China, with her vast population, has stood almost unmoved for thousands of years. But now disintegration threatens, and the nations of Europe may yet divide that great country among themselves, and a new world may arise. In such a change, the influence of Christianity must be a vital force, to guide and strengthen.
The coming of the children of China to our Western coast may be a providential element in this change and the importance of the work of the Association among these peoples on our Pacific Coast, so ready to learn, and many of them so ready to return to their native land as missionaries, may be a very significant factor in the future.
ALASKA.
In 1847, California was almost as little known and valued as Alaska was last year. But the discovery of gold in Sutton's mill-race changed the whole aspect of affairs in California, and it is now a State with a large and thrifty population, and its western shore is connected with the Atlantic seaboard by railroads, towns and cities. The discovery of gold made the change. The recent discoveries on the Yukon River in Alaska are sending hundreds and thousands of people thither, and while Alaska may never become a California in population, yet a wonderful change is taking place, the end of which no one can predict. But the native population of that distant land must not be neglected nor crushed under the pressure of hordes of gold hunters. The work at our mission station at Cape Prince of Wales should be enlarged and made more effective.