noon, and found myself at last near the gates of two large temples which tower right up in the center of the city. Multitudes wended their way to these temples, muttered their prayers, and cast their offerings into the money chest which, as you know, invariably confronts the worshiper at the door of the shrine, and to which he must contribute before he rings the bell to waken the gods to hear his prayer. God wonderfully moved my heart to do something to help these deluded, sin-burdened souls who find no relief through their prayers and offerings, and I lifted my heart in prayer that a way might be opened to me to tell them of Jesus and his love. prayer was answered immediately. On returning to the hotel a servant came to ask for my passport, and seeing a box in my room asked its contents. When

That

told that it was a magic-lantern he at once requested me to hold an exhibition in the town, he promising to rent the old theater for me and do all the advertising, etc. So everything was arranged, and upon my return from Akita the next week I was greeted with a full theater, eight hundred people, and for five hours they listened attentively to the simple truths of Christianity and gazed upon the illustrations.

That night I asked this servant if he would arrange for a preaching service when I came again, and he readily consented, so that when recently there I had a full house for two nights, with the same earnest attention. On the second day who should come to the hotel for an interview with me but the head Shinto priest. He began to tell me about the sad plights that his religion is now in, how the Diet has refused financial support to the temples, and if something were not soon done they would have to close up shop, etc., and then began in a quiet way to ask me questions about Christianity, its position toward the government, the crown, patriotism home, coun. try, etc. I read portions of Scripture to him touching each of these points, and this young and scholarly priest was pleased and deeply impressed. O, how earnestly I am praying for that man!

Eighty boys and girls came to the children's meeting. Toward evening a terrific typhoon came up, and we despaired of having any service at all. Some said we will have no service and there is no need to light the lamps, but we bade them light them. What was our surprise and joy to find nearly four hundred people awaiting us at the theater. Again they listened to our many and earnest words. At the close I announced that I had a few tracts and Bibles which I

would give to anyone desiring. Instantly every hand went up in that house, and every man and boy shouted "Doze negaimasu." I shall never forget that sight. How I longed for bread to feed the multitude! When I began to distribute the tracts the crowd began to press up toward the platform, and by the time I reached the Bibles the interest had become so great that they jumped right up on the

platform and fairly went down on their knees for a copy of the Word of Life. The tears came to my eyes as I saw the multitude go hungry away, for I had only a dozen, and what were they among so many?

That night at the hotel the Lord put it into my heart to feed that crowd, to put into each man's hand a copy of the word. Some can buy for themselves, and I sent a colporteur down then to go from house to house and offer the word to them. Many are poor fishermen, living in miserable huts and hav ing nothing of this world's goods. My heart goes out for them, as I know yours will, too, dear brother, and I think that some of our friends in America who have this blessed Bible and know what it has done for them will be glad to help give it to others, cents will buy a well-printed copy of the Japanese Testament, a treasure to the individual, a light to one whole home. One dollar will do the same for ten homes. "Shall we to men benighted the words of Life deny?" O, brothers of America, help us! Please help to chase away the darkness and ignorance from these hearts.

Ten

(The above is a letter written to Rev. David S. Spencer, of our Japan Mission, who is at present residing in Factoryville, Pa. Brother Spencer writes as follows: "Rev. J. W. Wadman is one of the best missionaries in all Japan. I have already sent him a little help. Will not those who have Christian homes think what the Bible has done to make those homes, and then send me something to help these souls? Every cent put into my hands for this purpose shall go direct to Brother Wadman. I will defray expenses of transfer of money. Young men, boys and girls can gather something for this cause and send to me at once. Now is the time to help. Send to David S. Spencer, box 131, Factoryville, Pa.")

Italy Conference.

BY WILLIAM BURT, D.D.

BISHOP Joyce arrived at Venice from Bulgaria Monday night, September 26. The next evening he addressed a good audience in our hall at Piazza Manin. On September 28 he came to Milan, and the following evening made a most happy and effective address to a full house. Dr. G. W. Pepper, United States Consul at Milan, and several American young ladies were present. The bishop has a wonderful faculty of transmitting his spirit to his interpreter, so that the audience gets both the thought and the man. At the close of the service all in the church, by request of the bishop, filed up before the altar and shook hands with him.

The following Sunday, October 2, the Bishop preached in our church at Florence and administered the Lord's Supper. After a sermon in the evening by the pastor, Signor Ravi, we had a blessed meeting of consecration and of special prayer for the coming session of the Annual Conference. Among those who came to the altar were two or three seekers. Monday and Tuesday were spent in Florence. On Wednesday we went to Pisa, where the Conference was to open its

eleventh session on the following day. According to the testimony of all present this session was the best ever known in the history of the Mission. The brethren had worked hard during the year, and, though some had met with encouraging success, the difficulties and discouragements had been so many that several of the brethren bad come up to Conference with heavy hearts and troubled spirits.

The session opened with the administration of the Lord's Supper. It was a precious season of grace to all present. The Conference was soon organized, the various committees nominated, and all things in order. The bishop then briefly addressed the Conference, and by his loving words and gentle manner and spirit captivated the affections of every member of the same, so that from that moment and during the whole session there was a sympathetic cooperation between the presiding bishop and the brethren of the Conference. As a result the business proceeded with expedition and in order. There was no commanding, but a happy voluntary obedience and cooperation.

On Saturday afternoon the bishop had a meeting with members of the Conference alone. He talked to them out of the fullness of his heart, and then asked each one present to say a few words. It was a meeting never to be forgotten. The Spirit of God was present, and all hearts were brought into perfect peace and harmony. This was an excellent preparation for the love feast on Sunday morning, which proved to be a veritable feast of love. A lady present was converted and with streaming eyes praised God. Then the bishop preached, and, although he spoke through an interpreter, the word was with power and in demonstration of the Holy Spirit.

Because of a severe cold the bishop was not able to attend the afternoon and evening services, though it was with difficulty that we could persuade him to stay away, so great was his interest in the work. At the preaching service in the afternoon the same spirit was present, and in the evening, after a sermon by Signor Dardi, pastor of our church at Milan, we had au old-fashioned altar service. Many sought the pardon of their sins, while nearly all the Christians in the house came forward and consecrated themselves anew to God. These meetings have been a great blessing to the members of the Conference, both in the spiritual influence on their own hearts and as an object lesson in the work of evangelization. All have returned to their fields of labor full of faith, courage, and hope. Before final adjournment the brethren presented the Bishop with a series of resolutions signed by every member of the Conference, and a model of the "Leaning Tower," as a token of their high regard.

Many important changes were made. The Theological School, hitherto at Florence, has been transferred to Rome. The Rev. E. S. Stackpole was transferred to Maine Conference, and the Rev. N. W. Clark, of Frankfort, Germany, was transferred here

45

Miss

to take charge of our theological school. E. M. Hall continues as Directress of the Girls' Home School, and Miss M. E. Vickery has been appointed Directress of the Young Ladies' Institute. During the year there were about two hundred conversions, some progress has been made in all departments of the work, and a spirit of unity has come among the workers. We have bright hopes for the coming year. Pray for us!

APPOINTMENTS.

ITALY DISTRICT, W. Burt, P. E.-Adria and Gavello, to be supplied. Bari, C. Tolis. Bologna, B. Bracchetto. Caneili, to be supplied. Dovadola, to be supplied. Florence-First Church, S. V. Ravi; Second Church, E. E. Count. Foggia and Termoli, G. Conte. Forli and Faenza, V. Bani. Geneva, E. Tourn. Genoa, E. Stasio. Milan-First Church, F. Dardi; Second Church, A. Manini. Modena, Regio, and Cavezzo, C. Bambini. Naples, P. Taglialatela. Palermo, A. Frizziero. Pavia, F. Cruciani. Perugia, G. B. Gattuso. Pisa, D. Tolsinelli. Pontedera, to be supplied. Rapolla and Melfi, to be supplied. Rome -First Church, E. E. Powell; Second Church, G. Carboneri. San Marzano and Alessandria, P. Gay. Venice and Terni, G. Buggelli. Turin, G. Pons. Mestre, G. I. Fabbri. Venosa and Palazzo, to be supplied. Vicenza and Arzignano, to be supplied. N. W. Clark, President of Theological School. E. Borelli, Editor of Erangelista. William Burt, Director of Publications.

A New Theological School in China. DEAR FRIENDS OF MISSIONS: Believing you would be interested in "The Hing-hua Theological School," we desire to lay before you the facts concerning this youthful institution.

1. It is located in Hing-hua city, the capital of Hing-hua Prefecture, Fo-Kien Province, China. This city is two and one-half days' journey south of Foo-Chow, and just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean. It is a clean city with wide streets, making a healthful location for the school.

2. Hing-hua Prefecture has a population of two million people who speak a dialect different from the Foo-Chow or any other dialect spoken in China. This is a rich agricultural district. The inhabitants are mostly farmers and are more contented and in better circumstances than many of their fellowcountrymen.

3. The Hing-hua people have always shown a kindly disposition toward foreigners. Riots are unknown in this section. Christianity has made rapid progress. During the last Conference year (which was only eight months long) the Methodist Church made a net gain of seventy per cent, second only to North India.

4. These 2,000,000 people, with a Methodist population of 2,000 members and probationers and hundreds of adherents, are almost wholly dependent upon twenty native pastors for their Christian instruction. The harvest truly is plenteous but the laborers are few.

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5. The importance of this field, the large number of adherents, the unusual strength of the native church, the remarkable ingathering of souls called loudly for an increase of pastors; but the preachers were not to be found who could speak the Hing-hua dialect, consequently the mission authorities concluded that the only solution of this problem was to be found in establishing a theological school at Hing-hua city. A missionary was sent out to take charge of the Hing-hua educational work, and in February, 1892, a School of the Prophets was opened.

6. The theological school has outgrown our highest expectations. The appropriations for 1892 provided for four students, but when the school opened eighteen bright young men applied for admission. We admitted twelve, trusting to the Master and his servants for the financial help needed to provide for these students. We have not been disappointed. These young men come from the best Christian homes and have shown themselves to be faithful workers on both school and evangelistic lines. reported having preached fifty-five times during the term, and another at the end of the first month of the summer vacation reported fifteen conversions.

One

The school occupies a rented native building which has but one recitation room, and this room is also used for a dining hall. The private rooms are small and crowded. Five students sleep in the largest room, the dimensions of which are 12x16 feet. This building rents for the magnificent sum of nine dollars a year. This is the best place we could get in which to open our school. It will be absolutely impossible for the work to develop in this cramped condition. Ten or more young men are waiting to enter the school as soon as there is room for them. A theological school building must be provided soon or the school will be injured badly. Three thousand dollars (gold) is sufficient to buy property, build and furnish a suitable and substantial Chinese structure.

Will

Here is an unusual opportunity to do good. not the Church at home help in this emergency? Surely there are lovers of missions who would gladly send the three thousand dollars needed. The donors can have the privilege of naming the building.

Remember that the religious teachers and pastors for over two million people are to be supplied mostly from this school. Hundreds of members, probation. ers and adherents, are calling earnestly for pastors, and here are a score or more of young men ready to prepare themselves to help reap this vast harvest for the Master, but our hands are tied for want of room. Dear Christian friends, do you not wish to help in this noble enterprise? This appeal has been indorsed unanimously by the Foo-Chow Mission, and the General Missionary Committee has heartily approved it.

Money for the Hing-hua Theological School should be sent to the address of the Rev. C. C. McCabe,

The Methodist Missions in Japan.

A CORRESPONDENT of the Central Christian Advocate writes from Tokio, Japan, August 29, 1892:

"The Annual Conference season has once more come and gone for the Methodist bodies in Japan. The Mission of the Evangelical Association had a very interesting meeting, and reported progress all along the line. They are expecting a bishop next year, when an Annual Conference will be organized. Their work is chiefly in and about Tokio. The Mission of the Methodist Church of Canada held their meeting the latter part of June. Several important changes have been made in their staff, the older men going home and their places being taken by men who originally came out on the self-support plan. The work of this mission is in and southwest of Tokio.

"The work is organized as a district of one of the Annual Conferences in Canada. The Methodist Protestant Mission has its work in Yokohama and Nagoya and vicinity. They are laying good foundations for the future. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has a work of phenomenal growth. They are located in Kobe, Osaka, and to the south, except Kiushin. This year they were visited by Bishop Key, and organized into an Annual Conference. They were able to report progress and to announce that the girls' school at Hiroshima, destroyed by fire, has been rebuilt, and that $10,000 are in hand for their main building of the boys' school in Kobe.

"The Japan Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church has just held its ninth session at Aoyama, Tokio, under the presidency of Bishop Mallalieu. This Conference now has fifty full members and twenty-four probationers. There have been but slight accessions to the Church, and but slight gains in self-support during the year. This Conference occupies the whole of Japan except those portions ocupied by the Canada Methodist and Methodist Episcopal, South, workers. The work is not everywhere compactly organized, but the general occupation is well conceived and ably executed in all these Methodist bodies. Bishop Mallalieu, after Conference closed, made a flying trip to the north, visiting Hirosaki and Hakodate, and then went on toward the south, speaking at Yokohama. Ioso, Arima, and perhaps at other places. These visits of one Chief Pastor' are a great help to the Church, but the travel on the field should be done

before Conference. The bishop, on his trip to the far East, is accompanied by his son and by the Rev. W. H. Daniels, well known as a Methodist historian and as an evangelist in India. He attended the Young Men's Christian Association Summer School at Hakone, and since has been on evangelistic tours in this vicinity."

MISSIONARY MISCELLANY.

IN Japan there are 3,410,000 scholars attending schools, or nearly half of the total population of school age. This speaks well for the future of Japan.

Dr. Jessup reports that in Turkish Asia there have been gathered by Protestant laborers 175 churches, 20,000 communicants, and 100,000 adherents, chiefly among the oriental churches.

The Samoan Islands, through the agency of the London Missionary Society, have so accepted the Gospel that out of a population of 46,000 all but 10,000 have become professing Christians.

It is been said that Mohammedanism is impreg nable against Christianity, but the English Church Mission Society has 1,000 Moslem converts, the Rhenish Society in Sumatra has nearly 6,000, and nearly all the 12,000 converts in Java have been won from Islam.

There are about twelve hundred natives of India who have been imported to the Fiji Islands as laborers. They are poor, and generally degraded. A native Christian preacher of India has gone to labor among them. He is said to be "the first missionary sent forth by native Christian India to foreign lands." His name is John Williams, and he belongs to the Wesleyan Church.

Life and Work, published at Blantyre, British Central Africa, says: "The members of the Berlin Mission not far from us make a point of living as much as possible on the food supply produced in the country. The rich Konde district affords a most favorable field for such an experiment, but there are few parts of Africa where such attempts can be made with safety. A great deal, of course, depends on the cook. But health in Africa must be secured at any cost."

Dr. Shedd, a missionary of the American Presbyterian Board in Persia, speaks of a powerful priestly class in that country-the mullahs-whom he describes as descendants of the ancient magi. The head of the caste, whose title is the Imaun of the Age, lives near Bagdad, and his decrees are as binding on his co-religionists as the bulls of the pope are on Roman Catholics. Between this body and the shah there is constant war, and through the friction Islam is losing its hold upon the country. But the government has not always the best of it in the quarrel. An instance is given of this. The shah gave to a British company the monopoly of the tobacco trade, and the imaun forbade the use of the weed, with awkward consequences.

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The progress of Christianity in Japan is alarming the Buddhists, and among some of the plans formed in opposition is that of an organization whose members promise they will have no relations of any kind with Christians. Over doorways can be seen the wooden ticket showing that its inmates are members of such a society.

The Mission Record of the Church of Scotland reports: "Rabbi Lichtenstein of Tapio-Szele, in Hungary, who has for some years professed and preached Jesus as the Christ, while holding the office and performing all the functions of a district rabbi, has now resigned his office and come out from Judaism. He has been appointed by the Jewish Mission Committee of the Irish Presbyterian Church one of their agents in connection with their work at Hamburg. We observe that a fund is being started to circulate Rabbi Lichtenstein's writings, notably his remarkable book, Judaism and Christianity, among the Jewish communities on the Continent."

A lady missionary in Rabat, Morocco, writes: "Moorish houses are open to us, and the Moorish women are far more willing to listen to the Gospel than the Jews. As a rule, they are far brighter than the Jewesses, although they have far less liberty, and are shut up so terribly. I visit regularly a big shreef's (saint's) house, where the daughter, a girl of about eighteen, has never been outside the door of the house she was born in. She has never seen a tree, and has no idea of what the sea is like, though she lives so near to it. She is supposed to be so much holier for this. They constantly remind me that her father is next to the sultan '-there is nobody higher, not even the kaid (governor), and nobody else so holy as he in Rabat. And all this he owes to his direct descent from the Prophet!"

In the city of Mosul, on the Tigris, is a new mission of the Presbyterian Church. "Of the population of Mosul by far the larger part are Moslems. The nominally Christian sects, principally Jacobites and Chaldeans-or Nestorians who have become Romanistsnumber about twenty-five thousand, and there are not far from ten thousand Jews. The Protestant community as yet is small. The Lord's day finds perhaps a hundred and thirty in the little congregation in the city, including the pupils in the school. To these schools are brought the girls and boys from the rude mountain districts. The language of Mosul is almost exclusively Arabic, and this is the tongue mainly employed in preaching within the city. Outside the gates Arabic is little heard, and Syriac is everywhere spoken. The climate is exceedingly unhealthy."

The editor of the Calcutta Indian Witness makes the following report of a devil burning:

"Through the kindness of Mr. Wenger, of the Tiretta Bazar Mission, we recently had an opportunity of visiting two Chinese Joss houses, and witnessing the annual ceremony of burning the devil. Honesty for

bids our saying we enjoyed the visit, yet it was interesting and instructive, particularly as illustrating the peculiarities of the Chinese character and its marked difference from the Hindu. The devil burning ceremony began in the Joss house and ended in the public street. It included sacrifices and services for the deliverance of the souls of ancestors, and destruction of the image of the devil, which we suppose represents the deliverance of the souls from his power. The walls of the brilliantly illuminated Joss house were covered with cartoons describing all the torments of souls in hell, which are supposed to finally purify them for heaven. Every conceivable form of torture is represented, the whole series indicating the cruel materialistic and unimaginative quality of the Chinese mind, in these respects so different from the Hindus. Large tables in the center of the rcom were covered with sweetmeats from China, which together with the innumerable lighted tapers and the ceaseless beating of gongs were the means used for propitiating the devil and inducing him to release from hell the souls of those in whose interests the service was held. The devil, a large figure in bamboo and tissue paper, resembling the Rawan of the Ram Lila, occupied a conspicuous place in the outer room of the Joss house, around the walls of which were lists of the names of the donors to the expenses of the performance."

Missionary Personals.

REV. C. A. Gamboa, of our Mexico Mission, died in Mexico of yellow fever, on November 19. He was a delegate to the last General Conference and a faithful and able minister.

Bishop William Taylor left New York December 7 on his way to Africa. He went to London, and will go from thence to Liberia to hold the Liberia Conference.

Mr. H. L. Roscoe left New York December 17 for Lucknow, India, where he is to be instructor in stenography and typewriting in Lucknow College.

Rev. George B. Smyth, of the Foo-Chow Mission, who first went to China in 1882, is expected to leave China this month, returning home on account of ill health.

On January 4 the following missionaries are to sail from San Francisco for Shanghai, China: Rev. J. C. Ferguson and family, returning to Nanking; Miss Gouchenour, of the Deaconess Home, Chicago, who goes as a deaconess to the Central China Mission; Rev. W. E. Manly, of Iowa, and Rev. J. F. Peat and wife, of Quincy, Ill., as missionaries to West China; Miss Lydia A. Wilkinson, of Diagonal, Ia., as teacher for the Girls' Boarding School at Foo-Chow, China.

Missionary Books.

Missionary Landscapes in the Dark Continent. By Rev. James Johnston, A.T.S. Published by A. D. F. Randolph & Co. Price, $1.25. Here are given excellent descriptions of the people and the missions in Morocco, Egypt, North Africa, Uganda, Kaffraria, Soudan, and on the shores of Lake Nyassa, Upper Zambezi, Lake Tanganyika, Congo and Niger Rivers. The author is a writer of careful research and considerable repute, and has given us a most excellent account of that which has until very recently been but little known. The missions in these lands are growing in strength and interest, and we gladly welcome all the information we can obtain respecting them.

Mexico in Transition, by Dr. William Butler, was noticed last month, and we again call attention to it. It gives us a clear and concise history of the political and religious changes that have taken place in Mexico chiefly since 1860, and also a record of the advance of the Protestant missions. It should be in all the Sunday school and pastors libraries. Price, $2.00. Published by Hunt & Eaton.

The Child of the Ganges can be recommended for Sunday school libraries. It is a tale of the Judson Mission, written by Rev. Robert N. Barrett, and published by the Fleming H. Revell Company at $1.25. It is well illustrated, well written, and intensely interesting. The customs of India and Burma are incidentally portrayed, as the trials and conquests of missionary life are given. The story in its historical setting is true and will well pay a perusal.

A Girl's Winter in India is a journal kept by Mary Thorn Carpenter in her visit to Ceylon, Bombay, Allahabad, Calcutta, Benares, Lucknow, Cawnpore, Agra, Delhi, Jeypore, and other places in India. It is both pleasant and profitable to look through her eyes as she gazes upon magnificent buildings and the swarming millions of India. The writer was a careful observer and an excellent recorder of what she saw. There are twelve illustrations. It is a good book for a Sunday school library. Published by A. D. F. Randolph & Co. Price, $1.50.

The Chinese: Their Present and Future: Medical, Political, and Social, is written by Robert Coltman, Jr., M.D., surgeon in charge of a Presbyterian hospital and dispensary in China, and published by the F. A. Davis Company of Philadelphia at $1.75. The author lived in North China for about five years, and his descriptions of the people refer chiefly to those in that section. His account of the people is entertaining and instructive, and the chapters on the missionaries and their work, the present political situation, and the future prospects of China are valuable. The plain language the writer uses in treating of the dissipations and the diseases of the Chinese is objectionable and prevents the book securing a general circulation. It should be placed among other medical works.

Kin-da-shon's Wife is an Alaskan story, written by Mrs. Eugene S. Willard and published by the Fleming H. Revell Company at $1.25. The author writes from a full knowledge of the people of Alaska, having been a missionary among them for over ten years, and in this story interweaves much information respecting the customs and characteristics of the Alaska Indians. "The story is true in every particular essential to history; it is true in its representations of Kling-get life and customs, of the character and productions of the country." The author says that much of the crime resulting from the belief in witchcraft is due to the medicine man, and she begs those in authority to cause his extermination. "His incantations should be held a crime; and his uncut hair should be shaved clean to the head; the whipping-post and work under guard on public improvements would be better than a prison." It is an excellent book for the Sunday school library.

The Bishop's Conversion is written by Mrs. Ellen Blackmar Maxwell, for years a missionary of the Methodist Episcopal Church in India. The Bishop is a leader in the Church, a thinking man, one who has read the criticisms of missionaries and their work, and who fears that there must be more or less truth in them. With his family he goes to India, remains there a year, lives as do the missionaries, and then returns to America prepared to defend and glad to defend the missionaries, more alive than ever to the great importance of missions, and prepared to so present the subject of missions as to deepen the interest of the hearers. Here is furnished the best account we have read of missionary life and labor. Written in story form, it is all true. It is an interesting book for anyone to read. It is a good book for the Sunday school library. Its reading will place us more in sympathy with our representatives at the front. Published by Hunt & Eaton and by Cranston & Curts at $ 1.50.