'!Xmerican Doorb of Commissioners for i^oriign 
 
 Xllissions. 
 
 CHINA. 
 
 I. CLAIMS UPON CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA, 
 n. SOCIAL CONDITION, 
 m. OPENINGS FOR CHRISTIAN EFFORT. 
 
 IV. CHANGES IN CHINA. 
 
 V. AHSSIONARY STATISTICS. 
 
 VI. OUR WORK. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN BOARD, 
 Missionaky House, 33 Pemberton Square, 
 
 1 867 . 
 

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 CHINA. 
 
 CLAIMS UPOX CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA * 
 
 BY SECRETARY TREAT. 
 
 The Prudential Committee are constrained to ask the atten- 
 tion of the Board to a country which makes a stronger appeal 
 to its sympathies than any other. Of the five great missionary 
 fields, four are receiving a culture in some measure proportionate 
 to their wants. But the land which lies farthest from us as we 
 turn to tlie east, and nearest to us as we turn to the west, is com- 
 paratively unsupplied. With one half of the pagan world, it has 
 scarcely one fifteenth of the missionary force. 
 
 If we look at the empire of China as a whole, we find it, with 
 one exception, the largest which has ever existed. Its position, 
 moreover, is singularly felicitous. Lying on the eastern slope of 
 the great plateau of Central Asia, and for this reason ever looking 
 toward the Pacific, it has resources of inconceivable diversity and 
 richness. Embracing, as it does, thirty-eight degrees of latitude 
 and seventy-four degrees of longitude, occupying every conceiv- 
 able altitude from the sea-line to the snow-line, its soil has yielded 
 for ages whatever is needful, whether for the comfort or the lux- 
 ury of man. On the other hand, with a single river that bears 
 upon its bosom the commerce of one hundred and seventy mill- 
 ions; with a canal, finished before the birth of Columbus, and yet 
 twice as long as the one which some of us have crossed so fre- 
 quently on our way hither ; with a coast-line thousands of miles 
 in length, — it has advantages for traffic with other lands almost 
 without a parallel. 
 
 It was to be expected that such a country would teem with 
 rational life. But the reality has transcended the boldest thought 
 of earlier times. A recent work of high authority makes the popula- 
 tion of the empire 500,000,000. The common estimate for China 
 Proper, as it is called, is 400,000,000 ; so that a country smaller 
 than the United States is to be accounted ten times as populous. 
 
 * A paper presented in behalf of the Prudential Committee to the Ameri- 
 can Board at Buffalo, Sept. 1867. 
 
2 
 
 THE CLAIMS OF CHINA 
 
 It becomes a question of the gravest import, “ Wliat is the spir- 
 itual condition of these hundreds of millions ? ” Dwelling among 
 these highlands and lowlands, looking out upon this peerless sea, 
 surrounded by the amplest proofs of an infinite and loving pres- 
 ence, and hearing such constant calls to every noble and reverent 
 feeling, — surely they ought to have reached the highest style of 
 human excellence. What is the fact ? 
 
 Development there has been, in certain directions surprising 
 development ; and we discover also a strange tenacity of life. Be- 
 fore the founding of Rome, prior to the first monarchs of Israel, 
 China had attained to the dignity of a settled State ; not, indeed, 
 with its present greatness, but with all the germs of that great- 
 ness. Not only has she grown as other States have grown ; that 
 which shortened other histories has lengthened hers. “ She has 
 spread,” says Medhurst, “ not by conquering, but by being con- 
 quered.” And there has been, moreover, something higher and 
 nobler than barbaric force. Long ago there was steady, patient 
 industry, — attested, for example, by the Great Wall, hoary 
 through the lapse of twenty centuries, but to-day the mightiest 
 defensive structure in the world; a rare capacity for organization, 
 — attested by its marvelous system of government ; an open eye 
 for the phenomena of nature, — hence the mariner’s compass; 
 wonderful aptitude for useful discovery, — hence the art of print- 
 ing, gunpowder, porcelain, known first in the Orient, and then 
 loaned to the Occident. In the days of Alfred the Great this re- 
 mote country, in mere civilization, took precedence of all others. 
 And much further back, when the old Britons were simply unclad 
 savages, “ the very plebeians of China were clothed in silk.” 
 
 But this civilization has always been a heathen civilization. 
 Upon the entire edifice, from ton-stone, to foundation-stone, we 
 must write, “Alienated from the life of God.” In truth, we 
 might almost affirm that, in the first chapter of Romans, the 
 Apostle to the Gentiles, as God’s seer, had these hundreds of 
 millions directly before him. No sun-picture of yesterday is truer 
 to the life. It is for such a people, so sinful, so needy, that the 
 Prudential Committee ask the gospel of Christ. 
 
 They will first adduce certain arguments which appeal to the 
 friends of missions everywhere. 
 
 1. They must be allowed to make a more distinct reference to 
 the immense number to he saved. Let us assume 400,000,000 as 
 the population of the empire ; and let us suppose them to pass 
 
UPON CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA. 
 
 3 
 
 before us, say five abreast, at the pace of one mile an hour. 
 From morning to night, from night to morning, the ear is bur- 
 dened by their heavy, incessant tread. Who now will stand, and 
 wait till the last detachment shall have marched by ? A pro- 
 cession of a few thousands becomes to the spectator, not unfre- 
 quently, a painful weariness. But these dusky forms, these chil- 
 dren of dark hearts, will consume seven years in defiling before 
 us, a long, unresting funeral train ! We are awe-struck and con- 
 founded, — myriads upon myriads, millions upon millions, all jour- 
 neying like ourselves to the judgment-seat, and all ignorant of the 
 way of life ! 
 
 2. Another argument is the divine interposition in behalf of 
 China. When the hearts of Christians first yearned for the re- 
 demption of this land, it rose before them like a strongly guarded 
 fortress, the Ehrenbreitstein of heathenism. Barriers which are 
 formidable everywhere, were found compacted and strengthened 
 here with amazing skill. Morrison went forth, sixty years ago, 
 the forlorn hope of evangelism. Others joined him, among them 
 our own missionaries; but prior to 1842, thej' could only exclaim, 
 “How long, O Lord, how long!” Then, however, “ He that is 
 glorious in his apparel, traveling in the greatness of his strength,” 
 came forth from his place ; and his own arm brought salvation 
 unto him. In the exercise of his high prerogative as King of 
 kings he caused the wrath of man to praise him ; and the red 
 hand of war was permitted to unbar the two-leaved gates. Slowly 
 and heavily, with manifold obstructions and delays, they turned 
 back upon their rusty hinges ; and now we are told that the whole 
 empire is open to the heralds of the cross. “ This is the Lord’s 
 doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes ! ” 
 
 3. The signal success which may be anticipated, is another argu- 
 ment Many have regarded China as an exceedingly difficult, if 
 not an altogether unhopeful field, partly because of its religion, 
 and partly because of its extent. But Hindooism is worse to 
 grapple with than Boodhism ; Islamism is worse ; and yet both are 
 to be swept from the face of the earth. On the other hand, the 
 magnitude of the work may become itself a ground of hope. As 
 the land of Sinim, in the counsels of the Father, is made sure to 
 Christ, we have a right to expect unwonted displays of his power, 
 — Pentecostal seasons that shall affect entire provinces. What 
 has lately taken place upon a small scale, may take place, at no 
 distant day, upon a much larger scale. Let us not be faithless, 
 but believing. 
 
4 
 
 THE CLAIMS OF CHINA 
 
 4. The hazard of delay should not be overlooked. This is two- 
 fold. (1.) It is quite possible, to say the least, that political 
 changes may cirrest, or at any rate retard, the labors of mission- 
 aries. For such a land there is not, there cannot be, permanent 
 repose. (2.) The Man of Sin is there, and will be there, whoever 
 else shall be absent. His concern for the Chinese began far back 
 in the past. Five hundred and sixty years ago he placed an 
 Archbishop at Peking, with seven suffragans. Though the door 
 seemed to be shut against him for a time, his labors for the last 
 three hundred years have scarcely been suspended. The ex- 
 tremes! threats have been made and executed ; but they have 
 only verified the maxim, “ Rome never yields.” The prize is 
 great, even the conquest of one third of our race ; and the sacri- 
 fices made to gain it will be great. Recently an extraordinary 
 zeal has been manifested. “ The activity of the Romish Church 
 in China,” says Sir John Davis, “ has no rival as to either num- 
 bers or enterprise.” Such a record, in coming years, ought to be 
 simply impossible. 
 
 But there are arguments which address themselves with pecul- 
 iar force to Christians in America. 
 
 1. The physical characteristics of our country fit us for great 
 missionary undertakings. Lands, like races, are created for defi- 
 nite ends. Greece and Italy, in ancient times, England and Hol- 
 land, in modern times, were commissioned to evolve, as well an 
 outward as an inward life. The sea was to give them wealth at 
 home and empire abroad. Our father-land, especially, with its 
 dexterous enterprise and its sturdy Protestantism, was to illus- 
 trate the priceless value of its sea-girt home. 
 
 But what other nation has such power of self-projection as our 
 own ? We have, on the one hand, a material prosperity which 
 will suffice for the largest achievements, and we have, on the 
 other, the readiest and broadest theatre therefor. This home of 
 ours, so far removed from the jostlings and entanglements of Eu- 
 ropean life, and yet so central withal, God has given to us for this 
 very end, that we may go forth to the bays and harbors and rivers 
 of other lands, and preach the unsearchable riches of Christ. 
 
 2. The annals of our country point to great missionary under- 
 takings. Columbus had scarcely opened the new world to the old, 
 when Luther burned the Pope’s bull at Wittenberg, thereby lift- 
 ing his stalwart arm against the despotism of Rome. But the 
 blow was worth more to Britain than to Germany, more to Amer- 
 
UPON CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA. 
 
 5 
 
 ica than to Britain. Just a hundred years later, — English 
 Puritanism having reached its opening manhood, — the Pilgrims 
 stepped forth upon Plymouth Rock. Then commenced a strug- 
 gle, eventful for this land, eventful for all lands. “ Shall this 
 feeble band, with such as may follow from time to time, conquer 
 the difficulties which lie in their path, or must they finally suc- 
 cumb y ” For a century and two thirds, in one form or another, 
 the conflict went forward. At the end, however, forests had been 
 leveled ; churches had been built ; the institutions needful for a 
 young State had been founded ; independence had been won. 
 And it deserves our especial notice, that the new life which began 
 to quicken our nation, when these United States had become, 
 strictly and truly, one and inseparable, synchronized perfectly 
 with the commencement of modern missions. Soon the era of re- 
 vivals followed, and in due time the era of American missions. 
 Afterward, just as fast as God was pleased to open the pagan 
 world to the gospel of his Son, just so fast did he give us the abil- 
 ity to preach that gospel. Why was it, except to teach us, in lan- 
 guage that we could not misunderstand, the divinely-appointed 
 uses of our prosperity ? And that old objection, “ The home 
 work and the foreign work are too much for us,” — how suddenly 
 and completely has he swept it away ! By that war which has 
 just closed, he has taught us that whatever we wish to accom- 
 plish, we can accomplish. Doing great things for the heathen, 
 therefore, has ceased to be a question of power ; henceforth it is 
 simply a question of will. 
 
 3. China has become our western neighbor. When we first 
 turned to the farthest Orient, as a possible field for our efforts, 
 we were obliged to look across the entire eastern continent. 
 The land of Sinim was to us the “ Ultima Thule.” But no sooner 
 did it begin to surrender its policy of isolation, than our relations 
 to it began to change ; as if God had sealed up its gates till we 
 should be ready to enter them. Five years from the treaty of 
 Nanking, California was ours. At that date, however, San Fran- 
 ciseo was farther from us, praetically, than Canton ; and hence 
 the iron-track crossed the Isthmus of Panama eight years later, 
 making the time to the Golden Gate only three weeks. But 
 there remained still a long voyage to China, and few ships were 
 sailing thither. Hence it has come to pass, since we met at Pitts- 
 field one year ago, that a line of steamers has undertaken to 
 bridge the Great Sea ; and a missionary brother, who left New 
 
6 
 
 THE CLAIMS OF CHINA 
 
 York on the 10th of August, is now, we ina}’ hope, drawing near 
 to the land of his adoption. In a very short time, we shall hear 
 of unresting railway trains passing from the Atlantic to the Pa- 
 cific, and then a single month will take a reinforcement from 
 Massachusetts Bay to Shanghai. Who can fail to interpret this 
 rapid march of events V Surely the God of missions has brought 
 this empire, so populous, so idolatrous, nearer and nearer, that 
 we may accept the field which he has assigned us. 
 
 4. As China is destined to enrich tis with her commerce, it be- 
 comes us, as a Christian people, to enrich her with the words of 
 eternal life. The best which she can give, she will pour into 
 our lap with, ever-increasing profusion. Be it ours to say to her, 
 “ Silver and gold have we ; and you shall receive them from us 
 with no stinted measure. But such things perish with the using. 
 Better than all else, we offer you treasure in heaven.” This were 
 an interchange of values worthy of the name which we bear, — 
 carnal things received, spiritual things given in return. It would 
 do something, moreover, to repair the wrongs which the greed of 
 wealth has inflicted upon the Chinese. For hundreds of years 
 men have gone to their shores eager for gain ; but too many have 
 left, for the dollars which they made, the vices which were their 
 shame. 
 
 5. In evangelizing China, we shall do much to raise our coun- 
 try to the proper level of a Christian State. If we compare the 
 life of any consistent believer with what may be called the life of 
 any existent nation, the contrast will fill our hearts with sadness. 
 What the former would scorn to do, the latter, perhaps, will not 
 scruple to do. Many an Englishman has blushed for the opium 
 war. Many an American htis blushed for the injustice done to 
 the red man ; and we hang our heads to-daj’, because the times 
 of this costly wrong-doing still linger. Hence it should be our 
 constant aim to bring the life of the State into harmony with that 
 of the individual, so that whatever dishonors a man, shall be im- 
 possible for a people. To efiect this, however, our churches need 
 to be clothed with power from on high. How shall they secure 
 the blessing ? 
 
 Let us suppose them to resolve, humbly, prayerfully, “ Accord- 
 ing to the ability which the Lord has given us, we will send the 
 gospel to China.” It is an honest purpose ; it is faithfully kept. 
 Every steamer that crosses the Pacific is freighted in part with 
 missionaries. Those who remain behind, account themselves sim- 
 
Ui’OX CHRISTIANS IN AMERICA. 
 
 ply home-partners ; and so their alms and their hearts are always 
 going forth to the common work. Wherever the glad tidings are 
 preached, therefore, whether in the temples of Boodh or the 
 dwellings of the poor, whether on the shore of the sea or far back 
 among the mountains, they become the power of God unto sal- 
 vation. Converts are multiplied as the drops of the morning; 
 and in the fullness of their young, joyous life, they turn to us and 
 invoke the divine benediction upon us. 
 
 Here then we have three elements of power: (1.) The pleas- 
 ure which Christ takes in those who honestly obey his last com- 
 mand. (2.) The resulting effect of a noble and generous en- 
 deavor. (3.) The supplications of new-born souls, grateful for 
 the boon which they have received. How easily and how speedily 
 might the churches of America, with these conditions of strength 
 available for them, transform our national life ! 
 
 Thus have the Prudential Committee endeavored to set forth 
 the claims of China as a missionary field, first, upon Protestant 
 Christians everywhere ; secondly, and preeminently, upon Protest- 
 ant Christians in America. But they must go still further, and say 
 that upon the churches which are represented ly this Board, there 
 rests a special obligation. God has been pleased to give us a 
 wider experience, a larger income, and a stronger working force 
 than any other society this side of the Atlantic. It becomes us, 
 therefore, to accept the position which He has assigned us, humbly 
 and trustfully, and to ask that grace may be given us to do all His 
 will. With no rivalries, except such as would fain achieve the 
 most for the Master’s honor, let us go boldly forward, inviting our 
 brethren of every name to stand by our side in that supreme con- 
 flict which is soon to be joined with the powers of darkness. 
 
 This paper was referred to a special Committee, who presented 
 a report, of which the following is part: — 
 
 The character of the Chinese people gives special interest to their 
 claims. A barbarous people needs the gospel as much as those who 
 are civilized. It is adapted to them. But we cannot help turning 
 with deep sympathy and strong hope to a land where intellect is 
 working in the established forms of political and educational organ- 
 izations, yet destitute of Christianity. It is not our first work there 
 to “teach the people to think.’’ There is a mental capacity in large 
 portions of the people, developed and applied both in literature and 
 the arts. This civilization is indeed “ heathen,” but it is ready for 
 
8 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 the infusion of Christianity to purify and direct its forces in a sound 
 religious culture, so that tliis empire may become a mighty power 
 for the maintenance and propagation of the gospel. The Commit- 
 tee recommend the adoption of the following resolution; — 
 
 Resolved, That this Board, with reliance on God, does now accept 
 the work which Providence throws upon it for the evangelization of 
 China ; and assured of the abundant ability of the churches, and of 
 the favorable response of devoted young men in our Theological 
 Seminaries to the appeal that shall be made to them, do recommend 
 a speedy enlargement of the missionary force in that empire. 
 
 The resolution was unanimously • adopted ; the congregation 
 also, by rising, unanimously assenting to the vote. 
 
 SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 BY REV. J. L. NEVIUS. 
 
 At the request of the Secretaries of the American Board, Rev. 
 Mr. Nevius, Missionary of the Presbyterian Board, from China, has 
 ' kindly furnished the following summary of his address on the same 
 occasion : — 
 
 The Chinese empire bears a strong resemblance in many re- 
 spects to our own country. It occupies nearly the same position 
 in the Eastern Hemisphere that the United States does in the 
 Western. It comprises very nearly the same degrees of latitude, 
 and has the same varieties of climate and productions. The area 
 of the whole empire, including Chinese Tartary, is greater than 
 that of the United States, including the lately acquired Russian 
 possessions. China proper, sometimes called “ The Eighteen 
 Provinces,” contains an area about equal to the present organized 
 States of the American Union. While the empire is divided into 
 provinces, as our country is into States, so eaeh of these prov- 
 inces is divided into Fu and Hien, as our States are into counties 
 and townships. 
 
 Each of these divisions has its corresponding city. These cities 
 are all surrounded by walls from twenty to twenty-five or more 
 feet in height, with an outer face of solid masonry, either hewn 
 stone or brick. The circumference of these walls varies from 
 three to fifteen English miles. The provincial capitals contain on 
 an average about a million of inhabitants eaeh; the Fu cities, or 
 those of the second class, are considerably smaller ; while the 
 cities of the third class contain generally a few tens of thousands. 
 
SOCIAL CONDITION. 
 
 All the names found on our largest maps of China are the names 
 of these walled cities. I'hese cities alone, which number in the 
 aggregate more than one thousand seven hundred, contain a 
 population of not less than sixty millions. 
 
 But the great proportion of the inhabitants of China are to be 
 found in almost innumerable unwalled towns, villages, and ham- 
 lets which everywhere dot its fertile plains. Every thing you see 
 strengthens the impression of the immense population. The ca- 
 nals are full of boats ; the fields of laborers ; the roads and by- 
 paths are filled with pedestrians, and in some parts of the empire 
 with pack-mules and donkeys; the streets resound with the noises 
 of a great variety of busy artisans, and you are hardly ever out 
 of sight of the graves of the dead of past generations. How 
 many millions of the past have gone down to fill idolaters’ graves 
 without any knowledge of Christ and his salvation 1 
 
 There are now living in the empire at least four hundred mill- 
 ions of Chinese, a population about equal to that of all the nations 
 of Europe and North and South America combined. They are 
 our contemporaries, looking to us for the gospel ; we must soon 
 pass into eternity together and meet them at the bar of God. It 
 is for us to say whether they too shall perish, without any united 
 and earnest efforts on our part for their salvation. 
 
 This vast population, isolated by its position from the rest of the 
 world, has developed a civilization peculiarly its own. They have 
 a language embracing in all about forty thousand arbitrary signs 
 or characters ; an authentic history which dates back more than 
 three thousand yeai’s ; and a very extensive literature embracing 
 a great variety of subjects. They have in active operation be- 
 nevolent societies and institutions of different kinds; and have 
 the lead of Western nations in the knowledge of some of the 
 practical arts and sciences. 
 
 There is certainly something remarkable in the culture and in- 
 stitutions of such a people, and in a government which for .so many 
 centuries could bind them together in one commonwealth. The 
 character of the government and of the people is due, more than 
 to any other cause, to the teachings of the great sage, Confucius, 
 who lived about five hundred years before Christ. He professed 
 to have derived his system of truth from the sages who preceded 
 him ; and regarded it as his special mission to preserve from ob- 
 livion and to hand down to posterity their works. We may gain 
 a general idea of his system from the “ Five Relations ” and “ Five 
 
SOCIAL CONDITIOX. 
 
 . 10 
 
 Virtues,” wliich be made the basis of it. The first of the “ Five 
 Relations ” is that between the Emperor and his officers, which 
 developed gives their system of government and political econ- 
 omy. Then follow the relations between father and son ; husband 
 and wife ; brothers and friends. It will be observed that while 
 these heads cover the whole sphere of human relations or duties, 
 our relation to God is entirely ignored. The Five Virtues are 
 Love, Righteousness, Propriety, Knowledge, and Faith. As in 
 the Christian system, love stands in the first place. Confucius’ 
 concejAion of this virtue was very high, so much so, that he 
 would hardly acknowledge of any that they had attained it. 
 When asked to define his idea of it, he replied, “ Do not unto 
 others what you would not have others do unto you,” presenting 
 the nearest aj)proximation to the Golden Rule ” which has ever 
 been made by any uninspired teacher. 
 
 But notwithstanding all this culture and civilization, the spirit- 
 ual destitution of the Chinese is not e.xceeded by that of any other 
 nation in the world. They present a striking illustration of the 
 truth that “the world by wisdom knew not God;” and that a 
 nation may go on improving in intellectual and social culture and 
 in a knowledge of the arts and sciences, and be all the while going 
 farther and farther away from God. It is almost impossible, with- 
 out a great deal of explanation and illustration, to communicate 
 a knowledge of Christianity through the medium of the Chinese 
 language. Having no correct religious ideas, they have no words 
 to express them. Idolatry has preoccupied the minds of the 
 people, and the whole empire is full of heathen temples and idol 
 shrines. 
 
 This remarkable people, which has long adopted an exclusive 
 policy, and would have preferi’ed to continue isolated from the 
 rest of the world, has been forced to open its doors to foreign in- 
 tercourse. God made use of the military power of England and 
 France to effect this end. 
 
 While the whole empire is opened to the free proclamation of 
 the gospel, and religious toleration is guaranteed in e.xpress terms 
 by the last treaty with China, different agencies are also con- 
 spiring in God’s providence to open the way for the spread of the 
 gospel, humbling national pride, undermining old systems, and 
 directing the thoughts of the people into new channels. These 
 agencies are foreign and civil wars, foreign commerce, and foreign 
 arts and sciences. 
 
 While God is working on such a large scale and making use 
 
OPENINGS AND CALLS FOR MEN. 
 
 11 
 
 of such mighty agencies, he calls upon the church to perform her 
 part, and every individual Christian, as co-laborers with him in 
 the regeneration of the world. The work assigned to us is the 
 most noble and inspiring, that of casting in the good seed of the 
 kingdom. Shall the gracious purposes of God fail of their grand 
 fulfillment from our backwardness in performing our function, and 
 doing our duty ? This work must be done now. God has 
 brought heathen China to our very doors. This is the church’s 
 opportunity, the time of our visitation. The Romanists are fast 
 occupying the field. The propagators of their faith, and their 
 converts, outnumber ours almost a hundred fold. If we would 
 save ourselves from the displeasure of God and his just judgments, 
 we must enter upon this work with a zeal and energy in some 
 degree commensurate with the urgent claims of China, and the 
 loud call of God’s providence. We must “come up to the help 
 of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” 
 
 OPENINGS FOR CHRISTIAN EFFORT. 
 
 From (he Annual Report of the Board for 1867. 
 
 Letters from brethren in this field often refer to tours in 
 which they find the field open and the people ready to receive 
 Christian books and to listen to the preaching of the gospel, and 
 to the need of laborers to enter open doors. Mr. Chapin wrote 
 from Tientsin, in December, 1866 : “ Rev. Mr. Lees, of the Lon- 
 don Mission at that place, and Rev. Mr. Williamson, agent of the 
 Scotch National Bible Society for North China, have just made a 
 tour into the interior, probably the longest ever made by Protest- 
 ant missionaries in China. They traveled between 2,000 and 
 3,000 miles, their course lying through the four provinces of Chile, 
 Shansi, Shensi, and Honan. Everywhere they found an open 
 door for preaching, and for the sale of Christian books. More 
 than 20,000 small books, about one third of which were Testa- 
 ments or portions of Scripture, were thus disposed of. Multitudes 
 met them, and hung with eagerness upon their words wherever 
 they went. We have all had similar experiences, though on a 
 smaller scale. I myself was absent from home fifteen days in the 
 spring. During this time I visited ten cities, besides a great num- 
 ber of villages, preaching sometimes to audiences of 2,000 or 3,000 
 at a single place, and selling about 2,500 books, large and small. 
 Everywhere the country seems ojjen for missionary effort.” 
 
 In February, Mr. Blodget referred to Mr. Wylie, the agent of 
 
12 
 
 OPEXIXGS AND CALLS FOR JIEN. 
 
 the British and Foreign Bible Society, as having reached Peking 
 by an overland journey from Nankin, and remarks : “ In his tours 
 for the sale of Bibles, he has visited almost every open port, and 
 traveled very extensively in the interior. His testimony confirms 
 the statement so often made, that except in those parts where po- 
 litical disturbances exist, China is everywhere open to missionary 
 labor. He has sold many tens of thousands of copies of the New 
 Testament, and is still engaged in this work. It is a happy cir- 
 cumstance, and one which should occasion devout gratitude to 
 God, that the first book heathen China receives from the Chris- 
 tian nations in the west is the Bible.” Noticing in another letter 
 a journey by himself to and from Kalgan, Mr. Blodget makes 
 some statements which seem to indicate the safety of such jour- 
 neyings now in the interior of the empire. On his return, he 
 went to Yu Cheu, a city ninety miles southwest of Kalgan, where 
 he baptized the aged parents of a church member who was with 
 him, and remained eight days laboring among the people. From 
 this place he passed to I-Cheu, a distance of 120 miles, through a 
 region “ so rugged, barren and mountainous, that few, even of the 
 Chinese, can obtain a livelihood,” and over a road “ impassable 
 for carts, but much traveled by mules.” In this wild region “ I 
 was,” he states, “ quite alone, among strangers, sleeping upon the 
 same brick bed with Chinese travelers and innkeepers, yet as safe, 
 for aught I know, as if walking the streets of my native village.” 
 From I-Cheu, two days’ ride brought him to his home at Peking. 
 
 In several letters received during the year, Mr. Blodget has 
 strongly urged the policy of pushing out into the interior, taking 
 stations and out-stations in various places far removed from the 
 present mission centres, and thus forming new centres of light and 
 influence. He refers to several missions of different societies as 
 now adopting this policy more than heretofore, notices places which 
 might well be occupied at once, and says, “ the country is all open, 
 the climate in Northern China is very healthful, and the people 
 are kind and accessible.” In view of such openings and such 
 plans, the brethren reiterate their calls for more laborers in the 
 great China field. Mr. Stanley, after mentioning that a room had 
 been secured for mission purposes at Lang-Liu-Ching, and ex- 
 pressing the hope that that might become one of a series of out- 
 stations extending inland, adds : “ But, oh ! we need more preach- 
 ing missionaries. How much we need them our young men pre- 
 paring for the ministry do not realize, I am sure, or there w’ould 
 be more candidates for the foreign field.” Mr. Chapin, after 
 
CHANGES IN CHINA. 
 
 13 
 
 noticing tours and the open field, as in extracts already given 
 from his letters, says : “ Would that we had a hundred men, full 
 of faith and zeal and love, to preach Christ to the countless multi- 
 tudes who fill up this great plain of Northern China Where 
 
 is then such a field as here for the services of the loyal, devoted 
 servants of Christ, who would leave a name and an influence be- 
 hind them when they die ? Our work is here in the very midst 
 of the great jcean of humanity, and our words and lives may tell 
 upon multitudes now, and far greater multitudes after we have 
 ceased to live and toil for Christ upon earth. I wonder that the 
 hearts of the enterprising and pious youth of our country are not 
 so stirred up in view of the glorious service set before them, as to 
 lead thousands to present themselves to the Board, and beg to be 
 sent forth on this holy, joyous mission.” Mr. Goodrich also, ex- 
 pressing his surprise that there are not more men ready, exclaims : 
 
 “ Alas, alas ! more than eighteen hundred years have passed 
 away since our Lord ascended up on high, and forty years since 
 China was opened to the gospel, and now for 400,000,000 of men 
 the church has but little more than one hundred missionaries in 
 the field. The fields are white for the harvest, but the laborers 
 are few.” 
 
 CHANGES IN CHINA. 
 
 BY HON. S. WELLS WILLIAMS. 
 
 • 
 
 As a fitting addition to these statements in regard to openings 
 and calls to Christian effort in China, an extract will be given 
 from a letter of December last, addressed to Dr. Anderson by 
 Hon. S. Wells Williams, LL.D., long connected with the mis- 
 sion of the Board at Canton, and now Secretary to the United 
 States Legation at Peking. After noticing the state of things 
 when he first went to Canton in 1833 — when China had “no 
 sympathy, no knowledge, no influence with other nations ; ” when 
 Christian missions there were “ regarded as directed more to for- 
 eigners living there than to the natives,” so few were the op- 
 portunities of access to them ; and when “ an attempt made to 
 print tracts and gospels on blocks resulted so disastrously to the 
 natives employed that thirteen years passed before another like 
 attempt was made,” “ he goes on to say : — 
 
 “ When I now look back upon those times, I see how wisely po- 
 litical events were ordered for the good of this nation, gradually 
 preparing it for a better understanding of its own rights and po- 
 
14 
 
 CHANGES IN CHINA. 
 
 sition, and loosening the restrictions of ages by degrees ; and I 
 cannot doubt that God has great things for so large a part of the 
 race yet to do. 
 
 *• The East India Company was an incubus on all philanthropic 
 efforts in China, and it was removed ; then the hong-merchants 
 and their restrictions were swept away by the treaty of Nanking, 
 which opened avenues into the country, and established mission- 
 aries, simultaneously with merchants, at all of them. Another 
 step was taken in advance some twelve years after, foreign repre- 
 sentatives placed in Peking, and the whole country- thrown open 
 to travel and missions. 
 
 “ The result of missionary effort during the 34 years past, has 
 been only a first sheaf. I am sure, of what the next 34 years of this 
 century will exhibit. But it is much, nevertheless. The three or 
 four then in Canton have been multiplied to over four hundred 
 missionaries, besides females, more than a hundred of whom arc 
 still in China, working directly upon the mass of ignorance around 
 them in more than twenty cities, with many out-stations besides. 
 The single upper room in a hong in Canton, where the Chinese 
 service of Dr. Morrison was held, has expanded to scores of 
 churches, chapels, schools, and hospitals, in all of which the truth 
 is made known continually. The converts are few indeed com- 
 pared with the crowds of their pagan countrv-mcn ; yet the three 
 thousand and more which are numbered on the mission records 
 give their witness for the fulfillment of the jftxjphecy, ‘ These from 
 the land of Sinim.’ One, two, yes three of these have testified 
 with their lives or imprisonment to the truth and value of the 
 principles they have professed. 
 
 “ In printing and disseminating Scriptures and religious books, 
 the advance has kept pace with other branches of work ; so that 
 instead of stealthily bringing in a copy of the Bible at Canton, 
 secreted in the bottom of a trunk, thousands of copies are sent 
 from the printing-offices in Shanghai, printed in four different 
 sizes of metallic type, to all stations, where this inadequate supply 
 is supplemented by as many others struck from blocks. These 
 have been carried through the large towns of northern China, 
 and publicly sold by foreigners in their streets, from Shantung to 
 Shensi, and Kalgan to Kaifung, — all the country north of the 
 Yellow River, a region nearly as large as all the Atlantic and 
 Gulf States. Newspapers, too, are beginning to supply the peo- 
 ple with other kinds of information, and the Imperial Government 
 has just informed the foreign ministers that it has no desire to pre- 
 
MISSIONARY STATISTICS. 
 
 15 
 
 vent the discussion of any subject of public interest relating to 
 China in their pages. 
 
 “ These few comparisons of what existed when I came to China, 
 a young man, and what I am now permitted to see, show that God 
 has truly begun to open the way for his gospel among the Chinese. 
 The work to be done is so great, however, that all the advance 
 seems almost as nothing when we reflect upon the ignorance and 
 idolatry which still exist; the agents at work, and their powers and 
 plans, seem utterly inadequate to compass and throw down the 
 walls of this seat of Satan. I hope none of the host is disposed 
 to doubt the success of Christ’s cause because such is the case.” 
 
 MISSIONARY STATISTICS. 
 
 The following statistics are taken from a Missionary Directory, 
 published at Foochow, China, July 1866 : — 
 
 Ordained missionaries in China, 97 
 
 Lay missionaries, 14 
 
 Female missionaries, 93 
 
 Whole number, male and female, 204 
 
 Number of native helpers, 206 
 
 Church members received in 186.5, 282 
 
 Whole number of native church members, . . . . 3142 
 
 Of the ordained missionaries, forty-three were connected with 
 American Societies ; forty-four with English ; eight with German ; 
 and two were independent. Several new missionaries have gone 
 out during the year, so that the present number on the ground is 
 probably not far from one hundred, one to four millions, or nine 
 for a population as large as that of the United States ! 
 
 The American Board now (Nov. 1867) has eleven missionaries, 
 one missionary physician, and two female teachers, connected with 
 five missionary stations in China. 
 
 OUR WORK. 
 
 In the providence of God this field seems to have been assigned 
 to the Christian church of this land, as its part in the great work 
 of evangelization. Protestant Germany has its work largely on 
 the continent, though individual communities have done and are 
 doing a noble work abroad. India belongs rather to England, to 
 which it is bound by political as well as commercial ties ; Africa 
 and China rather to the United States ; Africa to the Christian 
 freedmen of the South, held in reserve, as it were, till they shall 
 be ready for it; and China to the Christian churches of the North. 
 
16 
 
 OUll WOKK. 
 
 Upon the present method of conducting missions, two thousand 
 men, and a thousand female teachers are needed for the evangel- 
 ization of China. It is believed that other ilissionary Societies 
 will generously share this w ork with us ; and that the American 
 Board will not have the opportunity of doing more than one half 
 of it. Will the churches who act through the Board at once 
 earnestly and as in the sight of God undertake the half, to fur- 
 nish one thousand men, and five hundred female teachers for the 
 work. Such a force put into the field within the next ten years, 
 judging by the results in other fields during the last twenty, might 
 hope to secure the triumph of the gospel in China by the close of 
 the century ! Is it not a work worthy of the Christians of Amer- 
 ica, a fitting thank-oifering to God for the spiritual blessings we 
 enjoy V 
 
 We want a regiment of the Lord — a thousand men — one 
 man from every five churches, large and small, represented in the 
 Board, one man for every four hundred members in our churches. 
 Is it impossible to secure them, impossible to raise a thousand men 
 for the grandest work ever undertaken by the church, a work so 
 in keeping with the indications of Divine Providence, so in keep- 
 ing with the spirit of our Lord, and so sure of his sympathy and 
 blessing ? Impossible for American Christians f The past six 
 years have changed the meaning of the word. 
 
 To carry on the work on the scale proposed will require S2,000,- 
 000 a year — less than our late war cost for a single day — not 
 one fourth as much as we gave annually to the Sanitary and 
 Christian Commissions. Is it impossible to raise 32,000,000 a yeau* 
 to evangelize a third of the human race, to extend the blessings 
 of the gospel and a Christian civilization, among a people ten 
 times as numerous as our own — to save them for time and eter- 
 nity ? Can not an average contribution of five dollars each be 
 raised from the professed followers of Christ in our churches, for 
 such an object ? 
 
 Let us deny ourselves but a trifle of our expenditures for what 
 is too often of no real advantage to us, and the work is done. 
 Let parents consecrate their sons and daughtei’s ; let the young 
 men in our colleges and seminaries organize Chinese bands ; let 
 ministers preach it, and the friends of Christ remember it in every 
 circle of prayer, as the o/ie great work of the age ; then shall the 
 Christian church arise and shine, the glory of the Lord being 
 risen upon her, and China shall rejoice in a Saviour’s love. 
 
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