1 
 
 
 Aniericaii Board of Coinmissioiiers for Foreign llissioiis. 
 
 THE MISSIONARY CALL FROM CHINA. 
 
 For Christian Young Men in Colleges and Theological 
 Seminaries. Also for Monthly Concert use 
 by Pastors and others. 
 
 -V. 
 
 (■ 
 
 A FAMILIAR LETTER. 
 
^meritati ^oartl of ^omn^i^sionors for jforoijn fissions. 
 
 The Missionary Call from China. 
 
 Tungcho, China, Nov. 20, 1879. 
 
 We rejoice in the forward movement toward the heart of 
 Africa. Providence seems to be leading you to a place there 
 side by side with other sections of the church. I trust our mis- 
 sion will soon be opened, and that it will have a glorious future. 
 Africa must be enlightened, civilized. Christianized by the 
 preaching of the gospel, and we, our beloved American Board, 
 must do our share of the glorious work. 
 
 But while we keep step with other missionary societies in 
 entering the opening door in Africa, it seems to me that the call 
 to go forward in China, instead of being less loud and impera- 
 tive than that which comes to us from the mysterious wilds of 
 the Dark Continent, is far more so. Is it not loud enough to 
 be heard across the oceans which intervene, and to penetrate 
 the hearts of young men and women in America } What are 
 the facts which constitute this call ? 
 
 1. Three hundred to four hundred millions of souls are here 
 crowded together within the limits of these eighteen provinces 
 — about double the population of the African Continent. 
 
 2. Nine tenths of this field are still unoccupied, — nine tenths 
 of these multitudes are still unreached by the gospel. 
 
 3. The whole field, in the providence of God, has become 
 accessible. Missionaries may travel almost everywhere, and a 
 residence can now be effected at most of the important points 
 which it is desirable to occupy. The occupation of new fields 
 may not be wholly free from danger; yet the deadly malaria and 
 the fierce savage are not lurking about our every step, as in 
 
Africa. Danger and difficulty ought not to deter us there ; but 
 if God gives us a more open door Iiere, it surely is no reason 
 for passing it by. 
 
 4. There are facilities here which extend the range of a mis- 
 sionary’s influence more widely than is possible in any other 
 part of the world. The Classical language is read by scholars 
 in every part of the empire, as well as in Japan. The Mandarin 
 dialect is read by larger numbers throughout two thirds of the 
 empire. Merchants and scholars are traveling back and forth, 
 and we frequently meet persons from distant provinces. 
 
 5. Leaving out Japan, Madagascar, and the Polynesian 
 Islands, perhaps in no other part of the heathen world has more 
 fruit been gathered in proportion to the seed sown. This was 
 not true twenty' years ago, but I believe it is now. The number 
 of church-members doubles about once in seven years. 
 
 6. Work done for China will certainly tell on the future of the 
 world’s history. The Chinese are an enterprising people. They 
 are colonizing Manchurin and Mongolia on the north, the 
 islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, and have made a 
 lodgment on the shores of North and South America. Their 
 young men are in your schools and colleges, and, as the papers 
 tell us, they stand side by side with the proud Anglo-Saxon race 
 in the contest for scholastic and literary honors. Christianized, 
 China has a noble history before her, and must become a mighty 
 factor in the great political, social, and religious movements of 
 coming generations. Whoever is permitted to bear the hum- 
 blest part in securing her conversion, though his name and work 
 may find no place on the historic page, yet will surely send his 
 influence down through the channels of human life, and do 
 much to shape the destiny of the whole human family. Was 
 ever such a tempting prize held up to animate the messenger of 
 good tidings longing to do all he can for the salvation of souls, 
 for the elevation of his race, and for the glory of God ? My 
 only wonder is that the Christian students in college are not too 
 
impatient to wait for the completion of their course of study, 
 and that those in the theological seminaries of our land, as they 
 come forth, class by class, do not enlist en masse, and that even 
 the pulpits of the wealthiest city churches, and the professors’ 
 chairs of our grandest universities, are not deserted, at least by 
 their younger incumbents, in the overpowering desire and pur- 
 pose to have a share in this sublime work. But, alas ! either we 
 'missionaries are enthusiasts, seeing only delusive visions, or 
 some people in Christian lands are blind ; for it is certain we 
 do not see things with the same eyes. 
 
 And oh, if young men and women only realized the privilege 
 of this service ! In reading the report of the meeting of the 
 Board, the other day, my eye fell on the sentence, “ Thirty men 
 need China.” I was at first ready to laugh at the blunder of 
 the reporter ; for doubtless the speaker really said, “ China 
 needs thirty men.” But I began to muse, and the longer I 
 mused the more convinced I became that China does not need 
 the men any more certainly than do the men need China. 
 Surely it offers them a field for the largest development of mind 
 and heart ; and the God who created them has no better way to 
 ennoble and bless them than by calling them to this service. 
 
 Everywhere we need more helpers to carry the gospel to the 
 multitudes. 
 
 Yours very truly, 
 
 L. I). Chapin. 
 
 “ IlDtap pe tljetefotc tlje uorti of the hathest, that be toill Bcnb forth 
 laborero into h>0 bathest.” 
 
 Seaf frcnn 7-ootns of A. B. C. F. A/., Fei.j, /88o. 
 t Somerset Street, Boston, Mass.