The Rev. M. L. Taft writes from Peking - "Our meetings during this Week of Prayer, both in Chinese and English, have been well attended and highly profitable." RESOLUTIONS ADOPTED BY THE PRESBYTERY OF NING PO. 1. Marriage is for life and should not be lightlyconsidered, but honored, as the Scriptures command. trous and superstitious practices, should be forbidden. 10. To enter the bridal chamber to annoy and insult the bride, this is entirely unchristian and is not to be allowed. 11. The expensive bridal sedan; the coronet with pendants,鳳冠; the dragon-ornamented robe,, had better be dispensed with. The unsightly garment worn by the in the sedan,迓婦衣, should be altogether forbidden. 2. Children should not be betroth-bride ed before they are of age nor without their consent. 3. Christians should marry in the Lord as the Holy Scriptures plainly direct; to marry children into unbelieving rich families merely for the sake of gain is to cast them into Satan's net and cause sorrow of heart; the Church should forbid it. 4. In case of one of the parties becoming a Christian after a marriage engagement has been made, the unbeliever shall be notified and given permission to break the engagement if he so desires. This is honorable. 5. No persons should marry whom the Scriptures and the Civil law forbid to marry. 6. The amount of betrothal money should not be a matter of con tention between Christians. Let the amount be according to the ability of the two parties. As a general rule, we would suggest, that the lowest amount be forty dollars and the highest sixty dollars, the silver ornaments being extra. 7. Neither should the maid's relatives covet a larger bridal trousseau, and be constantly intimating the same to the go-between; this should be forbidden. 8. The bride's clothing should be substantial and useful, not simply for display. 9. Emptying ashes into the bridal chair,; lifting the veil,揭方巾; carrying lighted candles before the bride, bride and groom walking on ricebags,; and all other idola 12. The wedding feast should be according to one's means. Why go into debt for life for the sake of a few moments' display? It is perfectly proper for the poor to make no feast, but set tea and cakes before the guests. 13. The promise and covenant made before God by the bride and groom are binding for life, and in case of disregard, the Church Session should exercise discipline. THE NEW JAPANESE CABINET. The Rev. O. H. Gulick writes fore the sources of power and the from Okayama, Japan :--Heretoresponsibilities of Government have been so veiled that the constitution of the Government has been much of an enigma to resident foreigners. Mail of Dec. 26th, publishes ImNow we have daylight. The Japan perial Notifications of Dec. 23rd, which announce that on that day Count Ito became Prime Minister of the Empire. Prince Sanjo, former Chancellor of the Empire, retires from the headwill travel in Europe. ship of affairs, and rumour says, The advancement of Mr. Ito to the Prime Minister-ship, and the The former State Council is abolished, and the Ministers are henceforward directly responsible to the Throne, and constitute the Cabinet. This Cabinet, in the language of the Imperial Decree of Dec. 23rd, is to "have direct control in all matters of State." The same Decree urges the Ministers to "discard pretence; make reality your aim in all things both great and small!" Golden words; truly new doctrine to be urged upon Asiatic Statesmen ! Mr. Ito is the man who, returning from a visit to Germany about two years ago, told the Mikado that he was surprised to find that both Emperor William and Bismarck, were true Christians, and that both of them urged upon him personal attention to the doctrines of Christianity, and said to him Christianity was the great need of Japan, that Christianity was what would do more for Japan than all else. It appears that there is to be a large reduction of supernumeraries in all the offices of government, and great economy effected thereby, also a rapid pushing forward of railroad building, and continuous strengthening of the navy. Three months ago we had a craze for foreign styles of hair-dressing among Japanese ladies. Many abandoned the native style and adopted one of the many foreign styles. European style of dress for men is becoming more and more common throughout the land. One argument in favor of it is that the dress is cheaper, another that it is more convenient for many kinds of work. A country for changes! But when the changes advance such enlightened men as Counts Ito and Inouye to the front, the lovers of Japan may well rejoice. METHODS OF WORK IN NEWCHWANG. The Rev. W. P. Sprague recently paid a visit to Newchwang, and thus reports:" Mr. Webster, who came out to the Scotch U. P. Mission three years ago, commenc | ed evening preaching in the street. chapel, last winter, profiting by the good example of Mr. Lees in Tientsin, and Mr. Ament in Peking. He also introduced that most valuable help, object teaching, by means of a magic lantern his thoughtful friends had sent him. In this way crowds listened nightly to the old story of salvation through Christ only, and carried away, indelibly impressed on their minds, pictures of all the leading scenes in the life of our Lord on earth. Another method of increasing the number of hearers, has been the use of a Gospel tent. His friends of Barclay Street Church, Edinburgh, sent him out a fine large tent. At its dedication in Edinburgh Mr. Muirhead took part in the service. And at its rededication when it reached Newchwang, in August 1885, allt he foreign residents joined four or five hundred natives, all comfortably seated within, consecrating it to preaching the gospel to the Chinese. And from that day till the autumn storms came on, crowds have daily listened to preaching within its walls. ready is it owned of God in blessing, and the first-fruits begin to appear." Al Mr. Sprague, referring to the work of Mr. Ross among the Coreans, (which has been from time to time reported in the Recorder) says:-" I have never heard of such ready acceptance of the Gospel in China, unless it following the famine relief work in Shantung. God grant we may soon hear of much more of the same sort all over this great land!" ERRATA. On page 12, line 14, of Vol. xvii, for "ting" read tiny; and on page 15, line 16, for "well drained," read well-dressed. Diary of Events in the Far East. December 1885. 13th. Two sharp shocks of earth 23rd.-Reorganization of the Japa-quake felt at Swatow. nese Cabinet, under Count Ito, with Count Inouye as Minister for Foreign Affairs. 14th.-The priests of St. Joseph's College bring suit for libel, in the Supreme Court of Macao, against the 30th.-Death of Sir Walter Med-editor of the Independente. hurst, in England. January 1886. 1st.-Proclamation of the Indian Government annexing Upper Burmah. 7th. A new Loan of £300,000, by the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, for the China Merchants' S. N. Co. 18th.-H. E. Peng Yu-lin arrives at Shanghai on leave of absence from Canton. 28th. Mr. Taro Ando (late Japanese Consul in Shanghai) was to leave Yokohama as Japanese Consul Hawaiian Is., with 925 Japanese laborers. to Missionary Journal. Births, Marriages & Deaths. Rapalje, of Reformed Mission. BIRTHS. ON the 23rd of December, the wife of Ar Amoy, January 13th, the wife of DEATH. AT Hankow, December 29th, 1885, Arrivals and Departures. ARRIVALS. At Taiwan-fu, Formosa, November 12th, Dr. J. Lang, of English Presbyterian Mission. At Amoy, December 22nd, Rev. D. At Shanghai January 13th, Rev. Mr. and Mrs. C. F. Reid and two children, W. H. Park M. D., and Mr. C. J. Soon, all for Methodist Episcopal Mission South. Also on the same date Rev. Mr. & Mrs. Bryen, Rev. Mr. & Mrs. D. W. Herring and Miss R. McGown M.D., for American Baptist Mission South. At Shanghai, January 15th, Misses L. E. Hubbard, S. E. Jones, C. P. Clark, S. Reuter, A. S. Jakobson, J. D. Robertson, Mrs. Erikson, and two children of Rev. Mr. Cardwell, all of the China Inland Mission. At Shanghai, January 28th, W. E. Macklin, M.D. of the Foreign Christian Mission Society of the Disciples of Christ, Cincinnati, U.S.A. DEPARTURES. From Taiwan-fu, November 14th, Dr. and Mrs. Anderson, and Mrs. Ede, for England. From Foochow, on the 12th January, Rev. L. Lloyd and family, for England. From Shanghai, January 28th, Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Tomalin, of the China Inland Mission for England. THE FLAG-STONES AND CONGLOMERATES OF NING-KONG JOW IN NORTHERN CHEHKIANG. BY THOS. W. KINGSMILL, Esq. FEW visitors to the neighbourhood of Ningpo have failed to remark the important series of conglomerates and flag stones, in which are situated the celebrated quarries of Ning-kong jow. These rocks are even more conspicuous along the branch of the river flowing past Du-bu-du, , where they form a bold escarpment along the left bank of the river, the outline of which affords a good instance of the effects of aqueous denudation, rising here and there into mamelons and hog-backs, with steep gulleys between, affording good sections everywhere of the rocks. On the opposite bank of the river extends for the most part a plain, reaching as far as the district city of Funghwa; but an outlier of the ancient ranges of the Kinwha prefecture stretches northward within a mile of Du-bu-du, and here we arrive at the lowest members of the Ning-kong jow conglomerates abutting in the spurs of the Tung shan,, against the paleozoic quartzites forming the foundation of the Kinhwa rocks. The T'ung shan is a long narrow ridge about 1150 feet high, running out to the N.W. and extremely steep on both sides. It is composed of the ordinary grits and quartzites which underlie the lower Carboniferous limestones of central China, and which are here contorted, but lying in masses with obscure bedding apparently nearly vertical. It is always interesting to trace a geological formation to its lowest level, and in a long spur on the northern flank of the hill the two may be seen within a few feet of one another, the newer resting unconformably on the denuded edges of the ancient rocks, with a dip of about 7° to the N.E. The rocks of the newer series in these spurs consist for the most part of beds of course conglomerate mixed with irregular layers of rough gritty sandstones, and vary in colour from white to dark reddish brown. There is little difficulty in recognizing their contents, which are the ordinary debris of the paleozoic rocks, consisting of quartzites, quartzite shales, porphyries and trachytes. The conglomerates are for the most part excessively coarse, many of the beds being formed of small boulders from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, but many that I noticed were upwards of two feet in diameter. The beds are of very irregular thickness, varying from a few inches to eight or ten feet. For the most part there is a rough sorting of their contents, the larger boulders occupying the lower portion; the boulders are all more or less rounded, and notwithstanding considerable search I have never noticed striæ or other ordinary marks of ice action. On the left bank of the river the conglomerates form a long range of hills rising to about 850 feet in height, and dipping at low angles towards the north or N.N.E. As above stated, they are extensively denuded, and their northern edges form a long and bold escarpment running out in spurs here and there towards the river. The description of the rocks given above will apply equally to those on the opposite bank, and the same series may be traced across the intervening hills in a north-easterly direction to the valley of Ningkong jow about five miles distant, the section showing a thickness for these lower rocks alone of upwards of 3,500 feet. The peculiar outline of the rocky escarpment, its deep sinuous gulleys, and the mamelated shape of many of the outliers, all testify to extensive aqueous denudation in comparatively recent times. comparatively recent times. At a short distance west of the Kong K'ow, H, pagoda I met with in the northern face of the hill, the open month of a cave some 30 feet wide and 50 feet deep eroded in a softer bed of sandstone lying between two hard conglomerates, the waterworn aspect of the roof and sides, and the deposits of gravel on the floor left little doubt that the cave had formed the channel of an underground watercourse; the mouth of the cavern was about 450 feet over the valleys at both sides, and the ridge was not more than 250 yards across. The stream must therefore have worked for itself this channel prior to the denudation of the valley behind. Between Du-bu-du and the Ning-kong jow valley are a series of low parallel chains running approximately in the line of strike. The beds of sand-stones and conglomerates follow in regular sequence, the sandstones increasing in importance and the pebbles in the conglomorates as a general rule becoming smaller and more water |