europe by the Siberian Railwaywill probably choose this route to the south ratherthan the longer coast journey . At Hanyang thereis a great ironworks established by one of thev iceroys, and the contemplated European university will probably be establ ished in Hankow .

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Ou r First Chin ese Serv ice 5

g'

regation . Men were in a large majority here,as throughout our tour in China we noticed wasgenerally the case at the mission services . Thequaintness o f the architecture and decorations,the awesome written characters of the texts and

mottoes on the walls, the queer c ostumes and

manners, the fluttering fans, the volume of un

musical sound when the people rose to‘ sing, theunintelligible jargon of the spoken words — allthese things by their. very strangeness left a deepimpression . How vivid even now is the memoryof the blind man who sat on the front seat

“

!

Wh en we san g the Ch inese e quivalent of the hymnLet 'u s with a gladsome the light ofheaven shone in that scarred old face as hefollowed the verses with abandon of feeling . Butwhen ' the next hymn

,Let Jcsus Christ be

praised, was sung, the face was clouded ; Poorold man, he did not know the

' words .We were pleased to observe that, ih addition

to the native pastor,both the mission doctors

took an active part in the service . They, at anyrate

, do not forget that medical mission workis first and last an evangel istic agency . Drs .Gillison and Cormack are doing splendid servicein their hospital and in the training of Chinesemedical students . -Dr . Gill'ison was a lso supe rin

tending‘

th e large Sunday School on the afternoonof our visit'.

6 Th e He art of th e Emp ire

The London Mission is now erecting a fin e

block oi,new boys ’ school and college buildings

outside the city,some distance up the Han River .

We were favoured in being permitted to join aSaturday afternoon boat -party of missionaryfriends

,under the guidance of Mr . McFarlane ,

who went up to inspect the buildings .

The Wesleyan Mission is also doing a noblework in Hankow . By the dea th of Dr . Hodge,the hospital, which is in the heart of the nativecity, has recently lost a very able and experiencedmedical missionary . His colleague, Dr . Booth,left in sole charge, was greatly overburdened withthe work of a hospital of sixty beds, and medicalteach ing besides . It was deeply interesting toget a sight of the sainted David H ill ’s Schoolfor the Blind, which is being maintained by theWesleyan Mission with

’

great devotion and

success . We saw. about forty blind pupils leaming crafts and studying a Chinese adaptation ofthe Braille system of writing . They seemedwonderfully happy under the loving Christian careof the missionaries .

Ou r visit to the city of Wuchang was verypleasant although it ended in a terrific storm

,

and we returned to our quarters in the evening!drenched to the skin, having had to wade throughstreams of muddy water, and forcibly to takeadvantage of the only boat that seemed to be

Littl e Slav e Girls 7

crossing the Yang-tze during the deluge . It wasa great privilege to meet in Wuchang Mr . and

Mrs . Arnold Foster,two of the most gifted and

most devoted missionaries in China . Mrs . Fosterhas under her charge . a girls ' boarding schoolof about fifty pupils — about some of whom shetold u s thrilling stories . Two little lassies, whoare now promising scholars

,were but lately slave

girls, and had suffered unspeakable cruelties .

On e of them, quite a small child, had beenbranded by her mistress

, and actually immuredin a h ollow wall and left to die , ,

but had beenprovidentially rescued . It is a custom in manyrespectable Ch inese families to own slave girls .

Public opinion requires that they shall beformally given in marriage at a certain age, butthe system pe rmits of terrible abuses .

We were glad to get a sight of the fine

premises of the Boone College, connected withthe Protestant Episcopal Church of America

, and

we were most courteously received and conductedover the buildings by Principal Jackson, who ishimself an Englishman . The general plan of thecollege is the same as that of St. John ’s Collegein Shanghai

,belonging to the same mission .

There are two hundred students, all resident ;and full fees, covering board and tuition

,are

charged . The education given is mainly inEn glish, and the majority of the students are non

8 Th e ?H eart of th e -E mpire

Christians yet there is a strong Christian influence in the institution . All students attend dailychapel in Chinese— conducted in the Anglican form . We were told a good story aboutthe eagle lectem carved in

’ wood which occupiesthe usual place of dignity in the church . TheChinese carpenter to whom had been given thecommission to prepare this piece of furniture sentit home with an invoice written in choiceEnglish

, One holy chicken .

— 1 5 , taels .

The Wesleyan brethren have had to migrateunder peculiar circumstances from their longestablished premises in Wuchang . The Viceroyof the province, in

" order to carry out some schemeof improvements, has given them notice to quit,and they have had to pull down their chapeland schools and residences and rebuild in anotherplace outside the city . Happily

,compensation

has be en granted . to them by the Viceroy, and

the change may prove a blessing in disguise .

Crossing over to Hanyang, the third city ofthe g roup, we Were delighted to be able to visitthe mission station of the American Baptist Missionary Union

“

that has recently put up a handsome and well -equipped hospital under the chargeoi . Dr . Huntly . He is an English Baptist, aformer student oi the Pastors ’ College; and h e

showed u s the g reatest kindness and hospitality .

In honour of our visit, a British flag was hoisted

O u r‘

F irst Chin ese Feast 9

on the hospital flagstaff , and we were entertain ed by th e stafi to our first Chinese feast . -

. It

is an o rdeal to be rememb'

ered— one ’s first eff ortto eat, in company,with chopsticks . About -fifteenof. u s sat down together, the doctor and ourselvesb eing the only f oreignersWe became hardened“ in the Course ‘ of our

journey in China f and learned to eat almost anything, even enjoying some of the things set beforeus on

“ many occasions at similar ceremonies . A

proper Chinese feast has about forty'

v cou rses,

amongst them chicken, chunks of fat v

pork‘

, muttonballs, tough "goat, balls -

oi mashed fish , stewedfish , fried fish , sharks

"

fins, decaying shrimps,heanshoots, raw arrowro

'

ot, peanuts, melon pips,chestnuts, slugs; buried antiquities in th e shapeof preserved eggs as green as advanced gorgonzola

, dough strings,

~ rice,white puddings, a

pudding .lik"e p lum-pudding w hich is stirred

by the guests, pears, walnuts, green tea, and,

for those who take it, thimblefuls of wine, thewine being b rought in kettles . We vcame to theconclusion that the Chinese are a hardy race .

A good and s ound work has been done byour brethren ‘

of the in Hanyang, -

and

their native Church contains men o f real worth .

When ‘Dr . Mabie visited the mission after 1 900

there were fi fteen candidates, baptized, who had

(been . bold enough regularly to at'

t’

end. iChristian

1 0 Th e Heart of th e Empire

worship as inquirers all through the period ofthe Boxer troubles .

We mounted the hill which stands guard overHanyang city

, and from its highest ridge gained

a good view of the river and the three cities .The combined population is estima ted at l ittleshort of a million but it is impossible to sayhow many people are hidden in the shadowy lanesand alleys of the city

.

— people that are born inthem and die in them, never ventu ring beyondtheir own streets al l their lives . Some lady missionaries told us they had actually visited homesin the crowded parts of Hankow where the peoplehad never so much as seen the Yang -tze River .There is nothing in Europe like the herding

of human beings in the cities of China and theloathsome filth in ess and dark ign orance and

misery of the poor people cannot be imagined .

Thank God, the l ight has been kindl ed here, thelight that will never be put out .Since our visit we have heard of the devastating

flood which, in an hour or two, swept thousandsof the river folk

'

to their doom and as we think'

of the forest of masts at the mouth of the Hanand reca ll the river gates and busy streetsthronged with folks, and the multitu dinous life ofthese g reat cities, we remember that, while thecities remain and grow, the people are passingnow swiftly, now slowly, but all passing and, m

Th e Peopl e Passing

spite of all the mission work,many of them

passing without the knowledge of Christ into thepresence of God . I am not surprised

,

” saysRuskin, at what men sufier but I am surprisedat what they miss .

" These people, and those likethem in China, in spite of all their learning and

their ancient c ivilisation, what are they notmissing

"

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Th e Open -Shu t-City I 3

places . It isz— in consequence of its proximityto the railway— dign ified by the n ame of TheInlan’d Hotel but .all the characteristics of theancient Chinese inn are retained . Fortunately

,

we had provided ourselves with camp beds thesefor the first time were now unfolded, oilskinsspread under them, and a mosquito net hungover them, and thus we bade defiance to all ‘ourfoes .At the end of our journey we arrived a t Cheng

Chou,a city which will d oubtless be 0} great

importance in the future . It is almost half —wayon th e North and ( South line and already thereis a line b ran ching East which . will on e day linkwith Ch

'

i -nan -fu, the capital of the province of

Shantung,and a line in course o f construction

toward the West which,when completed, will run

to Si -an-fu , the capital of the province of Shensi .

On“ our arrival we immediately changed into“ the

Eastern train, so as to“

.visit} the important city

of K 'ai -fen‘g-fu i'

wh ich is Within easy reach of

Cheng Chou,in order to pay a brief visit to

our friends,Dr . and Mrs . Whithe ld Guinness .

Kf

ai r feng-fu , which, being translated, me ans 15 the

Open-Shut -City," a designation” somewhat difficu lt

to understand, has been’

in’ past ages the capital

of the Chinese. Empire, and i s now the capitalof the province ‘

of Honan . The two days wespent here "

gave us . the opportunity of . in‘spectin‘g

1 4 Th e Jew s in Chin a

its ancient landmarks, and of estimating the worthof the modern missionary propaganda in the handsof the China Inland Mission .

There were seven missionaries on the spotat the time of our

~

visit . Outside the city thereis a hospital awaiting completion, and here Dr .Guinness and Dr . Carr attract large numbers ofpeople . We had the privilege of sharing

lin anevening service in the hospital waiting-room onthe second evening of our visit and as we markedthe reverent attitude of the people, we were notsurprised to lea rn that several of the Churchmembers had been out -patients of former years,nor can we doubt that others will follow . Theother missionaries res

’ide inside the city,

and

prosecute ah’ ardent evangelistic work with some

encouragement .We visited the ancient Imperial Palace

,where

the throne, beautifully carved, is covered by awooden case . If it were open,

” the attendantnaively said the people would look at it and

pay

'

nothing, a touch of human nature that madeus feel the Chinese kin to ourselves . The PublicGuest House and Garden

, and the Great Ex amination Hall, claimed our attention— the formerused for feasts and pleasure parties

,the latter

deserted since, by one edict, the Emperor hasabolished the old educational system . TheChinese College, on e amongst several we visited

Th e An cie nt Tab let 1 5

in various places, is at once an‘ evidence of the

desire of the people for Western learn ing and

a pathetic illustration of immature reform .

But K ’ai -feng-fu is chiefly interesting, as wehave said, because, for at least the whole lengthof the Christian era

, and probably for centuriesbefore, there has been a colony of Jews in it.

From amongsf th e captives in Babylon some ofGod's ancient people e vidently came over Eastuntil they settled in this city . A solitary tablet,stand ing in some waste ground

,tells the story of

their fortunes,of their arrival in China during

th e Dynasty of Han (200 B .C .— 226 and of

the building of the synagogue in K ’ai -feng -fu in

1 1 64 A .D . Until comparatively recent years theirsynagogue remained , and they preserved somerolls of the Law but in their poverty they pulleddown the building in order to sell the material,and, to buy bread, they parted with the ancientmanuscripts . There are still a few survivors ofthe people to whom pertain eth the adoption,and the glory, and the covenants, and the givingof the law

,and the service of God,_ and the

promises whose are the fathers,and of whom

as concerning the flesh Christ came . As wewere examining the pathetic memorial of thepast

,one of the surviving Jews came and stood

by ; but the ancient faith has been almostswal lowed in

“ Buddhist superstition, instead of

1 6 Th e Jew s in Chin al

bloss'oming into the liberty of Chri st . Alas'

l

there was no one to tell the glad news to thepeople of Israel in China .

Indeed, the introduction of Buddhism seems tobe connected with this v ery city . In the days whenthe Imperial residence was here, the Emperorsaw in his dreams the vision of a man ‘5 whoseappearance was . that of radiant gold, like thesun When the wise men were summoned theyconsulted ancient records

, and advised that anembassy should be sent to the West to seekfor the new Light . In the year 67.

A .D .,the year

after the Apostle Paul d ied in Rome for the faithof Christ, eighteen men were comm issioned forthe journey ; but, .unlike those other wise menfrom the E ast seventy years before . them

,they

had no guiding star, and came not where Christwas ; Instead, their course was deflected to India,and they r eturned to K’

ai-feng -fu , not with themessage of the Saviour, but with a statue of

Buddha . And so as the martyr era began forthe Church of Christ, China missed the knowledge" of the Saviour for the love of whomthe saints in the We stw-

gladl-y embraced death .

They l ost the ir lives for Christ,but

, al as 1 Chinalost more than life because she did not knowHim who is . the Light of the world ; Bettera bitter Christ than no Christ,

" says SamuelRutherford . . The martyrs in the Roman Empire .

Bu ddha or Christ ? 1 7

had a bitter Christ, but China had no Christonly a golden image of the dead Buddha whilethe scattered Jews could but speak with waninghope of their Messiah that was to be . Noneknew that the promised King had come . So

K ’ai -feng-fu proved indeed to be the Open -ShutCity— open to th e Jewish faith, shut to theChristian lf aith , until faith of any sort almostceased to exist.u 1 But now, again, the isopen— we hope n e ver again to be shut topower of Christ ’ s Gospel .

CHAPTER III

Th e Fifte enth Day of th e

Eighth Moon

ETURNING to Cheng Chou, we were hospitably received by the Rev . W . W . Lawton,

of the American Baptist Southern Convention,who has rendered a similar kindness to severalof our missionaries

, and who, with his colleagues,has founded what promises to be a most flontishing mission in this city . His two-storeyed houseoutside the city wall is a landmark in the neighbourhood . When it was built and opened, onNew Year ’s Day, no less than of thepeople of the city came to see it in one afternoon .

We were glad of the opportunity of fellowshipwith the brethren of the American Baptist Missionand of the American Free Methodist Mission,which has also begun work in this city . Oi

course, there is plenty of room for both missionsbut we think it would be:wiser for new-comers toselect one of the immense number of cities where

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Of th e Eighth Moon I9

as yet no mission work has been attempted, ratherthan settle where othe rs are already at work .

Outside the city of Cheng Chou,on the high

road, is the grave of little Mary Lutley, to whicha pathetic interest attaches . She was one of thenumber of those who escaped from Sh

'

ansi at thetime pf the Boxer troubles, and died here, havingfu lfilled her brief life ’s work

,her gentle and

winning ways disarming, time and again,the

enemies who sought the life of the fugitivemissionariesWe had hoped, after spending Sunday with the

friends h ere, to start on our road journey tothe West on Monday morning ; but, as it happened to be, in the Chinese calendar, the fifte enthday of the eighth moon, the time was given upto feasting, and as a consequence we spent threedays . here .

Oh September 1 2th , the Feast Day, we sharedin an interesting service . The beggars in Chinaare an insistent race ; they levy toll regularlyfrom all the people

,demanding it as a right .

The missionaries in this city,in order to escape

their incessant demands, have made a bargainwith them

,that if they will leave them unmolested

at ordinary t imes, each feast day a special donation ,shall be given to them . Ou this occasionthey gathered in a body, and though we preached

the Gospel to them as they stood in the court of

3

20 Th e Fifte enth Day

the mission,we could not but be consciou s th at

theywere most interested in the practical application of the sermon than in the' sermon itself .Af ter the service the outer gate was closed and

as the beggars filed out through the side door, firstthe boys, th en the stu rdy men, and afterwardsthe halt and lame, the distribution was made .

The boys received five cash, the ordinary beggarstwenty cash

,

‘

and some special cases forty cash .

When it is remembered that a string ofa thou sandcash is not worth quite two shillings

,it will be

seen that a great many beggars can be relievedwithout a serious deman d being made on themissionaries ’ ré

'

s'

bu rces .

On e old man who came at the and interestedu s greatly, and during our subsequent roadjourney one of us put the suggestion of theinciden t into rhyme . What Seneca said of ancientRome is true not only of these beggars, but ofall the people o f China : None of u s h as

strength to rise ; oh, that someone would holdforth a hand I Long ago Ch rist hel d forth H ishand, now the hand of China is held forth ;but there needs a third guiding hand to lead the

groping hand to the giving Hand . That handmust be the hand of the Church of Christ— perhaps your hand, reader of this page ? Can youimag ine a finer use to be made of your lifethan to consecrate it to Christ for China

,that

of th e Eighth Moon 2 1

you might put some of these seeking hands intothe grasp of His love and power ?

Bent, blind, and beggared, I behe ld h im stand,One foot without, one foot within the door,With hesitating .step upon the floor,

And open, eagerly expectant hand.

He almost seemed as on e beneath a banThe day— eighth mon th and\

fifte enth of the moon .

The timea -while yet an hour to Sabbath noon .

But no light shone for h im .ih dark Honan .

As on e amongst an urgent crowd he came .

Christ’s man had called th e beggars of the place ,

That they might share his bounty - learn God’

s grace .

And every f east day he had done the s ame .

In open court, the riches for the sou l,

The gif t of God, were offered the n the gift

Oi man was giv’

n , and every art and shiftOi beggardom were plied to swe ll the dole .

But he was not we ll versed in beggar'

s lore .

He uttered not a word, nor kn ew to whomTo utter it. Somewhere within the room

The unknown giver stood. He knew no more .

So tremblingly h e e ntered ; turn ed to one

With outstretched hand . It was a little childWho could not he lp h im, though her eyes beamed mild.

He turn ed to me for aims, and I had none .

He sought a gif t, and knew not where to find.

To others was that open hand he ld forth.Yet al l h is ple ading was of nothing worth.

He missed the giving hand. Was he not blind ?

22 Th e Fifte enth D ay

No other band cou ld give . But on e stretched out

A hand that grasped and led the asking handU nto the hand that gave . And a swift gift

Made glad the blind man’

s heart, and ban ished doubt.

0 China, seeking good ! Thy seeking marredBe cause thou gropest blindly. Thy great landCan n e

’

er be truly blessed but by on e Hand,

The Hand that was for thy redemption scarred .

Not Statesmen , Sages, Soldiers, thou dost n eed.

Tu rn thee to On e who can a Saviour be ,

Thy goal be Jesu s Christ. ’

Tis He ,’

tis He

Who giveth wealth, and pow’

r, and lif e inde ed.

Shall hand that asks e’

er miss the Hand that gives ?Seek oh

, sad heart! Thy emptiness shall yetBe gu ided to His f u ln ess, and shall get

The gift of heav’

n . The Comforter still lives.

CHAPTER IV

Ou r Road Jou rn ey to She n si

EFORE us now lay a fifte en days ’ roadjourney to the capital of Shensi

,and the

question was debated whether we should go incarts or mule litters The decision was in favourof the mule litter Shen -tzu or Chao -wotzu, as it is called ih

’ China . It is a primitiveconstruction . Ah arch of matting stretched on

bent houghs is attached to the centre of twopoles

,and these are the n joined at the ends

by a band which rests on the pack saddle of

the mules . Under the canopy of matting thereis fix ed a rude net ; into this there goes firstof all some of the traveller ’s baggage, on the topof that is placed his bedding, and then he creepsinto it himself ; the whole is then lifted, firstone end and then the other end, on to the mules

’

backs,and so the distinguished traveller, stretched

between the tail of one mule and the head ofthe other

,goes on

‘ his way . If the thing is23

24 Ou r Road Jou rn ey to Shensi

properly balanced and ballasted it will lie fairlyeven ; but if not, it will turn first to one sideand then to the other, and the muleteers willcome and request the traveller to lie on thisside or on that

,or they will suddenly, without

warning, clutch the poles and twist the arrangement back into the horizontal . If a mule falls,the whole thing will go on its side, and thenthe bags

,basins

,and l ittle etceteras, that were

packed in with the traveller,will come tumbling

on his head before he has time to scrambleout . After some days

’ experience he may getused to the swinging motion, but he will prohably prefer to vary it with long spells of walking .

It is excellent e xercise of a sort,

and to berecommended for the liver .

Ou r caravan consisted of eight mules, six muleteers, and two servants . The muleteers were amotley crew, some of them opium smokers, and

the mules, as we afterwards discovered, were mostof them galled and ill -kept . But

,indeed, this

is the general state of the case in China . Theapplication of boracic to their wounds did something to sweeten them on the journey, and incidentally secured one of u s some fame as aphysician with the result that at everystopping-place people came for treatment

,which

,

to the limits of our slight equipment,was very

che erfinlly given .

Chine se Roads 2 5

Ou r way lay over the Ioess earth , which in allrising ground is terraced, the terraces in many

cases being very deep, and continued even to

the top of considerable hills . The peculiar soil,which is very sticky ih " wet weather

,hard and

metallic in dry weather, friable after frost, and

capable of being pounded into very fin e dustby . passing traffic, lends itself to terrace cultivation', being easily dre ssed in

’ the p erpendicular .

The road s which run through it are for the mostpart mere cart tracks

,often“

descending beneaththe level of the fie lds . Originally they evidentlywent where there was a fault or fissu re in the

ground , and in the course of centuries the levelhas been worn lower and lowe r, so that on theside of the road the banks rise from ten tothirty

,or even fifty feet high .

In some places the roads are like Devonsh ire . lanes, without the ir luxuriant vegetation ;in other . places they become canyons or g

'ulliesinto which the sun seldom penetrates, and as a

result they are nearly always damp, while in wet

weather they are indescribably muddy . Indeed,

the same is true when‘ the road is on the level

mud holes are frequent, and seem never to befilled up cart ruts are deep, often reaching tothe axle

,and sometimes the road even becomes

th e bed of a stream . At intervals the waysidefarmers put millet stalks on the roads to make

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Chin e se In ns 27

to begin our journey by starlight . It was a weirdexperience

, yoking in the mules and turning outin the raw morning before the people were astir .

We would bravely go on until about noon‘

, whenwe had an hour or two ’s rest

, ch icfly for thesake of the mules

,though we ourselves were

glad to eat food and then, in spite of the factthat “ the mules did not go so well in the afternoon,we continued our journey until sun -down or evenlater .

Ou r mid -day halts and our evening quarterswere at roadside inns . Turning in through a

gateway, level with the road, we would find ourselves in a courtyard reeking with indescribablefilth . Here the mules would be turn ed adrift

,

and the travellers find their way to the guestroom on the farther side . We would enter todiscover an apartment with a raised platformat each end— either a wooden frame covered withmatting

,or an erection of brick and mud on

which it is the custom to spread the beddingand sleep . This is the k ’ang .

" If it is of brick,it can be heated by a fire on the floor but that

"

will mean sulphur fumes and smoke in the room,

so we always dispensed with it. The furnitureconsists of a table and two chairs ; and

.

whenthe muleteers have fin ished with them, a narrowstool or two can be brought ih . But before youuse the table it will be well to make sure that

28 Ou r Road Jou rn ey to Shen s1

it has its full complement of legs,or that it i s

thoroughly propped against the wall . And it isa matter of common prudence to test thestability of the chairs before you sit in them .

The floor of the room is probably of mud ; ona few occasions only we found it to be pavedwith brick .

The ceiling was a considerable while ago

covered with paper, but the rats found the pasteso much to their taste that they have made holesin the ceiling

,and the paper now hangs in dirty

strips over your head .!Above that is the roof,

and as you lie on your bed at night you willhave no difii cu lty in looking up to the stars .

Manure heaps and all manne r of filth in e ss areimmediate ly outside your window, the paper ofwhich is probably broken“

. In extreme cases thesehave to be mended before you can venture tolie down . It is possible to keep the numerousinsect pests at bay, but there is nothing todissipate the smells .

There is one ex cellent feature, however, aboutChinese inns . Owing to the universal habit oftea -drinking, you can always get a supply ofhot water, and nearly always you can buy breadnot bread such as that to which your delicatepalate is accustomed,

"

gentle reader,though some

times it is toothsome enough . Eggs can generally be procured

"

, and a few Chinese dishes, which

City Streets 9

you may have seen in process of cooking bythe wayside, will help out your meal, if you sodesire it. Milk there is none . Butter there isnone . If you do not wish to eat with chopsticksyou must carry all the utensils you may requirewith you . Oi course, We took some tinnedstores we counted ourselves happy when we hadthe gift of a little oatmeal to make porridgeat . other times our porridge was made of millet,or very occasionally of rice . But after a longday we generally came in so hungry that wewere willing to eat anything and so tired thatafter our evening meal and evening worship wewere thankful to lie down, and soon forgot allthe inconveniences of our surroundings .

On the first Friday evening we reached Honanfu , and came into contact for the first time withthe Swedish branch of the Ch ina Inl and Mission,which is doing an excellent work

'‘in

’ this locality .

Mr . Be inhofi'

and Mr . An derson entertained u s

most hospitably to supper, and then, guided bya huge paper lantern, we picked our way overthe filthy streets back to our inn . We were notsurprised to learn that an epidemic of malignantfever was raging in the city indeed, while wewere there

,the people were dying so rapidly

that the wood for coh‘ins was exhausted .

Ins ide the gate of the city there is a great

hole in the road . There is no necessity to put

30 Ou r Road Jou rne y to She n si

the matter ih “ the past tense, and say it wasthere

,for it doubtless remains until this day .

The inhabitants ‘near the gate look upon it asa distinct source of revenue

,for travellers must

need hire help to get through . Why, then,should the road be mended here or in any otherplace where a n awkward highway means gain tothose who can take advantage of it ?The quarter of the city near our inn‘

had avery peculiar pavement . The village of Airoloou

’ the St. Gothard is paved with garnet stones,but here is something e ven more singular . Yearsago a new magistrate came to the city and dis

covered that a certain money-lender was oppressing the people ; so he called him to justice,and condemned him to pave a quarter of thecity with millstones . Thus he was to be taughtnot to grind the faces of the poor . Where theman could have discovered so many millstonesis a mystery ; but there they are, and they sayhe was ruined in the process of obtaining them .

We were interested afterwards to hnd a portionof San Yuan paved in a similar way

,though

there we could not discover the reason .

Ou r two Sundays on the road made u s morethankful for the Day of Rest than we had everbeen before . The first

, at Hsi -an -hsien,was

brightened by the opportunity we had of meetingMiss Petterson and Miss Engstrfim, two ladies

Tw o He roic Lad ie s 31

who had sufl‘e red dreadful hardships in theirescape from the Boxers

,but have returned to

their old station . The people of the placethought they must surely have died, and on theirreappearance outside the city the rumour wentround that the doctrine they had taught wastrue, for the Christian lad ies had risen from thedead . We had the opportunity of preaching tothe people, and of sharing the hospitality of themissionaries and though Chinese etiquette prevented our remaining with them after sunset

,they

were g ood enough to send our supper to the inn .

The next day we came in contact with anotherSwedish station, and were hospitably entertainedto an evening meal by Mrs . Stalhamme r, whosehusband was unfortunately from home .

The following Sunday we were in‘ a place

where there were no Christians so we spent OurSabbath quietly in our own quarters

,much to

the astonishment of our muleteers, who were,however

,mollified when they

"

knew they wouldbe paid for the day of rest, and that we wereprepared to g ive them a feast in honour of it.

At one place we found a H indu, employed on

the making of the new railway, and resident atthe inn . He could speak English and Italian,as well as his own language, but was so charmedwhen Mr . Wilson spoke to him in Bengali thathe insisted

‘on making u s a present of two chickens

32 Ou r Road Jou rn ey to Shen si

for supper . When they came they were alive ;so as we did not know what to do with them, weput them in a basket

,and gave orders that they

were to be set free in the morning . But duringthe next day we saw them dangling on the sideof one of our box es, so we supposed they hadbeen killed . Judge of our surprise in the evening to d iscove r that they were alive, and had

been hanging heads down all through the sweltering sun of that day . They were instantly te

leased amidst our vain regret and horror, and

in two seconds they were strutting about theinn yard, picking up their food as if nothinghad happened .

As we passed through the cities and villageswe were, of course, the observed of all observers .

The people would gathe r on each side of theroad to see u s pass, and the great men whowould not deign to stand in the crowd wouldhave an errand across the road, and peer intoour Shen -tzu as they crossed . At first we wentthrough with a becoming stateliness of bearingbut when the experience was oft -repeated, we werenot so particular, and more than once the peoplesaw nothing except Mr . Fullerton ’s feet

,which

protruded from the dark cavern of his litter .

A tall man should hesitate before travelling inthese conveyance s, which are constructed forpersons of the average Chinese height .

Th e Frontie r Arch 33

Beggars took the opportunity of our passingto lift up their pleading voices, and at the cityentrances .and exits they made their piteousappeals, kowstowing to u s as we passed ; butas we carried no money

,we were never able to

respond ourse lves, though we believe others inour caravan

,especially the servant in charge of

the cash,” frequently "bestowed an alms .

On the summit of the pass,betwe en the pro

vince of Honan and the province of She nsi, atthe elbow of the Ye llow River, there is a mostimpressive gateway crown ed with high towers .

It is quite unguarded, but this only enhancesits d ignity as it stands astride the path . Passingthrough

,a marked difference is at once to be

noted between one province and an other, theevidence of better government and greater pros

perity on the“ Shensi side . Honan is perhaps

the poorest province in China, and is infestedwith band its but Shensi

,wh ile it has suffere d

much from war and famine and pestilence, and

at one time,as the result of these, from an

incursion of wolves, i s m uch more habitable,though there are wide stretches of country evenhere with but a sparse population, and ruinedvillages and temples abound on e very side .

Here it may be proper to remark that whenwe Speak of a province. of China, we are not tothink of it as a county in England . Some

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Th e Hot Springs 35

sent the state of the mission from the nativeside before we had the opportunity of see ingthe foreign missionaries .

When we arrived at the Sulphur Springs ofLin T ’ung, a charming spot where there issueswarm from the earth water which has remedialproperties for rheumatism and the like complaints

,

we found that Mr . Bell and Mr . Madeleyhad come out to meet u s, and for their ownsake we were glad to welcome them, as wellas for the bundle of home correspondence whichthey brought to u s .

The next day we met, at Hsieh Kou, oneof our out-stations

,a company of Christians,

amongst whom was a native doctor who had

recently turned to the faith, and had burned hisbooks as a sign of his conversion . Farther onDrs . Jenkins, Young, and Charter, with Messrs .

Keyte,Smith

, and Watson, greeted u s . When wewere within two or three [ i of the city we foundthe teachers and boys of the school drawn upon the roadside, and when we reached the citygates the ladies of the mission were kind enoughto receive u s . As we passed under the walls

,

we felt it was like coming home after a longwilderness journey . At last we were in theancient city of S i -ah -fu .

CHAPTER V

Th e An cient Capita l

OR a longer time than any other place,Si -ah -tu

, the chief city of Shensi, has beenthe capital of th e Chinese Empire . It was hitherthat the Empress-Dowager fled from Peking inthe year 1 900, when the Powers marched uponthat city .

Si -an -fu itself was founded as far back asthe time of the prophet Samuel

, and it is oneof the largest cities in the land to -day . Surrounded by high walls still in good preservation,with great gate-towers guarding the central city,it has extensive walled suburbs that give it atotal width of five miles from East to West .We were deeply interested in what we saw

of the place during our visit . We lodged in theEast Suburb, where our mission schools are, andwhere the new Mission Hospital is to be built .Only one night did we sleep inside the city walls,at the present hospital premises— soon, we trust,to be put to other and more suitable uses . Every

36

Th e Ne stor ian Tab l et 37

evening at dusk the city gates are shut, and noone is a llowed to pass in or out until dawn .

We therefore made our plans to see the sightsof the city during one day, and to lodge at thehospital for the night .Most notable among the historical memorials

of Si -ah -fu is the Nestorian Tablet,recently

brought from the plains near the city,and erected

in the Hall of Monuments, where it is carefullypreserved . This stone

,which dates from

A .D . 781 , records by a Chinese and Syriac inscription the introduction of Christianity by theNestorian Christians into China in the year A .D .

50 5, and into Si -an - fu in the year A .D . 635, and

the progress of the Church for a hundred and fifty

years after that date .

On the summit of the stone among the carvedfigu re s is cut an ornamental cross and the inscription s, clearly decipherable, leave no doubtas to the faith preached by these early missionarie s . They had their twenty — seven sacredbooks — our New Testamen t and on e sentence ofthe inscription runs ' This religion, so perfect

and so excellent, is difficu lt to n ame ; but itenlightens our darkness by its brilliant precepts .

It is called The Luminous Religion — a verybeautiful name for Christianity, especially whenwe remember that in the early Church baptisrn

‘

was often spoken of as the enlightenment .

38 Th e Ancie nt Capita l

Ah attempt was recently made to steal thisvaluable monument, and the Chinese authoritieshave begun to appreciate its importance . An

enterprising archae ologist conce ived the idea ofmaking a replica of it and when this was ae com

pl ished, he was tempted to try and substitute thecopy for the original but

,happily

,he found it

impossible to a ccomplish his purpose without discovery . Stuck in the mud on a hillside in Honan,we saw the conveyance which bore the fac -similewhich was destined, no doubt, for some museum .

We managed to secure an excellent picture ofthe original in its new location

,but the photo

graphic hlm,with some others, slipped behind

the mantelpiece of our room in Peking .

It is a striking evidence of the failure of one

early attempt to Christianise China and oneis tempted to assign the possible reasons for thefailure . Nestorianism did not give the pure faithof Christ and as it rested for its success on thesecular power and the favour of princes

,it ceased

to be a fervent evangelistic agency .

Right in the heart of Si -ah -fu , and near themission premises now used for medical work

,are

the new university buildings, erected by the prov incial government . There are already threehundred students studying Western literatu re andscience in the Central College, and in the Law

and Normal Colleges are a large number of

Weste rn Col l ege s 39

other select Chinese youths holding Governmentscholarships .A great opportunity ofl'ers itself here for mis

sionary work among students and we share mostfully with our Si -ah -fu brethren the convictionthat on e of the first needs of this great city isa .well -equipped city Institute for students and

scholars— under the charge of a well -qualifiedmissionary who would make the presentation ofChrist to the literati his first care .

But we were equally impressed with thepossibilities of public preaching in Si -an -fu .

There is already one good centre where evan ~

ge l istic work . is carried on with encouragingresponse . The hall, which is also used as abook-store and reading -room, is quite near theGovernor ’s yamen— the chief law-court of the citya— facing a wide, open space, and a crowd iseasily gathered and held there by Gospel preaching . All sorts of people, waiting in the vicinityof the yamen, are found l istening to the messageof the preacher . More of such halls are needed

,

and would be really profitable if well mannedand superintended by missionaries .

Our journeys to and fro through the streetsof Si -an -tu were memorable for many thingsch icfly the mud and the uneven stone roadsthe efforts requ ired to hold oneself together whenriding in sprin

'gless carts to pay state calls on

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Missionary Pion e e rs 4 1

a circle in order to remain in touch with the

city ,to which their hearts went forth in prayer

and l ongi ng . It was almost like the ancientpeople of God encircling Jericho ; and at lengththe God of Israel

,who h ad sustained His servants

in their s iege, led them within the walls, and

gave them their hearts ’ desire . But the cityis great, and the workers even now are but few .

The prospects, however, are brigh ter now thanever before, and very soon we should see a greatadvance here in the Kingdom of God .

The whole mission in Shensi bears the impressof the individuality of Mr . Shorrock ; a strongspiritual atmosphere pervades all the work and

the goodly band of missionaries,all too few for

the great enterprise in hand, are full of devotionto Christ . The work amongst the women and

girls,as well as amongst the boys and young

men,i s worthy of all praise . The printing press is

used to great advantage for. the production oftracts and leaflets and in the near future definitework amongst th e students at the native colleges,and th e theological training of candidates forthe ministry

,will be undertaken while an

advance into the North ern district of the provinceis being prepared .

Before leaving the city there were ceremonialvisits to be paid ; at one of them we were re

ce ived in a room where the table was spread

42 Th e An cient Capital

with a .white cloth , and had upon it an emptycru ete stand of antique pattern and two pink glassepergnes . We felt this to be , as it was intendedto be , a mark of very special and distinguishedhonour, though we did not consider it an advanceon the ancient Chinese style .

On e of the most intere sting men we met here,on a visit to his temple

,was the Abbot of the

Taoist Monastery, a man high in the confidence

of the late Dowager Empress during her stay inthe city . He argued that the Taoists do notworship their idols but by means of the idolsworship God — the conten tion of all intelligentidolaters throughout the world . We coul d notbut believe that his heart was yearning for theTrue Light . He attended the Sunday afternoonservice we had the pleasure of conducting, and

listened to the Christian teaching with the utmostreverence .

CHAPTER VI

Gospe l Vil lage

ONG before our arrival in Shensi,arrange

ments had been made for the deputationto attend the annual assembly of the NativeChurch, to be held at Fu -yin -t ’sun . This, themother church of our mission in Shensi, ison the plain across the Wei River

,to the north

of Si-an -fu , about forty miles distant from theprovincial capital . It received its beautiful nameGood News Village — from the first native

Christian settlers, who came as emigrants fromthe famine -stricken area of the Yellow River inShantung about twenty years ago .

Between thirty and forty thousand people,hearing in Shantung that there were fertileand sparsely popula ted plains away in theWest

,decided to leave home and try their

fortunes anew . Among these colonists weresome who had been under instruction in our

43

44 Gospe l Village

Shantung Mission, and of these a few were activeChristians . They appealed that missionariesshould be sent to their newly-adopted land, and

the first deputation of the Baptist MissionarySociety to China urged the appeal upon the Committe e , with the result that two missionaries wereset apart for this work

,and a beginning was

made .

To those who took that step in faith and

courage seventeen years ago, and who are nowable to review the progress of the Shensi Mission,the story of the work there must be full of joy andencouragement and th e following account of theTa Kun g Chi, or Great

,

Public Prayer, atwhich the last deputation was present, will be ofspecial interest .It had been planned that we should both travel

together, in company with the missionaries, inmu le carts in one large party from Si -ah -tu

making a two days’ journey and arriving at the

village !th e evening before the assembly b egan .

But the heavy rains,which came on when we

reached the city, threatened to break up our

plans . The loose, unmetalled, and unkept roadsin the country districts become almost impassablefor wheeled traffic in a rainy season ; and asday after day th e heavy downpour continued, wewondered if ever we should get to Fu -yin -t ’sun .

The day before the meetings, however, turned

Crossing Riv ers 45

out fin e , and it was decided that a first instalment of the party should ride out on ponies ormules, without any luggage but what could betied to the saddle .

Dr . Jenkins, Mr . Keyte, Mr . Wilson, and a

Chinese ex-soldi er servant started off in themorning, hoping to get across the river and reachth e place of meeting before night .The journey was

,on the whole

,a pleasant

one . The animals picked their way along footpaths and the high ridges of the fie lds, and

with a few slips and minor mishaps we re achedthe river . Then we wasted an hour and a halfin crossing . It has not yet occurred to theChinese authorities to put bridges over th e riverson the main roads between their chief cities inthe interior, and in the course of our travels wehave frequently had to spend a couple of hoursin getting across a river in a clumsy barge orraft .The ferrymen seem to be generally on the

fother side, and have to be waited for . Then,when carts

,baggage

,litters

,and passengers are

aboard,the mules have to be persuaded by various

arguments to step from the sloping bank on tothe swaying and crowded craft . The currenthas to be navigated and sha llows and sandbanksto be n egotiated amid much noisy altercation .

Happy the travellers who are not stuck shelter

46 Gospe l Vil lage

less for hours on a bank in a storm . We werefairly fortunate ; but we heard of many actualexperiences of missionaries that were far otherwise, one man waiting on the banks of the riverfor days together, and another being stuck inthe centre of the river for two days and a half .

On the farther side, the long process of disembarking has to be gone through . The mulesmay fall foul of the barge and into the water,as one of ours did, and add to the excitementand delay . Finally

,the fare has to be paid,

with sundry extras for distinguished passengers,and the road journey recommences, with an impression on one ’s mind of having spent a largepart of one 's life in crossing rivers .

So long a time was spent in getting to thenorth of the Wei that it soon became evidentthat we should not succeed in reaching Fu -yint 'sun that night . We pushed on as far as wecould, until it became too dark to pick our pathwith any safety, and then we turned aside tospend the night at the house of an evangelistin an out -station . The good man did not expectu s, but he quickly procured u s some food and,

weary as we were, we were soon asleep, rolledup in our rugs .

Early the following morning we were on theroad, and before long we met a messenger fromFu -yin -t ’sun, who had been sent out on a little

Th e Sentry an d th e Se rv ant 47

Chin ese pony to watch for u s, with instructions toride back arid g ive warning of our approach .

For the Shensi Christians were determined thatthe representatives of the Old Concern, asthey call the Missionary Society

,should be re

ce ived with becoming honour . It did not dauntthem that the two

"

members of the deputationwere forced by circumstances to come singly .

They only doubled their celebrations and whenMr . Fu llerton , with the other missionary friends,came two days later by cart, arriy ing at oneo ’clock in the morning, after an eighteen hours

’

journey, they rang the church be ll, awakenedall the inhabitants, and repeated all their ceremonies of welcome .

The ex-soldier servant, who travelled with us

on this and other occasions in Shensi, filled us

with great admiration by the assiduous mannerin which he attended to the polite Observancesthat the Chinese delight ih . He took the deputation under his particular care, and though therecould be no verbal intercourse , and we had tofollow h is signs and trust to imagination and

the promptings of the missionaries, we felt thatall our shortcomings were fully compensated byhis importance . Here it is right to mention thatat Shanghai we were provided with Chinesevisiting cards . First of all Chinese names hadto be chosen bearing some resemblance to our

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A Roy a l We lcome 49

group of Christian women Were encountered, eachin a separate company . By the time we cameto the first houses of the village we had a mostimposing following . Banners of flaming colours,and boards with mysterious characters inscribedupon them, were borne along beside u s but ourmodesty was un injured by the alleged de scrip

tions on them,for we couldn ’t read them .

Energetic performers upon wind instruments andgon gs accomplished remarkable results

, and thefiring of crackers and guns added to the noisywelcome .

If we had been able to feel more personallyworthy of these honours, our happiness couldhardly have been greater . For we knew thatit was the Baptist Missiona ry Society that wasbeing honoured, and not ourselves and it wasa joyful thing to see that new community ofChristian believers

,with their children and ih

qu irers, coming out to express their gratitudeand aff ection to the mission through whichsalvation had been brought to them .

The village of Fu -yin -t ’sun has grown upen tirely by the building of Chinese Christianhomes . The early settlers, wishing to avoidtrouble over temple taxes and hea then theatrelevies

,made up their minds to start a new village

on Christian lines . It differs from other Chinesevillages in having no protecting wall and gates,

50 Gospe l Vil lage

which were forbidden by the officials . But theChristian village doe s not seem to have sufferedfrom the lack of this protection, and the facthas even been commented upon by the nonChristians as an evidence that the followers ofth e new doctrine were clearly not aiming at anyhostility towards their neighbours . This matterof walls is a serious one to the Chinese mind .

h is a common saying tha t a city without wallsis like a man without trousers and when, afterthe outbreak of 1 900, the walls of Tientsin werelevelled and a tramway laid in their place,many were the misgivings of the inhabitants .

Disgrace had overtaken their pride, and until thisday the nakedness of the city is keenly felt .When the peopl e of Fu -yin -t ’sun were denied theright to build their wall, they, too, felt the irunclothed state they thought that the Governorwas against them but when their defen ce lessnessproved their innocence, they saw that this alsowas working for their good, and tha t the Governorin denying their request had proved their friend .

Which things may be a parable to them and tous of other things .

We stayed a few days in the village,putting

up in the simple thatched rooms that have beenbuilt by the mission for the missionaries ' aecommodation . Miss B eckingsale had very bravelyand kindly arranged to travel ahead of us fr01n

Th e Spreading Light 5 1

Si -ah -fu and look after our comfort . She

certainl y succeeded remarkably well in thecircumstances . Th e days were so full of meetings, and the generosity of our Chinese friendspressed upon us so many nat ive feasts that itwas with difficu lty we could get a quiet interval .This period at Gospel Village is memorablefor the many opportunities we had for exercisewith the chopsticks— b

'

o'th between ‘the meetings inthe

'

dayligh'

t, and at night by the dim light ofChinese lanterns .

A big bell that once clanged in an idol templeis now hung in a little belfry by the entran cegate of th e ch apel and school compound thatforms the centre of the village , and by itssummons we gathered several times a day tothe autumn assembly of the Shensi Church .

It is a great tribute to the faithfulness and

toil of our missionaries, an d, of course, to thegenuine Christian zeal of the native Christians,that m sixteen years, instead of the small groupin one village

,there are now branches of the

church in no less than sixty towns and villagesof the immediate district . Regular Christianworship is conducted either by one of the threepastors

,who are suptiorted by the united church,

or by one of the elders, deacons, or lay members .

The missionaries exercise oversight, and join in

th e council and help in every way but the church

5

52 Gospe l Vil lage

itself is vigorous and anx ious to do its own workfor God .

The meetings were held in the big chapel,which has grown with the increasing church .

Originally a simple house of timber and sundried brick, it was first lengthened . Then awing was added— now it has two wings ortransepts . One of these was occupied by the

women, a curtain being stretched diagonally. from,

the far corner of the transept to the edge ofthe pulpit . Round this corner appeared the handof Miss Beckingsale as she led the singing . Therest of the building during the meetings wasthronged with men . There were about hy e

hundred present at each se rvice, and it was de eplyinspiring to look down from the rostrum uponthat strong, seriou s, masculine con gregation,eagerly following the . proceedings, and storingup for fu ture use in their own homes and villagesall the instruction they could obtain from theirteachers and le aders . The first time we werepresent at the announcement of prayer, we werestruck by the appearance of the congregation,which. rose an d, turning away from

"

the minister,knelt down at their sea ts most quietly ! and de

voutly . The rows of knee ling figure s in bluecotton gowns, with , long black plait

'

ed. hair and

sku ll caps on their heads, made a strange -looki

ing congregation of worshippers to ou r unaccus

A Kn ee l in g Company 53

tamed eyes . But many a home chu rch mightlearn something in reverent behaviour from thatyoung community .

The human nature behind the Chinese. exterioris, however, like our own . The children cried,old folk became drowsy . The singing was notalways musical, and occasionally a brother prayedtoo long . We were, however, immen sely edified

and cheered to find that the Chinese na tive pastorhas learned how to dea l with the last-mentionedweakness . When he thought one man had

occupied su fficient t ime, he called out, K0 liao

ba Euoug'

h 1 ‘ — and the brother ended . Westored the phrase in our mind for, future use inChina ‘

and at home .

When the business session was held, underthe presidency of the senior of the three pastors,it was delightful to observe the combination ofWestern and Eastern methods . A vacancy inthe diaconate in some corner of the fie ld de

manded an election, which must be conducted inthe General Assembly . The re ports on thechurch work and progress during the year, givenby the elders and deacons, were startling in theirfrankness . On e wondered what would happenif such reports were given in public meetingsat h ome . Yet there were some beautiful te stimonies to the work of grace in the hearts of

these inscru table pe ople .

54 Gospe l Vil lage

To take the criticisms first, village by v illage .

Two old men who are not at peace causetrouble ; their zeal is foolish .

Cannot be h itch ed, all sixes and sevens .

There are old bearded men in this church,but they don ’t do much .

"

Worshippers not very steady .

This village has gone back, the people don’t

help each other .Very bad, won

't work, won’t study, causes

much anxiety, light nearly extinguished, chapelfall ing down .

”

‘fifi-Christians prospering in worldly business, butthe doctrine is not advancing .

”

Too much outward form, but latterly moreactivity .

"

The encouragements were more numerous.About a new station it was reported that thepeople go out to preach : the old concerns notso good as the new ones in going forward .

In another place The women very firm

here progress apparent ; earnest in lookingafter new people .

"

And so village by villageVery few here, but very firm .

One old man has stood alone here,but there

is hope for the place .

"

Only one Christian family here, but it has

made a good impression .

"

U nflagging Zea l 5 5

The church here has risen from the dead,one member has been disciplined for gambl ing .

”

Men and women here delight in study .

On e man who was weak has led his wife to theSaviour and now is firm, another man bybecoming good has grea tly strengthened thechurch .

Tan Family Village goes on worshipping ;there are s ix ty-five members, and all the men

go out to preach, continually adding memberschapel too small .”

In my section the people contribute eighty toa hundred days ’ work every quarter in preaching,and the more the people preach the firmer theybecome .

”

The report of one place was that a man hadpreached a sermon on Christ in the heart,which had been the be ginning of a new experi

ence to himself as well as a blessing to others .

At another when an inquirer saw Mr . Morganthe other day, he remembered how he used toperse cute the Christians when Mr . Morgan washere before

, and was overcome with tears At

a third a poor man, rich in faith, had guaranteedthirty taels to bu ild a chapel . It seemed foolish,but all the money was raised, and his faith

justified .

If the reports were frank and practical, sowere the exhorta tions . from the native teachers

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A Little On e a Thou san d 57

and there he was cured and converted . Ioperated on that man not long ago .

" Thisis a cataract patient That little boy is onlythirteen years old . The next candidate tohim is seventy .

One great source of satisfaction and thankfulness in this baptismal service was the fact thatat its close the l iving membe rship of the ShensiChurch had passed a total of a thousand, theactua l number being Wh en we afterwardssat at the Lord ’s Table with many of these ourbrethre n in Christ, truly our fellowship was sweet

with the Father, and with His Son Jcsus Christ,and with one an other in Him .

CHAPTER VII

Th e City W ith th e Bu sy Bridge

AN YUAN,which is about thirty miles from

Si-an -tu , was the farthest .

I

city we visitedin Shensi . Its situation is picturesque, built as itis on

‘ both sides of its own little river, the twosections being joined by a bridge across theravine, which very much

‘ resembles the PonteVecchio at Florence

,having shops on either side

all the way across .

When we left Gospel V illage we spent thenight at Fu -p ’ ing -hsien . The members of theChurch there met us outside the gate before weclimbed the steep corkscrew road that led u s toour place of abode . Here they gathered for ameeting, and in the dim light of a few smokinglamps those furrowed faces looked up into ours,a depth of longing behind them that drew forthour hearts to them with great desire . It was apicture worthy of Rembrandt; with its high lightsand deep shadows . Already our experience ofChinese country audiences had taught u s the

58

A Pa rab le of Fa ith 59

futility of an‘ ordered di scourse such as might

be given to an English congregation,and the

necessity of getting some point of contact withtheir elusive minds . As an example of what wediscovered to’ be a successful method of approachour notes of this evening may be drawn upon .

We began by thanking them for the distin

gu ish ed reception they had g iven u s outside thegates and assured them that their kindness hadentered deeply into our hearts . 5 ‘ But why,

" weasked , 5

‘

did you gather and walk so far to meetand welcome u s ?Upon this there was a pause while the ques

tion“ was d iscussed and a suitable answer framed .

Because we wished to do” you honour," one ofthe men‘ replied . You have journeyed a longway, and endured many hardships to come tou s . It was fitting that we should go

‘ out and

receive you when“ you came .

With a Chinese greeting, clasp'ing both hands

- our own‘ hands— we thanked them again, and

inquired why they went out to“ meet u s to -day,and not yesterday, and why they did not delayuntil to -rnorrow .

Another conference .in

‘ the meeting, and theanswer carne : 5 ‘ Because you were coming today and not yesterday or to -morrow .

"

But how did you know it was to -day we werecoming

, and not yesterday or to-morrow ?

60 City w ith th e Bu sy Bridge

Because you sent a message saying it

was so .

"

But perhaps we might have sent a messageand not have come, after allWe believed you wou ld do as you said .

Then really you came out to mee t us

because you belie ved u s . Was that n ot iti ” Tothis there was a strong assent by nods and ciaculations (l et no man say that the Chinese are

impassive ) and, of course, we turned at onceto the thought tha t those who believe Christ goout to meet Him . As it was faith in us that tookthem outside the city ga te, so it is faith in Himthat will cause them to separate themselves fromthe world . Th ere can be no true works apartfrom faith , and there can be no true faith apartfrom works if they had sa id they bel ie ved us

and yet did not go out to mee t u s, th ey wouldhave been judged false by all their fe llows .

It was all very simple, of course ; but thelight of intelligence on their faces and theevident signs of response assured u s that at leastthat idea had got home to their hearts and

would not be forgotten .

On the following day we started forth to visitsome of the villages in company with Dr . Jenkins

,who .took with him a stock of me dicines .

Great Peace V illage was the first, and afterour dua l discourse on Great peace have they

Th e Aw fu l Stre ets 61

that love Thy l aw and nothing shall off end them,

the patientmissionary dispensed his medicines tothe eager crowd that besieged him . The nextvi llage was named Pea ce and Joy V illage

,

"

and of course we preached on Joy and peacein believing,

" while the Doctor emphasised ourgospel by attend ing to the bodies of the people .

Then the rain '

descended, and our intention of

reaching Yoa -Chou that evening was frustrated .

We had to be in San Yuan for the Sunday, and

we could not run the risk of being hindered bythe impassable roads

,so back we ’ turned to Fu

p 'ing-hsien ; again we climbed the corkscrewinside the gate, and the next morn ing startedon our way to San Yuan .

As we entered the city in our carts, we plungedinto immense puddles of stagnant liquid, whichcovered the road for hundreds of yards, and

our passage stirred up pesti lent gases enoughto have poisoned the whole commun ity . Th e

next day when we visited the chief magis trate,a very vivacious man, who

"expressed his sympathywith reform

,we ventured to suggest that a very

good beginning might he made by improvingthe streets of the city

'

. But when we tried toreduce his theories to this little bit of ne ce s

sary practice, he first inquired whe re the moneywas to come from, and then , with a shrug of

his shoulders, said, What 's the good ? They

62 City w ith th e Bu sy Bridge

would soon‘ be as had as ever . And there youhave . a microscopic example of the difficu lty besetting any eff ort toward the betterment of thingsin China— Where ’s the money ? and, What

’s the

good ?We arrived in the city on a Friday evening ;

and after our official visit to the Yamen on Saturday morning, we spent some time in examiningthe flourish ing native college, an

‘

d could not butadmire the adequate accommodation provided forthe students . In addition to the resident quarters, \We were very much struck with the pavilionsin the garden s, ,wh e re the men can

“ quietly study,and by the open-air gymnasium,

where the ihstructor, who was our guide, proved to be theonly man among u s who could walk

'

along theswinging plank .

We were then conducted to a large and beautiful

,private house, and were interested to find

installed in one of the rooms a semi -private and

beautifully appointed girls’ school . We were

astonished to see such a large house, and suchquaint and pretty gardens, in a place which,in spite of its commercial importance

,was other

wise ih “ such a squalid condition” .On

‘ the Sunday one of us spent the day invisiting several communities of Christians nearto the city, to the delight of both

“ grown -upsand young people ; while the other, with Mr .

Ne ighbou ring Vil lage s 63

Morgan and Dr . Jenkins, went ten miles out ofthe city to . Mu -t ’a-sh i and Ngan -lo -ts ’un . At the

first village we had a great reception with banners and mandarin umbrella

,crackers

, and

cymbals and after the service,the native Chris

tians spread for u s an elaborate feast . We hadscarcely time to do justice to their hospitality

,

when .we were called to go two miles fartheron to the next village, where again We werereceived with unne cessary honour, and heard thatanother elaborate hospitality was in prospect . So

we lengthened out the service in order to secureas decent an interval as possible between the twofeasts . All that on a Sunday morning, mymasters ; think of it

'

i

Mr . Morgan, who, with Mrs . Morgan, informer years used to visit this village, was welcomed again with much afie ction . After a prolonged leave -taking, we returned to Mu -t ’a -sh i

(where, by the way, Mr . Percy Bruce, years ago,on his visit to th is district, was laid up withsmallpox ), and, picking up Dr . Jenkins, who hadbeen busily engaged in his medical work all thetime

,we returned to San Yuan, arriving at night

fall . A great door and efi'

ectual is open to theGospel in San Yuan, and when the mission isfirmly established here , as well as at Si-ah -fu ,

‘

we shall be able to advance with confiden ce tothe d istricts farther north .

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God ’

s Garden 65

great stretches of mil le t, golden in the stalk and.

brown . in the ear, a taller species in stately rows,with feathery he ads, surrounding the humbler butmore use fu l kind, gladdened the eye . This milletseed, which you, gentle reader, give only to yourbirds, is used for porridge in China, and very niceporridge it makes, too— that .is, when you get

used to it. Turnips are generally sown amongstthe millet, and these were now appearing,especially ih ’ the corners of the fields .

Patches of indigo, with its l ittle crimson flower,peeped up here and there, and the castor-oil

plan t with its ripening. burrs,"grew in plots, gener

ally by the wayside . The crop was abundantlast year, but the young people need not beafraid : castor-oil is only used for cart greaseih

‘ China . Most beautifu l of all were the cottonplantations

,the cotton ih ’ the pod, and the new

flowers appearing, looking like nothing so muchas gardens of tea rdses . And, inde ed, it wasGod ’s “

garden, beautifu l and fragrant, throughwhich we passed as those that dream of Paradise . There were not many birds

,but th e

magpies, which are everywhere ih evidence inChina

” had not forsaken the sceneThis vivid and charming landscape was but

the prelude to a storm wh ich met u s ere wecrossed the river, and turned the roads on theother side into quagmires . If it had been all

66 City W ith th e Bu sy Bridge

quagmire or all road, we should have known justwhat to expect but the mud and slush were verypartial . Here it was a quicksan

'

d, there a'

pit ;now an even slushiness which almost buried thecart-wheels

, and again a sloping bank alongwhich the cart would pass at an angle

,

of fortyfive degrees whilst those who followed were intrepidation lest it should fall upon its side, and

,

with mingled feelings, waited their turn to gothrough the same experience .

Oh we went until darkness fell, and, missin gour road

,we found ourselves in the middle of

a cultivated fie ld with millet ou“ one side and

wheat on the other . There was nothing for itbut to retrace our way, so some of the cartsturned through the millet, and some of themthrough the wheat The muleteers laughed atour protests, but I only wish I could have beenthere the next morning when the farmer cameand wondered what had happened . Ba ck we wentto

'

the turning where we had gone wrong, and

then,with the rain coming down in torrents,

and the fierce wind blowing straight into ourfaces

,we stumbled on , until at length, thankful

and tired, we reached the city an d moved roundto the East Suburb, where a warm welcomeawaited the belated travellers .

CHAPTER VIII

Un trav e l led Shen si

HEN we had completed our survey in thesouth of Shensi, and desired to reach our

next centre, in the north of Shansi, two routeslay open to u s, one through Shansi itself an d

the other through the north of Shensi . Weshould have liked to take them both

,but it was

impossible to spare the time for such an extensionof .ou r journey . For many reasons

“

we decidedtherefore ;to take the Shansi route, and as accurateknowledge of the north of Shensi was necessaryfor our report, it was a great satisfaction to us

when the Rev . John Bell and the Rev . JamesWatson expressed their willingness to take theother journey on our behalf . They were ablemen for the work . Mr . Bell as a former Congoml ssmnary has had large experience of itineration

, and Mr . Watson is a man of practicalability and as both were destined to

‘ be pioneersin the Forward Movement, it was well that they

667

68 Untrav e l led Shen si

should gain personal knowledge of their newsphere . We received their report on the eveof leaving China, and from its carefully preparedpages we are able to describe with some accuracythat part of the province which had been prev iou sly untravelled and almost unknown . Without delay we hope that this neglected territorywill be brought under the influence of the Gospelof Christ .Already our missionary operations extend as far

as Yao Chou, and there are indeed a few'

dis

ciples of Christ in Yen-ah -tu , still farther north,though, so far as we can discover, that city hadonly been visited by Christian missionaries onceor twice, and the men who visited it are notnow in Shensi .Between our present northern border and Yen

an -tu there are five cities a day’s journey apartfrom each other . Yen -an -tu itself is a small butcompact place, but it is the centre of a districtwhich has a considerable population . The wholestretch of country is mountainous, the main roadrising until it is over feet— perhapsfeet- above the level of the sea . Ah oil well ex istsin the district . It was discovered years ago byMr . Lutley, of the China Inland Mission, butonly recently has it attracted much attentionJapanese agents have lately been conductingexperiments with the oil, and so highly does the

Its Natu ra l Produ cts 69

Chinese Government value the property that ithas constructed, at Very considerable cost, a goodroad from T

'

ung Kh an to the oil centre at YenCh ’ang . There are also coal -mine ’s and ironworks, potteries and extensive salt -fie lds, whichaff ord employment to many people .

Two days north of Yen-ah '

-tu i s the still largercity of Wa -Ya-P

’

u ; three days farther on isthe busy and popular trading city of sui-TeChou in its cradle of hills ; and still anotherday brings us to the official and literary city ofMi -Che -Hsieh , a place of considerable i ’mportance . The largest city of all, Yu -lin-fu, with apopulation of about six ty thousand, lies stillfarther north .ih the midst of a sandy desert .

It has a street two miles long and fifty feetbroad, Which is crowded from end to end withpeople . Oi course there are numberless Villages,whose inhabitants visit th e towns for the marketsand fairs, and would be thus accessible to missionary influ ence in the cities, as well as beingopen to the itinerant herald of the Cross .From south to north this hitherto untouched

country is about 370 miles, and there is not asingle Protestant missionary in it all- nor everhas been . Ar Yu -l in-tu our friends met acolporteur who had travelled for thirteen daysfrom a China Inland Mission station in theprovin ce of Kan-su in order to distribute b

'

ooks

70 Untrav e l l ed She nsi

in the great fair, and he declared that not even

a native Christian had"visited the city for the

past twenty yea rs . That men from the Southshould meet a man from the West, both led ofth e Spirit of God to visit the city in Christ ’sname at the same time, seemed to indicate thatthe set time to favour it has come .

At Sui -Te-chou there is a young man residentwho heard something of th e Doctrine duringa .visit which he had paid to Si -an -tu , and byhis good offices a sma ll shop has already b eensecured in the _city_ which will serve as a foothold for Christian missions when the men toundertake the work are forthcoming .

During the journey an old man over seventyyears

,of age came to one of the inns; and the

native teacher who accompanied the travellersgave him a tract . When he had read it hesaid, This contains something good,

”and he

desired to know more . Ere they parted theteacher and he were both weeping as theytalked together of the Saviour of the world, and

their final salutation was, We shall never meetagain, but we sha ll see each other in heaven .

"

Truly here, as elsewhere, China is waiting tohear the Message of the Ages .

CHAPTER IX

Ou r Road Jou rn ey Throu ghShan si

HE rains continued, and when we set forthon our twenty-on e days

z Northern journey,in mule litters, the roadWas one palpitating massof gelatinous mud. There were numberless delaysin starting . At the last moment one of themuleteers “

declared that he must go and have hisbreakfast, which probably meant a pipe of opium .

But at"

l ength all was ready . We knelt in prayerwith our friends at Si -ah -tu and bade them anaff ectionate

,but somewha t Sad, farewell . We

looked,up at the gateway of the city in which

we had had such happy fellowship with ourbrethren

, and said in our hea rts, We shall neversee it again .

” A mile or two out of the citythe teachers and hospital assistants

“ were in agroup to greet u s, but it was somuddy that wecould n ot

' get over the road to speak to them .

We thought vainly at that time tha t if themuleteers with . their bare legs became of the

7!

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Th e Hav oc of th e Mu d .73

knees in sticky. Ioess . We should have arr ivedat Lin T 'ung in daylight ; but we were sodelayed that it was long after dark befor e wereached the halting-place, and then it was onlyby allowing the mules themselves to pick the waywh ich had been for hours lost to us . We con

soled ou rselves with the thought that we wereat least in a place where there was plenty of

water— it will be remembered that this is thesite of the hot sulphur springs where we hadrested

\on our previous journey— and by unani

mous vote we rested the next day, the hours ofwhich were none too long to enable us to washand brush the mud from our clothes, to scrapeit from our boxes, and to pick it from the locks .But the rains were now over, and during the

twenty days that yet rema ined of our roadjourneying we had blue skies and unclouded sunsh ine . Of course, it took time for the roadsto. dry, but things were certainly better when westarted again, and every day they improved . Thedrivers of the caravan had become somewhat demoralised with their experiences, however, and

we had some difficu lty in getting started in themorning— a delay tha t caused us to be belatedthat n ight .At sundown we became aware of the impossi

bility of completing th e day's stage . Our road

lay along the bank of the Wei River, and from

74 Ou r Jou rn ey Throu gh Shansi

the few passing travellers we lea rnt that therewere two small inns

,either of which we could

choose . Anxious to make as much progress aspossible

,we pressed on to the farther, which was

in a village of about a dozen houses, and whenwe got there we found it shut for the night .We h ad no mind to spend the night on themuddy road, however, and our vigorous hammering at length prevailed for the opening of the

“

door . The people of the village were vociferousin their protest against our rema ining there, and

the innkeeper insisted that there was no room .

But when our soldier escort arrived, they arguedvigorously with him, and his resistance, whichthreatened to be obstinate, collapsed . Therecerta inly

"was very little space for u s, but wediscovered that his chief reason for resistancewas the fact that his house was practically anopium den . The k ’angs were occupied by quitea number of opium -smokers, and the fumes filledthe place . There was no accommodation for ouranimals, which accordingly had to be taken baékto the inn that we had passed . Some of ourbaggage was brought into the room, and somewas carried into the temple court near by .

That night ’s experience is never to be forgotten— the fear of the innkeeper on our arrival hisrelief ;when he found that we were peaceabletravellers the great hole in th e floor imme

An Op ium D en 75

diate ly opposite the door to receive the drippingsfrom the central roof

,a hole in which we nearly

fell on our first entrance the steep ladder whichgave access to the open loft above

,stored with

sorghum millet ; the ch in light ; the dreamyperplexity of the opium-smokers when we brokein upon them the hurried lighting of the fire ,and the clank of the bellows j the spreading ofa tiny table for our evening meal, a very meagreaff air with the opium fumes for a relish ; thefix ing

‘ of our beds on the little space near theback door, which we opened for the sake of freshair

, and the innkeeper subsequently closed forfear of the robbers the gurgling and grunting,the snoring and coughing, which marked thepassage of the hours ; the glimmering of theopium lamps

,which were alight far into the night,

and the fantastic shadows that they cast ; theantics of the insect population ; until, too tiredto make further observation, we sank into un

troubled Sleep, to awaken for an early and hurriedstart the following morning from the unsavouryquarters where we had involuntarily spent thenight.

Little wonder that atter a night spent in sucha den the muleteers would be found engagedin a vigorous hunt and dreadful slaughter at thenext halting-place '

.

The next day, after spending a morning in

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Pe rsimmon Orchards 77

limmon , and it would have been difficu lt to haveused the word if we had thought of it, but weboth managed to drag in the House of Rimmon .

What the other rhymes were must be le ft to theimagination .

The f ollowing day we crossed the Yellow Rive rat T’ung-kwan, hordes of people climbing onour boat to take advantage of the crossing, adisappointed crowd being left behind . Then onand on , day after day, until the great chain ofShensi moun tains was lost in the distance

, and

the ranges of the mountains of Shansi werecrossed or turned one by one . We arrived atHoma on the Saturday evening, and had scarcesettled down in our inn, where we Were to remainfor our Sabbath rest, before a native gentlemanintroduced himself to u s as a follower of JesusChrist . The next morning he brought four othersfor worship, and in our little room we gathered,ten of us, including three Christians from ourca ravan and in our simple service we realisedtha t the Master was in the midst .Ou November sth the Martyr memorie s began

to crowd upon us . We reached P’ ing-yang-tu

in the afternoon, and were hospitably receivedby the friends of the China Inland Mission, and

entertained in the selfsame court of the h ousewhere

,in 1 900, f ourteen missionaries, men and

women, had been besieged by the Boxers for a

78 Ou r Jou rn ey Throu gh Shan si ,

fortn ight. The outside doors were hacked withswords, that in Chinese estimation being thegreatest insult Which could be ofi

'

ered to a house .

We heard the story of the quiet heroism of thosetroublous days, and were moved to the depths ofour h earts at the recital . We saw an old man

and woman, whose lives indeed had been spared,but on whose foreheads the Boxers had cut deepa ;great cross— plain, simple people they were,but they bore the brand of the Lord Jesus, andin their eyes shone th e light of heaven .

We met with the missionaries, Messrs . Lyon,Knight, Triidinger, Dr . Carr, and th e ladies, forconference and prayer in the room where Dr .Millar Wilson, who, with his wife, sufi

'

e red

martyrdom at T ’ai -yuan-tu , used to keep hismedicines, and where

,after the escape of the

missionaries,all the precious drugs were spilt on

the floor, and the condensed milk,which the

natives thought must be poison, poured over therest . Back again to their posts these soldiersof the Cross had come

,and in the very room

where there had been such dismay and turmoil,they have hung the legend, In this place willI give peace, saith the Lord . The peace of Godsettled down upon u s that evening as we spoketogether .The next day found u s at Hung T ’ung

,where

a District Conference was in session, in which

Th e Ling-sh'

i Pass

we were expected to share . The honouredsuperintenden t of the China Inland Shansi Mission? Mr . Lutley (a member of Broadmead,Bristol ), with his wife, who were both amongstthe besieged at P ’ ing-yang-fu ,

received u s intotheir .cave dwelling, and treated us with everykindness . Both afternoon and evening we metthe native Christians, and with them joined inthe f estival of the L ord ’s Supper .

The next day we Went forward to Chao Cheng,where preparations were being made for anotherConference, to which, however, we found ourselvesunable to remain . Mr . and Mrs . Dreyer receivedus into their home, where they had scarcely themselves settled, and here we met the widow ofthe late Pastor Hsi, who, with the kindly sympathycharacteristic of her nature, was assisting themissionaries to put their house in order .

Passing on ,we now came to Hoa Chao, where

the Misses French, Cable, and Mandeville hadkindly made preparations for our reception . Wesaw their admi rable school, and were greatlyrefreshed by our fellowship that evening withMr . Lutley and these consecrated ladies .

The next day . we crossed the Ling -sh i Pass,risin‘g higher and higher through scenery whichis surpassingly grand, with air Alpine in itsbuoyancy . The wind blew cool on the mountains

, and for the first time in China we saw

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Chinese Names 81

we bel ieve , will net h‘

é un‘fruitful . We may

perhaps !uestion the wisdom of leaving ladiesalone in a mission station in inland China butth ere can be no question as to the charm and

influ ence of a beautiful !and Christly home, Suchas we saw here, and, indeed, in other places .The patient reader may perhaps wish some

gu idance to the pronunciation of Chinese names,and as we have a good example of the di fficu lties of the art in the name of this place

,we

may pause a moment in our narrative to saythat Chieh Hsiu is spoken almost as if it wereJesu .

” The Romanisation of the Chinesecharacters is phonetic, but there are so man ysounds for which our alphabet has no signs thatarbitrary values are attached to familiar letters .Vowels are usually pronounced in the Contineu tal way . For the rest it may su ffice to saythat T without the apostrophe is pronounced as D

“

,

P without the apostrophe as B, Ch as J, and

K as G . For instance, Chi -Chi is pronouncedas Gee vGe e . The system is as simple as Welsh IThe following day we turned off the direct

road, as we were desirous of visiting the stationof the American Board of Commissioners ofFore ig

‘

n Missions at Fen -chou-tu . The soldiers,who had accompan ied u s up to this poirit on themain road, refused to go farther, as they saidtheir orders were to escort us on the direct road

82 Ou r Jou rn ey Throu gh Shansi

to T'ai -yuan-fu . If there had been any danger,of course we should have met it on the by

-pathbut it is characteristic of Chinese modes ofthought that we were off ered protection wherewe needed it the least . At Fen-chou -tu we foundDr . and Mrs . Attwood, the only missionaries atthe station they were the sole survivors of thestaff of their Mission in 1 900 ; Dr . Attwoodcame back to hnd all his comrades ruthl esslyslain . Little wonder that he is prema turely aged .

We had delightful conference with the veteranmissionary on all sorts of missionary problems,and his opinion on the vexed question of teaching English, expressed in picturesque form, isworth quoting . They will have it,

” he said ;and if you do n ot teach it; you may as well

hang up your fiddle . At the beginning of theBoxer troubles the mag istrate in this city seemedto be a persecutor of the Christians . He flogged

some of them so severely that most of the membersof the church fled to escape his wrath . Whenthe order came to kill the Christians he wasable, with perfect truth, to reply tha t there werenone in the city ; and then it dawned on the

saints that he was their friend, and th at he hadby his appare nt ha rshness saved their lives .Mrs . Attwood was not at home when we arrived ;she had gone out to pay a visit to a widowedlady . Late in the evening she returned, bring

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Th e Bu ria l of th e Dead 83

ing two other widows and a bright little Chineseboy to pay their respects to u s . She had beenunexpectedly detained because of a funeral inthe family where she had been visiting . It hadsuddenly been discovered that the fortunate dayhad arrived for the burial of the husband

,who

had died two years before, and whose corpse

had been in the house ever since 1 There wasnothing extraordinary in this the more im

portant the person who dies the more care mustbe taken in finding the propitious day for theburial, lest e vil should . come to the survivors ;and we were told that sometimes many yearselapse before the body is removed to its finalresting -place . Meanwhile, in its thick coflin

Confucius said that a proper coffin should behy e inches thick— it rests either in some cornerof the house, or is taken to the mn uary .

On e of the excellent widows who came tovisit u s was, in Mrs . Attwood ’s experience

,the

only woman who had learnt to read Chinesecharacters apart from a mission school . Sheherself declared she learnt to read because shehad such a bad temper . That seemed a mysteryto u s, but it was easily explained . When she andher brother were quite young they both learnedfrom the same teacher, but very soon she was keptat home while her brother went to his lesson .

But so determined was she to master the

7

84 Ou r Jou rney Throu gh Shan si

characters that every night she demanded thather brother should teach her what he had learntduring the day, and so dreadfu l was her temperthat she could not be denied . If they refused,she flew into ungovernable rage . So she learntand, with some ju stification , sh e declares thatshe learnt because her temper was so bad . Nowchanged by the grace of Christ, she uses to

good purpose the knowledge acquired in thissingular way .

Our journey was now nearing its end . Everymorning we had risen punctually at four o

’clock,and h ad started on our journey while the starsyet shone overhead ; sometimes as we turnedout of the inn it was so dark that We had tolight candles to see the tracks on the road .

Occasionally we missed our way,

and themuleteers

,who had never been over the country

before, would b e nonplussed, and it was ftcquently left to the Western travellers to decidewhich was the right d irection . We usually foundit quite easy to choose

,much to the astonish

ment of the members of the caravan,until they

learn t the secret, which was a very simple onewe followed the telegraph wire th e lightningthread,

” as the Chinese call it. How we blessedthat solitary wire

’

l Though the places fromwh ich a message could be sent were few and

far between, in all our journeyings we realised

Way sid e Scen e s 85

that it led back home l Every morning wewatched the sun rise from behind the mountains

,

and many a time we quoted, as we encouragedourselves with the thought of the Light that isyet to sh ine over all the world

O’

er th e gloomy hills of darkn e ssLook, my soul, be still and gaze ;

All the promise s do travailWith a glorious day of grace

Blessed jubile e !Let Thy glorious morning dawn .

In spite of the hardships of the journey and

the filth in ess of our inns,each day was a new

delight . Now we would pass a caravan of camelsladen with salt an0n we would admire the beautiful nursery gardening of the Chinese, and watchthem stacking their great white cabbages for thewinter ; we would see whole villages of peopleout in the fie lds reaping the millet harvest, ora solitary farmer ploughing with his yoke ofanimals

,one of the animals sometimes being

human . (In the coal districts we have seen aman pushing a wheelbarrow, and a boy yokedin front going on all fours . ) Here and therethe tobacco leaf was hung out to dry, and timeand again we met a large party of travellersmigrating from one part of the country to theother . As we neared the towns in the evening,

we would meet hle s of work -

people returning from

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Chin e se Storie s 87

e nd, and we made a long march in order to

reach Chiao Cheng,where Mr . Sowerby was

waiting for u s . It was after dark on November the 1 2th when we had completedi our journeyof a hundred and twenty li (three l i being nearlyequal to a mile ) and turned in to the missionpremises . Right gladly we grasped our brother

’shand and greeted our own people

,who had

gathered from the villages round to bid u s

welcome . We realised that evening in some littlemeasure what a joy must come to the missionary ’sheart when he receives news from home . Withexquisite courtesy, our Chinese friends left u s

alone while we read our letters .

The next morning, before we started, we hada solemn service with the native Christians

, and

the following day we reached Chin -shih’

,where

there is a temple with an interesting legend .

Inside the temple there rises a copious streamof wate r .

‘

In the days of long ago, so runsthe legend

,there was a young woman

,a most

dutiful daughter -in -law, who dwe lt on the hill .Every day she walked ten If to a place wherewas a little spring in order that her mother -inlaw might have the best water in the district .On e day she met a stranger Who was so pleasedto hear of her conduct that he gave h er a whip,which

,if stirred round three times in the water

jar,would cause it to fill with water and save '

88 Ou r Jou rn ey Throu gh Shansi

her the long journ ey day by day . For many daysshe successfully followed the stranger ’s advice, butone morning she was out and her mother wantedwater . A younger daughter declared that sheknew how her sister obtained th e water shestirs the whip in the water jar .

” Suiting theaction to the word she stirred it round severaltimes most vigorously, and to her horror, notonly did the jar become full to overflowing, buta broad stream began to flow which flooded thecottage and ran down the hill and the elder sisterreturning at this moment seated herself on theflood, was changed into a fairy, and floated away .

Afte rwards the temple was built there, and thewater never ceases to flow from the temple .

Mr . Sowerby begu iled that evening in the innby drawing upon his great store of such storiescurrent amongst ' the people . Here is another .

The magistrate of a certain city was greatlytroubled because of the continued drought . Inhis dream it was revealed to him that if a certainmonk were burnt the rain would come . He did

not know the monk, but in his dream he sawh im . In the morning he inquired and discoveredthat a familiar h ermit in the mountains answeredto th e description of his dream . At once hetook his journey to the he ly man, and

,telling

him the dream, demanded whether he would sacrifice himself for the people . Without the least

Th e Capita l at Last ! 89

hesitation, the hermit consented, and when hecame to th e city they piled the wood aroundhim and set h te to it. All the time the monkshowed no fear, and his confidence was seen tobe well founded, for scarcely was the fire lightedwhen the rain came down in torrents and putitSti ll another story . A farmer was always com

plaining about the fitfu ln e ss of the rainfall . Thiswas in China, remember ; not, as you mightimag ine, in En gland . One day he was caught upinto the clouds and told to manage it himself .

He gladly undertook the responsibility, and, floating over the country

,he sprinkled h i‘s n'eighbours ’

fie lds ; but when he came to his own he gavethem an extra supply . Oh returning to earthhe f ound his neighbours rejoicing, but, to hissorrow, his own fie lds were flooded .

A comparatively short journey alongside theriver Fen brought us to the city of T ’ai -yuanfu . Fat away we saw its great pagodas, thenon

.the hillside the welcome smoke of the rail

way engine,the first passenger train from Peking

arriving that very"

day . Near the south gatethe boys of the school were paraded to receive u swe passed the memorial erected to the foreignerswho were killed in 1 900 , and then through thegloomy archway we entered with cha stened steps

the modern martyr city of the world .

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Th e He roic Con fe ssors 91

We stood at the spot where,at the foot of a

great decayed tre e by the Governor's gate, theirblood was shed

, and we marked the place wheretheir bod ies had been left to dishonour outsidethe walls . The Chinese au thorities were com

pe lled to recognise the folly and iniquity of thedeed, and they have put up tablets, recording thenames of the sufi‘ere rs

,at three points in the

city but it yet remains for the Christian Churchworthily to perpetuate the memory of the heroicmen and women who

,in our lifetime

,gave their

lives for Christ and for China in the Province ofShansi .We found the Martyr Cemetery

,which was set

apart as sacred to the dust of these brave conf e ssors, in a state of great disorder and we areglad to think that, at the instance of Dr .

Edwards— awho was largely instrumental in arranging matters with the Government after themurdering was past- the monuments have nowbeen transferred to the site where many othersof the . sainted dead sleep, waiting for theresurrection . We could wish that his suggestionof a great avenue of tre es from the city to thiscemetery might be adopted .

In the rebuilding of our mission premises,which were pillaged and destroyed by the Boxers,we have had given to as the opportunity of .

sh owing to the Chinese that we revere the

92 Th e Modern Marty r City

memory of the faithful dead, and that in thesame spirit of loyalty to Jesus Christ and devotion to China we desire to carry on their ministryof truth and mercy .

The fine mission hospital premises, and allthe work carried on

’ in them,so intimately asso

ciated with the family of Dr . and Mrs . Edwards,

and by their splendid generosity now incorporatedin the Baptist Missionary Society

,are in them

selves an e loquent testimony to the ChristianGospel of Love . And when the buildings a re

complete, and the work of the new Arthington

Women ’s Hospital is added to that of the men,there will be an equipment for med ical missionarywork in the city of T ’ai -yuan -fu of which weshall be justly proud .

The modest new buildings of the Boys ’ MissionSchool

,recently e rected, have been named the

Farthing Memorial, and a simple obelisk in thecourtyard

,erected at the private expense of one

of Our missionaries in memory of a beloved colleague, is intended to recall to the Chinese ladswho are now in the school the fact that Christian“

men can die bravely . We were glad to be presentat the opening of these schools, and join in thededication" of them to the Lord ’s service .

But we Were very conscious while we werein T ’ai -yuan -tu , and have been even more sosince we left it, that there is a great lack

’

in

Dramatic Chan ge s 93

our equipment in that city . There ought tobe a really worthy Martyrs ’ Memorial Church

,and

we hope that in the near future such a buildingmay be erected on the plot of ground to whichthe gateway where Miss Coombes was burnt todeath will give entrance .

We were delighted with what we saw ofthe mission services . Crowded congregations

gathered at all the meetings in the modest woodenbuilding that serves the purposes of a chapel .The pupils of the boys ' school

,already referred

to, and of the g irls’ ‘ school

,took up a large

part of the accommodation, and the rest of the

congregation consisted of believers or inquirerswho were inte rested enough to find out the placeof worship and cross th e courtyard that separatesit from the unattractive gateway on the street .But we felt that in ’ this great provincial capital,now undergoing so rapidly the process of beingWesternised

,we ought to have a Christian house

of worship that should be conspicuous enoughand attractive enough to lead many to enter itand hear the Word of Life .

Truly wonderful changes are taking place . In

1 90 0 everything foreign was under, the ban, and

it even brought swift death to a shopkeeper tobe found selling foreign matches . Now the cityis full of foreign goods and the roads are being

macadamised . (No one who has not travelled

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Un iv e rsity Re ceptions

u s at the Shansi University . One was g ivenby Principal Soothill

,in order to remind the

staff and students of the connection of the BaptistMissionary Society with the origin of the University . The other reception

,which proved to be

a much larger and more[

public affair, was arranged by the head of the Chinese department ofthe university . He invited all the local scholarsand gentry, and a curious banquet of a nondescript sort

,but which was intended to be quite

Western,was served on tables covered with white

counterpan es . The occasion was taken by ourdistinguished host to refer to the Peking Syndicate

,treating u s for the moment as foreign

visitors of some importance,

and warning themissionaries

,through u s, that if troubles ensued

by the forcing of the claims of the Synd icateupon the people

,the missions themse lves would

be in jeopardy . In addition to our replies,the

Rev . J J Turner, one of the earliest missionaries of the province

,took occasion to declare

that the missionaries stood for the rights of theShansi people . The Chan cellor ’s spee ch washanded to u s in an English translation, and itseemed of so much importance that we afterwards submitted it to the British Minister atPeking

,and also . to H . E . Judge Ting, whom

we met twice ih ‘ Peking, and who showed u s

much courteous attention . In spite of appear

96 Th e Mode rn Marty r City

au ces to the contrary,we were fully assured by

both these high persona‘ges of the safety of ourpeople .

But the presence of the university in’ T 'a‘i

yu an -fu is a reminder of our missionary obligation to the student classes of this great land .

With many hundreds of college youths an d literatepersons gathered in the provincial capital , theChristian missionaries feel the call to a specialministry . We discussed with them the plans fora new Students ’ Institute, to be conducted on

lines under the leadership of a missionary of university stand ing, and of experiencein work among young men . We are convincedthat this is what is wanted

,and we are glad

that a worker, well equipped and widely experi

enced, is going forth, even as we write, toundertake this great service .

In this place we should like to bear testimonyto th e most valuable work which is being ae com

pl ishe'

d in China by the In Shan ghai,in Tientsin, an d in other places we were profoundly impre ssed with the value of this agencyin reaching the progressive elements of thesegreat

.centres of population .

There is barely space to mention the names ofthe noble men and women who are labouring sofaithfully to-day ih

“ the many departments of thework in T ’ai -yuan -fu . The two senior mis

Th e Mission arie s 97

sionarie s Messrs . So‘werby an d Turner, have We llearned the esteem in which they are held by all .Their lives were spared in 1 900 by their absencein England, but we cannot forget their readinessto return immed iately to' the scene of themassacre and recommence the work . We hadthe joy of staying in their homes and feelingthe influ en ce of their family life in the station .

Both Mrs . Sowerby and Mrs . Turner and theirdaughters were active in the work, and thelamented death of Mrs . Turner since ' we werethere has bee n a great loss to the mission aswell as to her devoted husband . In his earliermissionary career Mr . Turner did much to relievethe sufferers in the great famine, and was greatlyused of God in other parts of the province . Itwas he who baptized Pastor Hsi

,and others who

gave their lives for Christ were led to theMaster ’s feet through his instrumentality .

The younger “generation of missionaries iswell represe nted in the two gifted doctorsBroomhall and Balme — and in Mr . Gam ier, whilethe lady missionaries engaged in school and

med ical work'

are exercising a great powe r forgood among the people . Miss Sh ekle ton and

Miss Nelmes,who with Miss Nellie Turner were

active in the work of the girls ’ school, aff ordedu s several welcome opportunities of seeing theirwork . Miss Dr . Maier and Nurse Lane were

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A Chin e se We dd ing 99

the midst of them,more really fu lfilled than

when these three men met for prayer while thesmoke of the great sacrifice still rose from theground where their leaders had been slain‘

. TheElder Liu

,who was one of them

,is now the

senior native helper in T ’a‘i -yuan - fu . He tookpart in the dedication of the Farthing MemorialSchools

,and it was pathetic to see the tears roll

down his shrivelled cheeks as he spoke of hisbeloved missionary leader

,Mr . Farthing”

. Theyoung man

, Mr . Chang,; is now a promising schoolteacher . Another interesting figure in the missionis a blind evangelist, whose work, we were told,is very eff ective .

We were so fortunate as to be present at aChinese Christian wedding at T ’ai —yuan -tu , whenthe chief assistant of the mission hospital was

’

married . There was a -very large company, and

we were quite fascinated by the scene, both atthe Christian“ service in the chapel and thefestivity afterward s . The bride had her face qu'itecovered, as Chinese etique tte demanded, and whenshe arrived at the church, again in accordancewith the usages of her country, she had almostto be carried in Seeing that he is not suffe redto see his bride before marriage, it is customaryfor the bridegroom to

‘

promise to take her forbetter

,for worse

,for richer, for poorer, ugly or

pretty . Afterwards at the feast the bride is kept8

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Th e Mon aste ry Be l l 1 0 1

the city one evening While we were there theymet as a literary club another evening

,a Sunday

,

they met in Dr . Bevan ’s house for a service,

which we had the privilege of conducting . A ll

through our conferences and visits and inspe c

tions there was the sub -conscious thought thatwe we re in the martyr city tread ing on sacreddust . Our protest against Romanism as a systemis strong, but we came to realise that there isone thing Protestants and Romanists can do incommon in a great emergency they can die forChrist— die together . We could alm ost hear themartyrs cry from beneath the altar

,O Lord

,

how long ? and as we stood on the ground sanctified by their sacrifice , our hearts cried out too,O Lord

,how long ? Let the seed of the

Church they sowed grow quickly, and bring aheavy harvest of grace .

”

In‘ a monastery at T ’ai -yuan -fu there hangsa bell

,which sometimes rings over the city . They

say that the strength of all the men who triedto raise it to the tower in the olden“ time provedtoo little

, and that when the little daughter of theleader but touched the rope the bell fl ew upinto its place . But when he r father turned to’

praise her she lay dead at his feet . So theyrepeat the legend . The music was bought withher life . Another music, its cadences deep with

'

th e memory of the band of fifty -four who came

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CHAPTER XI

Tw o Othe r Marty r Citie s

W0 days north of the martyr city of T ’aiyuan -fu lies the other martyr city of H sin

Chou . Here,in 1 90 0 , our societies had eigh t

missionaries, and all of them were done to dea thfor th e sake of the Name .

Before our conference with the Shansi brethren‘

it was arranged we should visit Hsin Chou, thatwe might have a more intimate acquaintance withthe opportunities and needs of the Shansi Mission“

. On Friday morning, November I sth , withMr . Garnier as our guide, we started out, partlyin carts and partly on

‘ horseback, Dr . Broomhall,who was medically attending one of the RomanCatholic missionaries at the othe r end of the

city,convoying u s part of the way . We passed

the little lace factory which these same Roman‘

Catholic missionaries have established outside thecity to teach the Chine se “girls this craf t, and

after a moderate day ’s journey had the usual1 03

1 04 Two Othe r Marty r Citie s

experience of a Chinese inn, and the next day,

with threatening clouds ove rhead, set forth again .

Soon the snow began to fall, the first snowof the year

,and all day long it continued . The

cold was intense,the roads became first slimy

and then slushy,but we plodded on until the early

evening, when Mr . Lower and Mr . Smith, whohad bravely faced the elements

,met a s some five

li outside the city, and gave a s a very heartywelcome . Alas

,for their Chinese boots with

paper soles,in such weather 1 Near the city the

evangelists, sheltering under some projectingeaves

, gave u s a courteous greeting, and wepassed on to the admirable mission stationsituated on the highest part of the city just insidethe West gate .

Our premises used to be more central,but

before the Boxer rising this fine site had beenchosen

,and some buildings erected upon it. In

the time of panic these were destroyed but someof the foundations still remained

,and when our

brethren returned after the trouble,their early

attention was devoted to the erection of the verybeautiful chapel, the two bungalow residences, the

guest hall, and other necessary rooms which nowoccupy the site . Preparations had

,indeed, been

‘

made for the erection of the third house, but onMr . Turner ’s removal to T'ai -yuan -fu this wasdeemed unnecessary . There is, however, ample

Th e Snow -clad Hil lsl

l os

room for extension,and there should be here,

in the near future,a well -organised school for

boys and another for g irls . The Christians ofthe city are also very anxious to have a medicalmission .

The sight that greeted u s the morning after ourarrival, when the sun shone from the clear skyupon the amphitheatre of hills gloriously whitein the ir winter dress

,was surpassingly beautiful .

Little wonder that we spoke that day of those whohad come out of great tribulation and washedtheir robes and made them white in the bloodof the Lamb

,to the people who had braved

'

thestorm in order to assemble for worship . Thesnow hindered some of those who lived in distantvillages from gathering with u s

,but in the after

noon even a few of these arrived in the hopethat the meetings would not be quite over .

The afternoon was spent in conference with thefive evangelists who assist in the work in thevarious outstations, and most interesting werethe stories they had to tell . Mr . Hoa

,of Kuo

hsien,half of whose support is paid by the people

on the spot,Mr . Wan, of Tai Chou, Mr . Ho

,

of Fan -Tzii,and Mr . Chang, of the bookshop

in Hsin Chou, interested u s greatly . The lastnamed said that one of the reasons why theChurch did not increase more rapidly was thegeneral e xpectation that ih ‘ a little wh ile the Chris

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Ev ange l ist Chao 1 07

gone togethe r if Mr . Dixon had not ridden awayand left Chao by himself . He escaped to Shantung, and

‘ when the first rumour of the dreadfulhappenings in Shansi reached that provmce

,and

a messenger was needed to go and discover thetruth Chao volunteered to return to Shansi . He

was known in many places through which he hadto pass but disguised in various ways, hiding inall sorts of places

, and making inquiries only_from trusty individuals

,he at length discovered

that the story was but too true,that all the

missionaries had peri shed . The account of thosedays would make a very fascinating narrative .

Now here he is, an old man in failing health ,one who has proved his devotion to Jesus Christand to the heralds of Christ who have brough tthe doctrine to his country ; humble, gentle,consistent

,Christlike . The Gospel that can do

that for one Chinaman in a single generationis worthy to be proclaimed throughout the wholeEmpire .

The story of the Hsin Chou martyrdom, whenMr . and Mrs . Dixon, Mr . and Mrs . McCurrach ,

Mr . and Mrs . Underwood, Mr . Ennals, and MissRenaut ended their missionary career on earth,is one of basest treachery on the part of the‘

Chinese officials . For some weeks the martyrshad hidden" in caves in the hills, but, beingpromised a safe escort to the coast, they came

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Betw e en th e Gate s 1 09

until a minor ofli cial of the city had them wrappedin matting and buried just outside the city wall .Although he was not himself a Christian

,for this

deed of kindness he had to fl e e'

we could not.dis

cover what became of him,but may we not hope

that he may accept Christ and that at the end itshall be said to him,

Inasmuch as ye did it tothe se, My brethren, ye did it unto Me P The spotwhere the sainted dead were buried is seen in thepicture

, Mr . Lower standing on one side and Mr .

Smith on the other . Evan gfe l ist Chao, who guidedu s to the place, is seen in the foreground .

Another picture g ives the outside of the Eastgate

, and though it was very difficu lt to get aview of the quadrant inside the gate, owmg tothe acute angle and deep shadows, by dippingthe camera we were successful in obtaining aview

,also reproduced, of the exact spot of the

martyrdoms, which, though it may not commenditsel f to expert photographers, is of peculiarinterest to those who revere the memory and

honour the names of these brave pionee rs of theCross . When peace was restored, the bodieswere disinterred from their temporary buryingplace and moved to the beautiful martyr cemetery outside the city walls, which is now in thekeeping of the missionaries, who have also purchased an adjacent plot of ground for a Christianburying-place and here a monument is erected

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A Sacred Bonfire 1 1 1

the problem ‘

of the Church membership,they very

wisely insisted that all those Who desired to profess their Christian faith should join anew

, and

that those who received these renunciation tabletsshould sacrifice them‘

. To the praise of the Christians -let it be said that

,though even then they did

not know whether persecution would break outafresh or no'

,with very few exceptions they

brought these tablets to the missionaries,thus

exposing themselves to the wrath of the heathenshould new disturbances arise . A whole burntofi’erin

‘

g was then made, and one would like tohave a picture of the scene as the repentant saintsstood by while the compassionate missionariesmade ah

‘

end of these tokens of the ir weaknessand shame .

A fierce spirit still pervades the minds of manyin this city

,and some are not loth to say that

they would like to' see the scenes of 1 900 reprodu ced but the missionaries with steadfast mindspursue their labours unafraid . Alas I sorrow hasnow befallen the little company in the death ‘

of

Mrs . Lower, whose heart was filled with love toher Master and to the Chinese for her Master ’ssake . Little we thought, as we shared the hospitality of her home, that she would be the firstEuropean to join the martyrs from Hsin Chou .

Of two things we may be sure . They have not

uttered to her One word of regre t for their early

1 1 2 Tw o Othe r Marty r Citie s

crowning, nor has she any thought of reproachingthe Lord who called her home . Perhaps she canstill do something for Hsin Chou ! Who cantell ?Since our visit two ladies have arrived to con

tinu e the work so well begun by Miss Renaut .After our two memorable days in this city we

returned to T ’ai -yuan -fu,passing on the way a

good deal of traffic, which more than once gotinto a seemingly inextr

'icable confusion in thena rrow passes of the road . In order to preventa block at one place

,Mr . Fullerton was deputed

to go forward and stop the carts where the roadwas wide . By standing in the centre of theroad he was able successfully to accomplish thisfor some time ; but at length the carters grewrestive . In this emergency he happened to findin his pocket two gingerbreads that had beenthoughtfully provided for lunch, and he invitedthe carters to share" them with him

,taking a

bite first himself . They became so interestedin the process

, and so thoroughly enjoyed the littlemorsels sparingly handed out to them,

that theirimpatience died down, and fortunately our ca ravan appeared before the gingerbreads were quiteexhausted . It is so easy to interest the Chinese,and so difficu lt to do anything more !Back in T 'ai -yuan -fu we met the missionaries

day after day in” prayer and deliberation, and on

Th e Morn ing Tra in 1 1 3

November 29th we bade our friends adieu . Wewent out through the South gate

,which now,

because of the proximity of the railway station“

,

in spite of the spirits, and to the astonishment

of the foreigners,has been made to open straight

into the ci ty, though there is one place in thewall near by where some evil influen ce is supposed to reside, and passers -by have worn a greathole there by the stones they have flung at it.

They are as persistent in their stone -throwm’

g asthe modern Jews at the tomb of Absalom .

We had an amusing illustration of thetransition stage of things in China on

‘

the

morning of our departure . As our train wasadvertised to leave in the early morning, we sentour luggage out overnight in charge of ourChinese servant, and soon after daybreak a largecompany gathered at the station to bid u s farewell . But what was our astonishment to find

that the train had left Ignoring the time -table,and anxious to start as soon as steam was up,

the officials had sent off the train about an hourbefore the time . They calmly told u s that whenthe train was ready they did not see anythingto hinder it. We had to wa it till the afternoonfor th e next one, and we were early on the scene .

But when the appointed time arrived, somethinghad gone wrong with the machinery, and thistime the train started late, so there was a sort

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Arctic Cl imate 1 1 5

goes far to insure the health of the missionaries .

Two other of our brethren are already desigh ated for Shou Yang

,where

,the best of the

native Christian s hav ing perished, the work ispeculiarly difficu lt. The adjacent city of P ’ ingTing-Chou, which is largely inhabited by miners,is easy of approach from this centre

, and bothplaces should be occupied in force at an earlydate .

Very early the next morning we went forward .

We shivered as we waited for the train,and

when an hour or two later we attempted to eatour picnic breakfast

,we found the loaf was

frozen . We could not cut it,we had to smash

it the butter was like a yellow rock the condensed milk a most exquisite hard cream

, and

the small box of sard ines,which we had reserved

as a little delicacy, was a solid block . We heldthe tiny h sbcs by their tails, and scrunched themas if we were eating ice, as indeed we were .

And so along the railway, with its picturesquecuttings and curves, we went, until the sun roseand the frozen pipes of the train yielded to its

genial warmth and at last allowed the steamto heat the carriages and mitigate the arcticclimate .

At Shou Yang,as in Hsin Chou

,the native

Christians were as forward as the missionariesto witness for Christ . As we sped away from

9

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CHAPTER XII

Untrav e l led Shan si

S in Shensi, so in Shansi, there is a greattract of country which is practically nu

known to the outside world and here,as there

,

we are indebted to two missionaries of ourSociety— Dr . Edwards and Rev . T . E . Lowerfor such knowledge of it as we possess . Sometime before we visited the province they had

made an exploratory journey through the nu

travelled territory, which, to our satisfaction, madeit unnecessary for u s to go so far north . Inthis new district

,as in the new Shensi country

,

we hope,ere long

, to see Christian missionariesat work .

Two days north of H sin Chou is the city ofTai Chou, where already a beginning has beenmade

, and d isciples of Christ,in spite of the

great martyrdom,are to be found . Before

arriving at the city anothe r road branches oh‘ tothe west which leads over the hills to Ning -wu - fu

,

which lies another day ’s journey farther oh . Each1 17

1 18 Untrav e l l ed Shan si

of these cities has,perhaps

,a population of four

thousand or five thousand famil ies, and there arenumerous villages round about them .

Like the North Shensi road,this Shansi road

rises higher and higher until in one place itis more than feet above sea -level, and

in wet weather it is impassable ; indeed, thereare n o cart roads in the whole of the area weare describing, only mule tracks, and some ofthese very narrow and dangerous . Often th e

way runs along the river -bed, or by the riverside now in a wide valley, now in a canyon withcliff s a thousand feet high on either side, nowalong .

the gorge of the Yellow River, where thepath is only about eighteen inches wide .

Four days still to the North -west, quite nearthe Great Wall of China

,is Hoh -pao -ying, a

place which does not se em to be marked onany map

,although it is a thriving and important

commercial centre . It is near the town of H0Kii -Hsien, which was years ago degraded in rank,its ju risdiction transferred to the other city, and

as a consequence it is sometimes spoken of as theNew Ho -Kii -Hsien . The proper name of the citymeans

,The camp enclosed by the rive r, as

the Yellow River flows on three sides of it, leavingonly the east open to the coun try . It has some fin ehouses and shops, while a considerable shippingtrade of goods from Mongolia, and sal t and soda

In qu isitiv e Crow ds 1 1 9

from Shen -Mu -Hsien,in the extreme north of

Shensi , contributes to its prosperity . Here,then

,

is the most northerly objective for the work of ourSociety in China the money from the Arthing

ton Fund is in hand and is already devoted tothis service this wide fie ld only waits for men .

South of Hoh -pao -ying lies Hsing Hsien,

another important city with some three thousand

families, and many villages around it. It seemsto be noted for its fairs, to which dealers inanimals come many days’ journey . Other citiesWere visited by the travellers, most of themprosperous, but some wretched and dilapidated,such as K ’

e -Lan -Chou,where it is said the gates

are never shut because carts could go throughthem even if they were .

The whole area under consideration, whichcomprises about square miles

,has no less

than eleven walled towns . On the extreme Northand South there have '

been occasional visits frommissionaries

,but in many places foreigners had

never been seen before . Dr . Edwards and Mr s

Lower speak of the people as being very inquisitive and, as an instance, “tell how on their Sundayat Wu Tsai they we re besieged by the peoplein their inn

,and followed in the streets, until,

reaching an open space, they stood on a kerbstone above the level of the street, preaching and

distributing literature . All through the district,

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CHAPTER XIII

From Shan si to Shan tu ng

UR missions in China are in three provinces .

In 1859 the work began in Shantung, in1877 in Shansi, and in 1892 in Shensi . Wevisited the provinces in inverse order

,and having

completed our survey of Shensi and Shansi,the

question arose : How were we to proceed to

Shantung ? In any case, we needed to passthrough Peking and Tientsin, but from the latterpoint two ways were possible ; overland to ourmost Northerly station , in Shantung

,or by sea

to the German port of Ching Tao, whence therailway would lead u s into the heart of theprovince . We decided to take the latter route .

The journey from T ’ai -yuan -fu toI

Peking,which used to occupy nearly a fortnight, cannow be accomplished in a single day . As amatter of fact

,it took u s a day and a half .

We started for Shou Yang, whence the next daythirteen hours of interesting travel brought u s

to Peking .

1 22 From‘

Shan si to Shan tu n g

At Hwai -ln , a city famous for its carpets, Mr .

Green, of the China Inland Mission, greeted u s,

bringing a kindly message from his co -worker,Miss Gregg . It will be remembered that boththese missionaries

,after great hardships, escaped

at th e time of the Boxer rising . Ou r next e x

perien ce was the changing from the narrow gaugerailway running East and West to the Northernrailway which Connects Hankow with Peking ;and here

,as on other railways in China, the

traveller has to do the best he can with hisluggage, the railway company accepting no re

sponsibility— either before or after the journey .

The Belg ian official at the junction demandedour baggage ticket and, as we did not possesssuch a thing, he ordered some of the Chineseattendants to put our luggage on the weighingscale . The scale was a considerable distancedown the line and on the other side of it but

,

with literal obedience, the men shouldered ourboxes and put them on the scale . They h ad

not been told to weigh them,so they simply

left them there, and we engaged other Chineseto take them off again and carry them to the othertrain

,which, happily, was somewhat late in

arriving . A scramble at the end, and we managedto get ourselves and our luggage into place beforethe train started across the plain of Chi -li .At the great city of Pao T ’ing-fu , a place

Chine se Pastimes 1 23

where there was a great massacre of missionariesduring the Boxer. riots, we were very muchamused whilst we waited by a showman justoutside the station, who had on his back twomarionette figures, which he very skilfully mani

pu lated as boxers . His own legs were the legsof one, and along his arm he let down shamlegs for the other . These two figu res belabouredeach other, and occasionally tripped each otherup, until presently the man raised his smilingface, and behold, there was only one person .

The Chinese, who had no doubt seen the performance many . times before, seemed just asamused as old men in England are with a Punchand Judy show, and when a few coins were thrownto the artist he very readily repeated hisperformanceAlthough the Chinese are a stol id people, they

have their own idea of games . It is amusingto see young fellows play shuttle-cock : theirfeet are the battledores, and very skilfully theycatch the shuttle-cock on the side of their feetand toss it from one to the other . Diabolo,too

,has been known in China for centuries, and

in several colleges we saw the avidity with whichthe students took to football . But in matureryears kite-dying seems to be the favourite amusement . It is a very interesting thing, too, to seea Chinaman taking his bird out for a walk, carry

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Peking I 25

a large congregation, consisting chiefly of youngpeople from their schools . There were

,however

,

many grown -up people . The sing ing of the oldfashioned Methodist tunes was led by a younglady at the organ, and by three cornets blownby three young Chinamen . After the servicefiv e probationers were received

,each of whom

had to say whether he believed in Christ,whether

he was prepared to live a good life, and whetherhe would attend the means of grace .

In the early evening we attended the unitedgathering of English and American residents inthe Bible School of the American Board, wherewe were privileged to conduct the service .

Our two or three days in the great capital wereso full of engagements that we had but little timefor sight -seeing . The only places we V isited, infact, were

‘

the Temple of Heaven,the Llama

Temple, and the Chinese Museum,which has

recently been established in the city .

It is difficu lt to say whether the scarped rock,inside the Mosque of Omar in Jerusalem

,over

which the altar of burnt off ering was built inthe Jewish Temple

,or the Altar of Heaven

,on

the spot whe re the Chinese Emperor, likeMelchizedek of old

,both king and priest of his

people,has twice a year, for many centuries,

prayed to the God of Heaven, i s the more impressive . Both are startling in their simplicity .

1 26 From Shan si to Shan tu ng

The Temple and Altar of Heaven are in agreat enclosure

,approached past many pavilions .

The great pagoda of the temple, apparently inthree stories

,but actually in one

,ninety-nine feet

high, first claimed our attention, the wonderfulblue tiles appealing strongly to our sense ofcolour . The Altar of Heaven

,approached there

from by a long raised pathway, paved with marble,is a circular erection on a great square platform .

At the side there are eight receptacles, in which,we believe

,inscribed ofie rings on silk are burnt .

At one corner is the altar of burnt ofi'ering, theascent to which on th ree sides is by nine steps,nine being the sacred number in China . Thereare no steps on the north side . Here one ofnine bullocks is burnt on the occasion when theEmperor worships

,the rest being killed and eaten

by his retinue . In the marble pavement there aresockets where, in the event of snowy weather,posts :for an awning can be reared along theway by which the Emperor approaches .

The Altar of Heaven itself is, as we have said,a circular erection, and is approached by threeseries of nine steps . The Emperor ascends twoof these series, not counting himself worthy to

go further, and there he kneels and prays for hispeople . Little wonder that the late Dr . Legge

,

when he first saw this sign of some earlier andpurer worship in China than tha t which now

Th e Alta r of He av en 1 27

prevails, removed his shoes for very reverence .

He felt he was on holy ground . No trace ofsuperstition is here, nor sign of idolatry . On

the top of the altar there are but five marblepedestals, the largest for incense, two slightlysmaller for light, and two smaller still forflowers .

The men who showed u s the place are

usually present when the Emperor worships . Aswe walked away on the western side, we foundthe pavement in ruins Are you not afraidof the Emperor ’s anger, we asked, should hediscover how badly things are kept here ?Oh

, came the quick reply,the Emperor

They evidently makea sharp distinction between things sacred and

things secular .

But enough about the city itself . Our timewas ch iefly occupied with official visits and interviews with the missionaries . We made an earlycall on the British Minister, Sir John Jordan,and he did u s the honour of inviting u s the nex tday to lunch at the Legation, when Lady Jordanwas g ood enough to place u s at our ease byrecalling the fact that years ago she had heardMr . Fullerton preach in Belfast, so that we werenot entire strangers . Through the influ en ce ofthe British Minister and of Dr . Timothy Richard

we were afterwards received at the Wai Wu Pu,

never comes this way .

’

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Missions in th e Capita l 1 29

inspiring spirit of the Union Medical College , the only foreign college that has theright to grant medical degrees in . China

,this

being the distinguishing mark of the royalfavour which Dr . Cochrane has gained by hisattendance on some of th e friends of the DowagerEmpress . We also saw something of the generalwork of the London Missionary Society

,and of

th e Presbyterian Mission, with its Union Theolog ical College, under the charge of Dr . Fennwith the tower of the church

,half wrecked by the

Boxers, still standing in the quadrangle, a gauntmemorial of past suff ering ; and one eveningwe had several of the missionaries as our guests,and learnt much of the progress of the work inthe city .

Ou another evening the missionaries offeredus a reception at the house of Dr . Ament

,and

we had first the privilege of meeting one of theoldest Chinese m issiona ries, Dr . W . A P . Martin,and afterwards heard him and others speak ontheir early experiences of missionary work . He

is a g reat Chinese scholar, and was that ' dayeloquent upon a point of literary criticism whichhad occurred to him in his studies . In theChinese classics there is a character

,Nu -wa, in

whose time it is said that a quarter of the heaven sfell

, and Nu -wa mended it with precious stonesof many colours . To patch the sky with

1 30 From Shan si to Shantu ng

precious stones has hence become the Chineseexpression for anything fabulous . But,

” saidthe enthusiastic old missionary

,Nii -wa is

evidently Noah,the falling of the heavens is the

Flood, and the precious stones mean the rainbow .

" The interpretation seemed to u s not onlyinteresting, but quite probable .

On the final evening of our stay in Pekingwe had the honour of entertaining his ExcellencyTin g, Ne ota i or Judge of Shansi . He came withfour members of his suite, and was exceedinglyfriendly . We had to discuss with him somethreatened disturbances in T ’ai -yuan -tu , in whichit was possible that the lives of the missionarieswould be endangered but he assured u s of theirsafety . The next morning, when we left the city,he came to see u s off at the railway station .

Of course,we owed this attention

, and otherhonours of the city, to Dr . Richard ’s presence .

We were blessed for Jonathan's sake .

Some distance from Peking is the Union ArtsCollege at Tung Chou . Here we spent a day,seeing something of the great work which iscarried on by Dr . Sh e ffie ld and his helpers . Wecannot soon forget one of the classes we visited,where we found Mrs . She ffie ld lecturing on

geology, her subject being the Devonian Period .

It was a sign of the new time to see a lady insuch a position treated with such perfect respect .

Stu d e nts Skating 1 3 1

We also had the o pportunity of addressing thehundreds of students who are here imbibingWestern learning

, and were much interested inthe story of Dr . Sh e ffie ld

’

s own life and sufi'

e r

ings . Ou one occasion he was set on by twomen who had a grudge against h im, and fearfully hacked by their kn ives . Happily

,he re

covered. and his assailants were sent to prison,

where one man died, and the other was kept

in prison for some years un til Dr . She ffie ld himself appealed for his release . H e thereupon senta scroll to his benefactor

,inscribed with the

words, Able to fe el, able to be compassionate,”

a testimonial of which the veteran missionary isjustly proud .

Ou r day at Tung Chou was a memorable one .

The picturesque sight of a band of studentsskating on a pond near the railway station lingerswith u s even while we write . To see Chineseyouths so full of ex hilaration gave a new ideaof the possibilities of the future .

When we reached Tientsin we were welcomedby old friends

,

‘

Dr . Lavington Hart,of the

London Missionary Society, and Mr . FrederickBrown

,of th e Methodist Episcopal Mission .

That same evening the former gave u s agrea t reception in the Anglo -Chinese College,over which he presides with such marvelloussuccess, and for the next evening the latter

IO

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Th e Ge rman Port 1 33

Chefu, but we looked in vain for the site of ourfirst m ission in China ; it has evidently beencleared away to make room for new buildings .

We visited Dr . Corbett ’s Museum,one of the

earliest institutions of the kind in China, and met

Mr . Cornwall, an American missionary but,to

our regret, we had no time to visit the greatschools of the China Inland Mission

,which do

so much to make life durable for the missionariesof all societies in China ; nor could we carryout our intention of visiting the widow of the lateDr . Nevius, as we had hoped to do .

When we reached the great German port ofChing Tao, Dr . Richard bade u s good -bye

,pro

ceeding south by the steamer while we , havingscarcely had time to admire the great settlement

,

with wide streets and large houses, which is beingestablished here by the Germans, went on bytrain to Wei Hsien the following morning .

CHAPTER XIV

Th e Shan tu n g ChristianUn iv e rsity

MONG the many things which occupy thetime and attention of China missionaries in

the practical management of their work, there isnothing which claims more thought than education'

. Whether they will or no,the necessity

of conducting missionary schools is thrust uponall societies working for ; the evan gelisation ofChina .

Some of the missions, notably the Americanmissions, are doing magn ificen tly, and in thecourse of our jou rneys we were delighted to havethe opportunity of visiting such institutions asthe St. John ’s College and Boone College of theAmerican Episcopal Church in Shanghai and

Wuchang, the Methodist University in Peking,and others . Colleges of this kind are crowdedwith non-Christian students, eager to get the bene

fits of the excellent education to be obtained under1 34

Th e School s 1 35

the Christian missionary professors, and ready

to pay good fees as resident students under thediscipline and in the Christian atmosphere of theinstitution . The absence of the caste difficu lty,which is so great an obstacle to this kind ofwork in Ind ia

, g ives the missionary colleges ofChina an enormous advantage . It is most re

markable to see large numbers of non -Christianstudents paying 2 00 Mexican dollars

,or £20 a

year, to live in a Christian college .

The Baptist Missionary Society has done a goodwork in all the fie lds it has occupie d in establ ish ing elementary schools open to Christian and

non -Christian children,and in developing the re

sources of the native Christian community bysecondary boarding schools for

" both boys and

girls . Where we have the most converts, therewe have the best schools and in the Provinceof Shantung, where we have our largest numberof churches

,with a membership of between four

and five thousand, we have our most highlyorganised educational work .

The work area of our Shantung mission isd ivided into four sections, in each of which isa secondary high school for boys, as well asnumerous elementary day schools and from thehigh schools eligible pupils are able to proceedto one .or other of the colleges which form theinterdenominational union of missionary colleges

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Th e Arts Col lege I37

tist Mission, and the Baptist Missionary Societyis able to avail itself of their excellent plant bysending two of its missionaries and a band ofseventy or eighty lads to the institution, whichis constituted the arts and science college ofthe University .

We were greatly pleased with our brief stayat Weihsien the courtesy and hospitality of ourPresbyterian brethren, especially those of thecollege faculty, Dr . Bergin and Dr . Luce, beingof the most generous description .

The Baptist Missionary Society is well represented at Weihsien in our two professors — E . W .

Burt, M .A ., and H . G . Whitcher,E .sc . There

has been great ben efit in the union in many dire ctions, and the happiest relations obtain . One ofthe most charming stories of foreign missionaryprogress in Christian union is that told by Mr .

Burt of his first baptismal se rvice at Weihsien,

when,after a time of revival

,he led out for

baptism in the stream outside the PresbyterianMission compound a band of fifty young students,and there, in the presence and with the gladapproval of all his Presbyterian brethren

,im

mersed these young disciples on the profession oftheir faith in the Saviour, while the Presbyterianstudents sang a hymn on the river bank . ! uitelately there has been“ another visitation of gracein the college, and as a result scores of the

I38 Shantu ng Christian Un iv e rsity

students have pledged themselves to devote theirlives to the ministry of the Gospel .Mr . Whitcher

,who had the great benefit of

a thorough training in pedagogy before going toChina, has already rendered great service to theinstitution

,not only as a science teacher, but

in the general discipline and in the departmentsof drill and music . The greatest precision inphysical drill we saw in China was on theWeihsien compound

,and most notably the best

sing ing we heard in China was from Mr . Whitcher ’s male choir of students at Weihsien

,who

sang for u s a number of part-songs really well .To look upon that body of stalwart Chinese

students on the drill -ground, two hundred strong

(the numbers have since been increased), and torefl e ct on the possibilities of their education asChristian men — whether for business or protessioual life

,or for spe cific missionary service as

teachers or preachers — was to experience a greatthrill of hope and gladness . We have latelyheard that the Church of England missionariesin Shantung, through their head, Bishop Il ifi,

have decided to join with the Presbyterians andourselves in Weihsien by sending students and

a missionary tutor to the college .

The other colleges that go to complete theunion and make up the University are the Theological and Normal College at Ch

’ ing-chu -fu and

Th e The ologica l Col l ege 1 39

the Med ical College at Ch inan fu . These are inBaptist Missionary Society premises — at least, thefirst already is, and the buildings for the secondare now being erected .

Of very diff erent style of architecture,but of

its kind quite as impressive as that of its sistercollege, is the Gotch -Robinson College at Ch

’ ingchu -tu . There is a quiet d ignity and cloistralrepose about its quadrangles, and just enoughrecognition of Chinese ideas in the appe aranceof its buildings to strike the visitor as appro

priate to the seat of a Chinese Christian Collegefor pastors and evangelists .

In this institution, founded as a memorial tothe late Dr . Gotch and Mr . Elisha Robinson

,of

Bristol,and now conside rably enlarged and im

proved,there are gathered from the Baptist and

P resbyterian Missions about a hundred and twentyyoung men for training as mission tea chers and

preachers . Ou r beloved missionary, J PercyBruce

,M .A . ,

is the Principal,and Dr . W . M .

Hayes,his American colleagu e, and several

Chinese tutors,ably support him . That a Union

Theolog ical College can be successfully and

happily maintained on Baptist premises, and withmutual respect and good feeling, is a genuineproof of the reality of the desire for Christianunion on the mission fie ld .

The training of Chinese med ical students in

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Th e Me dica l Col lege 1 4 1

sionary value of this kind of educational work .

To be able not only to introduce the light oftruth into the darkness of a heathen land

,but

to train up a band of converted men as teachersand preachers of the Gospel

,and to equip others

as Christian surgeons and physicians, is to prepare the way for unlimited progress in futuredays . We are not deterred by the fear thatsome of these Chinese converts may seek throughtheir education to attain to positions of wealthand influ en ce apart from mission service . Chinaneeds Christian men in

“ these positions, and itwill be no credit to Christianity if in the next

generation the high places in the nation are notheld by the members of our churches .

But the Chinese Christians have given ampleproof of their devotion and loyalty, and theirwillingness to forego worldly gains for the serviceof Christ . We saw and heard from their ownmissionaries of a number of native missionworkers who had refused tempting offers of highsalaries in secular “ callings in order that theymight maintain their humble place of missionservice . On e man at Peking, rece iving sixteendollars a month, was offered 2 0 0 dollars by thosewho knew the value of his training and character

,but he refused this offer . And yet more

touching proof of the fide lity of Chinese pastors

and evangelists was given in many a mission

1 42 Shantu ng Christian Un iv e rsity

station in 1 90 0, when life itself was sacrificed

for the sake of Christ .We came from the visitation of our Shantung

colleges more than ever convinced that no workof greater missionary value can be maintained inChina than this

,provided it is carried on — as

we rejoice to know our brethren are carryingit on — with true spiritual fervour and singlenessof aim .

CHAPTER XV

Th e Cradle of Ou r Mission

HEN our mission in China removed fromits first tenta tive base at Chefu

,the city

of Ch lug-chu-tu was chosen as the centre of

th e .work which has since then branched out inso many directions . Here Timothy Richard,Alfred C . Jones, and others, with rare enthusiasmand initiative

,for years l ived and laboured, when

th e city was a more flou rish ing place than it isto -day, though signs are not wanting that theadvent of the railway will restore, and more thanrestore, its former importance . As everywherein China, the railway station is necessarily outside the city walls . In Ch ’ ing-chu -tu it is aconsiderable distance away but for us the dustywalk was full of interest as we held eager converse with the brethren who escorted us, or madehasty observation of the people we met alongthe way .

In all'

directions the fie lds were pimpled with143

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Whe e l barrow s 1 45

persons we have seen“ perched on one barrow”

.

Generally two barrow-men are needed— one topush and one to pull — sometimes a mule is yokedin the front, and, when the wind is favourable,a sail is occasionally hoisted to help the barrowalong . Outside on e of the inns on our journeythere ?were two of these conveyances piled upwith pottery . When We attempted to take a photograph the men rushed to make sure of theirmoney

,evidently thinking that the foreigner was,

by some mag ic, going to possess himself of itbut the picture was taken before the last man hadquite removed his cash he breathed freelywhen nothing untoward had happened .

But we must not let barrows take u s awayfrom

.Ch ’ ing -chu -fu . Crossing the fine bridge

Which spans the river outside the walls, we passover the pavement of great stones burnished bythe shuffling feet of many generations, and

reach the missionary homes .

! uite in the centre of the city is situated thehospital where Dr . and Mrs . Russell Watson havefor so many years patiently ministered to thesick folk who have come from great distancesto be healed . If we had not seen similarhospitals in other places, we would have wonderedthat anything worthy could be done in premisesso ill -suited to their purpose Not a minute toosoon has the new hospital been projected in a

1 46 Th e Crad le o f Ou r Mission

more open district . It is a feature of all Chinesecities that within the city are grea t stretches ofunoccupied ground and, while we write, the newhospital is being erected on one of these spaces,the doctor ’s house

,which existed only on paper

when we were there,being already inhabited .

Ten minutes along the main road brings u s

to the G0tch -Robinson College . Here Mr .

Whitewright first tried his experimental museum,

and here the educational work already describedis vigorously pursued . The church building,wh ich is presently to become the students ’

Assembly Hall,is at one side a bookshop

fronts the street, and in the near future a larger

church building and further dormitory accom

modation for the students are to be provided .

Trees,with artistic instinct, have been planted

in the courts of the college, and the peace undertheir shadow is in marked contrast to the babblement without . Two missionary houses lie beyond .

The school for boys which adjoins one of thehouses is full of activity ; the maps frescoed onthe walls are an abiding feature of interest, and

the tablet in honour of Mr . Whitewright keeps

green the memory of his work here in past years,a work which in more recent times has beensignally successful under the devoted care of Mr .

and Mrs . Gouling .

Ten minutes still farther we come to the

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A Missionary Mon ume nt 1 47

buildings for the women ’s work,a row of un

pretentious rooms for the lady missionaries, and

modest school premises surrounding two courts .

When we paid our ofli cial visit the school waseu féte , the elder g irls on an improvised gallery,and the little people below . It was quite easyto see that the ladies had won the afl'ection ofthe g irls and it requires little imagination tounderstand the great chan ge that must pass overChinese homes by the Christian education of thefuture wives and mothers of the people .

Still farther oh, almost at the limits of the

city, in full view of the hills that lie beyond, i sthe modest house which Mr . Jone s

'

bu ilt for himself, and which was at the moment the home ofMr . and Mrs . Percy Bruce . This is in somesort the memorial in the city of the consecratedman whose name will ever be fragrant amongstthe mission aries in Shantung . After the landslip in the hills, by which he was overwhelmed,a handsome stone

,recording his service and

virtues, was erected by the people over his gravebut his true monument is in the hearts of thehundreds who through his ministry were led tothe knowledge of Jesus Christ .In the lane ou tside this house we were brought

in contact with the curious custom of using thepublic thoroughfare for the spinning of silk . Thelane was transformed for the time being into

1 I

1 48 Th e Crad le of Ou r Mission

something like a miniature rope walk, and as

we passed to and fro we constantly had to dodgethe almost invisible yellow strands which werebeing prepared in this primitive way for theweaving of the fabric famous all over the worldas Shantung silk .

Ou r first days in Ch ’ ing -chu -tu were devotedto conference with the directors of the Shan tungChristian University

,

and the union which hashappily been eff ected in higher education betweenthe American Presbyterians and our own Societywas cemented and established by these conferen ces . Most of the other days were given to athorough review of the work of our own Society .

Day afte r day we met the missionaries and de

bated every phase of the great Christian enterprise in which th ey are engaged — the guidanceof the pastors and evangelists

,the oversight of

the churches, the staffing and superintendence ofthe schools, the care of the poor and needy, andlast

,but chiefest of all

,the preaching of the

g lad Evangel to those who have never heard it.

So greatly is our mission under -stafied thatof n ecessity the greatest of all works has beenin danger of being n eglected . When the otherclamant calls have been met

,time and strength

have both been exhausted and in the hope ofd oing it another day the missionary itinerationh as been again and again postponed . This was

Th e Cry for Volu nte e rs 1 49

a real burden on the hearts of our brethren, aburden too great to be borne

‘

and we shal l neverforget when it had been voiced at one of our conterences, voiced not only by the evangelistic missionaries, but by the educational missionariesif an invidious and artificia l distinction may forthe moment be permitted— how we felt that therewas no other refuge than in prayer . The conference iwas suspended, we got on our knees,and as the supplications ascended pleading thatGod would, even while we prayed,

‘touch thehearts of people at home — me n in the colleges,young pastors of the churches, and others whocould devote themselves to this work— we feltbefore we rose that we had ' come to closegrips and a deep

_assurance was g iven to u s

that our prayers were heard— ah assurance thathas been ju stified since our return to England,and is, we believe, to be still further honouredin the coming days .

On the Sunday morning we spent in the citywe had the joy of addressing what was perhapsthe largest Christian congregation to which wespoke in China

,a congregation which quite filled

the church ; the me n, as is customary with

Chinese congregations, being three times asnumerous as the women . In the same place wewere permitted the nex t morning to speak tothe students, and on the following day to the

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Th e Pre se nt Opportu n ity 1 5 1

hands were in bandages . The bottle contained

phosphoru s'

l That man now thinks it a moredangerous thing to befriend the missionaries thanto defraud them .

A scene lingers in our memory which seemstypical of all missionary service . One day wewe re crossing a vacant space in this city withone of our brethren, when, at th e farther vergethe re stood, perched ‘ on the raised ground, alittle boy in padded dress, who was cryingbitterly because he could not get down to thestreet . The missionary took the dirty littlefellow in his arms

,lifted him down

,set his feet

on the road,and sent him away smiling . Our

first thought was, how like an English boy wasthat Chinese lad 1 our next, how like his Masterthat servant of the meek and lowly Jesu s I Butto -day it comes to u s as a parable of the g reaterneed of the children of China, and as an assurancethat the messengers of Christ shall yet be ableto dry their tears .

With great reluctance we tore ourselves fromour friends in this city, after eight days

'

e xpe ri

ence of their hospitality and observation of theirwork . Ch ’ ing -chu -tu is a place of sacredmemories

,a centre of great opportunity, and

the workers are worthy . The pastors, evangelists,and tea chers who are being trained here will bethe leaders of the future, and when we remember

I S2 Th e Crad le of Ou r Mission

that of the three thousand villages in this districtonly three hundred and twenty have yet beenreached by the Gospel

,we see how great a Work

awaits these native helpers and their missionaryleaders .

We are glad that the staff has already beenreinforced

,and that the evangelistic work is to

be prosecuted with increasing vigour . It is wellto con serve the gains of the past in our churchbrgan isation s, and to prepare for the triumphsof the future by our educational machinery ;but nothing can absolve u s from the privilegeand duty of taking the Gospel now to the peoplewho in the ir throng ing mill ions are walking i n

the shadows of th e night.

CHAPTER XVI

A Un iqu e Mission ary Ente rprise

HI -NAN -FU, the capital of Shantung, one of

the most important centres [of our missionaryoperations, must not be confounded with Si -anfu

, the capital of Shensi, where we are also atwork . Both cities are large and populous, and

both are strateg ic points but they lie f ar apart,

and though they both belong to our ChinaMission, there are missionaries in one city whohave never seen the missionaries in “ the other .

Some day they will be linked together by arailway

,but that is not yet .

At present the railway which runs from theport of the province has its terminus ‘

in Chinan -fu

,where there are no less than three rail

way stations as the line curves round the city .

When the Germans obtained their concession,

with mineral rights on each side of the line,there was some doubt as to the direction theywould take . It is to be feared they were “guided

1 53

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Th e Hau nted Su b u rb 1 5 5

several eff orts were made to gain an entranceto Chi -nan -tu

,but without success— Mr . Harmon

was at one time stoned out of the city . Butafter the Boxe r rising had been que lled, the gateswere flung open, a British Consul took up hisresidence, post -office reforms were introduced,and our missionaries

,alert to seize the oppor

tun ity, supported by the Arthington Fund and

true to Carey ’s motto,were amongst the first

to en ter .The American Presbyterians

,indeed, had

already establishe d themselves on the other sideof the city

,and from that point they reached out

in to the surround ing country but the city itselfwas untouched

,and in such a city, under such

circumstances,the problem to be solved was quite

exceptional . Mr . Whitewright, with his experi

ence of the Gotch eRobin son Institution at Ch 'ingchu -tu , and Mr . Harmon, with his wide evan

ge listic outlook, were selected for the new work,and they have solved the problem in a methodaltogether unique . Ou the south-west side ofthe city

,inside the suburb walls, but outside

the city walls,there was a great space said

to be haunted by spirits . Apart from thedemons supposed to infest the vicinity, the

land was the most desirable in the district .

Here Mr . Whitewright determined to establishhis missionary institute ,

and here, in a corn ~

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Th e In stitu te 1 57

by no means parochial but neither of u s wasquite prepared to see an enterprise so splendid,so thorough, and yet so simple

, and so beautifully adapted to its purpose

,as that which has

been e volved from Mr . Whitewright ’s fertile brainand fervent heart .We arrived on a Saturday evening . It should

have been winter,but the snows in Shantung

had been delayed, threate ning famine The railway station is a considerable distance from thecity, and as it was dusk it was permi ssible foru s to go to our home on foot . That eveningwalk, through the suburb, alongsid e the canalbank

,past one of the seve ral fountains of

del icious water that spring up within the city,and on to the mission residences

,was a time of

cord ial and hearty fellowship . It was too lateto see the apparatus of the mission station thatnight

,so we contented ourselves with seeing the

happy missionary families “

. Both Mr . and Mrs .

Harmon an d Mr . and .Mrs . Whitewright wererejoicing in the arrival of their eldest daughter,at the close of her stud ies in England, and therewere other children to add to the joy of thehomes .

Though we were only to be three days inth e city

,where we might with profit have spent

thirty,our hospitable friends insisted that we

should each be a guest in both houses . The

1 58. Un iqu e Mission a ry Ente rprise

houses are two -storied dwellings, built to themissionary ’s own plans . They are marvels ofeconomy and convenience

,and our brethren are

very proud of them . Their gardens run out tothe city wall

,and so great was the in terest in the

foreigners that at first the people of the .city

regularly came along the wall and settled downto observe the habits of the '

missionarie s . Thecrowd at length grew so great that vendors ofrefreshments set up their stalls at this spot

,on

the top of the wall, and it became a daily

rendezvous . Whatever gratification the missionarie s first experienced, they soon becameaware of the awkwardness of the situation

, and,

on their representation, the Governo r kindly tooksteps to stop the nuisance .

The institute was opened in December,1 90 5,

by the Governor of the province, who broughtwith him a great retinue of officia ls . Oppositethe main door is a tablet containing a prayer forthe Emperor, which greatly impresses the Chinesevisitors . There is a turnstile to record the attendances . Hundreds come every day, and at fairtimes and times of pilgrimage— thousands . Something like a quarter of a million of people passthrough in a year . Special visits are made byofficials and literati, by students and foreigntravellers . Some of the latter have had theiranti -mission ary views completely shaken by what

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Th e Mu se um 59

they have seen,while the Chinese themselves,

as they have viewed the exhibits in the cases,the pictures and diagrams on the walls

,and the

machinery in operation,have had their anti

foreign views shaken as completely .

Round the museum there are pictures of someof the great bu ildings of the West . Amongstthem we were intere sted to see the interior ofthe Metropolitan Tabernacle

,and when it was

explained to some Chinese gentlemen that one ofu s had preached there many times, they lookedon u s with deference that befitted the occasion .

The charts and diagrams are most ingeniousthings, setting forth the relative positions of thevarious nations of the world, and the model o f

'

the graveyard which Mr . Whitewright has prepared convinces the Chinese that we are notwithout reverence for our ancestors .

The re’ad ing -room that lies beyond affordsopportunity for further instruction . Then, crossing the courtyard, we come to the lecture -hall,whe re there are other diagrams and pictures .

Here the visitors have the opportunity of hearingthe Gospel

,and there is a gu est -room adjoin

ing ,where person s of importance can be received

as befits Chinese notions of courtesy .

Mr . Harmon and Mr . Whitewright are greatadepts in Chinese ceremonies, and it is the

‘

un

pre jud iced and free'ly -ex'pressed opinion of th e

160 Un iqu e Mission a ry Ente rprise

other foreign residents that no better men couldhave been selected for this special service . Weourselves paid a number of visits to the gentryof the city, and in this guest-room received theirreturn calls .We were able to enter in some measure into

the perplexities of the missionary situation, . and

to understand a little of the tact and patiencenecessary in dea ling with these classes . Forinstan ce, one of our visitors, who was to comeat eleven o ’clock in the morning, turned up atfour o ’clock in the aftern oon, and we had tobe within reach all the time ; and, while theconversation went merrily as long as it was confined to the political and social needs of China,it suddenly flagged when we approached thesubject that was nearest our hearts . Still, ourbrethren are making a deep impression .

The women,too

,a re being influenced ; the

institu te is reserved for them every Monday, andMrs . Whitewright has received hundreds of thelad ies of the city in‘ the women ’s quarters

,which

lie still further on“

,and has been invited to many

of their homes . The lecture -hall is also openat interval s for gatherings of students and othe rs,arid is regularly . used for worship on Sundays .

‘ The Sunday we spent in the city, the Presbyterians united with the Baptists in a morningservice, the largest Christian congre gation that

Th e Sol d ie rs’ Camp 1 61

ever gathered in Chi —nan -fu . Mr . Wilson spoke,and Mr . Harmon afterwards conducted a com

munion service — with individual cups, we noticed .

There was also a meeting for young people, aconference of leaders

,and a service in English

in the evening,to which there came not only

the missionaries and their families, but Europeanand American residents associated with the Consulate

,the post -o-fii ce , and the colleges . There

were also seve ral Chinese present who understoodEnglish— and the Lord H imself drew nigh .

Some d istance outside the city there is a

sold iers ’ camp,where some seven thousand men

of Yuan -shi -k ’ai ’s army are in training . Thesesoldiers find their way into the city, and oftenvisit the institute but it is felt that there shouldbe some missionary work on the spot . One

morning we rode out on horseback to see thecamp

,and we were impre ssed with the need of

making provision for these men who, after theirtraining

,will be scattered all over the province .

We are glad to chron icle that a soldiers’ institute

is about to be establi shed for these men . Wonfor Christ

,they would be most effe ctive mis

sionaries .

We were able,during our brief stay in the

city,to visit also the settlement of the American

Mission,crossing the city by wheelbarrow . We

were much struck by the enterprise of our Presby

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Th e Chu rch 1 63

years been the missionary representative of theChurch at Melbourne Hall

,there is little space

to speak . .Mr . Harmon has the fire of devotionto Christ burning within his heart, and his longexperience in Manchuria and in Shantung enablesh im to present the Gospel in the most effectiveway . He has been doing the work of two menfor years

,superintend ing the Church in the

Ch ’ ing — chu -fu d istrict, as well as guiding theChurch in Chi -nan -tu . We hope he may soonbe set apart altogether for this latter service .

The very pleasing fact should be mentionedthat beyond Mr . Harmon ’s house there is a nativeChristian school for girls entirely supported bythe small church in the city . Already thisyoungest of our missions in China manifests themissionary spirit .

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A Memorab l e Proce ssion 1 65

been divided . Great preparations had been madefor our arrival from Chi -nan -fu

,the native

Christians turning [ out in force to greet u s atthe railway station and to escort u s in processionround the town . They came with the official

chairs— the blue chair and the green chair— whichare only used on great occasions the mandarinumbrella was not missing and two of the leadingmembers of the church were mounted on horses,prepared to act as outride rs to the procession .

But before the cavalcade started a Chinese photo

grapher held u s captive , and the resultant photograph not on ly gives a very good representationof the scene

,but reflects great

'

credit upon hisskill .Then the procession was formed, and as we

passed by devious ways through the city greatcrowds came out everywhere to see u s

, and . I

suppose the Church at Chou T ’sun never hadsuch" an advertisement as it had that day . At

"

length we arrived at the mission premises — a

transformed native Chine se house — consisting ofa little hall for meetings, an open -air

‘

baptistery,a dispensary, some rooms for the residen t mis

sionary , and other rooms for the native helpe rs ;

Here the Christians of the neighbourhoodgathered, and after voicing their welcome theypresented u s each with a banner, which h ad beenlovingly prepared against the day of our advent,

1 66 Road Jou rn ey in Shantu ng

bearing our Chinese names wrought in blackvelvet on a white ground and embellished withred bordering . These had been carried in theprocession (they may be seen in the photograph) ,and we bore them away as trophies of the greatevent to treasure them as family heirlooms . The

finge rs that wrought them have grasped ourhearts .

On a subsequent visit,a week afterwards, we

joined with these simple and unsophisticated soulsin commemorating the Lord

’s death at the sacredfeast . Oh both occasions we were able to seesomething of the dispensary, where such ad

mirable service has been done by Mr . Wills andMr . Smyth

, and to learn much of the evangelisticwork already accomplished, and the work yet tobe attempted in the Master 's name . It may atfirst have been a triumph to have secured premisesin a back street of a malodorous neighbourhood,but the time has now arrived when a better sitefor our work should be secured . We inspectedthe coal -yard that had just been purchased forthe purpose, and, on our representation, a furtherpurchase of vacant ground adjoining has been‘

made, which secures to us a most imposing siteat [the junction of two of the most importantthoroughfares in the city . Here in the near futurewe hope an institute will be established, less

‘ pretentions, perhaps, than the institute at Chi -nan -tu,

A Bu sy Fa ir 1 67

but partly on the same lines, and a very defin ite

efl'ort made to influe n ce and win the people forJesus Christ, espe cially the young men, who areto be found in unusual numbers in this city .

Ou our first visit, when early in the day we hadbeen carried in state through the city

,we footed

it in the afternoon to the high ground outsidethe city on the west . The people who had beenso eager to gaze on u s in the morning took nonotice of u s in the afternoon

,so that we had

a su fficient corrective of any vainglory that maybe supposed to have entered our minds . Wewent leisurely up and down the narrow, slimy,busy streets, stopping here and there to make apurchase we passed the filthy pond which wewere told supplied water for all purposes tothose thousands of people ; we lingered in thefair which happened to be in progress, all sortsof wares

,from Chinese cutlery to Manchester

calicoes,being exposed for sale in the open air .

Here for the first time we saw the artistic littlescent -bottles for which this province is famous,some of them beautifully carved in stone, butmost of them of glass with paintings wonderfullyexecuted on the inside of both of the flat surfaces,the bottle itself being about an inch in diameter .

As possible sites for future missionary work wealso visited a great dye works, where an immensevariety of many-coloured fabrics were hung out

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Chin e se Carts 1 69

enter Peking, came in a cart, and in sight of thecity he ejaculated

,

“ I thank God that I am thefirst and just then the cart gave a jolt,and he never fin ish ed the sentence . When westarted the roads were hardened with frost

,and

the heavy,springless

,lumbering vehicles bumped

over the uneven tracks,hour after hour

,until

one ’s teeth ached and every bone seemed sore .

The wind was blowing hard from the North, and

the dust was merciless. With all the garmentswe could wear

,including furs, and with rugs

and sheepskins besides,we were barely able to

keep warm . All the memories of genial sunshine in Bengal were in su fficient to make Mr .

Wilson happy on that cart journey . We foundmost comfort in pitying ourselves . When stiffand sore and numbed by sitting in the cart, we

got out and trudged along the road until wewere weary of battling with the bitter North windand blinding clouds of dust . Then we climbedinto the cart again and tried to sleep .

There went with“

us a native evangelist, a youngman o f great promise, who, like other of ourhelpers

,has been off ered three or four times the

allowance our mission is able to afford him, and

yet remains true to his calling to preach theGospe l . Such men are not only worthy of highhonour

,but their position should be seriously

considered and improved . The highest salary

1 70 Road Jou rn ey in Shantu ng

they can ever hope to receive as pastors or evan

ge l ists falls far short of the opportunities opento them in business

,in

.the Civil Service

,or in

the colleges . Yet there are not wanting criticsof missions who declare that these men becomeChristians in order to make a living out of it.

An elementary acquaintance with the facts is allthat is needed to dispel such suspicions and topour contempt on the scorners . The truth is thatwherever Christ is known, East or West, th e

spirit of sacrifice is found amongst His followers .Were there more of it in the East there wouldbe speedier progress, and were there more of itin the West there would be fewer missionarydeficits and more missionary recruits .

Though n one of our Shantung missionarieswere martyred in 1 900, quite a number of nativeChristians ;in this region sufi

'

ered . At Chang‘

Shen four were killed ; but when the troublewas over the people of the village were compelledby the authorities to erect a monument to theirmemory

, and this they have done so handsomelythat not only is there a tablet to record thevirtues of the martyrs, but there is actually abowl for incense carved in front of it. Thoughno incense will ever be ofie red, no higher honourcould be paid to the memory of the braveconfessors .

At another village not far distant, Li -Tsan

Imposing Arches 1 71

Dun -Tzu, a native Christian who in his enthusiasmentered the village temple and broke down allthe idols, was so severely beaten for it that hedied ; but as he himself provoked the quarrel,n'o monument has been raised in his honourperhaps his zeal outstripped his discretion

,but

his Lord, who judges the motive of the heart,will not blame him

'

for that .Ou r midday halt was at Hsin Chang

,where a

number of Christians had assembled to greet u s,and we had the j oy of preaching to them the‘Glad News . In passin g through this city we werevery much impressed by the beauty of the archeswhich span the streets

,one arch succeeding

another, in almost endless variety, with very finearchitectural effect . Outside the city there isa fin e Confucian temple, approached by a longseries of steps . But temple and arches are

gradually falling into decay . It is otherwise inthe temple at Kou Yuan, where, though theworship of the idol seems almost to haye ceased,the thrifty natives are using the temple for theweaving of

‘

cloth . Perhaps they consider thatprayer and work should go together . We werefortunate next morning, in spite of our early start,to secure a sunrise picture of the interior of thistemple

,showing the idol and on e of the looms .

But we anticipate . That evening, dust -stainedand tousled, we arrived at Kou Yuan, and were

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Ice Floes on th e Riv e r 1 73

evening of December 20th . The ferry is quite amile across, and so stormy was the river that noboats could be had . And our caravan consistedof several carts, each with two mules, so that ariver crossing was a serious undertaking .

Ou r friend the Rev . E . C . Nickalls havingtried in vain to persuade some of the Chineseboatmen to take u s across

,we turned from the

river bank to find a place of rest for the night .The inn in which we stayed on that occasionwas not one of the best

,nor was it quite the

worst we had to sojourn in during our Chinesetravels . The innkeeper made room for u s byturning out some Chin ese guests from one roomto crowd into another already occupied, and wewent into the apartment thus vacated by its humantenants .

The next mornin g" the Yellow River presenteda chilly spectacle . Great ice floe s covered thestream as far as the eye could reach . The windhad dropped and the boatmen were induced byprospects of more than their du e reward to attemptthe passage . Then the clumsy, fiat-bottomedbarges had to be cut out of the ice in whichthey were fast bound to the bank, and the cartsand mules and our baggage had to be embarked .

The voyage was not without its excitements,for threatening masses of ice had to

"

be negotiatedin crossing

s. But we met with no accident until

1 74 Road Jou rney in Shantu n g

we came to the landing . on the other side, whenone of -the poor mules slipped between the bargeand the bank into the river

, and for some timewas in great danger under the ledge of ice .

When, after much difficu lty, it was draggedashore, the unfortunate creature was nearly deadwith cold and was covered with icicles . Itastonished u s that after a few minutes ' exerciseit was quite fit again for work .

The whole plain on which these cities and

villages are built lies below the level of theYellow River . China reinforces its reputation forcuriosities by maintaining at fabulous cost a riverof vast extent flowin g highe r than the countryit is supposed to water . Instead of dredgingand curtailing the sinuosities of the sluggish flood,the authorities have for generations continued toraise embankments to keep the river in its bedand to prevent overflow . Great dykes

,thirty feet

high and twenty feet broad,restrain the waters

for hundreds of miles, and as the silt raises thebed of the river, so the dykes need to be raised .

Ou the top of the dykes there are,at intervals

,

piles of millet stalks for the mending of anybreach that may be made by the impetuous waterswhen they are in flood . But

,in spite of all

precautions, the dykes are often broken, and thewater pours down into the plain, the fie lds aresubmerged, and the vill ages are only saved from

Th e “ Sorrow of Han”

1 75

destruction by being built on raised ground . Inflood -time they are like islands in the midst ofthe sea . Even the walled cities are threatenedby the river : outside one city gate we saw aboat moored to the wall in readiness for thenext inundation .

This fear of the flood is apt to get on the

nerves of even the foreigners . A story is toldof a missionary lady who woke up suddenly onenight and cried out the Yellow River hascome ! the Yellow River has come I The onlything that had happened was that the cork hadcome out of the hot -water bottle 1There are plans for remedying the evil but

so many persons are interested in keeping thingsas they are that age succeeds age

— and nothingis done . The Sorrow of Han still rolls downto . the sea, carrying destruction in its course — and

nothing is done . People "actually build their hutson the banks that tremble under pressure of theflood, and look stolidly on awaiting the disasterand nothing is done . Millions of lives have beensacrificed— and nothing is done . We cry out onsuch criminal folly . Yet yea r after year those samepeople are being swept away in their sins, perishing for lack of the Gospel — and comparativelynothing is done . Who are we that we shouldblame these Chinese rulers for their neglect ?

By the time we reached Peichen we were more

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Time s of Re f re shing 1 77

Bible School at the mission station, and never

have we seen more earn est and strained attention . For many months the leaders had beenpraying for revival , and they were eager and

ready for the Word . The Y ellow River itself’

was the illustration of the need . Many felt theywere, like Peichen, once blessed with the livingwater, but now left high and dry . They werecrying to God that the healing streams whichflow from the right side of the altar

,the water

of life which comes from the throne of God and

of the Lamb,might return to them

Ou the Saturday night we felt that God wasabout to visit u s in power

,and we parted agree

ing to continue in prayer. that the next day mightwitness a manife station of grace .

It is the custom amongst the Churches of thisdistrict

,whe n they meet, to begin their exercises

by quoting the text of the day . The texts areselected by one of the missionaries, and circu

lated amongst all the Church membe rs at thebeginning of each year . As we entered theassembly on Sunday morning we found thatthe eldest pastor was presiding, and the leaders,man after man

,were quoting the text and that

day it happened to be — no, not happened, forthere was no accident in it— in God ’s orderingit was Whoso

’

ever blasph emeth against theHoly Ghost hath never forgiveness . Those

1 78'

Road Jou rn ey in Shantu n g

simple country folks said the text aga in and again,until over eighty men had repeated it. Surelyit n ever could be forgotten"!That morning we spoke of three things‘

1 . Thirsting for the Holy Spirit. If anyman thirst, let him come unto Me and drink ;this spake He of the Spirit (John vii . 37,

2 . Asking for the Holy Spirit. How muchmore shall your Heavenly Father g ive the HolySpirit to them that ask Him 1 (Luke xi .

3 . Taking the Holy Spirit. Receive ye theHoly Ghost (John xx .

At the end of that session the whole assemblyrose in token of their thirsting for the livingwater . In the interval

,before the afternoon

service, a number of separate prayer-meetingswere held ; and after the afternoon service, inthe evening, in the light of the dim lamps, werecurred to our subject of receiving the Spirit,the aspect that had special attention being, ~

‘f Thespirit that we have not receivedNow we have received, not the spirit of the

world but the Spirit which is of God, that wemight know the things that are freely g iven tou s of God ( 1 Cor . ii .

Ye have not received the spirit of bondageagain to fear ; but ye have re ceived the Spiritof adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father

(Rom . viii .

An A ffe cting Scen e . 1 79

For God hath not given u s the spirit of fear,but of power and love

, and of a sound mind

(2 Tim . i .

It is unnecessary to record what was said inexpounding these Scriptures ; but the point thatwas ch iefly insisted upon was that we were not

to wait passively until the Spirit ente red our life,but that we were defin ite ly to accept what Godhad so richly ‘ given and, re ceiving the Spirit,we were to continue to receive

,so that there

might flow from u s rivers of living water . Themore we receive the Spirit

,the less there will

be in u s of worldliness,slavishness, and fearful

ness, and the greater Will be our experience ofour heritage , our sonship, and our equipment .At the end of the meeting those who did there

and then receive the Spirit quietly rose and

bore witness, and during the next fiftee n minutes

thirty - seven men stood up, briefly thanking Godthat He h ad given, and they had received, theHoly Ghost . It was a quarter of an hour pfoverwhelming emotion . Then seven others gavetestimony . On e old man rose, and said that he hadnever dared to think himself worthy even to askfor the Holy Spirit— his life had been so un

fruitful ; but now he would be able to return‘

and tell others that God had . freely bestowed on‘

him this wondrous gift .The Chinese language was the only barrierI 3

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CHAPTER XVIII

Christmas in Chin a

VEN among the Christians of China Christmas takes quite a subsid iary place . The

Chinese New Year,which falls generally in

January or February, is the great holiday -time,and it is impossible to introduce another fe stivalwhen everybody is already anticipating the greatoccasion ot their year . Nor is this tobe regretted ,

Yet,naturally

,with the memory of home

, and

with the sacred associations of Yuletide,the

people who have come from the West cannotallow Christmas to pass without some observanceand

,Where it is possible, the missionaries direct

the minds of the people of China at this time tothe great fact of the Incarn ation .

As the Christmas season drew near we foundourselves in ’ strange circumstance s . We could .

speak together of Christmas Day spent in Ind iaor in ‘ Algeria

,but here we were in the heart

of Shantung hurrying to keep an appointment181

182 Christmas in Chin a

in the little city of Chou -p ’ ling,where a number

of our friends were to gather for the occasion .

Two nights before Christmas we found ourselves at a d irty little village called in ChineseCelestial City

,and learned that that was one

of the very places where Dr . Glover had restedbefore u s . We hoped it had been cleaner in thosedays l Ou r last meal in an inn -yard the nextday was an occasion of some congratulation .

Then we set out on the fin al road journ ey whichbrought u s to our destination early on ChristmasEve .

Chou -p ’ ing is a quaint little walled city ofsome official importance in relation to the surround ing district, and the scene of much successful mission work . It is at a great disadvantagenowadays

,in that the Shantung Railway passes

it at ten miles ’ distance and naturally the townson the railway are growing at the e xpense oftown s farther away . A story is told u s of asmall boy who, on coming up to the city gateof Chou -p ’ ing, remarked to his father Thisseems rather a large house, father .There is a good brick chape l inside the city

and an ex cellent hospital and doctor ’s residenceoutside the walls . The missionaries who havemade Chou -p ’ing their headquarters for the district live in hired Chinese dwellings the lady

missionaries having a little boarding school,

A Morn ing Visit 183

which, howe ver, like the boys’ school

,is about

to be transferred to Chou -t ’sun on the railway .

We rose early on Christmas morning, and went

first to the hospital,where Dr . and Mrs . Pater

son are doing a fin e medical work in premi sesadmirably designed and built under the ir owndirection . Mrs . Paterson

,being herse lf a quali

fied doctor, is able to take a full share in the

hospital and dispensary . We saw also a classof nine Christian young men

,who are studying

surgery here with Dr . Paterson .

The patients come from all the countryside,

and it is impossible to measure the scope ofthe influ en ce e xercised by Christian doctors insuch a hospital . We could not help wishingthat such an institution as this

,with such workers

as Dr . and Mrs . Paterson ,were in the thriving

and populous city of Chou -t ’sun,where the need

is so much greater . Perhaps the day will comewhen our wish may be fu lfilled .

From the hospital we went to the Christmasservice at the chapel . A very good congregation was assembled

,people coming from the su r

rounding villages as well as from the city .

Amongst those who gathe red that day therewas an old woman, a devout believe r, who was

led to inquire into the Christian fa ith by theBoxers

.Before 1 90 0 her son was a Christian,

and though he was not killed because of it, he

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A n Ev en in g Party 185

deal of satisfaction" to these Chine se maidens bytaking several photographs of them . We alsogained a g reat deal of ple asure by seeing howmuch good work had been done with very inadequate accommodation . In Misses Simpson and

Aldridge we were glad to meet “two most devote dand enthusiastic workers . They told u s of someof the conferences for women in the villagesto which . the women eagerly came, g iving up

a week at a time in“ orde r to learn the way of

life . One woman had rece ntly been led to theTruth

,who

,on returning home, had won her

three d aughters -in -law,then her three sons

,and

her two daughters for Christ— in all nine persons .

This is not a solitary case . What hope liesin such propagative work

"

!

The evening was spent in festivi ty . ! uitea number of missionaries had gathered togetherat the invitation of Mr . and Mrs . Nickalls

, and

we made as merry as we could . We had no’

Christmas goose or turkey, but a well — cookedbustard answered th e same purpose and thoughour thoughts would fly to the loved ones faraway

,we were happy in the knowledge that

In Jesus’ keeping we are saf e , and they.

And it'was gladness to feel that we were with

missionary brothers and sisters in distant China,

186 Christmas in Chin a

having a message to proclaim of Him whosecoming to earth was heralded as good tidingsof great joy which shall be to all people .

"

Another phase of our expe rience can perhapsbest be given in an extract from the missionarysermon preached at Bloomsbury Chapel in1 909. In closing - his appeal Mr . FullertonsaidI spent a Christmas Day in the little city

of Chou -p ’ ing in China . During‘ the day our

hearts were sadde ned by the story of the arrestof one of the Christian teachers

,who was charged

with breaking into the house of the lady missionarie s He had been in prison many days,and daily the missionaries h ad sent him food,though daily he had eaten less and less of it,stoutly asserting his innocence all the time . Thatevening the missionaries invited u s to a Christmasgathering for our sakes they sought to reproduce th e festivities of home for " their sake wesought to enter into them . But breaking throughall the joy, came the thought of

' the suffe ringprisoner

,Liu ju Chang . Yet because he was

a stranger to u s,and because we failed to real ise

the fearful nature of his sufferings,the thought

was easily d ismissed, especially as we were veryproperly told that we could not justly interferewith the Chinese authoritie s .

When I was retiring for the night our

A Night Vision 187

Chinese b'

oy came to me, and tried to describe

th e state of the prisoner kneeling with chainedankles in view of the window of his cell, withwrists also chained to the prison bars . TheChinese heart that felt so much for his countryman in misery rebuked mine that had felt solittle .

And now forgive me if I '

draw back theveil from a very hallowed experience . That roomin Chou -p

’ ing will ever be sacred to me becauseof it. During the night I woke suddenly witha sense of another Presence in the room

,a real

presence . I knew it was my Lord,and He spoke

to me . You will not ask me to argue whetherthe voice was subjective or objective . He spoketo me out of the silence and the darkness, and

said, I was sick and in prison, and ye visitedMe not . ’ Thereafter I lay long awake with thebitter-s‘we et in my heart . It was sweet to thinkH e was there b itter that He had rebuked me .

I knewi I could do nothing but I knew al so thatI had been content that nothing could be done,and He was sick and in prison all the time .

The next morning there came a deputationfrom the Church, with the mother and son and

blind brother of the prisoner . They kow -towedto the visitor

, and besought him to rescue the

prisoner ere he died . I could only bid them

pray, and pray with them but all the while I

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CHAPTER XIX

Th e Gate of th e Empire

T is useless to attempt an exhaustive description of such a place as Shanghai, a most

entertaining, amazing, fantastic conglome ration ofcommunities that mix without uniting and livetogether in

"

a state of friendly defiance . TheEuropean concessions are little foreign town sjealously independe nt of one another and of theChinese Government . It strikes the visitor asa little extraordinary

,if nothing miore, that he

should be required to’

dismount from his r'ickshaor cab at a certain spot in an otherwise un

obstructed and ordinary looking road, because hisChinese driver or runner has an English licenceand not a French one, or vice versé . And afterspending many days in

“ what he thinks is Shangha i, with its multitudes of Europeans and Asiaticsof a ll sorts a nd languages, he learns to his surprisetha t he has not yet entered the proper Shanghai.

x89

1 90 Th e Gate of th e Empire

of the Chinese, which is a walled and gated cityentirely apart .Between the two cities there runs a moat

,

crossed by the famous zig-zag bridge which ispictured on our willow pattern plates . The filthywater was once, we were told, the only drinkingwater o f the city . There is now an excellentsupply introduced

,but some of the natives prefer

the old way . It is even said that when the lateLi -Hung -Chang tasted the new water for the firsttime, he said it was very good, but that itlacked body .

The climate of Shanghai makes it more possiblefor Europeans to l ive in their own style of dwellings there than they can in such a city asCalcutta or Bombay ; and there are streets ofhouses in Shan ghai that look as though theymight have been transported from the West

,

ex cept for the Chinese foot passengers, and thestill more impressive Indian policemen Thislatter remark refe rs, of course, to the Britishconcession . It was with great pleasure that Mr .

Wilson,after his residence in India, greeted the

familiar appearance of stalwart red -turbaned Panjabi constables imported from British India forShanghai and Hong Kong service .

Shanghai is the commercial metropoli s of theFar East, and the gate of the Empire of China .

As such it cannot, of course, be regarde d as

Empire Bu ilde rs 1 91

typically Chinese . Travellers who form the ir impressions of China from a brief visit to Shanghaimust be very wide of the mark .

Th ere is quite a large representation of themissiona ry bod ies that work in China to be foundin the city, and it might be supposed that thiswas one of the best evange lised spots in thenon -Christian world ; but the fact is that themajority of the missionaries living in Shanghaionly make it a base for their operations on Behalfof the whole fie ld . Here we find the administrative and secretarial office s, stores and forwardingagencies, printing and publishing houses

,schools

,

colleges and hospitals of many Societie s . Someof our missionary friends mourned the fact thatmore aggress ive e vangelistic effort was not beingcarried on in the vernacular among the Shanghaipopulace There is, of course, a good deal ofEnglish work that touches the resident Chinese

,

but the na tive d ialect of this part of China isquite strange to missionaries who have learnedthe Mandarin tongue .

The China Inland Mission alo'ne among Missionary So

'cieties has its headquarters in China .

It was with delight we entered the beautifulcompound

,where

,after the bustle of the streets

,

peace reigns . T-h-e admirable premises were thegift of one of their own missionaries . Here thed irector, Mr . D . E . Hoste, resides, with Mr . J W .

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Missionary Le ade rs 1 93

students . The missionary publishing houses, employing hundreds ‘

oi workers, are turning outvast quantities of books and tracts . The

ranks among the new and most cif ective missionary agencies of the city . It wasencouraging to hear of successful steps in missionary union, as in the Baptist College of the

and Southern Convention,which hnd

that they cannot afford to remain separate inChina .

Not only in this gathering but in many privatesocial functions we had great: joy in meetingsuch outstand ing leaders in China missions asBishop Graves and Dr . Hawks Pott (AmericanEpiscopal ) , Dr . Proctor and Dr . Bryan (AmericanBaptist) , Dr . Coulson (English Presbyterian ), Mr .

Bitton and Dr . Davenport Dr . Fitch

(American Presbyterian ), Mr . Bondfie ld (B . and

Dr . Parker (American Methodist), Dr .

Gilbert Reid,and many others .

The days we spent in Shanghai, both on ourfirst arrival in the country and as we left it,were all too short for the many things we had

to see . Only the abound ing kindness and

generosity of our dear friends, Dr . Richard and

his like -minded daughters, Mr . and Mrs . Morgan,and Miss Bowser, could have enabled us to getthrough such a programme as we

‘

had . Therewas much business to be done and correspondence

1 94 Th e Gate of th e Empire

to overtake— new friends and even newly discovered relative s had to be visited, purchaseshad to be made

, and the fascinating sights ofthe old city and its modern neighbours claimedtheir tribute of time . We could not fail to feelthe charm of the endless panorama of the streettra ffic, the queer shops, the noisy processions ofsuperstitious attendants on stage property dragons,Chinese eating -houses with their bowls of steaming delicacies, the open market -places w

‘

ith eagercrowds of buyers and sellers, the stalls forselling incense and the paper tokens that doservice for sacrifice at temple altars . Theshuffling and irreverent -looking groups in thetemples the me n a nd boys fly in g kites augustofficials in full Oriental robes rid ing in thesmartest modern broughams ; European JackTars

,alert Japanese commercial travellers, and

English ladies driving to and fro in theirswift and easy rickshas — all these come back tothe memory in a medle y of impressions .

We were taken by Dr . Richard through theprivate temple of the guild of ban kers of thecity, and could not but wonder at the dignityof its symbolism, while we longed

.

for the timewhen the new light of the Gospel should streamthrough its sombre and shadowy halls . Morecheerful was the aspect of the Chinese PublicSchool

,built by public subscription

, and aided

Christian Lite ratu re Society 1 95

by the municipality . Dr . Richard was the movingspirit in its foundation and the first chairmanof its committee . There are three Englishmasters at the head of it

,two foreign - trained

Chinese masters, and ten othe r native teachers,

and about two hundred and fifty boys are re ce iv

ing an excellent Anglo -Chine se education . Thisis, of course, unconnected with any missionarysociety .

Ou r chief inte rest ce ntred naturally in the workof the Christian Literature Society . Few of oursupporters in this country can possibly realisethe magnitude and importance of the service it

,

with other kindred organisations, is rendering toChina and to the kingdom of God . It is anhonour to the Baptist Missionary Society to beassociated in the persons of two of its mosttrusted missionaries with operations so widelyinfl u en tial . Books

,both original works in

Chinese and translation s from the best lite ratureof the West

,for the needs of the day in China

pamphlets and periodicals, both for the Christianand non -Christian community, are being producedwith an abundance that indicates a marvellouscapacity in the editorial staff . The obvious needwhen we were in Shanghai was more adequateprovision for the business management of sucha publishing concern, and the' Society has sincesought to meet this by the appointmen t of an

1 4

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Marty r Memoria l Ha l l 1 97

When they are not mutilated this may be bornepatiently and accepted as the sincerest of com

pliments, but it renders it more difli cu lt to makethe publishing of Christian books pay .

Ou r grateful recollections of the China tourinclude a series of evangelistic services inEnglish, arranged for u s in the new MartyrMemorial Hall, the place whe re a few monthsbefore the historic Centenary Missionary Conference had been held . For five nights Beforeour departure it was our privilege to proclaimin China the power of Chri st to save Our

faith in the Gospel was reinforced by the fruit weourselves had seen in many parts of China fromits proclamation

, and with all our hearts we commended it in speech and song to the earnestcompanies that gathered night by night . Engl ish,American

,Chinese, and Japanese all mingled in

the congregations, and with common voice thererose from every yielded heart the note of praiseto the Redeemer of the world . Even now wehear the echo of the chorus which was sung

at every meeting‘

:

I surrender all,

I su rrende r all ;

All to The e , my blessed Saviour,I surrender all.

CHAPTER XX

A Mode rn Prophet

N a house in Range Road, Shanghai, thereis a tablet inscribed in Chinese with the

name of a Welshman who occupies a uniqueposition in the land of his adoption . His Englishname lends itself readily to transcription into thelanguage of the nation to which he has given hislife

, and it is safe to say that no foreigner hasearned in greater degree the respect and con fi

dence of the Chinese, especially of the literaryand governing classes . L . Timot

’

ai fl is knownand rev eren c—ed all over the Empire

, and hiswritings, copied and republished

,are widely

known and read . It is no secret that they largelycontributed to the re cent

'

movements for reformand it is no wonder that he should now devotehimself with such enthusiasm to the continuedproduction and spread of Christian and educa

tional literature .

H is Ide a l ism 1 99

Honoured with two of the highest decorationsof the Chinese Empire— the Red Button and

the Double Dragon — there is so little ostentationin his manner and habit of life that he maybe passed in the street as nobody in particular .

When we went with him to the ChineseForeign Office in Peking

,he shyly apologised

for putting a tiny red button in the lapel ofhis coat, when we knew very well that he wasentitled to wear a la rge red button on his head .

Travellers in China,especially those who are

interested in mission ary work or in reform movements

,naturally turn to Dr . Timothy Richard

for information and guidance . As an authorityon matters Chinese

,Li Timot

’

ai is perhaps oftenerquoted than anybody else . Though a d iligentworker

,he is most of all an idealist and dreamer

of dreams . Little ‘wonder that some of the dreamsdo not commend themselves to men engaged inthe details of aff airs little wonder they sometimes cross the methods of those who, with morelimited vision, just try to do the nex t thing inthe path of duty

,leaving the future with God

little wonder that, being dre ams, they should nowand then appear fantastic and unp_ractical, and be ,in fact

,but baseless fabrics impossible to realise

in actual life . Nevertheless, it is always the

dreamers who are the apostles of progress . What

matter if they are not always consistent with them

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H is Passion 20 1

deny their very existence and, while he himselfsoars, is apt to chide those who have no "wings .

But, nevertheless, he is a great evangelic force,and in China he occupies a di st inct place . God

fu lfils Himself inmany ways . If TimothyRichardspeaks of conversion by the million, he does notoverlook the need of the regeneration of theindividual soul and if his thoughts dwell ch ieflyon the kingdom of God

,he does not undervalue

the Church of Christ .Again and again we have urged him to write

the story of his life,but with a singu lar diffi

dence he seems to shrink from the task . Indeed,it is only in the rare spells of unconstrainedfriendship and fellowship that he unbosoms himself then

,with flashing eye and glowing face,

with a voice that has not yet lost its Welshintonation

,and gestures that add emphasis to his

thought, he tells his story, until the true TimothyRichard stands revealed in depth of characterand desire

,and the charmed listener is moved

alternately to admiration of the man and to praiseof his Saviour . More than once we made boldto explain“ him to himself as a high Calvinist .Sometimes he has been mistaken for a heretic .

As ‘a fact,he is a great soul aflame with zeal

for God and filled with a passion for Ch ina .

When we visited Chefu for a few hours inhis company we looked in vain for the house

20 2 A Mode rn Prophet

where in the early days of our China Missionhe lived and laboured . It seems entirely to havedisappeared . To the earnest young missionaryof that day, ever anxious to conserve Christianenergy, it seemed useless for two or three missionsto compete in on e city ; and in a little whilewe find him moving, with the consent of hisSociety, to the inland districts of Shantung, wherehe took up residence in Ch ’ing - chu -tu , and quitealone initiated a work which to -day is full of

pfiomise . Even then he Was an idealist and,

large ly influ en ced by the writings of EdwardIrving, he conceived the idea, which he still holdsstrongly to -day , that the appeal of the Gospelshould first be made to religious souls, that theservants of Christ in visiting a city should inquirewho in it is worthy, and that these should be

sought in the hope that afterwards they shouldseek their fellows . Dr . Richard, in common withothers who have h ad opportunities of first-handknowledge, is inclined to think that amongst thesecret societies of China there may be foundperhaps with a faint echo of the old Nestorianfaith— those who seek to worship God directly.

In those early days especially he tried to reachsuch men with the Evangel of Jcsus Christ . Onlyhe himself can adequately tell the story how

,hear

ing of a man who was the leader of a confraternityof secret followers, he we nt and preached to him

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H is Early Zea l 203

Jesus, leaving with“

him some books and

pamphlets and how that leader called togetherhis followers and friends an d passed on the truththat he had heard . This was an early attempt todo

“what must eventua lly be accomplished— makethe Chinese themselves the apostles of theChristian faith in Ch ina .

Indeed, the young enthusiast seems sometimesto have attempted to render literal obedience tothe commands of Christ to His disciples for theiritineration of Palestine, as set forth in the ten thchapter of Matthew . Without money or food heonce set forth on an evangelistic journey, and

though afterward he renounced the plan, God

hon oured the simple faith of His servant on thisoccasion . Food was provided where he taugh tbut -when in the cou rse of his journey he cameto a river which had to be crossed, he was nonplussed . Boatme n were there willing to take himover but knowing that he h ad no money to payth em

,he resisted their appeals, and yet scarce

liked to tell them‘ why . So they waited . At

length the boatmen urged again that for safety’s

sake he must cross,and then he disclosed the fact

that he was without an y means of recompensingthem . Upon which, to his surprise and gratitude,they began to thank him for what he had donefor them when they had visited Ch ’ing-chu -tu ,

and declared that they wanted no money it

204 A Mode rn Prophet

would be honour enough , they said, to bear himacross, and even then they would be in his debt .The heart of the young missionary was, as wemay imagine, much encouraged .

It.

was his custom at this time to demandthat converts should commit to memory certainpassages of Scripture . As Chinese educationconsists so largely in memorising their classics

,

this seems to u s a very admirable method toadopt for Christian inquirers . The first chapterof Ephesians and the first chapter of the Revelation were amongst the prescribed portions, and

Dr . Richard found that those who were groundedin the Ephesians chapter always became stableand stalwart Christians for they were resting on

the faithfulness “

of God, while those who alsolearned the Revelation chapter became devotedworshippers of the Living Christ . Amongst thelatter class there was a man who on his thirdvisit appeared with a beaming face

, and said,I have seen Him .

Whom have you se en ? the missionary demanded, and the reply rather staggered him“

I have se en the Lord Jesus .

”

What was He like ?In answer the vision of the glorious Christ as

set forth in Revelation was given.

And what did He say to you ?He told me to‘

go and preach .

Hand in g on th e Torch 205

Are you going PThere was no question in the convert ’s mind

on the subject . Of course I am going,” he

said .

When ?Forthwith .

The missionary was called away from thatprovince soon afterwards but when

, five yearslater, he vis ited it again, he found on the farside of the river

,in places that geographically

formed a crescent, five churches — and in each

place they had first heard the Gospel from thisdisciple who simply at the call of his Masterwent forth to declare what he had seen and known .

It. was by such incidents as these that Dr .

Richard enriched our intercourse with him . He

told u s of another man in Shantung who receivedth e Gospel and went to the mountains to preachit, leaving his family at home . At length hehad to sell his l ittle patrimony of land to paythe ex penses of his journey and of his family,and

,later still he became so poor that he had

nothing to send home . Ou this some of thepeople clubbed together and despatched a muleload of corn to his village . When the muleteerasked for the man, of course he was told thathe was not at home . Where is his house ? heinquired and when a woman came to the door,he said, Here is corn for you .

” Where does

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Th e Shan si Fam in e 207

they were ! The apostolic and indomitable DavidHill has gone to his reward

,while Bishop Scott

,

Dr . Richard, and Mr . Turner remain . Theyshudder even now as they tell of the havoc deaththen made the inhumanity of the officials thedecay of natural affection until even mothersswapped their babies to eat them

, and childrenwere openly carried in panniers for sale .

On e difficu lty of the work of relief was the cumb

'

rous currency : it was necessary to have severalcarts to carry the strings of copper cash to thestricken villages

,and in the hostile districts these

were at the mercy of the unsympathetic officials .

In‘ one place the magistrate casually remarked to

someone,What is the foreigner doing here

with so much money ? If he is robbed, I shalldo n othing . This

,of course, was an incite

ment to theft and, before the ' carts h ad gonefifty yards from the inn, the villagers, quick totake the hint

,set upon them"

. Dr . Richard atonce turned the carts back to the inn, and lefthis assistant in charge of them that day while hewent to the other villages and told them thathe could bring them no money . In the morninghe was back again

,and found that during the

night bricks and o ther missileshad been throwninto the inn, and attempts made to enter . Uponhearing this the missionary told his man to wait

twenty minutes, and then to leave the inn and

208 A Mode rn Prophet

the money in it. He went at once to the Yamen,

and, in spite of opposition, forced his way intothe presence of the Governor

,who at the moment

was consulting with the military official of thetown in order to foment a riot . When protectionwas demanded it was refused, and Dr . Richardsaid Very well . In twenty minutes the moneywill be left at the inn ; it is not mine ; it hasbeen g iven for the starving people, and I lookto you to protect it. Good morning .

" On hisreturn to Shantung he recoun ted his experienceto the magistrate there and demanded a receiptfor the money from the offending official, and

in due course it was sent . It was with suchastuteness

,combined with faith, that the trials

of that time were met and conquered . Let thosewho think the missionaries are men without judgment and adroitness stand rebuked by such anincident .Here is another . As recorded in a former

chapter,there is now a very promising mission

in Hsin-chou, two days north of T’ai -yuan -tu .

A footing was secured in the city in those earlydays in the following manner . Timothy Richa rdhired a room at an inn, and brought with hima magic -lantern . He did not exhibit his picturesat once

,but he let it be known that he was willing

to show them at the Yamen . The officials wereundecided for some time as to the exact nature

Th e Sta r of Bethlehem 209

of the lantern, and the propriety of seeing the

pictures . One of the members of the householdat length said that he knew something about itthe officials at T ’ai -yuan -tu had been present atan exhibition of the pictures while he was there .

That settled the matter, and approval of the

suggestion was communicated to the missionary .

When the evening arrived the views were passedthrough [the lan tern, and the final picture wasThe Star of Bethlehem

,which was shaped like

a cross .

“ What is that ? ” the foreign er demanded of his audience

, and when they had giventheir guesses in vain, he answered, That is whathas made men go over all the world to preachthe Gospel

, and left them wondering . The nextday the merchants of the city sent asking thatthey might see the pictures, and an answer waspromised them by and by . Meanwhile the missionary waited until the rumour spread far and

wide of the man with the wonderful pictures thathad been exhibited in the Yamen, and peoplejourneyed from all the district to see them . Justbefore he left the city he announced that thepictures were again to be shown and after thepeople had seen them there was no difficu lty insecuring a house in the city, though at first sucha thing had been declared to be impossible .

To his intercourse at the time with the leading

men of Shansi Dr . Richard ascribes much of his

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Tab l e Ta lk a1 1

geon ’s an'

d Moody's and he Said that on“ one

occasion he conve rsed with an educated Chinaman

“

and tried to tell him of the things of theWest of which Ch ina Was ign

'

oran‘

u But to no

purpose . China had anticipated everythi

ng. Had

we railways ? China had tried “ them and dis

carded them long ago‘

, and so with‘ telegraphsand other inventions . At length he said, Haveyou ever known in’ your country an example ofa life being completely changed be cause one manhas heard another stand up and speak for halfan hour ? No'

, the Chinaman admitted, theyknew nothing like that.At another time the subje ct was the Bible,

and an incident was recalled of a Chin aman who,having read the New Te stament for the first

t ime,immed iately burn‘ed it, be cause he would

not let his children know that such a good manas out Lord was so shamefully entreated— whichwas a result not anticipated when the book wasgiven‘

.

But diff erent results can be chronicled . One

of the scholars of China was presented with aNew Testament, and he read it several timesover. When Dr . Richard asked him

'

what hethought of it, he answered that the mostwonderful thing to h im was that it was possiblefor men to-day to be possessed of the HolyGhost.

I S

2 1 2 A Mode rn Prophet

We ourselves cannot forget when, after manydays of companionship with this modern prophet,we parted ' at Ching Tao, he to return to Shanghai, and we to journey through Shantung, hesaid to u s

- If you see the ‘

Govemor, do notlook upon yourselves only as the representativesof the Missionary Society ; remember that youare ambassadors of God . In that sentence hestood self-revealed .

CHAPTER XXI»

A Lette r to th e Ru l e rs of Chin aand a Reply

ECAU SE we were ambassadors of God in aland which is without that knowledge of

Him which is Eternal Life, we felt ourselves

free to overstep the bounds of our commissionfrom our Missionary Society . We were sent outto examine and encourage the workers in ourown missions we took the opportunity of understand ing and co -operating with all the missionswith which we came into t0uch . Our experi enceembraced the work

'

of ne arly every section ofthe . Church of Christ, and workers of variousnationalities ; of the work we formed a veryhigh op1n 1on , and from the workers we receivednothing but courtesy and kindness— kindnesswhich in several instances .merged into lavishgenerosity . Christian fellowsh ip took a newmeaning in view of the We lcome given to u s

for the sake of our Master, and diffe rences inritual and polity were forgotten in our commondevotion to His Gospel and His name .

After our varied expe rience‘

of Chinese m'eii an'

d213

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A Statement of th e Case 2 1 5

This is the letter— of course it was signedwith our Chinese names

To THE RULERS AND HIGH OrmcmLs or

CHINA.

Sent out on a special embassy by one - of

the great Missionary Societie s of our own land,we have spent some months in“ the interior ofChina, and now on the eve of our departure weventure to address those in this great Empire,in whose hands rests authority and influence ,

in order to submit to them some considerationswhich we believe are for the ben efit of thecountry .

Were we to speak of things which areeviden t to all enl ightened minds, we might makehold to mention the necessity of better roadsin all parts of the country and more extensiverailways ; the benefits like ly to arise from alarge and permanent system of afforestation ; theadvan tages to be gained by a unive rsal systemof coinage ; and the . .reforms that might beafiected in the disposal of the dead .

But of such matters we know you are morefu lly inf ormed than it is possible for passingtravellers to be .

Our aim is difl’

erent and goes deeper . Maywe , in all deference, and with great respect, askyou to conside r the following propositions .

2 16 A Lette r to Ru le rs of Chin a

1 Sixteen hundred years ago the RomanEmpire was faced by a problem very similarto the one which is now confronting China . TheChristian faith had gained a foothold in thatEmpire, as it has in yours . Although at firstthe followers of the Doctrine were suspected and

martyred, the Roman Governors at length dis

covered that Christians made the best ofcitizens, and that their loyalty to Jesus Christmade them but more loyal to their Emperor .The Christian faith is the same to-day .

2 . Since that time, the unbiassed reading ofhistory proves that the nations which have mostfully accepted the Christian faith have been and

are tod ay foremost in the ranks of progress .

Therefore we would say to you who guide thedestinies of China : Do not fear Christianitybecause you love your country ; welcome it .

3 . If you will be gracious enough to hearour words still farther, we would ask

’

you toremember what you already know

,that Chris

tian ity asks for no special privilege at the handsof the State . It only see ks liberty . Removethe bars from“ its way, and let it make its ownappeal . Let your schools and colleges and youroffices of state be fre ely opened to Christians .Abolish religious tests and di sabilities of all kinds

,

and in freedom the best will be surely discovered .

4 . Becoming s till more daring by your in

A Pe rsona l Appe a l 2-17

du lgence , we would submit to your Ex ce llencies, as God

’s messengers, one thing more .

Christianity can only bless nations when it isaccepted by individuals . May we not the reforeask y ou , as leaders of the nation, to examinea nd prove and yield to the claims of Christ ?Forgive u s if our zeal emboldens u s too greatly .

This is not a foreign relig ion . Christ lived and

died in Asia, not in Europe ; but He belongsto the whole world — and to China . His faithis the only religion that has in the world ’s historyentered all countrie s, and it is de stin ed '

to blessall . If some . of the great men of China wereto declare themselves as the followers of theLord , they might, as Christ

’s new apostles,do

more for this wonderful Empire than all thestatesmen and scholars and missionaries from theWest and if they should suffer, they would onlyFu lfil the law of sacrifice . which . is the greatlesson of the Cross of Jesus, who gave H imselffor the redemption of the world . In “future yearsthe people that will rise up to praise Him ‘wouldbless them too.

Allow u s,then

,in asking your di st

i

nguishedconsideration of these things, humbly

'to signourselves as the s ervants of Christ and

The Friends of China,W . Y . FULLERTON ,

C . E . WILSON .

”

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Th e Repl y 2 I9

Shansi, and Shantung, where there are no railways, in order to find out the condition of ourpeople and help them . This aim of your religionI most highly appreciate . What you say aboutour graveyards is too true . Alas l our roads,our graves, and other customs require to be te

formed . Our Government has for some yearsdecided to reform, but it takes time .Jesus Christ came down from heaven to get

men to obey God and save mankind ; and His

doctrine spread to Greece and Rome, Germanyand Russia, and the nations who believed becamepowerfu l . This is well known to readers ofhistory . During the last two“ hundred yearsChristian mission s have spread to all continentsand become a world religion . Though we inChina have Confu cianism as our national religion,still we have Buddhism and Mohammedanismflou rish ing at the same time . Erom the seventhcentury till now we have the Christian religionas evidenced by the Ne storian Tablet in Si -an -fu ,

and later the Jesuits at the e nd of the last dynastyand the beginn ing of the present, when ourEmperors built them churches in the Capital .But in process of time things degenerated, badmen entered the Church, and there was interference in lawsuits . Between the faults on bothsides a great strife arose between Christians and

non-Christian s, till the Boxer rising of 1 900,

220 A Lette r to Ru l e rs of Chin a

when the religious question became an international one of great importance . Intelligentmen are much grieved at

' this and see that bythe taxation to pay indemnif ies the Christianas well as the non -Christians suffer . To end

these troubles our Government has establishedschools and colleges throughout the Empire sothat the people may no more be ignorant and

act foolishly . In these schools and collegesmany Christians are professors and teachers . Butthe new Board of Education made . a mistakein not granting the same privileges to the Christian's and non-Christians . This possibly arosefrom the Board saying that as in Christianschools the students are compelled to attendChristian worship

,in the Government schools

the Christians ought to be made to conform toGovernment regulations .

In my opinion these are only outward formsand my hope and belief is that there will soonbe found a way of harmon ising

"

the two withoutviolence to eithe r The learning of Messrs .

Fu llerton and Wilson is great, and their vi rtueis deep and high . I am sorry I did not haveth e

‘

pleasu re of meeting them face to face . Pleaseconvey to them my best compliments and saythat I shall bear carefully in mind theirsuggestions

CHAPTER XXII

Rou n d th e Worl d

UR visit to China incidentally meant thatwe went round the world . Considerations

of time sent u s West in order to get to theFar East . The Atlantic journ ey was withoutincident . The race across Canada from ! uebec,which we

'

left an hour after our steamer touchedthe pier, to Vancouver, where we arrived afterfour days ' continuous travel, was only varied bya few hurried stops to water and ice the train,to change the engine, to cool a heated axle, orto fix the brakes for th e descent of the RockyMountains . On the summit of the Pass of thesegiant sentinels, where the waters flow East and

West,there is a spot proclaimed by a striking

notice as The Great Divide . As, in the'gloaming of the early August evening, we glidedpast in the train we noticed the ‘camp -fire of somevagabonds who were ev idently intending to spendthe night there

, and we mildly tormented ourselves by wondering which way they went in the

'morning . When the day dawned, we were

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Chin ese Stu dents in Japan 223

that, when we left it, the city Was in dangextof drought . They had no water because theyhad had so much . To our regret our furtherexperience was practically limited to Tokio, Kobe,and Nagasaki .The Baptist Missionary Society has no mis

sionary work in Japan, though some years ago atentative effort was made in Tokio . For severalreasons it was soon relinquished ; but it musthave done some good, for Dr . 'Glover recordsan instance of a woman who was found searchingfor the Mission Hall, and asking

'

whether theycould direct her to the place where theymended broken hearts .

"

At Tokio we could not but be deeply interested,on

.the eve of our visit to China, by the work

amongst the Chinese students who thronged insuch crowds to Japan for education, though nowth e numbers have been much diminished . Asto education, the almost universal verdict wastha t the students go'd the merest smattering ofknowledge, their opportunities and stay beingso limited . As to morals; they were left to themselves in such great measure that they largelyfell before the specially strong temptation of thegreat city

, and they imb ibed revolutionary ideaswhich threaten to give serious trouble ' to their

own Government on their return to“

their nativecountry

.As to religion, while . a considerable

224 Rou n d th e World

number of them have been won for Christ bythe enthusiastic efforts of the Young Men ’sChristian Association and the Tokio ChineseChurch, many others have thrown off all restraintand instead of their native Confucianism— ii Confucian ism can be called a religion— they havebeen indoctrinated with the scepticism of theWest . So, on the whole, the rush of students fromChina to Japan under present conditions seemsto angur ill rather than good to their country .

This only lends emphasis to the appeal for theestablishment of a University in China which shallcommand the respect of the Chinese, and summon the Church of God to the increased supportof the present missionary educational institutions .

Side by side with the high-class Governmentcolleges in Tokio there exist some distinctivelyChristian schools . The most important of theseare the colleges of the Methodist Mission

,which

We had the opportunity of ‘visiting, though wedid not see them in session . Indeed, we foundthat in August most of the missionaries werevery w isely on holiday .

at the hill resorts,where

at the time of our visit Mr . Gregory Mantleand Mr . Litchfie ld were at work as

.representing

the Keswick Convention . Of their ministry weheard very . excellent accounts .But some of the leaders remained in the

cities, and of these the most interesting figure

A Japan ese Bishop 225

undoubtedly was Bishop Honda, who was goodenough to cal l upon as . He is the first nativeJapanese b ishop, and represents a strong movement towards independence on the part of theJapanese Church . The common spirit seems tohave seized al l branches of the Church

,which

,

though it is the direct result of the success whichhas been granted to Christian missions

,is,for

the moment, one of their gravest difficu lties . TheJapanese, who have proved their power in otherdepartments to manage their own aff airs successfully, naturally think that it is time they controlled their Own churches— there are, i ndeed,not wanting those who say that they are ableto dispense altogether with foreign missionaries .The Presbyterian and Episcopalian missionaries,in common with the Methodists, are faced withthe problem of giving the native Church theresponsibility for its own government, while mainta ining the direction of the evangelistic workwhich the Church is not yet strong enough toassume .. The Methodists have moved the soonest,and the ordination of Bishop Honda, who waselected by his native brethren at the first ballot,is the evidence of the new departure . We foundthe Bishop a man of wide sympathy, deep devotion

, and humble spirit an d with his guidancethe experiment of dual leadership has every

prospect of success .

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Comfort Bags 227

The work'

of the American Bible Society alsoclaimed our attention, and Mr . Loomis

, its“ secre

tary, in addition to his courtesy in eirpla in ingits operations, also conducted us over a nativeprinting works, where many of its books as wellas a considerable number of Chinese and KoreanScriptures, are produced . Men almost naked werehard at work at the presses, and in other de

partments g irls in picturesque costume were busyfold ing and binding . Every Monday mornin gbefore work begins, a Christian service is conducted in this house and though the attendanceis not compulsory, about a hundred of the workpeople, both men and women, attend, and someof them have been converted by this means .

At the Bible Society ’s warehouse we were ableto secure two of the few that remain of TheComfort Bags which the Christian women ofJapan gave to the sold iers in the recent war .Each contained, in a flowered wrapping, a NewTestament

,some tracts, writing -paper. and

envelopes,a pencil and toothbrush, scent and

med icine, and, most touch ing of all, two colouredpi cture-postcard s to remind the soldier of home .There sailed with u s from Yokohama Lieu

tenant -Colonel Duc'

e, of the Salvation Army . Acompany of Salvationists from various places cameto the ship to‘ see him‘

off after his long se rvicein Japan, and they sang hymns interspersed with

1 6

228 Rou nd th e , World

cries of Banzai and Harreruiah ! On our arr ivalat Kobe we accompanied our friend to theSe'amen

’

s Rest in charge of the Salvation Armyof that city, where we were most hospitably ente r v

tain ed . We were a lso able to‘ share in the Communion service (with ind ividual cups) in the littleBaptist

'

chapel at Kobe, after a service conductedby a native pastor

, and to visit the Method istMission premises outside the city . There lingersin our mind the interesting conversation we hadwith Dr . Newton there

, a s he told u s of theearly struggles of the missionaries, and of ancienttimes . When the Jesuit missionaries were ex e

pe lled, “ there was in every suspected . village ayearly inquisition

,and the people were required

publicly to tread upon a cross in order to showtheir contempt for the faith of Jesus . In theeven ing we went to the Salvation Army Barracks,and were interested spectators of the first Salva ~

tion Army wedding ! in‘ Kobe, the bride and

br idegroom both addressing the meeting .

At Nagasaki, Mr . Fuller, of the Church Missionary Society, came on board to greet u s . He

had just said good -b'

ye to Rev . F . S . Webster, .

of the Keswick Deputation to China, and it wassomewhat tantalising to be abl e to do no morethan wave hands as we passed within pistol shotof each other without being able to spe ak . TheEnglish Church, under Mr . Fuller’s g uidance , is

Ou r . Circu its ih . Chin a 229

d oing good work here and the Dutch ReformedChurch of America, with some of whose missionarie s we voyaged through the Japa-n Inland

"

Sea, has also a good story of service to tell .On Coato Island in this neighbourhood there

is a company of .. people with a peculiar formof Christian faith . Their . forefathers were in

flu enced by . the ancient Jesuit missionaries, and

the island being difficu lt of approach, they continn ed their Christian worship in spite of thesubsequent persecution s . But when the RomanCatholics returned in modern times, and attemptedto annex them to“ their mission

,the islanders

found the modern developments of the Papacyso d ifferent from what they had originally beentaught that they would not accept. the Romishfaith . Neither will they receive the Protestantmiss ionaries so there they remain, an independent section of those who, -albeit amid much superstition ,

name the’

name of Christ . Like the OldBelievers ,of Siberia, they are popeless sacerdo

talists .

' Six days ’ sailing from Yokohama brought usearly in September to Shanghai, from whencewe started on

‘ our four months ’ journey throughNorth Inland China, m aking a great circuit byway of the Yang-tse-kian g to Shensi and Shansi,and then through Peking and . Tientsin, findingour way to th e sea again, only to take another

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Gey lon 23I

threaded our way through the maze back to ourship at night . Here a great load of tobacco wastaken on board , until the cargo overflowed intosome of the lowe r cabins— which were thereaftercarefully nailed up,

Four days afterwards we arrived at Ceylon“

,

where we had arranged to spend a fortnight in‘

order to see the work of the Baptist MissionarySociety in the island . In addition to services,meetings, and conferences in Colombo

,we were

able during these weeks to attend the meetingsof the Ceylon Baptist Union at Gonawala, toconduct two days ’ services in Kandy, to visitour mission at 'Matele, and to climb on the mounta in railway to the sana!torium of the islandNuwara-Eliya .

But the outstand ing feature of our visit was themotor tour through the district of Sabaragamuwa,arranged by our host, the Honourabl e Mr . JohnFerguson, in order to , allow an inspection of theschools and missions in this part of our fie ld .

The beauty of the roads, bordered with palm-tre es,past villages and rubber plantations, still lingersin our memory . Av isiwe lla, Pussella, RatnapuraPelmadulla, Balangoda, and Hanwella were visited .

in‘ turn ; the school children

“ were err fé‘

te , theschools beautifully decorated, and in one placethere was actual ly a brass band . A garden partyin the grounds of Calton

’

Lodge, a final service

232 Rou n d th e Worl d

in Cinnamon Gardens Church,and once more we

were on‘ the ocean

,homeward bound .

" In order to av isit our missions in Italy welanded at N aples

,d evoting a day each to Rome,

Florence, and Turin . An' admirable evangelistic

work'

is in progress under the auspices of ourSociety in these cities and in the neighbouringterritories . To complete our ta sk we journeyedto Lausanne for con ference with Dr . and Mrs .Edwards, of T

’

ai yuan“

fu ,who have with such

consecra tion of . life and means devoted themselves to missionary work in China . We weregreatly refreshed by the Sunday spent in fellowship with them, and bore home the tidings, asa crown to our journey

,that they gen erously

gifted to the Society the splendid hospital anddoctor ’s residences which , at their own cost, theyhave“ erected in T ’ai yu an In .

With some congratulation and with much praiseto God, we arrived home at the ex act time setforth in our original programme, and .were welcomed at Charing Cross and at Leicester byhosts of friends, to whose prayers, as well asto the prayers . of multitudes more, we owe it that,withou t serious accident or hindrance, we wereable to accomplish the commission entrusted tou s . It was one whith

’

, we would fain hope,‘has

in s ome little measure h astened the coming ofthe kingdom of God .

CHAPTER XXII I

Th e Report of th e Spie s

N our journey home we were able to preparea somewhat voluminous report concerning

th e progress and outlook of‘the missions of our

Society and the welfare of the missionaries, and

it was .with some satisfaction that we posted themanuscript to London on our arrival at Naplesand corrected the proof a few days after we gothome, presenting the whole r eport the same monthto . the Committe e, which did u s the honour ofgiving u s our commission . We are gratified thatmost of the suggestions for ‘ adjustment and

advance have already received the cordialapproval of that Committee and are in processof application . Willingly we would spend our

own lives to ' h e lp to evangelise China if that couldbe permitted Since it is denied, we urge theclaims of the country on others with all ' theemphasis in our power .

It is impossibl e to do . other than assent to the233

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Edu cation 235

has been changed the ancientExamination Hallsto which students came to show themselves expertin

‘ the Chinese Classics are now silent and deserted,while, with some notable exce ptions where the

expe riment has proved for the moment a failure,

in all the provinces schools and colleges wh'ereWestern learning is taugh t hum with' the risingl ife of the China that i s to be .

Students have thron'ged to Japan to se cure thenew knowledge, and Japanese teachers have comeover to China but since it h as been proved bypainful experience that these students imbibe, andmany of these teachers propagate, revolutionarynotions, as well as receiving or,

giving a smattering of Western knowledge, the exodus to Tokiohas distinctly lessened, and the Welcome toJapanese teachers become less cordial , This butemphasises the need for help from England and

America,Ge rmany and Scandinavia to train

Chinese teachers for the Chinese pe ople . Ineducation, as in evangelisation, the work is muchtoo vast to be other than guided by the foreigner .

That the new life of China must, at least fora ‘generation, be directed By the mind of theWest is evident, e ven though there IS ri sing in theminds of the Chinese a jealousy of such guidance .

Left to themselves the Chinese will be like theirown great Hwang-Ho, which spends its strength

meandering aimlessly through the Empire, useless

236 Th e Report of th e Spies

for commerce and dangerous to the -people, .wisely . !dire cte d "

an d led they will be like theYang-tze-kiang, flowing with direct and un

swervin g aim to the sea, the enriching traffic

of East and West borne upon its urgent current .The great danger is that the people may receive

the k nowledge o f our discoveries and reject therevelation that has been made to u s of God inChrist that they may learn our science and art

,

and remain ign orant of that faith and hope whichinforms and inspires all true learn ing .

An“

old member of.the Church in Shantung

came to the missionary with beaming face . He

had made a great discovery . To understand hispoint of “view it must be stated that as it isalmost impossible for the Chinese

,with thei r

multitude of signs, but w ithout an alphabet, tomake a n ew word, so the word used in the ChineseBible for Elijah 's chariot of fire has also beenchosen for the railway engine . Well , this old

man had seen for the first time a railway train,and, with the gladness of a discoverer, h e exclaimed,

' I never knew before how Elijah wentto heaven ! The incident may serve as anillustration of the ea se with which th e Chinesemind may jumble together the material and thespiritual

, and believe that when it gets our inventions , it has received all we have to bestow .

It is a s ign ificant thing in God’s guidance of

Man n e rs 237

human history that the problems o f l ife havebeen worked out in duplicate that while themyriads of the West, oblivious of the millions inthe Far East, have solved them in

‘

one way ;the Eastern millions, equally oblivious of themillions in the We st, have solved them in another .

In many thin gs the solution is as correct in theone way as ih “ the other, though both sides may beprejud iced in‘ favour of their own . Ch ina is nowin large measure prepared to discard her waysfor ours .

But if we have something to teach China,she

ha s something to' teach u s . Her people are a

great people,'gre at in patience a nd in resource .

Their le isurely courtesy is perhaps being spoiledwhere railways come but energy is

'bei-ng ‘born inits place, and when the spirit of enterprise shallbe added to their ingenuity and perseverance,they will go far and do much . The first viewof the Chinaman is apt to be prejud iced . Whenwe entered China a lady mission ary gave us in

va lu able advice, Do not," she said, accept

the verdict of anyone about the Chinese whodoes not love them .

” We learnt to love themourselves

,and found it easy to overlook things

that might have been considered; objectionable, inconsideration of their mother-wit and native

worth .

The di sease of the body politic has three

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Mora ls 239

Chinese life, gave u s his opinion that the rulingforce in China is fea r . The people are afraidof their rulers, afraid of each other, afraid ofthe foreigners, afraid of evil spirits, afraid ofthe present, afraid of the future, afraid of life,afraid '

pi death . Nothing but the perfect lovemanifested in Jcsus Christ can cast out this fear .

The terror .of e vil spirits seems to be predominant . It is probable that the reason why

a man ’s en emy commits suicide is tha t he may,

as a spirit, be the better able to harass him .

Should a creditor die , the debtor is in dreadbecause he believes that the spirit will exact

punishment for the debt . A pathetic story wastold us of a man whose young children died oneafter the other . He believed that the spirit ofhis creditor has returned time after time in thechildren in order to put him to as much expenseas would cancel the debt . The poor man tookthe body of the child who had last died downto the river

, and over the running water he cutit in pieces

,with tears streaming down his face

besee‘ching the malign spirit to torment him.

'

nomore .

There can be little doubt that many of theleaders of the Empire are thoroughly in earnestas to the abolition of opium . In Shansi, one ofthe great . opium provinces, his Excellency Tinghas altogether prohibited its growth , and Mr .

240 Th e Report of th e Spie s

Sowerby reports that there is not a field of opiumin the whole province this year . It is

"

distress ingto find our own rule rs so slow in co-operatingwith the men who are trying to save their country .

Our unwillingn ess to cease the export of opiumfrom India to China but strengthens the handsof those in China whose interest it is to opposereform . It is a sorry spectacle to find the efi'ortsof earnest Chinamen frustrated by Britain . insisting on her treaty rights to poison the people ;and, so far as Britain is identified with Christian ity, it is a scandal to the name of Christ.

Even Chinese reformers find themselves nonplussed for lack of men honestly to carry out thereforms. China is the land of squeezes . The

great need is men of‘ character, and character

can only be built on religion . The only religionwhich can produce the highest character is thereligion of our Lord Jesus Christ . China needsmen

, (therefore she needs Christ ; China nee dsChrist

,therefore sh e needs men . Christ ’s men

here must go"to them in order to raise up Christ ’s

men there .

'

He r best men know this . The Chinese envoyto Tibet, which has recently been created aprovince of China, when he saw the degradationof the people, though himself a Confucianist, isreported to have said, Nothing can lif t thesepeople up but the presence of Christian mis

Pe rpl e x itie s a4 r

sionaries . Not all the reformers of the Empireare friendly to missionaries, but many of themrecognise them as a force making for righteousness . . And though the party of reaction seemsto have secured an advantage for the moment,nothing can hinder the light.

It may be tha t there lies before China a periodof perplexity and upheaval There are notwanting elements of danger, chief among thembeing the hatred of the Manchus who are scatteredover the Empire in cities of their own, and large lysupported from .the public purse. Against these

,

rather than against the Western foreigners, isthe h and of the Chinese likely to be turned inthe e ven t. of a revolution ; but in such a casethey would not perhaps nicely distingu ish betweenone foreign er and another .

Of the missionaries themselv‘es we speak withdispassionate praise . There are men and womenin China who, if they h ad , remained at home,would have been in the front places in theirprofe ssions and there are in conspicuous .workerswho equal them in unwearied and fruitful serv ice .

In the ranks of _ the hundreds of missionarieswhom we met

,missionaries of all nations and

denominations, there were not half a dozen of .

whom it could have been honestly suggested “ thatthey made a mistake in going to .China . . Many

an' instance was b rought under our observation

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Mission s 243

that if the number. of missionaries could at oncebe doubled the number of converts would withina year be doubled too .

The missions of the Roman Catholic Church ,long established in the country

,have also many

adherents . Their methods are so difi'

erent fromours that it is quite impossible for us to co

operate in any direction, though in severalinstances our medical missionaries attend themin their illnesses . Fr iction is often caused bytheir practice in reference to lawsuits . Theirpriests have until lately been granted mandarinrank, and have claimed magisterial power . Consequently they have sought to influ en ce the courtsin f avour of their members . But the Government has n ow ce ased to recognise them in theold way, and possibly things may improve .

The Baptist Missionary Society, with whosework we were more immediately con cerned, isable to rejoice in an abundant share of the successfollowing a ll mission work . In

‘ the Province ofShantung it has no less than Churchmembers in the district for which it is responsible .

These form one church, under the oversight of

5 1 n ative pastors and evangelists, who act, ofcourse

,in harmony with th e missionaries . The

Church order is a combination of the Episcopal,Congregational

,Presbyterian, and Methodist

systems . In this province there are 371

mis1 7

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Th e Name of God 245

decision which may not be approved by the ripestscholars . It is not a matter to be decided bythe number of votes, but by the maturest knowledge . Of course, we do not presume to off erjudgment ; but pending the settlement of thequestion we would draw attention to the sugge s

tive inscription on the tablet which is worshippedby the Chinese on New Year ’s morning — an

inscription plainly indicating some clearer knowledge of God in past days than the people nowpossess . As transla ted by our friend, Rev . J JTurner, it reads The true ruler of heavenand earth

,of the three realms

,of th e ten dirce

tions, and of all spirits .

” The'

three realmsare variously explained as matter

,mind, and soul

or heaven,earth

, and hell or animal,vegetable,

and mineral . The ten directions are the eightpoints of the compass, plus the direction aboveand the direction below,

and is, theref ore,synonymous with everywhere . Surely this isthe true God who is not only worshipped by theEmperor at the Altar of Heaven, but acknowledged in the homes of the people, even thoughHe be unknown to their hearts .

At that same memorable Confe rence at Shanghai the ideal was indulged, not only of winningmultitudes of individuals for Christ, but of making China a Christian nation . It is a worthy

ambitien , and though the world has never yet

246 Th e Report of th e Spie s

seen a Christian nation, that is no reason whyChina should not be the first. The very qualitywhich has so long kept the nation apart fromothers in solid opposition

, not only to Christ, butto all Western ways

,may

,perhaps

,cause it

some day to turn‘ as a un it to the Saviour of

men' . Just as in its inland cities they mend thesidewalks simply _by taking the mud from thestreets, one action cleansing the roads and re

pairing the causeway, it may be , as the Ioessmire which hinders the traffic of wheels is thustransformed into"

the plastic cement which makeseasier the traffic of feet

,that the patriotic senti

ment which has bred contempt for the foreignerand h is faith, may, when it shall be engagedon the side of Christ, make the Chinese equallyunanimous in their devotion to His name . Whathas been a curse may quite easily become ablessing . That , something in Chinesecharacter

,

"which made the Boxer frenzy all butuniversal

,may quite conceivably rouse the whole

nation in to enthusiasm for our Lord Jesus .

Chinese patriots even now are largely looking tothe Christian s of the ir! nation to help them inthe regeneration of their land, and many of themost intelligent Chinese have turned to Christand seek to win others to His standard, largelybecause they believe that by this means theyare able to rende r the best se rvice to their country .

Christian s an d Patriots 247

Here Christians and Reformers meet, and whoshall wonder if the meeting means that a nationshall be born in a day ?Sent out in th e name of Christ the report of

the spies concerning China may be put into thewords of Caleb and Joshu a when they spied outthe land of Canaan The people are strong thatdwell in the land, and the cities are walled and

very great but let u s go up at once and possessit, for, we are well able to Overcome it.

’

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Nativ e Worke rs

a grander call or more glorious opportunity thanthey have in that land to-.day .

There you have a nation reserved from dim

antiquity yet on the testimony of everybody themost secure in its prospect of a lead ing placein the future history of the world— conservative

,

cautious, peaceful, amazingly industrious, full ofpractical sense, tenacious of ideas, virile, and

steadfast to death .

There are very many proofs that the doctrineand the love of Christ

,when they have been im

planted in the hearts of “Chinese men and women,have found a soil in which the fin est qualitiesof Ch ristian character can be produced . Therapid increase of the Christian Church in Chinais mainly du e

,as all the foreigners engaged

in missionary work are the first to acknowledge,to the evangelistic fervour and - consistentcharacter of Chinese converts . They have inthem the making of good missionaries, and ofrecent years nothing has so heartened th e mostexperienced foreign workers in China as theemergence here and there of native Christianpastors and teachers who have shown evidenceof unusual spiritual powers .

Instances throng upon us . In Ch ’ ing -chu -fuone of our earliest workers was Pastor Ching,a man who developed such a mature and intel

l igent Christian character that he ranked in

250 Th e Ca l l to th e Chu rch

infl u en ce with the foreign missionaries, and tookhis full share with them in guiding the Churchof h is province . The late Dr . Li, of Shanghai,might be instanced as an example of a hightype of saintship and rare devotion to the causeof Christ to our short sight it seems that alltoo‘ soon for China his life was ended . Of

evangelist Chao, of Hsin Chou, we have spokenin a previous chapter . Another native workeris rising, has indeed risen

‘

,into prominence in

Shantung . When the Churches of the provincejoined in a Christian Federation

,Ting li Mei

approved himself unanimously as the first President, and since that time he has been muchused of God

,as indeed he was before, in winning

his people for Christ . ! uite recently, as a resultof a visit which he paid to the College at Weihsien, over on e hundred of the Art Students havevolunteered for missionary service . Only thosewho know the sacrifice at which these studentswere able to secure their education — sacrifice ofparents and relations as Well as their o’w‘n— and

the blighting of the hopes their friends haveentertained for them, can understand the furthersacrifice involved or appreciate the heroism manif ested in the choice of a career of poverty whenby their attainments they had every prospect ofriches and honour ih ” l iterary or oflicial circles .

Yet ' there they stand, 1 18of them, ready, after

He roic Sacrifice 2 5 I

their Arts course, to” undertake a severe theolo

gical training, and afterwards to devote themselvesas pastors or evangelists to the work of the Lord

,

and it was one of their own people who was.the means of lead ing them to the great decision .

Other influ en ce s that prepared the way are not,of course, to be undervalued but the missionariesthemselves, who have

'

done so much,recognise

with gratitude to God the spiritual g ifts of Ting,and would rejoice with unalloyed joy if others likehim rose from this noble band of recruits .

In'

Tientsin we met still another nati ve pastor,one of the most acceptable preachers of theMethod ist Episcopal Church . He was in “ chargeof the largest church of the mission at Peking,when‘ he asked his bishop to’ transfer him‘ toManchuria . The bishop was astonished becausethe church there was sma ll and the stipend poor,while Chen

,owing’ to his preaching power,

might have claimed almost any place . Thesethings lwe re hinted to him,

but his heart wassteadfastly set to go to

‘ Manchuria in order that

he might preach to his father’s murderers . In

the massacres all his family had fallen"

victimsto the Boxers . He was appointed to Manchuria

,and when we saw him he had returned .

We asked him what he thought of it now, and

he frankly confessed that.

he was disappointed .

He had thought that if he went in the spirit

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Th e Pre sent Du ty 253

fearful, too jealous or worldly to make full andright use of the opening up of China to ‘Westerninflu ence

, and if the new China comes out ofits transition a non -Christian nation

,it will be

a calamity the extent of which staggers theimagination . But if the Gospel is faithfully and

effectively presented to the Chinese nation fromtop to bottom

,North

,South

,East

,and West, there

is no limit to the possibility of be nefit to the'

whole earth . The thought of a Christian China,with its d isposition for peace

,its unmeasured

resources in natural wealth, its overwhelmingpopulation of workers

,and its capacity for

heroism,raises strong hopes for the e vange lisa

t ion of the world in a generation .

What should the Church do ? To begin with,it i s of great importance that every post opento foreign experts in China, in the public service,as educators, or as men of commerce, shouldbe occupied by Christian men of integrity and

clean life . Let not any Christian man capable

of taking a place in the front rank of his pro

f ession think he will be throwing away his giftsor using his days to less than the highest purpose

if he seek to e xercise that profession in theservice of China . How much the cause of Christ

has been promoted in the East by the Christianmen in official life, in diplomatic circles, and

in commerce,only heaven will reveal .

254 Th e Ca l l to th e Chu rch

We met men in China holding appointmentsas professors in Government Colleges, and inother callings

,serving China faithfully

,but find

ing their inspiration for life in that d istant landin their Christian profession

,and their desire

to commend the teaching of their Saviour bytheir own conversation“

. Let no one despise suchmissionary service as that .But, on the other hand, let no one over -estimate

it. We must do vastly more for China than!try to leaven its national life by “

introducingforeign Christian elements into‘

it.

Direct, positive,“aggressive, and Wisely -directed

evangelism is what China needs . That evan

ge lism has, of course, many methods . Th e day

of preaching i s not done yet, and great triumphsawait the men and the women who with tonguesof fire and hearts of compas sion will proclaimthe whole saving Message to, the, pe ople of Chin a .

Audiences will not be wanting, in town“ or village,

to the preachers who, having Ieamt to speakto the understanding of the people

,will, by the

power of the Spirit, speak to their consciencesalso .

Even street-chapel preaching, which seems in‘

some quarters to have fallen‘ on evil days,is

not to be despised . Mr . Madeley,in the most

recent intellige nce from Si -an -fu , tells u s thatsince the Revival in the Church there, no less

NO Compromise 25 5

than‘ seven’ men have been baptized as the directresult of the open -air ministry from the streetstation, and seven others, won by the same means,are waiting to follow their example .But wider proclamation of the Evangel is

necessary . The example of Mr . Goforth, Mr .

Lutley, and others may well stimulate.the mis

sionarie s and native workers of China to carrythe Gospel far and wide throughout the Empire .

Over a thousand'

walled cities in Ch ina have neveryet been entered

,while multitudinous villages wait

to hear the joyful sound . The fie lds everywhereare white unto harvest

,sometimes so ripe that

they are black unto harvest . They but wait thesickle of the reaper .

Let there be no compromise in the Messagein

“ order to gain adherents . The Chinese outof pure courtesy will sometimes mislead u s . Ifthe tired travelle r asks the distance to his haltingplace

,he will be told much less than the actual

fact because h e is tired, but while that ,may

encourage him at the moment it does not reducehis march .

Once oh‘ a road journey we were in some

doubt about our way . Behind u s there camea Ch inese gentleman in his cart, and we werebold to ask our honourable brother whether thepath we had chosen" would lead u s to such apla ce . He desce nded from the cart, and with

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Th e M en W h o are Wante d 257

blessed Evangel . But to do this wants men and

money .

There is no exclusive claim to completeness that can be ma intained on behalf of anymissionary method . The Medical Mission has itsown touching appeal of mercy -the school

,col

lege, institute, museum— each has its charm, and

all are excellent . But in every method it is theman that counts most . And China must havethose of the best sort . It is strange that ithas not by this time become the chief ambitionof every Christian youth with brains and trainedfaculties to be a China missionary . There isno greater chance of fruitful life anywhere .

There is,of course, a hard language to learn ;

there are many inconve niences there is not muchapplause to be heard by the performer but thereward is great .

Impotent and fearful men are not wanted .

Narrow,querulous

,or infl ated persons will be st

serve the mission ne ld by keeping out of it. Butthere must go to China from the heart of theChurch an army of those who will bear Christ ’simage

,and Work under the inspiration of His

personal commission and in the power of the

Holy Ghost . Numbers are not everything .

Campaigns are not won by crowds, but by armies,and by armies fighting on a plan .

Foreign mission s have brought salvation to

2 58 Th e Ca l l to th e Chu rch

th e Church . But for them faith and hope wouldhave dwindled . And not the least of the blessings that is coming to the home Churches fromthe For-e ign Mission enterprise is a closer fellowship of the sects and the actual combination ofeffort for the extension of the kingdom of Christ .It may well be . our prayer that the nativechurches born“ out of heathenism in this centurymay be saved from some of our ecclesiasticalblunders . May it not be too great a shock tothe nerves of respectable sectarians in the Westto find the Christians of China and other landsnow heathen setting very small store by someof our cherished distinctions .

China is perhaps ahead of other mission fie ldsin scheme s of

' missionary union and churchunion . And the best and most intellige nt ChineseChristians are ahead of the missionaries in theirenthusiasm for one church for the whole of China .

If missionaries a re not to lose their leadershipthey must speedily agree on the ir plan of actionan d provide channels for the expression of thenational sentimen t . Two method s are being at

tempted at prese nt, and it is quite possible thatthe one may eventually clash with the other .

Ou the one hand there is a federation of theChristian forces province by province, and onthe other a drawing togethe r of the members ofthe various denominations all over China .

Methods of Un ion

Already all the Presbyterians of the Empire havebeen organ ised into one body . The danger inth is movement, otherwise admirable , i s that itmay evoke the sectarian spirit it seeks to avoid .

The federation of all the Christians in a province would seem to be the more hopeful wayof reaching the ultimate goal

,for the members

of Churches near together are surely more.to

each other than others who happen to bear thesame denominationa l name hundreds of milesaway . This is a question which should engagethe serious attention of missionary statesmen athome and abroad .

Another danger threatens Christian union inChina . Even if the missionaries fall into linetheir act ion may possibly be thwarted by theMissionary Committees and Directors at home .

Knowing something both of the difli cu lties athome and the opportunities on the ne ld, we wouldappeal to all Societies, as far as our words mayreach

,to grant the men on the fie ld large liberty

in this question . It is a matter which, afterall

,aff ects the Chinese Christian s more than the

missionary bod ies, and those on the spot arelikely to feel the pulse of the Church even moreaccurately than they can describe it. Let themissionaries in China inspire the counsel of theSocieties at home , and let every rule made athome for their guidance have great elasticity .

18

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China for Christ 261

of counsels, such a union‘ of prayer

, and sucha oneness of heart as shall make the conversionof China a speedy event .We reiterate our solemn conviction that China

is just as likely as not to move in a mass . Th e

Tai -ping rising years ago almost proved anational conversion, and though its failure shouldwarn u s, its early record may perhaps prove tobe a prophetic page in China

’s history . But moveas it may, China must be won for Christ . Thebest bl ood and thought of the Church must begiven to this end , and it is certain that whenthe Gospel shall have passed through the alembicof the Chinese mind it will come back to us,

in these more prosaic Western lands, more magn ificen tly interpreted than any of u s can nowimagine .

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y-the

mistakes th are likely to make , the bright side of life andreminders t t Christian duties are also high privileges,the fact that the best of both worlds is to be found byfollowing the Lord Jesus Christ. Abundance of te ll

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anecdotes and e ff ective appeal s to personal experiencehelp to rivetattention on the spiritual lessons. The chapter:will revide excellent reading for quiet hours on successiveSun y afternoons or evenings, for the book wil l do morethan entertain— it will instruct and edify. Preachers andteachers will find the book full of “

paints” for addresses

for young people.

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ESTABLISHED 1859.

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Evangelical believers, regardless of denominational distinctions.

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Among the regu lar f ea tures are the f ol lowing

Notes and Comments The DailyWatchword," For Teachers— an

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d Others "

(Notes on the International Lesson )— ChristianEndeavour Topic— Young People

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s Page , with Bible-Searcher— Portraits and Biographical Sketches of promin ent Christian

Workers.

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