wives under the
direct influence of the Gospel. They would maintain that the custom
of the country was against it. To attend chapel and join the men in
public worship, would bring not only the wife, but the whole family
into contempt, and so on.

"Last, year there were evident signs of a movement in the right
direction; and this year the result has exceeded my most sanguine
expectations. Nineteen women have already been received into the
church, several are now coming in, and we have every reason to hope
that most of the wives of the converts who reside in and around Hankow
will be identified with us before the end of next year. There are
now several whole families in the church, and it is getting to be
generally understood that it is the solemn duty of the Christian
member of a family to make the salvation of every member of that
family a matter of deep personal concern."

[Illustration: GOLDEN ISLAND, ON THE YANG-TSE RIVER, CHINA.]

The great value of Hankow as a mission station, and the variety of
persons which it brings into contact with the Gospel, are strikingly
illustrated by Mr. JOHN:--

"There is one more interesting fact connected with these fifty-one
members, namely, that they represent SEVERAL DIFFERENT PROVINCES,
and various ranks and grades of society. Only on Sunday week I
baptized six men, who represent five distinct provinces. Of the 108
members still in communion, about seventy reside in and around the
cities of Hankow, Wu-Chang, and Han-Yang. The rest are scattered over
the country, and, we trust, are spreading abroad the knowledge of
the truth. These facts tend to impress on our minds the importance
of Hankow as a Mission station; and they prove an observation which
I made in a former communication to be correct--namely, that the
whole Empire may be influenced more or less from this grand centre.

"But these men not only represent different Provinces and Districts
of the Empire; they represent also different grades of society. Some
of them are scholars, and others are tradesmen; some are artizans,
and others are peasants; some are poor, but none (with one exception)
are helpless. We have in the church at present one who has obtained
his M.A. degree, eight who have obtained their B.A. degree, and a
large number of ordinary scholars who have passed their
matriculation examination. Among those who were admitted on Sunday
week, there were a scholar, a merchant, and a barber. It was
interesting to