to drop in to one of our evening meetings, and there, for the first time, he heard from the lips of one of his own countrymen that the gods in whom he had been trusting for so many years were false. These words at once commended themselves to him as true. He gladly accepted them, gave up his heathenish business, and became an earnest and eager seeker after light. His opportunity to bear witness to the truth was suddenly cut short, but he died as the Christian dieth with words of prayer on his lips. To-day his neighbors and friends bear witness of him that he was an honest man.' "A similarly encouraging incident is reported from the Ing-hok field. Not long ago a chair coolie listened to a discourse on the glories of the Heavenly Home, from the lips of a foreign missionary. After the service he made his way to the desk and said: Teacher, shall I be a chair-bearer when I get to heaven?' The missionary replied: 'When you reach heaven you may occupy a much more elevated position than the emperor of China does now.' These words, spoken to a man who from a Chinaman's point of view belonged to one of the lowest classes of society, became, we have reason to hope, the gospel of salvation to a soul which has but just passed from this world to that which is unseen and eternal. "Another recent incident illustrates the gratitude which may spring up in the heart of a native convert for kindnesses received. An old tailor, only the other day, remarked that the highest happiness he could have in heaven would be to do tailoring for the Misses Woolston, two ladies who, years ago, were members of the Methodist mission here in Foochow and who while here had shown special kindness to this old tailor. "The foreign missionary's life is not all sunshine, neither is it all clouds. The superstition, insincerity, and deceit met with on all hands are a constant depressor to one's spirit; but the occasional glimpses we have of souls truly born again lead us MR. ROBERTS, of Kalgan, writes earnestly concerning the importance of reoccupying Yu-cho as a station of the Board. It was such prior to 1878, when it became an out-station of Kalgan. Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, with one of their children, recently made a tour, including Yu-cho and Ching Ko Ta, where a helper is located. Mr. Roberts says: "We spent five days at Yü-cho, and preached to great crowds of visitors every day. The city people, unlike those of the country, had leisure to hear. Many of them are devout Buddhists. All were attentive listeners, though most of them came not to listen, but to look at us. I preached to the men outdoors, under a large grapevine, while Mrs. Roberts talked to the women in the house. I also went to see the governor of the city and county, to ask for the proclamations that had been promised. He received me very politely, treating me as his equal, and promised to send the proclamations in a few days. I saw, before I left the city, the one intended for our chapel in Yü-cho. In the last few days a proclamation has been sent to our chapel in Ching Kô Tâ, and we have four proclamations hung up in Kalgan, at our three chapels and dispensary. The proclamations rehearse the riots at Wuhu, and elsewhere on the Yang-tse River, the decree of the emperor to protect all foreigners and their chapels and converts, and threaten punishment on any molesting us." QUIET AT PEKING. The following extract from a letter from Dr. Blodget, dated Peking, October 14, shows that the political disturbances had not then affected their work:: "Yesterday I sent forth two laborers to join the native pastor in his field seventy miles south of us, and there, with him, to conduct a mission. There are more than ten villages in that vicinity in which there are Christians. In two villages they have regular Sunday services. The Word of God has been widely sounded out in all the region. The Christian Church is favorably known, both to magistrates and people. Why should they not have a Pentecostal season? The harvests are in. The people are at leisure. The enemies are silenced by the recent edict of the emperor. Why should they not expect and receive a large blessing? For this God will be waited upon, by them and by us all." Shansi Mission. ITEMS FROM TAI-KU. DR. GOLDSBURY writes from Tai-ku:"We have spent four months in Li Man, returning about ten days ago to Tai-ku. The past summer has been very dry, there having been practically no rainy season at all in this part of the plain; only about five inches of rain having fallen since the first of June. During the last two or three weeks there have been a enough rain My weekly number of showers, but not has fallen to do much good. visit to the city has not once been interrupted. There has been a good attendance all the time, except two or three weeks during harvest. Quite a number have come for operations whom I have had to turn away until I should return to town in cooler weather, and doubtless I shall have to turn away many more because of lack of accommodations. 250 have been treated in Li Man. About 66 A man who came for medicine about the middle of the summer, and was relieved, has continued to come, visiting our Christian teacher, Mr. Li, as they are both Pekinese. This man with another from Li Man have been reading the New Testament together with Mr. Li, and discussing it. Recently these two have requested to be taken into the church and to preach the gospel. But as their object seems to be to preach for cash, we have some doubt as to the sincerity of their professions. "The school has opened, and there are at present fourteen boys in attendance, most of them old pupils returned. We expect more to come later." Japan Mission. A MEETING AT NAGAOKA. — A DEDICATION. MR. NEWELL reports that the annual meeting of the Christians of the Niigata Ken was held at Nagaoka, September 25 to 27, and that the arrangements were made for the dedication of a new church at the same time. The meeting seems to have been most inspiring, with delegates from a large number of places in the Ken. It was specially fortunate that Mr. Ebina, President of the Home Missionary Society, was present, on his first tour through the north. Mr. Newell writes: "Friday morning, September 25, was taken up with reports from the various sections; the afternoon was given up to a general social gathering. In the evening a theatre-meeting was held, attended by about 400 or more, and addressed by five speakers. There was a little disturbance, but on the whole they listened quite well. Mr. Hori was especially successful in winning a respectful hearing. He is a strong and earnest speaker and commands attention anywhere. 66 "On Saturday morning, after a halfhour prayer-meeting, the time from 9.30 till noon was taken up with a general discussion of the question, which I had the pleasure of proposing: What is a true working church, and how can ours be made such? The discussion was entered into very heartily, and brought out many helpful suggestions, especially from Mr. Ebina and Mr. Hori. In the afternoon came the dedication services at 2 o'clock. The church was filled, and the quality of the audience was quite up to the proportionate quantity. The county court was represented by several judges and lawyers; the superintendent of police was there (as a guest, not on duty!); all the teach ers of our Nagaoka School came; and nearly all the city schools were represented, either by their principal or one or more teachers. The seats were all filled and many stood through the rather long program, which consisted of fifteen numbers. (Our Japanese friends do have a way of stringing things out pretty well!) Among others was a history of this church from its beginning, compiled and read by Mr. Niishima; a report of the building committee, showing that they not only did not go into debt for their house, but came out $2 ahead of their calculations; and three addresses, that of Mr. Ebina being very happy and exceedingly appropriate. At the close, refreshments were served and a social time was enjoyed. The church was very prettily draped with evergreens and flags and profusely decorated with flowers. In the evening another theatre-meeting was held, about 600 being present. Among the four speakers were Mr. W. L. Curtis (with interpreter) and Mr. Ebina. .. On Sunday morning Mr. Ebina preached a very helpful sermon to the Christians from Matt. 11: 28. This service was followed by two baptisms, after which was the Lord's Supper, at which I officiated. In the afternoon a very interesting women's meeting was held at our home, largely attended and very valuable. In the evening a preaching service was held at the church, which was again filled to overflowing. There were three speakers, the last being Mr. Ebina, who gave a remarkable sermon from Rom. 8: 14, on the Fatherhood of God. He spoke for nearly an hour and a half; but it was an hour and a half of inspired and tender eloquence, and he had breathless attention throughout. It was a fitting close to this series of meetings, the most notable in the history of our little church." This meeting was followed by a series of services in other places, specially at Kashiwazaki, where a theatre-meeting, held three years ago, was so noisy that fears were entertained that this one would be disturbed; but on the contrary the audience of over 500 was unusually quiet and attentive. SUMMER WORK. GROWTH AT NIIGATA. Mr. W. L. Curtis, writing from Niigata, November 7, reports that during their summer vacation, spent at a beach near Sendai, evangelistic work was conducted every Sabbath and often on weekday evenings among the fishermen of the neighboring villages. The Japanese "Feast of Lanterns" occurring at the time, gave special opportunity to the natives to visit the foreigners and hear the preaching of the new religion. On returning to Niigata it was found that the pastor, Mr. Hori, had been working with redoubled energy, holding special meetings in the city and in neighboring towns, so that the outlook for work was most auspicious. Not only in the city but in the out-stations there were many encouraging signs. Mr. Curtis writes: "At Nakajo, Shibata, Gosen, and Kashiwazaki special meetings have been held, resulting in a number of conversions and great interest aroused in the subject of Christianity. At Gosen one of the most earnest inquirers is the chief of police. His experience is perhaps worth relating. He says that in his position as a police officer many cases of suicide have come under his notice, and in every case he observed that the one who, weary of this world, had ended his life held tightly grasped in his hand a Buddhistic charm to insure a happier existence in the future world. From this little incident the police officer came to the conclusion that the Buddhist religion did not help men to live, or was of no practical benefit as far as this life went. Hence he decided that it could not be the best religion, and he commenced to investigate the claims of Christianity, with the result that he is sure he has found something that will help men to live this life, as well as prepare them for a better life hereafter. He is now studying his Bible daily and will, probably, soon be a candidate for baptism. "The number of inquirers at Gosen is so large and the interest in Christianity so evident that our city evangelist, Mr. Yoshida, has left his work here to spend a month there. We feel strongly that there is great need of a permanent evangelist to be located in Gosen, as it is developing into a large and fruitful field. We hope very much that we may receive from some source such an addition to our outstation fund as may enable us to procure at least one more evangelist for this work. "At our last communion service in Niigata seven united with the church, a prominent judge and his wife being among the number. Eighty persons have been baptized by Mr. Hori during the year that he has been working here. "We are feeling quite encouraged about the school work now. The Boys' School is in a prosperous condition. Mr. Matsumura's return has put new life into it, and the clearing off of the heavy debt that has been such a burden to the school is a cause for special rejoicing; Mr. Kato, the President, giving 1,500 en for this purpose. Mr. Abe has also secured the amount in his tours throughout the province, and has aroused much interest in the school wherever he has gone." same Mr. Pedley refers in the same tenor to the encouraging outlook at Niigata :· "The Boys' School has an attendance of 165, and has at its head Mr. Matsumura, who led it out of its difficulty two and a half years ago. He has also consented to superintend the Girls' School, and although the attendance there is very small about thirty-yet the spirit of the school is better than last term. Miss Harwood's coming has rejoiced us all, and she will prove a good addition to the work." "The church has grown from the seven baptized founders to a grand total of 342 members, some 230 at the present time; has sent out one daughter church, two prominent Christian preachers, and several other workers; indirectly sustained a Girls' School, with a present membership of eleven times ten; interested itself in missionary work in surrounding villages, and built for itself a church home, in semi-foreign style, which is one of the most attractive and prominent buildings in that hill town of 2,000 houses. A hymn, written for the occasion and set to a Japanese tune, was sung by the schoolgirls. The church has seen much persecution. On the flower-table stood a stone weighing four pounds, which was thrown against the preaching-place seven years ago, doing considerable damage. On its sides, in bold Chinese characters, are the date of its arrival in the church and the words, Hakugwai Ishi (Persecution Stone). Other stones contributed in a similar manner were used as underpinning at the erection of this tasty building. "On the following day was held the annual meeting of the churches of this Association. Its earnest and practical spirit was a chief feature of the occasion. After discussing the relative claims of three or four needy places where work should be taken up at once, a unanimous vote was reached, giving the first position to the old castle town of Mihara, in Bingo. This falls in line with the wish of the station. A man will be put there within a month. The preachers present organized a Ministers' Club, to meet twice a year, and arranged for the beginning of a much-needed library for their mutual use. Half the books are to be in Japanese and half in English. Contributions of ten fresh commentaries and ten volumes of sermons by the best preachers are hereby solicited for this worthy object. "But the feature of this whole glad occasion is yet to be mentioned. What might be called a Salvation Army com --- pany marched up to Takahashi from here a distance of thirty miles-and stormed the town with paper bullets in the shape of tracts on salvation. Said company consisted of twenty-five orphans from the Asylum, twelve members of our Boys' School, and a few others. They started at 2 A.M., marched in military style, headed by six buglers, and carried large, colored flags - black, red, and white; thus preaching a pictorial sermon along the way on Sin,' A Suffering Saviour,' and Salvation.' Besides attending the meetings, they distributed over 2,000 tracts printed by the orphans; visited nearly every one of the 2,000 houses in town, and held outdoor preaching services at eight different points. Though slightly sensational, the whole thing was conducted with the utmost decorum and seriousness, and cannot fail to have good results. At the urgent solicitation of the townspeople they remained a day after the close of the regular meetings and held a four hours' service in a packed house, where the large audience was melted to tears by the simple speeches of those Christian orphans. At the dinner in the park on the last day, while others were eating their cold rice, fish, mushrooms, and lotus roots, Superintendent Ishii, of the Orphanage, arose and after showing to the audience the first child whom he adopted four years ago, and who thus became the beginning of this present family of 134 children, and telling the boy's most pathetic storymade an eloquent plea for the establishment of an industrial enterprise, to give employment and the gospel simultaneously to the needy poor. At an aftermeeting of thirty-one enthusiasts the subject was further discussed, and it was voted to hold still another meeting in Okayama to devise, if possible, some practicable scheme for working the idea. It is a most worthy and timely movement and, best of all, is thus far in safe hands. "Speaking of Mr. Ishii and his Orphanage, have I written you that two of his longed-for ten cottages are now going up? The children there seem to grow busier and better every day. The Asylum has recently received its largest single gift. A Japanese evangelist between here and Kōbe has given all his property to the Orphanage. It consists of farm property fifty miles from here, and is valued at $1,880, though carrying a mortgage of $160. This man thus gives his all, because he is at one with Mr. Ishii in plans to work for the common people. "One country church in this region has ten candidates for baptism, and two other churches combined have a similar number. The Christian women of this city. organized as a Woman's Improvement Society, held their monthly meeting, a few days ago, here with Mrs. Pettee. There were twenty-seven present, and they voted, amid much enthusiasm, to place a copy of the Japanese temperance magazine in the hands of each of the 500 school-teachers in this Ken. "With the evangelists and the orphans and the women hard at work, something ought to be accomplished in this region." Mission to Mexico. A CHAPEL FOR ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. MR. AND MRS. EATON have returned to Chihuahua after a brief visit in the States, and from that city Mr. Eaton writes, January 1:— "In this region of generally high prices we cannot compete with China, India, and the rest, in the line of economical construction of buildings. But one has just been erected whose story is worth telling. It stands near one of the public school buildings in El Paso, Texas, and amongst the humble dwellings of a colony of Mexicans, who seek to better their fortunes within the limits of the larger republic. Of these families, a number belong to churches connected with the American Board; but they cannot attend regularly the services on the Mexican side of the river, because of the distance and the toll charged on the international bridge. "However, the need was met by the Home Missionary Society, which has com |