I'V H>. 
 
 MM 
 
 
 AND 
 
 MISSION 
 
 REV. IAS. -JOHNSTON 
 
 J - - — - V 
 
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/cu31924022972396 
 
Cornell University Library 
 BV 3415.J72 
 
 China and Formosa '-'he storv of the miss 
 
 3 1924 022 972 396 
 
4^,^/ v 
 
 7/ - - 
 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA 
 
'- 
 
 W:±: -X 
 
 
 
 ...yg 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 to 
 
 
 
 ■, '.'■:■- ;. 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 '- .V" '.- 
 
 
 *w 
 
 .^« ■ 
 
 
 A MOUNTAIN PASS SOUTH OF AMOY. 
 
 [Frontispiece. 
 
China and Formosa 
 
 £be Stor^ of the fllMBeion of 
 Gbe Presbyterian (Ibureb of Enolano 
 
 MANY ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 PREPARED FOR THIS WORK 
 
 A Nil 
 
 FOUR MAPS 
 
 BY THE 
 
 REV. JAS. JOHNSTON 
 
 H jfonnev /nMssfonare 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A CENTURY OF PROTESTANT MISSIONS," "A CENTURY OF CHRISTIAN 
 
 PROGRESS," SECRETARY' AND EDITOR OF THE REPORT OF THE 
 
 CONFERENCE ON MISSIONS OF 1888, ETC., ETC. 
 
 LONDON 
 HAZELL, WATSON, & VINEY, Ld. 
 
 I, CREED LANE, LUDGATE HILL 
 1897 
 
: 
 
 PRINTED BY 
 
 HAZELL, WATSON, & VINEY, LD., 
 
 LONDON AND AYLESBURY. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 N writing the history of the Mission 
 of the Presbyterian Church of 
 England during the last fifty years, 
 at the request of several of its 
 Missionaries, and with the ap- 
 proval of the Committee, my great 
 aim has been to bring the remote 
 near, and to make the strange 
 familiar. To do this I have endeavoured, by 
 descriptions of the country and its people, to bring 
 the field of labour, and the nature of the work, 
 before the minds of our people at home, and by 
 allowing the Missionaries to tell their own tale of 
 difficulties, trials, and sorrows, and of triumphs, 
 encouragements, and joys, in their own words, to 
 bring them near to the hearts of all interested in 
 the progress of the kingdom of God in heathen 
 lands. 
 
 In this my chief difficulty has been the modest 
 reserve of the Missionaries in all that was personal. 
 Their sole desire seems to be to tell only what 
 God had done in the conversion of sinners, and 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 in building up the Church. Their sorrows they too 
 often bury in their own breasts, and they prefer 
 to speak of the joy in the presence of the angels 
 rather than in the depths of their grateful hearts. 
 
 To overcome the disadvantage of this extreme 
 reticence, I have ransacked the pages of fifty 
 Reports of the Committee, and as many of the 
 Synod Records, and fifty yearly volumes of The 
 Messenger and Gospel in China, with their 
 six hundred monthly numbers, and have carefully 
 culled out such portions as will give a realistic 
 account of the work of the Mission during the 
 last fifty years, a task much more difficult than 
 if the story had been all my own composition. 
 When inserting extracts from letters — for they are 
 very rarely given at length — it was needful to 
 introduce them with a few prefatory words, to 
 make the reader feel as if the writer was his or 
 her own correspondent ; but they have not been 
 followed up with moral reflections nor irritating 
 repetitions. 
 
 Knowing how much the eve assists the mind 
 
 o J 
 
 and affects the heart, I have spared no trouble or 
 expense to secure the best and largest number 
 possible of illustrations, and to have them pro- 
 duced in the best possible style. All have been 
 prepared for this volume ; even where two or 
 three have appeared before they are reproduced 
 from better blocks. I beg to acknowledge, with 
 many thanks, my obligations to the friends who 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 have so kindly helped by lending their photo- 
 graphs, without which the book would have lost 
 so much of its interest. For permission to make 
 blocks from the maps, I am much indebted to 
 William Carruthers, Esq., who had spent much 
 labour in getting them prepared for the Committee. 
 Though the book and maps are by different hands, 
 only a very few words are differently spelled. 
 
 The likenesses of Missionaries have been a 
 source of much anxiety and trouble, and are far 
 from being what I would desire. It was found 
 impossible to get all, although they were written 
 for a year ago. Many are left out whom it would 
 have been a pleasure to have inserted ; and I 
 must ask to be excused by some whose likenesses 
 are inserted without permission being received. 
 The great purpose in printing them is to enable 
 those at home to know and pray for the labourers 
 in the field with more intelligence and sympathy. 
 The difficulties in the way of getting any large 
 number of likenesses of Chinese pastors or 
 preachers in a satisfactory form was found insuper- 
 able. Those introduced are far from satisfactory. 
 
 No attempt has been made in the following 
 pages to defend Missions from the attacks which 
 are so often made by those who know little or 
 nothing about them. The Mission of the Pres- 
 byterian Church has no need of arguments in its 
 defence. The facts in its history are its sufficient 
 apologia. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Is it said that conversions are few? We can 
 point to the number of members of the Church, 
 the number of Churches and Stations, the wide 
 spread of the knowledge of the Truth ; and ask if 
 greater results are obtained in Missions to the 
 masses at home. Is it said that the converts are 
 not genuine ? We can point to the transforming 
 power of the Gospel in thousands of instances in 
 which the members of the Church are ''living 
 epistles," known and read of all men, the heathen 
 themselves being judges. Do men say that the 
 converts are influenced by sordid motives — that 
 they are rice Christians, fed and kept by the 
 Missionaries ? We again point to the facts 
 recorded in these pages by the most competent 
 witnesses, who tell us, giving name and locality, 
 of the privations and persecutions and martyr- 
 doms endured with patience and meekness by 
 men who had everything to lose and nothing 
 to gain in this world by professing themselves 
 Christians. We might also refer to the Treasurers 
 and Auditors of the accounts of the Mission, who 
 would prove that no funds are available for the 
 bribery or support of converts ; even those em- 
 ployed as agents ot the Society get very small 
 salaries. Many could largely increase their 
 income by secular employment. Finally, it is 
 said that it is wrong to send so much money 
 abroad for the conversion of the heathen when 
 there is so much to be done at home. We can 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 point to the Presbyterian Church of England in 
 its relation to the Mission in China. At the time 
 it was struggling into a new life, its first impulse 
 was to send a Mission to the heathen, and the 
 result has been, as seen by the last census, that 
 that Church has made more rapid progress during 
 these fifty years than any other denomination in 
 England. There is no doubt that her Mission 
 has been the source of prosperity, as well as a 
 sign of life. 
 
 In writing these pages I have not entered on. 
 formal arguments for increased efforts and greater 
 liberality for the extension of the Mission, much 
 as these are needed. I have left the facts to 
 speak to the minds and hearts of the readers, and 
 I now make no appeal to pity for the perishing, 
 nor compassion for the suffering. I only call 
 attention to the fact that the Church has a 
 Mission which has proved its efficiency, and has 
 been owned of God. Loyalty and love to Christ 
 are the great argument and motive for Foreign 
 Missions. The Missionary spirit in the Church 
 of Christ is just the Christian spirit in relation to 
 those outside the Church, and to the command of 
 the Saviour, " Go ye, and make disciples of all 
 the nations." 
 
 The pronunciation of names and the sound of 
 letters we need scarcely allude to. All needless 
 refinements have been avoided. The only ex- 
 ception to the ordinary sound of the letters of the 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 English alphabet is in the sound of the vowel i, 
 to which has been given the power of the 
 Continental i, or the English ee, as it is now the 
 universal custom in Oriental names. 
 
 The indication of nasal sounds has not been 
 attempted, as they could not be produced without 
 instruction and long practice. The familiar name 
 of our first Mission station, Peh-chuia, or, as it 
 should be written, Peh-chui-ia 11 , should be pro- 
 nounced with a musical rising inflection on the 
 last syllable, accompanied by a powerful nasal 
 twang, which could only be produced by the 
 uninitiated by pinching their nose with the thumb 
 and forefinger while emitting the strange sound, 
 an action which would be at once unpleasant to 
 the speaker, an insult to the hearers, and dis- 
 respectful to the village. As for the eight tones, 
 the marks for them have been ignored for a 
 similar reason. 
 
 In sending forth this volume I am deeply 
 conscious of its impertections ; but having done 
 my best, I leave myself in the hands ot friendly 
 critics, and commend the book to the favour of 
 God, with the earnest prayer that it may, through 
 His blessing, be the means of bringing: the 
 Mission and the Missionaries in China very near 
 to the intelligence and the sympathies of the 
 Ministers, Office-bearers, and Members of the 
 Presbyterian Church of England. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER J. 
 ORIGIN OF THE CHINA MISSION OF THE PRESBYTERIAN PAGK 
 CHURCH OF ENGLAND ...... I 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE MISSION FIELD . . . . . . -15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 THE PEOPLE AND THEIR DISPOSITION TOWARDS US . 24 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE ... 48 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION ..... 68 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 TIMES OF BLESSIN . ...... 87 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION .... 109 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION .... 145 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION .... 161 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 A RETROSPECT . . . • • ■ . .181 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. ,, A ,; K 
 
 LOOKING FORWARD ....... 205 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 the story of the AMoy mission {continued) ■ ■ 218 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION (concluded) ■ 2 35 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE SWATOW .MISSION {conflliucd) . . 259 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION {concluded ') . . 277 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION {continued) . 30I 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 THE STORY OF THE FOR.MOSA MISSION {concluded) . 316 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE SINGAPORE MISSION . . , 333 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 FACTS AND REFLECTIONS ...... 344 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 OTHER MISSIONS IN CHINA . . . . . . ^7C 
 
 APPENDIX 3S6 
 
 INDEX 
 
 394 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 A Mountain' Pass South of Amoy .... Fronlispie 
 
 A Plain in China, near Amoy .... 
 
 The Rev. W. C. Burns and Manse ok Kilsyth 
 
 The Chang-pu Beadle sounding the Gong . 
 
 Bridge over the Go-shi River .... 
 
 A River Scene to the South of Amoy 
 
 Amoy City 
 
 Waiting for the Good Physician . 
 
 Boulders and Temple outside of Amoy. 
 
 Hui-pi, Swatow, a Promising Pupil 
 
 Girls' Boarding School, Swatow 
 
 Water Buffalo Dairy Yard .... 
 
 Home for Rescued Babies 
 
 A Buddhist Temple, Amoy 
 
 Boat with Babies for Sale .... 
 
 Girls' School, Swatow 
 
 Gathering in the Harvest .... 
 
 The "Gospel Boat" 
 
 Two Houses of Missionaries and Theologic 
 Ku-lang-su, Amoy . 
 
 Rev. David Sandeman and Bonsk 
 
 Liong Lo and Family . 
 
 The Funeral of a Christian . 
 
 Mission Buildings, Swatow 
 
 Chapel at Ho-tshan . 
 
 Chapel at Mir-yong . 
 
 A Native Preacher 
 
 Mission Buildings, Wu-king-fu 
 
 The Rev. James Hamilton, D. D. , the First Convener 
 
 Hugh M. Matheson, Esq., Convener and Treasurer 
 
 Three Heathens asking for a Christian Teacher . 
 
 Three Hak-ka Preachers . 
 
 Ruins of Moslem Temple, Chin-chew 
 
 Five Lady Missionaries 
 
 mrs. m'gregor. mrs. mackenzie 
 
 miss graham. miss Johnston. 
 
 miss ricketts. 
 
 Chang-pu, a New Centre . 
 The College, Hak-ka Centre, Wu- 
 A Little Work .... 
 First Arithmetic Class, Amoy . 
 Dr. Howie and Assistants, Chang-pu 
 
 xv 
 
 9 
 T 4 
 15 
 17 
 21 
 
 24 
 27 
 31 
 33 
 48 
 52 
 62 
 
 67 
 68 
 
 37 
 
 TOO 
 
 109 
 Il8 
 I30 
 
 L33 
 '45 
 T 5! 
 159 
 
 184 
 194 
 197 
 205 
 209 
 
 
 • 215 
 
 KING-FU . 
 
 216 
 
 
 217 
 
 
 . 218 
 
 U . 
 
 220 
 
ILLUSTRATIONS. 
 
 Four of Older Missionaries at Amoy 
 
 KlCV. J. JOHNSTON. REV 
 
 rev. vv. m'gregor, m.a. rev 
 
 Douglas Memorial Chapei 
 
 Dr. Grant and Hospital Assistants, Chin-chew 
 
 Girls' School, Chin-chew 
 
 Dr. Howie's First Amputations at Chang-pu 
 The First Presbyterian Synod in China 
 
 Girls' School, Chang-pu 
 
 Seven Missionaries in Group .... 
 
 Chapel at Tong-kio 
 
 Infants' School, Swatow 
 
 Five Earlier Missionaries, Swatow 
 
 \RSTAIRS DOUGLAS, IX. 
 
 :. S. SVVANSON. 
 
 REV. 
 
 REV. 
 
 Five 
 
 MRS. RIDDEL. 
 MISS FALCONER. 
 BALMER. 
 
 REV. G. SMITH. 
 DR. GAULD. 
 
 rev. m. mackenzii 
 Lady Missionaries .... 
 mrs. maciver. 
 mrs. murdo mackenzie. 
 
 MISS 
 
 Theological Students, Swatow 
 Leper Hospital, Swatow .... 
 Hak-ka Women's School and Matron . 
 Dr. McPhun and Hak-ka Assistants 
 Fang-khi-fung Pastor Mi-ow and Family 
 Dr. and Mrs. Lyall, Swatow . 
 slm-kian-lan and family .... 
 The Theological College, Tai-nan-fu . 
 Four Earlier Missionaries, Formosa 
 
 rev. hugh ritchie. 
 
 rev. w. campbell. 
 
 A Pastor and Family 
 
 Mission School, Tai-nan-fu .... 
 
 Girls' School, Singapore Mission . 
 
 Mission House, School, and Church 
 
 Group of Preachers and Teachers, Singapore 
 
 A Little Play 
 
 Chin-chew Mission Chapel .... 
 Nine Ordained Pastors, Amoy Synod 
 Four Chapels : 
 
 hak-sa, siong-si 
 
 thong-khung, double island 
 
 L. MAC 
 
 C. GIBSON, M.A. 
 
 J. L. 
 REV. 
 
 MAXWELL, M.A., M 
 T. BARCLAY, M.A. 
 
 MAPS. 
 
 Map of Amoy Mission 
 
 Swatow Mission 
 Formosa Mission 
 Singapore Mission. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 225 
 
 228 
 232 
 
 =35 
 239 
 246 
 252 
 
 254 
 258 
 
 259 
 261 
 
 266 
 
 275 
 
 277 
 284 
 
 295 
 300 
 
 3°t 
 
 308 
 
 315 
 310 
 333 
 336 
 342 
 343 
 344 
 361 
 
 367 
 368 
 
 108 
 
 144 
 160 
 
 332 
 
A PLAIN IN CHINA, NEAR AMOV, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 ORIGIN OP THE CHINA MISSION OF THE 
 PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 
 
 T 
 
 HE year i8;6 witnessed the resurrection of the 
 
 Presbyterian Church of England. For many 
 a long year she had been without any complete 
 organisation. There were some half-dozen Presbyteries 
 scattered over the country, with no General Synod or 
 Assembly to govern the whole, and only a loose con- 
 nection with the Church of Scotland, which had no 
 jurisdiction south of the Tweed. England was to her 
 a foreign country, so that the Presbyterian Churches 
 there had neither legislative nor executive eccle- 
 siastical government, nor an organised unity. The 
 ministers of the Churches were trained in Scotch 
 colleges, and the General Assembly of the Church of 
 
 i 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Scotland was looked up to with reverence and affec- 
 tion as the parental head, though destitute of control 
 over her children. This went on smoothly enough so 
 long as the Churches slept under the soporific influence 
 of the moderatism, or what in England would be called 
 deadness, of last century ; but when religion revived 
 in both countries, English Presbyterians became restless 
 under this absence of the characteristic feature of the 
 ecclesiastical system, and began to aspire to a larger 
 life and a nobler work as a Christian Church. 
 
 In that memorable year 1836 the Churches in 
 England, after friendly consultations with the leaders 
 of the Church of Scotland, such as Chalmers, Buchanan, 
 Candlish, Sir Harry Moncreiff, Mr. Dunlop, and others, 
 resolved to assume the responsibilities of independence 
 and the privileges of manhood. They parted as sons 
 from the Church of Scotland, the mother of most of 
 them ; set up their own ecclesiastical establishment, 
 allied by sacred bonds to the Presbyterian Church 
 of the seventeenth century ; claimed the creed of the 
 Westminster Assembly of Divines as their inheritance, 
 and brotherhood with the two thousand martyrs who 
 were driven from the pulpits of the Church of England 
 in 1662 as their birthright. At first there was a desire 
 to have an English Synod, as an integral part of the 
 Church of Scotland ; but this being found impossible, 
 it was resolved to establish an ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN 
 CHURCH, independent of, but on friendly terms with, 
 sister Churches in Scotland, and to revive the traditions 
 of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, and the ancient 
 
ORIGIN OF THE CHINA MISSION. 
 
 ecclesiastical form of government, of which the English 
 Constitution is the political development. 
 
 It was a bold and noble deed, worthy of their 
 Presbyterian ancestry. There were only two Presby- 
 teries with twelve congregations who took part in this 
 first Synod in 1836. But in 1842, when the work was 
 consummated, there were six Presbyteries, with the 
 representatives of sixty-four Churches, who attended 
 the Synod — a small Church, but it was composed of 
 men of faith ; and the blessing of God has so crowned 
 their work, that in little more than half a century the 
 congregations have multiplied to 304, with accommoda- 
 tion for 158,000 persons, of whom 70,000 are communi- 
 cants. This increase is partly due to incorporation 
 with the United Presbyterian Church, but chiefly to 
 the rapid increase of members and congregations. 
 
 This small body, just risen from the ashes of the 
 Presbyterianism of the seventeenth century — which had 
 practically perished, first, under the persecutions of the 
 Stuarts, and second, from the more deadly influence of 
 Arian and Socinian error, in years of peace and worldly 
 prosperity, after the Revolution — formally declared its 
 independence in 1844, as the English Presbyterian 
 Church, and at once began to equip itself with the full 
 organisation of a living Church. The first proof of 
 its vitality was an interest in Mission work, both at 
 home and abroad. Its ancestors in 1662 were called 
 upon to be martyrs for the truth ; the Church of 1 S44 
 was privileged to be the herald of the Gospel. In the 
 earlier years, contributions for Foreign Missions were 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 sent to the Church of Scotland ; on the declaration of 
 independence, it was at once resolved to start Missions 
 of its own to both Jews and Gentiles. 
 
 The Choice of China as a Mission Field. 
 
 In the year 1839 that unhappy war with China 
 commonly called the "opium war" began, and resulted 
 in five ports being opened for commerce and for the 
 residence of foreigners. From the first the deepest 
 interest was felt in the war and its issues by all 
 Christians in this country. For half a century the 
 Church had been praying that the wall of exclusion 
 from that vast kingdom of darkness might be thrown 
 down ; now, much as the war and its occasion were 
 deprecated, many hoped and prayed that it might be 
 overruled to throw open some gate by which the 
 Gospel might enter that country. These prayers were 
 answered through no intention on the part of our 
 Government. Not a word was said about the per- 
 mission for Missionaries to enter the opened ports, or 
 for the toleration of Christianity. This was brought 
 about by those who would gladly have had Protestant 
 Missions for ever shut out. The French Government, 
 at the instigation of the Jesuit Missionaries, got a clause 
 inserted in their treat)- granting permission for Roman 
 Catholic priests to enter the country, and toleration 
 for their converts. They used terms which confined that 
 toleration to Roman Catholics, but happily the English 
 treaty contained a clause securing to our Government 
 
ORIGIN OF THE CHINA MISSION. 
 
 any conditions which might be granted to any other 
 nation in any future treaty. This " Favoured Nation 
 Clause," as it is called, had no direct reference to 
 religion, but its general terms covered Christianity as 
 well as commerce. Thus did God, in answer to prayer, 
 make "the wrath of man to praise Him, and restrained 
 the remainder thereof." 
 
 We thankfully call attention to the fact that, though 
 the opening of China to the Gospel was the result, it 
 was in no way the object of the war. It formed no part 
 of the policy of English statesmen, who thought only 
 of the extension of commerce, and what they considered 
 the maintenance of the honour of their country. " It 
 was the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." 
 
 But not only was China opened by prayer ; the 
 Mission of the Presbyterian Church to China was the 
 answer to special prayer, in England, and in Scotland 
 from whence we were to derive so many of our Mis- 
 sionaries and so much material help. In England some 
 of the members of the Church were connected with 
 China by commercial relations, which they desired to 
 repay by religious benefits, and many more took a 
 special interest in the great field for missionary effort, 
 and prayerfully sought to share in its evangelisation. 
 
 Sympathy in Scotland. 
 
 In Scotland, when the Free Church was formed in 
 1843, there were many who longed to extend the 
 Missions of that Church to China, which had so 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 recently been opened. This was found impossible. 
 The entire Mission staff of the Established Church 
 had thrown in their lot with the Free Church, which 
 felt bound in honour to maintain them and their 
 Missions ; so that further extension was impossible. 
 This led to prayer for some other way of attaining 
 their object. Among those so interested were some 
 old members of the Presbyterian Church of England, 
 such as Mr. and Mrs. Barbour of Bonskeid, Mr. Donald 
 Matheson, and others, who made it the subject of 
 private and united prayer, that the old Church of their 
 affections might be led to make China the sphere of 
 their new Mission. That the feeling in favour of a 
 Mission in China was deeply felt is proved by the 
 wide and generous sympathy shown when Mr. Barbour 
 started a Society in Scotland as a branch of the Mission 
 of the English Presbyterian Church. He not only 
 secured the entire approval of the leaders of the Free 
 Church, but a liberal response to his call for funds. A 
 little incident illustrates the depth of this interest. 
 A poor man in the island of Arran called on a minister 
 of the Erce Church who had been pleading the cause of 
 their Missions, and told him how he had been praying 
 for a Mission to China, and offered him a pound, which 
 he had saved from his scanty earnings, for that object. 
 When told that the Free Church had no Mission there, 
 he sorrowfully retired, and continued his prayers, adding 
 meanwhile to the little store. Some years after, Mr. 
 William Burns was evangelising in the same island. 
 The good man went to him, and told how he had been 
 
ORIGIN OF THE CHINA MISSION. 
 
 praying and laying up money for a Mission to China, 
 and asked him to take his little savings. Mr. Burns 
 took the money, promising to give it to some China 
 Mission, saying, " Who knows but that I may be there 
 myself yet ? " This utterance was prophetic, and from 
 the part which this remarkable man had in the forma- 
 tion of the Mission in China, an account of its origin 
 would be incomplete without a notice of that great 
 evangelist of the nineteenth century. 
 
 The First Missionary. 
 
 William C. Burns was the son of one of the most 
 godly ministers of the Church of Scotland, one who 
 took a lively interest in Foreign Missions and in the 
 revival of religion, when Missions and revivals were 
 looked down on by Christians generally. His mother, 
 who took an active part in the formation of the 
 character of the children, was a woman of deep piety 
 and intense earnestness. All the family grew up 
 decidedly religious, except William, who showed no 
 signs of a gracious disposition in his youth ; sport 
 and money-making were then his aims in life, and it 
 was characteristic of his tenderness of conscience after 
 his conversion, that he scarcely ever indulged in even 
 innocent amusements, lest they should become a 
 snare, and dreaded the handling of money, of which 
 he would scarcely keep enough about him for necessary 
 uses. 
 
 At seventeen he chose the profession of law, as the 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 best way of growing rich, for one who had no capital to 
 start with, and when he left home to be articled to his 
 uncle in Edinburgh, his family felt that he had chosen 
 the world as his portion. He had not been long away, 
 when one night, having walked from Edinburgh, a 
 distance of thirty-six miles, he stepped into the Manse 
 of Kilsyth, to the surprise of his mother and sisters, who 
 were at home, with a more solemn expression on his 
 face than was usual with him. Standing with his back 
 to the fire, he looked at his mother and said, " Mother, 
 what would you say to my becoming a minister after 
 all, as you have always wished ? " We need not describe 
 the joy of the mother, and of his father, on his coming 
 home, at this answer to many prayers. He was at 
 once sent to finish his college course in Aberdeen, where 
 he distinguished himself as an earnest and able student. 
 He then studied theology in Glasgow for five years — a 
 year longer than the usual time. During his theo- 
 logical course, he had taken much interest in Missions, 
 and was a member of the Missionary Association. 
 Before lie left college he had devoted himself to the 
 life of a Missionary to the heathen. 
 
 In 1839 Mr. Burns was licensed to preach the Gospel, 
 and was accepted as a Missionary of the Church of 
 Scotland to India. But a higher authority had deter- 
 mined otherwise. Before arrangements were made for 
 liis departure, lie was called of God to do at home a 
 work which upset the monotony of religious life in 
 Scotland, with the shock of a spiritual convulsion, like 
 that on " the Mount of God " when " the Lord passed 
 
?&«** I 
 
 THE REV. W. C. 
 
 BURNS AND MANSE OF KILSYTH, 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 by." And not in Scotland only : it was felt in the 
 north of England and Ireland, and away in Canada, 
 and eventually in China just before it burst forth in 
 America and returned to Scotland with renewed power 
 on Mr. Moody's first visit. 
 
 The Revival in Scotland in 1839. 
 
 It was in the month of July of 1839, when Mr. 
 Burns was only twenty-four years of age, that this 
 great work began. He had been induced by the 
 Rev. Robert Murray McCheyne to take his place in 
 St. Peter's Church, Dundee, while he was absent on 
 his Mission to the Jews in Palestine. Mr. Burns had 
 gone to assist his father at the Communion season in 
 Kilsyth, when three or four days were devoted to 
 religious services. On the Sabbath evening he gave 
 a very solemn address, when he and the people were 
 much moved. For some time before Mr. Burns had 
 been enjoying peculiar fellowship with God, and the 
 more earnest Christians in his father's congregation 
 had been intensely earnest in prayer for a blessing. 
 At the close of the sermon on Sabbath evening, Mr. 
 Burns intimated that he would preach again on 
 Tuesday morning at 10 o'clock. He tells us : " I 
 felt such a yearning of heart over the poor people 
 among whom I had spent so many of my youthful 
 years in sin, I intimated that the meeting would be 
 in the market-place, in order to reach the many who 
 absented themselves from the house of God, and after 
 whom I longed in the bowels of Jesus Christ." 
 
ORIGIN OF THE CHINA MISSION. 
 
 The meeting on Tuesday was the commencement 
 of the great work of grace. It was held in the church, 
 as the weather was unfavourable for the open air. 
 The crowd was great, and the utmost solemnity pre- 
 vailed while Mr. Burns expounded the text, " Thy 
 people shall be willing in the day of Thy power." 
 Many were in tears, weeping silently ; but when he 
 applied the truth with power to the hearts and con- 
 sciences of his hearers, the effect was indescribable. 
 The cool-headed Scottish audience burst into a tempest 
 of emotion beyond all control. 
 
 " They broke forth," as Mr. Burns records in his diary, 
 " simultaneously into weeping and wailing, tears and groans, 
 intermingled with shouts of joy and praise from some of the 
 people of God. The appearance of a great part of the people 
 from the pulpit gave me an awfully vivid picture of the state 
 of the ungodly in the day of Christ's coming to judgment. 
 Some were screaming out in agony ; others, and these strong 
 men, fell on the ground as if they were dead ; and such was 
 the general commotion, that after repeating for some time the 
 most free and urgent invitations of the Lord to sinners (as 
 Isa. lv. ; Rev. xxii. 17), I was obliged to give out a Psalm, 
 which was soon joined in by a considerable number, our 
 voices being mingled with the groans of many prisoners 
 sighing for deliverance." He adds : — 
 
 " To my astonishment, during the progress of this won- 
 derful scene, when almost all present were overpowered, it 
 pleased the Lord to keep my soul perfectly calm. . . . 
 Indeed I was so composed, that when, with a view of re- 
 cruiting my strength for labours still in view, I stretched 
 myself on my bed on going home, I enjoyed an hour of 
 the most refreshing sleep, and rose as vigorous in mind and 
 body as before." 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 It is not our work to follow the course of the young 
 evangelist for the next eight years, before he went 
 to China ; suffice it to say, that for years the richest 
 blessing rested on his work. In almost each place 
 he visited — in Dundee, in Perth, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, 
 and many places in Scotland ; in Ireland, the north 
 of England, and Canada — the Divine favour rested 
 on his ministry. The outward manifestations did not 
 always appear, nor were they of themselves desired ; 
 but many " were added to the Lord," and the fruit 
 of holy living testified to the genuineness of the work 
 and the thoroughness of the change in some of the 
 worst characters in the towns he visited. It was 
 observed for many years after that revival that the 
 converts of William Burns were to be found in every 
 quarter of the globe, and wherever they went they 
 were . known for the earnestness of their piety, and 
 their usefulness as members of society. 
 
 Mr. Burns Offers Himself for China. 
 
 The guidings of Providence by which Mr. Burns 
 was led to become the Missionary of the Presbyterian 
 Church to China are striking and instructive. He 
 tells us in his diary that "after the Disruption in 1S4S 
 I found my heart very much drawn off from the 
 home field, the days of God's great power by me 
 seeming to be in a great measure past." At the request 
 of friends he went to Ireland, and spent two years 
 in Canada with much success in his work, and might 
 
ORIGIN OF THE CHINA MISSION. 
 
 have remained there for the rest of his days. In 
 1846 he returned to Edinburgh, and renewed his offer 
 to go to India in connection with the Missions of the 
 Free Church of Scotland, but found that there was 
 not a vacant post, and the state of the funds would 
 not allow of extending the Mission. 
 
 At this very time, we are told, "while he and others 
 were actually conversing on the matter," a letter came 
 from the Rev. James Hamilton (Convener of the 
 English Presbyterian Missionary Committee), addressed 
 to Dr. James Buchanan, making earnest inquiry, 
 whether he could point to any minister or preacher 
 in Scotland who might be suitable to go as their 
 first Missionary to China, seeing they had contemplated 
 this Mission for more than two years, but had as yet 
 been disappointed in finding a suitable agent. Dr. 
 Buchanan wrote back, mentioning Mr. Burns's name 
 among some others. Shortly after a letter came from 
 Mr. Hamilton, asking Mr. Burns to accept of the 
 appointment. This he felt at first reluctant to do, 
 and told Mr. Hamilton that he would consider the 
 matter, but not to trust to him, but to look out for 
 another. The next he heard was that the Committee 
 were so discouraged, that they had drawn up their 
 report, recommending the Synod to abandon China and 
 choose some other field. This had the effect of deciding- 
 Mr. Burns to go to China, but instead of writing he 
 resolved to go to the Synod and offer himself in person. 
 On his arrival in Sunderland, he found that the Synod 
 had refused to accept the recommendation of the 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 report, and had ordered the Committee to draw up 
 another. When Mr. Burns, in these circumstances, 
 presented himself, he was at once accepted as sent of 
 God. In this we cannot fail to sec the answer to 
 the prayers of the Church, and of the friends in 
 Scotland. Mrs. Barbour of Bonskeid wrote to remind 
 him of an address he gave to the students in the 
 Free Church Hall some years before, when he told 
 them "that they should be ready to go wherever 
 they were called, even if it were to China" 
 
 THE CHANG-PU BEADLE 
 
 UNDING Till-, GONG, 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE MISSION FIELD. 
 
 THE name of the pro- 
 vince of China in 
 which the Mission of the 
 Presbyterian Church is 
 chiefly located, is descriptive 
 of the good fortune which 
 has resulted from its judi- 
 cious choice by the Church. 
 Fuhkien, or Hokkien as it 
 is pronounced in Amoy, 
 means " Happily Estab- 
 lished," and the Church has 
 reason to be thankful to 
 God for the providential 
 circumstances by which the 
 sphere of her operations 
 was fixed. This is true, 
 not only of the province, 
 but more especially of the region around Amoy, its 
 original centre, which gave facilities for expansion to 
 Formosa, which at that time was governed as part 
 of the province, and to Swatow, which, though in the 
 
 BRIDGE OVER CO-SHI RIVER. 
 
1 6 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 neighbouring province of Ouantung, is on the border 
 of Fuhkien, and the river Han, at the mouth of which 
 it stands, rises Nn that province. 
 
 These extensions of the Mission have not only 
 enlarged the sphere of operations ; they have given 
 greater variety to the work, without increasing ma- 
 terially the difficulties from a change of vernacular, 
 so perplexing in China. The language of the Chinese 
 in Formosa is the same as that of Arnoy, and that 
 of Swatow is only a variety of the same dialect ; while 
 in both these districts we have access to two distinct 
 varieties of the population — in Formosa to the tribes 
 of Malayan origin inhabiting the eastern side of the 
 island, and in Swatow the Mission includes within its 
 limits the interesting Hakka race, strictly Chinese but 
 as different in language and character as distinct nation- 
 alities in Europe. 
 
 Description of the Mission Field. 
 
 In some respects Fuhkien is one of the most in- 
 teresting of the eighteen provinces of China. It is 
 smaller than most, and contains less than half the 
 population of some, and its soil is not so rich as that 
 in the alluvial plains of the north ; but its scenery is 
 grand, and its inhabitants, like those of most hilly 
 countries, are finely developed, and independent in 
 their character. The Bohea hills form its western 
 boundary, and give rise to the river Min, with its 
 tributaries, which water a fertile plain, and when 
 
1 8 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 united form a noble stream, which flows through some 
 of the grandest and most beautiful scenery in the 
 world. American writers compare it with the Hudson, 
 of which they arc so justly proud, and Europeans 
 admit that the Rhine is only more interesting from 
 its historical associations and stately ruins. The 
 Min has no ruins to boast of, but the bold peaks, 
 with pagodas, temples, and monasteries perched on 
 their summits, form graceful, though sometimes fan- 
 tastic, substitutes, suggesting the presence of peace 
 and piety rather than that of war and blood. 
 
 But the Presbyterian Mission does not pretend to 
 occupy the province ; it is wisely limited to a manage- 
 able and well-marked division on its rugged coast- 
 line, extending some distance into the province of 
 Ouantung on the south, with a population, including 
 Formosa, of about eight or ten millions, speaking the 
 same dialect, with slight variations, extending from 
 below Sua-buc in the south to Eng-chhun in the north — 
 a distance of about two hundred and fifty miles as the 
 crow flies, and stretching from fort)- to a hundred miles 
 inland. The greater part consists of bare and rugged 
 hills, and few scenes are more interesting than a sail 
 up that eastern coast of China, studded with islands, 
 standing out from the mainland like sentinels or 
 watch-towers, while the mountains arc piled up one 
 behind another, in man)' parts reaching a height of 
 two or three thousand feet ; the whole coast-line in- 
 dented by innumerable bays, with many safe harbours. 
 The sea is covered with countless fishing boats, in 
 
THE MISSION FIELD. 
 
 zr 
 
 fleets, which can be distinguished from one anothe 
 by their shape or rigging, suited to the nature of the 
 coast, or fashioned after some antique local pattern, 
 so that experienced English captains can tell the 
 part of the coast they are on by the form of the 
 boats or the " cut of their jib." 
 
 Amoy and its Surroundings. 
 
 The harbours of Amoy and Swatow are the largest 
 on that part of the coast. In that of Amoy the largest 
 fleet in Europe could ride in safety in its ample basin. 
 The river Lung, which flows into the harbour of Amoy, 
 has a course of some two hundred miles, and is navi- 
 gable for forty ; but only for Chinese junks or river boats, 
 for which it forms an excellent highway. The sail up 
 that river, on which the " Gospel boat " of the Mission is 
 constantly passing up and down, is full of interest. At first 
 the hills rise abruptly from the water's edge on either side, 
 those to the south rising to a height of two thousand feet 
 rugged and bare, except where the indomitable energy 
 and industry of the Chinese have planted their little 
 crop of rice on terraced slopes, or in nooks and crannies 
 which seemed from our point of view as inaccessible 
 as the nest of the eagle. On other parts of these barren 
 hills, graves, neatly kept, in the form of the last letter 
 of the Greek alphabet, 12, relieve the eye and suggest 
 food for thought. 
 
 At the foot of these hills there are fertile, though 
 narrow, alluvial plains ; and where the ground rises at 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 their base, villages, half hid amid the rich foliage of 
 the banyan and of other umbrageous trees, cluster so 
 closely that it is difficult to distinguish where the one 
 village ends and the next begins. Over the land, as 
 level as a bowling green, you see boats sailing in 
 different directions, as if they moved over the fields 
 of paddy, or growing rice. The)' are really on the 
 narrow canals by which the fields are watered, and the 
 rice when reaped is carried to the market. As we 
 sail up the river, the hills recede and the country opens 
 out ; larger villages of five,, ten, or even twenty thousand 
 inhabitants are met with ; and twenty miles from its 
 mouth we find, on the banks of the Lung-kiang, the 
 city of Chang-chow, with about two or three hundred 
 thousand inhabitants, the capital of the department 
 — one of the finest, at the time we saw it, in the 
 south of China, but sadly injured by the conquest of 
 the Tai-ping rebels, and still more at its reconquest 
 by the Imperialists. We shall never forget the view 
 from a temple which stands on elevated ground at 
 the end of the city, as we looked down on the broad 
 streets and wide open spaces, covered by luxuriant 
 foliage of tropical trees, and the large plain stretching 
 away to the distant hills, planted over with towns and 
 villages which we found it impossible to count. The 
 American Missionary Mr. Lowrie thus gives his 
 impressions when standing on the same spot a few- 
 years before : — 
 
 " Imagine an amphitheatre, thirty miles in length and twenty 
 in breadth, hemmed in on all sides by bare pointed hills ; a river 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 running through it ; an immense city at our feet, with fields of 
 rice and sugar-cane ; noble trees and numerous villages stretch- 
 ing away in every direction. It was grand and beautiful beyond 
 every conception we had ever formed of Chinese scenery. 
 Beneath us lay the city, its shape nearly square, curving a little 
 on the river banks, closely built, and having an amazing number 
 of fine large trees within and around. The guide said that in 
 the last dynasty it had numbered 700,000 inhabitants, and 
 now he thought it contained a million — probably a large allow- 
 ance.* The villages around also attracted our attention. I 
 tried to enumerate them ; but, after counting thirty-nine of 
 large size distinctly visible in less than half the field before us, 
 I gave over the attempt. It is certainly within the mark to say, 
 that within the circuit of this immense plain there are at least 
 one hundred villages, some of them small, but many numbering 
 hundreds and even thousands of inhabitants." 
 
 The view from Amoy, the original centre of the 
 Mission, is very different, but scarcely less interesting. 
 From the higher ground in the island on which it stands, 
 you see at your feet a large town of 150,000 inhabitants, 
 but of sordid appearance. The streets are narrow, the 
 houses closely packed, with few open spaces or large 
 trees ; but the splendid harbour is a redeeming feature, 
 its hundreds of junks of strange shape towering out of 
 the water at prow and .stern like the old pictures of the 
 Great Harry of the Tudor period, but with quaint sails 
 entirely Chinese, and here and there foreign steamers 
 and men-of-war ; while swarms of sampans, or rowing 
 boats, the rower standing up face forward to see his way 
 through the maze of shipping, give life and interest to 
 
 * This is a great exaggeration. Half these numbers would be too large 
 even then ; now the population is probably the third of these numbers. 
 
THE MISSION FIELD. 
 
 the busy scene. The small island of Ku-lang-su lies 
 opposite the town, now covered with handsome mansions 
 of the foreign merchants and consular agents, and the 
 more humble but neat and commodious houses of 
 Missionaries. The river opens out to a wide estuary 
 beyond it, and away on either side rise mountain ranges, 
 one behind another as far as the eye can reach. 
 
 The most vivid recollection we retain of the view is 
 that received during a great thunderstorm at night. It 
 was so dark that only the faintest outline of the harbour 
 and mountains could be seen ; but with each flash of the 
 lightning the whole scene shone out as clear as day — 
 the shipping, the islands, the mountains, with Lam-tai-bu 
 of two thousand feet, and its picturesque pagoda on the 
 summit ; while the thunder peals echoed from hill to 
 hill, growing fainter in the distance, but not allowed to 
 die out before another flash, followed instantly by the 
 loud peal of the thunder, kept up the ceaseless roar 
 while the storm lasted. It recalled Jonathan Edwards' 
 description of his delight in hearing the " majestic voice 
 of my God in the thunderstorm." 
 
WAITING FOR THE GOOD PHYSICIAN. 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 THE PEOPLE AA T D THEIR DISPOSITION 
 TOWARDS US. 
 
 THE inhabitants of Fuhkien have characteristics 
 which render them more interesting and hopeful 
 for missionary work than an} - we know of in China. 
 They arc a fine race physically; the hilly nature of the 
 province has developed their muscles, and, seen as they 
 are, with no clothing except a pair of short cotton 
 drawers tied round their waist, and not reaching the 
 knee, you cannot but admire the small hands and feet, 
 the rounded limbs and sinew)* frame. Their constant 
 conflict with rugged hills and barren soil has called 
 forth a spirit of enterprise and endurance which has 
 developed an energetic, independent, and self-reliant 
 
THE PEOPLE. 25 
 
 race. They are smaller than the large-boned agri- 
 culturists on the plains of the north, who are heavy 
 in their movements and mentally dull and slothful. 
 They are more like the inhabitants of Canton, but 
 happily lack their rudeness and hatred of foreigners. 
 They are the most enterprising emigrants, and are found 
 in large numbers in the Straits of Malacca, the United 
 States, and Australia. They generally come back to 
 spend their hard-won earnings in their own land, and to 
 lay their bones with those of their ancestors. Over a 
 grave in the island of Amoy we found the following 
 inscription : " It is pleasant, after being tossed on the 
 voyage of life, to rest our bones on the verdant hills of 
 our native land." In the eighth century of our era the 
 harbour of Amoy was known in Persia as one of the 
 principal trading ports of China. 
 
 The Capture of Amoy by the British. 
 
 Strange as it may sound, the capture of the town of 
 Amoy by the British in 1841 had a most beneficial 
 effect in preparing the population of the town and 
 district to give a kindly reception to the Missionaries. 
 It was almost a bloodless victory, and was so strictly 
 confined to the discomfiture of the Mandarins and the 
 army, with the greatest consideration for the civil popu- 
 lation, that the people could not but contrast it with 
 the conduct of their own armies when victorious. When 
 the official residence and the forts had been brought 
 down by a well-directed bombardment, and the army 
 
26 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 put to flight, the people expected the usual results of 
 Chinese victories — the plunder of the town and the 
 slaughter or dishonour of the men and women, who 
 rushed to the shore, and threw themselves into the boats 
 in such numbers that they sank, and thousands were 
 thrown into the water. But to the utter astonishment 
 of the crowds on the shore, they saw the British sailors 
 hastening to the rescue of the perishing, and landing 
 them in safety. This made a deep impression, and 
 raised the foreign barbarian to a higher place in their 
 esteem than the civilised Government of China. 
 
 The only parties dissatisfied were the Mandarins and 
 the army : they never could forgive our derangement of 
 all their costly preparations for giving us a warm recep- 
 tion ; it was contrary to all the laws of war, according to 
 Chinese maxims. They had prepared a most formidable 
 battery of more than a mile long, mounted with two 
 hundred guns, stretching along the shore, which the 
 fleet should have passed before it could reach the town. 
 The best engineers said that it was really a formidable 
 defence against vessels entering the port by the course 
 which sailing vessels were obliged to take, unless they 
 had an unusually favourable wind. But what did 
 Admiral Parker do? After a sharp brush with the 
 enemy, in which little injury was done to the fort and 
 none to the men-of-war, he made the steamers tow the 
 sailing vessels past the fort, at a safe distance, up to 
 the town of Amoy, which the)' reached and took pos- 
 session of with ease and the loss of only one man on 
 his side and about fifty on the other. This the Chinese 
 
2S CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 general declared to be a cowardly trick, contrary to all 
 precedents in the history of the oldest empire in the 
 world. The English should have seen what the battery 
 was built for, and have " come to the scratch " and 
 destroyed the fort before they took the town. But 
 worse than that, Sir Hugh Gough landed, without notice, 
 a small mountain battery before coming near the fort. 
 This was dragged to the top of a hill behind the two- 
 hundred-gun battery, and fired down on the defenceless 
 Chinamen, who never dreamed of danger from such a 
 quarter. Who ever heard of guns firing down a hill ! 
 Was it not an established institution in China to put in 
 the shot or shell so loose that if the gun were pointed 
 down it ran out before the powder could give it a fillip? 
 So there was nothing for it but to run away as fast as 
 their legs would carry them, and send a despatch to the 
 Emperor to tell how unfairly they had been treated by 
 these treacherous barbarians, who were ignorant of the 
 laws of propriety. The civil inhabitants of Amoy, who 
 found these foreigners so much more merciful than their 
 own rulers, enjoyed the ruse, and laughed at their dis- 
 comfited army. The Emperor being a foreign usurper, 
 and the army his instrument of oppression, loyalty and 
 fidelity were not to be looked for. 
 
 Capture by the Chinese — a Contrast. 
 
 Another incident made even a deeper impression. 
 A few years later, when the Imperial army drove the 
 Tai-ping rebels out of Amoy, they set to their usual 
 
THE PEOPLE. 29 
 
 work of slaughter, and plunder, and violence of all 
 kinds upon the weak and helpless. They brought 
 their victims down to the beach, where an English 
 man-of-war was lying at anchor, and began to cut 
 off the heads of their captured enemies, and threw 
 the headless bodies into the water, until their swords 
 were so blunted with the horrid work, that they only 
 inflicted a ghastly wound in the back of the neck, 
 when they were thrown into the sea to be drowned. 
 The officers on board the man-of-war felt their hands 
 bound by the rules of war, and dare not interfere with 
 the army of what was then a friendly power ; but 
 the sailors were not so strait-laced. They asked per- 
 mission to interfere, and threatened to mutiny if they 
 were not allowed to put an end to this butchery. The 
 captain, not sorry to have an excuse, let them have 
 their way ; and in a few minutes boats were manned, 
 and with their cutlasses they drove off the Imperial 
 army, rescued the wounded men from the. water, and 
 carried them tenderly to a junk hired by the English 
 merchants and Missionaries, where they were attended 
 to, and many recovered. Mr. Burns and Dr. Young 
 gave valuable help in healing and feeding these rescued 
 men, some of whom found life for the soul as well as 
 for the body. The first time we preached in Chioh- 
 bay, one of them, with a twist in his neck from the 
 blow he had received with the sword blunted by 
 slaughter, came and told us he was a believer in Jesus, 
 and had not worshipped idols since he was saved by 
 the foreigners, 
 
30 china and formosa. 
 
 Independence, Poverty, and Infanticide. 
 
 The natives of Fuhkien have always been noted 
 for their independence. They were the last to submit 
 to the foreign yoke of the Manchus, and -when the 
 edict went forth for the conquered people to shave 
 the head and wear the pigtail, like their conquerors, 
 they resisted when the rest of China had given in. 
 Thousands lost their heads, rather than wear the queue, 
 and when compelled to yield they wrapped a cloth 
 round their heads to conceal their degradation, and 
 to this day the custom is continued, though its origin 
 is forgotten. This resistance to authority has remained 
 a characteristic of the province. The dwellers on the 
 coast are noted for their predatory habits, and often 
 combine in piratical bands on the sea and up the rivers 
 and creeks ; but to their credit, though they plun- 
 dered the boats of traders, both of their own country 
 and foreigners, they never interfered with the " Gospel 
 boat." They said, " These Missionaries do not seek 
 to make money ; they wish to do good : we must not 
 injure them." 
 
 The barren hills, which compel the most active 
 youths to go abroad to earn a living, arc indirectly 
 the cause of much of the disgraceful sin of child- 
 murder. There is, it is said, a greater amount of 
 infanticide in Fuhkien than in any other province in 
 China. Poverty is the chief cause of this cruel custom, 
 and the emigration of the men, who are not permitted 
 to take wives with them, adds to the evil, The horrid 
 
THE PEOPLE. 
 
 custom has become so much a second nature, and 
 is so general, that it is thought no crime until the 
 Missionary points it out, and the converts, by their 
 loving care for their girls as well as their boys, make 
 them ashamed of their sin. The crime has been much 
 diminished of late years, partly by the influence of 
 Christianity, and partly 
 
 because the marriage 
 market has improved, 
 and the price of wives 
 has risen. The cold- 
 blooded Chinaman 
 finds that it pays to rear 
 a few more daughters 
 than formerly. 
 
 The poverty of the 
 people, combined with 
 their filthy habits, is 
 one cause for the dread- 
 ful disease of leprosy. 
 They don't regard 
 water as given for 
 cleanliness. A medical 
 friend asked a patient 
 if he did not wash himself. He answered, " No ! but," 
 he added, "I have a brother who washes himself!" 
 This brother, it turned out, had acquired the rare ac- 
 complishment in Singapore. Happily the barber is a 
 purifying agent ; he shaves not only the face and head, 
 but the upper stories of the body. 
 
 HITI-PI, A SWATOW PUPIL WHO BECAME 
 A LEPER. 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Instead of giving our own opinions on the condition 
 of women, of which the treatment of children forms a 
 part, we have much satisfaction in giving the mature 
 experience of two of the Lady Missionaries of the 
 Church. Their names are a sufficient guarantee for 
 the accuracy of their statements. Miss Ricketts and 
 Mrs. Lyall have been so kind as to comply with our 
 urgent request by forwarding the following important 
 papers. I trust to their charitable forgiveness for 
 declining to withhold their names. It would have 
 been an injustice to the reader and an injury to the 
 cause. 
 
 Miss Ricketts thus writes : — 
 
 " The Intellectual and Social Condition of Women 
 in China and in the Region of Swatow. 
 
 " It has been said that 'every language is a temple in which 
 the soul of those who speak is enshrined.' In China (this 
 country of contradictions) men's words describe their know- 
 ledge of what ought to be ; and it is considered, as a literary 
 man once expressed himself to me, quite sufficient to know — 
 to do what is known is scarcely expected of people. 
 
 " Let us glance for a moment at a few Chinese words 
 relating to women. 
 
 " Chhi. — A wife. The character is composed of woman 
 with hand and sprout, intimating that she enters as an equal. 
 The wife is taken with legal ceremonies, and is equal to the 
 husband. 
 
 " Chhiap. — A concubine. From ' woman ' and ' a crime,' ex- 
 plained as denoting a woman who has committed an offence 
 and been put to service. The concubine is taken without 
 betrothal or other legal ceremonies. 
 
 " Ntt, — A lady. Is from ' woman ' and 'good.' 
 
THE PEOPLE. 33 
 
 " Pi. — An unmarried female slave. Is from ' woman' and 
 ' base.' * 
 
 " These words probably describe the very early thoughts of 
 the people, at a time when they had a knowledge of God as 
 Preserver and Ruler. Long afterwards we find Confucius 
 saying, ' A girl is worth only one-tenth as much as a boy.' 
 
 " ' Woman can determine nothing for herself, and is under 
 the three subjections — viz. is expected when young to obey 
 her father and elder brother, when married her husband, and 
 when a widow her eldest son.' 
 
 " ' No orders must issue from the women's apartments.' 
 
 " ' A woman may take no step on her own motion, and come 
 to no conclusion on her own deliberation.' 
 
 " ' A woman's sole duty is to attend to the furnishing of the 
 table.' 
 
 " A proverb current here shows the estimate of women in 
 these days — ' Wife and children are clothes.' The meaning is 
 explained to be : If you wish them, you can procure them ; if 
 you wish to cast them away, it is open to you to do so. 
 
 Worth of a Girl. 
 
 "Note from Diary, February 5th, 1889, Sin-hu Chapel: 
 ' A heathen woman in the village of Phon-lam, wife of a pro- 
 fessing but not genuine Christian, said as she stood in the 
 crowd, coolly and laughingly, that she had killed three female 
 children. The crowd laughed. I felt roused by their heart- 
 lessness, and rebuked them. They listened unconvinced. 
 The preacher Au Sin-se (now. dead), who was with me, 
 
 * See Williams' Dictionary. We may add to the above some examples 
 from Professor Douglas' " Society in China." The character for woman is a 
 corruption of the Accadian hieroglyphic of the same meaning. The same 
 character doubled means " to wrangle." The addition of a third stands for 
 "intrigue.'" The three with the sign for together form the compound 
 meaning " to suspect," " to dislike," ''to loathe. " But, in happy contrast, 
 the symbol for " rest," " quiet," is that for woman under the domestic roof. 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 pointed out to them that if a sow had more pigs than she could 
 rear the owner would put out a written notice, alluding to one 
 we had passed on the way, asking some person to come and 
 bring up the odd pig. But a girl ? No ; throw her into the 
 water. The tiger is a savage beast, but even a tiger loves its 
 young ones.' 
 
 Change Wrought by Christianity. 
 
 " A-Au and his wife (an old schoolgirl) took to their home 
 and hearts a little outcast girl-baby exposed on the road to die, 
 with her mouth stuffed with ashes. A-Au, attracted by her 
 cries, found her and saved her, and now that he is dead and 
 gone to God that wee Sarah is as much loved and cared for 
 as his own little sturdy son. Poor Sarah retains the pinched 
 proportions of her suffering infancy, but is a good child and 
 loves her school, crying when she has to be kept at home to 
 mind the baby. 
 
 " When a girl is older she is of marketable value, and is 
 frequently sold to relieve family difficulties. Only yesterday, 
 in Swatow, I was visiting a mother and daughter who are 
 inquirers. The old lady cried a good deal, and by-and-by the 
 cause of her grief came out. Before she heard the Gospel she 
 sold a younger daughter, called ' Moon,' to secure money to 
 provide food. 
 
 "She is married into a heathen family, and gentle ' Moon ' 
 is very unkindly treated, and is not allowed to return, even on 
 the usual visit to her mother, because she is a Christian." 
 
 We add the following from Mrs. Lyall, who has for 
 years been engaged in the same work. It gives a sad 
 
 Picture oe Poverty. 
 
 "As a rule the Chinese women, like the men, are hard- 
 working and industrious. Their principal occupations are the 
 feeding of the pigs, pounding the husk from the rice, grinding 
 
THE PEOPLE. 35 
 
 it into flour, and making this rice flour into cakes used in 
 idolatrous worship ; joining the threads of the fibre used in 
 making grass-cloth, preparing it for the loom, and weaving 
 it into cloth, some of which is of a very delicate texture. 
 They also spin and weave cotton ; the cotton-cloth, though 
 not so fine and nice, is much cheaper than the grass-cloth, and 
 much used for clothing by the poorer classes. 
 
 " Chinese women cannot be held up as models of neatness. 
 Yet this is scarcely strange when one considers that perhaps 
 the only one or two rooms belonging to a family contain, not 
 only all the household goods, and household gods, of which 
 there are not a few, but all the farming utensils, the rice bins, 
 sweet potatoes and other products of the fields, and beside, 
 must often be, and usually is, shared by the pigs and the fowls. 
 The floors are usually formed of tiles, which, when old and 
 broken, furnish convenient holes for the dust and dirt, and 
 when, as is often the case, instead of the tiles the floor consists 
 of earth pounded with a little lime, the keeping of them clean 
 would try even a Western woman. Beside, the poorer women 
 have no floor at all — only the earth. 
 
 Social Customs. 
 
 " Then the foolish practice of binding the feet is another 
 evident reason why the Chinese women are so lacking in 
 neatness. A nation of cripples can scarcely be expected to 
 be examples of cleanliness. Although Chinese women do 
 often give vent to terrible paroxysms of anger, yet, on the other 
 hand, the patience and forbearance in their own families 
 which one may see might well serve as an example to their 
 Western sisters. I have often been struck with the kindly 
 feeling that seems to exist between the members of a large 
 household composed of a goodly number of daughters-in-law, 
 each with children and sometimes grandchildren of their own. 
 
 " Unlike their sisters in India, the women are not shut up 
 in Zenanas — save among the high official classes, where they 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 are more secluded — but enjoy a good degree of freedom. 
 True they seldom make long journeys, but, save for a few years 
 before and after marriage, they may go and come freely among 
 their neighbours, and may visit at will other villages, the 
 old women going alone, and the younger accompanied by an 
 older woman or by a small son. Thus there are no serious 
 hindrances to their attending chapel, though custom requires 
 that they do not occupy the same room with the men, or if 
 they do it must be a screened-off portion. 
 
 "The women are far more zealous than the men, and more 
 devout in all idolatrous observances. In the temples and 
 beside wayside shrines one always sees more women than men 
 making offerings and soliciting the favour of the gods and 
 temporal prosperity." 
 
 Education. 
 
 Education in China is something to be wondered 
 at and admired, if looked upon in the light of its 
 antiquity and history. Looked upon as it now is, it 
 is worthy of contempt. At one time China was the 
 most enlightened empire in the world, when not 
 England only, but when Greece and Rome were in 
 a state of barbarism. Now the vast bod)' of the 
 people are in a state of ignorance, and those who are 
 educated are so stuffed with old conceits and stereo- 
 typed in the mould of old-world notions, as to be 
 unfit for the ordinary duties of social and political 
 life. 
 
 Whether the great mass of the people ever were 
 under anything like a national system of education, 
 we cannot say. At present such a thing is unknown. 
 The education is national, but it is only adapted for 
 the few, and Government only professes to train men 
 
THE PEOPLE. 37 
 
 for the political and administrative duties of the 
 empire. This it does, like the London University, by 
 being not a teaching but an examining body, and the 
 inducements to study are only such as are intended 
 to tempt the best talent of the country, wherever 
 found, and from whatever class. The lowest may 
 rise to the highest rewards and honours the country 
 can bestow. 
 
 In respect of the general education of the people, 
 the state of matters is very unworthy of the great 
 reputation which China has long had in the estima- 
 tion of strangers. It is no unusual thing to hear 
 speakers, on the platform, declare that " China is a 
 nation of readers," that " every man can read," or 
 even that " China is an empire of four hundred millions 
 of readers " ; forgetting that infants in China are not 
 born with the sixty thousand characters of the Chinese 
 language in their little heads, nor the nine hundred 
 and sixty phonetics on the tip of their tongues ; not 
 even the two hundred and fourteen roots, which come 
 the nearest to our ABC, committed to memory. 
 They ignore the fact that, with very rare exceptions, 
 women are not taught, and are ignorant of what seems 
 a fact, that not more than 10 per cent, of the males 
 are able to read intelligently. 
 
 Number of Readers. 
 
 The Rev. J. C. Gibson, of Swatow, has studied this 
 question carefully, and has come to the conclusion, in 
 which he is supported by high authority, that not 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 more than twelve millions can read ; and we would 
 not presume to correct his estimate, but for the cir- 
 cumstance that he puts the population of China down 
 at the small number of three hundred millions. This 
 is a question which we have studied carefully, and make 
 out the population to be nearly four hundred millions ; 
 
 GIRLS BOARDING SCHOOL, SWATOW. TEACHER ON LEFT. 
 
 in this we are supported by the first authorities.* 
 Taking Mr. Gibson's estimate of 10 per cent, of 
 readers among the adult males, and i per cent, among 
 the females, after deducting 25 per cent, for children, 
 there will remain sixteen millions of readers in China. 
 
 * See "A Century of Christian Progress." (James Nesbit & Co.) 
 
THE PEOPLE. 
 
 In addition to these, there are a considerable number 
 who get a kind of commercial education, sufficient for 
 the keeping of accounts in a simple way — a kind of 
 training common in India and other Eastern lands ; 
 but such education is of no use for the intelligent 
 reading of books, especially of a classical character. 
 But while it is true that the number of readers is 
 few, there is a great respect for learning, and a great 
 desire to learn ; and if facilities were given, and a 
 more practical form of education were placed within 
 reach, China would soon take a high place as an 
 educated empire. The neglect to educate women has 
 been a great drawback to China's moral elevation. 
 Missions are doing much to arrest attention on this. 
 Girls in the humblest position are being taught what 
 the highest ladies are ignorant of. 
 
 Exceptional Characters. 
 In speaking of the character of the Chinese, let it 
 be remembered that all are not alike in China any 
 more than in England. There are good and bad in 
 all lands. It is the proportion in which the good stands 
 to the bad that makes the difference in the character 
 of a people. In China the evil predominates to a 
 much larger extent than in Christian countries, but 
 even there, amid the surrounding darkness of heathen- 
 ism, which makes the practice of virtue so much 
 more difficult, there are many examples of public and 
 private virtue which might well put to shame many 
 a loud professor of our holy religion. There are 
 
4 o CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Honest Merchants 
 
 and tradesmen of high integrity. It was well known 
 that, during the whole time that trade was carried 
 on with China by the East India Company, there 
 never was an instance of their losing money by the 
 fraud or failure of a Chinese merchant ; large sums 
 of money were given to the Chinese by the Company 
 for the purchase of tea in the interior of the country, 
 where they were not allowed to go — often with nothing 
 more than a verbal engagement — with perfect con- 
 fidence on the one side, and with perfect fidelity on 
 the other. Even if an individual or house of business 
 failed, the family or friends would make up the loss. 
 It may be said that this was because the Chinaman 
 believed that honesty was the best policy ; but it is 
 found in Christian lands, where that saying is a proverb, 
 that professing Christians make fortunes by fraudulent 
 failures. It was when unprincipled traders went into 
 the China trade, after the abolition of the monopoly 
 of the East India Company, that failures and frauds 
 became a perplexity to the Governments of England 
 and China, and led to recriminations, and insults, 
 and war. 
 
 Expert Thieves. 
 
 Along with this acknowledgment, it must also be 
 said, that there is in China an amount of deceit, and 
 falsehood, and treachery in trade, that is appalling. 
 No more expert thieves arc to be found in any country. 
 
THE PEOPLE. 41 
 
 A friend has just told me two examples that came to 
 his knowledge before he left the country. A thief, in 
 the dress of a workman, came into the court where the 
 Mandarin was sitting in judgment on some of his fellows 
 in crime, and began to take down the clock behind 
 the magistrate's chair. He was rebuked for coming 
 at such an inconvenient time, which only hastened 
 his operations, and he walked off with the clock, which 
 was not heard of again. Another Mandarin, when 
 trying a man charged with stealing some valuable 
 things which an Englishman had left lying about, sharply 
 rebuked the loser for his careless habits, which tempted 
 servants to become dishonest, and added, " I am myself 
 sitting here in anxiety, because I left my gold watch 
 under my pillow when I came out." On going home 
 his wife asked him as he entered why he had sent for 
 his watch. " I never sent for my watch, and hope 
 you did not give it to any one." " How could I 
 refuse ? " said the wife. " A young man came and 
 said that you had sent him for it, and he told me that 
 I would find it under your pillow." The incident 
 needed no further explanation. 
 
 Cases of Domestic Happiness. 
 
 When we hear of painful instances of cruelty to 
 wives, and of the murder of little children by their 
 parents, we are apt to suppose that home life must 
 be uniform and universal misery. This is not the 
 case. The children who survive are healthy and happy, 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 as may be seen by their well-rounded limbs, freely 
 exposed to view, and their merry laugh over their 
 childish sports. Owing to poverty, their play is 
 often cut short by their being sent at an early age 
 to share in the toils of life. Even in the homes of 
 the heathen, we find instances of much domestic 
 happiness ; there are warm hearts even amongst Chinese 
 husbands, and loving and virtuous wives, who make 
 home life bright and graceful. Unhappily these 
 instances are rare, not only from the general character 
 of the people, but from their social habits ; especially 
 the custom of making the married sons live under 
 the same roof with" their parents, and subjecting their 
 wives to the autocratic rule of a mother-in-law, or 
 of an elder sister-in-law when the mother is dead. 
 This leads to great misery, and not infrequently to 
 suicide. While over all, at the best, there hang the 
 terrors of superstition and the heavy cloud of a pessi- 
 mistic religion. 
 
 The Occupations of the People. 
 
 The people with whom our Missionaries have to do 
 are engaged in all the ordinary avocations of our home 
 population. There are the professional classes, of whom 
 the Literati are the chief, men whose calling is literature, 
 of whom few, if any, attempt to make the writing of 
 books a source of revenue ; but by Chinese custom, 
 it is through literary distinction that a man is promoted 
 to office under the Government. This leads to a large 
 number of literary men hanging about every town, 
 
THE PEOPLE. 43 
 
 and few villages are without them, preparing for the 
 examinations, in hope of getting the higher degrees 
 which will entitle them to office. This may go on 
 for a lifetime ; some continue until over ninety, and 
 are found competing with their grandchildren. They are 
 as a rule the greatest opponents of the foreign merchant 
 as well as of the foreign Missionary ; their hopes of 
 preferment depend on the stability of the old laws 
 and customs, and they dread the introduction of foreign 
 ideas, or any departure from the ways of their fathers. 
 They are much respected as a class, and if they have 
 attained even the lowest degree, they have great 
 influence. Lawyers and doctors are numerous, but 
 neither of these professions stands high in Chinese 
 estimation, unless those practising them are famed for 
 some other distinction, such as learning or virtue. As 
 for the priestly calling, it stands low in public esteem, 
 and the opposition of priests to Christianity would 
 have little weight. There are no people in the world 
 less under the power of priestcraft than the Chinese. 
 The only priest they respect is the Emperor, who is 
 the one great high priest of the whole nation, of whom 
 we shall speak presently. 
 
 The trades and crafts of China are just such as you 
 see at home, except that they are much more simple 
 and primitive. Some of them are much the same as 
 those of our ancestors two or three hundred years 
 ago, and exactly the same as their ancestors carried 
 them on two or three thousand years ago. They are 
 in many cases, perhaps most, peripatetic, and carried 
 
44 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 on in the open air, like those of the gipsies in their 
 limited crafts. Not only do the menders of tins, and 
 kettles, and crockery, and chairs, and umbrellas come 
 and sit at your door and finish their work, but the 
 blacksmith will come with his forge and bellows, the 
 tailor brings his goose, the shoemaker his last, and 
 even the printer brings his blocks of wood and with 
 small chisels he carves the characters or words on 
 them, as his ancestors did three thousand years ago, 
 long before the system of moveable types was invented. 
 
 Agricultural Population. 
 
 But by far the largest number of the population 
 amongst whom Missionaries have to work are agri- 
 cultural — the farmers and farm-labourers, with their 
 families — all, young and old, being less or more engaged 
 in the work of the field. They are generally poor, but 
 are, on the whole, a healthy, honest, kindly, and most 
 industrious and frugal race. Their habits of life are 
 simple, and they are generally contented and cheerful. 
 The habit of contending with natural difficulties, and 
 uncertainties, of soil and climate, has developed a certain 
 form of intelligence, of a mundane kind, and an inde- 
 pendence of character which makes them the most 
 reliable class of the community. 
 
 In Chinese society, the farmer stands second in the 
 social scale, next to the scholar in point of respectability, 
 and the scholar stands next to the Emperor. He may 
 be poor, but, as the cultivator of the soil, he is regarded 
 as pursuing a more honourable calling than the mechanic, 
 
THE PEOPLE. 45 
 
 the trader, or the merchant. The Chinese idea is, that 
 the Literati come next to the Emperor, or first of all 
 his subjects, because the cultivation of the mind is the 
 first and highest duty of man. The farmer comes next, 
 because the production of food and of clothing for the 
 body is next in importance, and the man engaged in it 
 is more honourably employed than the mechanic or the 
 merchant, who have only to do with the making up of 
 the produce of the field, or in its distribution. As for 
 men who live by catering for the adornment or the 
 amusements of the people, such as barbers and play- 
 actors, they stand at the very bottom of the social 
 scale. They are not allowed to compete for literary 
 honours, with a view to Government employment, even 
 to the tenth generation. They have a saying in China,, 
 " that the man who pays highly for a song will not give 
 much for virtue." 
 
 What makes the Chinese farmer, even the smallest, a 
 self-respecting and independent man, is, that he holds 
 his land by what is practically a permanent tenure. 
 The Emperor is the owner of all the land in that vast 
 empire, larger than the whole of Europe — the largest 
 landowner in the world. The farmer of a few acres 
 who holds his farm by a direct title from the Emperor, 
 if his title is what is called a red title— that is, not a 
 transferred one— cannot be legally deprived of his land 
 so long as he pays the rent. Even if he is obliged to 
 part with his lease from failure of payment, like the 
 Jews of old, he, or his heirs, can claim it back any 
 time within thirty years, if he or they can pay the 
 
46 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 back rents, and ordinary interest thereon. The rents 
 are not high : for the average quality of land the 
 price is about 6s. the acre per annum ; inferior kinds 
 can be had for is. or 2s. the acre, and the best for 
 8s. or ios. 
 
 Tea is not much cultivated in the immediate vicinity 
 of Amoy. The great proportion, and the finest 
 qualities, are produced in the Bohea hills to the west 
 of the province, and in Formosa it is a great staple 
 of trade with the mainland and foreign parts. The 
 bushes, and the blossom in its season, are beautiful 
 features in the landscape, and it is a pleasant sight 
 when the women and children go out to gather the 
 tender leaves for the great article of commerce. The 
 following verses, from a poem which is supposed to be 
 sung by the tea-pickers, gives the pleasant side of the 
 weary drudgery of the poor, and shows that amidst 
 all their toils they can manage to cultivate mirth in 
 contented hearts, not void of vanity. 
 
 Ballad of the Tea-Picker. 
 " Where thousand hills the vale enclose, our little hut is there. 
 And on the sloping sides around the tea grows everywhere ; 
 And I must rise at early dawn, as busy as can be, 
 To get the daily labour done, and pluck the leafy tea. 
 * # * * * 
 
 " But though my bosom rise and fall, like buckets in a well. 
 Patient and toiling as I am, 'gainst work I'll ne'er rebel. 
 My care shall be to have my tea fired to a tender brown, 
 And let the flag and awl* well rolled display the whitish 
 down. 
 
 T\\eJJag and awl are Iwo stages of the development of the young leaf. 
 
THE PEOPLE. 47 
 
 " Ho for my toil ! ho for my steps ! Aweary though I be, 
 In our poor house for working folk there's lots of work, I 
 
 see ; 
 When the firing and the drying's done, off at the call I go, 
 And once again this very morn, I'll climb the high Sunglo. 
 
 " Limpid and clear the pool, and there, how rich the lotus 
 grows ; 
 And only half its opening leaves, round as the coins, it 
 
 shows. 
 I bend me o'er the jutting brink, and to myself I say, 
 ' I marvel, in the glassy stream, how looks my face to-day ? ' 
 
 " Oh for a month I weary strive to find a leisure day ; 
 I go to pick at early dawn, and until dusk I stay. 
 Till midnight at the firing pan I hold my irksome place : 
 But will not labour hard as this impair my pretty face ? 
 
 " My wicker basket on my arm, and hair entwined with 
 
 flowers, 
 To the slopes I go of high Sunglo, and pick the tea for 
 
 hours. 
 How laugh we, sisters, on the road ; what a merry turn 
 
 we've got : 
 I giggle and say, as I point the way, ' There, look, there 
 
 lies our cot.' 
 
 " Ye tittering swallows, rise and fall, in your flight around the 
 hill; 
 But when next I go to high Sunglo, I'll change my gown, I 
 
 . will. 
 I'll roll up the cuff to show arm enough, for my arm is fair 
 
 to see : 
 Oh, if ever there were a fair round arm, that arm belongs 
 to me." * 
 
 * From Williams' "Middle Kingdom." 
 
WATER BUFFALOES. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 
 
 WERE we to give an account of the original form 
 and the fundamental principles of the three re- 
 cognised religions of China, it might be both interesting 
 and instructive to the general reader ; but it would be 
 of little use in the way of giving a true account of the 
 real forms in which these religions are understood and 
 practised by the great body of the people with whom 
 the Missionaries of the Church come into daily contact. 
 It is our purpose, at another time, to present such a 
 description of the religious teaching of these three 
 systems which go by the names of Confucianism, 
 Buddhism, and Taoism, but it will demand a separate 
 volume for its proper elucidation. At present we may 
 say, in a few words, that these three systems, in their 
 
 original and historic forms, were free from idolatrous 
 
 4 8 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 49 
 
 rites and teaching to an extent unknown in any other 
 heathen religion ; and that the two of them, Con- 
 fucianism and Taoism, both taught in their purer days 
 the unity and fatherhood of God, in a way which entitled 
 them to exemption from the name heathen and idola- 
 trous ; while Buddhism, in its original form, was free 
 from idolatry, but, unhappily, seemed to deny the 
 existence of a God or father of the human race. These 
 things we hope to demonstrate and illustrate on an early 
 day. In the meantime, let us glance for a little at these 
 three religions as they pervade and influence the daily 
 life of the great body of the people among whom the 
 Mission of the Presbyterian Church is carried on. 
 
 Confucianism or Ancestor Worship. 
 
 If we except a few of the more highly educated 
 literati, the body of the people know little of Con- 
 fucianism as a religion, except as a system of ancestor 
 worship ; they may or they may not know that the 
 Emperor of China worships heaven under the title of 
 Shang-ti, or the Supreme Ruler, with certain sacrifices 
 twice a year, and that he does this as the High Priest 
 of the Empire ; but so far as his subjects are concerned, 
 it is all a matter of form, in which they feel no personal 
 interest as worshippers. They, with the exception of 
 the chief officers of state, know that they are not called 
 upon to take any part in such worship, and that they 
 are not even allowed to sacrifice or pray to this Supreme 
 God. For a common person to sacrifice or pray to him 
 
 4 
 
50 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 would be considered a piece of presumption and im- 
 pertinence ; it is the privilege of the Emperor alone. 
 The Emperor cannot even delegate any one to take 
 his place at these annual sacrifices and prayers, in the 
 event of his beine too unwell to officiate himself. 
 
 Worship of Ancestors. 
 
 The common people may take part in the spectacle 
 when the Mandarins, by Imperial authority, offer sacri- 
 fices to some inferior deities or spirits, and especially to 
 the tablet on which the name of Confucius is written ; 
 but for them the spirits of their ancestors are all the 
 gods they have to worship, according to the teaching of 
 Confucianism. To the common people this is a real 
 religion ; the spirits are objects of reverence and fear, we 
 may say of fear rather than of filial reverence ; these 
 spirits are supposed to have much greater power and 
 disposition for the infliction of evil than for the bestow- 
 ment of good. 
 
 To many good people in this country the practice of 
 worshipping ancestors seems not only innocent, but a 
 commendable and beautiful custom ; and they wonder 
 why Christian Missionaries make it compulsory on con- 
 verts in China to abandon it, and even to require that 
 they put away the tablets bearing the names of their 
 ancestors. This charitable view is not unreasonable to 
 any one looking on the custom from a distance, or in 
 ignorance of the great evils which spring from it. First 
 of all, it is undoubtcdlv an act of idolatry. It is not a 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 51 
 
 mere social custom, as the Jesuits and others have vainly 
 attempted to prove. To an enlightened Chinese it may 
 be possible to distinguish between the nature of the 
 worship offered to ancestors and that higher degree of 
 reverence which should be offered to the Supreme God ; 
 just as a Roman Catholic makes a difference between 
 the worship which he offers to saints and that which he 
 offers to God. But it is well known that to the great 
 mass of worshippers in Roman Catholic countries such 
 fine-drawn distinctions are unknown. Besides, the com- 
 mand of God is clear, and the Protestant Missionary is 
 bound to demand obedience to the first and second 
 commandments in China as well as in England. 
 
 Its Evil Effects. 
 
 But there are other evils which inevitably spring from 
 the belief that the spirits of ancestors require to be 
 reverenced and fed. It is a crushing superstition, which 
 weighs on the spirits of the living and blights the lives 
 of multitudes. It makes them the prey of necromancers 
 and geomancers, and does more than anything else to 
 tempt them to adopt the other idolatrous religions of 
 China, whose agents take advantage of these supersti- 
 tions to introduce their ceremonies to supplement the 
 more simple but unsatisfying forms of Confucianism. 
 
 But a more palpable evil is its cruel effect on the 
 condition of women. So important is it to have a son 
 to honour and sacrifice to the spirits of the dead 
 father, that barrenness in a wife is sufficient ground for 
 
52 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 divorce, or to justify the husband in taking a second 
 wife, which is in some respects worse. It is regarded 
 as a sacred duty to have a son and heir to feed the 
 hungry ghosts of parents and grandparents of many 
 generations, who, if not worshipped and fed, become 
 the persecutors and tormentors of their families. To 
 
 HOME FOR BABIES RESCUED FROM DESTRUCTION. 
 
 perform this duty to his ancestors, the husband is 
 tempted to commit a sin and cruel wrong to his wife. 
 It is true that he may, in some circumstances, com- 
 promise the matter by adopting a son, but this is not 
 so satisfactory, and many arc glad of so good an 
 excuse to get rid of their wives ; the practice would 
 be even more common but for the expense of pur- 
 chasing a new one. While Confucianism thus stimulates 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 53 
 
 the desire for sons, it does nothing to elevate the position 
 of daughters. It leaves Christianity to save those who 
 would be cast out to perish. 
 
 In conclusion, another fatal objection is that the 
 worship of ancestors stands between the soul and God, 
 and is the greatest obstacle to the progress of 
 Christianity, with all the blessings which follow in its 
 train. It is the only real religious obstacle in the 
 way of the spread of the Gospel, and almost the only 
 excuse for intolerance and persecution on religious 
 grounds. Its apparent plausibility and propriety make 
 it the greatest obstacle in the way of change and 
 progress. It is the bulwark of old customs and abuses, 
 and the greatest hindrance to China's acceptance of 
 a purer faith and better institutions. 
 
 Popular Confucianism a Political Morality. 
 
 Beyond this worship of ancestors, popular Con- 
 fucianism is a system of political morality rather than 
 a religion. Even when it teaches the family and social 
 relations, it is, by way of strengthening the bonds 
 of loyalty, based on filial obedience. There are five 
 relations which include the whole duty of a Chinaman. 
 These are the relations: 1st, of sovereign and subject; 
 2nd, father and son: 3rd, husband and wife; 4th, elder 
 brother and younger brother ; 5th, friend to friend. 
 These five outward relations are to be observed by 
 putting into practice the five inner virtues — benevolence, 
 justice, order, prudence, and fidelity — excellent in their 
 
54 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 way, and if there were the motive and power to enable 
 the people of China to put these virtues in practice, 
 it would be a happy country. The famous Sacred 
 Edict, published by Kang-hi, one of the greatest of 
 the Emperors of China, in the year 1670, is the best 
 illustration of the political morality of Confucian 
 teaching ; and as it is regularly read by the chief 
 officers of government in each province throughout 
 the empire on the first and fifteenth of each month, 
 it has a present significance, and should be a living 
 power. The " Sacred Edict '' is not included among 
 the " Four Books " and " Five Classics " of China, but 
 these are little known to the masses ; the other is 
 known to all and reverenced by all. 
 
 The Sacred Edict. 
 
 The Edict consists of only sixteen sentences, ex- 
 ceedingly brief, and very pithy ; the best translation 
 giving, we are told, but a poor idea of their classic 
 beauty and force. We give the most recent from the 
 Climese Recorder of last year. But while we see 
 force and beauty in some, the meaning of others seems 
 obscure, or lost in the translation. 
 
 " 1. Enforce filial piety and brotherly submission, so as to 
 emphasise social obligations. 
 
 " 2. Give due weight to kinship, with a view to the display 
 of concord. 
 
 "3. Pacify the local communities, in order to pat an end 
 to litigation. 
 
 "4. Attach importance to farming and mulberry culture, 
 that there may be sufficient food and clothing. 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 55 
 
 " 5. Value highly economy, as a means to the careful use of 
 property. 
 
 " 6. Attach importance to academies, in order to improve 
 the habits of scholars. 
 
 " 7. Extirpate heresy, and so exalt orthodoxy. 
 
 " 8. Explain the law, to warn the foolish and the wayward. 
 
 " 9. Elucidate courteousness, with a view to improve manners 
 and customs. 
 
 " 10. Let the people attend to their proper callings, that 
 they may have settled determination. 
 
 " 11. Instruct the rising generation, with a view to prevent 
 evil-doing. 
 
 "12. Prevent false accusations, so as to shield the law- 
 abiding. 
 
 " 13. Prohibit giving shelter to deserters, in order to prevent 
 others from sharing their fate. 
 
 " 14. Pay taxes to avoid being pressed for payment 
 (squeezed?). 
 
 " 15. Unite the tithings, in order to suppress crime. 
 
 " 16. Make up quarrels, and so respect the person and life." 
 
 These brief utterances of Kang-hi are amplified 
 largely by his son and successor, Yung Cheng, and a 
 paraphrase is added by a distinguished Mandarin of 
 a later period, so that the sixteen short sentences with 
 the commentary and paraphrase now fill a volume of 
 sacred literature, the reading of which comes the nearest 
 of any custom in China to the Christian practice of 
 reading the Scriptures in public. 
 
 Forms in Reading the Sacked Edict. 
 The importance attached to the reading of this Sacred 
 Edict is seen from the way in which it is read twice a 
 month. It is thus described by the late Mr. Milne : — 
 
56 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 " The manner of reading the Sacred Edict is as follows. 
 Early on the morning of the first and fifteenth of each moon the 
 civil and military officers, dressed in their uniforms, meet in a 
 clean, spacious hall. The Superintendent calls aloud, ' Stand 
 in files.' They do so according to their rank. He then 
 calls, ' Kneel thrice and bow the head nine times.' They 
 kneel three times and bow to the ground nine times, with 
 their faces towards a platform on which is placed a board with 
 the Emperor's name. He next calls, ' Rise and retire.' They 
 rise, and all go to a large hall where the law is usually read, 
 and where the military and people are assembled and stand 
 around in silence. The Superintendent then says, ' Respect- 
 fully commence.' The Orator then, advancing towards an 
 incense-altar, kneels, reverently takes up the board on which 
 the maxim for the day is written, and ascends a stage with it. 
 An old man receives the board, and puts it on the stage, front- 
 ing the people. Then, commanding silence with a wooden 
 rattle, he kneels and reads it. When he has finished, the 
 Superintendent calls out, ' Explain such a maxim of the Sacred 
 Edict.' The Orator then stands up and gives the sense." 
 
 We add a few extracts from the commentary of the 
 Emperor Yung Cheng on the first sentence, correspond- 
 ing to the fifth commandment of the law of Moses, 
 which may pass for the 
 
 "Reasons Annexed" to Tins First Command- 
 ment in China. 
 
 "Chapter I.— What is filial piety? Obedient devotion to 
 parents is a self evident principle of nature, and the root of 
 virtuous conduct in man. 
 
 " You who are children, and do not know how to do your 
 duty to your parents, only think of their passionate Affection 
 for you, and see whether you ought to be filial or not. When 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 57 
 
 you were a babe in arms, were you hungry ? You could not 
 feed yourself. Cold ? You could not clothe yourself. Your 
 parents looked upon your face, listened to your voice. Did 
 you laugh, they were pleased. Did you cry, they were sad. 
 Did you toddle, step by step they followed you. If you had 
 ever so slight an ailment, they were distressed to the last 
 degree, and could not take their food. They grieved, not that 
 children were difficult to rear, but at their own blunders, and 
 were more willing to bear the sickness in their own persons. 
 They waited till you were well before their minds were at ease. 
 
 "Again," adds the Imperial commentator, "let us show the 
 application of this principle. Years ago the philosopher Tseng, 
 of the Confucian school, said : ' Parents naturally hope their 
 sons will be gentlemen. If they suffer their bodies to commit 
 disorderly acts, are unbecoming in deportment, this is to treat 
 with contumely the bodies transmitted by their parents, and is 
 undutiful. 
 
 " ' Parents hope their sons will become loyal ministers of 
 State. If they act falsely and fraudulently in serving the 
 Government, it is the same as defrauding their parents, and is 
 undutiful. 
 
 " ' Parents hope their sons will be good rulers. If they 
 impede the affairs of the State, and oppress the people, pro- 
 voking them to ridicule, and bring about difficulties, even their 
 parents will be distressed ; this too is undutiful. 
 
 " ' Parents hope their sons will form friendships with worthy 
 men. If in their intercourse with friends they pay no regard to 
 truth and constancy, but are wholly lacking in sincerity, so that 
 everybody despises them, this too is undutiful. 
 
 " ' Parents hope their sons will be brave fellows. If as 
 soldiers they go to battle, but are frightened and will not 
 gallantly press forward, so transgressing military regulations and 
 bringing shame upon their parents, this also is undutiful.' 
 
 " It is evident from this passage of the philosopher Tseng 
 that the principle of filial piety is wide-embracing. 
 
 " Besides your parents, there are your brothers. These 
 
5S CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 brothers must not be looked upon as separable the one from 
 the other. He and I are one flesh and blood, and are there- 
 fore spoken of ' as hands and feet.' If you treat your brother 
 badly, you are really slighting your parents. 
 
 "Take, by way of illustration, the two hands. The right 
 hand can write, can calculate on the abacus, is dexterous in all 
 things. Although the left hand is awkward to a degree, nobody 
 beats the left hand with the right. Now, an elder brother and 
 younger brother are as closely related as hand and foot ; how 
 then can they wrangle ? " 
 
 These are fine sentiments, and have, we doubt not, 
 influenced the political and social life of the nation to 
 some extent. But, in spite of them, the moral life of 
 the people is low, and there is a total lack of spiritual 
 power and the higher morality, from the absence of a 
 spiritual life and a Divine authority. 
 
 Taoism. 
 
 The other two religions need not occupy much time 
 nor space, when viewed in their practical forms, which 
 is the only view we propose to take of them at present 
 In their historical and philosophical aspects, they would 
 require a volume, or at least a chapter. 
 
 The system which goes by the name of Taoism, in 
 its present form, bears no resemblance to the elevated 
 and pure teaching of the sage and mystic Laotsze, 
 from whom it is said to have been derived. If the 
 noble old man rose from the dead he would denounce 
 the practices with which his name is associated. 
 There was an intermediate stage of corruption, when 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 
 
 59 
 
 devotees gave themselves up to the search after the 
 elixir of immortality and for the philosopher's stone, 
 but if any continue this vain quest they arc few, 
 and the masses do not trouble themselves about such 
 visionary pursuits. From being a monotheistic system, 
 free from outward forms and idolatrous ceremonies, 
 its temples are full of idols ; its priests, of whom there 
 were none originally, now swarm over the length and 
 breadth of the land ; and its ritual is now as elaborate 
 as that of the Buddhists. 
 
 To the great mass of the Chinese Taoism is a gross 
 vulgar system of divination, incantation, and demon 
 worship. By its geomancy and necromancy, it does 
 more than any other religion in China to foster the 
 spirit of superstition, and terror of ghosts and goblins ; 
 it encourages gambling, by constantly consulting the 
 gods, or good luck, by means of an appeal to chance ; 
 the prayers of the people are combined with throwing 
 up two halves of a bamboo root, and judging of the 
 answer by the way in which they fall, very much like 
 pitch and toss, or by shaking narrow sticks in a hollow 
 bamboo vessel, until one falls out, or is taken out at 
 random, it being supposed to have written on it a 
 number which guides the priest to the answer to the 
 prayer. The finding of lucky days for all kinds of 
 transactions, especially for marriages and funerals, is the 
 most lucrative of priestly functions, as they are the most 
 frequent for demanding money. Nothing is too im- 
 portant or too insignificant for the exercise of these 
 gifts. They find the doctrine of hong tsuic, or the 
 
60 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 spiritual influences, or spirits influenced by wind and 
 water, in the choice of a site for a dwelling-house, 
 a place of business, or a temple, but most of all the 
 choice of a lucky place for a grave, more costly though 
 less frequent occasions for the exercise of their profitable 
 functions. 
 
 Resemblance between Taoism and Buddhism. 
 On entering a temple dedicated to Confucius, you 
 have no' difficulty in distinguishing it from others. Its 
 barefress and freedom from all idolatrous symbols show 
 that the sage's simplicity of worship has been re- 
 spected by his followers. The only exceptions are 
 some isolated temples, where an image of the great 
 teacher has been set up, contrary to the recognised 
 form. But on entering the temples of the Taoists 
 and Buddhists, you cannot, unless previously initiated, 
 tell whether they belong to the one or the other ; 
 they are so much alike. In each, three great idols 
 look you in the face. In the temple of Buddha they 
 are called the three Precious Ones ; in that of the 
 Taoists they are called the three Pure Ones. In both 
 they are surrounded by many other idols, sometimes 
 to the number of five hundred. Similar tawdry rites 
 and ceremonies are conducted in each, by a host of 
 priests, with the smoke of incense and the chanting 
 of prayers. The reputed founders of these religions 
 would not have recognised their own simple forms, 
 and would have denounced the elaborate idolatry of 
 their professed followers. 
 
the practical religion of the chinese. 61 
 
 Buddhism. 
 
 In calling attention to the close resemblance between 
 Buddhism and Taoism, we do not need to look far 
 for the cause of the likeness. Buddhism came to 
 China from India a full-blown system, with its cor- 
 ruptions fixed in creed, in ritual, and in practice. 
 Taoism at that time — the first century of the Christian 
 era — was in a state of transition, and, being plastic 
 and easily moulded, got cast in the form of the stereo- 
 typed system. They have still their distinctive 
 peculiarities when you get below the surface. One 
 of the great aims of Taoism is to attain a kind of 
 immortality ; the great aim of Buddhism is to reach 
 a state very much resembling annihilation. The 
 former aims at the attainment of greater happiness 
 by a higher and more enduring life ; the latter makes 
 it the ambition of the devotee to extinguish all 
 desire, even of that for happiness, that he may attain 
 Nirvana. 
 
 But whatever the differences in the inner circle 
 of the two systems, in so far as they appeal to 
 the ignorant and sensuous Chinese, the difference in 
 externals is, vulgarly speaking, very much like that 
 between six and half a dozen. A large number of 
 the Chinese worshippers regard them in this light, 
 and, in a spirit of latitudinarian indifference, worship 
 impartially according to the rites of the one or the 
 other ; or, if they can afford the expense, they 
 seek the benefit of the services of both. Indeed, 
 
A BUDDHIST TEMPLE, A.MOY. 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 63 
 
 at all great functions, it is the common practice to 
 perform the appropriate ceremonies of all the three 
 religions of China. The ceremonial of Confucianism 
 is too scanty and colourless for a sensuous and igno- 
 rant people ; they crave for some more outward and 
 sensational forms than are provided by the State 
 religion, which has neither priests nor prayers for the 
 people ; so they call in the priests of Buddha, and, 
 if they can afford it, the Taoist priests as well, and 
 between them, by means of crackers, and bands of 
 what they call music, and gay vestments, they give 
 them sound and show enough for their money. This 
 practice of calling in one religious service after another, 
 or all at once, is a painful proof of the unsatisfactoriness 
 of each and of all for the real wants of the poor 
 worshipper ; they tell of an unsatisfied craving of the 
 soul, a thirst and hunger of the empty aching heart, 
 which the old religions of China and the borrowed 
 religion from India cannot fill. 
 
 Buddhism strengthens its hold on the people by the 
 number of its many monks and nuns, drawn as they are 
 so largely from the lowest classes of society. They arc 
 supposed to be devoted to a holy service, and living in 
 monasteries and nunneries, perched on prominent peaks, 
 or embosomed amid trees in some lovely valley, they 
 keep themselves before the eyes of the people, like their 
 brothers and sisters in the West ; or like certain articles 
 of merchandise, which are supposed to be excellent in 
 proportion to the frequency with which they arrest the 
 eye of the customer. 
 
64 china and formosa. 
 
 Influence of Inferior Deities. 
 Of the gods which influence the Chinese, especially 
 those of the lower and middle classes, perhaps the two 
 most constantly and earnestly worshipped are the god of 
 the hearth or furnace, and Kuan-yin, the goddess of mercy, 
 or queen of heaven, as she is sometimes called. The 
 former takes an oversight of all family affairs, and once 
 a year he ascends to heaven to give an account of all 
 that has taken place in his presence, whether good or 
 bad. The other is a deified virgin, who is often repre- 
 sented with a child in her arms, like the Virgin Mary — a 
 resemblance so strong, that when we showed one to a 
 Roman Catholic country woman in Ireland, she began 
 to cross herself, and was about to worship the heathen 
 goddess, when, with woman's instinct, she perceived that 
 the child was carried on the wrong' arm, and this was 
 all the difference she could detect. Kuan-yin is the 
 principal object of adoration by sailors, especially those 
 of the east coast of Fuhkicn, of which she is said to 
 have been an inhabitant. The cause for the resemblance 
 between her and the Virgin Man- is too difficult a 
 question for our space here. 
 
 Are the Chinese Religious? 
 Some careless observers have, from the prevalence of 
 idolatry, come to the conclusion that the Chinese have 
 no idea of the existence of a Supreme Being, or even of 
 the idea of immortality. William Burns, from closer 
 observation and keener penetration, came to the con- 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 65 
 
 elusion, now generally accepted, that even the common 
 people believe in both. " Their idea of God," he said, 
 " is often associated with the material heavens, or 
 with some idol in their temples, and their thoughts of 
 immortality are mixed up with their notions about 
 ghosts and the transmigration of souls." But as these 
 transmigrations may take millions, or even millions of 
 millions, of years before its devotees attain Nirvana, 
 this long period forms a very respectable eternity for 
 any man, except it be for a very profound metaphysician, 
 such as are seldom found except in the schools of 
 Germany or India. 
 
 Whatever view may be taken of such questions in 
 theory, in one form or another the belief in gods, 
 demons, and spirits is to the heathen intensely real and 
 dreadful. Temporary visitors to the East come home 
 and tell us that the Chinese have no religion, that they 
 are a nation of materialists or atheists. Such men are 
 ignorant of two things : they know nothing of the inner 
 life of a Chinaman, for which their ignorance of the 
 language and customs of the people is their best excuse ; 
 and they do not know that the grossest materialism is 
 quite compatible with the grossest superstition. The 
 number of temples and priests is very great, the sums of 
 money spent on them and on religious ceremonies must 
 be enormous, and the Chinese arc about the last to 
 spend money on what is not in their view important. 
 Money is a good measure of a Chinaman's sincerity and 
 earnestness. It is computed that the public worship of 
 ancestors costs the empire not less than £6,000,000 
 
 5 
 
66 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 sterling yearly, and the private worship by the families 
 as much as £24,000,000 more ; so that for the worship 
 of ancestors alone the cost is over £30,000,000 a year. 
 The amount spent on other religious ceremonies cannot 
 be computed, but must be enormous. To overthrow 
 this venerable and deep-rooted superstition, supported 
 at such enormous cost, how insignificant the agency and 
 how inadequate the means employed by the Churches 
 of Christendom ! 
 
 The Great Want in Heathen Religions. 
 
 In our very brief and imperfect account of the 
 practical side of the religions of China, we have tried to 
 show what they are, and some of the evils which accom- 
 pany the belief of their tenets and the practice of their 
 customs. But if possible worse than the positive evils 
 of heathenism is the lack of those beliefs and conditions 
 which are essential to its reformation. It has nothing 
 within itself that can render it a means of restoration for 
 fallen men. It has not even the knowledge of what the 
 state of man before God really is. It has no knowledge 
 of sin as an offence against a holy Being ; it does not even 
 understand the nature and extent of the disease of sin. 
 The worshipper has no knowledge of salvation. He 
 neither understands its nature as a deliverance from the 
 guilt of sin, nor from the corruption of the human heart. 
 He has no Saviour, far less a Divine Saviour, who died 
 for his deliverance. We may compare Christianity as 
 a creed or a system of morality with the other systems 
 (jf religion in the world ; and we may compare Christ 
 
THE PRACTICAL RELIGION OF THE CHINESE. 
 
 <>7 
 
 with Buddha, and Confucius, and Laotsze, as moral 
 teachers, though our soul recoils from the coupling of 
 the names on the plane of a comparison ; but as a 
 Saviour, teaching the way to the Father, as one sent of 
 God, there is nothing but the most direct contrast 
 between Christ and all other founders of religion. These 
 are the essential conditions of any religion which can be 
 of any use to sinful men, the only religion worthy of a 
 name. This is the religion which China needs, and for 
 which China unconsciously craves. 
 
 BOAT IN WHICH DR. HOWIE SAW BASKETS FULL OF 
 BABIES FOR SALE BY A HAWKER. 
 
GIRLS SCHOOL, SWATOW. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 
 
 Ordination of Mr. Burns. 
 
 ON April 22nd, 1847, tri e Rev. William C. Burns 
 was ordained the first Missionary to China of the 
 Presbyterian Church of England. But though ordained, 
 he made it a stipulation, that he was to be in no way 
 bound to discharge ministerial functions, but to be 
 strictly an Evangelist, to which office he felt himself 
 specially called of God. When asked when he would 
 be ready to start for China, like a good soldier he at 
 once replied, " To-morrow." As he had only a carpet- 
 bag with him, it has often been said that he was willing 
 to set out with no more baggage than the contents of 
 the small bag, regardless of both comfort and cleanli- 
 ness — an idea which does no honour to his large share 
 of common sense, and feelings as a Christian gentleman. 
 
 68 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 69 
 
 He knew that his dear old mother had sent a large and 
 well-filled box to London before him ! After some time 
 spent in visiting the congregations of the Church in 
 England, he sailed on June 9th in the Mary Bannatyne, 
 after an interesting valedictory meeting in the old 
 mother church of London Wall. Mr. Burns' first letter 
 from China was dated November 26th, 1847, addressed 
 to Mr. Hamilton : — 
 
 " Dear Friend, — In the great mercy of God I am at last 
 permitted to address you from this distant shore, which we 
 reached ten days ago, after a passage of fully five months. We 
 had a great deal of stormy weather after reaching the Cape, 
 and at intervals were detained by calms ; and in the China Sea, 
 a few days before our arrival here, we were in not a little 
 jeopardy from a typhoon or hurricane which raged for some 
 time with great fury, and was driving us very fast upon the 
 land, which, when the wind changed its direction, as it most 
 mercifully did about the middle of the storm, was not far 
 distant. It pleased God, in His abundant mercy, to spare us, 
 and to bring us in peace to this wished-for haven.'' 
 
 During the voyage Mr. Burns had made some pro- 
 gress with the written character, and at once began to 
 learn the Canton colloquial with its tones. He com- 
 plains that, being monosyllabic, he could not get a 
 mouthful, as he had in the polysyllabic languages he 
 had learned hitherto, and in his next letter he speaks 
 rather despondingly of his success ; but with his usual 
 perseverance and concentration he soon overcame all 
 difficulties, and was able to proclaim to the Chinese the 
 Gospel he loved. 
 
 While studying the language, both written and 
 
70 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 spoken, he turned his time to good account by preaching 
 to his own countrymen in Hong Kong ; first in the 
 chapel of the London Missionary Society, and subse- 
 quently to a small congregation of his countrymen who 
 wished to set up a Presbyterian Church. He refused to 
 have anything to do with the formation of a Church, 
 but was willing to preach, so long as it did not interfere 
 with his freedom in preaching to the heathen wherever 
 he might find an opening. Mr. Burns was impressed 
 with the importance of education as a means of helping 
 on the work of Missions. He opened a school, in which 
 he taught the Chinese English, while he profited from 
 their Chinese. Eventually he got a few Chinese 
 boarders to live in his own house, and at his own 
 expense ; much as he disliked teaching, and longed for 
 the direct evangelistic work to which he had been 
 accustomed. 
 
 Mr. Burns Itinerating. 
 
 In a letter dated January 29th, Mr. Burns informed 
 Mr. Hamilton that he had taken a new and decisive 
 step. He had on the previous Sabbath intimated to 
 the English congregation that he would not occupy the 
 pulpit again, that the school would be given up, and 
 that he had resolved to prosecute evangelistic work on 
 the mainland, along with two Evangelists given to him 
 by Mr. Gutzlaff. He was driven to this step by the 
 pressure of the claims of the heathen, whose language 
 lie could already speak with considerable facility ; and 
 by the fact that there was no prospect of a Minister 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 71 
 
 being sent out to take charge of the English congrega- 
 tion, nor of a Missionary to take up the school. He 
 says : — 
 
 " I have seen no path open but that on which, at the call of 
 God, I must now enter, namely, abandoning every connection 
 of a regular kind with my own countrymen, and probably also 
 with this colony as a place of residence, that I should go to 
 and fro on these shores, or, if the Lord open the way, into the 
 country, with the Word of Life in my hands and on my tongue. 
 This is indeed an arduous work, and accompanied by no 
 common perils, both of an outward and of a spiritual kind. But 
 in regard to the former I must remember who has said, ' He 
 that loveth his life shall lose it,' etc., and in reference to the 
 latter, it is enough that He hath said, ' My grace is sufficient 
 for thee,' etc. You desired that three doors might be opened 
 for me — the door of entrance into the language, the door of 
 entrance into the country, and the door of admittance of the 
 Lord's truth into men's hearts ; the first of these has been 
 opened in an encouraging degree already, and it now remains 
 to seek by prayer and by actual trial that the other two doors 
 may be opened also." 
 
 On February 13th he writes from " Tseen-wan 
 village " : — 
 
 " I am here among the Chinese, through the great mercy of 
 God in safety, and with full liberty to make known the Gospel 
 of the grace of God, as far as my knowledge of their tongue 
 will permit. The dialect spoken here is not, however, iden- 
 tical with the one I have been learning, and this limits still 
 more my limited capacity. However, one of the men with me 
 speaks this dialect (the Hakka) well, and gives me great reason 
 for thankfulness for the manner in which he addresses his 
 countrymen. I send the old man for ten dollars, and on his 
 return I expect to cross the mountains to a number of villages 
 that are said to be very friendly to the new or foreign doctrine. 
 
72 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 At Cowloon, on my first setting out, the Chinese soldiers saw 
 me, and I had to leave, but since that time I have met with no 
 obstacle of an external kind." 
 
 The chief risk in such work as this lay in its being 
 contrary to Treaty Rights. No foreigner was at 
 liberty to stay at any place, except at the five Treaty 
 Ports ; so that Mr. Burns not only exposed himself 
 to be sent back and fined for violating the treaty, but 
 if he were attacked or injured he had no claim for 
 protection either from the Chinese or the British 
 Government ; besides, there were pirates on the shores, 
 and robbers on land, who made life itself insecure. 
 Mr. Burns had not been consulted by the high officials 
 who made the treaty, nor had he promised to be 
 bound by its provisions : he looked only to his com- 
 mission, " Go ye therefore and make disciples of all 
 nations, . . . and lo I am with you alway, even to the 
 end of the world " ; and he knew of a treaty of which 
 the Ambassadors of England and China knew not — 
 " 1 have given thee the heathen for thine inheritance, 
 and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession." 
 
 Before leaving Hong Kong, an incident occurred 
 which illustrates his kindly ways, and the characteristics 
 of his country. A boy going to sea from a village in 
 Fifeshirc was charged by his mother, " Now, Jamie, if 
 your ship gangs to China, be sure and call on Mr. 
 Burns." It did go to Hong Kong. Jamie got on 
 shore in his best, on Sunday, found the Presbyterian 
 place of meeting, and got hold of Mr. Burns' sleeve 
 as he was leaving the church. When he heard the 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 73 
 
 boy's story of his mother's message, and the place he 
 came from, he was greatly pleased, took the boy home 
 to spend the day with him, and took the mother's 
 place in hearing him repeat the Shorter Catechism. 
 
 On the 24th of May, in the same year, Mr. Burns 
 writes to the Convener, from Hong Kong, that he had 
 been obliged to return for a little more money, as his 
 messenger had been robbed and abused when bringing 
 him a small supply, while he had hitherto been allowed 
 to wander about in safety. When he returned to his 
 work, he found the population in the north of Canton 
 so turbulent and hostile, that he gave up itinerating 
 during the summer months. At the end of 1849 
 Mr. Burns resolved to sail for Amoy, the position first 
 chosen by the Committee as the headquarters of the 
 Mission ; but after his luggage was on board, he had 
 an attack of fever which prevented him. Before his 
 recovery he received a communication from the Com- 
 mittee, recommending Hong Kong as the head- 
 quarters, a natural decision on their part when they 
 found that their agent had acquired a knowledge of 
 a southern dialect entirely different from that of Amoy ; 
 by the same letter they sanctioned the appointment of 
 Dr. James Young as a colleague in the Mission. 
 
 Appointment ok Dr. J. Young. 
 
 This truly pious and earnest medical man, who had 
 for some years assisted his brother in an extensive 
 medical practice in Hong Kong, was strongly com- 
 
74 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 mended to the Committee by Mr. Burns, and devoted 
 himself, as we shall find, to the Master's work with 
 much zeal during a brief career. The disappointment 
 in getting away and the change of view on the part 
 of the Committee, led Mr. Burns to regard this as a 
 leading of Providence for him to remain in the south ; 
 but further indications of such leading in another 
 direction were soon to come in the form of violence 
 and robber}', which made it clear that he could not 
 continue his work in the midst of a population so 
 hostile and lawless. He found it necessary to keep 
 within the limits of the Treaty Ports for a while. We 
 give the letter describing the attack, and the violence 
 to which he was subjected. A friend, who met him 
 returning to civilised society in Hong Kong, in the 
 scanty costume which the robbers had left him, 
 probably because it was not worth stealing, told us 
 that he never saw Mr. Burns looking so happy as he 
 did that morning. He was rejoicing " to suffer shame 
 for His name." 
 
 Mr. Burns Robbed. 
 
 " Hong Kong, November 2S/I1, 1S49. 
 
 " My dear Friend, — After writing you last month I went 
 across, according to my purpose, to the opposite mainland, 
 with the view of revisiting the district where we had been 
 favourably received in the beginning of the year ; and I 
 thought that I might not, if the Lord should favour us, return 
 before the lapse of two or three months. I was compelled, 
 however, after an absence of thirteen days, to come hurriedly 
 hack, in consequence of having been visited by robbers, who 
 broke into the house where we were lodged for the night, and 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 75 
 
 with disguised faces, drawn swords, and flaming torches, 
 stripped us of almost all we had, leaving barely enough of 
 clothing to myself and my companions to enable us to return. 
 During the days we had been away we had many favourable 
 opportunities of speaking of the truths of the Gospel ; but as 
 the people in the smaller villages were almost all in the fields 
 gathering in the harvest, the hearers were fewer than in spring. 
 I went away on this occasion with some hesitation, as I had 
 around me here so large and open a field ; and now that I have 
 been driven back, I do not think, for the present, of going out 
 again. I am here indeed doing very little, but it is not for 
 want of opportunity both in and out of doors, had I only 
 more ability in the language, but, above all, more of the 
 presence and countenance of the Lord with me. I visit the 
 jail as I used to do, and sometimes go out in the evenings to 
 address little companies in the shops and in the streets. Pray 
 for us, that we may be devoted and supported by the Divine- 
 Spirit, and that the name of the Lord may be honoured." 
 
 Visit to Canton. 
 
 After this Mr. Burns and Dr. Young visited Canton, 
 with a view to see if there was an opening to establish 
 the Mission there, but could find no suitable premises, 
 the people were so averse to the presence of foreigners ; 
 so Dr. Young returned to Hong Kong to prosecute 
 his studies, and Mr. Burns got lodgings in the house 
 of a Missionary, and employed a teacher to complete 
 his knowledge of the language. A final attempt was 
 made to find a lodgment in Canton, but in vain. 
 Dr. Young then resolved to go to Amoy, the place 
 originally chosen by the Committee, and at once found 
 himself at home. A house belonging to the American 
 
76 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Mission which had been formerly occupied by Mr. 
 Pohlman, who had lately been drowned in going up 
 the coast, was put at his disposal, at a very low 
 rent. Two schools, with a native teacher, were handed 
 over to him, of which he at once took possession, and 
 expressed himself in every way satisfied with the 
 position. Mr. Burns continued in Canton, making 
 use of his knowledge of the language, and finding 
 abundant opportunities for preaching, and some little 
 encouragement in the attention of the hearers, but 
 with no outward success, and no hope of getting 
 premises for the Mission. With his usual perseverance 
 he kept at his post, until he saw what he considered 
 a call of Providence to join his colleague in Amoy, 
 from which Dr. Young continued to send encouraging 
 accounts to him and the Committee. His soul yearned 
 over the benighted heathen of Canton, and he was 
 loath to leave them, but he felt at last constrained to 
 go to the open and more promising field to which 
 he was called. He left Hong Kong on the 26th of 
 June, 185 1. 
 
 Mr. Burns and Dr. Young ix Amoy. 
 In August of 1S51 we find both Mr. Burns and 
 Dr. Young settled in Amoy, the latter living with 
 Mr. Talmage, of the American Mission of the Dutch 
 Reformed Church, with two schools under his care, 
 and a dispensary, where he found ample opportunities 
 for attending to the souls, as well as the diseased 
 bodies of the people. Mr. Burns, after a brief stay 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 77 
 
 under the hospitable roof of the Rev. Alexander 
 Stronach, of the London Missionary Society, took up 
 his abode in the upper part of the schoolroom, in the 
 midst of the Chinese. The situation was wisely chosen. 
 It was on a rising ground where he enjoyed good air, 
 and by putting on a second roof over the old one, 
 projecting so as to shade the house from the sun, he 
 had a healthful, but a very humble dwelling, quite to 
 his mind. No man combined the spirit of self- 
 denying devotion with a wise regard to the physical 
 conditions of health better than Mr. Burns. While 
 he had a supreme contempt for outward show or 
 fashion, he regarded the body as belonging to the 
 Lord who redeemed him, soul and body alike, and 
 consecrated both to His service. 
 
 During the year 1852 the Mission was carried on 
 with devotion and diligence by the two Missionaries, 
 aided as they felt by the marriage of Dr. Young to 
 a lady of a true missionary spirit, sent out by the 
 Society for Promoting Female Education in the East. 
 Mr. Burns, besides carrying on his evangelistic tours, 
 devoted much of his time to literary work, for which 
 he was now well qualified by his scholarly habits and 
 knowledge of the language. He assisted the Missionary 
 Societies in revising and enlarging the hymnbook 
 common to all, himself translating several Psalms and 
 favourite English hymns into the Chinese language 
 and measure. We do not profess to be a judge of 
 Chinese poetry, but we know our friend did not claim 
 the poetic gift, and we feel we are safe in saying that 
 
7S CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the translations were more characterised by fidelity 
 to the original, than the smoothness of their rhythm ; 
 and that they more resembled the style of the good 
 old Puritan Sir Francis Rous, than that of Watts or 
 Wesley. But they had the great merit of being well 
 adapted to the wants of the infant Church. 
 
 Translation ok the "Pilgrim's Progress." 
 
 The greatest service of a literary kind which Mr. 
 Burns performed for the Church of Christ in China 
 was his translation of the " Pilgrim's Progress " into 
 Chinese, a work by which he will be remembered with 
 gratitude, and which it is an honour to our Church 
 to have been the means of rendering through her 
 accomplished agent. It is such a work as a Chinaman 
 can appreciate, and of which he will never tire. The 
 style of language is well chosen, partaking as much 
 as possible of Bunyan's Saxon simplicity ; it was a con- 
 genial work, and no pains was spared on its composition. 
 The greatest difficulty was in finding suitable names of 
 persons for Bunyan's quaint and expressive ones. Mr. 
 Burns spent days on the hills around Amoy, which 
 are covered with graves like a grand natural cemetery. 
 From the headstones on these he found his well-chosen 
 names. His peregrinations during his long search were 
 called by the Missionaries Burns' " meditations among 
 the tombs." 
 
 To the writer on his arrival in Amoy, it was a great 
 delight to take long walks with him over these hills, 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 79 
 
 and to hear our friend tell where he got the names 
 of the different characters. Going up to a fine 
 grave, he would say, " It was from that man I got 
 a suggestion for the name of Evangelist, and over 
 there I got the name for Mr. Pliable, and away down 
 there I found Obstinate." Then walking to another 
 hill he pointed out the origin of the Chinese Mr. 
 Valiant-for-Truth, and with a merry laugh, "Come 
 over here and I will show you Mr. Facing-botli-zvays" 
 He identified the Bunyan characters with the graves 
 from which he had got the names ; he would often 
 point to one and say, " Old Mortality lies up there, and 
 down yonder lies By-ends, of the town of Fair-speechT 
 Like all great workers, he lived in his work, and while 
 engaged on the " Pilgrim's Progress " he did little else, 
 and found it enough. His motto was, " One thing I 
 do," and he did it well. 
 
 The Committee for five years had been unremitting 
 in their efforts to secure another ordained Missionary 
 to strengthen and extend their work in China, but 
 in vain, until in the year 1853 the report to the 
 Synod contained the following clause : — 
 
 Appointment of Mr. Johnston. 
 
 " Ever since the appointment of Mr. Burns it has been the 
 anxious desire of the Committee to secure the services of 
 another Ministerial Missionary. Their desire has at last been 
 granted, and they have much pleasure in announcing that the 
 Rev. James Johnston, a student of our College and a licentiate 
 of our own Church, has accepted the Committee's invitation to 
 join the Mission at Amoy. Mr. Johnston has for many years 
 
No CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 been intimately known to some of our number, and from bis 
 ability, his attainments, and his piety, we are assured that the 
 Synod could not well have found a more suitable man for the 
 responsible post. 
 
 " Since his appointment Mr. Johnston has devoted most of 
 his time to visiting the congregations. Everywhere he has 
 been received with the most cordial kindness, and we are sure 
 that the acquaintance thus formed will redound to the further- 
 ance of the Mission. Those who have seen their own Mis- 
 sionary face to face contribute to the work and pray for its 
 success, with a measure of personal affection ; and the 
 Missionary will labour with all the more alacrity when he 
 remembers how many friends and well-wishers he has left at 
 home praying for his prosperity and waiting for good tidings." 
 
 Mr. Johnston was ordained by the Synod at its 
 meeting in Manchester on April 22nd, 1853, in the 
 presence of a large congregation. It is thus referred to 
 in the Messenger the following month : — 
 
 " The Synod then proceeded to the ordination of Mr. James 
 fohnston as a Missionary to China. We sincerely regret that 
 space and time prevent us from giving more than a mere 
 notice of this most interesting part of its proceedings. The 
 Ex-Moderator, Mr. McKenzie, conducted the devotions ; Dr. 
 Paterson preached the sermon ; the Moderator put the ques- 
 tions and offered the ordination prayer; Professor Lorimer 
 delivered the address to the Missionary, and Mr. Munro, of 
 Manchester, the address to the congregation. The beautiful 
 church was filled with an interested audience ; and a more 
 solemn and impressive service it has been the lot of few to 
 witness." 
 
 The Nature of the Mission Work Decided. 
 The Committee were still entertaining the idea of 
 establishing the Mission on a basis less or more of an 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. Si 
 
 educational character, like those established by Dr. 
 Duff in India, and, that he might be the better fitted 
 for such work, if found desirable, Mr. Johnston was 
 directed to go to Glasgow and study the most approved 
 methods of instruction in the Normal Seminary of the 
 Free Church. Being, like many, especially at that 
 time, greatly interested in the educational schemes of 
 the Scottish Churches, and having received his chief 
 impulse towards the Mission field from personal inter- 
 course with Dr. Duff, he threw himself into the plan, 
 and spent some months in the daily study and practical 
 working of the seminary, then under the able manage- 
 ment of Mr. Hislop, and submitted to the examina- 
 tions like the other students. To get still further 
 knowledge of the educational methods of Mission work, 
 Mr. Johnston visited India on his way to China, and 
 spent nearly two months in Madras, in daily attend- 
 ance at the schools and colleges of the Free Church, 
 and other Missionary and Government colleges. 
 
 On his arrival in China in the end of 1853, he made 
 inquiries in Hong Kong and Canton, and after a short 
 stay at Amoy visited Shanghai, to see whether there 
 was a suitable opening for an Educational Institution at 
 any of the open ports. He had most interesting inter- 
 views with the Missionaries at nearly all the open ports 
 on this subject, and several at Canton and Shanghai 
 wished him to stay at these places and make the 
 attempt. The venerable Dr. Medhurst especially urged 
 him to make the experiment ; but as he could only 
 advise it as an interesting variety of operation of which 
 
S2 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 he would like to see the result, in which, however, no one 
 was ready to take a share, there was little inducement 
 to make the trial. 
 
 After a careful and independent examination of the 
 whole field open to Missions, Mr. Johnston came to 
 the conclusion that China, at that time, was not in a 
 condition to require or to profit by a system of educa- 
 tion, similar to that which was both necessary and 
 advantageous in India ; least of all an education in 
 which the English language was made prominent. He 
 thought that the time might come when English would 
 be valued and useful as an educational agency for the 
 spread of science and Western thought, and even as a 
 handmaid to missionary effort. This anticipation has 
 been realised of late years, and such is the demand for 
 scientific knowledge and the English language, that the 
 Chinese are willing to pay the foreign teacher, and to 
 tolerate, even if they do not desire, the Christian 
 instruction which accompanies it. 
 
 While setting aside the educational method as the 
 basis of the Mission, Mr. Johnston strongly advocated 
 education for the children of converts, for both male 
 and female adults, and for the training of a native 
 ministry ; but all in the native tongue. He found on 
 his return to Amoy that Mr. Burns and Dr. Young 
 were quite prepared to give up the teaching of English, 
 which they had found both arduous and unprofitable. 
 Some of Mr. Burns' most promising pupils in Hong 
 Kong told him that he might take back all the 
 grammatical English he had taught them, for it was 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 
 
 of no use in Canton. The dreadful jargon called 
 pigeon English was of more use to them than that he 
 had been at so much pains to teach. 
 
 The Committee were fully satisfied with the reasons 
 given, and abandoned the idea of setting up an Edu- 
 cational Institution. This was characteristic of what 
 has been the wise and kindly practice of the Committee 
 from the first. While they were most careful to keep 
 themselves informed on every part of the work com- 
 mitted to them by the Church, they always allowed 
 the utmost degree of reasonable liberty to their agents 
 in the field. In so doing they have secured an amount 
 of unity and harmony of which few Missions can boast ; 
 and have impressed on the Missionaries a sense of 
 responsibility, which has stimulated effort, while the 
 burden has been lightened by the consciousness that 
 they were not toiling under a despotic authority, but 
 were carrying out the plans which had commended 
 themselves to their own united judgments and experi- 
 ence. 
 
 The State of the Mission in 1853. 
 
 Missions may be looked on from the Divine or the 
 human, the supernatural or the natural side. Both are 
 deserving of careful study, but it is of vital importance 
 that the Divine and supernatural be first and fully 
 recognised. It is for this reason we call attention 
 to the state of the Mission in the end of 1853, not for 
 a moment to reflect on the Missionaries either of our 
 own or of other Churches, but to bring clearly out the 
 
84 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 important truth that the success of Missions does 
 not depend on the unaided labours of men, however 
 devoted and zealous, but on the presence and power 
 of the Spirit of God, in order that the Church may 
 realise her responsibility, and be stimulated to faith 
 and prayer, and that God alone may be glorified in 
 the conversion of the heathen. The men under whom 
 thousands were soon to be added to the Church, in 
 a time of spiritual revival, were the same who had 
 laboured with equal ardour for years with little, or 
 in some cases no apparent results. 
 
 Mr. Burns, under whom the revival was so soon to 
 begin, told the writer with tears in his eyes, in December 
 of 1853, " / have laboured in China for seven rears, and 
 I do not know of a single soul brought to Christ by me" 
 How one admired the man who could continue steadfast 
 in labours so abundant, with no sign of the Master's 
 favour, though he had been honoured as a young man 
 to see hundreds awakened by a single sermon ! This 
 man had gathered thousands into the garner of God in 
 a few brief years in his own country ; and here labouring 
 in a foreign land, under a burning sun, he had not been 
 encouraged by gleaning even one ear of corn from the 
 vast harvest field. The former success must have made 
 the apparent failure so much harder to bear. Faith 
 might well have been staggered. But to the credit of 
 the man, and to the honour of the grace of God in him, 
 there was no faltering or despondency, no sign of the 
 " feeble knees " or " weary hands." Strong in faith, and 
 obedient to the command of God, he laboured only 
 
THE PLANTING OF THE MISSION. 85 
 
 the more earnestly and prayed the more fervently, and 
 God, in His own time, gave him the reward of his 
 fidelity. 
 
 There were in 1853, as there are still, two Societies 
 at work in Amoy — the agents of the " London Mission- 
 ary Society," and those of the " Reformed Dutch Church 
 of America." Both Societies had been for many years 
 at work among the Chinese in the Straits of Malacca, 
 who are chiefly from the eastern part of the province 
 of Fuhkien, and as they for the most part speak the 
 Amoy dialect, it gave them great advantages in begin- 
 ning work in the new sphere of labour ; though, as 
 we shall see, they had been able only to gather a 
 handful of converts ; and yet they were the largest 
 number of all the Missions we had met with at any 
 of the open ports. The number of adult members was 
 only forty-six in the two Missions, as the result of ten 
 years' labour. We wrote in December, 1853: — 
 
 A United Communion. 
 
 " I at once introduce you to the whole Church, at one of its 
 general meetings, which was held shortly after my arrival, and 
 to which I look back with unmingled feelings of pleasure. 
 
 " It was held in a long, narrow, humble room, on the 
 ground floor of the house of the senior Missionary, and when 
 I entered, the slanting streaks of light from the sun, which was 
 approaching the horizon, but dimly lighted up the assembled 
 company, and the table spread with the precious symbols of the 
 Saviour's broken body and shed blood. The congregation was 
 a most interesting one. First of all there were the native 
 Christians, numbering about thirty-five, males and females — 
 only a few of the latter. Taking advantage of the ' liberty 
 wherewith Christ maketh His people free,' they had laid aside 
 
S6 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the jealousy and prudery of Eastern, or rather tropical fashion, 
 and husband and wife, and brother and sister, sat side by side, 
 or mingled with the foreigners ; and in their devout bearing 
 and intelligent interest in the service, which was allowed to 
 speak for itself, so far as they were concerned, you could see 
 the obvious effect of the Gospel's transforming power. Scattered 
 amongst them were the Missionaries and their families, and 
 altogether they formed one perfect brotherhood, in which the 
 distinctions of party were forgotten ; and around sat a number 
 of Chinese, who still adhere to their idols, although some of 
 them are in a state of interesting inquiry. To this mixed 
 Christian company I dispensed the symbols of our Lord's 
 broken body and shed blood in the English tongue. On the 
 following month it will be in Chinese. The tongues vary on 
 alternate months. The feast is one and speaks to all. 
 
 "The Church here numbers more converts than in any of 
 the other parts of China ; and, from what I have seen of them, 
 they will bear comparison with the same class of converts 
 in any heathen place that I have visited. There are 
 twenty-five adult members of the American Church, including 
 several females, and twenty-one members of the Church of the 
 London Missionary Society, all males ; and there are at present 
 a considerable number of inquirers of both Churches. Amongst 
 those of the London Missionary Society there are at present 
 five females, who will shortly be admitted to the rite of baptism, 
 along with some males, amongst whom is my own servant, who 
 has for some time been an inquirer. It says not a little for the 
 stability of the Chinese character, as well as for the caution of 
 the Missionaries in admitting converts, that there has never 
 been a sufficient ground for the exercise of discipline on any 
 member of the Church since its formation : eight have passed 
 from the Church below — we trust to the Church above — but 
 none have been suspended or expelled. More than once the 
 enemy has tried to blast the reputation of some, but happily 
 without success ; and the rage of the accuser of the brethren 
 has been the means of uniting them more closely." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 TIMES OF BLESSING. 
 
 T 
 
 HE year 1S53 had 
 closed (on our Mis- 
 sion) under a cloud. At 
 the time of the arrival of 
 the new Missionary, when 
 as yet he could do little, 
 having no knowledge of 
 the language, another was 
 taken away in the prime 
 of her life. The wife of 
 Dr. Young died a few 
 hours after Mr. Johnston 
 reached Amoy. But it 
 was the cold dark hour 
 before the dawn. The 
 year 1854 will ever be 
 memorable in the annals 
 of our Mission. It was 
 then that God began a work under Mr. Burns which 
 has continued to bear fruit to this day. Mr. Burns 
 thus simply describes the commencement of a work of 
 the issue of which he then had no conception : — 
 
 87 
 
 GATHERING IN THE HARVEST. 
 
88 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 "January \dtli , 1854. 
 
 " Dear Mr. Matheson, — In a country market town called 
 Peh-chuia (Whitewater Camp) I write with no better materials 
 than a Chinese pencil and paper. I left Amoy on the 9th with 
 two members of the American Church on a missionary tour, 
 and since then we have been in this place, preaching on market 
 days to a few among the thousands who then assemble to buy 
 and sell, and on other days going out among the surrounding 
 villages, which are many and populous. We are everywhere 
 very well received, and our message is listened to with atten- 
 tion, and in some cases we may hope with profit. What we 
 need is the power of the Spirit of God on the hearts of speakers 
 and hearers. This place is, I suppose, from twelve to twenty 
 miles from Amoy [the latter was found to be the distance], 
 about half-way to the city of Chang-chow, which we visited in 
 April. One of the native Christians with me was formerly a 
 teacher in the school where I live ; the other is an interesting 
 and very zealous man whom I have accompanied before. I 
 went specially at his instance to Chang-chow in April, and 
 now again he has come forward to prompt us to the present 
 tour. This man was formerly a fortune-teller, and now that he 
 believes and publishes the Gospel, he still retains something of 
 the fortune-teller's talking power with much Christian simplicity. 
 Dr. Young has gone to Chang-chow on a kind of medico-mis- 
 sionary tour, of which I am very glad. I have said nothing 
 as yet of our fellow-labourer Mr. Johnston, who arrived just 
 fourteen hours before Mrs. Young died. We have had some 
 pleasant intercourse since that time ; but in the meantime he 
 is left alone in Amoy. He has been preaching on board the 
 war steamer now in the harbour.'' 
 
 Revival at Peh-chuia. 
 
 To show how the Lord was opening the way fur the 
 entrance of His truth, wc quote from Mr. Burns' next 
 letter dated March 3rd : — 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 89 
 
 " I am still at Peh-chuia. In this place and the neighbour- 
 hood our way was so remarkably opened that we have been 
 there as our headquarters ever since (dwelling in our hired 
 house and preaching hall at one dollar a month), encouraged 
 not only by the general disposition of the people to hear the 
 word, but also by the special interest of a few individuals. 
 Among these, one family, consisting of a father, mother, and 
 three sons, seem to be at the door of the Kingdom, if they have 
 not already entered in. I had been absent from Amoy just 
 forty-nine days, and they were days of much mercy, and more 
 than usual encouragement in the work of the Lord among this 
 people. 
 
 " I am glad to see the proposal to add to the number of 
 your Missionaries taken up in Scotland, and trust that much 
 good may be the result. You must, however, guard in your 
 intercourse with any who may wish to come out against 
 sending them with any vague idea of assisting me — that is, of 
 my being in any way able to direct and assist them. From 
 the way in which I am now labouring, I am, as hitherto, 
 without any plan but that of co-operating generally in the work 
 as I find opportunity. This is the way which I believe is best 
 for me, but it is one in which I can evidently do little to aid 
 others in any defined plan of missionary work. 
 
 " P.S. — The Missionaries of the London Society are receiving 
 into the fellowship of the Church next Sabbath seventeen 
 Chinese, nine women and eight men ; among whom are Dr. 
 Young's eldest child's nurse, who attended the late Mrs. 
 Young, and her son, who is Ur. Young's personal attendant." 
 
 Progress at Peh-chuia. 
 
 " On our arrival at Peh-chuia, we found to our delight that 
 the work there had made decided progress in our absence. 
 The two native Christians (members of the American Mission 
 Church at Amoy) whom we had left in charge seem to have 
 been much aided in teaching the people. The preaching 
 
90 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 room had been crowded every night to a late hour by from 
 forty to sixty persons, and those who had from the beginning 
 shown an attachment to the truth had evidently advanced in 
 knowledge and earnestness of spirit, and resolved to obey the 
 Gospel at the risk of much reproach and opposition. In our 
 absence the station had also had the benefit of a short visit 
 from Mr. Doty of the American Mission. When I left Peh-chuia 
 last Monday, it seemed that, including young and old, there 
 might be about twenty persons who have declared themselves 
 on the side of the Gospel, but some of these are children, and 
 two or three are women whom we have not seen — mothers 
 who have received the truth from their sons or husbands. 
 
 Lam-san and his Parents. 
 
 " Among the number of those who are attached to the Gospel 
 are two whole families of six members each. The eldest son 
 in one of these families, a promising youth of twenty, early 
 showed much decision, having, on the birthday of ' the god of 
 the furnace,' taken this god and put it in the fire. The idol 
 having been but in part consumed, his mother discovered 
 among the ashes a part of its head, and father and mother 
 together beat their son severely ; but some of the other 
 Peh-chuia inquirers having gone to comfort the young man, and 
 reason with his parents, their views underwent so sudden and 
 entire a change, that in a day or two afterwards they, with their 
 four sons, brought out all their idols and ancestral tablets, and 
 publicly destroyed them in the view of the people. The father 
 I have two or three times met with, and he seems, along with 
 his four sons (an interesting set of boys), to be in a promising 
 state of mind. 
 
 The Cloth Merchant. 
 
 "The other family is that of a respectable cloth-dealer, 
 whose shop is in the same street with our lodging. This 
 family has passed through remarkable trials, which seem to 
 have prepared them for receiving the Gospel on its first an- 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 91 
 
 nouncement, they having twice lost all their property by 
 robbers ; and on the second of these occasions having had 
 their house burnt, to cover the robbers' retreat, when the whole 
 family were obliged to leap from an upper story, and yet 
 escaped unhurt ! They are a very interesting family, and have 
 in one point shown more decision than I have before seen in 
 China, having (while yet only inquirers) shut their shop on the 
 last eight Sabbaths, even although two of these Sabbaths were 
 market-days. The family adjoining our house is literally 
 divided — two against three, and three against two. The elder 
 brother and his wife oppose — they live by making paper images 
 used in idolatrous processions, for burying the dead, etc. ; the 
 mother, the second son, with the youngest, who is a mere boy, 
 are on the side of the Gospel. The second son formerly made 
 images with his elder brother, but has now given up this trade, 
 and has begun a general business in one half of the shop which 
 they have in common. It is curious thus to notice that on the 
 Lord's day the younger brother's side of the shop is closed, 
 while the elder brother's side remains open ! This young man, 
 when we were absent farther inland, went down to Amoy with 
 the desire of being admitted into the visible Church ; and 
 though he has not yet been baptised, the American Missionaries, 
 who examined him, were astonished and delighted by the 
 evidence which he gave them of knowledge, repentance, and 
 faith, and would have admitted him a month ago, along with 
 ten others (Amoy people), had it not been that my two native 
 companions, returning the day before to Amoy, urged the 
 expediency of delay. 
 
 Need for Church Organisation. 
 
 " As I do not propose, in regard to these people, to act 
 differently from what I have always done — viz. confining myself 
 to the work of teaching and preaching, and leaving the peculiar 
 duties of the pastoral office to others whom I may, in the provi- 
 dence of God, be called to co-operate with -several other 
 persons, eight in all, have gone down to Amoy to be examined 
 
92 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 by our American brethren, with a view to baptism. With most 
 of these cases these brethren are most interested ; and I have 
 told them that I think the time is come when, for the good of 
 the Peh-chuia people, they should take a more special charge 
 of that place as an out-station. This they are in a position to 
 do, having native agents whom they can employ." 
 
 We need not say now that the loss of this station, 
 which has been the fruitful parent of many other 
 stations, and the nucleus of our work in China, would have 
 been a fatal blow to our Mission, which was happily 
 averted. On Mr. Johnston's return from Shanghai, 
 he took the responsibility of making Peh-chuia a station 
 of our own Mission, and the American brethren most 
 generously offered their assistance in carrying it on while 
 he was acquiring the language. This kindness he was 
 able subsequently to repay, by handing over to them the 
 station of Chioh-bey, which was opened by the Peh-chuia 
 converts. This suited them better, as it was half-way to 
 Chang-chow, where they proposed to open a station. 
 
 The inability of Mr. Burns to co-operate with his 
 colleagues, then or at any future period, was a trial to 
 young Missionaries, and in some way a weakness to the 
 Mission, especially as he devoted most of his time 
 to assisting other Missions ; but no one had a right to 
 complain. He went to China, with the consent of the 
 Synod, on condition of perfect freedom, and, while he 
 seemed to lessen his usefulness and weaken our Mission, 
 he exerted a wider influence on the missionary spirit in 
 all societies, by the saintly devotion of his walk and 
 conversation. 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 93 
 
 Mr. Burns, after spending some time in Amoy, and in 
 itinerating in the villages in the south and west, while 
 at Bay-pay heard that one family in Peh-chuia had 
 publicly destroyed their idols and ancestral tablets, the 
 latter the most cherished objects of Chinese idolatry. 
 On returning to that interesting village he found the 
 report was true, and writes in the most encouraging 
 way to Dr. Hamilton. 
 
 Prosperity in Adversity. 
 
 It was at this interesting time that a fresh trial came 
 upon the Mission, which, but for the kind providence of 
 God and the grace of the Spirit in the hearts and conse- 
 crated lives of the Peh-chuia converts, might have been 
 a real calamity. Dr. Young became so ill that he had 
 to be sent home as soon as possible, and from the nature 
 of his malady it was needful that some one should go 
 with him to take care of him and his two motherless 
 babes. This duty naturally fell to Mr. Burns, who had 
 been eight years in China, and he agreed to go in charge 
 of his friend and the little ones. Mr. Johnston was thus 
 left alone with a very imperfect knowledge of the 
 language, yet by the blessing of God the work continued 
 to grow both in stability and extent. The difficulty 
 was greatly increased by his being suddenly struck 
 down by disease, of which dysentery was only one of 
 the symptoms, and for some months he had to carry on 
 the work of the Mission from a sick-bed or sofa. 
 
 The genuineness and depth of the work at Peh-chuia 
 was finely displayed. Instead of going back in the 
 
94 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 absence of their spiritual father and guardian, they 
 not only added to their number, but began of their 
 own accord to carry the Gospel to the villages around 
 them, and won the respect of their neighbours by 
 their consistency of character. The old cloth merchant 
 was specially noteworthy as " a living epistle known and 
 read of all men." E-ju, a peripatetic pastrycook, was 
 one of the most successful volunteer evangelists. Wher- 
 ever he went he preached the Gospel. On one occasion 
 he went to the large village of Chioh-bey, with its 
 twenty thousand inhabitants, and so interested the 
 people that they rented a house, turning the lower part 
 into a preaching hall and the upper part into an apart- 
 ment for evangelists to live in, and sent to ask Mr. 
 Johnston to send a preacher. He managed to get from 
 his American brethren two of the more intelligent of 
 their members, and sent them up. At the end of a 
 month they came back so hoarse they could hardly 
 make themselves heard. When asked what was the 
 matter, they answered : " Teacher, the people of Chioh- 
 bey are very clever at listening ; we have preached until 
 we are hoarse, and we cannot satisfy them ; they come 
 from morning to night to hear the doctrine, and they sit 
 up till midnight and will not go away. You must send 
 up some others and let us get rest." 
 
 The Work at Chioh-bey. 
 
 Others were sent, and came back in the same con- 
 dition and with the same story, and so the work went 
 on until Mr. Talmagc went with Mr. Johnston to 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 95 
 
 examine them with a view to baptism. That night will 
 never be forgotten by those who took part in the 
 examination of those who came forward applying for 
 baptism. It is deeply engraved on our memory, and we 
 doubt not our dear friend Talmage remembers it in the 
 beatific visions of the upper sanctuary. We began our 
 work of " discerning spirits" at eight o'clock, and were 
 much impressed by the depth and thoroughness of the 
 work of the Spirit of God, as seen in the answers and 
 experience of these simple and earnest believers in the 
 Lord Jesus. These answers often astonished us, when we 
 considered that all the teaching they had received from 
 man was through the native Christians of Peh-chuia and 
 the uneducated converts from Amoy. We felt that 
 there was higher teaching than that of man, and we 
 were awed by the evident presence of the Spirit of God 
 in the work before us. 
 
 " Put down My Name, Sir." 
 
 After we had resolved, with the approval of the evan- 
 gelists, to admit twenty to the rite of baptism on the 
 following Sunday, we found it impossible to continue 
 longer at the work. It was near midnight, and we 
 were worn out, and yet many were waiting for examina- 
 tion, so we proposed to delay further examination for 
 that night, and asked those desiring baptism to stand up 
 and give us their names. To our surprise twenty or 
 thirty at once stood up — men and women of all ages : 
 strong men came forward and said, " Put down my 
 name " ; old men leaning on their staff said, " Put down 
 
96 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 my name " ; feeble women, tottering on their little feet, 
 came modestly forward, saying, " Put down my name " ; 
 and even children desired to have their names put down 
 among those seeking after God. When we thought of 
 the dangers and persecutions before them, we remem- 
 bered Bunyan's picture of the man of " a stout counte- 
 nance " at the door of the beautiful palace who said to 
 the man with the inkhorn. " Set clown my name, Sir," 
 and drew his sword and hewed his way in, and then the 
 Pilgrim heard the pleasant song, — 
 
 " Come in, come in ; 
 Eternal glory thou shalt win.'' 
 
 It was a pleasant sound to us, as we took our way to 
 the boat on the river at midnight, to hear the voice of 
 psalms and hymns as we passed the houses of converts 
 and inquirers, in the midst of that great heathen town, 
 where such sounds had never before been heard ; it was 
 like the light of our lanterns shining brightly on our 
 path amid the deep darkness around. 
 
 The One Missionary and His Manifold Wore. 
 
 Mr. Johnston having been left alone in the end of 
 August, 1854, sent to the Convener a full statement, 
 regarding the steps he had taken to carry on the work, 
 from which we make a few extracts : — 
 
 " I shall direct your attention to the following fourfold 
 division of labour : 1st. The Preaching Station and the Church 
 at Peh-chuia ; 2nd. Schools ; 3rd. Bible and Tract Distribution ; 
 4th. Evangelists and Evangelistic Work. 
 
 " r st. The Preaching Station in the suburbs of Amoy, which 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 97 
 
 was established by Dr. Young in the beginning of the year, 
 having services in it three times in the week, I kept up during 
 the hot weather, but on the return of winter I discontinued 
 the evening services and commenced a daily service at eleven 
 o'clock. These services I rejoice to say have not been without 
 good fruit; several are very regular in attendance, and two 
 have given as good evidence as could well be expected of 
 having passed from death to life. One, Sun-lo, was baptised 
 six weeks ago, and the other, Him-lo, was baptised last Sabbath : 
 the latter has imperilled his earthly sustenance by refusing to 
 work on the Sundays, and the former has suffered very much 
 from the persecutions of his mother and the violent conduct 
 of his father. 
 
 " The station at Peh-chuia continues to flourish. There were 
 nine communicants when Mr. Burns left; since then three 
 have been baptised, and two more will be admitted to the 
 Church on Sabbath ; so that before this letter leaves the 
 number will be fourteen members in full communion, with 
 dependants and children making a Christian community of 
 more than forty persons, besides a number of inquirers." 
 
 Evangelistic Spirit in Pkh-chuia. 
 
 " I cannot speak too highly of the spirit, and order, and 
 brotherly love manifested by that infant Church, which I 
 commend to the maternal care and prayerful solicitude of the 
 Church at home, by which I trust it will be loved and cherished 
 as a precious gift from God, at once a proof of His favour for 
 our beloved Zion, and an earnest of yet greater blessing to us 
 and you. It would be much to the advantage of England did 
 each of our congregations manifest a spirit like that of Peh-chuia. 
 There each member seems to feel that the work of an evangelist is 
 laid upon him, and although not one has been appointed to any 
 office, or offered any pecuniary reward for his service, they 
 labour out of love to the Saviour, as much, or perhaps more, 
 than most paid agents would do. With such diligence have 
 
 7 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 they acquitted themselves, aided by the evangelists whom we 
 have been able to send to their help, that the district around 
 is now pretty familiar with the sound of the Gospel, and in 
 some of the villages there is a disposition to receive the 'glad 
 tidings.' 
 
 Schools. 
 
 " 2nd. The schools went on prosperously in the way of ac- 
 quiring knowledge. Two boys were baptised, Ti-a and Kow-a, 
 in addition to the one baptised before Dr. Young left. They 
 are giving me great comfort by their behaviour, and their 
 diligence in study was proved lately at a distribution of prizes. 
 Two of the Christian youths stood at the head, and the third 
 was placed fourth ; all by the decision of their heathen teacher. 
 I found on my visit to Peh-chuia that the school was doing 
 well, but one of the older scholars was about to be removed 
 to assist his father, the old cloth merchant. He is a Christian 
 youth of good promise, and is already a fair scholar for his 
 age — fifteen. I could not think of losing him for the service 
 of the Church, and, with the full consent of his father, have 
 him down in Amoy to live with me and prosecute his studies 
 along with Kow-a, who has been with me ever since his father 
 drove him from his house. It is not improbable that I may 
 add to my family in this way, and happy shall I be if God 
 send twenty instead of two, in the same providential way. If 
 I take many more, as I hope to do, it may be necessary to 
 provide funds for their support, about J~io per annum each. 
 In the meantime there is no need. 
 
 "3rd. Bible and Tract Distribution has been carried on 
 during the last four months, since I have been able to go 
 about, with the help of native agents. We have distributed 
 fourteen hundred copies of the New Testament, and a few 
 copies of the Pentateuch, but only to those who were able 
 to read and seemed able to make a good use of them. Of 
 tracts we have in the same time given away twenty-five 
 thousand. 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 99 
 
 "4th. Evangelists and Evangelistic Work. I find it difficult 
 to adhere to one designation for the helpers I employ. They 
 partake of the twofold character of evangelists and colporteurs, 
 and do not strictly sustain the full character of either. They 
 are simply intelligent Christians, gifted, less or more, with the 
 power of addressing their countrymen in a clear and interesting 
 manner on the great fundamental truths of Scripture, with 
 which they are fairly well acquainted, especially the New 
 Testament portion. Within four months I have personally, 
 or by our agents, conveyed the Gospel message, in an imperfect 
 way, to more than fifty towns and villages in which it had never 
 been proclaimed before, besides repeated visits to some, and 
 also to other villages where others had been before me. 
 Doubtless the Gospel was very little understood at first ; but 
 in each village New Testaments were left with tracts, all 
 within an easy distance of our headquarters, so that any 
 inquirer could learn more if he desired it. To this we attach 
 much importance : single visits to distant regions, like flashes 
 of lightning, do little more than make the darkness appear all 
 the darker." 
 
 The difficult}" of carrying on the work of the Mission 
 in places so far apart as Amoy and Peh-chuia,a distance 
 of twenty miles, as well as carrying on evangelistic work 
 in the regions around, when there was only one man 
 to attend to all, was keenly felt ; but, as the following 
 letter addressed to Mr. Matheson will show, was in a 
 great measure met by a happy device — the " Gospel boat," 
 the first that had appeared in Chinese waters. 
 
 The First "Gospel Boat." 
 
 " As the distance between Amoy and Peh-chuia could not 
 be lessened, my only plan was to fall upon some more speedy 
 mode of locomotion, or of travelling in such a way as would 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA 
 
 not waste time. To effect both in some manner, I found that 
 my best plan was to get a boat built, with a small cabin, in 
 which I could carry on my studies travelling by day, and sleep 
 comfortably if I travelled by night, which I purposed frequently 
 to do, as it was a clear gain if I could do my work in one 
 place and awake the next morning ready for my duties in another. 
 To do either it was necessary to have a boat of my own, which 
 
 I could command by 
 night or by day. By 
 day the Chinese pas- 
 senger boats are very 
 uncomfortable, and at 
 night they are afraid to 
 travel for the number of 
 thieves that swarm in 
 the river. But I have 
 manned mine with 
 Christian sailors who 
 have no such fear when 
 I wish to go anywhere. 
 They believe it to be 
 God's work, and don't 
 doubt God's protection. 
 I was the more disposed 
 to get a boat of this 
 kind, as I had pre- 
 viouslyplanneda system 
 of visitation by which 
 I hoped to carry the 
 Gospel' Ito many a town and village outside the harbour of 
 Amoy. There are many hundreds of large villages and many 
 large towns within a circuit of twenty miles in which the 
 Gospel of the grace of God has never been proclaimed, and 
 prior to my illness I had made a most interesting and encouraging 
 commencement, of which I hope to tellnyou some particulars 
 another time. 
 
 THE GOSPEL'BOAT. 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 
 
 " As for my own experience of this mode of acquiring the 
 language, I am satisfied that, combined as it is with study 
 under a regular teacher, it is by far the most effective for all 
 practical purposes. By being thrown entirely amongst the 
 people, whose tones are constantly striking the ear, and rarely 
 a foreigner to speak with, I am compelled to speak their 
 language in self-defence — I may say for self-preservation." 
 
 To the credit of the Chinese be it told, that the " Gospel 
 boat " was never molested. Even pirates respected her ; 
 they were frequently seen prowling round her at night, 
 but as soon as they found out that it was what the name 
 on her prow indicated, the Hok-Eum-Chun, or " Good 
 News Boat," they went quietly away, either from appre- 
 ciation of our disinterested work, or because they knew 
 that there was little plunder to be had. It was known 
 we did not carry much money, and the boatmen were 
 not allowed to carry arms, but were instructed to present 
 them with plenty of tracts and Bibles — not likely to 
 tempt pirates to break the eighth commandment. 
 
 Character of the Converts. 
 It is always unfair to compare converts from heathen- 
 ism with Christians who have a long pedigree. Here- 
 dity tells on the formation of character, and the 
 education of family life in a Christian country, where 
 the standard of morality is high, tells even on those 
 who are only nominal professors of religion. But we do 
 not shrink from such a comparison in the case of 
 Chinese converts, specially of the first converts in 
 Peh-chuia. Having visited India on our way out, we 
 were greatly struck with the difference between the 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 adult converts in that country and China. The Chinese 
 showed so much more independence, stability, common 
 sense, consistency, and zeal. They have a backbone 
 which the native of India so sadly lacks, if he has not 
 been trained under Christian influence from his youth, 
 either in the family or school. Hence the necessity for 
 educational Missions in that country. 
 
 The aggressive character of religion, as received by 
 the Chinese converts, is a fine feature ; they no sooner 
 accepted Christ for themselves, than they began to 
 commend Him to others. They could not rest content 
 with a mere personal salvation ; their first aim was to 
 bring the members of their own families to the Saviour 
 they had found so precious to themselves ; and it was a 
 rare thing to find one Christian only in a family for any 
 length of time, so much so that a man would be sus- 
 pected of not living worthily if he failed to bring a 
 parent or child, or a brother or sister, to follow his 
 example. Their zeal seemed also to open their lips 
 to speak in public, so that their heathen neighbours 
 believed that all Christians were preachers, of which 
 there was a rather amusing illustration in Pch-chuia. 
 In the clan feuds so common between the villages, if 
 a man is caught by the opposite clan, he is liable to be 
 fined, beaten, or, in case of a blood feud, to be killed. 
 
 "Preach or be Punished." 
 
 One of the Peh-chuia converts was caught by the 
 villagers who were at feud with it. He was too poor to 
 be fined, and was sentenced to be beaten. He pleaded 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING, 103 
 
 that as a Christian he never took part in these feuds. 
 The plea was admitted as valid, but how were they 
 to know that he was a real Christian ? This was solved 
 by the test of preaching. The poor man pled inability, 
 as he was only a common Christian and not a preacher, 
 but the plea was set aside by the axiom, " All Christians 
 can preach," and "You must either preach or be beaten." 
 Driven to this alternative, the poor man got up and 
 preached to his very hostile audience. Whether he 
 saved the souls of his hearers we know not, but we 
 know that he saved his own back from the bamboo, 
 which was no small mercy : he was allowed to go free. 
 It were well that our Christians at home had this 
 reputation for preaching, though there is happily no 
 fear of its being put to such a test. 
 
 Another trait in the genuine converts is their regard for 
 truth. We dare not say that they all become perfectly 
 truthful ; they have been so accustomed to falsehood that 
 it is difficult to get entirely free from the old habit. They 
 are liable to be overtaken in the fault under sudden temp- 
 tation, as Peter was, by what was probably an old habit, 
 common in strong characters and rude life, that of swear- 
 ing ; but they earnestly strive to get rid of that habit of 
 lying, the common fault of a weak or an oppressed or 
 misgoverned people. Mr. Johnston told the following in- 
 cident, which brought the laugh against him for a while. 
 
 Courtesy and Trxjth Illustrated. 
 
 " On paying my first visit to Mr. Burns at Peh-chuia, the 
 converts, at evening worship, would insist on the new Mission- 
 
104 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 ary, whom they were so delighted to see, saying a few words in 
 their tongue. Although I had not studied the colloquial for 
 more than a month or two, I had learned a few sentences, 
 which I gave out boldly. They were delighted, and shouted 
 with one voice ' Put chi ho ' (Very good, or literally No end of 
 good), ' Chin ho ' (First-rate), and urged me to go on. If I 
 had stopped then I would have come off with flying colours, 
 but, rashly desiring to please the dear people, went on until out 
 of my depth, though they looked so intelligently pleased. I put 
 the question point-blank, ' Do you understand what I say ? ' 
 As Christians they were too truthful to say ' Yes,' and as 
 Chinamen too polite to say ' No,' so, after a pause, the old 
 cloth merchant answered, ' We shall pray to God, that you 
 may soon speak intelligibly.' This was so fine a specimen 
 of the Christian gentleman, that I was quite willing to be 
 laughed at, when Mr. Burns told the story with great glee to 
 the assembled Missionaries in Amoy. In a little while they all 
 admitted that the prayer of the simple Christians of Peh-chuia 
 had been heard." 
 
 A Martyr Spirit. 
 
 The way in which the converts stood persecution in 
 every possible form gave unquestionable evidence of the 
 genuineness of their conversion. We shall not give 
 examples now — they will occur often enough as we pro- 
 ceed — but during the first year of our Church's existence 
 there were cases of cruel beating, of both young and 
 adults ; many were deprived of employment for keeping 
 the Sabbath ; many had their fields taken from them by 
 unjust prosecutions ; the harvest was frequently carried 
 off the field, and their cattle stolen without redress, 
 because they would not bribe the Mandarins to get 
 justice. All these things they bore without complaint 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 105 
 
 or begging from any one. If they got help it was only 
 such as their fellow-Christians gave, never from the 
 Mission. The Missionary might, and often did, assist 
 out of his own pocket, by contributing to the Church 
 funds for the poor, in the same way as ministers do at 
 home. By making all help come through their own 
 countrymen, there was good security against imposition. 
 The charge made by ignorant or malicious foreigners, 
 that converts were bribed, or that they were " Rice 
 Christians," was an unmitigated calumny. The spirit in 
 which many of them took " the spoiling of their goods " 
 astonished their enemies, and sometimes shamed them 
 into repentance. When the village authorities of 
 Peh-chuia came to the shop of the old cloth merchant 
 to take his goods because he would not pay for 
 idolatrous ceremonies, instead of whining, or begging 
 exemption, or making a great outcry, as Chinamen 
 would naturally do in such a case, he took down the 
 goods from the shelves and threw them on the counter, 
 saying, " There they are, gentlemen ; take them all ; take 
 me and my wife and children to prison ; but I will 
 never give a cash for the service of idols." The men 
 were so amazed at such a reception that they neither 
 knew what to say nor do, but hastened out of the shop, 
 and never troubled him again. 
 
 Mr. Johnston Compelled to Come Home. 
 
 Early in 1855 the medical faculty in Amoy came to 
 the conclusion that it would be absolutely necessary for 
 
106 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Mr. Johnston to go home, for treatment which they dare 
 not attempt in a tropical climate. After submitting to 
 the most painful application for some time longer, he 
 reluctantly consented to go, encouraged by the assurance 
 that there was every prospect of a speedy recovery and 
 return to his much-loved work. He waited on as late 
 as was safe for going up the Red Sea, in hope of seeing 
 Mr. Burns and a new Missionary, who had been sent 
 out at the cost of the Association in Scotland. Un- 
 happily the out-coming Missionaries went round the 
 Cape, and did not arrive in time, so that the work was 
 carried on for a few weeks by the Missionaries of the two 
 other Societies — such was the perfect union of spirit 
 among the agents of the three Societies working in and 
 around Amoy. The great object of each was to work 
 for the One Master, not for themselves or their Societies. 
 At that time, and for years after that, the Christians did 
 not know the names of the different Societies ; they only 
 knew that some of the agents came from England, and 
 some from America. Denomination was a word quite 
 unknown among the Chinese at Amoy, and rarely even 
 named among the foreign community. 
 
 Great Results in Short Time. 
 
 Before leaving Mr. Johnston was able to write to 
 Dr. Hamilton : — 
 
 " I have been permitted to witness great things during my 
 short period of service here. I have seen what cannot but be 
 regarded as a manifest work of the Spirit of God. Man has 
 
TIMES OF BLESSING. 107 
 
 been nothing ; God has done everything. The number of 
 adult members of the three Missions, including our own, have 
 increased fourfold in a year and a half. There were only about 
 forty in 1853, as the result of eight years of earnest labour ; 
 now there are not fewer than a hundred and sixty, and these 
 far more active and earnest than the former. ' It is the Lord's 
 doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.' " 
 
 On his return, one of the first things which Mr. 
 Johnston did was to raise a fund for a College in Amoy, 
 to complete the arrangements for an efficient Mission by 
 raising up a native ministry, for which he had made a 
 small beginning by taking two youths into his house, 
 and by practical training of young men whom he em- 
 ployed going about with him in evangelistic work. In 
 a short time the sum of £2,500 was raised, one generous 
 friend, R. A. Macfie, giving a donation of £1,000. At 
 the end of a year's treatment, the medical advisers of 
 the Committee gave it as their opinion, that they could 
 not sanction his return to the hot climate of China. 
 Mr. Johnston was unwilling to abide by this decision, 
 and on the Committee refusing to send him, as he 
 desired, without a medical certificate, he went to the 
 South of France, to accompany an old pupil, and thus 
 gave another year's trial, but without any change in the 
 symptoms which would warrant his being sent out again. 
 
 There being no vacant charge in England at the time, 
 he accepted a call to St. James' Free Church which 
 came to him when advocating the cause of our Mission 
 in Glasgow, where for many years he acted as Honorary 
 Secretary to the Association in Scotland. 
 
COROUOMU A CO. LI'MTtD. «*P ENGflS. LQNOOtii 
 
I 1$ v. 
 
 
 
 
 TWO HOUSES OF MISSIONARIES. THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE OS KU-LANG-SU, AMOY. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 the story of the amoy mission. 
 Arrival of Carstairs Douglas. 
 
 ON February 2 1st, 1855, Mr. Carstairs Douglas 
 was ordained as a Missionary of the Presbyterian 
 Church of England, in St. Matthew's Free Church, 
 Glasgow. He was the first whose support was provided 
 by the Scottish branch of the Mission. After a distin- 
 guished career at college and in the Divinity Hall, 
 Mr. Douglas offered himself for China, and was gladly 
 accepted by the Committee. A more suitable man 
 could not have been found for the work — a man ot 
 sound judgment, thorough scholarship, systematic and 
 persevering habits, devoted zeal, and earnest piety. He 
 sailed with Mr. Burns on his return to China, and during 
 
 109 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 his voyage round the Cape, under such an able teacher, 
 laid the foundation of his future reputation as one of 
 the most accurate and ripe Chinese scholars of his day. 
 They sailed in the Challenger from the Thames on 
 March 9th, and both arrived in Hong Kong a few weeks 
 after Mr. Johnston had been compelled to leave. 
 
 Mr. Burns Attempts to Reach the Tai-ping 
 Rebels. 
 
 Mr. Burns went to Shanghai with the intention of 
 going on to Nankin, to try and visit the chief at the 
 headquarters of the great Tai-ping rebellion, who pro- 
 fessed to be a Christian, and was circulating the Bible 
 by thousands, wherever his victorious armies carried 
 their conquests. These efforts failed. He was turned 
 back by the Imperialists, and for some months devoted 
 himself to evangelistic work among the villages near 
 Shanghai, co-operating as usual with different Societies, 
 but latterly with Mr. Hudson Taylor, of the Chinese 
 Evangelisation Society, who spent his time in itinerant 
 work. In imitation of that friend he adopted the 
 Chinese costume, to escape from the crowd of curious 
 gazers, a step which he afterwards regretted, and 
 although he continued the custom himself, he strongly 
 advised his brother Missionaries not to adopt it. He 
 felt keenly the reproach of the Chinese, who called him 
 on account of the imitation of their dress the " Ke whun 
 lang," or the hypocritical foreigner. 
 
 Mr. Douglas went on to Amoy, threw himself into the 
 work of the Mission, and with the help of the other 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 
 
 Missionaries, especially those of the American Society, 
 kept all the organisation in full efficiency, and at the 
 end of the year was able to report as follows to the 
 Committee : — 
 
 Mr. Douglas's First Impressions. 
 " A glorious work of God has been wrought in this place, 
 and He is working still, and by His dealings we seem warranted 
 to expect that all this is only the beginning of the abundant 
 blessing that He is about to bestow. For several years after 
 this port was opened, the labour seemed almost in vain, and 
 when about seven years ago the drops began to fall they were 
 very few ; but about two years ago the conversions became 
 much more numerous, and now the number of living adult 
 members is as follows : — 
 
 The London Missionary Society, in Amoy . . 136 
 The Reformed Dutch Church of America, in Amoy . 100 
 English Presbyterian Mission, Peh-chuia . 25 ) 
 
 An offshoot from Peh-chuia, Chioh-bey .22) 
 
 Making in all . . . 283 
 
 "Of these, the London Society has thirty-nine female 
 members, and the American about the same number. You 
 can now judge as to the past and present ; while as to the 
 future, our hopes rest on various reasons — partly on the zeal and 
 prayerf illness stirred up at home, partly on the singularly steady 
 progress and increase of the converting work, which is 
 peculiarly free from any excesses of enthusiasm or superstition, 
 and very much on the fact that the converts, almost all, are 
 full of zeal to lead their relations and friends to become 
 partakers of the like precious faith, and to instruct in the 
 Scriptures and the doctrine those who are younger in Christ. 
 They seem so to delight to tell ' those that are without' of the 
 grace and peace which they have found. . . . 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 " The persecuting spirit at Chioh-bey and Peh-chuia seems 
 to have nearly subsided, but the public doors for worship have 
 not yet been opened. The work, as you see from the numbers 
 given above, has gone on without intermission, but as yet 
 no satisfaction has been received for past injuries, nor any 
 security for the future; that is to say, from man, though from 
 a higher source there has been abundant compensation, in the 
 universal zeal of the infant Churches, several taking joyfully 
 the spoiling of their goods, and others being quite ready to 
 do so. . . . It would be wrong to conceal that among three 
 hundred converts there have been some cases of backsliding 
 and falling away ; even an evangelist fell under that terrible 
 vice of opium-smoking, and he has not risen again ; but such 
 cases are very rare, and some have given abundant proof of 
 repentance." 
 
 Mr. Burns in Swatow. 
 
 In March of 1856 Mr. Burns left Shanghai for Swatow, 
 in company with Mr. Hudson Taylor, who ere long 
 returned to that place for his surgical instruments and 
 medicines, but, as they had been destroyed by fire, he 
 did not return. Mr. Burns, with the help of two native 
 evangelists, continued to itinerate in the surrounding 
 villages. On one of these he mentions incidentally : 
 " Robbers broke into our lodgings, and carried off all we 
 had, except what we wore. This is another reason why 
 we should labour and pray for these people." In the 
 same letter he says : " The people of this district arc the 
 most barbarous I have met ; in summer they go about 
 their work in the fields in a state of savage nudity, and 
 I am told that within the last twenty years they have 
 been in the habit of cutting their enemies in pieces 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 113 
 
 in their clan feuds, and, taking out the heart, have boiled 
 and eaten it to give them courage." On going farther 
 inland Mr. Burns was arrested at Chao-chow-fu by the 
 Mandarins, and after examination was sent down to 
 Canton under a guard, and delivered up to the British 
 Consul, for his violation of the treaty, by staying and 
 preaching beyond the limits of the Treaty Ports. He 
 was well treated, and would not have suffered much 
 inconvenience, but for an attack of fever, which made 
 the journey very trying. At Canton he was set at 
 liberty, and returned to his old headquarters at Hong- 
 Kong. He says in a PS. to his letter giving an account 
 of the incident : — 
 
 " I was taken up to Shanghai last year free "of charge, by a 
 Christian captain, and this year I have come down part of the 
 way supported by the Chinese Government. I amuse my 
 friends by saying that I wish the Chinese Government had 
 only continued my allowance [300 cash, equal then to i$d. a 
 day], and given me a permit to save me from being again 
 apprehended. The time for that liberty has, I fear, not yet 
 come." 
 
 Commissioner Yeh's Correspondence. 
 
 This incident led to a correspondence between the 
 High Imperial Commissioner Yeh and H.M. Consul 
 at Canton. Yeh complains of a foreigner going beyond 
 the Treaty Ports, and is especially suspicious on account 
 of his wearing a Chinese costume. He says : — 
 
 " I cannot but look upon it, therefore, as exceedingly im- 
 proper that William Burns (admitting him to be an English- 
 man) should change his own dress, shave his head and 
 
 8 
 
114 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 assuming the costume of the Chinese, penetrate into the 
 interior of the country in so irregular a manner. . . . Can it 
 be that a person dressed in the garb, and speaking the 
 language of China, is really an Englishman ? May he not be 
 falsely assuming that character to further some mischievous 
 ends ?" 
 
 Happily for Mr. Burns, the translator at the office 
 in Canton was Harry Farkes, who so highly distin- 
 guished himself at a later period as Consul and 
 eventually Ambassador. He was a good friend of 
 Missions, and Mr. Burns got off without anything more 
 than a caution to avoid giving offence in future, a 
 caution which did not affect his liberty either in itinera- 
 ting or preaching ; but though he escaped, it was many 
 months before his native assistants were discharged from 
 a painful imprisonment. 
 
 The close of this first decade was signalised by the 
 departure for China of another able and devoted 
 Missionary — Mr. David Sandeman, who was ordained 
 by the Synod at its meeting in April 1S56, and, after 
 visiting many of the Churches, set out for China in 
 October following, " having been commended to the 
 Lord" at a meeting in Regent Square Church the night 
 before. He arrived in Hong Kong at the close of 
 November, and proceeded at once to Amoy. His brief 
 career and bright memory will be noticed again. 
 
 Wc close this first decade with a quotation from 
 Mr. Douglas's letter on the expansion of the Peh-chuia 
 Church by its own enterprise. We have recorded the 
 opening ol the Church at Chioh-bey. Two other 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 
 
 Churches were begun by the zeal of its members in Bay- 
 pay and Bay-pi. 
 
 Mr. Douglas records the admission of five new 
 members at Peh-chuia, and adds : — 
 
 Twelve New Converts at Peh-chuia. 
 
 " Twelve men came down from Bay-pay applying for baptism, 
 but it was thought advisable to delay them, as well as some 
 others from other villages, till they have been more fully tried and 
 examined. Three of these men were so desirous of baptism, 
 that being unable to come on foot so far (a distance of seven 
 or eight miles), they hired chairs. We were told that there are 
 several other inquirers. One interesting case came before us. 
 You remember that two or three years ago Mr. Hums stayed 
 some time in that cluster of villages, but saw no fruit of his 
 labour, and we had met only one man who had received any 
 permanent impression at that time. But the word had also 
 sunk into the heart of a woman, and from that time to this she 
 has constantly worshipped the Supreme God. She had learned 
 very little truth, but it was enough to be the means of leading 
 her to worship Him in spirit. The only ceremony she used 
 was to bow herself down twelve times in adoration. Her 
 relations scolded her for not joining in their idolatries, but she 
 would worship God alone. When they could make nothing 
 by earthly threats, they said, ' Well, after you are dead we will 
 not offer you meat or clothes, so you will be a poor, cold, 
 hungry spirit.' ' No,' said she ; ' God will take me to heaven, 
 and I shall have no need for your meat.' When she heard 
 with joy of the preachers having come again to her village, 
 she at once applied for baptism." 
 
 Mr. Douglas mentions at the same time the baptism 
 of twenty-one new converts in the other Missions in 
 Amoy. 
 
n6 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Divine Guidance in the Extension of the 
 Church. 
 
 We have seen the foundation of our Mission laid 
 by a Divine hand. The pillar which led Israel through 
 the wilderness stage by stage, led the Church step 
 by step in this mission enterprise. It was not by 
 human wisdom or power that it was originated and 
 carried on ; and the blessed results at the end of this 
 first decade are the seal of God to the Church's work 
 in carrying out the Master's command. Each new 
 station that was opened was opened by the same 
 overruling Providence. The agents of the Church 
 were led from village to village by the Spirit of God. 
 They obeyed the call, " Come over and help us," a 
 call from some inquirer who had heard the word in 
 an old station ; or sometimes it came from the heathen, 
 who heard about the foreign religion, and, dissatisfied 
 with their own, wished to know of one that would 
 satisfy their longings. 
 
 The most marked feature in the spread of the Gospel 
 from Amoy was the part taken by the native converts. 
 They were at the head of almost ever)' new advance 
 made. Mr. Burns was led by them from place to place, 
 from the day he was urged by native Christians to go 
 to Peh-chuia. As he often said, " I did not take them 
 to assist me ; they took me to assist them." This self- 
 propagating power of the Gospel has been the distinctive 
 feature of our Mission, and has been the secret of its 
 wonderful success. 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 117 
 
 Death of Mr. Sandeman. 
 
 In the midst of much prosperity in the work of the 
 Mission in Amoy, the hearts of the workers were 
 wrung with a bitter sorrow : one of the most promising 
 of their number was suddenly carried off by cholera 
 just when entering on his labours. The Rev. David 
 Sandeman, brother of Mrs. George Barbour, who with 
 her husband were the founders and principal supporters 
 of the Scottish branch of the Mission, arrived in Amoy 
 in December 1856, and in July 1858 he died, and 
 was buried in Ku-lang-su, where much precious dust 
 now rests " in sure and certain hope of a blessed 
 resurrection." He seemed, from outward appearance, 
 the last that was likely to fall a prey to disease. He 
 was a man of splendid physique, the type of vigorous, 
 healthy manhood. 
 
 Mr. Sandeman was a man of great solidity and 
 worth of character, and by his perseverance and energy 
 he took a higher place in both study and work than 
 many of his more gifted companions. As a child he 
 was rather dull and gloomy, but it was noticed that 
 when he became a Christian man, he was bright and 
 cheerful. As one said, " It was the love of Christ that 
 brought a smile into his face." His conversion took 
 place when he was eighteen years of age, and was 
 characteristic of the promptitude and decision of the 
 man, and of the faithfulness of God. A friend asked 
 him if he was going to partake of the Communion 
 in Perth, in April 1844. Sandeman said, "No." His 
 
1 18 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 friend then said, " David, did you ever give yourself 
 away to Jesus ? " He answered, " No:' " Then go 
 and do it," was the prompt advice. He immediately 
 went to his bedroom, and, falling on his knees, 
 said, " Lord Jesus, I give myself to Thee." He was 
 amazed, for he felt at once he had been taken at 
 
 REV. DAVID SANDEMAN BONSKEID, THE ANCIENT HOME 
 OF THE FAMILY AND NOW OF THEIR DESCENDANTS 
 THROUGH MRS. GEORGE BARBOUR. 
 
 his word, and from that hour he never faltered, but 
 became one of the most decided and devoted of 
 Christ's servants. 
 
 He lost no opportunity of speaking a word for 
 Christ by the way. When out walking in the suburbs 
 of Edinburgh with some young friends, they amused 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 119 
 
 themselves with leaping over gates. At one five-barred 
 gate his companions were doing their best to clear 
 it, while a soldier looked on laughing at their clumsy 
 attempts. Sandeman laid his hand on the top bar 
 and lightly vaulted over. The soldier expressed his 
 admiration. Sandeman put his hand on his shoulder 
 and asked if he was a soldier of Jesus Christ, urging 
 him to enlist under the Captain of Salvation. This 
 was his constant habit. He sacrificed much of earthly 
 possessions by becoming a Missionary ; he gave up the 
 immediate prospect of being the head of a prosperous 
 and extensive business, and the inheritance of one of 
 the most delightful mansions on the banks of the Tay. 
 He cheerfully gave both himself and his patrimony 
 to the Mission to China. He had his reward. He 
 enjoyed much of the presence of God during his life, 
 and in his dying hour he could scarcely contain the 
 joy which flooded his soul. Amongst the last words 
 he uttered were : " The love of Jesus is like the sea 
 around me. It was only last night, when comparatively 
 well, that the love of Jesus came rushing into my soul 
 like the waves of the sea, as if they would rend it, 
 so that I had to cry out, Stop, Lord ; it is enough ; I 
 could not hold more. Oh ! the height and depth, the 
 length and breadth, of the love of Jesus!" 
 
 " All too long have we been parted ; 
 Let my spirit speed to His." 
 
 And so he entered into his rest and his exceeding 
 great reward, 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Adversity and Prosperity. 
 
 The work at Amoy went on with varying success. 
 At one time Mr. Douglas writes in the vein of Jeremiah 
 about the decay of love in the Church at Peh-chuia, and 
 of some who had fallen into sin, and others who had 
 apostatised ; some had died, and others had been obliged 
 to leave the district on account of the persecutions 
 which had deprived them of the means of living. He 
 complains of the spirit of boasting of the Mission at 
 home, and calls on the Church to mourn over the little 
 that had been done rather than to talk of success. But 
 the devoted servant of God tells in the most modest 
 way of his efforts for the extension of the work. He 
 had made repeated attempts to get a footing at An-hai, 
 a town of four thousand inhabitants, and at last had 
 succeeded. It is a rough and lawless town and district, 
 but seems to have been formerly a place of importance. 
 It has two bridges constructed of huge granite slabs ; 
 the one is a mile and the other a mile and a half in 
 length. 
 
 The passage to it in the Gospel boat was a stormy 
 one, and the region was infested with pirates, who had 
 sometimes chased them ; but thanks to God and the 
 superior sailing of the little boat, they distanced their 
 pursuers. Mr. Douglas had been led to that place 
 by the call of converts who had friends there, and by 
 the desire of some who first heard the word when 
 they went It has long been a prosperous Mission 
 Station with its Church and Pastor and office-bearers, 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 121 
 
 the Pastor entirely supported by the members of the 
 Church. 
 
 In the end of 1858 Mr. Smith went to Swatow and 
 took the place of Mr. Burns, who returned for a time to 
 Amoy to assist in dealing with the Church at Peh-chuia. 
 It was only by the painful process of suspension and 
 excommunication of offending members that order and 
 peace were restored there, as they were of old in the 
 Corinthian Church, where even worse evils showed 
 themselves in Apostolic times. One of the means for 
 restoring new life to the Church at Peh-chuia was a 
 sharp persecution, in which the native evangelist was 
 the chief sufferer ; but the faithful Bu-liat stood firm, 
 and never ceased his bold witness for God and the 
 truth. 
 
 The appointment of Dr. Carnegie as a Medical Mis- 
 sionary formed an important step in advance, and led, 
 by its success, to the Missions of the Presbyterian 
 Church now maintaining a larger proportion of Medical 
 to Ordained Missionaries than any other of our day. 
 
 Church Government. 
 
 In i860 an event of much interest occurred in the 
 development of the Mission. Hitherto the three Mis- 
 sions at Amoy had never spoken of any differences in 
 the government of the Church. The converts never 
 knew that there was any difference between one Mission 
 and another, except that the Missionaries came from 
 different countries — some were Americans, some English, 
 
CHINA AND FORMOS.- 
 
 and some were Scotch. The name for a denomination 
 was not known among them. But as the need for a 
 more complete organisation became necessary, the 
 difference of Church government became a question of 
 some importance. Between the Presbyterian and Re- 
 formed Dutch there was no room for difference ; the 
 presbytery of the one was called a classic in the other, 
 but the thing signified by the two words was the same. 
 The London Missionary Society allowed full liberty to 
 its agents to adapt their form of government according 
 to their own convictions and the wants of the country, 
 As the agents in this case were Independents, they 
 preferred to adhere less or more to that system, but 
 with such modifications as made it more like our 
 Presbyterian Order. The other two from the first acted 
 as one Presbyterian Church, and about the same time 
 appointed Elders and Deacons in the Mission Church. 
 In Peh-chuia two Elders and two Deacons were chosen 
 by the communicants, and were solemnly ordained to 
 the office by the Minister. 
 
 Presbyterianism and Calvinism. 
 
 It is a striking evidence of the natural order of the 
 Presbyterian system, that it was found to commend 
 itself to the common sense of the Chinese as much 
 as to our Saxon fathers and the early converts of the 
 Christian Church, and the working of the system has 
 been in every way satisfactory. It was the same with 
 our Calvinistic system of doctrine. The doctrines of the 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 
 
 decrees of God, as expounded by Paul in his Epistles, 
 were accepted with all readiness as the most likely 
 explanation of the mysteries which are too deep for 
 human thought. They drank them in, like their 
 mother's milk. Like babes they accepted what com- 
 mended itself to their healthy instincts ; and where the 
 truth was beyond their full comprehension, they trusted 
 the wisdom and goodness of God, and were content to 
 wait for clearer light in a more perfect world. It was 
 often amusing to hear old difficulties blurted out in 
 Chinese monosyllables : " Teacher, why did God let 
 Adam fall ? " " Why was Satan allowed to get into 
 Paradise ? " " Why does God not save every one ? " 
 and many such questions, to which only an imperfect 
 answer could be given. But their childlike faith in the 
 wisdom and love of the Father who spared not His only 
 begotten Son never wavered, and humility resigned 
 them to wait for future light. It should, however, be 
 understood, that in teaching the essential features of the 
 Calvinistic system, all its truths were made to centre 
 in the person and work of Christ, which gave them 
 warmth and colour very different from a cold and stiff 
 dogmatism. 
 
 First Visit to Chin-chew. 
 In i860 the infant Church was praying for further 
 openings, in which Mr. Douglas and his colleagues, 
 Messrs. Grant and Mackenzie and Dr. Carnegie, boldly 
 seconded their desire. At An-hai, after baptising five 
 new converts and examining many more, Mr. Douglas 
 
124 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 pushed on to Chin-chew, a large city of two hundred 
 thousand inhabitants, the capital of an important district, 
 to which he had from the first regarded An-hai as a 
 half-way house. He got excellent opportunities of 
 preaching. On one occasion he took his stand on a 
 large stone in a ruined Mohammedan mosque, and 
 addressed a gathering of Buddhists, Confucians, and 
 Mohammedans, but met with a prejudice characteristic 
 of the obstacles thrown in the way of the Missionary. 
 He says : — 
 
 " At that time the people were full of a singular rumour — 
 namely, that the foreigners at Amoy were buying Chinese 
 heads, but for what purpose they did not seem to know. This 
 was a constant question, in addition to the old coolie and 
 opium grievance. A few weeks ago the same rumour was 
 current at Amoy, with this addition as to the reason for the 
 thing — that our army and navy having been so defeated at 
 Tien-tsin, our officers dare not return empty-handed to meet 
 the anger of the British Sovereign, and that they were buying 
 several thousands of Chinese heads to take home and present 
 to the Queen as trophies of pretended victories." 
 
 He says that on his way he passed through a Roman 
 Catholic village, and found the people very unwilling to 
 take copies of the New Testament or tracts, and some 
 who took them were obliged to give them up. How 
 mournfully applicable the words of our Lord : " Ye have 
 taken away the key of knowledge : ye entered not in 
 yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered." 
 While the door is open among the heathen, it is shut 
 where Rome has found a scat. 
 
 Mr. Swanson writes of a visit which he and 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 125 
 
 Mr. Grant paid to Kang-khau, where they found a 
 number of believers, the peculiar feature of the work 
 there being that the majority of the converts were 
 women ; and zealous and consistent followers of the 
 Saviour they were. Some, from the custom of binding 
 feet, were unable to get to the nearest church ; but for 
 years they have been shining as lights in their homes 
 and villages. They held meetings in their own villages, 
 and frequently had as many as twenty attending. At 
 one village they had a sumptuous dinner prepared for 
 their visitors. 
 
 Mr. Swanson gives an interesting account of how the 
 village of Liong-bun-si was brought to renounce idolatry 
 by the preaching of four of its inhabitants before 
 any Missionary had visited it. These four men had 
 come from it to the Church at Khi-boey, and heard the 
 Gospel, which they preached to their countrymen. It 
 illustrates the way in which the Gospel spread, and how 
 the Missionaries worked on from place to place as led 
 by the hand of God. 
 
 A Village Renouncing Idolatry and Keeping the 
 Sabbath. 
 
 " On my return from Khi-boey I went to Bay-pay. I had 
 for some time been much encouraged by an increase to the 
 numbers of our inquirers there. Among these inquirers were 
 four persons from a village five miles distant from Bay-pay in a 
 south-west direction. It is now nearly six months since these 
 persons became interested in the Gospel, and they have for 
 that time maintained a consistent profession. In their native 
 village, called Liong-bun-si, they were most zealous in preach- 
 
126 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 ing the Gospel to their neighbours. The result was, that, 
 about six weeks ago, the original four were one Sabbath accom- 
 panied by fifteen other persons of the village, and on the 
 following Sabbath by twenty-nine persons, all males. I was 
 absent from Amoy when these facts took place, but one of the 
 preachers immediately communicated with me, telling me that 
 the whole village, with the exception of one or two persons, had 
 renounced idolatry and were keeping the Sabbath, that many 
 had broken their idols or burned them, and that some had 
 destroyed their ancestral tablets. You may imagine what were 
 the feelings of us all when we heard this news. I set out last 
 week lor Bay-pay, with no immediate purpose of visiting the 
 village, as I desired much that the native agents (two of whom 
 I had sent) should be as zealous as possible in instructing them. 
 But after preaching in the morning at Bay-pay, the brethren 
 there pressed on me to set out for the village. I did so, and 
 got there just as they were about to commence their afternoon 
 service. 
 
 Thine Ox and Thine Ass shall Rest. 
 
 " Before I entered the village I saw something I have never 
 seen since I left my own dear Scotland. There was a solemn 
 stillness all around ; and while at every village I passed on my 
 way all, young and old, were busy reaping, no one was in the 
 field here, not even an ox or a buffalo. On entering the village, 
 I found the oxen all tethered in a row eating straw, and thus 
 kept that all might get to worship. I cannot describe to you 
 the reception I got. Poor people ! they rushed about me, and 
 with the most lively demonstrations of joy welcomed me. I 
 was to them the representative of One whom, I trust, many 
 among them have learned to prize. I was so struck and over- 
 come with such a sight that my feelings I cannot express. We 
 met in the open air, and I preached to them from the first 
 part of the third chapter of John. It was with the utmost 
 difficulty they would allow me to leave them. Young and old 
 planted themselves in the village and opposed my going ; and 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 127 
 
 it was only when I told them that there were others of their 
 countrymen who had claims upon us that they were willing to 
 let me go. I have told you the plain facts of this unprece- 
 dented case, that you may know what are our joys and our 
 sorrows. I cannot tell what the result will be ; that is known 
 only to God. But one thing is plain, and that is our duty. 
 We must watch over them and instruct them." 
 
 The following letter from Mr. Douglas gives a 
 glimpse of Chinese lawlessness and of the power of 
 Divine grace in rescuing the lowest and most hopeless 
 from misery and ruin : — 
 
 " AMOY, December 2\th, 1861. 
 
 A Chinese Waif Rescued. 
 " It is a token for good that on that same Sabbath (De- 
 cember 8th) two more adults were added to the Church at 
 An-hai. One is a young man, who was originally from one of 
 the northern provinces of China. When in his seventh year, 
 he was taken away from his home (whether bought or stolen 
 he knows not), and brought in a junk to Chim-mo, where he 
 was adopted into a family. His new parents soon died, and 
 he was cast on the world, since which he has been going 
 about, ' a wanderer and a vagabond,' in Chin-chew and the 
 country around. Last year he heard the Gospel at An-hai, 
 and gradually came under its blessed influence. At that 
 time he was a most wretched- looking object — lean, ragged, 
 dirty, miserable ; but now he seems quite changed, both in 
 the outer and inner man. He remembers nothing of his 
 native place, not even his original name or surname, nothing 
 even of the dialect (Mandarin) spoken in the region from 
 which he came, except the words for 'seven years,' the sad 
 memorial of the age at which he was torn from his home. 
 
 A Persecutor Converted. 
 " The other new member is the wife of T'han, one of the 
 four firstfruits of An-hai. She was for a long time most 
 
128 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 violently opposed to the Gospel, and to her husband in 
 particular. It was she who, on one Sabbath more than a year 
 ago, came in at the back of the chapel while we were at 
 worship, and threw a quantity of liquid filth on several of the 
 worshippers, including her husband and myself. She had 
 also made parodies of several among the colloquial hymns. 
 But now she is about as zealous in the cause of Christ as she 
 once was on the other side/' 
 
 The First Presbytery in China. 
 
 The 2nd of April of 1862 will ever be a memorable 
 day in the history of Presbyterianism in China. On 
 that day the first meeting of the first Presbytery that 
 ever met in that Empire, containing a fourth part of 
 the human race, was formally constituted. It con- 
 sisted of, or as we say in the west " Sederunt," the Rev. 
 Carstairs Douglas, the Rev. W. S. Swanson, and the 
 Rev. J. V. N. Talmage, and of Elders whose names have 
 not been transmitted to us, representing the first and 
 second Churches of the American Mission, the Churches 
 of Peh-chuia, Chioh-bey, and Bay-pay. Mr. Talmage 
 was chosen Moderator, and, after the meeting was 
 constituted by prayer, one of the native Elders was 
 chosen Clerk. There was much discussion as to the 
 Chinese name for Presbyter}-, but at last it was resolved 
 unanimously to call it Toa-tioug\ or Lo-hoey, i.e., the 
 great meeting of Elders, being the nearest approach 
 to Presbytery or the Classis of the Reformed Dutch 
 Church, to which the American brethren belong. The 
 minutes were kept, and all the proceedings were con- 
 ducted in the Chinese language, a fact which made 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 129 
 
 the formation of the Mission Church a complete and 
 independent body in itself a necessity. It would have 
 puzzled the " Committee on Presbytery Records," in the 
 Synod of the Presbyterian Church of England, to 
 examine the proceedings of the Presbyter)' of Amoy 
 and honestly declare them " correctly kept " ; and in 
 case of appeal from a Presbytery in China to the 
 supreme court in this country, the distance in space 
 could not have been so great a difficulty as the 
 " diversity of tongues." 
 
 Christian Union. 
 
 The Presbyterians were in the habit of making merry 
 over the difficulty of their brethren of the American 
 Mission, asking them to give their name to a Church in 
 China, and suggesting that it would be a little awkward 
 to give it the name of " The Reformed Dutch Church of 
 America in China." The absurdity of the particular 
 example confirmed the principle, that the order of 
 Church government should be left to the judgment 
 of Missionaries and their converts, guided by the 
 Scriptures and the circumstances of society. We are 
 happy to say that the Committee and the Synod of 
 the Church in England accepted the principle at once, 
 when the question was fairly brought before them. 
 The Committee and Synod of the Reformed Dutch 
 Church in America objected, and only gave in when 
 all their Missionaries in Amoy sent home their resig- 
 nation, rather than be parties to the separation of 
 their converts from those of their Presbyterian brethren. 
 
 9 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 This union of the Missions of these old Churches gave 
 added importance and interest to the establishment 
 of the Presbytery of Amoy. 
 
 We cannot withhold an extract from the Report of 
 the Committee laid before the Synod in 1865, evident!}* 
 
 LIONG LO AND FAMILY, A TEACHER OF MANY. 
 
 from the pen of Dr. Hamilton. Referring to the 
 state of China as an empire, he adds : — 
 
 Benefits Conferred by the Gospel. 
 
 "To such a country Christianity has an ample mission, and 
 where it succeeds the ' signs following ' are abundantly obvious. 
 To give to a nation of materialists a heart and soul, by giving 
 them the wide regards, the animating hopes, and the enabling 
 
THE STORY OE THE AMOY MISSION. 131 
 
 realisations of the Gospel, would of itself be no common 
 achievement ; and to a country which has fallen into such a 
 state of collapse we see nothing else which can be life from 
 the dead. But even short of the higher result, and long before 
 any national regeneration can be anticipated, we may hope 
 that to numberless individuals and families the Gospel may 
 bring the same blessings which it has diffused in more favoured 
 lands. It has done so already. On the converts it has 
 bestowed a Sabbath ; and even although some of them may be 
 obliged to work a little harder through the week, the delightful 
 transition from stated drudgery to a day in which there is no 
 trading and no toil, with all its renovation of feeling and all 
 its suggestions of the rest which remaineth, is itself a boon 
 unspeakable. 
 
 The Gospel Gives a Heart. 
 
 " And it has given them kindly feelings and affections. In 
 loving Christ they have learned to look with new eyes on one 
 another ; and after drawing water from the wells of salvation, 
 a fountain of new tenderness has leaped up in their arid 
 earthly natures, flowing out towards their teachers, their own 
 families, their fellow-members, and it has made them unselfish 
 and generous. When a chapel was needed at Khi-boey, there 
 was a most eligible site which belonged to two Christians, in 
 conjunction with a third, who was a heathen. The two bought 
 up their neighbour's share, and then presented the ground to 
 the Mission ; and the members of the Church at once set to 
 work, and carried stones and timber a distance of four or five 
 miles, whilst others mixed the mortar or reared the fabric ; 
 and one man, who was not able to build or carry burdens, 
 prepared food for his companions. In the same neighbour- 
 hood an old farmer had embraced the Gospel, and for 
 Christ's sake was hated and annoyed by his fellow-villagers. 
 Harvest came ; but though his fields were ripe, no one would 
 help him to secure the crop, and the rice would have gone to 
 waste ungathered if the Christians at Khi-boey had not heard 
 
132 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 of the old man's troubles. At once a band of them set off; 
 and arriving at the farm in the evening, they commenced 
 work early next morning, and they worked with such vigour 
 that before dusk the fields were clear, and the heathen were 
 taught the practical power of brotherly kindness." 
 
 As an illustration of the power of Christianity in the 
 life and death of converts, referred to in the Report, we 
 may give the following incident. Mr. Douglas thus 
 describes the deathbed of an old woman in the village of 
 Chang-chung, where there were only three converts : — 
 
 Deathbed of a "Mother in Israel." 
 " At this time I learned the particulars of what I had heard 
 before leaving Amoy — namely, the death, about a month ago, 
 of an aged Christian woman. Her age was seventy-four. She 
 had been converted through the instrumentality of her son 
 Song ; and I suppose the distress and anxiety connected with 
 his imprisonment may have hastened her decease ; but she 
 was spared till she was able to have the comfort of having him 
 to attend her in the closing scenes of her life ; and besides 
 him, she had also around her deathbed another son, a 
 daughter, and a daughter-in-law, who are walking in the same 
 path of life, and adorning their profession. All these she 
 affectionately exhorted to continue steadfast to the end. She 
 very solemnly warned and rebuked two other sons, who had 
 formerly come forward as candidates, and had of late drawn 
 back. During the last few days of her life she spoke of 
 nothing but God and heaven and her Saviour. She said there 
 were only two things for which she wished to remain a little 
 longer in this world : the one being to see and exhort one of 
 her sons, who lives at Yung-chun, about fifty miles in the 
 interior, but who did not arrive till after her departure ; the 
 other being to take farewell of her pastor. As her end drew 
 nigh she was much in prayer and communion with God. At 
 
134 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 one such time she said, ' My heavenly home is beautiful and 
 glorious ; Jesus has made ready a dwelling-place for me. ' 
 Again, she said to her son, ' Song, my son, will not you just 
 come with me now to heaven ? ' ' Mother,' he replied, ' if it 
 be God's will, I am ready now to go along with you, but I 
 expect He will leave me here a few years more to publish the 
 Gospel, and we shall meet in His good time.' After she had 
 peacefully passed away, her remains were followed to the 
 grave by the Christians and candidates, to the number of 
 about forty ; and though her two eldest sons were still heathen, 
 all was according to Christian rules. Some of the enemies 
 had planned to take the opportunity of seizing some of the 
 more prominent Christians ; but they were deterred by the 
 number who were present, and by the invisible power of Him 
 who watches over His people." 
 
 In the time of keen persecution at Bay-pay and 
 Liong-bun-si, the power of the Holy Spirit in adding 
 to the Church is strikingly manifested, and is the best 
 proof of the Divine nature of the work and of the 
 sincerity of the converts. 
 
 Baptisms in Time of Persecution. 
 
 "Mr. M'Gregor is writing in full about the seven whom he 
 baptised at Yu-boey-kio ; and, at the same time, we have to 
 report five baptised by Mr. Cowie at Khi-boey. Two of these 
 are women, the wife and mother respectively of the two 
 members at Kio-lai village, who have of late endured so 
 much persecution, not yet redressed. There is also a son of 
 an old member at Ka-na-na (olive grove), and the others are 
 two young men from villages where no members had till now- 
 been received. You need no commentary from me on these 
 facts. May the Spirit of God lead the Churches at home to 
 ponder them, and to act as those on whom lies the responsi- 
 bility of carrying on and extending this work ! 
 
THE STORY OF THE A/I/OY MISSION. 135 
 
 The Village that Turned from Idols. 
 
 " Mr. M'Gregor adds in a postscript : ' I find Mr. Douglas 
 has omitted to mention that Liong-bun-si people were not 
 present at the last Bay-pay Communion, as we have thought it 
 better to arrange henceforth to have Communion at Liong- 
 bun-si itself. We have been led to do so partly because 
 now, by the blessing of God, on Communion Sabbaths at 
 Bay-pay, " the place is too strait for us," and partly because 
 the distance of Liong-bun-si from Bay-pay and the erection 
 of the new chapel render it a suitable place for organising an 
 independent congregation. We hope to have the first Com- 
 munion there about a month hence.'" 
 
 Mr. M'Grcyor's account of the death of the scholarly 
 teacher of the students in the Mission College at 
 Amoy and of the rapid spread of the truth is full of 
 interest. The baptism of a Buddhist priest who aban- 
 doned the instruments of idolatry and left all for Christ 
 is a witness to the power of the Word of God. 
 
 "Amoy, August St/i, 1866. 
 Death of the Students' Native Teacher. 
 " My dear Mr. Matheson, — While in many things God 
 is giving us cause for rejoicing, He has in His wisdom seen fit 
 to afflict us by the death of Ko-yan, the students' Chinese 
 teacher. You may recollect he was previously a schoolmaster, 
 and was received only four months ago, at the last Bay-pay 
 Communion. Having returned to Bay-pay on a visit to his 
 friends, he was violently seized by some affection of the throat, 
 and died within sixteen hours after becoming seriously ill. 
 Before his death he was able to testify to the elders and 
 preachers who visited him, that his trust in the Saviour was 
 unshaken. 
 
136 CHINA AND FORMOSA 
 
 Inquirers at Yu-eoey-kio, and Seven Baptisms. 
 
 " Meantime we are called to rejoice at the reception into 
 the visible Church of others whose names, we trust, are written 
 in heaven. 
 
 "Sabbath, July 29th, I spent in Yu-boey-kio. There have 
 been for some time past about thirty male inquirers there, the 
 women not being able to come to worship, as we have 
 hitherto got no separate place provided for them in the house 
 rented as a chapel. Most of these candidates I had at 
 different times previously examined, as had also Mr. Douglas ; 
 and after conference with the elders and native preachers, we 
 fixed upon ten persons as giving us reason to believe they 
 might be received. Of those, on further examination, I 
 baptised seven. 
 
 A Buddhist Priest Forsakes All. 
 
 " One of these seven, Kee-hoey, was previously a Buddhist 
 priest, in sole possession of a small temple and the grounds 
 connected with it. Having heard the Gospel, he, about the 
 beginning of the year, left the temple, and went to reside in 
 a neighbouring village. Since then he has been diligent in 
 attendance upon every opportunity of instruction and spiritual 
 profit within his reach, and altogether, so far as man can 
 judge, has shown himself a true disciple of Jesus. On 
 Sabbath evening, in looking on his former property, beau- 
 tifully situated, overlooking the stream that flows from 
 Yu-boey-kio towards Bay-pay, I thought of the words of our 
 Lord, 'There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or 
 sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for 
 My sake, and the Gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold 
 now in this time . . . and in the world to come eternal life.' " 
 
 The Emperor of China has the power of setting up 
 new gods, as the Pope has of canonising saints in 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 137 
 
 the Roman Catholic Church ; and for much the same 
 reasons. In both cases it is generally from some sup- 
 posed miraculous cures effected after death, by persons 
 who have been less or more noted for good deeds 
 during their life in this world. It is not unusual for 
 petitions to be presented to the Emperor, praying him 
 to confer divine honours on some man or woman who 
 has secured the reverence of devout believers, and thus 
 to sanction their being worshipped by those rites which 
 are appropriate to inferior divinities. For they have in 
 China the distinction made between latria and dulia 
 in the Church of Rome. 
 
 Pilgrims to an Idol's Shrine. 
 
 " The good feeling shown was the more remarkable as the 
 streets were crowded early and late with the pilgrims (I may 
 call them) to the shrine and grave of an idol surnamed Kwoh, 
 and commonly called 'Sacred King Kwoh.' He lived several 
 centuries ago, and does not seem to have done anything 
 remarkable during his life ; but after death he was worshipped, 
 and his worship has become more and more wide, till now in 
 the Chinese eighth month (in which his birthday falls) there is 
 a crowded pilgrimage to his birthplace, about twenty-five miles 
 inland from Chin-chew. The devotees come from all parts of 
 the province, and even from foreign parts where Chinese 
 emigrants are found. At the birthplace the great objects of 
 reverence are his grave and a large temple raised to his 
 honour, from which all his temples and shrines over the 
 country must be supplied anew with incense, if his powerful aid 
 is still to be afforded." 
 
 A revival of religion in two large villages is described 
 by Mr. Douglas with his usual caution and reserve, 
 
13S CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 while he rejoices in the evidence of the power of the 
 Spirit of God. 
 
 Examination of Forty-five Candidates at Khi-boev. 
 
 " After a mile or two we got into a lonely path, like a sheep- 
 walk, among high mountains, till, having reached the summit 
 level, and enjoyed the magnificent panorama, we rapidly 
 descended to Khi-boey, where I found a number of can- 
 didates for baptism waiting to be examined. Early on Sabbath 
 w.e were again at the same work, till the whole number 
 examined amounted to forty-five, besides some more for 
 whom we could not find time ; out of these we selected nine, 
 and I with much joy baptised them in the forenoon. I have 
 never seen the chapel so crowded before. 
 
 Remarkable Awakening at a Distant Village. 
 
 " A remarkable movement has just begun at a village 
 still farther off, called Chha-tau-po, about six miles beyond 
 Au-liau. Several of the villagers, having heard the Gospel at 
 the Amoy Hospital, began to set up the worship of God in 
 their houses and to forsake idolatry. When brother Chey of 
 Au-liau heard of it, he went over and encouraged them, one of 
 them being a relative of his own. Their fellow-villagers then 
 began to persecute them, and they had to hold their worship 
 among the trees on the hillside. Opposition became yet 
 stronger, and some of them went to Chang-chew to ask a visit 
 from some preacher. There they were told to apply at Khi- 
 boey, as it is nearer. So two of the Khi-boey brethren went 
 to see them, gave them some instruction, and spoke to the 
 head men of the village in such a way that the persecution 
 ceased. They twice came to Khi-boey chapel, and the 
 brethren there twice visited them ; but the distance (nearly 
 thirty-five miles), much of it over steep and lofty passes, was 
 found too much, and we learned that, though farther from 
 Chang-ehew, they were much more accessible from it, water 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 139 
 
 communication reaching within seven miles of their position. 
 So last week Mr. Kip, of the American Mission, visited them, 
 found the road quite easy, and, their number being about 
 a dozen, arrangements are made for their having supply of 
 ordinances by means of the preachers at Chioh-bey and Chang- 
 chew. How deeply interesting to find the outposts of the 
 Mission work at Khi-boey and Chang-chew respectively thus 
 actually meeting each other in such distant parts ! " 
 
 We have spoken of the " Conference " held by the 
 workers and members of the Churches in each of the 
 great centres, for the quickening of the spiritual life, and 
 improving of the efficiency of the work of the Mission. 
 We give here a brief report of one taken down by the 
 Rev. Mr. Watson. It was held, as such conferences can 
 be most profitably held, by the Presbytery when its 
 members are alive to their duty and cultivate in them- 
 selves the highest form of the Christian life. 
 
 Monthly Conference of Preachers held at 
 Kang-be, Amoy. 
 
 In the Amoy district a monthly meeting of the 
 Missionary, with the preachers in a wide circle, is held at 
 some centre, and aims at a complex object. It provides 
 for instruction in the Word, practice in the work of an 
 evangelist under stimulating conditions, mutual improve- 
 ment by studying together, praying together, and preach- 
 ing together ; in short, greater spiritual power through 
 quickened minds and enlarged hearts. 
 
 At the March Conference in 1888, Mr. Watson, 
 impressed with the gracious spirit prevailing, began on 
 
U° CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the third day to take notes, some of which friends at 
 home will be glad to read. Wednesday afternoon is 
 devoted to mutual exhortation and prayer. He writes 
 as follows : — 
 
 " Wednesday, March 28?/i. — At 2 p.m., a few minutes after 
 the gong sounded, we were all quietly seated. The Rev. Sin-to, 
 pastor of Ma-liong, took the chair, and, after the opening 
 praise and prayer, asked if any one had requests for prayer to 
 present. 
 
 Brother Chi's Address. 
 
 "Brother Chi said : ' I have heard that Christians in Teng- 
 kang, near Peh-chuia, are lukewarm. Let us pray for them ; 
 also for Mrs. Ki-po, whose husband beats her when she dares 
 to come to church ; also for Mrs. Bien, who used to persecute 
 her husband, but is now of like mind with him — let us pray that 
 she may become a real believer.' Chi then prayed. 
 
 " ' Come now,' said Sin-to, ' let us consider the subject of 
 Conference ; it is appropriate for this meeting, — Phil, iv.' He 
 then discussed in an earnest, practical, and interesting way 
 verses 6 and 7, illustrating by real incidents. Accurately and 
 concisely he pointed out that this letter was written to a Church 
 that Paul had found no fault with — a poor Church that yet 
 contributed more abundantly than other Churches, and also a 
 persecuted Church. He then spoke of things that naturally 
 caused anxiety and trouble — e.g. sickness, poverty, bereavement, 
 persecution ; urging that it was both duty and privilege by 
 prayer and supplication to make our requests known to God. 
 
 "The exhortation ended, he asked if any had a subject to 
 suggest for prayer, — 
 
 Chhiu-hiang. 
 
 when Chhiu-hiang, a preacher, wished to give thanks because 
 at Liok-go they had not suffered the persecution they had 
 dreaded, and to pray that a new plot, at present being made 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. i 4 , 
 
 for their persecution, might be frustrated. Asked by the 
 chairman to explain, he stated that now each family at the year's 
 end had to contribute a certain sum towards the worship of 
 the idols, and that when the Christians said they could not 
 subscribe for idolatrous purposes the heathen resolved to 
 compel them, or to drive them away from the village if they did 
 not pay, on the ground that soon no one would worship the 
 idols, but all would join the Christians to escape payment. 
 Night and day the preacher and the Christians had prayed to 
 God to avert this calamity, and they had been heard and saved. 
 But now some literati had stirred up a plot to destroy their 
 fields. ' We cannot make these Christians pay, owing to the 
 decision of the Mandarin, but we can destroy their crops and 
 lay waste their fields.' 
 
 " Chhiu-hiang, continuing, asked that prayer should be 
 made for O-sai, his native place, where the Church seemed 
 extinct. Sons were not following their believing parents. 
 ' Pray also for my wife and family,' said he, but began to shed 
 tears, and for a time could not proceed. At length, with 
 choked voice, he managed to tell how his father and wife, 
 three sons, and the eldest son's wife were not yet Christians. 
 Only one son and a daughter-in-law were Christians. 
 
 Khai-hong. 
 
 " Khai-hong, another preacher, stood up and said that O-sai 
 was indeed in a wretched condition. But why ? ' Because we 
 have not done our duty by our teaching and example. Let 
 us amend our ways and seek forgiveness. It is also true that 
 many sons of Christian parents do not follow in their fathers' 
 footsteps. But why ? It is in many cases because the parents 
 do not know the Gospel and are not in earnest.' He then 
 prayed somewhat as follows : ' Lord of heaven and earth and 
 all things, we are in Thy presence, and beseech Thee to 
 bestow what we need. ... At Liok-go Thou hast upset their 
 schemes ; and now another trouble threatens. Save them as 
 
142 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Thou hast already saved. . . . Enable Thy people to live 
 holy, righteous, and godly lives. . . . We also entreat Thy 
 favour for O-sai ; for Thou art the Head of the Church. . . . 
 Forgive the sin of Thine own people. Enable them both to 
 know the way of life and to walk in it. O-sai is like a lamp 
 without oil. Give Thy Spirit. Cause every one to cast off 
 evil and become burning and shining lights. ( rlorify Thine own 
 name ! Amen.' 
 
 Prayer by Lok. 
 
 " Lok, a young preacher, then prayed: 'Thou art King; 
 Thou hast power ; Thou lovest Thy people. Revive Thy 
 work. . . . Some are still scheming against Thy people. 
 Preserve those who put their trust in Thee, and change the 
 hearts of those who would hurt Thy children. Lead them 
 to repentance, for we set our hope on Thee. Hear us also on 
 behalf of O-sai. Look on, Christ, and forgive us. Cleanse 
 Thy Church. Quicken Thy people. Make them to know 
 their sins. Make us all truthful. Enable us truly to shine 
 as lights in the world. Amen.' 
 
 Requests for Prayer. 
 
 " Two of the women then invited the meeting to pray for 
 them : the one desiring that God might change her son-in- 
 law's evil temper ; the other wishing ' that my eldest son may 
 be a steadfast Christian, and that my younger son, who is at 
 school, may have his heart opened by the Holy Spirit.' 
 
 " Khai-hong suggested that we should pray that those 
 wishing to enter the Church might give evidence of being new 
 creatures in Jesus Christ ; also we should pray that all over 
 our Church every one may be made willing and enabled to 
 read the Scriptures in the vernacular. Teng, a preacher who 
 is usually in the Chin-chew region, said : ' As you know very 
 little about the North, I will tell you a few things. At O-thau 
 some women attending church are reviled in the most filthy 
 language as they come and go, and have even had their clothes 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 143 
 
 torn. But they have kept steadfast. Let us give thanks on 
 their behalf and pray for them. . . . Also let us pray for the 
 preacher and chapel-keeper there. Besides the annoyance 
 caused by their being continually reviled as they go along the 
 street, they are every night trembling lest robbers dig through 
 the chapel wall and steal. They are unwilling to stay at O-thau. 
 Let us pray for them, that they may bear up and come through 
 these trials more qualified for usefulness.' 
 
 Prayer Led by the Rev. Sin-to. 
 
 " The Rev. Sin-to prayed : ' O Thou who hearest prayer, 
 we thank Thee. Thou hast often granted our requests. Our 
 brother Bien was long tormented by his wife. We often prayed 
 that her heart might be changed, but, alas ! had little hope 
 that our prayer would be answered. Now Thou hast moved 
 her to worship Thee. Confirm her. . . . Thou hast given 
 increase to this Church. Grant that catechumens here and 
 all over the Church may be soon baptised. We have not 
 given earnest heed to instructing those who wish to become 
 Christians. Forgive us. Enable us to set our hearts on this 
 matter, so that all candidates may soon be admitted. . . . 
 Make all willing to read the vernacular. . . . We have heard 
 of persecution in the North. We thank Thee that Thou hast 
 enabled those who trust Thee to stand firm. Keep them stead- 
 fast, and cause persecution to cease. . . . Also preserve the 
 preacher and chapel-keeper from being faint-hearted. Let this 
 experience do them good. Amen.' " 
 
■ *-•- ■affik* 
 
 
 ■ . 
 
 MISSION BUILDINGS, SWATOW. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 rj?2 STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 
 
 SWATOW, the port for the large city Chao-chow-fu, 
 and a large and populous region, is a com- 
 paratively new town of about twenty-five thousand 
 inhabitants, which has suddenly risen to importance 
 as one of the open ports. It was chiefly engaged in 
 the illicit trade in opium when Mr. Burns was led to 
 commence Missionary work there. He had found in 
 the Mission of the American Baptists at Hone Kono- 
 some intelligent converts who came from that region, 
 and was induced by them to go as their leader, or, as 
 he would have said, as their follower) on a visit to that 
 place. We have already told how he worked there, 
 and of the treatment he met with from robbers and 
 the Mandarins of Chao-chow-fu. Like his old pastor, 
 well known as Rabbi Duncan, who took a special 
 
 I4S 
 
 10 
 
146 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 liking for the Jews, from having been cheated by one 
 of them, the rough treatment only increased his sense 
 of their need, and strengthened his desire to preach 
 the Gospel of peace to that savage and rude people, 
 as he calls them. Mr. Burns' work was too brief and 
 desultory to produce any visible results, but he in- 
 terested some of the people in his message, and prepared 
 the way for another and far more permanent work. 
 Mr. George Smith was led to take Mr. Burns' place 
 when he left for his visit to Amoy in the end of 1858, 
 which may be taken as the commencement of regular 
 work. 
 
 Swatow is an important position for our Mission ; 
 and though in the province of Quang-tung, is not far 
 from the southern border of Fuhkien, and is only 
 one hundred and twenty miles from Amoy. It is the 
 natural outlet of a densely peopled district, and the 
 people, though rude, are not specially prejudiced against 
 foreigners or hostile to Missionaries. It has the advan- 
 tage of easy access to Double Island, which shelters 
 the harbour from the open sea, and, from its healthy 
 exposure to the sea breezes on its higher grounds, 
 proves a health resort for our agents when needing 
 rest. A sanatorium has been built there by Mr. J. M. 
 Douglas, a brother of our late Missionary. It is 
 situated at the mouth of the river Han, which rises 
 in the province of Fuhkien, by which, and its tributaries, 
 access is gained to the interior by the easiest and 
 safest mode of transit — a good boat. The large city 
 of Chao-chow, of about two hundred and fifty thousand 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 147 
 
 inhabitants, is within a distance of forty miles, and is 
 the capital of a large district. As the river is too 
 shallow for foreign ships, or even for large junks, 
 Swatow is the centre of a large and increasing traffic 
 with that important city and the surrounding district, 
 which greatly facilitates the spread of the gospel to the 
 " regions beyond." 
 
 Mr. Smith, of whom we may speak freely, as he 
 has gone to his reward, was a native of Aberdeen, 
 and brother of one of our most zealous supporters in 
 Scotland — an enterprising tradesman in that city. Mr. 
 Smith was an enthusiastic and able Missionary, and 
 devoted to his work. He systematised the Mission, took 
 up his position in the town of Swatow, and kept it 
 in spite of opposition. Within a year of his arrival 
 he had the satisfaction of admitting to the Church a 
 promising youth of fair education, the son of a military 
 Mandarin, and inquirers began to gather round the 
 little meeting-place. 
 
 Mr. Burns cheered the heart of his younger brother 
 by visiting Swatow again in i860. As usual, amongst 
 other useful work, he resumed the office of sacred 
 muse, and turned some of the Psalms, and of the best 
 English hymns, into the Tie-chiu or vernacular of 
 Swatow. It is interesting to hear of the staunch 
 singer of the Psalms of David not only translating 
 the simpler hymns demanded by simple believers, but 
 setting them to some of our popular Scottish airs. 
 One was set to " Scots wha ha'e wi' Wallace bled." 
 He seems to have felt this was rather incongruous. 
 
148 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 for he writes to the Convener for a tune to the same 
 measure, which he heard of as more suitable for sacred 
 song. Amongst other hymns added to the Amoy 
 collection, which he translated into the Tie-chiu, were 
 such as "The happy land," "Come, Thou Fount of 
 every blessing," etc., which he translated into several 
 other dialects of China. 
 
 No intelligent reader will think the following letter 
 from Mr. Mackenzie too long. It records the first 
 visit to the important city of Jao-ping. The kindly 
 reception and entertainment by the Mandarin was a 
 most unusual event, and greatly favoured his object. 
 It is also an interesting example of Missionary travel 
 and its incidents. 
 
 " Swatow, June 1th, 1865. 
 Visit to Jao-ping. 
 
 " My dear Dr. Hamilton, — Since writing to you about 
 half a year ago, I paid a very interesting visit to the district 
 city Jao-ping. This is one of the inland cities of this depart- 
 ment, near the borders of Hokkien, three days' journey from 
 Swatow, and two from Yam-tsau and Chhin-chhung, our farthest 
 northern stations. Accompanied by two of my assistants, my 
 ' boy,' and one of the Church members (to carry our books, 
 bedding, etc.), I started from Chhin-chhung early on the morn- 
 ing of Monday, March 6th. After walking some fifteen or 
 eighteen miles of a rather hilly road, and seeing one of the 
 Church members by the way at a village called Chie-koi, we 
 put up for the night at a roadside inn at Teng-tah, close by 
 the Jao-ping river. 
 
 " At daybreak on Tuesday we were up, and had a refresh- 
 ing bathe in the Jao-ping river, which almost made up for the 
 want of sleep during the night ; after breakfast and worship, we 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 149 
 
 set out for the city. Our second day's journey was more 
 hilly, for the most part by the side of the river, and amid 
 scenery often pleasing and picturesque, and reminding me of 
 familiar scenes in the Highlands. It was the first time a 
 foreigner had been in that quarter, but, by the Lord's kind- 
 ness, we met with no hostility or rudeness on the part of the 
 people. 
 
 Reception at Jao-ping. 
 
 " On arriving at Jao-ping, about 3 p.m., I sent three of those 
 with me to look out for an inn, or some other resting-place, 
 while A-kee (our assistant at Yam-tsau) and I began to 
 preach. Very soon a large crowd gathered, and we were 
 enjoying a good opportunity, when messengers from the 
 Kong-kek, or, as we should say, the municipal authorities, 
 came and required us to appear before them. We of course 
 went at once, and, on being shown into the presence of the 
 gentlemen who sent for us, and asked by them why we had 
 come, I told them that we had come, in obedience to the 
 command of the Lord Jesus, to preach His Gospel. 
 
 Timely Intervention. 
 
 "While things were thus beginning to look somewhat 
 threatening, and I was beginning to fear lest the object of 
 our coming would be defeated, most providentially a messenger 
 came from one of the Mandarins, saying that he wished to 
 see us. I thought at the time, and have often since, that 
 surely it was of the Lord's special care and mercy that that 
 messenger came at the time he did. On appearing before the 
 Mandarin, I showed him my passport, and he at once seemed 
 to understand my position, and kindly set about caring for 
 me. He had formerly met with foreigners in the north of 
 China, and knew something of their ways : he was thus the 
 more prepared to receive me without suspicion. He intro- 
 duced me to the Mandarin who was at the time in charge 
 
r.so CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 of the city. The acting Mandarin, having read my passport 
 and had it copied, kindly invited me to stay in the yamun 
 during my stay in the city. He and the friendly Mandarin 
 who first sent for me both urged me to remain in the yamun, 
 saying that the inns were very dirty, and that, besides, I might 
 be annoyed by the people. Upon this, and knowing what 
 they said was quite the case, I gladly, and the brethren, if 
 possible, more gladly, accepted his kind offer. We thanked 
 him, and asked him, and some of those with him, to accept 
 a copy of the Scriptures and one or two other books con- 
 taining the doctrine of Jesus. Thev did so, and on this and 
 one or two other occasions we had the privilege of making 
 known somewhat of the truth to the people of the yamun. 
 
 Fishing with Cormorants. 
 
 "During our return we saw a somewhat unusual sight — 
 a Chinaman catching fish by means of birds trained for the 
 purpose. The fisherman goes out on a long narrow raft to a 
 deep pool of the river. The birds are perched on the raft on 
 each side of him, and at a given signal dive for fish. Every 
 bird has a ring round its neck of such a size as to prevent its 
 swallowing large fish, but large enough to let it have the 
 smaller fry, as, I suppose, a reward for its diligence. On one 
 of the birds rising with a fish in its bill, the man at once 
 seizes the bird by the throat and makes it let go the fish, 
 which forthwith drops into the basket readv for its reception." 
 
 Mr. Smith, in a letter to Mr. Barbour, the Treasurer 
 of the Edinburgh Commission, by which he was sup- 
 ported, tells of progress at Tat-hau-po, with persecution, 
 and gives a fine example of the heroism of the women 
 of Yam-tsau in going to the new station of Chhin-chhung 
 to encourage them in breaking through the tyranny 
 of custom to attend the public worship of God. 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 
 
 15' 
 
 "Tat-hau-to, May 22nd, 1863. 
 
 Women Suffering for Christ. 
 
 '' A new station, about three miles from Yam-tsau, has been 
 opened at a village called Chhin-chhung. Two women from 
 that village have been baptised, others are inquirers, and have 
 suffered bitter persecution for the worship of God. One 
 
 HO-TSHAN CHAPEL, SWATOW. 
 
 woman, not yet baptised, has especially been the object of 
 hatred and bad treatment on the part of her infuriated husband. 
 She came to Yam-tsau the day of the Communion there, and 
 on returning avowed her determination at all hazards to follow 
 Christ. Her husband beat her in a brutal manner, cutting her 
 head, and driving her from his table. He had previously 
 threatened to divorce her, and; probably sell her to some one 
 
152 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 else. She has not, however, swerved from her resolution, and 
 by last accounts is still attending public worship on the 
 Sabbatli at Chhin-chhung. She has two children ; the eldest, 
 a boy of ten, takes part with his mother in worshipping God 
 and learning Christian books, while the younger sympathises 
 with the father. Another woman in that village had heard 
 the Gospel somewhat, and for giving up idolatry and 
 ancestral worship was cruelly treated by her husband. She 
 has since lost her reason. Her husband had latterly begun 
 to treat her better, but her mind is evidently deranged. 
 
 " One interesting feature in the Yam-tsau district is, that the 
 Gospel is spreading to neighbouring villages, chiefly through 
 native agency — i.e. through the native Christians communicating 
 the glad tidings to their relatives. 
 
 Heroic Women. 
 
 " On Sabbath, May ioth, before I left, no fewer than seven 
 of the Yam-tsau Christian women came from Yam-tsau to 
 make a demonstration before the Chhin-chhung villagers of 
 their faith in the Gospel, and to give courage to the Chhin- 
 chhung sisters to attend public worship, whatever people might 
 say or do. It was quite a piece of Christian heroism for 
 these women to walk with their little feet a distance of two 
 or three miles to attend worship in a strange village, and 
 brave whatever obloquy they might incur from their own 
 neighbours or strangers. The Apostle speaks of those women 
 who laboured with him in the Gospel, and we may well do 
 the same." 
 
 In the following modest but thrilling- narrative of 
 his very narrow escape from death, Mr. Smith is 
 intent on manifesting the favour and power of God 
 in protecting him, not of making an}' display of his own 
 coolness and courage. 
 
THE STORY OF THE SIVA TO W MISSION. 15; 
 
 Tumult at Am-po — Providential Deliverance of 
 Mr. Smith. 
 
 " On the same Sabbath that our chapel at Ung-kung was 
 opened, a new station was opened at Am-po. This is a 
 town about the same size as Umg-kung, distant from Swatow 
 by water about eight or nine miles. Am-po has long had 
 a bitter antipathy to foreigners and Christianity. The town 
 is rather wealthy, and many of the people are well-to-do ; the 
 inhabitants are also well acquainted with foreigners, and fear 
 their superiority. Some six years ago I got rather an un- 
 ceremonious dismissal from the place. 
 
 " Night after night there was more preconcerted opposition, 
 and the stones thrown were better aimed. After I had been 
 there a week, and thinking that it might be wise to withdraw 
 for a short time, arrangements had been made for my leaving. 
 Dr. Gauld paid us a visit with his medicine-chest, and as far 
 as I remember had a good opportunity for healing. He left 
 the afternoon of the day that he arrived. On leaving, his 
 boat was pelted with stones, and much hostility was displayed 
 as he passed through the town. Of that I was not aware till 
 afterwards. I stayed behind to see what kind of feeling the 
 doctor's visit had produced. That night a crowd, far more 
 numerous and noisy than before, gathered at the time of evening 
 worship. As the evening advanced the crowd and tumult 
 increased. After exhausting my resources to still them, I 
 found them like the deaf adder. At last, having got some 
 material arguments hurled at my head, it seemed best to try 
 to dismiss the audience. In order to do this it was my habit 
 to retire upstairs. On my withdrawing, yelling, shouting, etc., 
 commenced. By-and-by crash after crash was heard ; then 
 all kinds of missiles were thrown against the upper story. 
 
 " The street in front of the house was filled with a dense and 
 excited crowd. Lamp, table, chairs, forms, stair-ladder, etc., 
 were all carried out of the chapel and smashed to pieces. 
 Stones, boulders of lime, tiles, brickbats, were hurled against 
 
154 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the windows upstairs. Some cried out, ' Cut off his head ! ' 
 One of the Chinese (A-bun) came over the roof of a shed and 
 got to me, and proposed going to seek the Mandarin's aid. 
 This I at once urged him to do. Meanwhile, I knew not what 
 all this would come to. That passage, ' Who stiileth the noise 
 of the seas, the noise of their waves, and the tumult of the 
 people ' (Psalm lxv. 7), was often in my mind during the evening. 
 One of the shutters of the window upstairs was driven open 
 by the missiles thrown, and I stood at the back of it, holding 
 it closed. I cannot say I felt alarmed, though solemnised. 
 
 Timely Deliverance. 
 
 " By-and-by a shout was heard, the crowd began to skedaddle 
 (to borrow a significant word from our cousins), the discharge 
 of brickbats stopped, several policemen from the yamun came 
 upon the crowd from both ends of the street, seized some 
 rioters, and the rest, not knowing how feeble a force had 
 attacked them, took to their heels. One of our lads scrambled 
 into the upper floor to learn how it was with me and tell 
 what had been done. A ladder was borrowed from our 
 neighbours. I got downstairs, and found the chapel cleared 
 of everything, one of the doors broken up, and the floor 
 covered with all manner of missiles. 
 
 "Next day we resumed worship as usual, morning and evening. 
 I was doubtful about the propriety of evening worship, but 
 Kau-ti-peh, a worthy old man, one of our members, and now 
 in our employ, urged that we should go on as usual. The 
 storm was over; it had spent itself; and since then things 
 have gone on smoothly. I stayed other ten days, till the 
 Mandarin had got our case disposed of, and a proclamation 
 issued to warn all the inhabitants against unruly conduct 
 towards us. During these days the opportunities for preaching 
 were often remarkably good, morning and evening. I may 
 mention that I felt great satisfaction at the Christian bravery 
 of the two Chinese referred to. They stood out, and did their 
 part nobly." 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 155 
 
 Mr. Mackenzie had a narrow escape from an angry 
 mob on a visit to Pu-ning, in which we are glad to 
 record the interposition of one of the higher classes and 
 the protection of the Mandarin, showing, what should 
 never be forgotten, that there are good as well as bad 
 among the literati and magistrates. It also shows how 
 responsible they are since they can so easily put down 
 a riot when they like to exert themselves. 
 
 Rescue from the Mob, and Kindness of the Magistrate. 
 
 "Just as things were at the worst — I having lost my sun-hat 
 and umbrella, and Phang-hue having lost his coat and 
 umbrella, and the violence of the two or three men who were 
 assaulting us becoming more and more outrageous — just then, 
 in our extremity, was the Lord's opportunity. A respectably 
 dressed man happened then to come up, sitting in a chair, and, 
 seeing the state of matters, he vigorously interfered, scolded 
 and reproved our assailants, and soon dispersed them. I did 
 indeed feel grateful to him ; and what thanks and praise shall I 
 render to the Lord for such marked, and gracious, and timely 
 care for us ? That night I spent in the yamun of Pu-ning, 
 the district magistrate receiving me very kindly, getting a 
 change of trousers for me (of course a pair of Chinese trousers), 
 providing us with food, and moreover making some reparation 
 for the losses we had suffered, and promising to reprove the 
 villagers who had behaved so badly, and to issue a proclama- 
 tion warning them against such conduct in the future." 
 
 Dr. Gauld gives a modest but important account of 
 hospital work in Swatow in 1868, when he treated 2,538 
 cases, while the arrangements were in a comparatively 
 rudimentary condition, and in the same year treated 
 1,607 cases in Am-po and 1,318 in Tat-hau-po. He 
 says truly : — 
 
1 56 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Swatow Hospital Report. 
 
 " Its importance to us as Missionaries, apart from the greater 
 material benefits likely to accrue to the patients themselves, 
 from a more or less prolonged treatment, is appreciated when 
 we consider that it is only by living among us, and coming 
 into daily contact with us, that these people learn our motives, 
 have their suspicions dissipated, and their feelings turned in 
 our favour. According as this desirable result is attained are 
 they likely to profit by the Christian instruction they receive. 
 That this is no theory merely, the practical experience of years 
 has fully proved. 
 
 " The large number of lepers is striking, otherwise there is 
 nothing new to report on the subject. We would be glad if 
 any of our readers could suggest a remedy for this disease; 
 European and native modes of treatment have alike failed. 
 Amelioration of the symptoms and partial recovery are not 
 unusual, but of complete cures little can be said. 
 
 " The daily religious services, morning and evening, are 
 conducted, as heretofore, by Messrs. Smith and Mackenzie. 
 During the past year several of the patients have renounced 
 idolatry and become worshippers of the true God and believers 
 in Jesus Christ, making public profession of their faith by 
 baptism. In several of the more important centres of 
 Missionary operation throughout the department, the first 
 converts got their knowledge of the Gospel when patients in 
 the hospital in Swatow. In the early part of the year a leper, 
 formerly a hospital patient, appeared with several aged women 
 belonging to his village, all desirous of becoming Christians. 
 This was the beginning of a work of the Holy Spirit among the 
 people of the district.'' 
 
 Dr. Gauld has hitherto told us of the general poverty 
 of his patients. The lepers and blind beggars arc the 
 class he most tenderly cared for. But on this and other 
 
THE STORY OF THE SIVA TOW MISSION. 157 
 
 occasions we find him ministering to the chief magistrate 
 of a large district, living in the important city of 
 Chao-chow. 
 
 Interesting Medical Visit to the Tau-taI. 
 
 " A few weeks ago I had rather a distinguished personage 
 on my patient list. You lately heard of Mr. Smith's successful 
 visit to the Hoo city. I had the pleasure of spending a night 
 or two in it, not in the Mission's house, but in the Tau-tai's 
 yamun. He had long suffered from dysentery, and was at last 
 given up as lost by his native physicians. He did not know 
 what to do, and thought he must now die, as he had invited 
 every physician he could think of, when his Swatow agent, a 
 deputy, advised him to invite the ' foreign doctor ' to see him. 
 With some hesitancy, owing to fear of the people's dislike to 
 the step, he consented to do so, and two large Hak-ka boats 
 were sent from the Hoo city to Swatow for me. The Tau-tai's 
 chair was soon at hand to convey me to the yamun ; and on 
 my arrival the said dignitary himself made his appearance, with 
 his officers around him. He looked very ill indeed, and it 
 was specially a case where one needed to lift up the heart and 
 voice to the Lord for His help and blessing on the remedies 
 that might be applied. During the day our native brethren 
 from the station in the city made their appearance, and were 
 evidently delighted to see me under such peculiar] circum- 
 stances. We were all very kindly treated, and many good 
 things in the way of food were provided for us. 
 
 " I spent the next night also in the place, and then on 
 Saturday morning made up my mind to leave. By this time 
 the progress of the Tau-tai's disease seemed to be checked 
 and tokens of amendment to be manifesting themselves, so 
 that I felt freedom in leaving a supply of medicines with him 
 and returning to Swatow (where the Communion was to be 
 held the following day). A chair was again provided for 
 myself, and one for the deputy, to take us to the river-side, 
 
158 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 where the boat was waiting. It was so early in the morning 
 that our exit created little stir. That afternoon we safely 
 reached Swatow. Through the blessing of God the patient 
 has gradually been recovering, and, as I have not heard from 
 him for more than a week, I presume he does not now need 
 our help. He is chief Mandarin for three of the departments 
 of the province — Tie-chiu (in which we are working), Kiaeng- 
 chew (where the German Missionaries have their stations), 
 and Hui-chew (near which is our station in Kway-tham). 
 He knows my connection with the Mission and the Mission- 
 aries, so that, through God's overruling and gracious providence, 
 good may result to His cause, and the spread of the Gospel be 
 facilitated. May our Master order it so for His own glory ! " 
 
 Death of Dr. A. Thomson. 
 
 In 1872 the Swatow Mission suffered another of those 
 mysterious losses so trying to faith and affection — 
 Dr. Alexander Thomson was drowned near Amoy. He 
 had only been sent out along with the Rev. W. Duffus 
 in 1869, and ere he had well entered on his work he 
 was called to rest. He was suffering from the climate, 
 and was ordered to take a voyage to Shanghai ; and 
 on his return, when opposite Amoy, the Rona s in which 
 he sailed, was run down by a French steamer. He was 
 a young man of much promise and deep piety. He 
 had raised himself by his unaided efforts from the 
 humble position of a miner to that of a fully cpjali- 
 fied Doctor of Medicine, and had gained the respect and 
 warm affection of all who came in contact with him. 
 This was the second Missionary lost by drowning, and 
 the fifth who had died since the Mission began. The 
 losses were great, but we must not suppose that they 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 159 
 
 were wholly a loss. We cannot tell how much the 
 Mission gained in the deepened sense of responsibility 
 and more ardent zeal of those who survived, and in 
 the calling forth the sympathy and the prayers of the 
 the Church at home, while they had entered on a higher 
 and happier service in the upper sanctuary. 
 
 CHAPEL AT MIR-YNOG. 
 
HOSPITAL PATIENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 
 
 FORMOSA — the Beautiful — got its European name 
 from the Spanish navigators who reached China 
 in the end of the fifteenth century, and so it remains 
 to this day. The aboriginal name of the island was 
 Pekan or Pekando ; but when the Chinese took possession 
 of it, they called it first Ki-lung-shan, and afterwards 
 changed it to Tai-wan. The beauty of the island strikes 
 one the more from the rich and fertile plains on the 
 west, having in the background magnificent ranges of 
 mountains, stretching north and south, rising to the 
 elevation of from a few thousands to eight and ten 
 thousand feet, while Mount Morrison towers above 
 them all to a height of twelve thousand eight hundred 
 
 161 II 
 
1 62 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 and fifty feet. As these mountains first arrest the 
 eye from the sea-level, they appear much higher than 
 the Alps, which are generally looked at from elevated 
 ground. The formation of the island, which is about two 
 hundred and thirty miles in length, by about sixty in 
 breadth, is, on the west, chiefly alluvial, and of lime 
 and sandstone, but the eastern part consists of granite 
 ranges of mountains intersected by fertile valleys. Coal 
 is found in abundance, and rice and tea are largely grown, 
 and all kinds of tropical plants and fruit are abundant. 
 The climate is much more favourable to the growth 
 of vegetation than to the health of Europeans, who 
 suffer much in most parts of the island from the fever 
 to which it gives its name. 
 
 Inhabitants of the Island. 
 
 Formosa was originally inhabited by a race or races 
 of Malayan origin, who still occupy the mountain ranges 
 and the narrow strip of level land on the east coast 
 in all the savage instincts and habits of their original 
 stock. Head-hunting is as popular a pursuit in 
 Formosa as in Borneo. Since the Chinese claimed 
 possession of the island in the beginning of the fifteenth 
 century, the inhabitants of Fuhkien and Hak-kas from 
 Swatow have gone over from the opposite coast in 
 large numbers, and by lawful and unlawful means have 
 gradually got possession of the most fertile portions 
 of the island, driving the savage aborigines back on 
 the mountains, which arc covered with dense forests — 
 a fit home for freedom. Here thev have maintained 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 163 
 
 a state of independence and savagery, continually at 
 feud with their civilised oppressors, finding their greatest 
 glory in hunting for the heads of Chinamen. 
 
 The practice of head-hunting they justify as not 
 only permissible, but highly praiseworthy — a terrible 
 instance of the way in which injustice and oppression 
 pervert the conscience of the oppressed. They evi- 
 dently regard this form of revenge as a legitimate 
 way of avenging a wrong, and it is nothing to them 
 that the parties on whom they avenge themselves are 
 innocent of the crime ; they are the children of the 
 same race, and must suffer for the sins of their fathers. 
 
 A large number of these savages have, however, been 
 partly civilised by being brought into friendly relations 
 with their conquerors, probably those who had become 
 to some extent civilised and were living by the cultivation 
 of the soil before the Chinese came among them. They 
 have adapted themselves to Chinese customs, and have 
 acquired the language, less or more, and by so doing 
 have gained the contempt, and often the bitter enmity, 
 of their savage countrymen. They are called Pi-po-hoan 
 or Sek-hoan in the southern part of the island in which 
 our Mission is carried on. We regret to say that the 
 Chinese are, by superior industry, and, we fear, still more 
 by their duplicity and cunning, depriving their more 
 simple neighbours of their possessions and civil rights. 
 
 The Dutch Conquest. 
 
 In the beginning of the seventeenth century, when 
 trade was conducted on piratical principles — methods 
 
1 64 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 more violent, but perhaps not more pernicious, than 
 much of the duplicity and pretence of righteousness 
 with which war is now waged in defence of what are 
 called commercial rights — in those days when mighty 
 nations acted on 
 
 " The good old rule, the simple plan, 
 That he should take who has the power, 
 And he should keep who can " — 
 
 the Dutch, having successfully asserted their inde- 
 pendence of the yoke of Roman superstition and 
 Spanish dominion, displayed their superiority by 
 carrying their commerce and their conquests to what 
 was then called the Indies, including the Empire of 
 China. They at first settled on, and took possession of' 
 the Pescadore Islands; but when the Chinese protested 
 in a practical form by a powerful fleet, they consented 
 to remove, at the invitation of the cunning Chinaman, 
 to the much more valuable possession of Formosa, the 
 flaw in the arrangement being that the Chinese had a 
 very doubtful right to dispose of the island, having 
 never really subdued or governed it, though they called 
 it theirs, as they did most of the world then known 
 to them. At that time the Spaniards had settlements, 
 or " missions," on the island. 
 
 These were small matters to the Dutchmen of those 
 days, so they took possession of the beautiful island, 
 and fortified themselves in what they called the Castle 
 of Zcclandia, in Tai-wan, in 1624, and maintained their 
 hold until the heathen Koxinga, who made piracy his 
 
THE, STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 165 
 
 profession, drove out the Christian Dutchmen in 1662, 
 after a defence which did honour to their courage and 
 patriotism. 
 
 A Noble Patriot. 
 
 Of this a noble example was given by a chaplain 
 of the name of Hambrock, who was taken prisoner by 
 Koxinga, and sent with a letter offering conditions of 
 surrender to his countrymen, and trusting to his advo- 
 cating compliance with its conditions. Instead of that 
 he urged his countrymen to hold out with the prospect 
 of success. Two daughters who were in the castle hung 
 upon him, and with tears entreated him to remain ; but 
 he refused, saying that he had two children in the camp 
 of the enemy, who might be killed if he did not return ; 
 so he tore himself from their embrace, went back to 
 Koxinga, and was put to a cruel death. 
 
 Dutch Missions. 
 
 The Christians of Holland took advantage of the 
 conquest of Formosa to send the Gospel to its 
 inhabitants, notwithstanding the doubtful character 
 of the conquest. 
 
 The first to do much in the way of converting the 
 heathen was a minister of the name of Junius, who was 
 appointed by the Dutch Company, who had sent out 
 its traders to the East to carry on the double work of 
 commerce and conversion — a most desirable conjunction 
 in principle, but unhappily often marred by unwisdom 
 and selfishness in the execution. 
 
1 66 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Junius came home in 1646, reporting that he had 
 baptised more than five thousand heathen, and that 
 on leaving the island loaded with presents which he 
 turned into money amounting to £10,000, he had been 
 entreated to send some one to take his place. He 
 seems to have urged the Dutch East India Company 
 and the Government to send out more chaplains, and 
 encouraged the English to assist by sending Missionaries. 
 
 Other chaplains were sent, and they seem to have 
 laboured earnestly for the conversion of the inhabitants ; 
 so much so that there were at one time, before the 
 Dutch were driven from the island, as many as five 
 thousand nine hundred baptised professing Christians. 
 
 Why the Church Died Out. 
 
 The question naturally arises, What came of this 
 promising Christian Church in Formosa after the 
 expulsion of their teachers ? There is no doubt that 
 they were most cruelly persecuted by Koxinga and 
 their countrymen, and they may have been exterminated 
 like the converts of the Reformation in Spain and Italy ; 
 but that is not likely. Cruel as the Chinese are, they 
 were neither so experienced nor so persevering in 
 religious persecution as the Jesuits ; and Chinamen, 
 when converted, have shown great courage and tenacity 
 in clinging to their faith and profession. Other causes 
 are to be sought, and arc easily found. They are such 
 as the following, and are worth)' of notice as a lesson 
 and warning in all Missionary enterprises. 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 167 
 
 First of all, the work of conversion was too much 
 mixed up with Government patronage. The Mission- 
 aries were paid by and were the servants of the State, 
 not only for the benefit of its own servants or subjects, 
 but also for the conversion of the heathen, who had been 
 subdued and were kept in subjection by force. 
 
 Secondly, inducements were held out to natives by 
 the prospect of Government employment on condition 
 of their becoming Christians. The partaking of the 
 Sacrament of the Lord's Supper was a condition to office. 
 
 Thirdly, they did not give the Bible, nor the New 
 Testament, to the people, not even to their converts. 
 They did translate portions, but they were not printed. 
 They gave them catechisms enough : two were printed, 
 largely used, and committed to memory. But useful 
 as such modes of teaching may be, they are no substitute 
 for the Word of the Lord which converteth the soul. 
 Catechisms are conservative ; the Word of God is 
 aggressive. Had the Bible been given, it might have 
 been in Formosa as it was in Madagascar, when the 
 persecutions of enemies drove out the teachers, but 
 multiplied the converts. 
 
 Another error was the custom of encouraging the 
 Dutch pastors to marry Formosan women. It is 
 always found that when a superior race marries into 
 an inferior one the descendants deteriorate. The 
 mother communicates more of her nature and habits 
 to the child than the father can. Gestation, and early 
 influences and teaching, give her a tremendous power 
 for evil. The history of conquering races abundantly 
 
1 68 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 proves this. Spaniards and Portuguese in America 
 illustrate it. But whatever were the causes, the painful 
 fact remains, that not a vestige of the prosperous Dutch 
 Church of Formosa remains. One cause of decay may 
 be sufficient to account for this — the too ready admission 
 of converts. 
 
 Relation to Amoy. 
 
 Formosa naturally falls within the sphere of our Amoy 
 Mission. It was, until the Japanese got possession of 
 it, a part of the province of Fuhkien and under the 
 same administration. Chinese inhabitants are all, or 
 almost all, from that province, and, from that part of 
 it which speaks the Amoy dialect, it is only about a 
 hundred miles from Amoy, with which it has constant 
 communication by trade. The converts in Amoy were 
 desirous to extend our Mission to a place where some 
 of them had friends and relatives for whose spiritual 
 welfare they were praying. Mr. Douglas visited the 
 island in i860 along with Mr. H. L. Mackenzie, and was 
 impressed with the importance of the field for Mission 
 work, and only waited until there was a man ready to 
 take possession of it in the name of the Lord. Such 
 a man was sent by God in the person of Dr. Maxwell, 
 of whom Dr. Hamilton reported to the Synod in the 
 year 1863 : — 
 
 Dr. J. L. Maxwell, M.A. 
 
 "Dr. James L. Maxwell, resident physician of the General 
 Hospital, Birmingham, has accepted the appointment to be 
 one of our Missionaries in China. Dr. Maxwell is a dis- 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 169 
 
 tinguished alumnus of the University of Edinburgh, where, 
 besides the usual medical curriculum, he attended the classes 
 of Logic, Moral Philosophy, Mathematics, and Natural 
 Philosophy, carrying off prizes in all ; and to his acquire- 
 ments in Edinburgh College he made important additions by 
 attending the medical schools of Berlin and Paris. During 
 his short residence in Birmingham he has acted as a ruling 
 elder in the congregation of the Rev. Dr. Mackenzie, and 
 has by his many labours of love gained the esteem and 
 affection of all his brethren there. Consecrating all his 
 powers to the work of the Lord in China, and renouncing 
 brilliant prospects of professional advancement at home, we 
 cannot but hope for the happiest results from Dr. Maxwell's 
 labours, and we are not without hope that it may be his 
 distinction to become the first Protestant Missionary in 
 Formosa. He is likely to accompany Mr. Douglas on his 
 return early in the summer." 
 
 Formosa Taken Possession Ok. 
 
 Shortly after Dr. Maxwell reached China, along with 
 Mr. Douglas on his return to it, they both visited 
 Formosa in 1864, and took a survey of the field; and 
 in 1865 they returned, and began work in Tai-wan, 
 the principal city of the island, containing a popu- 
 lation of about two hundred thousand. But tumults 
 were raised of such a determined character, that they 
 were compelled to leave and make a beginning in Ta-kao 
 — a town of two thousand inhabitants, but important as 
 the harbour for the south of the island and for the 
 villages which lay inland in large numbers. 
 
 There they had a better reception ; and on Mr. 
 Douglas returning to Amoy, Dr. Maxwell continued 
 
170 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the work alone, preaching to the English residents on 
 Sundays and to the natives on every day of the 
 week, using his medical gifts to cure and attract the 
 people to his hall. Dr. Maxwell from first to last 
 combined the functions of healing the body and 
 saving the soul. He made no secret that his mission 
 was to seek and save the lost, and nobly did he 
 succeed in both the material and spiritual parts of 
 his work. 
 
 Dr. Maxwell opened his new premises for medical 
 work and' the preaching of the Gospel, both of which 
 he had to attend to for some time himself, no ordained 
 Missionary having as yet joined him. But indeed he 
 never ceased to be the preacher as well as ithe physician 
 during his Missionary career. 
 
 Premises at Ta-kao. 
 
 " My dear Mr. Matheson, — I am happy to be able to write 
 to you from the now completed Mission premises in Ta-kao. 
 They are in the heart of Ta-kao ; and Ta-kao, like other 
 Chinese places, cannot boast of overmuch cleanliness. Still, 
 I flatter myself that they will not be found unsuitable for the 
 special work of the Mission, or inconsistent with good health 
 on the part of the labourers. I believe that my assistants are 
 much more comfortable, and for myself I am in a palace as 
 compared with the old fifty-dollars-a-month building. Our 
 present chapel is very much more commodious than the 
 previous one, and in the afternoon just now we sometimes 
 have a congregation of about fifty men, rather restless, as you 
 may suppose, always some one going out and another coming 
 in, but on the whole a good amount of attention being paid 
 to the truth. 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 171 
 
 "The medical work is also steadily increasing, and the 
 medical benefits are being more widely appreciated. I trust 
 to see more fruit from this source when we are able to extend 
 our work more vigorously into the inland parts. The fruit 
 which I should expect to see would be a greater willingness to 
 receive us and bear with us in our endeavours to propagate 
 the Gospel." 
 
 But it was not only the material buildings that were 
 to be seen. God had given His servant the privilege 
 of laying the foundation of His Church in Formosa ; 
 and Mr. Swanson, who had come on a visit, was called 
 on to baptise the first converts of the Mission. He 
 writes as follow : — 
 
 The First Fruits — Four Baptisms. 
 
 "I found that there were eight persons here who seemed 
 really interested in the Gospel, some of these giving, so far as 
 we could judge, indications of a real change of heart. After 
 very careful examination and consultation, we decided to 
 receive four male adults into the fellowship of the Church ; 
 and as these are the firstfruits of the work in Formosa, I must 
 give you their names. They are Chay, Ho, Tiong, and Bi. 
 All these persons belong to the island, the first being a 
 resident of the district city of Pe-tao, already mentioned. 
 The second is the Doctor's assistant, and of him and his 
 trials in connection with the Gospel I think you have heard 
 already. On examination I was very much delighted with 
 the appearance of all these, and with their intelligent acquaint- 
 ance with the truth. I am sure the Committee cannot fail to 
 be encouraged by such an answer to their prayers and efforts 
 on behalf of Formosa. These four persons I baptised on 
 Sabbath, the 12th inst. ; and in the afternoon of that same day 
 I dispensed the Communion. This is probably the first time 
 that these ordinances have been administered by Protestant 
 
172 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Missionaries to the Chinese of Formosa since the Dutch were 
 driven from the island two hundred years ago. They doubt- 
 less had the ordinances dispensed among them. Once again 
 has the standard of the Cross been raised. And shall we 
 not hope and believe that God will carry on the glorious work 
 till all Formosa acknowledge Him who is King of kings and 
 Lord of lords ? " 
 
 Death of the Rev. D. Masson. 
 
 How hard it is for human reason to understand 
 and trust the ways of Providence when we see the 
 fields white unto the harvest, and at the same time 
 see the hand of God removing the reapers whom He 
 has raised up and qualified for the work just as they 
 are ready to put in the sickle ! Dr. Young and Mr. 
 Sandeman died ere they had well begun the work to 
 which they had devoted themselves ; Mr. Johnston 
 was sent out of the field, though spared to work at 
 home ; and now, in 1866, the Rev. David Masson was 
 drowned, when he had just got within sight of the 
 coast of China on his way to Formosa. We must 
 needs look beyond the things which are seen and 
 temporal, and fix our faith on the unseen and eternal. 
 Our attempts to measure the ways of God with our 
 short lines are rebuked by the Divine words, " My 
 ways are not your ways, neither arc your ways My 
 ways, saith Jehovah." The way in which Mr. Masson 
 met with his death was mysterious. There had been 
 a severe gale in coming up the China Sea, but it was 
 all over, only a cross sea, with occasional waves, coming' 
 on board. He had gone forward with a fellow- 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 173 
 
 passenger, like himself a Missionary to China. They 
 were sitting in the bow talking, when a wave, not a 
 large one, came over the bulwarks, and Masson fell 
 or was washed overboard, and the companion sitting 
 at his side was merely wet with the spray : one was 
 taken and the other left. The captain could do 
 nothing. He was seen to sink, and never rose 
 again ; and we can only say, " He was not, for God 
 took him " from the earthly to the heavenly service. 
 His last words, when speaking with his friend about 
 the views of Unitarians, were : " I could not rest in 
 the joyful hope of future happiness if I did not believe 
 that Christ is the Son of God." His friend said of 
 him : " Many hours we have spent in conversation, 
 together we have sung the songs of Zion, and together 
 we have wrestled in prayer. I was often struck with 
 his unwavering confidence in God. On one occasion, 
 in a severe gale, some of us met for prayer in his cabin. 
 In the course of a brief but earnest prayer he said, 
 ' Lord, we do not fear whilst Thou art with us ; 
 even death itself cannot hurt us whilst Thou art our 
 defence.' He was remarkable for his humility and 
 self-depreciation." The will of the Lord be done. 
 
 Persecution and Martyrdom. 
 In May of 1868 a fierce persecution against the 
 Church in Formosa was raised up by the Satanic malice 
 of the literati and magistrates. As usual they kept 
 themselves in the background, and stirred up the 
 ignorant mob to do their work, It began by their 
 
174 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 spreading reports that the Christians were poisoning 
 their wells and their food, and then by burning the 
 Roman Catholic chapel at a place called Koe-kau-a, 
 and driving the priests out of the village. The Protest- 
 ants were in this, as in many other cases, made to 
 suffer, from the people not being able to understand 
 the difference between the two religions. The persecu- 
 tion spread to Pi-thau, where an inquirer, a poor old 
 widow, was being abused by the excited mob, when 
 one of the evangelists, named Tiong, tried to save 
 her from her persecutors. A cry was raised that he 
 was a Roman Catholic, and before he could explain 
 his position he was brutally assaulted and beaten. 
 He fled to the house of a teacher, but was dragged 
 out and thrown on the ground, and would have been 
 murdered on the spot if the teacher had not nobly 
 thrown himself over him and protected him with his 
 own body, and at length enabled him to get to his 
 feet and rush into the yamun where the Mandarin was 
 sitting. Even then they attempted to drag him out, 
 and it was only by the Mandarin's personal inter- 
 position that he was saved from being torn to pieces 
 by the infuriated crowd. After the semblance of a 
 trial, though nothing was proved against him, he was 
 committed to prison, while none of the persecutors 
 were punished. 
 
 Martyrdom of Cheng-hong. 
 
 Rut the persecution did not end there. A more 
 tragic end awaited the old preacher Cheng-hong. He 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 175 
 
 had committed no offence, but had gone to the village 
 of Cho-ia to persuade his wife, who had gone away from 
 him and returned to her mother's house, to come back 
 with him, and was quietly talking to her in her mother's 
 presence, when he was set upon and literally torn to 
 pieces, and his heart taken out and eaten by his mur- 
 derers, as we learn by a later letter than that from 
 which we quote the following description of the 
 scene : — 
 
 " From what we can learn he seems to have come upon his 
 wife and mother-in-law at Cho-ia, five miles distant, and was 
 endeavouring to persuade his wife to return with him, when 
 his mother-in-law raised a cry that he was a Roman Catholic 
 come to carry off her daughter. Instantly there was a crowd. 
 Cheng-hong was recognised by some of them as having 
 preached in the village, and the cry was raised for his 
 destruction. 
 
 " From a house in which he took shelter the mob burst in the 
 door, pulled our poor brother out, dragged him a considerable 
 distance along the street, and then, near a tree beside which I 
 have several times stood to speak, and where Cheng-hong 
 doubtless has also stood to preach the Gospel, they stoned 
 him with stones and beat him with clubs till he died. Their 
 brutality did not end even with his death, one of them with 
 a knife cutting open the poor crushed body. His remains 
 were thrown into a ditch close by, and carried in a bag to the 
 seashore, and there sunk in the sea. The place of Cheng- 
 hong's death is distant some five miles from Ta-kao, and about 
 the same number of miles from Pi-thau." 
 
 We need not say that such a flagrant violation of 
 Chinese law as well as treaty rights could not go un- 
 punished, coupled as it was with many other grievances 
 
176 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 of 1 ' which the foreign community loudly complained. 
 The British Consul was also acting, unfortunately, for 
 the French as well as for his own countrymen. After 
 innumerable delays and evasions, he landed a small 
 body of marines, who were attacked by the Chinese, 
 who lost one or two men, when the Mandarins at once 
 gave in and agreed to all the demands. 
 
 To see how Missionary matters get mixed up with 
 the affairs of the merchants, and the defence of national 
 rights, we give the list, from which it will be seen how 
 small the claims of the Protestant Missionaries were. 
 The claims of the Consul were as follows : — 
 
 i. The abolition of the camphor monopoly and the issue 
 of proclamations declaring the rights of foreigners to buy 
 free. 
 
 2. The issue of passports to merchants and others. 
 
 3. Payment of 6,000 dollars for the loss of camphor by 
 Elles & Co. 
 
 4. Payment of 1,167 dollars indemnity for loss of property 
 by Protestant Missions. 
 
 5. Payment of 2,000 dollars for loss of property by Roman 
 Catholic Missions. 
 
 6. Payment of all claims of Elles & Co.'s comprador, for 
 losses in the sacking of his house. 
 
 7. The punishment of various criminals, connected with 
 various outrages, to the satisfaction of the British Consul. 
 
 8. The issuing of proclamations everywhere acknowledging 
 the injustice of the slanders circulated against Christianity. 
 
 g. The right of Missionaries to reside and work in the 
 island. 
 
 10. Proclamations recognising the propriety of mixed courts 
 in mingled cases. 
 
 11. The removal of obnoxious Mandarins, 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 177 
 
 These claims were within the rights granted to 
 foreigners of all nations ; and when the Formosan 
 authorities saw that the Consul was determined to see 
 them carried out they acquiesced, and from that time 
 the relations between the foreign and native authorities 
 became much more cordial and respectful. The 
 Missionaries had nothing to do with the arrangements 
 beyond laying their complaints before the Consul, 
 stating the amount of their losses, and proving the 
 assault on the Christians ; after that the case was taken 
 out of their hands. 
 
 For some time after this painful incident the Churches 
 in Formosa, like those in Jerusalem, " had rest, and 
 were edified ; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and 
 in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied." 
 Dr. Maxwell writes from Bak-sa, on April 22nd, 
 1870:— 
 
 Work Among the Aborigines. 
 
 " Recent letters from this quarter must have drawn your 
 thoughts with some interest towards the aborigines of 
 Formosa. From A-li-kang and Tai-wan-fu you have had 
 tidings of one and another of those people having been 
 admitted to the Church. Amid the crowd of Chinese they 
 also heard the Gospel and believed. These were outsiders, 
 living away from their own people, two of them being servants 
 in the Mission house at Tai-wan-fu. Now, by the grace of 
 God, the Gospel has found its way into the midst of this 
 people dwelling in their own villages, and, as I intimated in a 
 former letter, a commodious chapel, and rooms for our own 
 and helpers' use, have been erected in the village of Bak-sa. 
 This village lies in a lonely valley about twenty-seven miles 
 long. Its houses, rarely more than one or two together, built 
 
 12 
 
17S CHINAi AND FORMOSA. 
 
 of bamboo, rushes, and mud, and thatched with straw, are 
 scattered along the valley, over about a space of a mile and 
 a half. How the Gospel came to take root in this quarter is 
 not very difficult to trace, so far as the external lines of con- 
 nection are concerned. Our servants in Tai-wan-fu came 
 from this village. We engaged them in the hope that God 
 would make them a link between this people and ourselves. 
 They were visited in our commodious premises in Tai-wan-fu 
 by numbers of these people, who would pass the night there, 
 and who at morning and evening family worship could not but 
 learn somewhat of the Gospel. These two servants became 
 Christians, and began to shew the change by their demeanour, 
 and by exhortations of their fellow-villagers who visited them. 
 Their village was visited both by Mr. Ritchie and myself, 
 and by several of the helpers, until at length there could be' 
 no doubt at all of a very earnest desire amongst a number 
 of the villagers to have Sabbath ordinances regularly ad- 
 ministered. 
 
 Fifty Families Destroy their Idols. 
 
 " I know at least about fifty families who have destroyed 
 their idols — all of them deliberately. These fifty families 
 represent a large number of people, there being almost no 
 instance where, the head of the house having submitted himself, 
 the whole family has not also willingly joined in the movement. 
 In each of these families there is an earnest effort to master the 
 hymn-book, a process of diligent exercise of memory and of 
 instruction one to another, as they are almost wholly unlettered. 
 I believe also that in all, or almost all, of these families the 
 habit of regular prayer has been begun, in many cases, truly, 
 not amounting to more than a few words, but yet, I hope, with 
 the sincere desire to draw near to the living God. 
 
 Love of FIymns. 
 
 " They read with a sort of wild refrain, which is by no means 
 unmelodious, and, once begun, they will run on with twenty or 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 179 
 
 thirty of the hymns successively. As you pass along the valley 
 you will see here a boy and there a girl driving the cattle to 
 the hills, or going on some other work, with the hymn-book in 
 their hands or somewhere about their persons, and sometimes 
 floating down from the slopes you will hear the shrill young 
 voices singing out in their own wild way verse after verse of the 
 precious hymn. Just now my wife is with me here, teaching 
 the women to read the Romanised colloquial. She gives 
 them ungrudgingly six hours a day, but they would take a 
 great deal more if she could give it, and their earnestness is 
 delightful." 
 
 Bak-sa continued to prosper. On August 13th, 1870, 
 Mr. Ritchie baptised forty-three new converts. Dr. 
 Maxwell writes : — 
 
 Forty-three Baptisms at Bak-sa. 
 
 " On Sabbath last Mr. Ritchie for the second time adminis- 
 tered the Sacraments at Bak-sa, and on that occasion received 
 thirty-three men and ten women into Church fellowship. At 
 the Lord's Table the sixty-two members who have now been 
 received at this station were all present. Many of these are 
 isolated members of families, of whom no others have been 
 received, but others formed family groups most pleasant to 
 behold. Thus, a husband rejoined his wife, she having been 
 admitted at the last Communion and he at this. A wife 
 rejoined her husband in the same way." 
 
 Our Missionaries are sometimes obliged to depart 
 from what would be thought right and proper in our 
 state of society. Dr. Maxwell felt compelled to assume 
 the office of both the civil and ecclesiastical authorities 
 by marrying two Christian couples in the out-of-the- 
 way region of Bak-sa. 
 
i8o CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 A Wedding at Bak-sa. 
 " On Monday morning I recrossed the range that divides the 
 Kam-a-na region from Bak-sa. An hour and a half to two hours' 
 good walking is sufficient for the journey. At Bak-sa the con- 
 gregation have, at their own expense, completed the extension 
 of the chapel for sixty additional hearers, and have also built a 
 very respectable schoolroom, for the work of which one of 
 their own number is now ready, and will commence his duties 
 immediately. In the afternoon I married two couples accord- 
 ing to the service prepared by the American brethren in Amoy 
 — an unwilling assumption by me of what is generally looked 
 upon as pastoral duty, but one compelled by the urgent 
 necessity that exists of bringing the social relations of this 
 people into harmony with Christian teaching. Anomalies of 
 this kind must be borne with in the founding of Churches 
 among the heathen, and should stimulate the Church at home 
 to provide pastoral aid for this region, until the native Church 
 can cope with its own needs." 
 
 A NATIVE PREACHER. 
 
MISSION BUILDINGS, WU-KING-FU. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 a retrospect. 
 Death of Dr. Hamilton. 
 
 AT the close of the year 1867 the China Mission of 
 the Presbyterian Church of England sustained 
 a heavy loss by the death of the Rev. Dr. James 
 Hamilton, who had from the first been the Convener 
 of the Committee. It would be presumption on our 
 part, and a needless task, to dwell on the memory of 
 one whose life is the property of the Church Universal, 
 and who still lives in the memories of so many of its 
 members. It is only needful that we say how lovingly he 
 discharged his duties to the Mission and to the Mission- 
 aries, to whom he was ever like a father or brother, 
 ready with his wise counsel and words of encouragement 
 and friendly deeds. 
 
IS2 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 No Mission was ever more highly favoured in its 
 office-bearers. In James Hamilton it had a Convener 
 who was not only known and loved by his own Church, 
 
 THE REV. JAMES HAMILTON, D.D., THE EIRST CONVENER. 
 
 but was esteemed and loved by all who loved the Lord 
 and Saviour whom he served. His praise was in all the 
 Churches ; through him the Mission was known far 
 
A RETROSPECT. 
 
 beyond the limits of the denomination to which it 
 belonged. This, coupled with the fact that it had for 
 its first Missionary a man like William Burns, so widely 
 known as an evangelist, gave a significance to the 
 movement far beyond its own magnitude or the position 
 of the Church in its younger days. We mention these 
 things to call attention to what has been the strength of 
 the Mission from the first — the amount of prayer which 
 it called forth from all parts of the world where these 
 men were known. It was a sad day for the Mission 
 in China when the influence and services of such a 
 Convener were taken from its head. The first Treasurer, 
 Mr. James Nisbet, was also a man greatly honoured of 
 God in furthering the cause of Missions when they were 
 but little esteemed by the Church at large — a man of 
 catholic spirit, who had acted as treasurer to many 
 of the great philanthropies of the day. 
 
 But there was no one to whom the Mission owed 
 so much as to our present Convener, Mr. Hugh M. 
 Matheson. of whom we cannot speak as we would wish, 
 seeing that, through the kind providence of God, he is 
 still spared to serve the cause of which he has made 
 himself so long the willing servant. Mr. Matheson was 
 appointed Treasurer from the beginning, along with Mr. 
 Nisbet, for whom he did all the work ; and it says much 
 for his character and influence that the Church appointed 
 him to such an office when he was so young a man. 
 Several years after the resignation of Mr. Nisbet, from 
 advancing years, the Church appointed as Treasurer, 
 along with Mr. H. M. Matheson, Mr. J. E. Mathieson, 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 who has so long been known as one of the warmest 
 friends of Missions of our day. 
 
 All these, and many others, gave their time and 
 
 HUGH Mi MATHESON, ESQ , CONVENER AND TREASURER, 
 
 labours without stint to the home work of the Mission, 
 and gave as freely of their substance as of their services 
 for the cause they loved. Dr. Hamilton was wont 
 to tell, in his own bright way, his answer to the late 
 
A RETROSPECT. 185 
 
 Dr. Fleming Stevenson, who wrote to him asking 
 how much their Mission paid to its office-bearers, as 
 there were great complaints of the home expenses 
 of Mission boards. " I told him," said the Doctor, 
 with that shrug of his shoulders which his friends will 
 remember, " that I did the work of Secretary as well 
 as I could from love to the work, and our Treasurer 
 has just shown how much he values his post by 
 giving .£500 to our funds for the honour of filling it." 
 The Synod, which recorded its tribute of affection and 
 esteem on the death of Dr. Hamilton, unanimously 
 appointed Mr. H. M. Matheson in his place as Convener, 
 and every one in the Presbyterian Church of England 
 knows how much it owes to his untiring devotion to 
 this and to every good cause for over fifty years, 
 during which he has been the leading spirit and the 
 guiding hand in the Foreign Mission Committee. For 
 the Missionaries, we may say, as one of the earliest of 
 them, that no man could have been chosen so well fitted 
 to be their wise counsellor and warm friend. The 
 unbroken unity and peace and love which have 
 reigned in the Mission field, and the happy relations 
 between them and the Committee at home, have been 
 largely due to the uniform courtesy and kindness with 
 which they have been treated by the Convener both in 
 his personal and his representative character. 
 
 Death of Mr. Burns. 
 
 In the beginning of 1868 the Mission received another 
 terrible blow by the death of William Burns at New- 
 
1 86 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 chwang. Dr. Hamilton and he had been intimate in 
 family relations from their youth up ; they studied 
 together in Glasgow University, and their friendship 
 lasted through life. They both died in their fifty-third 
 year, within a few months of each other. James 
 Hamilton was born four months before William Burns, 
 and died four months before his friend. " They were 
 lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in death they 
 were not divided." Space is abolished by death ; China 
 and England are equally near to the pearly gates of 
 " Jerusalem the golden." 
 
 Having given a brief sketch of Mr. Burns when he 
 was appointed to the Mission, we can only speak now 
 of the circumstances of his death. After spending four 
 years in Pekin, during which he spent most of his time 
 in translating the much-loved Psalms of David into the 
 Mandarin dialect, which is spoken by a large part of 
 the inhabitants of Northern China, he had a great desire 
 to visit the large and important town of Ncw-chwang, 
 not far from the borders of Mongolia. He found it 
 impossible to get a passage on a foreign vessel going 
 there at the time, so he went on board a native junk, 
 which was about to sail. He had not time to purchase 
 provisions for the voyage, and was obliged to depend 
 on such food as he could buy from the owners of the 
 vessel. That was too coarse and unwholesome for his 
 digestion. The result was an attack of dysentery, which 
 he could not throw off, as the doctor said he might 
 easily have done if he had been in his usual health ; 
 but he was in a weak and reduced condition. Dr. 
 
A RETROSPECT. 187 
 
 Watson, who was living at the Consulate, did all that 
 medical skill could effect, but failed. He wrote to the 
 Convener : — 
 
 Results of Low Diet. 
 
 "You should know that Mr. Burns is simply suffering from 
 weakness, the result of long privation of the necessaries of 
 life and all its comforts. The immediate cause of his pros- 
 tration was a slight chill, which resulted in a slight attack of 
 febricula, from which an ordinarily strong man should and 
 would have recovered in a week. I am happy to say that 
 Mr. Burns now feels that, if again restored to health, he must 
 live in a more generous manner." 
 
 It is difficult for those who knew Mr. Burns when 
 he was in the south of China to understand this. 
 He was always rationally careful of his health, both 
 in food and clothing, and even in the choice of healthy 
 houses, however humble. If he did give way to the 
 attempt to live as Chinamen live, when he began to dress 
 as Chinamen dress, we can only say it was an unhappy 
 departure from his former habits, and think the evil 
 must have been done by the enforced use of Chinese diet 
 during his voyage from Shanghai to New-chwang. It 
 cost the Mission a precious life which money could 
 not repay. 
 
 The Mission Value of Mr. Burns' Life. 
 If we judge of the usefulness of a Missionary's life 
 by visible results in the conversion of individuals, there 
 are few Missionaries of any standing in China who 
 could not point to greater results than William Burns 
 could or would have claimed. That so able and 
 
iSS CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 earnest a labourer saw so little fruit of his abundant 
 labours and prayers is a rebuke to those who judge 
 of men by such a standard. No man can call in 
 question the faith and fidelity of the man whom God 
 had chosen in his youth for the great work of revival, 
 and the conversion of thousands in Scotland, England, 
 and Canada ; and yet the number directly converted 
 by his preaching and ceaseless prayer in twenty years 
 of work in China could be counted on the fingers of 
 his two hands. But who would dare to judge of the 
 value of his Mission work by such a test? Not only 
 was there the literary work, of which many take too 
 little account — his translation of the " Pilgrim's Pro- 
 gress," the Psalms of David, and many hymns, works 
 which will be read and sung for the edifying of the 
 Church when men who have been the means of con- 
 verting many will be forgotten — but there was his 
 personal life of deep devotion and constant communion 
 with God, which told on the lives of both Missionaries 
 and converts wherever he went, and his conversation, 
 which left a "sweet savour" of Christ with all who 
 met him, and the atmosphere of heaven, which sur- 
 rounded him wherever he dwelt. This personal 
 influence was the most precious boon which William 
 Burns conferred on China and its Missions. 
 
 He wrote to Dr. Hamilton shortly before his death 
 as if he were feeling old, and tells how his beard, 
 which he had allowed to grow, was very white. He 
 seems to have wished to live for the sake of his work 
 in China, but he was quite prepared to go if the Master 
 
A RETROSPECT. 189 
 
 called. When hope was given up, he dictated a letter 
 to his mother to prepare her for evil tidings. 
 
 " To my Mother, — At the end of last year I got a severe 
 chill, which has not yet left the system, producing chilliness 
 and fever every night, and for the last few nights has pro- 
 duced perspiration, which rapidly diminishes the strength. 
 Unless it should please God to rebuke the disease, it is 
 evident what the end must be ; and I write these lines 
 beforehand, to say that I am happy and ready, through the 
 abounding grace of God, either to live or to die. 
 
 " May the God of all consolation comfort you when the 
 tidings of my decease shall reach you, and through the 
 redeeming blood of Jesus may we meet with joy before 
 the throne bove ! 
 
 "W. C. Burns." 
 
 A Review. 
 
 The year 1872, which we have now reached, is the semi- 
 jubilee of the Mission, and it will be well to pause for a 
 little and take a survey of the work accomplished in 
 that time, not to make it an occasion of boasting, but 
 to stimulate gratitude to God and praise to Him for 
 His wonderful works in the threefold Mission, now in 
 maturity of experience and vigorous service. 
 
 When we speak of 1872 as being the twenty-fifth 
 year of our Mission in China, we are not strictly 
 accurate in our calculation. The real commencement 
 of our Mission was 1854. In that year the foundations 
 of the work were laid, and its organisation completed 
 on the lines on which it has been conducted ever since. 
 While this is true, we shall not ignore the precious 
 work of our honoured Missionary Mr. Burns. His 
 
19° CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 catholic spirit in working with men of all Churches, 
 and for the good of the Church in general, is worthy 
 of all praise ; even though his own Church might 
 appear to suffer loss, she gained more than she lost 
 by the widening of her sympathies and by winning the 
 gratitude of members of the Church at large. 
 
 Twenty-five Years' Work. 
 
 What then were the results of these twenty-five 
 years of labour, on the one hand, by the Church at 
 home in raising funds and sending out men — a Church 
 itself just awakened from the sleep of centuries to a 
 new life of organised activity ; and, on the other, the 
 labours of the Missionaries in the field — a field new 
 and unwrought by any other society, except it be in a 
 few cases of the existence of Roman Catholic Missions, 
 which were rather a hindrance than a help ? They 
 had made Christianity so like the heathenism around 
 them, that Christians were not to be distinguished by 
 either superior culture or morality, while they were 
 more prejudiced and more bitterly opposed to the pure 
 Gospel than the heathen. 
 
 The Mission of the Presbyterian Church in China 
 did not enter on " another man's line of things made 
 ready to its hand." It pressed into the regions beyond. 
 It found at Amoy two Societies at work — the London 
 Missionary Society and the Reformed Dutch Church 
 of America — with both of which it at once began to 
 work in the most perfect harmony. It honoured the 
 work done by these Societies through their devoted 
 
A RETROSPECT. 
 
 igi 
 
 agents. Each of these Societies had gathered a little 
 congregation of about twenty converts in full com- 
 munion with the Church of Christ, and perhaps three 
 or four times as many professed followers among their 
 families or inquirers after the new religion. These all 
 belonged to the town, or the island on which the 
 town of Amoy stands. On this field of labour the 
 Presbyterian Mission did not intrude. It pressed on 
 to the mainland, where no one had gone before it. 
 The other Societies had more than enough to exhaust 
 all their strength and funds within the island, with its 
 two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants. What 
 then has been accomplished in these twenty-five years ? 
 
 The Men Sent Out. 
 In 1847 the Church had only sent out one Missionary. 
 In 1872 the following were in the field : — 
 
 *Rev. C. Douglas, LL.D., arrived in China 1855, 
 
 E Rev. George Smith 
 
 Rev. W. S. Swanson 
 
 Rev. H. L. Mackenzie 
 
 Rev. H. Cowie 
 *Rev. W. M'Gregor 
 
 Rev. H. Ritchie 
 *Rev. W. Duffus 
 
 Rev. W. Campbell 
 
 Rev. R. Gordon 
 * William Gauld, M.D. 
 
 James Maxwell, M.D. 
 *Matthew Dickson, M.D. 
 
 1857, 
 i860, 
 i860, 
 1863, 
 1864, 
 1867, 
 1869, 
 1871, 
 1872, 
 1863, 
 1863, 
 1871, 
 
 at Amoy. 
 at Swatow. 
 at Amoy. 
 at Swatow. 
 at Amoy. 
 at Amoy. 
 at Formosa, 
 at Swatow. 
 at Formosa, 
 at Amoy. 
 at Swatow. 
 at Formosa, 
 at Formosa. 
 
 * Those marked with an asterisk were supported by the Edinburgh 
 Branch of the Society. 
 
192 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 To show the difficulties the Church has in keeping 
 up the number of its agents from this country working 
 in a tropical climate, we may record the painful fact 
 that during that time as many as seven Missionaries 
 had been removed from the field : three had died, 
 Dr. Young, the Rev. David Sandeman, and the Rev. 
 William Burns ; two were drowned, the Rev. David 
 Masson and Dr. Thomson ; one was compelled to 
 retire from the foreign field, the Rev. James Johnston ; 
 one resigned from a change of views. 
 
 Increase of Funds. 
 
 In looking back, we are surprised at the courage of 
 the Committee in going forward with a Mission to a 
 country like China, when the Church had as yet given 
 no sufficient sums to carry on such a Mission. Private 
 individuals had given liberally, but the Church had only 
 given promises and passed resolutions. The amount 
 collected in the first year by the schemes of the Synod 
 for Foreign Missions was only £114 4s. 4^'., and of 
 this ^50 was from one contributor, and £27 \j[s. gd. 
 from the one association in Regent Square. Even the 
 following year the collections and associations only 
 yielded .£89 9.V. yd., of which Regent Square gave half. 
 But the Committee had faith, and £ 1,000 in hand 
 from the accumulated gifts of friends during the years 
 they had been in search of a Missionary to go out 
 to China. 
 
 The increase in 187.2 was marked, and honoured the 
 
A RETROSPECT. 193 
 
 faith of the Committee in starting with so little. The 
 income for that year from all sources, including £576 
 of balance from the previous year, was ^9,258 18s. 8d., 
 instead of £l 14 4s. i^d. in 1847 and £89 in the following 
 year, 
 
 To show how general the increase of interest and 
 of liberality were, we give the particulars of the funds. 
 The one association, in 1847, raised £26 ; in 1872 there 
 were thirty-three associations, yielding £1,395. In 1847 
 the collections amounted to £7 from three congregations; 
 in 1872 the amount was ,£1,447 from thirty-three con- 
 gregations. In 1847 Sabbath schools and juvenile 
 associations contributed in all £\\ ; in 1873 they gave 
 for the Foreign Missions no less than £1,042. This 
 was largely due to the indefatigable zeal of Mr. William 
 Carruthers. The Association in Scotland had been 
 by this time organised, with the result, that, instead of 
 the sum of £8 collected by Mrs. George Barbour in 
 1847, the contributions in 1872 amounted to £2,286. 
 
 Increase in China. 
 
 Interesting and important as are the proofs of 
 increased liberality in the Church at home, still more 
 is the growth of the Mission abroad, to which we now 
 call the attention of the members of the Church. 
 
 In the year 1847 the China Mission of our Church 
 had not even one station ; it was not till 1854 that the 
 one station of Peh-chuia was established. When we 
 look at that small village or market town, and see the 
 
 n 
 
i 94 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 humble position and limited education of its members, 
 we feel how purely the work has been of God and not 
 of man. It is, if possible, more evidently the work of 
 the light- and life-giving Spirit than was the spread 
 of the early Church from Jerusalem or from Antioch. It 
 
 r 
 
 K 
 
 
 t££LM 
 
 
 I 
 
 ,M ... 
 
 IRFF. HEATHENS ASKING FOR A CHRISTIAN TEACHER FOR THEIR VILLAGE, AND 
 OFFERING THE BEST HOUSE IN IT. 
 
 was neither by human wisdom nor by human power 
 that grace and truth were thus spread abroad ; the 
 principal agents for its diffusion were the simple con- 
 verts, telling their countrymen what a Saviour they 
 had found. The English Missionary was the means 
 of first imparting the knowledge of the Saviour, but 
 
A RETROSPECT. 195 
 
 it was the converts who spread the glad tidings from 
 village to village and from town to town. Inquirers 
 came from one town or village after another, and asked 
 the foreign teachers to set up a preaching hall, that they 
 might hear the fuller and more authoritative proclama- 
 tion from their lips. The Missionaries were led from 
 place to place as by the pillar cloud, not by their own 
 choice or fancy. They often took long journeys to new 
 regions to open the way, but it was only when they found 
 a prepared people they could open a hall for preaching ; 
 and even these tours were suggested by the advice or 
 prayerful desires of the native Christians. Sometimes 
 the most unlikely people came requesting the Missionaries 
 to come to their village, or asking them to open a school 
 or preaching hall, and offering assistance ; sometimes 
 opium smokers longing to get rid of the ruinous habit. 
 
 What then has been the result of this natural yet 
 spiritual growth of the infant Mission in the field chosen 
 by the Church under the prayerful guidance of its 
 founders ? 
 
 The Three Centres— A.mov, Swatow, and 
 Formosa. 
 
 In 1K72 we find that the Mission to Amoy has 
 expanded into three distinct centres, independent of 
 each other, but under the one home Committee of 
 management. Amoy may justly claim to be the 
 mother of them all ; it was from that, as the original 
 headquarters, that they took their departure. But 
 situated as thev arc at a distance of about one hundred 
 
rq6 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 and fifty miles apart, in a country in which the means 
 of communication are slow and uncertain, each is left 
 to pursue its own course, not interfered with by the 
 others, and wisely left by the Committee at home very 
 much to the collective wisdom of the Missionaries in 
 consultation with the converts. These three centres have 
 each a number of stations and out-stations, in different 
 degrees of development, as indicated by the terms 
 Organised and Unorganised Stations or Churches. 
 
 An Organised Station is one which has not only a 
 congregation of Christian worshippers, but also its 
 pastor or evangelist, and its elders and deacons, like 
 our Churches at home. The Unorganised are more 
 like our Mission stations in this country, and vary at 
 different periods of the history of the Mission, the aim 
 and tendency being to raise them to a position 
 as near as possible to the standard of our sanctioned 
 charges, with a pastor supported by his own congre- 
 gation, and with its staff of elders and deacons. In 
 1872 there were none so far advanced as this, so that 
 it would only mean a congregation with its elders 
 and deacons, with a preacher or evangelist, who was 
 changed from time to time, chiefly because his know- 
 ledge was too limited to continue more than a few 
 months in one place. He required to return to head- 
 quarters to increase his stock of Scripture knowledge, 
 or to be sent to another station, to repeat what he 
 had given out in the other. Now, there are ordained 
 pastors, who arc well taught, and can feed the flock 
 of God with discretion from year to year, as at home. 
 
A RETROSPECT. 
 
 197 
 
 Increase of Stations. 
 The plan on which the Mission was organised in 
 1S54 was what may be called the centrifugal, as opposed 
 
 I1AK-KA PREACHERS WHO HAVE [(ONE GOOD WORK 
 
 VUN-CHONC. 
 
 TSHAI-YONG. TSOK-LIM. 
 
 to the sporadic, principle. Our honoured Missionary 
 Mr. Burns chose the sporadic method ; he moved from 
 place to place, scattering the seed of the Word broad- 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 cast, in regions remote from one another, but in general 
 where any who might be impressed by his preaching 
 could get attached to some stationary Mission. In this 
 way he moved over many fields, from the extreme south 
 to the north of China. What we may call the planetary 
 method is to choose a centre or centres from which the 
 Word may radiate, but not beyond the reach of the 
 influence of the central power. The radius may be 
 long and reach far, provided that there be intermediate 
 stations to support one another, and all should gravitate 
 to the centre, as planets to the sun. In this way there 
 is in the Mission, as in the solar system, both a centri- 
 fugal and a centripetal force, preserving the unit)' and 
 vigour of the organisation. This principle has been 
 consistently carried out from first to last, and the results 
 have been so manifestly owned of God, that it may be 
 said, without exaggeration or boasting, that no Mission 
 in China has succeeded in so short a time in raising up 
 so large a number of converts, so fully organised, so 
 largely self-supporting, and so self-reliant, as that of the 
 Presbyterian Church of England. To God alone be all 
 the praise ; to man there is no glory, for the method 
 was simply a copy of the methods of His Apostolic 
 Church, as recorded in His Word. 
 
 The increase during these twenty-five years was 
 wonderful, considering the small number of agents 
 employed. In 1847 there were no stations, and in 1S54 
 only one. And what do we find in [872 ? Turning to the 
 report for that year, as presented to the Synod in April of 
 1 X7?,, we find that, besides the many places for occasional 
 
A RETROSPECT. 199 
 
 preaching, the number of regular stations was sixty, and 
 of these a number were organised with ordained elders 
 and deacons and a constant supply of preachers and 
 evangelists. They were distributed among the three 
 centres as follows : In Amoy there were twenty-four 
 stations, of which six arc reported as organised ; in 
 Swatow there were fourteen, and in Formosa twenty-two. 
 When we take into account that this increase had taken 
 place in an entirely new field, where the sound of the 
 Gospel had never before been heard, wc can only adore 
 the goodness of God, and wonder at the grace bestowed 
 on the people and on the messengers sent forth by the 
 Church. 
 
 It is the more wonderful when we take into account 
 the difficulties of the field to be cultivated. A harder 
 soil than China could not well be found. Savage 
 tribes have little to lose, and few prejudices to be over- 
 come, compared with an old and civilised country like 
 China, proud of its history and of its religions, the most 
 ancient in the world. The countries evangelised by the 
 Apostolic Church were largely pervaded by the light 
 which Judaism had carried to almost every part of the 
 Roman Empire, and the Apostles rarely went to a 
 town in which they did not find a synagogue of the 
 Jews, who were looking for the Messiah, and some 
 Gentile converts and inquirers, who formed a little 
 company in some degree prepared for the Gospel. 
 They might be prejudiced and hostile, but there was 
 at least a twilight, where in China there was total 
 darkness. 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Besides the gaining of converts in such adverse 
 conditions, there was the difficulty of getting a place 
 in which the infant congregations could meet for edifi- 
 cation and encouragement. Each of the sixty stations 
 represents a conflict with the highest authorities or 
 with the excited mob — a conflict leading often to 
 bitter persecution, and in some cases the suffering of 
 many in their persons as well as in their property, and 
 in some instances to a martyr's death. Even where 
 there was no violent persecution, there was often an 
 amount of negotiation with heathen proprietors of land 
 or houses, and an amount of duplicity and delay, which 
 was little short of martyrdom to our Missionaries. 
 Each station represents an amount of labour and 
 anxiety or actual suffering which cannot be conceived 
 of by any but by those who have gone through the 
 process. Even where the converts gave the land or 
 house required, the legal formalities and false claims 
 of heathen relatives were a grievous burden to the 
 Missionary already overtaxed with his spiritual work. 
 
 Conversions. 
 Great as were the difficulties in the way of setting up 
 stations, the marvels of Divine power come chiefly into 
 view in the conversion of the heathen. Human wisdom 
 and man's power, backed as they were by the feeble claims 
 of imperfect treat)- rights, might do something in secur- 
 ing a site for a church, but the conversion of a soul is 
 the work of God alone. To bring one Chinese out of 
 darkness into the light of the Gospel, and to impart life 
 
A RETROSPECT. 
 
 to one who was dead in trespasses and sins, was a work 
 which required the forth-putting of the omnipotent 
 power of the Spirit of God. The manifestations of this 
 power in so many cases and over so wide a field call for 
 the adoring gratitude of the Church. 
 
 As we have seen, there were no converts until 1854, 
 when Mr. Burns was the means of gathering in a few 
 at the village of Peh-chuia, which has been well called the 
 Antioch of our China Mission. At that time there were 
 only seven converts; in 1872 the number of adult 
 members in full communion was 1,632. Of these, 500 
 were in the Amoy centre, 348 in Swatow, and no fewer 
 than 784 in the newest field, the Island of Formosa. 
 The more rapid increase in the latter place is perhaps 
 accounted for by the different character of a part of the 
 population of the island, as well as by the greater 
 facility of making an impression on a small population, 
 as compared with a large empire like China — a differ- 
 ence similar to what is found in making an impression 
 on a village and on a large city like London. 
 
 The population of Formosa, though mostly com- 
 posed of Chinese who have migrated from the mainland, 
 contains, as we have seen, a large mixture of a Malayan 
 race who have come less or more under the influence 
 of the civilisation of China ; and among these reclaimed 
 savages, less under the influence of old prejudices, and 
 on whom the Chinese religions sat lightly, many of our 
 stations and converts are found. As they more readily 
 receive impressions, so they are less stable than the 
 Chinese converts ; larger numbers of them fell away, or 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 were cut off for conduct unworthy of their profession, 
 than among their more conservative and steadfast neigh- 
 bours on the mainland. That some did apostatise is no 
 matter of surprise to any one who either studies human 
 nature or the records of the Church — even that of the 
 Apostles. That 1,632 converts had been gathered into 
 the fold of the Redeemer in so short a time, in such a 
 country, is striking testimony to the power and grace 
 of God. 
 
 Every Form of Agency has been Blessed. 
 
 It is a source of much comfort to the Church and to 
 the Committee which conducted its Mission, that every 
 form of agency employed has been owned and blessed of 
 God. The preaching of the English Missionaries, the 
 pastoral care of the flock, the training of evangelists 
 and their simple evangelistic work, the teaching in 
 schools for both boys and girls, all received the approval 
 of the Great Head of the Church in the part they took 
 in the conversion of sinners — in many cases the very 
 chief of sinners — and in the edification of the Church. 
 
 Medical Mission. 
 
 Of these agencies we must give an honoured place to 
 Medical Missions, to which the Committee had from the 
 first given unusual prominence. The results have fully 
 justified their method. Dr. James Maxwell in Formosa 
 and Dr. William Gauld in Swatow did noble work in 
 their professional capacity, and still more by their evan- 
 gelistic spirit. Dr. Young was removed too soon to 
 
A RETROSPECT. 
 
 have accomplished much, and Dr. M. Dickson had only 
 entered the field. 
 
 The following brief extract from an ode addressed 
 to Dr. Parker, a Medical Missionary, by a Chinese 
 patient on whom he had operated for cataract, shows 
 the impression made and the gratitude felt for those 
 skilfully exercising the healing art in a Christian 
 spirit : — 
 
 " With grateful heart, with heaving breast, with feelings flow- 
 ing o'er, 
 I cried, ' Oh lead me quick to him who can the sight restore ! ' 
 To kneel I tried, but he forbade ; and forcing me to rise, 
 ' To mortal man bend not the knee ! ' then pointing to the 
 
 skies, 
 ' I'm but,' said he, ' the workman's tool ; another's is the 
 
 hand ; 
 Before His might, and in His sight, men feeble, helpless 
 
 stand. 
 Go, virtue learn to cultivate, and ne'er do thou forget 
 That for some work of future good thy life is spared thee yet.' 
 The offered token of my thanks he would in nowise take ; 
 Silver and gold, they seemed as dust ; 'tis but for virtue's 
 
 sake 
 His works are done. His skill divine I ever must adore, 
 Nor lose remembrance of his name till life's last days are o'er. 
 Thus have I told in these brief words this learned doctor's 
 
 praise ; 
 Well does his worth deserve that I should tablets to him 
 
 Other Missions. 
 
 At this period, about twenty years after our Mission 
 was established as a separate organisation, there were 
 
204 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 twenty different Societies labouring in China, and 
 about twelve thousand communicants on the roll of 
 membership, as the result of nearly thirty years of 
 labour by some of them. Of these, about five thou- 
 sand belonged to American Missions, six thousand to 
 English, and the remainder to Continental Societies 
 — as large a number as could well be expected from 
 the means employed. It is a source of gratitude to 
 God, that, in the short time in which the English 
 Presbyterian Mission had been in the field, it had 
 been privileged to come to the front as one of the most 
 successful in China. It represented one of the small 
 Churches at home, and its funds were smaller and its 
 labourers were fewer than in most Missions — in some 
 cases only half the number of workers, and little more 
 than half the amount of money spent ; and yet the 
 number of communicants was the largest, except in 
 one Society. The largest Mission in China had only 
 1,701 communicants. The number in the English 
 Presbyterian Mission was 1,632 — only 69 fewer. The 
 number of regular hearers was in the former 2,990 ; 
 in the latter 3,461, or 471 more. To God be all thanks 
 and praise ! 
 
RUINS OF MOSLEM TEMPLE, CHIN-CHEW, 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 r "PHE second half of the fifty years will not demand 
 1 so lengthened a treatment as the first. It 
 began with the usual vicissitudes of prosperity and 
 adversity, of hope and disappointment. The Rev. 
 Carstairs Douglas had returned from a well-earned 
 holiday in health and vigour, and with the academic 
 distinction of IX. D., which he so well deserved, from 
 his alma-mater, the Glasgow University. It was 
 characteristic of the man, that when his friends wished 
 him to qualify himself for the degree of D.D. by 
 writing an essay, which in his case would have been a 
 mere form, he stoutly refused to put pen to paper for 
 anything that was not in the way of his duty to the 
 Mission. He would do nothing more than give a few 
 useless leaves of the dictionary which he was passing 
 
206 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 through the press at the time. This dictionary is 
 a splendid specimen of scholarship, and is universally 
 admitted to be one of the best examples of a local 
 vocabulary that has been produced in China, and is of 
 great value to every student of the Fuhkien dialect. 
 
 Church Organisation. 
 
 One of the most interesting features of this second 
 period will be the gradual development of Church 
 organisation into the complete symmetry and strength 
 of a living body, fitted to discharge all the functions 
 of a true Church of Christ. We have seen how the 
 Missionaries had from the first aimed at the formation 
 of a self-governing, a self-supporting, and a self-propa- 
 gating Church, and no Mission of modern times lias 
 manifested so much of these characteristics at so early 
 a stage of its growth. 
 
 This is largely due to the nature of the materials of 
 which the Church was composed. As we said in one of 
 our first letters to the Convener of the Mission, " China- 
 men arc very much like the Anglo-Saxon race ; they 
 have much of the same sound common sense ; they have 
 the same reverence for law and antiquity ; they arc 
 practical, and regulate their affairs by expediency rather 
 than abstract principles ; the)' are, in fact, the Saxons 
 of Asia." They are accustomed to a large measure of 
 self-government in their village system, and they bring 
 all their natural qualities and experience with them 
 into the spiritual kingdom ; and, with the Word of God 
 
LOOKING FORWARD. 207 
 
 for their guide and absolute authority, they make the 
 Church in China an admirable institution for the 
 preservation of life and order, and a living power 
 for the promotion of purity and expansion. We 
 do not claim these advantages exclusively for the 
 Presbyterian form, though we believe in its advan- 
 tages ; other forms of Church government in China 
 have benefited from these solid qualities and long 
 experience. 
 
 We shall find each of the three centres of the Mission 
 taking steps for completing their arrangements for 
 training an educated ministry suited to the wants of 
 the infant Church ; completing its form of Presbyterian 
 government with its Presbyteries and Synod ; drawing 
 up a creed * on the old Calvinistic lines, but much 
 shorter and simpler than that of Westminster , estab- 
 lishing a Mission to the heathen, conducted by the 
 Church, just drawn out of the heathenism in which it has 
 commenced its evangelistic work. In fact, each centre 
 takes upon itself the responsibilities of a living 
 Christian Church. 
 
 In telling the remainder of the story of the Mission 
 at its three centres, where each has, like the banian, 
 sent down its own stem and struck its own roots, though 
 still one tree, we shall be obliged to give a historical 
 precedence to Amoy, as the oldest and parent of the 
 
 * This has only been done by the Amoy Presbytery as yet. The other 
 Presbyteries are waiting until the native members of the Church are 
 capable of taking a larger share in such work than they could well do at 
 present, 
 
2oS CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Mission ; having got the start of the others, it has 
 generally taken precedence in the onward movement 
 of the whole. This unavoidable prominence in the 
 narrative we regret, as Swatow and P'ormosa have been 
 in no way behind in the talent and zeal with which the 
 work has been conducted, or less successful in their 
 efforts for the conversion of the heathen and the 
 building up of the Church. Amoy had also a great 
 advantage in its development, from its union with the 
 old and experienced Missionaries of the American 
 Dutch Church, and friendly co-operation of the oldest 
 Missionaries in China — the representatives of the London 
 Missionary Society. 
 
 The Women's Missionary Association. 
 
 One important step in advance, of equal importance 
 to all the three centres, was made by the ladies of the 
 Church establishing an Auxiliary Association, which 
 they called the Women's Missionary Association. The 
 want of such help as could only be efficiently given 
 by ladies who could devote their whole time to work 
 among women had long been felt. 
 
 The wives of the Missionaries had generously devoted 
 all the time they could spare from their domestic duties 
 to work among the women, often to the risk of their 
 health as well as the comforts of home, so needful to 
 both themselves and their husbands in a tropical 
 climate. We might mention many of the honoured 
 names of the wives of Missionaries who devoted 
 much labour to the education of girls and women, 
 
MRS. M'CREGOK. 
 MISS GRAHAM, 
 
 MISS RICKETTS. 
 
 MRS. MACKENZIE. 
 MISS JOHNSTON. 
 
 14 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 but shall only name the two who first opened 
 schools for girls — the late Mrs. M'Gregor in Amoy, and 
 Mrs. Mackenzie in Swatow. The Synod in 1877 had 
 approved of the employment of unmarried Missionaries, 
 and in the spring of 1X78 Miss Ricketts was so touched 
 by the great needs of the women of China, as described 
 by Mr. Duffus at a meeting in Brighton, that she 
 devoted herself and her means to seek their good. Xo 
 one could have been found more fitted by natural gifts 
 and practical experience for such work. 
 
 Miss Ricketts had done good work among the 
 women of Brighton, and as a recognition of her services 
 in education had been elected a member of the School 
 Board. She left the comforts of home and a field 
 of honoured usefulness to devote herself to the more 
 urgent wants of the women of China, and ever since 
 has laboured at Swatow with all the zeal of a volunteer 
 and loyalty of a member of the Mission staff. 
 
 In the autumn of 1878 steps were taken for the forma- 
 tion of the Women's Missionary Association, which has 
 done so much to promote the efficiency of the China 
 Mission. Mrs. H. M. Matheson was appointed President, 
 Mrs. J. E. Mathieson Secretary, and Miss Hamilton, the 
 daughter of Dr. Hamilton, Treasurer. Mrs. Carruthers 
 was appointed editor of a quarterly magazine, Our Sisters 
 in Other Lauds, in which the feminine gifts of observation, 
 description, and detail, so often lacking in those of the 
 other sex, have done much to make the Women's Asso- 
 ciation one of the most popular in the Church. 
 
 The special duties assigned to the lad)- Missionaries 
 
LOOKING FORWARD. 211 
 
 were much on the lines of an oversight of all that 
 pertained to the development of the gifts and graces 
 of womanhood in the women and girls connected with 
 the Church in China, and for gathering heathen women 
 into the Christian fold. For this end the)' hold meetings 
 with the female members of the Church at the different 
 stations — an arduous, a difficult, and sometimes a dan- 
 gerous task ; they teach them to read, and expound 
 the Scriptures to them in a simple way adapted to 
 their uncultured minds ; they give them suggestions on 
 keeping their liDmes clean and comfortable. 
 
 One important issue of their work is to train Christian 
 women to become the wives of evangelists and teachers, 
 whose work is often ruined by marrying a heathen 
 woman ; they set up schools for girls, teach the children 
 themselves, or employ native teachers under them ; they 
 get classes of the most promising converts, and train 
 them for Bible-women or evangelists to their country- 
 women ; they visit female patients in the hospitals and 
 the homes of heathen women who cannot or do not 
 come to public worship in the chapels. In a word, 
 they do everything in their power, by word and example, 
 to train their sisters to a higher life. It would be easy 
 and pleasant to devote a special chapter to this work 
 of the Women's Association, but we prefer to notice 
 it in its place as an integral part of the Mission. 
 
 Education for the Ministry. 
 
 There arc many departments of Mission work common 
 to each of the three centres which it is not necessarv 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 to repeat under each ; amongst the more important of 
 these was the raising up of a native ministry. 
 
 A knowledge of a few elementary truths was sufficient, 
 and a personal experience of their truth in the preacher 
 was enough in China, as it has been in all ages and 
 all lands. The great work of the evangelist is to 
 tell what God had done for his own salvation, as it 
 was in the days of David : " I will declare what God 
 hath done for my soul." But to rest content with such 
 an elementary teaching as this, or with such an im- 
 perfect teacher, is not only defective, it is destructive to 
 both teacher and taught. The child of the kingdom 
 must grow in knowledge, or he will never " grow in 
 grace " or in the graces of the Spirit. To obviate this 
 danger, and secure the development of each believer and 
 of the whole Church, it was needful to educate these 
 evangelists, or to train others for the " work of the 
 ministry"; and to this all the central stations devoted 
 themselves. 
 
 The Plan Pursued. 
 
 The plan pursued is to give the students a knowledge 
 of their own language first of all, and, through that, a 
 knowledge of the geography and history of their own 
 and other lands, in primary and intermediate schools, 
 along with the wholesome discipline of arithmetic and 
 geometry, of which they arc not ignorant in thcir 
 own schools, but which is taught on much better 
 principles and by better methods in our schools and 
 colleges. Put that which is made from beginning to 
 
LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 end the foundation of all instruction, and the atmosphere 
 which pervades both school and college, is the Word 
 of God. In knowledge of the contents of the Bible 
 the Chinese students will compare favourably with those 
 of the best colleges of England or Scotland. We give 
 below the plan pursued for those preparing to be 
 teachers in schools, students in the Theological College, 
 or preachers, in the Amoy Presbytery. Those of 
 Swatow and Formosa are substantially the same. The 
 examination for licence to preach as candidates for 
 the ministry, after the course of study is finished, will 
 be given in another place. 
 
 Mr. M'Gregor, in a letter dated May 23rd, 1870 
 gives the rules both for the choice of students for 
 the ministry, and the course of study needful for the 
 office of evangelists. 
 
 The Choice of Students for the Ministry. 
 
 "As several Churches have the prospect of soon being able 
 to support native pastors, we begin to realise the want of men 
 corresponding to licensed probationers at home, to whom the 
 choice of the congregations must be limited. We and our 
 American brethren had several conferences on the subject, 
 which resulted in arrangements for two sets of examinations. 
 One of these was submitted to the Tai-hoc (Presbytery) as a 
 system of examination for licence, and agreed to. The other 
 is entirely in the hands of the Missionaries. Our plan is as 
 follows : — 
 
 " 1st. All preachers, students, and Christian teachers of 
 schools in the employment of the two Missions shall once a 
 year undergo an examination in the presence of the Missionaries. 
 
 " 2nd. Such as appear qualified are to be recommended by 
 
214 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the Mission with which they are connected to be taken on trial 
 by the Presbytery, with a view to license. 
 
 "The examinations take place four times a year, so that ten 
 or eleven helpers being examined on each occasion, the whole 
 body in the employment of the two Missions will be examined 
 once a year. In the department of Bible knowledge, section t 
 is taken up at all the examinations held this year, section 2 
 next year, and so on. By this arrangement the entire Bible, 
 with the exception of the more difficult books (which are 
 reserved for the examination for licence before the Presbytery), 
 will be overtaken in four years, and all our helpers examined 
 upon it. 
 
 " A fortnight ago we had the first of these examinations. The 
 various subjects were divided among the Missionaries of the 
 two Missions as examiners. Twelve preachers and students 
 were, in the presence of all the Missionaries and a considerable 
 number of Chinese, examined. It was with difficulty we got 
 the examination concluded on the third day, and this fact will 
 suffice to show you that it was not hurried over in a slipshod 
 fashion. 
 
 " I believe these examinations will have a great influence in 
 urging our helpers to a more careful and systematic study of 
 the Scriptures and of Christian doctrine." 
 
 New Centres of Light and Life. 
 
 Another step which was taken in common by each 
 of the three centres was the setting' up of subordinate 
 centres to be more powerful sources of light and life 
 than the Mission station under a native pastor. This 
 is the natural and most effective way of extending 
 the influence of the Mission, and it is the best way 
 of utilising the new Missionaries who arc sent out by 
 the Church. Instead of being crowded together in one 
 
LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 215 
 
 or even three centres, it is infinitely better that they 
 be separated in groups of three or four men and 
 women, near their work, and in contact with the people. 
 Amoy has during the last twenty-five years established 
 three such new centres, Swatow two, and plans arc 
 now laid for establishing a third, and Formosa has 
 added one ; while the home Committee has established 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 &X&L*JLe££g3!&3&it^iffl 
 
 
 
 ' "-'»« 
 
 *<amK 
 
 
 
 fefefaa 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 HSSHBEO^i 
 
 Hjjsjfej' -■ 
 
 ""Sash 
 
 
 
 Nfe*. 
 
 A NEW CENTRE, CHANG-PTJ, 
 
 a Mission at that great meeting-place of the nations, 
 Singapore — the neck of the world's commerce, if 
 London is its heart. It is crowded with Chinese, and 
 most of them are from the parts of China in which 
 our Mission is carried on, and speak the same dialect, 
 so that it naturally comes within our sphere of influence. 
 To these we will not further refer ; they will come- 
 before us in the natural evolution of our story of the 
 three centres. 
 
2 if) 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Missions isy the Native Churches. 
 
 But the must interesting development of tin's second 
 period is the establishment of Missions to the heathen 
 by those so recently converted from heathenism. From 
 the time of conversion each individual convert acted 
 on the principle that it was his duty to seek the 
 conversion of his friends, especially those of his own 
 
 THE COLLEGE, HAK-KA CENTRE WU-KING-FU. 
 
 house ; and the rapid increase of the Churches was 
 mainly due to the zeal of the members of the different 
 Churches in carrying out this first instinct of the 
 new life of the believing soul. But when the Churches 
 were organised and Presbyteries formed, the members 
 of the new organisation felt a new responsibilitv laid 
 upon them as a collective body ; they felt bound to 
 carry the Gospel to their countrymen who were still 
 
LOOKING FORWARD. 
 
 217 
 
 sitting in darkness by a systematic effort supported 
 and directed by the organic body of Christians. 
 
 Each of the three centres — Amoy, Swatow, and 
 Formosa — felt and acted alike in this important matter, 
 and each now has its definite Mission, entirely directed 
 and supported by the native Churches. The movement 
 is at once a healthy sign of life, and will be a source 
 of greater life by the natural reaction of the outward 
 activities on the inner source from which they spring. 
 
 A LITTLE WORK. 
 
TIRST ARITHMETIC CLASS, AMOY. 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION (continued). 
 
 DR. DOUGLAS paid a visit to the stations on 
 his return, and sent his usual calm and judicial 
 report to the Convener. He says that on the whole 
 he found decided progress in nearly all the places he 
 visited, not only in the increase of the number of 
 converts, but in the strength and stability of the 
 Churches and in the character of the members. Some 
 stations had not progressed, and he had to mourn 
 over the decay of faith in some ; and a few had 
 apostatised and denied the Lord who bought them. 
 With mingled feelings he heard of the peaceful or 
 triumphant death of old friends. One at Peh-chuia is 
 specially referred to : an elder of the name ol Kei-cho. 
 who had only been a member of the Church about 
 four years, but had in that short time been the means 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 219 
 
 of bringing between twenty and thirty of his heathen 
 countrymen out of darkness into the light of Christianity; 
 a man of strong character, who had lived down all 
 the opposition of his friends, and had won the respect 
 of the heathen, many of whom wept at his grave 
 along with his fellow-Christians. 
 
 We now proceed with the story of the Mission as 
 recorded by the Missionaries themselves, the best 
 witnesses of what they saw with their own eyes and 
 heard with their own ears. The brethren at Amoy 
 had long felt that the time had come for a decided 
 step in advance. The Missionaries had hitherto made 
 Amoy their headquarters ; their houses were there, and 
 they had no buildings in other places in which it was 
 safe for health, to say nothing of comfort, for them to 
 spend more than a few days, or a few weeks at most. 
 They were not at liberty to trifle with their lives, which 
 were not their own, but the property of the Mission 
 which had spent so much in sending them, and found 
 it so difficult to fill their place if their health failed. 
 Some Missions have squandered both money and 
 precious lives of men, when they had just acquired the 
 language and were prepared for work, by not attending 
 to the Divine laws of health. With the best precautions 
 the waste of life is one of the greatest of difficulties, 
 greatly increased by a false economy ; and its preserva- 
 tion by the expenditure of a little money is the wisest 
 economy. 
 
 One of the regions which the Amoy Missionaries 
 had looked forward to as a new centre of influence 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA 
 
 and expansion was the fertile plain of which the town 
 of Chang-pu is the must important. It stands on a 
 creek or outlet of a small river, and can be reached 
 from Amoy by water, from which it lies south by 
 west at a distance of about forty miles as the crow 
 
 
 
 I 
 
 j 
 
 If 
 
 
 MOT 
 
 11 II 
 
 3^P^^sT|l fJ^ ; J 
 
 « Hs*J 
 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 ■/« 
 
 IP 
 
 
 
 
 
 DR. HOWIE AND ASSISTANTS, CHANG-PU. 
 
 flies, but much farther by cither land or water. It is 
 thus described by the Rev. Robert Gordon on his 
 visit to the district in i S74 : — 
 
 The Rich Plain of Chang-pu. 
 "Starting pretty early in the morning, we crossed by a long, 
 stiff mountain pass the lofty range of hills that extends east 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 
 
 and west behind Khi-boey. Descending on the other side, 
 we had a splendid view of the Chang-pu Plain, one of the most 
 richly cultivated and beautiful stretches of country I have 
 yet met with in China. The numerous villages embosomed 
 amongst trees ; the terraced garden-looking plots of ground 
 bearing rich crops of wheat, barley, sugar-cane, etc. ; here and 
 there little clumps of the majestic banian or the tall, graceful 
 bamboo, as they marked some village or lined the banks of 
 some mountain stream, now winding its way through the 
 valley below, formed the main elements of the rich panorama 
 spread out before the eye. Enclosing this rich plain, as if 
 guarding it from hostile intruders, there towered aloft some 
 splendid mountains, forming a worthy background to such a 
 picture. Gazing on such a scene, and thinking at the same 
 time of the vast multitudes of poor, ignorant, superstitious 
 Chinese inhabiting this plain, one could not help recalling 
 the well-known lines of Heber : — 
 
 ' In vain with lavish kindness 
 The gifts of God are strown, 
 The heathen in his blindness 
 Bows down to wood and stone.' 
 
 The City of Chang-pu. 
 
 " Cot to Chang-pu in the course of the forenoon, and spent 
 most of the day in that large city, still wholly enveloped in 
 deep spiritual darkness. As yet no regular work has been 
 begun there. We hope soon to be able to get a footing in 
 it, and to plant in this stronghold of Satan the standard of the 
 Cross. We would thus also secure another step nearer to 
 meeting our Svvatow brethren, Chang-pu being on the main 
 road leading to Swatow and the south. I preached some four 
 or five times in different parts of the city to large and com- 
 paratively attentive crowds of people, and distributed also 
 a good many tracts, etc. It is a strange feeling that sometimes 
 comes over one standing in the midst of a large city of 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 idolaters, almost the sole worshipper of the true and living 
 (lod. In such circumstances one can realise something of the 
 Apostle's feelings as expressed in Acts xvi. 17. 
 
 Interesting Incidents. 
 
 "As we were leaving the place some of the people followed 
 us, wishing us to stay and speak to them longer, saying that 
 we came so seldom. One man came running to point out 
 to us the copy of the Ten Commandments that had been given 
 to him, now posted up in a conspicuous place near one of the 
 gates by the side of the main road leading into the city, so 
 that it might be seen and read by all who could do so on their 
 entering or going out of the city. Another man we saw, in 
 passing along, sitting in the door of his house, busy perusing 
 the copy of a tract he had got. Oh that these words of life 
 may be as good seed cast into good soil, bearing much fruit 
 unto eternal life ! " 
 
 We have seen how our Amoy Missionaries had long 
 and earnestly sought to get a station in the important 
 city of Chin-chew, the capital of a district and a seat 
 of learning. It is about forty miles from Amoy in a 
 direct line, and the same distance to the north by east 
 that Chang-pu is to the south by west, and accessible 
 by both sea and land. The following summary 
 of a long series of letters from Dr. Douglas, dating 
 from 1 875-7, gives the result of endless negotiations 
 with officials, who did all in their power to keep him 
 from getting a footing in the city, backed by all the 
 influence of a powerful literary class, who stirred up 
 the low rabble by false reports and bribes, while the 
 mass of the population was friendly or indifferent. 
 
the story of the amoy mission. 223 
 
 The Chin-chew Case—A Happy Solution. 
 
 At various intervals for three years past the Church 
 has been requested to remember in prayer the special 
 circumstances of the Mission at Chin-chew. A solution 
 of the long-standing difficulty with the authorities at 
 Chin-chew having now been reached, it is desirable 
 that our readers should have the leading features of 
 the case briefly set before them. 
 
 Chin-chew is a city of three hundred thousand souls, 
 lying about fifty miles north by east of Amoy, known 
 to Europeans for some hundreds of years as a com- 
 mercial centre, and having a high repute in China itself 
 for the number of its literary men. From the first 
 it has presented a powerful attraction to the labourers 
 at Amoy, and from the time that a footing was made 
 good at An-hai, twenty miles south of Chin-chew, it was 
 felt that the next point of attack was this great city. 
 In March 1866 a house a little way back from the 
 main street of the city was, in God's good pro- 
 vidence, secured for the Mission. 
 
 When it became known, there were the usual 
 attempts, by graduates and others, to hinder possession ; 
 but nothing serious resulted till the close of the year, 
 when a graduate named Li-han-jian, at the head of a 
 party of fifty men, entered and thoroughly stripped the 
 chapel and otherwise did damage to the amount ol 
 about four hundred dollars. This outrage was, aftcr 
 somc months, in part redressed, and for several years 
 there was comparative quiet at Chin-chew, whilst the 
 
224 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Mission labours were slowly crowned with success, so 
 that in 1 875 there were about forty adult members 
 in the Church. At the beginning of 1875 it was felt 
 that an endeavour must be made to escape from the 
 cramped rooms and hidden position of the first location, 
 and at this point the struggle began. It is enough 
 to say, in the words of Mr. M'Gregor, who concluded 
 the transaction when Dr. Douglas was away at 
 Shanghai — 
 
 " We have secured a chapel situated in the best street of 
 Chin-chew, in the very centre of a city of three hundred 
 thousand souls ; and in the frontage we have secured we shall 
 be able to have a preaching hall right in the street, where we 
 can get an audience at any time." 
 
 Death of Dr. Douglas. 
 
 The twenty-sixth day of July 1877 was a dark day 
 for the Amoy Mission, and brought a great loss to the 
 Church. Dr. Douglas, after twenty-two years of hard 
 service, died of cholera in the prime of life and in the 
 midst of the greatest usefulness. He had just returned 
 from the Mission Conference at Shanghai, where he 
 received the highest honour which the large meeting of 
 Missionaries of all denominations could confer, making 
 him one of the two chairmen who presided over all 
 its meetings. His wisdom and firm gentleness in the 
 management of the Conference were the admiration of 
 all, and did much to make the Conference a great 
 success. 
 
 Wc cannot here give an analysis of the character and 
 
OLDER MISSIONARIES AT AMOV. 
 
 REV. J. JOHNSTON. 
 
 REV. CARSTAIRS DOUGLAS, LL.D. 
 
 REV. W. M'GREGOR, M.A. 
 
 REV. W. S. SWANSON, 
 
 IS 
 
226 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 work of the beloved brother thus so suddenly taken 
 from the midst of his labours ; we can only say that in 
 every department of Missionary work he was a model 
 in the faithful discharge of duty. As a student of the 
 language, no man of his years approached him in the 
 thoroughness and accuracy of his knowledge. His 
 dictionary is a monument of his scholarship cere 
 perennius ; and yet it is the testimony of his brethren 
 that it cannot be said he ever took an hour from his 
 more direct Missionary duties in its composition ; it was 
 compiled by time stolen from his legitimate hours for 
 recreation or sleep. His zeal in preaching, "in season 
 and out of season," " sowing beside all waters," was the 
 passion of a calm and rational mind ; his devotion 
 to the education of the members of the Church, and 
 especially of those preparing for the office of evangelist 
 or pastor, was incessant ; his fidelity in watching over 
 the flock of God, and in preserving the purity of the 
 Church in faith and morals, was that of a shepherd who 
 was ready to spend and be spent in the service of the 
 Master he served, and to whom he was preparing to 
 give account of the sheep committed to his charge. 
 
 Dr. Douglas was not demonstrative in his affections, 
 and yet he won the hearts of the Chinese in a marvellous 
 manner. The naturally cold and unimpassioned Chinese 
 were melted to tears at his death, and a finer tribute 
 to the character of the great and good Missionary was 
 rarely if ever paid than that at the first meeting of 
 the Amoy Presbytery after his death, when Tan-leng, 
 the first native pastor ordained over a self-supporting 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 227 
 
 congregation, that of Peh-chuia, read the minute which 
 he had prepared for insertion in the Records amidst 
 the tears and sobs of the whole of the brethren. The 
 description of that meeting is well worthy of thoughtful 
 perusal, as showing how the Gospel gives a heart to 
 the cold-blooded Chinese. 
 
 Testimony to Dr. Douglas by the Amoy Presbytery. 
 
 The Rev. W. S. Swanson writes to Mr. Matheson : " We 
 have just had our spring meeting of Presbytery, one of the 
 most stirring and profitable meetings we have ever had. We 
 commenced on Tuesday, and continued our sittings during 
 Wednesday and Thursday. We sat for six hours each day, 
 and every moment was fully occupied with important business. 
 There was a full representation of members ; and when the 
 Sederunt was made up there were four native pastors, five 
 foreign Missionaries, fifteen native elders, and two delegates 
 from the London Mission Churches in this quarter. These 
 represented more that fifty separate congregations, and the 
 sight made those of us who could look back to the past small 
 beginning thank God with humble, grateful hearts. 
 
 " Carefully drawn-up reports on Church finance and on the 
 progress of the work were given in and discussed, and it would 
 have done your heart good to see how heartily and intelligently 
 and systematically the whole business was conducted. 
 
 " The Amoy Presbytery has now a membership of twelve 
 hundred and seventy adults under its jurisdiction, with a large 
 number of baptised children and adherents. The total sum 
 contributed by the Church members last year amounts to 2,482 
 dollars (a sum, reckoning the dollar at 4* 3d., equal to 
 ,£527 1 oj\), making the average contribution of each individual 
 something near 8s. \d. They are able to do more than 
 this, and I do hope and believe that further progress will be 
 made. 
 
228 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 A Chinese Presbytery in Tears. 
 
 " At the previous meeting of Presbytery a committee was 
 appointed to prepare a minute expressing the grievous loss 
 sustained by the lamented death of Dr. Douglas. Our Peh-chuia 
 pastor, the Rev. Tan-leng, drew up the minute, and all I can 
 say of it now is that it is most ably done. It is of considerable 
 length, and goes carefully into the history of our beloved 
 brother's devoted life and work in China. When the minute 
 was read, there was such a scene as I never expected to see 
 in China. 
 
 DOUGLAS MEMORIAL 
 
 " It was read by its author ; and as he drew near the close, 
 where were recounted the affecting details of Dr. Douglas's 
 last days on earth, and the estimate of his life and work and 
 worth, his voice began to tremble, and at length it was only 
 with sobs and weeping that he made his way through the 
 document. By this time every member of Presbytery and the 
 large audience had broken down, and every individual present 
 was bathed in tears. It is no easy matter to make the Chinese 
 weep, and those who know them best are best able to estimate 
 how deeply they were touched. I cannot describe the scene; 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 229 
 
 it was inexpressibly sad to see a church filled with strong men 
 weeping like little children. I came away from it with a 
 chastened joy filling my heart ; for I know that no nobler 
 testimony can ever be given to the worth of one of the noblest 
 men that have ever lived. He is not dead here, and while the 
 Church of Christ exists in this region the memory of what he 
 was and of what he did will never die. 
 
 " Another marked feature of this Presbytery was the closing 
 meeting. We all sat down together at the Lord's Table. Our 
 Moderator (the Peh-chuia pastor) dispensed the ordinance. 
 Most solemnly and feelingly he did his duty, and I know we 
 all enjoyed it. After the Communion most earnest and spirited 
 addresses were delivered on the state of religion. The defici- 
 encies and disappointments, the lack of zeal for the salvation 
 of souls, and other such subjects were pressed on the attention 
 of all. We sang together a parting hymn, and the company 
 dispersed after three such days as I shall not soon forget. 
 
 " I trust we may soon be able to report the ordination of at 
 least another native pastor. We have several men preparing 
 for licence, and I hope our Kio-lai congregation will by the time 
 these men are licensed be prepared to give a call to one of them." 
 
 Meeting of Chin-chew Presbytery. 
 
 In the year 1880 the establishment of Chin-chew 
 as a new centre of influence was completed by the 
 settlement of a Medical Missionary there. The Com- 
 mittee were fortunate in finding in Dr. Grant a man 
 eminently fitted for such a post. By his skill as a 
 physician and surgeon he soon compelled the respect 
 and confidence of the community, and by his tenderness 
 and interest in his patients he won the hearts of many, and 
 greatly helped the good work in all that region. 
 
 One result of the increase of the northern Churches 
 was the necessity for dividing the Presbytery of Amoy 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 into two, of which Chin-chew was chosen as the northern 
 headquarters. In a letter from the Rev. H. Thompson 
 we have a most interesting account of the meeting of 
 the Chin-chew Presbytery on October 29th, 1881, at 
 which four candidates for " licence to preach the Gospel " 
 appeared for examination. It is cheering to read the 
 account of the proceedings in that young Church court, 
 and to think of the old forms gone through with all 
 dignity by our Chinese brethren in pigtails and a 
 monosyllabic language. But there is more than forms — 
 there is all the evidence of a living and growing Church 
 of Christ in the midst of surrounding heathenism. 
 
 By the letter from the Rev. H. Thompson, dated Amoy, 
 October 29th, 1881, we receive the interesting account 
 of the call of pastors by Churches willing to support 
 them by their own voluntary contributions— a new and 
 important step in the life of a Church. 
 
 Self-supporting Churches. 
 
 "Amoy, October 29th, 1881. 
 " The Presbytery of Chin-chew and Chang-chew met in the 
 Douglas Memorial Church on Tuesday, October 25th, at 
 3 p.m., the Rev. Robert Gordon moderator. The Rev. U. 
 Smith, of Formosa, being present, was associated. The after- 
 noon was entirely taken up with hearing the reports of the 
 various committees and other routine business. The com- 
 mittees appointed to visit the five Churches to which the 
 Presbytery had previously granted requests to call pastors 
 reported that they had found the several Churches financially 
 in a position to carry out what they proposed, and the members, 
 with one exception, of one heart in the matter. Some difficulty 
 had arisen in the Chang-chew Church : but as it afterwards 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 
 
 requested that candidates should be sent to be heard, we hope 
 the difficulty has been overcome. 
 
 Four Candidates for Licence. 
 
 " The following morning at half-past nine the Presbytery 
 reassembled and spent half an hour in prayer. One item of 
 great interest in the business of the day was the proposing 
 of four candidates for licence. Since the last meeting of 
 Presbytery three men belonging to our Mission — Thien-khe', 
 Kam-tsoa, and Pe, and one Pheng, a preacher of the American 
 Mission — have been preparing for examination. A committee 
 of the Missionaries and the native pastors had been appointed to 
 prescribe subjects and to examine thereon. As the Presbytery 
 agreed to the above-mentioned proposition, this examination 
 was proceeded with, and was not over until Thursday morning. 
 
 " The candidates having acquitted themselves most creditably 
 (Khe, the tutor of our college, distinguished himself), the 
 Presbytery were unanimous in granting their licence. In the 
 afternoon we had the great pleasure of seeing them duly 
 licensed, the Moderator putting the usual questions. 
 
 " Surely here is something to call forth the praise of all the 
 Churches ! God hath wrought great things for us. We have 
 now five licentiates, and five Churches waiting to call them to 
 the office of pastor. If ever the Church here needed the 
 prayers of the Church at home, it is now. This is a critical 
 point in our history. May God Himself guide each man into 
 the sphere in which He would have Him labour, and may this 
 step forward redound to the glory of Him alone who is the 
 glorious Head of the Church ! " 
 
 A Visit to Dr. Grant at Chin-chew by the 
 Rev. James Main. 
 
 " TAI-WAN-FU, February vjth, 1883. 
 
 The Hospital. 
 
 " Soon after our arrival we went with the doctor to the 
 hospital for the regular evening^ worship with the patients, 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 The hospital, like the chapel, consists of a Chinese house and 
 courtyard. The dwelling-house forms the hospital proper, and 
 the court, with the outhouses, have been converted into a 
 dispensary and house for native preachers. In the centre of 
 the dwelling-house there is a large hall open in front ; this 
 forms a sort of chapel for the hospital. The wards for the 
 
 DR. GRANT AND HOSPITAL ASSISTANTS, CHIN-CHEW. 
 
 in-patients are on each side of this. When the gong was 
 sounded, about twenty persons, for most part in-patients, 
 gathered together for worship. The native preacher — a very 
 intelligent-looking man — presided. Here again I found the 
 excellent customs of reading Scripture in course, and of reading 
 verse about prevail. The subject for that evening was the 
 conversion of St. Paul. Question and answer followed each 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 233 
 
 other in quick succession, manifesting a great amount of 
 intelligence and of interest in the Word of God. After worship 
 we went round the wards with the doctor. The little hospital 
 is more than full. 
 
 A Little Patient. 
 
 " There are some interesting cases among them, but none 
 more interesting than that of a little sufferer of about eleven 
 years, to whom the doctor introduced us. He has been in 
 for over six months with hip-joint disease, and his thin, pale 
 face tells a tale of much suffering. But it tells another tale 
 as well. It has something in it which makes you feel that the 
 poor little sufferer has been to the Physician of souls, and has 
 been touched by His healing hand. He has a great love for 
 the doctor ; and the beautiful pictures that lighted up the walls 
 of his little chamber, and the toys that lay on his bed, show 
 that he has had cause to love him. 
 
 " When Mr. Thompson asked him if he loved the doctor, 
 the poor little fellow put his hand to his heart, and said, with 
 a smile, that he loved him ■' deep, deep.' Mr. Thompson then 
 went on to ask him if he loved Jesus ; and the boy not only 
 said he did, but told very clearly the reason why he loved. 
 He also repeated one of his simple prayers, which ran some- 
 thing in this way : ' God bless the doctor ; God bless me, 
 and make me better soon, soon, and teach me Jesus' holy 
 doctrine ; and God bless all the sick people here, and teach 
 them to know Jesus' holy doctrine.' The poor little fellow 
 has evidently a thinking mind that will not be satisfied with 
 anything but the real and the practical. 
 
 "One day he said to the doctor, ' Doctor, is God angry with 
 people who say what is not true ? ' ' Yes,' said the doctor. 
 ' Is he angry with your men and our men equally ? ' ' Yes,' 
 repeated the doctor. ' Then,' said the little logician, ' God is 
 angry with you ; for when I came in here you said you would 
 not cut my leg, and you did.' The doctor did not tell us how 
 he got out of this clever dilemma." 
 
234 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 After much opposition and violence a chapel was 
 at length secured at Chang-pu, where work had been 
 carried on since 1 879. The following letter from the 
 Rev. J. Watson tells of the final victory : — 
 
 The Chapel at Chang-pu. 
 
 "Chang-pc, June 2nd. 1884. 
 
 " How thankful I am to be able to send word that we have 
 got a chapel in this town ! The troubles we have come 
 through deepen our conviction that the door has been opened 
 by the Lord, and that no man will be able to shut it. 
 
 " As I mentioned in my last letter, I went back to Chang-pu 
 to complete the bargain and get possession at once. When 
 I got here, some days were consumed in negotiating with the 
 landlord, who could not be made to see how important it was 
 both for himself and for us that he should let us into the 
 house before any who might wish to oppose heard that we 
 had got a house. 
 
 "On Monday night (May 19th) we paid over the money ; 
 and about midnight the Khi-boey pastor and two Christians 
 went into the house. On Tuesday, at break of day, I went in. 
 It was a lovely morning ; everything was calm and peaceful. 
 Seldom have I been so full of joy. We had worship together, 
 singing 'O thou my soul, bless God the Lord' and ' I'm not 
 ashamed to own my Lord,' and reading that passage where the 
 Lord spake to Paul, ' Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not 
 thy peace : for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to 
 hurt thee : for I have much people in this city.' 
 
 "The news that we had been driven out of our chapel 
 spread fast ; but the good news that we had got into it again 
 spread faster among the Christians, and last Sabbath there 
 was thanksgiving and prayer that many may be saved in this 
 place. We have had several prayer meetings for special blessing 
 on this city and surrounding district, and we have also been 
 praying for a hospital." 
 
GIRLS SCHOOL, CHIN-CHEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION {concluded). 
 
 Arrival of Lady Missionaries 
 
 IN 1883 an interesting addition was made to the 
 Mission staff in Amoy by the arrival of the first of 
 the agents of the " Women's Mission " — Miss Maclagan, 
 who was joined in 1885 by Miss Johnston — most 
 welcome additions to the number of workers, but still 
 more by the development of an important part of 
 the Mission work. They took over and enlarged the 
 schools previously in existence, and at a later period set 
 up village schools in the interior They stimulated the 
 education of the female members of the Church, and 
 helped in visiting the women in the hospital, and both 
 
236 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 gave much help to the wives of the Missionaries, who 
 had been striving to do such work, while the young 
 Missionaries received from their more experienced 
 sisters much valuable help in return. 
 
 Home for Rescued Infants. 
 
 One happy result of the arrival of the unmarried 
 Missionary ladies was the setting up of a babies' home 
 for deserted little children who were cast out to die, 
 or that were likely to be destroyed because they 
 were girls, or boys that were deformed, and not likely 
 to be of use as bread-winners for the family. This 
 cruel custom was so common when China was thrown 
 open to intercourse with the foreigner, that in the 
 province of Fuhkien it was said there were only 
 seven women for ten men ; that meant the destruction 
 of three girls out of every ten children that were born 
 alive — three hundred out of every thousand, and so on 
 for the fourteen millions of the province. To counter- 
 act such a slaughter of the innocents as this, the 
 setting up of a small hospital might seem a futile 
 effort, and as far as the number saved went it would 
 have been trifling ; but as an expression of feeling 
 of the human heart, and the assertion of a great 
 principle, it had a power far beyond the numbers 
 who were saved from actual destruction. The as- 
 sertion of the principle by the preacher was much, 
 and the example of the converts, who lavished as 
 much love on their girls as their boys, and more on 
 the cripple than on the strong, was much more ; but 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 237 
 
 the establishment of an institution for the express 
 purpose of preserving the lives of these despised little 
 ones told far and wide as a grand object lesson for 
 the region around, and was doubtless one of the factors 
 in bringing about what is now admitted to be a fact, 
 that the destruction of female children in Fuhkien 
 is very much less than it was before the entrance of 
 Missionaries. Even the natural conscience has been 
 awakened, and where formerly the crime was ac- 
 knowledged without the slightest sense of shame, both 
 men and women now admit it to be wrong. In this 
 benevolent work they are liberally assisted by the 
 European community, so that there is little need for 
 help from home, and the committee is not called on to 
 contribute to its support. 
 
 It is difficult to believe that parents in China can 
 be capable of murdering their little ones in cold 
 blood. They show the greatest affection for their 
 children, both male and female. They spoil them by 
 over-indulgence ; and yet there is not a doubt as 
 to the frequency of infanticide. Poverty is the chief, 
 but not the only cause. The materialism and utili- 
 tarianism of the people account for much of it. The 
 life of a little child has no moral or material value. 
 It is only a little animal, over which a father has 
 absolute control. Indeed, a pig or a puppy would 
 be more sure of life for a season, as they would soon 
 be reared for the market or the pot ; but a girl takes 
 long to rear, and there might be no market when 
 she is of age. 
 
23« CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 The first operation which made the hospital of Dr 
 Howie famous in this new centre of work was the 
 amputation of the leg of a poor beggar who had been 
 laid at the door of his house to die. As the only member 
 of the body amputated in China is the head, the sight 
 of the well-known beggar earning his living on his 
 wooden leg made a great sensation ; and that the religion 
 of Jesus taught men like Dr. Howie to care for a poor 
 outcast was to the Chinese a new revelation. 
 
 The Beginning of Medical Work in Chang-pu. 
 
 " The first major operation performed in Chang-pu was in 
 many ways a remarkable one. One evening a beggar with 
 a dreadful leg, and in all but a dying condition, was laid 
 by some of his friends at the door of Dr. Howie's house, and 
 left there. His groans attracted the attention of the servants, 
 and they told the doctor. When examined, it was found that 
 the poor wretch had a compound fracture of the left leg, and 
 that the bones were sticking out through a large suppurating 
 putrid wound. It was afterwards ascertained that the leg had 
 been diseased for twenty-three years, and had become so 
 rotten that one night it broke while the sufferer was in bed. 
 
 "The doctor had the patient at once carried to an empty 
 house belonging to one of our Church members, and there on 
 the morrow, in the presence of a large and wondering crowd, 
 amputated the limb below the knee. To the surprise of all, 
 the man stood the operation well, and has since greatly 
 improved in general condition. 
 
 "That the foreign doctor should pay so much attention 
 to, and spend so much time and trouble on, a beggar seems 
 to have astonished the Chinese. They cannot understand 
 how any one should give himself so much trouble without 
 being paid for it. I heard one say, as he was watching the 
 doctor doing his work, ' Well, the Chinaman would not do 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 
 
 239 
 
 such things.' It came to our ears that a number of the 
 shopkeepers in the town are not at all pleased that the man's 
 life has been saved. They hoped he would die, for he has 
 been a source of great annoyance to them. He used to go 
 to their shops and expose his sickening sore, and refuse to 
 go away until they gave him what he demanded — viz. four 
 hundred cash from the largest shops, down to eighty cash 
 from the smaller ones. There is every probability of his 
 
 DR. HOWI 
 
 FIRST AMPUTATIONS AT CHANG-PU. 
 
 recovery now ; and we trust he will not only be a miracle 
 of healing, but also a miracle of saving grace." 
 
 The heathen's dread of death is illustrated by the 
 following superstition : — 
 
 Twelve Euphemisms for the one Ugly Word " Death." 
 
 " Chinese superstition. — We have superstitions lingering 
 among ourselves, mostly harmless but Chinese superstition is 
 
240 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 rampant and burdensome. Much of the real religion of this 
 civilised people is devil-worship, a religion of terror. Arch- 
 deacon Moule, who labours in the north of the same province 
 [Fuhkien] in which our own Missions lie, says : ' The people 
 of this region are extremely superstitious, and intensely afraid 
 of death and evil spirits. To mention death in their presence, 
 especially at this season of the year [New Year's time], is tanta- 
 mount to a gross insult, and is considered by them as an evil 
 omen. They avoid, if possible, the mention of death at any 
 time, and have invented a variety of euphemisms to designate 
 the king of terrors. The word for the dreaded fact is Si, but 
 there are twelve periphrases by which they avoid pronounc- 
 ing it: (i) Kwo = To pass away; (2) Kwo-haio = To pass 
 behind; (3) Kwo-sie = To pass over this life; (4) Sie-sie = To 
 leave the world; (5) Hong-kwo = Passed and gone; (6) 
 Law = Flowed away like water; (7) Chaw = Flown away like a 
 bird; (8) Pah-mo-ko = Lost ; (9) Seng-tieng = Passeth on to 
 heaven; (to) Kiu-tieng= Returned to heaven; (n) Tiong- 
 chu = Returned to your original ancestor; (12) Yen-tio = Fell 
 on sleep.' From all this bondage of fear the only deliverance 
 possible is acceptance of the Gospel of Jesus." 
 
 Miss Johnston, Amoy, in a letter which appeared in 
 the Messenger for June 1892, gives the fullest account 
 we have seen of ancestral tablets, the worship of 
 which is the practical religion of the great mass of the 
 people of China. The examples given of the influence 
 of this idolatrous custom, the difficulty of abandoning 
 it, and the courage and faith of feeble and simple 
 believers in overcoming their superstitious fears, are as 
 instructive as they are interesting. 
 
 Ancestral Tablets. 
 "One cannot be long in China without seeing and hearing 
 a good deal about the worship of ancestors, in which worship 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 241 
 
 the ancestral tablets play an important part. The tablets are 
 in themselves insignificant slips of wood about eight inches 
 long and three broad, painted a dull brown, and one end runs 
 into a short footboard for support. They stand, sometimes 
 singly, sometimes in rows three or four deep, on a high, narrow 
 table, along one end of the entrance hall, which serves as 
 guest room in every heathen home. For some time after 
 coming to China I did not notice the tablets, being more 
 interested in examining the idols, which occupy the centre of 
 the table. My attention was first forcibly directed to the 
 tablets when calling on an old woman and inquiring after her 
 sick daughter. She pouted her lips in the direction of the 
 table, saying, ' There she is ! ' On looking up, expecting to 
 see the girl enter, I noticed a new slip of wood which had 
 been added to the dusty column of worm-eaten tablets, and 
 realised that the young woman was supposed to be seated 
 there — dead, yet still present. 
 
 The Difficulties of Christians. 
 
 " A week or two ago Miss M. Talmage and I took advan- 
 tage of a bright day to visit some Christians in a village near 
 Amoy. While one of us took notes of the names and ages of 
 the women and girls in the family, trying to find pupils for 
 the schools, the other spoke to the crowds of heathen who 
 gathered about the doors. We visited about twenty houses, 
 and in only two of these did we find the tables vacated by 
 their row of ghostly tablets, not because the Christians them- 
 selves worshipped them, but because, owing to the Chinese 
 custom of having large families under one roof, there were 
 always heathen relations in the houses who objected to their 
 removal. In every house, behind the crowd of smiling, gaily 
 dressed women who hastened to greet us, stood the silent 
 host of their departed ancestors — a people who were not a 
 people, and yet whose influence outweighed that of the 
 living souls before us. A living woman has little power in 
 
 16 
 
242 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 China, but the spirit of the dead is greatly to be feared. For 
 this reason suicide is often perpetrated by way of revenge. 
 Even children in a fit of anger will attempt to drown or hang 
 themselves, the living being threatened with the anger of the 
 dead. 
 
 The Offerings to the Spirits. 
 
 " In house after house the long tables faced us, sometimes 
 gilded and garnished, with gay cloth hangings, but more often 
 dusty, a mass of cobwebs and confusion. In the centre stood 
 the idols, occasionally in a glass case — the Goddess of Mercy 
 the principal figure, with on one hand the earth god, and on 
 the other the kitchen god, red and smiling ; then, in long 
 rows, the tablets, with basins of rice, surmounted by a few 
 cash and an orange, placed in front. Other offerings, of 
 vermicelli, vegetables, and meat, were often seen. Each 
 tablet is supposed to have its separate basin and chopsticks ; 
 so that, as a man remarked when demolishing his household 
 gods, 'To-day's work will save a good deal of dish-washing.' 
 At all feasts and ceremonies, in seasons of mourning and 
 rejoicing, the spirits of the dead must have their share of the 
 good things. In the midst of the busy life around they keep 
 their silent watch — dead, but not gone, ever wakeful, ready to 
 work vengeance and evil on all offenders. 
 
 The Ancestral Tablets pot Away. 
 
 " Having been accustomed from childhood to believe in the 
 power and presence of these ancestors, it is no easy matter, 
 even for Christians, to rid themselves of superstitious fears and 
 at the same time oppose the public sentiment of filial duty by 
 giving up ancestral worship. Only a short time ago I met with 
 an instance of this. One afternoon a Christian woman asked 
 me to go with a friend and visit a neighbour of hers who had 
 lately become interested in the Gospel. She had given up the 
 worship of idols, but feared to part with the tablets. She 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 243 
 
 thought if we would pray with her she would have courage to 
 throw them away. A few minutes' walk from the chapel 
 brought us to her home, a tiny hovel, where a loom with its 
 half-finished web of cloth nearly filled the room. Dust and 
 cobwebs, broken earthenware, stools and buckets, littered the 
 floor and heaped the corners. It was a cool, breezy morning, 
 but a flare of warmth flashed out from under the rice-boiler, 
 where a blazing fire crackled over the handful of thorns which 
 had been thrust under the earthen stove. 
 
 A Spiritual Conflict. 
 
 " Cold though it was, the woman we came to see was bathed 
 in perspiration as she drew out some dusty slabs of wood from 
 one of the buckets and held them up in the sunlight. ' Do 
 you see these?' she said, addressing a crowd of boys and 
 women in the doorway, who, silent for the moment, were 
 watching the scene with eager curiosity. ' I am going to have 
 nothing more to do with them ; they are of no use. I am 
 going to trust in Jesus the Saviour ; I know He will protect 
 me.' Then turning to us, she said earnestly, ' Pray for me, and 
 I will not be afraid, even if my ancestors revenge themselves 
 and take my life. The Saviour will watch over me ; He will 
 take me to heaven, will he not ? ' After a little talk and prayer 
 together the tablets were tied up in a napkin. One seemed to 
 have been broken, and was held together by a string. ' That 
 was done some months ago,' explained our guide, ' when my 
 friend decided to give up the worship of idols. She gave her 
 gods to the children to play with, and the tablets she began to 
 split up for firewood ; but when she had broken one she was 
 afraid, and tied it together again, lest the spirit should be angry 
 and bring evil influences to bear on her.' ' Are you quite 
 willing to give us these ? ' we asked again, before carrying away 
 the bundle. ' Quite willing. You will pray for me, will you 
 not ? I will trust in the Saviour ; indeed, I will not be afraid ! ' 
 So with an explanation to the neighbours, and with an invitation 
 
244 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 to come and hear at the chapel, we left her, hoping that some 
 day she may be able to read in the women's school in Amoy, 
 and so learn more of the Saviour in whom she has already put 
 her trust. 
 
 " A few days after I was telling the story to an old schoolgirl. 
 She smiled, and said, ' My grandmother, too, was very much 
 afraid of the spirits. When she first worshipped God, she laid 
 the tablets under the table. As no harm came of it, she put 
 them behind the bed for a night or two. Still no evil came to 
 the family ; so she grew bolder, and put them in the dust-heap. 
 As they did not avenge this indignity, it showed plainly that 
 they had no power, so she fearlessly chopped them up to light 
 the fire and boil the rice." 
 
 A Native Pastor's Sermon on Working for 
 Christ. 
 
 Mr. George Wales, the lay evangelist, supplies some 
 notes of a sermon he heard at Siong-see, a fishing village 
 south from Chin-chew, preached by the pastor there. A 
 band of sixteen evangelists has been enrolled in this 
 Church, who each week go out into the villages round 
 about to preach the Gospel. The pastor was on this 
 occasion stirring up his people to still greater zeal in 
 service. His text was, "/ will make you fishers of men " 
 (Mark i. 17). 
 
 " After an introduction, pointing out that Christ desired and 
 demanded that all His followers should be workers, he came to 
 closer quarters with his text, saying that the sea is the world, 
 the boat is the Church, the net is the Gospel, and the boatmen 
 the Church members. The fisherman's life, he said, is by no 
 means an easy one ; and he constantly meets with much suffer- 
 ing and privation. Sometimes he catches very little, sometimes 
 nothing, yet he is not restrained either by hardship or ill-success, 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 245 
 
 but perseveres. He always hopes he will catch more. Every 
 day we ought to work for Jesus persistently, always hoping for 
 success and greater success. He next spoke of the different 
 kinds of fish, the different seasons at which they appear, and 
 the need of different methods, and applied the lesson to 
 Christian work. 
 
 Excuses. 
 " Then followed an attack upon the excuses men give for their 
 lack of service that would have done credit to Mr. McNeil. 
 ' I cannot read the characters.' No ! but nobody asked you to 
 read to people, and you do not require to know the ' characters ' 
 in order to talk. ' I do not understand how to work for Christ.' 
 Is that the way you argue about fishing ? No ! you set your- 
 self vigorously to find out ; and the longer you fish the more 
 you find out. You don't expect the young apprentice to know 
 as much as the old salt, but the apprentice does his best, and 
 he learns. ' I am not worthy ; I must prepare, and then, some 
 day, when I have leisure, will speak.' These and many such 
 excuses came in for their share of the pommelling. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 " He concluded by impressing on them the fact that if any 
 man earnestly wishes to fish for Christ the opportunities will 
 not be lacking, and every time he fished he would become an 
 abler fisherman. ' If you cannot fish in the sea, fish in the 
 river ; if you cannot fish in the river, fish on the sands ; but by 
 all means fish. No opportunity is too insignificant — all souls 
 are God's, and all are equally precious in His sight. When 
 Christ met the woman of Samaria by the well, He did not say, 
 " Here is a poor opportunity." No ! He seized every oppor- 
 tunity. Nor should we count the cost, ever remembering the 
 sufferings of Him who " endured the Cross, despising the 
 shame." ' This, though fragmentary, will give you some idea of 
 the sermon. It was racy, but suffered very considerably in the 
 delivering, which lacked animation, except when he was on the 
 war-path against the excuses." 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 247 
 
 The First Synod in China. 
 Mr. M'Gregor, writing from Amoy in the end of 
 May 1893, after his recovery from an attack of influenza, 
 gives some interesting details regarding the division 
 of the Amoy Presbytery and the formation of a Synod. 
 
 "It is just thirty years since the Presbytery of Amoy was 
 formed, consisting of the two Missions (our own and that of 
 the American Reformed Church), two native ministers, and six 
 representative elders. 
 
 Need for a Synod. 
 
 " There are now in connection with the two Missions 
 seventy-seven places of worship in which services are regularly 
 maintained. These are ecclesiastically connected with eighteen 
 organised congregations, of which sixteen have native ministers 
 ordained over them. The Presbytery had thus come to consist 
 of thirty-four native members, besides the Missionaries of 
 the two Missions, and its membership was being continually 
 added to. 
 
 " It was not, however, the number of the members that made 
 division urgent, but the distances they had to travel. Even in 
 a country of railways like Great Britain, to travel a hundred 
 miles to a Presbytery meeting is inconvenient ; but here a 
 journey of a hundred miles consumes as much of an active 
 minister's time as a journey from London to Gibraltar, and 
 involves much more fatigue. For the sake of the native 
 members, therefore, the division of the Presbytery had become 
 imperative. At the last meeting, accordingly, resolutions were 
 passed dividing the Presbytery and appointing a day next 
 spring for the meeting of Synod. In accordance with these 
 resolutions, the Presbytery of Chin-chew and the Presbytery of 
 Chang-chew met at the close of the Sederunt, and, being 
 regularly constituted, proceeded to transact some necessary 
 business." 
 
24S CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Visit to Chin-chew by the Rev. T. E. 
 Sandeman. 
 On the way to Chin-chew. — In a private letter, 
 written in the last days of June, Mr. Sandeman describes 
 some incidents of a journey to Chin-chew, and then 
 tells of the sorrow of the Church over the loss of one 
 of its leading members and workers, the preacher Ba. 
 
 Death of Ba. 
 " I am now in Chin-chew. Ba is dead. It is a great blow. 
 He was perhaps the best, and therefore perhaps the greatest, 
 man I ever met. To him to live was indeed Christ, and 
 to die was gain. Tak, his younger brother, for years and 
 years played the prodigal. Ba was told by Christian friends 
 to give up seeking to save such an incorrigible fellow. 
 They said, ' You have done your duty ; your conscience 
 is clean. If he will perish, don't mind him.' But he never 
 would listen. At last the gambling, drinking brother was 
 changed by a miracle of grace into a useful, earnest Christian. 
 Ba was full of heavenly joy. He said it was like the raising 
 of Lazarus from the dead. His daily work from early morning 
 till late at night consisted in three things only — prayer, reading 
 the Scriptures, and preaching and exhorting. Even on the 
 road he always had his Bible under his arm and was meditating 
 on the ' wonderful words of life.' He taught us all without 
 knowing it. He was absolutely without guile and absolutely 
 honest in all he said. His wonderful activity of holy living 
 was accomplished in a weak and poor-looking body. There 
 is universal and deep sorrow over this good man's death.'' 
 
 We have much pleasure in quoting the following 
 touching account of a Christian death-bed, and the 
 contrast to that of the heathen, by Miss Graham of 
 Chin-chew : — 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 249 
 
 Peaceful Death of Gim-keng. 
 
 " ' Do you know that Gim-keng is very ill ? ' asked our native 
 preacher's wife of me one hot July afternoon ; ' she has been in 
 high fever since last night, and her husband is very anxious about 
 her.' ' No, I did not know she was ill,' I answered ; ' but I 
 will go and see her this evening.' Gim-keng was a great friend 
 of ours, and had been a near neighbour for some years. She 
 was a gentle, earnest Christian girl, the wife of a former 
 student in Dr. Grant's Hospital in Chin-chew. Her husband 
 is now practising as a doctor in the city, and bearing a brave 
 witness for Christ in the homes of his patients. They have 
 three little children whom Gim-keng was seeking to train for 
 God, and their home was one of the bright spots in the 
 darkness of our great heathen city. A little later in the 
 evening 1 found my way to Gim-keng's bedside. She was 
 evidently very ill and in great suffering. In answer to my 
 greeting, ' Peace ' (that is the usual Christian greeting in 
 China; the heathen ask, 'Have you eaten rice?' the Christians 
 ask, 'Have you peace?'), she looked up and answered with 
 a smile, ' My body is in great pain, but my inside heart is in 
 peace, peace.' And truly, during the days of weary suffering 
 that followed, she was kept in 'perfect peace.' 
 
 " I have watched beside a good many sick-beds at home, 
 but I have never seen sweeter patience in bearing pain, or 
 more quiet, happy surrender to the will of God, than in that 
 little Chinese sick-room. She acquiesced cheerfully in every 
 remedy that was suggested, yet from the first she seemed 
 to be conscious that the Master was calling her home, and 
 she was only concerned lest her husband and mother should 
 grieve overmuch. More than once she said to them, ' Do 
 not grieve for me. If it be God's will that I should stay with 
 you, I am content ; but if it be His will to call me to Himself, 
 I am still more content.' And then she said, 'Jesus is with 
 me, and He will never leave me. Jesus is preparing a place 
 for me, and it is a beautiful place, far better than anything 
 
250 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 here. Soon He will come Himself and lead me to it. I 
 want so much to go with Him.' Once she sang in our 
 Chinese version 'There is a happy land,' and as she sang 
 it her face seemed lit up with the glory of which she was 
 already getting a glimpse. 
 
 " It was my privilege to sit beside her on the morning of 
 the day on which God took her. It was evident to us all 
 that her strength was failing fast ; but though she knew the 
 end was not far off, there was not a vestige of fear. She 
 spoke to her husband, bidding him follow Christ faithfully 
 and remember all that Dr. Grant had taught him both by 
 word and by example ; to her old mother, who was weeping 
 bitterly, telling her not to grieve, for it was so good to go 
 and to be with Jesus, and the parting was but for a little 
 while ; to her five-year-old daughter, who stood by, with an 
 awed look on her little face, telling her to love the Saviour 
 and to meet her mother in heaven. And then it seemed 
 as if she lost sight of the watchers by her bedside, and saw 
 only the One Shining Presence, invisible to us : and she 
 spoke to the Master Himself, as one speaketh to his friend, 
 face to face. ' Saviour,' she said, ' You have loved me very 
 much ; You have come to lead me to the Father's home, and 
 I am so glad to go with You, I want You to take me quickly.' 
 And then again, 'You have loved me so.' 
 
 The Heathen Dread of Death. 
 
 " I have seen death enter a heathen home, and it is a 
 fearful sight ; the terror and the utter hopelessness and the 
 grief for which there is no comfort are things, once seen, 
 not easily forgotten. But here, in this little Christian home, 
 there was peace, there was victory, and there was triumphant 
 hope. She was conscious of His presence who is the Prince 
 of Life, and the dread king of terrors was but His messenger, 
 sent to summon His child home. Peering in at the door 
 were three or four heathen neighbours, anxious to know 
 what was going on, but afraid to cross the threshold. ' See,' 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 251 
 
 said one of them to the others, ' these Christians are not 
 like us ; they do not fear to die. Surely the doctrine must 
 be good.' When the little company of relations and friends 
 gathered for the simple burial service, ere Gim-keng was laid 
 in her last resting-place, a number of long-robed scholars 
 stood among them, members, some of them, of the best 
 known literary families in Chin-chew. Their presence at 
 a Christian funeral could not fail to attract attention from 
 the crowd. Gim-keng's husband had attended them and 
 their friends as a doctor, had gained their respect and liking, 
 and now they had come to show their sympathy with him 
 in his trouble. Whilst the pastor prayed and read from the 
 ' Holy Book,' they stood respectfully silent ; they listened 
 with evident interest when he spoke of the difference between 
 the death of a heathen and the ' falling asleep ' of a disciple 
 of Jesus, and when he told of the Home to which our sister 
 had gone. Afterwards, as they followed the funeral pro- 
 cession, some of the bystanders twitted them with ' eating the 
 foreign doctrine,' and one of them answered, ' The Sien-si 
 [i.e. doctor] is our good friend, and if he does belong to 
 the Jesus Society, what wrong is there in that ? the doctrine 
 is good.' And, again, I heard from some of the onlookers 
 the remark by the women who had seen Gim-keng's death- 
 bed, ' These people are not afraid of death like we are ; truly 
 their doctrine is good.' 
 
 "And yet there are people who think foreign Missions 
 are a mistake, and that our converts are only ' rice Christians,' 
 and that the Chinese are never really converted. ' It is 
 all great waste of money and strength,' said a gentleman 
 to me the other day ; ' the Chinese are quite happy as they 
 are, and their own religion is good enough for them.' Some 
 old words came into my mind about some ' who sit in dark- 
 ness and the shadow of death,' who, ' through fear of death, 
 are all their lifetime subject to bondage.' That is the true 
 picture of the heathen who have not heard of Him who is 
 the resurrection and the life." 
 
^52 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Miss G. J. Maclagan writes of her work among the 
 women in Chang-pu in October i S94 : — 
 
 "We miss Miss Lecky very much. She left last week, 
 and by this time will be in Chin-chew with Miss Graham. 
 We are glad to think it will not be long now before Miss 
 Johnston returns. We have started a meeting here every 
 Thursday for prayer and for visiting the heathen. The men 
 have done this for some time back, but now the women 
 
 > m 
 
 SBianiirj 
 
 ;i3!lL..JJ 
 
 311 rill- 
 
 sdi*7 , fi6wP^t 
 
 
 
 r^^^^^P^JdK 
 
 ^Hiffjl3j& J *^Kz3 §£ 
 
 WmcM^?? 
 
 
 
 
 X=ijraQ03'KS 
 
 
 
 GIRLS SCHOOL, CHAKG11 
 
 meet too, and, after a word of prayer, go out two and two. 
 There are very few here who can do this work ; five or six 
 only; there are so very few Christian women. Some of these 
 are too young to go out, others have work which cannot be 
 left. bast Thursday I went with an old woman employed 
 by Dr. Howie to wash floors and bandages in the hospital. 
 She is no help in speaking, but she knows a good many 
 places in the city. She took me to two houses, both belonging 
 to welbto-do people and very large families. In both houses 
 there were women opium-smokers who professed themselves 
 anxious to give up the habit. There is an old lady, O-m, 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 253 
 
 who has been coming for the last month to church, who has 
 smoked opium for the last nineteen years. She says she 
 has given it quite up. She was very miserable with the 
 opium craving for a few days, and said she prayed and read 
 her hymn-book at such times until she felt better. We gave 
 her tea and coffee, and she said that helped her, and on one 
 or two days she came to school and read her hymn-book all 
 day, and we gave her some soup. She used to be very 
 earnest in worshipping idols. She said, ' Other people only 
 worship on the 1st and 15th of the month, but I worshipped 
 every day.' A year and a half ago she heard Mr. Watson 
 preaching in the street about the heavenly Father ; she 
 opened her shutter to hear better, and asked Mr. Watson 
 how she ought to worship the heavenly Father ; she had 
 never heard of Him. Mr. Watson told her to come to 
 church. She did not know any one who did so, so she did 
 not dare to come. This year she changed her house and 
 came to live near an old man who comes to church, and he 
 brought her for the first time six weeks ago. 
 
 " She is a very interesting and intelligent old lady, and I 
 hope she will continue to come, and learn to trust in the 
 Saviour. When I was telling her about the Saviour's death 
 for us, she asked so many questions about it — ' How one 
 could die for many,' ' Why God did not choose some other 
 way ' ; showing that she was thinking about what she heard. 
 She told me she was going to unbind her feet ; and when I 
 hinted that she might be excused doing so, as she is quite 
 old, she said, ' In everything I will follow God's commands.' 
 However, she has not unbound them yet, there being some 
 difficulty about it ; her feet have been bound so long and so 
 tightly. 
 
 " Our new house is begun ; the men are digging the founda- 
 tions. The builder says that it will not be ready till after the 
 new year. It has been very difficult to get any one to undertake 
 the building ; no one here understands it, and the Amoy 
 men object to come inland." 
 
254 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 The New Centre of Eng-chhun. 
 
 After much negotiation, and a good deal of opposition, 
 a site for , a hospital was secured at the important 
 town of Eng-chhun, which had long been desired as 
 
 DR. HOWIE, CHANG-PU. DR. CROSS, ENG-CHHUN. 
 
 RF.V. w. M'GREGOR, M.A. 
 . G. M. WALES, AMOY. REV. C. CAMPBELL BROWN. 
 
 DR. l'ATON, CHIN-CHEW. REV, T. E. SANDEMAN. 
 
 a new centre for English agents to settle at. It will 
 form the northern limit of the direct action of the 
 Amoy Presbytery, as it brings us near to the southern 
 limit of other Missions. The district is populous and 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 255 
 
 accessible, and promises to be a most important sphere 
 of influence. 
 
 A Hospital for Eng-chhun. 
 
 " Mr. Watson and Mr. Campbell Brown went north from 
 Amoy to Eng-chhun in the end of October, to endeavour 
 to obtain possession of the site for the hospital. Although 
 some of the literati of the city have been friendly, others of 
 the local magnates have opposed the entrance of the Mission, 
 and delay upon delay has ensued. ' The bargain ' (about the 
 house) 'has been ratified in Court,' Mr. Brown writes to 
 Mr. Matheson (November 2nd), 'but the tenants refuse to go 
 out ; and whilst the Mandarins profess to be urging them to 
 go, we have but too good reason to fear they are in reality 
 winking at the delay. Under pressure from our Consul, the 
 Tau-tai at Amoy has insisted upon the Eng-chhun Mandarin 
 taking steps to put us in possession of our property. The 
 result of this has been that the local Mandarin has compelled 
 the tenants to give a written promise to evacuate, and this 
 ought to mean a speedy end of the business. 
 
 A Friendly Mandarin. 
 
 " Our friend Lo-su (the No. 5 Mandarin, as he is called), 
 who has helped us so much all along, called whilst we were 
 in Eng-chhun. He has been going through a trying time 
 lately — blamed and persecuted for his large-hearted foresight 
 in seeking to introduce a foreign doctor and hospital. We 
 trust that one who has borne so much unconsciously for Christ 
 may be led to know Him. One mark of his kindness was a 
 spontaneous offer to have Miss Graham as his guest on her 
 arrival next week. Lo-su has a number of ladies in his house, 
 and it is an exceedingly happy circumstance that Miss Graham 
 should live a day or two among them, and tell them about 
 Jesus Christ and His love. 
 
256 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 An Eng-chhun Prayer Meeting. 
 
 " It was most encouraging to join the handful of Christians 
 at Eng-chhun in their worship. One occasion I shall not 
 soon forget. We met in the shop of a native Christian. The 
 shavings and wood had been carefully cleared away from the 
 floor; forms had been arranged in the central open space; 
 a guttering oil lamp of the simplest construction gave us 
 light. About a dozen people came there to worship God — 
 hard-working, poor people, but with the Divine something in 
 their hearts that made them one with us in Christ Jesus. An 
 old beggar-looking man, wrinkled and worn with age and hard 
 living, was present with his still more worn and aged blind 
 wife, both most earnest and bright. The old man served as 
 our hymn-leader. He is always learning hymns by heart and 
 repeating them at his work, so much so that his neighbours 
 call him mad. Whenever a hymn was given out he was 
 asked to repeat it, and not only did so with manifest delight 
 to himself, but with profit to a greatly interested audience. 
 The people like to hear one of themselves saying over the 
 words of truth and blessing. The prayers were very touching, 
 simple, clear, and full of trust. Some had a marvellous grasp of 
 the great redemption from sin through the blood of Christ. I 
 only wish you had been present. It would have touched you, 
 I am sure, as it did me, and it would have been some slight 
 reward for all the consecrated devotion and toil you have 
 given to the Lord's work in China." 
 
 Dr. Cross, who has been appointed Medical Mis- 
 sionary at Eng-chhun, writes hopefully of his prospects, 
 and shows the true spirit of the medical evangelist. 
 Writing in December 1895, he says : — 
 
 " We are having days very full of work — almost daily out- 
 patient days, when I am kept in the consulting-room till well 
 on in the afternoon. Our accommodation for in-patients is 
 
THE STORY OF THE AMOY MISSION. 
 
 very limited ; we have only one small room with six heels. 
 If we had room, we could have thirty or forty in-patients 
 to-morrow ; but until we can get another house to live in ami 
 vacate the present house, giving it all up to hospital uses, our 
 accommodation for in-patients is very limited indeed. I am 
 forced to think that, as far as the real object we have at heart 
 is to be gained — that is, Christianising the crowds of people 
 in this valley — much of the work at the outdoor dispensary 
 is lost ; but when we can get men or women to come indoors 
 and be with us for a few weeks, our opportunity is great, and 
 the results will be cheering." 
 
 After referring to his plans for acquiring the further 
 necessary buildings, the expense of which, it will be 
 remembered, had already been provided, he continues: — 
 
 " Our present chapel attached to the hospital is very small, 
 but yesterday forenoon we had packed into it nearly eighty 
 men and quite thirty women. Many are curious, and most 
 have some knowledge of Christianity, for you must remember 
 our Mission has had a chapel in Eng-chhun for more than ten 
 years. In the houses of the people, however, and particularly 
 among the women, the ignorance is profound. I had an 
 important and satisfactoiy ease in a large house near last week, 
 when I was asked by several women if I was ( iod. My heart 
 is glad at the thought of ladies coming into a field so needy, 
 and where the door stands open wide. Do send them quick." 
 
 To open the eyes of the blind was one of the 
 prophetic marks by which Christ was to be recognised, 
 and it is one of the marks of a true Missionary to be 
 a light to them that sit in darkness. Our Missionaries 
 have done much, not only to give .sight to the blind by 
 surgical skill, but to shed the light of Divine truth into 
 the minds and hearts of the hopelessly blind. Miss 
 
 •7 
 
2 5 8 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Graham has founded a school for the blind in Chin-chew, 
 which she thus describes, with one of its inmates : — 
 
 Light-for-the-Blind Hall. 
 
 "Just opposite the ladies' house in Chin-chew is a big green 
 door, above which are the Chinese characters which mean 
 ' Light-for-the-Blind Hall.' The boy Tam-a was a fortune-teller 
 in the streets of Chin-chew. He heard the ( iospel first from our 
 good Bible-woman Keng-so, and began to attend the church 
 on Sundays. Then he begged admittance to the Blind School, 
 and now he is a member of the Church. His own description 
 of his conversion, in answer to the pastor's questions, was : 
 ' Formerly I lived in the land of darkness, and my heart was 
 all dark. Now, since I have learnt to know Jesus, I live in 
 the land of light, and my heart is full of light.' 
 
 " Many of the literati in our city have been greatly interested 
 in this work for the blind, and we believe it commends the 
 Gospel to them. Will the Church pray for the new Missionary 
 to the blind in China? Mr. Cook, who is himself partially 
 blind, has been a teacher of the blind in this country. He 
 is a minister's son, and has long had the desire to be a 
 Missionary. May he be made the means of leading many 
 of the Chinese blind to Him who is the Light of the World ! " 
 
 , . ? i rn.'r * 
 
 lfr")>frdffc • ~»JlW ftpKfl 
 
 
 Og 
 
 ~^"--^' : 'v-' ,_. 
 
 '*'- : ' .--' ..:. ' . "T7d 
 
 
 p*Sfeu« l - 
 
 ■•"-**"— WW'. 
 
 
 TONO-KIO CHAPEL, 
 
INFANTS SCHOOL, SWATOW. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION (continued). 
 
 THE Mission of Swatow made great progress, as we 
 shall find, during the second half of its period, 
 if we may call it so, as the first includes the early 
 efforts of Mr. Burns, which were too isolated to lead to 
 ostensible results, but were too earnest and devout to be 
 ignored. It was only in 1858 that Mr. Smith took 
 formal possession, though Mr. Burns had laboured there 
 for some time prior to his going to Amoy ; and there 
 were some who remembered his visit, and even a few 
 who seem to have been interested in his message. At 
 the beginning of this period the Mission suffered a loss 
 in the absence of Mr. Smith, who was long detained at 
 home by ill health, and only resumed his labours in 
 1 88 r , which were ended by his death in 1891 — a faith- 
 ful and devoted Missionary, who practically founded 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the Swatow Mission, and willingly gave his life a 
 sacrifice in his zeal to promote its objects and honour 
 his Master. 
 
 Mr. Smith's place was happily filled during his 
 absence by his able and devoted friend Mr. Mackenzie, 
 who was joined by one pre-eminently fitted to take a 
 foremost place in Missions to China, the Rev. John C. 
 Gibson, M.A., a worthy son of a worthy father and 
 Professor of Theology in the Free Church of Scotland. 
 It was destined to be Mr. Gibson's privilege to raise the 
 important question of vernacular education by means 
 of the Roman alphabet to a position of importance it 
 had not attained before. It had been introduced long 
 before his day by men like Messrs. Dot\- and Talmage, 
 and largely used by Mr. M'Gregor, Dr. Maxwell, and 
 Mr. Duffus, who had translated the Gospel of Luke into 
 the Tie-chiu vernacular ; but it was generally looked on 
 as an expedient for uneducated men and women, both 
 foreign and native. But Mr. Gibson took up the whole 
 question with enthusiasm, and dealt with it on the 
 highest ground of principle, and no one could suspect 
 him of doing so from either want of ability or of 
 learning. This ' is a service for which he and our 
 Mission may claim not a little credit. It is a move- 
 ment destined to produce great results for China, and 
 specially in the higher culture of Church members who 
 have grown up without an adequate education in the 
 Chinese written character. Mr. Gibson is also doing 
 good work as a translator of the Scriptures, by the 
 appointment of the late Conference in Shanghai. 
 
DR. GAULD. 
 REV. ML'RDO MACKENZIE 
 
 SOME EARLIER MISSIONARIES, SWATOW. 
 
 REV. !I. L. MACKENZIE, M.A, 
 REV GEORGE SMITH. 
 
 REV. JOHN C, GIBSON, M.A, 
 
262 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 The hands of the Missionaries were greatly 
 strengthened by the arrival of the Rev. Donald 
 Maclver, M.A., and Dr. Alexander Lyall in 1879 — 
 the one to take the oversight of a new centre of influ- 
 ence in the Hak-ka country, and the other to take charge 
 of Dr. Gauld's Hospital in Swatovv, which had been 
 raised to a high state of efficiency, and which became 
 the most extensive in all China, and famous for its 
 cures, sometimes more than seven thousand patients 
 coming under the Doctor's care in a single year. 
 
 1 
 
 Three Types of One People. 
 
 We shall have occasion to notice the setting up of 
 two important new centres : the one in the capital city 
 of Chao-chow, with its population of three hundred 
 thousand inhabitants, the other in the principal town 
 of the Kak-ka district- -two distinct types of the one 
 Chinese race, with peculiarities of character and speech 
 which would in Europe have made them separate 
 nationalities. The differences are greater than those 
 which separate the Portuguese from the Spaniards. 
 In Amoy there is a uniformity of type and a similarity 
 in the spoken language which give a unity to the 
 Mission there, which has its advantages. In the Mis- 
 sion in Swatow two dialects arc so distinct as to be 
 practically two languages. Those speaking the one 
 cannot understand the other ; and yet, by the com- 
 prehensive unity of the written language, which is the 
 same over the whole Empire, and the binding force 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 263 
 
 of Chinese law, they are alike integral parts of the 
 one nation. In Formosa there are not only two 
 languages, entirely different in sense and structure, 
 but two distinct races of entirely different types ; 
 and now that the island is taken possession of by the 
 Japanese, we shall have a third nationality, and an 
 entirely different character and language. 
 
 We may say that there is a threefold division of the 
 population within an accessible distance of the head- 
 quarters of the Swatow Mission, and nearly all within 
 the same province of Quang-tung, or, as it is called 
 by Europeans, Canton. That part of the population 
 which speaks the Canton dialect is not taken within 
 the sphere of the influence of the Mission, seeing that 
 other Missions had been at work among them before 
 the Swatow Mission was established. The Mission 
 of the Presbyterian Church is limited to the two 
 divisions of the same race, which go by the names 
 of Hok-lo and Hak-ka, each composed of two Chinese 
 characters or words, but which may, in this as in many, 
 other cases, be treated as one word. The Hok-lo, living 
 in the Tie-chiu district of the province, immediately 
 around Swatow, speak the Tie-chiu dialect, which is so 
 like that of the province of Fuhkien, as it is spoken 
 around Amoy, that they may be regarded as one. 
 
 Three-fourths — some say nine-tenths — of the words 
 are common to both dialects, so that the people have 
 little difficulty in understanding one another ; in fact, 
 there is the greatest probability — we might almost 
 say certainty — that the inhabitants of that north-east 
 
264 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 portion of the province of Canton have been trans- 
 planted by emigration from the province of Fuhkien, or, 
 as it is called in the dialect of Amoy, Hokkien. The 
 very strong evidence of identity from the language, 
 character, and habits of the two peoples is confirmed 
 by the name Hok-lo, given to them by the inhabitants 
 of Canton. The character Hok has the same sound 
 as that given by themselves to the province they left ; 
 and the other character, Lo, means to glide or slip 
 over, which would be the best term for those who 
 had moved over the border of the one province into 
 the other as emigrants. 
 
 Origin of Hak-kas and Hok-los. 
 
 The Hak-kas have an entirely different origin, though 
 they may have come to this region from a very similar 
 cause — namely, the excess of population in their original 
 home. The name Hak-ka means stranger or guest, 
 evidently given to them as those who had come from 
 a distance, and who had been received as, or at least 
 allowed to settle as, guests. They have been called 
 hillmen or Highlanders, as if they resembled the Gaelic 
 population of Scotland ; but the reason for their dwelling 
 chiefly in the hilly regions of the Canton province is 
 explained by their coming to a country in which the 
 more fertile plains were already occupied. It shows 
 also that they came not as conquerors. In that case 
 they would have taken possession of the plains, and 
 driven the original inhabitants into the hills, as was 
 done by the Aryans when they entered India ; but 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 265 
 
 coming as emigrants, they took possession of the 
 unoccupied parts of the country, in which they were 
 received as strangers or guests. 
 
 There is no difficulty in fixing approximately on 
 the region from which they came. Their language is 
 essentially the same as that which is still spoken on 
 the fertile plains of the north of China, and generally 
 called the Mandarin by Europeans, because, being 
 the language of the Court of China, it became the 
 language of officials all over the country. From living 
 in mountainous regions they have less or more partaken 
 of the character of mountain races ; they are inde- 
 pendent and manly, they are more pugnacious and 
 less polished than their neighbours of the plains ; but 
 coming from a part of China where education was 
 common, they retain their literary habits as far as 
 their poverty allows, and to this day they educate 
 a larger proportion of graduates than the Hok-los. 
 
 There are said to be as many as five millions of 
 Hak-kas in the region they inhabit, which forms a 
 wedge between the Hok-los on the cast, and the 
 Pun-tis, or Cantonese proper, on the west — the broad 
 base of the triangle stretching north into the province 
 of Fuhkien. Only a part of them fall within the 
 sphere of influence of the Presbyterian Mission, as 
 the Basel Missionaries have long laboured among them 
 to the north and west, with whom the Presbyterian 
 Missionaries work on the most friendly terms of co- 
 operation. The Cantonese on the west call themselves 
 and their language Pun-ti, which confirms what has 
 
266 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 been inferred from the meaning of the names Hok-lo 
 and Hak-ka. Pun-ti means that which is their own 
 country or language, as Hok-lo means emigrants, and 
 
 MRS. RIDDEL. MISS FALCONER. MISS N, BALMER. 
 
 MRS. MAClvER. MRS. MURDO MACKENZIE. 
 
 Hak-ka means strange)' or guest. While these three 
 divisions of the population are distinctly marked, and 
 kept up from generation to generation, there arc 
 frequent intermarriages between them and intermixture 
 of the people in their different localities. 
 
THE STORY OF THE SIVATOW MISSION. 267 
 
 We shall now proceed to show how the Mission 
 lengthened its cords and strengthened its stakes, a 
 work in which at this stage they were ably seconded 
 by the introduction of the unmarried Missionary ladies, 
 ot whom Miss Ricketts was the able pioneer. They 
 carried on and extended the work which the wives of 
 the Missionaries had begun. 
 
 In the following incident we have a striking illustration 
 of the truth, that God uses the weak things of the world 
 to confound the mighty. A poor man with a loath- 
 some and deadly disease is employed as the means 
 of health and life to the souls of many. It is also a 
 striking proof of the value of medical Missions. Mr. 
 Duffus writes : — 
 
 Work Done by a Leper Evangelist. 
 
 " At Kit-yang twenty-six persons were examined, and a fair 
 proportion seemed to me to have really been laid hold of by 
 the truth in its enlightening and awakening and, I trust, in its 
 saving power. I had a very happy day with the people, and I 
 hope that many of them had received the blessing which they 
 had come so far to seek. In the forenoon I baptised three 
 men and a boy. Mr. Mackenzie and I had compared notes 
 before I left for Kit-yang, and we were both persuaded that the 
 three men should be admitted into the fellowship of the 
 Church, and I found the brethren whom I consulted unani- 
 mously of the same opinion. A-bue and A-soi-kiin, aged 
 respectively sixty-one and fifty-six, are both farmers on a small 
 scale, and we have been specially struck with the latter as a 
 man who seems very quiet, yet very truly in earnest. 
 
 The Church will benefit, I trust, by the addition of this new 
 member. The third person admitted belongs to the same 
 village as the other two, and is a man of some means, as well 
 
268 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 as of some intelligence. His name is A-sin-sia, and he is forty-six 
 years of age. The little boy (eleven years of age) had not 
 applied before ; but his answers to the questions I put to him 
 showed such intelligent apprehension of the Gospel, and the 
 testimony to his earnestness and consistency was so emphatic, 
 that I was thankfully shut up to the conclusion that I ought to 
 receive him along with his father, A-sin-sia. as a professing 
 believer in the Lord Jesus. When I asked his father about 
 his conduct at home, he assured me that he was truly in 
 earnest in his religion, and never missed an opportunity of 
 joining with him in prayer and reading of the Scriptures. Let 
 us pray that this young disciple may grow in grace, and may 
 yet have a place among the evangelists of Tie-chiu. 
 
 " These men have all been led to hear the Gospel through 
 the simple testimony of a poor leper who was for many a day 
 an inmate of the leper hospital in Swatow, but is now earning 
 his own bread, and was there, from a distance of a good many 
 miles on Sunday, to rejoice at their admission into the 
 Church." 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Uuffus gives an instance of the way a 
 Christian meets the objections to the Gospel by a heathen 
 countryman. 
 
 Native Christians Reasoning with the Heathen. 
 
 " I was both delighted and surprised to hear what good 
 things were said by some of the brethren in reasoning with 
 persons who came in. The)' had a very long and earnest 
 argument on ancestral worship with a young fellow who I 
 thought might have been a model for a Greek sculptor. He- 
 was vehement in defence of his belief, but far from rude, and 
 by the end he had become quiet and submissive. One brother 
 told him affectionately his own experience, another made 
 sharper work of it, and a third applied the argumentum ad 
 hominem thus : 'In purchasing offerings for the spirits of your 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 260 
 
 forefathers you always buy what suits your own taste, knowing 
 very well that, though the things are offered to them, they will 
 be eaten by you. There is no denying it.' Just as this argu- 
 ment was drawing to a close a good hit was made by a very 
 mild and quiet brother. A-him — i.e. the Bear — an elderly- 
 gentleman in a long gown, sat down beside me, and began to 
 converse. ' Your doctrine teaches people to live good and 
 upright lives, does it not ? ' I assented. I had not noticed 
 that a poor, unhappy old man was standing listening, till he 
 struck in, ' Why, there's my son, who beats me and will give 
 me no support. I must bring him here to hear your doctrine.' 
 Now the brethren had been contending that reverence and 
 dutiful conduct towards parents during their lifetime was the 
 true filial spirit, and that worship after death was useless and 
 wrong. So A-him thought he had a good argument furnished 
 him by the old man's complaint, and quietly suggested to him, 
 by way of consolation, ' Oh, never mind; when you are dead 
 we'll worship you.' I would like to tell you more of this sort 
 of work, but must desist.'' 
 
 Dr. Gauld gives an interesting account of hospital 
 work and some of its results : — 
 
 Hospital Work. 
 
 " The present staff of native helpers consists of three young 
 men trained in the hospital and a doorkeeper. The former 
 have occasionally received regular instruction in anatomy, 
 surgery, and medicine. 
 
 " No charges have ever been made for medical assistance, 
 but the hospital patients are required to provide their own 
 food and bedding. Pecuniary help is given in rare cases 
 when it seems advisable. 
 
 "The patients who come to the hospital belong chiefly 
 to the north, south, and west of Swatow, although people 
 of every rank in society not unfrequently seek our assistance. 
 Among those treated one year was the Tau-tai, or chief 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Mandarin, of the prefectures of Chao-chow and Hwey-chow 
 and the department of Kia-eng. By Clod's blessing on the 
 remedies used his life was saved, after he had in vain tried all 
 the native practitioners of any note within his reach. He 
 afterwards sent a donation to the hospital, and in other ways 
 his friendly interest was of service to the Mission. 
 
 " Besides the general hospital, there is a small leper house, 
 where several tens of lepers are treated yearly, with results 
 more or less beneficial. 
 
 "The following figures will show the comparative increase 
 year by year of the hospital patients : r864, 250 ; 1874, 901. 
 
 Its Wide Influence. 
 
 " The extent of country reached by the medical work may be 
 judged from the fact that in one year the patients came from five 
 hundred different towns and villages, ranging over a hundred 
 and twenty miles of sea-coast and some forty or fifty miles 
 inland. Many places as yet unvisited by the Missionary are 
 thus brought within reach of a measure of Gospel light. 
 People come from them to the hospital, learn more or less 
 of the truth, and carry it back to their homes — in some cases 
 the seed of fruit unto eternal life, to be reaped, it may be, in 
 after-years and by other labourers. Yearly, however, we are 
 ourselves gladdened by seeing some, with their whole heart 
 renouncing idolatry and professing a true faith in Christ, 
 received into the Church." 
 
 Mr. Gibson and Mr. Mackenzie made an extensive 
 tour in the Hak-ka country. The following letter from 
 the former, dated at Ho-tshan, September 1S76, gives 
 an idea of the openings for the Gospel : — 
 
 " On Saturday morning Mr. Mackenzie rejoined me at 
 Ng-yun-thung, where we had a busy Sabbath together. We 
 examined seventeen applicants for baptism, some of whom 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 271 
 
 were very satisfactory, and two of whom we baptised on 
 Sabbath evening. The two men baptised were brothers. 
 Forenoon and afternoon on Sabbath we had over one hundred 
 persons present at each service, and, as at Ho-tsban, had to 
 meet outside. 
 
 The Mountains anj> the Gospel. 
 
 "The bright freshness of the mountains," he says, "seems to 
 tell upon the character and habits of the people, whose streets 
 and villages in these Hak-ka regions contrast most favourably, 
 in point of cleanliness, with those of the lowlanders. At 
 Ho-tshan we were most kindly received by Lim-kiau-lau, the 
 leading man of the little band of worshippers of God whom we 
 had come to visit. These men, about twenty in number, have 
 heard through our Ho-po station a little of the truth ; and for 
 some time, without any preacher and without any help from us, 
 they have been meeting every Sabbath for reading and prayer, 
 and those who live near meet also for worship on other days 
 in the week. They have now rented a chapel, and asked us 
 to appoint a chapel-keeper, and take them under our care. 
 We had frequent opportunities of speaking to them through 
 an interpreter, a Hak ka student, who is under training at 
 Swatow ; but we have no Hak-ka preacher to send them." 
 
 Mr. Mackenzie writes of the same journey : — 
 
 Mountain Worshippers. 
 
 " Mr. Gibson and I, after three and a half days' constant 
 travelling by boat and chair, reached Ho-tshan on September 
 9th, in the midst of rain. We crossed the river four times 
 between Ho-po and Ho-tshan, once by a narrow bridge and 
 thrice by wading, and our bedding and provisions were well 
 damped. On Sabbath fully two hundred men met with us, 
 professing to worship God. The only room for public 
 worship, in the house we call the chapel, would not hold a 
 sixth of them with comfort. Accordingly an open space in 
 
272 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 front was enclosed on two sides by a bamboo fence, the 
 other two sides being enclosed by the chapel and a ditch. 
 Long widths of a thin kind of canvas, sewn together, were 
 stretched over this enclosure on long bamboo poles, as a 
 shade from the hot sun ; and the seats for the people, and a 
 table and chairs for the preachers, being arranged under this 
 tent, made quite a new kind of open-air service in China. 
 Mr. Gibson conducted the forenoon service, and I the other, 
 and on both occasions quite a number of people gathered out- 
 side the fence and along the brink of the ditch, but there 
 was neither noise nor disturbance from them, nor from the 
 passers-by in the street. All listened quietly while we had the 
 unspeakable privilege of preaching to them the Gospel of the 
 grace of Clod. Mr. Gibson's text was Luke x. 21-28; mine, 
 Acts xx. 21." 
 
 The Rev. William Duffus gives the following interest- 
 ing account of the leadings of Providence by which the 
 Swatow Mission was naturally guided in entering on the 
 Mission to the Hak-ka country : — 
 
 Origin of the Hak-ka Mission. 
 
 " The efforts of the English Presbyterian Missionaries among 
 the Hak-kas are simply a natural extension in an inland 
 direction of their proper work among the Hok-lo speaking 
 people. Near the borders which separate the two dialects 
 there is constant market communication, and many of the 
 borderers on either side are familiar with both tongues. As 
 the work of our Mission stretched towards the Hak-ka country, 
 it was to be expected that some of that people would be 
 influenced by the Gospel. And such has been the case. 
 
 Toa-now, a Pioneer. 
 
 "The very first contact of our missionaries with the Hak-kas, 
 however, was of a different nature. In the year 1863 a man 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 273 
 
 of the name of Toa-now came from Kway-tham, a market town 
 sixty miles south-west from Swatow, and lying just on the 
 Hak-ka border, to pay a visit to some relatives at Tat-hau-po, 
 a large town six miles from Swatow, and already occupied as 
 a Mission station. Toa-now was a Roman Catholic, of which 
 persuasion there are a great number in the Swatow region ; 
 but coming under the power of the Gospel at Tat-hau-po, he- 
 renounced his Romanism, and was admitted into the fellowship 
 of the Mission Church. He returned to his native place, was 
 much abused by his wife for his change of religion, suffered 
 from sickness, which his friends attributed to his apostasy, and 
 was not again heard of for about two years. Then he paid two 
 visits to Swatow, on the second occasion bringing an inquirer 
 with him, and on their united entreaty the Rev. G. Smith 
 paid a first visit to Kway-tham. He remained there three 
 months, succeeded in overcoming the first attempts at oppo- 
 sition, and before leaving opened a little place as a chapel. 
 Mr. Smith found that, though the town of Kway-tham was 
 mostly Hok-lo, the country beyond was all Hak-ka; and 
 owing to the difference of the language, combined with the 
 difficulty of finding time for many visits to a place three days' 
 journey distant, little progress has been made at this station ; 
 whilst Toa-now himself disappointed the hopes formed of 
 him, and was ultimately excluded from the Church. 
 
 Still Led On. 
 " But the main Hak-ka work of the Mission is situated in a 
 region lying west from Swatow, with which it is connected by 
 a continuous line of stations. First in the line is Kih-yang, a 
 district city thirty-six miles from the port, with the adjoining 
 station of Sin-hu, both of which have comparatively large and 
 increasing congregations. Then comes Mi-ow, eighteen miles 
 farther west, which has also a prosperous Church, and where 
 the present peace and comfort experienced by the Christians 
 form a delightful contrast to the hostility and violence with 
 which the beginnings of the work there were assailed. Mi-ow, 
 
 18 
 
274 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 being a large market town, is frequented by the neighbouring 
 Hak-kas, some of whom soon became interested in the truth, 
 and began to wish for the opening of a chapel among them- 
 selves. This led to the establishing, in 1871, of a station in 
 Ho-po, another important market town twenty-four miles up 
 the river, and westward from Mi-ow. By the close of 1875 
 it was found necessary to advance still farther in the same 
 direction, and plant two more stations among the Hak-kas : 
 one at Ngou-hun-tang, ' the dell of the five clouds,' about ten 
 miles north-west ; and the other at Ho-tshan, the market for 
 a large district, about twenty miles south-west from Ho-po.'' 
 
 Conferences on the Higher Life. 
 The stimulating and sustaining of a high standard of 
 spiritual life in the members of the Church of Christ in 
 the old country are too much neglected by the courts 
 of the Church. Hence the need for those Conferences 
 on the Christian life so largely resorted to in our da}' ; 
 conducted, indeed, by members of Christian Churches, 
 but not by the Churches themselves. In the infant 
 Churches of the Presbyterian Mission in China, these 
 Conferences are held by the Presbyteries themselves, 
 or by one of their committees, often in connection 
 with their ordinary meetings, with great advantage to 
 members of the Church ; and the Church itself gets 
 the full benefit of the quickening impulse, and the fire 
 from heaven which often descends on such meetings. 
 We give the programme of the first held under the 
 direction of the Swatow Presbytery, regretting that we 
 cannot give the speeches, which were all in Chinese. 
 We arc told that they were most effective and solemn. 
 All felt it a time of refreshing;". 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 275 
 
 The First General Conference of Christians in Con- 
 nection with the Swatow Mission. 
 
 By the Rev. J. C. Gibson. 
 Programme. 
 " Meanwhile a programme was drawn up, printed, and circu- 
 lated at the various stations. The following is a translation 
 of it :— 
 
 THEOLOGICAL STUDENTS, SWATOW. 
 
 " ' It has been resolved that this year, in the eleventh moon, 
 on the 24th day, all shall meet in Swatow in General Confer- 
 ence. The business is set forth below : — 
 
 " ' 24th of the moon, that is Tuesday, evening, at seven 
 o'clock. Meet for prayer, that all may with united heart seek 
 grace, that during this gathering we may obtain the teaching 
 and help of the Holy Spirit, so that the Church may spread in 
 the Middle Kingdom, and especially in Tie-chiu. 
 
 '"25th of the moon, that is Wednesday, forenoon, ten 
 o'clock to 12.30. To consider the duty of every disciple of 
 [esus to rule his own family, so as to forsake all wicked customs 
 
27 6 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 and cast off all irregular conduct. Also the necessity of 
 observing the Day of Rest within the family, and of meeting in 
 the chapels ; and since the day is holy, it should not be in any 
 way broken. 
 
 " ' Also to consider the necessity for each congregation to 
 establish schools for teaching reading both to boys and girls. 
 In Swatow there are already a school for students and a school 
 for girls. And young disciples who are willing may come and 
 learn the Scriptures, so as to understand the truth, and prepare 
 for teaching others, so that they may be fitted for the Lord's use. 
 
 " ' Wednesday afternoon, 2.30 — 4.30. To consider the duty 
 of every disciple of the Lord the Saviour to fulfil his part, 
 according to his ability, to spread abroad the Lord's Word, and 
 lead men to return to the Lord and obtain salvation. 
 
 " ' Wednesday evening, 7 — S. Meet for prayer and mutual 
 exhortation and comfort. 
 
 " ' 26th of the moon, Thursday forenoon, 9.30 — 12.30. To 
 consider the duty of the Church to be self-supporting — that is, 
 to supply the current expenses of chapels, preachers' salaries, 
 the relief of the poor, the printing of books, building new 
 chapels, etc. 
 
 " ' Also that the Church should be self-governing — that is, 
 should appoint pastors, elders, and deacons to manage its affairs. 
 
 " 'Also concerning meeting with persecution on account of 
 the Lord Jesus, and concerning other affairs regarding ques- 
 tions of justice in worldly matters. 
 
 " 'Thursday evening, 6.30 — S.30. To consider intelligence 
 from the Church everywhere under heaven, to draw out widened 
 sympathies. Afterwards to join in prayer and praise, and so to 
 separate.' " 
 
LEPER HOSPITAL, SWATOW, 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE STORY OP THE SWATOW MISSION {concluded). 
 
 THE painful incident here related by Mr. Gibson 
 gives an idea of what converts have to suffer 
 and of the difficulty of securing either protection or 
 justice in a country so misgoverned as China is at 
 present and has long been. Clanship and secret 
 societies defy the weak and venal local Mandarins. 
 
 Persecution even unto Death. 
 (Letter from Rev. J. C. Gibson.) 
 
 " Swatow, May y.st, 1878. 
 " But I write now to tell you of a sadly different scene that 
 occurred on the same day at another place, and to ask your 
 sympathy and prayers with regard to it. In the village of 
 Tsah-kiah a man who has for about a year been a worshipper 
 was savagely murdered, as far as we can discover, for no other 
 reason than that he was a worshipper of God. 
 
 =77 
 
27S CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 " Due west from Kway-tham, and on the banks of the river 
 which flows down from Ho-tshan by Tang-hai to the sea, 
 stands the town of Toa-ua, where we have a chapel. Toa-ua 
 is about thirty miles distant from Kway-tham, and between 
 them, about twelve miles from Toa-ua, is the market town 
 of Poih-buan (see map), about one mile from which is the 
 village of Tsah-kia. 
 
 " In this neighbourhood there have been for about a year 
 a number of people coming to worship, at first coming to 
 Toa-ua, and latterly meeting in a house which they had secured 
 for the purpose in the village of Tsah-kia, which was com- 
 paratively near their homes. The leading man among them 
 was Lip-tshun, an applicant for baptism, whom I examined 
 at Toa-ua last November, and concerning whom I find the 
 following entry in my list of applicants for baptism : — 
 
 Cruel Murder of Thou Lip-tshun. 
 
 "'Thou Lip-tshun, forty years of age, of Tsah-kia, a shop- 
 keeper. Began to worship in the fourth moon — i.e. in May 
 of last year. Seems to have a correct general idea of the 
 truth, but says himself that he is not yet clear. Does not vet 
 fully keep the Sabbath. Hopeful.' 
 
 "This is the man who has been killed; and though not 
 reckoned among our Church members, we hope he was a 
 Christian received by the Lord. Mr. Mackenzie and Dr. 
 (iauld knew him, having been kindly received by him on their 
 visit to that region in the early part of this year. 
 
 " I first heard this sad news at Ho-tshan, on my return from 
 Kong-pheng on May 20th. I found a man there who had come 
 to tell me, and his story was this :- - 
 
 " On Sabbath, the 19th, thirteen brethren met at Tsah-kia 
 for worship. At noon, worship being over, rive of them 
 returned home for their midday meal, the other eight remaining 
 to cook theirs at the chapel. While they were thus engaged 
 a crowd of men and women gathered about, carrying the 
 
THE STORY OF THE SIVATOW MISSION. 279 
 
 knives with which they cut grass, and poles for carrying 
 burdens, hoes, etc., and making a great disturbance. The 
 brethren tried to escape by flight, Lip-tshun taking refuge in 
 the village, in the house of his eldest brother. This brother 
 was not a Christian, and had opposed Lip-tshun going to 
 worship, but he did his best now to protect him, by hiding him 
 in a press. The villagers followed ; and when they could not 
 find their victim elsewhere, they broke open the press with 
 their hoes, and dragged him out. His two brothers now tried 
 hard to rescue him, offering" to become security for him and 
 pay out money on his behalf; but the rioters would not listen, 
 and declared that nothing but his death would now satisfy 
 them. They then dragged him down to the river, and, after 
 beating him with their hoes, cut his throat. 
 
 "They then called his brothers to bury the body, the 
 intention being thus to hide the proof of their crime, threaten- 
 ing the brothers also with death if they would not consent. 
 
 Seven Others Beaten. 
 
 " Meanwhile the other seven worshippers were also seized 
 and beaten, and their queues cut off. A day or two afterwards 
 they were all allowed to return to their homes. 
 
 " P.S. — Since writing thus far we have had further news. 
 As usual bribery has been freely used, and every effort made 
 to hush up the matter. 
 
 Bribery of Officials. 
 
 " The body of the man who was killed has been, as we hear, 
 carried off and secreted, with the connivance of some of the 
 Yamun messengers, who were bribed with sixty dollars to 
 advise and sanction this proceeding. They then reported to 
 the magistrate that Lip-tshun had hanged himself, and that 
 there was no case for investigation. At the same time the 
 relatives of the dead man (who are not Christians) had been 
 bought off, so as not to give any information, and the villagers 
 
280 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 refused to allow any of the wounded men to go to the Yamun 
 to show their wounds. 
 
 " And, sad to say, another of the wounded has died of his 
 wounds — viz. Iong-heng, of Tng-khe-tsui, who in November 
 last was, along with Lip-tshun, an applicant for baptism at 
 Toa-ua." 
 
 The interesting biographic sketch here given illus- 
 trates in an interesting way the leadings of Provi- 
 dence and the domestic customs of the Chinese : — 
 
 A Remarkable Biography of a Kidnapped Boy. 
 By the Rev. John C. Gibson. 
 
 " More than thirty years ago there was in Chao-chow-fu a 
 certain Mandarin's under-secretary who had no sons. In 
 accordance with a very common custom this official purchased 
 a boy to be his son and heir. This adopted son grew up in 
 his house, and in due time would have inherited the family 
 possessions, as only son of his adopted father. 
 
 "But the Chinese proverb says, 'It is man's to plan 
 things ; to accomplish them rests with Heaven ' ; and this 
 was forcibly illustrated by an incident which occurred when 
 this boy was about fifteen or sixteen years old. Processions 
 were being held in Chao-chow-fu in honour of some of 
 the idols, and this boy was rambling about to see the display. 
 While so engaged he was enticed away by a kidnapper, and 
 for years no trace of him could be found. 
 
 " Meantime he had been conveyed to the city of Cheng- 
 hai, distant several days' journey from his home. This would 
 have involved no great separation in a land where in a few 
 minutes the news of the loss would have been spread over the 
 country by telegraph, and where a couple of hours by rail 
 would have brought the wanderer home again. But in China 
 the loss was irremediable. The parents had no effective way 
 of making their sorrow known ; and the son, doubtless carefully 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 281 
 
 kept in ignorance of the road travelled over, was unable to 
 find his way back. In Cheng-hai he was once more sold to 
 a man who wished to adopt a son. Here he assumed the 
 name of this man, whose heir he became ; a wife was found 
 (or, strictly speaking, bought) for him, and all connection with 
 his former home seemed to be at an end. 
 
 An Unexpected Discovery. 
 
 " Years had passed, when one of the usual examinations for 
 degrees brought together all the graduates and scholars from 
 the surrounding districts to Chao-chow-fu. Meantime the 
 undersecretary had died childless, and his widow, in some- 
 what reduced circumstances, was living alone in Chao-chow-fu, 
 lamenting the misfortunes that had gathered around her. 
 Some of the scholars who had come up to the city stayed 
 in her house during the time of the examinations. In con- 
 versation with them she narrated, as probably she had often 
 done before, the story of her adopted son, lost to her for so 
 many years. Suddenly the clue was found. One of her 
 guests was a graduate from Cheng-hai, who, on hearing her 
 story, saw at once that it tallied with some facts which he had 
 learned from the young man, whom he now recognised as 
 at once the adopted son of his friend at Cheng-hai and the 
 lost son of his hostess in Chao-chow-fu. A letter was forth- 
 with written and sent by the graduate, begging the young 
 man to return to his mother. He came, and she urged him 
 to remain and be the stay of her old age. 
 
 His 1 )aughter's History. 
 " He explained his circumstances, and declared that he 
 could not now leave those among whom he had for so long 
 lived as an established member of the family. But he had one 
 little daughter, and her he would give to his mother to comfort 
 her, and in course of time to help in caring for her. Ac- 
 cordingly he went home, and brought the child to Chao-chow-fu 
 to live with her grandmother. 
 
282 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 A Little Romance. 
 
 " This little girl is the woman who has now been baptised. 
 She went after some time to Canton with her grandmother, 
 to reside w-ith a relative of some wealth and influence, who 
 was occupying an inferior official post there. A change of 
 family fortunes deprived him of his power to care for them, 
 and they returned to Chao-chow-fu. 
 
 " Some time after the return, one of our preachers (who is 
 a native of Chao-chow-fu), having lost his first wife, was in 
 search of another. According to custom, he had committed 
 the matter to a ' go-between,' or professional match-maker ; for 
 does not the proverb say, ' If in the heavens there be no 
 clouds, no rain can come ; if on earth no go-between, it is 
 impossible to accomplish a marriage ' ? 
 
 " By a bold departure from ordinary usage the preacher 
 himself had a voice in the matter. It was discussed in the 
 presence of ' three faces and six eyes,' and the result was 
 that the girl whose fortunes have been traced became the 
 preacher's wife, and he undertook the care of her grand- 
 mother — ' to cherish her in life, and bury her at death,' ac- 
 cording to the expressive formula provided for such cases. 
 Some years ago the grandmother died, and the preacher's 
 promise was fulfilled. 
 
 " He has several children, and these had all been baptised 
 at different times ; but his wife still remained, outwardly at 
 least, a heathen. But for some time he has been hopeful 
 that she was awaking to some apprehension of the truth, and 
 latterly has been anxious that she should be baptised. On 
 Sabbath, March 21st, I visited the city ; and after examining 
 her as to her knowledge of the truth, and consulting with her 
 husband and another preacher who was present, I thought 
 it right to baptise her. She was baptised at the forenoon 
 service, along with her infant son and another infant. In 
 the afternoon she partook, along with the other members, of 
 the Lord's Supper.'' 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 2S3 
 
 Miss Rickett's First Class of Bible-women. 
 
 "November \%th, 1S81. 
 " On Tuesday, November 8th, I went up with Hui-pi 
 (Phcebe) to open the Bible-women's house. Six women have 
 willingly left their respective homes to come and study for a 
 term of four months, and we have been at work for ten days. 
 The women assembled in the large upper room. One of 
 themselves prayed, and Phrebe read to them my set of rules. 
 I am going to make strenuous endeavours to keep them tidy 
 and clean, though I know it is considered heart-breaking work 
 to make them neat and clean in their habits. As yet they 
 have kept the rules well ; but ' New brooms,' etc., has a Chinese 
 rendering which, perhaps, I shall do well to bear in mind : 
 ' The new daughter-in-law sweeps the corner-edges of the 
 furnace.' My new daughters at present do sweep and wash 
 well. When the old ladies arrived, one of them had fever, 
 and the dear old Hak-ka had dysentery, and the oldest pupil, 
 in her zeal mistaking moonlight for daylight in the light 
 bedroom (to which she was unaccustomed), rose hastily, much 
 fearing she was behind in the work which the terrible ko-nie 
 (female teacher) so strictly prescribed, and knocked her head 
 against the wall, cutting a gash two inches long, which bled 
 profusely. 
 
 " Mrs. Rat is a nice, gentle little woman, who is so anxious 
 that (as she said this morning) ' she stays awake out of three 
 parts one part.' She is really making good progress ; but not 
 being as quick as the others at reading, she also is discouraged. 
 "Then I take a hymn (I am going straight through the 
 book), and make them explain every character. This morning 
 I asked the Hak-ka to ' such ' (or explain), and she gave some 
 foolish answer, poor old body. Uang-m laughed. I looked, 
 as I felt, vexed, but took no notice, until presently Mrs. Rat 
 stumbled, and again our clever old lady laughed, with a tinge 
 of, ' I am clever ; why are you so stupid ? ' So I said, ' Old 
 lady, it is not good to laugh ; you know that these three 
 
2,S 4 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 persons arc very discouraged because they cannot get on 
 faster ; in place of laughing, you should help and comfort 
 them ; they have not had your opportunities ; that you know 
 more is of God's kindness , you should not laugh.' A moment 
 the old lady looked rather angry, but then she looked up 
 peaceably and said, ' I am wrong ; I am sorry.' Now here 
 
 
 ^HB^st 
 
 F±2<g} 
 
 
 r4. 
 
 - JT TgrV"'^ A 
 
 \m*> ' 
 
 W 
 
 
 V jR?aX'i 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 y# 
 
 | ', 
 
 
 7f | / . \W0 
 
 
 m ■ 
 
 
 ■By 7/ w 
 
 k .':P' ■ ^M 
 
 \ '« 
 
 m 4? 
 
 
 hh w mVj 
 
 
 m 
 
 
 mS* 
 
 
 1 f Wi ' 
 
 
 
 
 ^""T 
 
 is the true Christian spirit, and I was thankful to see it so 
 plainly. I said I was sure she did not wish to hurt their 
 feelings, but forgot herself; and there the matter ended. 
 When the 'such' (explanation) is over, I relate a Bible story 
 (I have taken Genesis), and tell it to Phoebe; she then 
 tells it, using my words ; then they tell it in succession. We 
 have now three stories perfect — Adam and Eve, Cain and 
 Abel, and Enoch, Noah is being learned for Monday, with 
 
THE STORY OF THE SIVATOW MISSION. 2S5 
 
 the light of a Noah's ark, which I took over this afternoon, 
 to impress on them the number of creatures and the pairs. 
 We go over and over the stories, and then take the new one.'' 
 
 The Hospital. 
 
 In a single sentence we have (here) the secret of the 
 power of the Mission Hospital as an agency for the 
 spread of the truth and the salvation of the heathen. 
 No man so ready to spread abroad the savour of 
 Christian beneficence as the man who left his village 
 blind or lame or diseased beyond the help of the native 
 doctors, and returns with restored sight or health. No 
 man can tell of the love of Christ like the man who 
 has not only found life and health for his bod)', but 
 a free, full salvation for his soul, from the Christian 
 teaching of the doctor or his brother Missionaries. 
 How blessed the work of diffusing physical and spiritual 
 life and healing in regions so cursed with physical and 
 spiritual disease and death ! 
 
 Wide Influence of Hospital Work. 
 
 '■'■ The Mission Hospital at Svvatow drew its patients last 
 year from no fewer than twelve hundred and twenty-one 
 towns and villages in the region around. Of nearly three 
 thousand in-patients received during the year, the average 
 time of residence in hospital was three weeks. During that 
 period each patient was in daily contact with Christian 
 teaching and Christian practice. Out of one hundred 
 applicants, eighteen were received by baptism into the 
 Church. For the support of the hospital no more than ,£100 
 was required from this country. We commend these few facts 
 to our readers." 
 
286 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 The Hak-ka Mission. 
 
 The long-wished-for and much-prayed-for extension of 
 the Swatow Mission to the Hak-ka country was realised 
 in 1880. The Committee at last found a man, the Rev. 
 Donald Maclver, M.A., in every way fitted to take the 
 position of pioneer in that new and difficult work. Mr. 
 Maclver was sent to China, 1879. for this new centre, 
 
 OR. MCP1IUN AND HAK-KA ASSISTANTS. 
 
 where the European and native element in Mission work 
 was to be combined. After a year spent in the study 
 of the language in Swatow, Mr. Maclver went and took 
 up his abode in one of the -largest villages in the Hak-ka 
 country, in Mandarin called Wu-king-fu, and in the 
 Hak-ka by the unpronounceable name Xg-kang-phu, 
 the centre of a large number of towns and villages in 
 the mountains and fertile plain around it. While this 
 Mission is spoken of as a centre, it is not to be regarded 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 2S7 
 
 as severed from Swatow, which continues the head of 
 the Mission to the whole region and the seat of the 
 Presbytery. 
 
 Mr. Maclver on his arrival found a native congre- 
 gation of converts, not only in the principal town, but in 
 many of the smaller towns and villages scattered in the 
 regions around ; so that, as he tells us, his first year was 
 almost entirely spent in visiting and helping and organis- 
 ing these little congregations. It says much for the 
 zeal of the Missionaries in Swatow, that they had been 
 able to carry on successfully a work so far from their 
 headquarters, among a people speaking a different 
 language, and chiefly through interpreters, though Mr. 
 Gibson had so far acquired the language as to dispense 
 with such aid. In 1881 Mr. Maclver was joined by 
 William Riddel, who possessed the double qualification 
 of an ordained pastor and a medical practitioner, so that 
 a hospital was soon added, to the greater efficiency of 
 the Mission. Dr. McPhun arrived in 1SS2. 
 
 Formation of Swatow Presbytery. 
 
 On the memorable 8th of June, 1881, the Swatow 
 Mission completed its organisation by the formation of 
 a Presbytery on the same lines as that of Amoy, giving 
 a large preponderance of power in the management to 
 the native elders, while the foreign Missionaries sat 
 more in the character of advisers or assessors. By 
 imposing power, and thereby throwing responsibility 
 on the representatives chosen by the members of the 
 different congregations, the self-respect and manhood of 
 
288 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the believers are called forth and recognised, and their 
 character developed. Of course there is much need for 
 education to prepare the infant Church before it can be 
 trusted with the management of its own spiritual affairs, 
 but the education and training all tend to this, and no 
 Church can reach maturity without being taught to 
 govern itself. The formation of a Presbytery is the 
 declaration of a young Church's majority. It is "no 
 longer under tutors and governors," but has entered on 
 the responsibilities of the son and heir. The following 
 is the account of the licensing of the first convert, Khai- 
 lin, at its meeting on May 22nd, 1882. Khai-lin has 
 showed himself worthy cf the privilege conferred on him. 
 
 Ordination of Tan Khai-lin. 
 
 (Letter from the Rev. H. L. Mackenzie.) 
 
 " Swatow, May 22nd, 18S2. 
 
 " Our Presbytery met on the 3rd and 4th of this month. 
 We got through a good deal of important work, and we are 
 more and more thankful that at length there is a Swatow 
 Presbytery. The native elders and ourselves are gradually 
 getting acquainted with the work that falls to us as a Presby- 
 tery, and the native Church will, we doubt not, in due time 
 reap larger benefit from our action. The two most important 
 subjects that occupied our attention were (1) the contribu- 
 tions of the native Church, and (2) the licensing of Khai-lin 
 with a view to his being shortly ordained. 
 
 " The licensing of Tan Khai-lin was an occasion of deep 
 interest to us all, natives and foreigners. He is the first con- 
 vert of the Swatow Mission, and the first licentiate of the 
 Swatow Presbytery. It fell to me, as Moderator, to license 
 him, and I did so in presence of a large and deeply in 
 terested congregation. All the students and Bible-women, and 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 
 
 289 
 
 the boys and girls from our schools, and others, members or 
 adherents of the Swatow and other congregations, were 
 present. It was very pleasant to think that Mr. Smith was 
 once more among us, and that he saw his first convert 
 at length in such a responsible and honourable position. 
 Khai-lin seemed to be deeply impressed, and I cannot but 
 
 
 
 life. mmMm 
 
 
 Wsk \ • 1 * if 
 
 
 mmP'M 
 Wf mm 
 
 mm. i ifflp If'-i 
 
 PS* " 
 
 FANG-KHI-FUNG PASTOR MI-OW, AND FAMILY. 
 
 hope that he will fulfil the fair promise of these past years, 
 and of this new engagement to be a faithful preacher of the 
 Gospel.'' 
 
 The converts in Kong-pheng were, in 1884, plundered 
 by their persecutors of both personal property and 
 fields, and driven from their village, yet there was not a 
 word of wrath or desire of revenge. Nothing could be 
 
 19 
 
290 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 finer than the spirit shown, as described in one of Mr. 
 Mackenzie's letters. 
 
 "Taking Joyfully the Spoiling of their Goods." 
 " But I must not omit telling you that one or two things 
 have greatly cheered us in the midst of our difficulties and 
 sorrows. So far as we have seen and heard, the converts have 
 stood firm under this severe trial. This is matter for rejoicing 
 and thanksgiving beyond expression. Some of them have 
 told me that they are joyful in the midst of their losses, and 
 that the Lord is helping them to endure persecution for His 
 sake. Though out of house and home, and dependent upon 
 the goodwill of their fellow-Christians and neighbours for their 
 daily food, they yet have no word of giving up the worship of 
 God or of concealing their Christianity. 
 
 " One of them, on being told by his heathen fellow-villagers 
 that his house and goods would be restored if he would 
 again take part with them in worshipping idols, replied that 
 this could not be, but that he would make them welcome to 
 all that he had lost if only they would come and join him 
 in worshipping God. Another, in speaking of what had 
 happened, said, ' No fear ; we shall yet, by God's help, have 
 a chapel and a flourishing Church in Kong-pheng.' This 
 man is one of two brothers, of whom I wrote some two or 
 three years ago. They and their wives, their parents, their 
 two sons and their wives, are all Christians, and are all 
 turned out of their houses and robbed of all their goods. 
 ' But,' said Jim-seng, the brother above quoted, ' we are 
 all joyful in worshipping God ; and come what may, we 
 intend to worship Him.' These things need little comment ; 
 but I am sure that you at home, and we here, may well ' thank 
 God and take courage.' 
 
 " Deep Poverty " " Riches of Liberality." 
 
 " Another thing that has cheered us is the ready liberality of 
 the native Christians when an appeal was made to them to 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 291 
 
 contribute for the relief of their fellow-Christians at Kong- 
 pheng. Yam-tsau gave over thirteen dollars, the native con- 
 gregation in Swatow gave over twenty-five dollars, and other 
 congregations also did well. We have sent two of the elders 
 to Kong-pheng to distribute the alms collected, and also to 
 comfort and encourage the sufferers there. Of course the 
 congregation there has now no meeting-place, but the 
 preachers whom we send visit them as they best can, and 
 read and pray with them. This is not without risk to the 
 preachers, for many are the threats still issued against the 
 Christians and all who take their side." 
 
 The Hak-ka Country — A Christian's Death-bed. 
 By the Rev. D. Maclver. 
 
 " Now I am going to tell an interesting little story I heard 
 to-day. In the last village we visited we were invited to 
 have dinner; indeed, quite a little feast had been prepared 
 in anticipation of our arrival. The room hi which we met 
 had belonged to the man with whom my story is concerned. 
 He died a few weeks ago. On his death-bed he earnestly 
 exhorted his kindred and neighbours to worship the true God. 
 I should have said that he himself had been a worshipper for 
 (I think) about a year, but was not a member of the Church. 
 He was specially anxious that there should be no idolatrous 
 practices at his funeral. On the night he died he was visited 
 by the preacher and another Christian, who remained with 
 him to the end, several members of his own family being 
 also present. 
 
 " It seems to have been a remarkable scene. The old 
 man (formerly very quiet, retired, also illiterate) gave utterance 
 to such deep Christian sentiments as quite astonished those 
 who were with him. They say it was the Spirit of God that 
 spoke through him, for the words he spoke were quite 
 beyond himself. One of the last things he told them was 
 this : That on the preceding night he had a dream. Three 
 
292 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 men in long robes met him as he was out looking after his 
 grave. They asked him what he was doing, and told him 
 that it was not necessary for Christians to take much thought 
 about the burial-place of the body. They then told him to 
 go and preach the Gospel. He said he could not, for he 
 himself was ignorant and not able to read. ' But,' said they, 
 'just tell what you know; tell people these two clauses — 
 "Those who believe shall be saved; those who do not 
 believe shall perish for ever.'' ' The dying man impressed 
 on those around him the necessity of such preaching as this. 
 When death was drawing near, the preacher asked if he was 
 in much distress (bodily). 'Oh no,' he said, 'it is just like 
 falling asleep.' So he peacefully passed away amid the prayers 
 of the Christians, to be (as we trust) for ever with the Lord. 
 This death-bed scene has made a great impression on his 
 friends, and several of them have been coming to worship. 
 
 Effect of his Testimony. 
 
 "One man from the village, who was examined as an 
 applicant yesterday, said : ' Pastor, Uncle Lau has entered into 
 happiness ; I want no more than that my departure may be 
 like his.' I thought of the saying of that strange man Balaam : 
 ' Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last 
 end be like his.' Who knows how many such cases there 
 may be round about us ! Here was a man not personally 
 known to us, and whose village was never visited by a 
 missionary ; and were it not for the scene of his death-bed, 
 we should have been quite ignorant of the fact that in that 
 obscure village lived and died an heir of glory. 
 
 Chao-chow-ku Hospital. 
 
 " What changes some of us have seen wrought by God in 
 this wonderful China ! Chao-chow-fu at one time proudly 
 defied the entrance of the foreigner. The entrance has been 
 made, and the hands of our brother, Dr. Cousland, are more 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 293 
 
 than full. The number of patients is so large that some limit 
 has to be put on their admission. That limit is fixed at one 
 hundred a day, and more than the number come. The first 
 hour is spent by the doctor and native helpers in preaching 
 the Gospel of the Kingdom, and thus the knowledge of it is 
 spread through the large city and the immense country beyond. 
 Then comes the work of healing ; and from morning till 
 evening the time is spent in this Christ-like way. ' In due 
 time we shall reap, if we faint not.'" 
 
 " Messenger of Spring" an Earnest Seeker after God. 
 
 "One day, as the manner of the Chinese is, he was sitting 
 on a barber's stool in the open air having his head shaved. 
 The main street of the village runs along the top of an 
 embankment, at the foot of which were the barber and 
 his customer. Just then our preacher (Yong) was pro- 
 claiming the Gospel to a little company on the street. 
 ' Messenger of Spring,' after listening some time to the 
 preacher, suddenly jumped up from the stool, with his head 
 shaved only on the one side, climbed the embankment, ran 
 forward to the little crowd, and knelt down before the preacher, 
 asking, ' Can God save me ? ' Yong replied, ' Yes, if you 
 repent and believe, God will certainly save you. Hut who 
 are you, and what do you want to be saved from ? ' 'I am 
 being crushed to death with sin, and I wish to be saved,' 
 was the reply, a kind of confession rarely heard in China. 
 After some conversation with Yong, ' Messenger of Spring ' 
 went back to the barber, who finished his work. Yong then 
 accompanied him to his home, which was quite close at hand, 
 and there he told the sad story of his life. In the house 
 there was an unusually large image of the Goddess of Mercy, 
 a favourite Chinese idol, with all the necessary apparatus for 
 burning incense, etc. Yong said that any one who wished 
 to become a Christian must give up all forms of idolatry, 
 which our friend expressed himself willing to do. The Gospel 
 
204 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 was explained to him, and he committed to memory a simple 
 form of prayer. Yong, whose home was fully twenty miles 
 distant, then left him, promising to return in a week. 
 
 "They that Seek Me Early Shall Find Me." 
 " But long before the week was out ' Messenger of Spring ' 
 found his way to the preacher's home to declare that God 
 had heard prayer, and that now his heart had found peace 
 and rest. Yong returned with him to his village, and found 
 the old mother greatly delighted at the change which had 
 come over her son. Mother and son expressed their willing- 
 ness to have the Goddess of Mercy taken down from her 
 shrine, and burnt in the court before the house, which was 
 accordingly done. ' Messenger of Spring ' was baptised in 
 the following year, and has, by a consistent Christian life 
 during a period of nine years, testified to the reality of his 
 conversion. His old mother, who was subsequently received 
 into the Church, died a few months ago in the hope of 
 the Gospel. 
 
 The Blind Weaver. 
 
 "'Messenger of Spring' has been an active Christian 
 worker, and has been the means of leading not a few of his 
 countrymen to Christ. One of his first converts is well known 
 through the whole Mission. We call him the ' Blind weaver 
 of straw sandals.' He is now fifty years of age, and has been 
 blind for thirty years. Yet, when the preacher is away from 
 the station, this is the man who supplies his place. At these 
 times he gives out and reads the hymns, and reads and 
 expounds the Scripture lessons. That is, he seems to read ; 
 he really repeats from memory, and does not use the books 
 printed for the blind. A Chinese friend who heard this man 
 preach a fortnight ago put it in this way : ' I have seen the 
 blind led by the seeing, and I have heard of the blind 
 leading the blind, but I never before saw or heard of the 
 blind leading the seeing.' The secret of course lies in his 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATOW MISSION. 
 
 295 
 
 wonderful memory. I am sorry to say that some time ago 
 he was so badly beaten for being a Christian by the ' Pharisees,' 
 as he calls the literary men of the place, that he is not now 
 able to work at making straw sandals, the source from which he 
 used to support his aged mother and himself. The mother also 
 is a believer, and is affectionately attached to the blind son. 
 
 DR. AND MRS. LYALL, SWATOW. 
 
 Hospital Work. 
 " The story of the Svvatow Mission would be very incomplete 
 without some account of the medical Mission work carried on 
 there for the last thirty-three years. From the very beginning 
 the preaching of the Gospel, the ingathering of converts, the 
 opening of new stations, have all been in very close connection 
 
296 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 with the devoted labours of the medical Missionaries. Dr. 
 Gauld began the work, and for seventeen years carried it on 
 and developed it, and since then Dr. Lyall and Dr. Cousland 
 have taken up and still further developed it, making it a means 
 of simply incalculable value in the great work of extending the 
 knowledge of Christ and preparing the way of the Gospel. 
 Very many converts have been received from among the 
 crowds who have frequented the hospital. Some of these 
 were in turn the means of bringing the Gospel to their fellow- 
 villagers in many places far and near: through seven of them, 
 first one and then another of our out-stations was begun ; and 
 one of the ' old patients ' is now a very intelligent and useful 
 ordained minister." 
 
 The new centre for the extension of the work of the 
 Swatow Mission is thus described by Mr. Gibson, who 
 has already secured a site and received the names of 
 many applicants for baptism, six of whom have been 
 baptised. The place seems admirably chosen, and 
 promises to be an important sphere of labour. 
 
 Sua-bue, the New Centre of Swatow Presbytery. 
 
 " Sua-bue is on the sea-coast, south-west from Swatow, fully 
 more than half-way to Hong Kong. Between Sua-bue and 
 Hong Kong there is a daily service of steam launches. ' It is 
 a thriving and busy place, doing a large trade of various kinds, 
 the most important being connected with the fishing industry. 
 It will be an admirable centre for further work. Between 
 Sua-bue and Hong Kong are several considerable towns, at 
 which the steam launches call, and many villages and towns 
 round about are easily accessible.' 
 
 Preparatory Work. 
 
 " Sua-bue was visited once some years ago by Mr. Mackenzie, 
 anil 1 have met with one or two who remember hearing him 
 
THE STORY OF THE SWATQW MISSION. 297 
 
 preach from the permanent stage erected in the open air for 
 the theatrical performances in honour of the idols. Last year 
 Mr. Maclagan visited the place again, and now Mr. Steele and 
 I are here together on the third visit to the town. 
 
 " Again and again a wish has been expressed by the people 
 of the place for the establishment of a station of our Mission 
 among them ; amongst others, by some Roman Catholics. But 
 there was reason to suppose that what was really desired was 
 not the Gospel, but help in local quarrels — quarrels so violent 
 that sometimes the would-be worshippers were collecting arms 
 for a regular battle. In that state of feeling it was impossible 
 to do anything else than wait, meanwhile sending a preacher 
 now and again to tell the people the real meaning and purpose 
 of a Christian Mission. Now at length it seems safe and wise 
 to make a forward movement." 
 
 The Formation of the Church. 
 
 Writing from Sua-bue on November 19th, 1894, 
 Mr. Gibson says : — 
 
 " On Friday Mr. Steele and I came to the town. On 
 Friday and Saturday we had several meetings, morning and 
 evening, with most of the worshippers who live near. On 
 Saturday evening twenty men gave me their names for baptism. 
 On Sabbath morning others from some distance came forward, 
 and my list of applicants ran up to fifty-one names. Of these 
 six were women, and this I take to be a particularly good sign 
 at this early stage, as showing that family life is being brought 
 under Christian influence. 
 
 Six out of Fifty-one Applicants Baptised. 
 
 " Of course it has been impossible to examine or even 
 converse with many of these applicants. But I selected a few 
 of the most hopeful and examined them, and we decided to 
 receive six men whose answers seemed to show some real hold 
 
298 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 of Christian truth, and whose conduct, 1 am assured, is con- 
 sistent with their profession. Of these six I baptised five at 
 afternoon service, and the sixth I admitted to Church fellow- 
 ship, but did not baptise, as he had received baptism many 
 years ago from a Missionary of the French Catholic Mission. 
 
 " Three of the men thus baptised form an interesting group 
 — a father, aged fifty-two, and two sons, aged twenty-three and 
 nineteen. They are ferrymen, having also a share in a shop. 
 Besides this, two younger sons have a shop of their own, in 
 which they sell dried grass fuel. They hang up a notice out- 
 side on the Lord's Day, stating that it is closed for the day. 
 The father has been leader of the movement for some time, 
 and has been the means of bringing in many of the worshippers. 
 The house in which wc are living, and in which we worship, is 
 his, and he lets it to us for twelve Chinese ounces of silver, 
 having been in the habit of letting it for sixteen ounces to 
 others. 
 
 " The sixth was a Roman Catholic, who had been baptised 
 by a priest, but he got dissatisfied with their teaching. They 
 tried hard to get him back again. When he visited a friend in 
 Canton, the priest visited him and offered to feed him if he 
 came back, and told him he would starve if he did not. He 
 replied, ' No, father, I will not come back. You promised to 
 forgive me my sins, and you yourself are a sinful man, needing 
 forgiveness. None but the Lord can forgive sins. Besides, 
 you always showed us the Lord in the arms of Mary ' (referring 
 to the images of the Virgin), 'knit He has ascended to the right 
 hand of the Father in the heavens." 
 
 When friends at home were laying their plans for 
 doing honour to Mr. H. M. Matheson, on completion of 
 his fifty years of faithful service as an office-bearer in 
 the Church, and with special reference to his duties as 
 Treasurer and Convener of the Foreign Missions Com- 
 mittee, the members of the Svvatow Presbyter)- resolved 
 
THE STORY OF THE SU'ATOIV MISSION. 299 
 
 to show their respect and affection in their own way. 
 They drew up and forwarded a memorial, beautifully 
 written in the finest Chinese style of language and 
 character, from which we make a few quotations, regret- 
 ting that we cannot give the whole. Age being so highly 
 honoured in China, they dwell chiefly on his being an 
 Elder, 
 
 " The Swatow Presbytery to Mr. H. M. Matheson. 
 (Translation.) 
 
 " Peace and happiness to His Excellency the Elder 
 Matheson, Convener of the Foreign Missions Committee of 
 the Presbyterian Church of England. 
 
 " We respectfully state that our Presbyter)' recently heard 
 that the Elder has been an office-bearer for fifty years in the 
 Presbyterian Church of England, which has had a Mission 
 to China for nearly fifty years, and that the whole Church 
 regarded it as indeed a happy thing that for so long a period 
 she has had his faithful and diligent service even to the time of 
 his old age. The Church unanimously, and with reverential 
 regard, decided to express her congratulations, to make known 
 her admiration for the Elder and give him her blessing. 
 Thereupon the learned brethren in England, in choice words, 
 clear and bright, mutually prolonging their notes of praise in 
 honour of the Elder and his great renown, congratulated him. 
 
 " We having experienced in such abundance the Elder's 
 kindness and favour, how can we alone be behind others in his 
 praise ? Having exercised his office in many affairs of great 
 importance during these fifty years, and thereby given excellent 
 help to the Church without stint, we too, having regard to this 
 prolonged service, from its beginning till now, congratulate the 
 Elder, and pray God to bless him. 
 
 " To compare him with the man who is able merely to 
 publish a book, or with him who can invent a machine, or bring 
 
300 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 into subjection a territory, or help in bringing one affair to a 
 conclusion — why, his labours and thoughtfulness and wisdom 
 far excel theirs, extending above and beyond them in height 
 and breadth. Very many men indeed have taken part in pro- 
 claiming the Gospel in the Middle Kingdom and in Western 
 lands, but many cannot be found who, like the Elder, have 
 exercised office without reproach from first to last for fifty years. 
 "We now call to mind the words of consolation which the 
 Elder formerly wrote, and our hearts turn to him as the sun- 
 flower to the sun. And, in conclusion, we earnestly hope that 
 the Elder may enjoy a venerable old age like that of John. 
 
 " Thus does our Presbytery desire and hope on his behalf, and 
 we respectfully beg him graciously to receive our congratulations. 
 "This letter of congratulation is sent on behalf of the Tie- 
 chiu (i.e. Swatow) Presbytery, by 
 
 Lan Chek-iong, Moderator. 
 Kuan Chip-seng, Senior Clerk. 
 No Siu-TENG, Junior Clerk. 
 Kim Hu-zu, Senior Missionary. 
 H.I.M. Kuang-su, 21st year, 6th month, 1st day. 
 (July 22nd, 1895)." 
 
 S1M-KIAN-LAN AND FAMILY. 
 
THE THEOLOGICAL LULLEUE, TAl-KAN-l-'U. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION {continued). 
 
 IN the second period, on which we are now entering, 
 the Mission in Formosa met with a great privation 
 by the protracted illness of its founder, Dr. Maxwell. 
 In the Report for 1873 the Convener writes : — 
 
 "The severe illness which prostrated Dr. Maxwell for many 
 months has caused much anxiety and sorrow, and called forth 
 much sympathy and prayer. We rejoice to know that our 
 beloved brother is now steadily recovering. The Lord has 
 had mercy on him, and not on him only, but on us also ; and 
 the Church at home will, we doubt not, continue, with the 
 Church in Formosa, in prayer that he may soon be able to 
 return to the work he loves and longs for, and may see the 
 promise of its bright beginning more than fulfilled in future 
 years." 
 
 Few pioneers of Missions in these days have so much 
 cause to be thankful as Dr. Maxwell for the success 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 which crowned his labours during the short time he 
 was permitted to serve the Master in Formosa ; and it 
 was a sore trial to him and his colleagues when he 
 was obliged to retire at the time the work was most 
 promising. But the Lord knows best what is good 
 for His servants and for His service. After a long 
 rest, he was permitted to return to Formosa for a 
 little while, and then forced to retire from the foreign 
 field. But those who have watched Dr. Maxwell's 
 career at home will sec that the Master had only changed 
 the sphere and form of His servant's work, and that 
 what he has been enabled to do for the cause of 
 Missions, and the kingdom of God, by his untiring 
 labours in this country, is a greater and more influential 
 work than he could have accomplished if he had 
 remained all his days in the island of Formosa. The 
 Missionaries in the field were cheered by the arrival, 
 in 1874, of the Rev. Thomas Barclay, M.A., than whom 
 no better substitute for the brother the}' had lost could 
 have been sent to their aid. 
 
 In Formosa, as in Amoy and Swatow, we shall 
 find a great increase in the numbers and organisation 
 of the Church. Tai-wan-fu became so important a 
 centre that the old headquarters at Ta-kao took a 
 subordinate place, and the capital of the island ap- 
 propriately became the capital of the Mission. New 
 stations were opened to the north and east of that 
 city, a Presbytery was formed, and the infant Church 
 showed its vitality by carrying on a Mission to its 
 heathen neighbours in the rescadorc Islands, not far 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 
 
 from their shores. Stations were also extended among 
 the savage inhabitants in the mountains, and on the 
 coast beyond them to the south-east. They would 
 also have been extended to the far north of the 
 island but for the rapid spread of the Canadian Presby- 
 terian Mission in the region of Tam-sui, which had 
 been assigned to their representative, the Rev. George 
 L. Mackay, by our Mission, when he consulted them 
 as to the sphere of his labours on his first coming 
 to China. Mr. Mackay has succeeded in gathering 
 a large number of followers, and has set up many 
 Mission stations all over the northern part of the 
 island. 
 
 The Rev. W. Campbell gives an interesting account 
 of a visit he paid to the savage aborigines, the Chay- 
 hoan, or raw foreigners, as the Chinese call them, in 
 April of 1873, from which we quote an account of some 
 of their customs. 
 
 Among the Barbarians. 
 
 " A-tek had been suffering from fever, and was rather weakly- 
 I gave him a good dose of quinine, and some time after he 
 drank off a preparation of Liebig's Extract of Meat with 
 apparent relish. There was little done that evening. It was just 
 dark when we arrived, and the prospect outside was anything but 
 inviting. Some thirty gathered into the large apartment. They 
 were somewhat shy at first, but became more communicative 
 further on in the evening. I presented A-tek with about half a 
 yard of red flannel, of which they are very fond, a few wooden 
 combs, flints, and an old chain I had used for keeping my 
 keys and the possession of which evidently gave my host an 
 additional feeling of superiority. Many of the remarks that 
 
304 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 were made were translated into Chinese by A-tun, the bartering 
 man. Of course they had mainly some reference to myself. 
 I was the white-skinned foreigner who came far from above — 
 wherever that is — and although my head were cut off, I should 
 not die ; with equally profound remarks. 
 
 Head-Hunters. 
 
 " Rising early the next morning, I ventured out to look at 
 the place, when I saw among the first things a string of skulls 
 fastened up at the end of the chiefs house. They were mostly 
 cloven in, and not a few had some of the flesh adhering to 
 them, as if they had been severed from the body only a 
 month or two before. The greater number of the other 
 houses were similarly ornamented. There were thirty-nine in 
 one collection, thirty-two in another, twenty-one in a third. 
 They told me of clan fights among themselves, and of many 
 a fatal meeting with straggling bands on the western side. 
 Before the encroachments of the swarming Chinese, the poor 
 Chay-hoan sees his approaching ruin, and in his sullen despair 
 his hand is against every man. One of our members informed 
 me that not a year passes without ten to twenty of the Po-sia 
 people being killed. 
 
 " On turning away from these sickening sights and entering 
 the large cabin again, I felt sad at heart on seeing further 
 evidence of this awful degradation. A number of very sus- 
 picious-looking implements were lying about, and there could 
 be no mistake as to the nature of that thick mass of long hair 
 which dangled from one of the beams, It consisted of pig-tails 
 of murdered Sek-hoans and Chinamen, and belonged to those 
 bleaching skulls I had just seen. I have myself no doubt that 
 many of the Chay-hoans are cannibals. 
 
 Some Good Points, 
 
 "One could not look on this poor people without a feeling of 
 the deepest pity. They arc in man)' respects a fine race. All 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISS/ON. 305 
 
 say they are truthful, chaste, and honest. Murder is the 
 most common of their great sins. Human life is regarded as of 
 little value, and they glory in hacking the bodies of those from 
 whom they have received any real or fancied wrong. Both 
 men and women paint their faces. The faces of the old women 
 are so daubed over as to make them quite repulsive. Their 
 time is taken up in hunting, from which large parties returned 
 on the second day of our visit. We tried repeatedly to teach 
 them some of the simplest truths, but their minds seemed 
 incapable of receiving a single impression. The process of 
 writing a few notes in their presence excited their suspicion of 
 something being prepared to harm them. I tried to explain 
 the matter, but it was no use; so I put the note-book aside. 
 
 Burials of the Savaoes. 
 
 " I had not before heard of rather a singular custom existing 
 among these Chay-hoans. When any one dies, his friends 
 do not convey his body to the outside of the village for 
 burial. The log fire, which always smoulders at one 
 end of the apartment, is immediately cleared away, and a 
 deep hole is dug, in which the body is placed in a sitting 
 posture. Pipes and tobacco, with other articles used by the 
 deceased while living, are placed beside the body. Some 
 simple ceremony of mourning is gone through ; a couple of 
 the nearest friends fill up the grave, and everything goes on 
 as usual. 
 
 " They commence the erection of their houses by digging a 
 large square hole or pit about four feet deep. The earth 
 forming the floor of this pit is firmly beaten down, and the 
 sides are built around with large stones. This stone wall is 
 carried up three feet above the level of the ground ; a bamboo 
 framework is then thrown over from wall to wall, so as to 
 form eaves two or three feet deep on either side ; over this, 
 slates, or rather stone slabs, are placed, and the structure is 
 complete. 
 
 20 
 
306 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Their Wells. 
 
 " The chief, and one or two others, were remarkably friendly 
 the second morning after my arrival. The medicine I gave 
 them had cured them of their fevers and made them com- 
 paratively cool and fresh. They proposed to show me their 
 wells, which A-tun said was a certain evidence of their 
 confidence. They told me that one of these wells had been 
 under evil influence a long time, causing numerous deaths. 
 They had been in the habit of firing into the wells in the 
 evenings, in the hope that the bullets from their long guns 
 would discharge the enemy. The well in question was a 
 beautiful running spring, with an almost unlimited supply of 
 the coolest, sweetest water I had ever tasted. I told the 
 people to give up the water they had been drinking and begin 
 again with this. The low, wretched charnel-houses in which 
 they dwelt made it a puzzle to me how so many sturdy fellows 
 were there. The scenery around was the wildest and most 
 magnificent I had ever seen." 
 
 The following letter gives an idea of the dangers our 
 Missionaries have sometimes to encounter in visiting 
 distant stations. China, with all its love of law and 
 order, suffers much from lawless men, who defy the 
 local authorities and plunder and murder the innocent. 
 But for the protecting hand of God, our friend might 
 have been murdered. The attack took place to the 
 cast of Ka-gi. 
 
 Attack on Mr. Campbell. 
 
 " Feeling somewhat tired, I retired to rest soon after the 
 prayer-meeting, and about midnight was suddenly awakened 
 by hearing people rushing through the fence which surrounds 
 our chapel ground and by the bright glare of many lights 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 307 
 
 moving rapidly round the house, I started up to find that my 
 bedroom was already on fire ; that the three buildings, and 
 especially the preacher's house — one of the rooms of which I 
 now occupied — were surrounded by fifty or sixty ferocious- 
 looking men, all of them armed with knives and spears, their 
 faces blackened, and perhaps about thirty of them bearing 
 torches. I called out for assistance, but, hearing the noise 
 sooner than myself, our preacher, with all the others, had fled. 
 Hardly supposing they would attack a foreigner, I attempted 
 to escape by the door of the midroom, but was driven back 
 by the spears of these men, which were thrust against the 
 Chinese blanket I held before me. I shouted out that the 
 British Consul would punish them if they persisted, but was 
 answered by five or six, who rushed forward brandishing their 
 knives and spears, which again struck frequently into my 
 Chinese blanket. I escaped into the preacher's bedroom, but 
 was at once pursued by ten or a dozen men into the midroom, 
 who were evidently afraid to follow me singly through the 
 narrow entrance of the apartment into which I had retreated. 
 They kept thrusting their spears in at the door, and, failing for 
 the moment to effect their purpose, commenced immediately 
 to break down the thin partition on my left. The place now 
 began to fill with smoke — the dry grass roofing was on fire all 
 around, the chapel itself at this time being also enveloped in 
 flames. Those in the midroom retreated to the outside, 
 where I tried hard again to follow them from the burning 
 house, the heat and smoke of which had now become almost 
 insupportable. The sight which met my eyes was very 
 alarming. There was nothing but fire and smoke all over the 
 chapel ; and there seemed to be something almost fiendish in 
 the determination of that crowd, as they stood back from the 
 door awaiting my exit with uplifted knives and spears. I once 
 more rushed inside, in the vain hope of finding some way of 
 escape from the back, when some of them broke the little 
 window in pieces and cast a burning torch into the room, 
 which was fast beginning to set the furniture on fire. 
 
SOME EARLIER MISSIONARIES, FORMOSA. 
 
 REV. HUGH RITCHIE. 
 
 J, L. MAXWELL, M.A., M.D. 
 
 REV. W. CAMPBELL. 
 
 REV. T. RARCLAY, M.A. 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 309 
 
 Narrow Escape. 
 
 " It was at this moment, in the rapidly falling bamboo house, 
 and surrounded on every side by wicked men, who seemed 
 thirsting for blood, that 1 committed myself to God, and for 
 the last time dashed out, expecting nothing but to be cast upon 
 those awful spears. I reached the outer door to see the whole 
 party rapidly moving away to the right. The wind had some- 
 what risen, and they seemed to be rushing away from the 
 blinding smoke of the burning chapel behind them, and from 
 the flames which were falling from the projecting roof of the 
 house before which they had been waiting. Having no other 
 clothing on save my sleeping-shirt, I sprang through the door, 
 climbed over an earth embankment on the left, and ran across 
 several narrow fields to the foot of a low-lying hill, where there 
 was an abundance of thick shrubbery, into which I crept, and 
 lay for some time half-unconscious and trembling on account 
 of the intense coldness of the night. 
 
 "I once lifted my head above the tall grass, and could see 
 the torches spread over fields on the farther side of the burning 
 chapel, as if search were being made for those who had just 
 escaped. Not feeling safe in my present retreat, I soon after 
 removed to a hillside somewhat farther off, and lay there con- 
 cealed till within about an hour of daybreak, when, with the 
 preacher and his wife, who had joined me a short time before, 
 and who supplied me with a pair of old Chinese trousers, I 
 started through the mountain paths, and ran most of the way 
 to Ka-gi city. We proceeded at once to the yamun of the chief 
 magistrate, where, after some little discussion with the officials, 
 chairs were provided, and we were safely brought back to 
 Tai-wan-fu under an escort of soldiers. 
 
 " I have suffered a good deal from severe scratches and the 
 night exposure. My watch, clothes, and nearly all the baggage 
 I had with me at the time, have been destroyed, the object of 
 our poor miserable enemies plainly being, not robbery, but 
 murder." 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Influence of Hospital. 
 
 The Rev. David Smith writes of the large town of 
 Ka-gi, to the north-east of Tai-wan, and the district 
 around it : — 
 
 " I believe that our Church has a great prospect before it in 
 Ka-gi. Ur. Maxwell's name is known over the whole region. 
 In some of the large towns I have met with men who were 
 stone blind, operated upon by 1 )r. Dickson, and now earning a 
 living as traders or field workers. While, later still, the energetic 
 work of our two colporteurs has leavened the district and set 
 before us an open door of opportunity.'' 
 
 Female Education. 
 
 Before the Women's Missionary Association came 
 into existence, Mrs. Maxwell and Mrs. Ritchie had done 
 good work in educating the women in the Formosa 
 Mission ; and after Mr. Ritchie's death, Mrs. Ritchie 
 devoted herself to this work as long as her health 
 allowed of her residence in the Fast. In the year 1S80 
 Miss Murray, of the Women's Mission, entered on the 
 work which Mrs. Ritchie was reluctantly compelled to 
 relinquish for a season, but was permitted to resume 
 for some time after a furlough at home. Miss Butler, 
 Miss Stewart, and Miss Barnett have since then entered 
 on this important work. 
 
 It would be an injustice to abridge this beautiful 
 portraiture of a Chinese convert by the pen of Dr. 
 Maxwell, in April of 1876. 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 
 
 Brother Tee. In Life and Death. 
 
 " Brother Tee died at the Hospital, Tai-wan-fu, on April 21st, 
 1876. 
 
 " "Who was Brother Tee ? 
 
 "When I first knew him, in 1869, he was a wood-cutter. A 
 Tai-wan-fu wood merchant would buy up the trees on a piece 
 of country ground, and send out a gang of men to cut them 
 down and bring them in. Tee was one of those tree-fellers, 
 and gained in this way a very fair livelihood. Tree-fellers in 
 Formosa are apt to be careless as to the exact limits of their 
 employers' property, and many quarrels occur. Tec was not 
 one to run away from a fight. He was a man of will and 
 energy and courage, though then, I fear, it was often in a bad 
 cause that he showed them. 
 
 Tee's Conversion. 
 
 " Under the elder Bun's preaching in Tai-wan-fu, Tee's con- 
 science was aroused. He did not say much for a long time, 
 but came and went. When at last, however, he did come 
 forward, there was no mistaking him. The truth had taken 
 firm hold of him, and he had taken firm hold of the truth. He 
 was one of the men whom the Missionary rejoices to welcome 
 into the Church. In this respect his young, good-looking wife 
 was a striking contrast to himself. They had a great affection 
 for each other, and under his teaching she relinquished idolatry, 
 attended Church regularly, came to my wife's class and learned 
 to read, and, finally, on profession of her faith, received 
 Christian baptism. But she lacked the bright, hearty decision 
 of her husband ; and while in her brief life she never gave us 
 special cause for sorrow, it could not be said that she gave us 
 much cause for Christian joy. 
 
 "At the time of his conversion Tee was quite unlettered. 
 With much earnestness he set himself — being then probably 
 about thirty-five years of age — to acquire both reading and 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 writing, and with such success that two or three years later he 
 was able to write me a long letter in the Chinese character. 
 
 " When the hill stations at Bak-sa and the neighbourhood 
 were opened, Tee was of great value. At once he won his way 
 with the Hoan. In summer, when the Bak-sa chapel has been 
 so densely packed that in the passages those who were standing 
 together could only find space enough in the terrific heat for 
 the most modified use of their fans, I have seen our dear 
 brother cheerfully stand through the whole service that some- 
 body else might be more comfortable. At the Poah-be station 
 he did excellent service, winning many of the doubting Hoan 
 to cast in their lot with the Christians. Wherever our brother 
 was placed, you could calculate on honest, faithful work. 
 
 Firmness on Trials. 
 
 " Tee's Christian course had its fair share of trials. First, 
 he himself had a long and dangerous illness, which destroyed 
 the use of one lung, and left him a weaker man for the rest 
 of his days. His courage and cheerfulness were conspicuous 
 through it all. Then, to his deep grief, his young wife passed 
 away after a brief and obscure illness. But here the cha- 
 racteristic decision of the man came out. Ugly rumours 
 were running through Tai-wan-fu just at that time, and at- 
 tempts were being made to unsettle the populace with stories 
 of dead people's eyes being scooped out, etc. We knew that 
 this death would be made the occasion of evil report against 
 Medical Missionary work. But Tee was the man for such 
 a time. His own heart full of sorrow, he had the body laid 
 in a coffin and carried into the central room of the house, 
 right opposite the open door, that every passer-by might see 
 that there was nothing to hide. With lighted lamp, he sat up 
 through the night to make sure that nothing, either from 
 within or without, should hurt the bod)'. Finally, when the 
 funeral party of Christian and heathen acquaintances gathered 
 m the morning, and before the coffin was finally closed, he 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 313 
 
 uncovered his dead wife's face, and called every one to 
 witness that the eyes were there, and that none of the wicked 
 atrocities alleged against the Missionaries were true. 
 
 Tee's Death. 
 
 " Out of his comparative poverty Tee was one of the most 
 liberal and steady of the contributors to the help of the 
 Mission work. During the last four years he has been 
 employed up and down in various parts of the Mission field ; 
 sometimes far north among the Sek-hoans, sometimes among 
 the Pe-pos of the Bak-sa region, and latterly at the Chinese 
 city Ka-gi. It was while at this latter station he began to 
 be affected with severe ulceration of the throat, which necessi- 
 tated his coming to the Hospital at Tai-wan-fu, where, after 
 severe and prolonged suffering, he has passed away. 
 
 "'On Friday morning,' writes Dr. Dickson, 'I saw him 
 before six. He was then dying, and unable to speak except in 
 a faint whisper. I asked him what his hope was, and on 
 listening I could hear the word "Ja-so" (Jesus). I told 
 Mr. Campbell, who was just preparing to leave for the hills, 
 
 so we went out together, and C led us in prayer. In 
 
 a short time after I again went to see him, and said, 
 " Brother Tee, your sufferings will soon be over now; Jesus 
 is calling you home." He lifted his left hand (he was lying 
 on his right side) and pointed upwards. In twenty minutes 
 more his spirit had fled.' " 
 
 Hospital Work by Dr. Dickson. 
 
 " Tai-wan-fu, July nth, 1876. 
 " The Hospital is well attended, and several patients seem 
 deeply impressed. Half a dozen of them have purchased 
 hymn-books, which they read from morning till night. It 
 is discouraging to lose sight of these patients when they leave, 
 as the majority live far away from any chapel where they 
 might be instructed. By-and-by, when the Missions are 
 
ji4 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 united, and Mr. Barclay and Mr. Smith begin to take part 
 in speaking with the patients, we may naturally look for 
 more fruit. 
 
 " Recently I have been attending several patients in the 
 Tau-tai's yamun. The first was the wife of the secretary, who 
 had been suffering from a large abscess of the thigh, which 
 had baffled the native practitioners, and nearly cost the lady 
 her life. She was suffering great pain ; her pulse was high, 
 and she was reduced almost to a skeleton. After suitable 
 measures taken by me, she felt greatly relieved, and has 
 improved ever since. The Tau-tai himself has also been a 
 patient. I have become very bold under the circumstances, 
 and have asked and got promise of a temple as an hospital 
 in case of need. A Mandarin of the rank of a blue button, 
 or something, has been sent round to inspect all the temples, 
 and report. I trust that God will overrule all these things for 
 the good of this people in a spiritual sense.'' 
 
 The Training College, Tai-wan-fu. 
 (Letter from Rev. T. Barclay.) 
 
 " April 20M, 187S. 
 
 " Our college tutor has arrived back from Amoy after about 
 two months' absence, bringing with him his whole household. 
 We had taken advantage of the absence of the students on 
 their New Year's holiday to have the College building all put in 
 order. We got a set of rules made out, and on the return of 
 the students had a meeting with them, at which all the 
 Missionaries were present. We explained to them that now 
 we had prepared a proper place for them, with all necessary 
 educational appliances, we intended to institute a proper system, 
 with stricter discipline. I am glad to say that they have 
 entered very readily into the arrangement, so that things have 
 been going on very smoothly and satisfactorily on the whole, 
 without requiring from us much in the way of fault-finding. I 
 certainly, for myself, find much more pleasure in any instruction 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 
 
 3i5 
 
 I am able to give, now that the external conditions are so 
 much more suitable. We have just added one more to our 
 students, making now eleven regular students in all — the lad 
 Ke, from Lam-gan, of whom Mr. Campbell wrote last year. 
 Altogether we are very hopeful of this branch of our work. 
 We feel that now at last we have made real progress towards 
 the setting on foot of measures for the education of young 
 men for the native Ministry -a work the importance of which 
 has all along been felt by the Missionaries, even when circum- 
 stances prevented their doing much towards its accomplish- 
 ment.'' 
 
 
 
 
 
 iflittB'HvQutpTZ^IN^ ^ jflU 
 
 jp$iij 
 
 
 
 
 ■Ki* 
 
 fp 1 
 
 
 Hf ■'HPiL' IIh 
 
 
 J(l 
 
 ^•■'"S 
 
 HR * ir^#*m 
 
 " ^*H^ 
 
 
 W i &*!m 
 
 
 
 
 ^El " ^hi^^^,' ' l -/^ /: ' .- 
 
 
 
 
 sir** '*-■ "'-" • 
 
 V \ 
 
 
 
 
 
 a^^K** < ":.V-' 
 
 * 1 
 
 .- -■ ■_::.■ 
 
 A PASTOR AND FAMILY. 
 
MISSION SCHOOL, TA1-NAN-FU. 
 
 CHAPTER IXVII. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION {concluded). 
 
 THE year 1KS7 was noted in the annals of the 
 native Church of Formosa by the resolution to 
 make the Pescadores the field of their Mission to their 
 heathen countrymen. The following is an account of 
 their decision. 
 
 A Fu-.ld for Native Mission. 
 
 " The idea was suggested to propose this work in the 
 Pescadores as a Mission field for the Pormosan Church — that 
 is, that the native Christians here should undertake, without 
 any assistance from England, the responsibility of supplying 
 all the funds needed for the carrying on of the work, and, as 
 far as may be, of superintending it. The field is a very 
 suitable one for the purpose -the Pescadores, islands, as may 
 be seen from a map of China, lying only some forty or fifty miles 
 distant from Formosa, with which in fine weather they have 
 continued intercourse by junk. The field is not too extensive, 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 317 
 
 the entire population amounting, we are told, to about 70,000 
 or 80,000 people ; the language is the same as that spoken in 
 Formosa, and we have already in our Church here some 
 Christians who are Pescadores people. On the other hand, they 
 form a field quite distinct and self-contained, in which, as yet, 
 heathenism is unbroken, so that the native Church of Formosa 
 has here a fair field for testing its energies. But we have been 
 so led on step by step, and the result has been, so far as has 
 gone, so gratifying, to an extent beyond what we expected, that 
 we feel sure we have not made a mistake in acting as we have 
 done. It forms, for one thing, a good outlet for the surplus funds 
 of self-supporting congregations ; and it will, I believe, help 
 rather than hinder the movement for self-support. Theo- 
 retically, it removes the duty of self-support out of the sphere 
 of discussion; that is taken for granted as a basis for this 
 further liberality. And, practically, I do not think it will 
 take away from the funds which would otherwise be given for 
 the preacher's salary. We have warned them against this 
 error, I hope not in vain. 
 
 Liberality Called Forth. 
 
 "The result, I said, has exceeded our expectations. As the 
 mission has not yet been begun, we have not made any very 
 definite appeal, or taken any steps for raising subscriptions. 
 But we mentioned the matter in two numbers of our Church 
 paper, giving an account of Mr. Campbell's visit, suggesting to 
 the people the desirableness of their undertaking it, and asking 
 them to talk over it, and let us know what they thought. We 
 have already received some responses. On my mentioning 
 the matter in the congregation here, in Tai-wan-fu (a self- 
 supporting one), one of the elders at once offered fifty dollars 
 as a donation towards starting the Mission and defraying 
 initial expenses. The little congregation in Lom-bay Island, 
 where there are only ten members, and which, for the last 
 year, has been without a preacher, sent a collection amounting 
 
3i8 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 to four dollars made at a communion season. The Church at 
 Thau-sia, among the aborigines, sent eight dollars ; and the 
 Church at Ka-lah-paw, which is this year self-supporting, has 
 sent us twenty-eight dollars fifty cents, along with a letter, 
 of which I give you a translation. 
 
 The Widow's Mite. 
 
 " In connection with this collection, among the subscribers 
 was an old widow woman named Kam, sixty-two years old, 
 unable to see. When she heard of this collection, she 
 brought gladly fifty cash [about two pence]. This widow 
 woman is extremely poor, and generally gets only two meals a 
 day. Sometimes she has nothing to eat ; sometimes she gets 
 employment in grinding flour for a bare living." 
 
 Visit to the Pescadores.— Breaking New 
 Ground. 
 
 The Pescadores are a group of islands, more than 
 twenty in number, lying to the west of the southern 
 part of Formosa, the shortest distance between them 
 and the Formosa coast being only thirty miles. The 
 Missionaries in i^ormosa had often thought of visiting 
 the group, but had been hitherto unable to accomplish 
 it. But the visit has just been made by Mr. Campbell. 
 He is much encouraged by all he saw. Accompanied 
 by a native preacher, he visited nearly even - island of 
 the northern group, and found the people most hearty 
 and cordial. They listened with eager attention, and 
 purchased about two thousand books and tracts. A 
 small place was rented at Ma-kung, one of the principal 
 towns, and the preacher was left there to carry on the 
 work. 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 319 
 
 Wc are sorry to say that Mr. Campbell was taken 
 ill while on the islands. He got over to Amoy, and 
 with the blessing of God, and the care taken of him 
 there, he is now quite well again. 
 
 School for the Blind in Formosa. 
 
 We have before referred to the efforts of the Rev. 
 
 W. Campbell in behalf of the blind. They have been 
 
 crowned with success, and have gained the approval 
 
 of the highest classes among the Mandarins and literati 
 
 of Tai-wan-fu, and, what is of much more importance, 
 
 the approbation of God. Some of these poor outcasts 
 
 have given evidence of a true change of heart, as 
 
 manifested in their lives. Many are now taught to 
 
 earn an honest livelihood who would otherwise have 
 
 been the poorest of beggars, or lying fortune-tellers. 
 
 This institution in Formosa and that in Chin-chew 
 
 materially assist one another. Mr. Campbell sent 
 
 some of his educated youths to assist Miss Graham 
 
 in establishing her school for the blind ; and now the 
 
 more fully equipped institution will be able to give 
 
 a more complete education to the older and more 
 
 promising boys in that of Tai-wan-fu. 
 
 Mr. Ede, who, like Mr. Paton in Swatow, went out 
 as professional Christian teacher to take the over- 
 sight of the educational work in the Formosa and 
 Swatow Mission, gives the following sketch of the 
 life and death of one of these poor neglected objects 
 who are born to a double blindness in a heathen 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 land. It illustrates the sad lot of hundreds of thousands 
 in China, and what the Gospel is doing for their 
 relief. 
 
 Life and Death of a Blind Boy. 
 
 "Tai-\van-fu, October 1894. 
 
 " Chhin-a was the youngest son of a well-to-do Chinese 
 farmer whose home was twenty miles south of Tai-wan-fu. 
 The farmer and his wife were much attached to their four 
 sons and their daughter, and, though not Christians, tried to 
 bring them up well. Chhin-a, his mother's pet, when five 
 years old, had measles, which affected his eyes, and under the 
 unskilful treatment of a native practitioner the poor little 
 fellow became totally blind. 
 
 " While Chhin-a was still a boy his father suddenly died. 
 The sorrowing mother had house and farm and children all 
 cast on her care and toil. Her daughter was a help and 
 comfort to her, but the three elder, boys, boisterous and 
 quarrelsome, cost her much anxiety and pain. By-and-by the 
 daughter was married, and the strain on the brave mother so 
 made considerably heavier. Then she broke down, and after 
 a short illness was taken away. Before her death she made 
 the elder brothers promise to be just and kind to the helpless 
 Chhin-a — a promise they did not keep. They appropriated 
 his share of the family substance, and sent him out to earn 
 his own living by fortune-telling. 
 
 The Prodigal and the Gospel. 
 
 "A Christian brother brought Chhin-a to the chapel. The 
 preacher there knew that Mr. Campbell was establishing a 
 school for blind lads, and he suggested Chhin-a as a possible 
 pupil. Mr. Campbell agreed; but the sister opposed the 
 proposed arrangement, in the belief that her brother would be 
 fattened up by the foreigners and then drained of his blood to 
 have it mixed witli opium! However, the preacher having 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 321 
 
 guaranteed the lad's safety, he was brought to Tai-wan-fu. 
 He soon began to make progress in reading and writing. The 
 Gospel was nearly quite new to him, but in time it took a 
 hold of his heart. He became one of the nicest lads in the 
 school. Last year he came every afternoon to our house to 
 be taught by Mrs. Ede, who, as well as Mr. Campbell, always 
 found him an earnest pupil. It is my practice to hear the 
 Golden Texts every Sabbath afternoon before the beginning of 
 the ordinary service. I never knew Chhin-a fail to repeat his. 
 He has written out fully several books of the Old and New 
 Testaments. 
 
 His Last Illness. 
 
 " A year ago he began spitting blood, and consumption 
 soon declared itself and made rapid progress. When the end 
 seemed to be drawing near, we offered to send for his relatives. 
 He said it would be no use, for they had cast him off. On 
 Sunday, November 3rd, about midday, accompanied by Mrs. 
 Ferguson, who had done for him all that medical skill and 
 kindness could do, I went into the Blind School to see him. 
 The poor lad could only speak in gasps. I asked him about 
 his spiritual state. In clear but disjointed words he said he 
 was trusting in God, and that his heart was at peace. In the 
 evening, about eight o'clock, the teacher in charge of the 
 Blind School came to me to say Chhin-a' had just passed 
 away." 
 
 Japanese Formosa. 
 
 The unhappy war of 1894, by which China was 
 compelled ignominiously to sue for peace to a small 
 empire like that of Japan, and even to submit to the 
 loss of one of its fairest islands, was one of the great 
 object-lessons of national history. An empire of four 
 hundred millions of peaceable people, who had neglected 
 the arts of war, conquered by one of forty millions, 
 
 21 
 
322 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 which had picked up in one generation so much of 
 the arts of modern warfare as to make them more 
 than a match against ten to one of a people equal 
 in intelligence and of greater physical strength man 
 for man ! But with the war and its lessons we 
 have nothing to do, except in its effect on the trans- 
 ference of Formosa from Chinese to Japanese rule ; and 
 that only as it affects the Mission of the Presbyterian 
 Church of England. 
 
 Many have looked on this transference with lively 
 expectations of the greatest benefit to Formosa and 
 to our Mission. We fear the fruits will be of a mixed 
 character, though we will not indulge in pessimistic 
 views or in general denunciations of the Japanese. 
 There will undoubtedly be a great advance in material 
 prosperity. The savage tribes of the east part of the 
 island will be subdued and brought under law, or, as 
 in the conquests of Western nations, wiped off by 
 the advance of so-called civilisation ; mines will be 
 opened and worked ; roads will be made as the 
 highway of commerce, and trades and manufactures 
 will be developed ; and we may hope that justice 
 will be more fairly administered than under the rule 
 of the Chinese. But, on the other hand, we may 
 anticipate a great change in the population. The 
 influx of Chinese will be checked, and there will be 
 an immigration of Japanese. It will be very difficult 
 for the Chinese, who are now the backbone of the 
 population, to hold their own under the new regime ; 
 botli they and the weak Pe-po-hoan, whom they have 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 323 
 
 hitherto cheated out of their birthright, will have to 
 go to the wall before the progressive Japanese of the 
 nineteenth century. It is difficult to conceive of so 
 young and vain a race at once falling into the modern 
 practice of the most advanced nations of the Old 
 World in the treatment of conquered peoples. 
 
 There will undoubtedly be a great change in the 
 public tone of morality. The Japanese not only 
 practise the grossest licentiousness, but legalise and 
 make a parade of it. The Chinese may not be much 
 better in their practice, but they have the grace to 
 be ashamed of it. Already are the inhabitants of 
 Formosa groaning under the abominations practised 
 by their conquerors in this matter. 
 
 But whatever the issue of this change of rule, our 
 path is plain as a Mission. It is not our work " to 
 call the righteous, but sinners to repentance " ; and 
 whether the majority of the population in future be 
 Chinese or Japanese, they equally stand in need of 
 the Gospel. The Japanese have in their own land 
 shown a greater readiness to accept the truth than 
 the Chinese. We call attention to the changes likely 
 to take place in the old field of labour, to prepare 
 for and to stimulate to greater watchfulness and prayer 
 for the Missionaries, and for the members of the 
 native Church, in altered, and it may be trying, 
 circumstances. It was a great pleasure to read of the 
 way in which the Christians among the Japanese 
 officers and soldiers acted towards the Missionaries and 
 
324 CHINA AND < FORMOSA. 
 
 the converts during the war. They treated the one 
 with respect and the others as their fellows and 
 equals, and they all sat down together at the Table of 
 the Lord as brethren, even before peace was proclaimed 
 between the two countries. The following letter, written 
 in English, from a Christian officer in the Japanese 
 army to Mr. Barclay, shows the fine spirit in which 
 the Christian officers and soldiers did what they thought 
 their duty in fighting the battles of their country, and 
 yet loved, and fraternised with, the Christian Chinese : — 
 
 Letter of Japanese Officer. 
 
 " Ma-kung, May 12//1, 1895. 
 
 " ' Rev. Pa Tohma ' [Mr. Barclay's Chinese name]. 
 
 " 'Dear Sir, — As I heard of you from Khaw Teng-hong, I 
 write you this letter. I am a young officer in the Japanese 
 Army (Reserves). I was educated in a Methodist School at 
 Aoyama, Tokyo, and became a Christian some years ago. I 
 am your brother in the Lord. 
 
 " ' I am sorry that this war broke out. But it was a necessity 
 that we should fight. I believe that there is a Divine guidance 
 in this war, which leads Oriental nations to leave their old 
 civilisations and seek the new and spiritual one. I believe 
 firmly in the Divine Mission of Japan, and I fought this war to 
 fulfil my duty. Now the battles are over. We are here in 
 Pescadores. We do not know what will be our future. But 
 at present we are doing our best to help the Chinese Christians 
 in this place. They are keeping their Sunday services with us 
 in the Lee-pai-tong [the Chinese word for chapel]. 
 
 " 'We Christians in this detachment arc not many ; yet we 
 made ourselves into one body in His name, and we earnestly 
 pray that the great Truths of the Lord might be revealed in 
 this part of the world, and strike into the dark bosoms of 
 China and her Continental neighbours, and thus quicken the 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 325 
 
 day of His Kingdom. When we captured this island we did 
 not know that here was a church. At first our men did not 
 know of it, and used it ; but now the church is restored to the 
 native Christians. There is a photographer among us who is 
 a Christian too. Some days ago he took a picture of Chinese 
 Christians and us assembled before the church ; after that, we 
 Christians of both nationalities had a happy social meeting. 
 
 " ' I will not tell you much of ourselves, for Khaw Teng-hong 
 says that he already wrote you. We shall be very glad if you 
 would come here to visit the native Christians and us. We 
 are sure that you will be safe. We are reading Chinese "Sin- 
 Iok " and singing " Iong-sim Sin-si" [New Testament and 
 hymn-book]. If you can send us those books, and let us 
 send them to our Christians friends at home, we will be very 
 glad. A new era has come for us in the Orient. Great duty 
 lies on us who believe in God. 
 
 " ' Sincerely yours in the Lord, 
 
 " ' Lieut. .' " 
 
 The Missionaries as Mediators. 
 The part played by the Missionaries of the Presby- 
 terian Church — Messrs. Barclay and Ferguson — when 
 the capital of the island, Tai-wan-fu (henceforth to be 
 called by authority Taz-nan-iu), was about to be 
 besieged by the Japanese, shows in a very striking 
 light the position they occupy in the esteem and 
 confidence of the population in time of danger. By 
 their bold and judicious arrangements they were able 
 to save the city and the inhabitants from a bloody 
 assault, when many lives would have been lost and 
 the city plundered and destroyed, as was the case in 
 many places in other parts of the island. The Japanese 
 treated the conquered with much severity, destroying 
 
326 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 life and property on a large scale, and laying towns 
 and villages in ruin. The Christians were between 
 two fires. The Black Flags, as the patriotic party 
 were called, slew many of them because they said 
 they were friends of the invaders, and the Japanese 
 made no difference between Christians and heathens. 
 More than twenty peaceable converts were murdered, 
 and large numbers were plundered and their houses 
 burned. But the incident will be best told by one who 
 took an active part in it. Mr. Ferguson writes thus : — 
 
 Blessed are the Peace-Makers. 
 
 " Tai-wak-FU, October 2\th, 1895. 
 
 " For about ten days or so many of the Tai-wan-fu people 
 have been coming imploring us to try and mediate between 
 them and the Japanese, who were gradually approaching. We 
 felt almost powerless in the matter. We also thought a 
 matter of that kind ought to be done by the Consul. We 
 knew our Consul had already tried to mediate between Liu 
 Yung and the Japanese. The Japanese had shown a willing- 
 ness to treat with Liu. They appointed Saturday, October 1 2th, 
 at 12 noon, as the day and hour when they would be 
 willing to consider the matter with Liu on board their flagship 
 off An-ping. The day and hour came, and at 1 p.m. the 
 Admiral's ship anchored off An-ping. Liu himself would 
 not go out, but sent a subordinate, who had no power. With 
 this subordinate the Japanese refused to treat. They sent 
 Liu a message that they would remain off An-ping till 10 a.m. 
 on Sunday, October 13th. If Liu came out, good and well ; if 
 not, they would regard him as hostile. Liu did not go out. 
 He was afraid if he went on board a Japanese man-of-war that 
 he would not come off with his head on ; he also dreaded 
 showing himself to the Japanese, because afterwards it would 
 lie much more difficult for him to escape. 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 327 
 
 " On Sunday, 20th inst, forenoon and afternoon, Mr. 
 Barclay and I were besieged by merchants and other leading 
 men, imploring us to do something. Mr. Ede went to 
 An-ping to see what could be done on the arrival of the fleet, 
 then expected there. On the Sunday afternoon a large 
 number of merchants and chief men of the city came to 
 us again. They said that Liu and all their magistrates had 
 fled, and that soon the city would be in the hands of the 
 rabble. Mr. Barclay and I agreed to act as their messengers 
 to the Japanese, now marching north from Ta-kao. Sixty 
 men were sent to protect our compound during our absence. 
 We had with us an escort of seventeen Chinese ; two Christians 
 also accompanied us. We had just started from the compound 
 when a man came along leading three Japanese horses as 
 presents, which no Chinaman dare accept. One of the horses 
 had a saddle, so we took him with us and rode in turns. 
 Near the little South Gate a ' black flag ' was fluttering before 
 an official's house. Some of our company ordered its 
 immediate removal. Outside the gate there was a man 
 carrying a gun and a belt full of cartridges. He was promptly 
 disarmed, and sent into the city. 
 
 " About a mile from the gate we came across a dead 
 Japanese horse. The Japanese and Black Flags had been 
 fighting there that morning. We came soon to a house, 
 where preparations were going on for the evening meal. 
 When the people saw our lights they ran off, evidently 
 thinking we were the rabble. We went on a little bit farther, 
 when some of the Chinese complained they had not had 
 any supper, and proposed to stop for the night ! We told 
 them they must go on till we came to the Japanese lines. 
 A little farther on a Japanese horse began following us. We 
 had walked about five miles, and were approaching a village 
 called Ji-chhian-hang, when suddenly we heard a peculiar 
 summons. Barclay and I at once knew it was the Japanese 
 sentry calling on us to halt. We ran forward with a light, 
 held up our British flag, and called out we were English, 
 
328 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 " A lot of soldiers came running forward, fixed bayonets, and 
 stood pointing at us. Soon an officer, who could speak a 
 little English, came forward. We managed to make him 
 understand our mission. Then the Chinese were bound 
 together by their turbans tied round their waists. One 
 Chinaman said to us he was tied very tight, and if he 
 got any supper that night he would be very uncom- 
 fortable ! We were then conducted to an officer. By means 
 of an interpreter he got all our information about Liu 
 having run off, and the people of Tai-wan-fu inviting them 
 to enter in peace. Then we were handed on from one officer 
 to another till 3 a.m. on Monday. We were then told by 
 General No-gi that the army would start at 5 a.m. for 
 Tai-wan-fu. We had about an hour's sleep before the start. 
 Mr. Barclay and fifteen Chinese were put in front to lead 
 the army and tell the people to open the gates. I and four 
 Chinese were placed in the centre of the army. It was a 
 lovely morning — clear and cool. The sight of the thousand 
 Japanese infantry and cavalry, marching in single file, following 
 Barclay and his barefooted Chinese, was one to be re- 
 membered. 
 
 " I was accommodated with a Japanese charger, for which 
 I was grateful. The road into Tai-wan-fu usually is very 
 busy, but that morning over the whole five miles I only saw 
 one man, and he was a good distance from the road. It was 
 with a thankful heart that, as we approached the city, I saw 
 the Japanese flag hanging over the South Gate, and knew 
 that the occupation was to be accomplished without loss 
 of life. 
 
 " When I got to the South Gate I considered my part of 
 the work was finished, so I dismounted ; but the General 
 called on me to remount and come on to Liu's yamun. 
 There was nothing for it but to obey. A Scotch Missionary 
 riding through Tai-wan-fu streets among Japanese cavalrv was 
 to my mind a little too ludicrous. Every few steps some 
 long-robed gentleman, who on the previous day would almost 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 329 
 
 gladly have signed my death-warrant, came forward and with 
 a deep bow thrust his card into my hand. And so Tai-wan-fu 
 and Formosa are now in the hands of the Japanese. I am 
 thankful to think that in God's hand we Missionaries have 
 been the means of saving many lives. 
 
 Escape of Liu. 
 
 " Liu, who had resisted the Japanese in Formosa when the 
 Chinese Government gave in, kept the enemy at bay for months 
 with a handful of followers and showed what could have been 
 done if the Chinese had been properly led by patriotic men. 
 These are hard to find under a foreign despotism. We are 
 glad he escaped. 
 
 " It is said that Liu went on board a steamer or a junk, 
 at 5 a.m. on Sabbath morning, disguised as a woman nursing 
 a baby, and thus escaped the vigilance of the Japanese. It 
 is only fair to add that during his six months' rule in South 
 Formosa, he has treated us foreigners most kindly, and in the 
 city he has kept perfect order." 
 
 Formation of a Presbytery. 
 Formosa was much later than Amoy and Swatow 
 in completing its Church organisation, not merely 
 because it was later in being begun as a Mission, but 
 also on account of the difference of the material on 
 which the Missionaries had to work. The steady, 
 shrewd, common-sense Chinaman was in a minority 
 in many of their churches, and the half-bred Pe-po-hoan 
 were not so enlightened and reliable as the Chinese 
 on or from the mainland. But the way was being- 
 prepared by educating the converts, and the end was 
 never lost sight of. Festiua lente was the wise spirit 
 of the Missionaries in these circumstances. In February 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 of 1895 a Conference was held, to consider the great 
 question in Tai-nan-fu, and after prayerful deliberations, 
 it was resolved to form a Presbytery ; but it was not 
 until the following- year that it was fully formed, 
 and its first meeting held. Mr. Campbell gives a 
 good idea of the spirit of the first of these meetings, 
 and Mr. Duncan Ferguson of the second. 
 
 Conference on the Formation of a Presbytery. 
 
 " In the second half of February a Conference of the 
 Missionaries and the preachers and elders of the Formosan 
 Churches in connection with our Mission was held at Tai-wan- 
 fu. It had been anticipated with much interest, and with 
 great unanimity and joy it took the momentous step of resolv- 
 ing on the immediate formation of a Presbytery of Formosa. 
 Those who have followed the progress of our Amoy and 
 Swatow Presbyteries will join our Tai-wan-fu brethren in thank- 
 fulness that the Chinese Church in Formosa is now at length 
 prepared to organise itself as a living, self-governing branch of 
 the Church of Christ. The Missionaries will, no doubt, as in 
 the Presbytery of Swatow and in the two Presbyteries in the 
 Amoy region (as well as in the Amoy Synod), sit as assessors, 
 with rights of speech and vote. Put, as on the mainland, the 
 Chinese Elders and Pastors in Formosa will be encouraged 
 from the first to take an active part in the deliberations of the 
 new Presbytery ; and the Chinese mind seems to adapt itself 
 very readily to our Presbyterian methods. Chinese clerks and 
 moderators are quickly bred.'' 
 
 Formation of the Presbytery, 
 Mr. Ferguson, writing on February 29th, 1896, says : 
 " On February 24th inst. the Elders of the native Church of 
 South Formosa met in Tai-nan-fu, and formed themselves into 
 the Presbytery of Tai-nan. They invited the foreign Mis- 
 
THE STORY OF THE FORMOSA MISSION. 331 
 
 sionaries present to join with them in the conduct of business. 
 They elected the Rev. T. Barclay, M.A., as Moderator, and 
 two of themselves as Clerks of Presbytery. It was resolved to 
 place on record the Church's sense of gratitude to the Presby- 
 terian Church of England in sending teachers, doctors, and 
 pastors to Formosa. As some of the forty-four Churches in 
 Formosa have not yet appointed office-bearers, it was agreed 
 to arrange these Churches into groups, so that each Church 
 might be represented by an Elder at the next meeting of 
 Presbytery. 
 
 " With regard to the calling of native pastors, it was felt that 
 no one Church had as yet sufficient strength financially to 
 support a native pastor. It was therefore agreed that a group 
 of, say, three or four Churches might combine and call a 
 pastor; that the pastor's salary ought to be about J~\6 per 
 annum, but that this salary must be raised altogether inde- 
 pendent of the contributions annually subscribed by these said 
 Churches to the salary of their present Evangelists. 
 
 "The Presbytery decided that all Elders ordained hereafter 
 should be appointed for a term of four years, when a new 
 election must take place. 
 
 " It was agreed to request the Rev. William Campbell, 
 F.R.G.S., to represent the Presbytery of Tai-nan at the Pan- 
 Presbyterian Council which meets this year in Glasgow. With 
 regard to the support of the native Church's Foreign Mission 
 in the Pescadore Islands, it was resolved for the current year 
 to apply the communion collections to this object, allowing 
 each kirk session to retain the collection for their own poor if 
 they thought fit. An arrangement was made to assist the many 
 who lost their bread-winners during the late war. The above, 
 with a few more items of minor importance, formed the 
 business of the first meeting of the Presbytery of Tai-nan." 
 
GIRLS SCHOOL. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 THE STORY OF THE SINGAPORE MISSION. 
 
 IN the beginning of this century the Island of Singa- 
 pore was a terra incognita — it was not even known 
 to be an island. A few wandering tribes, of Javanese 
 origin, wandered over it rather than possessed it. The 
 Sultan of Johor, on the mainland, appropriated it in 1 8 1 1 , 
 and in 1818, that wise and good representative of British 
 rule in the East, Sir Stamford Raffles, discovered that 
 it was a small island of about twenty-seven miles long 
 by fourteen broad, to which the Sultan attached no 
 importance, and began the arrangements by which his 
 successor was enabled to obtain possession by purchase 
 of Singapore and every island within ten miles, thus 
 securing ample elbow-room, and security for power 
 and food government so essential to commerce. Sir 
 Stamford saw, with the eyes of a statesman, its future 
 
334 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 importance as a great centre of trade between the East 
 and the West. He at once laid the foundations of a 
 town, on a spot which had a fine harbour ; and 
 within five years the imports and exports were each 
 about £4,000,000 a year. It is by men like this that 
 the Empire of Britain has been built ; in this case with 
 injury to no individual or nation, but with advantage 
 to all. The natives were benefited, and every nation 
 was put on the footing of equality. Trade was free 
 to all alike, and the results have been marvellous 
 prosperity. 
 
 Singapore has been to the East what Alexandria 
 was in old time to the West, without the literary 
 and antiquarian interest of the latter ; but as a centre 
 of trade it has far excelled that famous city. The 
 imports now exceed £34,000,000 a year, and the exports 
 more than £30,000,000. Of this, two-thirds are with 
 Great Britain and her colonies, the other third with 
 the rest of the world. The preponderance of trade 
 is with Britain, but the difference in the proportion 
 is in no way owing to any preference, for all nationalities 
 are on the same footing — there is not even a custom- 
 house in Singapore. 
 
 The island is salubrious, but to Europeans enervating, 
 from its uniformity of temperature — above that of our 
 country, but so equable that the trees do not know 
 when to cast their leaves ; they continue changing 
 them at their convenience all the year round, and arc 
 never bare. It is flat, but dotted over with little hills, 
 on which the wealthy merchants build themselves 
 
The story of the Singapore mission. 335 
 
 beautiful bungalows, surrounded with bushes of all 
 kinds, which are ever green. The finest of these build- 
 ings belong to Englishmen and Chinese, the latter 
 being but little behind the former in the appearance 
 of wealth and luxury. 
 
 The population of the island is over half a million, 
 and of these one hundred thousand are within easy 
 distance of the town of Singapore. Nearly all the 
 Chinese come from Amoy and Swatow, the sphere of 
 our Mission, and consequently all speak substantially 
 the same dialect of the one written language. In the 
 beginning of the century, the Missionaries, who were 
 sent out from England with a view to labour in China 
 before it was opened to the Gospel, took up their 
 quarters in Singapore and wrought among the Chinese, 
 who were numerous there by the beginning of the 
 second quarter of the century ; but as soon as the 
 walls of the long-closed Empire were broken down, 
 they rushed to the breach to take possession of the 
 country, and Singapore was deprived of all her Mis- 
 sionaries except one, who refused to leave his post 
 at the bidding of the home committee of the London 
 Missionary Society, to which he belonged. They, 
 however, acted with generosity, and as he had gone 
 out a manager of their printing press, they gave over 
 the press and its buildings for his use ; and by getting 
 work from the Government and merchants he was 
 able to support himself and carry on his much-loved 
 Mission work among the Chinese and Malays. With 
 ability and zeal the Rev. B. Keasberry carried on the 
 
330 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 work for many years, and now the Presbyterian Church 
 of England has taken his place, and continues his 
 work of faith and labour of love. 
 
 Our Missionaries, in passing through Singapore, have 
 always been impressed with the feeling that these 
 
 MISSION HOUSE, SCHOOL, AND CHURCH. 
 
 thousands of Chinese, gathered almost entirely from 
 their own field of labour, were being neglected by the 
 Church, and that no Mission was in so favourable a 
 position, or under so great a responsibility, to look after 
 them as their own ; and when Mr. Aitken, the Presby- 
 terian Minister, and his congregation, took up the work 
 of a Mission to the Chinese, and offered material help 
 
THE STORY OF THE SINGAPORE MISSION. 337 
 
 to our Society in carrying it on, the Committee accepted 
 the responsibility of the enterprise. 
 
 In 1 88 1 the Rev. J. A. B. Cook, a licentiate of the 
 Theological College of the Presbyterian Church of 
 England, arrived to take in hand the work of a Mission 
 to the heterogeneous population of the island. This he 
 could do at once, as he had spent a year at Swatbw and 
 Amoy acquiring the language and studying the work of 
 the Mission as carried on by experienced Missionaries. 
 Mr. Cook was joined by the Rev. Archibald Lamont, 
 M.A., who has specially devoted himself to the edu- 
 cation of the young, and has rented the old Malay 
 College, now unoccupied by Government, for the purpose. 
 We doubt not that the rich merchants of Singapore, 
 both European and Asiatic, will contribute liberally 
 to such an object. The late enlightened and liberal 
 Mohammedan Sultan of Johor gave ^100 to the 
 Mission when it was started. It is to be hoped that 
 his son and successor will follow his example. 
 
 Leadings of Providence. 
 
 It was only on receiving the clearest proofs of Divine 
 guidance from the spot, and at the urgent request of the 
 Missionaries in Amoy and Swatow, that this step was 
 taken. It was not only that the Chinese in Singapore 
 were drawn from the sphere of the Presbyterian Mission, 
 and that many of the members of the native Church in 
 China had relatives who resided there, but the invitations 
 came, powerfully backed, from Singapore itself. The 
 Rev. Mr. Aitken, Presbyterian -minister, got his congrc- 
 
 22 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 gation to adopt the Chinese Mission. They entered on 
 the work with zeal and success, and offered to bear a 
 large part of the cost of the Mission, if the Presbyterian 
 Church of England would send out suitable agents. 
 This the Committee agreed to do, and are still doing. 
 The following extract from a letter addressed to Mr. 
 H. L. Mackenzie gives some of the first steps formally 
 taken in the matter : — 
 
 Presbyterian Mission to the Chinese at Singapore. 
 
 "The following is the extract from Mr. Aitken's letter: 
 ' You will be glad to hear that the congregation has very 
 heartily adopted the Bukit Timah Mission. Both Session and 
 congregation have been most hearty about it. Singularly 
 enough, the day appointed for visiting the congregation, and 
 formally intimating to them that we had taken them in charge, 
 was the Sabbath Mr. Maclver and Dr. Lyall were with us. Mr. 
 Pickering, Mr. Young, and myself went as deputies from the 
 Session, and Mr. Maclver accompanied us. We had a congre- 
 gation of fifty-five Chinese adults, and some eight or ten 
 children. Some four or five of them were Straits-born, Malay- 
 speaking Chinese, belonging to Mr. Young's chapel, but the 
 remainder were from Bukit Timah itself. Chin-kwang speaks 
 of forty-six communicants. It is possible that after full inquiry 
 this number may have to be a little reduced. 
 
 " ' Not only have the Session and congregation entered heartily 
 into this movement, but we all feel that this is only a beginning, 
 and that Mission work, to be satisfactorily carried on, requires 
 a European Missionary. And we are very desirous that a 
 Missionary from England should be sent without delay. The 
 matter has not been brought formally before the congregation, 
 but the Session and finance Committee have authorised me to 
 say that the congregation will raise at least a thousand dollars a 
 year towards the support of a Missionary.'" 
 
THE STORY OF THE SINGAPORE MISSION. 339 
 
 From the varied character of the population the 
 Mission has five distinct branches : — 
 
 1. The Quan-tung Mission for the Chinese who come 
 from Swatow. 
 
 2. The Fuhkien Mission for the immigrants from the 
 Annoy region. 
 
 3. The Ba-ba Mission for those who have been born 
 in the Straits, generally the children of Chinamen and 
 Malay wives, who speak a mixture of English and Malay. 
 
 4. Educational work carried on in English and 
 Chinese. 
 
 5. Women's work for women and children, in English 
 and Malay. 
 
 The Mission, having had the foundation of an old 
 Mission to start with, has already a body of 247 adult 
 members of the Church, besides a considerable number 
 of inquirers and adherents, and promises to be an 
 important branch of the China Mission of the Pres- 
 byterian Church. In speaking of the commencement 
 of the Mission under the Rev. J. A. B. Cook, we must 
 not overlook the earlier efforts among the Chinese of 
 Singapore. After the Mission left for China in 1844, 
 the Presbyterian congregations, which were organised 
 in 1856,- began Evangelistic work among them, and 
 secured the services of one of the early converts of 
 the Mission at Peh-chuia, and another who laboured 
 in connection with the Episcopal Church. Several 
 converts were baptised through the preaching of both 
 these native Evangelists. An attempt was made at 
 first to have a united Church, and the converts were 
 
340 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 baptised alternately by the ministers of the Episcopal 
 and Presbyterian Churches ; but the plan did not 
 succeed, and two Chinese congregations were formed. 
 
 When the Rev. William Dale, now of New Barnct, 
 was Minister at Singapore in 1872, arrangements were 
 made for putting the congregation under the ecclesi- 
 astical authority of the Presbyterian Church of England 
 and an effort was made at the same time to put the 
 Mission to the Chinese under the Mission of that 
 Church ; but the Committee did not see its way to 
 undertake the responsibility. Under the ministry of 
 his successor the attempt was renewed, and success- 
 fully carried out, with every prospect of usefulness. 
 Mr. Lamont, the younger minister, is making a strong 
 appeal for help to establish an Educational Mission, 
 on strictly Evangelistic lines, for which there seems an 
 important and encouraging opening ; and the following 
 extract from the last Report by Mr. Cook shows all 
 the signs of a living and hopeful Mission. 
 
 " I. — Membership in the Chinese Church — 
 1883-SS. 1S89-94. 1895. 
 
 Baptised 63 153 45 = 
 
 261 
 
 
 Received ... ... 96 162 41 - 
 
 -99 
 
 
 Men. Women. Children. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 Members, 1894 . . 166 ... 65 ... 7^ 
 
 306 
 
 
 Baptised, 1895 ... 42 ... 3 ... 16 ... 
 
 61 
 
 
 Received, 1895 ... 31 ... 10 ... 12 
 
 53 = 
 
 = 420 
 
 Less, 1895. — (lone elsewhere 58, deaths 12 
 
 
 = 7° 
 
 Men. Women. Children. 
 
 
 
 Membership, [895 175 ... 72 ... 103 
 
 
 35° 
 
THE STORY OF THE SINGAPORE MISSION. 
 
 34' 
 
 1894, 
 
 
 
 Men. 
 
 Women 
 
 I. 
 
 Ba-ba Church 
 
 19 
 
 26 = 
 
 2. 
 
 Tek Kha . . . 
 
 16 
 
 '3 = 
 
 3- 
 
 Serangoon . . . 
 
 21 
 
 4 = 
 
 4; 
 
 Bukit Timah 
 
 4° 
 
 16 
 
 5- 
 
 Johore Bahru 
 
 45 
 
 6 
 
 6. 
 
 Muar 
 
 13 
 
 r 
 
 7- 
 
 Teluk Ayer \ 
 
 
 
 
 (Hokkien)j" 
 
 !9 
 
 6 
 
 8. 
 
 Hospitals ... 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Total 
 
 i75 
 
 72 
 
 ss 
 
 $159.09 
 
 29 
 
 168.84 
 
 90 
 
 1 1 1.99 
 
 67 
 
 209.22 
 
 07 
 
 183.24 
 
 69 
 
 96.65 
 
 " II. — Congregations and Contributions — 
 Self-support, 1891, $366; 1892, $527; 1893, $652 
 
 *73 6 ; 1895, $1007. 
 
 1893. 1894. 
 
 = 45 $i33-3 2 $167 
 
 = 29 43.12 76 
 
 = 25 ll6 -57 83 
 
 = 5 6 119-76 131 
 
 = 5 1 !5 6 -77 165 
 
 = 14 3 I - I 9 57 
 
 - 25 28.61 53.93 78.53 
 
 = 2 
 
 = 247 $652.84 $736.4011,007.57 
 
 Of the total $1,007.57 for 1895, for Preachers' Fund alone 
 $223.15, and $159.85 for the Chinese Church's own Missionary 
 Society = $383 on behalf of the support of a native Ministry ; 
 the balance for general expenses. 
 
 " The past year has been one of steady work and quiet 
 progress, for which we give thanks to God, our Father in 
 heaven, to whom alone be all the praise. The statistics give 
 cause for much encouragement. We do not attach undue 
 importance to the mere growth of numbers or even the 
 increase of liberality in the grace of giving ; but these have 
 their relative value. We believe God is working in the hearts 
 of many, who are still outside the Church of Jesus Christ, 
 and that much more is being done than can be stated with 
 any degree of accuracy in any tabulated statement. Spiritual 
 work and results cannot be measured and weighed like mar- 
 ketable commodities. But such facts and figures as we are 
 privileged to record show that our efforts, by God's grace, 
 have not been altogether in vain. 
 
 " puring the year there have been 61 baptisms — 42 men, 
 3 women, and 16 children. Of these 5 adults and 4 children 
 
342 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 were baptised by Mr. Lamont at the Hokkien Chapel; the 
 rest were baptised in connection with the work for which I am 
 responsible. After making; the usual deductions for deaths 
 and removals, the membership stands at 175 men, 72 women, 
 and 103 children — in all 350. 
 
 " The financial position is hopeful : the very creditable sum 
 
 GROUT OF PREACHERS AND TEACHERS, SINGAPORE. 
 
 of $1,007.57 lias been given during the year for Church pur- 
 poses by the 'seven Churches which are in Asia ' belonging 
 to the local branch of our Mission. Our hope is to see 
 before long native Churches quite able and willing to call 
 and support their own native pastors, and thus allow the 
 means at our disposal to be used to open up new stations 
 in more needy districts. 
 
 " In August two deacons and two elders were ordained to 
 
THE STORY OF THE SINGAPORE MfSSIO.V. 
 
 31$ 
 
 office in the Prinsep Street Ba-ba congregation, which is now 
 a duly constituted Church with its session and deacons' court. 
 The Chinese congregations held a most successful conference 
 in December, which was characterised by excellency of 
 spiritual tone, practical sagacity and breadth of outlook, 
 which promises well for the Chinese Church in Malaysia as 
 well as in China. It is a truism with the Chinese, as with 
 us, that the native Churches must become self-supporting, as 
 soon as possible, as well as self-governing and self-propagating. 
 The Churches are trained to manage their own congregational 
 affairs from the beginning, and all matters of common interest 
 are discussed in open conference. With the ordination of 
 native Pastors will come the native Presbytery." 
 
 A LITTLE PLAY. 
 
MISSION CHAPEL, CHIN-CHEW. 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 IT is natural and profitable, after a long account of 
 work done, and extending over fifty years of 
 prayerful interest by the Church, to gather up the 
 fruit of the labours of the many able and earnest 
 men who have been sent out to sow the good seed 
 of the Kingdom. We expect a harvest after the toils 
 of ploughing and sowing, and the Great Husbandman 
 assures us that if we sow in spring we shall reap 
 in autumn. Seedtime and harvest are included in 
 the promise in the fields of nature as given to Noah, 
 and in the spiritual fields we may lawfully take 
 
 the assurance given to the despondent labourer 
 
 " He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious 
 seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 345 
 
 his sheaves with him." Our difficulty is that the great 
 harvest time has not yet come. We cannot count our 
 sheaves until that day when the Lord of the harvest 
 shall come, and "shall send forth His angels" to 
 separate the wheat from the tares. Angels alone can 
 be trusted to " separate the righteous from among the 
 wicked." Men are apt to err if they attempt to pass 
 a final judgment on their fellow men. In their excess 
 of zeal they are apt in " gathering up the tares to root 
 up the wheat with them." Especially is there a danger 
 of harsh judgments on the heathen, who, " having not 
 the law, are a law unto themselves," and will not be 
 judged by the law given to the Jew and to the 
 Christian. We must not shut out from the Kingdom 
 of Heaven even all those we have found it needful for 
 a season, or for some reason of expediency, to shut 
 out from the visible Church. God hath His hidden 
 ones now, as He had when Elijah complained, " I, even 
 I only, am left." 
 
 But while we place only a limited confidence in 
 bare statistics, they must not be neglected. Our Lord 
 and His apostles gave numbers, both of those fed by 
 the miraculous hand of the Master, and of those who 
 were " added to the Church " from time to time ; and 
 if they took note of the numbers of their converts, surely 
 we may do likewise for the encouragement of the Church 
 by telling " what things God hath wrought among the 
 Gentiles." For the numbers of the converts, we take 
 them on the strength of their own profession ; and from 
 
34& CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 the care with which they are admitted to the com- 
 munion of the Church, there is more likelihood of the 
 numbers given being too low than too high. There 
 are many cases in which, from difficulties and dangers 
 in the way, men and women are afraid to apply, or 
 are refused admission to the Church on earth, who 
 would be admitted to the Church in heaven ; and 
 those who delay or decline their admission take comfort 
 in the Protestant view of " binding and loosing," and 
 the opening and shutting by the keys of discipline. 
 They know that the final exclusion from the Kingdom 
 does not depend on the fallible decision of a Pope, 
 but on the judgment of the Church, being in harmony 
 with the word of God, as truly expressing the mind 
 of Christ, who alone is worthy to bear the " key of 
 David," " who openeth and no man shutteth, and 
 shutteth and no man openeth." But our readers need 
 not be afraid of cold, hard statistics : we shall deal only 
 with living men and vital questions. 
 
 The Missionaries. 
 
 We make no apology for giving a place of prominence 
 to the names of the men and women who have been 
 sent out by the Church to do her work in China. 
 They arc worthy of all honour, and it is desirable that 
 their names should be household words, and that they 
 should be constantly remembered in prayer in the 
 family and in the closet. They arc not "upheld," as 
 the ministers of the Churches at home are by their 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 347 
 
 congregations, while, from the nature of their work and 
 their position in a heathen land, they stand more in 
 need of prayerful sympathy than others. It is true 
 that ministers at home have trials and temptations 
 of their own which the Missionary escapes, and if a 
 balance were struck the one might find no cause for 
 envying the lot of the other ; and the more they are 
 regarded as one the better for all. It is one work in 
 different fields of labour, alike honourable to both if 
 they do the Master's work with undivided hearts. The 
 following are the names of the Missionaries now in the 
 field, or at home on furlough : — 
 
 Ministerial Missionaries. 
 
 Rev. H. L. Mackenzie, M.A. 
 Rev. W. M'Gregor, M.A. ... 
 Rev. William Campbell 
 Rev. John C. Gibson, M.A. 
 Rev. Thomas Barclay, M.A. 
 Rev. Henry Thompson 
 Rev. Donald Maclver, M.A. 
 Rev. J. A. E. Cook 
 Rev. William Riddel, M.A., M 
 Rev. Patrick J. Maclagan, M.. 
 Rev. Murdo Mackenzie 
 Rev. Duncan Ferguson, M.A. 
 Rev. Archibald Lamont, M.A 
 Rev. T. E. Sandetnan, M.A. 
 Rev. J. Steele, B.A. 
 Rev. C. Campbell Brown . . . 
 Rev. Campbell N. Moody, M. 
 Rev. Andrew Bonar Nielson, 
 
 U'rived in China 
 
 Station. 
 
 
 . i860 
 
 Swatow 
 
 
 1864 
 
 Amoy 
 
 
 1871 
 
 Formosa 
 
 
 1874 
 
 Swatow 
 
 
 1S74 
 
 Formosa 
 
 
 1S77 
 
 Amoy 
 
 
 1879 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow 
 
 
 1881 
 
 Singapore 
 
 .1). . 
 
 1881 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow 
 
 \. .. 
 
 1888 
 
 Swatow 
 
 
 1889 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow 
 
 
 1889 
 
 Formosa 
 
 
 1890 
 
 Singapore 
 
 
 1892 
 
 Chang-pu, Amoy 
 
 
 1892 
 
 Swatow 
 
 
 l3 9 3 
 
 Chin-chew, Amo; 
 
 A. .. 
 
 lS95 
 
 Formosa 
 
 M.A 
 
 l3 9 S 
 
 Formosa 
 
34« 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Medical Missionaries. 
 
 Peter Anderson, L.R.C.S.andP.,Ed. 1878 
 
 Alexander Lyall, M.B., CM. ... 1879 
 John F. McPhun, M.B., CM. ... 1882 
 
 Philip B. Cousland, M.B., CM. 
 
 James M. Howie, L.R.C.S. and P. 
 
 B. L. Paton, M.B., CM 
 
 John Cross, M.B., CM 
 
 Muir Sandeman, M.A., M.B., CM. 
 David Landsborough, M.B., CM. 
 John M. Dalziel, M.B., CM. 
 
 1883. 
 
 1 
 
 1888 
 1889 
 
 1893 
 1894 
 
 1895 
 ^895 
 
 Formosa 
 Swatow 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow 
 Chao-chow-fu 
 Swatow 
 
 Chang-pu, Amoy 
 Chin-chew, Amoy 
 Eng-chhun, Amoy 
 Chin-chew, Amoy 
 Formosa. 
 Swatow 
 
 Missionary Teachers. 
 
 Mr. William Paton ... ... 1881 Swatow 
 
 Mr. George Ede ... ... ... 1883 Swatow 
 
 1896 Chin-chew. 
 
 Mr. David Cook 
 
 Missionary Evangelist. 
 Mr. George M. Wales ... ... 1890 Amoy 
 
 \\ omen s Association Missionaries. 
 
 Miss C M. Ricketts 
 
 ... 1S7S 
 
 Swatow 
 
 Miss Georgina Maclagan . . . 
 
 ... 1882 
 
 Chang-pu, Amoy 
 
 *Miss Mann 
 
 . . 1S83 
 
 Swatow 
 
 Miss E. Black 
 
 ... 1S85 
 
 Swatow 
 
 Miss Jessie Johnston 
 
 ... 1S85 
 
 Amoy 
 
 Miss Annie Butler ... 
 
 ... 1885 
 
 Formosa 
 
 Miss Joan Stuart 
 
 ... 1S85 
 
 Formosa 
 
 Miss Harkness 
 
 ... 1887 
 
 Swatow 
 
 Miss Falconer 
 
 ... 18S7 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow 
 
 Miss Graham 
 
 ... 1888 
 
 Chin-chew, Amoy 
 
 * Iii the service of the Mission at home. 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 349 
 
 Miss Barnett 
 
 Miss Lecky 
 
 Miss Janet Balmer 
 
 Miss Ramsay 
 
 Miss Duncan 
 
 Miss M. B. M'Gregor 
 
 Miss Mary Balmer 
 
 Miss Alexander 
 
 Miss Turnbull 
 
 Miss Caroline E. Johnston 
 
 1888 Formosa 
 
 1889 Chang-pu, Amoy 
 
 1890 Hak-ka, Swatow 
 1890 Chin-chew, Amoy 
 1893 Chin-chew, Amoy 
 1893 Amoy. 
 
 1893 Hak-ka, Swatow 
 
 1896 Eng-chhun, Amoy 
 
 1896 Eng-chhun, Amoy 
 
 1897 Amoy 
 
 Educated Missionaries for China. 
 
 For Missionaries in China, next to the grace of God, 
 a thorough education is the great requisite of success. 
 In no other country is education held in such esteem 
 and reverence, and in no other country are the people 
 so ready to discover the difference between an educated 
 and an uneducated man or woman, and to treat them 
 according to their view of their respective merits. The 
 Presbyterian Church of England has, from first to last, 
 insisted on all its ordained and medical Missionaries 
 having the same authentic stamp of scholarship which 
 is required of ministers and doctors of medicine at 
 home. The above list shows, to those who are ac- 
 quainted with the curriculum of licentiates of Presbyterian 
 Churches in England and Scotland, that each of the 
 Ministerial Missionaries must have studied at college 
 and Divinity Hall from six to eight years, and each 
 of the Medical Missionaries for nearly as long a period. 
 Two who went out as teachers were, from the positions 
 they occupied at home, educated men, and the one 
 
350 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Evangelist sent out was, though not professionally an 
 educated man, and part of his work in China was to 
 relieve the Ministerial and Medical Missionaries as much 
 as possible from secular work : he had the commercial 
 training which is of itself a valuable education. 
 
 What we have said of the men is substantially true 
 of the female Missionaries. They have received the 
 education of ladies in this country, and the nature and 
 extent of it is so far ahead of that of even educated 
 ladies in China that they are looked up to with admira- 
 tion, especially if to the spoken language they add a fair 
 knowledge of the written character. This the ladies 
 of the Presbyterian Mission do less or more. While 
 all are educated, some of them have received the best 
 culture which Continental, as well as English, schools 
 could impart, including two or three foreign languages. 
 
 Importance of Education for Missionaries. 
 
 The advantages of sending out thoroughly educated 
 Missionaries are not confined to securing the respect 
 and confidence of the Chinese as scholars and teachers, 
 important as these are. The education received at 
 home is of great importance in preparing them for the 
 acquisition of the difficult language of China. The 
 learning of one language is a step to the acquisition 
 of another, and those who have not learned a foreign 
 language in their youth, find it hard, if not impossible, 
 to acquire one accurately in their maturity. If they 
 do get up the spoken language, their knowledge is 
 almost sure to be very limited and inaccurate. This 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 351 
 
 might be sufficient for commercial purposes, or for 
 the social intercourse of daily life, where errors only 
 cost a little money or arc a source of amusement. 
 But when we take into account the difficult task before 
 the Missionary, the case is entirely different. To 
 convey new truths to dark and prejudiced minds ; to 
 present religious ideas for which the common language 
 of the people has no equivalent words ; to impress a 
 careless crowd with the reality and importance of the 
 Gospel message, in crude and halting language, which 
 only excites the laughter or contempt of the people ; 
 — not only fails of its object, but excites a feeling in 
 the minds of the hearers which is both an injustice 
 to the Divine message, and an injury to the soul of 
 the hearer. The most learned Chinese scholars feel 
 the imperfection of their knowledge of the language 
 to express spiritual truths, and strive for a more 
 perfect utterance. The ignorant do not realise their 
 defects, nor detect their blunders, and are pleased that 
 they can speak the language at all. There is little 
 or no doubt that the small results from the labours of 
 those Societies which send out uneducated agents is 
 largely, if not wholly, due to this cause ; combined 
 with the difficulty which uneducated persons have in 
 understanding or sympathising with the difficulties in 
 the mind of a stranger to their modes of thought. 
 To this, as to all other general rules, there are 
 striking exceptions ; but such exceptions arc rare, and 
 are only found in men and women of real genius, 
 who are scarce in all times and in all lands. 
 
CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Cheap Missionaries! 
 
 The great argument for the employment of untaught 
 Missionaries is, that they can be had cheaper and in 
 larger numbers. But judged by what they them- 
 selves regarded as their great aim — the conversion of 
 individuals — it has proved the most costly form of 
 Mission work ; and as for the merit they now claim, 
 of being pioneers, the idea is shown to be absurd, 
 both in principle and practice. The highly educated 
 Missionary, by the much greater influence he exerts, 
 is found able to raise up a large number of trained 
 native preachers, who are the best of all Evangelists ; 
 they can live healthily and comfortably in the same 
 way as they had lived before their conversion, at a 
 cost on which the foreign Missionary would starve 
 on unwholesome diet, or die in an unhealthy house. 
 
 This principle, and practice, of sending only educated 
 men and women to the Mission field, we do not by 
 any means claim as peculiar to the Presbyterian 
 Church of England : all the Missions in China con- 
 ducted by Churches, or, which is much the same 
 thing, by Societies connected with Churches, act on 
 the same principle ; and, as the practical result proves, 
 almost all the effective work done is done by these 
 Church Societies. Out of fifty-five thousand com- 
 municants reported in 1893, considerably less than five 
 thousand belonged to the Societies outside, while more 
 than fifty thousand belonged to Societies connected with 
 Churches in England, America, or the Continent. 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 353 
 
 Maintenance of Missionaries. 
 
 The maintenance of a sufficient staff of such highly 
 
 qualified men and women is, as might be expected in 
 
 a tropical climate, expensive ; but such trained agents, 
 
 who have spent so many years and at such great cost 
 
 to themselves in preparing for their Church's work, 
 
 are deserving of adequate support — at least, such as 
 
 is necessary to preserve them in health, and, what is 
 
 their greatest anxiety, to enable them to bring up their 
 
 families as they had been brought up themselves. It 
 
 would be the greatest folly in the Church to risk the 
 
 lives or health of such men and women for the sake 
 
 of saving a little money. Even if we look only to the 
 
 expense of sending them out to China and supporting 
 
 them for two years while studying the language, which 
 
 is the shortest time in which an adequate knowledge 
 
 of the spoken language can be acquired by the great 
 
 majority of Missionaries, they are worth caring for 
 
 on commercial grounds ; and it takes years more to 
 
 complete the studies of the ablest of them. To supply 
 
 the place of men thus fully qualified by several years 
 
 of study and work would cost thousands, and to lose 
 
 them by neglect would turn out penny wise and pound 
 
 foolish. There is little, if any, doubt that the life of 
 
 Mr. Burns was sacrificed, through no fault of the 
 
 committee, to an attempt to live as the Chinese do. 
 
 He was a man of a fine constitution, and came of a 
 
 long-lived race ; and yet he died at the early age of 
 
 fifty-three, in the prime of his usefulness, of a trifling 
 
 23 
 
354 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 disease which his medical attendant declared a man 
 in ordinary health would have thrown off in a week. 
 We reluctantly call attention to this as a great object- 
 lesson for Missions to China. Whether Mr. Burns 
 only suffered from eating the coarse diet of the sailors 
 in passing from Shanghai to New-chwang, which was 
 entirely involuntary, or whether he had previously 
 suffered from attempting to live like the common 
 Chinese, we cannot be sure ; but in any case, it was 
 the diet that cut short his noble career. 
 
 It is a fallacy to suppose that living like the Chinese 
 is so much cheaper than living as a foreigner. The 
 Chinese, above the lower class, live on nourishing and 
 expensive food. Their oysters, and fish of all kinds ; 
 their birds'-nest soup, beches-de-mer or sea slugs ; their 
 goat and pig's flesh, with their dainty meat " kitten 
 cutlets " and " puppy pies "; — are nourishing, and some of 
 them very costly. As for their clothing, if one dresses 
 like the common people, it will be found as cheap as 
 it is scanty ; but that would require our Missionaries 
 and their wives to go about in what would correspond 
 to our ministers and their families in this country 
 being dressed in nothing but fustian and cotton prints. 
 To dress like a Chinese gentleman, as Mr. Burns 
 considered it his wisdom and duty to do, is much more 
 costly than broadcloth and fine linen. 
 
 Missionaries' Houses. 
 
 Exception is often taken to the houses of our 
 Missionaries being too large and costly, forgetting that 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 355 
 
 large rooms and wide verandahs which make them 
 appear much larger and grander than they really are, 
 are an essential condition of life or health to fit a man 
 for his work in a climate like that of China ; and 
 after all, the fact is that these houses are a great 
 economy. We find that the average cost of building a 
 Missionary's house in China is only about £500. The 
 interest and repairs, taken at 6 per cent., are only £30 
 a year, and it could, if needful, be sold in most cases 
 at a much higher price than it cost. Even if we allow 
 8 per cent, for interest, and repairs on account of 
 climate, it would still be much less than the rent of 
 a healthful house, if such could be found. 
 
 We apologise for introducing these subjects, but 
 Missionaries decline to do so, the Committee cannot 
 be always defending themselves against whispered ob- 
 jections, and it seemed right that a permanent record, 
 such as we are now attempting, should remove every 
 objection that can be brought against Mission methods, 
 as carried on by the Church. There are so many 
 plausible appeals in behalf of Missions which are much 
 heard of in this country, but which make little im- 
 pression on China. It is difficult for the Christian 
 public to form a correct opinion of the claims which 
 present themselves from Societies working in a field 
 so remote, and in conditions so different from those to 
 which they are accustomed. We may add that none 
 are more desirous of lessening the expenses of Mission 
 work than the Committees of our Societies ; they are 
 continually called on by Missionaries for funds, not 
 
356 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 for themselves, but for the sake of extending the work 
 in which they are engaged. They plead the claims of 
 the heathen, not their own. 
 
 The Native Church. 
 
 The native Church of our Mission in China is a 
 fact to be recognised and to be thankful for. There 
 is, first of all, the most encouraging fact that from 
 out of the mass of dark superstition and gross 
 idolatry THERE HAVE BEEN GATHERED INTO THE 
 
 Church of Christ, by the baptism of old and 
 young during these last fifty years, as many 
 AS 16,000 OR 20,000 SOULS;* perhaps many more. 
 During that time a large number of these have died 
 and are safe within the fold, and many have gone 
 abroad as emigrants to all parts of the world. We 
 hear of them occasionally, from Australia and California, 
 and constantly from the Straits of Malacca. Within 
 the last few years they have not been lost to the Mission 
 by going to Singapore, as we now have a Mission there. 
 As might be expected, during such a length of time, 
 and with such a number of professing Christians, some 
 have fallen into sin, and have been cut oft" from the 
 communion of the Church ; and some have fallen back 
 into the heathenism from which, for a time, the)' had 
 been delivered. 
 
 * Since the above was in type, we have seen that in a Mission with the 
 same number of communicants as that of the Presbyterian Church of 
 England, it is estimated that the number who have died during the thirty 
 years of its existence, or are now living, in the faith of Christ, is the larger 
 of these estimates. 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 357 
 
 The numbers of living members of the Church at 
 the end of 1 896 were as follows : 
 
 Baptised Members of all ages . . . . 8,177 
 Adults in Full Communion 4,946. 
 
 But these figures give no idea of the numbers who 
 are brought under the direct influence of the Gospel. 
 There are the unbaptised members of communicants' 
 families, their dependents, and others under their in- 
 fluence, and the numbers who are attending the different 
 Churches, but have not made up their minds to make 
 an open profession, which means the sacrifice of so 
 much which a profession of Christianity at home does 
 not involve. The 4,946 communicants means at least 
 three times that number of nominal Christians of all 
 ages ; that is, fourteen thousand souls at least. 
 
 A Growing and Aggressive Church. 
 
 This Church is not like so many of our Churches 
 at home, a merely conservative body, nor is it content 
 to grow by the mere natural increase of the popula- 
 tion ; it is aggressive. Almost every member strives 
 to bring in those " that are without." The large pro- 
 portion of members in the Church have been brought 
 in by the personal influence of the former converts. 
 Both by their " conversation," — so far above the low 
 lives of their fellow countrymen, " adorning the doc- 
 trine," — and by their lips they persuade men to share 
 with them the blessings of the " great salvation." They 
 tell in their own simple way what God has done for 
 
35S CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 their souls, and the peace and joy of the Gospel are 
 so manifest in their transformed lives that the heathen 
 are drawn to the religion which has made such a 
 change. Their very countenances are changed ; you 
 cannot look on a company of Christians and a 
 company of heathen without seeing the contrast. You 
 cannot help saying of the former, with the Apostle, 
 " Once ye were darkness, but now are ye light in the 
 Lord." What makes the heathen notice this trans- 
 forming power of the Gospel all the more is that 
 the joy and peace it brings are not quenched by the 
 many trials which the converts have to endure from 
 changing their religion. They see that even the 
 prospect of death, which they so much dread, only 
 increases the peace and joy of these Christians, and 
 they contrast this religion of Christ with the joyless 
 religions of Confucius, and Laotsze, and Buddha. 
 
 Native Christian Agents. 
 
 The converts in the native Church in China show 
 their aggressive spirit, not only by spreading the truth 
 by their daily life and personal testimony, but by 
 furnishing an admirable body of workers of different 
 kinds for employment by the Missionaries in their 
 more regular aggressive work. First of all there arc 
 colporteurs, whose simple work is to go about selling 
 Bibles and tracts to their countrymen, For this little 
 more is required than ordinary intelligence, honesty, 
 fidelity, and a consistent life. Many of them have 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 359 
 
 more than these, and do much good by speaking frankly 
 to individuals, and even to little crowds, telling what 
 "they know of the contents of the blessed Book they 
 love. Few countries, if any, have yielded such valuable 
 agents to the Bible and Tract Societies as China, 
 and in none has the result of their work been more 
 satisfactory. 
 
 Then next to these there are the Evangelists, who 
 must possess all the good qualities of the former, with 
 a larger measure of Scripture knowledge, and the power 
 of explaining and impressing its truth on their country- 
 men, both in public and in private. They must also 
 have a burning zeal for their work, " not with eye 
 service " as if they were hirelings, but ready to face 
 persecution and death itself in the discharge of their 
 high calling ; and, thank God, the native Church in 
 China offers many men with these gifts and graces, 
 men who have often jeoparded their lives by their 
 bold and faithful preaching of the Word ; and some 
 have won the martyr's crown by their fidelity to 
 Christ. Men of this type are by no means rare in 
 the Church in China, and none yield more than the 
 congregations in the regions of Amoy, Swatow, and 
 Formosa. It has often been our privilege to stand 
 by these men and watch how they could rivet the 
 attention of large crowds and move their feelings to 
 fear, or laughter, or penitence, or tears. These men 
 have been the right hand of the English Missionary, 
 and the highest work of the foreigner is to raise up 
 and train such men. It is for this that we require the 
 
?6o CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 highest type of men for the Mission field. It is here 
 that quality rather than quantity tells in Mission work. 
 The native agents, trained under a few men of the 
 highest spiritual and intellectual influences, are at once 
 the cheapest and the best agents that can be employed. 
 It is by Chinamen, not by Englishmen and Americans, 
 that China must be converted. This has been both 
 the theory and practice of the Mission of the Presbyterian 
 Church of England. 
 
 Pastors. 
 
 The pastoral office is conservative rather than aggres- 
 sive ; but it is a false view of its essential nature to 
 make it exclusively so. To be truly conservative, it 
 must also act on the aggressive both in old and new 
 Church organisations, but especially in Churches newly 
 gathered and existing in the midst of a heathen 
 population. There are two considerations which compel 
 the Pastor to be also an Evangelist. First, that, even 
 within the Church, in any land, the children born within 
 it need converting grace as truly as those without ; 
 besides, there are constantly cases of backsliding, where 
 there is need for preaching the first principles of the 
 Gospel of Christ, and in the most Christian of Churches 
 there are always a number of the professing members 
 who deceive themselves as well as the office-bearers, 
 and who need the application of the doctrines of grace 
 as much as the heathen. But in addition to these 
 considerations within the Church, it needs no demon- 
 stration that the Church in the most Christian land 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 -,6i 
 
 in Christendom is surrounded by men and women 
 living " without God and without hope," and the Pastor 
 who could live in the midst of these, without making 
 an effort in some way to reach them, would imperil 
 his own soul as well as the souls of his fellow-men. 
 
 A GROUP OF ORDAINED PASTORS, AMOY SYNOD. 
 GO-PEH. HUT-UN-JIN. SIM-KHIOH. KHO-SIN-IAM. TAN-KHE. 
 
 LO-HONG-PO. TAN-SOAN-LENG. LI-SIN-TO. GO-KHUN. 
 
 The native Pastors are under no danger of neglecting 
 such a duty, and they are not so burdened by their 
 pastoral work, as their brethren at home are, as to 
 make Evangelistic work, in the ordinary sense of the 
 term, a difficulty. The aim of the Missionaries is to 
 make these native Pastors as enlightened as the cir- 
 
362 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 cumstance of the case require and admit of. They 
 are so trained as to be like Saul among the people — 
 taller than the body of their hearers by the head and 
 shoulders in secular knowledge, and much more in 
 respect of knowledge of the Scriptures. At the same 
 time, they are careful not to raise them so far above 
 their hearers as to tempt them to be puffed up, nor 
 so to better their temporal circumstances as that they 
 should lose touch with their poorer brethren, or to 
 render it impossible for poor congregations to support 
 their own Pastor. One of the most interesting depart- 
 ments of the work of the Missionary is the training 
 of young men for this pastoral work. For this, each 
 main centre has its Theological College, corresponding 
 to our Divinity Hall at home, with a preparatory school 
 or college, in which the most promising scholars from 
 the lower or intermediate schools are prepared for 
 the Theological College, a feeble, or infantine, imita- 
 tion of the Arts Colleges of this country. These 
 resemblances may deceive our readers if they do not 
 keep in mind the vast differences between England 
 and China — differences which make the comparison 
 something of a contrast. We only compare them to 
 show what the native Church in China is aiming at, 
 and to what, with the blessing of God, she may 
 eventually attain. 
 
 Of the young men now attending the Theological 
 Colleges — the hope of the future Church — there were 
 in all forty-eight in 1895 — a goodly number for a 
 Church which docs not yet number five thousand 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 363 
 
 members. They are distributed among four colleges, 
 as follows : — 
 
 Theological Students, Amoy . 
 
 16 
 
 ,, ,, Swatow 
 
 12 
 
 Wu-king-fu 
 
 12 
 
 ,, ,, Formosa . 
 
 8 
 
 The necessity for two in the Swatow centre is the 
 difference of the language in the Hak-ka country, which 
 prevents them from studying with those of Swatow. 
 In Amoy and Formosa there is only one language. 
 
 The number of the different classes of agents referred 
 to above is 131, the Evangelists being much the largest. 
 They are distributed in the following order : — 
 
 Native agents in Amoy . . 59 
 
 ,, ,, ,, Swatow . . 39 
 
 ,, ,, ,, Formosa . . 30 
 
 ,, Singapore . 3 
 
 131 
 
 The Church Ideal. 
 The ideal which has been kept before the minds of the 
 Missionaries in China, and the Committee at home, has all 
 along been to raise up a Church in China which should be 
 
 1. A self-governing Church ; 
 
 2. A self-supporting Church ; 
 
 3. A self-propagating Church. 
 
 Self-government. 
 
 We place self-governing first because it is the first 
 in nature, though it may not be first in order of time. 
 
364 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 But, in fact, it may be said to come first in order of 
 time, for the principle on which the Mission was started 
 was that the converts were not to be treated like little 
 children in leading strings, or like servants, taking a 
 lower place, in respect of privilege, than the Missionaries. 
 They were treated from the beginning as brethren, 
 and taught their responsibilities and duties to God, 
 to one another, and to their countrymen. To teach 
 these lessons it was needful to give them their privilege 
 as members of a congregation, and, at the earliest 
 possible period, the converts were called upon to elect 
 elders and deacons, to whom were committed the duties 
 of admitting new members to the Church, all cases of 
 discipline, the charge of superintending the ordinary 
 functions of the Church, and the charge of all monies 
 raised by themselves for the support of ordinances, the 
 education of children, and gifts for the poor. 
 
 By encouraging this sense of responsibility with the 
 bestowment of power, the spirit of independence was 
 cultivated, and the feeling of self-respect, which made 
 them the more honourable in the discharge of their 
 obligations. It was all the easier to organise the 
 eldership and diaconate in the Christian Church from 
 the Chinese being familiar with the principle and 
 practice in their village communities, which are governed 
 by a body of the most respected ciders of each village, 
 chosen by the free election of the community. 
 
 When the number of the Churches increased, they 
 quite naturally formed themselves into Presbyteries for 
 the government of the organic body, and when the 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 365 
 
 number of congregations, or their distance from a centre, 
 made attendance at frequent meetings of the Presbytery 
 difficult, they divided it into two in Amoy, and left the 
 more important matters to be transacted at the less 
 frequent meetings of the Synod. Of course the Mis- 
 sionaries took the lead in pointing out the Scriptural 
 authority for these arrangements in the Church of 
 Christ, but the steps taken were the independent action 
 of the members of the Church, from their own con- 
 victions. Many Missionary enterprises have been 
 ruined by neglecting this fundamental principle. Con- 
 verts have been kept in a state of subjection and 
 dependence until they have become incapable of 
 independent action, and have acquired a spirit of 
 servile helplessness, and the loss of manhood and 
 self-respect ; or it has led to the spirit of revolt against 
 autocratic rule, and a state of confusion and decay. 
 From such evils the Churches in China connected 
 with the English Presbyterian Mission have been 
 entirely free. 
 
 Self-Support. 
 
 One of the first-fruits of the privilege of self- 
 government was the desire of the congregations to 
 become self-supporting. When in their infancy, and 
 unable to support a Pastor of their own, even if Pastors 
 could have been had, they began by paying for the 
 whole or part of the preaching-hall and for the support 
 of their poor, or they would combine among them- 
 selves to build some humble place in which to meet 
 
366 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 for mutual edification and encouragement, and for 
 preaching to their heathen neighbours. By-and-by they 
 would pay a part of the expenses of the Evangelist 
 or Pastor, trusting to bear the whole burden when 
 stronger— a difficult matter where the members are 
 poor, and the daily wage of a mechanic is only about 
 fivepence of our money, and the labourer thinks himself 
 well paid at threepence a day. 
 
 We cannot compare the contributions in China and 
 in this country by the amount in money. The re- 
 muneration for labour is the proper test of liberality. 
 The average contribution per member would represent 
 the wages of twenty days' labour by a mechanic, and the 
 remuneration for thirty-three days' toil by a common 
 labourer. Deducting the Sabbath, this would be seven 
 per cent, of his annual income, equivalent to about 
 £j per annum from an English mechanic. There are 
 a few who are better off, and in general they give 
 liberally of their substance. We hear of some who 
 give a piece of land as a site for a church, others who 
 give a house to be turned into a little chapel ; frequently 
 those who cannot give money give their labour, and one 
 who could not labour provided food for the workers from 
 his little cooking-shop. 
 
 There are already fourteen Churches which defray 
 the entire salary of an ordained Pastor and all the 
 expenses of a fully organised Church ; and there are 
 large numbers which pay the half or the fourth part 
 of the salary of the Pastor or Evangelist, and all the 
 other expenses, including the care of their poor. This, 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 367 
 
 considering the small- 
 ness of the congrega- 
 tions and the poverty 
 of the people, is most 
 creditable, and hope- 
 ful for a self-support- 
 ing Church in the 
 future of China. Even 
 now, if the foreign 
 
 Missionaries were driven out of the country, such is 
 the self-governing power and spirit of the converts, we 
 have no doubt but that the work would go on in spite 
 of such a calamity. It would prevent or retard the 
 higher development of the members, but it would not 
 destroy the life of the Church. 
 
 BAK-SA CHAPEL, FORMOSA. 
 
 Churches or Chapels. 
 
 To make self-support more practicable, the Mission- 
 aries have given no 
 encouragement to the 
 erection of costly 
 buildings, or the imi- 
 tation of foreign 
 churches with their 
 lofty spires, which 
 would needlessly 
 offend the prejudices 
 of the heathen. This 
 has in some parts of 
 „.,«,„ ,,,.,„!, a.mov. China been the case, 
 
3 68 
 
 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 THONG-HUNG CHAPtL, HAK-KA. 
 
 leading to bitter per- 
 secution and rankling 
 hatred. The churches 
 of the Presbyterian 
 Mission are all built 
 in Chinese style of 
 architecture, and are 
 simple in form. They seldom cost more than £ i 50 for a 
 church to hold two hundred people ; that is, only fifteen 
 shillings a sitting. A church in this country for five 
 hundred people which costs £5,000 is as much as £10 a 
 sitting. We give a few samples of the Churches in 
 which God is carrying on a work of grace, which many 
 of our Ministers at home would be thankful to see. 
 
 A Self-Propagating Church. 
 
 We have repeatedly referred to the fact which has 
 forced itself upon our 
 notice at every step 
 of the progress of the 
 Mission, that the 
 spread of the Gospel 
 in China has been so 
 largely, that we might 
 almost say entirely, 
 due to the zeal and 
 faithfulness of the few 
 believers who have 
 from time to time 
 been converted by the 
 
 CHAPEL AND SANATORIUM, bWATOW. 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 369 
 
 Missionaries sent out from this country. Every 
 Missionary has emphasised this fact, and glories in 
 it, as the brightest hope for the spread of the Church 
 over China. One interesting form which this evan- 
 gelistic spirit takes is the establishment of formal 
 Missions to their heathen countrymen, like those sent 
 out by the Churches of this country. Each of the three 
 centres has set up a Mission of this kind. Societies 
 have been formed, funds raised, and Evangelists sent 
 forth in a spirit of faith and prayer. The Native 
 Church of Amoy has fixed on a district away to the 
 south-west of that city ; the Swatow Church has fixed 
 on some islands at the mouth of the bay leading up 
 to the town ; and the Church of Formosa has sent 
 forth its Evangelists to the Pescadores, which lie 
 not far from their coast. The movement has not 
 been long enough in operation to enable us to judge 
 of its effects ; but interesting though it be, we do 
 not attach the importance to it that we do to the 
 personal effort of each convert for the conversion of 
 the members of his own family and neighbours. It 
 has been by this personal effort that the truth has 
 spread hitherto, followed up by the personal appeals 
 of the Evangelists and Pastors. 
 
 Spread of the Knowledge of the Gospel. 
 
 The spread of the Gospel in the sphere chosen for 
 the operations of the Mission in 1854 is truly marvellous. 
 The district chosen was limited. For any one Protestant 
 
 24 
 
370 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Mission to lay its plans for the conversion of the whole 
 of China would be foil}' and presumption. The sphere 
 chosen was large enough to satisfy the highest ambition 
 of the Church which chose it. Its length is about two 
 hundred and fifty miles, and its breadth varies from one 
 hundred to forty or fifty miles — as large as Palestine in 
 the time of Saul. If we add the southern half of Formosa, 
 it will make the area of the Mission Field nearly as 
 large as Scotland. Over this area there are now planted 
 one hundred and fifty-six stations, in each of which there 
 is a band of believers, with a more or less complete 
 Church organisation, and they are so placed that they 
 mutually support one another, and give ready access 
 to any one in search of the Saviour. In Palestine 
 there were only six cities of refuge on both sides 
 of the Jordan ; here there are found one hundred 
 and fifty-six cities to which the sinner may flee and 
 find salvation. 
 
 But even this gives no idea of the spread of the 
 Gospel during these fifty, or we may say forty-three, 
 years. There are probably three times as many 
 towns and villages in which there are Christian con- 
 verts living ; and such is the publicity caused by 
 their breaking off from idolatry and their profession of 
 Christianity, that they arc known to all. One or two 
 converts in a village, or five or six in a town, and the 
 fact of their conversion is known to every one. The 
 Missionaries, on visiting them at their homes, though 
 it be a village they never entered before, have no 
 difficulty in finding them out. They have only to ask 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 371 
 
 for the Christians, and at once they are led to their 
 houses. The result of this is, that not only is the 
 existence of Christianity known, but the leading facts 
 of the Gospel are also known. The very efforts which 
 the enemy has taken to crush the truth have proclaimed 
 its blessed verities far and wide. 
 
 A Contrast. 
 
 It is impossible to describe, and almost impossible 
 to conceive, the difference in the state of that region 
 now, as compared with what it was in 1854, when the 
 Mission was established. The Missionaries of the other 
 two Societies, who had been in Amoy for about ten 
 years, had been confined to the town and island of 
 that name, which was large enough for all their strength 
 and resources ; while the Treaty which admitted them 
 bound them not to go beyond the limits of the Treaty 
 port. 
 
 The towns and villages a few miles from Amoy were 
 in complete ignorance of the Gospel. The very name 
 of the Saviour was unknown. The writer can well 
 remember the visits which he paid in 1854 to many 
 a village on the mainland within sight of Amoy, and 
 can never forget the pang with which he heard the 
 questions pass from one to the other in each village 
 he visited. " Who is Jesus ? " " What man is that 
 the foreigner is talking about?" They knew Buddha, 
 whom they called " The world's honoured one " ; but 
 Jesus the world's Saviour they knew not. Now v/hat 
 do we find ? One hundred and fifty-six stations, with 
 
372 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 preachers proclaiming the Gospel of God, and where 
 the name of Jesus is as " ointment poured forth." 
 You will find two or three times as many villages 
 where some followers of Jesus are residing as "living 
 epistles of Christ, known and read of all men." You 
 have only to look at the maps which contain no names 
 but those of places in which there are either stations 
 of the Mission, or in which some members of the 
 Church are living, to see how widely gospel truth has 
 spread ? " Well may the Church thank God and 
 take courage to go forward to complete the work so 
 well begun ! It demands much greater efforts and 
 nobler sacrifices. Though the Gospel message has been 
 widely spread, it has as yet been received by few. 
 What are the few thousands of believers among the 
 millions of unbelievers ? The knowledge only makes 
 them the more responsible, and increases their guilt 
 before God ; and at the same time increases the 
 responsibility of the Church to pray and labour more 
 earnestly, that the seed sown ma}' spring up and bear 
 fruit a hundredfold. 
 
 Progress from 1872- 1896. 
 
 A glance at the progress made during the last half 
 of the duration of the Mission is well fitted to stimulate 
 and encourage the Church to renewed effort. We give 
 the results in 1872, for comparison with those at the 
 end of 1 896. We would prefer to give it in tabulated 
 forms ; but as these arc not liked by many, we make 
 a running comparison, 
 
FACTS AND REFLECTIONS. 373 
 
 In 1872 there were ten Ordained and three Medical 
 Missionaries. In 1896 there were eighteen Ordained 
 and ten Medical Missionaries, besides three Teachers 
 and one Evangelist from this country. In the former 
 period there were no Lady Missionaries ; now there are 
 twenty-two, without counting the wives of Missionaries, 
 who did much good work then, and continue to do so 
 now. Then the total income of the home Committee 
 was £9,258. The total income in 1896 has risen to 
 £19,712. 
 
 But the progress in China is the more important and 
 satisfactory. In 1872 the number of Communicants 
 was 1,632. In 1896 there were 4,946. The number 
 of Native Evangelists in 1872 was only 41 ; now there 
 are 117. In the former period there were no Ordained 
 Native Pastors ; now there are 14. Then there were 
 only 10 organised Churches ; now there are 46. In 1872 
 the number of Stations was 60. In 1896 they were 
 1 56, and most of these in a better state of organisation 
 than formerly. The increase of the Hospitals from 2 to 
 10 is a striking feature of the work. They have an 
 average of 3,000 patients each. The effect of the loving 
 and skilful treatment of 30,000 persons every year 
 cannot fail to win a kindly ear for the Gospel message, 
 which is daily pressed upon their willing attention by 
 the Ordained and Medical Missionaries. The influence 
 is widespread ; these 30,000 patients come from thousands 
 of towns and villages, many of them twenty or thirty 
 and some cases a hundred miles off, to which the fame 
 of the foreign healer had reached, and to which they 
 
374 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 carry back the report of the kindness they had ex- 
 perienced. 
 
 One interesting feature of the work has originated 
 during this latter half of the fifty years — the establish- 
 ment of a monthly periodical at each of the three 
 centres, Amoy, Swatovv, and Formosa, for the spread 
 of intelligence, both sacred and secular, and for the 
 edifying of the converts. In Swatow and Formosa 
 printing-presses have been set up, from which not only 
 the monthly paper but portions of Scripture and tracts 
 are issued. In Amoy they have facilities for employing 
 the secular press for their purpose, and avoid the 
 necessity for a press of their own. 
 
 This great increase is all the more satisfactory when 
 we know that it has been gained not by hasty 
 admission of inquirers, or laxity in discipline, or neglect 
 of teaching and training of the converts, but is the 
 result of the steady and faithful discharge of all the 
 functions of a living Church. There never has been 
 at any time or in any Mission more attention to the 
 strictest discipline and diligence in edifying the Church 
 in intelligence and stability, both in the character of 
 its members and the exercise of its functions as a 
 Church. The steady growth in almost all parts of the 
 wide area of the Mission, the evangelistic zeal of the 
 members, the devout attention to the interests and 
 business of the Church, and the prayerful conferences 
 for the development of the higher life of believers, arc 
 the best proofs that the increase is health}-, and that 
 the work is of Cod. 
 
tftew' 
 
 WATER EUFFALOES. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 OTHER MISSIONS IN CHINA. 
 
 The Reformed Church of America. 
 
 IT would be unworthy of the catholic spirit of the 
 Presbyterian Church of England, and of its 
 Mission, if we did not make reference, in a work 
 like this, to the labours of other Missions in China, 
 some of them working in the same region, and one 
 actually incorporated with our own Mission. Though 
 incorporated for purposes of Church government and 
 fellowship, each Mission keeps a separate account of 
 its members and workers. We learn the following 
 facts from the last Report of this Mission of the 
 " Reformed Church in America," as it is now called. 
 Formerly it was the Reformed Dutch Church of 
 America. 
 
 375 
 
376 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 This Mission has from its earliest days enjoyed 
 the services of able men. . To two of them, Messrs. 
 Doty and Talmage, our Mission owes much for their 
 friendly co-operation in its infancy, and it was through 
 their wise and determined action that the scandal of 
 two Presbyterian Missions, forming two separate Pres- 
 byterian Churches in the same locality in China, was 
 prevented, instead of, as now, working as one united 
 body, in presence of the common enemy. 
 
 In that Mission there are now 4 ordained and 2 
 Medical Missionaries, and no fewer than 7 lady 
 Missionaries. It seems as if our friends, in getting 
 rid of the Dutch part of their name, had at the same 
 time got rid of their old conservatism, which did not 
 exalt woman's place in the Church. There are, with 
 the wives of the Missionaries, 13 women to 6 men 
 in the Amoy Mission. But a little of the old con- 
 servatism comes out in their designation — they are 
 all called assistant Missionaries. We rejoice to see 
 them all, and they are doing good work, as the results 
 will show. 
 
 The Native Church consists of 2,315 members in full 
 communion. There are 37 regular preaching-places, or 
 stations, as we would call them. They have 1 1 
 ordained pastors, 23 native helpers (of whom I is 
 ordained), and 20 teachers in schools. There are 1 1 
 students, who study along with those of the Pres- 
 byterian Theological College, one of the American 
 Missionaries taking part in the instruction, along with 
 Mr. M'Gregor. 
 
OTHER MISSIONS IN CHINA. 377 
 
 Since the union of the two Missions in one Church, 
 there has been the most perfect unity of feeling and 
 action, both among the Missionaries and the converts, 
 and the blessing promised to them that " dwell 
 together in unity " has been amply bestowed. But 
 for the great distance between England and America, 
 we doubt not the Committees of the two Missions 
 would find it both pleasant and profitable to meet 
 in conference, and manifest the substantial oneness of 
 the two Churches — the one the child of the Westminster 
 Confession, the other of the Synod of Dort. 
 
 The London Missionary Society. 
 
 The Mission of the venerable London Missionary 
 Society at Amoy carries on its operations in much 
 the same field as that of the Presbyterian Church, 
 and with the most entire cordiality. It was the first to 
 set up a Mission in the city of Amoy, but did not go 
 beyond it for some time after the Presbyterian Mission 
 had established itself on the mainland. Now it has 
 divided itself, for working purposes, into two centres, 
 the one occupying Amoy as its headquarters, the 
 other the city of Chang-chew, about twenty-five miles 
 up the river. As the latter is only recently started, 
 we shall treat them as one, in the same way as the 
 other Missions in the same field. 
 
 The foreign agents are : 1 medical and 3 ordained 
 Missionaries, and 4 ladies, of whom 1 is a doctor of 
 medicine. 
 
 The Native Church consists of 2,033 members, with 
 
37S CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 7 ordained pastors, 58 evangelists, 17 Christian teachers, 
 and 33 Biblewomen. We do not know the number 
 of stations occupied, but we know that the Mission 
 has now extended its operations far and wide. Besides 
 the Mission to Amoy, this Society has established 
 Mission centres in many places in China : in Shanghai, 
 where Drs. Medhurst, Muirhead, Edkins, and others 
 have done good work (the first of these did the 
 most important part in the translation of the " Dele- 
 gates' Version " of the Scriptures, and the other two 
 have spent more than an average lifetime in evangelistic 
 and literary work) ; in Han-kow, where Dr. Griffith 
 John, one of the most distinguished and successful 
 Missionaries in China, has, with his coadjutors, done 
 much to spread the Gospel among the millions of 
 Hu-peh. Smaller centres of operation have been opened 
 at Wu-chang, Hiau-kan, Chung-king, Yen-san, and 
 Chi-chou ; while large and influential Missions have 
 been established in Tien-tsin and Peking. Mongolia, 
 one of the most arduous and difficult Mission fields 
 in the world, has been made, by the enterprise of its 
 agents, a hopeful sphere of labour. 
 
 The Canadian Mission in Formosa. 
 
 In 1871 Dr. Mackay, an ordained Medical Missionary 
 of the Presbyterian Church of Canada, arrived in 
 Formosa on his search for the best station for a Mission 
 of the Church which he represented. He had previously 
 visited other places, but found them too much occupied 
 by other Societies. Our Missionaries received him 
 
OTHER MISSIONS IN CHINA. 379 
 
 gladly, and recommended him to commence his work 
 in the north part of the island of Formosa, agreeing 
 to divide the island between the two Missions. Mr. 
 Ritchie went with him to survey the ground ; and as 
 a result of their investigations, Dr. Mackay settled down 
 at Tam-sui, the principal town in the north, and began 
 his work with all his natural enthusiasm and courage. 
 Dr. Mackay's modes of operation are in many 
 respects peculiar, but we do not object to them because 
 they differ from old methods ; there is ample room 
 for experiments, if made with knowledge and dis- 
 cretion. The chief danger is in trusting to the mere 
 profession of faith among the half-civilised natives of 
 Formosa, without requiring the evidence of works. 
 The results have thus far been remarkable, considering 
 the short time the Mission has been in existence. 
 There were in 1893, the latest report to which we have 
 access, 1,751 members of the Church, 2 ordained pastors, 
 who were made superintendents, 56 evangelists or 
 preachers, and 22 students in the Theological College. 
 There are three peculiar features of Dr. Mackay's 
 work to which he gives special prominence in his 
 recently published work, " From Far Formosa." First 
 his practice of pulling teeth : he tells of having pulled 
 more than forty thousand teeth since he went to 
 Formosa. Whether this tends to conversion and 
 edification we cannot tell, but it will certainly produce 
 a sensation, which is not to be despised among an 
 apathetic people like the Chinese. Then, although he 
 has built a splendid Institution, which he calls Oxford 
 
380 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 College, with a museum attached, his method of instruc- 
 tion is to a large extent peripatetic ; he takes the 
 students about with him on his preaching tours, teaching 
 them by the way. And third, Dr. Mackay attaches 
 importance to building handsome churches in the 
 American style, with lofty spires, to uproot the super- 
 stition of hong tsuie. Almost all other Missions have 
 avoided this, not wishing to give offence where it could 
 be avoided without the sacrifice of principle. When he 
 got ten thousand dollars in compensation for damage 
 done to his property during the recent war, he tells 
 us that he spent the whole of it in building six chapels, 
 when he says he could have built twenty-four slim or 
 twelve solid ones. 
 
 We shall wait with interest the development of 
 this interesting experiment, and in the meantime wish 
 Dr. Mackay much success in his important sphere of 
 work, and a hearty God-speed to himself in his 
 enthusiastic and devoted labours. 
 
 China Missions as a Whole. 
 
 In giving a very brief outline of the present state 
 of Mission work in the whole of China, we shall chiefly 
 avail ourselves of two books, " The China Mission 
 Handbook," published in 1896, and the "Records of 
 the Missionary Conference," held in Shanghai in 1890. 
 From the former, which is the latest official source of 
 information, we learn that there arc now forty-four 
 Societies at work in China, sent out from England, 
 America, and the Continent of Europe ; and, we may 
 
OTHER MISSIONS IN CHINA. 
 
 add, auxiliaries from the Australian Colonies. The 
 great majority of these Societies belong to five de- 
 nominations of Christians, with their divisions, in 
 England, the United States of America, Canada, and 
 the Continent of Europe. 
 
 These five denominations, as given in the tables of 
 the Shanghai Conference Report, stand in the following 
 order : Presbyterian, Methodist, Congregational, Baptist, 
 and Episcopalian. The Societies not connected with 
 any of these Churches are very numerous, but occupy a 
 very subordinate place in the work in China. Of the 
 37,287 communicants connected with all Societies in 
 1890, 31,644 belonged to the Societies connected with 
 these five denominations, and only 5,643 to all the 
 Societies which are put down in the Report as 
 unclassified. Some of these also belong to small 
 denominations, chiefly in America. 
 
 To the London Missionary Society belongs the 
 honour of being the first to attempt the evangelisation 
 of China, and to that Society all others are indebted 
 for the important pioneer work done by that devoted 
 man, Dr. Morrison, and his able coadjutor, Dr. Milne. 
 
 Dr. Lockhart, sent out in 1839, was the first Medical 
 Missionary to China, and Dr. Hobson was the first to 
 succeed in establishing a hospital in Canton. But it 
 would be vain to go over the names of the forty-four 
 Societies, and impossible to characterise the work of 
 each ; we can only find space for a few facts, showing 
 what has been done in this great work for the Master 
 in China. 
 
382 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 Agents and Agencies Employed. 
 
 In regard to the number of Missionaries and others 
 employed in China, we have no general records later 
 than those of the Handbook of last year, which does 
 not bring them down lower than the end of 1893. 
 There were at that time only 389 ordained foreign 
 Missionaries, and 294 unordained preachers, making 
 683 male foreign agents. There were 560 female 
 evangelists, and 81 teachers, or 641 foreign female 
 agents, making 1,324 foreign Missionaries of all kinds. 
 From another table it appears as if in addition to these 
 there were 96 medical men and 47 medical women, 
 but it is not clear whether these are additional, or only 
 a new classification of the unordained Missionaries of 
 another table. But in any case their work is most 
 important. They have 47 qualified male assistants 
 and 11 female, with 151 male and 28 female students 
 of medicine under instruction. There were 71 hospitals, 
 in which 18,898 patients were treated in the course 
 of the year 1893, and 8,168 were attended to in their 
 own homes. There were 1 1 1 dispensaries, at which 
 223,162 patients were attended to, the number of visits 
 of patients in the course of 1893 being considerably 
 over half a million. This of itself is a great and blessed 
 work, the influence of which cannot be weighed or 
 reckoned up. 
 
 There is a good work carried on in the education 
 of the Chinese on Christian lines, and under the direct 
 superintendence of the Missionaries; imparting all 
 
OTHER MISSIONS IN CHINA ,.„* 383 
 
 kinds of Western knowledge, many of the foreign 
 Missionaries, both male and female, being personally 
 engaged in the instruction of male and female pupils 
 of all ages. Of 14,555 males and 6,798 females, 21,353 
 in all, under this form of instruction, 391 were learning 
 English. There are 32 colleges or training classes for 
 males, and 14 for females ; in these there are 1,080 
 boarders among the males, with 144 day students 
 and 414 female boarders with 2 day students. By 
 getting the young into boarding institutions at the 
 most impressionable period of life, the personal piety 
 and character of the teacher tells with tenfold force 
 on the formation of character in the students, and 
 seldom fails to make of them useful men and women. 
 We need not say that the greatest of all the agencies 
 employed is the preaching of the Gospel ; but each 
 has its place. 
 
 Results. 
 
 Let us now see the results of the work of all these 
 agents and agencies, in so far as they can be expressed 
 in figures and by legitimate inference. 
 
 By the latest returns of the Handbook of 1896, 
 which only brings the statistics to the end of the year 
 1893, there were 55,093 communicants in connection 
 with all the Missions in China. If we add to these 
 the increase for the three years from 1893 to 1896, 
 the number will now be much greater. We find that 
 the average increase from year to year continues to 
 grow lamer and larger with the duration of the Mission 
 
384 CHINA AND FORMOSA. 
 
 work. For the four years from 1889 to 1893 the 
 average increase was 4,450 yearly ; and as there were 
 more than 12,000 inquirers at the end of the latter 
 period, we feel fully justified in adding 13,350 — the 
 aggregate of these three years — to the 55,093 given 
 for 1893, making the number of communicants in 
 connection with the Protestant Missions in China 
 68,443 i n 1896. If we add to these the many children 
 and dependants, with others less or more under the 
 direct influence of the truth, we may safely multiply 
 this number by 3-5-, as is generally done in estimating 
 the number of adherents. This would make the number 
 of nominal professing Protestant Christians in China 
 239,550, or in round numbers, about a quarter of a million. 
 Besides these there are large numbers of the natives 
 of China who have been influenced less or more by 
 the personality and teaching of the Missionaries and 
 their agents. 
 
 But in addition to these converts, and those who 
 are brought under the personal influence of the 
 Missionaries, there are millions of the heathen who 
 hear them preach from time to time, and who get 
 some knowledge of the true nature of God, and of 
 His wondrous love in giving His beloved Son to the 
 death for sinful men, and of the grace of the Holy 
 Spirit in enabling weak man to overcome his tendencies 
 to evil and to lead a pure life. These great facts 
 tell on the minds of multitudes who have not the 
 faith or courage to make a profession of Christianity. 
 We can well remember the scene on one of our first 
 
OTHER MISSIONS IN -CHINA. 385 
 
 trips in the " Gospel boat." After spending the hours 
 of daylight in visiting the villages, we anchored in a 
 clear, pebbly stream, which reminded us of our own 
 " silver Tweed." A number of men waded out and 
 sat down on the deck, while we talked to them of 
 the wondrous story of a Saviour's love and of man's 
 great needs. Pointing to the moon " walking in 
 brightness " amid brilliant clusters of stars, which 
 seemed to stand out of the firmament overhead, we 
 said, " Do you know that the great Being who made 
 that moon and these stars loves you, and that He 
 loved you so much that He sent His Son to die, that 
 He might save you from your sins?" With a 
 solemn look, and in earnest tones, they replied, " We 
 never heard of such a thing before " — a sad confession 
 for them, and a serious charge against the Church 
 of Christ, which has kept back the message of 
 mercy for these eighteen centuries, and has neglected 
 the Saviour's last command, with its omnipotent 
 sanction and gracious promise : " All authority has 
 been given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go 
 ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, 
 baptising them into the name of the Father and of 
 the Son and of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to 
 observe all things whatsoever I commanded you : and 
 " lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
 world." 
 
 2=; 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 FOR the following list of Missionaries sent to China from 
 the commencement of the Mission I am indebted to 
 Mr. Carruthers, and for the list of unmarried ladies sent out by 
 the Women's Missionary Association to Mrs. Carruthers. To 
 both I owe thanks for frequent help most cheerfully given. 
 
 In looking over the list of male Missionaries, one is struck 
 with the number who have died or been invalided, especially 
 when we consider that they all went out in the prime of life, and 
 after medical examination as to health and adaptation for the 
 climate. Out of 63 sent to China in the course of these fifty 
 years, no fewer than 13 have died, and 21 have been invalided. 
 A few, but not many of the latter, have retired, owing to their 
 wives being invalided. It gives one an idea of the risks run 
 by Europeans in such a country and in such work. The 
 greatest mortality was among those who first went out. Of 
 17 sent out in the first twenty years, 4 died within that time. 
 We trust the risks will be fewer as we learn the conditions of 
 health, and keep up a sufficient staff at each station to avoid 
 overwork, and the worry of not being able to overtake it — a 
 frequent cause of mortality. 
 
 The female Missionaries have a very different record. They 
 are like Melchizedek : they seem to have no "end of life." 
 There is no need for a column for deaths. It is true they 
 have not been so long in the field, only eighteen years. But 
 
 386 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 387 
 
 in that time, of 14 male Missionaries sent out, 3 had 
 died; while, of the females, not one has died of the 27 who 
 have been sent to China since 1878, and I can only discover 
 4 who have been invalided. In this list we had the pleasure 
 of making a column for marriages instead of deaths. Of these 
 there were four ; but as all were married to men in our own 
 Mission, this was a clear gain to the common cause. 
 
 Tables III. and IV. are taken from the Report of last year, 
 which gives the returns for 1895 ; but the statistics of 
 membership in Table V. have been most kindly prepared from 
 returns for 1896, and forwarded, when the last pages of the 
 book were going through the press, by the Convener, whose 
 helpful kindness I gratefully acknowledge. 
 
 TABLE I. 
 
 List of Missionaries Sent Out to China since the Origin 
 of the Mission. 
 
 Rev. Wm. Chalmers Burns. 
 Dr. James H. Young . 
 Rev. James Johnston . 
 Rev. Carstairs Douglas, LI 
 Rev. David Sandeman 
 Rev. George Smith, M.A. 
 Mr. Jones . 
 
 Rev. Wm. S. Swanson, D 
 Rev. Hur L. Mackenzie, M 
 Dr. John Carnegie 
 Rev. Hugh Cowie 
 Dr. Wm. Gauld 
 Rev. Wm. M'Gregor, M.A 
 Dr. James L. Maxwell 
 Rev. David Masson . 
 Rev. Hugh Ritchie 
 Rev. James Masson . 
 Rev. William Duffus . 
 Dr. Alex. Thomson 
 Dr. Matthew Dickson 
 Rev. Wm. Campbell . 
 
 M.A 
 D 
 
 Appointed, Died. Retired 
 
 1S47 
 
 1850 
 
 '853 
 
 '855 
 
 1856 
 
 1857 
 
 1859 
 
 i860 
 
 i860 
 
 1859 
 
 1S63 
 
 1863 
 
 1864 
 
 1S64 
 
 1 866 
 
 1867 
 
 1868 
 
 1869 
 
 1869 
 
 1871 
 
 1871 
 
 1S68 
 1855 
 
 1877 
 185S 
 1891 
 
 1893 
 1862 
 
 1 866 
 1879 
 
 1894 
 
 1872 
 
 1857 
 
 i860 
 
 1S75 
 1881 
 
 1885 
 
 1869 
 1S92 
 
 1876 
 
 Now at Work. 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Amoy. 
 
 Formosa. 
 
;88 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 
 Appointed. 
 1872 
 
 Died. 
 
 Retired. 
 
 Now at Work. 
 
 Rev. Robert Gordon . 
 
 
 1882 
 
 
 Rev. John C. Gibson, M.A. 
 
 1874 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Rev. Thomas Barclay, M.A. 
 
 1874 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Formosa. 
 
 Rev. David Smith 
 
 1875 
 
 — 
 
 1883 
 
 
 Rev. Henry Thompson 
 
 1877 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Eng-chhun, Amoy. 
 
 Rev. John Rutherford 
 
 1877 
 
 — 
 
 1878 
 
 
 Rev. Donald Maclver, M.A. 
 
 1879 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow. 
 
 Dr. Peter Anderson . 
 
 1878 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Formosa. 
 
 Dr. Alex. Lyall .... 
 
 1879 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Rev. John Watson, M.A. . 
 
 1880 
 
 — 
 
 1894 
 
 
 Rev. William Thow, M.A. 
 
 1880 
 
 1894 
 
 
 
 Dr. David Grant 
 
 1880 
 
 
 1894 
 
 
 Rev. Arch. L. Macleish, M.D. . 
 
 l88l 
 
 — 
 
 1893 
 
 
 Rev. Wm. Riddel, M.A. . 
 
 l88l 
 
 — 
 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow. 
 
 Mr. Wm. Paton .... 
 
 l88l 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Rev. J. A. B. Cook . 
 
 lS8l 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Singapore. 
 
 Rev. James Main, M.A. 
 
 1882 
 
 — 
 
 1884 
 
 
 Rev. W. R. Thompson, B.A. 
 
 1882 
 
 — 
 
 1887 . 
 
 '; 
 
 Dr. John F. McPhun 
 
 1882 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow. 
 
 Dr. Philip B. Cousland 
 
 1883 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Chao-chow-fu, Amoy. 
 
 Mr. George Ede 
 
 1883 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow. 
 
 Dr. John Lang .... 
 
 1885 
 
 — 
 
 1893 
 
 
 Rev. Alex. Gregory, M.A. 
 
 1888 
 
 — 
 
 1S92 
 
 
 Rev. Patrick J. Maclagan.M.A. . 
 
 1888 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Rev. Murdo Mackenzie, M.A. . 
 
 1888 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Hak-ka, Swatow. 
 
 Dr. Jas. M. Howie . 
 
 1888 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Chang-pu, Amoy. 
 
 Dr. Gavin Russell 
 
 1888 
 
 1892 
 
 — 
 
 
 Rev. Duncan Ferguson, M.A. 
 
 1889 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Formosa. 
 
 Rev. Arch. Lamont, M.A. 
 
 1S89 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Singapore. 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Lewis Paton 
 
 1889 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Chin-chew, Amoy. 
 
 Mr. George M. Wales 
 
 1890 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 Rev. J. L. Milne, B.D. 
 
 1891 
 
 — 
 
 1S95 
 
 
 Rev. T. E. Sandeman, M.A. 
 
 1892 
 
 — 
 
 
 Amoy. 
 
 Rev. John Steele, B.A. 
 
 1892 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Dr. W. Murray Cairns 
 
 1892 
 
 — 
 
 1895 
 
 
 Rev. C. Campbell Brown . 
 
 1S92 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Chin-chew, Amoy. 
 
 Dr. John Cross .... 
 
 '893 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Eng-chhun. Amoy. 
 
 Dr. Muir Sandeman . 
 
 1894 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Amoy. 
 
 Dr. John M. Dalziel . 
 
 1895 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Rev. Campbell N. Moody, M.A. 
 
 1895 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Formosa. 
 
 Rev. Andrew B. Nielson, M.A. . 
 
 1895 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 
 Dr. David Landsborough . 
 
 1895 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 ,, 
 
 India. 
 
 
 
 
 
 Dr. Donald Morison . 
 
 1S78 
 
 — 
 
 — 
 
 Rampore Bauleah. 
 
 Rev. Alfred A. Cooper, M.A. 
 
 1893 
 
 — 
 
 
 it ,1 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 389 
 
 TABLE II. 
 
 WOMEN'S MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION. 
 List of Missionaries Sent Out from its Origin. 
 
 Name. 
 
 Miss Ricketts 
 Miss Murray 
 Mrs. Ritchie 
 Miss M. Mellis 
 Miss Maclagan 
 Miss Mann . 
 Miss B. Scott 
 Miss E. Black 
 Miss Butler . 
 Miss Stuart . 
 Miss Johnston 
 Miss Harkness 
 Miss Falconer 
 Miss McMahon 
 Miss Graham 
 Miss Barnett. 
 Miss Lecky . 
 Miss Balmer . 
 Miss Crowther 
 Miss Ramsay 
 Miss Duncan 
 Miss M. M'Gregor 
 Miss A. Scott . 
 Miss M. Balmer 
 Miss E. Maclagan 
 Miss Alexander 
 Miss Turnbull . 
 Miss C. Johnston 
 
 Appointed. Sf tir ? d H °* r 
 
 KK Married. 
 
 880 
 880 
 
 883 
 885 
 885 
 885 
 885 
 
 886 
 887 
 887 
 8S8 
 888 
 888 
 890 
 S90 
 890 
 892 
 892 
 893 
 893 
 
 Now in the Field. 
 
 Married 1S84 
 Retired 1884 
 Married 
 
 l886t 
 Retired 1885 
 
 Retired 1S91 
 
 Retired 1892 
 
 Married 1894 
 Married 1896 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Chang-pu, Amoy. 
 
 Swatow. 
 Formosa. 
 
 Amoy. 
 
 Swatow. 
 
 Hak-ka Country, Swatow. 
 
 Chin-chew, Amoy. 
 
 Formosa. 
 
 Amoy. 
 
 Hak-ka Country, Swatow 
 
 Chin-chew, Amoy. 
 
 Amoy. 
 
 Hak-ka Country. Swatow 
 
 Eng-chhun, Amoy. 
 
 Amoy. 
 
 * Retired in almost every case means invalided. 
 t Appointed to work at home. J 887. 
 
 Connected with India or Jewish Missions. 
 
 
 Date of 
 
 Names. 
 
 Appoint- 
 
 
 ment. 
 
 Miss Bayly . 
 
 1883 
 
 Miss Symington 
 
 1884 
 
 Miss Thomson . 
 
 1886 
 
 Miss Annie Graham 
 
 1890 
 
 Miss Robertson . 
 
 1890 
 
 Miss Brunton 
 
 1893 
 
 Retired. Married. 
 
 1S91 
 
 1S94 
 1S92 
 
 1886 
 
 Now at Work. 
 
 Rampore Bauleah, India 
 Rabat, Morocco. 
 
 >> J? 
 
 Rampore Bauleah. 
 
39° 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 TABLE III. 
 LIST OF CHURCHES AND STATIONS, 
 Amoy Presbyteries 
 i. Fully Organised Congregations. 
 
 Chin-chew 
 
 Peh-chuia Ki-boey 
 
 E-mung-kang 
 
 Bay-pay Liong-bun-si 
 
 Kio-lai 
 
 Siong-si Gaw-chay 
 
 An-hai 
 
 
 
 2. Not Fully Organised. 
 
 Lam-mng-goa 
 
 Eng-leng Pia-chiu 
 
 Chioh-sai 
 
 Chhim-ho Chioh-khun 
 
 Ham-kang 
 
 Kwan-kio Khoey-bey 
 
 Eng-lai 
 
 Phoa-noa Mng-khau-tai 
 
 Tang-chhan-ki 
 
 Chioh-chi Ho-chhi 
 
 Ko-long-su 
 
 O-tau An-koe 
 
 Kang-boey 
 
 Tin-hai Pi-po 
 
 Yu-boey-kio 
 
 Peh-chioh Kang-khau 
 
 Aw-sai. 
 
 Chhia-tsui Kwan-jim 
 
 Tung-kio 
 
 Au-po Pan-to 
 
 Hoe-pi 
 
 Chang-pu Ban-an 
 
 Liong-nia 
 
 Liok-go Kak-chioh 
 
 Ko-tin 
 
 Liong-khay Cheng-poa 
 
 Eng-chhun 
 
 Go-tau Pi-o 
 
 I'hi-lai 
 
 Soa-thau-sia 
 
 io fully organised ; 44 partially. 
 
 
 Swatow Presbytery. 
 
 1. . 
 
 Fully Organised Congregations. 
 
 Swatow 
 
 Yam-tsau Phu-soa 
 
 Chia-na 
 
 Kia-kng Sin-hu 
 
 Pang-khau 
 
 Tsau-phou Mi-ow. 
 
 
 2. Not Fully Organised. 
 
 Chao-chow-fu 
 
 Teng-tng Peh-tsui-ou 
 
 Ung-kng 
 
 Kieh-yang Teng-kng 
 
 Teng-pou 
 
 Tek-kie Chao-yang 
 
 Tat-hau-po 
 
 Sua-mng-sia Au-kang 
 
 Sin-un 
 
 Kway-tham Hwei-lai 
 
 Kah-chi 
 
 Noi-hue-ti Kie-kia-thau 
 
 Toa-ua 
 
 Kong-pheng Na-thau 
 
 Sua-bue 
 
 Leng-kia 
 
 9 
 
 fully organised ; 23 partially. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 391 
 
 Wu-king-fu 
 
 Thai-yong 
 
 Shong-sa 
 
 Sam-hai 
 
 Nyit-chung 
 
 Lyung-tsai 
 
 Hak-ka Country. 
 
 Fully Organised Congregations. 
 
 Ho-pho Ng-yun-thung Thong-hang. 
 
 2. Not Fully Organised. 
 
 Nam-san Lyong-thien 
 
 Ho-thyen Sin-thyen 
 
 Shong-fu 
 
 Pu-ts-tshai 
 
 Kau-thyen 
 
 4 fully organised ; 
 
 Lo-hai 
 Thai-pu 
 Moi-yong 
 15 partially. 
 
 PRESBYTERY OF TAI-NAN-FU, FORMOSA. 
 
 The names of the organised are not indicated. 
 
 Churches and Stations. 
 
 Those among the Pe-po-hoan and Sek-hoan, or semi-civilised 
 aborigines, are in italics. 
 
 Tai-wan-fu 
 
 Kong-a-na 
 
 Ta-kao 
 
 Taw-kun-eng 
 
 Ka-la-paw 
 
 Lom-bay (island) 
 
 Tau-lak 
 
 Moa-tau 
 
 Thau-sia 
 
 Toa-sia 
 
 Gu-khun-soa 
 
 Ka-tau-ga 
 
 Chim-kong-o 
 
 Bak-sa 
 Poah-bay 
 Tang-kang 
 A-kau 
 Lam-a-khe 
 Lam-gan 
 Ka-tang 
 Giam-cheng 
 Hoan-a-chhan 
 Awgu-lan 
 Paiv-sia 
 Sia-thau-lun 
 Tak-kai 
 20 organised ; 18 partially. 
 
 Kam-a-?ia 
 
 Pi-thau 
 
 Tek-a-kha 
 
 A-li-kang 
 
 Lau-chhu-tsng 
 
 Ka-gi 
 
 Gu-ta-oan 
 
 Ka-poa-soa 
 
 Chiang-hoa 
 
 Toa-lam 
 
 Chap-sa-kah 
 
 Chioh-pai 
 
 Singapore. 
 Names of organised congregations not named. 
 Bukit Timah Tek-kha Serang-gong 
 
 Johor Bahru 
 Hokkien 
 
 Muar 
 Ba-ba 
 3 fully organised. 
 
 Gay-lang 
 
392 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 The Report for Singapore kindly forwarded contains the 
 following names of the agents employed, which we regret not 
 to have of the other missions. 
 
 Preachers. 
 
 Khou Iak Sek Si Tit Su Lian Thian Iak. 
 
 Gou A-chiu Song Pug 
 
 Teachers. 
 
 Some of the Preachers are also Teachers. 
 
 Ngun Tshong Ku Teh Pek Lian. 
 
 Evangelists. 
 Ip A Kwan Wong Hok Thau Ng Lin Kong. 
 
 Biblewomen. 
 Miss Hoot Kiam Mrs. Kok M. 
 
 Missionary Supported bv Native Church. 
 Tan Kuang Hui. 
 
 TABLE IV. 
 SUMMARIES FOR 1895. 
 Congregations fully organised 
 
 Congregations not yet fully organised 
 
 Total 
 
 Native pastors entirely supported b\ 
 their own congregations, Amoy 
 
 Native pastors entirely supported b} 
 their own congregations, Swatow 
 
 Total 
 
 Native preachers, Amoy 
 Swatow 
 Hak-ka 
 Formosa 
 Singapore 
 
 46 
 1 10 
 
 156 
 S 
 
 s 
 
 13 
 
 42 
 28 
 
 1 1 
 
 30 
 
 Total 
 
 116 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Theological students, Amoy 
 
 ,, „ Swatow . 
 
 „ ,, Hak-ka . 
 
 ,, „ Formosa 
 
 16 
 
 12 
 12 
 
 8 
 
 393 
 
 Hospitals (7). 
 
 Total 
 
 48 
 
 Amoy, 3 — Chin-chew, Chang-pu, and Eng-chhun. 
 Swatow, 3 — Swatow, Chao-chow-fu, and Wu-king- 
 Formosa, 1 — Tai-wan-fu. 
 
 fu. 
 
 TABLE V. 
 
 STATISTICS OF MEMBERSHIP IN THE CHINA MISSION, 1896. 
 
 I. Amoy 
 
 Swatow 
 Hak-ka 
 Formosa 
 Singapore 
 
 Totals 
 
 Commu- Ad- 
 nicants, mitted 
 Jan. r, during 
 1896. the year 
 
 I420 
 
 I304 
 
 427 
 
 1252 
 
 247 
 
 127 
 
 191 
 
 69 
 
 121 
 
 Net 
 
 increase 
 
 during 
 
 the year. 
 
 4650 576 
 
 83 
 lib 
 
 39 
 39 
 19 
 
 Commu- 
 nicants, 
 Dec. 31, 
 
 1503 
 
 1420 
 
 466 
 
 1 29 1 
 
 266 
 
 Mem- 
 bers 1 Total 
 under baptised 
 suspen- 'children. 
 sion 
 
 49 
 129 
 
 39 
 
 175 
 
 16 
 
 689 
 
 227 
 
 1354 
 
 296 1 4946 
 
 408 ; 3267 
 
 Total 
 mem- 
 bership, 
 adults 
 and 
 children. 
 
 2434 
 2238 
 
 732 
 2820 
 
 397 
 8621 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aborigines in Formosa, burials of 
 
 „ ,, head-hunters 
 
 „ ,, visited by Dr. Maxwell 
 
 ,, Rev. W. Campbell 
 
 Agriculture .... 
 
 Agriculturists honoured 
 Amoy, capture of, by British 
 „ ,, by Mandarins 
 
 ,, Communion at 
 described 
 Presbytery of 
 ,, Synod of 
 Ancestor worship 
 
 ,, ,, evil effects of 
 
 Ancestral tablets, letter from Miss Johnston on 
 
 ,, ,, on difficulties of Christians with 
 
 Ba, Pastor, death of . 
 Babies' Home .... 
 Bak-sa, baptisms at . 
 „ wedding at . 
 Ballad, the tea-picker's 
 Barclay, Rev. T., and Japanese army 
 
 ,, ,, letters of 
 
 Bible-women, Miss Rickett's class o 
 Blind boy ..... 
 
 ,, school for, at Chin-chew . 
 
 ,, ,, ,, Formosa 
 
 ,, weaver .... 
 Boat, the Gospel . ■ . 
 Brother Tee, life and death of . 
 Buddhism ..... 
 Burns arrested in China . 
 
 ,, conversion of . 
 
 ,, death of . 
 
 ,, estimate of, as Missionary 
 
 „ first Missionary 
 
 ,, goes to Amoy . 
 
 52, 
 
 l 9. 
 
 305 
 
 3°4 
 177 
 3°3 
 44 
 44 
 25 
 28 
 
 35 
 
 19 
 
 128 
 
 247 
 
 49 
 
 5i 
 
 240 
 
 241 
 
 248 
 236 
 179 
 180 
 46 
 328 
 14, 324 
 283 
 320 
 258 
 
 319 
 294 
 
 30, 99 
 3" 
 61 
 
 113 
 
 8 
 
 185 
 
 187 
 
 7 
 
 76 
 

 INDEX. 
 
 395 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Burns in Hong Kong ..... 
 
 . 70 
 
 „ itinerating ...... 
 
 70 
 
 
 letters from . . . . 69, 71, 74 
 
 , 88, 89, 113, 189 
 
 
 offers himself for China .... 
 
 12 
 
 
 ordination of . 
 
 . 68 
 
 
 revisits Swatow ..... 
 
 112 
 
 
 revival under, in China .... 
 
 . . . 87 
 
 
 , ,, ,, in Scotland 
 
 10 
 
 
 , robbed 
 
 . 74 
 
 
 translates " Pilgrim's Progress " 
 
 ■ 78 
 
 
 , ,, psalms and hymns . 
 
 • H7 
 
 Campbell, Rev. W 
 
 ■ 3°6 
 
 ,, „ letters from 
 
 ■ 303, 3° 6 . 3i6 
 
 ,, ,, narrow escape of 
 
 ■ 309 
 
 Canadian Mission, Formosa .... 
 
 ■ 378 
 
 Centres, the three chief ..... 
 
 • '95 
 
 Chang-pu, a new centre ..... 
 
 . 215 219 
 
 ,, chapel at . 
 
 • 234 
 
 ,, medical work at ... . 
 
 • 238 
 
 Cheng-hong, martyrdom of ... . 
 
 • 174 
 
 China, a field of missions ..... 
 
 4 
 
 difficult field 
 
 • 199 
 
 ,, religions of ..... . 
 
 . . 48 
 
 Chin-chew first visited ..... 
 
 . 123 
 
 ,, hospital, a little patient . 
 
 • 233 
 
 at 
 
 . 231 
 
 „ made a centre ..... 
 
 . 222 
 
 ,, Presbytery of . 
 
 . 229 
 
 Chinese, are they religious ? . . . . 
 
 . 64 
 
 ,, character of ..... 
 
 • 39 
 
 ,, their views of God .... 
 
 . . 65 
 
 Chioh-bey, why given to the Americans . 
 
 ■ 92 
 
 ,, work at . 
 
 94 
 
 Church, agents of ..... 
 
 • 35*. 363 
 
 ,, government of .... ■ 
 
 . 121 
 
 ,, self-governing ..... 
 
 . 363 
 
 „ self-propagating ..... 
 
 ■ ■ 368 
 
 ,, self-supporting ..... 
 
 ■ 230, 365 
 
 ,, the Native ...... 
 
 • 356, 3S3 
 
 Churches and stations, list of all 
 
 • 39° 
 
 Cloth merchant, the ...... 
 
 . 90 
 
 Communion at Amoy ...... 
 
 ■ ■ 85 
 
 Compensation for injury in Formosa 
 
 . 176 
 
 Conferences ....... 
 
 ■ ' 39, 2 74 
 
 Confucianism . 
 
 • 49 
 
 
 „ political morality of 
 
 ■ 53 
 
396 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Converts, character of 
 
 ,, forsaking all 
 
 ,, reasoning with the heathen 
 
 Cook, the Rev. J. A. B , Singapore, letter of 
 Cross, Dr., letter from 
 
 ,, settled at Eng-chhun 
 
 Dale, the Rev. William 
 Death, dread of 
 
 „ euphemisms for 
 Deathbed of Christians 
 Deification by the Emperor 
 Dickson, Dr., letter of 
 Divine guidance of Mission 
 Douglas, Rev. C, Amoy . 
 ,, ,, death of 
 
 „ letters from 
 ,, „ testimony of Presbytery to 
 
 visit to An-hai 
 ,, Chin-chew 
 Duff us, Rev. W., letters of 
 Dutch in Formosa .... 
 ,, ,, Missions in . 
 
 ,, ,, „ decay of 
 
 Ede, Mr., letter from . 
 
 Edict, the sacred 
 
 Education ..... 
 
 E-ju, a volunteer evangelist 
 
 Eng-chhun, a new centre . 
 
 ,, a prayer-meeting at 
 
 hospital for 
 
 Facts and reflections 
 Ferguson, Rev. D., letters from 
 Fifth Commandment first in China 
 Formosa ..... 
 
 ,, aborigines in 
 
 ,, work among 
 
 ,, Dutch possession of . 
 
 ,, first-fruits of 
 
 ,, inhabitants of 
 
 ,, Japanese in 
 
 ,, officer, letter of 
 Mission in . 
 
 ,, ,, story of, continued 
 
 ,, ,, ,, concluded 
 
 ,, persecution and martyrdom in 
 
 94, ioi 
 
 248 
 
 
 136 
 
 
 268 
 
 
 337 
 
 
 256 
 
 
 256 
 
 
 34o 
 
 
 250 
 
 
 239 
 
 32. 249 
 
 291 
 
 
 136 
 
 
 3'3 
 
 . 4, 12 
 
 116 
 
 
 109 
 
 
 224 
 
 27, 132 
 
 138 
 
 
 227 
 
 
 120 
 
 
 !■>: 
 
 
 x -j 
 
 67, 268 
 
 272 
 
 
 '63 
 
 
 165 
 
 
 166 
 
 
 320 
 
 
 54 
 
 
 36 
 
 
 94 
 
 
 254 
 
 
 256 
 
 
 256 
 
 
 344 
 
 '■ 326 
 
 33° 
 
 
 56 
 
 
 161 
 
 ■ 1D 3 
 
 263 
 
 
 177 
 
 
 163 
 
 
 171 
 
 
 162 
 
 
 321 
 
 
 324 
 
 
 169 
 
 
 3°i 
 
 . 
 
 316 
 
 
 173 
 
INDEX. 
 
 397 
 
 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Formosa, Presbytery of . 
 
 
 • 329 
 
 Gauld, Dr., hospital for lepers . 
 
 
 . 156 
 
 „ i, of 
 
 
 . 156 
 
 ,, letters from .... 
 
 ! ; 156 
 
 157, 269 
 
 „ work of hospital 
 
 
 . 269 
 
 Gibson, Rev. J. C, and Romanised vernacular 
 
 
 . 260 
 
 ,, „ letters of . . . : 
 
 70, 275, 280 
 
 296, 297 
 
 Girl, the price of 
 
 
 • 33 
 
 Gordon, Rev. Robert, letter from 
 
 
 220 
 
 Gospel, the benefits conferred by 
 
 
 • 13° 
 
 ,, boat, the ..... 
 
 
 9, 30, 99 
 
 Graham, Miss, letters from 
 
 
 249, 258 
 
 ,, school for blind 
 
 
 . 258 
 
 Hak-kas Mission centre .... 
 
 
 . 286 
 
 „ mountain race .... 
 
 
 265, 270 
 
 „ origin of .... . 
 
 
 . 264 
 
 ,, ,, Mission to . . 
 
 
 . 272 
 
 Hamilton, Dr. James, made Convener 
 
 
 • 13 
 
 „ ,, his death 
 
 
 . 181 
 
 Head-hunters, Formosa .... 
 
 
 ■ 304 
 
 Heart eaten to give courage 
 
 
 
 112, 175 
 
 Heathenism, its great want 
 
 
 
 . 66 
 
 Higher life, conferences on 
 
 
 
 139, 274 
 
 Hok-los, origin of 
 
 
 
 . 265 
 
 Home for rescued babies . 
 
 
 
 . 236 
 
 Hospitals, wide influence of 
 
 
 270, 285, 
 
 295, 310 
 
 Houses of Missionaries 
 
 
 
 ■ 354 
 
 ,, ,, cost of 
 
 
 - 355 
 
 Idolatry renounced by a village 
 
 
 • 125 
 
 Infanticide 
 
 3°, 33. 34 
 
 , 53, 236 
 
 Japanese in Formosa .... 
 
 
 . 321 
 
 Johnston, Miss, letter on ancestral tablets 
 
 
 . 240 
 
 ,, Rev. J., appointment of 
 
 
 ■ 79 
 
 ,, compelled to return 
 
 
 . 105 
 
 ,, ,, had seen great results . 
 
 
 106 
 
 ,, ,, in charge alone 
 
 
 ■ 96 
 
 „ ,, letters from . 
 
 85, 96, 99, 
 
 103, 106 
 
 Kidnapped boy, story of . 
 
 
 . 280 
 
 Kilsyth, revival at 
 
 
 .. 10 
 
 Lady Missionaries ...-■• 
 
 
 . 210 
 
 ,, arrival in Amoy . 
 
 
 • 235 
 
 Lamont, Rev. A., education wor 
 
 k . . . 
 
 
 337, 340 
 
39« 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 
 
 
 I J AG K 
 
 Lam-san burns the god ot the hearth 
 
 
 
 • 9° 
 
 Land, tenure and price of 
 
 
 
 
 44 
 
 Leper, evangelistic work of 
 
 
 
 
 . 267 
 
 Liberality of converts .... 
 
 
 
 
 . 290 
 
 Licensing for the ministry 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 231 
 
 London Missionary Society 
 
 
 
 
 373, 381 
 
 Lyall, Dr., Swatovv Hospital 
 
 
 
 
 262 
 
 ,, Mrs., letter from .... 
 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 ,, ,, on women of China 
 
 
 
 
 34 
 
 M'Gregor, Rev. W., letters from 
 
 
 134, 
 
 135. 
 
 213, 247 
 
 Maclver, Rev. D., Hak-ka Mission 
 
 
 
 
 . 262 
 
 ,, ,, letter from . 
 
 
 
 
 . 291 
 
 Mackay, Rev. Dr. . . 
 
 
 
 
 • 37« 
 
 Mackenzie, Rev. H. L., at Swatovv . 
 
 
 
 
 . 260 
 
 „ „ letters of 148, 1 
 
 55 
 
 271, 
 
 288, 
 
 290, 389 
 
 ,, ,, timely deliverance of 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 155 
 
 Maclagan, Miss, letter of . 
 
 
 
 
 . 252 
 
 Main, Rev. J., letter from .... 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 23 1 
 
 Mandarin, a friendly . .... 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 255 
 
 ,, cured by Dr. Gauld . 
 
 
 
 
 • 157 
 
 Martyrdoms ...... 
 
 
 
 175, 
 
 278, 280 
 
 Masson, Rev. D., death of 
 
 
 
 
 . 172 
 
 Matheson, Hugh M., Esq., address from Swatovv 
 
 Presbytery . 299 
 
 ,, „ succeeds Dr. Hamilton 
 
 as C 
 
 :>nvener 185 
 
 „ „ Treasurer 
 
 
 
 183-185 
 
 Maxwell, Dr., Amoy aborigines 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 177 
 
 ,, Formosa .... 
 
 
 
 
 . 168 
 
 ,, illness of 
 
 
 
 
 3 01 
 
 ,, letters of . . .1 
 
 68, 
 
 170, 
 
 177, 
 
 179. 3" 
 
 Medical Missions, value of {see Hospitals) 
 
 
 
 
 202 
 
 Membership, Statistics of . 
 
 
 
 
 • 393 
 
 Ministry, Native ..... 
 
 
 
 
 211, 231 
 
 ,, students for ... 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 214 
 
 Mission, condition of, in 1853 . 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 85 
 
 ,, growth in twenty-five years 
 
 
 
 
 • 193 
 
 origin of ..... . 
 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 ,, in prayer ..... 
 
 
 
 
 . 5,6 
 
 progress of, from 1854 to 1 87 2 
 
 
 
 
 201 
 
 ,, 1872 to 1896 . 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 372 
 
 ,, providential ..... 
 
 
 
 
 !3 
 
 ,, results of fifty years .... 
 
 
 
 
 • 383 
 
 the character of, fixed 
 
 
 
 
 . 80 
 
 ,, the field described .... 
 
 
 
 
 '5 
 
 Missionaries, at end of Jubilee 
 
 
 
 
 346 
 
 ,, education of, for China 
 
 
 
 
 • 349 
 
 ,, houses of 
 
 
 
 354 
 
 ,, list of all, sent out 
 
 
 
 
 383 
 
INDEX. 
 
 399 
 
 years 
 
 Missionaries, lives of 
 
 ,, mediators with Japanese 
 
 Missions, objections met . 
 
 ,, of all Churches in China . 
 
 Names, pronunciation of . 
 
 Native Church ..... 
 
 ,. ,, aggressive . 
 
 ,, ,, number of members during fifty 
 
 ,, ministry 
 
 ,, pastor, sermon by . 
 
 Occupations of the people 
 Other Missions in China . 
 
 Pastors, Native . 
 Peh-chuia, revival at . 
 ,, work by . 
 
 People, the 
 
 ,, character of . 
 
 ,, occupations of 
 
 ,, persecutions . 90, 91, 104, 1; 
 
 Pescadores, Native Mission to . 
 Planting of the Mission .... 
 " Preach or be punished" 
 Presbyterian Church, declares independence 
 ,, ,, in China . . . 
 
 ,, ,, revival of 
 
 ,, starts a Mission Church 
 Presbytery, the, in Amoy . . . ■ 
 „ in tears for Douglas 
 
 of Formosa 
 of Svvatow 
 " Put down .my name, sir " 
 
 Readers in China, number of 
 Religions of China . 
 
 the three combined . 
 ,, their great want . 
 Review of twenty-five years' work . 
 Revival in Kilsyth . 
 
 ,, Peh-chuia . ... 
 
 Ricketts, Miss, goes to China . 
 
 her class of Bible-women . 
 ,, letters from 
 
 on the condition of women 
 
 Sacred edict, the 
 
 Sandeman, Rev. D., death of . 
 
 • 326 
 Preiace ix 
 
 207, 380 
 
 Preface xi 
 
 ■ 356 
 
 ■ 357 
 
 • 356 
 . 211 
 
 • 244 
 42 seq. 
 
 ■ 375 
 
 • 360 
 . 87 
 
 ■ 93 
 24, 30 
 30, 39 
 
 42 
 1, 277, 289 
 316 
 68 
 
 121 
 
 I 
 
 3 
 128 
 228 
 
 329 
 
 287 
 
 95 
 
 37 
 48 
 
 63 
 
 66 
 
 189 
 
 10 
 
 S7 
 210 
 283 
 283 
 
 32 
 
 54 
 117 
 
400 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Sandeman, Rev. T. E., letter from 
 Scotland, sympathy and support from 
 Seeking in earnest .... 
 Self-supporting Churches . 
 Sermon by Native Pastor . 
 Smith, Rev. George .... 
 
 ,, ,, founder of Swatow Mission 
 
 ,, ,, letters from 
 
 ,, ,, providential deliverance of 
 
 Singapore ...... 
 
 ,, Mission to 
 
 „ ,, Report of, for 1895 
 
 Spread of light in Mission Field 
 Statistics not to be neglected 
 Sua-bue, a new centre 
 
 ,, formation of the Church 
 Swanson, Rev. W., letters from 
 Swatow a centre .... 
 
 ,, character of population 
 
 ,, presbytery founded 
 Synod, the first, in China . 
 
 Tablets, ancestral .... 
 Tai-nan-fu, Japanese name for Tai-wan-fu 
 Tai-wan-fu, driven from . 
 
 „ saved from a Japanese assault by Missionaries 
 
 ,, training College in 
 
 Ta-kao, first headquarters of Mission 
 Tan-khai-lin, Pastor .... 
 
 Taoism ...... 
 
 „ and Buddhism 
 Tea-picker and ballad 
 Thomson, Dr. A., death of 
 
 ,, Rev. Henry 
 
 Times of blessing .... 
 
 Union of the Missions 
 
 Village abandons idolatry . 
 
 Wales, Mr., letter from 
 Watson, Rev. John, letter from 
 Women, character and condition of . 
 
 ,, education of 
 
 „ heroic ..... 
 
 ,, persecuted .... 
 Women's Missionary Association 
 
 Young, Dr., appointment of, sent home 
 
 151 
 
 248 
 
 5 
 
 293 
 
 230 
 
 244 
 
 121 
 
 259 
 
 1, 153 
 
 i53 
 
 333 
 
 330 
 
 34° 
 
 369 
 
 345 
 
 296 
 
 297 
 
 5, 171, 227 
 
 145, 262 
 
 . 262 
 
 . 287 
 
 • 247 
 
 50, 240 
 
 325 
 169 
 
 325 
 3H 
 170 
 288 
 
 5S 
 60 
 46 
 158 
 230 
 87 
 
 85, 129 
 
 125 
 
 244 
 234 
 32 
 310 
 152 
 
 151 
 208 
 
 93