The position I find myself is almost intolerable"—he went "My salary Is cheerfully paid by my home board and they give re freedom to do exactly ax 1 think est, Some zealous ones in the homelands are urging us to be as, brave as our fathers, who wer cheerful martyrs, and rush on, 20 matter what the consequences. On the other hand, our consuls are steadfastly refusing their consent to our return and warmly exhorting tus not to return until a satisfactory settlement is reached, Presumably they are making -efforts in that direction, but we certainly see no fruits thereof ax yet. 1 do not think value my life more than my convietion of duty, but I fail to see how 1 can accomplish anything in being shot by a robber or soldier for the sake of a dollar-watch ant afew stray dimes I may have in my pocket, The above position is held by a growing number of thoughtful men who are asking themselves seriously these continued disturbances are not a sign from the Lord that we should retire from them. We are frequently reminded by zealous Chinese that "the time is past, when you can do this or that in China" Quite so, and the time is also past when we can accomplish any good thing by being butchered. If it were a question of recanting our faith, of denying our Lord, ubundoning the task to which' we have set our hands, there would be hut one answer—we would st out to the assurance that Heaven is just as near toa man starting from China from our home lands. But the "time is past" when martyrdom in the manner we are likely to get it means very much.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.