JBRARY OF PRINCETON 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 APR 1 4 1998 
 
 
 
 
 THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 
 1899 
 Livingston, 
 
 BV 2063 .N48 
 Nevius, John 
 
 1829-1893. 
 The planting and developmentit 
 
 of miasiQua.rLY.chut.ctie.S>, 
 
The Planting and Development 
 
 Missionary Clmrches 
 
 BY 
 
 Rev. JOHN L. NEVIUS, D.D. 
 
 LATE MISSIONARY TO CHINA 
 
 t/'s ^^^K,^irt<^^ 
 
 FOREIGN MISSION LIBRARY 
 
 156 Fifth Avenue 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
NOTE PREFATORY TO THIRD EDITION 
 
 This little book first appeared as a series of articles which 
 were published in the " Chinese Recorder " in 1885. They 
 immediately aroused great interest in a missionary scheme 
 about which little was generally known, except that it was 
 very successful. So great was the demand for these letters 
 by the late Dr. Nevius, that they were reprinted in book 
 form by the Presbyterian Press, Shanghai, in 1886. 
 The interest in the discussion having spread to this coun- 
 try, a second edition was prepared by Mr. W. H. Grant 
 and published in the " Foreign Mission Library " of the 
 Presbyterian Board, New York. 
 
 During the years that have intervened since their first 
 appearance, Dr. Nevius's methods have been successfully 
 tested in other fields— notably and most fruitfully in Korea 
 —and have been very highly endorsed by many board sec- 
 retaries. While it is but fair to other theories of mission- 
 ary work to say, that even in Dr. Nevius's own field his 
 plans were not wholly satisfactory, and that from 1885 to 
 the present year some Chinese missionaries have strongly 
 argued against them, it is also true that no single scheme 
 hitherto published promises so well to meet the pressing 
 emergencies of the present time. 
 
 When every dollar must do its utmost good with the 
 least harm, and when candidates for the foreign field are 
 studying as never before the varied aspects of missions, it 
 was deemed best to bring out a new edition for the special 
 use of mission study classes of the Student Volunteer 
 
 3 
 
1 
 
 4 NOTE PREFATORY TO THIRD EDITION 
 
 Movement for Foreign Missions. The present book dif- 
 fers from the preceding edition in its title, in tlie omission 
 of a few lines having local and temporary interest only, and 
 in the chapter and paragraph divisions, which have been 
 made to correspond to other books of the Movement. It 
 may be said with reference to these latter changes, that the 
 bold-faced Clarendon type indicates main divisions, the 
 paragraphs headed by Arabic numerals constitute sub- 
 ordinate divisions, and other paragraphs subdivisions. 
 Numerals have been employed for the convenience of 
 students and leaders of classes who use an analytical out- 
 line—published elsewhere— in preparing for the class. 
 New Yukk, iMarch i, 1899. 
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 I. The t)i.i) System Criticised 
 
 Introductory; Old System vs. the New, 7; Spirit and Attitude 
 
 in this Discussion, g; Old Method a Natural One, li ; Ob- 
 jections to the Old Method, 12. 
 
 II. How Deal wuh New Converis? ..... 
 Abiding in the Old Calling, ig ; Importance of Precedents, 21 ; 
 
 Nature of the Church and Its Development; Test Necessary 
 before Advancement. 26 ; Necessity of Training, 27 ; Com- 
 mit Converts to the Lord, 28. 
 
 III. Origin and Growth ofStaitons in Central Shan-tung. 
 General View of the Shantung Work, 30; Relations of the 
 
 Missionary Helpers and Leaders; Principle Underlying Sta- 
 tion Organization, 32 ; Instruction of Inquirers and Church 
 Members, 35; Bible or Training Classes, 39; Results to 
 Station Members, 41 ; Manner in which Stations are Propa- 
 gated, 42 ; Classes to which Our Church Members Belong, 
 44; Persecution, 45 ; Sabbath Observance, 46; Discipline, 
 48; Contributions; Schools, 51; Men Employed and Inci- 
 dental Expenses, 52 ; Summary and Forecast, 53. 
 
 IV. Organization of Stations, Present and Prospective, 
 Varying Views Concerning Church Organization, 55 ; Scripture 
 
 Teachings as to the Best System for China, 58 ; Experience 
 Proves the Wisdom of Scri])lure Teachings, 68. 
 
 V. Beginning Work, 
 
 The Study of the Language, 71 ; Beginning Direct Missionary 
 
 Work, 75 ; Independent Individual Work, 76 ; Itinerating, 
 77; Assistants or Helpers, 78; How Shall We Reach the 
 People? 81 ; How Best Expend One's Time? 83 ; Mission- 
 aries but Instruments in Spiritual Work, 84; Personal Ex- 
 perience in Beginning Work in Shan-tung, 86; IIow may 
 We Best Get Out of " 01<1 Ruts" ? 88. 
 
 30 
 
 ■^5 
 
 71 
 
 ^ 
 
PLANTING AND DEVELOPMENT OP 
 MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 THE OLD SYSTEM CRITICISED 
 
 Introductory. 
 
 A request from the Editor of the " Chinese Recorder " to 
 prepare for pubhcation some account of the character and 
 results of our country work in Shan-tung, and private let- 
 ters from various sources asking for information on the 
 same general subject, have furnished evidence that such in- 
 formation may be of service, more especiallv to young mis- 
 sionaries. ■ 
 
 The interest which has been taken in our work in central 
 -Shan-tung by missionaries in other provinces is due no 
 doubt to the fact that we have to some extent adopted new 
 principles and methods. It is too early to determine what 
 the final issue of this new departure will be, but perhaps not 
 too soon to derive some important lessons from present 
 facts and experiences and results so far as developed. 
 
 Old System vs. the New. 
 
 1. The adoption of the new jilan having been the result 
 in many cases of difficulties and discouragements in con- 
 nection with the previous one, our present position will be 
 best understood by considering the two systems, which 
 may for the sake of convenience be called the Old and tiie 
 New, in their relation to each other. In the following 
 pages we will present the reasons which have led to the dis- 
 use of the former, the adoption of the latter, and the man- 
 ner in which the transition has been made. 
 
 2. I think' it may be stated that forty years ago, mission- 
 
 7 
 
8 PI.AiWINC OF MISSIONARY CIIVKCHIiS 
 
 aries in Cliiiia, with few if any exceptions, followed tli'e ( )1(1 
 Method. The ciiange of view has not been sudden but 
 gra(Uial and always in the sanie direction, producing a con- 
 tinually widening and more irreconcilable breach between 
 the two systems. Iherc is now a prevailing disposition in 
 our part of the field, at least among the missionaries of the 
 American Presbyterian, the English ria])tist,and the Amer- 
 ican Baptist Missions, to follow the New Plan, wdiich may 
 still, however, be regarded as in a formative and tentative 
 stage of development. 
 
 3. These two systems may be distinguished in general by 
 the former depending largely on paid native agency, while 
 the latter deprecates and seeks to minimize such agency. 
 Perlia[)s an e<|ually correct and more generally acceptable 
 statement of the difference would be, that, while both alike 
 seek ultimately the establishment of independent, self-re- 
 liant, and aggressive native churches, the Old System 
 strives by the use of foreign funds to foster and stimulate 
 the growth of the native churches in the first stage of their 
 development, and then gradually to discontinue the use of 
 such funds: while those wdio adopt the New System think 
 that the desired object may be best attained by ap])lying 
 principles of independence and self-reliance from the begin- 
 ning. The difiference between these two theories may be 
 more clearly seen in their outward practical working. The 
 r)ld uses freely, and as far as practicable, the more ad- 
 vanced and intelligent of the native clutrch members in the 
 capacity of paid colporteurs, Bible agents, evangelists, or 
 heads of stations; while the New ])rocceds on the assump- 
 tion that the jiersons employed in these various capacities 
 would be more useful in the end by being left in their 
 original homes and em]iloyments. 
 
 4. The relative advantages of these systems may be de- 
 termined by two tests — adaptability to the end in view, and 
 Scripture authority. Some missionaries regard the prin- 
 ci[)les and practices ado|)ted by the Apostles in early times 
 and recorded in the Scri]iturcs as inapplicable to our 
 changed circumstances in China in this nineteenth century. 
 Leaving the consideration of this question for the present, 
 it will no doubt be acknowledged by all, that any plan 
 which will bear the application of the two tests of adapta- 
 
 TIII- OLD SYSTEM CKITICISF.n 9 
 
 bility and Scrii)lure anthoritv, has a nmch stronger claim 
 upon our regard and acceptance than a i)lan which can only 
 claim the sanction of one test. 
 
 As a matter of fact the change of views of not a few of the 
 older missionaries in China is due, not to theoretical, but 
 [iractical considerations The ( )ld Svstcm has been grad- 
 ually discarded because il did not work, or because it 
 worked evil. In my own case I can sav that every change 
 in opim'on was brought about by a long'and painful experi- 
 ence; and conclusions arrived at have been only a con- 
 firmation of what I regard as the teachings of tl'ie Bible. 
 'I he same conclusions might have been reached with an im- 
 mense economy of time and labor by simplv following the 
 authoritative guide which God has given us. If the New- 
 System be indeed sanctioned by Scri|)tnre authority as well 
 as by the tests of practical adaptability and use, an exchange 
 or reversal in the application of the names New and Old 
 would be more in accordance with fact. 
 
 Spirit and Attitude in this Discussion. 
 
 1. In stating what I regard as serious objections to pre- 
 ; vio'is methods, I may come in conflict with the opinions of 
 
 my brethren. I desire, however, to write, not in the spirit 
 of a critic, nmch less of a censor, but as one earnestly de- 
 sirous of knowing the truth. I have in former years to a 
 considerable extent believed in and worked upon the Old 
 .System, and what I have to say by way of strictures on it 
 may be considered as a confession of personal error, rather 
 than of fault-finding with others. Foreigners who have 
 come to China to devote themselves to business or diplo- 
 macy have made their mistakes; it is not strange, but 
 rather to be expected, that we should make ours. Let us 
 acknowledge them and profit by them. 
 
 2. I am aware that it is [jossiblc to state facts in such a 
 way that the impression given will be a false one, and the 
 conclusions arrived at misleading. It will be my earnest 
 endeavor in the ensuing papers, not only to give facts and 
 honest conclusions therefrom, but to present them in such 
 a way that the impression given will be, if not always an 
 agreeable one, yet strictly true and just. 
 
lO 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHVRCHES 
 
 3. I wish furtlicr to disclaim all assumption of ability tn 
 speak authoritatively on this subject, as though 1 had my- 
 self reached its final solution. Ihe effect of long experi- 
 ence in mission work has been in my case to deepen a sense 
 of incompetency, and to excite wonder in remembering the 
 inconsiderate rashness and self-dependence of a quarter of a 
 century ago. Still, though we may not feel competent to 
 give advice, we may at least give a word of warning. 
 Though we may not have learned what to do in certain 
 cases and under certain circumstances, is it not nuich to 
 have learned what not to do, and to tread cautiously where 
 we do not know the way, and to regard with hesitation and 
 suspicion any preconceived opinion which we know to be 
 of doubtful expediency, esjiecially if it is unauthorized by 
 Scripture teaching and example? 
 
 4. f gladly recognize the fact that the use of other meth- 
 ods, depending to a greater or less extent on paid agents, 
 has in many cases been followed with most happy results; 
 and that to a certain extent tried and proved native agents 
 must be employed. I do not wish to make invidious com- 
 parisons, nuicli less to decide where the happy mean in 
 using a paid agency lies. 
 
 5. Let us bear in mind that the best methods cannot do 
 away with the difficulties in our work which come froiu the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil, but bad methods may multi- 
 ply and intensify them. For unavoidable difficulties we 
 are not responsible; for those which arise from disregarcl 
 of the teachings of Scrijjture and experience we are. 
 
 6. Let us also remember that while in undertaking the 
 momentous task committed to us, we should by the study 
 of the Scriptures, prayer for divine guidance, and compar- 
 ison of our varied views and experiences, seek to know 
 what is the best method of work; still, the best method 
 without the presence of our Master and the Spirit of all 
 Truth will be unavailing. A bad methotl may be so bad as 
 to make it unreasonable to expect God's blessing in con- 
 nection with it; a right and Scriptural method, if we trust 
 in it, as our principal ground of hope, might be followed for 
 a lifetime without any good results. 
 
 With this much by way of introduction, I now propose 
 to consider some objections to the Old Method. 
 
 THE OLD SYSTEM CRITICISED 
 
 Old Method a Natural One. 
 
 II 
 
 I. It is only natural that missionaries should at first seek 
 and employ niany native agents. They are anxious for im- 
 mediate results, and home societies and the home churches 
 are as impatient to hear of results as missionaries are to 
 report them. No connnunications from the field seem so 
 indicative of progress, and are so calculated to call forth 
 conuncndation and generous contributions as the an- 
 nouncement that native laborers have been obtained, and 
 are preaching the gospel. While the missionarv himself is 
 for months or years debarred from evangelistic work by his 
 ignorance of the language, a native agency stands waiting 
 his employ. His circumstances and his wishes add strong 
 emphasis to the oft-repeated truism, " China must be evan- 
 gelized by the Chinese." So urgent seems the necessity to 
 obtain native assistants, that if such as he would like are'not 
 forthcoming, Ije is glad to avail himself of such as he can 
 get. How many of us have thought in connection with 
 some specially interesting inquirer, even before he is bap- 
 tized, " What a capital assistant that man may make." 
 
 2. While the circumstances of the missionary furnish the 
 strongest motives to induce him to multiply native agents 
 as fast as possible, the circumstances of the natives nat- 
 urally and very strongly lead to the same result. The 
 dense population of this country, and the sharp struggle 
 for existence which it necessitates, have developed in the 
 Chinaman a singular aptitude for finding and using ways 
 and means for making a living. The comparatively ex- 
 pensive mode of life, as a rule absolutely necessary for for- 
 eigners, in order to live in China with anv reasonable hope 
 of health and usefulness, naturally suggests the idea to the 
 native that so intimate a relation as that which subsists be- 
 tween a teacher and his disciples will in this case undoubt- 
 edly prove a profitable one. The I^amine Relief work in 
 the northern provinces left the impression that foreigners 
 have money in abundance, and are very ready to give it to 
 those in need; and there are many about us now as much 
 in need as some who received aid during the famine. It is 
 not .strange, but only human, that natives under these cir- 
 ctnnstanccs should see their opportunity and make the most 
 of it. 
 
12 ri.ANTlNG Ol- MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 X,. Willi these strong motives in tlie minds of the mis 
 sioiiaries and natives eonspirinjj; \.o the same result, it is not 
 vvitliont exense that we should have fallen into what 1 now 
 believe is a serious mistake, uttei ty unaware of the danf^'cr 
 and injury to the mission eause whieh ten, twcntv or thirt 
 years of experience liavc diselosed. In tiiis oi)inion I am 
 not alone; and it is a significant fact tliat those who hold it 
 are for the most part persons w ho have had a long experi 
 ence on mission ground. To some, these lessons have 
 come too late to be of nuich service to them individually, 
 but they will be none the less useful to those who are willing 
 to profit by the experiences of others. 
 
 4. I fully recognize the fact that the employment and pay 
 of nati\'c laborers is, under suitable circumstances, legiti 
 mate and desirable, as much so as the employment and pay 
 of foreigners. Mere, however, the important question 
 arise, who shall lie employed, and when and how shall they 
 be employed? These (luestions will come up for consider 
 ation in the course of this series of articles. 
 
 Objections to the Old Method. 
 
 The following are some of the objections to what we 
 have agreed to call the " Old System " : 
 
 I. Making paid agents of new converts affects injurious- 
 ly the stations with w hich they are connected. 
 
 A well-informed and influential man. perhaps the leading 
 spirit in a new station, is one who can be ill-S|)ared. Hi 
 removal may be most disastrous to the station, and he him- 
 self may never find elsewhere such an opportunitv for doing 
 good. I have in mind four persons who about twentv 
 eight years ago gave great promise of usefulness in their 
 homes in connection with our out-stations in Ning-po 
 While working with their hands in their several callings 
 they bore testimony to the truth wherever they went, an<l 
 were exciting great interest in their own neighborhoods, ll 
 was not long, however, before these men were cmplo\e(l, 
 one by one mission, another by another, and the interest 
 Christianity in and about their homes ceased. It is to be 
 lio])ed that they did some good in the positions which thev 
 afterward occupied, but I have not been able to learn of 
 
 THE OLD SYSTEM CRITICISED 
 
 13 
 
 any one of tlieiii, that his after career was a specially useful 
 one. 1 refer to these cases not as unusual and exce|)tional. 
 I could add many others from Che-ehiang and Shan-lung, 
 and [ doubt not that similar instances will occur to the 
 minds of most missionaries who read this jiaper. 
 
 'Hie injury to a station in these cases docs not consist 
 simjily in the loss of the man's influence for good; positive 
 evil is introduced. Envy, jealousy and dis.satisfaction 
 with their lot are very apt to be excited in the minds of 
 those who are left. Others think that thev also should be 
 employed, if not as preachers, as servants, or in some other 
 cajiacity. It would be a less serious matter if this feeling 
 could be confined to the station where it originates, but uii^ 
 fortunately it extends to other places and there produces 
 the .same injurious efTects. The religions interest which 
 passed like a wave over the neighborhood, gives place to 
 another wave of excitement, and the topics of conversation 
 are now place and pay. The man emploved has lost very 
 much the character he bore as a disinterested worker for the 
 spiritual good of others, and is now likely to be regarderl by 
 many as a kind of employ-agent who ought to use his in- 
 fluence to get them places. 
 
 2. Making a paid agent of a new convert often proves an 
 injury to him personally. 
 
 He is placed in a position unfavorable to the development 
 of a strong, healthy, Christian character. Some of these 
 men. originally farmers, shopkeepers, pedlers or laborers 
 in the fields, find themselves advanced to a position for 
 which they are by previous habits and training unsuited. 
 The long gown and the affected scholarlv air are not be- 
 coming to them, and they naturally lose the respect of their 
 neighbors and their influence over them. Men who were 
 self-reliant and aggressive in their original jiositions, now 
 perform their routine labors in a formal and perfunctory 
 manner. Some, on the other hand, are puffed up wth 
 pride and self-conceit, and become arrogant and offensive. 
 Here again I am not theorizing, but speaking from exjieri- 
 cnce, and could nniltiply cases — as I presume most mis- 
 sionaries could — of deterioration of character in both direc- 
 tions above indicated. 
 
 No doubt the employment of some of these men has been 
 
14 
 
 PLANTIMG OF MISSWNARV CHURCHES 
 
 followed by good results, Init it is still a question whether 
 they niiglit not have accomplished more liad thev been left 
 where tlicy were found. Some of them have proved most 
 unsatisfactory to their emjiloycrs, but are retained in their 
 places from year to year, because it seems an injustice to 
 send tlieni back to a mode of life for which they have be- 
 come unfitted. Others have been dismissed from service, 
 and returned to their homes disappointed and aggrieved: 
 while not a few when they have been dropped as enijiloyees 
 have dropped their Christianity, brought reproach upon 
 the cause of Christ, become the enemies of the Church, and 
 given evidence that they were only hirelings — never fit to 
 be enrolled either as preachers or as church members. 
 
 3. The Old System makes it difficult to judge between 
 the true and false, whether as preachers or as church mem- 
 bers. 
 
 That the Chinese are adepts in dissembling, no one who 
 has been long in China will deny. The fact that not a few 
 who were earnest preachers have fallen away when they 
 have ceased to be employed has already been referred to. 
 How many others there are now in employ whose profes- 
 sions are suspended on their pay no one can tell. The Chi- 
 nese are close analysts of character, and know how to adapt 
 themselves to circumstances and individuals. They are 
 less apt to deceive their own people than foreigners, and 
 less apt to deceive others than those by whom they are em- 
 ployed. The desire that the native preacher may prove a 
 true man biases the judgment. Doubtless the man em- 
 ployed is often self-deceived. 
 
 I have had a considerable number of intelligent, and to 
 all appearances sincere Christians, connected with my sta- 
 tions, who fell back and left the Church when they found 
 they were not to be employed. These and a still larger 
 number of inquirers, who learned during the time of their 
 probation that there was very little hope of getting place 
 and pay and fell back before they were baptized, would in 
 all probability, if their desire for employment had been 
 gratified, be found to-day in the Church, sustaining perhaps 
 a fair reputation as preachers or evangelists. 
 
 What lesson are we to learn from these facts and experi- 
 ences? Is it not this, that so long as a free use is made of 
 
 •g ^jmm 
 
 Tl/F. 01. n SYSTEM CRITICISEP 
 
 '5 
 
 new converts a<; paid preachers, we dcjirivc ourselves „f one 
 of tiic most effective means of separating the chaff from the 
 wheat, and of assuring ourselves liiai tlie men we are em- 
 plovmg are what we hope they are, and that we arc not 
 building, or vamly altem])ting to build, on a bad founda- 
 tion. 
 
 4- The Employment System tends to excite a mercenary 
 spirit, and to increase the number of mercenary Christians 
 Of course we fully ac'mit that maiiv paid agents are sin- 
 cere, earnest men and that thev bring into tlie Ciiurch sin- 
 cere and earnest believers, some perhaps who would not 
 otherwise be reached. We are here simply pointing out an 
 evil influence and tendency which are connected with one 
 system and avoided by the other. A man will sometimes 
 be found who will listen to a native preacher, apparently 
 much interested, but knowing and caring very little about 
 what IS said. When he finds an opportunity, he obtains 
 from the preacher, directly or indirectly, a knowledge of 
 what pay he gets and how he obtained his position. This 
 man perhaps becomes a diligent student of the Scriptures 
 and i)asses an excellent examination as a candidate for bap- 
 tism ; but he IS interested in Christianity only as a means to 
 an end. When this mercenary spirit enters a church it 
 has a wonderful self-propagating power and follows the 
 universal law of propagating after its kind. The merce- 
 nary preacher, whether paid or hoping to be paid, as natu- 
 rally draws to himself others of like affinities as a mamiet 
 attracts iron filings. 
 
 In one of the districts of this province there seemed a few 
 years since to be an unusual religious awakening. The in- 
 terest spread from town to town, the number of intjuirers 
 was large, and hundreds of apparently sincere believers 
 were gathered into the Church. It was afterward found 
 that the movement was due largely to mercenary motives 
 of different kinds, both in the pro[)agating agents, and in 
 those who were influenced by them. That district now 
 seems to be struck with a blight. The larger part of those 
 who were received are now cxcommunicatal or under dis- 
 cipline : a very unfavorable impression has been made upon 
 the people generally, and persons sincerely interested in the 
 truth are kept back from seeking a connection with the 
 
i6 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 Clinrcli hy tlie imwortliy examples of its mc'iiil)(,'is. In this 
 district, Sliiii-kiiaiit;, tlicrr is little hope of anything l)ciiig 
 accomijlishcd until after the pinning process has been car- 
 ried still farther, and we can make a new and better bcgin- 
 ning. It is nuicli easier to get unworthy members into the 
 Chnrcli than it is to get them out of it, and very little good 
 can be accomplished while they hang upon it as an incubus. 
 
 5. The Employment System tends to stO|) the voluntary 
 work of im])aid agents. 
 
 The question naturally arises in the mind of the new 
 convert, " If other persons are paid for preaching why 
 should not I be?" Under the influence of jealousy and 
 discontent it is easy to go a step farther and say, " If the 
 missionary is so blind or so unjust as not to see or acknowl- 
 edge my claims to be employed as others are, I will leave 
 the work of spreading Christianity to those wdio are ])aid 
 for it." This again is not an imaginary case but a conuuon 
 ex[)crience. It is evident that the two systems are luutually 
 antagonistic, and whenever an attempt is made to carry 
 them on together, the voluntary system labors under al- 
 most insurmountable difficulties. This is a serious objec- 
 tion to the Old System, that it stands in the way of the 
 other, and makes the success of it well-nigh impossible. 
 
 6. The Old System tends to lower the character and 
 lessen the influence of the missionary enterprise, both in the 
 eyes of foreigners and natives. 
 
 The opprobrious epithet, " Rice Christians," has gained 
 almost universal currency in the East, as expressive of the 
 foreigners' estiiuate of the actual results of missionary 
 work. This unfavorable judgment, formed by those wdio 
 are supposed, as eye-witnesses, to have good grounds for 
 it, finds its way to Christian nations in the West, who sup- 
 port missions, and prejudices the missionary cause in the 
 opinion of those who would otherwise be its sympathetic 
 supporters. It is a serious (piestion how far missionaries 
 arc to blame for this. While we resent as false the sweep- 
 ing generalization which would include all Christians in 
 Cliina. or the larger part of them, in this category, it is 
 worse than useless to ignore the readiness of large classes 
 of Chinamen to Ijecome " Rice Christians," and the diffi- 
 culty of determining who do, and who do not, belong to 
 
 TIIF. oil) SYSTF.M CRITICISED 
 
 17 
 
 this class. We nuist also admit the fact, that not a few 
 of those who have found their way into the Church have 
 proved, after years of trial, to be oidy " Rice Christians." 
 The idea of getting rid of such altogether is undoubtedly 
 a fallacious one. They have been connected with the 
 Church, and ()robably will be, in all lands and in every age. 
 Still, as this rejjroach has resulted largel>- from the fact 
 that hitherto a considerable proportion of native Chris- 
 tians have " eaten the missionary's rice," one effective way 
 for removing the re|)roach is obvious. 
 
 The injurious effects of the paid-agent systeiu on the 
 mass of the Chinese population outside of the Church, are 
 perhaps still greater. The general opinion of the China- 
 man as to the luotive of one of his countrymen in projia- 
 galing a foreign religion, is that it is a mercenary one. 
 When he learns that the native preacher is in fact ])aid by 
 foreigners, he is confirmed in his judgment. What the 
 motive is which actuates the foreign luissionary, a motive 
 so strong that he is willing to waste life and money in what 
 seems a fruitless enterprise, he is left to imagine. The 
 most common explanation is that it is a covert scheme for 
 buying adherents with a view to political movements in- 
 iiuical to the state. Of course it is supposed that no loyal 
 native will have anything to do with such a luovement. If 
 the Chinaiuan is told that this enterprise is prompted by 
 disinterested motives, and intended for the good of his peo- 
 ple, he is incredulous. Simple professions and protesta- 
 tions have little weight with him, in comparison with his 
 own interpretation of facts. Observing that in some of 
 our stations only those who are employed and paid remain 
 firm in their adherence to the foreigner, while not a few' of 
 the others fall back, his opinion is still further confirmed: 
 and he looks on with quiet complacency and rallies his un- 
 successful neighbors on their having fallen behind their 
 competitors in their scramble for money. Here again I 
 am not imagining what may happen in the future, but am 
 stating what has actually occurred. The result is that 
 many well-disposed Chinamen of the belter classes, who 
 might be brought under Christian influences, are repelled, 
 and those who actually find their way into the Church are 
 composed largely of two opposite classes — those whose 
 
i8 
 
 PLANTrNG OF MISSIONARY CIlUnCHES 
 
 lioncsl convictions are so stroiip that tlicy outwcigli and 
 overcome all obstacles, and unworthy persons to whom 
 that feature in mission work which we are controverting is 
 its chief attraction. 
 
 Now we readily admit tliat wliatcvcr course we may 
 take, the C hinese in general will still regard us as foreign 
 emissaries, our religion as a feint and our converts as 
 mercenaries. What we deprecate is, gratuitously furnish- 
 ing what will be regarded as conclusive evidence that these 
 unfavorable oiiinions are well founded. Our enemies are 
 sufficiently formidable without our giving them an unnec- 
 essary advantage. The obstacles which oppose us are 
 sufficiently appalling without our adding to them and in 
 this way postponing the time of final success. 
 
 'l"he above arc some of the princijial objections which 
 may be urged against the paid-agent scheme. We will 
 next consider what we regard as a better and more Script- 
 ural way. 
 
 II 
 
 HOW DEAL WITH NEW CONVERTS? 
 
 The reception of first converts in any niissi(jn is an eirach 
 fruitful (if conse(|uences for good or evil. The course pur- 
 sued at this time will establish precedents, and in a great 
 measure fix the policy and determine the character of the 
 Church of the future. How then shall these first converts 
 be dealt with? To this weighty question the Scriptures 
 furnish us some ready answers. 
 
 Abiding in the Old Calling. 
 
 1. The command of i Cor. vii. 20, " Let each man abide 
 in that calling wherein he was called," is repeated in a dif- 
 ferent form in the twenty-fourth verse of the same chapter, 
 " Brethren, let each man, wherein he was called, therein 
 abide with God." This Apostolic injunction we are fur- 
 ther told was ordained " for all the Churches." It teaches 
 most emphatically that Christianity should not disturb the 
 social relations of its adherents, but requires them to be 
 content with their lot, and to illustrate the Gospel in the 
 spheres of life in wiiich they are called. How many of us 
 have given these passages of Scripture that weight of au- 
 thority which they deserve? How many of us have real- 
 ized that in taking untried Christians out of the positions 
 in which God has called them and making evangelists of 
 them, we may be literally, though unconsciously, opposing 
 a divine purpose. Such a course directly tends to unsettle 
 the minds of new converts and excites the very feelings of 
 restlessness and discontent which this command seems 
 specially designed to prevent. 
 
 2. It may be objected that the literal carrying out of this 
 injunction would prevent missionaries ever employing 
 any native assistants, and would in fact have prevented our 
 
 19 
 
20 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY Clf OUCHES 
 
 coming to China or entering tlie ministry. This objec- 
 tion, so far as it has any weight, lies against the Scripture 
 itself. It may be remarked, however, that all Scripture 
 connnands are limited and conditioned by other Scripture 
 teachings and are to be interpreted by them. This pas- 
 sage does not determine whether a man is to abide where 
 he is called jicrmanently or only tem]iorarily. This is a 
 (|uestion to be left to the future. Special providences af- 
 terward may indicate a further and different divine pur- 
 pose no less clearly. So Paul did not hesitate, when the 
 proper time had come, to remove Timothy from Lystra, 
 and there was no inconsistency in his doing so. 
 
 As for ourselves, we entered the ministry because we be- 
 lieved we had a divine call to it; and the Church has sent 
 us to China because it concurred in this opinion, and con- 
 sidered our characters sufificicntly tested and proved to 
 warrant our being sent forth to preach the Gospel, with a 
 reasonable assurance that we had renounced worldly aims 
 and worldly advantages to give our lives to the service of 
 Christ. All we insist on is that the same principles and 
 the same prudence should be used in dealing with the 
 Chinese. 
 
 3. In determining whether this command to let every 
 man abide in his calling is applicable and binding at jires- 
 cnt, it is undoubtedly legitimate to incpiire whether there 
 may not be special reasons in this present time which over- 
 rule and annul it. I can think of none except such as we 
 may regard as growing out of our special circumstances. 
 For instance, we may liave been praying for laborers for 
 the " great harvest," or more specifically that God would 
 give us a native agent to occupy an important station at 
 
 , and we say: " Is not this the man God has sent for 
 
 this very object?" We should not forget, however, that 
 when this injunction was given there was as great need of 
 workers and as many important places were waiting to be 
 occuiiied as now. 
 
 The object we all have in view is of course to secure the 
 greatest usefulness of the convert, and the greatest good 
 to the common cause. Now if the young Christian seems 
 to have qualifications for making a good evangelist, is he 
 not just the man wanted to develop the work wliere he is? 
 
 now 
 
 DEAL IVITII NEW CONIEHTS? 
 
 21 
 
 And wMll not further experience at home fit him all the 
 better for domg other work to which he may be calle<l in 
 tlie future, when perhaps he may be sj.ared from his station 
 without Us sulfermg in consecpience? God's designs with 
 rdercnce to this man are wiser than ours. Let us wait for 
 tho.se designs to develop, as thev surelv will, and follow 
 carefully as we are led. 
 
 4- Other jiassagcs of Scripture place our dutv in this 
 matter in a still clearer light. " Not a novice, lest being 
 puffed up he fall into the condemnation of the devil " By 
 one rash and unauthorized step we mav inHict an irrepara- 
 ble injury on the person in whom we are .so much inter- 
 ested, and destroy all hopes of his hiture usefulness Again 
 
 l^e not many teachers, my brethren, knowing that we 
 shal receive heavier judgment." This is a warning to 
 \yould-be teachers, and may be applied with etiual force to 
 those who would gratuitously assume the responsibilitv of 
 recommending and employing teachers, without suffic'ient 
 Scriptural grounds for doing so. Again we are taught ■ 
 
 Lay hands hastily on no man, neither be partaker of 
 other men s sins; keep thyself pure." The pertinencv of 
 these passages is too obvious to require lengthened' re- 
 marks. ^ 
 
 Importance of Precedents. 
 
 I. The Chinese are remarkable for their tendency to fol- 
 low a hxed routine, and to be governed by precedents If 
 the hrst convert is soon employed, those' who follow will 
 expect to be also. If the f^rst station is supplied with a 
 chapel, succeeding ones will require the same, and so on 
 indefinitely. As a matter of precedent, the question as to 
 uhcthcr the Gospel shall be first introduced by the instru- 
 mentality of paid or unpaid agents is of such" importance 
 as to deserve very careful attention. Here again we get 
 light from Scripture. Nothing is more strikingly charac- 
 eristic of the missionary methods of the Apostle I'aul than 
 Ills purpose to preach the Gospel freely or " without 
 charge. He gives us very clearly his reason for doing 
 tins. tor yourselves know how ve ought to imitate us- 
 lor we behaved not ourselves di.sorderlv among you- 
 neither did we eat bread for nought at any man's hand' but 
 
22 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CUVKCIIRS 
 
 in labor and travail, worldiig niglit and day, that \vc might 
 not biuden any of you: not because we have not the right, 
 but to make ourselves an ensample mito you, that ye should 
 imitate us. For even when we were with you, this we 
 conunanded you, If any man will not work, neither let 
 him cat. For we hear of some that walk among you dis- 
 orderly, that work not at all, but are busybodies. Now 
 them that arc such \vc command and exhort in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, that with t|uietncss they work, and cat their 
 own brcail." 2 Thess. iii. 7-12. There were in Thessa- 
 lonica and other places in Greece, as there are now in 
 China, idlers, busybodies or disorderly persons, who would 
 fain live without work. From such persons Paul appre- 
 hended great danger to the infant Church ; and he not only 
 denounced them in uns|)aring terms, but determined by 
 his own e.\am[)le to furnish a precedent which would have 
 more weight in establishing a fixed usage in the Church 
 than anything he coidd say. In addressing the Ephesiaii 
 elders he gives the same reason for the course adopted. 
 " Ye yourselves know, that these hands ministered unto 
 my necessities, and to them that were w'ith me. In all 
 things I gave you an example how that so laboring ye 
 ought to help the weak, and to remember the words of tlie 
 Lord Jesus, how he himself said, It is more blessed to give 
 than to receive." Acts xx. 34-35. 
 
 2. The Apostle in the ninth chapter of First Corinthians 
 lays down the general rule that, as a matter of right, the 
 teacher should depend for his temporal support on the 
 taught; still in first introducing the Gospel to a heathen 
 people, he felt it his duty to waive this privilege. The ex- 
 ample which he set was that of a preacher not having his 
 influence curtailed by the susjiicion that he is laboring for 
 pay. While the Church at home has decided that in lands 
 where Christian institutions are established the pastor 
 should depend for his support on his flock and abstain from 
 secular employments, I believe it is best, at least in the first 
 stage of mission work, for the native evangelist to follow 
 Paul's example. Take a man laboring on the plane of his 
 ordinary life as an earnest Christian and make him a paid 
 laborer, and vou deprive him of half bis influence. It may 
 be said that by paying him you enable him to give all his 
 
 now DEAL WITH NEW CONVERTS 'i 
 
 23 
 
 time to evangelistic work. .Still it is a fair (piestion— \ye 
 are now speaking of new converts — whether a man will 
 accomplish more for good in the end by preaching, or by 
 simply living Christianity. The examples that we want 
 are those of men illustrating Christianity during six days 
 of secular work, as well as by one day of .Sai)bath ob- 
 servance. Such men and such women ])resent Christianity 
 in the concrete. They are " cities set on a hill," " epistles 
 known and read of all men." When stations multiply after 
 this type they strike root into the soil. There is life and ag- 
 gressiveness in them. 
 
 3. Some will probably ask, " Why do not missionaries 
 themselves work with their own hands and set the same 
 example that Paul did?" If circumstances were the same, 
 and the course chosen by the Apostle were now practica- 
 ble and would secure the same end that it did in his case, 
 it ought to be adopted, and 1 believe missionaries would 
 adojit it gladly. The reason why we do not is, that doing 
 so m our case would defeat the object aimed at. Our cir- 
 cumstances as foreign tnissionaries in China are different 
 from those of the Apostle Paul in aliuost every particular. 
 He was a Roman citizen in the Roman empire. He la- 
 bored in his native climate; was master of Greek and 
 Hebrew, the two languages required for prosecuting his 
 work; and his physical and intellectual training had been 
 the same as those with whom and for whom he labored. 
 We, in coming to China, are obliged from the first to un- 
 dertake the work of ac(|uiring a spoken and a written lan- 
 guage, both very difticult, taxing mind and body to the 
 utmost, and demanding all our time and energies. We 
 have to submit to the disadvantage and drudgery of learn- 
 ing in comparatively advanced life — so far as we are able 
 to do it — what the Chinaman learns, and what Paul 
 learned, in childhood and early manhood. Besides, for a 
 foreigner to supjMjrt himself in China in competition with 
 natives in anv (lepartment of manual labor is manifestly 
 impracticable, and one attempting to do so would diminish 
 rather than increase his influence. Were it practicable and 
 consistent with duty, how many of us who have a natural 
 taste for mechanics, or agriculture, or business, would 
 gladly spend a portion of our time in these pursuits, rather 
 
24 
 
 PLAATJA'G OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 HOW DEAI. WITH NEW CONVERTS { 
 
 25 
 
 tliaii in llie wearisome work of tlie study. Is it not ol)vi''.Lis 
 that tlie only persons wlio can furnish in Cliina the nuicli 
 ncedeil example of propagating^ Christianity while tlicv 
 lahor w ilii their own hands, are not I'liiro|)eans, but natives 
 laboring for and among their own ])eople? 
 
 4. The im])ortance of trusting at first mainly to volun- 
 tary unpaid agency, or rather to the inlluence of Christian 
 men and women remaining in their original callings, may 
 be further shown by other considerations. It is a preva- 
 lent idea in China that diligent and successful attention to 
 temporal and religious matters at the same tiiue is impos- 
 sible. We often hear the remark from Chinamen, " I am 
 tired of the world and its emplo\nients, and should like to 
 enter the religion," tiie true interpretation of which gen- 
 erally is, that the man would like to avoid work and live on 
 the " Chiao-hui." Another says, " Christianity is good, but 
 I must earn a living for my family." Sometimes this is a 
 mere excuse and sometimes it expresses a man's honest 
 conviction, that an effort to lead a Christian life will inter- 
 fere with his temporal prospects. I believe that nothing 
 is more important to the success of our work than to do 
 away witii this idea, and this can be best accomplished bv 
 living examples showing that a man may be a good Chris- 
 tian and a good farmer or artisan at the same time; or in 
 other words, that " Godliness is profitable for all things, 
 having the promise of the life that now is, and of that w hich 
 is to come." Even voluntary and unpaid preaching is not 
 to be compared for wholesome inlluence to earnest, con- 
 sistent. Christian lives. The secret of the world's evangeli- 
 zation is to be found in the words of our Saviour, " So let 
 your light shine before men, that they may see your good 
 works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven." 
 
 During the last few years I have often found it necessarv 
 to exhort and remonstrate with some of my people in sucli 
 language as the following: " Though it is commendable 
 for you to visit your friends and acquaintances, and to talk 
 to them about Christianity when you have time to do so, 
 you must not neglect your business. Your usefulness as 
 a Christian, the religious interests of your station, and the 
 spread of the (iospel in the neighborhood, depend largely 
 on your success and prosperity in temporal matters. If 
 
 you neglect vour business and run in debt and are obliged 
 to sell one acre of land this ycaf and two the next, you will 
 he a warning to all your neighbors and they will point to 
 vou and sav, ' Ileware of the Christian religion; our friend 
 
 entered it and in a few years he and his family were 
 
 brought to want.' If this is the outcome of your life in 
 lemporal things, all your preaching to your neighbors will 
 <lo little good." 
 
 ^ Some will sav that depending largely upon the volun- 
 tary and mii)aid labor of native Christians for the prop- 
 a-'ation of the Cospel is pre-supposing a larger amount 
 oT zeal and devotion on their part than is found among 
 Christians at home. If this is true, so much the worse 
 for Christians at home. I believe the contrary, however. 
 There is a great arniv of active workers at home, as well 
 as idlers As to voung converts in our country stations, 
 it is a fact that thev are willing t(j do this work and able 
 to do it, and still further that they do it. In the early liis- 
 lorv of the Church, as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles 
 Ch'ristianitv spread chieflv through the voluntary zeal oi 
 ordinary church members, and the work of the Apostles 
 consisted mainlv in superintending and organizing the 
 companies of Christians thus gathered. Their zea was 
 so great that i)ersccution could not repress, but only m- 
 tentihed it. If there is not that zeal and efTort in the 
 Church at home, it is much to be deplored. Perhaps the 
 want of it is due in a great measure to a growing habit of 
 leaving work for Christ to be done by those who are paid 
 for it Where such an idea prevails, whether at home or 
 on missionary ground, it tends to paralyze the power of 
 the Church for good. . 
 
 6 It mav be objected further that this aggressive zeal 
 to which I have referred is due largely to the expectation 
 of being emploved, and that for this reason it is not to be 
 relied upon, since it will decline as the hope of employ- 
 ment diminishes. There is no doubt much truth in this. 
 Shall we then knowinglv and deliberately pander to this 
 mercenary spirit, and, bv continuing to employ new con- 
 verts increase and perpetuate an evil which we deplore? 
 or shall we not rather bv refraining from employing them 
 put a slop to the evil as soon as possible? While, how- 
 
26 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 HOW DEAL ]\Tril NEW CONVERTS? 
 
 27 
 
 ever, without doubt some of tliese voluntary laborers are 
 working with selfisli aims, T believe there are others who 
 work from higher and worthier motives. Let us depend 
 on these, and we shall not be disappointed. Not giving 
 pecuniary eni])loymeut to new converts will probably re- 
 tard our work for a time, at least so far as numl^ers of ad- 
 herents is concerned, but it will promote the work in the 
 end. 
 
 Nature of the Church and Its Development. 
 
 We may get help in learning how to deal with new con- 
 verts and stations by considering the nature of the Church 
 and tlie law of its development. Christianity, whether 
 embodied in tlic individual or in a Church, is the out- 
 growth of a vital principle. In the spiritual as well as 
 vegetable kingdom every vital germ has its own law of 
 life and development, and it is only by following that law 
 that the highest development can be secured. Christianity 
 has been introduced into the world as a plant which will 
 thrive iie.st confronting and contending with all the forces 
 of its environment; not as a feeble exotic which can only 
 live wJien nursed and sheltered. All unnecessary nursing 
 will do it liariu. A pine may be trained into a beautiful 
 antl fantastic shape so as to be an object of interest and 
 curiosity, and may flourish in a way; but it will not tower 
 heavenward as the king of the forest, unless from first to 
 last it is subjected to the various and seemingly adverse 
 influences of scorching sun, biting frost and raging tem- 
 pest. A certain amount of care, and especially the right 
 kind, is necessary; too much or injudicious care is injuri- 
 ous and may be fatal to the life which it is intended to 
 promote. 
 
 Test Necessary before Advancement, 
 
 Young converts should be proved before they are em- 
 ployed and advanced to responsible public positions. It 
 is said of deacons in the third chapter of First Timothy, 
 " Let these also first be proved." The also refers no 
 doubt to the previous qualifications fequired in bishops. 
 These varied qualifications include knowledge, experience, 
 self-culture, spiritual growth, and discipline, all combining 
 
 together to form a stable and reliable basis of character. 
 If deacons and bishops must first be proved, is there not 
 the same necessity for proving preachers and evangelists? 
 There are laws in civilized countries requiring that ill test- 
 ing an anchor-chain or a wire cable it shall be subjected 
 to a strain greater than will be re(|uired in after use before 
 precious treasure and more precious lives are trusted to it. 
 Ordinary prudence, aside from Scripture command, would 
 dictate the still greater necessity of testing the character 
 of a man who is to be used in matters affecting the tenipo- 
 ral and spiritual interests, immediately and prospectively, 
 of perhaps thousands. In the zeal and glow of first con- 
 verts thev are apt, and that unwittingly, to deceive not 
 only us but themselves. By all means let them be proved. 
 How can this be done without leaving them to meet the 
 difficulties and trials incident to the condition in which 
 they are found, and that for a considerable length of time? 
 We have further authoritative teaching from our Saviour 
 himself on this point, especially designed to guard against 
 the dangers resulting from the influence of false teachers. 
 " By their fruits ye shall know them." The outward ap- 
 pearance of a tree may give promise of its being every- 
 thing we could desire, but we cannot be sure of its charac- 
 ter until it bears fruit: for this we may have to wait for 
 years, and even then find ourselves disappointed. 
 
 Necessity of Training. 
 
 Young converts before they are advanced to positions 
 of prominence and responsibility, should also be trained. 
 
 I. The processes of proving and training, though quite 
 different and distinct, are carried on simultaneously, and 
 largely by the same means. This training includes not 
 only study, but work, trial, and perhaps suffering. It 
 should be such as will fit a man to endure hardness as a 
 good soldier of Jesus Christ. A man may be carried 
 through a course of theological training, freed from the 
 struggle of ordinary life bv having all his wants provided 
 for, and yet get verv little of this disciplinary training which 
 is so important. We may think we are helping a man by 
 relieving him of burdens when we are in fact injuring him 
 
28 
 
 ri.ANTING OF MISSrONAKY CirVKCUES 
 
 !)>• iiiUrfcriiif,' witli this training;. IUtc ap;aiii llic element 
 of time is a necessity. We are so apt to l)e in haste — to 
 spur ourselves on to prematme and frnitless cTfort by the 
 consideration of how many souls are perishinp; while we 
 are delaying. After the Apostle Paul was chosen and 
 called, he was kejit waiting nearly ten years before he was 
 commanded to enter upon his special life work. Who will 
 .say that those ten years were not as important as any other 
 |)eriod of his life, or ti'at his after usefulness did not de- 
 ])end on them? Timothy also, by years of active and suc- 
 cessful la!)or at home, obtained a good report of the 
 brethren in Lystra and Derbc, after which he accompa- 
 nied Paul as a helper: and when many years of proving 
 and training were pas.sed, he became l^aul's co-laborer and 
 succes.sor in the work of evangelization and the founding 
 of churches. 
 
 2. If it be further asked. What then is the best w-ay to 
 train men for usefulness in the Church? 1 know of no bet- 
 ter answer, at least for the first stage of preparation, than to 
 repeat the Scripture injunction, " Let every man aiiide in 
 the calling wherein he was called." Nothing else can sujv 
 ply the place of God's providential training in the school of 
 ordinary life and practical exjierience. If God, who has 
 called a man to the fellowship of His Church, has also 
 called him to the work of the ministry. He will manifest His 
 purpose in His own time and way. Meanwhile, we should 
 give these young converts all the instruction, advice, and 
 help which Christian sympathy and prudence suggest. 
 
 now DEAL WITH jXF.Il' CONVERTS? 
 
 29 
 
 verts often left Timothy or Silas or others to spend days t)r 
 weeks in instructing, exhorting, and comforting lliem, and 
 also sent s[)ccial messengers to individual churches to cor- 
 rect abuses and furnish bel]) as occasif)n re<|uired; but we. 
 read in the Acts of the Apostles of no case in which he left 
 any one to slay with them as their resident nnnister. I 
 believe that in failing to follow this Apostolic exami)lc we 
 iiave often checked the devcloi)ment of individual gifts, and 
 self-reliance, and aggressive power in our Churches, mak- 
 ing them weak, inefTicient and dependent from the first. 
 
 In the meantime, in view of the great need of evangelists 
 to enter open fields not yet reached, and of pastors and 
 teachers to care for those are already gathered into the fold, 
 let us heed the solenui injunction of our Lord, "Pray ye 
 therefore the Lord of the harvest that He send forth labor- 
 ers into His harvest." 
 
 Commit Converts to the Lord. 
 
 We should with faith and confidence commit young con- 
 \erts " to the Lord on w liom they believed." This was the 
 course unhesitatingly adopted by the Apostle Paul, and I 
 know of no reason why we should not follow his example. 
 Om- Saviour has promised to lie al\va\s with His peojilc 
 unto the end of the world, and to send the blessed Spirit of 
 all giace to abide with them forever. He will give them by 
 conferring special graces of His Spirit, prophets, teachers, 
 exhorters, helps, and governments, as they are required. 
 Paul on his departure from places where he had made con- 
 
Ill 
 
 ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF STATIONS 
 SHAN-TUNG 
 
 IN CENTRAL 
 
 General View of the Shan tung Work. 
 
 1. Preaching tours formed a proiniiient part of mission 
 work from the first occupation of Slian-tung Ijy I'rotestant 
 missionaries in the year i860. During the years that 
 immediately followed, the whole of eastern Shan-tung was 
 traversed by members of the American Baptist and Presby- 
 terian Missions. In 1866, Rev. C. W. RIatccr and Rev. H. 
 Corbctt made a tour in central Shan-tung for the purpose 
 chiefly of distributing and selling books. This was the first 
 visit ]iaid to Ch'ing-chou Fu and vicinity by Protestant 
 missionaries. It was afterward visited repeatedly by Dr. 
 Williamson and other members of the United Presbyterian 
 Mission of Scotland, and Rev. J. Maclntyre, a member of 
 that mission, resided two years in Wei Hsien, the chief city 
 of the adjacent district on the east. It was also visited from 
 time to time by dififercnt members of the American Pres- 
 byterian mission, and in 1874 and 1875 was included in my 
 regular itinerating tours, made twice a year. 
 
 Rev. Timothy Richard commenced regular work in 
 Ch'ing-chou Fu as a resident missionary in 1875. There 
 were then in that region onl}' two converts, and these were 
 connected with Mr. Corbett. 
 
 Previous to the work of Famine Distribution in the 
 spring of 1877, ^'^^- Richard had gathered about him a little 
 company of inquirers, and I had also a few inquirers in the 
 district of Aii-ch'iu, about forty-five miles S. E. of Ch'ing- 
 chou Fu. 
 
 2. In the spring of 1877, Mr. Richard and Rev. Alfred 
 G. Jones gave all their time and energies to the work of 
 Famine Relief. I took- part in the same work in Kao-yai, 
 a market town in the western extremity of An-ch'iu, and 
 
 30 
 
 i 
 
 GKOWTir OF STATIONS IN SllAN-TVNG 
 
 31 
 
 near the borders of the two other hsicn, Lin-ch'u, and 
 Ch'ang-lo, and continued it about three months until the 
 close of the famine, distributing aid to about 30,000 people, 
 from more than 300 villages. 
 
 The famine relief presented us to the i^eoj^lc in a new and 
 favorable light, and gave a fresh impulse to our work of 
 evangelization. 'i"he establishment of stations may he said 
 to have fairly begun after the famine, though a sjjirit of in- 
 quiry had been awakened before. In the spring of 1879, 
 Mr. Corbett again visited this region and from this time 
 took part in mission work there. 
 
 3. On the main points of mission policy we arc happily 
 nearly of one mind. All these stations jirovide their ow-n 
 houses of worship; none of them are cared for by a resident 
 paid i)reaclier; but in each of them one or more of its own 
 members voluntarily conducts services on Sunday, and at- 
 tends to the general spiritual interests of the little company 
 of believers with whom he is connected, under the superin- 
 tendence of the foreign missionary in cliarge. In all these 
 stations great prominence is given to catechetical teaching, 
 and also to affording special instruction to the leaders, with 
 a view to their teaching others. These form the distin- 
 guishing features of our work, and our main points of 
 agreement. 
 
 4. The Baptist stations have multiplied chiefly through 
 the voluntary labors of impaid Christians, and radiate from 
 the centre at Ch'ing-chou Fu. Their staff of Chinese 
 laborers now consists of a native pastor, who is a Nanking 
 man baptized more than twenty years ago, four evangelists 
 paid by the mission, and two elders paid by the native 
 Christians. 
 
 My work spread from the centre at Kao-yai, almost en- 
 tirely, so far as natives are concerned, through the volun- 
 tary labors of the Chinese Christians. My staff of paid 
 laborers at present consists of two native helpers, supported 
 hitherto partly by the natives and partly by myself. I have 
 from the first used a few others occasionally. 
 
 Mr. Corbett commenced his work with the assistance of 
 church members from older stations. He has used a much 
 larger number of helpers, and his stations are more discon- 
 nected, being found in different districts to which his 
 
32 PLANTING OF M/SS/ONAKV CIJUKCHES 
 
 prcaclicrs and evangelists have been sent. His staff of na- 
 tive laborers consists of about twenty-two paid helpers, and 
 twenty teachers. The latter receive from him on an aver- 
 age about fifteen dollars a year, with what they can get in 
 addition from the natives. 
 
 5. With these general .statements respectmg the whole 
 field, I propose to" give a more detailed account of my own 
 stations and work, with which I am naturally more in- 
 timately acquainted. I presume, however, that in detailing 
 my own exjierience I shall be giving in the main that also of 
 my brethren. When important points of difference occur 
 they will be spoken of m loco. 
 
 Kelations of the Missionary Helpers and Leaders. 
 
 The characteristic feature of our stations is that the prin- 
 cipal care of them is intrusted, not to paid preachers set 
 over them and resident among them, but to leaders belong- 
 ing to the stations. These leaders are simply church mem- 
 bers among church members, pursuing their daily calling 
 as before conversion. They form a very important link in 
 the chain of influences starting from the foreign missionary. 
 Next to the missionary is the native helper, who is generally 
 a well-instructed Christian of some years' experience. He ^ 
 is under the control and direction of the missionary, and 
 acts for him in supplementing his labors and carrying out 
 his instructions. Next to the helper is the leader, through 
 whom principally the helper brings his influence to bear on j 
 the Christians and iiK|uircrs generally. 
 
 Principle Underlying Station Organization. 
 
 I. It is our aim that each man, woman, and child shall be 
 both a learner from some one more advanced, and a teacher 
 of some one less advanced. Theoretically, the missionary 
 does nothing which the helper can do for him, the helper 
 does nothing which the leader can do, and the leader does 
 nothing which he can devolve upou those under him. In 
 this way nnicli time is saved, the gifts of all are utilized and 
 developed, and the station as an organized whole grows in| 
 knowledge, strength, and efificiency. The leader constantly ' 
 
 GROWTir OF STATIONS TN SHAN-TVNG 
 
 33 
 
 superintends, directs, and examines those under him; the 
 lulper directs and examines the leaders and their stations; 
 and the missionary in charge has a general supervision and 
 control of the whole. 
 
 2. It has been my habit to visit the stations regularly 
 twice a year in order to examine carefully into the circum- 
 stances of each one of them and the ])rogress in knowledge 
 and performance of Christian duties of each Christian and 
 iii(|uirer. 
 
 One of my helpers has the charge of nearly forty stations, 
 located in four dififerent districts or hskn, which he visits 
 regularly once every two months. The other helper has the 
 charge of about ten stations and devotes part of his time 
 to evangelistic work outside of them. A few arc without 
 the care of a native helper, and are only visited by the for- 
 eign missionary. 
 
 ,^. The forty stations under one helper are tlivided into 
 seven geographical groups of from four to seven stations 
 each. The helper visits these groups in regular rotation 
 once every two months by appiiintment, spending about a 
 week in each. On Sunday he liQ.lds a general or union ser- 
 vice, leaders and other prominent church members being 
 present. The object aimed at is to make this union service 
 conducted by the helper the model for the leaders to pattern 
 after in their several stations during the seven or eight 
 weeks when they are by themselves. Once in two months 
 when the helper is absent, each of these groups has a sim- 
 ilar union service conducted by the leaders, exercises and 
 persons in charge having been appointed by the helper in 
 advance. 
 
 4. The form of exercise for Sundays, both morning and 
 aflcrnoon, consists of four parts. First, a kind of informal 
 Sniiday-school in which every person present is expected, 
 with the superintendence of the leader and those under him, 
 to prosecute his individual studies, whether learning the 
 Cliinesc character, committing to memory passages of 
 Scripture, telling Scripture stories, or studying the cate- 
 chism or Scripture question books. Second, we have the 
 more formal service of w orsliip, consisting of singing, read- 
 ing of the Scriptures with a few explanations or exhorta- 
 tions, and prayer, the whole occiqiying not more than three 
 
34 
 
 rr.ANTING OF MISSIOMARY CHURCHES 
 
 GROWTH OF STATIONS IiV SUAN-TUNG 
 
 35 
 
 (luartors of an liour. Tliird, \vc liavc the Scripture story 
 exercise. Sonic one previously appointed tells the story; 
 the leader of the meeting then calls on different persons one 
 after another to reproduce it in consecutive parts, and after- 
 ward all ])resent take part in drawing practical lessons and 
 duties from it. There is never time for more than one story, 
 and often that one has to he divided and has two Sun- 
 days given to it. Fourth, if there is time a catechetical 
 exercise follows in which all unite, designed to bring out 
 more clearly the meaning of what they have already learned 
 — as the Lord's Prayer, the Ten Conunandments, select 
 passages of Scripture, some hook of Scripture, or some 
 special subject such as the duty of benevolence, etc. This 
 general order of exercises is modified or varied when the 
 circumstances of a station make it advisable that it should 
 be. 
 
 5. Leaders are sometimes formally selected by their sta- 
 tions. More generally, however, they find themselves in 
 this position as the natural result of providential circum- 
 stances. Ill many cases the leader is the person who origi- 
 nated the station with which he is connected, the other 
 members having been brought into the Church by his 
 instnmientality. These members look up to him as their 
 natural head and teacher, and a strong feeling of gratitude, 
 Christian sympathy, and responsibility grows up spontane- 
 ously. In some cases persons brought in afterward are 
 more gifted or literary tlian the original leader and after a 
 time take his place, or are associated with him as joint lead- 
 ers. In some stations women are the first converts, and 
 even after men have joined them, exert a marked if not the 
 chief influence, and take a prominent part in teaching, ex- 
 hortation, and prayer. 
 
 6. The chapels, with the chapel furniture, are provided 
 by the natives themselves. As a rule they are not separate 
 buildings, but form a part of the ordinary Chinese dwelling 
 house. Often the chapel belongs to the leader. Sometimes 
 it is rented by the Christians, and in a few places it is a new 
 buikling specially erected for the purpose of worship. 
 When this is the case, Christians from other villages assist 
 with their contributions, and I have also gcnerallv con- 
 tributed, to the amount of about one-tenth of the value of 
 
 the building. The cost of these chapels ranges from thirty 
 to one hundred dollars each. There is as yet no chapel the 
 ownership of which is vested in the Church as a whole. 
 Even when a new building is erected, it belongs to the man 
 on whose ground it stands. The fact that the chapels form 
 a part of the 1 rdinary dwelling houses of the people ex- 
 tm])ts the Chri tians, 1 think, from a good deal of prejudice 
 and persecution which is apt to be excited by and directed 
 toward distinctive church buildings. 
 
 Instruction of Inc[uirers and Church Members. 
 
 Perhaps the most important (|uestion which can arise in 
 connection with our country stations is. How shall we most 
 effectually carry out the command of our Saviour, " Feed 
 my sheep," " Feed my lambs." 
 
 1. As has been before indicated, the ])ersons mainly de- 
 pended upon for performing this work are the leaders. In 
 our present circumstances in Shan-tung, no other plan is 
 possible. Where could we obtain native preachers for 
 teaching and superintending the one hundred and fifty sta- 
 tions already established? There are less than a dozen can- 
 didates for the ministry in the whole field. We cannot yet 
 know how many of these will be acce])table to the jjeople, 
 and the nundjer of stations is constantly increasing. Were 
 it desirable to supply each station with a native jireacher we 
 have not the men, and it would not be reasonable to sup- 
 ])ose that we should have at this stage of our work. If we 
 had the men, who would su[)|)ort them? 'The natives at 
 l)resent are too weak to do it, and if the foreign Boards 
 were able to assume this Ijurdeii, their doing so would es- 
 tablish a precedent which would add very much to the diffi- 
 culties of making the native churches independent and self- 
 supporting in the future. 
 
 2. In my opinion we may go a step farther, and say that 
 the introduction of paid teachers in each station, even if it 
 were possible, would not at present be desirable. The lead- 
 ers understand better than a person from a distance could, 
 the individual peculiarities of the neighbors, and also the 
 tones and inflections of the local dialect, local expressions, 
 illustrations, and habits of thought. They are likely to be 
 
3(3 
 
 r I. ANTING OF MlSSrONAKV CHURCHES 
 
 more interested in those about them, most of wliom may be 
 called their own converts, than any one else could be, and 
 are more disposed to give them the care and attention 
 necessary in instructing beginners. In leaching they set an 
 i.'xample to others, a larger number of teachers is thus 
 secured than could be obtained in any other way, and learn- 
 ing antl teaciiing go on togelhcr, the one preparing for the 
 other, and the teaching being an important part of the 
 learning, perhaps quite as useful to the teacher as to the 
 taught. Though the knowledge of the leaders may be 
 elementary and incomplete, they are quite in advance of the 
 other church members and in(|uirers, and what they do 
 know is just what the others need first to learn. The 
 leaders are especially fitted to comnumicate this knowledge, 
 simjily because they are not widely separated in intelligence 
 and sympathy from those who are to be taught. 
 
 3. It must be admitted that in this matter of appointing 
 leaders we meet in the beginning with serious difficulties. 
 Sometimes it is almost impossible to find one. The station 
 contains perhaps not a single person who can read. Even 
 then, however, a modification of our plan is found to work 
 good results in the end. If the weak station is within reach 
 of a stronger, older one, it can obtain help by worshi|3ping 
 with and gaining instruction from it, or by some mendier 
 of the older station coming to spend Sunday with his less 
 advanced and less favored brethren. The helper, too, is ex- 
 pected to give special time and care to these weak stations. 
 There are not a few cases of men, and also of women, who 
 at first could not read, who can now read the Scriptures, 
 teach and lead the singing, and are not only efficient leaders 
 in their own stations but exert a happy influence outside of 
 it. 
 
 4. From the first, we emphasize teaching rather than 
 preaching. I here use the word "preaching" in its specific 
 sense of logical and more or less elaborate dissertation. We 
 should remember that continuous discourse is something 
 which is almost unknown in China. Even educated China- 
 men follow it with difficulty. A carefully prepared sermon 
 I from a trained native preacher or a foreign missionary, 
 / such a sermon as would be admirably suited to an intelli- 
 i gent educated Christian congregation, is out of place in a 
 
 GROWTH OF STATIONS IN SHAN-TUNG 
 
 37 
 
 new station. I'"roni the fact that it is adapted to another 
 kind of congregation, it is by necessary consequence un- 
 ?uitai)le here. An altenii)t at formal preaching by those 
 who have neither the Scri|)tural knowledge nor the intel- 
 lectual and practical training to fit tiieni for it is still more to 
 l)c deprecated. We who are accustomed from childiiood to 
 instruction liy lectures and sermons, iiaturall\ and very 
 l)ro])erly introduce them in the mission centres where we 
 are located; and our personal teachers and pupils trained 
 in our schools become accustomed to them and are profited 
 by them. In the country stations a few of the more ad- 
 vanced Christians may be benefited by a sermon, but to the 
 great body of hearers who most need instruction it would 
 be like listening to utterances in an unknown tongue. This 
 kind of iireaching gives rise in the Church from its very in- 
 fancy to a kind of formalism whicii is almost fatal to growth 
 and progress. The congregation rises, or sits, or kneels as 
 directed, and may maintain a reverent attitude and listen, 
 or have the appearance of listening, to what is said: in a 
 word they have a service and go home with their con- 
 sciences satisfied, but their minds not enlightened. Even 
 the Quaker method of sitting before God in silent medita- 
 tion or mute reverence would be preferable to having the 
 mind distracted by allusions to something they have not 
 heard of, thoughts beyond their reach and processes of 
 reasoning whicli they cannot follow. I am far from saying 
 that no good is accomplished. Those who engage in such 
 a service, as many of them do, feeling that they are offering 
 lioniage and worship to the true God their Heavenly 
 Father, though they may only catch an occasional idea 
 Irom a prayer, or an exhortation, or a sermon, will be bene- 
 fited, and their worship will no doubt be accepted. Most 
 of the persons in our congregations are, as regards their 
 mental development, in the condition of children and have 
 to be treated as such. 
 
 5. But to return to the methods of teaching which we 
 have been led to adopt. All converts at first receive more 
 or less oral instruction and direction from the foreign mis- 
 sionary, or the native helper, or the leader by whom they 
 are brought into the Church. They are required to com- 
 mit to memory and to learn the meaning of a simple 
 
38 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 GROWTH or STATIONS IN SHAN-TUNG 
 
 39 
 
 catccliisni coiilainiiit; a coniiK-iulium of Cliristian doctrine, 
 and also forms of |)i a\cr and |)assa.m-s of Scripture. Durint; 
 tlie peiiod of probation they are ex|)ccte(l to attend services 
 regularly and to perform tlie religious duties of professing 
 Cln-istians. The time of probation has varied from six 
 months — or less in exceptional cases — to one or two years. 
 Our English RajHist brethren have recently increased it, 
 fi.xing the minimnm at eighteen months. 
 
 We have found it necessary, in order to systematize and 
 unify our work-, to establish rules and regulations, which 
 have been put up in the chapels as placards. Most of these, 
 having been adopted by Mr. Corbett and myself, are now 
 embodied in the new edition of the " Manual for Inquirers,'' 
 which is published by the North China Tract Society. This 
 Manual, the Catechism and the Gospels, arc the books 
 which I place in the hands of every inquirer, and little more 
 is needed for 3ears in the way of te.xt-books for those who 
 have not previously learned to read. 
 
 The Manual contains, — General Directions for Prose- 
 cuting Scripture Studies; Forms of Prayer; the Apostles' 
 Creed; and Select Passages of Scripture — to be conmiitted 
 to memory. Then follows a large selection of Scripture 
 stories and parables, with directions as to how they should 
 be recited and explained; only the titles of these are given 
 with references to the place in the P)ible where they are to 
 be found. Next follow: Rules for the Organization and 
 Direction of Stations; Duties of Leaders and I^ules for their 
 Guidance; a system of forms for keeping Station Records 
 of attendance and studies, etc.; Form of Church Covenant; 
 Scripture Lessons for Preparing for Baptism; the same for 
 preparing for the Lord's Supper; Order of Exercises for 
 Church Service and Directions for S])ending Sunday; a 
 short Scripture Catechism — enforcing the duty of giving of 
 our substance for benevolent purposes; and a short essay 
 on the Duty of Every Christian to make known the Gospel 
 to Others. To the whole is appended (|uestions on the 
 various parts, specially prepared to facilitate the teaching 
 and examination of learners. A selection of our most com- 
 mon Hymns is also sometimes bound up with the volume. 
 
 6. Studies prosecuted are divided into six kinds. All 
 church members and inquirers are supposed to be carrying 
 
 on two or three of these at the same time, of which a com- 
 plete record is kc])t. The six kinds of studies are — learn- 
 ing to read, memorizing Scripture, reading Scripture in 
 course, telling Scripture stories, learning the meaning of 
 Scripture, and reviews of former exercises. The books 
 iisecl arc almost exclusively in Mandarin, in the Chinese 
 character. 
 
 7. W'e find Catechisms and Scripture question books of 
 great use, not only for inquirers, but for the more ad- 
 vanced Christians. I give great prominence to learning and 
 reciting Scrijilnre stories and jiarables, and nothing has 
 been found to produce more satisfactory results. It excites 
 interest, develops thought, and furnishes in a simple form a 
 compendium of Bible history and Christian duty; while a 
 careful training in relating Biljle Stories and drawing prac- 
 tical lessons from them is one of the best ways of develop- 
 ing preaching talent wherever it is found. 
 
 8. Scholars as well as the illiterate are required to learn 
 the Manual, not only for their own sakes, but in order to 
 teach others. They soon familiarize themselves with its 
 contents, and pass on to the general study of the Scriptures 
 with the help of conmicntaries. 
 
 Bible or Training Classes. 
 
 The stations of Mr. Corbett and myself are on an aver- 
 age about two hundred miles distant from our home in 
 Chefoo. In visiting them we have only time for necessary 
 examinations, together with general instructions and di- 
 rections. To secure thorough and methodical teaching, no 
 plan has been found practical)!e but that of a select number 
 of the learners coming to us in Chefoo. These have been 
 organized into classes which have formed a kind of Normal 
 School. At first incpiircrs came. Since stations have been 
 established, inquirers in the vicinity of them prepare for 
 baptism at home. 
 
 I. For several years past our classes have been com- 
 posed of the more advanced church members especially 
 selected and invited. They come with the understanding 
 that in going back to their homes they are to communicate 
 what they have learned to others. They are in no sense in 
 
40 
 
 PLANTINC OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 GROWTH OF STATIONS m SHAN-TUNG 
 
 41 
 
 our eiiiplov or pay, ami tlirir jirfvious occupations and re- 
 lations continue as before. As we are absent on our tours in 
 the spriii}; and autmnn, tlie classes asseniljle in C liefoo 
 durint; the sunnner aiul winter months when we arc at 
 home, and continue in session from six weeks to two 
 months. 
 
 2. Ill many cases we have been obliged to pay the travel- 
 ling expenses of members of the classes in returning home, 
 the money they bring with them being as a rule expended 
 before the session is over. During the last few years, how- 
 ever, not a few have jirovidcd their own travelling expenses 
 for both coming and returning. During their stay with us 
 the}' are our guests, we furnishing them with food and 
 lodgings. We have found this course necessary and dc not 
 think it under the circumstances unreasonable. Most of 
 these students are poor and could not afTord to pay all their 
 expenses. Coming as they do requires what is to them a 
 considerable outlay in providing decent clothing and food 
 bv the way. The loss of time in attending the class is also to 
 some a matter of no small importance. Many incur heavy 
 expenses in the course of the year in discharging the duties 
 of Christian hospitalitv in their homes, where they have 
 frequent visits from natives and foreigners; so that in enter- 
 taining them while with us, we are only in part repaying in 
 kind what they have already expended in establishing and 
 extending the work in their own neighborhoods. 
 
 3. The studies while with us arc mainly Scriptural, with 
 additional elementary instruction in astronomy, geography, 
 history, and general knowledge. Here, as in the stations, 
 lessons are carried on catechetically, and what is taught one 
 day is the subject of examination the next. Much attention 
 is also given to rehearsing Scripture stories. One hour a 
 day is assigned to instruction in vocal music, which has 
 been taught for many years, principally by Mrs. Ncvius, 
 who has devoted herself to it with singular assiduity and 
 success. While the classes are with us we give nearly all 
 our time and strength to them. Those who come here with 
 an earnest pur|)ose to learn, enjoy the exercises and are 
 benefited b\- them; those who do not, cannot bear the 
 pressure and soon find an excuse for going home. 
 
 My classes have numbered of late about forty. So far 
 
 as practicalile, the same individuals come vear after year, 
 lliey have gone over the ( iuspcls— some of tlieni re- 
 peatedly—the Acts of the Apostles, Koinans and several of 
 llie other JCpistles, and parts of the Old 'festamcnt. Their 
 proficiency in ScrijUure knowledge will compare favorably 
 with that of intelligent adult classes in Sundav-schools at 
 home. They could sustain a verv creditable examinati(jn 
 oil the Acts of the Apostles, and also on J^omans, master- 
 ing the argument and being able to rei)ro<luce it. Some 
 have written while here so full and clear an analysis of that 
 Epistle that their manuscripts were sought for and cojiied 
 by others who could not come to the class. The hymns 
 ttliich they sing are for the most jiart translations of famil- 
 iar English hymns, in the same meters as the originals, and 
 sung to the same familiar tunes. They are taught losing 
 by note and some of them read music very well. 'Jhey have 
 great difficulty with the half tones, their scale and ours 
 being different. 
 
 4- These classes have almost fulfilled tlieir purpose and 
 will probably soon give place to theological classes, those 
 who have attended them having acquired such a familiarity 
 with the Scriptures as enables them now to carry on their 
 studies at home, with the help of commentaries and other 
 Christian books. 
 
 Results to Station Members. 
 
 The proficiency in Christian knowdedge of the members 
 of these country stations will, I think, bear favorable com- 
 parison with that of the converts cared for bv resident 
 preachers. 
 
 I. The degree of illiteracy of the inhabitants of these 
 rural districts is perhaps .somewhat greater than that of the 
 population of China taken as a wliole. Not more than one 
 out of twenty of the men can read, and not one of a thou- 
 sand of the women. Among our Christians, nearly all the 
 children and most of the adults of both sexes under fifty 
 years of age learn to read. Some have made remarkable 
 progress in the study of the Scriptures. A large proportion 
 of them have committed to memorv the Sermon on the 
 Mount and many other select passages of the Bible. Script- 
 
42 
 
 ri.ANTINC OF Af/SSrONAKV CHURCHES 
 
 HKonrii or staiioxs in siiax-tvng 
 
 43 
 
 lire ideas and ])lirases have eiUeted into tlie lanp;uage o( 
 cverv-day life, reisuns (if athaiu'ed aj^e, lliougii them- 
 selves unable to read, take great pleasure in relating 
 Scripture stories and |)aral)les, and in teaching others less 
 instructed what they have learned. 
 
 2. The mental devcl()])nient of the converts and their en- 
 thusiasm in their studies have in many places attracted tiic 
 attention and excited the wonder of their heathen neigh- 
 bors. In one of our stations there is a literary man named 
 b'u, now over fifty years of age, who has been tt.>tally blind 
 for more than twenty years. He has taught his daughter, a 
 girl of fifteen, to read the liible, she describing the charac- 
 ters as seen, and he telling her the names and meanings of 
 them. She has in this way learned about two thousand 
 characters. Her father has memorized from her lips the 
 gospels of Matthew and John, the Acts of the Apostles, and 
 Romans, and many other jiortions of Scripture. He and 
 other members of his family have taught his sister, Mrs. 
 Kuiig, who is also blind, to repeat nine chapters of Mat- 
 thew, and this Iilind woman has taught her invalid, bed- 
 ridden sister-in-law, Mrs. Wang, to read the Scriptures, 
 by repeating them to her character by character from 
 memory, while her sister-in-law finds out the words on the 
 printed page. 
 
 Manner in which Stations are Propagated. 
 
 Many of the stations in this province originated, as be- 
 fore stated, in the labors of paid agents employed as evan- 
 gelists. When new ones are established, however, they are 
 usually organized under a leader chosen on the plan de- 
 tailed above. The English Baptist stations and my own 
 have for the most part been estalilished without the help ol j 
 paid evangelists. They radiate from self-propagating cen- 
 tres, reminding one of sarmentaceous plants which prop- 
 agate themselves by runners striking root and producing j 
 new plants in the vicinity of the parent stock, the new plants j 
 in their turn repeating the same process. 
 
 I. \\nien a man becomes a Christian the fact is known 
 through the whole circle of his acquaintances, male and 
 female, far and wide. It is generally believed that his mind \ 
 
 has lost its balance. He is shunned fur a time, but before 
 long his friends visit him either from syinjiathy or curiosity. 
 They find him in apjiarently a normal condition and work- 
 ing (juietly in his slui]) or on his farm, and aie curious to 
 know what this new clejiarture means. An opportiuiity is 
 thus afforded of |)rcsenting the claims of Cluisliauily as 
 not the religion of the foreigner l)Ut the true religion for all 
 mankind. The visitor goes home and thinks about the 
 matter and comes again, attends service on Sunday, is in- 
 terested in the truth, makes a profession of Christianity, 
 and in process of time his home becomes a new propagating 
 centre. Stations started in this manner have the advantage 
 of a natural ccnmcctitin with the jiarent station, and they 
 are nourished and sujiporled I)y it until they are strong 
 enough to have the connection severed and live and grow 
 independently. 
 
 2. The Baptist mission, having tried both methods for 
 some years past in the same field, have found that as a rule 
 the stations which have originated as the result of the 
 labors of paid agents have been comparatively weak and 
 unreliable, and some have entirely fallen away, while those 
 which have been commenced on the self-propagating 
 principle have generally maintained a healthy, vigorous 
 growth. Instead of increasing their paid agents as the 
 Miunber of church members has increased, that mission has 
 diminished them nearly one-half. This self-propagating 
 principle often results in the establishment of stations one 
 or two days' journey from the propagating centre. 
 
 3. I have often been asked, " Why do you not employ 
 and pav more native agents? " I reply by another (|ues- 
 tion. Why should I ? The only men I could employ are ex- 
 erting what influence they have for good where they now 
 are. Mv paying them money and transferring them from 
 one place to another would not make them better men nor 
 increase their inlluence. It might have the opposite effect. 
 During the last few years I have in fact frec]uently been in- 
 clined to attempt to enlarge and hasten on the work by se- 
 lecting and emjiloying native agents from my stations, and 
 have requested money appro|)riations from our society to 
 enable me to do so. \\'hen the time has come for carrying 
 out this plan, however, 1 have refrained from taking the 
 
44 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 GROWTH OF STATIONS IN SHAN-TC'NG 
 
 45 
 
 proposed stcj), fcariiif; that it would do more harm tlian 
 good. 
 
 4. I am asked a,!j;aiii, " Do )'ou intciul never to cmplnv 
 native paid ai;ents?" J\Iy reply is, I leave this question to 
 be determined by the circumstances and in the light of the 
 future. If suitable men are found and it is clear that em- 
 ploying them as paid agents would do good, I should he 
 glad to see them employed, and the more of them the 
 better. 
 
 Classes to Which Our Church Members Belong. 
 
 Most of our stations are found in country villages, and in 
 general the Christians may be said to belong to the middle 
 class. Although none of them are what wc should call rich, 
 not a few are "well-to-do" as compared to the majority oi 
 their own people. Many are farmers and day laborers. We 
 have also school-teachers, artisans, peddlers, and innkeep- 
 ers. As a rule men preponderate in numbers, though some 
 churches are composed mostly of women. Sometimes the 
 men are first reached and influence the women of their 
 families to follow them, and sometimes the reverse is the 
 case. The work among the women has in my stations, and 
 in the main in all the others, been carried on without the 
 help of foreign ladies. A few country women have come to 
 Chefoo to receive instruction from Mrs. Nevius. In most 
 places visits of ladies, except the wives of missionaries ac- 
 companying their husbands, would hitherto have been hn- 
 practicablc and, in the opinion of the native Christians, un- 
 desiralile. The common assertion that heathen women 
 cannot be evangelized through the instrumentalitv of men 
 is certainly not universally true in China. Facts prove the 
 contrary. In most places, indeed generally in the interior 
 at a distance from the established central stations, they can 
 hardly be reached and evangelized e.xcept by men. In 
 many of the Shan-tung stations women stand out prom- 
 inently as examples of zeal and proficiency in Christian 
 knowledge. 
 
 Persecution. 
 
 1. 0(i(iositioii and [lersecution have marked the course 
 of our work to a greater or less extent in every district. 
 The authority of tlie family or elan is often invoked to 
 overrule the imlividual in his determination to eiUer the 
 new religion. \'illage elders and trustees of temiiles unite 
 in efTorts to exact from Christians contributions for theatres 
 and the repairs of temples. When native Christians persist 
 ill asserting their i)urpose to follow their own convictions 
 of dutv in oiipiisition to those who think they have both 
 the right and the power to control them, ojien outbreaks 
 ensue, resulting in brutal assaults, housel)urning and in 
 some cases driving Christians from their homes. Native 
 Christians are sometimes arraigned before the local magis- 
 trates on fictitious charges; and when it is found, as at 
 tinies is the case, that the local magistrate is only loo glad 
 to join in the persecution, false accusations become more 
 mimerous, and old law-suits in which the Christians were 
 parties are revived. In these litigations the persecutors 
 have every advantage. There are among them those fannl- 
 iar with all the arts and intricacies of Chinese law-suits, and 
 those who have friends in the ya-iucn and money for brib- 
 ery when it is required. Under these circumstances the 
 Christians have small hope of justice. Charges are brought 
 against them with such a show of plausibility, and such an 
 array of evidence, that officers who are disposed to act 
 justly, as I believe some of them are, may almost be ex- 
 cused for regarding Christians as guilty culprits and treat- 
 ing them accordingly. 
 
 2. In cases of great injustice and abuse, missionaries 
 have taken up the complaints of the native Christians, ap- 
 pealed to their consuls, and in some instances obtained 
 partial redress. It must be acknowledged, however, that 
 we have not invariably elicited correct representations of 
 these cases; and also that, when through the influence of 
 the foreign teachers the tide of fortune has turned in favor 
 of the Christians, they have not always been free from a 
 spirit of revenge and retaliation, r.ittcr and imjust as the 
 treatment has been which our Christians have often re- 
 ceived, it is a growing opinion here that the best weapons 
 
46 
 
 ri.AiV77Xa OF A//SS/O.V,lh-Y (■/fURC//F.S 
 
 with wliicli to imet this (i]i])ositioii arc Christian ])aticnce 
 niid fdrilicaraiicc, and that the surest victory and the one 
 wliicii will lie followed hy tlie l)est results is that of " ovcr- 
 coniiiic; evil with good. " We are less and less disposed to 
 appeal to the civil power on behalf of our people, except in 
 extreme cases. 
 
 Sabbath Observance. 
 
 1. The difTiculty of enforcins^ strict rules of .'-iahhatli ob- 
 servance is not less here than in other parts of China. Our 
 own mission has taken strongs jjround on this subject. We 
 regard the Sabbath, not as a Jewish institution, but an in- 
 stitution for man in all ages wherever found. We believe 
 it lias the same authority as the other commandments of 
 the decalogue; that the obligation to keep one day holy 
 tmto the Lord antedates tiie decalogue, as the duties en- 
 joined in the other commandments do; and that the deca- 
 logue is but the divine reanmuiciation and publication of 
 universal and eternal law. As such we hold that it can 
 never be abrogated, tliat its observance is inseparably con- 
 nected with the prosperity of the Church, and an index of 
 its spiritual state. 
 
 2. In determining how Stmday shall be observed, or in 
 other words, in the interpretation of the fourth conmiand- 
 mcnt, we have an infallil)le guide in the teachings of our 
 Saviour. He has declared that it is lawful and right (l) to 
 do good on the Sabbath day; (2) to perform acts of neces- 
 sity; (,^) of mercy and kindness; (4) to perform work con- 
 r.ected with or necessary to the worship and service of God; 
 (5) that, as the Sabbath was made for man and not man for 
 the Sabbath, this commandment should be so construed as 
 to subserve and not interfere with man's best and highest 
 good. God's revelation of truth and duty is one consistent 
 whole, each part connected with and conditioned by the 
 others. Cases may occur in which one command overrules 
 and supersedes another. The paramount authority and 
 command of God may make it a man's duty under some 
 circumstances to disobey a parent; the civil law or the in- 
 herent right to preserve one's own life against lawless vio- 
 lence, may make it right to destroy human life; and the 
 necessities of war or famine may justify a man in taking 
 
 CKOWril Ol' S-/-A7-/OXS IN SUAN-TIINU 
 
 47 
 
 and using what does not belong to him. So circumstances 
 may justify the |)erformance of (jrdinary labor on the Sab- 
 bath, in which case such lal)or is not to be regarded as ig- 
 noring or breaking the fourth connnandment, but as obey- 
 ing God's will in the exceptional as well as the usual 
 observance of the day. Nothing should be done which the 
 above principles laid down by our Saviour do not warrant. 
 
 3. It is evident that the natural outcome of these princi- 
 ples must be a great diversity of practice, growing out of 
 varied situations and conditions. Jt is evident also that the 
 application of these principles must be left largely to each 
 individual Christian. 1 believe this may safely be done so 
 long as the divine obligation of the command is acknowl- 
 edged. On the graduated scale, representing on one hand 
 actions plainly inadmissible, and on the other, actions as 
 manifestly admissible, there is a wide medium of debatable 
 ground where room must be left for the exercise of indi- 
 vidual liberty and Christian charitv. 
 
 To make the matter more practical. On the side of un- 
 justifiable Sunday labor we may designate that of the 
 farmer who tills his own land and is, or ought to be, the 
 master of his own establishment; or the artisan who works 
 in his own shop with or without employees. In such cases 
 as these we insist on a strict observance of the Sabbath and 
 make a breach of this observance a matter of censure and 
 discipline. 
 
 On the side of justifiable work we designate enforced 
 labor performed on Sunday by slaves, minors, daughters- 
 in-law, etc. 
 
 In our stations the duty of Sabbath observance is gen- 
 erally acknowledged, and I think I may say that there is 
 a manifest hnprovement in public sentiment on this sub- 
 ject. In my own field there is a considerable proportion of 
 the stations in which the observance of the day is gratifying 
 and connnendable; but in a majority of these'stations strict 
 observance is the exception, and a loose and partial one the 
 rule. We hope to see a gradual advancement in this matter 
 as the result, with God's grace and help, of careful Bible 
 teaching and the examples of our more advanced and con- 
 scientious Christians. 
 
 4. It may be objected that insisting on the divine obli- 
 
48 
 
 r I. ANTING OF M/SSniXAKV CI/IKC/IKS 
 
 ■I* r 
 
 gation of Sahhatli observance, and al tlie same time |)ro- 
 vidiiig for tlie relaxing or annniling of these obligations, 
 practically leads to about the sanie result as leaving the 
 whole matter to be determined by individual choice or ex- 
 pediency. It should be remembered, however, that this 
 modification or relaxation is not one of our suggestion, but 
 is specifically laid down by the Lord of the Saljbath Him- 
 self. The practice here advocated provides, too, for the 
 gradual and finally complete introduction of the Sabbath 
 into heathen lands on a basis of divine authority; while 
 the theory that the Sabbath was only a Jewish institution 
 makes the observance of it a matter of choice rather than 
 duty, and condones for its neglect or abuse, which gradu- 
 ally becomes a habit interwoven with social and national 
 customs. Under one theory, so far as this cjuestion is con- 
 cerned, the Church is like a ship at turn of title drifting in 
 different directions in obedience to the temporary inllu- 
 ences of wind and tide, but still lujlding fast to her anchor 
 and destined to settle soon in a fixed position; under the 
 other theory she is without anchor anil drifting hopelessly. 
 
 Discipline. 
 
 1. We regard the administration of discipline as indis- 
 pensable to the growth and prosperity of our work, and at- 
 tention to it claims a large portion of our time and 
 thoughts. \\'ith the use of our Record Book, the assistance 
 of our leaders and helpers and information obtained from 
 other sources, the difficulty in gaining a knowledge of the 
 real state of things is not so great as might at first be sup- 
 posed. 
 
 2. The proportion of those who have been exeomniuni- 
 cated on account of scandalous offences is comparatively 
 small. The great majority of them, perhaps as many as 
 eighty per cent., are cases of gradual and at last complete 
 neglect of Christian duties, commencing with giving up 
 iiible study, disregard of the Sabbath and neglect of pub- 
 lic worship. It now ap()ears that most of these persons 
 entered the Church witliout a clear apprehension of what 
 Christianity, theoretical and practicaf, is. Their motives 
 seem to have been to obtain a place as a preacher or ser- 
 
 CKOn rif Ol- STATIONS IN SIIAN-TUNG 
 
 49 
 
 vant, or pecuniary aid in other wa\s, or to get help in 
 law-suits, actual or anticipated — all these motives being 
 connected no doubt with the sincere conviction that Chris- 
 tianity is true and a desire to share in the spiritual bless- 
 ings which it confers. They were also ignorant of the diffi- 
 culties and trials connecteil with a Christian |)rofession, 
 and so when they met with opposition and iiersecution 
 they fell away. 
 
 3. We administer disci])line as directed by the .Scrijitures 
 and generally practiced by Christian churches at home: 
 first, by exhortation and admonition, followed if necessary 
 by a formal trial and suspension ; and after a period of sus- 
 pension varying from a few months to one or two years, in 
 failure of reformation, by excommunication. 
 
 4. The whole number of adult baptisms in my own field 
 during the last seven years has been about one thousand. 
 The projiortion of excommunicated persons is about twen- 
 ty per cent, of the whole, and more than half of them have 
 been from the one hskn, Shiu-kuang, where there were for 
 a time numerous accessions under a good deal of excite- 
 ment. In the other four hskn, the proportion of excommu- 
 nicated persons as compared to the whole number of con- 
 verts is about ten per cent. While there has been this fall- 
 ing away in individuals, there has been a comparatively 
 slight loss of stations, nearly all having left in them a few 
 earnest men; so that the ])laces where there have been most 
 excommunications are really stronger and more promising 
 than when they had more names on the roll. No station 
 has as yet been entiiely given up. It is feared, however, 
 that we shall soon have to give up four, three of them in 
 the district of .Shiu-kuang. 
 
 5. Cases of discipline have diminished considcrablv dur- 
 ing the last year, and we hope the number may be much 
 curtailed in the future by avoiding some of the causes which 
 iiave led to them. \'er\ few excommunicated persons have 
 returned to us. Very few have become enemies and open 
 opposers. Most are indifferent, some soured and disap- 
 pointed. Many of them retain strong sympathy with the 
 Cliurcli and continue to attend services. In every case, so 
 far as I know, the administration of discipline has been sus- 
 tained by public opinion in the Church and outside of it, 
 
so 
 
 rLANriNC, or M/ss/ox.ih'v curia irr.s 
 
 and the effect of discipline has been decidedly good. I be- 
 lieve the neglect of it would soon restilt in checking the 
 growth and perhaps extinguishing the life of the Church. 
 
 6. It has been objected to tiiis plan of conducting sta- 
 tions that with the niissionar)- living so far away from 
 them, and the new converts left so much to themselves, it is 
 impossible for him to know what is occurring, and the dif- 
 ficulties of finding out and correcting abuses and irregu- 
 larities must be greatly increased. There is weight in this 
 objection; but, in my opinion, the flifificulties are much less 
 than might be imagineil and the advantages of the stations 
 being left to themselves far outweigh the disadvantages. 
 The lielpcr is able to find out (piite as much about the sta- 
 tions as the missionary could if he were constantly living 
 among them. While there may be motives at work in- 
 fluencing church members to conceal important facts from 
 the missionary and also from tlie helper, there are other 
 motives which work strongly in the opposite direction. Ir- 
 regularities or improprieties on the part of an individual or 
 a party in the Church are very likely to be reported on the 
 first opportunity by another individual or party. Should a 
 whole station l)e interested in concealing something which 
 ought to be l<nown, some adjoining station, or people out- 
 side the Church, will probably be foiuid ready to give the 
 requisite information. Our main dependence, however, is 
 on the honesty and integrity of the leaders and the church 
 members, especially on tlie fact that the station is theirs 
 and not the missionary's, and that they, rather than lie, are 
 the ones who arc chiefly interested in correcting abuses. 
 The fact that they do not depend upon the missionary for 
 pecuniary support, which eliminates the strongest motive 
 for concealment or deception, is a matter of much greater 
 importance than the proximity or distance of the mission- 
 ary. Many facts will prove that where there is a motive to 
 deceive, the daily presence and supervision of the mission- 
 ary is no sure guarantee against concealment and decep- 
 tion being carried on during a long course of years. 
 
 GKOH'Tll Ol- STATIONS IN SHAN-TUNG 
 
 Contributions, 
 
 51 
 
 In contributions we have not accomplished what we 
 ought. This matter has been constantlv kept before the 
 Christians, and special books and placards treating of this 
 subject have been prepared fur IJicm and studied by them. 
 \ good beginning has been made in ways which i't is not 
 easy to tabulate and publish in public reports. Chapels 
 have been built and furnished; a good deal has been done 
 especially by those who are connected with chaiiels in en- 
 tertaining and instructing iiK|uirers; voluntary labor in 
 evangelizing the " regions beyond " has been carried on to 
 a considerable extent; and poor church members have 
 been assisted. In addition to this, most of the stations have 
 Riven a contribution through the foreign missionary once 
 or twice a year, varying in amount from one to three or 
 four dollars or more, which has been applied hitherto to 
 paying the expenses of the hel]iers. Om Christians need 
 further instruction as to the duty of giving and more pres- 
 sure to induce them to give, and also to have ])laced before 
 them objects suited to draw out their svmpathies. The 
 example of other missions has been very helpful to us. 
 
 Schools. 
 
 The opinions and policy of the missionaries here as to 
 schools vary considerably, and the course to be taken in 
 the future is not yet fixed. There are but few places where 
 the native Christians are strong enough in numbers and 
 wealth to support schools of their own. One member of 
 our mission is trying the experiment of helping countrv 
 (lay schools, paying about one dollar a year for each i)upii. 
 This help is furnished on the conditions that the schools 
 have Christian teachers, that the [)upils learn Christian 
 books, and are subject to the examination and control of 
 the foreign missionary and his helper. A similar plan has 
 been adopted to some extent by the English Baptist mis- 
 sionaries. 
 
 For myself I have not been successful with this plan. I 
 am helping three day schools this year to the amount of 
 from five to eight dollars to each school. These are started 
 

 52 
 
 I'LANTING or MlSSlOiVAKY CHURCHES 
 
 n 
 
 1 + ^ 
 
 
 by the natives who api)lie(l to me for assistance. In eacli 
 of tiicni, I am (lis])osi(l lo tliink tlial a prominent, if not tlu' 
 chief motive, is to provide a support for tlie teacher, who 
 otherwise would have no source of income. 
 
 So far no i)lan for sciiools has seemed to me so practi- 
 cable and satisfactor}' in its results as that of making sta- 
 tions themselves a kind of training school for all their mem- 
 bers. A great deal may be accomplished by systematic 
 teaching on Sunday and also employing leisure months ami 
 days in study. 
 
 The plan of a free day school during the winter months, 
 when the farmers have little to do, suggested and adopted 
 last winter in one of the stations, has interested me greatly 
 and I should like very much to see it or something similar 
 generally adojited. 
 
 Men Employed and Incidental Expenses. 
 
 1. From the more than eight hundred churcli members 
 in my stations, I have at present in my own employ two 
 men, viz., one helper, who receives five thousand ca.';li 
 ($4.67) per month, and one servant. The other helper is 
 from one of the older stations. Besides these, there are 
 the following men from my stations in the employ of other 
 missionaries, viz., two teachers, three helpers, and six ser- 
 vants, making the whole number employed and paid by for- 
 eigners thirteen. 
 
 2. Besides these, I have for several years supported from 
 private funds a young man from a wealthy family who has 
 been driven from his home by violent and continued per- 
 secution. His expenses are from fifty to seventy dollars a 
 year. I-fe is now studying medicine and doing a good med- 
 ical and evangelistic work in and about his home. lie will, 
 I hoi)e, soon be independent and require no further help. 
 
 3. The amount expended for providing food for the Bi- 
 ble classes at Chefoo composed of leaders from the stations 
 has been about one hundred dollars a year. By tabulating 
 the above and other items we have the following as the en- 
 tire expense for my stations for the past year, 1885, aside 
 from the salary and itinerating expenses of the foreign niis- 
 sionarv: 
 
 (;A-Olt 77/ OF STATIOA'S IN SIIAN-TUNG 53 
 
 Salary of two helpers. $1 12.TO 
 
 Aid to one medical stu.lcnl 6; 00 
 
 ^:''''^ .'-"''■'^ses : ^^^ 
 
 Lonlnbnlions to three day schools 18.00 
 
 Contrii)u(ions towards building chapels. 14 60 
 
 Occasional preaching tours jc.go 
 
 Helj) in cases of persecution \^.\% 
 
 Total $298.58 
 
 About one-half of this sum total is supplied by the mis- 
 sion. The above will jjresent a fair average of expenses and 
 the number of men employed from vear to year. It does 
 not mclude private assistance given to the poor, amounting 
 during the past year to about fortv dollars. In 1884 I had 
 an additional helper, and in 1883 two additional ones— 
 both from the college at Teng-chou Fu. ] expect to have 
 for the coming year, 1886, but one paid helper. 
 
 Summary and Forecast. 
 
 The foregoing statements will give, 1 think, a correct 
 general idea of the character and condition of these stations 
 at present. They are marked bv the same weaknesses and 
 defects which are found in a greater or less degree in 
 churches everywhere, and which we should expect^o find 
 in converts just emerging from the darkness of heathenism 
 who are still surrounded bv heathen influences and only 
 imperfectly emancipated from old heathen habits In 
 every respect they fall short of the Christian ideal and the 
 ideal of the plan on which we are working. I am glad to 
 be able to say, however, that the evidences of vitalitv and 
 growth are more and more ai)parent cverv vear; that in- 
 dividual Christians are advancing in knowledge and spirit- 
 uality; that the stations are in the main giving evidence of 
 stabdity and promise of pcrmanencv; and that they are 
 gaming a good report from those whiD are without. 
 
 What the future of these stations will be we cannot know. 
 In view of the dangers to which thev are exposed and the 
 disappointing resuhs which have so often marked the his- 
 
54 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIOXAKY CIU'RCIIES 
 
 tory of missionary enterprises iii Cliina, we can only " re- 
 joice witli Irenthlint;." ( Hir Iio|h' is in llic continned pres- 
 ence and i)icssin^ of our Divine Master. VVc rejoice that 
 this vine of God's (ilanting is strikinic its roots into tiie na- 
 tive soil, and we heheve that witli (lod's blessing it will con- 
 tinue to grow and spread wide its branches and bring forth 
 fruit to His glory. 
 
 ORGANIZATION 
 
 IV 
 
 OF STATIONS, 
 I'ROSl'l':CTlVE 
 
 PRESENT AND 
 
 Varying Views Concerning Church Organization. 
 
 1. The (jucstion, What is the liest mode of organization 
 for native converts in new stations? scarcely enters the 
 mind on one's first arrival in China. Most of us are satis- 
 fied that the mode adopted by that branch of the Church 
 with which we are severally coimccted is the best ; that it is, 
 if not the one specially enjoined by .Scrijitm'e authority, at 
 least the one most in harmony with Scripture teachings, 
 and fully sanctioned by practical experience. Moreover, 
 it is the one with the working of which we are individually 
 most familiar and into the practice of which we naturally 
 and unquestioningly fall. If we are unable to adopt it at 
 once, it is a matter of regret and we are anxious to put it 
 into o)3eration as soon as possible. 
 
 2. When the missionary, associated with co-laborers of 
 (lifTerent nationalities and church connections, looks at the 
 question of organization from the stand-point of mission 
 work on heathen ground, it assumes new aspects, and a few 
 years experience and observation will probably efTect a 
 considerable modification of views. He soon finds tiiat 
 missionaries of different tlenominations ignore in a meas- 
 ure for the time being their several systems and, in the first 
 stage of their work, agree in the main in a new plan which 
 all have adopted under the force of circumstances. He 
 sees com()anies of Christians placed under the care of un- 
 official religious teachers, and native evangelists preaching 
 in unevangelized districts, while there are as yet no or- 
 ganized churches, and perhaps no bishops, elders, or dea- 
 cons, nor even candidates for the ministry; — only mission- 
 aries, and native preachers having the names of " helpers," 
 
 55 
 
 ^mmmm 
 
56 
 
 ri.Aj\'r/xa of missio.varv c//l'kcjies 
 
 " catechists," " native assistants," " colporteurs," " Bible 
 agents," or " cvanpjelists." In places where stations have 
 reached a more advanced stage of development, requiring 
 some sort of organization, missionaries are sometimes led 
 bv personal pmclivities and local circumstances to the 
 adoption of metiiods (|uite aside from their previous ante- 
 cedents. Not long since in a conference at Chefoo of mis- 
 sionaries from different parts of China, it was discovered 
 tliat an Indejicndent was carrying on his work on Presby- 
 terian principles, " because they suited best in his field; " 
 in the methods of another Independent from a difTerent 
 province the jirelatical element predominated, while a Pres- 
 Ijvterian was found working on a plan which had very little 
 of Presl^yteriauism in it, but a singular blending of 
 Methodism, Independency, and Prelacy. 
 
 3. What lessons are we to learn from these facts? Is it 
 not this, that practical exi)erience seems to point to the con- 
 clusion that present forms of church organization in the 
 West are not to be, at least without some modification, our 
 guides in the founding of infant churches in a heathen land? 
 If it be asked, W hat then is to be our guide? I answer. The 
 teachings of the New Testament. If it be further asked, 
 Are we to infer, then. th;it all the forms of church organiza- 
 tion in the \\'est arc at variance w ith !-lcri|iture teaching? I 
 answer, By no means. A plan of organization in England 
 or America may be very different from one adopted in 
 China, and both though different may be equally Scriptu- 
 ral; and one of tlicni may be suited to the home church 
 and one to a mission station, just because they are different. 
 
 The all-im])ortant (piestion is. What do the Scriptures 
 teach respecting church organization? Do they lay down 
 a system with fixed and un\arying rules and usages, to be 
 observed at all times and under all circumstances? or a 
 system based on general principles, purposely flexible and 
 readily adapting itself, under the guidance of God's Spirit 
 and providence and conuiion sense, to all the conditions in 
 which the Church can l)e placed? I believe the latter is the 
 true supposition. The same conclusion might be inferred 
 from the fact that, while the doctrines of Christianity, which 
 are obviouslv and by connnon consent regarded as funda- 
 mental and essential, arc taught in the Scriptures specifi- 
 
 S/-AT/OXS PRESF.NT AiYP VKOSriiCTllU 
 
 57 
 
 cally, elaborately and repeatedly, there is no portion of 
 .Scripture where a comi)lete and detailed system of church 
 government is presented or referred to. It may be said, 
 and very truly, that God might reveal to us a complete and 
 authoritative system of church government, infercntially 
 as well as explicitly. Had he done so, however, would 
 there not have been a general agreement with regard to 
 these teachings as there is with regard to Christian doc- 
 trine? 
 
 1 believe that the distinctive principles which underlie 
 (he different systems of church organization j^revailing in 
 the \V'est are all Scriptural. The jirinciple of the authcjrity 
 and responsibility of individual believers in matters relating 
 to the conduct of the Church is a very prominent part rjf the 
 teaching of the New Testament. The imp(jrtance of ap- 
 j)ointing elders, or Ijishops, as authoritative leaders and 
 riders in the Church is taught no less clearly. The Script- 
 ural sanction for the appointment, at least in the early his- 
 tory of the Church, of superintendents or overseers, hav- 
 ing the charge and care of many associated churches with 
 their elders and deacons, is no less evident. The degree of 
 prominence or ])roportionate use of these different prin 
 ciples or elements of church organization mav varv in- 
 detuiilely according to the condition and rei|uiremenls of 
 the church. This theory ]irovides for constant change and 
 modification suited to the stage of the church's develop- 
 ment, the character of its members and its conditions and 
 surroundings. 
 
 If I mistake not, diversity and gradual progression in the 
 application of these principles is distinctly traceable in the 
 New Testament. Tlie Gospels and the earlier part of the 
 Acts of the Apostles indicate a very simple form of organi- 
 zation, or no pronounced form ; and the latter part of the 
 Acts, with the Epistles, shows a more complete system 
 gradually developed from previously established germinal 
 principles. Constant development and change in divergent 
 directions mark the whole course of ecclesiastical history 
 from the Apostolic period to the present time. How far 
 these developments liave been Scriptural, or in accordance 
 with the leadings of God's Spirit, and promotive of the best 
 interests of the Church, it does not fall within the province 
 
 "TS???^ 
 
58 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 of these letters to inquire. May \vc not, however, raise the 
 general Cjuestioii as to whether the present forms of church 
 govennnent are not severally characterized by the special 
 development of some one clement (o the exclusion of others 
 which should siip])lcmcnt and modify it, presenting ab- 
 normal and disproportionate growths, each Scriptural in its 
 dominating idea, but unscriptinal in its human narrow- 
 ness? 
 
 4. Another question arises in this connection of great 
 importance. In our present position of missionaries repre- 
 senting different branches of the Church, closely related to 
 one another in a connnon work, our methods simple and 
 presenting many points of agreement, and our difTercnt 
 systems of organization in a rudimental imdeveloped state, 
 should we not make use of our opportunity to avoid as far 
 as possible in the future the divergences which impair the 
 unity and efficiency of the Church at home, retaining and 
 perpetuating a degree of uniformity and co-operation 
 which in western lands seems impracticable? Is it not our 
 duty to do this? Would it not be in accordance with the 
 express teachings of our Saviour and also with the wishes 
 of most of those whom we represent? Would it not have 
 a decided influence for good on the home churches? 
 
 5. On the supposition that present forms of church or- 
 ganization are adapted to secure the best spiritual interests 
 of the Church in tlie West, the presumption is that in cer- 
 tain respects they are for that very reason not adapted to 
 the wants of mission churches in China. What circum- 
 stances could differ more witlely than those of churches 
 wiiich are the development of centuries or a millennium of 
 Christian culture, and those just emerging from heathen- 
 ism? 
 
 Scripture Teachings as to the Best System for China. 
 
 The question recurs. What may we learn from the Scrip- 
 tures as to the best system of organization and supervision 
 for the Church in China at the present time? 
 
 I. The extension of the Church must depend mainly on 
 the godly lives and voluntary activities of its members. 
 
 In early times, as a result of ordinary business and social 
 
 STATIONS TRHSENI' AXn I-ROSPECIIVI-: 
 
 59 
 
 intercourse and the aggressive zeal of the early Christians, 
 Christianity found its way to Cyprus, Syria, Cilicia and 
 Egypt, and as far west as Rome. The disciples went every- 
 where ])reaching the Word. A great advance had been 
 made before the Apostle Paul was called from his home by 
 Ijarnai)as to assist and strengthen the disciples already 
 gathered at Anlioch. Wherever he went afterwards in his 
 work of establishing churches in new fields, he obtained 
 from the believers gathered into the Church numerous 
 voluntary helpers and coadjutors, both men and women. 
 
 1 can find no authority in the Scriptures, either in specific 
 teaching or Apostolic example, for the practice so common 
 iiowailays, of seeking out and employing ])aid agents as 
 preachers. At the time when Paul commenced his public 
 ministry, the churches established in Syria and Cilicia 
 might iio doubt have furnished a large number of such 
 persons, if they had been wanted. It may be said that there 
 were no missionary boards at that time and that the Church 
 was too weak to undertake such an enterprise. This ex- 
 planation, however, does not meet the case. Paul did not 
 hesitate to call upon the churches for contributions when 
 they were needed. He evidently thought them able to give 
 and that it was their privilege and an advantage to them- 
 selves to give, and they did contribute freely when they 
 were asked to do so. 
 
 The evils resulting from employing new converts as paid 
 agents for preaching the Gospel have been referred to in 
 previous pages. What wt wish to emjihasize here is that 
 such a course is without precedent in the P.ible. The mem- 
 bers of the early Church were all witness-bearers. Such we 
 must teach our church members to be; and without such 
 an agency as our main dependence, we have little reason 
 to expect the Gospel to prevail in China. 
 
 2. Elders must be " appointed in every city." This duty 
 is enforced in Scripture, both by precejjt and example. 
 Missionaries have not been backward in carrying out this 
 injimction. It is possible that we have erred in the oppo- 
 site direction. While elders should be ordained as soon as 
 practicable, we should not forget that the qualifications of 
 elders are minutely laid down in the Scriptures: and to 
 choose and ordain men to this office without the requisite 
 
6o 
 
 riANTlNG OF AI/SSIOiVAKV CIUKCIIES 
 
 (inalifications is in fact goinp contrary to, rallicr than obey- 
 ing the Scri])tincs. If suitable cklcrs arc not to be fonnd, 
 we slionld wait for tlieni, however long a waiting may be 
 re(|uirc(l. 
 
 The Apostolic usage of ordaining ciders soon after their 
 reception into the Church, under circumstances very dif- 
 ferent from ours in China, is apt to mislead us. The work 
 of the Apostles in heathen lands commenced for the most 
 part in the synagogues of the Jews resident in those lands. 
 Even in such places as Lystra, where there seems to have 
 been no synagogue, there were Jewish families and their 
 inflncnce had been felt by the native population. Among 
 the first converts to Christianity were both Jews and Jewisli 
 proselytes who for generations had been freed from the 
 thraldom of idolatry. They were sincere worshippers of 
 Jehovah, familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures and 
 waiting for the long promised Messiah. From such per- 
 sons the first elders of the Christian Church were no doubt 
 lai'gely drawn. It is not strange that, as a rule, we in China 
 have to wait for years before Christians of the same intel- 
 ligence and stability of character can lie had. Our experi- 
 ence in this matter in Shan-tung is worth relating. 
 
 Twenty years ago our mission in considering tliis subject 
 reasoned on this wise: We are Presbyterians, and our 
 churches should be organized from the first on Presbyte- 
 rian principles. If we caimot get men for elders as well 
 (|ualificd as we should like, we must take the best men we 
 can find, men who seem sincere and earnest Christians, and 
 who mav develop in character and ability to fulfil the duties 
 of elders by having the duties and responsibilities of this 
 office laid upon them. With these views and expectations 
 several churches were formally and constitutionally or- 
 ganized. It was found, however, in not a small proportion 
 of cases that the elders did not, or could not, perform their 
 official duties, and were an obstruction to any one else at- 
 tempting to do so. They were placed in a false position, 
 injurious to themselves and the churches of which they had 
 the nominal charge. Some were hardly al)le to sustain the 
 character of an ordinary church member and others were in 
 the course of a few years exconnnunicatcd. We then took 
 action as a Presbytery, determining that' elders should not 
 
 SVA/'/OiVS 
 
 rKESIuyr A A'/) ri<OSPI:CTlVr. 
 
 6 1 
 
 hi' appnintc.l unlc.ss their .|uali(lcations conformed in some 
 good degree to those rec|uired in Scripl.ne. Perhaps we 
 
 In central Shan-lung no church has as yet been organ- 
 ized wuh nal.ve elders, though sonu- of our stations hale 
 md an existence w.th from ten to twentv and more ch cl 
 members for a penod of seven or eight n ears. We are op 
 ■ng very soon to ordain elders in some of Ihese stations „ 
 tl e mean nne the ea.lers are unofficiallv perfornung ,nan • 
 
 appoi ttd. 1 he nussionary or evangelist in charge trans- 
 acts all miportant business by consultation with the whole 
 company of native Christians or Iheir leaders. Tec 
 Christians or eaders have only advisorv power, the au- 
 thority of decH ing questions being vested .solely in the mis- 
 sionary. It IS Ins aim to instruct and train leading church 
 members in the management of church business, devolving 
 It on them as they are able to undertake it, thus fitting th.m 
 
 s soon as possible for assuming the care of (he churches al- 
 together. The missionary keeps a record of these meetines 
 following in almost all particulars the or.linary form of ses- 
 sion records, and this rqwrt is presented to the Presbytery 
 for examination and revision. Many of our present leaders 
 v;fl .nail probability, after they have been fully trained and 
 ined, become our first elders. We have found in the ex- 
 perience of the past eight years much reason for thankful- 
 ness that we did not ordain elders at an earlier period 
 
 3. Our nnssion churches under the charge of elders are 
 possessed of a Scriptural organization without the addition 
 a paid pastor such as is found in most of our western 
 ciuirches; and the appointing of such a pastor might prove 
 injurious rather than advantageous ' 
 
 In enlarging on this point I will .piote the language of 
 
 } W- '^^■■"'^'•■'y professor in the Theological .Semi- 
 
 ary at Allegheny, Pa. It has special weight as coini,,!. 
 
 from one who is not only a highly esteemed theological 
 
 acher m our Church, but has been for years a missionary 
 n India and has the advantage of large experience and ob- 
 ervat.on of mission matters. The quotations are taken 
 from an article in the " Catholic Presbyterian," November 
 'f^/Q- page 347. Dr. Kellogg says: 
 
62 
 
 rLANTINC OF MISSIONARY CIIVKCITES 
 
 ;'M 
 
 ■ 
 
 ■•; '), 
 
 i!, 
 
 " VVc fear tlicrc is icasf)ii to think that our missionaries 
 Iiavc often been in too nnich liastc to introduce- tlie one- 
 man pastorate of the European and American clnirches, 
 and tliat the {growth of a church bearing tlie true indivicKiai 
 character of the jiarticnlar jicople or race has been thereby 
 seriously retarded. I'lxed in the conviction that the primi- 
 tive form of C'hurcli (government was l^resbyterian, men 
 Iiave api)arently jum[)ed to tlie concUtsioii that therefore 
 the present form of I'rcsbytcriaiiism is the primitive and 
 Apostohc arrangement, — a point, we may venture to af- 
 firm, wliich has not yet been estabhshed, nor is likely soon 
 to be. Under this belief they have not only felt that if they 
 established churches they must give them a Presbyterian 
 form of government — in which they Iiave been right — but 
 that it must be that particular form of development of Pres- 
 byterian principles which has obtained among ourselves; 
 wherein, as it seems to us, they have been as clearly wrong. 
 For to take any one of our full-grown ecclesiastical systems 
 and attempt to set it nj) bodily in our heathen fields, regard- 
 less of the widely differing conditions of the case, is, we 
 submit, a great mistake. ... In too many instances, the 
 course pursued has proved a mistake by its practical work- 
 ing. ... 
 
 " But, it is asked with some confidence. What is the mis- 
 sionary to do? Shall we leave the young church without a 
 pastor? We ask in reply, Where in the New Testament is 
 there any intimation that the Apostles ordained pastors, in 
 the modern sense of that word, over the churches which 
 they formed? We read over and again of their ordaining 
 " elders " in every church, and that, having done so, they 
 left them and went elsewhere. Where is there the slightest 
 .hint that, at this early period, any one from among these 
 elders was singled out and appointed by Paul to a position 
 like that of the modern minister or pastor of a church, or 
 that until such an officer was found they did not dare to 
 leave the church? " 
 
 4. The appointment of elders should not interfere witli,j 
 the voluntary activities of church members. Rather than 
 encourage such an idea I should postpone their appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 We are taught that, when our Saviour ascended on high, 
 
 STATnuVS I'RESENT AND mosrECTrVE 
 
 63 
 
 _ lie led captivity captive. an<l gave gifts unto men " 
 And he gave some to be apostles; and some , o he s" 
 and some, evange ,.sts; and sou.c, pastors and teac r " 
 Elsewhere we read of " exhorters," ' workers of n frac e!'" 
 speakers of tongues," " interpreters of tonguci' " he „ '" 
 and goyer.munts," " f,nfts of healing," an '' no er to 
 cast out devds." May we not confideu ly expect S?at the 
 .vme Spu-.t udl also confer .special gifts u,S he Gmh 
 of he present, perhaps not the .same as a first bu Sft 
 sn. cd o our tunes and circun.stances as those cf e^rK 
 Church were to theirs? And shotdd not our method of 
 church organ,za|iou bo such as to give the free t cope to 
 tlie exercise of all special gifts conferred? ^ 
 
 earu'cimiH, ?,'7"'^'^'.,"'^t "' "'c gifts conferred on the 
 
 eai y Lhuich elders are not mduded. Mav it not be 
 
 I a this IS because the " gifts " are special and va b ' 
 
 In e the office of elder is fixed and permanent? It is n t 
 the function of the elder or overseer as such to assume i 
 undertake wholly or mainly the work of the CI "h 
 o encourage, direct, an.l assist all believers in the cxe^c c 
 and development of their special gifts as members of the 
 one sp,nt„a, body of Christ ; to set\n example of work ng 
 or all to imitate; to be leaders and capta ns in Qiri t? 
 army, ruhng, instructing, and directing those uWe 
 under their authority and care ose wno are 
 
 I am disposed to think that the tendency to make work- 
 
 'uSn oV n c/r"? '"■'"'-^- "f °ffi-'-'--s alone r"tler 
 an of al Christians, |s introduced bv missionaries from 
 the Church at home. There is a prevailing disposition 
 
 N^ 1 as m the Romish Church, to an all-pervading spirit o 
 ccclesiasticsm. Ihe Church is regarded as an organiza- 
 tion under the direction and superintendence of its^'ro, er 
 officer or officers, whose function it is, for and on behal of 
 .Is members and the ecclesiastical judicatory over then, to 
 undertake and administer all clu/rch matters. A cl mch 
 men,ber has a ,|uieling sense of having discharged his 
 du y I he has con.nbuted generotisly Towards iSiillli, g 
 a suitable church edifice and the supj,ort of a preacher is 
 always found ,n his place as a worshij.per, and attends to 
 tlie prescribed ntes and observances of the Church. ThS 
 
64 
 
 ri.ANTIh'C, OF M/SS/OiVARy CHURCHES 
 
 spirit, wliercver it is found, tends to formalism both in the 
 clergv and tlie laity. W'iiilc it is far too prtvaleiit, and it 
 is to he feared fjrowintjly so, vvc may well rejoice that it is 
 by no means nniveisal. There are not a few churches in 
 which the main work of the jiastor is to keep all under 
 him at work. In such chinches you will find individual 
 growth and church growth, joy in God's service and in- 
 fluences for good extending to the ends of the earth. 
 
 Mav we not regard the religious activities which have 
 during the present generation sprung up outside the 
 Church, such as those connected with the Moody and 
 Sankey work. Young Men's Christian Associations, also 
 new methods for reaching the masses recently adopted in 
 the English Church, and even the " Salvation Army," as 
 legitimate protests and healthy reactions against the ten- 
 dency wdiicli we are reprobating. Let us not, by allowing 
 our chinch members to think that their chief duty is to 
 contribute money to the supjiort of their |iastor and attend 
 religious services, reproduce iicre in China one of the most 
 reprehensible features of the Church at home. 
 
 5. Paid or salaried agents should only be added as the 
 people want them and can supjjort them. 
 
 Here we meet with the imjjortant Scriptural principle 
 that teachers in the Church should look for help in tem- 
 poral matters to those whom they teach. Many advan- 
 tages spring from this relation of mutual dependence. As 
 the pastor gives his time and energies to his people and 
 watches for their souls as one who shall give account, his 
 people naturally accept from him not only instruction but 
 admonition and rejiroof. The fact that he depends upon 
 them wholly or in part for his support gives to them a 
 reasonable claim upon his services, and to him a strong 
 motive for the diligent and conscientious performance of 
 his duties. When the native jtastor is supported by the 
 Foreign Board the advantages growing out of this mutual 
 dependence between jiastor and people are lost, and a one- 
 sided and unnatural relation is introduced of ])eople and 
 pastor depending on foreign aid, which works evil rather 
 than good. 
 
 The experience of the London Mission in Anioy is 
 worthy of notice in this connection. In the year 1868 a 
 
 STATlOh'S VRESENT AND rROSPECTIVE 
 
 0$ 
 
 debt of $100,000 made it necessary for the foreign society 
 to retrench and the native churches were forced, with great 
 
 pasors. I hat financial cnsis is now, I believe, looked 
 back o as a providential blessing. It developed the 
 strength independence and self-respect of the native Chris- 
 t.an.s an,l was the beginning of a new era of progress Is 
 It not probable that there are other stations aiul other de- 
 partments o mission work from which the witlulrawal of 
 foreign funds would i-rove in the end a blessing rather 
 than a misfortune? *' 
 
 It does not follow from this principle of nuitual depend- 
 ence that the native pastor must neces.sarily receive a 
 regular salary and full support from those to whom he 
 ministers ; the wisdom of the London Mission in insist- 
 ing that they should, in the case above referred to may 
 possibly be questioned. In the early history of a station 
 it may not be either neces.sary or desirable for the preach- 
 er or pastor to depend entirely on his flock for support 
 or to devote his whole time to their spiritual care and over- 
 sight. In the early history of the United States and at 
 present m the new settlements, the minister spent and still 
 spends no inconsiderable portion of his time in secular 
 labor lor the maintenance of himself and family Existine 
 circumstances, both at home and on the mission field may 
 make it desirable for the good of tJic church and usefulness 
 of the pastor that he sliould take the same course The 
 relation of mutual dependence and responsibility between 
 tlie teacher and the taught may be fully expressed and the 
 advantages arising from that relation secured bv difi-crent 
 ' cgrces of help, according to the needs of the minister and 
 the ability of his people. 
 
 6. The evils connected with the appointment and sup- 
 port of native pastors by foreign societies are such as to 
 demand further consideration. 
 
 The same desire to stimulate and advance the work 
 prompts the employment of paid evangelists in opening 
 new fields and of paid preachers afterwards. The eflfect in 
 )otIi cases is, I believe, in the end the opposite of that in- 
 tended. In the former case the injury to the cause devel- 
 ops earlier; in the latter it is entailed on future workers and 
 
66 
 
 rj.ANTING OF AI/SS/ONA/n- CHURCHES 
 
 }; 
 
 H; 
 
 goes down to successive generations. Here again I can- 
 not do better than to quote further the language of Dr. 
 Kellogg. In speaking of the importance of not employ- 
 ing and paying native pastors from the funds of foreign 
 boards, he says: 
 
 "This plan [that of organizing churches without pas- 
 tors in the modern sense of that term] would also meet 
 the vexatious, and — as it has proved in sonic missions that 
 we could name — the hitherto insoluble problem of the 
 sup])ort of a native pastor. The pecuniary question has 
 been one of the main difficulties, thus far, in the establish- 
 ment of independent churches in our foreign mission fields. 
 It is plain that if a man be set apart to give his whole time 
 to the pastoral care of a church, he is rightfully entitled 
 to a full sup])ort. But where is this to be raised? Most of 
 these young churches in India, China and Africa are very 
 poor. Fix the slipeiul as low as we will, they are not able 
 to pay it. Shall the Church in America or Europe supple- 
 ment their contributions? This is often done, and to the 
 inexperienced might seem a very simple and excellent 
 solution of the ilifficulty; but, in fact, with this arrange- 
 ment, difficulties only multiply. For example, what shall 
 be the salary? If, as has often been done, it is fixed at a 
 point much higher than the average income of the people, 
 this works great mischief. It elevates the pastor unduly 
 above the average condition of the people of his church. 
 It degrades the ministry by making the pastorate an object 
 of ambition to covetous and unworthy men. It makes the 
 church, in many cases, despair, from the first, of reaching 
 the position of self-support. A moderate salary they might 
 in time hope to be able to pay of themselves; a higli salary 
 they, with good reason, look upon as unattainable. We 
 affirm, without fear of contradiction, that no one thing has 
 more effectively hindered the development of independent, 
 self-sustaining native churches in many foreign fields, than 
 the high salaries which, with mistaken wisdom, are paid to 
 many of the native jiastors and helpers from the treasuries 
 of the home churches. Shall we then give a low salary? 
 We shall not thereby escape serious difficulty. Men edu- 
 cated even as pastors commonly are in heathen fields feel 
 that they are justly entitled to more: and when they hear 
 
 ST AT I ON. % PRESENT AND PROSrECTIVE 
 
 67 
 
 of the hundreds of thousands which the churches at home 
 contribute for the support of the ( iosjiel and which are 
 supposed to be at the disposal of the missionary, they will 
 not and do not generally take kindly to the refusal to pay 
 at a high figure. In this way sad alienations often occur 
 between the foi 'ign missionary and his native helpers. In 
 some parts of Northern India, in jjarticular, this uniia])i)y 
 state of things is (juite well known and formed the subject 
 of earnest discussion at the Lahore and Allahabad con- 
 ferences.* 
 
 " It appears to the writer that the root of all this trouble 
 lies in the direction indicated. Have we not been trying 
 to establish a form of Church government and organiza- 
 tion, which, however well adapted to us, and however 
 Scriptural in |)rinciple, is in advance of the jjosition of the 
 majority of our foreign mission churches? And is not this 
 the real significance of these trying experiences in the mat- 
 ter of the native pastorate? On the ai)ostolic plan of 
 Church organization there would evidently be no room for 
 trouble of this sort. Here and there, indeed, upon our mis- 
 sion fields, there may be a native church which, in wealth, 
 intelligence and members is ready for the one-man pas- 
 torate; but we believe that, for the great majoritv of 
 churches, which are weak and poor, the original Presbv- 
 terian system of rulership and instruction liy a plural elder- 
 ship is the one form which is adapted to tlieir need. The 
 other will no doubt come in due time, but we act most un- 
 wisely in attempting to force it prematurely." 
 
 It may be urged as a further objection against the early 
 appointment of native pastors over each church, that the 
 assumption of such a burden by a weak station while ill 
 able to bear it renders it impossible for it to do what it 
 ought, and otherwise could and would do, for others, and 
 induces in its members a fixed habit of planning and labor- 
 ing only for themselves. The sin of selfishness belongs to 
 churches as well as individuals, and it always bears bitter 
 fruit. We should guard against it from the first, teaching 
 young converts that " there is that scattereth and yet in- 
 creaseth;" that "it is more blessed to give than to re- 
 
 * The Presbyterian Board has met with precisely the same difficulty in 
 Persia. 
 
68 
 
 PLANTING or MISSIONARY CI/UKCIIES 
 
 ceive," and " that those who water others shall be watered 
 themselves." The first contributions of the early Chris- 
 tians which wc read of in the New Testament were for 
 others and not for themselves. 
 
 Experience Proves the Wisdom of Scripture Teachings. 
 
 Theories are very apt to mislead us; our safest guide is 
 practical experience. Though our work in Shan-tung is 
 still in its infancy, it will throw light on some questions of 
 great importance. 
 
 1. It has been proved that the extension of country 
 work anil the establishment of new stations are practicable 
 without paid [ireachcrs. The more tlian sixty stations un- 
 der my care have been connnenced within eight years 
 almost exclusively through the voluntary efforts of inijiaid 
 church members. My helpers, who have never been at 
 any one time more than four, have only followed up, fos- 
 tered and directed the work begun by unpaid Christians. 
 
 2. These stations do not now need pecuniary aid from 
 foreigners, and such aid would in my opinion do more 
 harm than good. The leaders in charge, under the super- 
 intendence of the helper, arc, I think, caring for the stations 
 as well as they could be cared for under the circumstances. 
 If the plan should be adopted of providing paid preachers 
 for eacli station, they would of necessity have to be chosen 
 from the leaders, as there is not a sufficient supply of sucii 
 men elsewhere. Paying them for their work would not 
 increase their influence, but rather diminish it and would, 
 no doubt, excite envy and dissatisfaction among the un- 
 employed. Besides, the characters of these leaders are not 
 sufficiently tested to warrant their being used in that way. 
 The natives would, I think, be unwilling to make such a 
 selection. If it should be attempted, they would probably 
 divide into parties influenced by personal motives, and the 
 result would be great harm to the leaders and to the 
 Church. Any cliange at present would in my opinion be 
 preinature and injurious, and we can only wait for future 
 developtnents and Divine guidance. 
 
 3. These stations are not only able to provide for their 
 own wants, with the superintendence which is given them, 
 
 STATIONS PRESENT AND PROSTECTIl E 
 
 69 
 
 but could and (in,i;ht to (In iiuK li fnr the propagation of the 
 Cospel in the regions beyond. They might easily con- 
 tribute five hundred dollars a year. These Christians for- 
 merly contributed for idnlatrous i)urp<ises prnliablv double 
 that amount; and if each church member sliould give one- 
 tenth of his or her income, the yearly contribution for be- 
 nevolent objects would not be less than two thousand dol- 
 lars a year. As it is. they do not contribute one hundred 
 and fifty dollars for benevolent purposes, aside froin the 
 necessary expenses of keejiing up their own chapels. These 
 facts show a manifest failure in duty on the part both of 
 the foreign missionary and the converts. 
 
 The causes of this failure are various. First and fore- 
 most, no doubt, is the want of a cultivated habit of system- 
 atic giving. Another reason is the failure to set before the 
 native Christians suitable objects to which they should 
 contribute. Here perhaps the principal fault of the mis- 
 sionary lies. Having no pressing need for money m the 
 conduct of these stations, and there being great danger to 
 the natives in boarding and manipulating money kept for 
 future use, it was feared that an objectless contribution of 
 money might only be a means of temptation and do harm. 
 Last autumn the Christians in one of the hsicn occupied by 
 my stations, subscribed about sixty dollars for employing 
 a helper to devote his whole time specially to that hsicn 
 and would, I think, have paid it cheerfully, if the right man 
 could have been found; but neither they nor I could ob- 
 tain a man whose gifts and qualifications, as compared to 
 those already in charge, were such as to make hini desir- 
 able. . 
 
 During the last few vears I have urged the stations to 
 contribute to the support of the helpers, as the most natural 
 and available object which could be presented to them 
 They have done so to some extent, but the plan has not 
 worked well. Thev have very naturally regarded the help- 
 ers as my men and not theirs, since they are chosen and 
 directed by me in the carrving out of my plans. Not only 
 have they shown a disinclination to contribute to their sup- 
 port but the helpers also are averse to receiving aid from 
 then'i I have been disposed to press the point against 
 them but during the past year have come to the conclu- 
 
 mm 
 
70 
 
 PLANTING or nr/SSrONAKV IIII'RCUF.S 
 
 sion that the instincts of the natives aie ])t'riia])s riglit, and 
 that my plan has been unnatural and impracticable. Here 
 again we are led back by experience to the teachings of 
 Scripture; as the Apostle Paul ])rovided not only for his 
 own wants, but also for those who were witli hiiu, and ap- 
 pealed to the churches to acknowledge the fact that none 
 whom he iiad sent to them had received jiav from thetu. 
 
 Rev. J. H. Laughlin is now assisting nie in my country 
 work and will, I trust, soon take entire charge of it. We 
 are this autunui (1885) endeavoring to inaugurate the fol- 
 lowing plan from which we hope for good results: The 
 Christians comprised within the bounds of each district or 
 portion of each district, are to choose for themselves two 
 men to go out as their representatives and, supported by 
 them, to work for the evangelization of new districts. No 
 change is to be made for the jiresent in the relations and 
 ordinary occupations of the men so used. They are to be 
 away from their homes two months in the autumn and two 
 in the spring, the times when both they and the people 
 generally are at leisure and the weather is most favoralile 
 for travelling, and when absent are not to receive a salary, 
 but only a sum to cover travelling expenses. We hope 
 that in this way aggressive zeal and a habit of giving will be 
 developed; that much may be accomplished in the way of 
 evangelistic work; that tlie reflex influence on the stations 
 may be helpful; and that from the persons selected year by 
 year, men may be found who, after the necessary testing 
 and sifting, may be advanced to more important and re- 
 sponsible positions in the future. 
 
 BEGINNING WORK 
 
 What has been written thus far presupposes a state of 
 thuigs m which there are native Christians to be organized 
 ml(j stations. We will next consider <iuestions relating to 
 work in new fields where there are neither stations nor in- 
 (piirers. 
 
 To missionaries beginning such a work, without native 
 converts or inquirers and without a knowledge of the lan- 
 guage, many questions arise of the hrst importance. As 
 the beginnings contain the seeds of future growth and de- 
 velopment both for good and for evil, every step should be 
 taken with deliberation and praver. In' addressing my 
 younger brethren, I take it for granted that they will not 
 be unwilling that I should use a considerable degree of 
 freedom in detailing my own observations and experiences. 
 
 The Study of the Language. 
 
 I. It may well be a matter of congratulation that the 
 newly arrived missionary is exempt for the first year or 
 two from the pressure and responsibility of dcciduig the 
 many questions of mission policy upon which he nmst 
 form an opinion at a later period. Whatever department 
 of work he may devote himself to in the future, there is no 
 room for doubt that his first duty is to give his time and 
 energies to the thorough acquisition of the language as a 
 necessary prerequisite to uschilness in work of any kind. 
 For this it is of the greatest advantage to be free, as far as 
 possible, from cares and intcrrujitions of every description. 
 
 2. It is very desirable to obtain the occasional assistance 
 of some foreigner well versed in the language in guarding 
 against mistakes which are almost sure to be made in pro- 
 nunciation, aspirates and idioms. None of these should 
 be neglected. It is well to know from the first that the ear 
 
 "I 
 
72 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 m 
 
 has to be trained, as well as the vocal organs, and that in 
 discriminating and determining the sounds of the Chinese 
 language one's own senses are not to be depended u])on. 
 It often ha|)i)ens, as two or three persons listen to the same 
 vocal utterance, that each hears it difTercntly, according to 
 his iiidi\i(lual habit or preconception. Of course all can- 
 not be right. Where acknowledged authorities agree, if 
 the learner follows his own ear in opposition to them, he 
 will probably go astray in ninety-nine cases out of a hun- 
 dred. Where authorities differ, it will generally be on 
 comparatively unimportant points and it will be a matter 
 of little consec|uence whether you follow one or the other. 
 
 3. Even the sounds of an intelligent native accurately 
 heard and reproduced are not as sure a guide as a thor- 
 oughly elaborated and consistent classification of sounds 
 like that found in Williams' Dictionary or Wade's Syl- 
 labary, or the dictionaries and phrase books representing 
 the southern dialects of China. Variations of individual 
 teachers from the standard pronunciation will probably be 
 fotmd to be localisms or personal peculiarities. The sys- 
 tems of pronunciation referred to are the result of the con- 
 sensus of opinion of many foreigners, who may be regarded 
 as experts, and of numerous trained natives, during a suc- 
 cession of many years or generations. A person may 
 choose between Wade's system and Williams' in accord- 
 ance with his purpose to speak the ])ure Peking Mandarin 
 or a more general Mandarin. Either system is excellent 
 and the differences between them are practically of little 
 importance. They are much less than exist between the 
 languages of many Chinese officials who can converse with 
 one another without difficulty. 
 
 4. While it is no doubt desirable sooner or later to be- 
 come acquainted with localisms, it is perhaps better at first 
 to master the standard form of the dialect spoken, whether 
 the Mandarin or any of the southern dialects. Localisms 
 will be easily and almost unconsciously accjuired after- 
 wards as they are needed. Taking this course will secure 
 a man's being generally intelligible; while those with 
 whom he is constantly associated in his home, where his 
 dialect may not be spoken in its purest form, will prefer 
 to hear hiiu speak without localisms. rather than with them 
 
 BEGINNING WORK- 
 
 n 
 
 and will imderstand him almost if not (juite as well. By 
 adopting this course, church members would gradually 
 become acquainted with and he able to use the standard 
 form of their dialect, and thus indirectly the diffusion of 
 Christianity would i)roinote uniformity in the language of 
 the people and as a necessary consequence facilitate gen- 
 eral intercourse. 
 
 5. A young missionary in acquiring the language should 
 eagerly avail himself of all the " helps "' at his command. 
 Phrase books, granmiars, dictionaries, a careful and well- 
 trained native teacher, and the assistance and criticism of 
 some foreigner are all important. 
 
 6. The native teacher should be made to understand 
 that giving satisfaction to his employer and retaining his 
 place depend on his laying aside Chinese ideas of defer- 
 ence and politeness, so far as they would prevent his cor- 
 recting the same mistake of his foreign employer fifty 
 times, if necessary, as it probably will be. It is a fact as 
 common as it is unfortunate, that a teacher .sometimes 
 learns foreignized or individualized Chinese of the for- 
 eigner, who is led to sui)pose from the ease with which he 
 is able to conmumicate with his teacher, that he is making 
 rapid progress in the acquisition of the language, while he 
 has unconsciously been playing a game with the Chinese 
 teacher of " give and take." The result of this process is a 
 kind of compromise between the English and the Chinese 
 languages, made up of Chinese words with an admixture 
 to a greater or less degree of foreign idioms, proiumcia- 
 tions, inflections, emphasis and aspirates, or want of as- 
 pirates. The extreme result of a similar process is found 
 in the " Pidgin English." 
 
 7. Frequent changes in methods of study are sometimes 
 desirable in order to break up monotony and avoid weari- 
 ness. Each individual will learn by experience the par- 
 ticular way of prosecuting his studies which suits him best. 
 Most persons find that from one to three hours a day with 
 a Chinese teacher in getting correct sounds from his lips, 
 are as much as can be spent profitably at first. The great 
 work, that of memorizing words and sentences, can be 
 done better quietly by one's self. When a good beginning 
 has been made in pronunciation, tones and aspirates, only 
 
74 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 the occasional help of a foreigner is required. In the 
 course of frfini six months to a year, most ])ersons will find 
 it very helpful to spend a good deal of time mainly or ex- 
 clusively with natives, so as to force themselves to speak 
 Chinese. At this period, a tour into the country or living 
 for a time in the country without a foreigner, making a 
 companion of one's personal teacher or a native preacher, 
 is very useful. 
 
 In the course of a year or more, when one is able to con- 
 verse with sonic freedom, it is generally desirable to change 
 the teacher, as facility of communication with him will be 
 partly the result, and that imavoidably, of a mutual adapta- 
 tion to each other. A change of teachers, or talking a good 
 deal with natives generally, will enlarge the learner's vo- 
 cabulary and show him how far he has got on in acquiring 
 the language as spoken by the people. With all the helps 
 which can be obtained a man must depend mainly on 
 regular, persistent, hard study. If he has a natural gift 
 for languages it will of course be invaluable, but even this 
 must not be trusted to as the chief dependence. 
 
 8. In the course of two or three years or more, the mis- 
 sionary may form a permanent or general plan of study 
 for his lifetime. Some think it best to confine their atten- 
 tion to the Chinese spoken language and regard an attempt 
 to learn the written language or ~arn-li — with probably a 
 very imperfect and unsatisfactory result — a useless waste of 
 time, which might better be spent in mastering the ver- 
 nacular and fitting themselves for effective preaching. 
 One might indeed in this way save much time and also 
 find a sphere of great usefulness, as a large proportion of 
 the population of China is only acquainted with the spoken 
 language. To reach all classes, however, and especially the 
 influential classes, the knowledge of the zirn-Ii is of im- 
 mense advantage. It may be acquired in connection with 
 a great deal of other work, if the study of it is prosecuted 
 methodically and persistently and the missionary avoids 
 burdening Iiimself with so much and so many kinds of 
 work as to make it impossible. I should strongly recom- 
 mend from the first a regular exercise in writing charac- 
 ters and in memorizing select passages of the Classics. 
 
 BEGINNING WORK- 
 
 75 
 
 Beginning Direct Missionary Work. 
 
 I. Here, if 1 mistake not, we are apt to be too hasty. 
 After years of preparation at Ikjuic we are anxious to 
 begin our life work at once. We hardly realize that aside 
 from the study of the language other special preparation 
 for tiie work in-fore us is still necessarv. If a man has 
 come from home designated to a particular department of 
 woik, or the exigencies of his field on his arrival consti- 
 tute a call to some special work, the case is quite dilTcrent. 
 If there is no such call, I should, as a rule, advise him to 
 keep clear from the responsibilities and distractions of an 
 iiuieiiendent personal work, for three, four or more years. 
 One ought not to alUnv himself to be troubled with the 
 thought that he is iiolding back and not taking !iis full 
 share of labor, or with the fear that he may lay iiimself 
 open to such imputations from others. I rec'onmicnd this 
 plan as the best course for securing the greatest useful- 
 ness. In the meantime, while the young missionary mav 
 not be able to point to any tangible results of work'of his 
 own, he may have the satisfaction of doing good from the 
 first and that in many ways. He may bring a cheering 
 gleam of sunshine from the home-land to those who are 
 worn and weary and pcriiaps disheartened i)y the pressure 
 of accumulated and exhausting toil. In leisure hours he 
 can relieve other missionaries of some kinds of secular 
 uork which he can probably do as well as they, leaving 
 them free to devote more time to work for which' a knowl- 
 edge of the language is a necessity. In a godly, imstlfish, 
 Christ-like walk, he may produce deep and lasting impres- 
 sions for good, both on natives and foreigners, infore he 
 can begin to speak in the native language. As he advances 
 in his knowledge of Chinese he can help his brethren in 
 many ways, such as chapel preaching, teaching a class in a 
 school, or accompanying and assisting older missionaries 
 on itinerating tours. These kinds of work and all kinds 
 lot work, while they will be a help to others and the common 
 cause, will be a still greater help to himself — just the prep- 
 [aration and training which he needs. 
 
 2. I should advise a young missionary when lie has ac- 
 quired the language or while he is still acquiring it, to 
 
 
76 
 
 n.ANTIh'C, Of' !\IISSIONARY CHURCH US 
 
 REGINhrjivc WORK 
 
 visit (iiffcrciit stations connected with his own mission and 
 stations of other missions to acquaint himself by jiersonal 
 observation, as well as by a special course of reading, with 
 the divers methods employed, and not to be hasty in form- 
 ing opinions and acting upon them until he has gathered 
 sufficient materials upon which to found tiicse o[)ini()ns. 
 
 3. The oi)posite comse is liable to many objections. 
 Confining one's self to the place where he is located, subject 
 to one set of personal and local influences, forming opin- 
 ions and acting on them at an early period, is apt to make 
 a man narrow in the beginning and then confirm him in 
 his narrowness. In taking up an individual work at an 
 early period, he meets with dilTicuIties and resixMisibilitics 
 which he had not anticipated ; a great deal of time is wasted 
 in the laborious and imperfect performance of work which 
 a few years later might be attended to with care and suc- 
 cess. Plans for continued study, for which it was supposed 
 plenty of leisure would be afforded, have to be given up in 
 consequence of pressure of engagements, pre-occupation 
 of mind, or exhaustion of body. By undertaking work 
 which one is incompetent to do and the difliculties of which 
 one cannot anticiiiate.inqjortant interests are imperilled, in- 
 jurious impressions jiroduced which it is difificult to efface, 
 and health and even life may be sacrificed. It has been to 
 me a matter of constant regret that a portion of time was 
 not strictly reserved, especially during my first five or ten 
 years in China, for laying a broader and deeper foundation 
 for future usefulness by a more extensive and methodical 
 reading and memorizing of Mandarin and Classic litera- 
 ture. Suitable and adcfpiate |)lans were made for such 
 study, but other occnjiations in the form of direct mission- 
 ary work, promising immediate results, were allowed to 
 interfere with and set aside those plans. In this way, as in 
 many others, we are too easily induced to sacrifice a greater 
 future good to a less present one. 
 
 Independent Individual Work. 
 
 I. Though the time of preparation for individual work 
 may have been somewhat protracted, the luissionary will 
 feel at its close that he is all too imperfectly fitted for the 
 
 n 
 
 task before him. He must now, however, without un- 
 
 shd,t>. I. fore lh,s i)omt ,s reached, providential circum- 
 stances and personal tastes and proclivities will probably 
 avc mdicated clearly his .lepartment of labor. Tins while 
 It should not be .lesultory. should not be too nmch spec- 
 lal.zed. A variety of work promotes phvsical and intel- 
 lec ual heahh. l-.n,ployn,ents n,av be so arranged and 
 affihated, that mstea.l of interfering with each other, they 
 may be mutually helpful. This is spcciallv true of study 
 leachmg, prcachmg, itinerating and book-making. Each' 
 nt hese, m the above order, is a preparation for that which 
 lows; and the succeeding ones, by their reficx innuence 
 stnnuate and a.ssist those that precede. Missionary life 
 must begm with study, but it should not end there All 
 study or no study— too nmch study or too linjo— are ex- 
 tremes equally to be avoided. Tlie results of study can 
 only be assnmlatcd and utilized by constant, familiar and 
 sympathetic intercourse with the people, and people of all 
 
 2 If I were asked what in my opinion is the most im- 
 portant of all departments of mission work in China I 
 siiould not be able to answer categorically All are im- 
 portant The most im[)ortant work for each man is un- 
 doulnedly that for which he is best filled and to which he is 
 specmlly called. Book-making is the ripest and richest 
 Imit of a I. Its influence extends over nations and conti- 
 nents and goes down to successive generations. To con- 
 sider the difTerent departments of missionary work in detail 
 would far transcend the limits assigned to these pages 
 Unc branch, however. Itinerating, claims our spcciaf at- 
 tention, as particularly connected with the subject of the 
 previous chapters. 
 
 Itinerating. 
 
 I. In engaging in this department of work we may cer- 
 tainly have the satisfaction of feeling that we are in'com- 
 plete accord with the great commission, " Go ye into all 
 the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," and 
 3 so with the example of the great Apostle to the Gentiles. 
 W hile the active labors of this Apostle were largely made 
 
 K^^^i?fvCJ^?i;^ 
 
78 
 
 ri. A NT INC, or MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 ii]i of tcaeliing, prc;uliiiif; and writiiiL;, iliiRTating may 
 perhaps l)c regarded as tlieir distinguisliins; feature and that 
 to wliith he was specially set apart by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 2. The great centres where he spent most of his time 
 were apparently not selected by him in accordance wi(li 
 a predetermined plan, but were proviilcntially indicated to 
 him in the ordinary course of his y\])ostolic tours. Hiil 
 most missionaries, however nuich they may itinerate, will 
 rccpiire a fixed place of residence, that is a home, in select- 
 ing which the chief considerations should be health, facil- 
 ities for ac(|uiring the language, and a place which is an 
 inllnential centre in itself and affords easy access to the un- 
 e\angelized regions about it. Such a home the Apostle 
 Paul had at yXntioch, where he spent the intervals between 
 I'.is itinerating tours. 
 
 3. \\'hen the time conies for practically answering tiie 
 question, " How shall I make a beginning? " I should say. 
 Do as the Apostle did. Go everywhere preaching the 
 Gospel. You can not know where there may be some one 
 waiting for you and some one to whom you have been 
 sent. Ask for direction. Christ's sheep will hear His voice. 
 How shall we find them? Go everywhere, and wherever 
 " Christ's sheep " are, there they will respond to His call. 
 Then vou will have a beginning from which to work and 
 one of God's own choosing. 
 
 Assistants or Helpers. 
 
 I. Our Saviour sent out his disciples on evangelistic 
 tours two by two. There are many special advantages to 
 be gained in a foreigner being accompanied by a well- 
 trained native helper, if such a one is to be had, the for- ^ 
 eigner attracting an audience, while the Chinaman may 
 possibly do most of the talking. Constant intercourse with ■ 
 a native is not only, as has been remarked before, the best 
 way to accjuire a familiar and practical knowledge of the \ 
 language and native character, customs and modes of] 
 thought, but it is also the best way for the foreigner to! 
 communicate to his assistant practical instruction to de- 
 velop his Christian character and influence him for good.] 
 It is not easy, however, to find just such men as one would] 
 
 BEGINNING WORK 
 
 79 
 
 like, even in the older stations, and the young missionary 
 may feel himself specially fortunate if he is able to obtain 
 one. 
 
 .Still, the work may be begun and pro.secuted success- 
 tully without such a lieli)er, and far better without one than 
 with a person who is not a sincere and earnest Christian. 
 Hefore the missionary is ready for itinerating he will prob- 
 ably have had in his employ for many months a personal 
 servant, who, though he may not be a convert, may be 
 if he IS m .sympathy with his employer, very serviceable on 
 an Itinerating tour. 1 le will everywhere be the person ap- 
 plied to by the curious villagers to obtain all sorts of infor- 
 mation about the character, mode of life and aims and pur- 
 poses of the foreign visitor. Indeetl, the fact that your 
 attendant is not a professed Christian makes his country- 
 men all the more free in communicating with him and 
 gives additional weight to his testimon)-. 
 
 2. If your servant has been brought to Christ while in 
 your employ, the fulness and warmth of his testimony will 
 more than compensate for the want of credence consequent 
 on being a co-religionist and as such pledged to speak 
 for you. In an early period of mv work in Ning-po, I had 
 a Christian servant wIkj was to me invaluable. He was a 
 tailor by trade, and learned to be a good washerman and 
 cook. After becoming a Christian he accompanied me on 
 my tours, attending to my washing, mending and cooking 
 making himself generally useful, and at the same time was 
 earnest and judicious in bearing witness to Christianity 
 when opportunity offered. Most of those whom he met 
 with were more easily reached bv him than tliev could have 
 been by a scholar, as they were nearer to him on the social 
 scale and more in sympathy with him. I then felt, with the 
 other members of the Ning-po mission, that he' was too 
 valuable a man to be employed as a servant, and he was 
 induced to change his position in life and was employed 
 successively as chapel-keeper, assistant, etc. I now think 
 we made a mistake in not leaving him in the position of 
 servant, and fear that he has never been as happy or use- 
 ful since as he was in his original sphere of life. 
 
 3. Boatmen, cartmen, muleteers and wheel-barrow men 
 in our employ, and inn-keepers with whom we stop, 
 
8o 
 
 PLANTING OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 tliough not Christians, may be of great service to us, if 
 tlicir relations and dispositions towards lis are such as to 
 incline them to throw their influence in our favor. On the 
 other hand, if they are prejudiced against Christianity, or 
 cherish a feeling of resentment on account of real or 
 fancied injuries, they may do us much harm. In fact, by 
 their fault-finding, exaggerating real wrongs and repeating 
 idle rumors, they may neutralize all our preaching. I once 
 employed a muleteer who was an ill-tempered man and 
 strongly prejudiced against Christianity. He, as I after- 
 wards learned, reported wherever I went that the Chinese 
 helper accompanying me was a cheat and a deceiver; and 
 that moreover most of those who entered our religion soon 
 became insane! That this trip was not a very satisfactory 
 one in its results need not be a matter of surprise. I am 
 glad to be able to say that my experiences have not always 
 been of this kind. 
 
 About six years ago, I was detained in a small country 
 inn by a severe case of persecution which was exciting a 
 great deal of interest in the neighborhood. At the close 
 of a busy day one of my wheel-barrow men came to me 
 and said : " There is a man here who lives near my home 
 about twenty miles away whom it would be well for you to 
 have a talk with. He stopped here for lunch at noon, be- 
 came interested in what is going on, and has questioned 
 me the whole afternoon about you and what you are doing. 
 He has remained so long that he cannot reach home to- 
 day and will stay in the inn over night." In less than two 
 vears from that time this new acquaintance made a public 
 profession of his faith in Christ. All the members of his 
 faniilv, which is a large one, are now Christians; his home 
 has become an important Christian centre, and eight or ten 
 stations have sprung up near his native town, mainly 
 through his influence. These two wheel-barrow men are 
 persons constantly in my employ, whether at home or on 
 country tours. They are not as yet baptized and at that 
 time were not specially inclined to become Christians. I 
 often obtain from them important information respecting 
 the villages through which I travel, and also hear from 
 them faults and irregularities in my stations, some of which 
 even the native helper has failed to discover.- 
 
 BEGINNING WORK 
 
 8i 
 
 How shall We Reach the Peonle ? 
 
 1. When places in the interior are visited for the first 
 time, there are opportunities to preach to crowds such 
 as will |)robably never occur again. The whole popula- 
 tion, moved by curiosity, comes out to see the f(jreigncr, 
 eagerly intent to hear what he has to say. In i)rcacliing 
 imdcr these circumstances, even when well ac(|uainted with 
 the language, we must not expect the i)eople to understand 
 more than a moiety of what we say. There is too much 
 curiosity, excitement and noise to admit of connected dis- 
 course or continued attention. Besides, the people are so 
 unaccustomed to religious subjects that language fails to 
 conununicate the idea intended. This kind of jjreaching, 
 though for the reasons above stated very ineffectual as re- 
 gards its main object, is still by no means imimportant. 
 We may at least leave the impression behind us that we 
 have kindly intentions, that we are not barbarians, and 
 may also give some general idea of our character and work 
 as religious teachers, thus preparing the way for a more 
 lengthened visit and more detailed teaching in the future. 
 We may also hope and pray that in the crowd which 
 gathers around us as we pass from village to village, there 
 may be some person prepared to receive our message, or 
 that the good seed may find a permanent lodgment in some 
 heart and bring forth fruit hereafter. A few tracts are very 
 useful at such a time to convey to the people, as they are 
 read afterwards, better ideas of our object than we have 
 been able under the circumstances to give orally. 
 
 2. There are many advantages in visiting the regular 
 fairs, which are so striking a feature of countrv life in 
 most parts of China. Here crowds of country people are 
 gathered and an excellent opportunity is afforded for ad- 
 dressing a constantly changing audience, representing 
 many surrounding villages and distant cities. If there are 
 those listening who wish fuller instruction or wdiose curios- 
 ity is not satisfied, they will probably seek out the mission- 
 ary at his inn. 
 
 3. In the imi there is an opportunity for more or less 
 lengthened conversation, adapting instruction and infor- 
 mation to individuals and forming acquaintances which 
 
82 
 
 PLANTING OF AflSSrONARV CHURCHES 
 
 may he followed up in the future. Books can also he dis- 
 posed of wilii a f^reater dej^tec of care aud discrimination. 
 Ill parts of tlie country where tliere are canals the travelling 
 boat larpely lakes the place of the inn. 
 
 4. Visits to native schools are sometimes very interest- 
 ing and encouraging. Here we may expect widely differ- 
 ing receptions and experiences according to the character 
 of the teacher in charge. 
 
 5. Some missionaries adopt indirect and unobtrusive 
 methods, avoiding crow ds and making comparatively little 
 use of public preaching, planning to have the people seek 
 them, rather than going after the people. The Romanists, 
 so far as my observation goes, generally adopt this method. 
 Their long experience and success render their example 
 worthy of serious consideration. 
 
 6. Others, wherever they go, make inquiries after relig- 
 iously disposed persons or seekers after the truth, a class 
 which is found in greater or less numbers almost every- 
 where in China, and endeavor to influence them and 
 through them the circle of friends or adherents always 
 found connected with them. This plan is oliviously rea- 
 sonable and practical and has the special sanction of our 
 Saviour's teachings, Matthew X. II. It has been largely 
 adopted by the English Baptists in Shan-tung and with 
 encouraging results. 
 
 7. While most missionaries give their chief attention to 
 the middle or more illiterate class, a few feel a special call 
 to attempt to influence the literati and officials, not only 
 because they exercise a dominating influence on the 
 masses, but also because they have been in general too 
 much neglected. It is obvious that this kind of work is 
 attended with peculiar difficulty and requires special prep- 
 aration, particularly in acquainting one's self with Chinese 
 etiquette. Indeed, a theoretical and practical knowdedge of 
 Chinese rules of politeness is very important for every mis- 
 sioiiarv in intercourse with all classes. 
 
 BEGINNING WORK 
 
 83 
 
 How Best Expend One's Time? 
 
 In what way should we spend our time and talents so as 
 to accomplish most for the advancement of Clirist's cause? 
 
 1. The dominant idea of a missionary should be duty, 
 and not immediate individual success as judged by human 
 standards. If the desire for tangible results should take 
 the form of a wish to gather into the Church as soon as 
 possible the greatest number of pr(jfessed converts it may 
 become a dangerous temptation and snare. 
 
 2. It will be early fifty years hence to determine with 
 positive certainty what any individual life has or has not 
 accomplished. Only in eternity will every man's work 
 be fully made manifest of what sort it is. Results of ap- 
 parently great importance may attract attention and secure 
 general commendation, and yet prove only temporary and 
 illusory. On the other hand, a good book or a word 
 spoken in season, may ])ro(luce important results, though 
 the world may never be able to trace them to their true 
 source. 
 
 3. Probably no two men ever have or ever will work in 
 the same groove. Each will do his own work best in his 
 own way. If God has called us as individuals to serve Him 
 in China, He has a special work for each of us to do, and 
 if we earnestly seek His guidance He will direct us to it. 
 It is apt to be a very different one from that which we have 
 been disposed to plan for ourselves. 
 
 4. It is sometimes asked, what practical answ-er does the 
 experience of missionaries in China for the past forty years 
 give to the question, " Which methods of work have really 
 brought the greatest number of converts into the 
 Church?" This question is a legitimate and important 
 one, but can only be answered approximately. The con- 
 ventional modes of work which sum up the labors of mis- 
 sionaries as reported every year to the home societies are 
 Bible distribution, tract distribution, chapel i)reaching, 
 translating and book-making, schools, and itinerations. 
 
 The number of copies of the Bible and parts of the Bible 
 distributed in the different parts of China during the past 
 forty years can only be estimated by millions; the same is 
 true of Christian tracts. 
 
 vmm 
 
84 
 
 rLANTING or MISSIONAKV CHURCHES 
 
 Many missionaries liave given tlicir time largely to 
 cliapcl preaching and have thns spent from one to three 
 hours dailv. A great deal of tliis work has also been done 
 ijy natives. The number of chajjel discourses during the 
 jiast fortv years can also only be estimated by millions. 
 
 The result of literary work in the study cannot be tab- 
 ulated. It passes into and is utilized in every other de- 
 partment of lal)or. 
 
 The aggregate number of years spent in teaching in 
 the dilTerent kinds of .schools during the last forty years, 
 can only be numbered by thousands. 
 
 As to itinerations, it is a very conuuon thing for a mis- 
 sionary to preach in from five to ten villages in a day and 
 from two hundred to five Inmdretl times on a tour. The 
 number of these itinerating addresses during these forty 
 years can only be numbered by hundreds of thousands, 
 and, including those of natives, probably by millions. 
 
 The question is, To which of these different modes of 
 work is the conversion of the about 30,000* Protestant 
 Christians of China to be mainly traced? I am disposed 
 to think that the number of conversions due to each would 
 be found to increase about in the order in which they are 
 mentioned above: that the number traceable to them all 
 together would be but a small fraction of the whole; and 
 that by far the greater proportion is to be referred to pri- 
 vate social intercourse. " The Kingdom of God cometh 
 not with observation." 
 
 Missionaries but Instruments in Spiritual Work. 
 
 In the spiritual work of the conversion of souls and 
 building up Christ's Kingdom on earth, we of ourselves 
 can do nothing except as instruments. 
 
 I. This is a fact so familiarly known and universally ac- 
 knowledged that it may well be regarded as a simple tru- 
 ism. Theoretically, we learned this lesson almost in in- 
 fancy: practically, it is difficult for some of us fully to learn 
 it in a lifetime. It is so natural for us to feel that with a 
 good knowledge of the language, sincere earnestness and 
 sympathy with the people, together with prudence, com- 
 
 * The present numlier of I'mteslaiit communicants is 80,682. 
 
 BECINNlh'G nORK 
 
 85 
 
 men sense, zeal, hard work and |Krsevcrance, soor.cr or 
 later great spiritual results nnist certainly be accomplished. 
 This is by no means the case. Our labors may combine all 
 the above conditions and yet be fruitless in the conversion 
 of souls. If we depend upon our gifts or acquisitions, our 
 zeal in the use even of Cod's appointed means, with an 
 underlying and insidious desire for a result which may be 
 regarded as something which we ourselves have accom- 
 |)lished, we shall probably be disa|)pointed. If we are cher- 
 ishing a feeling of self-dependence in any form, God will 
 probably humble us before lie will use us. We must feel 
 tiiat if anything is acconi])lislu'd it will be by the presence 
 and power of God's Holy Spirit, and be ready to ascribe 
 all the glory to Him. Otherwise He will ])robably leave 
 us to ourselves to learn the lesson of our own weakness. 
 The natural tendency to depend on self, or on anything else 
 rather than God, has been a prominent sin of (jod's people 
 from the earliest times. I am disposed to think that this 
 tendency now (irevails to a great extent among Christians 
 at home and that luissionaries conmience work in foreign 
 lands too much imder the influence of it. 
 
 2. In this commercial age a commercial spirit has crept 
 into the Church. As in business matters generally, so in 
 religious enterprises, it is supposed that a certain amount 
 of capital, judiciously cx[)ended, will naturally work out a 
 certain residt. The success of a mission societ)' is gauged 
 by the amoimt of money in its treasury. In order to secure 
 more liberal contributions, only the more favorable and 
 encouraging facts are welcomed and laid before the 
 churches, so tiiat they may feel that they are contributing 
 not to a failing but to a prospering cause. Let me not be 
 understood as im|)lying that money is not important and 
 that the duty of giving to missions should not be ])ressed 
 home upon the hearts and consciences of all, whetlier na- 
 tive converts or home Christians. The danger I would 
 guard against is of giving such disprojiortionate ])roni- 
 inence to money as to divert the mind from what is of much 
 greater importance. In a word, it is making money or 
 wiiat money can command, rather than the Holy .S|)irit, 
 our main dependence. I am quite aware that all Christians 
 would earnestly disavow any such intention. It is not an 
 
86 
 
 PLANTIKC OF MISSIOKARV CIIUKCIIES 
 
 iiiicoinnion tiling, however, to find ourselves doing indi- 
 rectly, or tmconsciously, what wc could never be induced 
 to do fleliheratfly and knowingly. The work we arc prose- 
 cuting is distinctly and emphatically a work of Ciod"s Spirit. 
 If we fail to recognize and act upon this fact, the mission 
 work will decline even with a full treasury; while with the 
 Spirit's presence it will prosper even with a depleted one. 
 
 Pergonal Experience in Beginning Work in Shan-tung. 
 
 1. I commenced itinerating work in Centra! Shan-tung 
 about fifteen years ago, my previous tours having been in 
 the eastern part of the province. I knew the language and 
 had the advantage of seventeen years of experience else- 
 where, but was without a native assistant. I prosecuted 
 the work laboriously, making long tours over the same 
 ground every spring and autunm, but for five years had not 
 a single convert. The work at that time was quite difTerent 
 from what it is at present. Then my labors were entirely 
 with the ])reviously unreached masses, and consisted in 
 preaching at fairs, in imis and on the street, in book dis- 
 tribution and efforts to form acquaintances with well dis- 
 posed persons wherever I could find them. 
 
 2. At present nearly all my time and strength, when in 
 the country, are ex])cnded on the native Christians on the 
 plan detailed in previous chapters. As a rule, I now reach 
 the masses indirectly through the Christians; they doing 
 the aggressive work, and I following it uf), directing and 
 organizing it. Had I again to begin work in a new field, 
 I do not know where I should change the methods hereto- 
 fore adopted, except in the one particular of not encourag- 
 ing in any way hopes of pecuniary help. 
 
 3. Why these methods proved fruitless for so long a 
 time it is iinpossible to say. In looking back over my ex- 
 periences during the first five years of work in this field, it 
 appears made up chiefly of failures and disappointments. 
 Men for whom 1 had watched and labored for years, who 
 seemed almost persuaded to be Christians, went back and 
 were lost sight of. Associations of co-religionists were at 
 different times on the point of entering the Church in a 
 body with their leaders. From them all I have realized lit- 
 
 ni'.GIKNINC WORK 
 
 87 
 
 tie else tlian wasted time and labor, with no doubt the ac- 
 cjuisilion of some valuable exjiericnce. 1 have in mind 
 several places within my circuit where there seemed to be 
 an unusual religious interest springing \.\\i, places which I 
 hoped would soon be centres of Christian influence with 
 chajjels and native leaders; but these expectations have 
 hardly been realized in a single instance. In some cases 
 I have endeavored to encourage and stinuilate [x-rsons who 
 have been doing something in the way of active Christian 
 work by giving them a little pecuniary assistance, hfjping 
 that they might be of help to me in the future. This class 
 has not furnished, so far as I can recall, a single individual 
 who has not disapiiointeil me. Help in the way of pay for 
 Christian work which ought to be done without pay has 
 always done harm. The amount of pecuniary hel]) which I 
 have considered reasonable and ample in these cases has 
 been regarded by beneficiaries as insufficient, and has often 
 produced dissatisfaction, comi)laint and resentment. 
 
 4. When converts have appeared, they have come from 
 unexpected c|uarters and in unexpected ways; stations 
 have been established without my planning and in places 
 previously entirely unknown to me. As a rule the now 
 existing stations are not found in the sections of country 
 where the itinerating work began, nor are the results 
 realized directly tracealde to previous work of seed-sowing. 
 If asked the cause of the difference in the outcome of labors 
 of the preceding and succeeding years, the (piestion is not 
 easy to answer. The influence of the work of famine-relief 
 and a supposed special susce])tibility to religitnis impres- 
 sions in the regions where these stations are found will ac- 
 count but in part for the difference. We can only say that 
 God in His inscrutable providence has so ordered it. For 
 myself, I have learned that God's ways are very different 
 and infinitely wiser than mine; that it is better to follow 
 than to take the lead; and that there is need to pray, not 
 only that we may be used as instruments in God's work, 
 but that we may be kej)! from marring or obstructing it. 
 
 5. I might add here that I have known of many instances 
 in which individuals and groups of individuals have been 
 brought into the Church with very imperfect and errone- 
 ous views of Christianity, and moreover influenced largely 
 
\P/.ANT!Na OF Af/SSIOA'AKV CIIUKCIIF.S 
 
 ,y mercenary motives, wlui have afterwards f;iven evi- 
 dence of liavin}; become intellit^ent and sincere Christians. 
 6. Some ha\'e sn|)[)osed tltat we are warranted in tiie first 
 presentation of (_'hrislianity in witiiholding those doctrines 
 which antagonize Cliinese systems and are calculated to 
 excite prejudice and opposition, jiresenting only those feat- 
 ures which are conciliatory and attractive, thus drawing 
 the peoi)le to us and gaining an inlluence over them and 
 afterwards giving them instruction in the complete system 
 of Christian truth as they are able to i)ear it. I doubt very 
 nnich whether such a course is justified by the teaching and 
 example of our Saviour and the Apostles, (lod may and 
 does in His mercy and grace make use of our incomplete 
 presentation of His truth and an imjierfcct apprehension of 
 it to the conversion and salvation of men; but have we not 
 still greater reason for expecting His blessing in connec- 
 tion with His truth when given in its completeness? I be- 
 lieve there is no doctrine of Christianity the full presenta- 
 tion of which we need fear. With all our care to " declare 
 the whole counsel of C^od " there will still be a great amount 
 of misconception in the minds of those who hear us, and we 
 may well be thankful tiiat God will use and bless inadequate 
 conceptions of His truth. It is for us, however, to make 
 our teaching as fidl and clear as possible. 
 
 How may We Best Get Out of " Old Ruts " ? 
 
 I. To those who still prefer the Old System this question 
 has of course no relevancy, but it is presumed that there 
 arc others who will regard it as a practical and important 
 one. In some respects it is much simpler and easier to 
 connnence work from the beginning. On the other hand, 
 there are many ailvantages in having an old foundation 
 to build on and much good material to use. Many of our 
 native employes sustain characters beyond reproach or 
 suspicion. Some are efficient workers; others are simply 
 out of their place, having been brought into a position 
 for which they are unsuited and by long continuance in 
 which they have become unfitted for their original modes 
 of life. If there are any persons who are to be blamed for 
 
 DF.G INNING WORK 
 
 89 
 
 this result they are mainly the missionartes of twenty, 
 thirty, or forty years ago, who inaugurated the present 
 stale of things, or the .societies which sent them out with 
 mstructions to do so. Probably blame should be attributed 
 to no one, as both foreigners and natives concerned have 
 done what they regarded as their duty and what they sup- 
 posed was for the best interests of the mission cause. 
 Under these circumstances long established relations 
 should not be rudely severed, and the natives, who are 
 more to be jjitied than blanird, should be treated with 
 sympathy and justice. 
 
 2. In the case (A competent and efficient ])astors whose 
 people are able and desirous to sujjport them, no change 
 is required. Other pastors, able and willing to " endure 
 hardness," might take the charge of several weak churches 
 which combined would be able to give them a com|)etent 
 support. Pastors left without charge by this union of 
 churches might be emi)loyed, if they have the requisite 
 gifts, as evangelists, either in opening new fields not yet 
 reached, or in superintending weak and scattered com- 
 )anies of Christians who are under the inmiediate instruc- 
 tion of leaders or elders. Such evangelists, if thoroughly 
 proved and tried, might be .supported wholly by the mission 
 or wholly by the native churches or by the two conjointly. 
 Others specially suited for the purpose might supply the 
 helpers and attendants required by the new plan as well 
 ns the old. These would be connected with and under the 
 direction of the missionary, giving him needed assistance 
 in receiving, entertaining and instructing guests and in- 
 luirers, in itinerating tours, and in the care and oversight 
 if inquirers and new stations. Others unfitted by age or 
 incapacity for active .service might be retired on a pension 
 and left to do what they can by voluntary labor as private 
 Christians. Assistance might be given to others for two 
 or three years in acquiring some trade or profession. One 
 of the older missionaries in China, nmch interested in this 
 question, has suggested the plan of furnishing to suitable 
 men three years of theoretical and practical in.structiou in 
 the science of medicine, thus putting within their reach a 
 useful and honorable means of livelihood and then leaving 
 ihem to themselves. By some such means as this men of 
 
90 
 
 VLAKTIXG OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 tlie right stamp niiglit have tlieir influence for good greatly 
 enhanced. 
 
 3. Probably sonic readers of the foregoing pages may 
 derive the inijircssion that the writer is desponding and 
 pessimistic in his views of mission work. On the contrary, 
 if I may be allowed an opinion on such a ciuestion, I think 
 1 have always been rather sanguine, if not enthusiastic. I 
 believe that nuich has been accomplished in every deiiart- 
 nient of missionary work in China. The literary outcome 
 of the past forty years is alone and by itself a rich legacy to 
 the missionaries and native Christians of the present, and 
 gives them a vantage ground in undertaking future labor 
 which it is difficult to overestimate. The ratio of increase 
 in the number of converts, and the evidence of growth and 
 development in native clnirclies, are also full of encourage- 
 ment. While we must record many cases of coldness and 
 defection, we remember that such cases have characterized 
 the history and progress of the Church to a greater or less 
 extent in every age. On the other hand, we rejoice in 
 being able to point to many who give undoubted evidence 
 of being God's chosen ones, while there are others whose 
 names are already enrolled among the noble army of 
 martyrs. It has been my privilege to know many Christian 
 men and Christian women in China whose godly lives and 
 peaceful deaths have been an inspiration to me and made 
 me, I trust, a better man and a more earnest worker. I 
 count among my nearest and most honored friends not a 
 few native Christians who are now bearing faithful testi- 
 mony to the truth in the midst of opposition and manifold 
 trials such as Christians in Western lands can only imper- 
 fectly appreciate. It has been the object of these chapters, 
 not to extol the virtues of Chinese Christians, concerning 
 which volumes miglit be written, but ratlier to point out 
 certain evils in what I regard a mistaken policy of mis- 
 sionary work. If the reader has not met with many reas- 
 suring facts and cheering prospects, it is only because this 
 is not the place to look for them. 
 
 4. Tliankfully acknowledging what has already been 
 done, I believe we have not accomplished what we niiglit if 
 we had followed more closely the teachings and examples 
 
 BEGINNING WORK 
 
 9» 
 
 given us for our guidance in the Scriptures. I believe that 
 the injudicious use of money and agencies depending on 
 money have retarded and crippled our work and luoduced 
 a ess self-reliant and stalwart tvpc of Christians tiian we 
 otherwise shniild have had. 
 
 5. I should exceedingly regret if the statement just made 
 or any other slatenicnt in these letters should be under- 
 stood or construed as intimating that the use of money 
 in carrying on missionary work is not legitimate. In the 
 nature of things pecuniary aid is an absolute necessitv 
 not only for sending out and supporting well (iiialilied and' 
 accredited missionaries, but also for hospital and dis- 
 pensary work, for the preparation and dissemination of a 
 Christian literature, for establishing higher institutions of 
 learning and for furnishing, as needed, grants-in-aid for 
 primary or preparatory Christian schools. In supplying 
 the funds thus required all Christians have the opportu'nitv 
 of sharing in the privileges and self-denials of the work of 
 preaching the Gospel to every creature. Far more nionev 
 IS needed for the actual demands of the work than has 
 hitherto been given. Some parts of the heathen world now 
 fully open to missionary effort have scarcely been touched. 
 In other places, like China, where the work has begun, the 
 supply of laborers is utterly inadequate. If we refrain, as 
 I have strenuously urged, 'from spending monev in wavs 
 not sanctioned by the Scriptures and experience, we shall 
 have the more to use in legitimate methods. Moreover, 
 the Church, when fully satisfied that its contributions arc 
 wisely disbursed, will naturally be more spontaneous and 
 generous in its liberalitv. 
 
 6. There are abundant evidences of God's willingness to 
 bless our labors, and evidences also that the Gospel of 
 Christ is as well adapted to the Chinese as to any other 
 race. Let us, then, with unwavering faith in God's re- 
 vealed Word and an implicit trust in the efficacy of the 
 Divine Spirit, address ourselves to our labors with renewed 
 zeal and earnestness; praying the Lord of the harvest to 
 send forth laborers into His harvest and for the abundant 
 outpouring of the Spirit upon us and those to whom we 
 are sent; hoping and believing that in these most remote 
 
 J 
 
92 PLANT/A^G OF MISSIONARY CHURCHES 
 
 regions of Eastern Asia, so long [ireservcd by God's provi- 
 dence, so thickly i)coi)led with His erring children, and so 
 lately reached by the message of salvation, the Church 
 may yet record such signal tritmiphs of grace and power 
 as have not been witnessed in any previous period of her 
 history. 
 
i 
 
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