OH, THAT THE PEOPLE OF GOD WERE ONE!
THE Chinese Recorder thinks that the prospect in China is almost hopeless, with forty Protestant missionary bodies all working independent of each other. It says:— “To begin with, we have the Church of England, with her thirty-nine articles, her prayer-book, and her formularies all translated, and she is striving and hoping to impose them in all their entirety upon China. Again, we have the Presbyterians, with the ‘Westminster Confession,’ their longer and shorter catechisms, their system of church government, also translated, equally zealous and sanguine in their endeavor to lead the Chinese to adopt their system. Further, we have the Methodists, with their elaborate organizations; the Congregationalists, with their form of government; the Baptists, with theirs; the Lutheran Church, seeking to produce in China a fac-simile of itself, nothing less or more; the American Episcopal Church, with a like aim. And so with other denominations. What a spectacle to thoughtful Chinamen! and there are many such. No wonder they say to us, ‘Agree among yourselves, and then we will listen to you.’ We have three branches of the Episcopal Church, eight different sects of Presbyterians, six sects of Methodists, two Congregationalists, two Baptists, besides several other minor bodies, all acting independently of each other.”