arly all widows and children.

When the rebellion was over the Mohammedans were no longer permitted to
reside in the east suburb, where formerly they numbered ten thousand
persons, save a few of the poor widows who gained a subsistence by
begging, but were sent to reside in a few villages thirty miles from the
city. Occasionally we have a visit from some of the women and it is
cheering to find that they remember much of what was told them in those
years of their adversity, and we may hope that some at least will meet
us in the white-robed throng hereafter.

At present we have one Mohammedan woman, much interested in the Gospel,
who comes regularly to worship on Sundays when the farmers are not busy.
One difficulty stands in their way and that is, the Chinese women hate
them and scorn to sit beside them, and we cannot wonder, for they have
suffered much at their hands, many having lost their all twice in their
lifetime, and some thrice; nevertheless, we are thankful for the more
Christ-like spirit shown towards them by the Christians, who are willing
to forget the past and give them a welcome, converse with them freely,
and recognize them as sisters for whom also Christ hath died.

There are two sects of Mohammedans in our district and there are often
serious quarrels between them, and some of the people fear that if many
Mohammedans became Christians serious trouble might ensue; but we feel
sure that if the Christians manifest the spirit of their Master, loving
their enemies, blessing their persecutors, praying for those who
ill-treat them, that finally they would disarm their hatred and be
permitted to live in peace; whereas the two sects lacking that inward
spiritual grace, hating each other, and backbiting each other, finally
bring about strife.

The careful readers of this chapter will observe from what we have
written that the life of their Mohammedan sisters in China is not so
hard and prison-like as that of their sisters in North Africa, Persia,
etc, where they are secluded for a lifetime in the prison-like harems at
the command of their husbands. Nevertheless, their need is just as
great, their souls just as precious, their ignorance of spiritual things
just as deep, their lives just as much of a blank, their hope for the
future just as dark; they live and die "just like animals," they are
wont to say; and all the hopelessness, darkness, and lovelessness
continues not because of their SECLUSION in harems at t