A REVIEW OF 
 
 ‘icT 
 )0^ /?l 
 
 TWENTY-FIVE YEARS’ WORK 
 
 OF THE 
 
 FRIENDS’ 
 
 FOREIGN MISSION ASSOCIATION, 
 
 1866 to 1891. 
 
 T he completion of the twenty-fifth year of the Association is a 
 fitting occasion for a short review of the progress and position 
 of our work. 
 
 A Provisional Committee to promote the cause of Foreign 
 Missions met in 1865 ; the first missionary, Rachel Metcalfe, sailing 
 for India in 1866, and settling at Benares. In 1867, Joseph S. Sewell, 
 accompanied by Louis and Sarah Street, commenced work in 
 Madagascar. The Friends’ Foreign Mission Association was organized 
 in 1868. The Mission in China found a location at Chung-king 
 in 1890, though representatives of the Association had been in the 
 country since 188^., 
 
 Sixty-three Friends have been engaged in work abroad in connection 
 with the Association during the quarter of a century under review. 
 Three of these are now deceased : Rachel Metcalfe, who faithfully 
 laboured for nearly twenty-four years in India ; Susan Clemes, who 
 accompanied her husband, Samuel Clemes, to Madagascar in 1873, and 
 died soon after their return home in 1882; and Henrietta Green, who 
 was for a short time in China. Eleven others have retired from the 
 Mission-field, leaving forty-nine Friends now at work in connection with 
 the three fields. 
 
 The Mission in INDIA was carried on successively at Benares and 
 Jabalpur for eight years, and it was not until 1874 that the present 
 station at Hoshangabad was commenced. Sohagpur was settled in 1881, 
 
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 and Seoni Malwa in 1890. These three towns are not far apart, in the 
 Nerbudda Valley, in the Central Provinces. For many years the Associa- 
 tion had been desirous to enter upon Mission work in the native State of 
 Bhopal, to the north of the Nerbudda, and in 1891 the way opened for 
 the occupation of the important town of Sehore, in that State. Nineteen 
 English Friends are now residing at these four stations. Besides the 
 usual Meetings in the meeting-houses, and Gospel preaching in the 
 bazaars. Day and Sunday Schools are in successful operation for the 
 children, and the ladies are engaged in Zenana visiting and other work 
 amongst the women. Dispensaries are opened at all the stations, and 
 some who came for bodily healing have found the Lord Jesus Christ to 
 be the Great Physician. Orphanages for boys and girls, with nearly 
 fifty inmates, have been established at Hoshangabad. It is intended, in 
 1892, to commence a High School for more advanced education ; also 
 to provide Industrial Training for the orphan boys and native Christians. 
 Camping tours amongst the villages are carried on during the cool 
 season, and the Gospel is thus brought to many willing listeners. Some 
 of the native Christians are doing useful work in the towns and villages 
 as catechists, colporteurs, school teachers, and Bible-women. 
 
 The number of converts to Christianity is still only small in com- 
 parison with the great populations of the neighbourhood, but there 
 are many evidences of blessing upon the faithful and continued testimony 
 of those who have thus laboured for years among the great wheat- 
 growing districts of Central India. 
 
 The Friends’ Mission in MADAGASCAR was commenced shortly 
 before a crisis in the religious history of the island, when the Queen 
 formally adopted the Christian faith. The Friends who first went out 
 were for a time largely engaged in educational work, but shortly after his 
 arrival in Antananarivo, J. S. Sewell became connected with the Town 
 Church of Ambohitantely, and in 1869, at the revision of the districts 
 under the care of the London Missionary Society, the country lying to the 
 south-west of the Capital was placed under the care of this Church. This 
 district had been less influenced by the Gospel than any other portion of 
 Imerina, and had only seven congregations, and not a single school, when 
 it thus came under our charge. At the commencement of 1890 there 
 were English Friends residing at Antananarivo, Arivonimamo, and Man- 
 dridrano; and, in addition to the Town Church under their care, 139 
 country congregations, with an ordinary attendance of about 15,000 men, 
 
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 women, and children. Twenty-three English missionaries are now 
 working in connection with our Madagascar Mission. 
 
 The Boys’ School at Ambohijatovo, and the Girls’ School at Fara- 
 vohitra, show a very satisfactory record. Whilst giving a sound education 
 to hundreds who have passed through the schools, the religious training 
 and Christian influence has been attended with marked result. Recent 
 accounts tell of spiritual blessing experienced by many of these young 
 people. 
 
 The Printing Press, established in 1872, has done good service in 
 providing leaflets, pamphlets, school-books, hymn-books, magazines, and 
 religious and educational works of various kinds. More than half a 
 million were issued during the first few years, and about 45,000 are now 
 annually published. Two monthly magazines, “The Children’s Friend” 
 and “ Church and School,” have a wide circulation. The Press has 
 proved an effective helper to the School in the Christian education of the 
 Central Province of the island. 
 
 The Medical Mission at Antananarivo was commenced by the 
 London Missionary Society in 1862 ; the Hospital at .\nalakely, with 
 accommodation for about 40 patients, having been opened in 1865. 
 Between 1867 and 1876 it was carried on by Dr. Andrew Davidson, 
 supported by his friends in Scotland. Since 1880 the Friends’ 
 Foreign Mission Association has been mainly responsible for the 
 conduct of this important branch of the work, and the London 
 Missionary Society has contributed a share of the annual expense. A 
 new Hospital has been erected, to accommodate 70 patients, and was 
 formally opened by the Queen of Madagascar in August, 1891. Out- 
 patients still receive attention at a house on the old premises at Analakely. 
 Dispensaries are open weekly in villages to the north and west of the 
 Capital, and are much frequented. A fortnightly visit of medical super- 
 intendence is also paid to the leper settlement recently established at 
 Isoavina. The teaching of medical students and the training of nurses 
 is an important feature of the Hospital. Religious services are held 
 with all those who attend. 
 
 A Home for Girls has been commenced, under the care of Helen 
 Gilpin, chiefly for the daughters of native missionaries and evangelists 
 working in distant stations who have to leave their families in the Capital. 
 
 The missionaries of our Association have from the first worked 
 harmoniously with those of the London Missionary Society, which 
 
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 entered the field more than seventy years ago. The results of their 
 labours, and of those of other Societies, are very abundant in the central 
 portions of Madagascar, but there are many tribes in other parts of 
 this large island (larger than France) still enveloped in gross darkness. 
 Even in the Central Province the evils of the drink traffic and slavery, 
 and the low standard of morality, are painfully apparent. The progress 
 already made calls for deep thankfulness to our Heavenly Father, and 
 should be a strong incentive to continued diligence in carrying the 
 Gospel to all parts of the island. 
 
 The first missionaries of this Association arrived in CHINA in 
 i88^ with the intention of taking up Mission work in one of the Western 
 Provinces of that great Empire. After becoming acquainted with 
 the language, some time was spent in Han-chung, in the Province of 
 Shen-si, and an attempt was made to settle atTung-chuan, in the Western 
 Province of Sz-chuan, but the prejudice against foreign residents pre- 
 vented the missionaries from obtaining any place of residence. 
 
 The little band of missionaries subsequently found a home at Chung- 
 king, a very populous river port upon the Yang-tze-kiang. The work 
 thus begun in March, 1890, has developed in various channels. Gospel 
 preaching has been carried on at two stations in the city, a Medical 
 Dispensary has been opened, and a women’s class and a School for girls 
 have been commenced. There are seven English Friends now residing 
 in Chung-king, who are thus beginning work amidst the peculiar diffi- 
 culties of the China mission field. We can safely commit them and 
 their labours to the unfailing care of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
 Other Friends are working under different committees in Syria, 
 in Constantinople, and in South Africa. American Friends have entered 
 into foreign work in Mexico, Jamaica, Alaska, Palestine, China, and 
 Japan; they are also labouring among the Indians and coloured 
 population nearer home. 
 
 The foregoing summary gives only a very brief outline of the work 
 accomplished. It may fitly conclude with a hearty acknowledgment 
 of the goodness of our Heavenly Father in permitting us to enter into 
 His great harvest-field, and we earnestly pray for His continued 
 blessing upon our work. 
 
 Hitchin, 1892. 
 
 f Issued by direction of the Committee of the Friends' Foreign Mission Association. J