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schools there, and giving their aid and encouragement in the front chapel for 'street preaching.' They have made plans to secure an organ for that church, and are greatly interested in that work since your Sunday morning sermon there, when we left Brother Lacy to carry on the meeting while you and I went on into the city, East Street, Hok-ing Dong, with Brother Worley.

"Brother Worley and Brother Miner are active in their work, and succeeding well, and we are much encouraged at the outlook."

Our Mission in Penang.

(BISHOP THOBURN writes the following from Penang, March 28, to the Indian Witness.)

When I reached this place I was met by Rev. D. D. Moore, and we went at once to visit our mission schools. We were driven through a number of streets to a rented building, on which I saw in large letters, "The Anglo-Chinese School," and on entering was warmly greeted by the Rev. B. H. Balderston, principal of this thriving institution. I made a very hasty inspection of the six "standards" into which the school is divided, and was not only pleased with what I saw, but surprised at the progress which had been made. On going into one of the rooms I found Mr. J. F. Deatker, late of Allahabad, in charge of a fine-looking class of boys whom he was drilling in English dictation, in which work he was apparently as much at home as if still presiding over a busy government office in North India. Mr. Deatker expressed himself as more than satisfied with his brief experience in Penang, and hoped that it would prove his initiation into permanent missionary work, either in Malaysia or India.

Leaving the Anglo-Chinese school we were next driven to the Tamil Girls' School, which we found comfortably housed in a building much larger than the present wants of the school demand, but perhaps not too large for its future necessities. The school had been but recently started, and was under the care of a young lady who could speak Tamil, and who seemed quite encouraged with her success thus far. I noticed one little boy among the girls present. I was told that three of the girls were Christians. A large Tamil population is said to live in Penang, and no doubt a good work could be done among them if we had a missionary to give them special attention. I have for some time been hoping to find a Tamil Christian preacher suited for such a post, but thus far without success.

After a brief visit at this school we next proceeded to the mission house, which we found delightfully located, with its front on the best street of the city, while its rear opened out upon the sea. The house is large and airy, and stands in the center of a spacious compound which would afford sufficient room for a church in front and school buildings in the

rear, if we only had the money to purchase the land and erect the buildings. It is rented for the moderate sum of sixty-five dollars a month. From the drawing room up stairs we look out upon the surf, which beats along the rear of the compound, not more than fifty yards away. Sometimes, when a storm rages outside, heavy seas are driven down the narrow strait which separates the island from the mainland, and on rare occasions the surf breaks over its barrier and drenches the compound all round the house. This, however, does not happen often enough to give the inmates of the dwelling any alarm. Among all our mission stations, east, west, north, and south, I have never found a house so delightfully situated as this one.

At

Penang, as the reader is probably aware, stands upon an island of the same name; or rather, its original name of Prince of Wales Island has pretty generally been dropped in favor of the shorter name, Penang, which, by the way, signifies betel nut. The island probably takes its name from the beautiful little areca, or betel nut, palms which flourish so wonderfully along the beach. The city of Penang is practically a Chinese port. Indians are found in large numbers, with a few Europeans and scattered representatives of all the different Malay tribes; but the Chinese element predominates everywhere. the same time I notice with some little surprise that Malay is the language of the bazaar, and though not ⚫ spoken so freely as in Singapore, it yet becomes the vernacular of all the Chinese boys who grow up in the streets of the city. The Chinese are the people of the future, but their language will never become the vernacular of these coasts. The island of Penang shows in miniature what the future of all the coasts from Rangoon southward is destined to be. It is a Chinese island. Nearly every acre of it is owned by Chinamen, and Chinese influence is paramount everywhere.

After spending an hour or two in conversation with Mr. and Mrs. Moore and a young lady from the mainland who is visiting with them, we descended to the lower story of the mission house to inspect the Chinese Girls' School, which is under the care of Mrs. Young, a lady who is well known in this city in connection with various forms of Christian work. Here we found twenty-one children, but six were boys belonging to the best Chinese families of the place and probably sent here because they are directly under the care of the lady in charge, and hence better looked after than if placed in one of the public schools. I was much interested and a little surprised to discover that the girls also, with hardly an exception, belonged to the very best families of the place. I learned from Mrs. Young that the Chinese were perfectly willing to have their daughters kept in school three years, but think that this length of time amply suffices for all their needs. It is a pity that we cannot have them longer, and yet in three years

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we ought to be able to get a great deal of precious truth deeply rooted in their hearts, too deeply for the enemy ever to pluck it thence.

As soon as I reached Penang I began to realize that many of the conditions under which missionaries work in India are wonderfully altered in Malaysia. For instance, take this Chinese Girls' School of which I have just spoken. I find twenty-three names on the roll. Such a school in India would probably be conducted at very considerable expense, with not only a highly paid teacher, but a doli, or other conveyance, provided for the pupils. Here, however, children are sent to the school by the parents, and each one pays a Mexican dollar as a monthly fee, equal in Indian money to two rupees four annas. The income of the little school is forty-five rupees a month, and no difficulty is experienced in collecting the fees. In the Anglo-Chinese School the boys pay a dollar a month in the lowest classes. The govern ment grant-in-aid rules are extremely liberal, and the result is that mission schools are carried on with very little trouble, at least as compared with those in India. At Singapore the Chinese parents pay twenty dollars a month for each boy sent to the boarding school; and although the number of boarders is limited, seldom rising so high as twenty, yet the rev. enue received aids very materially in maintaining that vigorous institution.

The Malaysia Mission Conference.

BY BISHOP J. M. THOBURN, D.D.

THE first annual session of the Malaysia Mission Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church has just been held at Singapore. Heretofore the Conference has been known ecclesiastically as a Mission," and its annual assemblies have been "Annual Meetings," possessing the limited powers of a District Conference. The last General Conference passed what is called an "enabling act" authorizing the bishop having charge to constitute the Annual Meeting a "Mission Conference;" that is, a body having full ecclesiastical powers, but not entitled to representation in the General Conference. In accordance with the provision the members of the Mission were called together and formally organized as a Mission Conference, on Saturday, April 1. The membership was very small, but the session lasted four days, and near the close the pressure for time was felt almost as much as is common in larger Conferences.

B. F. West was elected secretary, and C. C. Kelso corresponding secretary. Brother Kelso also received the nomination for treasurer. The total membership of the Conference, including preachers on trial, was only twelve. It is expected that several Chinese preachers will be admitted next year. Mr. Munson, with his family, returned from furlough during the session of the Conference, but

two others, Messrs. West and Balderston, were obliged to ask for leave on account of impaired health. The number of adult baptisms reported was forty-four. Nearly all of these were Chinese. The Malays who are Mohammedans are found impervious to Gospel influences to a remarkable extent.

The schools of the missions continue to prosper. An immediate attempt is to be made to establish an orphanage and training school for boys, a ter the manner of the Christian boarding schools which are becoming so prominent in North India.

The work of the Woman's Missionary Society was reported as prospering and promising. Miss Blackmore is absent enjoying a well-earned furlough in her Australian home. Miss Ferris is both occupying and filling the place thus made vacant, and another lady is expected from Oregon before the close of the year. Miss Hebinger is succeeding grandly in her Chinese work. The Board of Deaconesses recognized all three of these ladies as deaconesses.

It is hoped that several new stations will be occupied before long. The Borneo Mission is suspended for the present. Most of the brethren think that Eastern Sumatra presents a better field. Several points on the Malay Peninsula are also regarded as important centers, and also as offering many advantages to missionary workers.

APPOINTMENTS.

Ralph W. Munson, Presiding Elder [P. O., Singapore]. Malacca, to be supplied. Penang, Daniel D. Moore, Benjamin H. Balderston. Penang Anglo-Chinese School, George F. Pykett, John F. Deatker. Singapore: AngloChinese School, Charles C. Kelso; Chinese Mission, Henry L. E. Leuring; English Church, William H. B. Urch; Malay Mission, Ralph W. Munson, William G. Shellabear; Tamil Mission, to be supplied. Mission Press.-Superintendent, William G. Shellabear. Manager, William J. Wager. Benjamin F. West, Supernumerary. William T. Kensett, on leave to attend school.

WOMAN'S CONFERENCE.

Penang Chinese and Tamil Schools, Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Deatker. Signapore: Woman's work (English), Mrs. Kelso; Woman's work (Chinese), Mrs. Leuring; Woman's work (Malay), Mrs. Munson, Mrs. Shellabear. Deaconess Home. -Superintendent, Miss Emma E. Ferres. Deaconess work among Chinese, Miss Josephine M. Hebinger. On leave, Mrs. West, Miss Blackmore.

-Indian Witness.

Bombay District, Bombay Conference, Methodist Episcopal Church.

BY REV. J. E. ROBINSON, P. E.

THROUGH an unfortunate misunderstanding, owing to the presiding elder's absence in America in attendance upon the General Conference, no report of this district appears in the Annual Report of the Missionary Society for 1892. The only reparation that seems possible under the circumstances is to furnish a few items through the Church papers by their editors' kind permission.

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Having in 1891 thrown off from its large and unwieldy territory that portion which forms what is now known as the Sinde District, another slice being cut off in 1892 to constitute the new Central Provinces District, the Bombay District is now practically conterminous with the political division of the Indian Empire styled the Bombay Presidency, embracing a population of about 20,000,000.

Besides an extensive work among Europeans and Eurasians-an increasingly important factor in the evangelization of India-we have several missionaries, with their wives and native helpers, laboring in the two great vernaculars of Western India-Marathi and Gujarati. The Woman's Foreign Missionary Society is also well represented, and is laying broad foundations for widespread usefulness.

The following table shows the growth of the work on the district from 1886 to 1891-the year in which the first division of territory referred to above was effected:

A few brief notes for 1892: We had five times as many baptisms as in 1886. On mission property, valued at 187,500 rupees-six sevenths of which was raised in India-we paid 6,686 rupees for improvements and indebtedness, all contributed locally. For all purposes the district contributed the handsome sum of 22,933 rupees. We do all we can to help ourselves.

Through the kindness of personal friends in the United States, mostly of New Jersey, an excellent equipment of furniture was provided for the Bishop Taylor High School at Poona. These friends will rejoice that at the recent Lanowli camp meeting nearly all the boarder pupils were converted to God. Friends at Canton, O., also contributed toward equipping our missionary in Gujarat for village work, and have furnished training school scholarships.

The Bombay District has the proud privilege of having given to the Methodist Episcopal Church eight European and Eurasian missionaries, including two who are taking a theological course in America. In this we greatly rejoice, and pray that the number may be largely multiplied in the years to come.

We feel that we have abundant reason to thank God for what has been achieved in the past and to take courage regarding the future. Let our friends in America pray for us.

Poona, April 21, 1893.

Woman's Medical Mission Work, Seoul, Korea.

BY ROSETTA SHERWOOD-HALL, M.D.

OUR work here is now nearly six years old, and some of its good friends urge that a Woman's Foreign Missionary Society child of that age should be made to talk.

Dr. Meta Howard officiated at the birth of woman's medical work in Korea, and ministered to its growing wants until it was two years old, when failing health caused her to leave it in the care of its good friends, Drs. Scranton and McGill, who helped it well through its third year, and then turned it over to me. The second day after my arrival in Seoul I was introduced to this growing work, and found my hands quite full from the beginning. As yet there were no trained Korean helpers to assist in the drug work or nursing, and it took a great deal of time to make all the needed mixtures, ointments, and powders, to take temperatures and pulses of in-patients, and see to the giving of their food and medicine regularly; to do all the dressings of ulcers and abscesses and the many other things incident to dispensary and hospital work which do not necessarily need to be done by a doctor. I missed the good deaconess nurses who helped me in New York, and felt much the need of one here, not only to help do these things, but to train the Korean girls and women to do them.

However, I set to work with a will. Miss Rothweiler gave me valuable assistance, and she asked for volunteers among the Korean schoolgirls, and soon I had three bright, willing girls of from twelve to fourteen years of age in training. They were of but little help though, except for dispensary hours, so I was very glad when Miss Lewis was sent to my rescue something over a year later. We have also secured the services of Mrs. Mary Whoang, one of our married schoolgirls, to take the place of the former Korean matron, who was most too old to learn foreign methods. Mary felt called of God to do this work among her sick sisters, and she makes a lovely Bible woman. Miss Lewis and Mary have an interesting service each day in the waiting room, with the dispensary patients and all the in-patients able to

come.

It is Korean custom for man and wife never to see each other until after marriage. I have had some illustrations of this custom among my cases for harelip operation that may interest you. One young girl of seventeen came to me with harelip, whose husband, of course, had very good reason for not loving her after seeing her, but after the operation she returned to him so good looking that they have lived happy ever since. Another young woman whose husband had put her away for the same deformity was so pretty after the operation that he wanted her to come back, but "she would not."

I remember treating another young woman whose husband didn't love her after becoming acquainted

with her because she was deaf. He sent her back to her mother, who brought her to me, saying if I could only cure her she would dance for joy. It is rather amusing, if it were not often so sad, how the men do get sold in securing their wives in this unseen way; but I suppose the women as often get disappointed in their husbands. One patient gave me a history of having jumped into a well to drown herself because she didn't love her husband!

I have lost two Korean girl assistants, both under fifteen, because of the early marriage custom of the people, and for some time I have been wishing for a young widow to train in dispensary work and to take charge of the children's ward under Miss Lewis, and at last I have secured just the one I needed. She neither read nor wrote in her own tongue when she came, but in a few months at the girls' school has learned both. She is a Christian, and has been baptized Susan. The way in which Susan's face has brightened since she found there is really a work for her to do in the world is something wonderful.

During the coldest weather of the winter dispensary patients are few, and this winter, if we have finished by 8 P. M., Miss Lewis and I have tried to follow up the work a little in the homes of former patients. We are always gladly welcomed. Two or three places we have visited regularly once a week for nearly four months. We read the Gospel and Catechism with them, and teach them to pray. Miss Lewis teaches the children to sing our Christian songs in Korean. One little girl has learned all the words of "There is a Happy Land," and "Praise God, from Whom all Blessings Flow," and has taught them to her little five-year-old brother. They are now learning "A Charge to Keep I Have." When one dear old lady, in a family we visited first, heard about heaven she was so delighted she wanted to die and go there at once.

I open work next Tuesday in the Baldwin Dispensary, at the east gate of the city. We have a nice site there, and the work promises to grow rapidly. This dispensary was named in honor of the lady who helped to build it, and who also gave the first sum toward opening work for women in Korea, saying: "I give this as a nucleus around which the contributions of the Church shall gather, until that dark land where woman has no name is reached, and one more fire lighted never to go out until the the knowledge of God covers the whole earth."

Dr. Hall is opening up medical mission work in the northern interior, with headquarters at Pyang Yang, and if the way opens I am anxious to begin work for women there soon. Korean people very much dislike leaving a place in which their family has lived for generations, but when I asked Esther if she would be willing to go to Pyang Yang and work for Jesus, she replied: "I will go wherever the Lord open door for me; if he open door in Pyang Yang I will go. I give my body and soul and heart to the

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Lord; my body and my heart and my soul is all the Lord's things, and I give up my life to teach my people about God, even if people kill me. I do not hope I get rich or have many pretty things, but I want work for Jesus most of all."

I am very glad to learn that the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society is sending out Dr. Mary Cutler to us this spring, but if we follow up our work in the homes whose doors stand open to receive us; if we have time to study the language as we ought, and are ready to begin work at the new points as they are opened, we need many more like her.

The work has never given me much time to study Korean, and though now with Miss Lewis and Mary Whoang in the hospital, Esther, Susan, and Lucy trained to help in the drug room and dispensary, I can accomplish much more in less time than the first year; yet with the increased work, the out calls, and teaching my Korean assistants physiology and materia medica, I do not get the time for study that I need, and cannot do the personal work with my patients that I would like.

It is a mistake, it seems to me, for any missionary to have work either requiring much time or care outside of the language for the first year or two; for though one may feel dissatisfied for a time to think they are doing so little, the result accomplished in the end will be far greater. O, that the people at home might be made to understand this, and, instead of keeping the field just barely manned to do medical and. school work, which always bring the people to us, they would send enough workers so that we could feed the people who come the Bread of Life in their own language, and not send the many away with cured bodies but starving souls!

How much we need more medical missionaries for these poor sisters of ours! What a glorious work not only to relieve the poor suffering bodies and sinsick souls of those who come to us, but to train such young women as Esther, Mary, and Susan, who, in turn, will do much to teach better ways even in this generation, and whose influence upon the coming generations will be felt in ever widening circles. "If I can only place one little brick in the pavement of the Lord's pathway, I will place it there, that coming generations may walk thereon to the heavenly city."

When a young girl, I read one of Mary Lyon's addresses to a graduating class, and a sentence in that address has ever influenced my whole life, and I would that it may thus be used to influence every girl or young woman who may read this. It is: "If you want to serve your race, go where no one else will go, and do what no else will do."

REV. W. A. MANLY writes from Chung-king, March 29, announcing the arrival of the missionary party at that place. Mr. and Mrs. Peat were to go to Chen-tu with Dr. Canright on April 4. These reinforcements were greatly needed and gladly welcomed.

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Personals and Special Notices.

BISHOP MALLALIEU advertises for missionaries as follows: "WANTED.-Five or six young, unmarried men of first-class education, missionary consecration, and sound health, to hold themselves in readiness for work in Japan and China. Please address the Missionary Secretaries, 150 Fifth Avenue, New York."

Rev. William L. King, of the South India Conference, has returned to the United States with his family. His address is Ripon, Wis.

Rev. J. H. Hayner was married on June 1 to Miss Bell Shattuck, and will leave the United States on September 12 to reinforce our North China Mission.

Rev. H. H. Lowry, Superintendent of the North China Mission, and Rev. I. H. Correll, of Japan, have received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Dickinson College.

We regret to hear of the death of Miss Eleanor Gill, eldest daughter of Rev. J. H. Gill, of India. She died April 22, at Naini Tal. She was but sixteen years of age.

The receipts of the Missionary Society for the seven months closing with May 31 were $640,821.41, an advance of $26,994.48 for the same months of the previous year.

Rev. E. S. Stackpole, D.D., for several years in charge of our theological school in Florence, Italy, has returned to the United States, and may be addressed at Winthrop, Mass.

Rev. C. W. Miller and family, of our South American Mission, arrived in New York on June 12. Their address will be Well Spring, Tenn., until their return to South America.

Rev. George B. Norton, D.D., of our Japan Mission, has returned to the United States. His address for the present is Burlington, Kan. He expects to reenter the pastorate in the United States.

Rev. A. J. Bucher, of the Central German Conference, has been appointed professor in Martin Mission Institute, Germany, as successor to Rev. N. W. Clark, who has been transferred to our Italy Mission.

Rev. N. J. Plumb, formerly of our China Mission, has removed from New Haven, Conn., to Delaware, O. He writes: "I am intending to devote my time to making missionary addresses, and giving illustrated lectures on China."

Rev. G. F. Hopkins, of our India Mission, was married in April at Karachi, India, to Dr. Saleni Armstrong. Brother Hopkins has moved from Jabalpore to Hyderabad, where Mrs. Hopkins is physician in charge of the Woman's Hospital. Rev. Gerhard J. Schilling, who was converted in our mission in India, graduated at the late commencement of Drew Seminary, was married to Miss Elizabeth Bull in New York on June 1, and leaves New York for India on July 8. He expects to enter our mission in Burma.

Rev. Francisco Penzotti, of our South American Mission, and an Agent in South America of the American Bible Society, was ordained by Bishop Andrews in the Mission Rooms in New York on June 5 both deacon and elder under the missionary rule. He was imprisoned for several months in Peru on account of his devotion to Christianity. He sailed on his return to Peru on June 10,

At the meeting of the Board of Managers of the Missionary Society on June 20 Mr. J. H. Taft, Dr. J. M. Reid, and Dr. S. L. Baldwin were appointed a special committee to consider the subject of locating the medical department of Foo-Chow University. At the same meeting the officers of the Board and society were reelected, as were also the members of the committees. Mr. J. S. Gamble was elected a member of the Committee on Audits in place of A. Shinkle, deceased. J. M. De Veau was made a member of the Committee on China in place of S. C. Pullman, and C. H. Payne a member of the Committee on Publications in place of Dr. G. H. Gregory.

Religious and Missionary Literature.

Forging the Sword; or, The Holy War, is a good book for a Sunday school library, published by Hunt & Eaton. Price, 60 cents. Interesting in style and matter, it enforces Christian truth and is both instructive and inspiring. It is superior to many books admitted into our Sunday schools.

The Review of the Churches, edited by Dr. Henry S. Lunn, of the Wesleyan Church, aided by five leading ministers of the Anglican, Presbyterian, Congregational, Baptist, and Methodist Churches, is meeting with marked success and contains much of interest to those who wish to keep informed respecting Church and mission matters as viewed through British eyes. It is published monthly by John Hadden & Co., Salisbury Square, London, E. C.

Glances at China, by Rev. Gilbert Reid of the American Presbyterian Mission in China, is published by the Religious Tract Society of London, and the Fletning H. Revell Company, of New York and Chicago. Price, 80 cents. It is an interesting, well-illustrated account of scenes in China, which increases our knowledge of a wonderful people and should increase our desire to give them the Gospel. It is a good book for a Sunday school library.

The Step-by-Step Primer, issued by Burnz & Company, 24 Clinton Place, New York, is intended to show the correct pronunciation of words without new letters or change of spelling. Its use will be helpful in teaching children to read, and especially in teaching foreigners the English language. Rev. John C. Ferguson, President of the Nanking University, recommends it highly, and believes that in China it will enable the teachers to accomplish in six months what has heretofore taken one year. It could be used to good advantage in teaching the Chinese in the United States. The publishers will send specimen pages on application.

The Holy Spirit in Missions is the title of a book lately issued by the Fleming H. Revell Company, of New York and Chicago. Price, $1.25. It contains six lectures delivered by Rev. A. J. Gordon, D.D., of Boston, before the Theological Seminary of the Reformed Church in America in 1892. The lectures are on the Holy Spirit's Program of MissionsPreparation in Missions-Administration in Missions-Fruits in Missions-Prophecies concerning Missions-Help in Missions, and are well calculated to deepen the religious fervor and missionary zeal of the reader. They will be specially helpful to those who are thinking of entering upon a missionary career. Price, $1.25.

Conflict of the Nineteenth Century-The Bible and Free Thought is the title of a new book written by Rev. Thomas Mitchell, of Brooklyn. It professes to dissect Ingersoll's lecture on the Gods, and to show that its charges are a combination of misconception and reckless assertion. It also seeks to prove that biblical religion is the exact counterpart demanded by the mental, moral, social, and physical nature of man. The book contains a large amount of informa tion on the subjects presented, and, so far as we have been able to examine, succeeds in doing what it professes. It is a good reply to the attacks of infidelity. The price is $2, postage free, and copies can be obtained by addressing John L. Mitchell, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Manual of Methodist Episcopal Church History, by George L. Curtiss, M.D., D.D., Professor of Historical Theology in De Pauw University, is intended to show the evolution of Methodism in the United States. It gives the leading facts in the history of the Methodist Episcopal Church from 1766 to the close of 1892, and occupies a place filled by no other book. We hope it will be introduced by our Board of Bishops in the Course of Study. Every Methodist preacher should become familiar with the facts here so well presented, and the members of the Church would the better understand and appreciate the polity of the Church if they would read this history. We thank the author for the book. It is for sale by Hunt & Eaton and Cranston & Curts. Price, $1.75.