Your correspondent had the honour of a short conversation with an officer holding an important command here. The fact that ho is a comparative stranger and one holding an official position, is one's reason for referring to this subject. According to this gentleman, missionaries are entire-to blame for the present crisis in China! We may take it for granted, Sir, that some of the greatest falsehoods are those that are partly true, and a slander is none the less a slander when based upon some slight substratum of fact. This particular slander, begotten of prejudice "and cir culated by malice, has travelled far. It is irritating to hear people in responsible positions giving currency to it. Are missionaries responsible for the seizure by foreigners of Tsingtao, Port Arthur and Weihaiwei? Are they to be blamed for the railway concessions, the mining privileges, the mapping out of "spheres of influence," and the general opening up of the country, that foreign governments have been insisting upon? Did not the "Boxer Society" originate near Tsingtao, and are there not thousands of discontented labourers in Chihli thrown out of employment through the construction of the tientsin-Peking railway? Was it the miner, or was it the missionary, that threatened to destroy the precious " féngshui," and so brought famine to Shansi? Surely the historian of the future will in common fairness have to decide that this crusade against the hated foreigner is due as much to causes mentioned above, as it undoubtedly is in part due to the very natural antagonism felt by the officials, and people of China generally, against the missionary, who brings a religion that threatens to overthrow their own ancestor-worship, and which, if generally accepted by the masses, would, to all intents and purposes, bring about' a social revolution. In view of what they have suffered—over 170 men, women, and children, I believe. have perished—since some details of what will go down to history as the "Shansi Atrocities" have been made public, has not the time come to "keep silence ® in the face of a ghastly tragedy, to put some cheek on this persistent abuse of a body of men and women, who, in spite of some mistakes, some faults, the admission of some "black sheep," have been of real ser vice to their generation, and of whom it will surely he said, that the world was the better for their existence?
THE NEW cnoncn.
In about ten weeks we shall have a regular place of worship erected in our midst for the use of residents and visitors. In connection with it there will also be new work begun amongst the Chinese. The site has been acquired by the Church of England Mission in a convenient locality in Matou, an easy walking distance for those living in houses on Narcissus Bay, or in the new hotel. The proposed build ing will be on the same slope as the new barracks of the Ist Chinese Regiment, and is to be constructed with a view to adaptation to a secular purpose in the future Ie is difficult to. foretell future requirements, and in consequence the most com-minding site is being reserved for a larger and mere permanent church. It is cousin dered that. present needs will be met.) providing accommodation for 100 worshippers, and the dimensions are 50 feet by 25. This includes a vestry and a room for church furniture. Thiere will be in addition a porch at the west end. A church would almost be incomplete without a par son age, and a house for the resident clergyman will be taken in hand shortly. The Rev. F, J. Griffith, well known to many at Chefoo and-acting as Officiating: Chaplain to the British Forces in Weihaiwei, has charge of the work.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.