14 A HOPEFUL EFFORT.-BING-00, CHINA. [Feb. dangerous disease. China is in a diseased state. "The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint." Their heathenism, dark and cold, because, amidst its gloom, God is altogether forgotten and lost sight of, shuts them up in much misery. But to this is now added the vice of opium-smoking, which, amidst the inhabitants of the seaboard cities, has spread fearfully, besides the mischief going on in the interior, which it is impossible fully to calculate. This vice, as our readers are aware, brings upon those who indulge in it fearful calamities. Every vice brings with it more or less of suffering, as a foretaste of worse sufferings beyond the grave, unless it be repented of. For this and all the other evils which afflict this great empire, there is one true corrective-the gospel of Christ; and this Missionaries of various denominations are earnestly endeavouring to introduce among the Chinese. Latterly, their opportunities of intercourse with them, and of doing them good, have much increased. They can use the language more effectively, they have been enabled to journey further into the interior, to visit new towns and cities, and have been well received by the people. As facilities for travelling have increased, our Missionaries have been anxious, not merely to pay occasional visits, but to take up some eligible places, where nothing has been yet attempted in the way of evangelization, and thus spread abroad throughout the land, instead of remaining cooped up at the free ports. In Shanghae, for instance, there are many Missionaries, belonging to different Societies. Looking abroad on the destitution of the country, we cannot be surprised if they have felt anxious to push onward; and an attempt of this kind has been made by our own Missionary, the Rev. J. S. Burdon, the particulars of which have been thus related by him I have been enabled, by the Lord's blessing, to effect an entrance into one city, in the way I have been so long desiring to do. To-day, September 30th, I have been nearly a fortnight residing in my own hired room, only a few hundred yards outside the gate of a city containing, with its suburbs, somewhere about 100,000 souls. The name of the city is Bing-oo: it lies to the south-west of Shanghae, from which it is distant about seventy miles. The dialect, though differing from that of Shanghae, is intelligible, and will become more so to me as I mingle with its people. They, of course, have no difficulty in understanding the Shanghae dialect. It is in the province of Che-keang. Its situation is very pleasing, and, I hope, healthy, and its people seem, on the whole, very well disposed. But I must now give you some account of how I have been permitted to gain a footing amongst them, and to live, so far, without molestation, either by the people or the authorities. I have already mentioned to you, that one of our church members was employed in the service of the Bible Society as colporteur. I thought it would be well to use him as a pioneer, and to try if he could not prepare the way for my obtaining a footing in some place when the cool weather began. 1857.] A HOPEFUL EFFORT.-BING-OO, CHINA. 15 But I need not here repeat how difficult we have all found this in China. Only two or three years ago, moving up and down the country in boats, preaching and distributing the word of God, was thought to be doing a great thing; and as to the idea of living in a village, or near a large city, in a foreign dress, it never, I suppose, entered the mind of any one amongst us. This latter has, however, lately begun to be tried by Protestant Missionaries, dressed in the Chinese costume; but it cannot be said to have succeeded. Mr. Taylor was driven from Dzoong Ming about a year ago, and Mr. Edkins, whom I mentioned in a former part of this letter, was obliged to return to Shanghae a few weeks after Mr. Aitchison and myself. Where we have delicate ground to walk upon, we must tread warily and softly; and therefore, in July last, the colporteur was sent by us to this city of Bing-00, prior to my going, which, from its situation, its size, its importance, was thought a good place to try the experiment at. I told him to hire a room for himself, and at the same time to keep in view the opening the way for me. He went in July; in August was settled in his new apartment; and in September, as the weather began to cool, I determined to follow, to see what could be done. I left Shanghae on the 16th of September, in the same boat that I used all last winter, which turned up again for me just in the right time, and arrived here on the morning of the following day, after an extraordinarily quick passage. On arriving, I found out the colporteur, and consulted with him as to what was to be done. He very soon introduced me to his landlord. The room he had hired for himself was certainly a very miserable one; small, damp, dark, with a brick floor which had been probably new and clean some day, in generations gone by, with his bed in one corner, consisting of his matting placed on a door-leaf, a table with a few books on, and a chair or two. I thought I could hardly manage to carry out my original idea of taking possession of his room, and sending him on board my boat. I asked the landlord what was to be done, for I wanted to live on shore. He said he had a house in a quieter part of the place, that he would take me to see. We went, but it was almost as bad as the one that I have attempted to describe. However, the terms were all agreed to, and I was to take possession in a day or two; but he afterwards found there was a serious difficulty in the way, for a person was lying dangerously ill in the house, and she could not be removed on such short notice. I told him, then, that he must manage the matter another way, for I would not take the place; for fear, if any thing happened to the sick person, a still greater prejudice would be formed in the minds of the people against me, and, as a consequence, against my message. He then offered me the room over the one the colporteur had been occupying; and, as this was the very thing I had been wanting, the matter was soon settled. He asked a very trifling sum for the first month, and agreed to settle about the rent, &c., at the end of that time, if all things went on peaceably. On the 19th, the second night after my arrival, and the second day of my fourth year in China, I crept like a thief into my new and strange quarters, and have, till now, remained in them without any inquiry from the authorities, or molestation by the people. I say I crept into my quarters, for I shall not easily forget the way in which I was ushered 16 A HOPEFUL EFFORT.-BING-00, CHINA. [FEB. into my new abode. This house is built on the side of the wide stream that flows past this city, and in one of the back rooms there is a kind of trap door, which opens on to a flight of steps leading down to the water. When the darkness of night had covered us, the boat was brought to these back steps. I sent in my bed and box, and then crept up, almost on all fours, myself, to the great danger of the steps, which are by no means as firm as the day they were set up. But, however, I am in, and I shall try to keep in as long as I can. How long that may be I know not; but I feel I have a proud, close-fisted, prejudiced, jealous people to deal with, and I have great need of all the wisdom of the serpent, joined with the gentleness and harmlessness of the dove. At first, when I came, I went daily into the city, and preached, as usual when I am out on an excursion, in the temples, and in the streets; but this caused such a riot among the boys, both little and great, that I saw it was likely to endanger my stay here altogether. I have therefore discontinued this practice for the last week, and contented myself with speaking with those who come to see me at my own hired house. It cost me a good deal to give up the street-preaching; but we have to learn, as Missionaries as well as Christians, when it is "our strength to sit still." When once the strangeness of a foreigner, in his own dress, dwelling among them wears off, and there is less danger to my landlord, I shall again go out into the streets and temples, publicly to proclaim the message of salvation; but at present, in a quiet way, I have as many opportunities of speaking for my Master as I want, and the rest of my time I fill up with study. That I am living here is known to most of the people in the city and outside of it, as well as in the mandarin's offices. Whether any steps will be taken to oust me I know not; but this I know, that, if the present be the Lord's time, no power on earth, or in hell, can drive me out, till I accomplish the work He has sent me to do. However, I do not want to boast much. The next mail may carry home news of my , entire failure. We look forward to his next communication with much anxiety. Recent news from China have made us aware that the Tae-pings are approaching Shanghae; and the probability is, that, on account of the disturbed state of the country, he has found it necessary to fall back. The recent collision at Canton between the English squadron and the Chinese authorities is a new and unexpected element of embarrassment; nor is possible to say to what extent the position of English Missionaries along the coast may be affected by it. We wait for the results of all these movements; nor do we think we shall wait long. We believe that China is not far from being thrown wide open to intercourse with foreigners, unless, indeed, our own unhappy connexion with the opium growth and traffic subject us to a special exclusion. The Tae-pings are most resolute in their antipathy to the opium traffic, and the Tartar dynasty at Pekin, so far as its feebleness permitted, has endeavoured to suppress it. May the opium monopoly, which places England in so unfavourable a light before the Chinese, be abandoned, and China soon open to the gospel! LADIES' WORKING ASSOCIATIONS. THERE are many groups of kind friends, throughout the country, who are in the habit of meeting together once a month, to work and make up clothing for our more destitute Missionary stations; especially in Rupert's Land, where the climate is so severe, and warm clothing so much needed. We feel that these little meetings require occasionally a word of encouragement. It is not always easy to realize the connexion between the rough piece of work in hand-some coarse and strong material, through which the needle does not pass with facility, and which is tedious and uninteresting and its arrival at some distant station, where it becomes a welcome gift to some poor shivering Indian-a prize of great value. Could our friends sometimes be enabled to trace their work to its destination, it would cheer and encourage them; and it is always a pleasure when we can introduce into our pages facts of this kind. York Factory, on the west coast of Hudson's Bay, is the most northerly of our North-West-American stations, being some degrees further north than the Rev. R. Hunt's station on the English River; although not so remote, for York Factory is the port where the annual ships lade and unlade for England; and here there is opportunity of seeing friends, and having brief but pleasant intercourse with them. Church Missionary Point, English River, has no such advantage. It is the most lonely and far separated of all the stations, and our friends there need much sympathy. In the matter of climate, we cannot say which of these localities is the most severe. Of York Factory, our Missionary, the Rev. W. Mason, says "The Ladies' Associations in England and Ireland cannot have a better field for their objects of charity and benevolence than here, where the climate is so severe, that all our energies are exerted to keep ourselves from freezing at times, especially the poor Indian, who is so exposed. My tea was once poured out for me to drink, but, before I had finished the cup, it became a solid mass of ice. I was relating the circumstance to one of the gentlemen of the Company. He told me that a similar circumstance occurred to him when on the coast near North River." Our own English winters are sufficiently cold to make us sensible of the need, and thankful for the comfort, of warm clothing. How pitiable, then, the condition of the poor Indian, his wife and little children, if, as is too frequently the case, their clothing be old and insufficient. Let no one say, "We have poor enough at home." I believe the more we do, temporally and spiritually, for the poor abroad, the less, through the enriching providence of God, we shall have of the poor at home. How much our Missionaries prize the contributions of our Ladies' Associations will appear in the following words from Mr. Mason. "August 25, 1856-I opened some of the goods which had just come from home. Our hearts rejoiced when we saw the charity clothing, sent for our school children by our kind but unknown friends both in England and Ireland. May their work of faith and labour of love be abundantly rewarded by our Heavenly Father, who has promised that a cup of cold water, given unto one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, shall in no wise lose its reward. Kindness is the key to the 18 "GIVE ME TO DRINK." [FEB. human heart; and the Missionary, being the almoner of these charitable contributions to the Indians, is more likely to succeed in persuading them to abandon their evil ways, and accept the still more important blessings of the gospel, gratuitously conferred upon them by God, who is loving to every man, and whose tender mercies are over all His works; who hates nothing that He has made, but wills the salvation of all men.” Again he says, August 29th-"A most timely supply of clothing, which will fill the hearts of our dear children with joy. Some of them were so destitute, that I was obliged to buy clothing to enable them to come to school; and I am happy to say, that what has been sent by our kind Christian friends is just what we needed. A larger stock of boys' clothing would be acceptable as they are quite as destitute as the girlssuch as trowsers or coats, or materials to make them." They are now in the depth of stern winter in far-off America. Our Associations, we trust, are in full work. The spring will soon come round, when packages must be made up for Rupert's Land. The summer there is brief. The ships must get in to Hudson's Bay, and get away, while the water be still open. Let us be diligent. "Naked, and ye clothed me." "GIVE ME TO DRINK." "GIVE me to drink!" and who and what art Thou Give Thee to drink! Yes, had I seen Thee here Oh, how my heart had throbbed Thine heart to cheer, But, Jesus, say what would'st Thou have me do Pilgrims and strangers on their homeward road. "Whene'er you see them weary on the way, Athirst or fainting, then remember ME; "I will give thee to drink-Oh! such a draught |