Next morning I went and cut the juttus of the Madigas who faltered the night before. Two preachers were left with them for the day, and we went on in among the foot hills of the eastern Ghauts. Camping in a grove between two villages we met the males of both, and they expressing themselves as much interested, requested us to come again and to send a preacher or

teacher. The Malas were even more interested. I had a meeting in the home of one of them. But there were other villages west just under the mountain, and so, though not invited, we went to them. My back ached with jolting over the stones and my head with the heat, but there was inspiration in climbing the hills and getting views of the villages lying in the valleys about. Now we came to a large village, in fact a town, and what a mob followed us! We had a night's rest, and the town gathered near our tent in the morning, so we had our audience without going for it. Seated under the trees, we told of the one true and living God, and the Son of His love. Caste and outcaste listened to us until we were tired, and all the preachers had a chance to speak. Then the head man showed me his town. I visited in all fifty-four villages, thirty-nine of them

being new, while the preachers went to a number more. With the exception of two Madiga hamlets, every hamlet and village gave us a good hearing, most of them earnestly requesting us to come again, and to send preachers and teachers. In all, three hundred in this new part declared themselves as ready to become Christians. We cut the juttus off one hundred and forty-one. During the whole trip, one hundred and sixtythree were baptized from seven villages. Of these one hundred and one were from the heathen, the balance from Christian population. Ten idol houses were demolished, and the household gods were removed from some homes.

This was a hard trip the heat, the rough mountain roads, and no roads at all; small groves to camp in, and at times in the open fields, without a tree for shelter, and continual preaching. But it was indeed inspiring the way the people received us. At first, in some places, afraid of us, they urged us to remain longer after knowing why we came. The little children in the new villages fled from me, and it was a joy to get back to where we had Christians, and to have the little ones rush out to meet me.

CHINESE STABILITY. The direct personal responsibility of the Emperor to heaven for the quality of his rule; the exaltation of the people as of more importance than the rulers; the doctrine that the virtuous and able should be the rulers, and that their rule must be based upon virtue; the comprehensive theory of the five relations of men to each other; the doctrine that no one should do to another what he would not have that other do to him these points have stood out like mountain-peaks from the general. level of Chinese thought, and have attracted the attention of all observers. We wish to place emphasis upon the moral excellencies of the Confucian system, for it is only by

putting those excellencies in their true light that we can hope to arrive at any just comprehension of the Chinese people. Those excellencies have made the Chinese preëminently amenable to moral forces. The employment of the classical writings in the civil service examinations for successive ages has unified the minds of the people to a marvellous degree, and the powerful motives thus brought into play, leading every candidate for a degree to hope for the stability of the government as a prerequisite to his own success, has doubtless been a principal factor in the perpetuation of the Chinese people to this present time. From Chinese Characteristics," by Rev. A. H. Smith, D.D.

Burgess, Chaplain of Nellore. Rev. David Downie, D.D., then made an address stating that the hospital owes its existence to the Woman's Baptist Foreign Missionary Society of Boston, and that the Board had a threefold object in view in entering this branch of missionary work. (1) A hospital for women and children. (2) A training institution for native mid-wives and nurses. (3) To

Dr. Clough, and the band of devoted men and women they have gathered around them, have conferred on this district. I am not now concerned with the religious work of the mission. That is a topic that would be out of place in an assemblage like this, where I see happily gathered together representatives of various creeds, and diverse modes of thought. But there is a verse of

I

HAVE just returned from attendance on the Northern Bghai Association and a tour among the churches. I took the trip with fear and trembling, but by great care and slow travelling I have returned quite as well as when I left Toungoo, and have been able to do a great deal of very necessary work, while Mr. Heptonstall has been at work in the south and among the Brecs. The meetings of this Association were among the best I ever attended in Toungoo, and among the most encouraging. of enthusiasm pervaded the meetings such as I have seldom seen. The Association was entertained for two days, at an expense of nearly three hundred rupees, by a church in a village where seven years ago there was only the densest ignorance, superstition, and heathenism. The church now numbers more than sixty members, and a happier body of Christians I have never seen in Burma. The heathen from outlying villages were

A spirit

present in numbers, and seemed greatly impressed, and already there are many more applicants for teachers than we can supply. Mr. Heptonstall is visiting them now to do what he can for them. We have now visited, or shall have visited, nearly the whole field occupied by the mission when Mr. Heptonstall returns, if he is able to carry out his present plans. The statistics of the two Associations are not yet made up, but there are two hundred baptisms reported, -a large increase from among the heathen. This makes four hundred and twenty-five baptisms on this field the last two years. The contributions remain about the same, but a movement has been begun among the leading men of the mission looking to a relief of the school debt. The Myoke, or local governor of the Karen hills, heads the movement. I cannot tell yet how successful it will be.

II.

WHEN speaking of the native Christians

like?"

Sacrifice for Christ

66

66

I am often asked What are they “Are they real? ” Do they stand?" or "Do they become Christians from some ulterior motive, or for some earthly advantage?" I may say, these people who desire to become Christians have no offer of earthly gain afforded to them; on the contrary, to become a Christian in China means temporal loss, for no one is admitted to our Church membership unless he is willing to forego Sunday labor. This means giving up a seventh of his income right away, and more than that, for if he worked on Sunday his food would be provided in addition to his daily wage, which he has now himself to provide. has to endure persecution sometimes of the bitterest nature, and often has to sacrifice his dearest friends, his nearest relatives, and his worldly possessions.

He

Liu-ba-ko was my servant, and at the time of the Ch'eng-ku riot in 1892 he was pulled out by the angry mob into the street, was thrown down, kicked, bruised, 'his cue torn out by the roots, and was left for dead on the roadway. When afterwards I expressed a word of sympathy with him, and told him how sorry I was for this persecution, his battered face was lit up with a holy joy, as he said, "Pastor, the Lord Jesus suffered and died on the cross for me, and this little suffering for Him is too trivial to count."

Chang-muh-tsiang is a carpenter, and was one of our earliest converts. An opium smoker for twenty-seven years, a moral and physical wreck, he entered the preaching hall, and listened to the precious Gospel story from the lips of Mr. Pearse. He had tried hard to break himself of the terrible opium habit, but all his efforts were futile, so he was specially interested to hear the missionary tell the congregation assembled that Christ was

a Savior not only from the guilt and punishment of sin, but also from the power of it. This man became an earnest enquirer, and after a hard struggle he was able to accept Christ as his Savior and to break the band which bound him. So humble and loving in nature, he was spoken of as " Ioh-han " (John), because he reminded us so much of the beloved disciple. Saved himself he longed for the salvation of others, and it was interesting to see him, after any service, at the door, with his fingers in the buttonhole of some stranger, and with an earnest, pleading countenance, trying to interest his hearer in the precious Savior whom he had found. Ignorant at first, he gave himself very earnestly to the learning of the Chinese character, and was soon able to read much of the New Testament and hymn-book.

A little later in the history of this work, when it seemed specially desirable to send some one to the neighboring Sending a Missionary city Si-hsiang-hsien, two days' journey distant, to preach the Gospel to many who had become interested, we gathered our little band of Christians together, told them of these people who had listened to the Word gladly, and asked if they could not raise sufficient money and send one of their own number to carry on this hopeful work. It takes about five thousand members in America to send forth one missionary, and it seemed no small thing to ask this little church of seventy members so recently gathered out of heathendom to send out and support their own missionary. We were not disappointed, however, for after much earnest prayer they decided to send Chang-muh-tsiang to Si-hsiang-hsien, and support him by their united contributions. Mr. Chang continued this work for three months, with occasional visits from my brother and self. From the first the Lord's