*Miss H. D. Newcomb, Nursaravapetta, Madras Presidency, India, 1891. Mr. H. J. Openshaw, Yachau, care the local post, Hankow, China, 1893. Miss F. E. Palmer, Spencerport, N. Y., 1880. Miss Emily A. Parker, St. Clair, Mich., 1890. Miss Julia A. Parrott, Toungoo, Burma, 1895. Rev. W. B. Parshley and wife, 34 Bluff, Yokohama, Japan, 1890. Rev. S. B. Partridge, D. D., and wife, Potsdam, N. Y., 1868. Rev. Joseph Paul and wife, North Lakhimpur, Assam, India, 1894. Mrs. L. P. Pearce, Ootacamund, Madras Presidency, India, 1871, 1888. Rev. C. E. Petrick and wife, Sibsagor, Assam, India, 1889, 1896. Rev. Wm. Pettigrew, Ukrul, Manipur, Assam, India, 1889, 1896. Rev. E. G. Phillips and wife, Tura, Assam, India, 1874, 1893. Mr. F. D. Phinney, Baptist Mission Press, Rangoon, Burma, 1881, 1895. *Miss Hattie Phinney, Rangoon, Burma, 1885, 1892. Miss R. E. Pinney, Secunderabad, Deccan, India, 1893. Rev. William E. Powell and wife, Nursaravapetta, Madras Presidency, India, 1886, 1894. Rev. W. I. Price and wife, Henzada, Burma, 1879, 1893. *Miss Carrie E. Putnam, Mayville, N. Y., 1886. *Miss Ruth W. Ranney, Rangoon, Burma, 1884, 1892. Rev. Neil D. Reid, Henzada, Burma, 1893. Rev. H. H. Rhees, D. D., and wife, 5 Hill, Kobe, Japan, 1878, 1891. Rev. H. Richards and wife, Banza Manteke, Congo, West Africa, via Antwerp, 1879, 1891. G. H. Richardson, M. D., and wife, Toungoo, Burma, 1895. *Miss C. E. Righter, Kinhwa, via Ningpo, China, 1888, 1894. Rev. S. W. Rivenburg and wife, Kohima, Assam, India, 1883, 1894. Prof. E. B. Roach and wife, Baptist College, Rangoon, Burma, 1887, 1896. Rev. W. H. Roberts, Bhamo, Burma, 1878, 1892. Mrs. W. H. Roberts, care H. R. Buel, Jacksonville, Ill. *Miss Eva L. Rolman, 30a Tsukiji, Tokyo, Japan, 1885, 1894. *Miss A. J. Rood, Tura, Assam, India, 1894. Mrs. A. T. Rose, Rangoon, Burma, 1853. Rev. R. Saillens, 4 Rue Angot, Bourg la Reine, Seine, Paris, France. Rev. C. A. Salquist, care the local post, Hankow, China, 1893. Mrs. A. K. Scott, M. D., Swatow, China, 1862, 1889. Miss Mary K. Scott, Swatow, China, 1890. §Rev. J. H. Scott and wife, Bangai 59, Kogawa cho, Osaka, Japan, 1892. Rev. A. E. Seagrave and wife, Rangoon, Burma, 1888. Rev. W. A. Sharp and wife, Moulmein, Burma, 1893. *Miss Martha Sheldon, Moulmein, Burma, 1876, 1892. Miss E. R. Simons, Toungoo, Burma, 1887. Rev. A. Sims, M. D., Leopoldville, Congo, West Africa, via Antwerp, 1882, 1886. Miss Ida A. Skinner, 1891. *Miss Sarah R. Slater, 34 No. 40th St., Philadelphia, Pa., 1889. Rev. D. A. W. Smith, D. D., and wife, Insein, Burma, 1863, 1888. *Miss Jenny V. Smith, Hornby, N. Y., 1891. *Miss L. A. Snowden, Shaohing, P. O. Ningpo, China, 1893. Rev. Jacob Speicher and wife, Swatow, China, 1895. Miss H. E. St. John, Swatow, China, 1895. Rev. W. A. Stanton and wife, Kurnool, Madras Presidency, India, 1892. *Miss E. C. Stark, Mission Rooms, Tremont Temple, Boston, Mass., 1884. Rev. A. E. Stephen and wife, Goalpara, Assam, India, 1893. Mrs. E. L. Stevens, Rangoon, Burma, 1837, 1876. Mrs. E. O. Stevens, Waterville, Maine. +Miss Elizabeth Stewart, Ningpo, China, 1886, 1895. Rev. William E. Story and wife, 68 Innai, Chofu, Yamaguchi ken, Japan, 1891. †Miss Alberta Sumner, Nowgong, Assam, India, 1896. Rev. F. P. Sutherland, M. D., and wife, Sagaing, Burma, 1886, 1895. Rev. O. L. Swanson and wife, No. Lakhimpur, Assam, India, 1893. Rev. W. S. Sweet and wife, Shaohing, P. O., Ningpo, China, 1893. Rev. W. F. Thomas and wife, Harrison St., Roslindale, Mass., 1880. Miss Thora M. Thompson, Toungoo, Burma, 1894. Rev. R. A. Thomson and wife, 48 Naka Yamate-dori, San-chome, Kobe, Japan, 1888, 1894. Rev. H. H. Tilbe and wife, Baptist College, Rangoon, Burma, 1887, 1896. Rev. J. S. Timpany, M. D., and wife, care Station Master, Kazipett, N. G. S. Ry., Deccan, India, 1892. Prof. Henry Topping and wife, 30a Tsukiji Tokyo, Japan, 1895. Rev. E. Tribolet, Bassein, Burma, 1888. Mrs. E. Tribolet, Pitcher, N. Y. Rev. T. Truvè, Gothenburg, Sweden. Miss Louise E. Tschirch, Bassein, Burma, 1884, 1892. Rev. William M. Uperaft, Yachau, care the local post, Hankow, China. 1889, 1893. Rev. W. O. Valentine, Baptist College, Rangoon, Burma. 1894. Rev. C. F. Viking and wife, Ningpo, China, 1893. Rev. J. Vincent, Denain (Nird), France. Mrs. J. H. Vinton, Rangoon, Burma, 1861, 1889. §Miss Mattie Walton, Bangai 59, Kogawa cho, Osaka, Japan, 1893. Mr. George Warner and wife, 340 No. 3d Ave., Canton, Ill., 1889. *Miss Isabel Watson, Bassein, Burma, 1867, 1892. *Miss J. E. Wayte, Nellore, Madras Presidency, India, 1884, 1895. Rev. Robert Wellwood and wife, Suifu, care the local post, Hankow, China, 1891. Miss Dorcas Whitaker, 1896. Rev. G. E. Whitman, Swatow, China, 1892. *Miss M. A. Whitman, 10 Fukuro machi, Suruga dai, Tokyo, Japan. 1883, 1890. Rev. R. R. Williams, D. D., and wife, Eureka, Kan., 1873. *Miss Isabella Wilson, Gauhati, Assam, India, 1895. *Miss H. M. Witherbee, 34 Bluff, Yokohama. Japan, 1895. Rev. William Wynd and wife, 187 Kogawa cho, Osaka, Japan. 1891. +Miss Nora M. Yates, 214 So. 6th Street, Goshen, Ind.. 1891. Mr. Andrew Young, Lukunga, Congo, W. Africa, ria Antwerp, 1895. *Miss A. S. Young, Kinhwa, via Ningpo, China, 1888. Rev. W. M. Young and wife, Thibaw, via Mandalay, Burma, 1892. 1897.] Encouragements and Discouragements in the Japan Field. ARTICLES. 11 ENCOURAGEMENTS AND DISCOURAGEMENTS IN THE JAPAN FIELD. E BY REV. HENRY HINCKLEY, ROSLINDALE, MASS. OVERY missionary field has its causes for disappointments, and every missionary must be more or less inclined to discouragement, for disheartening circumstances are not novelties in the life of any servant of the Master, and this must be especially true of those who live under the shadow of heathenism and are so completely separated from the cheerful influences of home and the homeland. A recent visit among the workers in Japan and a brief survey of the missions in that country have not only intensified the desire to see greater effort and expenditure of time and money in advancing the kingdom of Christ in that empire of darkness, but have enlarged and quickened my own personal sympathies for those tried and trembling messengers of God. One of their peculiar trials is the apparently trembling hold that the churches at home have upon the rope by which they are upheld and sustained. Doubtless there has been a slipping of hands and a fainting of hearts among all the rope-holders of our land. Several cords and weakened strands of supply have disturbed their confidence and shaken their trust. When they have called for help and there has been no answer; when they have plead for increased appropriations and have met with reductions; when they have prayed for more men and have been called to come home themselves, because there were no means at hand for advance, but a pressing necessity for retrenchment; such discour agements have been the results as could have come from no other cause. The weight of the Union's debt and of the failure of the churches is felt much more severely in Japan, for the reason that the present is a crisis in the history of that people. The question of the hour with them is, whether infidelity is to control the movements of this wonderfully progressive na tion, or whether Christianity is to lead it out and up into higher conditions of growth and grander development of moral and spiritual power. Another cause of discouragement is the superior equipment of the other denominations, the encouraged energy of their missionaries, and their enlarged opportunities for success as compared with the restricted and feebly-supported appointments of our own denomination. We hold very much the same position in these matters that our nation does in the social and commercial world of Japan. America stands fourth or fifth with reference to trade and national influence as compared with England, Germany, France and others. There was a shadow of shame on my countenance at the constant recognition of this fact. Especially was this true in the limited demonstration on the "Glorious Fourth," though we flung to the breeze on that morning a beautiful, large flag that we had brought with us as a present to our patriotic son and daughter. Still another discouragement is found in the peculiarities of the people themselves. Generations of encouraged immoralities, centuries of heathen debasement and cruelties, do not produce the best materials for immediate regeneration. An acquired self-sufficiency, an encouraged feeling of independence, a growing and apparent recognition by themselves of their abilities; all these elements make them severely impervious to the humbling truths of Christianity. Above all, their natural fickleness of character, as compared with other more conservative nations, produces a feeling of uncertainty bordering on discouragement in the minds of those who are toiling and suffering for their immediate salvation and perfection. The silver lining to this cloud is, however, very easily discovered when one mingles with the true and faithful of the native Christians, whose faith and piety have been tried as the silver is tried, many of them in the fires of persecution and in the fining pot of sorrow and many more amid the discouragements of unsuccessful effort for their fellows. Most of the young men in the Theological Seminary could secure places of emolument at once, but only a very few have been tempted above that they have been able to bear. Better salaries are offered by other denominations yet they remain true to the truth. There is many an ingot of pure gold in these converts to Christianity and these adherents to Baptist faith because it is Bible truth. There is much less of instability among the members of our churches than in any other for the above reason. A second element of encouragement is in the conservative character of all our missionaries, concerning whom I know not an exception; conservative in their adherence to the doctrine of the inspiration of the THE TIDAL WAVE. Word of God, concerning the fundamental doctrine of the atonement, and the all-essential position that the Bible, the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible is to be the basis of Christian faith and practice. There is as far as I know an absolute freedom from that liberality of religious thought that has led others into a condition of irreligion or of philosophy as a subsitute, and has undermined their splendid institutions and sorely affected their spiritual power. These, together with the sure, safe, possibly slow but evident proofs of continual and continuing progress, afford sources of encouragement upon which we as a denomination may look with feelings of profound gratitude, and with increasing hope for a larger and mightier work in the future. Let us stay up the hands of the faithful. Let us give the means and men needed for this true advancement of Christ's kingdom, else while we are busy here and there and elsewhere Japan may be gone. DISASTERS IN JAPAN. REV. E. H. JONES, SENDAI. UR north Japan field has been visited by a great tidal wave disaster, as you have already been informed by the newspapers. The like of this disaster has not taken place, even in this country of great natural convulsions, for many decades. I was myself working in the district, our society being the only Protestant body doing anything in the devastated region, and was staying in Kisennuma, which was saved by the peculiar formation of the coast there. Had I been at one of the more exposed places my next report in all probability would have been made directly to the Head Manager of our Society's work and I would have been transferred to a higher department. This was the case let us devoutly hope-with a self-sacrificing Roman Catholic missionary working on the field a few miles north from where I was. He had walked from early morning, not knowing it was the last stage of his life's journey. He had arrived at Kamaishi at about 7.30 o'clock just about dark. He had exchanged his travel-stained garments and had just sat down upon the matted floor to rest when the wave overwhelmed the room and he found himself struggling for life. It was a pitiful sight; strong physically, and a good swimmer, he battled nobly with the eddying and swirling currents. But being much fatigued with his forty-mile walk in this mountainous region, he finally was sucked under to rise no more in this life. The coast from a point near Sendai northeast for about one hundred and fifty miles, was swept by a series of great waves. It took place on the night of June 15, at about 8 o'clock. The waves were forced up at some places by the converging shore lines to the tremendous height of eighty feet; with an average of twenty or twenty-five feet. They were preceded by many shocks of earthquakes, and by a roar as of some terrible wild beast about to spring upon its prey. Then came-so say survivors-the crash of houses, boats and fallen trees as they were suddenly lifted from the earth, and after being crushed and mixed together they were taken out by the receding wave. Houses, boats, horses, people and uprooted trees were so churned together that the people who were washed up again were so dreadfully bruised that they are lying by hundreds languishing in the Red Cross hospitals promptly established after the disaster. The mortality is large among the sur rescued and eighty-two of these badly injured. CIVILIZATION. The people displayed by their ready response to the cry for help that they had a solidarity as a nation and an assimilation of the best spirit of European civilization that showed them up favorably. Such an exhibition of national feeling would be impossible in China for instance. There is there lacking both the patriotism and the humane spirit of this people. Some have thought that only when the innate military instinct was aroused would Japan act vivors. Probably the loss will be 30,000. The number of houses washed away is given at 8,313; people killed outright, 27,076; people wounded, 5,463. Total loss of property-houses, boats, nets, fields, and standing crops-will amount to many millions. Among the worst places was Taro, 360 houses all swept away. The 1,300 people at home at the time were all drowned. Fishermen to the number of fifty-three, away on the sea at their toil, were the only ones left. Kamaishi, 6,500 people, 1,800 left, and out of these 500 were dreadfully wounded. Only forty-three houses left out of the 1,230, formerly in the town. At Toni, out of 1,206 people but 103 were like a western nation. But they now show another side of their character to those who doubt that their civilization is more than skin deep. The Emperor at once contributed 14,000 yen (1 yen-52c.). The government appropriated Y. 500,000. The people gave by subscriptions, public and private, Y. 500,000. One native newspaper boomed a list of Y. 30,000 with subscriptions running down to a few cents. The native press vied with one another to get up the largest list. Foreigners vied with natives in forgetting themselves in noble deeds of generosity. Clothes old and new were sent in till the prefectural offices were unable to give them out fast enough to |