ASIA 'of the ji BUI. t ^n ^■M ^K ~'~~'1H ■if m' _ ,1 T^^ ' ' . a 'wi-^ 1 ' - f M ■ 'l w fftlWf.l 7-—* ^^^M^ »r^^» miS^M^^ "" •' • ^ Dttiara, SJem ^axk CHARLES WILLIAM WA^ON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF CHARLES WILLIAM WASON CLASS OF 1B76 1918 Cornell University Library BV 3420.F8S86 The story of the Fuh-kien mission of the 3 1924 023 068 582 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023068582 F U H - K I E ]Sr 119" ® Stations of the (Jmr^HJssionarv Society. © Out StatioTtJt Scale of Fu^hsh Miles 10~"5 ~ io^ 20 30 FUH-CHAU Miles 118" Longitude East of Greenwich US" StiiT'/orJ > '">"'y. Estt-J-. S~' Ch:inng Crojs- THE STORY THE FUH-KIEN MISSION l|«i|t| 8b^titmri| ^]J9$ii|* By EUGENE STOCK. WITH A MAP AND THIRTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS. Lands of the East, awake, Soon shall your sons be free; The sleep of ages break, And rise to liberty. On your far hills, long cold and gray. Has dawned the everlasting day. "This is the Lord's doing, and it is maxvellous in our eyes." f Bubtt : SEELEY. JACKSON, & HALLIDAY, 54, Fleet Street. CHURCH MISSIONARY HOUSE, Salisbury Square. 1877. \a/44-7^ LONDON: Printed by Jas. Truscott & Son, SufFolk Lane, City. Tilia book is a compilation from the journals and letters of the Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society. Many of the extracts have already been printed in the Society's periodicals, but some now appear for the first time, among which may be particularly mentioned those from Bishop Alford's narrative of his second visitation tour in 1871, and the Rev. J. E. Mahood's account of his perilous journey to Ku-Cheng in the same year. I am indebted to the Bishop, and to the Rev. A. W. Cribb, for important information. Most of the wood-cuts have appeared in the C.M.S. periodicals, but some are new. The smaller ones are from very rough pen-and-ink sketches taken on the spot by the Rev. A. B. Hutchinson, of Hong-Kong, during his tour through the district in 1874. May God add His blessing ! E. S. January \st, 1877. CONTENTS. I. The City of Fuh-Chow 3 II. Fuh-Chow. — Sowing the Seed 15 III. Fuh-Chow. — The First-Fruits of the Harvest ... 30 IV. Fuh-Chow. — -Building up the Church .... 43 V. Fuh-Chow.— The Last Four Years . . . ^ . 58 VI. The Province of Fuh-Kien 70 VII. Lieng-Kong and Tang-long 89 VIII. Lo-Nguong. — I. The Church Founded .... 105 IX. Lo-Nguong. — II. The Church Tested . . . .117 X. Lo-Nguong. — III. The Church Growing . . . 128 XI. Villages in the Lo-Nguong District 140 XII. A-chia .157 XIII. Ning-Taik 172 XIV. Sioh-Chuo and the Western Villages .... 182 XV. Ku-Cheng i94 XVI. Ang-Iong and other Villages round Ku-Cheng . . 213 XVII. Sang-Iong— Sek-Paik-Tu— Ping-Nang— Chui-Kau . . 226 XVIII. The. Remoter Great Cities: long-Ping-Fu— Kiong-Ning- Fu— Hok-Ning-Fu 243 XIX. The River Stations : Ming-Ang-Teng, &c. ... 254 XX. Conclusion 263 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE The City of Fuh-Chow 2 Fuh-Chow and the River Min 5 Street in a Chinese City 8 The City of Fuh-Chow from Black-Stone Hill .... 12 Chinese Children . 37 A Chinese Painter 50 The Rev. Wong Kiu-taik, and his Wife Lydia .... 52 Bohea Hills, Black Tea District, Fuh-Kien 72 Scenery on the River Min, Fuh-Kien 76 Preaching to Chinese 79 Buddhist Temple 81 River Scene in China 9' Tea and Paddy Fields, Fuh-Kien 94 Rest House, between Lieng-Kong and Tang-long ... 98 Philosopher's Mountain, at the Head of the Lo-Nguong Valley . 106 On the Road from A-chia to Lo-Nguong 108 Lo-Nguong Church .124 Valley and City of Lo-Nguong 129 Catechist's House at Lo-Nguong 132 Sing, of Lo-Nguong, aged 77 i35 Missionary's Upper Room at Lo-Nguong I37 Siu-Hung Church I44 On the Road to A-chia 160 A-chia Church and Catechist's House 168 viii List of Illustrations. PAGZ Bridge near Ning-Taik 177 View of Sioh-Chuo . 186 View from a Window in Sioh-Chuo 187 Ku-Cheng ........... 196 Ku-Cheng Church 209 Chinese Catechist Showing Books 220 Chinese Sedan Chair 229 A Public Apology at Sang-Iong . . ... 234 Ming-ang-teng 256 Temple in the Min River .... ... 260 THE SrORT OF THE FUH-KIEN MISSION. CHAPTER I. THE CITY OF FUH-CHOW. Say unto Tyrus, O thou that art situate at the entry of the sea, which art a mer- chant of the people for many isles, Thus saith the Lord God ; O Tyrus, thou hast said, I am of perfect beauty. . . . Behold, therefore, I will bring strangers upon thee, , . . and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom. — Ezek. xxvii. 3, xxviii. 7. The sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. — Efi. vi. 17. I cling to yon crowded city. Though I shrmk from its woe and sin. Bonar. I F we sail up the south-eastern coast of China, from Hong-Kong, we come about four hun- dred miles further to the mouth of a large river called the Min, which, with its tributaries, waters nearly the whole of the great province of Fuh-Kien, comprising a territory as large as Ireland, and three times as populous. Let us in imagination ascend this noble stream. As we approach the mouth, steering cautiously through a B 2 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. somewhat intricate channel between picturesque little islands, lofty granitic mountains rise before us, and between their almost perpendicular precipices we enter the narrow channel of the Min. Further on, where the gorge widens a little, Chinese villages nestle at the foot of the cliffs, or crown the lower spurs of the mountains, each with its watch-tower rising conspicuous above the low houses ; and here and there a hill- torrent leaps from the precipice into the valley below. Signs of Chinese industry meet the eye on all sides, every terrace or ledge of rock being assiduously cultivated. After threading another narrow passage, with columns of rocks on either side piled up to a height of a thousand feet, we emerge into a fertile valley eight or ten miles broad, in the midst of which, ten miles further up the river, stands Fuh-Chow, the capital of the province. As we approach the city, the loftiest peak in the surrounding mountain chains rises on our right. It is called Kushan, or the Drum mountain, and its summit, which is 3,900 feet high, is occasionally, in the depth of winter, white with snow for a few hours. In a hollow at the foot of the peak, and about 2,000 feet above the plain, is a famous Buddhist monastery, a favourite retreat for the foreign resi- dents in Fuh-Chow in the hot season ; and within its hospitable walls our missionaries have frequently been thankful to take refuge from the almost intolerable atmosphere of the city. The thickening forest of masts, both of Chinese and of smaller foreign vessels, and the numerous boat-building yards lining the river bank, warn us that we are nearing the capital ; and presently a rough but massive bridge, built of enormous blocks of granite, and no less than a third of a mile in length, stretches across the stream. This is the Wan-show-Keaou, or bridge of ten thousand ages. On our left, as we approach it, is the populous suburb of Nantai, where, on a rising ground, stand the houses of the European merchants. The city lies "The City of Fuh-Chow. rUH-CHOW AND THE'KIVER MIN. away to the right, approached from the bridge by a narrow winding street nearly three miles long. Let us land at the bridge and traverse this pattern of a Chinese street, with our eyes Avide open while our guide explains to us the many curious sights that are to be seen. What a busy and confused scene ! How quickly the thronging crowds move to and fro ! Yet there are few acci- dents, and little or no wrangling. We have been told that the people of Fuh-Kien are more turbulent and independent than most Chinamen ; and we were prepared, on the other hand, for a certain amount of order from a people so tenacious of forms and ceremonies ; but here we find apparent disorder and yet no disturbance — a crowd of avaricious tradesmen pushing their business with the utmost consideration for those around them. The road is very badly paved, and we are thankful that we have to step into the deep holes and over the dirty heaps in The Story of ike Fuh-Kien Mission. the dry season. In wet weather we should prefer to occupy the sedan chairs in which wealthy citizens are borne on the shoulders of their servants. Let us enter one of the houses. At first sight they seem to be built with their backs to the front, but we find that we are really looking at the front, and that the door is the only opening to the low one-story shed in which these wonderful people crowd, more like hens in a fowl-house than like human beings. The doors, which are sometimes oval or leaf-shaped, are placed so as not to be opposite to each other, in order to inconvenience the evil spirits which this clever people dread so much. The shop front is open, with a double counter, so that the proprietor may serve in the street as well as in his shop. The foundations are of stone, the framework of wood, and the walls of matting and thatch ; the roof alone shows by its shape the tented origin of the building. Each tradesman erects a tablet to one of the gods that preside over mercantile transactions, before which he burns incense sticks twice a day. As we return to the street we inquire the name of the trades- man who has so politely shown us his premises, and our guide explains that although he has a sign of some seven feet in height, yet it does not contain his name, but a motto, " Mutual Advantage." Next door we see an enterprising firm trading under the title, " Rising Goodness," and so on all up the street. As we approach the city gates the street becomes more and more thronged, until it seems as if some calamity within the walls had compelled the whole population to migrate into the suburbs, and to do their business in the open air, for here we see not only travelling fruiterers, pastrymen, cooks, and vendors of gimcracks, but blacksmiths, tinkers, and shoe- makers too. We are not surprised to see a bookseller's stall, but we are not prepared for a migratory banker or a chemist The City of Fuh-Chow. and druggist, who, one would suppose, must necessarily settle in a fixed place, that we may know where to find them. We are considerably amused by the sight of a placid Chinaman having his head shaved (or rather scraped) in a quiet nook of this fancy fair. We are not surprised to learn that a wise and paternal government compels them to submit to this trying operation, and that those who rebel against the Tartars, who have ruled for more than two centuries, let their hair grow. It is very easily seen that nothing but duty would cause them to put up with such a continual affliction. As the victim is released we see him resume his work at the forge clqse by, and we learn that the operator has performed gratis in return for the use of the blacksmith's charcoal fire to warm his water. We miss the rows of gas lamps to which we have been accustomed, but if only we could be here at the time of the " Feast of Lanterns," we should find much more to admire in the effect produced by the lighting up of a vast number of paper lanterns, of all sizes and shapes and covered with all sorts of devices. And now we meet with several tradesmen whose business we cannot comprehend — chiromancers, fortune-tellers, and choosers of lucky days. The dentist hangs round his neck a ghastly string of grinders and fangs as evidences of his skill; but what testimonials shall we require before we do business with the gentleman " who chooses lucky days " ? And yet he does a good business, for no Chinaman can be married, or buried, or take any important step, except on a lucky day. The Chinaman, with all his shrewdness and ability, is as much a slave to his superstitions as the most degraded negro. But what is this procession of gaily dressed folk coming down the street with gongs beating and fireworks cracking .? The white dresses notwithstanding, there is a sad look about ^rm W 1 r/- The City of Fuh-Chow. ' 9 the people forming the procession. It is a funeral party. This is their lucky day for carrying the dead parent to his last home. All the rites have been performed, and the widow and children are sadly wending their way to a small knoll in the country, there to lay' their loved one down in the hope that if they continue to pay the required subscription, the departed one will wander about in the world of spirits, clothed and fed and supplied with ready money. That is all. The Buddhist priest tells them nothing of a Day of Judg- ment, nothing of a Heaven; without hope himself, he gives them none. These busy thronging multitudes literally have no religion that will influence their lives in the present, or give them hope for the future. They have no God ; they are given up to selfishness ; they carry on their trade with- out any day of rest ; they are told that their profits will be larger if they burn incense before certain idols, and that their luck will be better if once a year they observe certain ceremonies which bear a semblance to idolatrous worship, and so they do as they are advised. Their God is Self, and the only objects of worship they at all care about are their an- cestors. ' They may call themselves Buddhists, and have a vague conception of attaining that mysterious state called Nirvana, which is practically annihilation ; or they may profess Taou- ism, and pay some homage to its multitude of divinities ; or, if they belong to the literary classes, they will hold both Budd- hists and Taouists in contempt, and hold proudly to the moral maxims of Confucius; but whichever of the tjiree national religions may claim them as adherents, their real faith, such as it is, is in the ancestral worship which prevailed in China long before Confucius taught the five cardinal virtues, or Taouist austerities and magical ceremonies were thought of, or Budd- hism covered the land with temples and pagodas, convents 10 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. and monasteries, priests and nuns. Go into any house we may choose, everywhere we shall find the ancestral tablets^ pieces of board twelve inches long and three broad, each with the name, rank, and date of birth and death of the person it commemorates. Is it a rich man's house ? There is a hall set apart for the tablets. Is it the hovel of the poor .'' They adorn a special shelf in the single room. Daily, before these ancestral tablets, are prayers and incense offered. It is the worship of the dead. Before we reach the gate of the city we are to witness another procession peculiar to China. A number of porters carrying various articles of dress and household furniture are parading the street, ostentatiously displaying a bride's contri- bution to the ftarniture of her future home. We do not see the bride herself in her gay marriage chair on her way from her old home to her new one, but we know that she is entirely giving up her own family and joining that of her husband. She will live with the parents of the bridegroom, who again may be living with their parents, for it is a common thing to find three generations living together in tolerable peace and harmony. As we enter the southern gate we notice a curious sight — a basket carrier collecting something which he evidently values very highly, and which we are surprised to learn is only scraps of waste paper with the Chinese character written on them. They have been taught by Confucius to venerate the written character, and therefore they collect the paper in this way to be afterwards carefully burned. We partake of a slight refreshment at one of the curious bam^ boo stalls, which does duty as a cookshop, and provides warm and tasty rice puddings and hot tea at all hours of the day, and then, passing on through the city, we catch sight of a European face in a room used as a temporary chapel by the side of this • The City of Fuh-Chow. 1 1 teeming highway. And now for the first time do we thoroughly appreciate the difficulties of a missionary to the Chinese. There stands the missionary, in a conspicuous garb, speaking with difficulty, in a language he has been learning for several years, to a people who are worldly above all others, thoroughly conceited, believing in their own wisdom and filled with con- tempt for the poor " foreign devil," as he is frequently called ; taught from their earliest childhood to venerate all that he condemns, and to despise all that he teaches to be good and right, while the slightest disposition to heed the things that be of God is the signal for persecution from every relative and friend he has. How can we expect him to hear and embrace the saving truths of the Gospel .' Yet in spite of all this, we see here, supporting the words of the foreigner, a Native catechist and a Native pastor, whose sincerity none can doubt, to whose honesty the suspicious and distrustful Chinese are themselves ready to bear witness. The sight lends vigour to our steps, and we continue our journey to the Mission premises with a lighter heart and with renewed hope. Presently we arrive at the highest bit of ground in the city, called the Wu-shih-shan, or Black-Stone Hill, and on this, amid pleasure-grounds and temples, we observe the British Consulate. On the same hill, but some ten minutes' walk further, we find the Church Mission-house. ,From the summit we survey the whole town ; and the surrounding plain, to the foot of the mountains, and extending north and south twenty miles, is spread before us like a map. It is a fine sight. The city indeed is not very picturesque. It appears "like a soHd mass of murky roofs," the streets being too narrow for us to distinguish them from the elevation on which we stand. Trees, however, here and there rise above the houses, and lofty ornamented poles or walls of a bright red colour mark the temples and the Mandarin dwellings. .4 '■ i^^^m tm^ 'Jl 4 f *- II ¥' '1, *\ ^ The City of Fuh-Chow. 13 But beyond the walls, which are seven miles in circumference, the broad plain, encircled by the mountains, intersected by canals, studded with rural villages, temples, and fish-ponds, and richly cultivated, affords a beautiful prospect. Facing the north-west, where the Min emerges from the mountain range, we are looking in the direction whence come the two great staples of Fuh-Chow commerce, timber and tea. The famous black tea district of Bohea (so called from a moun- tainous chain of that name) lies beyond those hjlls ; and wood of many and varied kinds — camphor-wood especially — abounds up the course of the river. Mr. Wolfe thus refers to this view, and the thoughts suggested, by it, in a letter written in 1863, soon after his arrival at Fuh-Chow : — HiU rising behind hill, in beautiful order, form the extensive plain into a natural and most magnificent amphitheatre. Looking down upon the city, with its 600,000 inhabitants inside the walls, fills the mind of the spectator with thoughts and feelings which can be realised only by him- self. The whole city is seen from our door,* so that we can never go out or come in without being reminded of the vastness of our work, and our own want of strength to accomplish it. The entire beautiful valley of the Min lies spread before our eyes ; the river itself, flowing noiselessly along, * In the engpraving, the hill in the left foreground is Black-Stone Hill. About the left centre of the picture, on this hill, will be observed a white wall ; behind it a house with a slightly gabled roof looking as if it were on the highest point of the hill ; and behind that, the top of a small pagoda. This wall surrounds the C.M.S. Mission compound ; and the house is the old mission-house, now burnt down, but replaced by a new one built by the late Rev. J. E. Mahood. To the right, but lower down, and almost exactly in the centre of the picture, is another English-looking house, which is now used as a girls' school, and as the residence of the Native Pastor, the Rev., Wong Kiu-taik. Between the two houses, and a little behind, is the temple of the " Pearly Emperor Supreme Ruler," the great idol whose title (Shangti) is the term used by most of our missionaries to express " God." Another hill, crowded with buildings, will be seen in the background, with a famous pagoda half-way up it. Just beneath this pagoda, between the two hills, a building stands up from the mass of houses : this is the city gate, the lower ground to the right being the suburbs. 14 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. having its surface enlivened with crowds of boats — the various plots of ground formed by canals which pass through the vale— the crops of rice and wheat waving in the sun — the clumps of trees and hamlets scattered irregularly over the plain, with a grave or a mausoleum occasionally attracting the attention, and reminding one that death is the same every- where. If the sight of a single city overwhelms the missionary with the vastness of his work, as well it may, what must be his feelings as he thinks of the great province of which it is the capital, .with its fifteen millions of souls — not to speak of all China, with its four hundred millions — spread out beyond ! Fuh-Chow means " the happy city," and Fuh-Kien " happily established " ; and certainly, with their diversified Scenery, their rich produce, and their industrious people, the city and the province only need the Gospel — the Fuh-yin or " happy mes- sage" — with its blessed provision of grace and pardon, life and peace, to make them indeed abodes of true happiness. How the Fuh-yin was carried to Fuh-Chow, and from city to city over the mountains and valleys of Fuh-Kien, we shall tell in subsequent chapters. Were ye not fain to doubt how Faith could dwell Amid that dreary glare, in this world's citadel ? But . . . . . . Be ye sure that Love can bless E'en in this crowded loneliness. Where ever-moving myriads seem to say, Go — thou art nought to us, nor we to thee — away ! Kebk. Come, O Thou all-victorious Lord, Thy power to us make known ; Strike with the hammer of Thy word, And break these hearts of stone ! C. Wesley. ^s ^^P ^B ^^ ^P P 'm^sg m s ^8^ 'i s i - R* m CHAPTER II. FUH-CHOW — SOWING THE SEED. His spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue . . . and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers . . . encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say ? other some. He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods : because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. — ^cts xvii. 16 — 18. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand : for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either t^is or that, or whether they both shall be alike good. — Ecc/, xi. 6. Sowing the seed by the daylight fair, Sowing the seed by the noon-tide glare ; Sowing the seed by the fading light. Sowing the seed in the solemn night : O what shall the harvest be ? What shall the harvest be ? N May, 1850, the Revs. W. Welton and R. D. Jack- son arrived at Fuh-Chow as missionaries of the Church Missionary Society. The American mis- sionaries, who had preceded them by four years, were not allowed to live inside the walls, but only at the suburb of Nantai. Through the intervention of the British Consul, however, part of a temple, on the Black-Stone Hill within the city walls, was assigned to the new-comers as a residence. This concession, which was obtained with difficulty, would probably have been soon lost, but for the personal popularity 1 6 Tlie Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. quickly acquired by Mr. Welton, who having been a medical man of some experience, opened a dispensary, to which Chinese of all classes thronged. The literati, who had several colleges and schools on the hill, took umbrage at the proximity of the missionaries, and having failed to prevent their occupa- tion of the temple, resolved to turn them out. A series of petty annoyances began : the tiles of the roof were forcibly removed one night, and the garden door carried away ; efforts were made to rouse the passions of the populace ; and at last the priest of the temple, who was the lessee, brought to the Consul the quarter's rent which had been paid in advance, and begged him to get rid of the obnoxious tenants. Nothing came of this, and though the excitement continued, some successful cures, performed by Mr. Welton won the hearts of the people. But ultimately, to save the local officials who had ratified the agreement from the^ displeasure of the supreme authorities at Peking, to whom the literati appealed, the mis- sionaries consented to remove to another temple, equally well situated, but not objected to by the literary class. This difficulty, however, was but the first of many similar ones in the history of the Fuh-Kien Mission. The ninth day of the ninth moon is a great festival, the prin- cipal amusement of which is the flying of kites, made in the shape of birds and insects, on that very Black-Stone Hill on which the temple was situated. During this festival, in the following year, 1851 (when it fell on November ist), the crowd of holiday-makers attacked the premises, destroyed the furni- ture, and carried off all they could lay hands upon. Mr. Welton took refuge in the interior of the temple, and was kindly protected by the priest. A few months later, when he hired a Chinese house with a view of fitting it up as a school, the workmen employed in repairing and adapting it were so violently threatened by the literati that they had to desist ; Fuh-Chow. — Sowing the Seed. 17 two literary men engaged to organise the school were seized by the authorities (acting, it was believed, under instructions from Peking, where reactionary counsels then prevailed), flogged, and cast into prison ; and Mr. Welton was obliged to abandon his plan. The spirit of the missionaries, like that of St. Paul at Athens, was from the first deeply stirred by the sight of a whole city "given to idolatry," " full of idols." Heathen processions and superstitious observances met their eyes on every side as they walked the streets. Here was " a devotee beating his head with fearful violence upon a doorstep " ; there " a Buddhist priest walking on his knees'' ; and Mr. Jackson wrote (July, 1850):- At this particular time of the year we can hardly stir out but we meet idolatrous processions. The gods are represented by immense paste- board heads and bodies, with wooden arms, which are moved by strings. They are supported by men, who are covered with the long drapery •lowing from the idols' necks; opposite to the man's face a hole is cut for the purpose of enabling him to see and breathe. It is enough to excite the smile of ridicule to notice the swaggering gait some of the men assume when they see the foreigner coming. Sometimes, as they can only see straight before them, in moving to one side of the way the idol's head gets a blow, and on one occasion his crown got knocked off. The people are "mad upon their idols." Little missionary work could be done by men who as yet knew not the language ; but Mr. Welton's dispensary, besides exerting a powerful influence in giving them favour in the sight of the people, was made a means of disseminating Gospel truth, a Chinese tract, directing the reader to the " True Physician," being given to every patient ; and as for three or four years from 2,000 to 3,000 cases were treated annually, the way of life must have been made known very widely by this instru- mentality. From 1852 to 1855 Mr. Welton laboured alone, Mr. Jackson having been removed elsewhere ; and his perse- c 1 8 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. verance soon enabled him to converse with the people. Among the villagers of the surrounding country, the frequenters of the plays performed in the temples by strolling actors, the students who flocked to Fuh-Chow for the literary examinations, the sick for whom his visits as a doctor were requested, the lepers in the village allotted for their separate residence, the Tartar soldiers in their distinct quarter of the city, and many other classes, we find him mingling freely, with the message of sal- vation ever on his lips. Everywhere "the common people heard him gladly " ; he travelled from place to place without molestation ; and even the extreme shyness at first manifested by the women gradually wore off. Colporteurs were also employed to sell or distribute Chinese Testaments ; and in ' 1854 he succeeded in starting a school, which was soon well attended. Among those who sought his medical aid were the victims of opium, both the smokers and the friends of those who took it to destroy themselves : — Aug. 7, 1850. — I have had applications from- all classes of Chinese to cure them of opium smoking. They have generally, the better class especially, a great abhorrence of it, and pray for medicine to cure them of the habit. Their abhorrence extends to opium dealers ; and the mis- sionary who boldly opposes and decries the practice has a greater hold on the affections of the people. I always insist on the opium pipe being given up before I give medicine, as a test of sincerity. I have about fourteen pipes in my possession. Two persons earnestly besought me afterwards to restore them their pipes, which I resolutely refused. One man brought two persons with him, and tried to coerce me into it, but he did not succeed. I called to-day to see a married woman who had taken opium with a view to destroy herself. This is the common means of suicide among the Chinese. I am generally called to the opium suicides early in the morning, at daybreak, for the opium is taken at night, and the friends do not know it until the following morning, when some hours have elapsed, and all hope of recovery is past. In June, 1855, after three years of patient sowing of the good seed alone, Mr. Welton was cheered by the arrival of two Fuh-Chow. — Sowing the Seed. 19 fellow-labourers, the Revs. F. M'Caw and M. Fearnley ; but in the following year his own health broke down, and he returned home to die. He entered into rest March, 1857, leaving a touching testimony to his love for the great cause in the shape of a legacy to the Society of £1,100. Meanwhile the young missionaries were hard at work upon the language ; and one of Mr. Fearnley's letters vividly paints the difficulties of the task : — Learning the language with my teacher, word by word, and sound by sound, and bringing every word into immediate use, in communication with my servants on domestic matters, or with the workers in wood and stone outside. Sounds have been my principal attention hitherto, prac- tising incessantly the vowel sounds and tones, so utterly unlike anything the English ear and tongue have been accustomed to in their native land. The organs of speech have to be called off from many of their old actions, and forced violently into perpetually new motions and combinations. Latterly I have looked a little to the character, and I have felt quite refreshed by this partial relief of my overtasked ears and tongue, and employment of my yet unlaboured eyes. In less than eighteen months after their arrival, however, they were able to begin preaching in public, and before this they were actively engaged in going from place to place conversing with the people. We append some extracts from their journals, as illustrations of the first attempts to set the message of salvation before the people of Fuh-Chow. Mr. Fearnley writes : — Dec. 16, 1856. — Returned down the South Street towards my residence. As I had come up it, I had thought, " Well, this is too noisy and too crowded ; one could not preach here ; it would be a very good place, an admirable place, for a chapel ; but one could not preach here in the open street ; the press is too great, and the cries and noises too many." These had been my thoughts on going up the street ; but, as I returned down it, a man, leaning over the counter of a wine-shop, seeing my blue bag, said, " Have you books ? " and, on my answering in the affirmative, re- joined, " Give me a volume." By this time I was advanced close to his counter, and said to him, " But why do you want a volume ? do you know C 2 ■ 20 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. what doctrine it teaches?" "Yes, the doctrines of Jesus," said he. " Well," I said, " I will enunciate to you some of the doctrines of Jesus if you are willing to hear." And, without giving him the book imme- diately, I began to tell him and his fellow-shopman and some bystanders outside, a few of the great and glorious truths, which, rightly received, are able to make men wise unto salvation. Soon I heard a feeble voice close at my left hand, inquiring, in apparently earnest tones, whether Jesus was still alive; and, turning, found they proceeded from a very old and emaciated-looking man, who, by his pitiably poor and age-weary look, might reasonably put himself forward as one interested in a doctrine which spoke of a place where are the riches of everlasting pleasures, and where age and decay are unknown. Of course this question gave me an admirable starting point; and I declared to them, in no diffident terms I imagine, the eternal majesty of Him "who liveth and was dead, and, behold. He is alive for evermore." After talking some time at this spot, and gradually turning away from the shop to address more audibly the now greatly-increased crowd, I acceded to the proposition of a barber, who was plying his trade at my left hand, and whose business was somewhat incommoded by the numbers of my auditory, and mounted a low stone breastwork which he pointed out to me on the opposite side of the road. Hither came all my previous audience, and more added themselves besides, for their standing-place was larger. And here, in the main street of Fuh-Chow, for as long a time as my voice would hold out in that open and noisy place, did I con- tinue to address them, stimulated every now and then by some question put to me by one among the listeners, and unfolding to them, as well as my yet narrow vocabulary would permit, the fearful truths of judgment and eternity; and inviting them, while yet it was to-day, while yet the grave had not shut its mouth upon them, to.seek the Saviour Christ Jesus. I gave only one book to a well-dressed literary-looking man at this place, besides the one, i.e., that I left in the shop where I began my discourse, for the crowd was so dense, and it was utterly beyond my power to put the books into the hands of those to whom I wished them to come, viz., the more educated-looking among them. It was very pleasing, however, to see how perfectly free they were from any inclination to violence. In the very midst of the uproar, when a hundred hands were uplifted, and a hundred voices were shouting for a volume, and man and boy were pressing forward, and almost tumbling one over the other, in their eagerness to get the first chance of the coveted treasure, immediately I said, quietly but firmly. Fuh-Chow. — Sowing the Seed. 21 that I would give no book more at that place, and proceeded to step down from my eminence among the people, they at once made way; not a hand was raised to take a volume from my bag. With the exception of a few who accompanied me along the street, talking quietly and courteously to me, they dispersed, and the stream of noise and talk and trafKc resumed its usual current through the ever-busy South Street. ' The man to whom I had given the volume, which was the New Testa- ment, was one of those who accompanied me, and I employed the oppor- tunity that his prolonged presence gave to enforce upon him the propriety of taking the book home, and quietly and carefully perusing it, assuring him that thus he could acquaint himself more fully with the doctrines of Jesus. Turning out of the South Street, when a little beyond the Confucian temple, I walked leisurely on homeward, somewhat wearied and lowered in voice-power by my late exertion. But meeting several people with books in their hands, which. I conjectured to have been given to them by my colleague, Mr. M'Caw, and which, on examination, I found to be really so — meeting these, I could not forbear taking a volume from the hand of a young man who held it, and questioning him as to the doctrine it taught. This soon brought a crowd about me, and the conversation and address from me which ensued was to me the most pleasing I had been engaged in that day. The first person that markedly engaged my attention was a tall, handsome-looking, well-dressed young man, who undertook, it would appear, to roast me a little for the amusement of the bystanders. "And this Jesus," he began, "if a man believes in Him he '11 go to heaven, will he ? " " Yes, if he truly believes in Him, and so hates sin, which Jesus' soul hateth, trusting to His merits only, he will go to heaven." " Oh ! " and a scornful smile played over his features the while, and I could see his side-look of ridicule to those beside him — "Oh! and what must we do if we believe in Jesus ? what must we do ? What must our course of conduct be ? " There, I fancy, he considered that he had puzzled me, for his laugh was peculiarly joyous, and his side- wink to the bystanders exceedingly triumphant. But I told him that I would answer him very quickly if he would listen. " First," I said, " let the heart within think good thoughts. Jesus knows the thoughts, and all those who profess faith in Him must purify their thoughts. Secondly, let the mouth speak good and holy words — no falsehood, no wicked, no reviling words. (Here the Chinese offend grievously.) Thirdly, let the hand occupy itself in good deeds, not in stealing, not in fighting, not in 22 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. injuring- men." As I gave him these three divisions of the conduct to be observed by those who wished to believe in Jesus, his face became more serious. , My positions were founded on principles which he himself and his countrymen could not deny to be g-ood. He turned his head and looked behind him when I uttered the first as if he were looking for somebody coming up in that direction ; but really, if my thoughts misled me not, in a certain measure of disappointment that my answer gave him so little handle for ridicule. I called to him to listen to me again when he turned his head away, and gave him my second branch of Christian duty, and afterwards my third. Another man, apparently a tradesman, brought an argument ag^ainst both the power and benevolence of Jesus, and this scornfully and mock- ingly. Being of humble grade, his thoughts occupied with things material, he said, " I think that Jesus should make rice cheaper, that the people, now but scantily fed, might eat." " Why," I said, " if men were dealt with according to their deserts, it would be still dearer even than now." -Thus is it then, in the back-room away from the street, on the front shop threshold, in the open glare and toil and bustle of the main street, in the by-lane, in the little bay by the street side, where a wall perhaps recedes, and git'es standing room in each and every place, by God's mercy, we are permitted and privileged to preach the everlasting Gospel. Dec. 17. — It was curious to observe how much interest already had been excited in this' part of the city. " Books, books," was the cry everywhere; and I could hear one little boy repeating to a man with whom he was walking some of my remarks respecting the sin of using bad language in the streets. Many shouted, as I thought in ridicule, "Jesus," "Jesus," "Jesus is very high." And, in addition to our common name of "foreign child," I heard one person calling after me, "Jesus' foreign child." So that that wondrous name has already begun its progress here ; now in shame and contumely, but to end, we hope, in the mouths of many at least in glory and reverence. Dec. 20. — To-day again went down into the streets to repeat my small attempt at preaching. Once, during the morning, before I went down, the thought came before me so vividly of my exceeding inaptitude for such , a work, my yet lamentably scanty stock of words, my still scantier power of idiomatic construction of sentences, my far from perfect utterance of the tones — joined with all which, too, I reflected on the exceeding dissimi- larity of the modes of thought of the people of this land and of my pwn land— and the result of the whole on my mind was, " Oh, how can I go ? Fuh-Chow. — Sowing the Seed. 23 How can I possibly stand there by a wall-side with a hundred staring Chinamen about me, and exhibit to-them all my imperfections, and lay before them my uncouth modes of thought ? How can I do this ? " But yet, ''with all these thoughts, I did not for a moment say, " Shall I stay ? Shall I omit to go ? " And Mr, M'Caw writes :— ' . Oct. 6, 1856. — Not being allowed as yet the use of a preaching-house in the city, I preached my first sermon to-day in the open street, one year and nearly four months since my arrival at this city. I found the people unusually well-disposed towards me. I took my stand on the steps lead- ing into our carpenter's shop, and had a wide street in front, not without some misgivings as to the issue of the trial. On opening Genesis, and commencing to read aloud in the colloquial dialect, the people gathered around from the neighbouring shops, and all who passed along remained to hear. On the whole, I felt thankful and encouraged by the attention and behaviour of the crowd, meeting no annoyance from any one — unless from one silly creature, who, all the time I addressed them, never ceased inquiring why I shaved my lips but left my whiskers growing ; and from another, who unceasingly inquired of what material my clothes were made. Oct. 16. — Preached at the printer's door, corner of Great South Street. When I had spoken some time, a smart-looking man asked me if I had any opium. " No," I said, " I don't use it, nor do the true worshippers of Jesus use it either." " What countryman are you ? " was his next question. "Englishman," I answered. "And you do not smoke opium ? Do not your countrymen bring it here ? " He then turned to the crowd, with an air of triumph, raising his hand and shaking it aloft, soon enlisting all the audience on his side ; and to make the scene more ludicrous — to say nothing worse of it — in -the midst of all the confusion an old woman, apparently above sixty, came forward, and clenching her hand, shook it up at my face in desperate rage. I remained quiet for some time, until the noise abated ; then I addressed them on the subject, and told them that I came here to teach them a religion which condemned all such evil drugs and practices. No-v. 12. — Preached at the carpenter's door to a large assembly. Afterwards, in company of Mr. Fearnley, visited a great display of priests and idols up in the city. There was a row of tents erected over an old canal in the centre of the street, which were decorated with the 24 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. most gorgeous materials within, images being set up in various places, before which multitudes of priests made their lustrations, and chanted hymns. One of the figures represented an Englishman in full dress ; and on our appearance at the tent all commenced to laugh, in which we joined, as it was the only way we could meet the difficulty. I inquired the name of the god-man, and was told it was a "Quei," which means a devil. This grand exhibition, I was informed, takes place once only in twelve years, and is got up for the releasing of souls out of hell or purgatory. Dec. II. — Two of our mandarin friends paid me a visit when at break- fast, so I embraced the opportunity of having them at prayers. Each took in his hand a New Testament, and read in turn with ourselves, our usual way of conducting daily prayer. Then they kneeled down while I prayed. They inquired whether I prayed thus daily. Dec. 22. — Took the colporteur in company, and went to the part of the city where the governor and officials chiefly reside. I selected a large square, a general thoroughfare of the higher classes, and commenced to read. Soon a large company assembled and listened attentively. One fine old-looking gentleman asked me where the soul went after death. While I explained life and immortality brought to light by the Gospel, all listened attentively, until my strength was exhausted speaking so loud in the open square. When I ordered the books to be opened for distribu- tion, I began giving New Testaments to the more respectable present ; but the rush was so great that I was driven behind a pile of timber, which all fell down about ray legs, without, however, any injury to any one. The colporteur would have been almost devoured had I not got the bag of books into my own hands, from which I endeavoured to put books into the hands of the higher classes present. Dec. 29. — Preached near the white pagoda in the city. Never being in that part of the city, as a preacher, the interest was great, and the curiosity much greater. The ladies came out of their dark recesses to get a look and a laugh at the foreigner ; and the doors were nearly all full of these sunless, obscure, delicate-footed creatures, just like the story of the churchyard ghosts — all white, and not a trace of blood apparently in their veins. Dec. 30. — Addressed a small party at the printer's door, when one bold man soon came forward to question me concerning the strange doc- trine. He called upon me openly to show Jesus to them, and then teach them how to worship Him. "Jesus is now in heaven, so I cannot show Him to you; but He sees you and hfears your language." "Will He Fuh-Chow. — Sowing the Seed. 25 not come here at all ? " said he in reply. " He will at the last day," I answered. "You say that men in your side — western countries — savs^ Him; but how can I believe such talk?" This he said with great emphasis, appealing to the crowd. " Do you believe," I said, " that there is an emperor in China ? " " I do," he said. " Have you seen him, or any of these men present ? " "^No, we have not," was his reply. " And how, then, can you believe there is an emperor ? " I asked with some emphasis. Nearly all present, without waiting for more of the con- troversy, turned upon him with a shout of laughter, which so upset him that he ran off, considering himself defeated. I see they are open to logic and conviction like other people. Neither, it will be seen, found any lack of willing hearers ; but neither was spared to the Mission long enough to have the joy of seeing any of these hearers turning from idols to serve the living God. Mr. M'Caw's career in particular, though giving great promise of future usefulness, was a brief one indeed. His wife had been taken from him within a few months of her landing in China, and after two years' faithful labour he too died of fever in August, 1857. Another two years saw the Mission deprived also of Mr. Fearnley, who was obliged by his wife's illness to leave ; and though in the meanwhile the Rev. G. Smith had arrived at Fuh-Chow, this again left the work to a single labourer unfamiliar with the language. Long, however, before Mr. Smith could speak with any comfort or readiness, he was going in and out among the people, setting before them with a stammering tongue, but with the loving heart of a true missionary, the claims and the invita- tions of the Gospel. We have already seen the ordinary inci- dents of such work, and need not repeat them. But one passage in Mr. Smith's journal is worth noticing, as it introduces us to a department of evangelistic work in Fuh-Chow, which must have severely tried both his patience and his moral courage. •In China, the honour attached to the attainment of literary degrees is extraordinary, and success in the examinations is an 26 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. indispensable qualification, not only for official employment, but for social position. There are four of these degrees. The first, to attain which the candidate must pass three examina- tions, is called- Siu-Tsai, or " Budding Talent." It raises the possessor of it above the common people, and exempts him from corporal punishment, but it does not qualify him for Government employ. The second degree, called Ku-Jin, or " Promoted Man," qualifies for the lower offices. The exami- nation for it is held every three years, in all the eighteen pro- vincial capitals ; and there are generally from five to ten thousand candidates at each capital. The third, called Tsin- Sz, or " Advanced Scholar," is the entrance to higher official life, and the examination, also triennial, is held only at Peking. The fourth degree of Han-Lin, or, as it may be called, " Aca- demician," is only attained by the few who aspire to the highest posts, and is conferred with much ceremony at the imperial palace. The triennial examination for the second degree was held at Fuh-Chow in 1859, and the city was crowded with candidates from every part of the province of Fuh-Kien ; and Mr. Smith resolved, if he could not speak intelligibly to these students, that he would at least distribute copies of the Scriptures at the door of the examination hall : — Au^. 15. — This year the examinations for the Ku-Jin, or second lite- rary degree, take place in this city. Consequently the place is crowded with reading men from every part of this large province, and it forms an admirable opportunity for spreading far and wide a knowledge of the truth. To-day we went down with a large number of copies of the Scrip- tures, to take advantage of the opportunity thus presented. After waiting about two hours, during which we engaged in conversation with the people, standing about the place, the beating of a drum, a loud report produced by a kind of cracker, and the commencement of some very unharmonious music, announced the speedy exit of some of the anxious candidates, to each of whom we proffered a volume out of our treasures, and only in two instances were they declined. Some, getting one volume, came to us to Fuh-Chow. — Sowing the Seed. 27 complete the set. Besides ourselves, two American brethren were en- gaged in the same good work. Nor was Satan altogether idle ; he had a servant there distributing short tracts concerning Kwang-Ing, the goddess of mercy, according to the Chinese. Another was endeavouring to procure merit by distributing perfumes to the scholars, including ourselves in his favours. Others were equally busy, perhaps even more perseveringly so, in selling tea and refreshments to the weary candidates. Aug. 17. — Again distributing Scriptures to the literary men. It may be that many will not be read, many not even taken home ; but if only one or two should be instrumental in turning an idolater from the error of his way, all our expenditiye and fatigue will be more, far more, than repaid. 1 Aug. 19. — At the examination hall again with copies of the precious Word. Whilst waiting, we got into conversation with a literary man from long-Ping, a city about 1 10 miles further up the river. He had received books both from us and the American missionaries on a former day, and commenced his conversation by remarking on their contents. Thus one instance came to our knowledge in which our books had received some attention. Perhaps this man, on his return, may read the strange books to others, and thus the seed of life be introduced into his far distant city. Aug. 21. — Again at our post, though a wearisome work, and one from which no immediate result is to be anticipated. Yet we feel it our duty and our privilege to sow the seed, leaving it perchance to others to reap the harvest. On this occasion many of the candidates under examination belonged to the city. , This drew a large crowd of their friends to the place, which rendered our work much more difficult. This time, too, it was quite dark before the doors were opened, which added to our task, by making it more difficult for the candidates to see the offered books, and for us to distinguish them from the crowd ; and at last, fatigued and ex- hausted, we had to wend our way home without quite emptying our baskets. The following additional entry in his journal takes us behind the scenes with regard to these examinations : — Aug. 26. — At the beginning of this month my teacher complained of weakness from the excessive heat, and expressed his inability to come for the whole day, proposing to come but half the day and receive but half pay. Knowing the Chinese greediness for money, and feeling the effects of the heat myself, I supposed him to be sincere, and consented to his 28 The Story of the FuJi-Kien Mission. ■ — f proposal. After a few days his eyes became very bad, and he was unable to come at all. This, too, is a very common ailment among the Chinese, and did not excite my suspicion. But at the end of the month I was sur- prised by an unblushing confession, entirely unasked for, that he had got permission to stay away in order to write minute copies of the Chinese classics for the use of men going into the examinations, for them to secrete in their clothes, and this had made his eyes bad. This man has been with missionaries now about eight years, and is in the habit of explaining the Scriptures to our people. We have every reason to fear that his heart is thoroughly seared against the truth, yet are obliged to retain him in order to get a knowledge of the language. This is not the least of a mis- sionary's trials. Ten years had now elapsed. Diligently and prayerfully had the sowers scattered the good seed over the Happy City and the surrounding valley. But while year after year the fertile and well-watered plain yielded its earthly produce to the labours of the agriculturist — while the rice and the tobacco and the sugar-cane flourished, and crop after crop was gathered in— while the countless chests piled up on the wharves for export showed that the tea plantations, too, in the uplands failed not amply to reward the cultivators — the spiri- tual husbandman waited, and waited, and looked in vain for any sign that the seed of the kingdom had even taken root, much less was springing up. The people were hearers, indeed, and willing hearers, but they were wayside hearers. The Gospel grain fell upon hearts not only naturally hard, but trodden over by the petrifying tramp of superstition, and ignorance, and vice. But how was it that the earth yielded its increase in regular and unchanging order .' Was it not because He whose power alone gives " rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness," had given His Divine decree that " while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, Fuh-Chow. — Sowing the Seed. 29 shall not cease " ? And if the same God has also promised to the spiritual sower that " in due season he shall reap, if he faint not,'' would not the very fact that the one promise was fulfilled before the eyes of the missionaries ye^ by year be the assurance to them that, in the Lord's time, the other must needs be fulfilled also ? And so it was. Though sickness or death had removed Welton, and M'Caw, and Fearnley, and tha wives of the two latter, the new-comer, Mr. Smith, " fainted not," and " in due season," as we shall see, he did reap. 'Mid the tread of many feet, 'Mid the hurry and the throng, In the burden and the heat, Have the working hours seemed long ? Softly the shadow falls, And the pilgrim's race is run ; While through celestial halls Resounds the glad " Well done ! " Well worth the daily cross ; Well worth the earnest toil ; Well worth reproach and loss. The fight on stranger soil I Let us lift our hearts and pray, And take our journey on ; Work while 'tis called to-day With the thought of that " Well done ! " Authur of Copsley Annals. Fret not for sheaves ; a holy patience keep ; Look for the early and the latter rain, For all that faith hath scattered love shall reap. Gladness is sown : thy Lord may let thee weep, But not one prayer of thine shall be in vain. Anna Shiftm, CHAPTER III. FUH-CHOW. — THE FIRST-FRUITS OF THE HARVEST. Let it alone this year also. — St. Luke xiii. 8. In due season we shall reap, if we faint not. — Gal. vi. 9. Praise Him that He gave the rain To mature the swelling grain ; For His mercies still endure Ever faithful, ever sure. And hath bid the fruitful field Crops of precious increase yield ; For his mercies still endure Ever faithful, ever sure. Praise Him for our harvest-store He hath filled the garner floor ; For His mercies still endure Ever faithful, ever sure. Sir H. IV. Baker. N i860, the tenth year "without one single con- version, or prospect of such a thing," the Home Committee were seriously discussing the expe- ^ diency of abandoning Fuh-Chow. With the more promising Missions further north, in the Cheh-Kiang province, undermanned, was it right to cling to a place where God seemed to be withholding His blessing .? But Mr. Smith, on hearing this, made a most earnest appeal to be allowed to remain. Not for three years (as in our Lord's parable), but for ten, had fruit been sought, and none found ; yet the Fuh-Chow. — The First-Fruits of the Harvest. 31 patient "dresser of the vineyard" begged, that the fruitless tree might be " let alone that year also." And that very year the reward so long looked for, and so unceasingly prayed for, began to be vouchsafed. On December 22nd, i860, Mr. Smith wrote home, " I hope that a brighter day is about to dawn upon us. There are three men whom I really look upon as honest inquirers." It is interesting to observe that the very agency first employed (by Mr. Welton) to sow the seed at Fuh-Chow — that of medical skill — was now the instrument used by God to reap the first-fruits. The Rev. W. H. Collins, now our mis- sionary at Peking, but then stationed at Shanghai, and who is a qualified surgeon (an M.R.C.S.), paid a visit to Mr. Smith, and during his stay opened a temporary dispensary, to which numbers resorted. Earnestly were the claims and invitations of the Gospel pressed upon the applicants for medicine ; and the inquirers referred to in Mr. Smith's letter were the result of this effort. Their names were Tang, Sing Siu Kieng, and Sing Puo Sieng, the last a literary graduate. The two former were in different ways instrumental in bringing in a fourth inquirer. Tang procured a native house for Mr. Smith to preach in, but he and the man who let it were at once arrested by the prefect of the city and thrown into prison. Sing Siu Kieng, who had been a Government official, obtained access to the gaol to visit the two men; and, besides alleviating their sufferings, seized the opportunity, with the zeal of a new convert, to speak to other prisoners of the Saviour he had found, and to read and pray with them. A young man, named Sia Siu Sieng, was there on a false charge of embezzlement, " whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken " ; and on his release shortly after, which was brought about by Siu Kieng's mediation, he came to Mr. Smith for further instruction. Tang and Siu Kieng 32 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. were baptized on March 31st, 1861, and Puo Sieng and Siu Sieng on July 4th of the same year. On the latter date Mr. Smith touchingly writes : " With only these few converts I begin to feel something of the anxieties and fears and doubts, but something also of the joys, of which St. Paul speaks. They are indeed as children : oh ! that the Lord may give me grace to be a father to them." The prospects of the Mission now rapidly brightened. Other inquirers came forward ; the authorities at last conceded the right of opening preaching chapels and schools within the city, which was speedily availed of; crowds of attentive lis- teners attended the services thus established ; books and tracts in large numbers were eagerly purchased, so much so that free distribution was suspended ; the colporteurs sent to the sur- rounding villages met with a most encouraging reception ; and, best of all, Mr. Smith was able to write at the beginning of 1863, " Our converts have all given us satisfactory evidence of their faith in Christ during the past year ; and in the face of persecution, reproach, and want, caused by their adherence to the doctrines of our dear Redeemer, have kept the faith." A girls' boarding-school was opened by Mrs. Smith, to which day scholars also were invited ; but in vain, for '" the poor little things, with their crippled feet, could not get up and down the hill." The barbarous custom which thus hindered the success of the school also disabled many women from attending the services who would gladly have come. A boys' school, started rather later, was more successful. In the summer of 1862 the Rev. J. R. Wolfe joined the Mission ; and this reinforcement encouraged Mr. Smith to look out into the regions beyond, and begin to form plans for sending the Gospel to them. The great island of Formosa, only a day's sail from Fuh-Chow, particularly called forth his sympathies ; and all that he heard of the populous cities and Fuh-Chow. — The First-Fruits of the Harvest. 33 innumerable villages in the interior of the Fuh-Kien province, sounded in his ears as a call to " come and help them " also. But now, once more, in the mysterious providence of God, a dark cloud was to overshadow the Mission. In October, 1863, it was for the third time bereft of its leader. The call came to Mr. Smith to " go up higher," and while the faithful servant was entering into the joy of his Lord, Mr. Wolfe entered upon the sole charge of the work. Within two months he too was brought to the verge of the grave by dangerous sickness. " It pleased the Lord to spare him," said the Committee in report- ing this further trial, " lest we should have sorrow upon sorrow " ; but he had to retire for a time to Hong-Kong for the recovery of his health, and Fuh-Chow was once more with- out a C.M.S. missionary. Very different, however, was the state of the Mission from what it had been when former bereavements occurred. There was now a Native Church, small indeed in numbers, but strong in faith and zeal. Mr. Smith left behind him thirteen baptized members and five converts awaiting baptism. Sing Siu Kieng, and a faithful and able convert of the American Mission named Wong Kiu-taik, acted as pastors and evan- gelists, and hundreds attended their daily preaching in two chapels in the heart of the city. The Great Shepherd did not forsake His sheep ; and although while Mr. Wolfe was still lying sick four hundred miles away, a severe trial was per- mitted to come upon them, their faith- was sustained, and all was graciously overruled for good. In the early part of 1864 a violent outbreak of popular fury arose against the work of another society labouring in the city, and the C.M.S. Mission was not spared. The rioters destroyed a preaching chapel, schools. Mission-library, and dwellings of the Native agents, did much damage to other pro- perty, and inflicted severe injuries on such Chinese Christians D 34 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. as they could lay hold of. In one night, seemingly, the work of years was undone. We can imagine what a sore trial all this must have been to a little band of recent converts, with no missionary to cheer their hearts and explain that it was no "strange thing" that had happened unto them. Two inquirers took alarm, and withdrew, though we believe they afterwards returned ; but not one baptized member wavered. And what was the general result } Not only did Mr. Wolfe, on his return, succeed in getting full compensation for damage done, so that he was able at once to, rebuild the wrecked Mission premises, but the riots did a real service to the work by bringing Chris- tianity prominently before people of all classes. Men who had hitherto not known, or not noticed, what was going on, began to inquire what this new doctrine really was. Crowds flocked to the rebuilt chapels ; false and gross reports which had been circulated were discredited ; the notion that Christians could only be abhorred by all right-thinking folk for their vile and wicked lives was corrected ; an anonymous book appeared, evidently the production of a heathen little acquainted with Christianity, but defending the missionaries ; and one of the converts said, " It is much easier to be a Christian now than it was twelve months ago, before the riots." Yet domestic persecution continued, and the Master's words were fulfilled, "A man's foes shall be them of his own house- hold." Mr. Wolfe wrote, " Our two catechists and the school- master have to bear a great deal for the sake of Christ, even from their own families. They do indeed suffer shame for the name of the Lord Jesus. I am persuaded it does them good, but it is not pleasant to the flesh." The zeal also of these Chinese brethren was exemplary, and it was not fruitless. Of some of the converts, who came in one by one at this time, it is mentioned that they were brought to Christ by the instrumen- tality of Wong Kiu-taik. Fuh-Chow. — The First-Fruits of the Harvest. 35 One of these new converts was a very interesting case. He was a most bitter opponent of the Mission, and used to come to the chapel on purpose to interrupt the service and abuse the catechist. One day he was so violent that he had to be turned out, after which he did not appear again for some months, and was quite lost sight of; But one Sunday Mr. Wolfe, noticing a stranger listening attentively, went and spoke to him. " Sing- sang " {i.e., Sir), said the stranger, " don't you know me .? " It was the very man, but Mr. Wolfe had not recognised him. He had not come under any other human Christian influence during his absence, but the Spirit of God had been his teacher ; he had given up idolatry, and now wished to " be a Christian and worship Jesus." He placed himself under regular instruction, and at length his baptism was fixed for Christmas Day, 1864. At this he hesitated, saying, " I am not worthy to be baptized on the day my Saviour was born into the world " ; but the appropriateness of the day for an event which was to be the sign and seal of his "new birth unto righteousness," having been pointed out, he not only came forward himself to the font, but brought his little daughter in his arms to consecrate her also to the service of Christ. His name was Ling, to which was now added as a Christian name Cheng Seng (?>., highest degree of faith) ; and he afterwards became a useful catechist. He had carried on a lucrative business in connection with the idol temples. This he now gave up, which brought upon him much persecution, and he was often followed in the streets by a crowd of people blaspheming that holy Name by which he was now called. Another of the new converts brought a storm upon his head by resigning his situation as foreman in a mercantile esta- blishment, because he would neither work on the Lord's Day nor be a party to the deceit and fraud practised in the trade. In the following year another Ling was added to the Church, D 2 36 The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission. and of him and one or two who were baptized with him Mr. Wolfe sent some interesting particulars : — Lo Ling and his family have been receiving instructian for the last ten months. He has had to endure a great deal for Christ's sake, but he has remained faithful. His only daughter, who had been betrothed to a heathen, became a believer in Jesus, and constantly prayed and showed evidence, if not of real conversion, at least of deep interest in the truth. Her father was most anxious to have the engagement broken off, and the girl herself was equally desirous for a dissolution of the contract ; but her reputed husband would not listen to it, and determined at once to marry her, and so prevent her becoming a Christian. The girl's father could not prevent this, and so made all the necessary preparations for the wedding-feast, &c. But now came the hour of his trial. His son-in- law's party did all they could, by entreaty, by promise, and by .threats, to persuade him to give up Christianity, but nothing seemed to move him. His answer was, " I have decided to become a Christian and worship Jesus." During this time of his trial the Christians were in constant prayer for him, and to this I attribute his victory. The day of the marriage was a most exciting one. Lo Ling asked me how he should manage, for that he wished to have the Christians' prayers said on the occasion. I told him I feared my presence would excite the fury of the opposite party, and perhaps bring on a repetition of last year's troubles, but that he might ask Kiu-taik and others of the cate- chists to be present ; that perhaps their presence would be tolerated ; and if matters assumed a reasonable appearance, Kiu-taik, the senior cate- chist, would pray and read the Word of God. I pointed out to my faithful native brother appropriate portions to be read on the Occasion, but warned him not to attempt anything unless he saw a favourable opportunity. The catechists went, but they found the bridegroom's party unmanageable. They could do nothing. In the meanwhile the mob had assembled about the door, and threatened to pull do