allowed to go in or out; but after a few days, fishing-boats and junks were allowed to pass-not through the main channel, which is blocked, but through a narrow side passage.

CONDUCT OF THE FRENCH.

The first reports brought in by junks and fishing-boats gave fearful pictures of the barbarity and injustice of the French. But after a time some of the crews they were said to have beheaded, and some of the junks said to have been robbed and sunk by them, turned up safe and sound in Ningpo. The account of a richly laden junk, with Northern produce, having been captured, by the French, and of her crew being kept in chains, created great excitement in the city, but when a few days after, the junk and crew, appeared in port, and the true story of her capture was heard, the feeling of hatred for the French was changed to something like admiration. A French cruiser over-hauled the junk, and finding that she had a cargo of dates, walnuts, and dried persimmons-which things were good for food-they offered to buy enough to supply the fleet. They allowed the owner to fix his own price which they paid him. At the same time they told the Captain and crew that they might tell all the shipping guilds and merchants at Ningpo, that they, the French would not interfere with trade, only they must not carry contraband of war. The news brought in by several junks that the French treated them honorably and paid for what they took, and that they would not interfere with legitimate trade, relieved greatly the tension in Ningpo, and furnished an outlet for some of the most dangerous elements in the city, viz., the junks and fishermen.

The unearthly yells of the junkmen hoisting their sails, and lifting their anchors which usually cause the sensitive ones to stop their ears, was on this occasion musical. Though the main channel at the month of the river has been effectively blocked, there is a side passage, where junks, at high water, with careful pilotage, can pass. This furnishes a partial relief to the boat population. But there are tens of thousands of unemployed persons in the city and surrounding country in consequence of this war. One thousand coolies are thrown out of employment by the stoppage of the daily Shanghai steamers, and about as many boatmen. Many kinds of business have been suspended, and nearly every branch of trade is paralyzed.

As the supply of British opium through the non-arrival of the steamers is running low, the price has gone up, and the wretched victims of the pipe, many of them poor coolies, are ready for riot or plunder, when they cannot get the means otherwise to buy the destructive drug. Thus far no rioting or plundering has taken place; we have been shut in for a month; the French fleet is still outside of Chinhai; but how long this state of things will last we have no means of determining..

PROCLAMATIONS.

Four different proclamations have been put out by the civil authorities of Ningpo, all having reference to the present state of war. The first one was issued last year, to quiet the wide-spread alarm that was circulated about the British and American war vessels that were then in port.

The rumor took possession of the whole city that these war ships, the Daring and Juniatta, were French men-of-war in disguise, and that they had come into port in advance, in order to be ready to attack Ningpo when the French fleet came in sight. So excited had the people become on account of this rumor, that the Tao-tai was compelled to put out a proclamation, "to instruct the people," but unfortunately his statements were not as clear and decisive as should have been expected, in view of so absurd and groundless a rumor. It is thought by many that even the officials themselves strongly suspected a collusion between these war ships and the French. It is certain that many intelligent Ningpo men believed the rumor, and many native Christians were sorely tried on account of this report.

The second proclamation had reference to the victory gained by the Chinese at Chinhai. The French attack on the forts, and their repulse with heavy loss, were narrated-and officers and soldiers were praised in most extravagant language for their skill and bravery-concluding with an exhortation to the people not to fear the inroad of the French. "The defences were strong, the officers and soldiers were skilful and brave, and heaven was propitious." The third proclamation had reference to the price of provisions, particularly rice. Prices went up rapidly when the port was blockaded, and the future looked gloomy. The officials of the city, with commendable promptness, issued vigorous and sensible proclamations to keep down the price of provisions, appealing first to reason and patriotism, and ending with threats of punishment. The fourth proclamation had reference to the protection of Foreigners. Foreign nations had treaties with China, and they were all at peace with her except France. The citizens of these countries. must be respected. The houses and places of worship of Foreigners must not be molested, and even Frenchmen who were passing peaceful callings must not be molested, and the sisters, who were engaged in works of charity, must not be annoyed. On the whole the Ningpo officials have acted generously and promptly, in their efforts to protect Foreign interests, and their conduct in protecting French citizens and French property, while the French nation is fighting them, is worthy of all praise.

Echoes from Other Lands.

THE RATIO OF INCREASE.

The Rev. B. C. Henry, of Canton, in The Foreign Missionary for February, makes the following comparative statements:-"As a matter of history, in connection with our Presbyterian Mission, it may be said that at the end of the first ten years after its establishment, there was but one solitary convert; at the end of the second ten years there were less than ten; at the end of the third ten years the number had reached one hundred, while during the last ten years, which are just completed, the whole number received has been 700. The ratio of increase in the other missions has been very much the same, so that we have in connection with the Churches in Canton a native Christian community numbering about 4,400; and if we include those in Hongkong and Swatow, which belong to the province of Canton, we have an aggregate of nearly 7,000 Christians. During the last seven years the Churches in Canton have just doubled their membership; that is, during these seven years as many have been received as during the previous thirty-seven years. We may put the comparison in another way, which carries great force to many. It is just 302 years since the first Roman Catholic missionaries entered the province of Canton, and after three centuries of work they report 20,000 converts; while Protestant Missions, after 40 years of work, show 7,000."

ANTI-FOREIGN FEELING.

The Presbyterian Banner of January 7th, contains a letter from Rev. H. Corbett, written during a journey. The Governor of the province had promised the United States Consul at Chefoo to issue proclamations for the protection of native Christians. Mr. Corbett writes:-"When I reached this district ten days ago, where the officers and people have united in persecuting the Christians the past summer, I found that no proclamations had been posted, and the Christians did not dare to meet except by stealth, lest they should be arrested and beaten on false charges. In many places the people seemed to fear to come within sound of my voice." Mr. Corbett called on the chief officer of the district, who received him with marked politeness, and was full of promises, but the missionary could not but distrust him in view of what had taken place-false charges, cruel beatings, loss of time and property.

MORE MISSIONARIES NEEDED IN CHINA.

The Rev. J. V. N. Talmage, D.D., writing home under date of November 13th, pleads for China in the following cogent words:

"We are feeling more and more need of reinforcements from home. But we have heard (not, however, directly from our secretaries, and therefore trust the report may not be true) that the Board fear they will not be able to send us reinforcements, because of want of funds. Can this be so? Why this discrimination against China? The appropriations either to India or Japan are nearly three times greater than those to China, while the field in China is much larger than that in India, and about ten times as large as that in Japan. Perhaps some will say that this discrimination in favor of Japan is right because God is giving greater blessing to the work in Japan. Are they sure of this? Suppose a farmer should give three times as much expense and labor in the cultivation of a plot of one acre as to a field of ten acres, would it be strange if the one acre plot looked more flourishing? Yet to repay equally the care spent on it, the one acre plot should yield thirty-fold more than any one acre of the larger field. But I would not say one word to decrease the contributions and prayers of the Church in behalf of Japan or India. I only beg that they may be proportionately increased in behalf of China, and then we shall see if there docs not come a proportional blessing. The field in China in many respects may be, and I suppose is a harder field than either Japan or India, but it is a field equally worth working."

PRESECUTION OF ROMAN CATHOLICS.

The London and China Express gives us the following items of painful interest :—

"The Missions Catholiques gives the translation of an order lately promulgated by the Governor of Foochow, directing that all missionaries and Christians be expelled from that province. The Russian Minister at Peking having made representations on the subject, the Tsung-li Yamên replied that the order was issued without its consent. The same periodical publishes a letter from Eastern Tong King, which is not occupied by the French, but whither the Annamite mandarins and others have fled. The province (Thanh-Hoa) is said to be in a terrible state of anarchy, the mandarins revenging themselves on the priests and Christians. During the last fourteen months six missionaries and a large number of natives have fallen victims.

"The French aggressions in Annam are causing the infliction of much suffering on the Romanist missionaries in the interior of China. Those brave pioneers of civilisation are enduring some terrible persecutions in various parts of the country, in Kuang-tung and Kuei-chou. Eight Counties or Hsiens, in which were till lately numerous missions and thousands of converts, have been ransacked by bands of anti-Christian, anti-French, patriots. The missions have been entirely destroyed, and the property of the French priests, as well as of the native Christians, has been pillaged. No one appears to have been killed, but a systematic destruction of the mission property and that of native Christians appears to have been the rule. Father Bodinier, a clever and liberal-minded priest of great experience in the Tsun Yi Fu Prefectural city, has been advised to fly to Szu-Ch'uan, or elsewhere, for safety. Another priest, Father Bouchard, took refuge from the violence of a mob in the Yamên of the General and Commandant of the Tsung-yi Garrison, and whilst there is said to have been poisoned by arsenic. Fortunately for him, the dose was so large that he was able to discover the mischief done, and succeeded in relieving himself by applying an antidote. Many other priests are now hiding with their poor converts wherever they can find a refuge from the violence of the mobs that seek to harm them. When these things become generally known we may hear of further persecutions in other provinces."

WOMEN SURGEONS.

Surgical, as distinguished from Medical Women, are hardly as yet recognised by the public in this country. In the East, however, a different state of things prevails, and we have received an account in the North China Daily News of November last of an operation, one of the most severe known even in modern surgery, having been successfully performed by a woman, Miss Elizabeth Reifsnyder, of the American Woman's Union Mission. This lady is now engaged in founding a hospital for native women in Shanghai, which is being designed and constructed with all the recent improvements in sanitary science. Her patient, a native woman, was suffering from an enormous internal tumour, which was successfully removed by Dr. Reifsnyder, the patient making a perfect and rapid recovery. It is satisfactory to hear of the good feeling which, in China at least, prevails between the medical practitioners of the two sexes. Miss Reifsnyder's hospital being not yet completed, she sought and obtained the good offices of the medical men attached to St. Luke's Hospital, Hongkew, where the patient was accommodated with a suitable room and attendance."-The Queen.