arrived, there were high singing festivals, and the practice at
evening prayers was sometimes so vigorous and prolonged that the
tympanum of one of my ears began to show symptoms of defeat. These
hymns I regard as a most powerful auxiliary to the other Gospel
agencies at work, and I hope a great deal of good from them.

'Every Chinaman wants looking after. Even the best and most
trustworthy men are all the better for being well and carefully
superintended. In fact, the better a man is, the better he pays for
being well looked after. The present state of country mission work
in North China calls for careful supervision in an especial degree.
Unforeseen circumstances arise that need prompt action where a
wrong course of action may be disastrous; something or other
happens that dismays the whole of the little Christian community;
something or other happens that lifts them up into pride; the
Christians are like little islands of Christianity isolated in a
vast ocean of heathenism, and the waves seem to threaten to swallow
them up. The missionary, simply by going and putting in an
appearance, or by giving a little simple advice, or by speaking a
few words of encouragement, or by devising a few simple methods, or
making a few simple arrangements, can often keep the Church out of
moral danger, infuse new hope and courage to the members and
preachers, and, under God, put fresh life and vigour into the whole
concern. As iron sharpeneth iron, so doth a man the face of his
friend; and this is true in an especial degree of a missionary and
his preachers and converts.'

In the course of a subsequent tour in the same district, in 1880, he
gives in his diary a sketch of a sermon preached by Liu, his Chinese
helper, one which may be taken as a specimen of the best class of
address given by a converted Chinaman to his fellow-countrymen.

'Liu's subject was from Revelation, "Whosoever will, let him take
of the water of life freely." He went into an elaborate detail
about the use of water, washing, laying the dust in a room being
swept out, (a la Bunyan) making a sinking sand hard and good for a
cart and man to travel on. Finally, he got to a couple of good
stories about a man who got drunk and had his face blackened, so
that when he came home his own father did not know him and wo