Journal, December, 1903, shang erican Presbyterian Mission Press.
In the suggestive epigrammatic "Guesses at Truth," by Augustus and Julius Hare, we ate tid that "some people carry their hearts in their heads; very my. carry their heads in their hearts, The diffieu'ty i them apart, and yet both actively together." It woald hardly be a fter for surprise that in such a juurval the ome before us, white we live the es written by men: whose heart work, the hut shoud eccas moniously together, the tendency i to prefer truth to love, from a love of the truth, Th's tendency, however, has sometime: awkward results, +s, even in the number before us, in one or two of the articles nce to the truth ess nade which are lacking the perspective necessary to trathfnt sentation of the whole matter. We [futher fear that the statements on page 1595 of " baptised iznoranee," and on page 5:16 of baptised heathen " ure too strong 3 and, seeing we are in this strain. we may [os well say that the comparison of types of justice on yaze 585 lacks in the justice imes referred to in the beginning of the article Having picke! out one or two flies we cam new enjoy the ointment. Dr. A. J. Rrown's andre-s, delivered #t an arbitra tien conference, is mad" valuable from the g-od ne h: has made of his fifteen mouths? tour around the world.' The Rev. W. N. Brewster's review of thirteen yews' work in the Fukien province, among the Lunghua people, is cheering reading to trends of missions. After referring. to the numerical increase in graphic but somewhat fanciful style, he says: "The numerical increase is not the most signi ficant or important feature of our development. For several years past, es; ecially, we have put little stress upon it, perhaps too little. Our efforts have been devoted chiefly towards developing strength, not size; muscle, not fat. To this end much attention has been given to that many-sidd and puzzling problem of se!f-: support. In 1889 the one thousand native church support three hundred dollars and probationers gave for (Mexican). The year just closed shows $3,133.29 collected for pastoral support and $3,414.26 for home missions, a total of $6,847.55. While the membership has ineressed to eight times tha rumper of fourteen years azo, the contributions have multiplied twenty-two times. But it is in the proportion of native to foreign money used in the support of our pastors that the advance is most significant, 'Thirteen yenrs ago the Missionary. Society pye $1,500, while the people gave $800 for this purpose. 'The preachers received only sixteen percent, or one sixth, of their support from the churches they' served. During the year just closed our motive peters, including native presiding elders, have received from all sources for their support about $9,000. Of this their people contributed during the year $8,433.20; the Tome Missionary Society gave, from collections in 1902, $2.986, leaving £2,581 to be supplied from foreign funds, so that the church in China has given seventy-one per cent of the entire pastoral support, inst sixteen per cent fourteen years "Mention is also made of the increase in the native ministry, the growth of educa-mal work, property, progress, and advance made in the provision of colloquial literature for the Lunghua peuple.
After a remarkable article by a Brain High Priest, on Jesus Christ of India, we find a stirring contribution by the Rev. James Webster, of Manchuria, on How to StinmlateBibleStudy among our Members." He finde a serious difficulty in the illiterate condition of many of the members and shows that something on a liberal scale must be devised in order to reduce the non-reading percentage" in the church. As Mr. Webster believes apparently in the catecketieal method "f Biblical instruction, we are not surprised t+ find " suggestion for the establishing of a catechetiea! school for the purpose of teaching the art of torching tothe native workers.
Among the most interesting items ~yin this "Recorder" are also Mr. Arthur H. Smith's contribution -on the difficult subject of fasting, a statement by Dr. Timothy Richard on his relations with the Chinese Government and the Christian church, and_a bright article in the Missioxary News department. on the Presbyterian Union Movement, by G. Douglas, of Manchuria.
Physics.
It has always seemed strange that those who seck to enlighten the Chinese make little us> of this bra: ch of learning. Many of the Chinese superstitions vanish when they come to understand the laws of Neture. When you teach a Chinese pupil that thund: r and lightoing are the effects of electricity, the gad of Thunder and the god of Lightning fall to the ground never to rise, so far as he is concerned.
However, this branch is receiving much more attention and it is with real pleasure
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.