THE MISSIONARY PROSPECT IN CHINA.
IT is said that China is being somewhat enthused by the successes so far achieved in Japan's war with Russia. It would seem that the Chinese are impressed that, after all, the Orientals are a power of themselves, hence a revival of the anti-foreign sentiment. It is also stated by an English missionary that the reform, upon which the government started after the late Boxer troubles, had received a decided check, even before this later reverse. He says:— New educational ventures are few, but the closing of the doors, the discouragement of Western ideas, and, above all, the exclusion of Christianity, are subjects of almost daily experience. Whether the Chinese Government will ever attempt another fight, on the same lines as before, it is hard to say; but the trend of affairs would lead to the conclusion that Christian teaching, even of the most diluted description, will never be allowed a place in Chinese institutions under the present régime. The opportunity which now presents itself to the Christian church is, therefore, more than ever important. Education on Western lines is indispensable. The people demand it. The government schools are discredited for a great variety of reasons. A Christian education, which is the one thing above all others that China needs, can only be supplied by private institutions carried on by Christian educators for the sake of the Gospel, tho not necessarily dependent upon funds supplied entirely by the promoters themselves. Now is the time, while things are in abeyance.