ists, etc.--and on
closer acquaintance I have almost invariably found them at heart,
whatever their methods, attainments or achievements, to be men of
sterling worth, of lofty ideals, leading noble, self-denying lives,
and fighting the good fight for love of God and man, and for the faith
that is in them.

From the militant nature of their calling they cannot avoid
interesting themselves in the lives and customs of the natives, and
that their message to the heathen, inviting them to forsake the gods
of their fathers and embrace the only true faith, arouses hostility in
the most conservative people on earth, is in no sense to be wondered
at.

Of medical missionaries who found hospitals and heal the sick, as well
as of those who devote their lives to teaching the blind to read and
the dumb to speak, adverse comment by anyone speaking with
sincerity and briefest knowledge of the facts would be impossible.
These missions of mercy shine as great beacons of Christianity through
the gloom of heathen darkness.

[Illustration: BUDDHIST PRIEST AND ACOLYTE HOLDING BOOK.
_To face page 228._]

The greatest fault brought home to several missions is, in my opinion,
their interference in legal quarrels between native Christians and
their unconverted fellow-citizens. This interference has undoubtedly
frequently occurred and with marked success, thereby causing extreme
irritation to the Chinese officials, who dread possible complications
with foreign consuls, and arousing the bitter resentment of the
populace, not only against all Christians, but also against all
foreigners.

Indiscretion and want of tact are usually the fruit of enthusiastic
inexperience, for veteran missionaries have generally tempered zeal
with both suavity and cautiousness.

That young, unmarried women, brought up in the pure atmosphere of
Western homes and unaccustomed to the nauseous sights and insanitary
surroundings of Eastern cities, should be allowed to ruin their
healths, risk death by indescribable tortures, and in Chinese eyes to
forfeit their reputations, for the sake of doing a very problematical
amount of good is, I cannot help feeling, a great mistake and too
heavy a price to pay. If there must be missionaries, at least let them
be men, and it would be far better and much more in accordance with
the divine will if these girls settled in some one of our many
colonies, married, and gave sons to the world, who then in due time
might take up