Other extracts shall be from letters of our Chinese brethren. Here is one who has evidently gotten over into an American way of thinking. He is so much in earnest that his English is badly wrenched in the effort to convey his views, but I give his words very nearly as he wrote them. "What I think and what often I observed is that the Chinese very meanness and sordidness, just exactly what were the Jews. Scatter all round the world, and still they feel very proud of their country, despise the foreigners, close all their sea-ports, would not allow the poor celestial to go out or have civilized men to enter the happy country. On account of their ignorance of Christ, unhappy, miserable, wretched. Some of them think good deal of their improvement, national, naval, but if the Government will not adopt the Christianity and put behind their ancestor and evil ways and the wicked custom, they will not be very flourishing what they look for." For himself he says, "I hope I will have a good opportunity while I am working for the Lord and looking for some souls to bring to the Lord, as His will be done."
Another writes: "I speak in Chinatown yesterday. Then we had very good singers of American Christian young men (they were five) and Chinese brethren (they were eight.). All go on to sing with me. Then I have a good chance. I pray God to help and hope our countrymen immediately come to repent and follow Christ and worship Him." And again, "I thank God for His blessing. This school now is increasing. Last evening we had twenty-three scholars. Six new ones came in this month. I like stay here two or three months more and talk this gospel of Christ."
Another translated for me a letter just received from his father-in-law in China—a letter which gives him great joy. "Dear Son-in-law:—Your letter was reached me some ten days ago, and glad to read it and that you are all right in California, doing Jesus work. But there was a fellow named —— —— who had come back from San Francisco last year. This fellow came to me with some news to tell me, so he said. So I asked him to sit down and gave him a cup of tea. Then he commenced his false story about you being poisoned by the Jesus doctors, and that your heart had been poisoned so that you don't want to come back any more. After the length of his false talks, I commenced to ask him questions which he cannot answer. I told him that I had known my son-in-law too much about his faith in Jesus. People with the same report came to me from time to time, before you [i.e., the son-in-law addressed in the letter,—W.C.P.] came back the last time. At first I have faith in their talks, but since you came home, I have found you all right. Now a mission is near my house, and I have time to talk and to read the Jesus books, and have found that Jesus is like our Confucius, and I believed Jesus words all right and so my son-in-law all-right too. Thus I have told the dog, [i.e., the tale-bearer] to get off from my door and not call on me again."
I hope there may yet be space for this extract from a letter from Jee Gam, who took a vacation of two weeks, spending it not far from a Chinese fishing village near Monterey. "Sunday morning, accompanied by about ten American friends, I went to Chinatown to hold a preaching service. After singing several times and offering prayer, I took the stand and preached to a large crowd of my countrymen, of both sexes and all ages, drawn by our loud invitation and our songs. Before I began my sermon I told them what we had been singing about, also what we prayed for, and to whom we prayed, and asked them to see the difference between these Christian Americans who sang and prayed for us, and those who would crowd us out Then I preached on Gal. 6:7, for nearly an hour, and all listened attentively. Not one of the hearers said anything against us. I was told that two years ago a Chinaman had tried to preach there, but the people drowned his voice by beating their tin cans, and drove him off with various missiles. When I heard this I said, 'I am not afraid, God will go with us; with his help I will preach Christ to them.' And he did help, and oh, may he bless the seed sown! On Sunday evening one of the Chinese came out decided as a Christian, and one other seemed almost persuaded."
BUREAU OF WOMAN'S WORK.
MISS D.E. EMERSON, SECRETARY.
WOMAN'S STATE ORGANIZATIONS.
CO-OPERATING WITH THE AMERICAN MISSIONARY ASSOCIATION.