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THE WOMAN’S JOURNAL- ^ 
 
 An Illustrated Monthly Magazine devoted to 
 the Religious work of the Womeh of the Re- 
 formed Church. ' # ' 
 
 It contains suggestions and helps for the work- 
 ers, as well as able articles from the field at hotue and 
 abroad. 
 
 Send for a free sample copy. 
 
 Subscription Price, 50icts. per yea#. 
 
 Issued the first of each month. 
 
 Address, 
 
 THE WOMAN'S JOURNAL, 
 
 ALLIANCE, OHIO. 
 
 r 
 
 YOUR OWN. 
 
 New Missionary Music. 
 
 We have just received from the printers a large 
 supply of the Words and Music of this excellent hymn. 
 
 It is meeting with great favor. 
 
 It will not fail to give satisfaction. 
 
 You will need it for your programs. 
 
 All it needs to recommend it is a trial. 
 
 SEND FOR A COPY. 
 
 Price Single Copy, 3 cts; per doz, 25 cts 
 Address, WOMAN’S JOURNAL, 
 
 ALLIANCE, OHIO, 
 
ON TO CHINA! 
 
 The Needs of China Vividly Portrayed, 
 WITH A Powerful Plea for the 
 Christian Churches to 
 Supply those 
 Needs. 
 
 by 
 
 REV. W. E. HOY, 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 THE WOMAN’S JOURNAL, 
 ALLIANCE, OHIO. 
 

 
 J . 
 
NOTE. 
 
 The pages of this little book have been written 
 with the prayer that God will use them for His glory 
 and the redemption of China. 
 
 If you think it will do any good, will you not be- 
 gin now to do your part to make it widely known? 
 
 (i.) Please order two copies of “On to China!” 
 Send them to friends and ask them to do the same. 
 Do this today if possible. 
 
 (2.) Please bring the pamphlet to the notice of 
 Missionary Societies, Sunday School Teachers, Minis- 
 ters and Christian people. 
 
 (3.) Please mention “On to China’’ from the pul- 
 pit, from the platform, in the local parish papers, in the 
 church publications, etc. State the price, (one copy for 
 I5cts. ,two copies 25cts.)aud where it can be procured. 
 
 (4.) Please do not fail to pray that wherever these 
 messages go, hearts may be opened, purse strings un- 
 tied, and a mighty forward movement inaugurated, as 
 the Reformed host advances “On to China.’’ 
 
 The price has been placed low in order to place 
 the book within the reach of all. Should any one wish 
 to pay for a number of copies to be sent out gratuitous, 
 where they are likely to do the most good, such assis- 
 tance would be very much appreciated. 
 
 Do not delay to do a good deed. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in year 1899. 
 By H. E. KiIvMER. 
 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress. 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 Dear Friends: 
 
 Many of you have read the eighteen letters that 
 grew out of my trip to Central China in the spring of 
 1898. Just as I had finished and mailed the last one, 
 with the fervent prayer that God would bless the whole 
 series, an urgent call came from a warm missionary 
 heart to write a pamphlet to be entitled “On To 
 China.” For a few days I could not decide what 
 was best to do. Impressed with, and sometimes op- 
 pressed by the reality of life, the earnestness of a di- 
 vine conviction seemed to run like fire through every 
 thought and prayer on this strong request. The more 
 I meditated, the more I saw the needs of “China’s 
 Millions. ’ ’ The more I considered the great spiritual 
 field of the Middle Kingdom, the clearer became the 
 vision of Jesus bleeding on the cross for China. The 
 command came in no uncertain dream, “Write.” So 
 I write in the hope that you who have the mind of 
 Christ will read patiently what is here recorded out of 
 the fullness of a weak missionary’s heart. Read, read, 
 no matter how much the writer lacks the facile pen. 
 Read and ponder, read and pray, and may your pity 
 and love, and heart’s deepest sympathy all spring into 
 zealous activity. 
 
 Sincerely Yours, 
 
 W. E. Hoy. 
 

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ON TO CHINA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 In What Frame of Mind Shale We Go ? 
 
 You will answer, “In the Spirit of Christ. ’’ Well 
 said. It is the Christ, the son of the living God who 
 hath said, “Eo, I am with you alway,’’ and it is He 
 that beckons the Reformed Church in the United States 
 of America to follow Him to China. As I see Him 
 He stands beckoning with pierced hands in the direc- 
 tion of suffering and disease and ignorance and vice 
 and paganism. Instead of following Him there in im- 
 plicit obedience, many Christian men and women keep 
 asking for “stirring, exciting incidents’’ on the mis- 
 sion field to serve as fuel for the flame of missionary 
 zeal. When this “interesting’’ material is not forth- 
 coming to stimulate new and larger undertakings, 
 then ensues lethargy, and thousands and tens of thou- 
 sands of “God’s people’’ fall asleep and shed not even 
 a single tear, notwithstanding the' terrible fact that 
 the greater portion of humanity lies dead in sin and 
 ignorance has become generally well known to them. 
 Outside of true abiding life in Christ there is no mo- 
 tive for foreign missions. From my own experience I 
 know that an audience may, in Christian lands, be 
 moved to tears at the sight of heathen lands as pre- 
 sented by the returned missionary. I know that 
 with the wiping away of those tears much that 
 temporarily encouraged the missionary vanishes. 
 
8 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 In that way we cannot go “On to China. Such 
 tears of an emotional present are but a shallow ocean 
 upon which the good old missionary ship is only too 
 soon stranded on the rock of stony indifference. No, 
 that will not answer our purpose. The sensational 
 or exciting period in missions is passing away. The 
 day of hard, plodding, unromantic toil to develop mis- 
 sions toward maturity and self-support has come. Men 
 begin to speak in an undertone of “a science of mis- 
 sions. ’ ’ This modified attitude of the present hour is, 
 perhaps^ still more evident in the growing lack of in- 
 terest in the hard facts of heathen life- The priests 
 and Levites pass by on the other side. Would not 
 something “stirring” bring them over to the side of 
 him who needs the good Samaritan’s help? No: not 
 if the spirit of Christ is notin them. It is said that 
 the half know not how the other half live. And wor.se, 
 it must be .said, they do not care to know, much less 
 to help. Has not a portion of the church grown cal- 
 lous towards missions simply because the foreign mis- 
 sionary, in the monotony of his work, can no longer 
 supply the fuel to keep volatile tempers at a white 
 heat ? Who are they that are burning out down to 
 the socket ? Throw away that candlestick. Back to 
 the Lord and His cruse of oil shall never fail. The 
 weak, erring missionary is a poor man to look to for 
 the creation of a true love of missions. In Christ Je- 
 sus the flame of missionary zeal is bright for evermore. 
 Love and toil are more than romance. 
 
 In this crisis be not di.scouraged. Christ has 
 compassion on the mission fields of the earth and His 
 Spirit will kindle in your hearts a more steadfast con- 
 viction of duty in the evangelization of the world and 
 
IN WHAT FRAME OF MIND SHALL WE GO? 9 
 
 engender a purer love of souls. God will lead you on 
 to China and to a sound Christian .sense and teach you 
 how to attain splendid achievements in a new field of 
 labor for the glory of God and for the temporal and 
 spiritual amelioration and salvation of the nations of 
 the earth. It means hard work, .sober work. The 
 individual cannot thrive on novelties and .sensations. 
 The Church cannot. Missions cannot. The appeal 
 now is to the judgment, the will and to the conscience. 
 Roj^al service for Christ needs a consecration based on 
 the principles of the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. 
 
 We must also cultivate the habit of thinking dai- 
 ly about those who have not the Gospel. Our sick 
 neighbor has our first thought in the morning. Aye, 
 the great need of our day is a revival among God’s 
 people which will bring them together to consult, in 
 the strength of the Holy Ghost, about the affairs of 
 Christ’s Kingdom and the world’s needs, and the 
 world’s claim upon the followers of Christ, to meet 
 and consult as men of business meet and con.sult about 
 their personal affairs, and to wait upon ihe Lord in 
 prayer. There must be time enough given to God’s 
 things in the world to call forth our best efforts to 
 comprehend and to do the will of our Father; to be 
 about our Father’s bu.sine.ss, and business requires 
 thought and time to lead it to a .successful i.ssue. It 
 must be laid upon our hearts as a part of our Christian 
 life, that Christ meant what He said in the command, 
 “Go ye into all the world;’’ and that the Father’s 
 bu.sine.ss is the busine.ss of the Church. We must car- 
 ry forward the business, and Christ is with us alway. 
 Christ cannot abide with those of us who are not in- 
 terested in or committed to the eonversion of the 
 
lO 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 world. His promise to be with us is a conditional one, 
 and the condition hangs on the little word “Go.” Is 
 not the whole world all in all to Christ ? Every mem- 
 ber of the Church is called upon to awaken to the im- 
 portance of missions that they may long to give all 
 they can toward sending the Gospel to those who do 
 not know the love of Christ. The Church needs no 
 novelty in these pressing matters of foreign missions, 
 but the habit of reading, prayer, and meditation. 
 The church needs a baptism of sound liberality — a 
 genial, spiritual flow of grace and giving, which, like 
 Tennyson’s brook, goes on forever. Away with the 
 sense of burden when you approach the Lord s treas- 
 ury". Out of the fulness of steady growth in the 
 knowledge of divine things, help the work of the Lord. 
 Remember, it is not a question of duty and privilege 
 alone; it is a divine command based on deep even life, 
 in which our own religious destiny is thrown in the 
 scale. The earth is the Lord’s. Will a man rob God ? 
 We need a clearer view of the Master’s work in the 
 field of the world and our part in the great enterprise. 
 We dare not disobey the call nor shift the responsibili- 
 ty. The world awaits the coming of our Lord. Serve 
 and toil. Thus it becomes natural to go or to give. 
 
 Here let me add the story of a Baptist missionary’s 
 boy, who was just six weeks old when, more than thir- 
 teen years ago, I first came to Sendai to live. A short 
 time ago he was baptized in the Baptist Church of Sen- 
 dai. Somehow the boy’s father forgot to teach him 
 the beautiful Baptist “Covenant” before he was made 
 a member of the church. Then a Baptist missionary 
 lady, a staunch friend of the boy, called his attention 
 to the “Covenant.” The boy was astoni.shed and 
 
IN WHAT FRAME OF MIND SHALL WE GO? 1 1 
 
 asked, “Do all the Japanese Baptists learn this ?’’ The 
 answer was, ‘ ‘Yes. ’ ’ And do all the Baptists in Ameri- 
 ca learn this and repeat this on regular occasions ? 
 Again, the answer was “Yes.” This young Christian 
 looked pained, grew pale, and exclaimed, “And all 
 the Baptists in America hold this ‘Covenant’ and yet 
 the missionaries must beg so hard for help to carry on 
 the Lord’s work among the nations of the earth!’’ 
 Oh ! the faith of the boy, and his pain at the thought 
 that so many brother Baptists across the Pacific deceive 
 the Lord I Ah ! my friends, here are questions that 
 trouble me, and I dread the day when I shall have to 
 explain to my five children some things left undone 
 in foreign missions. Do you not know that even in 
 Christian lands many an earnest, honest soul falls into 
 despair at the indifference of the Church, curses God 
 and goes to hell ? There are simple souls that would 
 take God at His word and in childlike zeal ‘ ‘ Go’ ’ about 
 their Father’s business, but an indifferent church 
 drags them down and never again offers to raise them 
 or anyone else up to an active life in God. Those that 
 cannot take God at His word and rely upon His prom- 
 ises are not likely to be in a proper frame of mind to go 
 ON TO China. He would run away from the first sight 
 of indescribable soul-poverty. Oh ! God give us all 
 the mind that was in Christ Jesus our Lord. Help us 
 to do Thy will in China. Oh ! quicken our Church in 
 the United States of America. Lead her to Thy work 
 in China. O help us that no opportunity may slip by 
 unimproved by Thy children. 
 
12 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Children First. 
 
 I want to tell you something about childhood in 
 China and hope to do it just as I did to my own child- 
 ren when they gathered around my knees on my re- 
 turn from that country. Let us not forget that little 
 children may come to Jesus; for He said, “Suffer the 
 little children to come unto me.’’ Now, I do not be- 
 lieve that those children crowded about Jesus simply to 
 be caressed or to have Him lay His hands upon them 
 and bless them. Jesus was the greatest teacher the 
 world has ever seen. He understood the little ones 
 and touched the gentle springs of their minds and 
 brought forth in respon.se living water, and He also 
 awakened their hearts to better and higher things. 
 Have you never .seen how children love to sit around 
 a teacher, or a father or a mother, who understands 
 them and tells them .stories and teaches them useful 
 things? You never grow tired of such people. In a 
 much higher sen.se Jesus could lead the children and 
 teach them deep le.s.sons of true life. Even in China, 
 where, as we shall see, the children have no such chanc- 
 es as you have, many children flock into the mission- 
 ary’s home and learn of Jesus. A dear little Chinese 
 boy, only three years old, a .short time ago died, hum- 
 ming the words, “God is love.’’ You will also be 
 greatly interested in the story that the great mission- 
 ary of Central China, Dr. Griffith John, tells with so 
 much force. I met Dr. John and loved him from the 
 beginning, and this fact will make the story more real 
 
THE CHILDREN FIRST. 
 
 13 
 
 to you, for many of you know me and have seen me. 
 This is how Dr. John tells his .story: 
 
 “It is the stjry of a brave boy — a Chinese boy, of 
 cour.se. A little boy who had been to a Christian 
 .school had made up his mind that he would worship 
 idols no more. Some of his relatives were very angry 
 becan.se of this and were determined to force him to 
 wor. ship them. They beat him, but it was of no u.se; 
 he only became more determined in his mind that he 
 would never worship them again. One day they took 
 him into a temple and tried to force him to go on his 
 knees and knock his head to the idol, but he .stoutly 
 refused. At last they threatened to throw him into 
 the river which was flowing near by. ‘Throw me,’ 
 said he, ‘if yon like; but I will never worship wood 
 and stone again. Jesus is the true Savior, and I will 
 worship him only.’ They took hold of him and 
 pitched him into the water. One of his relatives, how- 
 ever, rushed after him and picked him up again. 
 When out of the water the first thing he said was, 
 ‘You have not succeeded. While in the water I never 
 prayed to the idols; I only prayed to Je.su.s.’ A brave 
 little boy that ! May yon all be as brave for God; brave 
 for Jesus; brave for righteousness; brave for the mis- 
 sionary cause; brave for the salvation of the world. 
 Such bravery will make you a great power for good.’’ 
 
 China is full of children. One sees them every- 
 where, in the house, on the street, in hou.seboats 
 where they are born and where they live to old age, 
 in the field, and in all nooks and crooks of the land. 
 The wonder is where they came from and who takes 
 care of them. Their clothing does not cost much. 
 Old rags tor swaddling bands is all that is needed when 
 
14 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 the new baby coraes; Then out in the country, in 
 summer, the skin of the little ones is considered 
 enough covering for the child. The parents are care- 
 ful to tie a red cord around the child’s little wrists. 
 This will make the child docile and obedient in the 
 future. Another red cord is tied around the neck and 
 suspended from it are various charms to preserve the 
 little one from evil spirits and guard him against at- 
 tacks of colic and other ailments of infancy. Perhaps 
 the best we may say of these charms is that they are a 
 great source of play to the baby, who seems to look at 
 them as so many interesting toys Good innocent 
 play makes children sweet and evil spirits then stay 
 away. Thus those charms are better than the idola- 
 trous parents know. 
 
 You will be .surprised to know that the child is 
 nameless for the first month. The Chinese are not so 
 eager as the Americans are to name the new arrival. 
 But Oh ! what an important event it is when the 
 Chinese baby has completed his first month ! If the 
 baby is a boy, what a gathering of neighbors, friends 
 and relatives from near and far to celebrate a grand 
 feast in honor of the great day, and what an abundance 
 of good things they all bring, and then the shaving of 
 the baby’s head ! And, by the way, I think this shav- 
 ing of the head is a merciful act unto the little one, 
 for then the lice that are everywhere and always look- 
 ing for new places to live and thrive in cannot fir^a a 
 home on that child’s head. On that day the baby is 
 given his “milk” name. When he goes to school, the 
 master changes the name for him. On his wedding 
 day he receives still another name; and should he be- 
 come a learned official the name may be changed again. 
 
GIRLS AT STUDY IN A CHINESE SCHOOL. 
 
 THE CHILDREN FIRST 
 
 15 
 
i6 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 Sad the truth to tell that ia China girl babies are 
 not welcome. Neighbors, friends, and relatives only 
 pity the parents when a baby girl puts in an appearance. 
 Oh ! how this fact pierced my heart as I passed through 
 China. In my family there are three little boys and 
 two little girls, and the girls are as much loved as 
 their dear little brothers. I could not be without our 
 Gertrude and Mabel. So in your own sacred Christ- 
 ian home in America, you boys and girls are loved and 
 cared for without any thought of whether you are a 
 boy or girl. In some parts of China, it often happens 
 that a baby girl is thrown out into the street or into 
 the back yard, to be eaten- by the dogs. The mission- 
 aries told me many pitiable things that the Chinese are 
 guilty of in relation to little girls. But there is one 
 bright story among them. Some years ago a little ba- 
 by was born in a certain Chinese home The father 
 was so angry because it was a girl that he picked it up 
 and threw it out in the mud. Presently a missionary 
 and his wife came along the same street. The wife 
 saw something move a little in the mud. At last, on 
 looking a little closer, she cried out to her husband, 
 “Oh ! my dear, see there, look, isn’t that a baby, a 
 newly born baby ?’ ’ The good people were deeply 
 shocked at the sight of this cruelty. Their eyes filled 
 with tears and their hearts with love. Then they took 
 up the tiny body and carried it to their own home, 
 washed it, clothed it, fed it, and afterwards adopted it. 
 They brought up the little girl as they would a child 
 of their own flesh and bone. She became a loving, 
 obedient child. They educated her carefully, and she 
 in good time gave her heart to Jesus. By and by, 
 these missionaries were told by their Board of Foreign 
 
THE CHILDREN FIRST. 
 
 17 
 
 missions to go to Japan and help the Christian work 
 there. They could not part with their dear Chinese 
 girl, for she had grown to be a lovable child. So 
 they brought her over to Japan. She grew up to be 
 a good woman, and today she is a teacher in one of 
 the mission schools for Japanese girls. Her father 
 threw her out, not caring what would become of her. 
 God sent those tender-hearted missionaries along that 
 way to find her and rescue her. God thus raised her 
 up to teach Japanese girls that Jesus is the Friend of 
 all who will come unto Him. 
 
 When a Chinese baby dies, no loving mother's 
 hands prepare it for its grave. The little body is 
 usually thrown into a pit under a tower built for that 
 purpose. In case it is buried, it is so poorly done that 
 the dogs soon dig it out and eat it. If the sick little 
 one is a girl, it is not an uncommon thing for the par- 
 ents to get rid of it before it is really dead. They 
 cherish no tender memories of the dead child, for 
 they believe that it died because it was possessed of 
 some evil spirit, and would always have been a trouble, 
 an anxiety, or a misfortune. The sooner the dead 
 child passes out of their minds, the better it is for all. 
 Oh ! the bitterness of such life and ignorance. God 
 have mercy ! 
 
 As I have told you Dr. John’s story of the brave 
 Chinese Christian boy, I must give the story of a little 
 Chinese girl. I copy it from The Little Missionary . 
 “Totsi (the Chinese word for beans) is the name of a 
 little girl in Central China. She is thirteen years old, 
 and her mother is dead, and the father lives near the 
 Mission Home where all who go to that part of the 
 
i8 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 the empire stay for some months while beginning to 
 study the language. 
 
 “A school for Chinese Girls had been opened near 
 Totsi’s home, and the teacher asked Totsi to come, 
 but at first she would not go. The teacher of the 
 school was kept busy, that she could not study much 
 at the language, so she wanted some one to come and 
 help her and learn to read in the school. Totsi hear- 
 ing of it, came and asked if she might not come and 
 work for her. It did not seem as if she were large 
 enough to help much, but she was told that she might 
 try if she would obey and come to school every day. 
 
 “The Chinese houses of the poorer people have 
 mud walls with a floor of earth, and only a few bench- 
 es and boards for a bed, as furniture, and the little 
 girl had to learn how to sweep and dust and keep a 
 room clean and tidy. She soon knew how to do many 
 things very nicely, and would look after the smaller 
 girls. 
 
 “After she had been in school a few weeks she 
 came and told her teacher that she believed in Jesus. 
 And when their New Year came’ when everybody 
 worships idols, she said they did not have any in their 
 home now, and her father told those who came to see 
 them that it was because they believed in the true God. 
 She did not like to study, but when told that she 
 would not know how to serve God unless she could 
 read her Bible, she did much better. 
 
 “One morning she asked her teacher to go to her 
 home with her that ' afternoon and tell some of the 
 women the ‘doctrine,’ as they call the teaching about 
 God, and said she would tell them anything they could 
 not understand. Several women and children were 
 
THB CHILDREN FIRST. 
 
 19 
 
 gathered in one of the homes, and she explained what 
 was said until they learned the speaker’s words and 
 way of telling things. At another time she went with 
 her to see the sick mother of one of the other scholars, 
 and while there, some one prayed earnestly that God 
 would heal her. The next day the teacher was saying 
 she had not heard how she was, when Totsi said she 
 was better, and when asked who told her, they found 
 that no one had, but because they had prayed she felt 
 sure that God had made her well again.” 
 
 Many of the boys in China learn to read and write 
 the difficult characters of the Chinese language. You 
 have the simple a, b, c, to learn and then you are ready 
 for all that is in the English language, if you only read 
 and study good books. Now, the Chinese language 
 is made up of tens of thousands of characters consist- 
 ing of different lines and curves. Of these about ten 
 thousand are needed to enable one to think of himself 
 as a good reader and writer. How long would it take 
 you to learn all these sign-words ? Then the boys 
 learn the old books of China. Some of these books 
 were written long before Jesus was born, and are very 
 difficult. They teach the young how to conduct them- 
 selves in life, but judging from the real results there 
 is not much virtue in them. They have not that life 
 which we find in our Bible. And we must not forget 
 arithmetic. The Chinese are noted for their quickness 
 in making accounts. Then, in later years, some of 
 these boys keep on studying many years in order to 
 pass a certain exceedingly difficult examination; and if 
 they pass this they may have a chance of getting into 
 some government office. But hundreds of thousands 
 of such students are disappointed at each examination. 
 
20 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 How I wish I could go on without saying anything 
 more about the girls of China, for it always pains me 
 to speak about their unfair and cruel treatment. Very 
 few of the Chinese girls have an opportunity to get an 
 education. When they arrive at the usual school age — 
 six years — they pass through a process of indescribable 
 torture. Because the most important part of a young 
 girl’s life (we may say) and dress is her shoes, the 
 feet are bound when she is six years old. This is done 
 not by iron or wood shoes, but by narrow cotton ban- 
 dages about three yards long. “One end of the strip 
 of cotton is placed below the instep and then carried 
 over the four small toes, drawing them down beneath 
 the foot. Another twist draws the heel and great toe 
 nearer together, making an indentation beneath the 
 sole. When all the cloth has been used, the end is 
 firmly sewed down, and the feet are left for a week or 
 two in that condition. Clean bandages are now and 
 then put on, but the change has to be rapidly effected, 
 or the blood begins again to circulate in the poor be- 
 numbed feet, and the agony becomes almost unbear- 
 able. Not unfrequently during the process a girl loses 
 one or two of her toes; but she feels repaid in the pos- 
 session of still smaller feet. Mothers and nurses fre- 
 quently perform this duty for their daughters, and in 
 passing a Chinese home one sometimes hears the bitter 
 crying of a child whose feet are bound.” 
 
 This is done on account of the power of fashion. 
 No matter that the foot which is not seen is nothing 
 but a mass of distorted and broken bones. Fashion 
 prescribes the tiny shoe of colored silk or satin , most 
 tastefully embroidered. These deformed feet are called 
 “golden lillies.” Oh ! what agony these little girls 
 
THE CHILDREN FIRST. 
 
 21 
 
 bear in order to have little feet that are scarcely of any 
 use to them in after years. During this process, in the 
 summer heat the girls lie restless with fever, and in the 
 winter they are afraid to cover their bodies sufficiently 
 to keep warm, because the warmth increases the pain. 
 At weddings the most important question asked about 
 the young bride is, “what are the size of her feet?” 
 But I am glad to say that the missionaries in China are 
 fast teaching the people the evils of foot-binding. You 
 can help in the good work by sending missionaries to 
 that country. You begin to go to school at six, you 
 romp, you play, skip and hop; but your little Chinese 
 sister lies in bed with great pain in her feet. 
 
 If you raise the front part of your feet and walk 
 on your heels, you can pretty well imitate the gait of a 
 girl or woman with bound feet. Some girls’ feet have 
 been made so small that they cannot walk at all with- 
 out assistance. These are now fitted to be fashionable 
 ladies. 
 
 The girls of the poorer class are frequentl}' sold to 
 wealthy ladies to act in the capacity of slaves. There 
 are many stories told about these slave girls. One 
 runs thus — 
 
 ‘‘One little slave girl in Hankow had been so 
 cruelly beaten by her mistress, who only two years be- 
 fore had given the sum of forty pounds for her, that 
 in despair she took a dose of opium, hoping thus to 
 find in death an escape from her misery. She was 
 only thirteen years of age. Her owners, when they 
 discovered what she had done, tried several native 
 remedies believed to be antidotes; among others the5’^ 
 used the warm blood of a fowl just killed. But seeing 
 no sign of recovery, they sent at last for a foreign mis- 
 
22 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 sionary, having heard that Europeans were often able to 
 restore those who were in the early stages of opium stu- 
 por. When the missionary reached the residence of 
 the slave’s owner, he found he had been summoned too 
 late. He did all he could but the unhappy little girl 
 could not be restored.” 
 
 It would be a great pleasure to lead you, dear chil- 
 dren, through the streets of a crowded Chinese city; 
 but I fear you could not stand the trip. You might 
 get alarmed as soon as the Chinese would begin to 
 shout, ‘‘Foreign devils ! Kill the foreign devils.” 
 Then, too, the filth of the streets might make you sick. 
 You could not stop to look at all the strange things in 
 the shops, for a great swinging and swaying, shouting 
 and sweating, throng of people would bear you along, 
 and you would get lost. The pigs and the donkeys, 
 the buffalo cows and the wheelbarrows, the horses 
 and the sedan chairs, all pushing their way through 
 the dense crowd on the narrow streets, are more than 
 a little American boy or girl could withstand. More 
 than once I was pushed to the right and to the left by 
 the tens of thousands of animals and men and women. 
 A butcher with a lot of pork in an open basket greased 
 my overcoat and there was a great time cleaning the 
 garment. A pig ran between my legs and nearly 
 knocked me over. I ran up against a sw’aggering 
 soldier and he looked and shouted bullets and dagg;ers 
 at me. 
 
 I may take you to some of the temples in which 
 there are large idols of various kinds. The horrors 
 that surround those altars I dare not open to you; for 
 they are too unclean before God. It is no wonder the 
 Old Testament prophets spoke so strongly against 
 
THE CHILDREN FIRST. 
 
 23 
 
 idolatry. The worship of idols is indeed dishonoring 
 God. Our God is a holy God. Oh ! the uncleaness 
 of idolatry; and the spiritual and moral perils to which 
 the boys and girls in China are exposed in the temples 
 fill my soul with wrath against the evil one who is 
 in it all. 
 
 There are, of course, many more things about 
 childhood in China that I might tell you now, but I 
 must hasten on to other subjects. We have not the 
 time to stop and play with the Chinese children with 
 their queer toys and the most wonderful kites in the 
 world. Nor can we follow them through the different 
 changes ot life and habits until they grow up to become 
 young men and women. If I were writing a book for 
 you, there should be mention made of a thousand and 
 one interesting topics concerning the little ones o 
 China. Life in China is so different from your life in 
 America, that to understand it fully one must live 
 many years in that country. 
 
 Let us now see what we can do for these Chinese 
 boys and girls in the name of Jesus our Savior. The 
 two stories of the brave boy and of Totsi will help us 
 to see that the children of China, when given a good 
 chance, are ready to give up their idols and to grow in- 
 to strong and firm, as well as noble, Christian faith. 
 But how are they to have this chance of a changed and 
 glorious life ? Who will tell them of Jesus and God 
 our Father and the Holy Spirit ? There are many 
 earnest men and women who have gone to China as 
 missionaries and these have gathered thousands of lit- 
 tle ones into Christian schools, but this is scarcely more 
 than a good beginning in the work. Loving hands 
 have erected hospitals where hundreds of thousands are 
 
24 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 healed every year, and here, too, theory is for more. 
 Yes, China needs more missionaries and God is calling 
 our church to take part in this great work. You can 
 interest your father and mother, your friends and teach- 
 ers in China. You can give money to our Board to 
 send missionaries. You can study China and prepare 
 yourselves to go in person when you grow old enough. 
 God commands us to do great things for China. Are 
 we going to obey ? Dear little friends, tell the church 
 that she is called to love China and to help save her 
 for Christ Jesus. 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 25 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 To THE Women of the Church. 
 
 One day of my sojourn in China last year I re- 
 ceived a certain letter from m3' wile in Japan. She 
 spoke of our children, of herself, and the burden that 
 was coming upon me in behalf of China. I had writ- 
 ten that I felt called to the work in China, to start a 
 mission, to awaken the conscience of our Church on 
 the matter. It was just such a letter as would inspire 
 any man to take up serious and heavy work in a new 
 and untried field for the Master. It carried me back 
 to Sendai where wife and children were beginning to 
 pray for China as well as for Japan. I said to myself, 
 “Home, sweet home !” At this bright mental picture 
 of my home in Sendai, I was greatly startled and be- 
 gan to think, “In China there are no homes as such, 
 in our sense of the word.” You. Christian women, 
 have homes, you make homes. 3’ou are queens of hap- 
 py homes. You have 3 0ur place, your love, your in- 
 spiration. As I look in upon 3'our happy fireside, 
 your genial board, where father and mother gather the 
 children around them, sons and daughters equally 
 loved, equally welcomed, one family, free and alone, I 
 see most clearly what Christ has done for you and the 
 home. Millions upon millions of women in China 
 with nothing but misery staring them in the face, 
 dreary, suffering lives at the mercy of ignorant, su- 
 perstitious and unprincipled men, feel a terrible aching 
 void which they cannot fill. They know the want, 
 they know the sorrow, but they do not know the remedy 
 
26 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 Oh ! what the women of China suffer. I saw this with my 
 own eyes;and from what lady missionaries tell me. What 
 the women of China suffer physically, none but those 
 who have lived among them can ever know. Think of 
 it ! In a few months I saw enough to fill me with pity 
 for all life; and yet the missionaries told me I must be 
 in China for years and years if I wanted to have a real 
 idea of the situation. What I know I cannot forget, 
 or disregard. I must hint at some things, for Christ 
 will not hold me guiltless if I do not do all in my pow- 
 er to move you, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to take 
 fast hold of women’s work for women in China. For 
 nearly one year the burden has been growing upon me 
 to appeal to you in behalf of nearly one-fourth of all 
 the women in the world. I cannot forget that nearly 
 one fourth of all the women in the world live in China; 
 that they are as pieces of goods to be bought and sold; 
 that the horrors that surround that one fact alone are 
 horrors that I dare not open to you. Christ calls you 
 to this work. These women really need you. Aye, 
 they need you. 
 
 A Chinese woman’s life begins under a shadow. 
 She is born unwelcomed and unloved, for so far as 
 heaven is above the earth, so far is a male child above 
 a female child. Instead of trailing clouds of glory, the 
 little girl baby brings a train of dishonor if not misfor- 
 tune upon the disappointed family. She grows up in 
 ignorance and neglect, drudging in daily toil, or crying 
 over the pain of her crippled feet. More than once I 
 saw scenes of girls in such pain as beggars description. 
 In the Nankin hospital a young woman’s feet were 
 rotting off on account of the cruel fashion of foot-bind- 
 ing. 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 27 
 
 f 
 
 CHINESE LADIES. 
 
28 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 Woman in China is a slave. She has no other 
 idea than of bondage. “Woman is made to serve in 
 China, and the bondage is often a long and bitter one; 
 a life of servitude to her parents; a life of submission to 
 her parents-in-law at marriage; and^ the looking for- 
 ward to a life of bondage to her husband.” She is 
 often betrothed in babyhood. Then she is transferred 
 in her teens to the tyrant of all tyrants — the Chinese 
 mother-in law. Though in the same house, she fre- 
 quently does not see or speak to the man she is to 
 marry before the wedding day, and in some localities 
 she is not supposed to speak to her husband the first 
 three years of her married life. She is an invisible, name- 
 less thing, when the husband’s friends come to the 
 house. It is an insult lor a visitor to inquire about 
 the wife. The wife is the household slave. The hus- 
 band finds recreation and society in the company of 
 bold courtesans, who have been well trained in music 
 to fit them to entertain gentlemen (!) Then the time 
 comes when the husband will buy one or two concu- 
 bines and bring them into the same house with his 
 wife. Slighted by her husband for some new favorite, 
 jealous of the influence of the concubine, many a 
 Chinese wife flies from ills too heavy to bear and 
 escapes them all in suicide. 
 
 On account of the fact that the brides have no 
 voice in the matter of selecting husbands for them- 
 sometimes the girls of a family, or clan, will bind them- 
 selves together by the most solemn vows to avert the 
 dreaded change and chance of being married to an un- 
 attractive, deformed or vicious man, by committing 
 suicide. And perhaps these la.ssies have in mind that 
 they have another fate with which to battle; for the 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 29 
 
 father may at any time sell his daughter to the first 
 high bidder and asks no questions. Opium smokers, 
 reduced to poverty by their bad habits, seldom hesi- 
 tate to sell wife, daughters, and concubines. The 
 husband and father may dispose of the female inmates 
 of his house as he pleases. What a fateful right this 
 is, aud Oh ! the pains of it all. 
 
 In the name of my mother, (who died thirty-five 
 years ago, when I was but a child of a little more than 
 five, I cannot keep quiet any longer. I long for the 
 time when every home in China may have as gentle 
 and holy a wife and mother as she was. In my first 
 five years of life there are stored away precious things 
 that link me to a happy being in Heaven ! Oh ! let us 
 not wait. Let us up and be encouraged to undertake 
 great things for Christ who has great claims in China. 
 Sisters of the Church, as I think of you and of the 
 women in China, who by contrast are so degraded and 
 miserable, I cannot. Oh ! I cannot understand why you 
 who live for Christ and in Christ not long ago under- 
 taken woman’s work for women in China. Up and 
 obey Christ. Up and show your love of God and of 
 service for souls. Up and show your gratitude for 
 your freedom and position in Christ. Up, my sister, 
 up and “following in His steps’’ let us commence a 
 work for Christ. Oh ! where is our real sense of God ? 
 Where is our spirit of Christian sacrifice ? How soon 
 can we be fuller of helpfulness to China’s Millions ? 
 Let us enter the field at once. Now is the time. 
 China is open. China is ready. God has opened the 
 gates of that great empire. Is your heart open to the 
 divine call? 
 
30 
 
 ONTO CHINA. 
 
 Mrs. George S. Hays, in the Missionary Review, 
 has had special advantages to speak to you on The 
 Women of China — Heatheji and Christian. 
 
 “To understand a women — Chinese or American — 
 one must have some knowledge of her home, and her 
 family cares, and her habits of thought. A typical 
 Chinese family consists of the father and mother-in- 
 law, two or three sons and their wives, and several 
 grand children, all living in rooms opening upon the 
 same high-walled courtyard, and sharing the same 
 kitchen. 
 
 “The father and sons work for and contribute to 
 the common purse, and so strict are their ideas of im- 
 partiality, or rather so jealous is each member of the 
 family of the others, that a husband may not take even 
 of the money he himself has earned to buy a present 
 for his own wife, without buying one equally valuable 
 for each of his sisters-in-law. The Chinaman has ways 
 and means, however, of evading almost every law or 
 custom, and the fond hn.sband buys a handsome gown 
 and sends it and his wife for a few days to her maternal 
 home From there she will return triumphantly dis- 
 playing her gown as a present from her mother. 
 
 “In the home the mother-in-law is usually — but 
 not always — the head. Sometimes a daughter-in-law 
 of unusually bright mind or vicious temper, rules the 
 whole household. The quickest way a daughter-in- 
 law possesses by which to bring her mother-in-law to 
 subjection is threatening suicide. If a woman kills 
 hti, self her spirit is supposed to return to haunt the 
 mother-in-law, but worse than this, to the practical 
 mind of the Chinaman, her living relatives will gather 
 aiHt bv demanding a costly funeral, will plunge the 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 31 
 
 whole family into debt so that they will be unable to pay 
 for years. 
 
 “Imagine the situation in a Chinese home, and it 
 becomes at once apparent that peace and happiness 
 cannot reign continually. On the one hand is the 
 daughter-in-law, a young girl, perhaps indulged and 
 spoiled from her babyhood in her mother’s home, and 
 untrained in house work and sewing. She is suddenly 
 introduce by marriage into a new home. Her husband, 
 her mother-in-law, her neighbors, are all total strangers. 
 She is miserably homesick; she gets wretchedly tired 
 doing all sorts of unaccustomed work; she is criticised, 
 laughed at, or reviled for her stupidity or her indolence. 
 
 “On the other hand is the mother-in-law. She 
 has perhaps suffered for years under the hard reign of 
 her mother-in-law; she is now ready for her turn to 
 sit on the throne. She expects to be treated with 
 obedient consideration by her son’s wife. Instead of 
 this she discovers that her new daughter-in-law is sau- 
 cy* careless, and w’asteful, if not actually thievish; she 
 is, above all, taking the place in her son’s affections 
 which the mother has always held. 
 
 “Remember, they are two heathen women with 
 hot and hasty tempers wdiich have never been con- 
 trolled; each wnth a stock of vile words and insulting 
 epithets at her tongue’s end, and it is easy to imagine 
 the result. When there are several daughters-in-law 
 in the same house, and children of different mothers 
 ready to quarrel at an\ moment’s notice, and each 
 mother ready to take her own child s part to the bitter 
 end, it is often ‘confusion worse c nfounded.’ 
 
 “It is well in .such a household if there be one at 
 the head who can command the o edience or at least 
 
32 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 a semblance of peace. As the daughter-in-law grows 
 older and wiser, as they bear sons to add luster to the 
 family name, and as the various elements of the family 
 become accustomed to each other, terrific outbursts of 
 temper and violent chastisements by the mother-in-law 
 become less frequent. There are, of cour.se, .some cases 
 where the mother-in-law and the .son’s wife live to- 
 gether in loving harmony, but these are, unfortunately, 
 rare exceptions. 
 
 “The sadde.st and most hopele.ss lot in China is 
 that of the ‘nourished daughter-in-law’ — the girl who, 
 yet too young to marry, is sent to her betrothed hus- 
 band’s home because of her parent’s death or extreme 
 poverty. Her mother-in-law resents this most vehe- 
 mently. Why should she be called upon to feed and 
 clothe for years the unfortunate child ? As there is 
 no one to take the girl’s part, .she is u.sually over- 
 worked, reviled, beaten, and sometimes half-starved 
 and driven to sleep with the dogs in her new home. 
 If the mother-in-law goes too far, however, re.source 
 may be had to a curious mob law, as far as I know 
 only practiced by the women of China. 
 
 “Not long ago an orphan girl was .sent to live 
 with her mother-in-law, who had already one daughter- 
 in-law living with her. The child’s betrothed hus. 
 band was an industrious busine.ss man a good many 
 years older than herself. He was seldom at home, 
 and even when there, as it was not good form for him 
 to take any notice of his little bride before marriage , 
 he knew nothing of how she was treated. 
 
 “Although the girl was a gentle, modest child, 
 afraid to say or do anything contrary to her mother- 
 in-law’s wi.shes, she was most cruelly beaten. When 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 33 
 
 she was thirteen years old she inadvertently did some- 
 thing to offend her mother and sister-in-law, and the 
 two women, working themselves into a fiendish rage, 
 killed her with scissors, cutting her flesh horribly, and 
 slitting her tongue, but leaving no mark on her face. 
 
 “When she was dead they carefully dressed her 
 in her best garments, and, according to custom, were 
 obliged to send word of her death to her aunt, her only 
 living relative. This aunt was a desperate character, 
 a beggar woman, who could hope or fear nothing from 
 the magistrates, as she had not enough money to make 
 it worth while for an official to pay any attention to 
 her case. She obeyed the summons at once, and after 
 carefully examining the body of the dead child, re- 
 turned home, and gathering together thirty or forty 
 women, each armed with an awl or sharp pointed in- 
 strument, came to execute vengeance on the murder- 
 ers. The two women, however, managed to hide 
 themselves, and the infuriated mob were obliged to 
 disperse, after being assured by the bridegroom, who 
 was horrified at the dreadful death of his bride, that a 
 grand and costly funeral should be given in her honor. 
 
 “In another instance within my knowledge, a 
 mother-in-law who had beaten her daughter-in-law to 
 death did not escape so easily. In this case the mur- 
 deress was caught by the mob of women armed with 
 awls and sharp metal pins; they dragged her out into 
 the street, stripped her of her clothing and pricked and 
 jagged her furiously. Then they dragged her over 
 the stones the whole length of the street two or three 
 times, and finally left he’’, after having pushed a quanti- 
 ty of briars and small thorns into her flesh. She was 
 carried home by her friends more dead than alive. 
 
34 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 “No one in that village has dared to kill her daughter- 
 in-law since that time,' was the significant conclusion 
 given by the Christian woman telling me the story. 
 
 “It is frightful to see a woman deliberately “nour- 
 ish wrath,’ as the Chinese express it. The word 
 translated ‘nourish’ can also be rendered ‘kindle,’ 
 as in ‘kindle a fire,’ and is most expressive in connec- 
 tion with the working up of anger. It was once my 
 unfortnate experience to see my nurse maid ‘nourish’ 
 or ‘kindle wrath.’ One day, after having a quarrel 
 with the washer woman, she sat down in spite of my 
 remonstrances, and deliberately gave way to her evil 
 passions. She drew her breath in with great violence 
 at long and regular intervals, until she became wholly 
 unconscious of her surroundings. 
 
 “In this state, which lasted about forty hours, she 
 threw herself about violently, and talked deliriously, 
 especially after I had applied the mustard plasters 
 which I had heard were effective in such cases. Al- 
 tho I lean toward homeopathic treatment, on this 
 occasion I made two plasters thick and strong, one foot 
 broad by two feet long, and applied them on her chest 
 and down her back. While I was preparing the plas- 
 ters my cook told me that the Chinese would call one 
 in this condition ‘possessed of demons.’ I am glad to 
 state that by the aid of these mustard plasters, I exor- 
 cised the demons, and better yet, that they have never 
 dared to return to that woman. 
 
 “She came legitimately by her temper. She often 
 told me of her grandfather, who had a long wished- 
 for and only son born to him late in life. He was so 
 greatly delighted that he went in and out of his wife’s 
 room, exclaiming, ‘Aren’t you happy! Aren’t you 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 35 
 
 happy !’ After repeatedly replying in the affirmative, 
 the old lady becoming irritable, answered most em- 
 phatically, ‘No, I am not happy.' Whereupon the 
 old man ‘nourished wrath,’ refused to eat and drink, 
 and died in a few days. Serious illness or death often 
 follows this deliberate giving way to anger. 
 
 “Women who claim to be possessed of a ‘fox or 
 a w'olf god’ are much feared and reverenced by the 
 Chinese. I once asked an intelligent Christian wom- 
 an, Su May, whether she had known any women claim- 
 ing this possession. She answered that she had met 
 with very few, and those all claimed to be possessed 
 of a ‘fox god.’ When a pupil in one of our Christian 
 schools she had been allowed by the matron, who had 
 not yet given up all her heathen superstitions, to wit- 
 ness the attempted healing of a very sick child by a 
 woman possessed of a ‘fox god.’ 
 
 “Several of the school girls stole into the room 
 while the woman mumbled the incantations, intelligible 
 only to herself, and it was not long before she turned 
 angrily to the matron, and claiming that her god could 
 do nothing in the presence of those believing in the 
 ‘Jesus doctrine,’ gave up the case and went away. She 
 afterward bitterly reproached the woman who had con- 
 ducted her to the school saying: ‘You should not have 
 taken me there. Don’t you know I hav^e nothing to do 
 with the people holding this belief? She declared the 
 child would surely die, as she was the runaway soul of 
 a nun, who had in her previous existence broken a 
 bowl, and her mistress was calling to her to come back 
 and account for the damage done to her property. 
 But the child recovered in spite of their prophecy. 
 
 “After Su May left school her father took her for 
 
36 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 a visit amoug old family friends whom she had not seen 
 since a little girl. Nearly every woman and child in 
 the village crowded to see the natural-footed girl who 
 had been educated by foreigners, and among them 
 came a woman who at once caught Su May’s attention 
 from her resemblance to the woman possessed of a “fox 
 god.’’ She entered the room in a gliding, serpentine 
 manner, with averted eyes, which were never lifted in 
 a straightforward, direct look into the face of another. 
 By slipping behind some of the other women she 
 sought to avoid notice, but Su May said to her at once, 
 “You are possessed of a ‘fox god;’ aren’t you ?’’ 
 
 “ ‘Dreadful !’ the woman gasped. ‘How do you 
 know ? No one told you about me, for I have been 
 watching you. ’ 
 
 “ ‘I have a way of recognizing you” answered Su 
 May, ‘but I wont tell you my way.’ 
 
 “ ‘Are you possessed of a god also? asked the 
 woman. 
 
 “ ‘Yes, answered Su May; ‘I have the true God in 
 me. He is with me all the time. Is your ‘fox god’ 
 with you ? Let him speak to us through you.’ 
 
 “ ‘My god has gone to Shanghai,’ confusedly an- 
 swered the woman, slinking out of the room as rapidly 
 as possible. 
 
 “Another woman of this kind was for a time in 
 Mrs. Nevin’s sewing class, but she declared she could 
 not prophesy before the Christian school girls. The 
 most striking part of Su May’s stay was her statement 
 that all the possessed women of whom she had known 
 or heard confessed at once on hearing the name of Jesus 
 Christ that, ‘He is true; he is the Son of the true God.’ 
 And while others around might mock and jeer at the 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 37 
 
 preaching of the Gospel, they either listened with re- 
 spectful attention or evaded it entirely. 
 
 “The women who claim a ‘wolf god’ are of a 
 fierce nature, advising more cruel methods of averting 
 misfortune or curing the sick than those who are un- 
 der the guidance of a ‘fox god.’ A pretty mandarin 
 living near Chefoo, having two wives, had the great 
 misfortune of having no children. In great discon- 
 tent with this state of affairs, he sent for a woman pos- 
 sessed of a ‘wolf god,’ and asked her to tell him the 
 reason for all of his ill fortune. She was a total stranger 
 to him and to both of his wives, so it could not have 
 been an old grudge or wish for revenge that influenced 
 her demands. She told him he would never have good 
 luck as long as he kept his second wife; that she must 
 not be divorced, but killed. The head wife was in 
 real sorrow at this verdict, and begged the mandarin 
 to spare the unfortunate woman’s life, but he remained 
 determined to follow the ‘wolf god’s’ advice. Strip- 
 ping the heavy wadded garments from his second wife 
 (with whom, as far as known, he had no previous 
 quarrel,) he drove her out into the bitter cold, where 
 she was soon frozen to death. 
 
 The religious feelings of Chinese women vary 
 greatly in different localities. In some places they are 
 distinctly religious, visiting temples, worshiping daily 
 at a private shrine in the home, fasting, pra3'ing and 
 endeavoring by good works to lay up for themselves a 
 reward in the future world. In the eastern part of 
 Shantung Province this was not the case. The wom- 
 en, as a rule, never visit the temples and worship no 
 private gods They are, of course, filled with many 
 vague and dark superstitions. Hard worked, improp- 
 
38 
 
 ONTO CHINA. 
 
 erly nourished, easily distracted and excited by the 
 little details of life, they seem to give little, if any, 
 thought to the future after death. It is commonly be- 
 lieved that a woman will change at death into a pig — 
 considered the filthiest of animals — to atone for the 
 sins committed during her lifetime, such as polluting 
 pure water, wasting food, cutting cloth, reviling her 
 husband, worrying her mother-in-law, etc. From a 
 pig to a woman, a woman to a pig, the dreary trans- 
 migration goes on forever. Others believe in total 
 annihilation, but most women dismiss the question of a 
 future life by a careless, “who knows ?” or by the sad 
 statement, “I fear no future suffering. My lot cannot 
 possibly be worse in the world to come than it is in 
 this life.” It is evident even in such spiritual ignor- 
 ance that the Chinese women feel that there is some- 
 thing wrong in their lives. That the future cannot be 
 worse than the present — to change from woman into 
 pig, and from pig into woman, in an endless series of 
 births and rebirths — is at least a negative longing for 
 something better. 
 
 “This picture of heathen womanhood would be 
 misleading, dark and gloomy if all bright coloring were 
 omitted. It is indeed a black and bitter life, even 
 among the heathen homes that get no ray of light oc- 
 casionally. Hunger satisfied, though with coarsest 
 food, a refreshing breeze after a hot day, warmth in 
 winter, a shelter and rest at night, the doubtful joy of 
 having overcome an adversary in a reviling match, or, 
 the relief of escaping with whole bones from a fierce 
 quarrel, make a lining to the black cloud life, which, if 
 not silver, is at least lighter than the prevailing hue. 
 
 “But we may certainly call bright silver the joy- 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 39 
 
 ous smile of an innocent child, the true love which 
 children give to and receive from their mother, vigor- 
 ous health with few nerves, and the natural love of life, 
 which is the portion of all God’s creatures. Add to 
 this an apathetic disposition, an astonishing lack of 
 envy of those in better circumstances, and the fact 
 that a quarrel, which would drive an American wom- 
 an into a long siege of nervous prostration, is but meat 
 and drink to the ordinary Chinese woman, and one has 
 a clearer insight into their lives. 
 
 “Many deeds of unselfish and even heroic kind- 
 ness are performed in heathen homes, of which the 
 world hears nothing. In no other land are daughters 
 more carefully guarded from impurity of action — the 
 purity of thought or word is considered unimportant. 
 Altho the children do not render the cheerful obedience 
 which Christianit}' demands, yet the care of infirm and 
 aged parents is a rule rarely departed from. 
 
 “But notwithstanding all these ameliorating cir- 
 cumstances, it is with a feeling of distinct relief that 
 one leaves a heathen home, too often filled with a ‘dark- 
 ness that can be felt, ’ and enters the home of a Christ- 
 ian. 
 
 “After a morning spent with a Chinese woman, 
 she interrupted my gospel message with the question, 
 ‘Is your mother-in-law living ?’ ‘No,’ I answered. 
 
 ‘Does your husband get drunk?’ ‘No.’ ‘Does he 
 smoke opium ?’ ‘No.’ ‘Does he beat you ?’ ‘No,’ I 
 
 replied, ‘he has never struck me a blow in his life.’ 
 It took her several moments to become convinced of 
 this astonishing fact, and then she turned to me, say- 
 ing impressively; ‘you have been talking to me of 
 
40 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 heaven and hell in the world to come. Your life now 
 and mine are as heaven and hell. ’ 
 
 “Those who have seen the changed lives and 
 happy homes of many Chinese women can testify glad- 
 ly that nothing but Christianity could perform such 
 miracles. One of the strongest proofs a Christian 
 Chinese woman can make of her sincerity is in unbind- 
 ing her own or her daughter’s feet. In Shantung, 
 with the exception of a few slaves or prostitutes and 
 Manchus, all women, whatever their condition of life, 
 bind their feet. It requires an enormous amount of 
 moral courage for a Chinese woman to go about with 
 natural feet, thus incurring the curiosity, ridicule and 
 evil insinuations of everyone she meets. The change, 
 therefore, is very slow, but it is surely coming, owing 
 to the influence of Christian schools and antifootbind- 
 ing societies, or rather to the influence of Christianity'. 
 
 “An old godly elder, in the church at Chefoo, 
 whose Christianity was real enough to break an opium 
 habit, strong with the practice of many years, was 
 very fond of telling of the change Christianity wrought 
 in his wife: ‘Before .she became a Christian she had a 
 most violent temper,’ he would .say, in his slow’, gen- 
 tle manner. ‘She would scold and revile most abus- 
 ively, and we were all afraid of her. But since she 
 has become a Christian all is changed. Why now she 
 has not even a disposition left,’ w’as always his quaint 
 conclusion. 
 
 ‘‘Truly in a heathen land is most clearly illustrat- 
 ed the truth, ‘By their fruits ye shall know' them.’ ’’ 
 
 ‘‘Now, dear sisters, these facts, hard facts of hea- 
 then daily life have been laid before yon. You know 
 the facts. You have knowledge of the misery of Chin- 
 
TO THE WOMEN OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 4 ' 
 
 ese women Are you willing to help your Chinese 
 sisters ? You are abundantly able to help. Most of 
 all, do not let another day pass without taking a HEROIC 
 stayid for Christ' s cause in Chma. Delay now will 
 make it still more difiBcult to begin later on, We need 
 missionaries in China for three reasons, at least: for 
 Christ’s sake, for China’s sake, for the sake of ourselves. 
 There is undeveloped spiritual abilit}^ among us. 
 Work this unto its destined end and great will be the 
 results. Yes, China needs you, consecrated Christ- 
 ian women, for Bible and evangelistic work, for hospi- 
 tal work, for school work. I know you are working 
 hard for Japan. God bless you for this cause. But 
 you are capable of more and farther work. Let no 
 stone remain unturned in the present effort for a mis- 
 sion in China. How do we read our Bible, if we are 
 able to pass by China and her nearly one-fourth of the 
 human race ? Oh ! can we not think of Christ’s life 
 of .'',acrifice ? Caa we not make more and more sacri- 
 fices for Christ? Is it nothing to you to know Chinese 
 womanhood? What has not Christ done for you? 
 What cannot you in and through Christ do for China? 
 In the beauty and holiness of faith in our Saviour, let 
 us go forward ! 
 
ON TO CHINA. 
 
 A CHINESE OFFICIAL. 
 
TO THE PASTORS OF OUR CHURCH. 
 
 43 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 To The Pastors of Our Church. 
 
 During the last year we have seen our country 
 win great victories by land and by sea. The names 
 of our heroes have become household words all the 
 world over. Thousands of our young men — many of 
 them choice spirits indeed — left home in the cause of 
 freedom for the isles of the sea, east and west. The 
 brotherhood of man for man has received anew its 
 baptism of blood, and a favorite poet challenges us with 
 
 “THE WHITE man’s BURDEN.” 
 
 And all this in the name of the children of men. 
 
 Two thousand years ago Jesus our Lord took up 
 infinitely more than the white man’s burden can mean 
 today. On the cross he bore what the heart of man 
 has not apprehended. He had no armies, with flags 
 fluttering in the breeze and men shouting that shout 
 which maketh of a thousand men an invincible march 
 of progress and principle. His strength was not in a 
 navy whose might aroused the wonder of an acclaiming 
 world. No : alone, alone — and theagony of Gethsemane 
 may show us what that meant — alone He took up the 
 cross and faced a hostile world and went forth into 
 humanity’s battle, not against flesh and blood, but 
 against principalities, against powers, against the rulers 
 of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wicked- 
 ness in high places. In the eyes of the world He failed. 
 The cross had seemingly no power. “Death and 
 defeat,” laughingly said His enemies, “are weak twin 
 
44 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 brothers at the mouth of the tomb; and dead men can 
 never conquer the living.” 
 
 But what say. the sons of God today ? The cross 
 is mightier than the sword, greater than armies, more 
 powerful than navies. Yet this is true, the battles of 
 the cross are, humanly speaking, as lonely as ever. 
 There is living today a grand old missionary, who, 
 with the truth of the cross, with the lite-giving teach- 
 ings of the Bible, has won greater victories over canni- 
 bal inhabitants of the isles of God’s beautiful seas, than 
 those achieved by the American army and navy over 
 the Spaniards In our army and navy our men had 
 the inspiration and the dominio7i of comradeship to 
 help them in their contests of skill and valor. What 
 veteran missionary has stood and fought alone many a 
 time ? “Not by might, nor by pow'er, but by m}' Spirit, 
 saith the Lord of hosts.’’ None but those who have 
 stood in the midst ot heathenism can ever understand 
 the loneliness of those who bear the cross of Christ to 
 the uttermost parts of the earth. 
 
 The kingdoms of this world have a much stronger 
 hold on the minds and hearts of even God’s professing 
 children than the kingdom of God. The hostilities 
 between Spain and the United States began while I was 
 in China. During this time many of you, perhaps all 
 of you, have delivered eloquent sermons on the princi- 
 ples at issue. Did not that seem more real to you and 
 your people than themes connected with the spread of 
 Christ’s Gospel in the world ? While the Church gave 
 her sons for the cause of Cuba, at first not unmixed 
 with a wrath that is not godly, did you not give them 
 your blessing ? In the meanwhile how much time and 
 thought have you given to the Lord’s call to go for- 
 
TO THE PASTORS OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 45 
 
 ward into China in ihe name of Jesus rather than in the 
 name of the United States ? I watched most keenly 
 the drift of events and I thank God for your gifts, 
 national rather than spiritual, political rather than 
 ethical, which you gave to the cause of the east and 
 the west; but I could not and do not today understand 
 why God’s men and women should hesitate to take up 
 work in China to help establish the kingdom of God 
 in that great empire. Questions arose in my mind 
 that have not yet, to my pain been answered. 
 
 More than once did this your brother stand in the 
 presence of the indescribable poverty, idolatry and 
 superstition of the masses of China. Poverty ? Aye, 
 men for want of food dying by the wayside. And then 
 the dogs fighting over human flesh, and woe unto the 
 missionary into whose yard a stray cur may carry a 
 human bone. Do you know what it means ? A 
 Chinese, who hates the name of Christ, will perhaps, 
 find that bone and testify against the missionary and 
 in a short time thousands of furious Chinese will grow 
 hot and hotter over the report that missionaries use 
 some parts of the human body — Chinese body — for 
 medicine. Then the mob, sometimes ten thousand 
 men and women thirsting for the blood of God’s 
 messengers, make day black as night with rapine. 
 
 The shame of idolatry is forever before me. I saw 
 and heard things in China that I would tell very few 
 of my most intimate friends. Writers speak of the 
 lofty philosophy of the religions of China. They show 
 delight in Chinese principles that may be made, they 
 say, the basis of a compromise with Christianity. “The 
 beautiful religions’’ of China need only a little of the 
 Christian’s polish, only a little of the righteousness of 
 
46 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 Christ, only a little of the idea of God; all else is good 
 enough. These men who praise the religions evident- 
 ly know very little of the practical side of life in China 
 under the sway of the religions of the empire. Would 
 they be willing to put their mothers, sisters, wives and 
 daughters into a Chinese home? No: a thousand times 
 no. Let no one deceive you on this matter. The 
 religions of China are a curse to the people. They are 
 as death in life. The priests themselves are exceedingly 
 corrupt and go about selecting beautiful women for the 
 gods. The gods want a bride. She is found. She 
 is bound. She is a slave to a system of religious prac- 
 tices unmentionable. Oh! the holiness of the Lord, 
 as compared with the religions of China. Beautiful 
 moral precepts followed by no one, philosophical dis- 
 sertations on things terrestial and celestial, without 
 the idea of God, of true man, of vital personal virtue 
 and purity can keep not even the least of the children 
 of men. Idols of hearts and birds and reptiles and 
 men many of them symbols of acts most unclean — 
 is it any wonder one should find his heart going out to 
 these poor benighted people? Let no one deceive you. 
 China needs the Gospel of Christ, the story of the cross 
 more than she needs anything else. Let no one de- 
 ceive you. It is a visible, tangible truth that Christ 
 alone is Saviour. For witness the change in a Chinese 
 after his conversion. Has he been an opium smoker ? 
 Then he has*been rescued from among a host of slaves 
 of abnormal^appetite. He has been born anew, from 
 on high, and his new birth may have been in Foochow, 
 a city in which there are said to be over i ,000 registered 
 opium dens. C Perhaps it was in Nanking where there 
 is one opium den to every 100 of the inhabitants. 
 
TO THE PASTORS OF OUR CHURCH. 
 
 47 
 
 Millions upon millions of these unhappy beings des- 
 troying body and soul and home ! Poverty comes and 
 wife and concubines and daughters are sold into the 
 house of hell to keep up the expensive habit. Has 
 the man been born again from among such places ? 
 Yes. But the struggle he must pass through is severe. 
 Jesus helps him and strength is given him to become 
 a man. He may now be too poor to .save the inmates 
 of the home his habits broke up. Enter the great dens. 
 See the men, or even women and children smoking 
 away every sense of self-respect. The whole body is 
 poisoned. Even in my short visit I learned to know 
 the opium poison as it pales the cheek and dims the 
 eye. Men, women and children redeemed from such 
 places become happy in telling others how to be cured 
 from the sin and curse of opium smoking. Blessed be 
 God ! There is salvation even from opium smoking; 
 but it Cometh not from Chinese religions. 
 
 Perhaps you have read my series of letters on 
 China. I have there at some length given you the 
 gist of what I saw and heard. Repetition here is, no 
 doubt, needless. Let us now hear Rev. H. H. Lowry, 
 D. D., on “The Outlook in China,” as given in the 
 ‘ ‘ Gospel in All Lands. ’ ’ 
 
 “The value of an outlook depends largely upon 
 the standpoint from which it is taken. Christian 
 workers, while engaged with their hard task and con- 
 fronted with its difl&culties, may sometimes become 
 discouraged and take a gloomy view of their work. 
 The outlook of the soldiers in the valley may not be so 
 hopeful as that of the general on the hilltop, though 
 the battle may be progressing toward victory. 
 
 “The first standpoint from which I would invite 
 
48 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 you to take an outlook is that of accomplished results. 
 
 “For some days we have been reviewing fifty years 
 of labor here in Foochow and in this province. Our 
 hearts have been stirred by the recital and we have 
 cried, in grateful amazement, ‘What has God wrought ?’ 
 The contrast betw'een the circumstances and work of 
 the earlier missionaries and the present is very great. 
 The narrow and unhealthful quarters on the little 
 island in the river have given place to these four com- 
 pounds on the hill. With difficulty they could secure 
 tracts for their use; now a large press prints all needed 
 supplies. We now see hospitals, schools, a college 
 and theological seminary, and, as a fitting crown to the 
 whole, this beautiful church. Fifty years ago the 
 foundations were laid; we now rejoice in the success 
 achieved. 
 
 “But we constitute only one division of God’s 
 great army in China. While we have been struggling to 
 advance the lines in our special field God has been send- 
 ing other divisions to push forward the work from other 
 positions. And now, instead of the feeble beginning 
 of fifty years ago in only five cities of the empire, 
 churches are established in all the eighteen provinces, 
 over forty missionary societies are carrying on the 
 work with about 2,000 missionaries, 3,000 native 
 agents and 100,000 converts. Thousands of children 
 are being educated in mission schools, several hundred 
 thousand patients are annually treated in the hospi- 
 tals and dispensaries, and many millions of pages of 
 Scripture and Christian literature are printed each year 
 and circulated among the people. 
 
 “As we look out from this standpoint our attention 
 is first arrested by the wonderful material progress \}asX 
 
TO THE PASTORS OF OUR CHURCH. 
 
 49 
 
 has been made. All this progress is part of G od’s 
 agencies in carrying forward this work. Everything 
 that aids in the development of the country is part of 
 the equipment of the Church in its advance among the 
 nations. 
 
 “It is reported that Li Hung Chang once rather 
 impatiently asked, ‘Why is it that all these valuable 
 improvements come from the West?’ The true answer 
 is that Christianity quickens all the. faculties of men, 
 intellectual as well as spiritual, so in reality they be- 
 come new creatures in Christ Jesus. And for this 
 reason China, or any other nation, will make a fatal 
 mistake in hoping to receive the advantages and power 
 of Western civilization without first seeking that spirit- 
 ual power of which all these things are the fruit. The 
 Gospel is the root from which all true reform and 
 prosperity grows. The telegraph, railways, factories 
 and machinery may be welcomed as part of God’s 
 comprehensive plan establishing the kingdom of Christ 
 in the world. 
 
 “These material conditions are to be welcomed 
 not only for these reasons but also because of the in- 
 creased facilities they give us in carrying on our work. 
 It took the first missionaries five or six months to 
 reach China; now the journey can be made in as many 
 weeks. Bishop Foster was nearly a week in going 
 from Tientsin to Peking; the distance can now be made 
 in four hours. Formerly it required months to get 
 word from New York in response to letters from the 
 field; now a few hours may bring back the answer. 
 Communication is now easy and rapid between our 
 various fields in China. But, more than that, these 
 advances in material progress bring China and the 
 
50 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 great Christian world along side by side as neighbors. 
 
 “From this standpoint there appears another con- 
 dition that is encouraging — that is, the chatiged attitude 
 of the government and officials toward us and our 
 work. It is not that all opposition has been with- 
 drawn — for many officials still hinder us all they can — 
 but the Church and its workers have been publicly 
 acknowledged and their right to exist and make con- 
 verts proclaimed by the emperor himself, and that 
 protection must be given to our persons, property and 
 converts. While we do not claim that the government 
 is friendly, it has ceased to be openly hostile; and that 
 is a very decided adv^ance. 
 
 “But, more important than all, we behold this 
 great field white already to the harvest. We find our- 
 selves no longer confined to a few cities along the sea- 
 coast, but the whole of the eighteen provinces are 
 thrown wide open for carrying on Christian work. In 
 the most distant portions of Yun-nan and Kuei-chau, 
 far away on the borders of Tibet, may be found men 
 and women testifying for Christ. Christian churches 
 are being multiplied all over the empire, and every 
 building erected is a silent witness of the permanency 
 of our work and a pledge of final triumph. 
 
 “Progress has been made along all lines of work. 
 Witness the’educational work, with its day schools, 
 boarding schools and colleges where the youth of the 
 land may be fitted for responsible positions in the new 
 China that already appears above the horizon. It is 
 also a significant fact that in almost all the government 
 schools of high grade that have been proposed they 
 have been compelled to seek their chief teachers among 
 the missionaries. I can o ily refer to the work of the 
 
TO THE PASTORS OF OUR CHURCH. 
 
 51 
 
 hospitals and dispensaries with their consecrated men 
 and women who are giving such practical illustrations 
 of Christianity; and the press, which has proved such 
 a powerful agency in disseminating Christian truth and 
 in molding public opinion. All these constitute the 
 modern equipment of the evangelistic effort to bring 
 the Gospel to the people, and which have been owned 
 of God in accomplishing sncli glorious results. 
 
 “Thus, from the standpoint of accomplished re- 
 sults we see the whole empire being permeated with 
 the truth and that a feeling of hopefnlne.ss and expect- 
 ancy pervades both native and foreign workers, and- 
 that there is a manifest and prevailing conviction that 
 we are on the eve of victory. From this standpoint 
 the country is ours, and we should possess it in the 
 name of our Master. 
 
 •‘The second standpoint from which we would 
 make an outlook is that of Faith. 
 
 “The appeal to past results ought to convince the 
 most skeptical of our success, achieved under seemingly 
 overwhelming difficulties. But while visible results 
 offer their own peculiar encouragement we receive our 
 highest inspiration through faith in the divinity, faith- 
 fulness and promises of Jesus Christ, our great Leader. 
 Our faith in him and the faithfulness of his promises; 
 and although we had toiled here fifty years and had 
 far less to show for it than we now have, our faith 
 should sustain us in our future effort, for we not only 
 live by faith, but we must work by faith. The 
 Almighty hath decreed the salvation of the whole 
 world through Jesus Christ, and his word cannot fail. 
 
 “From this standpoint of faith we see the yearly 
 increasing power of the Christian Church. We see 
 
52 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 some agencies and methods of the Gospel that have 
 triumphed in all other lands established in China and 
 advancing certain victory. Our faith sees the Gospel 
 continuing its progress in China, as it has done in all 
 other lands, until all idolatry is banished and the mil- 
 lions of the inhabitants become followers of the Lord 
 Jesus. Confucianism. Buddhism and Taoism will give 
 place to Christianity and China will rise to a controll- 
 ing position in Asia and a wide' influence among the 
 nations of the world. The best lover of China and 
 her most patriotic citizen is a believer in the Gospel of 
 ^Christ. 
 
 “Our critics may say we are too sanguine; the 
 pessimist may declare his doubt of the possible con- 
 version of the Chinese; but our faith is in the unfailing 
 promises of God and we are undisturbed. The whole 
 mass of population is even 'now being learned by the 
 hundred thousand Christians. But besides these con- 
 verts there are at least an equal number of adherents 
 who believe in Christianity, though they do not openly 
 accept it, and many times that number who are con- 
 stantly brought into touch with Christian teaching, 
 sympathy and love through the hospitals and dispen- 
 saries, and there are many hundreds of thousands more 
 who have some knowledge of Christian truth through 
 the vast quantity of literature annually circulated. 
 
 “The hundred thousand Christians may seem 
 small in comparison with the four hundred millions of 
 China, but, filled with the Holy Spirit, each one be- 
 comes charged with a divine energy that neither num- 
 bers nor magnitude can resist. 
 
 “Hence faith sees not only the Church established 
 in China, with its converts doubling every six or seven 
 
TO THE PASTORS OF THE CHURCH. 53 
 
 years, but faith leaps over all barriers and expects 
 great times of refreshing from the presence of the 
 Lord, mighty outpourings of the Holy Spirit, when 
 whole communities are awakened and brought to a 
 saving knowledge of Christ. 
 
 “Faith declares that victory always waits on the 
 soldiers of Zion and now calls for a great forward 
 movement all over this great field. If the Church 
 would but heed the call we would soon see such results 
 as would astonish the world. A.nd if we are faithful 
 to the grand opportunities that past successes have 
 opened before us, and if, with unflinching faith we face 
 the difficulties still to be met, we shall yet hear a 
 redeemed nation shout: ‘Victory, victory, in the 
 blood of the Lamb’ while the watchmen on the walls 
 of Zion cry: 'Behold, these from the land of Sinim.’” 
 
 Why cannot we join in this great forward move- 
 ment ? Whv cannot we be planting a new mission in 
 China to open the twentieth centurj^ with more faith 
 and good works? ''Go," is the command. 
 
^.v 
 
 54 
 
 ON TO CHINA 
 
 ENTERING A VILLAGE IN HO NAN 
 
OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 55 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 How Satan Tries To Keep Christianity Out 
 Of Hunan. 
 
 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me 
 before it hated you.” 
 
 ‘‘If they persecuted me, they will also persecute 
 you.” 
 
 “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so 
 have I sent them into the world.” 
 
 A Chinese is a man whose character seems to be 
 made up of a mass of incongruities. For years one 
 may pass along the way of life with him and count 
 him one of the most peaceful beings in the world. He 
 will dine with you, chat with you, and his social 
 smiles will set about you like a season of calm weather. 
 Surely he is a law abiding subject. He is genial. He 
 brings you the perpetual sunshine of a radiant person- 
 ality. No clouds lower over your daily communion 
 with him. Be careful, however; for there may come a 
 time when a cloud, only the size of a man’s hand, will 
 break forth in an intensity and wildness of fury like 
 unto cyclones and typhoons, which carry death and 
 destruction in their train. Then you see that “this 
 same quiet Chinese is a perfect demon, a yelling in- 
 furiated brute, a monster of destruction, in a riot; 
 rapine, arson and murder all rapidly succeed each other 
 at such a time, the howling mob raving like wild 
 beasts as they run wanton with life and property.” 
 
 The enemies of the Christian religion in general 
 and of foreign missions in particular spread abroad the 
 
5 ^' 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 impressions that Christianity is being forced upon the 
 Chinese and that these awful riots are a reaction against 
 such arbitrary propagandism. This is a mistake. 
 “The truth is simply this : that the western nations 
 put in the treatise that Christianity is a religion that 
 exhorts people to do good; the people of China, there- 
 fore, should have liberty to study and practice it if 
 they wish.’’ More than once, by treaty and by pro- 
 clamation, has there been semblance of granting this 
 reasonable liberty ; but the painful experiences of the 
 past forty years go to show that high officials and the 
 literati are forcing the people with all the might of 
 their despotism not to become Christians. “The mis- 
 sionaries are yearly maligned and persecuted in all the 
 provinces and the followers of Christianity^ are always 
 reviled and treated as traitors to their own country. 
 An account of the persecutions of Christians and mis- 
 sionaries and the riots organized against them in all 
 the provinces during the last forty years would form 
 many volumes. ’ ’ The mandarins and gentry play upon 
 the ignorance of the people for gain and office. They 
 enrich themselves b}'^ a sj-stem of political plunder that 
 can be found in no other country. They fear our 
 science and civilization will overthrow' their false pow'er 
 and position and put an end to their corrupt govern- 
 ment and their profits. Our ability' to rush along at 
 the rate of sixtj' miles an hour is the result of a wonder- 
 working magic; for the people, woefully ignorant of 
 the commonest scientific facts which we teach our 
 children in our homes, are ready to believ'e anything 
 their superiors tell them. So these riots are brought 
 about by a systematic and widespread circulation of 
 most scandalous and libelous literature by Chinese 
 
OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 57 
 
 mandarins and gentr}', in _order to influence public 
 opinion against Christians and foreigners generally ; 
 ■and in the soil of such ignorance the seeds of persecu- 
 tion spring up and bear a heavy crop of bitter fruit. 
 Foreigners can .see millions of miles into the sky; they 
 can make an insect look as large as a horse ; they have 
 medical men who can pertonn miracles on the human 
 body ; they have wise men who can peer deep into the 
 ground and discover precious metals ; they are great 
 magicians ; and in mysterious works they require the 
 black eyes of Chinese children or the eyes of dead 
 Chinese. A dense credulous ignorance of the common 
 facts of steam, of surgery, of medicine, of the telescope, 
 of the microscope and of mining, is thus maddened 
 into fury of an m contiollable riot. Death then sports 
 with life. 
 
 The proclamations by which the popular mind is 
 thrown into a deep frenzy are nsnall}^ filled with the 
 vilest epithets against Christians, against missionaries 
 and other foreigners, and against our blessed Lord Jesus 
 Christ This kind of language breathes a spirit that 
 at once makes it evident what might happen to a 
 foreign lady were she to fall into the arms of a shout- 
 ing mob. There are cases on record w'here it would 
 have been better for the women to have fallen into the 
 jaws of a man-eating tiger. In comparison, the mis- 
 fortune would have been tender mercy. Like the 
 enemies of the early Christian Church, these antagonists 
 of the Kingdom of God in China make the wildest and 
 most wicked assertions in regard to the relations exist- 
 ing between the men and the women of the Christian 
 Church and of the missionary bod3^ 
 
 Concerning a booklet known as ‘'Death to the 
 
58 
 
 ON TO CHINA. 
 
 Devil' s Religio7i," a missionary once wrote to a foreign 
 newspaper in Shanghai, “Of all Hunan publications, 
 I do not know of one more violent, more abusive, more 
 filthy, or more inflammatory than this. It is written 
 in fluent mandarin. It finishes up with a song, which 
 is committed to memory by the children of Hunan 
 and sung in the streets. I felt inclined for a moment 
 to give you a translation of this song. But it is im- 
 possible; it is too dirty and vile. You could not print 
 it. I may, however, translate the words of exhortation 
 with which the book closes; ‘Let fathers and the old 
 people teach the children to sing this song and thus 
 accumulate merit and bliss. Let the little boys learn 
 to sing this song and thus remove calamity and danger. 
 Why fear because the demons are many ? We are 
 firmly resolved to exterminate them utterly. The 
 magistrate knows perfectly well what is going on and 
 does not utter a word or lift a finger. ’ 
 
 “In the Hunan publications, the worship of Jesus 
 is represented as the worship of licentiousness. Our 
 Lord is represented as a hog crucified and surrounded 
 by male and female worshipers, some on their knees 
 and some indulging in licentious merriment. The 
 term, ‘ The Religioji of the Lord of Heaven,' is generally 
 written, 'The Squeak of the Celestial Hog.' Converts 
 are also called sons and grandsons of the devils and 
 the pig-goat-devils, that is, of foreigners.’’ 
 
 We read of “The depraved devil Jesus;’’ and 
 again that “married w’omen, maidens and little child- 
 ren three years old, all hate the hog Jesus. When 
 they call the pigs, they use the word Jesus; eating 
 pork they call eating the flesh of Jesus; in transacting 
 business at the butcher shops, they all use the expres- 
 
OPPOSITION TO CHRISTIANITY. 
 
 59 
 
 sions, “selling Jesns,’’ “buying Jesus.’’ This is 
 attacking the depraved religion to the utmost. Extracts 
 like these might be multiplied. But enough. 
 
 Inflamed by literature of this kind and led on by 
 ruffians, a Chinese mob is something that cannot be 
 described. These riots are frequently carried on by 
 tens of thousands of howling men and women. Among 
 them you will find re.spectably dressed Chinamen and 
 even soldiers whose business it is to quell such un- 
 lawful crowds. 
 
 A few 3"ears ago a strong missionary wrote, “It 
 is true that the rioters have in several instances been 
 punished, but they are not punished either according 
 to the severity of Chinese or foreign laws and the 
 instigators are generally set free and the high authors 
 and disseminators of the inflammatory literature incit- 
 ing the people to hatred, to riots and murder hav^e 
 never been punished to this da^-, altho constantly 
 pointed out during the last five years. ’ ’ 
 
 Chou Han, a scholar holding high rank, one of 
 the best known men in Hunan, the author of some of 
 the most vile and inflammatory" of the Hunan publica- 
 tions, was, however, deposed and degraded. Foreign 
 pressure upon the government effected that. 
 
 Dear friends, my heart bleeds for China. Jesus 
 has claims upon me for these people. Jesus has claims 
 upon all of us for these people. How will you and I 
 respond to the.se claims ? We cannot, we dare not, 
 .say, “Behold we knew" it not.’ ’ O, God, make us, 
 keep us faithful to Thy work. May our consecration 
 be commensurate w"ith our know"ledge of the needs of 
 China. Lord^Jesus, help us to obey" this call. 
 
A CHINKSB GARDEN AND SUMMER HOUSE. 
 
CHINA’S niLLIONS 
 
 China has been consecrated as a mission field, by the 
 blood of many martyrs. The foundation has been laid with 
 precious lives. Sowers have gone forth to sow, bearing 
 precious seeds. Many have ceased their sowing. Who shall 
 do the work of reaping, if this generation refuses to do it? 
 Tremendous sacrifices have already been made, manifold perse- 
 cutions endured, privations suffered, many’ heart-aches caused 
 by the severance of home ties, and many liveg willingly given 
 for its redemption. Shall we allow all this to have been in 
 vain, by not being willing to follow up the adv’antages and the 
 foot-holds which have already been gained ? 
 
 Each black square represents 1,000000 Chinese souls in 
 heathendom, 400,000,000 altogether. The white squares rep- 
 resent the Christians and the inquirers after “the way of life.” 
 
 Let the unceasing battle cry of the church be ‘ On to 
 China !" ‘‘Christ for China and China for Christ.” May the 
 church move On and On and On with increasing power until 
 “at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, and every tongue 
 confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the 
 Father. 
 
JUST ISSUED. 
 
 A New Pamphlet on the 
 
 IReflcx linfluence of flDissionar^ leffort. 
 
 By 
 
 REV. J. H. BOMBERGER, D. D., 
 
 Author of “preach the Gospel,” ‘‘C. E. Plans and 
 Principles,” ‘‘Cardinal Points,” etc. 
 
 Encouragement for the Discouraged, 
 
 A Stimulant for the Worker, 
 
 Convincement for the Indifferent. 
 
 The price has been placed very low to 
 insure a large circulation. 
 
 May we have your co-operation in circu- 
 lating it ? 
 
 It has been called ‘‘Nails driven by a 
 Master.” “Excellent,” “Helpful,’^ etc., by min- 
 isters and others who have read it. 
 
 Price, Single Copies, sets., Per Doz. Copies, 50 cts. 
 5end Orders to the 
 
 Woman’s Journal, 
 
 ALLIANCE, OHIO. 
 
®ur IDungarian 
 Wlork. 
 
 The Host Successful Work 
 of the Church. 
 
 This valuable pamphlet contains a vast 
 amount of information about our Hungarian 
 Work. 
 
 It contains a scholarly and accurate his- 
 torical sketch on “How Hungary Became Re- 
 formed,” by Rev. F. Mayer. 
 
 Letters from our Hungarian Mission- 
 aries, short biographical sketches of their lives 
 and an article by Mrs. Geo. F. Bareis. 
 
 Illustrated with HALF'TONL EN- 
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 Price, 5 Cents. 
 
 Address ^ 
 
 Woman’s Journal, 
 
 aHJANCE, O KO. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH 
 
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 ORIGIN AND GROWTH 
 
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 WOMAN^S MISSIONARY 
 SOCIETIES 
 
 OF THE REFORMED CHURCH. 
 
 By Mrs. E. S. Yockey. 
 
 Contains engravings of all the officers of the 
 W. M. S. G. S. and the Synodical Presidents. 
 
 Much valuable historical information is given in 
 a convenient form for future reference. 
 
 It also contains the Amended Con.stitution. 
 
 Each member of the Missionary Societies should 
 have a copy of this valuable pamphlet. 
 
 The Price for Single Copies, 5 cents. 
 
 One Dozen Copies, 50 cents. 
 
 These prices are net. 
 
 Address ^ ^ 
 
 The Woman’s Journal, 
 
 ALLIANCE, OHIO. 
 
NED HAHPDEN, 
 
 OR 
 
 THE RAVAGES OF INTEHPERANCE. 
 
 . This is the title of an excellent temperance work which 
 has met with fjeneral favor wherever it has been introduced. 
 
 I Sunday School superintendents and many others have spoken 
 in the highest terms of its excellence. The book contains two 
 ! hundred and seventy four pages, with a half tone portrait of 
 : the author. Rev. I. A. Sites, as a frontispiece, 
 i In the form of a pleasing narrative the note of warning is 
 : sounded to young men who allpw themselves to be enticed 
 ^ ‘into the saloons and young ladies are shown what their fate 
 i will be if they marry a man who is addicted to the use of the 
 i wine CUD ; The Christian voter is brought face toface with his 
 responsibility as a true citizen and follower of Christ. 
 
 A F!-:W PRESS NOTICES. 
 
 \ “He writes as one inspired by a high and holy purpose — 
 
 I as one whose whole soul is aroused with a holy indignation. 
 The effects of the licensed rum traffic are depicted with all the 
 graphic fidelity to every day facts, with all the thrilling interest, 
 and all the dramatic effect of the celebrated, “TEN NIGHT’S 
 IN .A RAR ROOM.” We most devoutly wish every voter in 
 the land would procure a copy of this book (Ned Hampden), 
 f and read ami ponder its contents .” — Religious Telescope. 
 
 5 "It is a terrible truth, not overdrawn’, and will serve a 
 ; good purpose in making that girl stop and consider who is 
 j willing to marry one who drinks even a little. Showing the 
 young man a pitiful picture of what he possibly and probably 
 » will become.” — Ram's Horn. 
 
 w Ned Hampden is one of the best and strongest temperance 
 books we have seen for many a day. It should be in every 
 ft household in our land.- It has few, if any, equals as a Temper- 
 Sance work . — Daily and ll/eekly Journal. 
 
 V A fine cloth hound copy will be sent post paid on receipt 
 f of f i.oo; Manilla bound, 40 cts. 
 
 I TriE Wo.MAN's Journal, 
 
 I ■ Alliance, Ohio. ■ 
 
 f 
 
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