The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-07-07
MISSIONARY LIFE IN CHIN A,
SOME INTER REMINISCEN.
 CES
ofcur,ou. Chinese Characters.

Of Curious Chinese Characters.
 Chinese, yet there is always more to
 say. Those who know them most still
 feel what an unfathomable depth they
 are. A correct apprehension of the na- tive character is attained by very few,
 if indeed by any. In like manner they
 fail to understand us, even after many
 years of social intercourse. The two races seem to live, and think, and have
 their being upon different planes, which will never come into line until both are harmonized in Christ, the giver of bet ter life than this, to all who will accept
 him upon the conditions of the new cov- enant
 I am turning up some incidents of my experience, in the hope that they may
 be interesting and instructive to lovers of missions at home. In my early days in China I used to travel about a good deal, preaching in the cities to large crowds, and by the wayside to twos and threes. In pioneer work it is not diffi- cult to get crowds, but they sometimes become great trial, by reason of their constancy and ubiquity. They fill the inn where you stay, they gaze at you while you eat, and follow you round the city, while only night brings relief; yet I think it is easier now than 1t was twenty years ago.
 At Wuei Cheo I once preached in front of a temple to eight hundred lis- teners, and the space being small, was somewhat crammed in by them. So long as talked the people remained quiet, but when had finished I could only get out through the crowd, and got pretty well tossed about while doing so At Kuei Ki-hsien, my wife being with me (she was the first foreign woman to be seen in those parts), we attracted a great crowd. So long as we kept nov ing along the streets we could keep ex- citement from becoming too annoying, then coming upon an open space in front of a temple, outside of which was Gas is common) astage fbr theatrical display, we decided to occupy that posi- tion., We were able to borrow a small ladder, and up this we went, wife, self, native preacher and a colporteur. We drew the ladder up after us, and there they were below, a sea of heads, mostly eyes, ears and mouths. There must have been twelve hundred of them tt least The evangelist and I preached to them in turn, but in trying to make them hear could only go on for ten minutes each, when we tired; then the colporteur would take a turn and sell some gospels and tracts, then we each spoke again, and so on for about two hours. The crowd did not become row dy, but continued quiet and friendly.
 trb ,har one goes They go from house to house with bampoo clappers or other noise- making machinery by way of attrac- ton. Some even play cards, music and sing They are leniently treated, and generally get one-twelfth of cent or even one-sixth wherever they go. They have their associations their kings, and they can and do wield some power. They live in temples, on and in the houses and other chambers of the city walls. I once saw two men living in a grave, opened at one end, but covered in at ,the top, from which the coffin had disappeared. They had good bedding of straw, and slept ones head with the others feet at each end.
 At Hongchow I have seen the road to | a famous temple lined with beggars Of | all descriptions, unreal as well as real | that is to say, there were straw dum- mics representing very old men and wo- men. who simply seemed asleep until | you moved their garments down to un- cover the face. But then we are not i supposed to take such liberty as to uncover the face; no Chinaman would . interfere so much, he would wink at it if he knew and he would not seem to know, but he would give his cash and ! pass on. Only an audacious foreigner would disturb the poor old soul"
 A blind beggar in Human hearing some one call out foreign devil" as a missionary was passing. allowed his cu- riosity to get the better of him, so far IS to induce him to stop and turn