EPISCOPAL WORK IN NEW ZEALAND. Letter from Bishop Stuart, of Waiapu. GISBORNE, 23rd February, 1880. HAD an interesting day yesterday. At the forenoon service Mr. Goodyear was ordained deacon. The Rev. J. S. Hill, who rode over with me from Wairoa, preached the sermon, a very earnest and impressive one, on the occasion of his friend's ordination. In the evening I held a confirmation bank. After an early service and breakfast we were in our saddles by seven, and travelled on here, with one hour's halt half-way, till six o'clock, a good fifty miles, crossing one range of over 2,000 feet. Some grand scenery on the road, but a toilsome ride-for nearly forty miles no habitation of any sort, no sheep, no cattle. OUR PORTFOLIO. service, and introduced the sermon, as an address to the Ia recent speech at Birting missionaries in Indian N Birmingham, Sir Richard Temple, Bart., G.C.S.I., candidates, on "Choose you this day whom ye will serve." There were very large congregations at all the services-the church now seating 500 people. Then in the afternoon I crossed the river, and had a nice gathering of Maoris. Many of them had come to the morning service to see the ordination of their Pakeha (foreign) friend, Goodyear, though unable to understand, so I took occasion to preach to them (the Archdeacon interpreting) on the Pastoral Office, taking for the text "They watch for your souls." We had a pleasant, though toilsome, ride over from Napier last week, stopping at various Maori kaingas by the way and holding services with them, as well as at the settlers' houses where we put up at nights. It is a stiff ride of seventy-five miles, so we spread it over three days. Some of the stages are very hard on the horses, the track leading over very steep ranges by a series of zig-zag paths, quite precipitous in many places. Mr. G. rode over with the Archdeacon by the coast road, which leads through several large native settlements, so that they had been doing a good deal of native work by the way. My special work on the Sunday was the opening of a new native church, built entirely by themselves, but in English style, a very tasteful and neatly finished little wooden church, with chancel and porch. The church was not nearly large enough for the congregation which had assembled from far and near. So a long cutcha (temporary) building had been put up-a wooden frame thatched over and spread with mats. In this a congregation of from 400 to 500 were closely packed. But first we had a short dedicatory service in the church, i.e., myself, the Archdeacon, and Mr. Hill, and three Maori clergymen, duly robed, marched up the lane between the congregation sitting close together on the floor, repeating the 24th Psalm. Then I read a short address, translated from the usual Consecration service, and offered some special prayers; then we all marched back again, singing a Maori hymn, and so proceeded to the temporary building and had the full morning service there. I preached on Psalm c. 3. The collection was over £8. The Communion was then administered in the church to fifty-two partakers. On the Monday the meeting came off. This was on an open green adjoining the church. The scene was very picturesque-a background of grand hills, the windings of the noble river, the shady groves of willows and of peach trees laden with fruit, a belt of white tents, and extemporised marquees of many-coloured shawls; the preparations for the feast, which, if not of a very refined description, was of rude abundance -whole sheep and oxen and pigs hanging from stages, and mountains of potatoes smoking hot from the earth ovens. Then the motley groups of the people-men, women, and children-sprawling on the green grass, or engaged in the culinary department, some wearing over their English garments Maori adornments, of ornamental mats or ponchos, feathers, greenstone clubs, &c., &c. The usual complimentary speeches of welcome were addressed to me. The first speaker was one of the Native clergymen. He began by laying on the ground before me a handkerchief containing bundles of banknotes and a quantity of silver, £70 in all. This was the collection of the morning, and is to be devoted to helping in the erection of other churches in the district. The money was given chiefly by those who had come as visitors. The Native member of Parliament, Henare Te Moana, from near Napier, had brought his £10. He also made a capital speech. Of course we had all to reply, and improved the occasion to exhort them on various points of interest. One of the heterodox Te Kooti party was present and made a speech, but he was very well answered by several of the Maori speakers. professed to have no wish to give up the Gospel, but he held the new religion along with it. So one of those who answered him said, "We have got the fresh water, we have no wish to mix it with sea water"; an illustration all the more telling, because the river close by is a tidal river with brackish water when the tide is in. It was Wednesday afternoon when we left Wairoa. We came to a little Maori kainga perched above a grand waterfall on the Wairoa river, twenty miles from the township; there we slept in a Maori hut, on a mat, on the earthen floor of course, with the embers of a fire at our feet. Our kind host brought me a new blanket. My saddle valise made a good pillow, and a bag of oats I carried for my good mare's breakfast was a comfortable cushion, better than a chaff bed any day. At break of day I refreshed myself with a swim in the fine wide pool above the Falls, and with some deliciously cool peaches growing in lavish plenty on the river's "I have governed 105 millions of the inhabitants of India, and I have been concerned with 85 millions more in my official capacity. I have thus had acquaintance with, or have been authentically informed regarding, nearly all the missionaries of all the societies labouring in India within the last thirty years. And what is my testimony regarding these men? They are most efficient as pastors of their Native flocks, and as evangelists in preaching in cities and villages, from one end of India to the other. In the work of converting the heathen to the knowledge and practice of the Christian religion, they show great learning in all that relates to the Native religions and to the caste system. As schoolmasters in their numerous educational institutions, they are most able and effective. In Oriental literature they are distinguished as scholars and authors and lexicographers, and have done much to spread the fame of British culture among the nations of the East. In all cases of oppression they are found to be the friends of the oppressed; whenever Native rights are infringed or threatened, they always stand forth as vindicators of the injured ones, and as advocates of the voiceless millions; and so they exert a salutary influence on the servants of Government. In my official capacity I always listened with deference to their representations on all matters pertaining to the welfare of the Natives. They are, moreover, most useful by their writings, speeches, and preaching, in enlightening and forming public opinion in India." "They are, too, the active and energetic friends of the Natives in all times of danger and emergency. When pestilence, the unseen enemy, is abroadwhen famine has smitten down millions-they have been ever present as ministering angels. They have themselves helped the suffering, and have encouraged those who organised the administration of relief. The excellence and purity of their lives shed a blessed light on the neighbourhood wherever they dwell. Their wives, daughters, and sisters are zealous in co-operation, are foremost in promoting all beneficent works, and are the fair harbingers of enlightenment and of civilisation. "Although, of the missionaries, many are men of great talent, which would have won them distinction in the walks of secular life, they are nevertheless found living on the barest modicum of salary on which an educated man can subsist, without hope of honour or of further reward. They do this from loyalty to the Master whom they serve, and love for that Society which you support. Often there has been mortality among them, and no men have shown better to the heathen and to their English brethren how a Christian ought to die. "Such is their conduct. And what is its result? It conduces to our national fame, and adds stability to the British rule in India. The Natives are too apt to think of us as incited by national aggrandisement, by political extension, by diplomatic success, by military ambition. These adverse thoughts of theirs are no doubt mitigated by the justice of our laws, by our State education, by the spread of our medical science, by our sanitary arrangements, and, above all, by our efforts to mitigate or avert famine. But, beyond all these, I am bound to mention the effects of the example of the life and of the conduct of the Christian missionaries." N 1857, there were in South India, that is, in the Madras Presidency and neighbouring Native States, 59,613 baptized Protestant Christians and 31,780 unbaptized adherents, together 91,393. In 1878, the corresponding numbers were 168,432 and 127,497, together 295,929, a threefold increase in twenty-one years. Of this latter total, 140,000 belonged to the Church of England (C.M.S. and S.P.G.); 59,000 to the American Baptists; 49,000 to the London Missionary Society; and the rest, about 46,000 in all, to sixteen other societies, English, American, and German. Nollage, which I was passing, engaged in carrying a heavy tree with occasion I observed a large number of people belonging to a the branches cut off, which had been felled by themselves or by the winds. They put it down to draw breath for a little. Approaching them, I said, "I see a heavier burden still on your backs, than that which you have now put down." What!" they said, "you must be speaking parabolically to us.” Well, what is the burden'?" "It is the wife and children," cried one, evidently expecting my assent. "Oh no!" I replied, "don't say that. Your wife performs more than half the work of the family, and, as for your children, you may have been asking them for years from the idols who could not give them to you, before you got them from God, in the exercise of His own good pleasure." "It is," cried another, "the Sirkar, or Government, which imposes upon us heavy taxes." "Oh, don't," I said, "complain of the Sirkar. With the taxes it levies from you, it furnishes you with roads and bridges, and such like conveniences; pays for a police and army to protect your property and your lives; and maintains a judicial establishment to settle your quarrels and disputes." "What, then, can you possibly mean?" they asked. "I mean," I said, "the burden of sin." And thus I had at once found my text and an attentive audience.-Dr. John Wilson, of Bombay. WORK AMONGST WOMEN ON THE AFGHAN FRONTIER. BY MRS. MAYER, OF BANNU. ERHAPS a short account of my personal knowledge of the women of one of the least-known Mission stations in the Punjab may not be wholly uninteresting to the readers of this Magazine, though I take up my pen with the feeling that many will be disappointed with the little it is in my power to tell. Bannu (or "Edwardesabad "), the station to which I refer, was, until within the last six years, merely recognised as an offshoot from Dera Ismail Khan; but my husband was then appointed to take entire charge of the work there. During the past five years we have had manifest tokens of God's blessing and favour, and despite failures and disappointments, which are common to all who labour in the great harvest-field, we are encouraged to look forward hopefully to the future, feeling assured that the Lord, who has helped us hitherto, will most certainly guide and sustain us to the end. Scarcely any direct evangelising work has as yet been done amongst the women of Bannu for many reasons: first, because the Mohammedans, with but few exceptions, do not like their wives to be visited; secondly, because of the confusion of tongues, Pushtu, Hindustani, Punjabi, and Hindi being all spoken; and thirdly, because of the comparatively lawless state of the natives, principally belonging to neighbouring hill tribes, who are always to be found about Bannu, which makes it impossible for ladies to attempt house-tohouse visiting. It was my wish, as soon as I felt I knew Hindustani well enough to be under stood, to start a girls' school in the city, as a step towards influencing the women; examine the children as to what they had learnt. On their departure they expressed their approval of all that had been done, and promised to help the work on by a monthly grant. However, this inopportune visit turned out to be the death-blow to our poor little school. We had, from the beginning, strictly forbidden any men to be allowed in the school-room, unless accompanied by their wives, knowing the strong feeling that exists amongst Hindus as well as Mohammedans about the necessity for seclusion of their women; indeed, had we not announced our intention of being firm on this point, not a girl could have been induced to attend school at all. The result was what we had feared. The next day the school was empty; the parents of the children refused to allow them to come again, although we promised to guard against future intrusion, so, all arguments being unavailing, we were obliged to let the matter rest, feeling that perhaps in time the panic might pass off, and confidence in us be re-established. The head master's wife, Elizabeth, made the next effort of her own accord, and succeeded in inducing a few children who lived near her house to come to her for a short time daily to learn knitting, but she, having bad health, had to give her class over to another Christian woman, in whose hands, unfortunately, it did not flourish, and very soon dwindled away altogether. We hope, if God spares our lives, to return to our work in the autumn, to renew our efforts in this matter, feeling its great importance; and may His blessing rest upon it in abundant measure! BUILDING USED AS A BOYS' SCHOOL AT BANNU, ON THE AFGHAN FRONTIER. and as two Native Christians (wives of the head master of the Mission-school and catechist) volunteered to give their services as teachers, we made the attempt. A room was hired in a retired part of the city, and a female "chuprassi " engaged, whose work was to consist in collecting the children and bringing them to school daily, her wages to depend on the number she brought regularly. I got some elementary school-books, and then fixed a day for the opening. The first day about ten shy little Hindu girls came, and as we gained their confidence, and did not weary them by exacting more than two hours of their time daily, others were encouraged to come, and the number steadily increased until it reached twenty-five in about a fortnight. Then we found the room we had hired was too small for so many, and not having funds enough in the mission to engage a larger one (besides feeling that the teachers, who had hitherto done their work without remuneration, ought now to have a fixed salary) we applied to the local municipal committee (from which we were getting twenty-five rupees per month towards the expenses of the boys' school) for a little help. However, without replying to my husband's letter, some of the members of the committee (Natives in Government employ) walked into the school the following morning when all the children were assembled, despite the remonstrances of the teachers and the catechist, who happened to be there at the time, and proceeded to From time to time I have had visits at the mission house from Native ladies, wives of two of the school-teachers, both Mohammedans; they always came at night, escorted by two or three school-boys, for such is the peculiar etiquette of the country that, although the husbands oceasionally came the same nights to see my husband, it was not considered proper for their wives to accompany them, or even to leave the city by the same gate, lest they should overtake each other on the way. On these occasions, notice of the women's having started en route for our house was sent before them, to warn us to get all the men-servants out of the way, and I had to await their arrival alone, until a tap at the door leading out of the verandah announced them. They were always halfsmothered in veils and "bourkâs," which were not removed until they had ascertained that I was the only occupant of the room. Most unfortunately for me, one of these women neither spoke nor understood any language but Pushtu; the other, however, knowing Hindustani, interpreted for her. I always had tea and cakes to regale them with on arrival, and was both surprised and pleased to find that, although Mohammedans, they never made the slightest objection to eating with me. After this preliminary, the difficulty used to be how to interest them. The harmonium was a great help; they had never seen or heard such a thing before, and evinced the most childish surprise the first time they heard it. My husband and I were invited, together with all the Native Christians, to a feast given by the husband of one of these women, in honour of the birth of a son, so we accepted and went. Whilst my husband sat in the courtyard of the house talking to the men assembled, I and the Native Christian women were ushered into the ladies' apartment, the door of which was guarded by two elderly female sentries. Such a room it was! About 14 feet square, with one small window high up in the wall, and in this room there were at least thirty women on this occasion. I felt pitiably tongue-tied, there only being about four individuals in the company who could understand Hindustani. However, as soon as a few greetings had been exchanged, and the new-born son sufficiently admired, we were treated to a native concert, anything but a pleasing performance to my ears! By the time this was over, the feast was announced to be ready, whereupon I and the women accompanying me withdrew to the verandah (a great relief after the close atmosphere of the room we had been in), where a truly native repast awaited us, consisting of sweetmeats and various cooked meats swimming in "ghi," all arranged on a table-cloth spread on the floor; of course we had no chairs, so had to adapt ourselves to the Oriental custom of sitting on the floor. Only my husband and I were favoured with a spoon and fork each, instead of being obliged to eat with our fingers as the others did. I must confess that our English ideas of propriety were rather shocked by our host's walking about on the table-cloth with his bare feet to arrange the dishes before us, though he thought, no doubt, he was doing us a great honour. About two years ago my husband had the pleasure of baptizing a lowcaste Hindu woman, the first female convert in Bannu. Her conversion was, humanly speaking, mainly due to Elizabeth, who is an earnest Christian herself, and took a great interest in this woman, reading the Scriptures with her and inducing her to attend church. For many years previously she had been living an immoral life, but we had every reason to believe her repentance sincere, judging from the consistency of her conduct after her conversion. I must conclude by commending the seed sown in weakness to the prayers of our Christian friends. May 27th, 1880. The Rev. T. J. L. Mayer, the husband of the writer of the above, writes about Bannu-"In five years I have seen the greatest change come over the minds of both the people on the frontier and those in the hills beyond-a feeling of well-wishing to our Mission. We are not cursed as infidels, but hailed and even blessed as friends. Our relations with the Ghilzais and Waziris are most cordial. They all know the Mission-house at Bannu, and not a few of them have heard there what they will remember to their dying day." OUR WORK IN WESTERN INDIA. ERY little do the readers of the GLEANER hear of the Society's work in the Bombay Presidency, on the western side of India. For sixty years it has been a work most faithfully carried on, but calling for unfailing patience. No part of India has proved harder spiritual soil. The two principal centres are Bombay and Nasik. At Bombay the Secretary of the Mission, the Rev. H. C. Squires, resides, and ministers to an important English congregation, which renders valuable aid to the Society. Here also is the Robert Money School, which was described by Canon Duckworth in our pages in July, 1876. The Rev. T. Carss, the Principal, had the joy of baptizing a Brahmin student last New Year's Day. One of his assistants is the Rev. Jani Alli, B.A., of Corpus Christi also has a Home for Christian boys studying at this and other schools. College, Cambridge, Robert Noble's convert from Mohammedanism, who The Rev. Appaji Bapuji is pastor of a small Native congregation. Nasik is one of the greatest centres of heathen idolatry in India; but for many years the Gospel has been resolutely preached there, often on the very steps of the temples, leading down to the sacred river Godavery, represented in the above picture. Near Nasik is the large Christian village of Sharanpur (fully described in the GLEANER of January to April, 1876), whence came Livingstone's "Nasik boys." The Rev. W. A. Roberts is now in charge there. The Rev. F. G. Macartney is at Malegâm; and the Rev. Ruttonji Nowroji, a convert from the Parsee faith, is doing an admirable work at Aurungabad, in the Nizam's territory. MISSIONARY LESSONS FROM THE LIFE OF ST. PETER. VIII.-Power from on High. "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." Acts i. 8. R See Luke xxiv. 49; Acts i. 5, 14; ii. 1-40. ICTURE two scenes: (1) Group of men round a fire at night-one of them a disciple of Jesus-afraid to be known -lying, cursing, swearing, to conceal who he is (Matt. xxvi. 69-75); (2) great crowd in broad day, listening to bold preacher telling them of Jesus and of their guilt in killing Him (Acts ii. 6, 15, 23, 36). It is the same man! Peter the preacher was Peter the coward, only seven weeks before! Perhaps some in the crowd who had heard him curse and swear that night. What has made the difference? How has the coward become so brave? Think what has happened since that sad night: Jesus killed, risen again, gone up to heaven-and now His promised gift come down upon His servants; "Another Comforter," to "abide with them for ever (John xiv. 16), and "endue them with power from on high" (Luke xxiv. 49). See two results: 1. The effect on Peter. (a) Not afraid of enemies now, see chap. iv. 8, 13, 19, 29, 31. (6) Understands now about Christ-about His death, ver. 23, 38 (contrast Matt. xvi. 22)-about His resurrection, ver. 24-32 (contrast Mark ix. 10). This is the Spirit's work, see John xiv. 26; xv. 13. 2. The effect on the people. (a) Convinced, ver. 37, "pricked in their heart." (b) Converted, verse 41-joined these despised followers of the crucified Nazarene. See their steadfastness, ver. 42-unity, ver. 44—self denial, ver. 45-joy, ver. 46, 47. This, too, the Spirit's work, see John xvi. 8; 1 Cor. xii. 3; Gal. v. 22. So in Missionary Work. Without the Holy Ghost no brave missionaries, no converts, no true helpers at home. Who made Samuel Gobat (see p. 102) so devoted a missionary through his long life? Who enabled the barber of Batála (see p. 101) to leave all and follow Christ? "Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech. iv. 6). 4 S Full Moon..18d, 3h.29m. p.m. Last Qr.....26d. 11h. 9m.a.in. Numb. 6. 24. Ps. 17. 8. 2 2 T He is is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him. 3 F Keep me as the apple of the eye. [Tim. 1. 12. 1st Freed Slaves rec, at Frere Town, 1875. Except the Lord keep [the city, the watchman waketh but in vain. Ps. 127. 1. 15th aft. Trin. Ye shall keep My sabbaths. Lev. 19. 3. M. 2 Kings 18. 1 Cor. 14. 20. E. 2 Kings 19, or 23. 1-31. Mark 7. 1-24. 5 S 6 M Bp. Royston at Frere Town, 1878. I, the Lord, do keep it. Is. 7 T Keep yourselves from the accursed thing. Josh. 6. 18. [27.3. 8 W 1st Travancore slaves bapt., 1854. Keep yourselves from idols. 9 T If ye love Me, keep My commandments. Jn. 14. 15. [1 Jn. 5. 21. 10 F In keeping of them there is great reward. Ps. 19. 11. 11 S French and Stuart sailed for India, 1850. He will keep the feet [of His saints. 1 Sam. 2. 9. 12 S 16th aft. Trin. Emb. Wk. The priest's lips should keep knowledge. M. 2 Chr. 36. 2 Cor. 4. E. Neh. 1. 1 to 2. 9, or 8. Mk. 11. 1–27. [Mal. 2. 7. 13 M Keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Eph. 4. 3. 14 T 1st bapt. in N.Z., 1825, and on Niger, 1862. Keeping mercy for 15 W Keep yourselves in the love of God. Jude 21. [thousands. Ex.34.7. 16 T Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it. Lu. 11. 28. 17 F The peace of God ...... shall keep your hearts and minds through 18 S Keep thy heart with all diligence. Prov. 4. 23. [Chr. Jesus. Phil. 4.7. [keepeth thee will not slumber. Ps. 121. 3. 19 S 17th aft. Trin. Bp. Crowther captured at Idda, 1867. He that 20 MI keep under my body. 1 Cor. 9. 27. [fect peace. Is. 26. 3. 21 T St. Matthew. Mrs. Sharkey d., 1878. Thou wilt keep him in per22 W Bps. Stuart & Sargent's 1st ord., 1878 Keep that which is com23 T Keep thyself pure. 1 Tim. 5. 22. [mitted to thy trust. 1 Tim. 6. 20. 24 FJ. T. Tucker died, 1866. I have finished my course, I have kept the 25 S Kept by the power of God. 1 Pet. 1. 5. [faith. 2 Tim. 4. 7. [Ecc. 5. 1. 26 S 18th aft. Trin. Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God. M. Jer. 5. 2 Cor. 11. 1-30. E. Jer. 22 or 35. Mark 14. 53. M. Jer. 36. Gal. 4. 21 to 5. 13. E. Ez. 2, or 13. 1-17. Lu. 2. 21. 27 M Keep the door of my lips. Ps. 141. 3. 28 T Able to keep you from falling. Jude 24. 29 W S. Mich. & All Angels. He shall give His angels charge over thee to 30 TO keep my soul! Ps. 25. 20. [keep thee. Ps. 91. 11. Topics for Thanksgiving and Prayer. Thanksgiving for the great services to the missionary cause of the Society's beloved and lamented Honorary Clerical Secretary, the Rev. Henry Wright. Prayer for his bereaved family; and for the other Secretaries and the Committee in the heavy loss that has fallen upon them. Thanksgiving for the help afforded to the Society to send out more missionaries. Prayer for those going out. (Page 97.) Prayer for Fuh-Chow (see next column, and our last number). We are requested to state that the "Zenana and Medical Mission Home and Training School for Ladies," 71, Vincent Square, Westminster, is now open, with Hospital, Maternity Department, and Medical School in working order. It is conducted by Dr. G. de Gorrequer Griffith, with a voluntary staff of lecturers, and a Committee and Ladies' Council. *We cannot answer "Mara's" question. He should apply to the clergyman of the parish. EPITOME OF MISSIONARY NEWS. The Church Missionary Society has lost two old and zealous missionaries. The Rev. John Bilderbeck, of Madras, died at his post on June 30th. He was a native of India, but of European descent, and of a Roman Catholic family. He was brought to the knowledge of a purer faith by the instrumentality of an L.M.S. missionary, whose son, the Rev. T. K. Nicholson, was afterwards a C.M.S. missionary, and whose daughter married another, the Rev. T. Y. Darling. Mr. Bilderbeck was ordained by Bishop Spencer, of Madras, in 1813. The other old servant of the Society whose loss we are lamenting is the Rev. C. F. Schlenker, who died at Cannstadt, in Germany, on July 19th. He came to the C.M.S. from the Basle Seminary in 1834, was ordained by Bishop Blomfield in the following year, and laboured for fifteen years in West Africa, particularly at Port Lokkoh, in the Timné country. For some years past he has been employed in preparing works in the Timné language. The deaths of Canon Miller and Prebendary Auriol have also removed two of the Society's most devoted and valued friends at home. Their memory will long be treasured. The Rev. T. C. Wilson has been appointed to the East Africa Mission; the Rev. A. E. Ball to the Punjab and Sindh Mission; the Rev. C. A. Thompson, to the new Bheel Mission in Central India; the Revs. G. T. Fleming and F. Glanvill to Ceylon, the former to Jaffna and the latter to the Tamil Cooly Mission. Mr. Wilson is a brother of the Rev. C. T. Wilson of the Nyanza Mission, and was one of the men kept back last year. The others were ordained in June last. The Rev. Samuel Dyson, D.D., late principal of the Cathedral Mission College, Calcutta, has been appointed Senior Tutor of the Church Missionary College. On July 27th Earl Granville received a deputation from the Church Missionary Society, consisting of the Earl of Chichester, President, the Secretaries, and several members of the Committee, with the Rev. J. R. Wolfe, and Mr. Oliver, an English merchant from China, on the painful difficulties of the Mission at Fuh-Chow. His lordship promised to telegraph to the Consul at Fuh-Chow for a full explanation. On Sunday, May 30th, Bishop Burdon, of Victoria, Hong Kong, held an ordination at Ku-cheng, in the interior of the Fuh-Kien Province. The Revs. Ting Sing-Ki and Tang Tang-Pieng, who had been ordained deacons in 1876, were now admitted to priests' orders; and Sia Seu-Ong, a devoted catechist, to deacon's orders. The sermon was preached by the Rev. Llewellyn Lloyd. Sia Seu-Ong was the first convert at A-chia, and was baptized in 1866. His story, which is remarkable, is related in The Story of the Fuh-Kien Mission, p. 158. His mother, who vehemently persecuted him for many years, was baptized eighteen months ago. Bishop Burdon was a month on this tour in the interior of Fuh-Kien, but had only time to visit a few of the stations, at which he confirmed 136 Chinese Christians. Five Africans were ordained by Bishop Cheetham at Sierra Leone on Trinity Sunday, viz., Messrs. John Asgil, N. H. Boston, N. S. Davies, D. Felix, and S. Hughes. The four latter were educated at Fourah Bay College; and Mr. Davies is B.A., and Messrs. Boston and Hughes, Licentiates in Theology, of Durham University. Mr. Davies, who has since come to England on a visit, will be a C.M.S. agent as tutor at Fourah Bay; the others hold various posts in connection with the Native Church. The ordination sermon was preached by the Rev. James Johnson. Mr. Felkin writes from the s.s. Australia, Red Sea, July 13th,-"The Waganda chiefs are feeling the heat, but they are pretty well and quite happy. They understand now that we believe all our good things come from God." Mr. O'Flaherty adds, "They are great favourites with the passengers." Satisfactory letters continue to come from our missionaries at the intermediate stations in Eastern Central Africa, on the road to the Victoria Nyanza. Dr. Baxter, the Rev. J. C. Price, and Mr. Cole, are at Mpwapwa; Mr. J. T. Last at Mamboia, forty miles nearer the coast; and Mr. A. J. Copplestone at Uyui, 300 miles further inland. All seem to be gaining a good influence over the people. H.M.S. Iron Duke, the flag-ship on the China naval station, was lately at Nagasaki, in Japan. Admiral Coote manifested much interest in the C.M.S. mission there, and gave Mr. Maundrell $500 towards his college for training Native evangelists. The Rev. T. R. Wade, our missionary in Kashmir, has just completed the translation of the New Testament into the difficult and little known Kashmiri language. He has now begun the Prayer-book; and has also made some progress in a grammar. The Hon. E. Dewdney, Superintendent of Indian affairs in the NorthWest Territories of British America under the Canadian Government, wrote to the Rev. J. A. Mackay in September, 1879, after a journey through the Saskatchewan districts, "I am giad to be able to tell you that I have found the Indians connected with your Missions much more reasonable, talk more sensibly, and are much more civilised, than any others I have met with." THE CHURCH MISSIONARY GLEANER. NOTE. OCTOBER, 1880. SPECIAL JAPAN NUMBER. Our usual Annual Special Number is this year devoted to Japan. We have already in the present volume had a good deal about Japan, and it may be convenient that the following brief account of the country and its history, and of the Roman Catholic and Protestant Missions, should appear just now. The greater part of this account is abridged from a book lately published by the Society, JAPAN AND THE JAPAN MISSION, price 1s. 6d. NOTES ON JAPAN AND THE JAPANESE. The Land of the Rising Sun. APAN is the Great Britain of Asia. The British Isles are the western outpost of Europe in the Atlantic. The Japanese Isles are the eastern outpost of Asia in the Pacific. Instead of two large islands, however, like Great Britain and Ireland, there are four, viz., Hondo,* Kiushiu, Shikoku, and Yezo, with innumerable smaller islets. The total area of the British archipelago is 122,550 square miles; of the Japanese, about 143,000. The British population in 1871 was 29,307,699; the Japanese, by the census of 1878, was 34,338,404. Japan is the crest of a submarine mountain-chain. From its shores the land plunges down abruptly into deep water. A solid backbone of mountain runs from end to end of the main island, its highest point being the snow-capped Fuji-yama (Mount Fuji); which is a beautiful cone rising 12,000 feet above the sea, and has been unanimously designated the Matchless Mountain. The successive peaks of the chain are a series of volcanoes mostly extinct; but as late as 1874, the volcano of Taromai, in Yezo, whose crater had long since congealed, exploded, blowing its rocky cap far up into the air, and scattering a rain of ashes as far as the sea-shore, many miles distant. The scenery is fine everywhere, and highly diversified. The very broken coast line gives a continual succession of beautiful bays and gulfs; and the far-famed Inland Sea, between the main island and its two southern satellites, presents some of the loveliest views in the world. (See pictures on p. 119.) The cities and towns are numerous, and have large populations. Tokio (Yedo), Kioto, and Osaka, are fu or first-class cities. The treaty-ports are Tokio, Yokohama, Osaka, Hiogo (Kobe), and Niigata, in the main island; Nagasaki, in Kiushiu; Hakodate, in Yezo. Yokohama, which twenty-five years ago was a miserable fishing village, is now a city of 50,000 souls, the largest port in Japan, and the principal head-quarters of foreigners of all nations. The regular foreign residents in 1876 exceeded 1,200, besides visitors and the sailors in the harbour; exclusive also of 1,000 Chinese, who are the brokers, money-changers, and clerks. It has handsome public buildings in European style, and rows of pleasant villas. The streets are lighted with gas; a railway runs to Tokio, eighteen miles distant; and there are three English newspapers. residence there. Its population, ascertained by the census of 1878 to be 1,036,771, makes it one of the greatest cities in the world. Through it flows the River Ogawa, over which is built the famous Nihon Bashi or Bridge of Japan, from which all distances in the empire are reckoned.* The C.M.S. missionary at Tokio, the Rev. J. Piper, says, "As compared with the great cities of China, Tokio exceeds them as much as the Strand does Lower Thames Street, or as the western half of London does the eastern." The city has suffered from many great fires, † which have swept away whole districts of native houses, and improved dwellings in foreign or semi-foreign style have risen on the vacant sites. Large portions of Tokio are now wholly modernised. Kioto is the old sacred capital, where the Mikados resided for a thousand years, down to 1868. It is situated in the heart of Japan, near the beautiful Lake Biwa. In 1872 there were 2,413 Shinto and 3,514 Buddhist temples in and around Kioto. Osaka is the chief commercial city in Japan, with over half a million inhabitants in 1872. The several streams into which the river divides itself, and the numerous canals, all spanned by handsome bridges, have given Osaka the name of the Venice of the East. A railway now runs from Osaka to Kioto, twenty-seven miles inland, and another to Kobe, twenty miles round the coast. Hiogo (the native town) and Kobe (the foreign settlement) are on the Bay of Osaka, opposite that city. Kobe ("Gate of God") is steadily rising in commercial importance. Niigata, at the mouth of the largest river in Japan, the Shithe capital of one of the richest provinces of the empire, but the nanogawa, is the only treaty port on the western coast. It is port has not been a success commercially. Nagasaki is the treaty port of the southern island of Kiushiu. Here, at the little islet of Deshima, was the only door of communication between Japan and the outer world for 230 years prior to 1853. Here the first C.M.S. missionary in Japan, Mr. Ensor, landed on January 23rd, 1869. Pappenberg, a rocky islet at the entrance to the harbour, is the spot where some thousands of Japanese Romanists were put to death in 1637. Hakodate, or Hakodadi, is the treaty port of the northern island of Yezo, which is larger than Scotland, but is very sparsely populated, consisting chiefly of wild mountain country. The Japanese delight to designate their country the Land of the Rising Sun. They sail out into the east, but find nothing save the broad expanse of the Pacific-a stretch of four thousand flag represents the morning sun rising out of the sea. miles to the opposite coast of North America; and their national The People of Japan. "Two distinctly marked types of feature are found among the people of Japan. Among the upper classes, the fine, long, oval face, with prominent, well-chiselled features, deep-sunken eye-sockets, oblique eyes, long drooping eyelids, elevated and arched eyebrows, high and narrow forehead, rounded nose, bud-like mouth, pointed chin, small hands and feet, contrast strikingly with the round, flattened face, less oblique eyes almost level with the face, and straight noses, expanded and upturned at the roots. The one type prevails among the higher classes, the nobility and Tokio (Eastern capital") was formerly called Yedo, but gentry; the other among the agricultural and labouring classes. received its new name in 1868, when the Mikado took up his * The name Nippon, or Nihon, by which the largest island is known to English geographers, not applied to it by the Japanese. They had no name for it apart from its satellite islands until lately. Their modern maps call it Hondo. Nippon, or Dai Nippôn (Great Japan), is the name of the whole empire. Nippon is the colloquial and Nihon the classical form. "Japan" is cur foreign corruption of the Chinese form of Nippon, Ji-pun. The former is the southern, or Yamato type, the latter the Aino, or northern type" (Griffis). These two types of face represent probably two distinct A picture of the Nihon Bashi appeared in the C.M. Gleaner of Feb., 1876. An account of one of these great fires, by Mrs. Piper, appeared in the C.M. Gleaner of April, 1877. |