wife, who is the
first woman who has had courage to be baptized in this district.
These last are an outcome of the medical work. They live in a small
hamlet where the first beginning of an interest in Christianity
took its rise from a man who came to me in the market-place with a
bad sore in his leg, which had been caused by a wound from his own
harvest sickle. The sore was cured, and friendly relations sprung
up with the whole hamlet, and I am thankful to hear that, though
only one family has put away its idols, all the neighbours are
friendly.

'In Ch'ao Yang there are several inquirers. Some of the Christians
give great satisfaction, others are not so satisfactory. One man, a
Christian, tells me that his wife was possessed by an evil spirit,
and to please her and cure her he had to allow the re-establishment
of the worship of that spirit for her benefit. No sooner was this
done than the woman was cured! Such things are firmly believed in
by the Chinese.

'A most pleasing incident in our experience at Ch'ao Yang was a
visit from a well-to-do farmer who lives some twenty li from the
town. He has been friendly and an inquirer from the first. He has
made no profession of Christianity, but says he reads his New
Testament regularly, and prays. He has also taught two men in his
neighbourhood. The one is a carpenter. The other is a farmer. They
know the Catechism, observe the Sunday, and meet with Mr. Feng for
worship. Both of these men we saw, and their story seems true. Feng
came and spent a day with us. I asked him why he did not make an
open profession of Christianity. His reply was that he lives with
his parents, as all Chinese do, and that he cannot arrange his
house disregarding them, who with his wife and children are still
heathen. He has been able only partially to do away with idols in
his own house. Outside too of his own house heathen pressure is so
great that, he says, were he to join Christianity it would be no
use for him to live! He says he lacks the courage single-handed to
meet all the persecution that would descend on him were he
baptized. Meantime he is instructing those about him in the hope,
apparently, that were there several together they could better
stand the trouble. It is an interesting case, but not at all
satis