couraged, are rejoicing that they are counted worthy to suffer for His name. In the midst of all these fierce trials the true missionary spirit still burned brightly all throughout China in many loyal Christian hearts; and as a sample of their feeling, uttered in a true spirit of prophecy, the following is quoted from the Rev. Griffith John, a veteran missionary in China, written soon after the riots: I would bid all workers in China, for China's good, take courage. I faithfully believe that there is to be a new China, and I believe also that the agonies through which China is passing are the throes preceding a new birth! The terrible baptism of fire and blood with which the church in China is now being baptized shall not be in vain. The new China will be a different one from the old. It will be all athirst for Western lore, Western methods, and Western improvements of every kind. The Empire will be open as it never was before to commerce and civilization. Mines will be opened and the land will be covered with railways and roads, and above all the hitherto closed doors will be thrown wide open to the gospel, and the hearts of the people will be better prepared than ever for the reception of the truth as it is in Jesus. We are on the eve of another day, a brighter day than the people of China have ever known. This has been a dark hour, but the darkest hour is just before the dawn. These troubles will soon be over and the demand for missionaries will be greater than ever. China will soon be prepared for the home churches, and more fully prepared than ever. But will the home churches be prepared for China? That is the very question that troubles my mind as I think of the China that is to be. THE MASSACRES OF 1900. The Rev. J. W. Stevenson has compiled the fol lowing list of the Protestant missionaries who were killed, or who died from injuries received during the Boxer uprising of 1899 and 1900; the societies with which they were connected; the provinces in which they were located; and their nationality: Swedish Mongolian Mission... Society for the Propagation of the 5 3 3 54 CHAPTER XXIV. A LITTLE RED DRESS That life is long which answers life's great end. The flower when offered in the bud is no vain sacrifice. STORY OF A LITTLE DRESS. BY CLARA LEFFING WELL. -Watts. One curio which I value greatly is a little Chinese red dress, which was one of the few things I saved from the riots. I had intended keeping it until I went home on furlough; but I now think I will send it on ahead, hoping that it may speak more quickly to some one of the great opportunity for work that this vast Empire affords. I believe that China, with all its possibilities for good, will seem more real to those in the home land as they look upon this dress. It was worn by a little girl when she came with her mother and relatives to see me in Yun-nan Fu. The dress itself is of cotton, woven in a native hand-loom, and is of modern make; while the curiously embroidered white satin shoulder piece, which has probably done service on a much better dress, is evidently quite ancient, and undoubtedly was made 180 before the mother, or even the grandmother, of the little girl was born. When I weighed out the silver with which I purchased it, I did not know that the embroidery was so full of meaning, nor had I any idea that it had been made to illustrate a series of heathen "Lectures to Children," or that it would give so true an insight into the belief and morals of the Chinese. I purpose to let this garment reveal a little of the heart of China with its gross darkness and faint gleams of truth strangely blended with error. The primitive idea of dress ornamentation was either as an insignia of office, or (before the Holy Spirit was shed abroad to write God's law in the hearts of men) to remind one of some important teaching. So this resembles, and yet sadly contrasts with, the garments referred to in Numbers 15:38, 39, "And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the Lord to do them." The little red dress is loose, fastened with one button at the neck, two buttons more on the right shoulder, and two more under the left arm. One of the buttons is of the primitive kind, a peculiar knot tied in Chinese style. All the fastenings are with loops or “taches,” of so ancient a fashion that it is quite possible that they were similar to those used in fastening the tabernacle curtains. The figures embroidered illustrate the teachings of a book called "The Twenty-four Examples of Devotion to Parents." No. 1. Just below the right shoulder is the figure of a man of about fifty years. Condescending to amuse his aged parents, he is on the floor going through the antics of a child. One version is, that his parents were vexed and would not speak to one another. The son, hearing about it, came home to see them and got them to laughing |