only conveyance to be had. It is cheaper than the sedan, only requiring one coolie; but is by no means an agreeable conveyance on rough, dirty roads.
"We had not got far before the servant requested permission to go back, as he was thoroughly frightened by the reports he heard of the native soldiers. Of course we at once consented, as we did not wish to involve any one else in trouble; determining to carry our books ourselves, and look for physical as well as spiritual strength to Him who has promised to supply all our need. A very respectable man came and warned us against proceeding, as we should find to our sorrow what the Tung-chow militia were, if we did. We thanked him for his advice, but did not act upon it, as our hearts were fixed; and whether to bonds, imprisonment, or death ; or whether to distribute our scriptures, tracts, &c., in safety, and return unhurt, we knew not: but we determined, by the grace of God, not to leave Tung-chow without the gospel, nor its teeming thousands to die in uncared-for ignorance of the way of life. A few more steps and my wheel-barrow man would proceed no further; so I had to seek another, who was fortunately easily found.
"As we went on, the ride in the rain and through the mud was anything but agreeable. We could not help feeling our position, though we wavered not for a moment. At intervals we encouraged one another with promises of Scripture, and verses of hymns. That verse,—
The perils of the sea,
The perils of the land,
Should not dishearten thee,
Thy Lord is nigh at hand.
But should thy courage fail,
When tried and sore oppressed,
His promise shall avail.
And set thy soul at rest,
seemed particularly appropriate to our position, and was very comforting to me. On our way, we passed through a small town of about a thousand inhabitants, called Sing-kiau Chen; and here, in the mandarin dialect, I preached Jesus to a good number of people. I never was so happy in speaking of the love of God and of the atonement of Jesus Christ; my own soul was richly blessed, and filled with joy and peace; and I was able to speak with unusual ease and freedom. And how gladdened was my heart when, afterwards, I heard one of my hearers repeating to the new comers, in his own native dialect, the truths I had been telling him. Oh! how thankful I felt to hear a Chinese, of his own accord, telling his fellow-countrymen that God loved them; that they were sinners, but that Jesus died instead of them, and paid the penalty of their guilt. That one moment repaid me for all the trials I had passed through; and I felt that if the Lord granted His Holy Spirit to change the heart of that man, we had not come here in vain: I felt as if I could say with Simeon, 'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace.' We distributed a few Testaments and tracts, for the people read well, and we could not leave them without the gospel. It was well we did so, for when we reached Tung-chow, we found we had quite as many left as we had strength to carry.
"Passing on, as we approached the western suburb of the city, the prayer of the early Christians (Acts iv. 24–29) when persecution was commencing, came to my mind; and in the petition, 'And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,' I most heartily joined. Before entering the suburb, we laid our plans, so that we might act in concert; and told our wheel- barrow men where to await us, that they might not be involved in any trouble on our account. Then, looking up to our heavenly Father, we committed ourselves to His keeping, took our bags, and set off for the city.
"We walked along the principal street leading to the west gate, for some time uninterfered with; and were a little amused at the unusual title of Huh-kway-tsz (black devils), which was applied to us. We wondered at it at the time, but afterwards found it was our clothes, and not our skin, that gave origin to it. As we passed several of the soldiers, I remarked to Mr. Burdon that these were the men we had heard so much of, and yet they seemed inclined to let us pass