with seventeen other missionaries to open their work in China. The principles on which they proposed to conduct missions are stated briefly by a friendly pen: They determined, in entire dependence upon divine support and protection, to attempt to make their way inland. They would cast themselves upon God for resources; soliciting nothing from the public, guaranteeing no income to their agents, incurring no debts, but just doing what from time to time they found they had the means to attempt.'

"When it is said that they would solicit nothing from the public, reference is made to personal solicitation. Occasional papers' are sent out stating the needs of the work, and for some years past a magazine, 'China's Millions,' has been issued, which bears much resemblance to other missionary magazines, although marked by its concentration on one great field. All funds received are there acknowledged, but the names of donors, whether they be churches or individuals, are never given. "Considering that it would be possible, in a simple evangelistic work, for members of various denominations to labor harmoniously side by side, without interference with points of conscience, they concluded to invite the coöperation of fellow-believers, irrespective of denomination, who fully believed in the inspiration of God's word, and were willing to prove their faith by going into inland China with only the guarantees [for financial support] which they carried within the covers of their pocket Bibles.'

"They determined also to give great prominence to itineration. Mr. Taylor has recently said, 'The command to evangelize, to go into all the world to preach the gospel to every creature, and the examples recorded in the New Testament of the methods of the early workers, might have led us from the first to give itineration an even greater prominence than we did. It must be admitted that stations become necessary to some extent; the itinerant work of the church cannot be carried on without them. It is, however, a grave mistake to make location our first aim, instead of keeping it in a strictly subordinate position as an auxiliary.

"The narratives of the mission read like a continuation of George Müller's well-known history of the Bristol Orphanage. Specific, united, and abundant prayer for everything which is needed is the keynote of the magazine, and the cornerstone of the work which it describes. 'Be careful for nothing, be prayerful for everything.'

66 THE MOVEMENT INLAND.

"When Mr. Taylor and his companions set sail from London in 1866, there were only about a hundred missionaries, of all societies, in China. Almost all of these were in the six provinces on the coast. Hu-peh was, we believe, the only other province in which there was a resident missionary. In the eleven interior provinces, with the exception of one point in Kiang-si, there were no stations at all.

"It illustrates the devout character of this group of missionaries, that the ship on which they sailed, the Lammermuir,' witnessed revival scenes on the voyage. The officers and crew numbered thirty-four. Twentyone of them confessed Christ before reaching Java.

"On the 30th of September the ship anchored at Shanghai. In a few weeks the missionaries pushed up the river in boats. A thousand obstacles showed themselves. At Hangchau, however, a young American missionary gave a part of the company shelter for a few days in his

dwelling. Evidently it was no disadvantage that older societies had preceded them. But they soon had a house of their own, the first headquarters of the mission in China. At that time foreigners had no right to reside inland or to travel with passports. It was not practicable to obtain passports until after the Chefoo conference. Yet in eight years the work of the mission had spread to a number of unoccupied cities in the provinces of Kiang-Su and Cheh-Kiang, and to two of the eleven unoccupied provinces which, as Mr. Taylor writes, were specially upon our hearts when the mission was formed.' The missionaries at this time numbered fifty-two, including wives of missionaries. In two of the unoccupied provinces fifty-two stations and out-stations had been opened, and native assistants to the number of seventy, including Bible - women, were at work.

"NEW PRAYERS AND NEW GROWTHS.

"The missionaries and their friends in England now united in earnest prayer for a notable increase of their force. They prayed that eighteen new laborers might be given within the next year. The eighteen were given. This was in 1876. The new comers were just ready for work when the Chefoo convention, signed by Li Hung Ch'ang, opened the doors more widely than ever before to inland China.' In November, 1881, at a conference of the mission at Wu-Ch'ang, it was determined to unite in asking of God seventy additional missionaries within three years. The first letter concerning this special prayer was published in London in March, 1882. We prepared,' says Mr. Taylor, an appeal for prayer, and circulated it among the members of the mission for the signatures of those who would undertake to pray daily for "the seventy." This appeal, with the facsimile of seventy-seven signatures, was subsequently printed in 'China's Millions.' In the appeal, after a reference to the need of China, we pleaded with the churches of God at home and abroad.

"I. To unite with us in fervent, effectual prayer that God would thrust forth more laborers into his harvest in connection with every Protestant missionary society, on both sides of the Atlantic.

"II. To join with our praying band in entreating the Lord of the harvest to thrust forth this "other seventy also " for the China Inland Mission.'

66

6

What was the result? Instead of the seventy, there were eighty who sailed for China before the close of 1884. Of these, fifty were women, most of them unmarried. In 1885 forty more offered themselves, and were accepted as missionaries and sent. All needful funds for the outfit, passage, and support of these new missionaries were also given, while the older workers were better supplied than before, long journeys taken, and the various extensions needed (the opening of some new stations and the obtaining of additional premises) were made as required.' "The year 1887 was marked by even more inspiring answers to prayer. A hundred additional missionaries were asked of God. 1887 closed, a hundred had been accepted and had sailed. Successive parties had arrived in China, and at the training-schools of the mission had commenced the study of the language; the men at Gan-K'ing; the women, of whom there were fifty-three, nearly all unmarried, at Yangchau.

Before

"Meantime the income of the mission, which in 1886 was £22,000,

rose in 1887 to £33,700, or about $170,000. Concerning this large increase Mr. Taylor writes: 'When we began to pray in China we thought that £10,000 additional might be needed, and asked the Lord to supply it in large gifts. It was very delightful te see the answer in large unsolicited gifts, so that during the year eleven contributions the smallest of which was £500 and the largest of which was £2,500 — did supply £10,000 of that £33,717 11s. 3d. No man was asked for a penny; the Lord was asked and He inclined the hearts of his people to give.' Here, again, Mr. Taylor can only mean that there was no personal solicitation; but their plans and wants were fully made known.

"THE LATEST STATISTICS.

"The work of the mission has now extended to fifteen provinces. There are 66 organized churches. The staff of the mission numbers 294,' comprising, apparently, 56 missionaries who are married, 169 unmarried missionaries, and 13 associates.' There are also 132 native helpers. In ten out of the eleven provinces, where previously there was no Protestant missionary, stations have been opened, and it is to be hoped that one will ere long be established in the eleventh, which has been several times visited. Altogether, the stations number 129. More than 3,000 persons have been received into church fellowship, and the number at present in communion is about 2,105. Last May it was estimated that 4,000 souls had been converted. In fourteen of the fifteen provinces, at sixty-four stations, there are resident missionaries. The out-stations number 65; the chapels where there is stated preaching, 110; ordained native pastors, 12; native preachers, 49; native helpers of various kinds, Bible-women, colporteurs, chapel-keepers, 132. A large number of these, from twenty to thirty, are wholly or mostly self-supporting or supported by the native Christians. There are 18 schools in the mission, with 174 scholars, three hospitals, five dispensaries, and 16 opium refuges. The medical missionaries number ten.

"It will be seen that in many respects the methods of the China Inland Mission resemble those which the older missionary societies have employed; while there are also in its work many peculiar features.

"The mission has sent out far more laymen than ordained ministers, and the standard of education among them is lower than among the missionaries, for example, of the Presbyterian Board. But it should be said that great care is exercised in selecting the missionaries, and afterwards of training them in China. Much of the work which has been done by our missionaries, and which is absolutely indispensable to the Christianization of China, the Inland Mission has hardly attempted. There is room, however, for many forms of work in that wide and needy land.

"The Inland Mission is, we believe, largely composed of Premillennarians. Naturally, therefore, as observed above, it lays the emphasis on itineration, on preaching the message of salvation over a wide area and doing this rapidly. The difference is one in emphasis only; for all evangelical societies have it as a true part of their plan to do the same thing. Many of the latter, however, give more attention to the formation of Christian institutions. These, even if they are not so immediately effective as evangelistic agencies, which we are not prepared to

admit in all cases, will, it is believed, produce a wider harvest, albeit a somewhat later one, of native power and well-rooted life. Hence such societies have tenfold more schools of every grade, embracing in some cases a range of study partly collegiate in its character, and including thorough theological instruction, while in lower schools they are in some fields raising up almost a nation of readers. Corresponding to this work of education, the older societies are carrying forward also a literary work which has no parallel in the China Inland Mission. These brethren found the Bible already translated and ready for the millions around them, a large body of grammatical and lexicographical helps, also, ready for their own use in the acquisition of the language, a whole line of schoolbooks for their scholars, in both common and higher schools, Biblical and theological treasures prepared by earlier missionaries through patient years, with a Christian literature of unspeakable value, and medical treatises, all of which they could place at once in the hands of their students and helpers.

66 THE MANY UNMARRIED MISSIONARIES ADOPTING THE CHINESE MODE OF LIFE.

"It is a further peculiarity of the China Inland Mission that a very large proportion of the men in its ranks are unmarried. The proportion of unmarried to married women is still larger. In fact, the number of families in the mission is small. Of the 102 missionaries sent in 1887, 43 were men and 59 were women. Of the women, 54 were unmarried. The care of mothers and of children is therefore to a great degree eliminated from their expenditures and from their thoughts. This is a point to be noticed. It in part explains the fact of the large number of missionaries who are sustained on the comparatively limited income of the mission. Whether so large a proportion of unmarried missionaries is desirable is a question concerning which there have long been and will continue to be diverse views.

"The missionaries of the Inland Mission, we believe, generally adopt the native costume. They also live in native houses, which have undergone a few alterations. They accustom themselves in great measure to the whole style of life among the natives of China, making it their aim as far as possible to lose their foreign aspect. This involves frequently no little discomfort. They do not speak of it as hardship, but hardship it would certainly be to many delicate persons, involving serious peril, to adopt the diet of the natives, to sleep on their brick beds, to expose themselves to the evil odors, the sickening air, and the vermin which we presume must accompany any very close contact with the life of the poorer classes in China. These missionaries claim that the measures above described, especially as to their dress, allay a noisy and troublesome curiosity with which they are regarded. On the other hand, some of our own missionaries tell us that an effect the very reverse of this is produced by a foreigner's adopting the native costume; that it awakens often peculiar derision. There is, however, no doubt that by all the methods referred to above the Inland missionaries are able to reduce the cost of living to half that which other missionaries usually incur. The acceptance of such sacrifices and hardships by missionaries, at what they regard as a call of God, is a noble act. It betokens a high standard of consecration to their Saviour's cause. In some kinds of work it is indispensable. We

cannot doubt, however, that many missionaries who have followed the ordinary ways in the matters referred to have served God as unselfishly, and, through their family life especially, have wrought a good work, without which the picture of Christian life presented to the heathen, and the influences brought to bear on them, would have been very incomplete, perhaps misleading.

"It is one of the most noticeable peculiarities of the China Inland Mission that, as we have already pointed out, it guarantees no salary whatever to the missionaries. Whatever funds reach the treasury through the means which we have mentioned above are equitably divided, each missionary receiving his share. If the amount is sufficient for their comfort, they take it and give thanks to God; if it is insufficient, they suffer. That in some stages, at least, of the mission's history suffering, sharp and long, has been encountered, is unquestioned. All honor to the brave men and women who are willing, if it may be necessary, to endure this! but the church at home, laden with riches, cannot ask it, should be ashamed to allow it."

Dr. Mitchell has laid the church and the missionary work under great obligations by this detailed and sympathetic, and at the same time judicially critical account of this the most eminent incorporation of the new methods, as contrasted with the elder ones. Much is to come out of them, undoubtedly, especially after their first crudeness is corrected.

It may be remarked, that the ascetic features in this mission only result casually from motives of greater efficiency, and are not to be confounded with the intended asceticism of some of the Anglo-Catholic missionaries in India. China, indeed, is not the land of asceticism. Such an awakening of the spiritual sense as would bring it a little nearer to India in this regard would perhaps be a hopeful sign.

In our next paper we purpose giving a report of the great missionary conference held last May in Shanghai, of which we have an interesting account from Dr. Porter in the "Advance."

ANDOVER.

Charles C. Starbuck.

GERMAN THEOLOGICAL LITERATURE.

Handbuch der Politischen Ekonomie, herausgegeben von Dr. Gustav Schönberg, ord. Professor der Staatswissenschaften an der Universität Tübingen. Dritte Auflage. Drei Teile in drei Bänden. Erster Band: Volkswirthschaftsleben. Erster Teil, pp. xvi, 790, Lex-Oktav. Verlag der H. Laupp'schen Buchhandlung in Tübingen. Broch. Mrk. 15, Halbfrzbd. Mrk. 17.40. - The inability of what is called political economy to confine itself to a segment of the social circle and complete itself independently of neighboring disciplines has given rise to a division of labor and a harmonious coöperation under the able management of Dr. Schönberg that places every student of social and political science under obligation to this comprehensive "Handbook of Political Economy." The