The morning times., 1895-07-28

II play no mole IT she sing no mole"
contains a whole volume or America
Chinese history II means OF course: II
pray no more, If she sings TO more" and
it is a very pretty story. In truth what
the Chinaman said suggests the some
what generally established opinion that
the truths of the Christian religion can
best be conveyed to the Mongolian mind
by the subtIeties and charms or Caucasian
music.
The Celestial choir, when it is COM
posed of male voices from the Flowery
Kingdom, is quite a different affair from
what most people understand by heavenly
harmony. Yet, il is the sublime ambition
of All Sin, Sue Cow, aud Ting-a-Sing Caing
10 sing the sweet stratus OF the Christian
pSamOdy.
TEACHING THE CHINESE.
Most people in or out OF Washington
do not know, that the literary and spiritual
education OF the Chinese is one OF its
Sunday features. Rev. DR.. Hugh John
son, the well-known and scholarly pastor
OF the Metropolitan NJ E. Church, has
for many years favored this education
and has sur ndcred the beautiful Sunday
School room of his church TO the Chinese
students from O'Clock to . O'Clock every
Sunday afternoon. BY 3o'cIock the Chinese
have made their visits TO two other sun
day School rooms and congregate at that
OF Metropolitan Church. The superin-
tendent of this school is Miss Lottie SOM
ers, an earnest, jealous and accomplished
worker; and her assistant is Mrs Mary
Collins, whose sympathy with and abiI-
Ivy to educate and ChristianiZe the heather
Chinese, are the result OF twenty-seven
years in China, with her distinguished
husband, missionary TO the land OF
flowers
The average attendance at Metropolitan
Sunday school is about thirty-flve, although
there is an occasional attendance of
much larger number. They belong TO the
class OF Cinnamon who are credited with
being gamblers and joss-house devotees,
but said Mrs. Collins TO The Times: DO
not other races gamble, and were not the
first Christians in many lands as paga
as these Chinese?''
1t is not contended by Mrs. Collins that
many converts are made from Confucius to
Christ, but that lady believes that the
fruit OF the work goes back to China, and
the ultimate result is LETT with God. The
command was To preach the gospel to all
nations, and there the Christian mis-
sionary's duty ends If 1t has been fulfilled
with the earnestness and power of piety.
HEARING THE GRAND STORY
From the standpoint OF the Christians
duty ii is therefore not to the pVint whether,
after hearing the grand story of Christ and
Him crucified, the crafty Mongolian goes
back to his mystic gods houses and burns
perfumed sticks for prayers and that his
devotions may begin and end in fire and
smoke. He also smokes opium out OF that
flute pipe of his, and perhaps he laughs at
the story of the Cross and the trinity which
he may possibly have heard in his own
country as a legend from beyond the Ganges.
But this is not altogether to the point.
What the benevolence of the Washington
Sunday school furnishes IS q free English
education and the sweet old stories OF the
Bible repeated 10 them in their own Ian
guage by an accomplished woman.
The pigtails assemble in the Christian
Sunday-shool-room. The superintendent is
there and also Mrs. Collins.
large number OF ladies connected with
the school are also present, for the principle
is that il takes one teacher for Que pupil.
1t is impossible 10 classify them Each
pupil in the Silken robes which many fash
fouables might envy, the typical shoe,
and the long twist, or Greek cUrled queue,
sits at his own desk.
TAUGHT LIKE A BABY
The lessons vary from the primer to the
grand poetry of job. y Chinaman begins
ike an American baby with the alphabet.
The first stumbling block he comes TO is
the insuperable r." and when he begins
to bread and spell the impossible TIL afflicts
him bodily, met aphys icaHy, and poet
ically Whenever there is an r. he leaves
it out aud substitutes l." But that gentle
liquid goes in everywhere before the Il"
Eliminating the r. and TIL the alpha
bet is not hard to teach.
After that all the teachers are engaged
in explaining the mysteries OF 1T is an
IT i fs,E,
a bat" or a rat, just as the case may be.
After awhile, say in three or four years,
Chinanian has learned to read the head
lines in The Times. As q fact, he does
try hard TO read the papers, or at least
to catch from stray words and sentences
what the Whites are plotting against the
Great Dragon and the Holy Snake. just
now they are interested in what the courts
intend TO do with the MongOls who are
or are not HighbindeTs.
ALONG DEVIOUS PATHS.
There is nothing specially different in a
grown up Chinese Sunday school from an
infant American class or the toddIers
along in the devious paths of the primer
where the picture of the boy aud birds
nest teaches the infant 10 be a highway
robber, or the chrome OF the naked boy
on the mill pond bank indicates that he VIII
learnto be very young about his unexplained
whereabouts.
Looking at aclass of ChinameninC Christian
literature, it is toss of penny whether
when they sing of Jehovah they are not
thinking OF Joss. But it is believed that
civilization, and that is the main point,
flows iuto the Celestial soul on the waves
OF such grand old songs as There is a
Fountain Onward Christian Soldiers
and sun of My Soul"
Just now all the Chinese pupils have
heard from Mrs Collins in story book form
all about the birth of Christ and the mar
velous and beautiful stories of the New
Testament. That lady is now reading to
them the stories of the Old Testament,
and translates them into Chinese as she
reads, making comments as the story is
evolved
The pupils are attentive, and there Is
nothing so absolutely eager as the Chinese
oSr and his bright almond eye as light is