METHODS 
 
 OF 
 
 MISSION WORK 
 
 HY 
 
 REV. JOHN L. NEVIUS, D.D. 
 
 Missionary io China 
 
 library OF PRIN^SETON 
 
 JAN - 9 2008 
 
 theological seminary 
 
 Foreign Mission Library 
 
 156 Fifth Avenue 
 NEW YORK 
 
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EDITOR’S PREFACE TO THE SECOND 
 EDITION 
 
 The first edition of Methods of Missicfk Work was 
 reprinted from the Chmese Recorder by the Ameri- 
 can Presbyterian Mission Press, Shanghai, 1886. The 
 Shanghai edition of this little book has been .exhausted 
 for some time, and the increased interest in the study of 
 missionary methods having created a new demand for 
 such works, it has been' reprinted in the United States 
 in a more convenient form. 
 
 A true estimate of a man’s work is rarely possible 
 while it is yet unfinished. In no department of human 
 effort is this more frequent than in the work of a mis- 
 sionary. He is constantly treading on new ground ; and 
 while the principles upon which he operates remain 
 unchanged, the methods of their application vary so 
 widely as his work enlarges that he looks upon many 
 of his plans as experimental. Dr. John L. Nevius’ 
 life is written into his book, unconsciously, but just as 
 truly. No monument to his memory could impress upon 
 his contemporaries or the generation following so deeply 
 the real worth of the man as do these ‘‘Letters,” as he 
 terms them, written really to his brother, missionaries in 
 China through the columns of the Chinese Recorder. 
 
 The methods set forth are flexible and accompanied 
 with so much that is wise and discriminating that it 
 may fairly be said that the spirit of the method is as 
 clearly evidenced as the method itself. It removes one 
 wholly from the spirit of dealing with hirelings to one 
 of blessed privilege of working with brethren in the Lord 
 for the glory of God as supreme. 
 
 New York, May, j/st, i8g^. 
 
METHODS OF MISSION'WORK 
 
 Chapter 1T. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 A* request from the Editor of the Chinese Recorder to 
 prepare for publication some account of the character 
 and results of our country work in Shantung, and pri- 
 vate letters from various sources asking for information 
 on the same general subject, have furnished evidence 
 that such information may be of service, more especially 
 to young missionaries. 
 
 The interest which has been taken in our work in cen- 
 tral Shantung, by missionaries in other provinces, is due 
 no doubt to the fact that we have to some extent adopted 
 new principles and methods. It is too early to deter- 
 mine what the final issue of this new departure ’»*^ill be, 
 but perhaps not too soon to derive some important les- 
 sons from present facts and experiences and results so 
 far as developed. 
 
 The adoption of the new plan having been the result 
 in many cases of difficulties and discouragements in 
 connection with the previous one, our present position 
 will be best understood by considering the two systems, 
 which may for the sake of convenience be called the Old 
 and the New, in their relation to each other. In the 
 following letters we will present the reasons which have 
 led to the disuse of the former, and adoption of the 
 latter, and the manner in which the transition has been 
 made. 
 
4 
 
 /iRetboDs ot /iRission Morh 
 
 I think it may be stated that thirty years ago, mission- 
 aries in China, with few if any exceptions, followed the 
 Old Method. • The change of view has not been sudden 
 but gradual and always in the same direction, producing 
 a continually widening and more irreconcilable breach 
 between the two systems. There is now a prevailing 
 disposition in our part of the field, at least among the 
 missionaries of the American Presbyterian, the English 
 Baptist, and the American Baptist Missions, to follow 
 the New Plan, which may still however be regarded as 
 in a formative and tentative stage of development. 
 
 These two systems may be distinguished in general by 
 the former depending largely on pa id nativ e a^iicy, 
 while the latter deprecates and seeks to mi nimiz e such 
 agenc y^ Perhaps an equally correct and more generally 
 acceptable statement of the difference would be, that, 
 while* both alike seek ultimately the establishment of 
 independ ent, self-reliant, and aggressive n ative chu rches, 
 the Old System strives by the use of foreign funds to 
 foster and stimulate the growth of the native churches 
 in the first stage of their development, and then grad- 
 ually to discontinue the use of such funds; while those 
 who adopt the New System think that the desired object 
 may be best attained by applying principles of indepen- 
 dence and self-reliance from the beginning. The differ- 
 ence between these two theories may be more clearly 
 seen in their outward practical working. The Old uses 
 freely, and as far as practicable, the more advanced and 
 intelligent of the native church members, in the capacity 
 of paid Colporteurs, Bible Agents, Evangelists, or Heads 
 of Stations; while the New proceeds on the assumption 
 that the persons employed in these various capacities 
 would be more useful in the end by being left in their 
 ^ original homes and employments. 
 
 The relative advantages of these systems may be de- 
 termined by two tests — adaptability to the end in view, 
 and Scripture authority. Some missionaries regard the 
 principles and practices adopted by the Apostles in early 
 times and recorded in the Scriptures as inapplicable to 
 
■ffntrobuction 
 
 5 
 
 our changed circumstances in China in this 19th cen- 
 tury. Leaving the consideration of this question for 
 the present, it will no doubt be acknowledged by all, 
 that any plan which will bear the application of the two 
 tests, of adaptability and Scripture authority, has a much 
 stronger claim upon our regard and acceptance than a 
 plan which can only claim the sanction of one test. 
 
 As a matter of fact the change of views of not a few 
 of the older missionaries in China is due, not to theoret- 
 ical, but practical considerations. The Old S yste m has 
 been gradually discarded because it did noTwork, or be- 
 cause it worked evil. In my own case I can say that 
 every change in opinion was brought about by a long 
 and -painful experience ; and conclusions arrived at, 
 have been only a confirmation of what I regard as the 
 teachings of the Bible ; and the same conclusions might 
 have been reached with an immense economy of time 
 and labor by simply following the authoritative guide 
 which God has given us. IXlhe New System be indeed 
 sanctioned by Scripture authority as well as by the tests 
 of practical adaptability and use, an exchange or rever- 
 sal in the application of the names New and Old would 
 be more in accordance with fact. 
 
 In stating what I regard as serious objections to pre- 
 vious methods, I may come in conflict with the opinions 
 of my brethren. I desire however to write, not in the 
 spirit of a critic, much less of a censor; but earnestly 
 desirous of knowing the truth. I have in former years 
 to a considerable extent believed Tir~and worked upon 
 the Old System, and what I have to say by way of strict- 
 ures on it, may be considered as a confession of personal 
 error, rather than fault finding with others. Foreigners 
 who have come to China to devote themselves to business 
 or diplomacy have made their mistakes.; it is not strange, 
 but rather to be expected, that we should make ours. Let 
 us acknowledge them and profit by them. 
 
 I am aware that it is possible to state facts in such a 
 way that the impression given will be a false one, and 
 the conclusions arrived at misleading. It will be my 
 
6 7 lRctbot)s of /lRl60ion Morh 
 
 earnest endeavor in the ensuing papers, not only to give 
 facts and honest conclusions therefrom, but to present 
 them in such a way that the impression given will be, if 
 not always an agreeable one, yet strictly true and just. 
 
 I wish further to disclaim all assumption of ability to 
 speak authoritatively on this subject, as though I had my- 
 self reached its final solution. The effect of long ex- 
 perience in mission work has been in my case to deepen 
 a sense of incompetency, and to excite wonder in re- 
 membering the inconsiderate rashness and self-depend- 
 ence of a quarter of a century ago. Still, though we 
 may not feel competent to give advice, we may at least 
 give a word of warning. Though we may not have 
 learned what to do in certain cases and under certain 
 circumstances, is it not much to have learned what 7iot 
 to do, and to tread cautiously, where we do not know 
 the way, and to regard with hesitation and suspicion any 
 preconceived opinion which we know to be of doubtful 
 expediency, especially if it is unauthorized by Scripture 
 teaching and example? ' 
 
 I gladly recognize the fact that the use of other methods, 
 depending to a greater or less extent on paid agents, has 
 in many cases been followed with most happy results ; 
 and that to a certain extent tried and proved native 
 agents must be employed. I do not wish to make in- 
 vidious comparisons, much less to decide where the happy 
 mean in using a paid agency lies. 
 
 Let us bear in mind that the best methods cannot do 
 away with the difficulties in our work which come from 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil ; but bad methods 
 may multiply and intensify them. For unavoidable dif- 
 ficulties we are not responsible ; for those which arise 
 from disregard of the teachings of Scripture and experi- 
 ence we are. 
 
 Let us also remember that while in undertaking the 
 momentous task committed to us, we should by the study 
 of the Scriptures, prayer for divine guidance, and com- 
 parison of our varied views and •experiences, seek to 
 know what is the best method of work ; still, the best 
 
■ffntroDuctlon 
 
 7 
 
 method without the presence of our Master and the 
 Spirit of all Truth will be unavailing. A bad method 
 may be so bad as to make it unreasonable to explect 
 God’s blessing in connection with it; a right and Scrip- 
 tural method, if we trust in it, as our principal ground 
 of hope, might be fojjowed for a life-time without any 
 good results. , 
 
 With this much by way of- introduction, I propose in 
 the next paper to consider some objections to the Old 
 Method. 
 
Chapter 1[1T? 
 
 OBJECTIONS TO THE OLD METHOD. 
 
 It is only natural that missionaries should at first seek 
 and employ many native agents. They are anxious for 
 immediate results, and home societies, and the home 
 churches, are as impatient to hear of results as mission- 
 aries are to report them. No communications from the 
 field seem so indicative of progress, and are so calculated 
 ' to call forth commendation and generous contributions 
 as the announcement that native laborers have been ob- 
 tained, and are preaching the gospel. While the mis- 
 sionary himself is for months or years debarred from 
 evangelistic work by his ignorance of the language, a 
 native agency stands waiting his employ. His' circum- 
 stances and his wishes add strong emphasis to the oft 
 repeated truism, ‘‘China must be evangelized by the 
 -Chinese.” So urgent seems the necessity to obtain 
 native assistants, that if such as he would like are not 
 forth-coming, he is glad to avail himself of such as he 
 can get. How many of us have thought in connection 
 with some specially interesting enquirer, even before he 
 is baptized, “What a captial assistant that man may 
 make. ’ ’ 
 
 While the circumstances of the missionary furnish the 
 strongest motives to induce him to multiply native agents 
 as fast as possible, the circumstances of the natives nat- 
 urally and very strongly lead to the same result. The 
 dense population of this country, and the sharp struggle 
 for existence which it necessitates, have developed in the 
 Chinaman a singular aptitude for finding and using ways 
 and means for making a living. The comparatively ex- 
 
©bjectlone to tbe ®lb /IftctboD 
 
 9 
 
 pensive mode of life, as a rule absolutely necessary for 
 foreigners, in order to live in China with any reasonable 
 hope of health, and usefulness, naturally suggests- the 
 idea to the native that so intimate a relation as that 
 which subsists between a teacher and his disciples will 
 in this case undoubtedly prove a profitable one. The 
 Famine Relief work in the northern provinces-left the 
 impression that foreigners have money in abundance, 
 and are very ready to give it to those in need ; and 
 there are many about us now as much in need as some 
 who received aid during the famine. It is not strange, 
 but only human, that natives under these circumstances 
 should see their opportunity, •and make the most of it. 
 
 With these strong motives in the minds of the mission- 
 aries and natives conspiring to the same result, it is not 
 without excuse that we should have fallen into what I 
 now believe is a serious mistake, utterly unaware of the 
 danger and injury to the mission cause which ten, twenty, 
 or thirty years of experience have disclosed. In this 
 opinion I am not alone ; and it is a significant fact that 
 those who hold it, are for the most part persons who 
 have had a long experience on mission ground. To 
 some, these lessons have come too late to be of much 
 service to them individually ; but they will be none the 
 less useful to those who are willing to profit by the 
 experiences of others. 
 
 I fully recognize the fact that the employment and pay 
 of native laborers is, under suitable circumstances, legi- 
 timate and desirable; as much so as the employment and 
 pay of foreigners. Here however the important ques- 
 tions arise, who shall be employed, and when and how, 
 shall they be employed ? These questions will come up 
 for consideration in the course of this series of letter. 
 
 The following are some of the objections to what we 
 have agreed to call the ‘‘Old System.” 
 
 (p-Making paid agents of new converts affects injuriously 
 the stations with which they are connected. 
 
 A well informed and influential man, perhaps the lead- 
 
lo 
 
 ^etbo^s of ^lesion TlClorb 
 
 ing spirit in a new station, is one who c an be ill-spared. 
 
 removal , ma y be most disastro us to the station, and 
 'hdTmnself may never find elsewhere such an opportunity 
 fdFdoihg good. I have in mind four persons who about 
 twenty-eight years ago gave great promise of usefulness 
 in their homes in connection with our out-stations in 
 Ningpo. While working with their hands in their sev- 
 eral callings they bore, testimony to the truth wherever 
 they went, and were exciting great interest in their own 
 neighborhoods. It was not long, however, before these 
 m^ were employed, one by one mission, another by 
 another, and the interest in Christianity in and about 
 tfieTr ho mes ceased. It is to be hoped that they did 
 some good in the positions which they afterwards occu- 
 pied ; but I have not been able to learn of any one 
 of them, that his after career was a specially useful 
 one. I refer to these cases not as unusual and except- 
 ional. I could add many others from Chekiang and 
 Shantung ; and I doubt not that similar instances will 
 occur to the minds of most missionaries who read this 
 paper. 
 
 The injury to a station in these cases does not consist 
 simply in the loss of the man’s influence for good ; — 
 positive evil is introduced. Envy, jealousy, and dis- 
 satisfaction with their lot, are very apt to be excited in 
 the minds of those who are left. Others think that 
 they also should be employed, if not as preachers, as 
 servants, or in some other capacity. It would be a less 
 serious matter if this feeling could be confined to the 
 station where it. originates, but unfortunately it extends 
 to other places and there produces the same injurious 
 effects. The religious interest which passed like a wave 
 over the neighborhood, gives place to another wave of 
 excitement, and the topics of conversation are now 
 place and pay. The man employed has lost very much 
 the character he bore as a disinterested worker for the 
 spiritual good of others, and is now likely to be regarded 
 by many as a kind of employ-agent who ought to use his 
 influence to get them places. . 
 
©bjectfone to tbe Qib /Ibetbob 
 
 II 
 
 II. — Making a paid agent of a new convert often proves an 
 injury to him personally. 
 
 He is placed in a position unfavorable to the develop- 
 ment of a strong, healthy, Christian character. Some 
 of these men, originally farriers, shop keepers, peddlers, 
 or laborers in the fields, find themselves advanced to a 
 position for which they are by previous habits and train- 
 ing unsuited. The long gown and the affected scholarly 
 air are not becoming to them, and they naturally lose 
 the respect of their neighbors and their influence over 
 them. Men who were self-reliant and aggressive in 
 their original positions, now perform their routine labors 
 in a formal and perfunctory manner. Some, on the 
 other hand, are puffed up with ’pride and self-conceit, 
 and become arrogant and offensive. Here again I am 
 n ot th eorizing, but speaking from experience, and could 
 multiply cases — as I presume most missionaries could — 
 of deterioration of character in both directions above 
 indicated. 
 
 No doubt the employment of some of these men has 
 been followed by good results, but it is still a question 
 whether they might not have accomplished more had 
 they been left where they were found. Some of them 
 have proved most unsatisfactory to their employers, but 
 are retained in their places from year to year, because it 
 seems an injustice to send them back to a mode of life 
 for which they have become unfitted. Others have been 
 dismissed from service, and returned to their homes dis- 
 appointed and aggrieved; while not a few when they 
 have been^ dropped as employees have dropped their 
 f^Jhristianity, brought reproach upon the cause of Christ, 
 become the enemies of the Church, and given evidence 
 that they were only hirelings — never fit to be enrolled 
 either as preachers or as church members. 
 
 III. — The Old System makes it difficult to judge between the 
 true and false, whether as preachers or as church members. 
 
 That the Chinese are adepts in dissembling, no one 
 who has been long in China will deny. The fact that 
 
12 
 
 ^ctbot)6 ot mission MorlK 
 
 not a few, who were earnest preachers have fallen away 
 when they have ceased to be employed has already been 
 referred to. How many others there are now in employ 
 whose professions are suspended on their pay no one can 
 tell. The .Chinese are close analysts of character, and 
 know how to adapt themselves to circumstances and in- 
 dividuals. They are less apt to deceive their own people 
 than foreigners, and less apt to deceive others than those 
 by w hom they are employed. The desire that the native 
 preacher may prove a true man biases the judgment. 
 Doubtless the man employed is often self-deceived. I 
 have had a considerable number of intelligent, and to 
 all appearances sincere Christians, connected with my 
 stations, who fell back and left the Church when they 
 found they were not to be employed. These and a still 
 larger number of enquirers, who learned during the time 
 of their probation that there, was very little hope of 
 getting place and pay, and fell back before they were 
 baptized, would in all probability, if their desire for 
 employment had been gratified, be found to-day in the 
 church, sustaining perhaps a fair reputation as preachers 
 or evangelists. What lesson are we to learn from these 
 facts and experiences ? Is it not this, that so long as a 
 free use is made of new converts as paid preachers, we 
 deprive ourselves of one of the most effective means of 
 separating the chaff from the wheat, and of assuring our- 
 selves that the men we are employing are what we hope 
 f h^afe j and that we are not building, or vainly at- 
 tempting to build, on a bad foundation, 
 
 IV. — The Employment-system tends to excite a mercenary 
 spirit, and to increase the number of mercenary Christians. 
 
 Of course we fully admit that many paid agents are 
 sincere earnest men, and that they bring into the Church 
 sincere and earnest believers, some perhaps who would 
 not otherwise be reached. We are here simply pointing 
 out an evil influence and tendency which is connected 
 with one system, and is avoided by the other. A man 
 will sometimes be found who will listen to a native 
 
©I)jcction0 to tbe /iRctbob 
 
 13 
 
 preacher, apparently much interested, but knowing and 
 caring very little about what is said. When he finds an 
 opportunity, he obtains from the preacher, directly or 
 indirectly, a knowledge of what pay he gets, and how 
 he obtained his position. This man perhaps becomes a 
 diligent student of the Scriptures, and passes an excel- 
 leht examination as a candidate for baptism ; but he is 
 i nter ested in Christianity only as a means to an end. 
 When this mercenary spirit enters a Church, it has a 
 wonderful self-propagating power, and follows the uni- 
 versal law of propagating after its kind. The mercenary 
 preacher whether paid, or hoping to be paid, as natur- 
 ally draws to himself others of like affinities, as a magnet 
 attracts iron filings. 
 
 ^ In one of the districts of this province there seemed 
 a few years since to be an unusual religious awakening. 
 The interest spread from town to town ; the number of 
 enquirers was large ; and hundreds of apparently sincere 
 believers were gathered into the Church. It was after- 
 wards found that the movement was due largely to mer- 
 cenary motives of different kinds, both in the propagating 
 agents, and in those who were influenced by them. That 
 district now seems to be struck with a blight. The 
 larger part of those who were received, are now excom- 
 municated or under discipline ; a very unfavorable im- 
 pression has been made upon the people generally ; and 
 persons sincerely interested in the truth are kept back 
 from seeking a connection with the Church by the 
 unworthy examples of its members. In this district, 
 Shiukwang, there is little hope of anything being accom- 
 plished until after the pruning process has been carried 
 still farther, and we can make a new and better begin- 
 ning. It is much easier to get unworthy members into 
 the Church than it is to get them out of it ; and very 
 little good can be accomplished while they- hang upon it 
 as_an incubus. 
 
 V.— The Employment-system tends to stop the voluntary 
 work of unpaid agents. 
 
 The question naturally arises in the mind of the new 
 
14 
 
 /lRetbo &0 of /iRlaelon 'CClorft 
 
 convert, “If other persons are paid for preaching why 
 should not I be?” Under the influence of jealousy and 
 discontent it is easy to go a step farther and say, “ If 
 the missionary is so blind or so unjust as not to see or 
 acknowledge my claims to be employed as others are, I 
 will leave the work of spreading Christianity to those 
 who are paid for it.” This again is not an imaginary 
 case but a common experience. It is evident that the 
 two systems are mutually antagonistic, and whenever an 
 attempt is made to carry them on together, the voluntary 
 system labors under almost insurmountable difficulties. 
 This is a serious objection to the old system, that it stands 
 in the way of the other, and makes the success of it well 
 nigh impossible. 
 
 VI.— The Old System tends to lower the character and 
 lessen the influence of the missionary enterprise, both in the 
 eyes of foreigners and natives. 
 
 The opprobrious epithet, “ Ric e Christians,” has gain- 
 ed almost universal currency in the East, as expressive of 
 the foreigners’ estimate of the' actual results of missionary 
 work. This unfavorable judgment, formed by those who 
 are supposed, as eye witnesses, to have good grounds for 
 it, finds its way to Christian nations in the west, who 
 support missions, and prejudices the missionary cause in 
 the opinion of those who would otherwise be its sympa- 
 thetic supporters. It is a serious question how far mis- 
 sionaries are to blame for this. While we resent as false 
 the sweeping generalization which would include all 
 Christians in China, or the larger part of them in this 
 category, it is worse than useless to ignore the readiness 
 of large classes of Chinamen to become “Rice Chris- 
 tians,” and the difficulty of determining who do, and 
 who do not, belong to this class. We must alsp_adniit 
 the fact, that not a few of those who have found thdr 
 way into the Church have proved, after years of trial, to 
 be only “Rice Christians.” The idea of getting rid of 
 such altogether, is undoubtedly a fallacious one. They 
 have been connected with the Church, and probably will 
 
15 
 
 ©bjcctione to tbe ®lb /iBctbob 
 
 be, in all lands and in every age. Still, as this reproach 
 has resulted largely from the fact that hitherto a consid- 
 erable proportion of native Christians have eaten the 
 missionary’s rice,” one effective way for removing the 
 reproach is obvious. 
 
 The injurious effects of the Paid Agent system on the 
 mass of the Chinese population outside of the Church, 
 are perhaps still greater. The general opinion of the 
 Chinaman, as to, the motive of one of his countrymen 
 TiT]5ropagafj^ a foreign religToifTisTirat it is a mercenary 
 one. he learns that the native preacher is in fact 
 
 paid by foreigners, he is confirmed in his judgment. 
 What the motive is which actuates the foreign missionary ^ 
 a motive so strong that he is willing to waste life and 
 money in what seems a fruitless enterprise, he is left to 
 imagine. The most common explanation generally ex- 
 pressed by the sentence mai fuh min sin, is that it is a 
 covert scheme for buying adherents with a view to poli- 
 tical movements inimical to the state. Of course it is 
 supposed that no loyal native will have anything to do 
 with such a movement. Tf the Chinaman is told that 
 this enterprise is prompted by disinterested motives, and 
 intended for the good of his people, he is incredulous. 
 Simple professions and protestations have little weight 
 with him, in comparison with his own interpretation of 
 facts. Observing that in some of our stations only those 
 who are employed and paid, remain firm in their adher- 
 ence to the foreigner, while not a few of the others fall 
 back, his opinion is still further confirmed ; and he looks 
 on with quiet complacency, and rallies his unsuccessful 
 neighbors on their having fallen behind their competitors 
 in their scramble for money. Here again I am not im- 
 agining what may happen in the future, but am stating 
 what has actually occurred. The result is that many well 
 disposed Chinamen of the better classes, who might be 
 brought under Christian influences, are repelled, and 
 those who actually find their way into the Church, are 
 composed largely of two opposite classes, those whose 
 honest convictions are so strong that they outweigh and 
 
i6 
 
 /HbetboD 0 of /iRiesion Morb 
 
 overcome all obstacles, and unworthy persons, to whom 
 that feature in mission work which we are controverting 
 is its chief attraction. 
 
 Now we readtly admit that whatever course we may 
 take, the Chinese in general will still regard us as foreign 
 emissaries, our religion as a feint, and our converts as 
 mercenaries. What we depreciate is, gratuitously furn- 
 ishing what will be regarded as conclusive evidence that 
 these unfavorable opinions are well founded. Our ene- 
 mies are sufficiently formidable, without our giving them 
 an unnecessary advantage. The obstacles which oppose 
 us are sufficiently appalling without our adding to them, 
 and in this way postponing the time of final success. 
 
 The above are some of the principle objections which 
 may be urged against the Paid Agent scheme. We will 
 consider in the following papers what we regard as a 
 better and more Scriptural way. 
 
Chapter IMfH, 
 
 HOW SHALL WE DEAL WITH NEW CONVERTS? 
 
 The reception of first converts in any mission is an 
 epoch fruitful of consequences for good or evil. The 
 course pursued at this time will establish precedents, and 
 in a great measure fix the policy and determine the 
 character of the Church of the future. How then shall 
 these first converts be dealt with? To this weighty 
 question the Scriptures furnish us some ready answers. 
 
 I.— “ Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he 
 was called.” i Cor. 7: 20. 
 
 This command is repeated in a different form in the 
 42d verse of the same chapter. “ Brethren let every man 
 wherein he is called therein abide with God.” This 
 Apostolic injunction we are further told was ordained 
 “ for all the Churches. ” It teaches most emphatically 
 that Christianity should not disturb the social relations 
 of its adherents ; but requires them to be content with 
 their lot, and to illustrate the Gospel in the spl^res of 
 life in which they are called. How many of us have 
 given these passages of Scripture that weight of authority 
 which they deserve? How many of us have realized 
 that in taking untried Christians out of the positions in 
 which God has called them, and making evangelists .of 
 them, we may be literally, though unconsciously, oppos- 
 ing a divine purpose. Such a course directly tends to 
 unsettle the minds of new converts, and excites the very, 
 feelings of restlessness and discontent which this com- 
 mand seems specially designed to prevent. 
 
i8 
 
 /iRetbo&g of /lRl60ion TKIlorft 
 
 It may be objected that the literal carrying out of this 
 injunction would prevent missionaries ev.er employing 
 any native assistants, and would in fact have prevented 
 our coming to China, or entering the ministry. This 
 objection so far as it has any weight lies against the 
 Scripture itself. - It may be remarked however that all 
 Scripture commands are limited and conditioned by 
 other Scripture teachings, and are to be interpreted by 
 them. This passage does not determine whether a man 
 is to abide where he is called permanently or only tem- 
 porarily. This is a question to be left to the future. 
 Special providences afterwards may indicate a further 
 and different divine purpose no less clearly. So Paul 
 did not hesitate, when the proper time had come, to re- 
 move Timothy from- Lystra, and there was no inconsis- 
 tency in his doing so. 
 
 As for ourselves, we entered the ministry because we 
 believed we had a divine call to it ; and the Church has 
 sent us to China because it concurred in this opinion, 
 and considered our characters sufficiently tested and 
 proved to warrant our being sent forth to preach the 
 Gospel, with a reasonable assurance that we had re- 
 nounced worldly aims and worldly advantages to give 
 our lives to the service of Christ. All we insist on is 
 that the same principles, and the same prudence should 
 be used in dealing with the Chinese. 
 
 In determining whether this command to let every 
 man abide in his calling is applicable and binding at 
 present, it is undoubtedly legitimate to enquire whether 
 there may, not be special reasons in this present time 
 which overrule and annul it. I can think of none except 
 such as we may regard as growing out of our special 
 circumstances. For instance, we may have been pray- 
 ing for laborers for the “great harvest,” or more speci- 
 fically that God would give us a native agent to occupy 
 
 an important station at , and we say: “Is 
 
 not this the man God has sent for this very object? ” 
 ’We should not forget however that when this injunction 
 was given, there was as great need of workers, and as 
 
1bow Shall nme Beal with IRcw Converts? 19 
 
 many important places were waiting to be occupied, as 
 now. 
 
 The object we all have in view is of course to secure 
 the greatest usefulness of the convert, and the greatest 
 good to the common cause. Now if the young Chris- 
 tian seems to have qualifications for- making a good 
 evangelist, is he not just the man wanted to develop the 
 . work where he is? And will not further experience at 
 home fit him all the better for doing other work to which 
 he may be called in the future, when perhaps he may be 
 spared from his station without its suffering in conse- 
 quence? God’s designs with reference to this man are 
 wiser than ours. Let us wait for those designs to develop 
 as they surely will, and follow carefully as we are led. 
 
 Other passages of Scripture place our duty in this 
 ^^matter in a still clearer light. Not a novice, lest being 
 ^difted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the 
 devil.” By one rash and unauthorized step we may in- 
 flict an irreparable injury on the person in whom we are 
 so much interested, and destroy all hopes of his future 
 usefulness. Again,j^ ^*Be n ot many mast ers (teachers) 
 knowing that we shall rec^ve the greater condemna- 
 tion.” This is a warning to would-be teachers, and 
 may be applied with equal force to those who would 
 gratuitously assume the responsibility of recommending 
 and employing, teachers, without* sufficient Scriptural 
 grounds for doing so. Again we are taught: “Lay 
 hands suddenly on no man, neither be partakers, of 
 other men’s sins ; ’keep thyself pure.” The pertinency 
 of these passages is too obvious to require lengthened 
 remarks. 
 
 
 II. — The Importance of Precedents. 
 
 The Chinese are remarkable for their tendency to fol- 
 low a fixed routine, and to be governed by precedents. 
 K the first convert is soon employed, those .who follow 
 will ^xp^t to. be, also, If the first station is supplied 
 with a chapel, succeeding ones will require the same, 
 and so on indefinitely. As a matter of precedent, the 
 
20 
 
 /IRetboC>s ot /K>i66lon 'HClorft 
 
 question as to whether the Gospel shall be first intro- 
 duced by the instrumentality of paid or unpaid agents, 
 is of such importance as to deserve very careful atten- 
 tion. Here again we get light from Scripture. Nothing 
 * is more strikingly characteristic of the Missionary Meth- 
 ods^bf tbe Apostle Paul than his purpose to preach the 
 Gospel freely or “without charge.” He gives us very 
 . v'Q'clearlyliis reason for doing this. “ For yourselves know 
 how ye ought to follow us ; for we behaved not ourselves 
 disorderly among you ; neither did we eat any man’s 
 bread for naught; but wrought with labor and travail 
 night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any 
 of you : not because we have not power, but to make 
 ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us. For even 
 when we were with you, this we commanded you, that 
 if any would not work, neither should he eat. For we 
 hear that there are some which walk among you disor- 
 derly, working not at all but are busybodies. Now them 
 that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, that with quijtness they work and eat their own 
 bread.” 'S ^THe^ There were in Thessalortica 
 
 and other^Taces~mTjr^e, as there are now in China, 
 idlers, busybodies or disorderly persons, who would fain 
 live without work. From such persons Paul apprehended 
 great danger to the infant Church ; and he not only de- 
 nounced them in unsparing terms, but determined by 
 his own example to furnish a precedent which would 
 have more weight in establishing a fixed usage in the 
 Church than anything he could say. ‘In addressing the 
 Ephesian eljlers he gives the same reason for the course 
 adopted. “Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands 
 have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that 
 were with me. I have showed you all things, how that 
 so laboring ye ought to support the weak, and to remem- 
 ber the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more 
 blessed to give than to receive.”’ Acts_ 2 o: 34i_35- 
 The Apostle in the pth chapter o f ist Co rinthians lays 
 down the general rule that, as a matter of right, the 
 teacher should depend for his temporal support on the 
 
1 bow Shall “HXIle Deal with IFlew Converte? 21 
 
 taught ; still in first introducing the Gospel to a heathen 
 people, he felt it his duty to waive this privilege. The 
 example which he set was that of a preacher not having 
 his influence curtailed by the suspicion that he is laboring 
 for pay. While the Church at home has decided that in 
 lands where Christian institutions are established the 
 pastor should depend for his support on his flock, and 
 abstain from secular employments, 1 believe it is best, at 
 least in the first stage of mission work, for the native 
 evangelist to follow Paul’s example. Take a man labor- 
 ing on the plane of his ordinary life as an earnest Chris- 
 tian and make him a paid laborer, and you deprive him 
 of half his influence. It may be said that by paying him 
 you enable him to give all his time to evangelistic work. 
 Still it is a fair question, (we are now speaking of new 
 converts,) whether a man will accomplish more for good 
 in the end by preaching, or by simply living Christianity. 
 The examples that we want are those of men illustrating 
 Christianity during six days of secular work, as well as 
 by one day of Sabbath observance. Such men and such 
 women present Christianity in the concrete. They are 
 “ cities set on a hill ” — “ epistles known and read of all 
 men.” When stations multiply after this type they 
 strike root into the soil. There is life»and aggressive- 
 ness in them. 
 
 Some _ will ^ icabably ask— ^CWliy_da.jnot missionaries 
 themselves w ork with their own hands, and set the same ex- 
 ampl^ thaTPaul did ? ” If circumstances were the same, 
 and the course chosen by the Apostle were now practi- 
 cable, and would secure the same end that it did in his 
 case, it ought to be adopted, and I believe missionaries 
 would adopt it gladly. The reason why we do not is, 
 that doing so in our case would defeat the object aimed 
 at. Our circumstances as foreign missionaries in China 
 are different from those of the Apostle Paul in almost 
 every particular. H e was a R oman citizen in the Ro- 
 man empire. He labored in his native climate ; was 
 master of Greek and Hebrew, the two languages required 
 foTprosecuting his work ; and his physical and intellec- 
 
22 
 
 /IRctboDs of /Iblssion llClorft 
 
 # 
 
 tual training had been the same as those with whom and 
 'fbr' whom he labored. We, in coming to China, are 
 obliged from the first to undertake the work of acquiring 
 a spoken and a wTitten language, both very difficult, 
 taxing mind and body to the utmost, and demanding all 
 our time and energies. We have to submit to the dis- 
 advantage and drudgery of learning in comparatively 
 advanced life, (so far as we are able to do it,) what the 
 Chinaman learns, and what Paul learned, in childhood 
 and early manhood. Besides, for a foreigner to support 
 . himself in China in competition with natives in any de- 
 partment of manual labor is manifestly impracticable ; 
 and one attempting to do so would diminish rather than 
 increase his influence. Were it practicable and consis- 
 tent with duty, how many of us who have a natural taste 
 for mechanics, or agriculture, or business, would gladly 
 spend a portion of our time in these pursuits, rather than 
 in the wearisome work of the study. Is it not obvious 
 that the only persons who can furnish in China the much 
 needeBTxample of propagating Christianity while they 
 laboCVrtli" their own hands, are not Europeans, but 
 natives laboring for and among their own people? 
 
 The importance of trusting at first mainly to voluntary 
 unpaid agency^ or rather to the influence of Christian 
 men and women remaining in their original callings, 
 may be further shown by other considerations. It is a 
 prevalent idea in China that diligent and successful 
 attention to temporal and religious matters at the same 
 time is impossible. We often hear the remark from 
 Chinamen ; “I am tijed-of the world and its employ- 
 nients, and should like to enter the religion ; ” the true 
 int^pi^ation of which generally is, that the man would 
 like to avoid work and live on the “ Kiao-hwui.” An- 
 other says ‘ ‘ Chnstianit y is good. J ^utT-musI eariLa living 
 f or mv fkmily C* Sometimes this is a me£e_excuse) and 
 sometimes it expresses aqiian’s honest conviction>. that 
 an effort to lead a Christian life will interfere with his 
 temporal prospects. Xbelieye that nothing is more im- 
 portant to the success of our work than to do away with 
 
1bow Shall We Deal with Iftew Converts? 23 ’ 
 
 this idea; and this can be best accomplished by living 
 e^mpTes s howin g that a ma n may be a good Christian 
 ajid_a^Qod famier or artisan at the same time; or in 
 o ther w ords, that “Godliness is profitable unto all 
 tjiings^iiavmg the promise of the life that now is and 
 of that which is to come.” Even voluntary and unpaid 
 preaching is not to be compared for wholesome influence 
 ^to earnest, consistent, Christian lives. The secret of 
 the world’s evangelization is to be found in the words 
 of our Saviour; “Let your light so shine before men 
 that they seeing your good works, may glorify your 
 Father which is in heaven.” During the last few years 
 I have often found it necessary to exhort and remonstrate 
 with some of my people in such language as the follow- 
 ing : “ Though it is commendable for you to visit your 
 friends and acquaintances, and to talk to them about 
 Christianity when you have time to do so^ you must not 
 neglect Jour business. Your usefulness as a Christian, 
 the reb'gious inferests of your station, and the spread of 
 the Gospel in the neighborhood, depend laj ;ge^on your 
 success and prosperity in tem poral matters . If you neg- 
 lect your business, and run in debt, and are obliged to 
 sell one acre of land this year and two the next, you 
 will be a warning to all your neighbors, and they will 
 point to you and say, — ‘ Beware of the Christian religion ; 
 
 our friend — entered it and in a few years he and 
 
 his family were brought to want.’ If this is the outcome 
 of your life in temporal things, all your preaching to your 
 neighbors will do little-good. ’ ’ 
 
 ‘Some will say that depending largely upon the volun- 
 tary and unpaid labor of native Christians for the j5rop- 
 agation of the Gospel is pre-supposing a larger amount 
 of zeal and devotion on their part than is found among 
 Christians at home. If this is true, so much the worse 
 for Christians at home. I believe the contrary however. 
 There is a great army of active workers at home, as well 
 as idlers. As to young converts in our country stations, 
 it is a fact that they are willing to do this work, and able 
 to do it, and still further that they do it. In the early 
 
24 /BbetboD6 of /lfti66ion Morb 
 
 history of the Church, as recorded in the Acts of the 
 Apostles, Christiantfy~ spf^d chiefly through the volun- 
 tary zeal of ordinary ch mernbers, and the wor^ of 
 the Apostles consisted mainly in superintending and 
 'organizing the companies .of Christians thus gatheied. 
 Their zeal was so great that persecution could not re- 
 press, but only intensified it. If there is not that zeal and 
 effort in the Church at home it is much to be deplored. 
 Perhaps the want of it is due in a great measure to a 
 growing habit of leaving work for Christ to be done by 
 those who are paid for it. Where such an idea prevails, 
 whether at home or on missionary ground, it tends to 
 paralyze the power of the Church for good. 
 
 It may be objected further that this aggressive zeal to 
 which I have referred is due largely to the expectation 
 of being employed; and that for this reason it is not to 
 be relied upon, since it will decline as the hope of em- 
 ployment diminishes. There is no doubt much truth in 
 this. Shall we then knowingly and deliberately pander 
 to this mercenary spirit, and by continuing to employ 
 new converts increase and perpetuate an evil which we 
 deplore ; or shall we not rather by refraining from em- 
 ploying them put a stop to the evil as soon as possible ? 
 While, however, without doubt some of these voluntary 
 laborers are working with selfish aims, I believe there 
 are others who work from higher and worthier motives. 
 Let us depend on these, and we shall not be disappointed. 
 No,t -giving pecuniary employment to new converts will 
 probably retard ourjyork 'for a time, at least so far as 
 nunibers adhefehts.is_c but it will promote 
 
 the work in the end. 
 
 Ml.— We may get help in learning how to deal with new 
 converts and stations by considering the nature of the Church 
 and the law of its development. 
 
 Christianity, whether embodied in the individual or 
 in a Church, is the outgrowth of a vital principle. In 
 the spiritual as well as vegetable kingdom every vital 
 germ has its own law of life and development, and it is 
 
1bow Shall tune Bcal wltb IRew Converts 1 - 25 
 
 only by following that law that the highest development 
 can be secured. Christianity has been introduced into 
 the world, as a plant which will thrive best confronting 
 and contending with all the forces of its environment ; 
 not as a feeble exotic which can only live when nursed 
 and sheltered. All unnecessary nursing will do it harm . 
 A pine may be trained into a beautiful an3~7antastic 
 shape, so as to be an object of interest and curiosity, 
 and may flourish in a way ; but it will not tower heaven- 
 ward as the king of the forest,- unless from first to last it 
 is subjected to the various and seemingly adverse influ- 
 ences of scorching sun, biting frost, and raging tempest. 
 A certain amount of care, and especially the right kind, 
 is necessary : too much or injudicious care is injurious, 
 and may be fatal to the life which it is intended to 
 promote. 
 
 IV. — Young converts should be proved, before they are em- 
 ployed and advanced to responsible public positions. 
 
 It is said of deafcons in the ,,^rd_-chapter of Timothy, 
 
 Let them al so be proved.” The also refers no doubt 
 to the previous qualifications required in bishops. These 
 varied qualifications include knowledge, e^Tperfence, sell- 
 culture spiritual growth, and dis cTp line ; all combining 
 together to form a stable and reliable basis of character. 
 If deacons and bishops must first be proved, is there not 
 the same necessity for proving preachers and evangelists? 
 There are laws in civilized countries requiring that in 
 testing an anchor-chain or a wire cable it shall be sub- 
 jected to a strain greater than will be required in after 
 use before precious treasure and more precious lives are 
 trusted to it. Ordinary prudence,*aside from. Scripture 
 command, would dictate the still greater necessity of 
 testing the character of a man who is to be used in 
 matters affecting the temporal and spiritual interests, 
 immediately and prospectively, of perhaps thousands. 
 In the zeal and glow of first converts they are apt, and 
 that unwittingly, to deceive not only us but themselves. 
 By all means let them be proved. How can this be done 
 
26 
 
 ^ctbo&6 Of /lRi60fon 'HXIlorft 
 
 without leaving them to meet the difficulties and trials 
 incident to the condition in which they are found, and 
 that for a considerable length of time ? We have further 
 authoritative teaching from our Saviour himself on this 
 point, especially designed to guard against the dangers 
 resulting from the influeirce of false teachers. “ By their 
 fruits ye shall know them.” The outward appearance 
 of a tree may give promise of its being everything we 
 could desire ; but we cannot be sure of its character untjl 
 it bears frui t ; for this we may have to wait for years, and 
 even then find ourselves disappointed. 
 
 V. — Young converts before they are advanced to positions 
 of prominence and responsibility, should also be trained. 
 
 The processes of proving and training, though quite 
 different and distinct, are carried on simultaneously, and 
 largel;^y the sanf^_ meajis. This tr aining mcludes not 
 only ^tqdy>T)ut <^rl^ rial, and perhaps buffering. It 
 should be such as will fit a man to endure hardness as a 
 good soldier of Jesus Christ. A man may be carried 
 through a course of Jjiealogical training, freed from the 
 strugg^lei)f ordinary life by having all his wants provided 
 for, and yet get very little of this disciplinary training 
 which is so important. We may think we are helping a 
 man by relieving him of burdens, when we are in fact 
 injuring him by interfering with this training. Here 
 I again the element of time is a necessity. We are so apt 
 ko be in haste ; — to spur ourselves on to premature and 
 fruitless Tflfort by the consideration of how many souls 
 ■ are jperishing while we are delaying. After the Apostle 
 ^ Pauljwas chosen and called, he was kept waiting nearjj 
 before he was commanded to.entey upon his 
 • special life work. Who will say that those ten years were 
 not as important as any other period of his life, or that 
 his after usefulness did not depend on them? Timot hy, 
 also, by years of active and successful labor at home, 
 obtained a good report of the brethren in Lystra and 
 Derbe, after which he accompanied Paul as a helper; 
 and when many years of proving and training were 
 
1bow ©ball Wic Beal with 1Rcw Converts! 27 
 
 passed, he became Paul’s co-laborer and successor in the 
 work of evangelization and the founding of churches. 
 
 If it be further asked what then is the best way to 
 train men for usefulness in the Church, I know of no 
 better answer, at least for the first stage of preparation, 
 than to repeat the Scripture injunction, “J^^yery nrian 
 abide in the calling wherein he was called.” Nothing 
 else can supply the place of God’s providential training 
 in the school of ordinary life and practical experience. 
 
 If God who has called a man to the fellowship of his 
 Church, has also called him to the work of the ministry. 
 He will manifest His purpose in His own time and way. 
 Meanwhile we should give these young cgnverts all the 
 instruction, advice, and help, which Christian sympathy 
 and prudence suggest. 
 
 VI.— We should with faith and confidence commit young con- 
 verts “to the Lord on whom they believed.” 
 
 This was the course unhesitatingly adopted by the 
 Apostle Paul ; and I know of no reason why we should 
 not follow his example. Our Saviour has promised to 
 be always with His people unto the end of the world ; 
 and to send the blessed Spirit of all grace to abide with 
 them forever. He will give them by conferring* special 
 graces of His Spirit, “prophets, teachers, exhorters, 
 helps, and governments,” as they are required. Paul 
 on his departur e from places where he had made converts, 
 often left Timothy or Silas or others to spend days or 
 weeks iiT instructing, exhorting, and comforting them ; 
 and also senttspecial messengers to individual churches 
 to correct abuses and furnish help as occasion required ; 
 but we read in the Acts of the Apostles of no case in 
 which he left any one to stay with them as their resident • 
 minister. I believe that in failing to follow this Apos- 
 tolic example we have often checked the development 
 of individual gifts, and self-reliance, and aggressive 
 power in our Churches; making them weak, inefficient 
 and dependent from the first. 
 
 , In the meantime in view of the great need of evan- 
 
28 
 
 /lRetbo^s of /lftl66ion Morft 
 
 gelists to enter open fields not yet reached, and of pastors 
 and teachers to care for those who are already gathered 
 into the fold, let us heed the solemn injunction of our 
 Lord; “ Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He will 
 send forth lal3orers into His harvest.” 
 
Chapter 1flD. 
 
 ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF STATIONS IN CENTRAL SHANTUNG: 
 
 Prea ching tours formed a prominent part of mission 
 work from the first occupation of Shantung by Protestant 
 missionaries in the year i860. During the years that 
 immediately followed, the whole of eastern Shantung 
 was traversed by members of the American Baptist and 
 Presbyterian Missions. In 1866, Rev. C. W. Mateer 
 and Rev. H. Corbett made a tour in central Shantung 
 for the purpose chiefly of distributing and selling^books. 
 This was -the first visit paid to Chbng-chow fu and 
 vicinity by Protestant missionaries. It was afterwards 
 visited repeatedly by Dr. Williamson and other members 
 of the U. P. Mission of Scotland, and Rev. J. MacIntyre, 
 a member of that mission, resided two years in Wei 
 Hien, the chief city of the adjacent district on the east. 
 It was also visited from time to time by different mem- 
 bers of the American Presbyterian mission ; and in 1874, 
 and 1875, included in my regular itinerating tours, 
 made twice a year. 
 
 Pev. 'I'imothy Richard commenced regular work in 
 Ch‘ing-chow fu as a resident missionary in 1875. There 
 wer6 then in that region only two converts, and these 
 were connected with Mr. Corbett. 
 
 Previous to the work of Famine Distribution in the 
 spring of 1877, Mr. Richard had gathered about him a 
 little company of enquirers, and I had also a few en- 
 quirers in the district of An-Ch‘iu, about forty-five miles 
 S, E. of Chdng-chow fu. 
 
30 
 
 jfiftetboDs ot /iftissfon ‘HClorb 
 
 In the spring of 1877, Richard and Rev. Alfred 
 G. Jones gave all their time* and energies to the work 
 of Famine Relief. I took part in the same work in 
 Kao-yai, a market town in the western extremity of 
 An-chdu, and near the borders of the two other Men 
 Lin-ch‘u and Ch‘ang-loh, and continued it about three 
 months until the *close of the famine ; distributing aid 
 to about 30,000 people, from more than 300 villages. 
 
 The famine relief presented us to the people in a new 
 and favorable light, and gave a fresh impulse to our 
 work of evangelization. The establishment, of stations 
 may be said to have fairly begun after the famine, 
 though a spirit of enquiry had been awakened before. 
 In the spring, of 1879, Corbett again visited this 
 region, and from this time took part in mission work 
 there. 
 
 There are now in the department of Chdng-chow fu 
 connected with the English Baptist mission, and with 
 Mr. Corbett and myself about one hundred and fifty 
 stations, and near 3,500 converts, about i,ooo of them 
 belonging to the Baptist Mission. 
 
 On the main points of mission policy we are happily 
 nearly of one mind. All^these stations provide their 
 own houses of worship ; none of them are cared for by 
 a resident paid pr eacher ; but in each of them one or 
 more of its own members voluntarily conducts services 
 on Sunday, and attends to the general spiritual interests 
 of the little company of believers with whom he is 
 connected, under the superintendence of the foreign 
 missionary in charge. In all these stations great prom- 
 inence is given to catechetical teaching, and also to 
 affording special instruction to the leaders, with a view 
 to their teaching others. These form the distinguishing 
 features of our work, and our main, points of agreement. 
 
 Xh e Bap tis t statio ns have miiitiphed c hiefly thro :^h 
 the voluntary la bors o f unpaid Christians; and radiate 
 from theGfentre~at Ch‘ing-chow hi. Their staff of Chi- 
 nese laborers now consists of a native pastor who is a 
 Nanking man baptized more than twenty years ago', and 
 
Stations in Central Shantung 31 
 
 four evangelists paid by the mission, and two elders 
 paid by the native Christians. 
 
 My work spread from the centre at Kao-yai, almost 
 entirely, so far as natives are concerned, through the 
 voluntary labors of the Chinese Christians. My staff 
 of paid laborers at present consists of two native 
 helpers, supported hitherto partly by the natives and 
 partly by myself. I have from the first used a few 
 others occasionally. 
 
 Mr. Corbett commenced his work with the assistance 
 of church members from older stations. He has used 
 a much larger number of helpers, and his stations are 
 more disconnected, being found in different districts to 
 which his preachers and evangelists have been sent. 
 His staff of native laborers consists of about twenty- 
 two paid helpers, and twenty teachers. The latter re- 
 ceive from him on an~avera^^ about fifteen dollars a 
 year, with what they can get in addition from the 
 natives. 
 
 With these general statements respecting the whole 
 field, I propose to give a more detailed account of my 
 own stations and work, with which 1 am naturally more 
 intimately acquainted. I presume, however, that in de- 
 tailing my own experience 1 shall be giving in the main 
 that also of my brethren. When important points of 
 difference occur they will be spoken of in loco. 
 
 Mutual Relations of the Missionary, Helpers and Leaders. 
 
 The characteristic feature of our stations is that the 
 principal care of them is intrusted, nof to paid preachers 
 set over them and resident among them, but to leaders 
 belonging to the stations. These leaders are simply 
 church members among church members, pursuing their 
 daily calling as before conversion. They form a very 
 important link in the chain of influences starting from 
 the foreign missionary. Next to the missionary is the 
 native helper, who is generally a well instructed Chris- 
 tian of some years experience. He is under the control 
 and direction of the missionary, and acts for him in 
 
32 
 
 /iftctbo^s of /lftl66ion Morft 
 
 supplementing his labors and carrying out his instruc- 
 tions. Next to the helper is the leader, through whom 
 principally the helper brings his influence to bear on the 
 Christians and enquirers generally. 
 
 The stations are organized on the principle that all its mem- 
 bers are to be workers. 
 
 It is our aim that each man, woman, and child shall 
 be both a learner from some one more advanced, and a 
 teacher of sohie one less advanced. Theoretically, the 
 missionary does nothing which the helper can do for 
 him ; the helper does nothing which the leader can do ; 
 and the leader does nothing which he can devolve upon 
 those under him. In this way much time is saved ; the 
 gifts of all are utilized and developed ; and the station 
 as an organized whole grows in knowledge, strength, 
 and efficiency. The leader constantly superintends, 
 directs and examines those under him ; the helper 
 directs and examines the leaders and their stations ; 
 and the missionary in charge has a general supervision 
 and control of the whole. 
 
 - It has been my habit to visit the stations regularly 
 twice a year ; to examine carefully into the circum- 
 stances of each one of them ; and the progress in knowl- 
 edge and performance of Christian duties of e'ach 
 Christian and enquirer. 
 
 One of my helpers has the charge of nearly forty 
 stations, located in four different districts or hien, which 
 he visits regularly once every two months. T'he other 
 helper has the ch5.rge of about ten stations and devotes 
 part -of his time to evangelistic work outside of them. 
 A few are without the care of a native helper, and are 
 only visited by the foreign missionary. 
 
 The forty stations under one helper are divided into 
 seven geographical groups'of from four to seven stations 
 each. The helper visits these groups in regular rotation, 
 once every two months by appointment, spending about 
 a week in each. On Sunday he holds a general or union 
 service, leaders and other prominent Church members 
 
Stations In Central Sbantunci 
 
 33 
 
 being present. The object aimed at is to make this 
 union service conducted by the helper the model for 
 the leaders to pattern after in their several stations dur- 
 ing the seven or eight weeks when they are by them- 
 selves. Once in two months when the helper is absent, 
 each of these groups has a similar union service con- 
 ducted by the leaders, exercises and persons in charge 
 having been appointed by the helper in advance. 
 
 The form of exercises for Sundays both morning and 
 afternoon, consists of four parts. First, a kind of in- 
 formal Sufiday School in which every person present is 
 expected, with the superintendence of the leader and 
 those under him, to prosecute his individual studies ; 
 whether learning the Chinese character ; committing to 
 memory passages of Scripture ; telling Scripture stories ; 
 or studying the catechism or Scripture question books. 
 Second, we have the more fonnal Service of worship, 
 consisting of singing, reading of the Scriptures with a 
 few explanations or exhortations, and prayer; the whole 
 occupying not more than three quarters of an hour. 
 Third, we have the Scripture Story Exercise. Some one 
 previously appointed tells the story ; the leader of the 
 meeting then calls on different persons one after another 
 to reproduce it in consecutive parts; and afterwards all 
 present take part in drawing practical lessons and duties 
 from it. There is never time for more than one story, 
 and often that one has to be divided, and has two Sun- 
 days given to it. Fourth, if there is time a Catechetical 
 Exercise follows in which all unite, .designed to bring 
 out more clearly the meaning of what they have already 
 learned — as the Lord’s prayer, the Ten Commandments, 
 select passages of Scripture, some book of Scripture, 
 or some special subject such as the duty of benevo- 
 lence, &c. 
 
 This general order of exercises is modified or varied 
 when the circumstances of a station make it advisable 
 that it should be. 
 
 Leaders are sometimes formally selected by their sta- 
 tions. More generally, however, they find themselves 
 3 
 
34 
 
 /IRetboC)9 ct /llbission Morb 
 
 in this position as the natural result of providential 
 circumstances. In many cases the leader is the person 
 who originated the station with which he is connected, 
 the other members having been brought into the Church 
 by his instrumentality. These members look up to him 
 as their natural head and teacher, and a strong feeling 
 of gratitude, Christian sympathy, and responsibility, 
 grows up spontaneously. In some cases persons brought 
 in afterwards are more gifted or literary than the orig- 
 inal leader, and after a time take his place, or are asso- 
 ciated with him as joint leaders. In some stations 
 women are the first converts, and even after men have 
 joined them, exert a marked if not the chief influence, 
 and take a prominent part in teaching, exhortation, and 
 prayer. 
 
 Chapels. The chapels, with the chapel furniture, are 
 provided by the natives themselves. As a rule they are 
 not separate, buildings, but form a part of the ordinary 
 Chinese dwelling house. Often the chapel belongs to 
 the leader. Sometimes it is rented by the Christians ; 
 and in a few places it is a new building specially erected 
 for the purpose of worship. When this is the case, 
 Christians from other villages assist with their contribu- 
 tions ; and I have also generally contributed, to the 
 amount of about one-tenth of the value of the building. 
 The cost of these chapels ranges from thirty to one 
 hundred dollars each. There is as yet no chapel the 
 ownership of which is vested in the Church as a whole. 
 Even when a new building is erected it belongs to the 
 man on whose ground it stands. The fact that the 
 chapels form a part of the ordinary dwelling houses of 
 the people exempts the Christians, I think, from a good 
 deal of prejudice and persecution which is apt to be 
 excited by and directed, towards distinctive Church 
 buildings. 
 
 Instruction of Enquirers and Church Members. 
 
 Perhaps the most important question which can arise 
 in connection with our country stations is, how shall we 
 
Stations in Central Sbantung 
 
 35 
 
 most effectually carry out the command of our Saviour, — 
 “Feed my sheep,” “Feed my lambs.” As has been 
 before indicated, the persons mainly depended upon for 
 performing this work are the leaders. In our present 
 circumstances in Shantung, no other plan is possible. 
 Where could we obtain native preachers for teaching 
 and superintending the one hunH r^H fi Ay- sta tions 
 
 already established ? There are less than a dozen can- 
 didates for the ministry in the whole field. We cannot 
 yet know how many of these will be acceptable to the 
 people ; and the number of stations is constantly in- 
 creasing. Were it desirable to supply each station with 
 a native preacher we have not the men ; and it would 
 not be reasonable to suppose that we should have at this 
 stage of our work. If we had the men, who would 
 support them ? The natives at present are too weak to 
 do it, and if the foreign Boards were able to assume this 
 burden, their doing so would establish a precedent which 
 would add very much to the difficulties of making the 
 native Churches independent and self-supporting in the 
 future. 
 
 In my opinion we may go a step farther,, and say that 
 th^ntroduction oT paid preachers in each station, .oven 
 if it were possible, would not at present be desirable. 
 The leaders understand better than a person from a dis- 
 tance could, the individual peculiarities of their neigh- 
 bors, and also the tones and inflections of the local 
 dialect, and local expressions, illustrations, and habits 
 of thought. They are likely to be more interested in 
 those about them, most of whom may be called their 
 own converts, than any one else could be, and are more 
 disposed to give them the care and attention necessary 
 in instructing beginners. In teaching they set an ex- 
 ample to others ; a larger ipmber of teachers is thus 
 secured than could be obtained in any other way ; and 
 learning and teaching go on together, the one preparing 
 for the other, and the teaching being an important part 
 of the learning, perhaps quite as useful to the teacher as 
 to the taught. Though the knowledge of the leaders 
 
36 
 
 ^etboDe of /ibiBsion ‘iOIlorb 
 
 may be elementary and incomplete, they are quite in 
 advance of the o*ther church members and enquirers, 
 and what they do know is just what the others need first 
 to learn ; and the leaders are especially fitted to com- 
 municate this knowledge, simply because they are not 
 widely separated in intelligence and sympathy from 
 those who are to be taught. 
 
 It must be admitted that in this matter of appointing 
 leaders we meet in the beginning with serious difficulties. 
 Sometimes it is almost impossible to find one. The 
 station contains perhaps not a single person who can 
 read. Even then, however, a modification of our plan 
 is found to work good results in the end. If the weak 
 station is within reach of a stronger older one, it can 
 obtain help by worshiping with and gaining instruction 
 from it, or by some member of the older station coming 
 to spend Sunday with his less advanced and less favored 
 brethren. The helper too is expected to give special 
 time and care to these weak stations. There ar^not a 
 ffiw cases of me n, and also of women, who at first could 
 not read, who can now rea^ the Scriptures, teach, and 
 lead the singing ; and are not only efficient leaders in 
 their own stations but exert a happy influence outside 
 of it. 
 
 From the first, we emphasize rather than 
 
 /freacMn^ l. 'KQrQ use the word “preaching ” in its 
 silecific sense of logical and more or less elaborate dis- 
 sertation. We should remember that continuous dis- 
 course is something which is almost unknown in China. 
 Even educated Chinamen follow it with difficulty. A 
 carefully prepared sermon from a trained native preacher 
 or a foreign missionary, such a sermon as would be 
 admirably suited to an intelligent educated Christian 
 congregation, is out of place in a new station. From 
 the fact that it is adapted to another kind of congrega- 
 tion, it is by necessary consequence unsuitable here. 
 An attempt at formal preaching by those who have 
 neither the Scriptural knowledge nor the intellectual and 
 practical training to fit them for it is still more to be 
 
Station6 In Central Shantung 
 
 37 
 
 deprecated. We who are accustomed from childhood 
 to instruction by lectures and sermons, naturally and 
 very properly introduce them in the mission centres 
 where we are located ; and our personal teachers, and 
 pupils trained in our schools, become accustomed to 
 them, and are profited by them. In the country sta- 
 tions, a few of the more advanced Christians may be 
 benefited by a sermon, but to the great body of hearers 
 who most need instruction it would be like listening to 
 utterances in an unknown tongue. This kind of preach- 
 ing gives rise in the Church from its very infancy to a 
 kind of formalism which is almost fatal to growth and 
 progress. The congregation rises, or sits, or kneels as 
 directed, and may maintain a reverent attitude, and 
 listen, or have the appearance of listening, to what is 
 said : in a word they have a service, and go home with 
 their consciences satisfied, but their minds not enlight- 
 ened. Even the Quaker method of sitting before God 
 in silent meditation or mute reverence would be prefer- 
 able to having the mind distracted by allusions to 
 something they have not heard of, thoughts beyond 
 their reach, and processes of reasoning which they can- 
 not follow. I am far from saying that no good is 
 accomplished. Those who engage in such a service, as 
 many of them do, feeling that they are offering homage 
 and worship to the true God their Heavenly Father, 
 though they may only catch an occasional idea from a 
 prayer, or an exhortation, ora sermon, will be benefited, 
 and their worship will no doubt be accepted. Most of 
 the persons in our congregations are, as regards their 
 mental development, in the condition of children, and 
 have to be treated as such. 
 
 But to return to the methods of teaching which we 
 have been led to adopt. All converts at first receive 
 more or less oral instruction and direction from the 
 foreign missionary, or the native helper, or the leader 
 by whom they are brought into the Church, d'hey are 
 required to commit to memory and to learn the meaning 
 of a simple Catechism containing a compendium of 
 
38 
 
 jfflbctboDB of /Iftission ‘maorb 
 
 Christian doctrine, and also forms of prayer and pas- 
 sages of Scripture. During the period of probation 
 they are expected to attend services regularly, and to 
 perform the religious duties of professing Christians. 
 The time of probation has varied from six months, (or 
 less in exceptional cases,) to one or two years. Our 
 English Baptist brethren have recently increased it, fix- 
 ing the minimum at eighteen months. 
 
 We have found it necessary in order to systematize 
 and unify our work to establish rules and regulations, 
 which have been put up in the chapels as placards. 
 Most of these, having been adopted by Mr. Corbett and 
 myself, are now embodied in the new edition of the 
 Manual for Enquirers, which is published by the North 
 China Tract Society. This Manual, the Catechism, and 
 the Gospels, are the books which I place in the hands 
 of every enquirer, and little more is needed for years 
 in the way of text books for those who have not pre- 
 viously learned to read. 
 
 'Fhe Manual contains : General Directions for Prose- 
 cuting Scripture Studies ; Forms of Prayer ; the Apos- 
 tles’ Creed ; and Select Passages of Scripture — to be 
 committed to memory. Then follows ; a large selection 
 of Scripture stories and parables, with directions as to 
 how they should be recited and explained ; only the 
 titles of these are given with references to the place 
 in the Bible where they are to be found. Then follow: 
 Rules for the Organization and Direction of Stations; 
 Duties of Leaders and Rules for their Guidance ; a sys- 
 tem of forms for keeping Station Records, of attendance 
 and studies, &c. ; Form of Church Covenant ; Scrip- 
 ture Lessons for Preparing for Baptism ; the same for 
 preparing for the Lord’s Supper ; Order of Exercises 
 for Church Service and Directions for Spending Sunday ; 
 a short Scripture Catechism — enforcing the Duty of Giving 
 of our substance for benevolent purposes ; and a short 
 essay on the Duty of Every Christian to make known 
 the Gospel to Others. To the whole is appended Ques- 
 tions on the various parts, specially prepared to facilitate 
 
Stations In Central Shantung 
 
 39 
 
 the teaching and examination of learners. A selection 
 of our most common Hymns is also sometimes bound 
 up with the volume. 
 
 Studies prosecuted are divided into six kinds; all 
 church members and enquirers are supposed to be carry- 
 ing on two or three of these at the same time, of which 
 a complete record is kept. The six kinds of studies 
 are — Learning to Read ; Memorizing Scripture ; Read- 
 ing Scripture in course; telling Scripture Stories; Learn- 
 ing the meaning of Scripture ; and Reviews of former 
 exercises. The books used are almost exclusively in 
 Mandarin, in the Chinese character. 
 
 We find Catechisms and Scripture question books of 
 great use not only for enquirers but the more advanced 
 Christians. 
 
 I give great prominence to learning and reciting Scrip- 
 ture Stories and Parables, and nothing has been found to 
 produce more satisfactory results. It excites interest, 
 develops thought, and furnishes in a simple form a com- 
 pendium of Bible History and Christian Duty ; while a 
 careful training in relating Bible Stories and drawing 
 practical lessons from them is one of the best ways of 
 developing preaching talent wherever it is found. 
 
 Scholars as well as the illiterate are required to learn 
 the Manual, not only for their own sakes but in order to 
 teach others. They soon familiarize themselves with its^ 
 contents, and pass on to the general study of the Scrip- 
 tures with the help of commentaries. 
 
 Bible or Training Classes. 
 
 The stations of Mr. Corbett and myself are on an 
 average about two hundred miles distant from our home 
 in Chefoo. In visiting them we have only time for 
 necessary examinations, together with general instruc- 
 tions and directions. To secure thorough and method- 
 ical teaching, no plan has been found practicable but 
 that of a select number of the learners coming to us in 
 Chefoo. These have been organized into classes which 
 have formed a kind of Normal School. At first enquirers 
 
40 /IRctboDs of /Ifti60lon TlClorb 
 
 came. Since stations have been established, enquirers 
 in the vicinity of them prepare for baptism at home. 
 For several years past our classes have been composed 
 of the more advanced church members especially selected 
 and invited. They come with the understanding that in 
 going back to their homes they are to communicate what 
 they have learned to others. They are in no sense in 
 our employ or pay, and their previous occupations and 
 relations continue as before. As we are absent on our 
 tours in the spring and autumn, the classes assemble in 
 Chefoo during the summer and winter months when we 
 are at home, and continue in session from six weeks to 
 two months. 
 
 In many cases we have been obliged to pay the travel- 
 ling expenses of members of the classes in returning 
 home ; the money they bring with them being as a rule 
 expended before the session is over. During the last few 
 years, however, not a few have provided their own trav- 
 elling expenses for both coming and returning. During 
 their stay with us they are our guests, we furnishing them 
 with food and lodgings. We have found this course 
 necessary, and do not think it under the circumstances 
 unreasonable. Most of these students are poor and could 
 not afford to pay all their expenses. Coming as they do, 
 requires what is to them a considerable outlay in pro- 
 viding decent clothing, and food by the way. The loss 
 of time in attending the class is also to some a matter 
 of no small importance. Many incur heavy expenses in 
 the course of the year in discharging the duties of Chris- 
 tian hospitality in their homes, where they have frequent 
 visits from natives and foreigners; so that in entertaining 
 them while with us, we are only in part repaying in kind 
 what they have already expended in establishing and 
 extending the work in their own neighbor hoods. 
 
 The studies while wit h us are mainlyfSc r lptur ali, with 
 additional el ementaYY Jihstructib'n in AsTronomy, Geo- 
 graphy, and History, and gene ral knowledge. Here, as 
 in the stations, lessons are carried on ca^fech eticallyj and 
 what is taught one day is the subject of examination the 
 
Stations in Central Shantung 
 
 41 
 
 next. Much attention is also given to rehearsing Scrip- 
 ture stories. One hour a day is assigned to instruction 
 in vocal music j which has been taught for many years 
 principally by Mrs. Nevius, who has devoted herself to 
 it with singular assiduity and success. While the classes 
 are with us we give nearly all our time and strength to 
 them. Those who come here with an earnest purpose to 
 learn, enjoy the exercises and are benefited by them ; 
 those who do not, cannot bear the pressure, and soon 
 find an excuse for going home. 
 
 My classes have numbered of late about forty. So 
 far as practicable, the same individuals come year after 
 year. They have gone over the Gospels. (some of them 
 repeatedly); the Acts of the Apostles; Romans; and 
 several of the other Epistles; and parts of the Old Tes- 
 tament. Their proficiency in Scripture knowledge will 
 compare favorably with that of intelligent adult classes 
 in Sunday schools at home. They could sustain a very 
 creditable examination on the Acts of the Apostles ; and 
 also on Romans, mastering the argument and being able 
 to reproduce it. Some have written while here so full 
 and clear an analysis of that Epistle that their manu- 
 scripts were sought for and copied by others who could 
 not come to the class. The hymns which they sing are 
 for the most part translations of familiar English hymns, 
 in the same meters as the originals, and sung to the same 
 familiar tunes. They are taught to sing by note and 
 some of them read music very well. They have great 
 difficulty with the half tones, their scale and ours being 
 different. 
 
 These classes have almost fulfilled their purpose and 
 will probably soon give place to Theological classes ; 
 those who have attended them having acquired such a 
 familiarity with the Scriptures as enables them now to 
 carry on their studies at home, with the help of com- 
 mentaries and other Christian books. 
 
Chapter D» 
 
 ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF STATIONS IN CENTRAL SHANTUNG. 
 
 Continued. 
 
 The proficiency in Christian knowledge of the members 
 of these country stations will, I think, bear favorable 
 comparison with that of the converts cared for by resi- 
 dent preachers. The degree of illiteracy of the inhab- 
 itants of these rural districts is perhaps somewhat greater 
 than that of the population of China taken as a whole. 
 Not more than one out of twenty of the men can read, 
 and not one of a thousand of the women. Among our 
 Christians, nearly all the children and most of the adults 
 of both sexes under fifty years of age learn to read. 
 Some have made remarkable progress in the study of the 
 Scriptures. A large proportion of them have committed 
 to memory the Sermon on the Mount and many other 
 select passages of the Bible. Scripture ideas and phrases 
 have entered into the language of every-day life. Persons 
 of advanced age, though themselves unable to read, take 
 great pleasure in relating Scripture stories and parables, 
 and in teaching others less instructed what they have 
 learned. The mental development of the converts and 
 their enthusiasm in their studies have in many places 
 attracted the attention and excited the wonder of their 
 heathen neighbors. In one of our stations there is a 
 literary man named Fu, now over fifty years of age, who 
 has been totally blind for more than twenty years. He 
 has taught his daughter, a girl of fifteen, to read the 
 42 
 
Origin anC) Orowtb of Stations. 43 
 
 Bible ; she describing the characters as seen, and he tell- 
 ing her the names and meanings of them. She has in 
 this way learned about two thousand characters. Her 
 father has memorized from her lips the gospels of Mat- 
 thew and John, the Acts of the Apostles, and Romans, 
 and many other portions of Scripture. He and other 
 members of his family have taught his sister, Mrs. Rung, 
 who is also blind, to repeat nine chapters of Matthew ; 
 and this blind woman has taught her invalid bed-ridden 
 sister-in-law, Mrs. Wang, to read the Scriptures, by re- 
 peating them to her character by character from memory, 
 while her sister-in law finds out the words on the printed 
 page. 
 
 The manner in which Stations are Propagated. 
 
 Many of the stations in this province, originated, as 
 before stated, in the labors of paid agents employed as 
 evangelists. When new ones are established, however, 
 they' are usually organized under a leader chosen on the 
 plan detailed above. The English Baptist stations and 
 my own have for the most part been established without 
 the help of paid evangelists. They radiate from self- 
 propagating centres, reminding one of sarmentaceous 
 plants which propagate themselves by runners striking 
 root and producing new plants in the vicinity of the 
 parent stock; the new plants in their turn repeating the 
 same process. When a man becomes a Christian the fact 
 is known through the whole circle of his acquaintances, 
 male and female, far and wide. It is generally believed 
 that his mind has lost its balance. He is shunned for a 
 time, but before long his friends visit him either from 
 sympathy or curiosity. They find him in apparently a 
 normal condition and working quietly in his shop or on 
 his farm ; and are curious to know what this new de- 
 parture means. An opportunity is thus afforded of pre- 
 senting the claims of Christianity as not the religion of 
 the foreigner but the true religion for all mankind. The 
 visitor goes home and thinks about the matter and comes 
 again ; attends service on Sunday ; is interested in the 
 
44 /lftctbo56 of /HSi 06 ion inaorft 
 
 truth ; makes a profession of Christianity ; and in pro- 
 cess of time his home becomes a new propagating centre. 
 Stations started in this manner have the advantage of a 
 natural connection with the parent station ; and they are 
 nourished and supported by it until they are strong 
 enough to have the connection severed and live and 
 grow independently. The Baptist mission, having tried 
 both methods for some years past in the same field, have 
 found that as a rule the stations which have originated 
 as the result of the labors of paid agents, have been 
 comparatively weak and unreliable, and some have en- 
 tirely fallen away; while those w hic h have been com- 
 menced on^ _t h e(§el f -jprppagaU principle have generally 
 
 maintained a health y,_ vigorous growth. Instead of in- 
 creasing their paid agents as the number of church 
 members has increased, that mission has diminished 
 them nearly one-half. Tj^ self-pro pagat ing principle 
 often results in the establishment of stations one or two 
 days’ journey from the propagating centre. 
 
 I have often been asked, Why do you not employ 
 and pay more native agents?” I reply by another 
 question ; Why should I ? The only men I could em- 
 ploy are exerting what influence they have for good where 
 they now are. My paying them money and transferring 
 them from one place to another would not make them 
 better men nor increase their influence. It might have 
 the opposite effect. During the last few years, I have 
 in fact frequently been inclined to attempt to enlarge 
 and hasten on the work by selecting and employing na- 
 tive agents from my stations, and have requested money 
 appropriations from our society to enable me to do so. 
 When the time has come for carrying out this plan, how- 
 ever, I have refrained from taking the proposed step, 
 fearing that it would do more harm than good. 
 
 I am asked again, “ Do you intend never to employ 
 native paid agents? ” My reply is, I leave this question 
 to be determined by the circumstances, and in the light 
 of the future. If suitable men are found, and it is clear 
 that employing them as paid agents would do good, I 
 
anD 0rowtb of Stations. 
 
 45 
 
 should be glad to see them employed, and the more of 
 them the better. 
 
 The Classes to which our Church members belong. 
 
 Most of our stations are found in country villages ; 
 and in general the Christians may be said to belong to 
 the middle class. Although none of them are what we 
 should call rich, not a few are “well to do " as com- 
 pared to the majority of their own people. Many are 
 farmers and day laborers. We have also school teachers, 
 artisans, pedlers, and innkeepers. As a rule men pre- 
 ponderate in numbers, though some Churches are com- 
 posed mostly of women. Sometimes the men are first 
 reached, and influence the women of their families to 
 follow them; and sometimes the reverse is the case. 
 The work among the women has in my stations, and in 
 the main in all the others, been carried on without the 
 help of foreign ladies. A few country women have come 
 to Chefoo to receive instruction from Mrs. Nevius. In 
 most places visits of ladies, except the wives of mission- 
 aries accompanying their husbands, would hitherto have 
 been impracticable and, in the opinion of the native 
 Christians, undesirable. The common assertion that 
 heathen women cannot be evangelized through the in- 
 strumentality of men is certainly not universally true in 
 China. Facts prove the contrary. In most places, 
 indeed generally in the interior at a distance from the 
 established central stations, they can hardly be reached 
 and evangelized except by men. In many of the Sha n- 
 tungjtations women stand out prominently as examples 
 oT^z^ and proficiency in Christian knowledge. 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 Opposition and persecution have marked the course 
 of our work to a greater or less extent in every district. 
 The authority of the family or clan is often invoked to 
 overrule the individual in his determination to enter the 
 new religion. Village elders and trustees of temples 
 unite in efforts to exact from Christians contributions 
 
46 
 
 /HbetboJ>6 of /llbission “Morb 
 
 for theatres and the repairs of temples. When native 
 Christians persist in asserting their purpose to follow 
 their own convictions of duty in opposition to those who 
 think they have both the right and the power to control 
 them, open outbreaks ensue, resulting in brutal assaults, 
 house-burning, and in some cases driving Christians from 
 their homes. Native Christians are sometimes arraigned 
 before the local magistrates on fictitious charges; and 
 when it is found, as at times is the case, that the local 
 magistrate is only too glad to join in the persecution, 
 false accusations become more numerous, and old law 
 suits in which the Christians were parties are revived. 
 In these litigations the persecutors have every advantage. 
 There are among them those familiar with all the arts 
 and intricacies of Chinese law-suits, and those who have 
 friends in the ya-men and money for bribery when it is 
 required. Under these circumstances the Christians 
 have small hope of justice. Charges are brought against 
 them with such a show of plausibility, and such an array 
 of evidence, that officers who are disposed to act justly, 
 as I believe some of them are, may almost be excused 
 for regarding Christians as guilty culprits and treating 
 them accordingly. 
 
 In cases of great injustice and abuse, missionaries have 
 taken up the complaints of the native Christians, ap- 
 pealed to their consuls, and in some instances obtained 
 partial redress. It must be acknowledged, however, that 
 we have not invariably elicited correct representations 
 of these cases; and also that, when through the influence 
 of the foreign teachers the tide of fortune has turned in 
 favor of the Christians, they have not always been free 
 from a spirit of revenge and retaliation. Bitter and 
 unjust as the treatment has been which our Christians 
 have often received, it is a growing opinion here that 
 the best weapons with which to meet this opposition are 
 Christian patience and forbearance ; and that the surest 
 victory and the one which will be followed by the best 
 results is that of ‘^overcoming evil with good.” We 
 
QxiQin anD (Browtb of Stations. 
 
 47 
 
 are less and less disposed to appeal to the civil power on 
 behalf of our people, except in extreme cases. 
 
 Sabbath Observance. 
 
 The difficulty of enforcing strict rules ’ of Sabbath 
 observance is not less here than in other parts of China. 
 Our own mission has taken strong ground on this subject. 
 We regard the Sabbath not as a Jewish institution but 
 an institution for man in all ages wherever found. We 
 believe it has the same authority as the other command- 
 ments of the decalogue ; that the obligation to keep one 
 day holy unto the Lord antedates the decalogue, as the 
 duties enjoined in the other commandments do ; and 
 that the decalogue is but the divine reannunciation and 
 publication of universal and eternal law. As such we 
 hold that it can never be abrogated ; that its observance 
 is inseparably connected with the prosperity of the 
 Church ; and an index of its spiritual state. 
 
 In determining how Sunday shall be observed, or in 
 other words, in the interpretation of the fourth com- 
 mandment, we have an infallible guide in the teachings 
 of our Saviour. He has declared that it is lawful and 
 right (i) to do good on the Sabbath day; (2) to per- 
 form acts of necessity; (3) of mercy and kindness; (4) 
 to perform work connected with or necessary to the 
 worship and service of God ; (5) that as the Sabbath 
 was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, this 
 commandment should be so construed as to subserve and 
 not interfere with man’s best and highest good. God’s 
 revelation of truth and duty is one consistent whole, 
 each part connected with and conditioned by the others. 
 Cases may occur in which one command overrules and 
 supersedes another. The paramount authority and com- 
 mand of God may make it a man’s duty under some 
 circumstances to disobey a parent ; the civil law or the 
 inherent right to preserve one’s own life against lawless 
 violence, may make it right to destroy human life ; and 
 the necessities of war or famine may justify a man in 
 taking and using what does not belong to him. So cir- 
 
48 
 
 /IRctbot)0 of iTRl00ion Morft 
 
 cumstances may justify the performance of ordinary labor 
 on the Sabbath, in which case such labor is not to be 
 regarded as ignoring or breaking the fourth command- 
 ment, but as obeying God’s will in the exceptional as 
 well as the usual observance of the day. Nothing should 
 be done which the above principles laid down by our 
 Saviour do not warrant. 
 
 It is evident that the natural outcome of these princi- 
 ples must be a great diversity of practice, growing out 
 of varied situations and conditions. It is evident also 
 that the application of these principles must be left 
 largely to each individual Christian. I believe this may 
 safely be done so long as the divine obligation of the 
 command is acknowledged. On the graduated scale, 
 representing on one hand actions plainly inadmissible, 
 and on the other, actions as manifestly admissible, there 
 is a wide medium of debatable ground where room must 
 be left for the exercise of individual liberty and Chris- 
 tian charity. 
 
 To make the matter more practical. On the side of 
 unjustifiable Sunday labor we may designate that of the 
 farmer who tills his own land, and is or ought to be the 
 master of his own establishment ; or the artisan who 
 works in his own shop with or without employees. In 
 such cases as these we insist on a strict observance of the 
 Sabbath, and make a breach of this observance a matter 
 of censure and discipline. 
 
 On the side of justifiable work we designate enforced 
 labor performed on Sunday by slaves, minors, daughters- 
 'in-law, &c. 
 
 In our stations the duty of Sabbath observance is gen- 
 erally acknowledged, and I think I may say that there*is 
 a manifest improvement in public sentiment on this sub- 
 ject. In my own field there is a considerable proportion 
 of the stations in which the observance of the day is 
 gratifying and commendable ; but in a majority of these 
 stations strict observance is the exception, and a loose 
 and partial one the rule. We hope to see a gradual ad- 
 vancement in this matter as the result, with God’s grace 
 
©ngin anD (3rowtb of Stations. 
 
 49 
 
 and help, of careful Bible teaching and the examples of 
 our more advanced and conscientious Christians. 
 
 It may be objected that insisting on the divine obli- 
 gation of Sabbath observance, and at the same time 
 providing for the relaxing or annulling of these obliga- 
 tions, practically leads to about the same result as leaving 
 the whole matter to be determined by individual choice 
 or expediency. It should be remembered, however, that 
 this modification or relaxation is not one of our sugges- 
 tion, but is specifically laid down by the Lord of the 
 Sabbath Himself. The practice here advocated provides, 
 too, for the gradual and finally complete introduction of 
 the Sabbath into heathen lands on a basis of divine 
 authority ; while the theory that the Sabbath was only a 
 Jewish institution makes the observance of it a matter 
 of choice rather than duty, and condones for its neglect 
 or abuse, which gradually becomes a habit interwoven 
 with social and national customs. Under one theory, 
 so far. as this question is concerned, the Church is like a 
 ship at turn of tide drifting in different directions in 
 obedience to the temporary influences of wind and tide 
 but still holding fast to her anchor and destined to settle 
 soon in a fixed position ; under the other theory she is 
 without anchor and drifting hopelessly. 
 
 Discipline. 
 
 We regard the administration of discipline as indis- 
 pensable to the growth and prosperity of our work, and 
 attention to it claims a large portion of our time and 
 thoughts. With the use of our Record Boojc, and the 
 assistance of our leaders and helpers, and information 
 obtained from other sources, the difficulty in gaining a 
 knowledge of the real state of things is not so great as 
 might at first be supposed. 
 
 The proportion of those who have been excommuni- 
 cated on account of scandalous offences is comparatively 
 small. The great majority of them, perhaps as many as 
 eighty per cent, are cases of gradual and at last complete 
 neglect of Christian duties, commencing with giving up 
 4 
 
50 
 
 /BbetboDa of /Ibission *CClorl; 
 
 Bible study, disregard of the Sabbath, and neglect of 
 public worship. It now appears that most of these per- 
 sons entered the Church without a clear apprehension of 
 what Christianity, theoretical and practical, is. Their 
 motives seem to have been to obtain a place as a preacher 
 or servant, or pecuniary aid in other ways, or to get 
 help in law-suits, actual or anticipated ; all these motives 
 being connected no doubt with the sincere conviction 
 that Christianity is true, and a desire to share in the 
 spiritual blessings which it confers. They were also 
 ignorant of the difficulties and trials connected with a 
 Christian profession, and so when they met with opposi- 
 tion and persecution they fell away. 
 
 We administer discipline as directed by the Scriptures 
 and generally practiced by Christian Churches at home ; 
 first, by exhortation and admonition, followed if neces- 
 sary by a formal trial and suspension ; and after a period 
 of suspension varying from a few months to one or two 
 years, in failure of reformation, by excommunication. 
 
 The whole number of adult baptisms in my own field 
 during the last seven years has been about one thousand. 
 The proportion of excommunicated persons is about 
 twenty per cent, of the whole, and more than half of 
 them have been from the one hien^ Shiu-kwang, where 
 there were for a time numerous accessions under a good 
 deal of excitement. In the other four hien the propor- 
 tion of excommunicated persons as compared to the 
 whole number of converts is about ten per cent. While 
 there has been this falling away in individuals, there has 
 been a ccy:nparatively slight loss of stations, nearly all 
 having left in them a few earnest men, so that the places 
 where there have been most excommunications are really 
 stronger and more promising than when they had more 
 names on the roll. No station has as yet been entirely 
 given up. It is feared, however, that we shall soon have 
 to give up four, three of them in the district of Shiu- 
 kwang. 
 
 Cases of discipline have diminished considerably during 
 the last year, and we hope the number may be much 
 
©rigin ant) 0 rowtb of Stations, 
 
 51 
 
 curtailed in the future by avoiding some of the causes 
 which have led to them. Very few excommunicated 
 persons have returned to us. Very few have become 
 •enemies and open opposers. Most are indifferent, some 
 soured and disappointed. Many of them retain strong 
 sympathy with the Church, and continue to attend ser- 
 vices. In every case, so far as I know, the administration 
 of discipline has been sustained by public opinion in the 
 Church and outside of it ; and the effect of discipline 
 has been decidedly good. I believe the neglect of it 
 would soon result in checking the growth and perhaps 
 extinguishing the life of the Church. 
 
 It has been objected to this plan of conducting stations, 
 that with the missionary living*so far away from them, 
 and the new converts left so much to themselves, it is 
 impossible for him to know what is occurring, and the 
 difficulties of finding out and correcting abuses and irre- 
 gularities must be greatly increased. There is weight in 
 this objection ; but, iii my opinion, the difficulties are 
 much less than might be imagined and the advantages of 
 the stations being left to themselves far outweigh the dis- 
 advantages. The helper is able to find out quite as much 
 about the stations as the missionary could if he were 
 constantly living among them. While there may be 
 motives at work influencing church members to conceal 
 important facts from the missionary and also from the 
 helper, there are other motives which work strongly in 
 the opposite direction. Irregularities or improprieties 
 on the part of an individual or a party in the Church, 
 are very likely to be reported on the first opportunity by 
 another individual or party. Should a whole station be 
 interested in concealing something which ought to be 
 known, some adjoining station, or people outside the 
 Church, will probably be found ready to give the requi- 
 site information. Our main dependence, however, is on 
 the honesty and integrity of the leaders and the church 
 members ; and especially on the fact that the station is 
 theirs and not the missionary’s; and that they rather 
 than he are the ones who are chiefly interested in cor- 
 
52 
 
 /iRctboDe of /llMssion Morft 
 
 recting abuses. The fact that they do not depend upon 
 the missionary for pecuniary support, which eliminates 
 the strongest motive for concealment or deception, is a 
 matter of much greater importance than the proximity 
 or distance of the missionary. Many facts will prove 
 that .where there is a motive to deceive, the daily pres- 
 ence and supervision of the missionary is no sure guaran- 
 tee against concealment and deception being carried on 
 during a long course of years. 
 
 Contributions. 
 
 In contributions we have not accomplished what we 
 ought. This matter has been constantly kept before the 
 Christians, and special 4)ooks and placards treating of 
 this subject have been prepared for them and studied by 
 them. A good beginning has been made in ways which 
 it is not easy to tabulate and publish in public reports. 
 Chapels have been built and furnished ; a good deal has 
 been done especially by those who are connected with 
 .chapels in entertaining and instructing inquirers ; vol- 
 untary labor in evangelizing the “regions beyond” has 
 been carried on to a considerable extent; and poor 
 church members have been assisted. In addition to 
 this, most of the stations have given a contribution 
 through the foreign missionary once or twice a year, 
 varying in amount from one to three or four dollars or 
 more, which has been applied hitherto to paying the 
 expenses of the helpers. Our contributions this year 
 have been unfavorably affected by an unsuccessful effort 
 to open a silver mine, in which members from all our 
 Churches are engaged. This undertaking is likely not 
 only to diminish our contributions but also, we fear, to 
 injure and retard the work of the stations in other ways. 
 Our Christians need further instruction as to the duty 
 of giving, and more pressure to induce them to give; 
 and also to have placed before them objects suited to 
 draw out their sympathies. The example of other mis- 
 sions, and especially, I may mention, facts recently 
 brought to our notice by Mr. Macgowan in connection 
 
©riciin ant) (Browtb of Statione. 53 
 
 with the work at Amoy, have been very helpful to us. 
 
 Schools. 
 
 The opinions and policy of the missionaries here as 
 to schools vary considerably, and the course to be taken 
 in the future is not yet fixed. There are but few places 
 where the native Christians are strong enough in num- 
 bers and wealth to support schools of their own. One 
 member of our mission is trying the experiment of help- 
 ing country day schools, paying about one dollar a year 
 for each pupil. This help'is furnished on the conditions 
 that the schools have Christian teachers, that the pupils 
 learn Christian books, and are subject to the examination 
 and control of the foreign missionary and his helper. A 
 similar plan has been adopted to some extent by the 
 English Baptist missionaries. 
 
 For myself I have not been successful with this plan. 
 I am helping three day schools this year to the amount 
 of from five to eight dollars to each school. These are 
 started by the natives who applied to me for assistance. 
 In each of them, I am disposed to think that a promi- 
 nent, if not the chief motive, is to provide a support 
 for the teacher, who otherwise would have no source 
 of income. 
 
 So far no plan for schools has seemed to me so prac- 
 ticable and satisfactory in its results as that of making 
 stations themselves a kind of training school for all their 
 members. A great deal may be accomplished by system- 
 atic teaching on Sunday, and also employing leisure 
 months and days in study. 
 
 The plan of a free day school during the winter months 
 when the farmers have little to do, suggested and adopt- 
 ed last winter in one of the stations, has interested me 
 greatly, and I should like very much to see it or some- 
 thing similar generally adopted. 
 
 Men employed and incidental expenses. 
 
 From the more than eight hundred church members 
 in my stations, I have at present in my own employ two 
 
54 
 
 /llbctboDs of /lbl 90 lon ‘Umorh 
 
 men, viz., one helper who receives five thousand cash ' 
 ($4.67) per month, and one servant. The other helper 
 is from one of the older stations. Besides these, there 
 are the following men from my stations in the employ 
 of other missionaries, viz., two teachers, three helpers, 
 and six servants, making the whole numbef employed 
 and paid by foreigners thirteen. 
 
 Besides these, I have for several years supported from 
 private funds a young man from a wealthy* family who 
 has been driven from his home by violent and continued 
 persecution. His expenses 'are from fifty to seventy 
 dollars a year. He is now studying medicine and doing 
 a good medical and evangelistic work in and about his 
 home. He will, I hope, soon be independent and require 
 no further help. 
 
 The amount expended for providing food for the Bi- 
 ble classes at Chefoo composed of leaders from the 
 stations has been about one hundred dollars a year. 
 By tabulating the above and other items we have the 
 following as the entire expense for my stations for the 
 past year 1885, aside from the salary and itinerating 
 e.xpenses of the foreign missionary: — 
 
 Salary of two helpers . . $ 112.00 
 
 Aid to one medical student . 65.00 
 
 Bible classes . . . . 5 4- 00 
 
 Contributions to three day schools 18.00 
 Contributions towards building chapels 14.60 
 Occasional preaching tours . 15*80 
 
 Help in cases of persecution . 19.18 
 
 Total 1^298.58 
 
 About one-half of this sum total is supplied by the 
 mission. The above will present a fair average of ex- 
 ])enses and the number of men employed from year to 
 year. It does not include private assistance given to the 
 ])oor, amounting during the past year to about forty dol- 
 lars. In 1884 I had an additional helper, and in 1883 
 
©dgln anD (3rowtb of Stations. 
 
 55 
 
 two additional ones — both from the college at Tung- 
 Chow fu. I expect to have for the coming year, 1886, 
 but one paid helper. 
 
 The foregoing statements will give, I think, a correct 
 general idea of the character and condition of these 
 stations at jTresent. I'hey are marked by the same weak- 
 nesses and defects which are found in a greater or less 
 degree in churches everywhere, and which we should 
 expect to find in converts just emerging from the dark- 
 ness of heathenism, and still surrounded by heathen 
 influences, and only imperfectly emancipated from old 
 heathen habits. In every respect they fall sl^ort of the 
 Christian ideal, and the ideal of the plan on which we 
 are working. I am glad to be able to say, however, that 
 the evidences of vitality and growth are more and more 
 apparent every year ; that individual Christians are ad- 
 vancing in knowledge and spirituality ; that the stations 
 are in the main giving evidence of stability and promise 
 of permanency; and that they are gaining a “good 
 report from those who are without.” 
 
 What the future of these stations will be we cannot 
 know. In view of the dangers to which they are ex- 
 posed, and the disappointing results which have so often 
 marked the history of missionary enterprises in China, 
 we can only “rejoice with trembling.’.’ Our hope is in 
 the continued presence and blessing of our Divine Mas- 
 ter. We rejoice that this vine of God’s planting is 
 striking its roots into the native soil, and we believe 
 that with God’s blessing it will continue to grow and 
 spread wide its branches and bring forth fruit to His 
 glory. 
 
Chapter 
 
 ORGANIZATION OF STATIONS PRESENT AND PROSPECTIVE. 
 
 The question, What is the best mode of organization 
 for native converts in new stations, scarcely enters the 
 mind on one’s first arrival in China. Most of us are 
 satisfied that the mode adopted by that )jranch of the 
 Church with which w.e are se'^rally connected is the 
 best ; that it is, if not the one specially enjoined by 
 Scripture authority, at least the one most in harmony 
 with Scripture teachings, and fully sanctioned by prac- 
 tical experience. Moreover, it is the one with the 
 working of which we are individually most familiar, and 
 into the practice of which we naturally and unquestion- 
 ingly fall. If we are unable to adopt it at once, it is a 
 matter of regret, and we are anxious to put it into opera- 
 tion as soon as possible. 
 
 When the missionary, associated with co-laborers of 
 different nationalities and church connections, looks at 
 the question of organization from the stand-point of 
 mission work on heathen ground, it assumes new aspects; 
 and a few years experience and observation will proba- 
 bly effect a considerable modification of views. He 
 soon finds that missionaries of different denominations 
 ignore in a measure for the time being their several 
 systems, and in the first stage of their work agree in the 
 main in a new plan which all have adopted under the 
 force of circumstances. He sees companies of Chris- 
 tians placed under the care of unofficial religious teach- 
 ers, and native evangelists preaching in unevangelized 
 S6 
 
®rGani 3 ation ot Statione. 
 
 57 
 
 districts, while there are as yet no organized churchesf 
 and perhaps no bishops, elders, or deacons, nor even 
 candidates for the ministry ; — only missionaries, and 
 native preachers having the names of “helpers,” “cat- 
 echists,” “native assistants,” “colporteurs,” “Bible 
 agents,” or “evangelists.” In places where stations 
 have reached a more advanced stage of development, 
 requiring some sort of organization, missionaries are 
 sometimes led by personal proclivities and local circum- 
 stances to the adoption of methods quite aside from their 
 previous antecedents. Not long since in a conference 
 at Chefoo of missionaries from different parts of China, 
 it was discovered that an Independent was carrying on 
 his work on Presbyterian principles, “because they 
 suited best in his field;” in the methods *of another In- 
 dependent from a different province the prelatical ele- 
 ment predominated, while a. Presbyterian was found 
 working on a plan which had very little of Presbyterian- 
 ism in it, but a singular blending of Methodism, Inde- 
 pendency and Prelacy. 
 
 What lessons are we to learn from these facts? Is it 
 not this, that practical experience seems to point to the 
 conclusion that present forms of church organization in 
 the West are not to be, at least without some modifica- 
 tion, our guides in the founding of infant churches in a 
 heathen land. If it be asked. What then is to be our 
 guide? I answer. The teachings of the New Testament. 
 If it be further asked. Are we to infer, then, that all the 
 forms of church organization in the West are at variance 
 with Scripture teaching? I answer. By no means. A 
 plan of organization in England or America may be.very 
 • different from one adopted in China, and both though 
 different may be equally Scriptural ; and one of them 
 may be suited to the home church, and one to a mission 
 station, just because they are different. 
 
 The all-important question is what do the Scriptures 
 teach respecting church organization ? Do ■ they lay 
 down a system with fixed and unvarying rules and usages, 
 to be observed at all times and under all circumstances; 
 
58 
 
 /iftetboDe of /iMsslon “Morb 
 
 or a system based on general principles, purposely flexi- 
 ble, and readily adapting itself, under the guidance of 
 God’s Spirit, and providence, and common sense, to all 
 the conditions in which the Church can be placed ? 
 
 I believe the latter is the true supposition. The same 
 conclusion might be inferred from the fact that, while 
 the doctrines of Christianity, which are obviously and by 
 common consent regarded as fundamental and essential, 
 are taught in the Scriptures specifically, elaborately, and 
 repeatedly, there is no portion of Scripture where a com- 
 plete and detailed system of church government is 
 presented or referred to. It may be said, and very truly, 
 that God might reveal to us a complete and authoritative 
 system of church government inferentially as well as 
 explicitly. Had he done so, however, would there not 
 have been a general agreement with regard to these 
 teachings as there is with regard to Christian doctrine? 
 
 I believe that the distinctive principles which underlie 
 the different systems of church organization prevailing- 
 in the West are all Scriptural. The principle of the 
 authority and responsibility of individual believers in 
 matters relating to the conduct of the Church is a very 
 prominent part of the teaching of the New Testament. 
 The importance of appointing elders, or bishops, as 
 authoritative leaders and rulers in the Church is taught 
 no less clearly. The Scriptural sanction for the appoint- 
 ment, at least in the early history of the Church, of 
 superintendents or overseers, having the charge and care 
 of many associated churches, with their elders and dea- 
 cons, is no less evident. The degree of prominence 
 or proportionate use of these diflerent principles or 
 elements of church organization may vary indefinitely 
 according to the condition and requirements of the 
 church. This theory provides for constant change and 
 modification suited to the stage of the church’s develop- 
 ment, the character of its members, and its conditions 
 and surroundings. 
 
 If I- mistake not, diversity and gradual progression in 
 the application of these principles is distinctly traceable 
 
Organisation of Statione. 59 
 
 in the New Testament. The Gospels and the earlier 
 part of the Acts of the Apostles indicate a very simple 
 form of organization, or no pronounced form; and the 
 latter part of the Acts, with the Epistles, shows a more 
 complete system gradually developed from previously 
 established germinal principles. Constant development 
 and change in divergent directions mark the whole course 
 of ecclesiastical history from the Apostolic period to the 
 present time. How far these developments have been 
 Scriptural, or in accordance with the leadings of God’s 
 Spirit, and promotive of the best interests of the Church, 
 it does not fall within the province of these letters to 
 inquire. May we not, however, raise the general ques- 
 tion as to whether the present forms of church govern- 
 ment are not severally characterized by the special de- 
 velopment of some one element, to the exclusion of 
 others which should supplement and modify it; present- 
 ing abnormal and disproportionate growths, each scrip- 
 tural in its dominating idea, but unscriptural in its 
 human narrowness? 
 
 Another question arises in this connection of great 
 importance. In our present position of missionaries 
 representing different branches of the Church, closely 
 related to one another in a common work; our methods 
 simple, and presenting many points of agreement; and 
 our different systems of organization in a rudimental un- 
 developed state ; should we not make use of our oppor- 
 tunity to avoid as far as possible in the future the di- 
 vergences which impair the unity and efficiency of the 
 Church at home ; retaining and perpetuating a degree 
 of uniformity and co-operation which in western lands 
 seems impracticable? Is it not our duty to do this? 
 Would it not be in accordance with the express teachings 
 of our Saviour, and also with the wishes of most of those 
 whom we represent? Would it not have a decided in- 
 fluence for good on the home churches ? 
 
 On the supposition that present forms of church 
 organization are adapted to secure the best spiritual in- 
 terests of the Church in the West, the presumption is 
 
6o 
 
 /IRetbo^s of /IRission TKIlorl? 
 
 that ill certain respects they are for tliat very reason not 
 adapted to the wants of mission churches in China. 
 What circumstances could differ more widely than those 
 of churches which are the development of centuries or 
 a millenium of Christian culture, and those just emerging 
 from heathenism? 
 
 The question recurs, What may we learn from the 
 Scriptures as to the best system of organization and 
 supervision for the Church in China at the present time? 
 
 I.— The extension of the Church must depend mainly on the 
 godly lives and voluntary activities of its members. 
 
 In early times, as a result of ordinary business and 
 social intercourse, and the aggressive zeal of the early 
 Christians, Christianity found its way to Cyprus and 
 Syria and Cilicia and Egypt, and as far west as Rome. 
 The disciples went everywhere preaching the Word. A 
 great advance had been made before the Apostle Paul 
 was called from his home by Barnabas to assist and 
 strengthen the disciples already gathered at Antioch. 
 Wherever he went afterwards in his work of establishing 
 churches in new fields, he obtained from the believ'ers 
 gathered into the Church, numerous voluntary helpers 
 and coadjutors both men and women. 
 
 I can find no authority in the Scriptures, either in 
 'specific teaching or Apostolic example, for the practice 
 so common now-a-days, of seeking out and employing 
 paid agents as preachers. At the time when Paul com- 
 menced his public ministry, the churches established in 
 Syria and Cilicia might no doubt have furnished a large 
 number of such persons if they had been wanted. It 
 may be said that there were no missionary boards at 
 that time and that the Church was too weak to under- 
 take such an enterprise. This explanation, however, 
 does not meet the case. Paul did not hesitate to call 
 upon the churches for contributions when they were 
 needed. He evidently thought them able to give; and 
 that it was their privilege and an advantage to themselves 
 
®rgani 3 ation of Statione. 
 
 6i 
 
 to give ; and they did contribute freely when they were 
 asked to do so. 
 
 The evils resulting from employing new converts as 
 paid agents for preaching the gospel have been referred 
 to in previous letters. What we wish to emphasize here 
 is that such a course is without precedent in the Bible. 
 The members of the early Church were all witness 
 bearers. Such we must teach our church members to 
 be ; and without such an agency as our main dependence, 
 we have little reason to expect the gospel to prevail in 
 China. 
 
 II.— Elders must be “ordained in every city.” 
 
 This duty is enforced in Scripture both by precept and 
 example. Missionaries have not been backward in car- 
 rying out this injunction. It is possible that we have 
 erred in the opposite direction. While elders should be 
 ordained as soon as practicable, we should not forget that 
 the qualifications of elders are minutely laid down in the 
 Scriptures ; and to choose and ordain men to this office 
 without the requisite qualifications is in fact going con- 
 trary to rather than obeying the Scriptures. If suitable 
 elders are not to be found we should wait for them, 
 however long a waiting may be required. 
 
 The Apostolic usage of ordaining elders soon after 
 their reception into the Church, under circumstances 
 very different from ours in China, is apt to mislead us. 
 The work of'-the Apostles in heathen lands commenced 
 for the most part in the synagogues of the Jews resident 
 in those lands. Even in such places as Lystra, where 
 there seems to have been no synagogue, there were Jewish 
 families, and their influence had been felt by the native 
 population. Among the first converts to Christianity 
 were both Jews and Jewish proselytes who for genera- 
 tions had been freed from the thraldom of idolatry. 
 They were sincere worshipers of Jehovah, familiar with 
 the Old Testament Scriptures and waiting for the long 
 promised Messiah. From such persons the first elders 
 of the Christian Church were no doubt largely drawn. 
 
62 
 
 /nbetboDs of /Iftission Morft 
 
 It is not strange that, as a rule, we in China have to wait 
 for years before Christians of the same intelligence and 
 stability of character can be had. Our experience in 
 this matter in Shantung is worth relating. 
 
 'I'wenty years ago our mission in considering this sub- 
 ject reasoned on this wise: — We are Presbyterians, and 
 our churches should be organized from the first on 
 Presbyterian principles. If we cannot get men for elders 
 as well qualified as we should like, we must take the best 
 men we can find, men who seem sincere and earnest 
 Christians, and who may develop in character and ability 
 to fulfil the duties of elders, by having the duties and 
 responsibilities of this office laid upon them. With 
 these views and expectations several churches were for- 
 mally and constitutionally organized. It was found, 
 however, in not a small proportion of cases that the 
 elders did not, or could not perform their official duties, 
 and were an obstruction to any one else attempting to do, 
 so. They were placed in a false position, injurious to 
 themselves and the churches of which they had the 
 nominal charge. Some were hardly able to sustain the 
 character of an ordinary church member, and others 
 were in the course of a few years excommunicated. We 
 then took action as a Presbytery, determining that elders 
 should not be appointed unless their qualifications con- 
 formed in some good degree to those required in Scrip- 
 ture. Perhaps we are now in danger of going to the 
 opposite extreme of backwardness. 
 
 In central Shantung no church has as yet been organ- 
 ized with native elders, though some of our stations 
 have had an existence with from ten to twenty and more 
 church members for a period of seven or eight years. 
 We are hoping very soon to ordain elders in some of 
 these stations. In the meantime the leaders are unoffi- 
 cially performing many of the (duties which will fall into 
 the hands of elders when appointed.- The missionary or 
 evangelist in charge transacts all important business by 
 consultation with the whole company of native Chris- 
 tians or their leaders. These Christians or leaders have 
 
®r0ani3ation ot Stations. 
 
 63 
 
 only advisory power, the authority of deciding questions 
 being vested solely in the missionary. It is his aim to 
 instruct and train leading church members in the man- 
 agement of churqh business, devolving it on* them as 
 the’y are able to undertake it, thus fitting them as soon as 
 possible for assuming the care of the churches altogether. 
 The missionary keeps a record of these meetings, follow- 
 ing in almost all particulars the ordinary form of session 
 records; and this report is presented to the Presbytery 
 for examination and revision. Many of our present 
 leaders will in all probability, after they have been fully 
 trained and tried, become our first elders. We have 
 found in the experience of the past eight years much 
 reason for thankfulness that we did not ordain elders at 
 an earlier period. 
 
 III.— Our mission churches under the charge of elders are 
 possessed of a Scriptural organization without the addition 
 of a paid pastor such as is found in most of our western 
 churches; and the appointing of such a pastor might prove 
 injurious rather than advantageous. 
 
 In enlarging on this point I will quote the language 
 of Dr. Kellogg, Professor in the 'Theological Seminary 
 at Allegheny, Penna., U.S.A. It has special weight as 
 coming from one who is not only a highly esteemed 
 theological teacher in our Church, but has been for years 
 a missionary in India, and has the advantage of large 
 experience and observation of mission ‘matters. The 
 quotations are taken from an article in the Catholic 
 Presbyterian, November, 1879, 347- Kellogg 
 
 says: — 
 
 “ We fear there is reason to think that our missionaries 
 have often been in too much haste to introduce the one- 
 man pastorate of the European and American churches ; 
 and that the growth of a church bearing the true indi- 
 vidual character of the particular people or race has been 
 thereby seriously retarded. Fixed in the conviction that 
 the primitive form of Church government was Presbyte^ 
 rian, men have apparently jumped to the conclusion that 
 
64 
 
 /IftctboDs ot flbission 'llClorft 
 
 therefore the present form of Presbyterianism is the 
 primitive and Apostolic arrangement, — a point, we may 
 venture to affirm, which has not yet been established, 
 nor is likely soon to be. Under this belief they have 
 not only felt that if they established churches, they mfist 
 give them a Presbyterian form of government — in which 
 they have been right — but that it must be that particular 
 form of development of Presbyterian principles which 
 has obtained among ourselves; wherein, as it seems to 
 us, they have been as clearly wrong. For to take any 
 one of our full-grown ecclesiastical systems and attempt 
 to set it up bodily in our heathen fields, regardless of 
 the widely differing conditions of the case, is, we sub- 
 mit, a great mistake In too many instances, the 
 
 course pursued has proved a mistake by its practical 
 working ” 
 
 “ But, it is asked with some confidence, what is the 
 missionary to do? Shall we leave the young church 
 without a pastor? We ask in reply. Where in the New 
 Testament is there any intimation that the Apostles or- 
 dained pastors, in the modern sense of that word, over 
 the churches which they formed? We read over and 
 again of their ordaining “elders” in every church, 
 and that, having done so, they left them and went else- 
 where. Where is there the slightest hint that, at this 
 early period, any one from among these elders was sin- 
 gled out and appointed by Paul to a position like that 
 of the modern* minister or pastor of a church, or that 
 until such an officer was found they did not dare to 
 leave the church ? ’ ’ 
 
 IV.— The appointment of elders should not interfere with the 
 voluntary activities of church members. 
 
 Rather than encourage such an idea I should postpone 
 their appointment. 
 
 We are taught that when our Saviour ascended on 
 high, “ He led captivity captive and gave gifts to men.” 
 ^And he gave some Apostles, and some prophets, and 
 some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers.” Else- 
 
©r9ani3ation of Statlone. 
 
 65 
 
 where we read of “ exhorter?/’ “ workers of miracles,” 
 “speakers of tongues,” “interpreters of tongues,” 
 “helps” and “governments,” and “gifts of healing,” 
 and# “power to cast out devils.” May we not confi- 
 dently expect that the Divine Spirit will also confer 
 special gifts upon the Church of the present, perhaps not 
 the same as at first, but gifts suited to our times and cir- 
 cumstances as those of the early Church were to theirs ? 
 And should not our methods of church organization be 
 such as to give the freest scope to the exercise of all 
 special gifts conferred ? 
 
 It is to be observed that in the gifts conferred on the 
 early Church “elders” are not included. May it not be 
 that this is because the “gifts” are special and variable, 
 while the office of elder is fixed and permanent? It is 
 not the function of the elder or overseer as such to 
 assume and undertake wholly or mainly the work of the 
 Church, but to encourage, direct and assist all believers 
 in the exercise and development of their special gifts as 
 members of the one spiritual body of Christ; to set an 
 example of working, for all to imitate ; to be leaders and 
 captains in Christ’s army, ruling, instructing, and di- 
 recting those who are under their authority and care. 
 
 I am' disposed to think that the tendency to make 
 working for the Church the duty of office bearers alone, 
 rather than of all Christians, is introduced by mission- 
 aries from the Church at home. There is a prevailing 
 disposition in western lands, noticable in Protestant com- 
 munions as well as in the Romish Church, to an all- 
 prevading spirit of ecclesiasticism. The Church is 
 regarded as an organization under the direction and 
 superintendence of its proper officer or officers, whose 
 function it is, for and on behalf of its members and the 
 ecclesiastical judicatory over them, to undertake and 
 administer all church matters. A church member has 
 a quieting sense of having discharged his duty, if he has 
 contributed generously towards building a suitable church 
 edifice and the support of a preacher, is always found in 
 his place as a worshiper, and attends to the prescribed 
 
 5 
 
66 
 
 /HietboDe ot /Ubiesion ‘llClorft 
 
 rites and observances of the church. This spirit, wher- 
 ever it is found, tends to formalism both in the clergy 
 and the laity. While it is far too prevalent, and it is to 
 be feared growingly so, we may well rejoice that it«s by 
 no means universal. There are not a few churches in 
 which the main work of the pastor is to keep all under 
 him at work. In such churches you will find individual 
 growth and church growth, joy in God’s service, and 
 influences for good extending to the ends of the earth. 
 
 May we not regard the religious activities which have 
 during the present generation sprung up outside the 
 Church, such as those connected with the Moody and 
 Sankey work. Young Men’s Christian As^ciations, also 
 new methods for reaching the masses recently adopted in 
 the English Church, and even the “Salvation Army,” as 
 legitimate protests, and healthy reactions against the 
 tendency which we are reprobating. Let us not, by 
 allowing our church members to think that their chief 
 duty is to contribute money to the support of their pas- 
 tor and attend religious services, reproduce here in China 
 one of the most reprehensible features of the Church at 
 home. 
 
 V.— Paid or salaried agents should only be added as the 
 people want them and can support them. 
 
 Here we meet with the important Scriptural principle 
 that teachers in the church should look for help in tem- 
 poral matters to those whom they teach. Many advant- 
 ages spring from this relation of mutual dependence. 
 
 . As the pastor gives his time and energies to his people 
 and watches for their souls as one who shall give account, 
 his people naturally accept from him not only instruc- 
 tion but admonition and reproof. The fact that he 
 depends upon them wholly or in part for his support 
 gives to them a reasonable claim upon his services, and 
 to him a strong motive for the diligent and conscientious 
 performance of his duties. When the native pastor is 
 supported by the Foreign Board the advantages growing 
 out of this mutual dependence between pastor and people 
 
©rgani3atipn of Stations. 
 
 67 
 
 are lost, and a one-sided and unnatural relation is intro- 
 duced, of people and pastor depending on foreign aid, 
 which works evil rather than good. 
 
 Whe experience of the London Mission in Amoy is 
 worthy of notice in this connection. In the year 1868 
 a debt of 100,000 made it necessary for the foreign 
 society to retrench, and the native churches were forced, 
 with great difficulty, however, and by degrees, to support 
 their own pastors. That financial crisis is now, I believe, 
 looked back to as a providential blessing. It developed 
 the strength, independence and self-respect of the native 
 Christians, and was the beginning of a new era of prog- 
 ress. Is it not probable that there are other stations and 
 other departments of mission work from which the 
 withdrawal of foreign funds would prove in the end a 
 blessing rather than a misfortune ? 
 
 It does not follow from this principle of mutual depen- 
 dence that the native pastor must necessarily receive a 
 regular salary and full support from those to whom he 
 ministers; the wisdom of the London Mission in insist- 
 ing that they should, in the case above referred to, may 
 possibly be questioned. In the early history of a station 
 it may not be either necessary or desirable for the preach- 
 er or pastor to depend entirely on his flock for support 
 or to devote his whole time to their spiritual care and 
 oversight. In the early history of the United States, and 
 at present in the new settlements, the minister spent and 
 still spends no inconsiderable portion of his time in sec- 
 ular labor for the maintenance of himself and family. 
 Existing circumstances both at home and on the mission 
 field may make it desirable for the good of the church 
 and usefulness of the pastor that he should take the same 
 course. The relation of mutual dependence and respons- 
 ibility between the teacher and the taught may be fully 
 expressed and the advantages arising from that relation 
 secured by different degrees of help, according to the 
 needs of the minister and the ability of his people. 
 
 The evils connected with the appointment and support 
 of native pastors by foreign societies are such as to de- 
 
68 
 
 /RbetboDs of /IMssion ‘Wllork 
 
 mand further consideration. The same desire to stimu- 
 late and advance the work prompts the employment of 
 paid evangelists in opening new fields and of paid preach- 
 ers afterwards. The effect in both cases is, I believe, in 
 the end the opposite of that intended. In the former' case 
 the injury to the cause develops earlier ; in the latter it 
 is entailed on future workers, and goes down to successive 
 generations. Here again I cannot do better than to 
 quote further the language of Dr. Kellogg. In speaking 
 of the importance of not employing and paying native 
 pastors from the funds of foreign boards, he says: — 
 “This plan” (i.e. that of organizing churches without 
 pastors in the modern sense of that term,) “ would also 
 meet the vexatious, and, — as it has proved in some mis- 
 sions that we could name, — the hitherto insoluble prob- 
 lem of the support of a native pastor. The pecuniary 
 question has been one of the main difficulties, thus far, 
 in the establishment of independent churches in our 
 foreign mission fields. It is plain that if a man be set 
 apart to give his whole • time to the pastoral care of a 
 church, he is rightfully entitled to a full support. But 
 ^ where is this to be raised ? Most of these young 
 churches in India, China', and Africa are very poor. 
 Fix the stipend as low as we will, they are not able to 
 pay it. Shall the Church in America or Europe supple- 
 ment their contributions? This is often done, and to 
 the inexperienced might seem a very simple and excel- 
 lent solution of the ^difficulty ; but, In fact, with this 
 arrangement, difficulties only multiply. For example, 
 what shall be the salary? If, as has often been done, it 
 is fixed at a point much higher than the average income 
 of the people, this works great mischief. It elevates the 
 pastor unduly above the average condition of the people 
 of his church. It degrades the ministry, by making the' 
 pastorate an object of ambition to covetous and un- 
 worthy men. It makes the church, in many cases, 
 despair, from the first, of reaching the position of self- 
 support. A moderate salary they might in time hope to 
 be able to pay of themselves, — a high salary they, with 
 
©rganfsatlon of Stations* 
 
 69 
 
 good reason, look upon as unattainable. We affirm 
 without fear of contradiction, that no one thing has 
 more effectively hindered the development of indepen- 
 dent, self-sustaining native churches in many foreign 
 fields, than the high salaries which, with mistaken wis- 
 dom, are paid to many of the native pastors and helpers 
 from the treasuries of the home churches. Shall we 
 then give a low salary? We shall not thereby escape 
 serious difficulty. Men educated even as pastors com- 
 monly are in heathen fields feel that they are justly 
 entitled to more ; and when they hear of the hundreds 
 of thousands which the churches at home contribute for 
 the support of the Gospel, and which are supposed to be 
 at the disposal of the missionary, they will not and do 
 not generally take kindly to the refusal to pay at a high 
 figure. In this way sad alienations often occur between 
 the foreign missionary and his native helpers. In some 
 parts of Northern India, in particular, this unhappy 
 state of things is quite well known, and formed the 
 subject of earnest discussion at the Lahore and Alla- 
 habad conferences.* 
 
 “ It appears to the writer that the root of all this trou-^ 
 ble lies in the direction indicated. Have we not bqen 
 trying to establish a form of Church government and 
 organization, which, however well adapted to us, and 
 however Scriptural in principle, is in advance of the 
 position of the majority of our foreign mission churches? 
 And is not this the real significance of these trying 
 experiences in the 'matter of the native pastorate? On 
 the Apostolic plan of Church organization there would 
 evidently be no room for trouble of this sort. Here 
 and there, indeed, upon our mission fields, there may be 
 ^ a native church which, in wealth, intelligence and mem- 
 bers is ready for the one-man pastorate ; but we believe 
 that, for the great majority of churches, which are weak 
 and poor, the original Presbyterian system of rulership 
 
 ^ T 
 
 * The Presbyterian Board has met with precisely the same diffi- 
 culty in Persia. 
 
70 
 
 /lRetboC)0 of Mission Morb 
 
 and ‘instruction by a plural eldership is the one form 
 which is adapted to their need. The other will no doubt 
 come in due time, but we act most unwisely in attempt- 
 ing to force it prematurely.”. 
 
 It may be urged as a further objection against the 
 early appointment of native pastors over each church, 
 that the assumption of such a burden by a weak station 
 while ill able to bear it, renders it impossible for it to 
 do what it ought, and otherwise could and would do, 
 for others ; and uiduces in its members a fixed habit of 
 planning and laboring only for themselves. , The sin of 
 selfishness belongs to churches as well as individuals, 
 and it always bears bitter fruit. We should guard 
 against it from the first, teaching young converts that 
 “ there is that scattereth and yet increaseth ; ” that “ it 
 is more blessed to give than to receive,” and “ that 
 those who water others shall be watered themselves.” 
 The first contributions of the early Christians which we 
 read of in the New Testament were for others and not 
 for themselves. 
 
 VI.— Some results of our experience in Shantung. 
 
 Theories are very apt to mislead us ; our safest guide 
 is practical experience. Though our work in Shantung 
 is still in its infancy it will throw light on some ques- 
 tions of great importance. 
 
 1. It has been proved that the extension of country 
 work and the establishment of new stations is practicable 
 without paid preachers. The more than sixty stations 
 under my care have been commenced within eight years 
 almost exclusively through the voluntary efforts of un- 
 paid church members. My helpers, who have never 
 been at any one time more than four, have only followed 
 up, fostered, and directed, the work begun by unpaid • 
 Christians. 
 
 2. These stations do not now need pecuniary aid from for- 
 eigners, and such aid would in my opinion do more harm than 
 good. 
 
 The leaders in charge, under the superintendence of 
 
©rganf3ation of Stations. 
 
 71 
 
 the helper, are, I think, caring for the stations as well as 
 they could be cared for under the circumstances. If the 
 plan should be adopted of providing paid preachers for 
 each station, they would of necessity have to be chosen 
 from the leaders, as there is not a sufficient supply of 
 such men elsewhere. Paying them for their work would 
 not increase their influence, but rather diminish it, and 
 would no doubt excite envy and dissatisfaction among 
 the unemployed. Besides, the characters of these leaders 
 are not sufficiently tested to warrant their being used in 
 that way. The natives would, I thinl^ be unwilling to 
 make such a selection. If it should be attempted they 
 would probably divide into parties influenced by per- 
 sonal motives, and the result would be great harm to the 
 leaders, and to the Church. Any change at present 
 would in my opinion be premature and injurious, and 
 we can only wait for future developments and Divine 
 guidance. 
 
 3. These stations are not only able to provide for 
 their own wants, with the superintendence which is 
 given them, but could and ought to do much for the 
 propagation of the Gospel in the regions beyond. They 
 might easily contribute five hundred dollars a year. 
 These Christians formerly contributed for idolatrous 
 purposes probably double that amount ; and if each 
 church member should give one-tenth of his or her in- 
 come, the yearly contribution for benevolent objects 
 would not be less than two thousand dollars a year. As 
 it is they do not coatribute one hundred and fifty dollars 
 for benevolent purposes, aside from the necessary ex- 
 penses of keeping up their own chapels. These facts 
 show a manifest failure in duty on the part both of the 
 foreign missionary and the converts. The causes of this 
 failure are various. First and foremost no doubt is the 
 want of a cultivated habit of systematic giving. 
 
 Another reason is the failure to set before the native 
 Christians suitable objects to which they should contri- 
 bute. Here perhaps the principal fault of the missionary 
 lies. Having no pressing n^ed for money in the conduct 
 
72 
 
 /IRctboDs of /Ibission THaorb 
 
 of these stations, and there being great danger to the 
 nativ.es in hoarding and manipulating money kept for 
 future use, it was feared that an objectless contribution 
 of money might only be a means of temptation and do 
 harm. Last autumn the Christians in one of the hien 
 occupied by my stations, subscribed about sixty dollars 
 for employing a helper to devote his whole time specially 
 to that hien, and would I think, have paid it cheerfully 
 if the right man could have been found ; but neither 
 they nor I could^btain a man whose gifts and qualifica- 
 tions, as compared to those already in charge, were such 
 as to make him desirable. 
 
 During the last few years I have urged the stations to 
 contribute to the support of the helpers, as the most 
 natural and available object which could be presented to 
 them. They have done so to some extent ; but the plan 
 has not worked well. They have very naturally regarded 
 the helpers as my men and not theirs, since they are 
 chosen and directed by me in the carrying out of my 
 plans. Not only have they shown a disinclination to 
 contribute to their support, but the helpers also are 
 averse to receiving aid from them. I have been dis- 
 posed to press the point against them, but-during the 
 past year have come to the conclusion that the instincts 
 of the natives are perhaps right, and that my plan has 
 been unnatural and impracticable. Here again we are 
 led back by experience to the teachings of Scripture ; 
 as the Apostle Paul provided not only for his own wants 
 but also for those who were with him, and appealed to 
 the Churches to acknowledge the fact that none whom 
 he had sent to them had received pay from them. 
 
 Rev. J. H. Laughlin is now assisting me in my coun- 
 try work, and will, I trust, soon take entire charge of it. 
 We are this autumn (1885) endeavoring to inaugurate 
 the following plan, from which we hope for good results: 
 The* Christians comprised within the bounds of each 
 district or portion of each district, are to choose for 
 themselves two men to go out as their representatives, 
 and supported by them, to^vork for the evangelization 
 
©rganisation of Stations. 
 
 73 
 
 of new districts. No change is to be made for the 
 present in the relations and ordinary occupations of the 
 men so used. They are to be away from their homes 
 two months in the autumn and two in the spring, the 
 times when both they and the people generally are at 
 leisure and the weather is most favorable for travelling, 
 and when absent are not to receive a salary, but only a 
 sum to cover travelling expenses. We hope that in this 
 way aggressive zeal and a habit of giving will be devel- 
 oped ; that much may be accomplished in the way of 
 evangelistic work ; that the reflex influence on the sta- 
 tions may be helpful ; and that from the persons selected 
 year by year, men may be found who, after the necessary 
 testing and sifting, may be advanced to more important 
 and responsible positions in the future. 
 
 These letters so far presuppose a state of things in 
 which there are native Christians to be organized into 
 stations. We will in the next letter consider questions' 
 relating to work in new fields where there are neither 
 stations nor inquirers. 
 
Chapter D1F1F. 
 
 BEGINNING WORK. 
 
 To missionaries beginning their work de noiw, without 
 native converts or inquirers and without a knowledge 
 of the language, many questions arise of the first impor- 
 tance which have not been touched upon in the preced- 
 ing letters. As the beginnings of work contain the 
 seeds of future growth and development both for good 
 and for evil every step should be taken with deliberation 
 and prayer. In addressing my younger brethren I take 
 it for granted that they will not be unwilling I should 
 use a considerable degree of freedom in detailing my 
 own observations and experiences. 
 
 The study of the language. 
 
 It may well be a matter of. congratulation that the 
 newly arrived missionary is exempt, for the first year or 
 two, from the pressure and responsibility of deciding 
 the many questions of mission policy upon which he 
 must form an opinion at a later period. Whatever de- 
 partment of work he may devote himself to in the future, 
 there is no room for doubt that his first duty is to give 
 his time and energies to the thorough acquisition of the 
 language as a necessary prerequisite, to usefulness in 
 work of any kind. For this it is of the greatest advant- 
 age to be free, as far as possible, from cares and inter- 
 ruptions of every description. 
 
 It is very desirable to obtain the occasional assistance 
 of some foreigner well versed in the language in guard- 
 74 
 
:©eglnmnG TlXIlor??. 
 
 75 
 
 ing against mistakes which are almost sure to be made 
 in pronunciation, aspirates and idioms. None of these 
 should be neglected. It is well to know from the first 
 that the ear has to be trained as well as the vocal organs, 
 and that in discriminating and determining the sounds 
 of the Chinese language one’s own senses are not to be 
 depended upon. It often happens, as two or three per- 
 sons listen to the same vocal utterance that each hears 
 it differently, according to his individual habit or pre- 
 conception. Of course all cannot be right. Where 
 acknowledged authorities agree, if the learner follows his 
 own ear in opposition to them, he will probably go astray 
 in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred. Where authori- 
 ties differ, it will generally be on comparatively unimpor- 
 tant points and it will be a matter of little consequence 
 whether you follow one or the other. Even the sounds 
 of an intelligent native accurately heard and reproduced 
 are not as sure a guide as a thoroughly elaborated and 
 consistant classification of sounds like that found in 
 Williams’ Dictionary or Wade’s Syllabary or the dic- 
 tionaries and phrase books representing the southern 
 dialects of China. Variations of individual teachers 
 from the standard pronunciation will probably be found 
 to be localisms or personal peculiarities. The systems 
 of pronunciation referred to are the result of the con- 
 senus of opinion of many foreigners, who may be regard- 
 ed as experts, and of numerous trained natives, during 
 a succession of many years or generations. A person 
 may choose between Wade’s system and Williams’ in 
 accordance with his purpose to speak the pure Peking 
 Mandarin or a more general Mandarin. Either system 
 is excellent and the differences between them are practi- 
 cally of little importance. They are much less than 
 exist between the languages of many Chinese officials 
 who can converse with one another without difficulty. 
 While it is no doubt desirable sooner or later to become 
 acquainted with localisms, it is perhaps better at first to 
 master the standard form of the dialect spoken, whether 
 the Mandarin or any of the southern dialects. Localisms 
 
76 /iRctboDs Of /iRlsslon 'Morb 
 
 will be easily and almost unconsciously acquired after- 
 wards as they are needed. Taking this course will secure 
 a man’s being generally intelligible ; while those with 
 whom he is constantly associated in his home, where his 
 dialect may not be spoken in its purest form, will prefer 
 to hear him speak without localisms rather than with 
 them and will understand him almost if not quite as 
 well. By adopting this course, church members would 
 gradually become acquainted with and be able to use 
 the standard form of their dialect, and thus indirectly 
 the diffusion of Christianity would promote uniformity 
 in the language of the people and as a necessary conse- 
 quence facilitate general intercourse. 
 
 A young missionary in acquiring the language should 
 eagerly avail himself of all the “helps” at his com- 
 mand. Phrase books, grammers, dictionaries, a careful 
 and well-trained native teacher, and the assistance and 
 criticism of some foreigner are all important. The 
 native teacher should be made to understand that giving 
 satisfaction to his employer and retaining his place de- 
 pend on his laying aside Chinese ideas of deference and 
 politeness, so far as they would prevent his correcting 
 the same mistake of his foreign employer fifty times if 
 necessary, as it probably will be. It is a fact, as com- 
 mon as it is unfortunate, that a teacher sometimes learns 
 foreignized or individualized Chinese of the foreigner, 
 who is led to suppose from the ease with which he is 
 able to communicate with his teacher, that he is making 
 rapid progress in the acquisition of the language, while 
 he has unconsciously been playing a game with the 
 Chinese teacher of “ give and take.” The result of this 
 process is a kind of compromise between the English 
 and the Chinese languages, made up of Chinese words 
 with an adhiixture to a greater or. less degree of foreign 
 idioms, pronunciations, inflections, emphases and aspi- 
 rates or want of aspirates. The extreme result of a 
 similar process is found in the “Pidgin English.” 
 
 Frequent changes in methods of study are sometimes 
 desirable in order to break up monotony and avoid 
 
:©ealnning Morft. 
 
 77 
 
 weariness. Each individual will learn by experience 
 the particular way of prosecuting his studies which suits 
 him best. Most persons find that from one to three 
 hours a day with a Chinese teacher in getting correct 
 sounds from his lips, is as much as can be spent profit- 
 ably at first'. The great work, that of memorizing words 
 and sentences, can be done better quietly by one’s self. 
 When a good beginning has been made in pronunciation 
 and tones and aspirates, only the occasional help of a 
 foreigner is required. In the course of from six months 
 to a year, most persons will find it very helpful to spend 
 a good deal of time mainly or exclusively with natives, 
 so as to force themselves to speak Chinese. At this 
 period, a tour into the country or living for a time in the 
 country without a foreigner, making a companion of 
 one’s personal teacher or a native preacher, is very use- 
 ful. In the course of a year or more, when one is able 
 to converse with some freedom, it is generally desirable 
 to. change the teacher, as facility of communication with 
 him will be partly the result, and that unavoidably, of a 
 mutual adaptation to each other. A change of teachers, 
 or talking a good deal with natives generally, will en- 
 large the learner’s vocabulary and show him how far he 
 has got on in acquiring the language as spoken by the 
 people. With all the helps which can be obtained a 
 man must depend mainly on regular, persistent, hard 
 study. If he has a natural gift for languages it will of 
 course be invaluable, but even this must not be trusted 
 to as the chief dependence. 
 
 In the course of two or three years or more, the mis- 
 sionary may form a permanent or general plan of study 
 for his .lifetime. Some think it best to confine their 
 attention to the Chinese spoken language, and regard 
 an attempt to learn the written language or wen-li, (with 
 probably a very imperfect and unsatisfactory result,) a 
 useless waste of time, which might better be spent in 
 mastering the vernacular and fitting themselves for 
 effective preaching. One might indeed in this way save 
 much time and also find a sphere of great usefulness as 
 
78 
 
 /IftetboDe ot /Iftission Morft 
 
 a large proportion of the population of China is only 
 acquainted with the spoken language. To reach all 
 classes however, and especially the influential classes, 
 the knowledge of the wen-li is of immense advantage. 
 It may be acquired in connection with a great deal of 
 other work if the study of it is prosecuted methodically 
 and persistently and the missionary avoids burdening 
 himself with so much and so many kinds of work as to 
 make it impossible. I should strongly recommend from 
 the first a regular exercise in writing characters and in 
 memorizing select passages of the Classics. 
 
 Beginning direct missionary wbrRT^ 
 
 Here, if I mistake not, we are apt to be too hasty. 
 After years of preparation at . home we are anxious to 
 begin our life w'ork at once. We hardly realize that 
 aside from the study of the language other special prep- 
 aration for the work before us is still necessary. If a man 
 has come from home designated to a particular depart- 
 ment of work, or the exigencies of his field on his arrival 
 constitute a call to some special work, the case is quite 
 different. If there is no such call, I should as a rule, 
 advise him to keep clear from the responsibilities and 
 distractions of an indepetident personal work^ for three, 
 four or mor-e years. One ought not to allow himself to 
 be troubled with the thought that he is holding back 
 and not taking his full share of labor or with the fear 
 that he may lay himself open to such imputations from 
 others. I recommend this plan as the best course for 
 securing the greatest usefulness. In the meantime, 
 while the young missionary may not be able to point 
 to any tangible results of work of his own, he may have 
 the satisfaction of doing good from the first and that in 
 many ways. He may bring a cheering gleam of sun- 
 shine from the home-land to those who are worn and 
 weary and perhaps disheartened by the pressure of ac- 
 cumulated and exhausting toil. In leisure hours he can 
 relieve other missionaries of some kinds of secular work 
 which he can probably do as well as they, leaving them 
 
^Beginning IKaorft. 
 
 79 
 
 free to devote more time to work for which a knowledge 
 of the language is a necessity. In a godly, unselfish, 
 Christ-like walk, he may produce deep and lasting im- 
 pressions for good, both on natives and foreigners, 
 before he can begin to speak in the native language. As 
 he advances in his knowledge of Chinese he can help 
 his brethren in many ways, such as chapel preaching, 
 teaching a class in a school, or accompanying and assist- 
 ing older missionaries on itinerating tours. These kinds 
 of work and all kinds of work, while they will be a help 
 to others and the common cause, will be a still greater 
 help to himself, — just the preparation and training 
 which he needs. 
 
 / I should advise a young missionary when he has ac- 
 / quired the language or while he is still acquiring it, to 
 / visit different stations connected with his own mission 
 and stations of other missions to acquaint himself by 
 personal observation, as well as by a special course of 
 reading, with the diverse methods employed, and not 
 1 t£ be hasty in forming opinions and acting upon them 
 \ until he has gathered sufficient materials upon which to 
 \found these opinions. 
 
 The opposite course is liable to many objections. 
 Confining one’s self to the place where he is located, 
 subject to one set of personal and local influences, form- 
 ing opinions and acting on them at an early period, is 
 apt to make a man narrow in the beginning, and then 
 confirm him in his narrowness. In taking up an indi- 
 vidual work at an early period, he meets with difficulties 
 and responsibilities which he had not anticipated ; a 
 great deal of time is wasted in the laborious and imper- 
 fect performance, of work which a few years later might 
 be attended to with care and success. Plans for con- 
 tinued study, for which it was supposed plenty of leisure 
 would be afforded, have to be given up in consequence 
 of pressure of engagements, pre-occupation of mind, or 
 exhaustion of body. By undertaking work which one 
 is incompetent to do and the difficulties of which one 
 cannot anticipate important interests are imperilled, in- 
 
8o 
 
 /IRetboDs of /Ilbl06ion THIlorl? 
 
 jurious impressions produced which it is diihcnlt to 
 efface, and health and even life may be sacrificed. It 
 has been to me a matter of constant regret that a portion 
 of time was not strictly reserved, especially during my 
 first five or ten years in China, for laying a broader and 
 deeper foundation for future usefulness by a more ex- 
 tensive and methodical reading and memorizing of 
 Mandarin and Classic literature. Suitable and adequate 
 plans were made for such study, but other occupations 
 in the form of direct missionary work, promising im- 
 mediate results, were allowed to interfere with and set 
 aside those plans. In this way, as in many others, we 
 are too easily induced to sacrifice a greater future good 
 to a less present one. 
 
 Independent individual work. 
 
 Though the time of preparation for individual work 
 may have been somewhat protracted, the missionary will 
 feel at its close that he is all too imperfectly fitted for 
 the task before him. He must now, however, without 
 unnecessary delay take his full share of labor and re- 
 sponsibility. Before this point is reached, providential 
 circumstances and personal tastes and proclivities will 
 probably have indicated clearly his department of labor. 
 This, while it should not be desultory, should not be too 
 much specialized. A variety of work promotes physical 
 and intellectual health. Employments may be so ar- 
 ranged and affiliated, that instead of interfering with 
 each other, they may be mutually helpful. This is 
 specially true of study, teaching, preaching, itinerating 
 and book-making. Each of these, in the above order, 
 is a preparation for that which follows ; and the succeed- 
 ing ones, by their reflex influence, stimulate and assist 
 those that precede. Missionary life must begin with 
 study, but it should not end there. All study or no 
 study — too much study or too little — are extremes equal- 
 ly to be avoided. The results of study can only be 
 assimilated and utilized by constant, familiar, and sym- 
 
:©e0fnnlng TKIlorh. 
 
 8i 
 
 pathetic intercourse with the people, and people of all 
 sorts. 
 
 If I were asked, what in my opinion is the most im- 
 portant of all departments of mission work in China, I 
 should' not be able to answer categorically. All are 
 important. The most important work for each man is , 
 undoubtedly that for which he is best fitted and to 
 which he is specially called. Jlook-making is the ripest 
 a,nd rich est fruit of all. Its influence extends over 
 nations and continents, and goes down to successive 
 generations. To consider the different departments of 
 missionary work in detail would far transcend the limits 
 assign ed to these pages. One branch, however,_Jtiner- 
 attention, as particularly c on- 
 nect ed, with the subject of the previous letters. 
 
 Itinerating. 
 
 In engaging in this department of work we may cer- 
 tainly have the satisfaction of feeling that we are in 
 complete accord with the great commission, “Go ye 
 into all the world and preach the Gospel to every crea- 
 ture ; ’ ’ and also with the example of the great Apostle 
 to the Gentiles. 
 
 While the active labors of this Apostle were largely 
 made up of^teaching,Cpreachmg and wrUIl)^, Itinerating 
 may perhaps^TFlregarded as thdr distinguishing feature 
 arid'thar to which he was specially set apart by the Holy 
 Ghost. The great centres where he spent most of his 
 time were apparently not selected by him in accordance 
 with a predetermined plan, but were providentially indi- 
 cated to him in the ordinary course of his Apostolic 
 tours. But most piissionaries, however much they may 
 itinerate, will require a fixed place of residence, that is 
 a home, in selecting which the chief considerations 
 should be health, facilities for acquiring the language 
 and a place which is an influential centre in itself and 
 affords easy access to the unevangelized regions about 
 it. Such a home the Apostle Paul had at Antioch, 
 where he spent the intervals between his itinerating 
 
 6 
 
82 
 
 /iRetbo&s of ^lesion THaorh 
 
 tours. When the time comes for practically answering 
 the question, ^‘How shall I make a beginning?” I 
 should say; Do as the Apostle did; Go everywhere 
 preaching the Gospel. You can not know where there 
 may be some one waiting for you and some one to whom 
 you have been sent. Ask for direction. Christ’s sheep 
 will hear His voice. How shall we find them? Go 
 everywhere, and wherever ‘‘Christ’s sheep” are, there 
 they will respond to' His call. Then you will have 
 a beginning from which to work, and one of God’s own 
 choosing. 
 
 Assistants or Helpers. 
 
 Our Saviour sent out his disciples on evangelistic tours 
 two by two. There are many special advantages to be 
 gained in a foreigner’s being accompanied by a well- 
 trained native helper, if such an one is to be had ; the 
 foreigner attracting an audience, while the Chinaman 
 /may possibly do most of the talking. Constant inter- 
 / course with a native is not only, as has been remarked 
 / before, the best way to acquire a familiar and practical 
 / knowledge of the language and native character, cus- 
 toms, and modes of thought ; but it is also the best way 
 1 for the foreigner to communicate to his assistant practi- 
 \ cal instruction. to develop his Christian character, and 
 \ influence him for good. It is not easy, however, to find 
 Just such men as one would like, even in the older 
 stations; and the young missionary may feel himself 
 specially fortunate if he is able to obtain one. Still the 
 work may be begun and prosecuted successfully without 
 such a helper, and far better without one than with a 
 person who is not a sincere and earnest Christian. Be- 
 fore the missionary is ready for itinerating he will prob- 
 ably have had in his employ for many months a personal 
 servant, who, though he may not be a convert, may be, 
 if he is in sympathy with his employer, very serviceable 
 on an itinerating tour. He will everywhere be the per- 
 son applied to by the curious villagers to obtain all sorts 
 of information about the character, mode of life, and 
 
JBc^inning IKIlor!?. 
 
 83 
 
 aims and purposes of the foreign visitor. Indeed the 
 fact that your attendant is not a professed Christian 
 makes his countrymen all the more free in communi- 
 cating with him and gives additional weight to his 
 testimony. 
 
 If your servant has been brought to Christ while in 
 your employ, the fullness and warmth of his testimony 
 will more than compensate for the want of credence 
 consequent on being a co-religionist and as such pledged 
 to speak for you. In an early period of my work in 
 Ningpo, I had a Christian servant who was to me inval- 
 uable. He was a tailor by trade, and learned to be a 
 good washerman and cook. After becoming a Christian 
 he accompanied me on my tours, attending to my wash- 
 ing, mending and cooking, making himself generally 
 useful, and at the same time was earnest and judicious 
 in bearing witness to Christianity when opportunity 
 offered. Most of those whom he met with were more 
 easily reached by him than they could have been by a 
 scholar, as they were nearer to him on the social scale 
 and more in sympathy with him. I then felt, with the 
 other members of the Ningpo mission, that he was too 
 valuable a man to be employed as a servant, and he was 
 induced to change his position in life, and was employed 
 successively as chapel-keeper, a,ssistant, &c. I now 
 think we made a mistake in not leaving him in the 
 position of servant, and fear that he has never been as 
 happy or useful since ’as he was in his original sphere 
 of life. 
 
 Boatmen, cartmen, muleteers, and wheel-barrow men 
 in our employ, and inn-keepers with whom we stop, 
 though not Christians, may be of great service to us, if 
 their relations and dispositions towards us are such as to 
 incline them to throw their influence in our favor. On 
 the other hand if they are prejudiced against Chris- 
 tianity, or cherishing a feeling of resentment on account 
 of real or fancied injuries, they may do us much harm. 
 In fact, by their fault finding, exaggerating real wrongs 
 and repeating idle rumors, they may neutralize all our 
 
84 
 
 /IRetboOs of /IRigsion TKIlorft 
 
 preaching. I once employed a muleteer who was an ill- 
 tempered man and strongly prejudiced against Chris- 
 tianity. He, as I afterwards learned, reported wherever 
 I went that the Chinese helper accompanying me was a 
 cheat and a deceiver ; and that moreover most of those 
 who entered our religion soon became insane ! That 
 this trip was not a very satisfactory one in its results 
 need not be a matter of surprise. I am glad to be able 
 to say that my experiences have not always been of this 
 kind. 
 
 About six years ago, I was detained in a small country 
 inn by a severe case of persecution which was exciting a 
 great deal of interest in the neighborhood. At the close 
 of a busy day one of my wheel-barrow men came to me 
 and said: “There is a man here who lives near my 
 home about twenty miles away, whom it would be well 
 for you to have a talk with. He stopped here for lunch 
 at noon, became interested in what is going on, and has 
 questioned me the whole afteri^pon about you and what 
 you are doing. He has remained so long that he cannot 
 reach home to-day, and will stay in the inn over night.” 
 In less than two years from that time this new acquaint- 
 ance made a public profession of his faith in Christ. 
 All the members of his family, which is a large one, are 
 now Christians; his home has become an important 
 Christian centre, and eight or ten stations have sprung 
 up near his native town, mainly through his influence. 
 These two wheel-barrow men are persons constantly in 
 my employ, whether at home or on country tours. 
 They are not as yet baptized, and at that time were not 
 specially inclined to become Christians. I often obtain 
 from them important information respecting the villages 
 through which I travel, and also hear from them faults 
 and irregularities in my stations ; some of which even 
 the native helper has failed to discover. 
 
Cbaptcr 
 
 BEGINNING WORK — COntUlued. 
 
 How shall we reach the people? 
 
 When places in the interior are visited for the first 
 time, there are opportunities to preach to crowds, such 
 as will probably never occur again. The whole popula- 
 tion moved by curiosity comes out to see the foreigner, 
 eagerly intent to hear what he has to say. In preaching 
 under these circumstances, even when well acquainted 
 with the language, we must not expect the people to 
 understand more than a moiety of what we say. There 
 is too much curiosity, excitement and noise to admit of 
 connected discourse or#continued attention. Besides, 
 the people are so unaccustomed to religious subjects that 
 language fails to communicate the idea intended. This 
 kind of preaching, though for the reasons above stated 
 very ineffectual as regards its main object, is still by no 
 means unimportant. We may at least leave the impres- 
 sion behind us that we have kindly intentions, that we 
 are not barbarians, and may also give some general idea 
 of our character and work as religious teachers, thus 
 preparing the way for a more lengthened visit and more 
 detailed teaching in the future. We may also hope and 
 pray that in the crowd which gathers around us, as we 
 pass from village to village, there may be some person 
 prepared to receive our message, or that the good seed 
 may find a permanent lodgment in some heart and bring 
 forth fruit hereafter. A few tracts are very useful at such' 
 a time to convey to the people, as they are read after- 
 wards, better ideas of our object than we have been able 
 under the circumstances to give orally. 
 
 There are many advantages in visiting the regular 
 fairs^ which are so striking a feature of country life in 
 
 85 
 
86 
 
 /nbetbo&6 of /Ibission Ulllorft 
 
 most parts of China. Here crowds of country people 
 are gathered and an excellent opportunity is afforded for 
 addressing a constantly changing audience, representing 
 many surrounding villages and distant cities. If there 
 are those listening who wish fuller instruction or whose 
 curiosity is not satisfied, they will probably seek out the 
 missionary at his inn. 
 
 In the inn there is an opportunity for more or less 
 lengthened conversation, adapting instruction and infor- 
 mation to individuals and forming acquaintances which 
 may be followed up in the. future. Books can also be 
 disposed of with a greater degree of care and discrim- 
 ination. In parts of the country where there are canals 
 the travelling boat largely takes the place of the inn. 
 
 Visits to native schools are sometimes very interesting 
 and encouraging. Here we may expect widely differing 
 receptions and experiences according to the character of 
 the teacher in charge. 
 
 Some missionaries adopt indirect and unobtrusive 
 methods, avoiding crowds and making comparatively 
 little use of public preaching, planning to have the 
 people seek them, rather than going after the people. 
 The Romanists, so far as my observation goes, generally 
 adopt this method. Their long experience and success 
 render their example worthy of serious consideration. 
 
 Others, wherever they go, make inquiries after relig- 
 iously disposed persons or seekers after the truth, a class 
 which is found in greater or less numbers almost every- 
 where in China, and endeavor to influence them and 
 through them the circle of friends or adherents always 
 found connected with them. This plan is obviously 
 reasonable and practical and has the special sanction of 
 our Saviour’s teachings, Matthew x : ii. It has been 
 largely adopted by the English Baptists in Shantung, and 
 with encouraging results. 
 
 'While most missionaries give their chief attention to 
 the middle or more illiterate class, a few feel a special 
 call to attempt to influence the literati and officials; not 
 only because they exercise a dominating influence on 
 
JBeginnitiQ laiorft. 
 
 87 
 
 the masses, but also because they have been in general 
 too much neglected. It is obvious that this kind of 
 work is attended with peculiar difficulty, and requires 
 special preparation, particularly in acquainting one’s 
 self with Chinese etiquette. Indeed a4heoretical and 
 practical knowledge of Chinese rules of politeness is 
 very important for every missionary in intercourse with 
 all classes. 
 
 In what way should we spend our time and talents so as 
 to accomplish most for the advancement of Christ’s cause ? 
 
 The dominent idea of a missionary should be duty and 
 not immediate individual success, as judged by human 
 standards. If the desire for tangible results should take 
 the form of a wish to gather into the Church as soon as 
 possible the greatest number of professed converts it may 
 become a dangerous temptation and snare. 
 
 . It will be early fifty years hence to determine with 
 positive certainty what any individual life has or has not 
 accomplished. Only in eternity will every man’s work 
 be fully made manifest what sort it is. Results of ap- 
 parently. great importance may attract attention and 
 secure general commendation, and yet prove only tem- 
 porary and illusory. On the other hand a good book 
 or a word spoken in season, may produce important 
 results though the world may never be able to trace them 
 to their true source. 
 
 Probably no two men ever have or ever will work in 
 the same groove. Each will do his own work best in 
 his own way. If God has called us as individuals to 
 serve Him in China, He has a special work for each of 
 us to do, and if we earnestly seek His guidance He will 
 direct us to it. It is apt to be a very different one from 
 that which we have been disposed to plan for ourselves. 
 
 It is sometimes asked, what practical answer does the 
 experience of missionaries in China for the past forty 
 years give to the question, “Which methods of work 
 have really brought the greatest number of converts into 
 the Church ? ’ ’ This question is a legitimate and im- 
 
88 
 
 /iRetboDa of /Iblseion fUHorb 
 
 portant one, but can only be answered approximately. 
 The conventional modes of work which sum up the 
 labors of missionaries as reported every year to the home 
 societies are Bible distribution, Tract distribution. Chap- 
 el preaching. Translating and Book-making, Schools, 
 and Itinerations. 
 
 The number of copies of the Bible and parts of the 
 Bible distributed in the different parts of China during 
 the past forty years can only be estimated by millions, 
 the same is true of Christian tracts. 
 
 Many missionaries have given their time largely to 
 chapel preaching and have thus spent from one to three 
 hours daily. A great deal of this work has also been 
 done by natives. The number of chapel discourses dur- 
 ing the past forty years can also only be estimated by 
 millions. 
 
 The result of literary work in the study cannot be 
 tabulated. It passes into and is utilized in every other 
 department of labor. 
 
 The aggregate number of years spent in teaching in 
 the different kinds of schools during the last forty years, 
 can only be numbered by thousands. 
 
 As to itinerations, it is a very common thing for a 
 missionary to preach in from five to ten villages in a day 
 and from two hundred to five hundred times on a tour. 
 The number of these itinerating addresses during these 
 forty years can only be numbered by hundreds of 
 thousands, and including those of natives probably by 
 millions. 
 
 The question is, to which of these different modes of 
 work is the conversion of the about 30,000 Protestant 
 Christians of China to be mainly traced? I am disposed 
 to think that the number of conversions due to each 
 would be found to increase about in the order in which 
 they are mentioned above ; and that the number trace- 
 able to them all together would be but a small fraction 
 of the whole ; and that by far the greater proportion is 
 to be referred to private social intercourse : “ The King- 
 dom of God cometh not with observation.” 
 
JSeQfnnlnQ Mori?. 
 
 89 
 
 In the spiritual work of the conversion of souls and building 
 up Christ’s Kingdom on earth, we of ourselves can do nothing 
 except as instruments. 
 
 This a fact so familiarly known and universally ac- 
 knowledged that it may well be regarded as a simple 
 truism. Theoretically, we learned this lesson almost in 
 infancy ; practically, it is difficult for some of us fully 
 to learn it in, a lifetime. It is so natural for us to feel 
 that with a good knowledge of the language, sincere 
 earnestness and sympathy with the people, together with 
 prudence, common sense, zeal, hard work and persever- 
 ance, sooner or later great spiritual results must certainly 
 be accomplished. This is by no means the case. Our 
 labors may combine all the above conditions and yet be 
 fruitless in the conversion of souls. If we depend upon 
 our gifts or acquisitions, our zeal in the use even of God’s 
 appointed means, with an underlying and insidious de- 
 sire for a result which may be regarded as something 
 which we ourselves have accomplished, we shall probably 
 be disappointed. If we are cherishing a feeling of self- 
 dependence in any form, God will probably humble us 
 before He will use us. We must feel that if anything is 
 accomplished it will be by the presence and power of 
 God’s Holy Spirit, and be ready to ascribe all the glory 
 to Him. Otherwise He will probably leave us to our- 
 selves to learn the lesson of our own weakness. The 
 natural tendency to depend on self, or on anything else 
 rather than God, has been a prominent sin of God’s 
 people from the earliest times. I am disposed to think 
 that this tendency now prevails to a great extent among 
 Christians at home, and that missionaries commence work 
 in foreign lands too much under the influence of it. 
 
 In this commercial age a commercial spirit has crept 
 into the Church. As in business matters generally, so 
 in religious enterprises, it is supposed that a certain 
 amount of capital, judiciously expended, will naturally 
 work out a certain result. The success of a Mission 
 Society is gauged by the amount of money in its treasury. 
 In order to secure more liberal contributions, only the 
 
90 
 
 jflRetboDs of Tiftission Timorft 
 
 more favorable and encouraging facts are welcomed and 
 laid before the churches, so that they may feel that they 
 are contributing not to a failing but to a prospering 
 cause. Let me not be understood as implying that 
 money is not important and that the duty of giving 
 to missions should not be pressed home upon the hearts 
 and consciences of all, whether native converts or home 
 Christians. The danger I would guard against is of giv- 
 ing such disproportionate prominence to money as to 
 divert the mind from what is of much greater import- 
 ance. In a word, it is making money or what money 
 can command rather than the Holy Spirit our main de- 
 pendence. I am quite aware that all Christians would 
 earnestly disavow any such intention. It is not an un- 
 common thing, however, to find ourselves doing indi- 
 rectly, or unconsciously, what we could never be induced 
 to do deliberately and knowingly. The work we are 
 prosecuting is distinctly and emphatically a work of 
 God’s Spirit. If we fail to recognize and act upon this 
 fact the mission work will decline even with a full treas- 
 ury ; while with the Spirit’s presence it will prosper even 
 with a depleted one. 
 
 Personal experience in beginning work in Shantung. 
 
 I commenced itinerating work in Central Shantung 
 about fifteen years ago ; my previous tours having been 
 in the eastern part of the province. I knew the language 
 and had the advantage of seventeen years of experience 
 elsewhere ; but was without a native assistant. I prose- 
 cuted the work laboriously, making long tours over the 
 same ground every spring and autumn ; but for five years 
 had not a single convert. The work at that time was 
 quite different from what it is at present. Then my 
 labors were entirely with the previously unreached masses 
 and consisted in preaching at fairs, in inns, and on the 
 street, in book distribution, and efforts to form ac- 
 quaintances with well disposed persons wherever I could 
 find them. At present nearly all my time and strength. 
 
:©e 9 innina “Mori?. 
 
 91 
 
 when in the country, are expended on the native Chris- 
 tians, on the plan detailed in previous letters. 
 
 As a rule, I now reach the masses indirectly through 
 the Christians ; they doing the aggressive work, and I 
 following it up, directing and organizing it. Had I 
 again to begin work in a new field, I do not know where 
 I should change the methods heretofore adopted, except 
 in the one particular of not encouraging in any way 
 hopes of pecuniary help. Why these methods proved 
 fruitless for so long a time it is impossible to say. In 
 looking back over my experiences during the first five 
 years of work in this field, it appears made up chiefly 
 of failures and disappointments. Men for whom I had 
 watched and labored for years, who seemed almost per- 
 suaded to be Christians, went back and were lost sight 
 of. Associations of co-religionists were at different times 
 on the point of entering the Church in a body with 
 their leaders. From them all I have realized little else 
 but wasted time and labor, with no doubt the acquisition 
 of some valuable experience. I have in mind several 
 places within my circuit where there seemed to be an 
 unusual religious interest springing up, places which I 
 hoped would soon be centres of Christian influence with 
 chapels and native leaders ; but these expectations have 
 hardly been realized in a single instance. In some cases 
 I have endeavored to encourage and stimulate persons 
 who have been doing something in the way of active 
 Christian work by giving them a little pecuniary assist- 
 ance, hoping that they might be of help to me in the 
 future. This class has not furnished, so far as I can - 
 recall, a single individual who has not disappointed me. 
 Help in the way of pay for Christian work which ought 
 to be done without pay has always done harm. The 
 amount of pecuniary help which I have considered 
 reasonable and ample in these cases has '‘been regarded 
 by beneficiaries as insufficient, and has often produced 
 dissatisfaction, complaint, and resentment. 
 
 When converts have appeared they have come from 
 unexpected quarters, and in unexpected ways; stations 
 
92 
 
 /IRetboDs of /Ibl 60 ion Morb 
 
 have been established without my planning and in places 
 previously entirely unknown to me. As a rule the now 
 existing stations are not found in the sections of country 
 where the itinerating work began ; nor are the results 
 realized directly traceable to previous work of seed- 
 sowing. If asked the cause of the difference in the 
 outcome of labors of the preceding and succeeding 
 years, the question is not easy to answer. The influence 
 of the work of famine-relief and a supposed special 
 susceptibility to religious impressions in the regions 
 where these stations are found will account but in part 
 for the difference. We can only say God in His in- 
 scrutable providence has so ordered it. For myself, I 
 have learned that God’s ways are very different and 
 infinitely wiser than mine ; that it is better to follow 
 than to take the lead ; and that there is need to pray not 
 only that we may be used as instruments in God’s work, 
 but that we may be kept from marring or obstructing it. 
 
 I might add here that I have known of many instances 
 in which individuals and groups of individuals have 
 been brought into the Church with very imperfect and 
 erroneous views of Christianity, and moreover influenced 
 largely by mercenary motives, who have afterwards 
 given evidence of having become intelligent and sincere 
 Christians. 
 
 Some have supposed that we are warranted in the first 
 presentation of Christianity in withholding those doc- 
 trines which antagonize Chinese systems and are calcu- 
 lated to excite prejudice and opposition, presenting only 
 those features which are concilatory and attractive, thus 
 drawing the people to us and gaining an influence over 
 them, and afterwards giving them instruction in the com- 
 plete system of Christian truth as they are able to bear 
 it. I doubt very much whether such a course is justified 
 by the teaching and example of our Saviour and the 
 Apostles. God may and does in His mercy and grace 
 make use of our incomplete presentation of His truth 
 and an imperfect apprehension of it to the conversion 
 and salvation of men ; but have we not still greater 
 
®CGinmng Morft* 
 
 93 
 
 reason for expecting His blessing in connection with 
 His truth when given in its completeness? I believe 
 there is no doctrine of Christianity the full presentation 
 of which we need fear. With all our care to ^Meclare 
 the whole counsel of God" there will still be a great 
 amount of misconception in the minds of those who 
 hear us, and we may well be thankful that God will use 
 and bless inadequate conceptions of His truth. It is 
 for us, however, to make our teaching as full and clear 
 as possible. 
 
 What is the best way to get out of “ old ruts ” ? 
 
 To those who still prefer the old system this question 
 has of course no relevancy; but it is presumed that there 
 are others who will regard it as a practical and important 
 one. In some respects it is much simpler and easier to 
 commence work from the beginning; on the other hand 
 there are many advantages in having an old foundation 
 to build on and much good material to use. Many of 
 our native employes sustain characters beyond reproach 
 or suspicion. Some are efficient workers; others are sim- 
 ply out of their place, having been brought into a position 
 for which they are unsuited and by long continuance in 
 which they have become unfitted for their original modes 
 of life. If there are any persons who are to be blamed 
 for this result they are mainly the missionaries of twenty, 
 thirty or forty years ago, who inaugurated the present state 
 of things or the societies which sent them out with in- 
 structions to do so. Probably blame should be attributed 
 to no one, as both foreigners and natives concerned have 
 done what they regarded as their duty and whaF they 
 supposed was for the best interests of the mission cause. 
 Under these* circumstances long established relations 
 should not be rudely severed, and the natives who are 
 more to be pitied than blamed should be treated with 
 sympathy and justice. 
 
 In the case of competent and efficient pastors whose 
 people are able and desirous to support them no change 
 is required. Other pastors able and willing to “endure 
 
94 
 
 ^ctbo&5 of /Hbioeion TKIlorft 
 
 hardness” might take the charge of several weak 
 churches which combined would be able to give them a 
 competent support. Pastors left without charge by this 
 union of churches might be employed, if they have the 
 requisite gifts, as evangelists, either in opening new fields 
 not yet reached or in superintending weak and scattered 
 companies of Christians who are under the immediate 
 instruction of leaders or elders. Such evangelists, if 
 thoroughly proved and tried, might be supported wholly 
 by the mission or wholly by the native churches or by 
 the two conjointly. Others specially suited for the pur- 
 pose might supply the helpers and attendants required by 
 the new plan as well as the old. These would be con- 
 nected with and under the direction of the missionary, 
 giving him needed assistance in receiving, entertaining' 
 and instructing guests and inquirers, in itinerating tours, 
 and in the care and oversight of inquirers and new sta- 
 tions. Others unfitted by age or incapacity for active 
 service might be retired on a pension and left to do what 
 they can by voluntary labor as private Christians. As- 
 sistance might be given to others for two or three years 
 in acquiring some trade or profession. One of the older 
 missionaries in China, much interested in this question, 
 has suggested the plan of furnishing to suitable men 
 three years of theoretical and practical instruction in the 
 science of medicine ; thus putting within their reach a 
 useful and honorable means of livelihood and then leav- 
 ing them to themselves. By some such means as this 
 men of the right stamp might have their influence for 
 good greatly enhanced. 
 
 ProTably son^e readers of the foregoing letters may 
 derive the impression that the writer is desponding and 
 pessimistic in his views of mission work. On the con- 
 trary, if I may be allowed an opinion on such a question, 
 I think I have always been rather sanguine if not enthu- 
 siastic. I believe that much has been accomplished in 
 every department of missionary work in China. The 
 literary outcome of the past forty years is alone and by 
 itself a rich legacy to the missionaries and native Chris- 
 
JSegmnmg 'QXIlork. 
 
 95 
 
 tians of the present, and gives them a vantage ground 
 in undertaking future labor which it is difficult to over- 
 -estimate. The ratio of increase in the number of con- 
 verts, and the evidence of growth and development in 
 native churches, are also full of encouragement. While 
 we must record many cases of coldness and defection, 
 we remember that such cases have characterized the 
 history and progress of the Church to a greater or less 
 extent in every age. On the other hand, we rejoice in 
 being able to point to many who give undoubted evi- 
 dence of being God’s chosen ones; while there are 
 others whose names are already enrolled among the 
 noble army of martyrs. It has been my privilege to 
 know many Christian men and Christian women in 
 China, whose godly lives and peaceful deaths have been 
 an inspiration to me and made me, I trust, a better man 
 and a more earnest worker. I count among my nearest 
 and most honored friends not a few native Christians 
 who are now bearing faithful testimony to the truth in 
 the midst of opposition and manifold trials such as 
 Christians in Western lands can only imperfectly appre- 
 ciate. It has been the object of these letters not to 
 extol the virtues of Chinese Christians, concerning 
 which volumes might be written, but rather to point out 
 certain evils in what I regard a mistaken policy of mis- 
 sionary work. If the reader has not met with many 
 reassuring facts and cheering prospects it is only because 
 this is not the place to look for them. 
 
 Thankfully acknowledging what has already been 
 done, I believe we have not accomplished what we 
 might if we had followed more closely the teachings and 
 examples given us for our guidance in the Scriptures. I 
 believe that the injudicious use of money and agencies 
 depending on money have retarded and crippled our 
 work and produced a less self-reliant and stalwart type 
 of Christians than we otherwise. should have had. 
 
 I should exceedingly regret if the statement just made 
 or any other statement in these letters should be under- 
 stood or construed as intimating that the use of money 
 
96 
 
 ^ctboDs ot /iRiesion ‘Umorft 
 
 in carrying on missionary work is not legitimate. In 
 the nature of things pecuniary aid is an absolute neces- 
 sity, not only for sending out and supporting well quali- 
 fied and 'accredited missionaries, but also for Hospital 
 and Dispensary work, for the preparation and dissemin- 
 ation of a Chrislian literature, for establishing high 
 institutions of learning and for furnishing, as needed, 
 grants-in-aid for primary or preparatory Christian 
 schools. In supplying the funds thus required all Chris- 
 tians have the opportunity of sharing in the privileges 
 and self-denials of the work of preaching the Gospel to 
 every creature. Far more money is needed for the 
 actual demands of the work than has hitherto been 
 given. Some parts of the heathen world now fully open 
 to missionary effort have scarcely been touched. In 
 other places, like China, where the work has begun the 
 supply of laborers is utterly inadequate. If we refrain, 
 as I have strenuously urged, from spending money in 
 ways not sanctioned by the Scriptures and experience, 
 we shall have the more to use in legitimate methods. 
 Moreover the Church, when fully satisfied that its con- 
 tributions are wisely disbursed, will naturally be more 
 spontaneous and generous in its liberality. 
 
 There are abundant evidences of God’s willingness to 
 bless our labors, and evidences also that the Gospel of 
 Christ is as well adapted to the Chinese as to any other 
 race. Let us then, with unwavering faith in God’s re- 
 vealed word and an implicit trust in the efficacy of the 
 Divine Spirit, address ourselves to our labors with renew- 
 ed zeal and earnestness; praying the Lord of the harvest 
 to send forth laborers into His harvest and for the abun- 
 dant outpouring of the Spirit upon us and those to whom 
 we are sent ; hoping and believing that in these most 
 remote regions of Eastern Asia, so long preserved by 
 God’s providence, so thickly peopled with his erring chil- 
 dren, and so lately reached by the message of salvation, 
 the Church may yet record such signal triumphs of grace 
 and power as have not been witnessed in any previous 
 period of her history.