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 \ 
 
 REPORT 
 
 OK THE 
 
 DEPUTATION TO CHINA 
 
 Presented to the Prudential Committee 
 
 OF THE 
 
 V 
 
 AMERICAN BOARD 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Columbia University Libraries 
 
 https://archive.org/details/reportofdeputatiOOamer_0 
 
REPORT OF THE DEPUTATION TO CHINA. 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I. The Beginning of our Missions in China. 
 
 It was only fifteen years after William Carey’s work in India had opened 
 the modern era of missions that Robert M.orrison set out from England for 
 China’s evangelization, taking America on his way thither. And it was only 
 seventeen years after Judson and his associates sailed for India, inaugurating 
 the latest phase of Foreign Missions for America, that Elijah C. Bridgman 
 followed Morrison to Canton, and our churches were embarked in the effort to 
 win China’s millions to the Christian faith. India, the American Indians, 
 Turkey, the Sandwich Islands, China; this was the order in the opening of 
 the missions of the Board, and all within nineteen years from its organization. 
 A moment’s thought reveals the courage and faith, sure of divine resources, 
 which animated the movement. 
 
 The same considerations which today give to China a leading place 
 among the lands to be evangelized were clearly seen and deeply felt by the 
 fathers who initiated the work. The report of the Prudential Committee in 
 regard to the establishment of the mission breathes a spirit of calm purpose, 
 wise discernment, and sublime faith : ‘’The establishment of an American 
 mission in China ought to have been witnessed many years ago ; and it should 
 be our grief that it was not. To the man who studies effects in their early 
 causes, and considers how many millions may be beneficially interested in this 
 movement, it is a sublime spectacle. Doubtless the mere recurrence of it to 
 the mind will call forth many a prayer that the pioneers in that warfare may 
 be sustained by a host of followers, and that the great idolatrous community 
 which boastingly calls itself the Celestial Empire may become entitled to that 
 appellation on account of the innumerable millions who will go thence to 
 heaven through the blood of Christ and the preaching of his gospel. ” 
 
 2. The Missions Planted. 
 
 China is a continent in itself, and no single mission or mission board 
 could attempt to cover it all. Mr. Bridgman and those who followed him 
 resided at Canton or Macao, and developed their work from that natural 
 center, beginning in 1829. Thirteen years later, in 1842, just after the five 
 treaty ports were opened, Amoy was occupied and a missionary work begun 
 which has been prosecuted continuously and successfully to the present time. 
 In 1847 Messrs. Peet and Johnson went to Foochow and opened the 
 
4 
 
 mission there, which has held its ground and thriven ever since. In 1853 
 the Board sent men to Shanghai, and this became a center of missionary work 
 for some years. Dr. Blodget went thence northward with the English and 
 French armies in i860, and in Tientsin began that year the first missionary 
 enterprise in all that region — the initiation of the North China Mission. In 
 1881 the Board organized a new mission in the province of Shansi, and Mr. 
 Stimson went out as its pioneer. Two years later, in 1883, Mr. Hager was 
 sent to Hong Kong to establish missionary work in connection with the 
 Christian Chinese returning from California, and the foundations were laid 
 for the South China Mission. For ten years, from 1834 to 1844, a printing 
 press and a mission were maintained at Singapore, largely for the sake of 
 the Chinese in those parts. While the enterprise was by no means 
 without valuable results, it seemed inexpedient to make this point a center for 
 permanent work. 
 
 3. The Present- State of these Missions. 
 
 The first labors at Canton were honorable for the patience and faithfulness 
 with which they were prosecuted, and for the quality of the men engaged in 
 them. Dr. Elijah C. Bridgman, Dr. Peter Parker, Dr. S. Wells Williams 
 among them. But they failed to strike a deep root and to embody themselves 
 in permanent institutions ; and presently all that had been gained passed to 
 other missions there and the Board withdrew its men. Fifteen years after the 
 opening at Amoy, in connection with the organization of a mission board in 
 the reformed churches of America, this mission and all its missionaries were, 
 in perfect harmony and good will, transferred to the care of the Reformed 
 Board. The work there is of the most substantial sort, and this has become 
 one of the strongest and most successful missions in China. 
 
 The work at Shanghai, which began under favorable auspices, suffered 
 from the loss of men and the transfer of its members to northern China, and 
 gradually passed into the care of other Boards, and our missionaries were 
 withdrawn. 
 
 Thus there remain at the present time four missions under the care of the 
 Board: the Foochow Mission, in the province of Fuhkien, begun in 1847 ; the 
 North China Mission, in the provinces of Chili and Shantung, opened in i860; 
 the Shansi Mission, in the province of the same name, organized in 1881, and 
 the South China Mission, in the province of Kwangtung, established in 1883. 
 
 These are the missions which the Deputation was instructed to visit, and 
 with reference to which report is now to be made. 
 
 4. The Reasons for a Deputation. 
 
 During the sixty-nine years since the American Board entered China no 
 official visit from the Rooms had ever been made to this field, save that of 
 Miss Child, Secretary of the Woman’s Board, two years since, though the need 
 of such a visit had often been felt and acknowledged. The first deputation of 
 the Board was sent to the missions in India in 1854, forty-one years after they 
 were planted, wuth important results. The Sandwich Islands were officially 
 visited in 1863, forty-three years after they were first opened, when the Board 
 
5 
 
 was about to withdraw from the work. The missions in Turkey were inspected 
 from the Rooms in 1855, within thirty-five years of the beginning, and have 
 been officially visited many times since. The Japan Mission received a 
 deputation in 1895, twenty-six years from its planting, when important questions 
 required special investigation. Official visits have also been made to our 
 Indian missions and to those in Papal Lands. The particular reasons for these 
 have not been the same ; but in the main they are such as apply to all the 
 work of the Board. With the growth of a mission new conditions appear, new 
 problems arise, new exigencies are to be met; and the study of these by the 
 officers of the Board, along with the missionaries on the ground, is the natural, 
 the necessary method of wise progress. It was inevitable that in time the 
 » missions in China should receive such an inspection ; and the course of events 
 during the past decade has been such as to make an early visit most important. 
 The missions have repeatedly asked that their Secretary come to the field ; it 
 has been felt at the Rooms that these requests must be granted as soon as 
 possible. 
 
 On two different occasions the Committee authorized the proposed visit, 
 and preparations were begun ; but each time it became necessary indefinitely 
 to delay it. At last, however, in the closing month of 1897, when the way 
 seemed clearly to open, the Deputation was named. It consisted of Col. C. 
 A. Hopkins, of the Prudential Committee, E. D. Eaton, D. D., President of 
 Beloit College, and Judson Smith, d. d.. Senior Secretary, and plans were at 
 once matured and put into execution. Mrs. Hopkins and Mrs. Eaton 
 accompanied their husbands, and gave a wider representation of the missionary 
 interests at home, and made a happy addition to the .breadth and completeness 
 of the survey. 
 
 5. The Instructions to the Deputation. 
 
 The call for the visitation was wholly for the sake of better acquaintance, 
 fuller information, the study of important questions on the ground in the midst 
 of the people and the work. 
 
 The instructions given to the Deputation ran in the following terms : 
 
 “ The Deputation to China has been authorized in response to repeated 
 requests from the several missions of the Board in that empire, and is desired 
 in order to promote mutual acquaintance and mutual understanding. The 
 missionaries desire the officers at the Rooms to know their work and its 
 surroundings as they themselves know it, by actual inspection upon the ground,, 
 and the officers at these Rooms have need of just such intimate and definite 
 knowledge as this visit will afford. There is no specially critical question in 
 any of the missions in China which calls for immediate settlement. The visit 
 is desired by the missions and is intended by the Committee to be devoted to 
 purposes of investigation, for the enlargement of information and for Ijetter 
 acquaintance. These considerations must give direction to the course that is 
 to be followed by the Deputation. 
 
 “ From information already received, the time when the missions can be 
 most advantageously inspected is during the first part of the calendar year. 
 Accordingly the Deputation is instructed to set out for China at the earliest 
 
6 
 
 convenient date, and to make its way thither with all reasonable expedition. 
 The visitation will be made to the several missions in China in the following 
 order, so far as practicable : Beginning with the South China Mission, the 
 Deputation will proceed thence to the Foochow Mission, from the Foochow 
 Mission to the North China Mission, and after this to the Shansi Mission. 
 The length of time devoted to each mission and the itinerary within each 
 mission will be arranged by the Deputation itself, in consultation with the 
 missionaries in each field, subject only to the necessary limitation of time which 
 is available. It is expected that the Deputation will use the time at its 
 command for as thorough an inspection as possible of the several stations in 
 each field, with all the varieties of work carried on from that center. Inter- 
 views should be had with the mission collectively, as far as possible, and with 
 the members of each station, and as far as practicable also with individual 
 members, that acquaintance with the situation may be as complete and from 
 as varied sources as possible. 
 
 “The points particularly to be inquired after are these, — the location of 
 the mission premises at each point, the general state of mission property, the 
 adequacy of the mission force, the native agency and the means of trfiining it 
 for its work, the condition of the mission churches and their progress toward 
 self-support, the mission schools and their work, the medical work of each 
 mission, woman’s work in each mission, the literary work carried on within 
 each mission and all questions bearing upon the opportunities for work and 
 the means of making that work more effective. The Deputation will convey 
 the salutations of the Committee and the Board to the missions which they 
 visit, and assure the missionaries of the warm sympathy of these Rooms with 
 them and their work, and will receive from the missionaries all information 
 and suggestions and requests which they desire to offer. And the Deputation, 
 upon their return, will be expected to make full and complete report to the 
 Prudential Committee of their journey and conferences, and of the state of the 
 several missions and stations, and of any recommendations which their 
 observations seem to warrant. 
 
 “ Recalling the fact that the missions of the Board in China were begun 
 in 1829, and up to this time have received no official visitation ; sensible of the 
 greatness of the field and of the superior opportunities presented to the Board 
 therein ; grateful for the remarkable success which has thus far attended 
 missionary work in China, and especially for the inspiring outlook at the 
 present time ; desiring that this visit of the Deputation may contribute both to 
 the comfort and satisfaction and strengthening of the missions themselves and 
 to the increase of intelligent interest in this field of our missionary work at 
 home ; and praying that health, peace, and prosperity may attend the Deputation 
 as a whole and individually in their journeying and labors and return, we bid 
 the members God-speed. ” 
 
7 
 
 II. THE VISITATION. 
 
 I. General Statement. 
 
 It was agreed that the visitation should begin at once, as it had been 
 ascertained that the first six months of the calendar year were the most 
 favorable for this purpose. And in view of the great differences in climate, 
 it was determined that the visit should begin with South China and close 
 with the missions in the north. Members of the different missions kindly 
 furnished carefully devised itineraries, adapted to the extent of the field 
 and work in each mission, and the time at command of the members of the 
 Deputation ; and in this way, as well as in many others, rendered an invalu- 
 * able service. At' every point the judgment and counsel of the missionaries 
 concerned have been taken, and all modifications of the plans of the Deputa- 
 tion were subject to their approval. The greatest and most serious limitation 
 under which the Deputation labored has been want of adequate time. When 
 the great distances between missions are considered, — 600 miles from Hong 
 Kong to Foochow, 1,000 miles from Foochow to Tientsin, — when the long 
 distances between stations in the same mission are borne in mind, — 500 miles 
 from Lin Ching to Kalgan, 250 miles from Foochow to Shao-wu, 125 miles 
 from Canton to the nearest country stations in South China, — and when the 
 mode of travel is taken into account, by cart, or chair, or donkey, or boat, 
 at three miles an hour, it will be seen that the time at our disposal was wholly 
 inadequate for a full and thorough visit. It is also to be remembered that 
 the details of missionary work at any one center are so many and so diverse 
 that a week’s stay at a station does not suffice to do justice to them all, to 
 say nothing of those conferences with the missionaries themselves, one by 
 one and all together, which are indispensable for the right understanding 
 of the work. The limitations found in the visitor himself must also be 
 remembered. An entire calendar year, with the allowances necessary on 
 account of bad weather, impassable roads, and summer heat, would be 
 none too much if every mission and every station and all the work were 
 to be properly visited and the facts fully ascertained. The Deputation have 
 used the time at command most economically, have pressed their journeying 
 and visiting into the smallest compass, have given no time exclusively to 
 recreation and ordinary sight-seeing, and have accomplished what they 
 trust will be satisfactory to those who sent them out, even if it be not all 
 that could be desired. They were not able to visit the Shansi Mission at 
 all. Kalgan Station in North China has not been seen, nor the outstations 
 of Pao-ting-fu, Tientsin, and Lin Ching. They could not go to Shao-wu, the 
 largest station in the Foochow Mission, and on some accounts the most 
 interesting and important. They saw only two out of the ten country 
 outstations in South China. Enough, however, was seen to give a good 
 understanding of the work as a whole and in its varied details. 
 
 The departure for China was made from Vancouver January 31st, and 
 the arrival at Hong Kong, where the work was to begin, was on February 
 23rd. The departure from Shanghai, at the close of the work, was June nth, 
 and the arrival in San Francisco July 7th. Unfortunately, it was impossible 
 
8 
 
 for Colonel Hopkins to share in the visitation of the South China and the 
 Foochow Missions, and President Eaton and Colonel Hopkins were obliged 
 to withdraw some time before the visitation of the North China Mission 
 was completed. The Deputation was greatly favored in weather, in journey- 
 ing, in health, and in all their work, and they desire gratefully to acknowledge 
 the good hand of God that was upon them and the abounding hospitality 
 of the missionaries in every field, 
 
 2. The South China Mission. 
 
 The inspection of the South China Mission began at Hong Kong 
 February 23rd and concluded at Canton March 2d. During this time a 
 day was devoted to Hong Kong, the original center of the mission, where 
 one of the missionaries still resides, and where there is a self-supporting 
 chapel and several government schools under missionary supervision ; parts 
 of two days to Canton, where we have a chapel and a training school, a 
 woman’s class and a girls’ boarding school ; and five days to a visit in the 
 country districts a hundred and twenty-five miles from Canton, and extending 
 over a large and populous territory. Even these five days gave time only 
 to see two outstations with their chapels, and left seven or eight more, of 
 quite as great importance, unvisited. The days at the station of San Ning 
 were marked by public meetings with the native preachers and brethren, 
 and conferences with Chinese laymen converted in America and now aiding 
 the work by generous gifts and personal influence. At Sam Kap, eight miles 
 distant, which was reached by chairs, the streets were thronged with people 
 attending the fair, who pressed into the chapel, filling every inch of space, 
 and would not go till the foreigners all, had preached to them some part of 
 the Word of Life. It was a novel experience to speak to a heathen audience 
 and feel that one’s words were perhaps the first gospel message they had 
 ever heard, and perhaps also the only one that would ever reach some of 
 them. Here two men were received by baptism ; and at a village near by a 
 woman was also baptized. One needs to go thus into the country, traveling 
 as the missionary does by night and by day; sleeping as he does in an 
 attic, without a bed ; eating as he does either what he brings with him from 
 home or what he finds in the villages he visits; laboring with him in season, 
 out of season, all the hours of the day, among all sorts and conditions of 
 mankind ; one needs to do all this really to know what* missionary touring is 
 and of what stuff our missionaries are made. 
 
 These country stations are very hopeful fields ; opposition is not wanting, 
 but there is ready hearing and conversions are frequent. The missionary 
 visits these outstations often in the course of the year, oversees the work of 
 the helpers, preaches often himself, examines and receives applicants for 
 baptism, helps about chapel building, and keeps the work in healthy, growing 
 condition. The present situation is promising, the prospect for growth as 
 good as any we have seen in China. No other mission is providing for this 
 field or could take charge of this work as we are doing. The great need is 
 of better trained native preachers, who could be ordained and given a 
 greater responsibility. It would be a great saving of time and strength if 
 
9 
 
 the missionary in charge were living at some convenient point in the midst 
 of this field. The native helpers are, after all, the critical point in all mis- 
 sionary success. If they are at hand in good numbers, well trained, trust- 
 worthy, capable, the work will assume permanency, solidity, self-impulsion, 
 and self-support. If they are few, or poorly equipped, unsteady, incapable 
 in the higher ranges of service, the work must go heavily, must show 
 weakness and uncertainty, and cannot look toward self-direction and self- 
 support. This is the point of anxiety in the South China Mission. 
 
 The Training School is meant to supply preachers for the field, and is 
 doing good work. Unhappily the recent reduction in appropriations has 
 nearly closed its doors, and relief is urgently needed. The missionaries and 
 their work are highly esteemed by the members of other missions in Canton. 
 The school for women is also attractive and promising. The girls’ boarding 
 school is doing good work, and might easily be doubled in numbers if there 
 were room. Another single lady to help in this school and to work among 
 women in the country is greatly needed. It would be desirable to unite the 
 woman’s class with the girls’ school in two adjoining buildings, and put 
 them both under the care of the single women. The labor would not be too 
 great, missionary force would be economized, and one of the two women 
 could spend a large part of her time touring in the field with the missionaries 
 in charge, a work that is imperatively needed to draw women into the country 
 churches. 
 
 So much time is necessarily taken by the Training School, and that 
 work is so important, that another preaching missionary is needed at once, 
 to be constantly in the field and to enlarge the Christian constituency of 
 the mission. With the addition of such a family and the single woman 
 named above, this mission would be well equipped for a symmetrical, 
 expanding, fruitful work, and would not need further enlargement for 
 some years to come. 
 
 We have seen no work more attractive, yielding larger results in 
 proportion to the expenditure, more needed, or more promising than the 
 work of the South China Mission. Nothing short of the bankruptcy of the 
 Board could warrant its discontinuance. None of its missionaries desire 
 or would consent to its abandonment. 
 
 3. The Foochow Mission. 
 
 The Deputation entered the Foochow Mission March 8 and left it March 
 26. This mission comprises five stations, four in and near the city of Foo- 
 chow, and one two hundred and fifty miles inland on the river Min. The 
 Pagoda Anchorage Station is located on the south side of the Min River, 
 seventeen miles from its mouth and seven miles below Foochow City. It 
 comprises an area of five hundred square miles, with a population of half a 
 million, and superintends a work in thirty-two different villages. At a meet- 
 ing of the native helpers with the Deputation there were present three native 
 pastors, thirteen native preachers, thirteen native teachers, and three colporters 
 — a noble body of men. The entire native agency of the station consists of 
 fifty-six men and women. The churches of this station within the past year 
 
lO 
 
 have received eighty-nine members on confession, and inquirers are numerous. 
 The care of this entire field, with a woman’s training school and two girls’ 
 boarding schools, now rests upon one ordained missionary and his wife. 
 
 The Ing-hok Station, recently set off from other fields, is located forty 
 miles from Foochow City, on the Ing-hok River, and comprises an area of at 
 least a thousand square miles, among the noblest mountains and along fine 
 river courses. Although a missionary family has resided here only within the 
 past few months, the field has long been visited by touring missionaries from 
 Foochow, chapels have been opened at several villages, and a goodly number 
 of communicants have been gathered. At one of the outstations there is a 
 well-built and commodious chapel, with pastor’s residence and guest room 
 adjoining, erected without expense to the Board, one of the most attractive 
 centers found anywhere in the mission. This field is open, the work is hope- 
 ful, and the best results may be expected from the faithful oversight of the 
 missionary in charge. The missionary’s wife — a physician — has in charge a 
 hospital for women, and hopes soon to open a boarding school for girls. 
 
 The Ponasang Station, in the south suburb of Foochow, is the first point 
 occupied by this mission, and presents the work in its most advanced and 
 fruitful state. There is one self-supporting church in this station and others 
 are nearing this condition. The first church has a membership of two hundred 
 and thirty-seven, to which additions are constantly made ; its house of worship, 
 accommodating four hundred, is wholly insufficient for its stated congregations. 
 The past year this church not only provided the salary of its pastor, but vol- 
 untarily increased it by one-third, and also pledged and raised the salary of 
 an assistant. One of the churches, organized less than two years since, has 
 pledged its pastor’s support. Two new chapels have been opened within the 
 year. Nowhere is it more clearly the time of harvest ; the labors and prayers 
 of long years are bearing rich fruit to the praise of God and the joy of men. 
 The Theological School of the mission, with seventeen students, is located by 
 the side of the first church of this station. Here, too, is the girls’ college, 
 with eighty students, efficiently managed, and sending its Christian pupils into 
 every part of the field. The Ponasang Hospital, a prime evangelizing agency 
 as well as a means of physical relief, is taxed to its utmost capacity, with 20,000 
 treatments a year, and is admirably conducted. A company of twenty native 
 women, engaged in various forms of work among women, met the Deputation 
 and presented a distinct and most important aspect of the work at this center. 
 
 Foochow City Station occupies a small but eligible compound on the side 
 of one of the three hills in the city, and is a busy hive of missionary work. 
 Five churches, one self-supporting, and twenty-five outstations, each with a 
 day school by its side, are superintended from this center. A woman’s train- 
 ing school, of twenty alert and eager pupils, is preparing Christian women for 
 work in homes among their own sex. By its side and under the same super- 
 vision is a promising kindergarten, with eighteen little ones, as bright and as 
 attractive as can be found anywhere, breathing a Christian atmosphere and 
 taking the first steps in Christian living. A woman’s hospital, admirably 
 managed, is quartered here, and a small class of promising women is in 
 training for medical work among their own people. Many women of the city 
 
come to this hospital, and its influence is opening many doors and many 
 hearts to the gospel message. 
 
 But the largest enterprise of this station is the Foochow College, hitherto 
 called the Banyan City Scientific Institute. There seems to be absolutely no 
 space in the mission compound for it ; but here it is, with its chapel and 
 dormitories and recitation rooms tucked away in all corners and conceivable 
 places, accommodating one hundred and ninety students, and doing a noble 
 work under its faithful and capable teachers. Its two parallel courses of 
 study, one in Chinese only, the other including instruction in the English 
 language, gather a fine body of students. The spirit in the college is excellent ; 
 the aims are high ; Christian character is studiously cultivated ; and the 
 reinforcement of mission work, especially in the ministry, is the supreme 
 aim. An entire day was given to the inspection of the college, its housing 
 and equipment, and its work. The classes were all examined in their several 
 studies by their teachers, native as well as foreign, and a good opportunity 
 given to observe the methods and spirit and standards of the work. The 
 Deputation also met the students in the hall at morning devotions. It is an 
 attractive and promising body, respectful, alert, capable, tractable. No one 
 could see and hear what was there presented without a most animating sense 
 of life and power and noble ideals. Few sights anywhere impressed the 
 Deputation more deeply or more favorably. The buildings which are needed 
 decently to house the students and the college ought not to be lacking another 
 month. 
 
 These four stations were thoroughly visited, their varied work carefully 
 inspected, conferences had with individual missionaries, with native pastors, 
 alone and together, and much of the work in the outstations was also 
 passed in review. And at the close the mission was in session three full 
 days in earnest and free discussion of all the work in hand, and of all the 
 problems that the mission has to solve. This prolonged review and canvass 
 was of inestimable value in setting forth clearly the main features of the 
 work and the nature and relation of the forces that must carry it forward. 
 An important step was taken in defining the educational system of the 
 mission. It was unanimously agreed that this system shall include : (i) Com- 
 mon schools, with kindergartens ; (2) high schools for boys, and boarding 
 schools for girls at central points ; (3) Foochow College for boys and Ponasang 
 College for girls ; and (4) the Theological Seminary. It is designed that 
 pupils shall be advanced from the lower grades to the higher as they give 
 promise of success and of useful service. It was also voted to introduce 
 English into the curriculum of the girls’ college to meet the demands of 
 the girls themselves. The whole subject of education in the mission schools 
 received the most thorough and deliberate attention, especially the means 
 by which the native ministry may be most promptly and strongly reinforced. 
 
 Before the Deputation reached Foochow it became apparent that a 
 visit to the fifth station at Shaowu would not be practicable. The journey 
 thither from Foochow requires three weeks; two weeks more would no 
 more than suffice to survey the work in a field many times as large as all 
 the other four stations of the mission put together; a week is the least 
 
12 
 
 time for the journey back to Foochow. Six weeks were not to be found 
 in the time at command even for so interesting and important a visit as 
 this. Accordingly word was early sent to Foochow requesting that the 
 members of this station be invited to Foochow to meet the Deputation 
 
 there. Inasmuch as the members of the station found themselves obliged 
 
 to leave for a furlough in America, they timed their journey so as to be 
 
 with the mission in its three days’ meeting with the Deputation. Thus 
 
 opportunity was given for fullest conference with these brethren in regard 
 to the state and needs of their field. Shao-wu Station comprises a district 
 about as large as New Hampshire and Vermont combined, lying around 
 the upper reaches and affluents of the Min River. There are twenty out- 
 stations already opened, and as many more centers ready for occupancy as 
 soon as men can be found to do the work. There is a native agency of 
 twenty-two men, one pastor just ordained, one evangelist acquainted with 
 all the field, another preacher ready for ordination, and the rest preachers 
 and teachers of varying attainments and power. The field is open to a 
 remarkable degree. Village after village reports Christians in its midst and 
 calls for a stated preacher. One village, never visited by the missionary 
 or native evangelist, recently asked for a preacher and reported one hundred 
 dollars raised to provide a chapel for the work. Inquirers are numerous on 
 every hand. The missionary in charge estimates that at least five thousand 
 are today ready for Christian instruction and desire baptism. And the field, 
 thus wondrously opened and made ready, has by no means been fully 
 explored. Less than half the villages that belong to us have ever been 
 visited. The literary class is equally accessible with farmers and mer- 
 chants, and the Theological School of the station has contained several 
 of this class. The church of this station includes 257 members, of whom 
 twenty-five were received this year. So large is the field, so great the 
 harvest, that the station needs to duplicate itself at once. With another 
 ordained missionary and a physician, a new center could be occupied and 
 the work almost doubled. It is doubtful if such a call as this of work ready 
 and waiting has ever before come to the Board from China. 
 
 The work of the Foochow Mission we found in a most advanced and 
 promising condition. The recent revivals have brought great numbers into 
 the churches; the movement toward self-support has kept pace with the 
 growth of the churches ; the native pastorate is developing as rapidly as the 
 circumstances will permit. The schools are full of excellent material. The 
 inquirers multiply and audiences increase, so that the only embarrassment is 
 how to teach them and how to provide room for them. The whole situation 
 is most animating and inspiring; the movement forward is felt everywhere, 
 less strongly here, more powerfully there, but is active and real everywhere. 
 And there is no present sign of abatement. The native pastors themselves, 
 when questioned on this point, replied that they saw no indications that this 
 advancing movement was likely to cease. 
 
 As illustrative of the special conditions which prevail in the Foochow 
 Mission, let a few facts be stated. At a Christian Endeavor rally which 
 greeted the Deputation on its arrival in Foochow, the city church, capable of 
 
13 
 
 seating four hundred persons, was crowded far beyond its capacity, and for two 
 hours the entire number sat quietly and earnestly engaged in all the proceed- 
 ings. At the weekly Christian Endeavor meeting in the First Church at 
 Ponasang more than two hundred were present, freely taking part. The 
 entire body of students in the Foochow College for boys and in the Ponasang 
 College for girls belongs to the Christian Endeavor Society. At a Y. M. C. A. 
 rally in the Methodist church, where students from the three missions working 
 in Foochow were represented, at least eight hundred members were present. 
 It was a sight to be long remembered, that body of young Chinese students 
 gathered in a church fora distinctly Christian purpose. It was the “young 
 China” which is\o wield a decisive influence in the affairs of the empire in 
 the not distant future. The places are few in America where such a body of 
 Christian students could be assembled for such a purpose. 
 
 The welcome given to the Deputation by the native Christians in China 
 was everywhere most cordial and delightful ; but it was most demonstrative in 
 the Foochow Mission. The explosion of firecrackers, small and great, in vast 
 quantities, was a common greeting and expression of joy. It accompanied our 
 arrival and our departure ; it was an introduction to Sunday gatherings as well 
 as to week-day occasions. VVe were escorted to the city on our arrival, and 
 to the boat on our departure, by a goodly company of the students of the 
 college. We entered Ponasang and the compound in Foochow City between 
 lines of singing students offering us good cheer ; and we left these happy 
 places with the greetings and smiling faces of these same unwearied and 
 undiminished ranks. The presence of the Deputation, who had come ten 
 thousand miles to represent the interest of the Board and of the mother church 
 in America, deeply impressed the native Christians, and called out from them 
 the warmest expressions of gratitude and love. 
 
 Two things were increasingly clear as the problem in this mission was 
 studied. The missionary force is seriously deficient in numbers ; it must be 
 increased considerably, and increased at once, if we would not lose the price- 
 less advantage which is at hand. Four ordained missionaries and six single 
 women are the least addition that will meet the imperative needs. That is 
 only a fair measure of the marvelous success God has bestowed on our work. 
 There is not a man or a woman in this mission who is not now perilously 
 overworking. It is inexcusable want of economy to suffer these laborers to 
 break down, and the work to perish for want of these few but indispensable 
 reinforcements. 
 
 In the second place the native ministry needs immediate and thorough 
 reinforcement. The mission acknowledges that this matter has not been 
 looked after in the past as it ought to have been done ; and now the time of 
 great advance has come and found the native agency low in numbers and 
 unequal to the call. The Theological Seminary has a large class of students, 
 but not one of them has had a thorough previous education. The mission has 
 a plain call, as one man, to unite in bringing into the seminary every graduate 
 from the college whose gifts and Christian character give promise of good 
 service in the work of the ministry. This is the critical point in the future 
 development of the mission ; it must not be neglected, and the men must be 
 
found. The Deputation believe the young men of the college will respond to 
 the call if it is laid upon them earnestly, unitedly, and with prayer. The lack 
 of an educated ministry in good numbers is more to be dreaded than a defi- 
 cient missionary force. 
 
 The diminished appropriations of the past years have been keenly felt on 
 this field, and relief is earnestly hoped for at once to fill the thinning ranks, 
 to train the native leaders. No one who has not learned it on the ground can 
 understand how completely the missionaries identify themselves with the work 
 of which they are in charge, not in interest simply, or in effort, or in prayer, 
 but by gifts ; by putting into that work every spare penny of their scanty 
 salaries ; by freely drawing on private funds, saved or inherited, to keep the 
 work unprovided for in appropriations from going to destruction. The tenth 
 of their salaries they regularly give ; many of them double the tenth, and 
 count nothing dear to themselves if the work can be relieved and furthered. 
 What is true in Foochow is equally true in all the other missions. The 
 missionaries are not the ones to tell of these things ; they do not seem to think 
 it is anything worth mentioning. It is for us who know their sacrifices, who 
 see how this work is indebted to them, to tell it to their praise and to awake a 
 kindred spirit in those who at home support the work. 
 
 4. The Shansi Mission. 
 
 Before the Deputation had been long engaged in its duties, the conviction 
 was reluctantly forced upon it that the time at command would riot suffice for 
 the visitation of the Shansi Mission. Two weeks’ continuous journey is 
 necessary in order to traverse the distance each way, and at least two weeks 
 would be required for the inspection of the field, making no allowance for 
 necessary rest. The journey could not begin before the first of June, and 
 the hazards of intense heat and heavy rains during the next seven weeks must 
 be taken into the account. It was the unanimous judgment of the Deputation 
 that it was inexpedient to attempt this labor at that time, and the opinion of 
 those members of the North China Mission who had visited Shansi confirmed 
 this judgment. Accordingly, word to this effect was sent to the mission, and 
 the request made that in lieu of the proposed visit, two members of the mission 
 should come to the annual meeting of the North China Mission at Tungcho. 
 In response to this request Dr. Atwood, of Fen-chow-fu, and Mr. Williams, of 
 Tai-ku, came to Tungcho and spent a week, giving ample opportunity for free 
 and extended conference. The presence of these brethren at the annual 
 meeting of the older mission was incidentally of the greatest benefit. 
 
 The two stations of the Shansi Mission at Tai-ku and Fen-chow-fu are now 
 fairly manned, fully at work in their respective fields, and enjoying a good 
 measure of success. In each a church is organized, inquirers are increasing 
 at the villages which are regularly visited, and medical work is carried on in 
 large proportions. Schools are in successful operation, though only in the 
 lower grades as yet ; the development of a high school which shall prepare 
 young men for Christian work is a problem that must immediately engage the 
 attention and earnest efforts of the mission. The opening of new work at one 
 or more strategic points within the field at an early day is an urgent necessity. 
 
15 
 
 that the mission may have room to grow and yield its best results. There is a 
 good understanding with missions of other denominations, but this definite 
 occupation of its proper field is a necessity to the continuance of good fellow- 
 ship. To take this step would require at most but two additional missionaries ; 
 and this enlargement must be made now or the work of the mission will be 
 permanently cramped and confined. 
 
 The crying need of a foreign-built house at Tai-ku has happily been met, 
 and now the new compound can be occupied and permanent improvements 
 made. Further buildings will be required, as in every other mission, but this 
 one will afford immediate relief and give a new impulse to all the work. 
 
 The people of this province are kindly disposed and accessible ; the 
 missionaries and native preachers receive attentive hearing; the Christian 
 community already formed increases steadily month by month, and the oppor- 
 tunity is beyond measure. 
 
 The two great needs of the mission are a trained native agency and an 
 increased foreign force. The latter the Board must provide ; the former the 
 mission must develop for itself. With these, under God, the way is open to a 
 happy, prosperous work, worthy of the Board, fit to take its place beside other 
 mission work in China. 
 
 5. The North China Mission. 
 
 The North China Mission is by far the largest territorially and in the 
 number of missionaries of all the missions of the Board in China. It includes 
 seven stations widely dispersed, from Kalgan by the Great Wall on the north, 
 more than five hundred miles to Lin Ching on the Grand Canal on the south, 
 from the Gulf of Pechihli on the east to the mountains west of Pao-ting-fu, two 
 hundred miles away. It is widely distributed over the province of Chihli, and 
 has two important stations in the great province of Shantung. All its stations 
 are in large cities except Pang Chuang, which is a village in the midst of 
 hundreds of similar villages in one of the most populous regions in China. 
 The missionary force numbers sixty, of whom five are physicians and fourteen 
 single women. The population it has access to and for which it alone is 
 working, numbers twenty millions of souls; it is doubtful if any other mission 
 of the Board faces a greater opportunity. 
 
 The Deputation reached the field of the North China Mission at the end 
 of March, and the visitation was completed June 4th. In that time six out of 
 the seven stations had been visited, four of them in the most thorough manner. 
 Kalgan, the most northern station, five days’ journey from Peking, alone 
 received no visit; but all the members of the station on the ground, with one 
 exception, were present at the annual mission meeting, and there was full 
 opportunity for conference on all parts of the station life and work. The field 
 of this station has recently been more exactly defined in conference with the 
 Swedish Mission, and a large and populous territory stretching a hundred miles 
 to the south promises abundant rewards for all the labor and care that can be 
 bestowed upon it. A girls’ boarding school is maintained with good numbers 
 in the mission compound ; and a boys’ high school is fitting pupils for the 
 Academy at Tungcho. The hospital has drawn a large number of patients, 
 and proves itself a constant and marked auxiliary to the evangelistic work. 
 
i6 
 
 The native agency numbers five ; too few for the needs of the field, and 
 not as thoroughly prepared for their work as could be desired. Two important 
 outstations are well occupied, and yield satisfactory returns. But other points 
 are equally open, and if the native force were greater the volume and results 
 of work might be much increased. The sudden death of the only single 
 woman, and the enforced withdrawal of the physician, at this station leave a 
 great vacancy and plead powerfully for prompt reinforcement, that the work 
 may not suffer. 
 
 But a day was spent at Lin Ching, the station farthest south- and most 
 recently established. During this short time, however, the mission families 
 were in close conference with the Deputation, the mission plant was carefully 
 examined, the chapel in the city was visited, some of the native helpers met, 
 and a full statement given of the field and methods of work employed. This 
 station has a large and thickly peopled field, in many respects like that of the 
 Pang Chuang station. As yet its energies have been much occupied with the 
 work of purchasing and building and settlement. The ground seems ready 
 now for aggressive and continuous work, gathering congregations and opening 
 chapels and schools. The station is weak in its native agency, and greatly 
 needs a few well-trained, devoted preachers to accompany the touring mission- 
 ary and to supplement his labors. The plant is ample ; the foreign force is 
 strong ; the field is open and inviting. Patient and persistent work with the 
 divine blessing will surely yield a rich return. Work for women has been 
 tjegun under the care of the married ladies ; but a single woman is greatly 
 needed to give all her time to this part of the work, to go into the country, 
 and call out the women who are waiting for the word of salvation. 
 
 At Pao-ting-fu three days were spent. All the forms of work in the 
 station were examined, the premises were carefully inspected, the hospital 
 and city dispensaries were visited, and most satisfactory conference was had 
 with the laborers, foreign and native alike. The visit here was specially 
 marked by the examination and ordination of one of the native preachers, a 
 promising graduate of the college and seminary at Tungcho ; by the formation 
 of a Congregational Association for supervision of station work, composed of 
 the three resident missionaries and the three native preachers; and by the 
 admission of fourteen members to the church on confession of faith. At the 
 provincial capital, situated in a fertile and populous plain, easily accessible, 
 this station has one of the largest and most promising fields occupied by the 
 mission. The company of a hundred men and women who came up from 
 outstations a hundred and two hundred li (from thirty to sixty miles) away to 
 attend the ordination service, and who listened to all that was said with the 
 deepest earnestness, were a visible proof of the good and abundant material 
 out of which the churches of this station are to be built. The two native 
 pastors here, brothers in the flesh as in the faith, are to receive hereafter half 
 of their support from the native brethren, and the time will not be long before 
 their whole support will come from this source. The broken missionary force 
 at this station for the past eight years has delayed a development which, under 
 the present most favorable circumstances, we may expect will be rapid and 
 steady and permanent. 
 
17 
 
 Tientsin is the oldest station in the mission, having been occupied since 
 i860. It is also the central station, through which every one must pass in 
 going to the other stations, as well as in reaching the Shansi Mission. Its 
 field, still most extensive, was much diminished by the establishment of Pang 
 Chuang as a station, and the transfer to that station of a large territory and 
 of more than three hundred church members. A portion of its field has also 
 been transferred to Pao-ting-fu station, and another portion to the London 
 Mission. As the original station it has thus seen its work diminish relatively 
 while that of adjoining stations has increased, partly at its expense. At 
 present there is avbrighter prospect for growth than for some time in the past. 
 The native preachers number five, most of them able and true men. The 
 street chapel in the city gathers a small number for daily preaching, but needs 
 some additional influence to make it successful in a higher degree. The con- 
 gregation in the domestic chapel is an interesting one to meet, and the church 
 there is growing. The girls’ school numbers twenty-three pupils, and is a real 
 success. There is a strong call for a single woman to devote herself to this 
 school and to woman’s work, which is in a backward state. 
 
 As the seaport of the mission, the place of entry and departure for all 
 missionaries, and the commercial center of the province, Tientsin is the 
 natural place of residence for the treasurer and business agent of the mission. 
 Promptness and the avoidance of duplicating labor alike are secured by this 
 arrangement ; and the convenience of the Shansi Mission is greatly promoted 
 also. In any changes which it may seem desirable hereafter to make in the 
 manning and working of this station, this must still remain the business and 
 distributing^center of the mission. Important questions met the Deputation 
 here concerning the administration of this department of the mission’s work 
 and the location and continuance of the mission press, questions which 
 happily have since received such careful study and conservative readjustment 
 in the annual meeting of the mission as to relieve all present embarrassment, 
 unite the judgment and support of the entire mission, and open the way to a 
 greater efficiency in both departments of work hereafter with no increase of 
 expense. 
 
 The visit to Pang Chuang, the country station in the province of 
 Shantung, with the brief stay at Lin Ching already referred to, occupied 
 twenty days, thirteen of them being required for the journey to and fro. 
 This station is two hundred and twenty miles south from Tientsin, and is 
 reached by boat on the Grand Canal. Work opened in this region nearly 
 thirty years ago, and received a great impulse from the famine relief admin- 
 istered by our missionaries in 1878. During all these early years this region 
 was a part of Tientsin station and was worked from that point. The number 
 received to the church and the promise of the field were such that in 1879 
 a separate station was organized here and the field divided. It was an 
 experiment, contrary to received ideas, to set up a mission station in a 
 village near no large city ; but the results have abundantly justified the 
 attempt. The two ordained missionaries and the single women assigned 
 to this station at the first still administer the work, aided by two more 
 single women and a physician. The compound is a small village in itself. 
 
i8 
 
 with its three residences and necessary quarters for servants, its hospital 
 with separate courts for men and women, the girls’ school and its court, 
 apartments for women’s station classes, a commodious chapel, and the 
 stables, a very necessary adjunct in a station that does such constant tour- 
 ing and cannot find conveyance in the village. The houses, though so 
 many in number, are very simple in style and inexpensive. 
 
 The Deputation examined carefully all the lines of missionary work 
 centering in the station, medical, educational, evangelistic; visited ten out 
 of the nineteen outstations ; attended the quarterly meeting of the flourishing 
 Congregational Association of the station, composed of the two native pas- 
 tors, eleven other preachers, and the male missionaries ; and attended the 
 Sunday services in the mission chapel, where during two sessions of two 
 hours and a half each an audience of five hundred men and women, all 
 church members or probationers, sat in quiet and listened with eager 
 interest to the appointed sermons and addresses and reports. It was a 
 most interesting spectacle to see the native pastors take the lead (only 
 asking the missionaries to translate for the foreigners), baptize the twenty- 
 one who united with the church and give the sacred pledge to the thirty- 
 two probationers received, and administer the sacrament of the Supper, 
 and all with the greatest seriousness and propriety. People came to that 
 service from sixty miles away; the compound was thronged with men 
 and women from all over the country side ; where they all slept, how they 
 fed themselves, it would be hard to tell. But the meaning of it all was plain 
 and glorious. The gospel has won its way to all these homes, and they 
 gather from near and from far to worship and commune togetfier, to visit 
 the foreign shepherds, and to renew their vows. The body of native preach- 
 ers, headed by the two pastors, was a sight to thrill one’s heart. Thirteen 
 men, trained and true, working together in unity, loyal to the missionaries 
 and loyal to Christ, mapping out the whole field, assigning to each man 
 his part, agreeing what shall be done the next three months, and reporting 
 to each other what has been done the past three months. Self-support is 
 in their thoughts, is often on their lips, is put practically into their plans. 
 And the work for women keeps even pace with that for men, and is under 
 the efficient oversight of the foreign ladies. The hospital is thronged with 
 patients ; twenty thousand are treated every year. The Medical Department 
 of North China College has just been located at Pang Chuang in connection 
 with Its medical work. A new step is taken in self-help and in education. 
 No village schools for boys henceforth will receive any aid from mission 
 funds ; and yet half of them will be continued. The graduates of the boys’ 
 boarding school will be ready to enter North China College, and every 
 pupil hereafter is to pay enough to provide his own food. 
 
 It would be hard for the Deputation to suggest any point in which 
 the work of this station needs improvement. God’s blessing has rested 
 upon the wise and united labors of this band in a high degree, and the 
 field seems to be fairly taken possession of in the name of the Lord. It 
 is a happy example of what can be done in China, of the response Chinese 
 hearts make to the gospel when taught and exemplified in love, and the 
 whole mission and all other missions may well rejoice and take new courage. 
 
19 
 
 Several things combine to make the mission work centering at Peking 
 more than usually interesting and important. It is the capital city of the 
 empire, where the political and military life of the nation centers. It is in a 
 great city, reputed to contain a million inhabitants. It is in close relation 
 to the work of three other important missionary societies. It has been 
 prosecuted for one full generation under some of the ablest men of the 
 mission. It is the seat of the mission press and of the missionary publica- 
 tions emanating therefrom. It is the place of the school of highest grade 
 for girls in the mission. The work for women has been carried on with 
 great assiduity and with striking success. The evangelistic work in the 
 city is more vigorous and successful than that in any other city in the mis- 
 sion, while the work in the country outstations quite equals that in the city 
 both in dimensions and in success. In the city there are two centers of 
 vigorous and progressive work, with a strong church in each, worshiping 
 in its own chapel and a street chapel in each, open every week day and 
 drawing great numbers to its services. Over one of these churches a native 
 pastor was installed during the visit of the Deputation with most impressive 
 services, the church pledging itself to provide his salary. It was affecting 
 to see the native pastor of the church at Tungcho, a classmate of the new 
 pastor, give his friend the right hand of fellowship, and to hear the charge 
 to the pastor and the charge to the people given by native pastors from 
 neighboring missions. The church in the domestic chapel already provides 
 the support of the ordained evangelist, who labors in the outstations, but 
 still waits for a pastor of its own. Two of the outstations were visited with 
 pleasure and the work at Cho-Cho, the larger of the two, is of greater dimen- 
 sions than that of any other outstation in the mission. The church members 
 number over a hundred, and the Christian women reached from that center 
 are very numerous and very much in earnest. 
 
 The Bridgman School for girls has already won a good name for its work 
 outside the mission as well as within, and is directed with a supreme reference 
 to the service the girls can render in their future homes. The course of study 
 expands as the times require, and is thorough in discipline as well as Christian 
 in character. The older pupils assist in the instruction of the younger classes, 
 and enjoy thus the benefits of a normal training. All the pupils are required 
 to unbind the feet ; and physical exercise is one of the regular duties of the 
 day. The girls in the four higher classes are all Christians and exert a most 
 helpful influence in the school. 
 
 The press has been located in Peking for thirty years, and for most of that 
 time has rendered valuable service. Steps were taken at the mission meeting 
 to put the press into closer relations with the mission and its work, to release 
 the superintendent from all other duties, and to give increased efficiency to 
 this mission agency. The demand for the work of the press outside the 
 mission as well as within is such as seems to insure success under the new 
 arrangement. There is a very valuable mission plant in Peking, well located, 
 and attractive in arrangement. The only need of enlargement is for additional 
 dormitories in the Bridgman School and for a chapel of much larger dimen- 
 sions to accommodate those who wish to worship there. 
 
20 
 
 Timgcho, fifteen miles east of Peking, is the educational center of the 
 mission, the seat of the North China College and of the Gordon Memorial 
 Theological Seminary. It is also, as the Deputation were pleased to find, the 
 center of an interesting and successful evangelistic work. The work for 
 women on this station is in advance of that for men, and quite equal to that 
 for women on any other station. Its dimensions are not so large, perhaps, as 
 may be found elsewhere ; but in thoroughness, in character produced, and 
 services rendered, it is worthy of all praise. The missionary ladies of this 
 station have always given this work especial attention ; tw'o of their number 
 give half their time to instruction in the seminary or college, and the other half 
 to visiting many villages and working for the women and children ; and one of 
 them devotes her whole time to this work, touring to great distances. A visit 
 to one of these villages, and to the women who gathered, and the school which 
 was examined, revealed the nature of the work and the value of the quick 
 upward impulse thus given to many lives and homes. This station enjoys the 
 services of a native pastor as modest and devoted as he is able and efficient. 
 He and the other native helpers form a body of workers well adapted to sup- 
 port and supplement the labors of the missionary in charge. 
 
 The hospital and dispensary in the city are carefully arranged in entire 
 harmony with the great aim of the mission, and aid the evangelistic work at 
 every turn. A small charge to every one who desires treatment diminishes the 
 number, but increases the value of the service rendered. 
 
 The Theological Seminary still remains in the city and is under the imme- 
 diate supervision of the dean. The Deputation was greatly pleased with the 
 class in the regular course, nine in number, all but two graduates of the college, 
 and all men of promise. They showed the results of previous careful training, 
 and were able to make good use of the instruction given in biblical exegesis 
 and history, in theology and in church history. The special class, formed as 
 an experiment of men without college training, some of them of excellent 
 native gifts, had made good use of their two years of study and will be able to 
 give a good account of themselves, though but few will be equal to the work of 
 preaching. It is not expected that the experiment will be soon repeated, 
 especially as the number of college men ready for the seminary is increasing. 
 Observation in all the stations of the mission shows that this seminary has 
 rendered an invaluable service to the mission in training a body of native 
 preachers not surpassed in any mission in China, and worthy of the confidence 
 and commendation of all who know them. Of the thirteen men belonging to 
 the Congregational Association in Pang Chuang already mentioned, nearly all 
 were trained in this seminary. Experience here seems to show conclusively 
 that instruction in Chinese, in competent hands, suffices to train stalwart 
 thinkers, able preachers and pastors, fit to lead and mold the church of China. 
 
 The North China College is located on its own spacious campus of six 
 acres outside the city of Tungcho. Williams Hall, the college building, 
 simple but of dignified and attractive style, furnishes dormitories for the 
 students and the public rooms needed for college purposes. Near it stand 
 four commodious houses, the homes of the president and the foreign teachers. 
 Here the Deputation found the college busy at its work, with seventy-four 
 
21 
 
 students, thirty-six in the academy and thirty-eight in the college classes. 
 There are rooms for ninety students in the College Hall, and boys are ready 
 and waiting to fill up the entire number. But twice within the past five years 
 no new class has been admitted, simply for lack of funds to support them. 
 And the same question must be met this year. Considering the quality of the 
 men now in the college and the service rendered by its graduates, there is no 
 need which the college and the mission deem more urgent than that of an 
 increased fund for the support of students. The closing examinations were 
 conducted with thoroughness and showed solid attainments in the essentials 
 of a liberal education. The academy exhibition was diversified with a farce 
 written by one of the students, and acted out with great zest and point by 
 those who took part in it. The college commencement was marked by the 
 usual incidents; the orations were on high and worthy themes, predominantly 
 political, and patriotic to an astonishing degree, when the absence of patriotism 
 among the Chinese is borne in mind. The music was perhaps the greatest 
 surprise, especially after experience elsewhere. Here were actually melodious 
 tones, cultivated voices, singing in four parts, led and accompanied by native 
 musicians. To crown it all the Hallelujah Chorus was rendered by fifty 
 voices in such time and harmony and with such thrilling effect as would 
 awaken admiration if heard from any college platform in America. What 
 cannot the Chinese do if they are equal to this remarkable achievement ! 
 
 The whole impression of the college was most happy ; it is wisely man- 
 aged and is an incalculable blessing to the mission and to China. The Bible 
 is the supreme text-book; Christianity breathes in the air, speaks through the 
 teacher’s words and personal influence, and wins its way to every heart. The 
 graduates are men of power, and as the great majority of them enter the min- 
 istry, the mission is reinforced from this source more effectually year by year 
 than by all the additions made to the mission force from home. The Depu- 
 tation are of one mind that the money expended on this college yields as 
 immediate and as abundant fruit as any that is spent anywhere on mission 
 ground. 
 
 The week devoted to the annual meeting of the mission was full of 
 interest and instruction. It is doubtful if any other seven days could have 
 been of so much value in this visitation. Seventeen out of twenty-one men 
 in the field were present, and fully one-half of the women. The meeting 
 opened with a praise service Saturday evening, with two Chinese sermons 
 and one English sermon on Sunday. Each day’s sessions were opened by a 
 devotional service of twenty minutes; each day’s services closed with prayer, 
 and a prayer meeting occupied each evening of the week. The business was 
 as thoroughly done as if that were all that were in mind. The reports of the 
 year’s work filled a day and a half. The committee of the whole canvassed 
 thoroughly all important questions, and prepared the way for quick and har- 
 monious action. The estimates prepared by each station before the time of 
 the meeting, scrutinized by a committee of eight for many hours, and finally 
 submitted to the criticism of the whole body, received such attention as must 
 satisfy the most careful business men. There is deliberate discussion of all 
 debatable matters, courteous treatment of differing views, earnestness and 
 
22 
 
 conviction in urging what is deemed wise, good nature and loyalty in assent- 
 ing to the majority vote. Perhaps the settlement of questions by private 
 conference was carried rather far, though the results were most happy. The 
 mission as a whole, both men and women, appeared to good advantage in this 
 great meeting. We may well have great confidence in the decisions of this 
 body and pay good heed to their suggestions. 
 
 The literary work of the mission deserves favorable mention. Such work 
 is an essential and honorable part of any missionary enterprise. It is as 
 necessary to give a people the Bible, adequately translated into their own 
 tongue for the perpetuation and development of the Christian life, as it is to 
 present the gospel to them at first for the initiation of that life. And school 
 books in the vernacular are as indispensable in all grades of instruction as 
 teachers. In a word, a church in an unevangelized land needs a literature for 
 its life and growth for the same reasons that we require these things here at 
 home. Our missionaries have been quick to see this need and have borne an 
 honorable part in supplying it. The records in the Ely volume on this subject, 
 which now need extensive supplementing, are occasion of pride to every friend 
 of the Board. 
 
 In the North China Mission Dr. Sheffield is now engaged with a committee 
 representing several other missions in bringing out a new version of the Bible 
 in the classical language, and devotes two hours each day to this important 
 work. He is the author of text-books in theology, in church history, in gen- 
 eral history, and of other works. Dr. Goodrich is in like manner employed in 
 bringing out a new Mandarin version of the Bible, and gives two hours a day 
 to this work. He is the author of a Syllabary, an important help in studying 
 Chinese, of a hymn book used widely in the churches of our mission, and of 
 other works in wide demand. Dr. Porter has written a valuable work on 
 Anatomy. The revision of Williams’s Chinese Dictionary is now in the hands 
 of a committee, of which Mr. Kingman is chairman, and Messrs. Smith, Porter, 
 Goodrich and Sheffield the other members. 
 
 In the Foochow Mission Mr. Hartwell has worked in the translation of 
 the Scriptures into the colloquial, and in the preparation of school books. 
 Dr. Whitney is now engaged in revising a work on Physiology for the use 
 of the schools. Other important work is contemplated in both missions. 
 
23 
 
 III. GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 I. Other Missions. 
 
 No inconsiderable part of the pleasure of the visitation arose from the 
 intercourse enjoyed with missions of other boards. The Deputation came 
 into contact with the American Presbyterian missions at Canton, Shanghai, 
 Peking, and Pao-ting-fu. The American Methodist missions were visited at 
 Foochow, Tientsin, and Peking. The brethren of the London Missionary 
 Society were met at Hong Kong, Amoy, Shanghai, Tientsin, and Peking. 
 The laborers of the Church Missionary Society at Foochow, and of the 
 American Baptists at Swatow, extended a most hearty welcome. The Ameri- 
 can Reformed Mission, our own successor at Amoy, were celebrating the 
 fiftieth anniversary of their first church building, the first Protestant house 
 of worship erected in China, and the Deputation were cordially invited to 
 share in the interesting services. Representatives of the American Protestant 
 Episcopal Mission and of the China Inland Mission were met at Shanghai. 
 With all these brethren the Deputation had delightful intercourse, and found 
 the denominational lines essentially erased everywhere. The Deputation 
 were invited to meet and address the Missionary Associations of Foochow 
 Tientsin, and Peking, and were received as the guests alike of all the 
 boards represented in those associations. The work in these several mis- 
 sions has many features in common, shares common aids and hindrances, 
 and is to be counted each as a part of one great evangelizing agency. The 
 differences of faith and worship among Protestant missions are reduced to 
 the lowest point and constitute no appreciable hindrance to missionary 
 work ; and the essential unity of the Christian church is felt and practically 
 exhibited on missionary ground in a high and impressive degree. 
 
 2. The Chinese People. 
 
 Nothing which occupied the attention of the Deputation was more inter- 
 esting or impressive than the people themselves. They were constantly in 
 evidence, in city and country, on the rivers and on the sea ; their numbers are 
 simply overwhelming. Where they all live, and how^ they find work and food 
 and clothing, is a mystery. The children are the most numerous of all ; every 
 home seems to be full of them; they play in the streets of the great cities; 
 they fill the villages with active, healthy, ringing life. These people have not 
 lost virility or physical force ; they are no decadent and outworn stock, but 
 seem equal to life’s demands and to have a firm hold on the future. The men 
 fulfill the expectation which a view of the children creates ; they are sinewy, 
 muscular, full of strength and cheerful endurance. Their industry is some- 
 thing striking and phenomenal, and their thrift is equal to their industry_ 
 Their wants are few, their lives are simple, their habits favor sustained strength 
 and quiet nerves. Their actual possessions may be few and of trifling worth, 
 but they are able to make the most of little, and to be cheerful under 
 conditions which would seem to us impossible of endurance. The content- 
 
24 
 
 ment of the laboring classes in city and country is remarkable. Their kindly 
 bearing toward foreigners is equally to be noted ; at no point in all our jour- 
 neys from Canton to Peking and far into the interior had we any serious 
 occasion for fear or personal annoyance. 
 
 The intellectual powers of the people are vigorous; in the mission col- 
 leges and higher schools these are put well to the test, and are not found 
 deficient. Their mental bias is toward the practical rather than the speculative ; 
 but they are abundantly able to deal effectively with logic and philosophy and 
 mathematics. The Christian character of the converts is an occasion of joy 
 to all who see it and feel its genuineness and depth. The gospel comes to 
 them with all its native heavenly power and draws out the nobler elements of 
 character, and unseals new founts of feeling and kindles aspiration, and 
 transforms heart and life and countenance as it has made new creatures of all 
 the peoples to whom it has come. The Chinese Christians, as a rule, show 
 great patience under persecution, great fidelity to Christian principle, a ready 
 obedience to the claims of duty. They are unusually generous in their pecu- 
 niary contributions to Christian objects, quick to take up self-support, true to 
 pledges given, and capable of acting together steadily in a common enterprise. 
 The native pastors are a noble body of men, worthy of confidence and of the 
 leadership which devolves upon them. They are loyalty itself toward the 
 missionaries, and constantly consult their wishes and opinions. They are good 
 preachers, practical, thoughtful, instructive, and often truly eloquent. The 
 students in the mission colleges are picked men, of great promise; no one can 
 see them and be with them even for a few days without feeling a new confi- 
 dence in them and in the people to whom they belong. The touch of education 
 and the inspiration of Christian faith are making of them new men, patriots, 
 scholars, thinkers, leaders of the “ new China” to which they by eminence 
 belong, and of which they are largely to be the creators. 
 
 Many a time as we mingled with these people we seemed to ourselves to 
 be witnessing the new birth of a great nation to liberty and political unity, to 
 learning and a Christian civilization. And the scene of this silent, deep 
 transformation was not at the capital, amid the embassies of the great powers. 
 It was in the churches and chapels, the schools and homes of the Christian 
 missions, which, scattered up and down along the coast and far into the 
 interior of every province, are like outposts of a great army, set to guard and 
 to deliver the land. 
 
 3. The Political Situation. 
 
 The visit of the Deputation coincided with a remarkable movement 
 in China, political, commercial, social, which has a very direct bearing 
 on the prosecution of missionary work there. Great changes had taken 
 place during the first fourscore years of missionary effort, and others were 
 already in progress. But the war with Japan hastened all such movements 
 and precipitated what would otherwise have come, but more slowly. This 
 proud, conceited, exclusive nation was humbled, pitifully delivered to her 
 once despised neighbor, and shown to herself and to the world in all her 
 impotency, while the corruption and incapacity of the government were held 
 
25 
 
 up to ridicule and contempt. Other foreign powers at once stepped in, not 
 for China’s deliverance, but for their own national ends, and in her extremity 
 seized her lands, controlled her policy- and wrought their will. Russia, Ger- 
 many, France, England, seemed only to have to state their demands to have 
 them complied with. 
 
 China, however, is not extinct, is not even moribund. She is humiliated 
 and helpless for the time, but she is learning her lessons rapidly. It is well 
 understood among her leading men that she is behind all other nations in 
 internal development, in the arts of defence, of communication, of govern- 
 ment. And she is forced to look to the West to repair her losses, to make 
 good her deficiencies, to gather strength for future needs. Hence the tele- 
 graph is spreading its wires to the ends of the empire, railroads are projected 
 and actually building on a scale to astonish the outside world ; mines are to be 
 opened and the vast treasures of the hills to be brought forth. Among the 
 people there is no resentment toward foreign occupation ; the officials them- 
 selves enforce respect for foreigners and special regard for their wishes. 
 While the war with Japan brought all this sharply into view, for the Chinese 
 and for all the world, the causes lie deeper. Contact with other nations in 
 varying ways had had its effect ; the teaching and example of the Christian 
 life in the missionary work of fourscore years had wrought as silently but far 
 more powerfully. The transformed lives of the Christian converts, their 
 meekness under persecution, their patience and heroism in death for their 
 faith, had been seen and felt, and had wrought the conviction that this is the 
 true faith, the natural portion of the human soul. It is the story of the faith 
 in the first centuries, when here and there in every province and city, no one 
 knew how, confessors appeared and the gospel won its secret, glorious way. 
 
 This influence in China is widely spread among the middle classes, is felt 
 by a few among the governing class, and is maturing Christian harvests such 
 as the world in modern days has never seen. It is the deliberate judgment 
 of experienced men, long in the field, that China is today one of the most 
 hopeful missionary fields in the world. The old faiths are decaying, the 
 minds of all classes are open, and external barriers are removed in the most 
 providential way. Notwithstanding the enormous difficulties that attend the 
 work, in spite of the many and formidable obstacles which must be overcome, 
 even though progress is slow, and only a beginning has yet been made, God’s 
 hour for the evangelization of this populous and ancient stronghold of pagan- 
 ism is here ; and the summons to our zeal and devotion is as clear and inspir- 
 ing as the angelic song which fell on the shepherds’ ears at the advent of our 
 Lord : “ I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.” 
 
 This is a new situation and is affecting the sentiments and attitude of 
 the people. The Western faith shares the welcome of the Western arts ; it 
 is felt to be connected with them, a part of them. And thus a highway of 
 the Lord is cast up by these events over which the messengers of the gospel 
 can swiftly march to complete occupation and ultimate victory. Whatever 
 particular nations may gain or lose, the kingdom of God is to be the 
 immediate and the lasting heir of all progress and the opening of the nation. 
 We could feel all this as we moved about and gathered the sense of the 
 
26 
 
 people ; we could see the opened doors before the missionaries, the broken 
 bars and prostrate prison guards over which the advance is making. 
 
 I'he government of China, imperial and provincial, by the stress of 
 circumstances is coming to be the protector of missionaries and their work. 
 The people of China are turning with respect and desire to the message of 
 the gospel. It is a wonder of wonders ; it is the ripening fruit of hundreds 
 of years. The day of China’s salvation has come, and the hosts of the Lord 
 have but to advance and win her to Christ. The China which Morrison 
 knew, which Bridgman entered, has passed forever away. Even the China 
 which Blodget penetrated in the wake of European armies is no more. A 
 new nation is arising — not immobile, exclusive, impassive, like the old, but 
 open from the sea to her farthest mountain range, from Siberia to Burma . 
 open to the foot, the message, the life of the Christian herald ; its rivers 
 and its roads, its railways and telegraphs, its cities and homes — all accessible 
 to the best the Western world has to give. She is not now Christian ; but 
 she is awakening ; her eyes and ears and heart are open, and if we will we 
 may lead her to her Lord and to a future of matchless peace and glory. 
 As the virgin Continent of the West once lay before Christian Europe, to 
 be won for Christ if Europe were equal to the task, so China lies today 
 before the Christian Occident, to be made, under God, what their faith and 
 zeal shall decide. God grant to these nations, and to America above all 
 the rest, to see their privilege and to win this great empire of the East to 
 the triumphing kingdom of her Lord ! 
 
 [Signed] Judson Smith. 
 
 Charles A. Hopkins. 
 
 Edward D. Eaton. 
 

 
 
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