ly
misunderstood by some, I may now explain them. I had remarked in
the previous debate, and still firmly believe, that the decision of
Synod, if it be fully carried out, would only be disastrous in its
results, as far as the churches at Amoy were concerned. But there
was another disaster to be apprehended. If the Synod had allowed
the work of God to proceed at
Amoy, as it had always been carried forward, and with such
marvelous blessings from on high, for so many years past, it was
feared that some of the members of Synod would use their influence
in the Church against that Mission, to such an extent as possibly
to cut off the resources of the mission. Such were the
circumstances to which I alluded, and I was well understood, at
least by some of the members of Synod. It seemed necessary to
choose between two evils. My own opinion was, and is, that the
Synod had chosen the greater evil, still I was willing to yield
'the benefit of the doubt,' and therefore remarked that _perhaps_
(I used the word 'perhaps') the decision was the best under the
circumstances.

"I did express for myself, and as I believed, in accordance with
the views of the Missionaries at Amoy, that we did not wish, and
never had wished to disobey the injunctions of Synod. Besides this,
we were under obligations to do what was best for the churches
under our care. If we were not allowed to do that which is
absolutely best, we should do the best we could.

"I also expressed my gratitude that the Synod had manifested so
much patience and Christian courtesy towards myself and the
Mission, for with one or two exceptions, not an unkind word had
been uttered.

"The closing sentence of my remarks being somewhat playful, might
have been omitted from the report, but if thought worthy of
publication, it should have been given correctly. I know that I can
give it now with accuracy, almost _verbatim_. 'I have fought hard,
and have been beaten; I could wish I had been able to fight better,
but I did my best, and consequently have no qualms of conscience on
the subject.' Does that mean that we had no qualms of conscience
about 'submitting to the decision that had been reached?' No. It
means that I was not responsible for the evils of that decision.

"It will, I think, serve th