140 miles from Peking. The Rev. J. T. Gulick was the first missionary to proceed thither, he having joined the Mission in the previous year. This station was reinforced in 1867 by the arrival of the Rev. M. Williams. In 1867 another station was formed at T'ungchow, an important city thirteen miles east of Peking, and the terminus of the river traffic from Tientsin. The Rev. L. D. Chapin, who had since 1863 been labouring in Tientsin, first occupied this station. The year after its formation Miss Andrews arrived to work amongst the women. And in 1869 the Rev. D. Z. Sheffield commenced his labours in this city. In 1868 the Rev. T. W. Thompson proceeded to Kalgan, and Mr. P. R. Hunt undertook the superintendence of the printing press in Peking. Miss Porter arrived at the same time to engage in school and women's work in the capital, which station was further reinforced in 1869 by the arrival of Rev. C. Holcombe. The Rev J. Pierson joined the Mission in 1870 and proceeded to Yüchow, a city 100 miles south of Kalgan and almost due west from Peking. He was accompanied by Dr. Treat, who had been labouring in North-China since 1867, and by Mr. Goodrich. In 1870, Miss Diament arrived and was appointed to the Kalgan station. Miss Chapin began her work in Peking in 1871, and Miss Evans her work in T'ungchow in 1872. In 1872 Yüchow was relinquished as a residence for foreigners and became an out-station of Kalgan. Mr. Goodrich was transferred to T'ungchow and Mr. Pierson and Dr. Treat to new work, which was commenced in Paoting-fu in 1873. This city lies 120 miles southwest of Peking on the great road to the central and western provinces, and is the capital of the province of Chihli. This staton was at first worked by various members of the Mission, but finally was occupied permanently by Mr. Pierson in 1877, on his return from America. He was accompanied by Mrs. Pierson and by his sister Miss Pierson, also by the Rev. W. S. and Mrs. Ament. In 1874 Rev. W. S. Sprague joined the Mission at Kalgan, and in 1877 Rev. J. S. Roberts that at Peking, the latter to take the place of Rev. C. Holcombe, who had accepted the position of Secretary to the American Legation. In 1878 Mr. Hunt died from typhoid fever, an epidemic of which disease raged in Peking during the summer of that year. His place was supplied by Mr. W. C. Noble who arrived that Autumn. In the year 1879-1880 the Mission was largely increased by the arrival of Miss Haven at Peking, of the Rev. T. M. Chapin and wife for Kalgan, and of Rev. W. H. Shaw and Dr. A. P. Peck with their families for Paoting-fu. Miss Garretson at the same time entered on work at Kalgan. This station was further reinforced in 1881 by Miss Murdoch, M.D., to commence medical work there. Miss Holbrook, M.D., who arrived the same year has also entered on the work of healing at T'ungchow. The work of the Peking branch of the Mission is carried on at two preaching chapels situated on two of the principal streets in the East City. A chapel for the worship of the native Church was built within the Mission compound in 1873 and accommodates about 300 people. Considerable attention is paid to school work, there being twenty-five girls in the boarding-school with room for more. There are also day-schools for boys and girls. A very interesting work among the women in the district surrounding the Mission has grown up of late. The country work of the station lies to the south-west and south of Peking. That at Chochou on the Paoting-fu road is distant forty-two miles south-south-west; that in the Pachow district is forty miles south, and that in the hsien district is ninety miles further south. The printing press has been established twelve years. Besides Scripture portions and tracts for Mission purposes, it has issued editions of the Old and New Testaments in the Northern Mandarin. The issues during these years in pages have been as follows:1870, 453,220; 1871, 1,208,870; 1872, 1,477,100; 1873, 2,481,700; 1874, 2,900,900; 1875, 1,019,190; 1876, 750,800; 1877, 2,232,900; 1878, 987,649; 1879, 1,367,300; 1880, 1,026,900; 1881, 1,203,075; making a total for twelve years of 17,109,604 pages. The Press runs two Washington and one Adams presses, all hand, and employs thirteen men. At Tungchow there are two chapels, one for daily preaching to the heathen, the other for the meetings of the native Church. There is a training institution with nine students who come from the different stations of the Mission, and a boarding school for boys. The Paoting-fu station has two out-stations at Shenchou sixty miles to the south, and at Yaoyang sixty miles south-east. A new work has also been commenced at Yihchou about sixty miles north. METHODIST EPISCOPAL MISSION. This Mission was opened early in 1869 by the transfer of the Rev. L. N. Wheeler and the Rev. H. H. Lowry and their families from Foochow. In the following year they entered on the premises secured by them in the south-east corner of the Tartar city, and close to one of the city gates. Towards the close of 1870 the Mission was reinforced by the addition of Revs. G. R. Davis and L. W. Pilcher to the staff. In 1871 Misses Maria Browne and Mary Q. Porter were appointed by the Women's Foreign Missionary Society to proceed to Peking for work amongst the women and girls. Their arrival was however delayed until the Spring of 1872. In December 1875 Miss L. A. Campbell came to take up the same work. In 1871, after meeting with much hostility from the officials and the anti-foreign party among the people, a preaching chapel was purchased in a busy street in the southern or Chinese city. Owing to the continued opposition of the authorities this site was exchanged in 1880 for a much larger one on another of the principal streets to the west, on which a new chapel has been built for preaching to the heathen and on which there is ample accommodation for boys' and girls' schools. In 1872 the street chapel previously belonging to the Presbyterians was procured. The same year Rev. G. R. Davis went to Tientsin and opened a branch of the Mission in that city. In 1873, Mr. Wheeler returned to America, his state of health requiring the abandonment of Mission work. The same year there arrived Rev. J. H. Pyke, Rev. W. F. Walker and Rev. S. D. Harris. The last of the three was compelled soon to relinquish Mission work on account of ill health. Medical work was commenced by Miss Dr. Coombs in 1873, and a hospital for women and children was opened in the Autumn of 1875. Miss Dr. Coombs proceeded to Kiukiang in 1877 having been relieved by Miss Dr. Howard. The staff of ladies connected with the Women's Foreign Missionary Society has been further increased by the arrival of Miss Cushman in 1878 and of Misses Yates and Sears in 1880. Miss Campbell fell a victim to the epidemic of typhoid fever which visited Peking in 1878. The Rev. O. Willets also joined the Mission in 1880. As above stated the Mission has two chapels for daily preaching to the heathen, one in the northern, and one in the southern city. A large and commodious chapel was built on the Mission compound in 1874. There is a large boarding-school for girls with forty-five scholars, and a boarding-school for boys with twenty-two scholars. A training institution has been established in which there are ten students. The country work of this Mission is carried on in conjunction with the Tientsin branch and lies in three directions. That to the east is at Tsunhua-chou 100 miles from Peking. To the south is the out-station in the Nanking district and distant 230 miles. To the south-east there are out-stations in the Yenshan district 200 miles, and in Taian-fu in Shantung about 400 miles distant. NATIONAL BIBLE SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND. Mr. Murray of this Society reached Peking in the early Winter of 1873. Since that time he has been regularly engaged in the sale. of Scriptures and Tracts. With the exception of a few brief visits to fairs and temple gatherings to the south of Peking, the whole of the sales have been in the city. The number of Scriptures and religious books sold during the period is upwards of 122,000. During 1881 the number was 15,000 of which 6,000 were Scripture portions and New Testaments. Mr. Murray has also most successfully adapted the Braille system of writing for the blind to the representing of the Chinese sounds. He has opened a small school for the blind, and some three or four boys have learned to read and write with ease. By the same system the boys are taught the tonic solfa method of singing. The table of statistics appended will give some idea as to the present condition of Protestant Missions in Peking and neighbourhood. It will be noticed from the foregoing statements that the efforts of the various Missions have been directed chiefly to the districts south of Peking. To the west there is one out-station. To the east also one. To the south-west, south and south-east there are a large number. Two of the Missions even extend their work across the border into Shantung. The Methodist Episcopal Mission has one station 400 miles away in the T'aian prefecture of that province. Notwithstanding all the missionaries who are labouring in Peking and neighbourhood and even counting the work done by the Missions represented in Tientsin, of which no note has been taken in this paper, it is found that in the province of Chihli only a very small part is touched by Christian influence. There are stations and out-stations in six out of the eleven prefectural districts, and in five out of the six secondary or direct rule chou districts. These prefectural districts are subdivided into 148 hsien and secondary chou districts. Of these, as far as can be ascertained, only thirty-three are in any way the scene of evangelistic effort. When too it is considered that in many ⚫ of these districts there are only one or two villages in which converts are to be found, it will be manifest how much has yet to be done before the field is ripe unto harvest. Further, if each hsien or secondary chou district contains an average of 400 towns and villages, and this is if anything below the mark, the result will be a total of nearly 60,000. Of these, it is probable that not more than 300 contain converts to Christianity. Twenty years of Mission work leaves so much to be done. On the other hand twenty years have accomplished so much. |
