The Irish standard., 1897-10-30
VISITING RELATIVES IN MINNEAPOLIS.
HE TALKS QUITE INTERESTINGLY on
CHRISTIANITY IN CHINA.
THE PROPAGATION OF The FAITH
AMONG BELIEVERS IN CONFUCIIS 4
DIFFICULT NATTER.

There is temporarily sojourning in
Minneapolis a returned Catholic mis-
sionary from China who in many vc-
spccts is a remarkable man. Born in
Scotland in 1858 of Irish parents who
had cmigratcd from Banbridgc, County
Down, Rev. Fr. j. Nj. MacVcigh manifest
ed at an early age an inclination to be
come missionary in oriental lands.
After attaining his 18th year his par
cnts sent him to an ecclesiastical insti-
tuition in France, where he was ordained
a priest for the Chinese mission at the
age of %. Leaving with is young
French priests for China in 1879 he has
since labored with apostolic zeal among
the heathens in the vicinity of Pckln,
the capital of the Chinese empire, and Is
today the only survivor of Tho band of
Levites who departed from ia belle
France eighteen years ago to prracn
the gospel of Christ among the follow
ers of Confucius. During that period
every one of his companions dropped
off one by one, some dying from typhoid
fever and some becoming martyrs tn tho
faith. He is the only one left and
though he has suffered untold privatons
in the prosecution of his holy work and
almost earned the crown of martyrdom,
being on one occasion unconscious for
two days from II stroke on the head in
flicted by a murdcrous fanatic, he has
never been sick during the entire time,
save when he partook of diseased meat
one day as the guest of Chinese con-
sical endurance, and the glow Of health
is on his ruddy cheeks. 1t would he
almost impossible to give within the
space of Il newspaper article an adc-
quatc idea of the dangers encountered
by the enthusiastic missionary during
his eighteen years absence in pagan
China
Father MacVcgh believes that China
will ultimately be Christianizcd. In
the diocese of Pekn, from 200 to I 800
adults are annually baptized after six
months OF probation, ana there are thir
ty other Catholic diOcescs in CHINA
where the work is going on. He has
l;borcd in every province of China.
knows the Chinese language thoroughly,
l,p. 1,I,,
nesc dictionary and a ChincscI'rcnch
lexicon, and probably knows more about
China and the Chinese than any other
living white man. During his residence
in China he has, like the other mission
aries, worn Chinese garments and even
queue, and has lived their life and
thought their thoughts.
The great obstacle to the conversion
of the Chinese, he says. is their pride
and their ancestor worship. The ono
will not permit them to admit the s,l-
other teaches them to do as their anrcs-
tors have done.
While the disastrous results of the
war with Japan has taught the Chinese
much, Father MacVcigh does not value
the Japanese conqucsts very highly. On
the battlcficlds he visited he found that
the Chinese dead we're always shot in
the back. He says that 1000 European
soldiers would have done what the
whole Japanese army did.
AS an illustration OF tho way Chris
tianity appeals to some heather minds,
the father tells this story:
at one time when | was making a
long journey in the interior of China,
being very thirsty, ] stopped at a vii
lagc hut to ask for a cup of water It
was handed to me by an old woman
who asked me who ! was. told her
that | was Il priest of the religion OF
Jesus Christ. She asked for an explain
alton, and / briefly told her in simple
language the nature of man and God.
Then she fell upon her knees, crying:
"rhis is the God have waited all these
years to adore.
She begged for further instruction,
but, being in a hurry to proceed, prom
ised that ! would soon return and tall,
to her some more. When again pass
ed through that village, some weeks
later, | found the old woman anxiOusly
awaiting me. ! gave her catcchsm
| in Chinese, but discovered that she
could not read. ! then invited her to
90 to the nearest missionary school,
| but she was unable to travel. talked
to her at some length about our religion,
and at her request left her the cate
| chism. Then began a marvellous UNDER
| taking. The poor woman, knowing that
| If she should take the book of the for
eign devils religion to any of her elu-