25th March.
So large a proportion, and constantly increasing proportion, of the foreign idants in China are missionaries, and besides their special work of evangelisation, they do so much in familiarising the Chinese people with Things Foreign, and opening up paths which commerce subsequently uses, that we need no excuse for drawing attention from time to time to their work. here is one department of their work which does not get from the lay residents the xttention it deserves. 'There is, we are sure, no one in China who would not! repudiate at once from his own experience the silly sneer of the Daily Chronicle's special correspondent at the alleged love for dress and display of the missionaries' wives and daughters a sneer as groundless as the story of the free use of wine by the Sisters of Charity who wore fellow passengers with the correspondent on the Hauko steamer, 'I'he department to which we allude is the labour of the ladies attached to the various missions, though we do not so much allude to the lady members of the China Inland Mission, those pseudo-Chinawomen whom we see roaming wp and down the Maloo in threes and fours in jinricsha, to the ill-concealed disgust of the Chinese, accompanied probably by one reverend sheep-dog also in Chinese clothes, whose relation to his flock the Chinese may almost be pardoned for finding inexplicable. 'I'he work in question is that which finds its record in a periodical published every six months by the American Presbyterian Mission Press in Shanghai, Woman's Work in the Far East, the latest issue of which is dated November, 1891. We may pre-rise that numerous as the lady members of the China Island Mission are, of the twenty signed articles in the issue before us only two appear to come from the C.LM. The reader of this magazine cannot but be strack with the variety of the work done, and the evident earnestness of those who do it. Nor do these ladies write as glorifying themselves, or as if they had to make some explanation of or excuse for their presence in China. ''I'here are several articles, naturally, about schools, and to the education of some of the myriad girls of China, not even the least disposed to find good in missionary work generally could object. One or two articles tell of actual conversions, and there are few who will not be touched by such a story as Miss Browne tells of In Tsung:—"She was only a little Chinese girl, not of much account in the world's rush of life and work." The stories told by Mrs. Judd and Mrs. Daly are almost equally interesting. Miss Ricketts: translates from an unwritten thyme recited by many women in the district of Tiechiu, South China, "Teo Exhortatious to a Young Married Woman," which in their application almost as universal as human nature is itself. Western brides of to-day are not perhaps always disposed to remember that" the husband [Zit. the King] is the bottom of the bucket, the wife is like the staves around it [lit. is the bucket's wall]," and that " it is not for C the young bride to settle things herself but otherwise the counsel given is quite ble to the West as to the Those who think there is no religion in China will note with pleasure the last exhortation "Tenth, young lady, we exhort you to lift up your head to Heaven. "To xct with a true heart, and then you need not doubt or fear.
Sood and evil, at the last, certainly will be recompensed Sooner or later there is certain reward it will not linger."
The missionary who does not think it necessary to begin by destroying all that is already in his pupil's mind, will find good material to build on in such teaching as An unsigned article from Manchuria, headed " Marthas and Marys," takes up very pleasantly the cause of the Marthas. There is too much tendency, the writer says, to condemn missionary wives and mothers as Marthas, because they busy themselves so much with the common cares of the _housebold, and have only the fag-ends of their time to give to direct mission work. But the household work must be done, and a well-ordered foreign household is a valuable object lesson to the Chinese; and many of these Marthas would willingly be Marys if they could. The whole article—it is not very long—is worth quoting, but we must be content with the first paragraph "Don't you ever feel sorry forMartha? I do—to be handed down from one age to another as the representative of the busy bustling house-mother, full of practical cares, too busy to sit at her Lord's feet and listen to His teaching, as did the spiritually minded Mary. Martha loved her Lord as well, perhaps but her love seemed to show itself in care for His human wants, while Mary hung upon His words. Poor Martha! Can't you imagine her, flushed and worried, hurrying to make suitable preparation for the distinguished guest? Perhaps the sticks were damp and wouldn't burn; or the milk turned sour; or the water boiled over; or lots of bittie things went wrong, just as they always seem to do ata critical moment. Meanwhile, Mary sat, cool and happy, at the feet of the Lord, drinking in the words that fell from His lips, just as Martha would fain have done; but—the dinner must be prepared, and, if everything wasn't exactly as it should be, Lazarus would grumble, just like any other man."
Mrs. Oblinger's article on "Woman in Corea" gives a valuable insight into the position of the sex in that kingdom. We are accustomed to consider the Coreans as a much inferior race to the Chinese, but the womankind are much better treated in Corea than in China. "It is not only considered e good thing for a woman to be able to read, but a respectable Corean will not many a woman who is illiterate, though she may be wealthy and of social standing." Infanticide is entirely unknown in We have only dipped into this clever and varied magazine, but we have said enough to show that it is well worth reading through.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.