Jin Ko-niu: A Brief Sketch of the Life of Jessie M. Johnston for Eighteen Years W.M.A ...

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JIN KO-NIU

JIN K O - N I U

A BRIEF SKETCH OF THE
LIFE OF JESSIE M. JOHNSTON
FOR EIGHTEEN YEARS W. M. A.
MISSIONARY IN AMOY, CHINA

BY HER SISTERS META';;AND LENA
WITH A PREFACE BY HER MOTHER

PUBLISHED BY T. FRENCH DOWNIE

21 WARWICK LANE, LONDON, E.C.

1907

in

/■>/

PREFACE

Probably many into whose hands this little
in memoriam may fall will, not unnaturally,
exclaim, "Where is its raison cVHre? The
life sketched in the following pages is devoid
of novelty or even of special incident." This
was also the feeling of those dearest to J essie,
combined with the difficulty of reproducing
her personality, joyous and eager in the days of
health — patient and cheery when deprived of
it, the only uniqueness being that in both she
was so natural : no haloed saint, but a happy
Christian girl and woman.

Our friends, however, and her own, seemed
to wish that some little record of her life and
work should be attempted, and suggestions
to the same effect came from various quarters,
one of which may be given as a sample :

\f

PPEF.4C£:

•^Surely no more beautiful sermon was
^v/tT preached than her life has been through
A.'! this time of weary suffering, and i pray
jV:^t it may be used to lead many to the
Saviour, Whom she loved and served. I
hope some one will write an account of her
life. F am sure it would Ih^ a help to many,
and you must not think of the human shrink-
ing from i)uMicity she might have had on
^^rth — she is far above all that now. and will
only desire what may bring glory to God !"

So it comes that this little book* consist-
ing mostly t)l iVagments, in which Jessie is
rtllowc*d to tt'ii her own stv>ry by quotations
from lrll<M'4, ru ., jjoes forth with the prayer
th;)t !•» ll»o»«i' who knrw her it nviy recall the
llttjr riirij»«'*i* mission. uy whom they loved,
Mini lo miIh'Ih, hi* i\\\ inceniive to be ready to
ill) iIm' Mii'iIi-i'm will, .md to all, prove a call
III iiiMir piiiyf't lor (liiiK) and the Chinese.

riir I liHiMi Irih, "jln Lfk S(*/*on the cover,
ii.pM ti< Ml llic iiitmi* by which slu^ was known
in ill* ' liiiM'fcjr, llif siirnami* Jin (love)

PREFACE vii

being the nearest approach to Johnston, and
Lek-se (strength of the West) very nearly
representing the sound ** Jessie." The whole
simply and beautifully conveyed the idea that
the keynote of her life was love in action.

Hearty thanks are due to those who have
helped us by contributing material and photo-
graphs, especially to Miss M. E. Talmage,
and to W. W. Callender, Esq., for his most
kind and able assistance.

E. B. J.

December, i907'

CONTENTS

PAGE

Early Days (M. L. J.), 1861— 1885 .... 1

The Call to China (J. M. J.) . . 17

A Message to Children .... 19

The Call to Missionary Service . 23

In China (L. E. J.), 1885— 1904 .... 31

Beginnings 33

Up-country Trips 42

Hospital Visiting 60

School Work 66

First Furlough (1893- 1894) .... 98

Second Term (1895- 19CX)) 103

Furlough in 1900 113

Last Years (1901-1907) 116

Extracts from Letters (J. M. J.). ic,o4— 1907 . 123

Stories (J. M. J.) 15J

BuEY*s Story 157

Amoy: Notes of a Sermon at Creek End 167

Nau-a 172

ix

X CONTENTS

PAGE

Stories (J. M. J.) — continued:

A Night-school in China » ^77

"Black Silk" and "Black Satin'* . 182

Darkness and Dawn 186

Contrasts 200

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGB

Jin Ko-niu (Jessie Johnston), 1900 .... Frontispiece

"The Family removed to Upper Norwood " . 12

At her Desk in Amoy . . . . . . . 20

Tee-a with her Husband and Family .... 28

" Our First Visit was to the School " .... 34

Kolong-su, Amoy . . . • 38^

' ' Red-tiled Cottages amongst the Banyans " . . 44

'• Dreadfully Ignorant !" . . . . . 50

•• Such a Contrast!" 51

• • What good Fortune ... to have seen these Foreigners ! " 54

Amoy Women's School 55

Group of Women and Children on Dispensary Day . 61

Teacher and Matrons 67

" Pigtails sticking out all round " 68-

* * We had such Fun arranging Planks ! " . . . . 70

A Lesson in Geography 73.

Pupils in Girls' School, Amoy — Doing Sums ... 74

Pupils in Girls' School, Amoy — Washing Day ... 75

•• Brides from the School" 83.

Sixty-five Pupils in Amoy School who all became Teachers 87

" Managed to get a Chair " 9a

Women at their Doorways Spinning .... 91

Some of the Forty Children in the Amoy Home . . 93.

'♦Home" 9^

£h-mung-kang 104

Pastor and Family — Eh-mung-kang 105

Women's Conference at Amoy 109.

xi

xii LIST OF ILL US TRA TIONS

PAGE

* ' In Appearance Syrian Children surpassed the Chinese " 1 14

Up a River near Amoy 118

Schoolgirls Marching 139

Mca and Hoey 140

••Those Twins" 145

*• Buey was soon at Work" 158

Buey and Four of her Pupils 159

" The Unwieldy Sails were Spread " .... 163

Some of the Audience on the Women's Side . . 168

Nau-a 173

Black Grunters 174

Night-school Material 178

•' A Few Yards of Sandy Soil which he Cultivated " .183

Hair Ornaments of Country Women (North) . 186

Hair Ornaments of Country Women (South) . . 187

•• He is of no Use : He is Blind ! " 188

•• We thought of our Merry Party in the Children's Home " 189
" Vendor of Sugar-cane, Pea-nuts, etc." . . .190

'• The Roof of the Temple looked Picturesque " . 191

•• Motley Groups" 193

•• Many Women came from Villages " .... 195

Koai-a some Years Later 198

Graves ... 201

EARLY DAYS

M. L. J.

I86I— 1885

EARLY DAYS

Jessie M. Johnston was born in Mentieth
Row, Glasgow, on October 8th, 1861. She
was a minister's bairn, and a missionary's too,
for her father, James Johnston, had spent the
first years of his ministry in Amoy, China,
and it was only when compelled to give up
the long-cherished hope of returning to work
there that he settled down to be the hard-
working pastor of St. James' Free Church,
a large congregation in that great Scottish
city. How much these two facts coloured
her life and determined its bent it would be
hard to say. The daily arrival of the white-
haired beadle with peppermint rock in his
pocket ; the importance and solemnity of the
high-backed corner pew ; the sacred quiet of
the busy Sabbath days, when ** father " must
not be disturbed ; the long silent walks to
church, and the sense of freedom and rest on
the homeward way when the two long services

were ended and tongues were free to chatter

3 1—2

4 //y A's-yw

— all went to form the atrix^tspci^ere :r. which
she and her companion sister were i^o^jghi
up. The life - long de\"odon of that much-
revered father to all the wider interests
of the kingdom of Christ, and eJLr!y far.i:Iiarity
with queer Chinese soapsione n^r-^res and
ornaments, no doubt had liis::ng ir.njence.

Even in those early days corr.pvan:onship
counted for much in her life. The long
summer afternoons at play on the terrace as
an eager leader in all childish grames were
times of unmixed deli^fht, and woe-beoone
and disconsolate was the face flattened against
the rain-washed panes when wet days kept
the little girls at home. Even then, however,
there were the reels of cotton in the old
nurse's workbox, that could be duly named
and made to serve as playmates, and the
large family of dolls to fall back upon, failing
more lively company.

Happy days followed, too, when younger
brothers and sisters came into the home.
The lively nursery, with its cosy fire and tea-
table, was always a favourite spot, and Jessie's
advent there was a signal for plenty of noise
and frolic.

Her craving for the society of girl-friends
made school-life a source of unending interest.
Lessons never gave her any trouble beyond
the drudgery of learning to spell. But, de-
lightful as it was to come home **dux," or to

EARLY DAYS $

tell of the keen rivalry in the large classes of
the Scottish public day-schools, the doings
and sayings of **the girls" counted for much
more. It was this innate love of her kind,
be they black, white, or yellow, that made
life so interesting to her, and kept her heart
and thought busy to the last. It was this
same natural gift consecrated, which gave her
so warm a place in the affections of those
among and for whom she worked in later
days. But that is to anticipate.

For a winter or two the long walks or bus
drives to the West End were given up, and
home-lessons took their place. The young
student tutor found his work very entertain-
ing, and used to enjoy rousing his pupils to
eager defence of their heroes or their prin-
ciples. They, on their part, were much con-
cerned for his orthodoxy, and plied him with
arguments based on a thorough grounding in
the Shorter Catechism. He opened a new
world to them by his enthusiastic apprecia-
tion of Milton and Carlyle, and his philo-
sophizing over men and matters. It was
then, too, that she turned eagerly to the
library bookshelves and became an omni-
vorous reader. Poetry, travel, and story-
books were eagerly devoured ; biography
was keenly relished ; and the Memoirs of the
Wesley Family was so notable a find that
hours were spent over it, and meals were

6 JIN KONIU

a distressing interruption. Owing to the
father s serious illness, the parents were away
from home that winter (1875-76), and their
absence brought new responsibilities to the
elder sisters. The faithful nurse, who took
charge in the home, was ready and able to
conduct family prayers with the children, but
objected to doing so if her fellow-servants
were present. The sisters were quite clear
that this dividing of the household would not
be a faithful carrying out of their parents'
wishes, but to take the duty upon themselves
was a great ordeal. With much trepidation
it was, however, undertaken, and this first
attempt at leading others in praise and
prayer was always looked back to as a
definite step forward in the path of confes-
sion and service.

When books failed, many a long hour was
beguiled in ''telling story"; for the two
sisters had a world of their own, to which
they retired at will; peopled by ** families"
of their own invention, whose history was
followed for years, and added to day by day.
When the days seemed uneventful or dull,
some very thrilling experiences had to be
introduced into the " families " to supply the
lacking interest. ** Making poetry " was
another delight very early indulged in, and
some of the verses written in her girlhood
gave expression to the deeper thoughts that

EARLY DAYS 7

lay beneath. For, though Jessie was a very
natural child, dearly loving fun and excite-
ment, and not too fond of steady work or the
drudgery of practising or sewing, she never
remembered the time when she did not con-
sciously love the Lord Jesus and wish to
please Him.

She had, too, a wakeful conscience, which
insisted on being attended to or made her
very unhappy. The visit of Messrs. Moody
and Sankey to Scotland in 1872-73 brought
a new element into the religious life of
Glasgow, and the Saturday meetings for
children were much enjoyed. Perhaps it
was in those days of fervour that the thought
of service became more prominent, though
it had never been altogether absent. Her
birthday verse, as she called Pro v. xxxi. 8,*
was always looked upon almost as a personal
command and prophecy. Many a long talk
was carried on in low tones under the bed-
clothes concerning the ways and means of
carrying out what she even then hoped
would be her life-work, and very fervent was
the deep desire suggested by one of her
father's sermons — to be among *' those who
turn many to righteousness," who shall shine
**as the stars for ever and ever."

The family left Glasgow for Bridge of

* " Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of
all such as are appointed to destruction."

8 JIN KO-NIU

Allan in 1877, and while there Jessie was
asked by a friend of her mother's to help in
a small mission Sunday-school. It was her
first experience of such work, and the little
class of boys and girls became a great interest
to her. It was quite hard to give them up
when, in the spring of 1878, she went to
Switzerland to study French and German in
a Lausanne boarding-school.

How she did enjoy that year ! The Ian-
;uage study was a real pleasure to her, and
ler quick memory stood her in good stead.
In addition to the pages of literature and
history that had to be learned by rote, she
would commit long poems for pleasure, and
coax ** Fraulein " to teach her nursery rhymes
and WeihnachtS'lieder. But it was not only
the opportunity for a favourite study that
made life in Lausanne so pleasant : every
phase of school-life was a new pleasure, and
she shared in all with zest, from the little
prayer-meeting organized among the girls
to the gatherings of the ''Poetical Society'*
which met in the attic, and to which the
following lines were among her contributions :

An Incident at the Party.

In the cold deserted schoolroom.
Where the midnight shadows fall,

And weirdly in the moonlight
Dance on the ink-stained wall.

EARL Y DAYS g

There, alone in the darkness,

Silent and sad she lay,
In the silver light of the moonbeams —

Was she watching the shadows play ?

Or heard she the sounds of music

In the distant halls below,
And the laughter of girlish voices

As they flitted to and fro ?

Was she dreaming of former splendour,

And hopes now past and fled,
As she lay in the April stillness,

While the shifting moonbeams sped ?

«i> *s^ *V «*' «*'

-1* ^ ^^ *,» ^*

Softly around her, her garments

In creamy whiteness hang,
For the form alone in the darkness

Is but the last merangue !

There, too, her love of girl society was
fully met. She was a universal favourite
with teachers and scholars, teased and petted
in turns by all, but making, at the same
time, true, earnest friendships which have
stood the test of years and distance. Many
of these were renewed during the long
months of her illness, and photographs of her
friends, and afterwards of their children, were
among her treasured possessions, any ad-
ditions to the store being hailed with eager
pleasure and subjected to much friendly
scrutiny and comment.

But while busy in many ways, Jessie was
often sorely dissatisfied with herself and her

lo JIN KO'NIU

attainments. Perhaps being the eldest of
eight made her feel older than she really was.
rLre is something amusing and almost
pathetic in the lines written in the summer
of 1879. They would be more appropriate
to eighty than eighteen ! But she wrote
them in dead earnest, and the feeling they
expressed was a real one.

Eighteen years ! Why, the acorns sown

Those eighteen years ago
Will have sprouted and shot up woody trees,
With knotted trunks and rugged knees.
Where sweet birds chant soft melodies,

When the morning star sets low.

Eighteen years ! to have lingered here,

A name upon God's earth.
While the work and the tears are throbbing on.
And restless days and hours are gone —
Are weary, sobbing, helpless, gone

To God, who gave them birth !

This craving for some definite work was
very happily answered by Him Who was
guiding this child of His in ways that she
knew not.

When school-days were over, there were
home duties to be taken up. Younger
brothers and sisters had to be helped with
their lessons, and soon Jessie had a school-
room party in her charge. Lessons in that
schoolroom may have been somewhat erratic,
but they certainly were never dull. She had

EARLY DAYS ii

the happy knack of finding anything that she
undertook to be of paramount interest. Her
scholars, whether English or Chinese, were
always apt to be prodigies. " My pupils,"
she writes, "are the admiration of all — as
good as gold !" The methods she used were
not always of the orthodox pattern. There
were novel rewards and punishments, and
wonderful shouting choruses to enliven the
time. The mother of one of these early

pupils writes : ** How fond was of * Miss

Jessie M ... I am sure her Christian in-
fluence and example has affected her life, for
she is such a good, earnest, Christian wife
and mother, bringing up her little ones for
Christ."

It was in 1880 that the family removed to
Upper Norwood, and there a new and
absorbing interest came into Jessie's life in
connexion with the Young Women's Christian
Association. After taking secular classes on
week evenings at the rooms of the Institute,
and helping in her mother's large Friday
evening Bible-class, she became teacher of
the Sunday afternoon class, and remained
keenly interested in it until she left for China
in the autumn of 1885. ** Going to the
Institute *' was a real treat to her. She loved
to count up the girls who came, and to
account for absent ones. Many little notes
were written to members in business houses

fiKsv Hn,Li UiN'KH Norwood.
( [ \m y.W.C. A. ii lu Ihc righl.)

EARLY DAYS 13

reminding them of different classes, or inviting
them to some special event. ** I have been
writing charming notes all the week, and
actually visiting absentees ! Delightful work !"
she writes in a characteristic letter to a sister,
in which she speaks of her French class as **so
enthusiastic!" Her own naive enthusiasm
was infectious. Though by no means fond
of early rising, she arranged for long country
walks with the members on summer morn-
ings, and entered con amore into every
scheme for making the Institute home-like,
and a happy gathering-place. She really
loved the girls, and enjoyed being with them,
and the Sunday teas in the interval before
evening service were appreciated as heartily
by her as by any member of her large class.
Certainly the work there was very helpful to
the young teacher. She learned much while
aiding others. At one time of revival, when
special services were being held in the
Y.W.C.A., she and her sister agreed together
to pray definitely for a number of girls known
to them as not yet having decided for Christ,
and it was with awe and wonder that they
noticed one after another of these profess
themselves on the Lord's side until each
name on the list was accounted for. This
was a lesson on the efficacy of prayer not
soon forgotten. But it was only one of
many lessons learned in that happy training-

14 JIN KO'NIU

ground. The love and labour so freely
bestowed on the young members was very
warmly reciprocated. On the great event
of the Annual Gathering Jessie's favourite
post was that of doorkeeper, and there was
always a merry group of ** helpers" at that
end of the hall. Some were with difficulty
persuaded to come any further in ! And
when she left for China she was followed by
the prayers and interest of many. Indeed,
all through her years of absence they kept in
touch with her, sending contributions to the
Baby Home in Amoy, which are continued
even now for her sake.

In the meantime her lifelong desire was
forming into a definite purpose, and not
Africa, with its attractive black babies, but
China, where her father's missionary service
began, was to be the sphere of work for her
also. How this call came, and the training
for it, she has told herself in a paper written
during her illness, and in a message written,
by request, for the children of the English
Presbyterian Church, and reprinted now by
kind permission.

'* I have had such a happy life!" was her
own verdict in looking back over it when
first she knew that her call Home was at
hand. Yet it might so easily have been
otherwise but for the grace of God, Who
early gave her an anchorage of trust in Him.

EARLY DAYS 15

Like many who share in her brightness of
disposition and gay spirits, she had varying
moods, and was very susceptible to all outside
influences. It was from her own experience
that she wrote as a girl :

It was April, and April tear-drops

Were beating against the sun.
And April sorrow had filled the earth,

As its gladness before had done.

I stood by the open casement,

Watching the rain —
How it dimpled the tiny pools in the road.

And kissed them smooth again.

The little white daisies were smiling

Down in the grass,
Dreaming of golden sunshine hours

When the showers should pass.

And I, too, was dreaming and smiling,

As I watched the rain,
Till a shadow seemed to fall from the clouds

And settle over the lane.

It frightened the baby daisies

Till they quite forgot to smile,
And it entered the casement softly.

And stole o'er my heart the while.

It came like a dim foreboding

Of a sorrow far away.
Like the mist that shadows the river

At the dying of the day.

She was so imaginative that her more
matter-of-fact sister was often hard put to it
to allay the fears she would conjure up and

i6 JIN KONIU

torment herself with. She was keenly sensi-
tive to praise and blame, and her love of
popularity was often a temptation, and might
easily have become a source of trouble to
herself and others. She was naturally timid,
too, in many ways, and her nervous shrink-
ing from such objects as mice and cock-
roaches, dead or alive, was only too well
known to her brothers and sisters, and
tempted them to many a prank. Long
after, she wrote from a Chinese village : ** I
couldn't possibly live in China, if I could not
pray about rats !" Though very plucky in
bearing the few physical pains of which she
had any experience until the last long ilU
ness, she had the greatest dread and appre-
hension of sickness for herself or others, and
one felt how true it was when she wrote :
" Had I known beforehand that I would be
like this, it would have shadowed my whole
life " ; and yet, thanks to her Father's good-
ness to His child, she could add, **but now it
is simply nothing to me."

THE CALL TO CHINA

J. M. J.

A MESSAGE TO CHILDREN

Once there was a little girl who was given
a pretty blue book to read before going to
bed. There was a little prayer in the book
which she liked very much, and used nearly
every day of her life. Would you like to
know it ?

** Lord, prepare me for what Thou art
preparing for me."

We can help to prepare ourselves for some
things. This little girl, when quite tiny,
hoped some day to be a missionary, but she
hated sums. Once her mother said : ** What
sort of missionary will you be if you can't
keep accounts i*" Neither did she like
waking up in the morning. Her mother
said : " Who do you expect will waken you
when you are a missionary T'

She had not thought before that doing

sums and getting up punctually were ways of

preparing to be a missionary. Later, when

she had to keep the accounts of the Women's

19 2 — 2

30 JIN KO-NIU

Missionary Association in Amoy, she was
very glad that she had learnt arithmetic.

"Can do" is easily carried about, and it
is well worth while to prepare ourselves for
life in every way possible.

Still, there are so many things that we

P^F'^PI

fel '1 ri H

2

1

cannot prepare for, and the little prayer
covers all these.

This little girl was very strong. Even
when she grew older she thought it would
be dreadful to be ill, and have to stay in bed
and never go out. And yet God knew that
this was what was preparing for her. So

A MESSAGE TO CHILDREN 21

when one day in Amoy she found, on getting
up, she could not stand nor move, and the
doctors said she must leave China, and would
never be well again, she found, too, that her
favourite little prayer had been answered,
and that one can be ready for anything when
God has prepared the heart. Then, even to
be ill is not dreadful at all.

The Chinese speak of the heart's eye. Is
it not nice that with our heart s eyes we
can see all over the world ? The missionary
who was once that little girl now lives at
St. Leonard's, but her heart's eyes see the
merry school-children in Amoy and the dear
little girls in the Baby Home there. They
see the women weaving and spinning in the
villages, and the Bible-women with fans and
hymn-books visiting and teaching them, and
she wonders whom God is preparing to help
them in her place. Perhaps He is preparing
a missionary life for some of you. It is the
very happiest and grandest thing in the world
to be a missionary — at least, she thinks so ;
only one must have the prepared heart.

Many children in Amoy are giving their
hearts to the Lord Jesus this year. One
little girl writes : ** I wish very much to trust
in the Saviour, and that all I do may please
Him." And Golden Flower says : ** I know
surely that God has already forgiven my
sins, and that I truly belong to the Lord

• ♦

nS KONiU

h-^tu. \\\\k\ l»uvr (MUriH;^d His sheepfold. I
llcMtl) (m«i1 UMH^r^fciiujily for 1 lis goodness."

l^tvJMy M\M \\yA\\^ »o C1(kI is the very best
Hi^\H IH j*u^|MH^ lot lilr, If you do this, and
•♦i»l> («ml Ip |Mv|HUV yiHi for what He is
|<*f|*»ulm* Ipi vom. vou urrd not be afraid of
•M*v(l»l»»ij \\sv \\\\\\w may brinj^. for the peace
\i\ \\\i\\ ^\\\ l«^. vp\M^. auvl His justice passeth

VViiv.u \^K\\s \^\\v\ a^krvl inr for a message
(!<♦ |lu- t liilvli^'ii. I ^^^»M^hl I wvHild pass on
Mm* li^h- >Ui'-» i'i«v\v>i \ oMjhihl to know her
i.ji ^i.ll l.viiV'i Uk*\M fuvyv>nr dse did.
I'l.iL^*.* .iiunv v*t \\*v» v*VH yMv^^^i hv>w that is.

licQlt M Iv>HNSrON.

THE CALL TO MISSIONARY

SERVICE

The question with, I think, nearly every
missionary is : How is it that so few offer
to fill up gaps in the ranks for foreign
service ?

It may be that with many earnest, capable,
and educated Christian girls the real reason
is that they do not realize when the time for
decision has come. This was the case with
the small child whose story was in the
Children s Messenger for March, and perhaps
the sequel may influence some.

Her father had been a Chinese missionary,
and from babyhood the drawing-room chif-
fonnier, with its contents, was a familiar object :
the odour of Buddhist prayer-beads, the
compass pointing South, the wonderful silk
robes, and many other things, even to the
little yellow slippers with turned-up toes,
which were sometimes worn to children's
parties, were all strangely attractive. Al-

23

24 JIN KO'NIU

though nothing was said by anyone, she
always expected to be a missionary.

However, when about eight years old,
interest in China declined. She was taken
to a meeting at Mrs. Murray Mitchell's,
where a most delightful lady spoke on Africa,
and told stories of little black girls with funny,
mischievous ways, especially of a naughty
little one who had played some very ridi-
culous prank. It seemed little heathen
children were just like English girls. It
must be delightful to be a missionary in
Africa ! So, later on, when the missionary
lady met her toiling upstairs, carrying a
drawing-room chair, and asked, ** Would you
not like to be a missionary in Africa some
day ?" although far too shy to answer, that
missionary must have seen ** Yes " in the
shining eyes and little hot face.

Then came school-days and other days,
all full and interesting. With seven brothers
and sisters life cannot be dull. When, later
on, work for the Y.W.C.A. and such-like
was taken up, other things seemed to slip
the memory. And although every time a
Communion Service came round the prayer
went up, ** Lord, let me be a missionary," it
came almost as a shock one day when the
mother said: **You used to speak a good
deal about being a missionary. I do not
wish to urge you in any way, but if you

THE CALL TO MISSIONARY SERVICE 25

are still thinking of it, it is about time to
prepare/' There was a little talk, and the
preference for Africa came up. In mention-
ing the various pros and cons, the difficulty
of the Chinese language was spoken of.
This proved quite an attraction, and when
the thought of China having been her
father s former field was added, as well as
that it was the place where many mis-
sionaries whom she knew were working, the
scales turned in its favour.

Not very long after came a visit from a
missionary, who put the question point-
blank, and then the real difficulty came to
the front. ** Indeed, I am not worthy. I
have no common sense. M. is the one with
common sense. Just ask mother."

On saying ** Good night " the missionary
remarked : *' How cold your hands are,
child !" Was it any wonder, with so much
to think about and decide ? Fortunately
there was the old refuge of prayer, and a
saying of the grandmother was remembered :
** One has no right to be without common
sense. It can be had by prayer, just as
other things can.''

As twenty - two was considered rather
young, a six months' course at the Normal
Training School in Gray's Inn Road was
proposed. This proved invaluable. As a
rule, many years of teaching are not desirable

26 JIN KO-NIU

as a preparation for missionary life. Both
circumstances and pupils are very different
on the mission-field from at home, and it is
difficult for those who have long taught, to
adapt themselves to the new conditions ; but
a short course is of the greatest help, as one
must not only teach in schools, but in women's
classes, village and city homes, and hospital
wards. Knowledge of the best methods of
educational work, of discipline, of interesting
pupils, of asking and answering questions —
all are priceless.

Lessons in singing, in first aid and nursing,
in cooking, and dressmaking — all found a
place.

Ahhough the servant difficulty is not great
in most of our districts in South China, it is
always well to know how a thing should be
done.

Of the preparation, farewell meetings, and
^jood-byes, little need be said.

Two of tlu* chief fears of this missionary
were thai sht* might have to go to the bazaars
and cater for the boarders, as **madame'*
had ihuie in the Swiss school, and that she
n\iyht have to teach cutting-out and sewing
pl thintiiie garments. Both these fears
prm'ed yriHuulU\HH, as most of one's fears
urta, Uimcviltit^H there are, which some feel
mvich murti kwuly than others. There was
" nniaiionMy whu used to run up and down

THE CALL TO MISSIONARY SERVICE rj

Stairs to make a little noise in the quiet
house to which she was so little accustomed.
Later on she abandoned this practice ! In
the writer's opinion, one of the chief diffi-
culties a missionary experiences is to be able
to adapt herself to every circumstance and
every person, and on every occasion to be
prepared, smiling and friendly. The first,
and middle, and last lesson to be learned is
readiness to do the Master's will, and that
her own wishes and inclinations are of no
importance whatever. The first year or two,
before methods are understood or appreciated,
are always the hardest. But if there were
ten times the difficulties or hardships, would
it not be well worth while ? Let me prove it.

To the big girls boarding-school in Amoy
came a very dirty and unpleasant little girl,
Tee- a by name — so disagreeable in her habits
that no one would associate with her ; so in-
tractable that she climbed, not only the trees
in the garden, but found her way up the
outside of the latticed veranda to the roof;
so undisciplined that the Ko-niu had to be
called down after midnight to stop a stand-up
fight with her neighbour.

Some years later there was a women's
conference in Amoy, the first held in South
China. As the five-minut6 bell rang, one
after another rose to speak or report on the
different subjects under discussion.

28 JIN KO-NIU

Amongst others, a sweet-looking girl ad-
vanced to the platform, with hair neatly
coiled and dress prettily arranged. She was

teacher in a country school far removed from
foreigners and with few Christian companions.
Her subject was, "Shall we admit Heathen
Children to Christian Day-Schools ?" And

THE CALL TO MISSIONARY SERVICE 29

she gave instance after instance of heathen
children in her school who had benefited by
the teaching received.

The school matron was sitting beside me.
She was a trustworthy woman, but had little
faith in schoolgirls, being, perhaps, rather
old to understand them. She turned with
tears in her eyes. ** Do you know," she said,
" that is Tee-a ?"

The hospital ward for women in Amoy
was crowded and noisy. After the Gospel
talk many gathered round to have a further
chat. Amongst them came an old woman.
She had attended irregularly for many
months. Her disease was incurable, and
the doctor could only give a little medicine
to alleviate the pain. She was very poor.
When I first saw her she was very wretched.
That day she came with a beaming face.
" Ko-niu,'* she said, ** I cannot come again,
but I know that what you have told me is
true. I know that the Heavenly Father
will receive me, and that I shall meet you
again there some day.'*

You may have disappointments in the
mission-field, you may meet with discourage-
ments, but what does disappointment count
for, or what discouragement, or what does
anything matter in the face of facts like
these "i

IN CHINA

L. E. J.
1885— 1904

I KNOW that far across the sea

There dwelleth one
Whose thoughts are sure to turn to me

When work is done.

Ah, yes ! and still, when other cares

Engross the mind.
The heart is still as closely knit,

The thought as kind.

Think' St thou I grieve because these cares

Thus intervene ?
Nay ! love is often deepest felt

With such between.

And will our Heavenly Father's heart

Less tender prove
When earthly ties and cares engage

His children's love ?

Oh no ! His thoughts to usward turn

More kindly far.
And when we love and work most we

Most like Him are.

Still let us strive to live with Him,

His face before,
And loving others, still contrive

To love Him more. ;

So, working, praying heartily,

We like Him grow,
And loving Him and those around.

His love shall know.

J. M. J,

Amoy, 1885.

{Written to her sister.)

.32

BEGINNINGS

Jessie sailed for China in October, 1885, just
after her twenty-fourth birthday. S he describes
her arrival in Amoy on December i ith :

** It was rather a dull morning when we
reached Anioy, but the sandy beach and houses
of Kolong-su looked home-like, and before
long Mr. McGregor* and Miss Maclagan were
on board, and brought us ashore for break-
fast. Miss M. and I. are to take possession
of the Ladies* House, which has just been
cleaned and painted. It has a very pretty
situation, with lovely glimpses of the sea
and hills beyond, and little winding paths
lead up to the great grey boulders above us.

**You may be sure that one of our first
visits here was to the school, which com-
pared favourably with those we visited else-
where, and the hearty greeting we received
from the children was most encouraging. I
quite longed that some of those who are

* Now Dr. McGregor.

33 3

34 JIN KO-NIU

carrying on this work at home could have
stood with us in the bright, airy schoolroom,
and have heard the ' Peng-an ' ( Peace)
which echoed from every corner. On

"Odb First Visit was to the School,"

Saturday morning, directly after breakfast,
a messenger was sent to say that the whole
school was coming to pay me a visit, and I
had barely time to come downstairs before

BEGINNINGS ^5

the tramp of feet was heard, and two by two
the twenty-three girls, their matron, and
teacher, filed up the approach to our house.
I waited in the drawing-room to receive
them as they crowded in, and felt very
helpless as I smiled a reply to all their good
wishes. A little quietness followed while
Miss M. kindly interpreted some of their
words, and told them how I hoped soon to
understand and speak to them in their own
language. I was at a loss as to how such
guests should be entertained, but they solved
the problem themselves by beginning a tour
of the room and examining each object
minutely. Fortunately our furniture is but
scant, as this proved a lengthy proceeding,
and somewhat monotonous. However, our
guests were well pleased, and proposed to
visit our bedrooms ; and on Miss M. con-
senting, the whole party trooped upstairs,
and I soon heard great chattering and laugh-
ing over my boots and slippers. It seems
they had been promised to see over the
house after I came. A photograph of my
father interested them very much, as they
had heard of him before. It is pleasant to
find that he is still remembered out here by
several, my teacher amongst others.

"The girls were very curious to know
whether I sang or not, and what my name
would be. The latter question puzzled me,

3—2

36 JIN KO-mU

but I have since heard that it is to be * Jin/
the nearest approach in Chinese to Johnston,
and meaning * love.' As Miss M.*s name
is *An* (Peace), the Ladies' House at
Amoy ought to be a pleasant place to
live in !"

To Jessie the study of the Chinese language
was a real pleasure, and she managed very
early to understand and make herself under-
stood in the Amoy colloquial. Any phrase
heard she quickly made a note of, and used
on the earliest opportunity. She used to
love to run down to have a chat or game
with the schoolgirls, and proverbs or quaint
expressions caught from them were quickly
added to her own vocabulary. The study of
the written character she found very interest-
ing, and an entry in her diary after four
months showed that she began then to read
her verse in turn at morning prayers, giving
first the character sound and then the trans-
lation into colloquial.

Later, when school - teaching and other
work made daily study impossible, she
enjoyed using the leisure of the summer
holidays for reading with some competent
teacher.

Jessie was never one who, from having
a knowledge of character, decried the use of
the Romanized writing. On the contrary,
she took a pride in the fact that the early

BEGINNINGS yj

Amoy missionaries were noted amongst the
pioneers of Romanization, and lost no oppor-
tunity of explaining the immense advantages
that flow from its use. To quote her own
words : ** For producing capable, intelligent
Christians give me the Romanized colloquial."

A friend, visiting Amoy about two years
after Jessie's arrival, writes : ** She seems to
me to have made most excellent progress
with the language, and to know it very well
for such a short residence here, and she
seems to have learnt it most carefully and
accurately.''

In the following letter, written after being
out just a year, she tells her mother how she
prepares for a class in colloquial :

**It takes a long, weary time to prepare.
For instance, one lesson which takes about
half an hour to hear requires often more than
one afternoon's preparation. The pupils are
revising, and so learn five or six chapters of
a book about the Judges and Kings. Well,
I have to read these over, not only so as to
understand the sense, but to know each
word's meaning, and when to use it. In one
page there may be twenty or thirty new
words — e.g., all Goliath's armour ; or, again,
I may pass a page with only one or two
words to look up.

** After the gist of the thing is in my head,
I begin to write out about fifty questions or

so. These have to be carefully prepared,
and put into proper idiom. Of course it
gets easier each time. Still, there are so
many new words, and it is so easy to make
mistakes in idiom, or only to make half
sense out of it, that I think the wisest course
is to plod on, doing everything as thoroughly
as possible."

Jessie's early days in Amoy were greatly
brightened by the friends she found. She
often wrote, " They spoil me out here," and
" They are all so good to me," In her own
mission — the English Presbyterian — there
were married missionaries, and in their
houses she received a warm welcome, and
a romp with their children was always a
treat to one who had come from a big
houseful of brothers and sisters. Dr. and
Mrs. Talmage, of the A.R.M., admitted her
early to a daughter's place in their home,

BEGnVNJNGS

and happy indeed were the times she spent
there. Their advice and encouragement,
and, still more, the strength and beauty of
their lives, were a great inspiration to this
very young missionary.

It is not necessary to mention each, be-
cause the whole missionary community were
soon her friends, for she had an undoubted
gift for friendship ; but mention must be
made of the seven " ko-niu,"

"Ko-niu"isthe Amoy word for "unmarried
lady," and there were just the perfect number
of these at this time on the island. Two
belonged to the London Mission, and had
come out only a few weeks before Jessie ;
her colleague, Miss Maclagan, has already
been mentioned ; the two daughters of
Dr. and Mrs. Talmage had been several
years at work, and understood both the
language and the people ; and the young

40 /AV KO-NIU

daughter of another missionary, with Jessie,
completed the group. These seven saw a
good deal of each other. A friend writes
from Amoy about this time : '* Jessie is as
merry as ever, and it does one's heart good
to hear her merry laugh. She has lost none
of the cheery ring in it through all her hard
study and all the difficulties of a life out
here."

An early institution in connexion with the
missionary life in Amoy is what is known as
** ko-niu le-pai," or the single ladies* prayer-
meeting. By six o'clock on Saturday even-
ings, all through the year, the unmarried
ladies, if wanted, must be looked for at this
gathering, for it is counted one of the most
binding of engagements, although the most
informal of meetings. The attendances vary
from two or three in the winter months,
when inland visiting is in full swing, to
twenty or more in recent summers, when
the ladies of all three missions are down
from the six inland stations for the hot
weather. Each takes her turn in leading.
A passage of Scripture is chosen, and read
around verse by verse in turn, a hymn sung,
and then each one tells of any case of special
need which she has met with during the
week. Then all kneel in prayer, and the
petitions go up in a ceaseless stream, as each
begins as her neighbour ends, until the circle

BEGINNINGS 41

is completed. There is a wonderful feeling
of all being ** with one mind, in one place."
Many a young missionary has had ready
sympathy and advice from the more ex-
perienced ones of the group as she has told
of her puzzling cases.

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS

In those early days, when travelling was a
more difficult matter than it is now, these
ladies seldom went to visit the inland places
alone, but generally with one of another
mission, to save the giving up of classes in
the centre station. One good result of this
was that, travelling with a member of another
mission, the churches of both were visited,
and a great feeling of unity, arising from
knowledge of and interest in each other's
fields, was the result. Most of Jessies
journeys were with Miss M. Talmage, her
lifelong friend. The following extract from
a letter written just four months after arrival
gives some idea of the method adopted for a
short week-end trip :

** These trips up-country are delightful,
and this is the very season for going. I
have been to several places. Each time
Miss M. goes off on Sunday morning to

the next station, and leaves me with the

42

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS 43

women, so that I can hear texts, talk, and
teach to my heart's content, and each time
I find it so much easier both to talk and to
understand. On Saturday I got a note to
say I must be on the boat by eleven ; there-
fore I sallied forth, attended to the veranda
steps by G. with the cake-box. I went
down the broad stone steps, stopping to
smell the roses and gather a spray of white
blossom as I passed. Before me our coolie,
with my bedding on a pole over his shoulder,
and our boy * Gift,* with my shawl and
books, marched in procession. The coolie
is a fine, tall man, with the most dignified
bearing — quite a credit to our establishment.
* Gift * is about sixteen, and very tall for his
age, with moderate good looks, very willing,
but so noisy ! I was taking him with us, as
we needed a boy to cook and look after the
luggage, and serve as a sort of escort. At
the end of the long narrow stone jetty the
coolie deposited his burden in a little * sam-
pan ' (rowing-boat) and returned, while we
rowed out to the American Gospel boat. I
arrived first, and sat on the roof of the cabin,
which is slightly raised above the deck to
allow of windows, and soon after Miss M.
came. We then settled our baggage in the
cabin, and ourselves perched on the wooden
boards, which serve as beds.

" About two o'clock we reached the land-

44 JIN KO-NIU

ing-place, but could not land till nearly five,
as the sun was too hot for our twenty
minutes' walk across country. When we
were able to land in the little boat sent out
for us, we found quite a crowd on shore
watching us pick our way over the rocks
and sand. We exchanged greetings, and

'^^-

getting a porter for our luggage, began
our walk through the village and over the
fields to our destination — a row of red-tiled
cottages, nestling among the banyans, in the
distance, at the foot of a cluster of rugged
hills.

" After supper we went down to prayers
in the chapel. The women sit by them-

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS 45

selves even then, and the helper's wife had
her two little girls, about as sleepy as I was
— such bright, bonny little damsels. We
went early to bed, and notwithstanding the
mosquito netting, the creatures were dreadful.

** Sunday was a lovely day, and I almost
envied Miss M. her long chair-ride to Te-
soa. However, I went back to our quarters,
from whence I could see the helper's wife
and bairns, beautifully dressed, going over
the lesson for the day. I soon joined her
and the other women, who, with their babies
tied to their backs, were assembling to the
number of eighteen or twenty. I noticed a
few hooks, on which the women hung their
skirts on entering. They were nearly all
withered dames, wrinkled and yellow ; but
one or two young women also appeared, and
after coming up to greet the ko-niu, settled
themselves on one of the red benches which
ran round the room, and had a chat together
before service-time.

** The preacher soon came in, and we sang
a hymn. The singing was much better than
at Kang-thau. There a chorus of cats would
be harmony compared to it. The old women
sat swaying to and fro and holding up their
books. At the end of each line they would
hurry to read through the next, and directly
it was read would begin their drone again,
regardless of their neighbours, time, tune.

46 JIN KO'NIU

or anything. After singing, some one was
called on to pray, and then the chapter for
the day was read and explained, and different
people were called on to say their verses.

** There was an interval of about ten
minutes between this early worship and the
regular service, which is conducted in the
same way as at home. The women behaved
wonderfully well. Of course the minister
had to pause once or twice, to ask them not
to talk, and to speak to some children who
were laughing and running up and down.

** After church I heard the women repeat
texts, and then retreated upstairs ; but a poor
old body followed me with a handkerchief of
what I feared was some dreadful cake, but it
turned out to be pea-nuts. She would crack
them, blow off the husk, and pop them into
my hands, till my appetite for dinner dis-
appeared. A number of others soon followed
her, and I determined to improve the occa-
sion, so brought out a picture of Christ
coming to the disciples on the lake, which
greatly interested them. I read them the
account in the Bible and gave them a little
' doctrine,' which I had prepared with my
teacher. They understood, and repeated it
to new-comers, so I felt quite encouraged.
They left me when I began lunch, so I had
a little leisure.

** As I was finishing I heard some whisper-

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS 47

ing, and saw some women at the bottom of
the stair, who told me they were waiting for
afternoon meeting, so I had to hurry down.
They soon gathered round, and I found to
my dismay that they expected me to take it.
However, I asked the helper's wife, and she
did it very nicely. Afterwards the Bible-
woman improved the time before service
by speaking some more * doctrine.' The
women were dreadfully sleepy, and so was I.
I could hardly keep my eyes open, it was
so hot and close. One old woman at the
back amused me by coming forward and
shaking the others, pulling their sleeves, and
directing their attention to the speaker, who
was going on regardless of listeners on our
side of the screen. One woman before me
was not even then sufficiently awake, so the
undaunted arouser seized her by the eyelids
and pulled them open, pushing her along the
form at the same time ! I feared a like fate,
and by a severe effort kept awake during
service, after which the people separated.

**One of the men came and spoke across
the screen, asking me to go along with the
Bible-woman, as it might draw some to hear
her, so I ran up for my hat and umbrella,
and, supported by three old women, had a
lovely walk through the fields to a little
village on the shore, where a crowd speedily
collected to admire me!, and listened very

48 JIN KO'NIU

attentively while the Bible-woman spoke. I
invited them to attend the chapel, and some
of the women promised. I only hope they
will come.

** Afterwards I was conducted to a very
dirty yard, where a heathen woman brought
basins of greasy, sugarless, and milkless tea
and some little papers of cakes. I tasted,
and then put it down, as is considered polite ;
but she said, * She is afraid ; she will not
take our food,' so I courageously drained
the cup, and took nibbles of the cake, carry-
ing away the remainder, which I gave to a
child on the way. Leaving amid many kind
invitations to come again, I ran on in front
of my guides, but was stopped by hearing
them call, and, seeing that another woman
was with them, I returned, and found the
new-comer very anxious to see me. The
Bible-woman tried to speak to her, but she
would listen to no one but me, so I produced
one of Mrs. Grimke's cards (I wish I had
more of them) in the Amoy dialect, and read
it to her, and urged her to go to church.
She asked me if I would be there, so I told
her to come, and that the preacher's wife
would tell me if she had been. When she
left I was tired of the slow pace of my
guides, who, with long poles to aid their
tiny feet, were hobbling along and laughing
at my impatience ; so I told them I would

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS 49

go quicker, and had a regular race home, to
work off some of my superfluous energy. I
had time to wash my hands before Miss M.
appeared, and then we talked and read with
the women till 7.30, after which came even-
ing prayers and then to bed, as we had to be
up by five o'clock, to catch the tide."

At other times long tours would be taken,
lasting a month or more, stopping at various
chapels at night, and staying one or more
days in each, as seemed best, visiting the
women connected with the little congrega-
tions, and seeking out their daughters, and,
if of suitable age, inviting them to come to
school. The women said she ** had an
attractive way,'* and certainly many little
maidens, at first reluctant to face the ordeal
of a journey by land, and, worse still, by
water, and the strange new thing — a girls'
school — were persuaded, and came to find it
the happiest place they knew. The follow-
ing extracts from letters give some idea of
this country work :

" Gospel Boat,

" October 28, 1887.

** Here we are, cosily ensconced in our
little cabin. The passage was very quick,
as we had a high wind in our favour. Such
waves ! We were tossed about like a nut-
shell in our Gospel boat.

4

50 JIN KO-NIU

" I sat on deck, and watched the last

golden rays of the sun disappear as we

passed through the 'sea's gate' into the

river. Then the silver moon appeared and

gilded all the ripples

in a pathway to the

sky. Everything now

looks so quiet and

peaceful— the great

hills stretching up to

heaven and the tiny

villages under the

banyans sheltering at

their feet.

"These country
people, although
nominally Christian,
are dreadfully ig-
norant. Speak of
women's work! ltis,I
think, most necessary.
The women in these
villages know nothing.
When asked, 'Who
is Jesus ?' they cannot
tell. They never pray.
Yet some of these women are helpers' wives,
and some have husbands who for years have
attended church. Without women to teach
them in their homes and behind the preacher's

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS 51

screens, they seem to come and go, and get no
teaching at all. I was much pleased to meet
four former schoolgirls. Such a contrast !

" We have had a lovely day. Last night
one of the helpers came in and planned out

our trip for us ; so we started off at eight
o'clock, leaving the Bible-woman to go in
another direction. Poor thing ! she is so
lonely, and for three nights had not slept at

52 JIN KO-NIU

all because of the dirt. These women have
many hardships. We walked for the first
hour of our trip, and did so enjoy it — such
fresh country air and real highland scenery —
rivers, and burns, and rocks, and high hills
hemming us in — and such lovely fern-fronds
at every turn. We had about two hours of
chair-ride after our walk, and had some
experience of fording rivers. Twice the
water was so deep as to be above the men's
knees, and nearly touched the bottom of
our chairs. In one place we saw some men
fishing from a raft of long slender logs. It
seemed to act as ferry-boat as well, as I
saw some men waiting to cross on it with
burdens. For the most part, however, we
were alone ; not even a hamlet in sight.

** This place we have reached is so
strange. The village is really one huge
round tower — a blank wall to the outside,
with tiny slit-like prison windows and a
small entrance-gate. The church is built
outside, but we went in to visit some Chris-
tians, and saw the interior. Just inside the
thick stone wall, and lining its lower portion,
is a row of wooden stalls, where many of the
inhabitants live. Another strong stone tower,
just like the outer one, rises within the stalls
and towers above them. We step inside,
and find ourselves in a large stone-paved
court, open to the sky. It is, of course,

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS 53

circular, and a raised pavement runs round
it. Doors open into rooms the thickness
of the wall — dark, gloomy-looking places ;
but here the people live like one large
family. We just sat and watched as the
women sat at the doors, one picking a goose,
another smoking, another nursing her baby,
and so on. In one corner was a loom, in
another the stone mill for husking rice^ Piles
of brushwood for fuel were collected in a
third corner, and in a fourth was a place
where the rubbish of ages seemed stowed
away. One of the girls took us upstairs to
the second floor, also a ring of dwelling-
houses. Another and broader flight of steps
led to a third landing, where old chairs, bins
of rice, etc., were kept ; and one more climb
led up to the attic, round which were stored
the ancestral tablets and idols of the popu-
lation ! Nicely out of the way ! It was so
strange to look down over the railing on one
hand into the round court, with its busy
groups of people, pigs, and hens, and on the
other side to peer through the narrow
windows in the thick masonry of the wall,
at the natural rampart of mountains, and
rivers beyond.

'* While we were talking to a woman, a man
came in and examined us most thoroughly,
saying finally : * What good fortune I have
met with to-day to have seen these foreigners!'

S4 JiN KO-NW

We had a long talk with some old schoolgirls,
and saw all the women church members in
the place, then went home to supper. Look-
ing up, we saw door and window packed with

human heads — men's heads — watching us.
They were strangers, had never seen the
like of us before, and nothing would satisfy
them but that we should go down and ' talk
some doctrine.' They were most polite and

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS

attentive, listened for a long time, and went
away praising the teaching.

" The people are always pleased when we
talk a little to them. I was amused to hear

Amov Women's School.

one of my chair-bearers — a heathen — speak-
ing about us at a place where we rested. A
man asked as usual, ' Are they men or
women?' 'Women.' 'Can they speak our
words?' 'Oh yes! thoroughly well.' 'Can

56 JIN KO'NIU

they read ?' * Read ! they read our words
and their own words easily, and they read
a great deal/ ' Are they married ?* * No,
they are ko-nius. They go about everywhere
exhorting men to do right/

*' The scenery here reminds me much of
Switzerland. Such an outlook down the
valley, with its ripe rice-fields, terraced to
the water s edge, and higher up pine-woods
towering up the mountain-sides to the clear
blue of the skies. The people are very
simple and warm-hearted (I wish they were
cleaner!), and I think it is wonderful how
they come willingly at the busiest time of the
day to spend two or three hours over the
Word of God. Many walk great distances
to be in church on Sunday. There is a
woman here we are trying hard to persuade
to come to the women's school in Amoy.
She is over sixty, but seems both intelligent
and quiet — two important qualifications for a
Bible-woman. Even though she might not
become a regular Bible-woman, she would
learn a great deal, and be able to help others
if she would only come down.*'

*ff ^P fff ^^ "ff

In later years the interest of this work
was increased by the pleasure of visiting old
pupils, seeing their homes and admiring
their babies, who were eagerly shown to

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS 57

" Ko-niu Ma," or ** Grandmother Ko-niu."
Jessie had a large number of such grand-
children, and took a great delight in them>
rarely forgetting their names, and always look-
ing out for their mother s best characteristics
to reappear in them. She writes again :

" I have been going from place to place
spending a night at each. It is very hard
to refuse to remain longer. The people find
it difficult to understand why I won't stay
with them, and each place seems to think it
has a special claim. There are the greatest
opportunities on every hand, hundreds ready
to listen, and so few to tell them what they
need so much to hear. I have never seen
such readiness to receive us, although we
have always had open doors. We went to
two villages to-day, which took us out of the
way. At the first about twenty men meet
for worship, but only one girl, who was in
school for two months, knows anything on
the women's side. She can read, fortunately —
the Romanized, of course. I had a crowd of
women there. At the next place there are a
number of Christians, who meet at the house
of one of them. Here there are very few
women. We need to come oftener and get
hold of the wives and daughters. We ought
to be everywhere oftener."

This letter is written on one of her last
journeys, for the need of workers is not

58 JIN KO-NIU

decreasing, but growing, as the church
spreads further and further over the rich
plains and up the terraced hills of South
China.

She loved a friendly chat with the pastors
and preachers in the various stations. They
are often very lonely, and the missionary's
visit is a great help and stimulus. The
conversation usually was about the women
of the church and the girls who might come
down to school. Sometimes a thought from
some commentary she had been reading was
brought to bear on the lesson for the day,
and the passage discussed, and at other
times bits of news from the papers she had
been reading in her chair.

The following is a letter from a young
preacher to whom she had sent a clock. He
is now pastor at Eh-mung-Kang.

Letter from Pastor Yew when in his
First Charge, a Small Town inland.

'* All the Brethren and Sisters of Stonewell
beg to thank you for the clock. Every
evening since you sent it I have been able
to read and speak to many of the Gospel.
This is how it is : when it is evening,
numbers of young people come in to hear
the clock strike, and then I get them to stay
for a talk. I am so glad of this, for since I

UP-COUNTRY TRIPS 59

came to Stonewell we have had to have our
evening prayers almost always alone, and
now many attend.

** I thought I would like to tell you that
the weather is cooler, so that perhaps you
will be able to come to us. But please do
not come in the second week of next month,
as I must be away then.

" I hear that you have had sorrow.* I
pray that God may comfort you. I also
have had sorrow, and have received of His
comfort. I cannot say any words of con-
solation, for I know you understand all the
words of consolation in the Holy Book.

** May the Lord grant you peace from
henceforth, that your heart may be free to
serve Him, which is, I know, your greatest
desire !

" Greetings from Hoai-tek."

* This refers to her brother's death in 1896.

HOSPITAL VISITING

Another important branch of the work is
hospital visiting. It is a grand thing to see
the poor sick folk being helped and healed,
but it is a still greater joy to see them,
whether healed or not, get the peace into
their faces and the joy that comes from the
knowledge of Christ. Once or twice a week
the doctor arranges for out-patients to be
seen. Sometimes these come in great
numbers, and when they have received
their *' tally " they are drafted into the wait-
ing-rooms for men and women. Many a
time Jessie crossed the harbour and spoke
in the crowded room to the waiting women,
some half afraid to listen lest a spell be cast
upon them ; others, who had been before,
eagerly drinking in all that was said. When
almost all have gone, the missionary finds
her way up to the wards where the in-
patients are, and gathers them and the

relatives who are nursing them together for

60

HOSPITAL VISITJXC 6i

another talk. Again and again in Jessie's
diary is found the entry, " Had such a good
time at hospital"; and in her notebook the
names of diose present, and little details
about them, or some of their remarks :
" Tiong-so said to me to-day, ' I believe it

is true that Jesus loves us, because you love
us so.' "

" Hok - so is troubled about devils. She
had vowed that she would make offerings
if she got better, and feared they would
trouble her if she did not pay her vow."

" I showed a picture of the ' Sower' to the

62 JIN KO-NIU

women to-day, and Ki-po-so said : ' I used
to hear them speak of that in church. I was
not allowed to go, but when no one was by
I went ; and I thought I am like the seed
among thorns ; and I comforted myself that
even if one stalk grows up among the thorns
the farmer will see it ; and I prayed that
God would let me grow up, notwithstanding
my troubles/ ''

Whenever she could she was glad to visit
former patients. Indeed, the necessity of
helping them after they leave, and the im-
possibility of overtaking it, is a burden on
any hospital worker. Take the following
example from a diary of 1888: **Went to
hospital ; in out- ward saw Eng-a. She
seemed at first not to be interested, but
presently said : ' I will tell you how it is.
Ten years or so ago I went into hospital
and heard the Gospel. I believed it, and
went home to tell my friends. I thought
they would believe, but instead they reviled
and beat me. Still I believed, but my sons
died, and my mother-in-law died, and I have
had nothing but trouble all these years. The
neighbours say it is because I worship God.
I do not know how it may be.' ''

The following from a letter written about
this time may be of interest : ** I had a nice
talk with a woman in hospital yesterday.
She and her daughter of twelve had never

HOSPITAL VISITING 63

heard a word of the Gospel. She listened
eagerly, and promised to pray daily, * God,
have mercy on me and forgive my sins/
Another woman had come two years ago, and
remembered my being there and telling her to
worship God. Still another followed me
about to hear more, and seemed more or less
impressed. It is such a responsibility to talk
to them. I was thinking of Paul's words :
* An Apostle by the commandment of God'
— one sent by God. If only a messenger,
then only concerned with the delivery of the
message. It is restful."

One more quotation must be given :
" On Tuesday I went over to the hospital
and saw a woman in whom I am interested.
She wanted me to go to see her mother ;
but I had a whole ward of in-patients to talk
to, so said I would go another time. We
had hardly begun when some one called out
that Miss A. had gone to see the out-
patients, so the woman begged me to ask her
to come upstairs and take my place, that I
might be free to go with her to visit. I
agreed, as I knew the wife of one of the
pastors was with the out-patients. But you
should have heard the indignation of the
other women who were just gathered ready !
One of them clutched me, and I had to dis-
engage her hands, promising to come again
and speak to them.

64 JIN KO-NIU

'* When we reached the house a number
of women came together. Three of them
had dressed to go to the hospital to listen to
the teaching there, and they were very atten-
tive. I gave them a verse to remember for
next time, as I hope to go again. The
woman who led me would hardly let me go.
When I said, * You will be too late to see
the doctor,' she replied : * Oh, I can go next
week ; the doctrine is more important. Tell
them more ; they have never heard before.'
I promised to go to her house in the after-
noon. I had been twice before, so felt sure
I knew the way ; but found I was not so
certain after all, as I took a wrong turning
and could not make it out. However, I
visited at least half a dozen houses, and could
have gone into twice as many more had there
been time. At one place they were gambling,
but an old hospital patient dragged me in to
speak to them.

" I was very sorry not to find the house I
set out to visit. I heard afterwards that the
woman had collected her neighbours and
prepared tea for me. When I said, * Oh,
you must not get tea ready another time,'
she said : ' You see, we want you to talk to
us, and tell us a great deal about God ; and
you will get hoarse, so we must have tea,
and then you can talk longer.' I must go
there again soon. When I told her that I

HOSPITAL- VISITING 65

had mistaken the way, although I had been
twice already, she said : * You see, how can
we remember the heavenly way when we
only hear it twice ? Just as you forget the
road, so we forget/ Her father-in-law tries
to hinder her, but every time I go she has a
number of friends gathered to hear."

5

SCHOOL WORK

Although each different department of work
in Amoy proved fascinating to Jessie, just as
it happened to be the thing to be done, or, as
she said, '* It is a comfort to find that what
one has to do always seems pleasantest," yet
the girls' school was perhaps nearest her
heart. We see her on the day of her arrival
visiting the school, and next day being visited
by them. In February she was giving
lessons in reading to two backward children.
She writes in an early letter :

** Round the school there is a veranda closed
in with lattice- work, and doors lead into the dif-
ferent class-rooms, which, with their varnished
forms and desks, maps and pictures, look a
very cheery edition of an English school.
The teacher at her table quietly reading and
the girls in their forms softly repeating their
lessons are, however, very different, though
in many ways as nice. All wear trousers,

wide, loose, coloured ones, embroidered or

66

SCHOOL WORK

67

trimmed at the foot, and over them a long
wide jacket buttoned down one side and
embroidered round the neck. The sleeves
are so long and loose that at first sight you

I »v//w;

\^*\

would imagine the people had no arms. The
little girls are the funniest mites. I would
give a good deal to be able to put one or two
in a box to send you. I can only laugh at
them when they come dancing round with

68 JIN KO NIU

their queer little pigtails sticking out all
round. They usually wear their hair in a
plait ; not at the back of their heads, however,
but at one side and sticking straight out.
Then, above their foreheads, they sometimes
have a narrow band of coloured cloth tied
under their hair behind and waving in two
long tails. The women often wear a black

band in winter to keep them warm. I can't
see how it answers ! The older girls wear
long plaits or have their hair smoothly
brushed back and rolled into a flat ' bun *
with pins and combs and bunches of gay
artificial flowers. Every one has exactly the
same glossy black shade. Such nice faces
some have, the bigger ones sweet and gentle-

SCHOOL WORK 69

looking, the tinies rosy and mischievous. I
must, however, tell you the whole truth —
some are very ugly ! One little thing I have
up for reading, called Khun-a, is specially so,
such a yellow little thing !"

It was very characteristic that a few weeks
later she says : ** Perhaps you remember my
writing of Khun-a as such an ugly little
thing. She looks a different being, and is
brightening up, and quite a pleasure to teach."

A run down to school and a chat or a
game with the girls was always a cure for
threatenings of home-sickness in the early
days. ** Last night I was down at school.
I had looked in on the girls on our way home
from tennis, and they exhibited a little
spinning machine for making braid. One of
the bigger girls was delighted to show off
and give me a lesson, amid shouts of laughter
at my awkwardness in moving the bobbins.
At last I succeeded in mastering the process,
to their delight, and promised in return to
come down in the evening and sing to them.
So after supper and prayers I set off. The
moon, which is bright just now, had hardly
risen, so I had some difficulty in finding my
way down to the school. Half a dozen girls
were waiting at the gate and triumphantly
seized my hands to escort me safely in,
where matron, teacher and pupils were sit-
ting at their desks to listen. I did not

70 JIN KO-NIU

venture to think of my temerity, and seated
myself at the tiny American organ, while one
girl stood behind fanning me. It was an
inspiration to sing — all those e^er faces
bending forward After a while I proposed
' When He cometh,' which they sang in

Chinese and I in English, Then they were
clamorous for marching, so we tried that. I
wish you had been there to see ! Chinese
girls have plenty of fun in them, and are
quick enough at learning.

" I trotted down to find the schoolgirls in
a grand state of excitement fitting the bed-

SCHOOL WORK 71

planks together. We had such a business —
and the amount of talking and laughing over
it ! I was down ever so long super-
intending."

Sickness in the school was a sore worry to
her, but with a number of boarders a good
deal of "matron'* work is necessary even
when the Chinese matron is doing her best.
The following letter gives an idea of what is
involved when things were not going very
well :

"Truly one's time is taken up with a
variety of things ! This morning, after
breakfast, I went down to school to inspect
the sick girls, and was collared by the matron
to listen to a string of complaints about the
difificulty of buying vegetables. After sooth-
ing her down, I had to go into the last
fortnight's accounts to see if the food was all
right. Then down to school again with the
doctor to see a girl who he fears has diph-
theria. After he went, I had to dose her
and get a room cleared out for her to be
isolated from the others. Then a lecture to
another girl who had bound her feet in the
holidays and is threatened with hip disease.
Again a talk about buying another bed,
patching quilts and arranging which girls
should sleep together, some being ill, some
small, and some rough and others dainty.
That settled, I had to collect empty medicine-

72 JIN KO'NIU

bottles and have them sent to the hospital to
be refilled, and attend to an order for eye-
bandages, so what can I do about my home
mail r

This part of school work was to her the
least attractive. She writes very character-
istically : ** I give arsenic to four girls three
times a day. It is a bother, as it has to go
on for a month. They are dear girls !'*

Long journeys were often taken to get
some special little recreant down to school if
she had failed to appear when the term
began. And Jessie would often arrive back
from a trip taken at the commencement of a
term, like the piper of Hamelin, with a train
of young hopefuls behind her, whom she had
lured from their homes.

In school there was good order and dis-
cipline, with very few rules and almost no
punishments. On one occasion the matron
had complained of several girls that they
were very careless, and when she had told
them to do their work again, they had been
rude to her. This charge was made so
seriously that Jessie felt the delinquents must
be treated in an exemplary manner. So she
called the school together and pointed out
the wrong, and then, ruler in hand, called
out the girls of whom the matron had com-
plained in turn, and gave a few strokes on
the palm to each. The caning was both an

SCHOOL WORK 73

unaccustomed and an unpleasant task to her,
and she was terribly afraid of hurting them.
She noticed that the young sinners, who came
up weeping, went away comforted, and
realized that to them the punishment was
very slight. With her usual readiness, after

Lesson in Geography.

all was over, she told them solemnly that
this time she had only punished " to the
point of shame "/ if it had to be done again it
would be " to the point of pain " as well. It
never had to be done again.

As to the curriculum, that was slowly
evolved. The founders of the school made

74 JIN KO-NIU

the formation of Christian character the first
object, and Jessie realized that that must be
always of paramount importance. Bible
lessons and learning to read, so that the Book

GcRLs" School, Amov : Doing Sums.

might be studied by each girl for herself,
took the first place. Other lessons naturally
followed, such as geography and history.
Arithmetic was carried to its utmost limits,
the older girls being led to understand the

SCHOOL WORK

why and wherefore of a cube-root rule, and
to think a problem in the comparative rates
at which the planets revolve — a fascinating
riddle ! Chinese girls have good heads, and

GiHLs' School, Amoy : Washino Day.

yet are so apt to rely on memory that
great stress was laid on this study, so as to
teach them to think and reason. Classes in
very elementary astronomy, geology, and
physiology were as great a pleasure to the

76 JIN KO'NIU

teacher as to the taught, and the lessons
were enlivened with quaint and ingenious
illustrations.

An essay appended here shows a very
crude attempt at composition.

** Essay on the Earth.

** The earth has mountains and houses and
trees. It also has men and Bibles to look
at. It also has water and girls' schools. It
has birds and umbrellas and chairs to sit on.
It has seas and churches and boats and
clocks to see, and gardens to play in, and
geography and organs and fields. It has
serpents and dogs and pigs and clothes to
wear. The earth has pomegranates and the
earth has lamps and stoves and leaves and
tables and streets and ducks and grass and
graves and sheep and fruit and hymns to
sing and potatoes.

" Mee A."

Jessie's genuine love for the girls never
failed to beget love, and when any child was
too shy to ask an interview, a tiny note was
slipped into her hand or between the pages
of her book, or sent up to the house by a
small messenger. An amusing specimen,
the only one to hand, is added. Sin-a had
evidently been in disgrace for some es-

SCHOOL WORK 77

capade, but was not quite sure where the
fault lay.

Letter to Teacher Love, the Great One

Receive.

** Lately I heard that Teacher's precious
body was not well. Is it now better ?

'* This foolish pupil received Teacher's
jade-stone letter. Her heart rejoiced know-
ing that Teacher loved as formerly her stupid
scholar.

" Teacher, you are, of course, full of wis-
dom and knowledge, and therefore under-
stand about every matter. I am just like a
little bird flying in space, when suddenly a
bad man comes and sets a trap to catch it ;
or like a little lamb running after its mother
to eat grass, when, all at once, a cruel dog
bites it ; or like a cicada in a tree which
a wicked child catches and eats. . . . Teacher,
if this foolish one has done wrong, I hope
you will forgive, and be graciously pleased
to write a precious line to let this stupid one
know.

"This foolish one's humble hands have
written these unsightly words : may I hope
that Teacher's honourable eyes will stoop to
read }

'' SiN-A, the Fool."

A letter from another child, when Jessie

78 JIN KO-NW

was at home on furlough, is just such a newsy
one as she loved to receive.

Letter written by '* Black Silk " when
IN School at Amoy (hek Story is
given ON P. 182).

Letter to the Ko-niu we love,

** Since you left we have already received
three letters from you, and a photograph at
which we may all look. These have given
us great pleasure, and all your pupils are
grateful.

** We have been doing arithmetic from
weights and measures up to interest. In our
Scripture lesson we have been reviewing
from Genesis to Malachi, especially taking
up types of Christ. We have done geo-
graphy and maps. We have besides had
lessons in teaching just as you used to give
us. Hoat-a gave a model lesson in arith-
metic, Him-a on '' Pilgrim's Progress/' See-a
on Character, Toan-a on Scripture, and we
all criticized.

'* Now I have to give you some sad news.
Teacher Pure has lost her mother. I think
it was plague. Nui's mother has died of
the same disease, and also lu's father.
Kui-a's mother has died of plague, and she
has gone home and can't return to school.

SCHOOL WORK 79

Plague IS very bad at E-mung-kang. At
first we were allowed to go over on Sundays
to help teach, but now we are forbidden, so
we don't go. These things have made us
very sad, but we know God must have a
good reason for allowing them to happen.

** As to my father, he has given up gam-
bling, but he is not yet quite cured of the
opium habit. The Church has suspended
him from Communion, but they hope he may
give up smoking and repent. I am praying
that he may.

** I hope you are well. We are well. The
matron has invited me to go home with her
these holidays, and I have been allowed to

go.

** Your pupil,

'' Tiu."

Plague is mentioned in the above letter.
Each year it returns and carries hundreds
of victims to the grave. The following from
Jessie, written at a country station, gives
some idea of what is meant by the words,
** Plague has broken out in China":

** Plague is raging here. In the street,
parallel with the chapel, there have been
eight deaths in the last day or two ; and here,
in our own chapel street, there were two
deaths yesterday in the house opposite, and
one in a Christian family next door, besides

8o JIN KO'NIU

Others in the same street. A man was here
in the chapel yesterday morning. He went
to help in the house opposite — the street is
narrow enough almost to shake hands across
— and came back feeling ill. He lay down
in a room here and got fever and became
unconscious. His son came and fetched
him home in a chair — tied in, as he could not
sit up. I hear he is a little better to-day.
They usually either die or get better in a
day. The rats are dying in great numbers.
We went to see a woman in trouble as her
son is in debt. On both sides her neighbours
have died of plague. One girl from next
door sent in to beg for a basin of rice. She
had a good meal and died directly after.
Her sister died the same day — yesterday.
I have just opened the window, and hear
another beginning to wail for the dead.*'

Being very reserved about her own spiritual
life, Jessie made no effort to probe the secrets
of her pupil's hearts, though she had many
earnest talks with them, and was very glad
when they would tell her that they had
decided to serve Christ. She preferred that
a girl should join the Church when at home
either during the long summer vacation or
after leaving school. She explains her reasons
for this :

** I do not approve of the girls joining the
Church when at school. It is better to let

SCHOOL WORK 8t

them be tested in their own villages first.
It is an encouragement, too, to the country
pastors to receive members in their own
churches. At this Presbytery I had the sorrow
of hearing of one of our old girls shut out
from membership because she never went to
church. I remember her as one of my
favourites when I arrived, before I could
speak much. Her name was ** Joy," and she
was a bonny, bright girl. She was admitted
to Church membership, but when she left
school her home was in heathen surroundings,
her people cold and indifferent, and so she
gradually succumbed to worldly influences,
bound her feet, and gave up attending church.
She had little help, poor child! If she had
not been admitted to the Church in Amoy, I
can't help thinking she would not have been
looked upon as a black sheep, and might
have had more encouragement. At any
rate, her falling away would not have been so
injurious to the school and to the cause of
educating girls.

** I find it very difficult to get at the girls.
They will talk or pray with ease^ but what is
their real self it is very hard to see. One
has to watch their lives. It is so easy for
the Chinese to talk or write."

She did all she could to help and encourage

old pupils by visits and letters, and rejoiced

greatly in their faithfulness. '^We saw a

6

82 JIN KONIU

very bonny, healthy-looking girl who, in her
grandfather's days, was in school, but on his
death was removed, and now has nothing but
heathen uncles and aunts. She has stood out
steadily against worshipping her dead grand-
mother, will not bind her feet, and insists on
being married to a Christian. It is wonder-
ful how she has kept firm in spite of jeers
and taunts. I wish we could have her in
school again. There is good hope of her
marrying a preacher."

This leads on to the subject of Jessie's
match-making. Force of circumstances led
her into it. In visiting the churches inland
she would often find a good, earnest preacher
doing all he could for the place in which he
was stationed, but tied to a raw heathen girl
or one who was Christian only in name, and
in no way a '' helpmeet." Such a wife is not
only useless for teaching the women, but is a
positive hindrance, and Jessie took far too
lively an interest in the churches to be able
to look on such a state of affairs with in-
difference. Again, when one of her brightest
pupils was married to a very ignorant, loutish
fellow she felt it keenly. So when any
student applied through a friend, via the
senior missionary, for a bride from the
school, the opportunity to assist in the choice
was not allowed to slip. Sometimes it was
the mother of a girl, who begged that a

SCHOOL WORK 83

suitable husband might be found for "Sweet-
ness" or "Gold-needle." On such occasions
Dr. McGregor always had to give a very
full account of the students he had who were
not yet engaged. Their mental and mora]
attainments were carefully gone into, and
the temperaments of the prospective bride

and bridegroom, that, if possible, they might
be so balanced as to bring about in more
important matters that mutual accommoda-
tion for which Mr. and Mrs. Jack Spratt
were so noted. In speaking of this subject,
Chinese custom in marriage must be remem-
bered. No personal choice is ever \

84 JIN KO'NIU

as neither may see the other, much less
have any conversation. A " go-between *' is
always needed. This ** go-between *' may be
bribed or influenced in many ways, so that
she is not always to be relied upon.

Jessie writes : *' B. is going regularly to
church, and is anxious to come to the
women's school. She told me that when
she spoke of coming to read, her mother-in-
law said : * All right. If you ask the ko-niu
to get a wife for my second son, who can
take your place here and wait on me, I am
quite willing for you to read.' So she asked
me to find one for her. I have, unfortunately,
a good many such matters on hand just now.
The father of one of our girls wishes to go
to Formosa, and has a daughter whose future
troubles him. He says his father is con-
stantly advising him to sell her, and get
capital to engage in business. ' What is
the use of having a girl worth more than a
hundred dollars — a big, healthy daughter of
seventeen — if you don't sell her ?' How-
ever, the father wishes me to take her as a
wife for my table-boy at 60 dollars, instead
of 120 dollars which he could easily get
from a heathen. What do you think of the
proposal T

One girl, who had rapidly passed through
school, doing very well in every subject, and
early becoming teacher, and at last head

SCHOOL WORK 85

teacher in the school, had an idea that she
would like to be as Jin Ko-niu herself, and
live the single life of bliss ! But such notions
received no encouragement, and when a par-
ticularly choice young preacher was wanting
a real helpmeet this advanced young woman
was persuaded to allow her consent to be
given, and they were married. Not long
after **Pure'' admitted to being very happy,
and although it is ten years ago now, they
are still ** very happy.'* " Pure " is managing
to combine most successfully the duties of
wife, mother, housekeeper, and curate.

The following letter is from Pu-a, who
was another such multum in parvo. She
was a miserable little slave-girl, rescued by
Dr. Lang from a cruel mistress, and sent to
the Amoy school. She helped to nurse the
children in the Home, and was later married
to a preacher in a small town. She died,
having caught infection nursing a plague-
stricken woman.

** Teacher. I am now living far from you,
and it is hard to send letters to and fro, and
to tell and to hear news. However, there is
now an opportunity, and so I wish to write
a few words, which will be like paying you
a little visit. I hope you are strong and
well.

** I am at River- end, and have opened a

86 JIN KO'NIU

little school. There are old women, girls,
and boys studying in it — about a dozen alto-
gether. I hope you will pray that God will
grant His Holy Spirit's help, that I may
know how to teach them, because, with the
children and adults together, it is very diffi-
cult. I beg of you to pray that I may be a
help to them all.

** I wonder when you will be able to come
and visit River-end. I would so much like
to see you again. We have bought a site,
but have not money yet to build a church.
Do pray that we may be able soon to build,
and that the hearts of many may be opened
to give.

** I often think of you and of all your kind-
ness. Please remember me to the children
in the Home.

** Pu-A writes."

Jessie believed strongly in giving her
pupils positions of responsibility as soon as
possible. Often a girl, who had been grow-
ing a little slack in her work, was braced to
greater self-respect by having a few back-
ward juniors handed over to her for extra
coaching. Any improvement in these was
noticed, and a word of praise to the young
teacher proved, perhaps, the turning-point of
effort for herself.

Sixty-five of Jessie's pupils have been.

SCHOOL WORK 87

or Still are, teachers. Over twenty are the
wives of preachers or teachers, eight or ten
the wives of pastors, and three are doctors.

Eleven years by Chinese calculation, which
is nine or ten by ours, was considered the
best age at which to admit pupils to the

Amoy boarding-school. The course of study
was planned out for six years, and in the last
two years of her course the pupil had lessons
in the art of teaching and assisted with the
younger classes. This normal training was
a great help to the girls, for in the few years

88 JIN KO-NIU

between school-days and marriage they could
be used to meet the great demand for
teachers, not only in the large centre schools
at Chincheu, Changpu, and Eng-chhun, but
sometimes also in the schools of the London
and American Missions.

Another important sphere for these girls
is the country schools. Each large centre,
such as Amoy, has several districts or
pastorates worked from it. Jessie's ambition
was to have a little girls' boarding-school in
connexion with each of these. Sometimes a
would-be pupil is too young to enter the
Amoy school. Or, again, she or her relatives
may be unwilling for the long journey or
reluctant to unbind her feet. A few terms
at one of these schools often creates a desire
to learn more and willingness to conform to
the rules of the big boarding-school. There
are also women at many of these inland
places who want to learn to read and to have
an opportunity of being taught Bible-truth,
and yet cannot find time or opportunity for
a couple of terms in the Amoy women's
school. These come for longer or shorter
periods to the country school, and study
under the young teacher, who has no easy
task with such mixed ages and stages to
manage. The pastor's wife, if she is a suit-
able woman, acts as adviser and matron, and
the ko-niu must pay frequent visits to in-

SCHOOL WORK 89

spect, encourage, and counsel the girl who
has been placed in this somewhat lonely and
difficult sphere. References to these little
schools are constantly found in her letters,
and below there is an account of an examina-
tion at one of them :

" Bay-pay School Examination.

** I came on to Bay-pay to-day to examine
the girls' school. For the last fortnight we
have had a downpour of rain ; as the heathen
say, * Heaven has broken its bottom.' Every-
thing is dripping and mouldy, and the roads
are turned into pitfalls of clay and mire.

" We had an amusing few minutes landing
at Pechuia, where a stretch of ooze lay
between the river and the chapel. They
fetched me some straw mats, but the men
went barefoot, and the mud was a good way
over their ankles. The worst of it was that
the mats slipped at each step over the soft
mud, so that, in spite of two helpers and an
umbrella, it was all I could do to cross with-
out a fall.

** Next morning I heard the rain drip
again, and feared there was no prospect of
getting on ; however, the boy had managed
to get a chair, and it really cleared a little, so
we started off. The row in the canal boat
between the rice-fields was pleasant. Just

90 JIN KONIU

as we were getting into it, a huge red idol
with a black beard was being carried out of
a temple to go the round of the boats, as
there is a good deal of plague about, and they
look to him to stop it.

" Down the road a party of girls and

women were gathering scarlet arbutus berries,
which looked pretty among their green
leaves. Some coolies had laid down their
loads and were picking and eating the fruit,
and there seemed to be a good deal of talk
going on. Passing through the half-way
village, many of the women, silting inside

SCHOOL WORK

their doorways spinning or sewing, smiled to
us and called out a greeting. The houses
look comfortless, and seem to have no room
for anything.

Doorways Spinning,

" By the time we reached Bay-pay the
rain had begun to fall again ; but the women
and girls were waiting, and I was so glad
that 1 had come, though my dress was still
quite damp from the soaking of the day

92 JIN KO'NIU

before, and I could not put on my shoes at
all, as the boy, in washing them to remove
the thick mud, had made them wetter than
they were before !

** This afternoon I have been hearing their
lessons. They have done very well indeed.
All can read a little, even those who only
came a month ago. One little girl of ten
repeated the first three chapters of the
Gospel of John, was questioned in the life
of Christ, and read and translated several
chapters in character. Her copy-books were
in both character and Roman letters, and she
could do sums in three rules.

** All but two, one girl and one woman,
have unbound their feet, which has been a
hard piece of work. Binding is a universal
custom here. One girl is very anxious to
come, but her father says if she unbinds he
will either break her legs or make her do
coolie work like a man.

** One of the girls has five brothers, named
respectively Iron - Beater, Pewter - Beater,
Silver - Beater, Brass - Beater, and Rice-
Beater. Brass-Beater became a Christian,
and after many years of opposition his
mother and two elder brothers have followed
him. So the sister has unbound her feet and
come to school. She is a bright girl, and in
less than a month has learned to spell out
words. I gave her and three others New

SCHOOL WORK 93

ataments. The rest got bags with thimbles

I needles, and all were greatly pleased."

fLittle children were always a delight to

gsie, and when in 1887 the missionaries

mad it necessary to start a baby home, she

> appointed secretary. Visits to the Home

tore very frequent. She writes : " The

fuldren are darlings ; such wee chatter-

I love them dearly, and even the

aby cries to come to ;
■leant much care and trouble.

llness there
From the
mall beginning q( half a dozen little cast-
out girls there are now over forty at present

94 JIN KONIU

in the Home. Three or four of the " chatter-
boxes" above mentioned have now babies of
their own, and are doing good work in their
homes. Moa and Hoe, who are referred to
on p. 140, are Home children.

The women's school has been mentioned.
In Amoy there is a solid red-brick building,
erected as a memorial of an American lady,
and in that is held the adult school for the
women of all three missions. It is very
difficult for a woman in a village — say at five
to eight or ten miles from church — to get
instruction. Perhaps her men - folk have
heard the Gospel preached in the little town
to which they have gone on regularly re-
curring market - days, and she may have
heard from them enough to make her long
to hear more. They can go on Sundays to
Church and weekly gain in knowledge, but
her bound feet, and, still more, the bindings
of custom, prevent her, if at all young, from
going the long walk to service. For such as
she the women's school is a veritable gate
of heaven. Sometimes it is a heathen girl
who has been from infancy engaged to some
young man who, having lately heard the
Gospel, wishes his wife to know something
of it too. Besides, there are a few who are
thought suitable for Bible-women, and these
are trained in a longer course of study.
Less of this work fell to Jessie's share, as

SCHOOL WORK 95

the Americans take by far the larger part of
the work, and it must be confessed that she
found the obtuse country-women less con-
genial than the bright schoolgirls. One
short extract must, however, be given :

** I first remember Bian-so at the women's
school. The advanced class had just finished
their lesson, when some one said : * Bian-so
has prepared something to read with you,
ko-niu.' So I sent for her and she soon
appeared, a great, stout, rosy-cheeked young
woman of twenty- six or so. She was very
shy of me, and could hardly screw up courage
to read a verse or two, but after a little we
became great friends. Her husband was a
preacher, but she was much opposed to the
doctrine, and had even gone so far as to
drag him out of the chapel one day. Her
babies died, and she was so far softened as
to come and read in the women's school for
a term. She told me afterwards that she
really understood very little that first term,
the singing and praying were all so new
to her.

** When Bian-so went home, her mother
was very angry because she had been in
Amoy, and the neighbours would have
nothing to say to her, and looked at her
as if she were a * big tail of fish,' as she told
me afterwards. Matters became so serious
that her husband was obliged to bring her

96 JIN KONIU

down to Anioy one night under cover of
the darkness. I remember so well running
across to the college to see her. She was
getting supper ready in the kitchen, and a
tremendous thunderstorm came up, with
torrents of rain and loud peals of thunder.
She did not seem to think of the lightning
that blazed in at the door, as she told me
how every one was against her. Her brother
had tried to kill her, and her husband could
not interfere, in case of raising a clan fight.
Some women had managed to stop him, and
knock the long pipe with which he was beat-
ing her out of his hand. She seemed rather
indignant with her husband. He is rather a
weak man, I fear. I reminded her how badly
she had treated him. That amused her, and
she smiled as she said : * Yes, I did not only
scold, I beat him well' Poor woman ! her
knowledge of the truth was so slight to stand
all the persecution she met. I could only
point to the black hanging clouds, and remind
her of how soon they would pass away and
the sun shine again.

" Last autumn I visited Kang-bay, a few
houses clustered together among rice-fields.
It was a stormy afternoon, and my chair was
nearly blown away, so I was glad when at
last the key of the church was forthcoming,
and I could find shelter in the missionaries*
little den off the meeting-room.

SCHOOL WORK 97

" Soon the door opened, and Bian-so
appeared, breathless from a hurried walk
across the fields. How nice it was to see
her, and what a good talk we had !

"*WelI, Bian-so/ I said at last, * do you
remember the thunderstorm and our talk
in the kitchen ?'

" ' Indeed I do. It was only last night I
was telling Ham-sian' (the woman who
saved her from her brother and who had
joined us) * about it. God has been good
to me. First He took away my babies, and
so led me to Amoy to learn about my
Saviour. Then I did not know very much,
and He let my mother and friends get angry
so that I was driven back to learn more, and
now He has made them kind to me again.'
And she told how her mother had begged
her to return, and how every one seemed
pleased to see her. * When I think of Jesus
and His love to me, it fills my throat,' she
said ; and her eyes were full of tears as she
spoke. Just a few months before one of the
bitterest opponents of the * worship,' now
she is an earnest helper."

FIRST FURLOUGH

(1893-1894)

Jessie's first term of seven and a half years

in Amoy was an almost unbroken record of

splendid health. She was very careful in

early days to do nothinj^ rash. She was

helped in this by what she used laughingly

to declare was her mother s parting text to

her: *'A living dog is better than a dead

lion." Warned of the strength of the sun,

she was willing to use a sun-helmet and

whitocovered umbrella. Sunset chills were

guarded against with a little wrap. No one

was more ready to take advice from those

whom she knew had more experience than

herself. When her sister came out, she

preached to her what she herself had

practised when she said : ** Do as people tell

you in your first year or two, and then you

will find out what you can stand." She

found she could stand a great deal, and her

long journeys in rain and sun, and fearless

facing of hardships, were perhaps made

98

FIRST FURLOUGH 99

possible by the care in her days of ac-
climatization.

A journey home by America had been
planned, but the wife of a missionary being
ordered home ill, Jessie took instead the
ordinary route home, so as to help her and
her children on the journey.

What a home-coming it was! Jessie, as
eldest sister, had always taken an immense
pride in the doings and sayings of the
younger ones. One notebook is labelled
" Facts about the Children in case any
become famous !" Many early letters be-
moan that she will never see them again as
7—2

loo JIN KO-NIU

they were when she left. Two happy sum-
mers were spent all together at Swanage and
Eydon, and in the winter a great deal of
deputation work was done. Speaking was
not a burden to Jessie as it is to some,
perhaps partly because she made no speeches,
and only told her story of the work and the
people. Her manner was very natural, and
her own interest so evident that listeners
could not but feel the influence. One who
heard her writes : **When on furlough, Miss
Johnston was full of life and energy and con-
tagious enthusiasm for the great cause of our
China Mission, which she loved so much."
In going about in the various presbyteries
she made many friends, and was always
interested afterwards in the churches she
had visited. Another writes : ** My hus-
band's friend used to say to me, ' I wish you
knew Miss Johnston — you would like her*;
and I did like her. No one could help it, I
should think. She spoke at our meeting.
She was so perfectly natural, and when she
spoke she did not use set phrases, but made
us feel in touch with the work at once."

Not only at the meetings, but in talks at
other times, her earnest purpose could not
but be felt. *' I don't know that I have ever
met anyone who made me want more to go
to the foreign field," is the report of a
minister.

FIRST FURLO UGH loi

On the last day of October, 1894, Jessie
sailed again for Amoy. Some verses written
by her young brother at this time picture her
as those at home saw her during those days :

** Some time ago the eldest went
To far off lands, who, having spent
A week of years, a number meet
To prove her term was quite complete,
Returned that she might serve two ends —
Her own advantage and her friends'.

" A ship must land to fill with coal,
Enough to last the stoker's hole :
So came she back from labour's sea
To fill her store with energy.
Altho' 'twas quite, as all remarked.
As full as when she first embarked,
Or fuller — hush ! — the voyage back
Had doubtless well supplied the lack !
She also came to sit and let
Her friends and all among us get
A chance within our minds to paint
Afresh, what time had made so faint ;
And now we have her portrait right
In gaudy colours new and bright.
And in a thousand changing ways
The canvas of our mind displays
The chiefest object of our thought
In pictures accurately wrought.

" One has her pensive, almost sad ;
Another, eminently glad.
We see her arguing with force ;
Up goes her hand — * That's it, of course !'
Engraved for ever on this slab
We have her grinning from a cab ;

I02 JIN KO-NIU

Here chased by cows through five-barred gates,

Here seizing all the dinner-plates ;

This, putting on her specs to see

Which of the puddings it will be ;

Now calling mice a pesky brood,

Now preaching to a multitude ;

Here sitting silent, mending socks,

Or packing up her curio box :

And many other living scenes

Are pictured on our mental screens,"

SECOND TERM

(1895-1900)

Jessie arrived in Amoy, for her second term
of service, on the morning of New Year's
Day, 1895, and that day received calls from
300 people. Though she had heartily en-
joyed her furlough, she was genuinely
delighted to be back in the midst of all the
work and the people she loved so well. She
was glad to note improvement in various
places, and tells of this in the following
letters :

'* Eh-mung-kang.

** We are having encouragement in
Eh-mung-kang. Last Sunday's text was
Ps. cxxvi. 6,* and I could not help thinking
of the former days when Sunday after Sunday

* "He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing
precious seed, shall doubtless come again with
rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him,"

103

I04 JIN KO-NW

one's heart sank at the sight of empty forms,
while now our little room is well filled with
regular attendants, and we are able to divide
the women into two classes for instruction.
They have to stand out against much opposi-

Church Buildcngs,

tion, and it is often a wonder to us how, with
their little knowledge, they keep firm. One
woman, whose son has disowned her, persists
in coming, although she knows that on her
return she may find her pigs sold or her fowls

SECOND TERM 105

killed. She is often four or five meals with-
out being able to cook anything, and has
either to go without food or beg her dinner
from a neighbour in exchange for washing
or sewing for her. Another has met with
death after death in the family, and all her
neighbours tell her it is on account of her for-

saking the idols. Still she comes regularly.
' I can understand the words, but not the
meaning, of what I hear,' she says. ' When
will God make it plain to me ?' Another
who, after months of visiting, at last was
persuaded to venture to church, had a serious
illness which lasted for weeks. In spite of
the scorn of her neighbours she is coming

io6 JIN KO'NIU

twice every Sunday, and is praying for her
brothers, one of whom has begun to come
with her. I was showing pictures the other
day, and was surprised at her asking very
earnestly, * Who was that with one arm
raised ?' It turned out to be a picture of the
Lord speaking to Nicodemus, which I had
passed over hurriedly, as one does not often
show pictures of the Saviour. She was so
anxious to know, that I told her, and asked
why she was interested in that picture
specially. * Because,' she answered, * the
other night that figure came to me and told
me not to be afraid, but to try to learn more.
I knew at once when I saw the picture that
it was the same.* Her husband has failed in
business since her coming, but she is still
bright and faithful in her attendance.

** To us it is very strange how in Eh-mung-
kang every one who begins to believe seems
to meet with trouble immediately. We
would try to make it smooth and easy for the
new-comers, but we know it must be all right,
though our hearts are often sore for them, and
we wonder why they have such fires to go
through — fires that would try the faith of
some of the strongest of us. There is not
one in the congregation who has not a hard
struggle. Do pray for us and them. We
long so for Christ's Church to be firmly
established in Eh-mung-kang."

SECOND TERM 107

No life seemed to Jessie so well worth
living as that of a missionary, and she always
hoped to be joined by some of the brothers
and sisters. When, eighteen months after
her return to Amoy, one of the younger
sisters had written that there was a chance
she might come out, she wrote eagerly :
** What a girl you are ! You write that you
are * more than willing to be a missionary,'
and here is the chance slip, slipping. I find
it so difficult to wait. The committee write
me that they are looking for some one, and
you leisurely tell me of all your doings, and
add this sentence that sets me dancing with
impatience. Every one asks if none of my
sisters are coming, and I never know what
excuse to make for you. I am envious for
you that you should have the joy of the life
here. There is no work to compare with it,
in my mind."

Later, when she heard that the doctor's
verdict was favourable, she wrote again :
** I have been singing songs of thankfulness
in my heart. I am so glad for you. There
is such a grand field here. It seems such an
honour for us to be allowed to occupy it.
Dear child, don't be frightened. I have
found it so true, ' My God shall supply all
your need.' We have such need, such wants,
but the supply is all-sufficient. There is
nothing like teaching for helping you in

io8 JIN KO-NIU

Bible knowledge too. . . . Good night. May
God guide you and keep you wherever your
lot may be cast !''

One of the chief events of her second term
of work was the Women's Conference, the
first of its kind, in South China at any rate.
She writes of it :

** How I wish you could have been with
us in the Douglas Memorial Church and
seen the place ! The screen usually dividing
men's and women's sides of the church re-
moved, and the crowd of eager, interested
faces stretching from platform to door. It
has been from beginning to end a great
success.

*' Last summer Miss D. begged me to try
and arrange a gathering of our teachers for
mutual help and encouragement. It seemed
rather a difficult undertaking, but we kept
the thought in mind, and in spite of a busy
winter's work managed to make out a pro-
gramme and talk this over with one and
another, so that by spring our plans were
matured enough to permit of sending invita-
tions north, south, west and even east to the
native mission station in Quemoy, with the
result that over lOO delegates reached
Kolong-su for a week of meetings, discus-
sion and prayer. All these were the wives
of pastors and preachers, Bible -women,
school-teachers, etc. It has been grand/

I lo JIN KO'NIU

At one meeting seventeen spoke, of whom
only five were European. Each mounted to
the pulpit and gave a five-minute speech so
modestly and clearly that we were filled with
wonder and thanksgiving. At another meet-
ing twenty-eight spoke, some only a word or
two, others at greater length, answering ques-
tions previously allotted to them, so that
the answers might be thought out and pre-
pared.

'* To the Chinese it has been a revelation.
Some wished the meetings might go on for
ever. A few of those in charge, however,
were very glad to see the last batch of
delegates safely off to their homes. It is no
light matter to arrange for mothers and
babies and young girls travelling in China,
especially in this hot weather."

The growth of the work was a care as well
as a joy. **Mr. T. came back from up-country
and gave us an interesting account at the
prayer-meeting. At Siong-si the preacher
and sixteen brethren take it in turn to go out
twice a week to preach to heathen ; as a
consequence the chapel is crowded, seats
have been bought and an awning erected in
the yard, but even with that, there is still no
room, so that they do not know how to invite
new-comers, as there is no place for them.
At Chinchew they said there were 600 at
church on Sunday. There thirty-two men

SECOND TERM in

go out to preach twice a week, and now they
are starting the plan at An-hai, and sixteen
have given in their names as willing. At
Chioh-sai, a new station, they could not get
the people away at nights. They would
listen as long as the Christians had voice to
speak.

** Mr. T. said to me it seemed as if we had
prayed for blessing at the New Year, and
now it had come we could not take full
advantage of it, greatly for want of money.
Sites offered we had prayed for long and now
can't buy — people ready and no place for
them. What does the home Church mean }^*

Success means invariably growth of ex-
penditure. Jessie herself found that, and
declared it '* very interesting to invest one's
money in this way."

To her sister in Damascus she wrote :
" My aim is to have two Bible-women for
each of the pastorates and one for Eh-mung-
kang, and also to have a school in each for
women and girls to learn to read the Bible.
Pechuia School is now open. It is so nice
and convenient. Bay-pay will be open next
week, I hope. 1 1, too, is very nice, and I am
hoping against hope to manage one at
An-hai this year, and perhaps at Chi-be next
year. The Bay-pay one took at least ^15
(which I managed), and the church itself put
out over /"s —most marvellous ! You can't

112 JIN KO-NIU

think how wonderful it is to have the natives
do anything for girls* education. I have
promised to go North in a month or two to
see about An-hai. I fear it will take another
;^io or ;^20. I could manage it, but fear I
shall have to go away this summer, which
would mean extra expense. It means plan-
ning. It's awfully interesting to be a mis-
sionary ! Don't you think so T'

FURLOUGH IN 1900

The summer of 1898 was spent in Ku-liang,
and was the first she had not passed in Amoy
except when on furlough. When her next
term was completed, she and the two Misses
Talmage journeyed home by Egypt and
Palestine and visited her sister in Damascus,
who was working under the British Syrian
Mission. To her father she writes : ** You
say you never had any great desire to
visit the Holy Land. I have always felt
that too, but this visit has been a revelation,
and made the Bible a more living book. It
has opened it up in a way I could not have
believed. For one thing, the Holy Land is
so small. Although one reads of and hears
this, only a visit can make it real. From the
hill above Nazareth we could see the Plain
of Esdraelon, with so many cities named in
both Old and New Testaments — the whole
area steeped in history, and the view ranging
from Carmel by the sea to Hermon in the
north, and the hills beyond the Jordan Valley
to the east."

113 8

114 JIN KO-NIU

A journal was kept of this trip, and after re-
turning to China, she showed curios and spoke
to many of what she had seen. Small bottles
with water from the Red Sea, Nile, Dead
Sea, and Jordan, caused, perhaps, the greatest
sensation, some even going the length of
tasting a drop from each. One woman said :

" Well, 1 always believed in Jerusalem, but
now that you have seen it I know that it
must be there !" With the aid of sheets and
sundry black skirts Syrian women of various
sects were represented by the schoolgirls at
a women's meeting. But the effect was so
realistic that the women were much embar-

FURLOUGH IN 1966 i 1 5

rassed, and were with difficulty persuaded
that the **coat does not make the man."

During the six or seven weeks which
Jessie spent at Damascus she helped in
some of the English classes in her sister's
school, *' St PauVs." Her pupils here soon
took a high place in her affections, and she
kept a note of their names, and used to ask
after many of them. She once went the
length of saying that in appearance the
Syrian children surpassed the Chinese!
Thence the journey was continued through
Switzerland home.

Six months later, in January, 1901, she
started for China via the United States,
where she was to meet the Misses Talmage,
and return with them. So the trip round
the world was successfully accomplished, and
became a pleasant memory.

8—2

LAST YEARS

(1901-1907)

Her last years in China had now begun, and
were at first full and busy as before, with
school, visiting, and all the other routine of
mission life.

At her desk Jessie loved to work, writing
letters to interest home friends, or studying
and translating or preparing books for
Chinese use. This was chiefly done in col-
laboration with Miss M. Talmage, to whose
friendship from her earliest missionary days
she owed so much. A short, simple Life of
Christ, an easy Catechism, a Teacher's
Handbook, and several tracts and short
articles, both in Chinese and English were
their joint work. But a primer for the
study of character by progression from the
simpler to the more complicated characters,
classifying each under its radical, and giving
exercises in writing after each reading lesson,
was the chef-cTceuvre. The pupil is carried

on step by step, understanding the proper

116

LAST YEARS 117

value of each character as well as its name
and meaning, till, after mastering the three
volumes, he is able to write letters, do
accounts, and read the Bible and any or-
dinary newspaper in Classical (Wenli). It has
been adopted as a school text-book in many
places, and the new missionaries find it a
great help in their studies. The help of a
Chinaman was, of course, required for this
work, and the tutor of the Theological
College, during vacation, was of the greatest
assistance, and took a deep interest in the
preparation of the book.

Jessie's relations with her fellow-mis-
sionaries were always of the happiest, and
she was glad of the close fellowship enjoyed
with the American and London missionaries.
With the clerical and medical missionaries of
her own mission she was on the friendliest
terms, and felt strongly that the work of men
and women was oney and the more each knew
of the other's doings, and the more mutual
consultation and arrangement there was, the
better the work of both would progress.

A member of another mission in Amoy
writes of her : ** Jin was loved not only by
her own mission, but the members of other
missions here, both native and foreign,
claimed her as their own. She was loved
and known by very many, and, regardless of
mission distinction, they went to her for

advice and help. All with one accord hold
her ill very high esteem. Although she was
a very busy missionary, she always had time
to give to every one of the very many who
sought her counsel. Her sound judgment,

cheerfulness, optimistic view of things, keen
sense of humour, courtesy, kindness and un-
usual intelligence, made friends for her every-
where. Her knowledge of and ability] to
speak the Chinese language were above the

LAST YEARS 119

average. These qualifications, added to the
greatest of all — her whole-hearted trust in
God and in His promises — made her a model
missionary."

Another writes : ** I am sending you my
last circular letter, as I know you will be
interested in the start of female education in
this corner of our province. How genuinely
pleased our dear friend Jin Ko-niu would
have been in this development ! Humble
beginnings for her were always full of hope,
for she seemed to see a beautiful flower
where others could only discern a tiny and,
perhaps, unsightly bud. This I have ex-
perienced again and again in telling her of
some of my experiences in the country and
in hearing her tell of hers."

Another : " How the women and girls
loved her ! Long will she be spoken of
with esteem and affection through the
valleys and hills in the wide region about
Amoy. And we, who had the privilege of
coming in contact with her bright and
attractive personality, were helped and
cheered time and again."

Attacks of dengue fever and pleurisy broke
into these days of work, and the unusual
experience of being an invalid was felt. It
was long before she yielded to the pains that
seemed to grip her and were an indication of
deep-seated trouble; and when movement was

I20 JIN KO'NIU

torture, she still tried to overcome the growing
stiffness with calisthenic exercises.

The day came when going about was no
longer possible, and the doctor ordered her
back to Europe, hoping that a winter on
the Mediterranean would restore health.
Another opinion was taken before leaving,
and it was decided to return home direct.

So, lovingly and skilfully nursed by a
fellow-missionary, Jessie arrived in England,
and was taken to see a London specialist.
His verdict was that nothing could be done.
He was rather taken aback by her bright
smile and cordial ** Oh, thank you !''

It was on a brilliant day in March, 1904,
that Jessie was brought to St. Leonard's on a
stretcher, and laid in the sunny room where
she was to spend so many weeks. She was
so glad to be at home, and full of the pleasure
of seeing father, mother, brothers, and sisters,
and full, too, of the bright hope which had
been given her by the doctors of a short,
speedy journey to the better Home above.

In seeing friends, writing and receiving
letters, planning presents, and reading books,
the better days passed quickly. There were
other days when there was much weariness
and weakness, with fever and a longing to be
able to move even a little in the bed ; and the
journey that was to be only a few short
months stretched into years instead, and the

LAST YEARS 121

gates of Heaven, so often nearly reached,
seemed closed. They opened to others as
she lay waiting, and she saw fellow-mission-
aries, Chinese friends, and even the father
who had been chaplain as well, all enter first.

Yet it was wonderful how bright and
merry she was. All family jokes were re-
tailed in her room, and when three or four of
the family all came up together, there was
plenty of chaff and fun and laughter. Such
expressions as ** sick-room" and ** sufferer*'
she repudiated, and much preferred the
thought that she was a soldier called from
the fighting-line to act as sentinel. **When
you see me turn coward," she said, " remind
me that I am a soldier." When one and
another passed her and entered the *' Pearly
Gates," she said, " I seem to be shunted to a
side-line when close to the terminus, to let
the expresses go by." She sometimes said,
** I am glad in God's will ; I don't like the
idea of just submitting."

At times when she had freer use of her
arms she loved to work, and many little
knitted and crocheted things were made for
friends, both white and yellow. She had
always been so busy and active that her
happiest hours were when she was doing
some useful work. She wrote some articles
for the mission magazines, and once or twice
for the Chinese paper in Amoy. One night

122 JIN KO'NIU

whrn sh(* h:id not slept, she made a rhyme
In Cliiiu\s(! on teaching. They seem to
enjoy rhymed exhortations, and the old
si hooloirls were pleased to get this message
from (Mie they loved so well

1I(T thoughts were much out in Amoy,
and sh(* ** rejoiced greatly" when she heard
of h(T i^irls "walking in truth." The news
of th(» R(!viv.il in the schools made her very
i^lad, and she* praised and prayed the more.
\V(! ()ft(*n saw her lying with her hands
IoKUhI. and knew she was bringing definite
cases to the Lord for help and healing.

It was ai^ain a sunny March day when, on
l\ilni Sunday, the beautiful gates were sud-
denly lluni:^ wid(i open, and Jessie was ** at
I loine with the Lord.''

Sin- had felt latterly that the Heavenly
r^ither's plan for her might be recovery and
n^turn to China, and she had been so glad
about it. Hut on a day lately when pain and
weakness had been much felt, she began to
wonder if she were mistaken. We said we
could not tell, and she only answered cheerily,
" Well, either way is all right."

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS

J. M. J.
1 904- 1 907

EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL
LETTERS TO FRIENDS IN AMOY

Most of the following were written to her
great friend, Miss M. Talmage.

On her voyage home :

'^ February (iy 1904. — Here I am in my bunk,
most comfortable, with the electric fan going
and M. getting things out of the top berth,
which is our cupboard. With the exception
of a wretched five or ten minutes getting to
the cabin here, we have had an easy time.
I am feeling stronger already. M. is so
good about everything. This bunk, which
I feared would not be nice, is really the
best I could have, out of the draught and
with the hard mattress, which does not
wrinkle."

''February 9. — Do you know, we have
discovered the reason why it was such a
business to get into this cabin and bunk.
It is the best place for me in the ship. The
air blows fresh and cool over me without any
draught and keeps the cabin so nice. I

125

126 JIN KO'NIU

could not think why the pain in getting in
was permitted, so that I had to be bundled
here, and behold ! it was the plan for making
me take this bunk, which is far the best.
Every one is so kind. The steward and I
are great friends. When I apologized for
troubling him, he said, * I always have time
ior y oil !' I tell the details to show how well
off I am. I am able to turn about and feel
hungry. I hope to try to get out soon."

'^February 25. — We are in the canal, and
hope to reach Port Said to-night. How it
brings up our escapades of 1900! Hadn't
we a good time ! . . . We have had twenty-
three days of the most lovely weather. I get
letters from home at every port. Mother is
ready to meet me anywhere. I have Amoy
* mail ' every day." (Friends had prepared
surprise envelopes, with photos, letters, etc.,
to be opened on the voyage.)

** Naples, February 29. — We had a bad
roll on yesterday, not enough to be un-
comfortable, but we could not read or write
very easily. ... I can't write letters, but
how I could talk ! . . . I have not got up
at all since coming on board. I have not
once sat up. So long as I lie propped with
pillows I am all right:"

** March 8. — Really nearinghome, and port
open and sea steady. There has been a
good deal of motion in the second class, but

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 127

here I have not suffered at all. ... M. is
packing in a grand confusion on the floor."

After hearing the specialist's opinion she
wrote :

''March 15, 1904. — I could not write you
by last mail after seeing the doctor. Father
said he was writing to Mrs. T., and neither
M. nor I felt we could do more than let you
hear through her. You would guess what
the doctor's verdict was when you heard we
came down here straight away. It is almost
all on your account that I feel sad. For my-
self, it seems something too wonderful, to be
really called for and wanted by our Master.
It is only a little while at best. . . .

** We were cared for so all the voyage, and
I have so long known what it is to trust God,
that there is no question of fear or un-
certainty. We know^ don't we ?

" What jolly times we have had ! What
happy lives in China! and soon it will be
grand to be together in the Fathers Home
above. ... I have been reading so often

"*God broke our years to hours and days,
That hour by hour, and day by day,
Just going on a little way, we might be able all along
To feel quite strong/ etc.

— the lines which I copied out for you. I am
very cosy here in L.*s room with such a
wealth of flowers. It is lovely having M.
here and her father. He brought me such

128 JIN KO'NIU

lovely violets and primroses this morning.
I must not write more. Think of the after-
wards !"

Miss L., a fellow- missionary, wrote to the
same friend :

''March 17, 1904. — I have been to see
Jin. . . . She is so bright, so like herself,
that it is almost impossible to realize that she
will never be about again. She is so bright
that it helps them all to be bright. ... Jin
said, * Oh ! I am so happy !* and she looked
it, too. Her eyes fairly jumped for joy.
She said, ' I have had the best of it all
along !' "

Another friend, a member of Committee,
wrote :

''April I, 1904. — I promised Jessie John-
ston when I saw her a few days ago that I
would write to you, or, rather, I asked her if
she thought I might, and she did. So I
want to tell you about my little visit to her
at St. Leonard's. I was in lodgings just
opposite from Thursday to Monday, and on
Friday morning I sat for about an hour with
her. She looked so like her dear bright self,
and her face was beaming with joy. As she
was in comparative comfort and had had a
good night, she was able to speak of many of
her Amoy interests, and told me all about
the new members at Eh-mung-kang. . . .
I feel as though I had been to the land of

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 129

Beulah or the Delectable Mountains. It is
so beautiful to see her made ready to rejoice
in His Will — not only to bear it. . . . You
know more than I can tell you what our
mission will be in Amoy without her, but her
influence will long live and continue to speed
the King^s service through her pupils, and
friends and prayers laid up."

Jessie writes on April 20 :

** Such a lovely morning. The window is
wide open, and just a wee fire in the grate.
I wish you could see the daffodils, moss and
wild flowers on the bamboo table beside
me. ... I am sending some stockings to
the preachers and material to the pastors'
wives, also to Bi so and Sia Sian-si-niu, and
hope they will like it. . . . L. had to leave
the room because she and I got laughing
over her efforts to get my pillow right. It is
very awkward not to be able to laugh
properly !"

^\' April 27. — I just love to look at the
photo of the Kang-thau road. What jolly
times we have had there !

**They thought I should be here three
months after arriving in March, but I am
very much better since then, so one can't say
at all. I am wearying to go, though one
could not have a happier sickness — only dis-
comfort, no pain, good sleep, tempting food,
lots of lively times with. L. and the boys and

9

I30 JIN KO'NIU

Others. It is the old refrain — * goodness
and mercy ' all the way. And we have an
eternity together to look forward to. . . .
The news has come of Dr. H.'s passing — just
the date he gave me. Strange he should go
before me after all, and here am I really
better in some ways."

" May 25. — Yesterday some of the family
and a cousin came to my room, and we
played quartettes of proverbs. You should
have heard the shouts of laughter. You
would have thought there was not much
illness in that quarter!*'

'\fuly 29. — Sometimes, not often, I wake
up thinking, ' Oh dear ! another long day of
waiting,' and a word of prayer and the tired
feeling goes, and the early post brings a
letter, or something turns up to pass the
time. . . .

" Yesterday the boxes came from China.
L. had a grand time, and brought tray-loads
for me to see. We felt quite blue over the
unpacking. It seemed a sort of break with
China and our dear Amoy home. It is far
easier for me than were I able to be about
and yet not go back. As it is, I have a fine
prospect."

^' June 9. — Dear me ! I am so interrupted.
I have had a gay, giddy week. Last Satur-
day a nice long call from Miss B. I much
enjoyed the talk. Monday, two local visitors;

EX TRA CTS FROM LE TTERS 1 3 1

Tuesday, two more ; Wednesday, another,
and two young girls to play the violin ; and
to-day our President and another lady.
Fancy ! I had fourteen China letters on
Sunday. I just had a glorious day, revelling
in them. God does give me perfect peace.
He is always so good to me, and I know
you won't sorrow overmuch, for it is only a
little while, and He will be seeing us both all
the time. ... I like to hear all the news.
L. and I just shouted over Miss K.'s class !
It is capital.

" You may be pretty sure I am having a
good time whenever your thoughts travel
this way, and I know that is all the time.
I'll be reading, or sleeping, or lying thinking
and watching the sun on the flowers, or
chatting or laughing with L. or the
boys. ..."

'^August 3, 1904. — Amn't I staying on
and on } I shall be very eager to hear why
all this delay. But what blessings, what
comforts I have! It is indeed true, 'As thy
days, so shall thy strength be.' There is
always help ready for the asking. ... We
are a lively party — fancy five sisters at home
together ! . . . I am as interested in every-
thing as ever. To-day last year I took
* koniu le-pai ' . . ." (see p. 40).

^^ September 30, 1904. — On Sunday we

thought the call had come. I was so breath

9—2

132 ji\ A'ox/r

less. It did not hurt at all, and it seemed
such an easy, pleasant way of going, but with
remedies the attack passed off. I am indeed
led through green pastures and quiet resting-
places. ... I am ver\' earthly. I do enjoy
fun and business so much, and can't bear to
voice the deep feelings and thoughts to out-
siders. I never say things to people like
you read of in memoirs, and it would be verj^
difficult to lie and mope. It is much more
natural and easy for me to enjoy life. I feel
very like that hymn * Waiting/ If it is to
work God calls, then it is lovely ; but if to
wait, why, then it must be all right. There
is a limit to all waiting and suffering — a
glorious time ahead. What does the ' little
while ' matter ? and if by it we can in any
way glorify God, why, it is just too good.
' His will can only mean the choicest good
for me.' But then everything is made so
easy for me. It is hardly fair to speak of
suffering. Aren't you proving it true, ' My
God shall supply a//'? I am."

" October 14. — Oh, it seemed such an age
since a mail, and when, on the 8th, none
came, I began to despair. Then Sunday —
hurrah ! — six letters, and behold, on Monday,
over twenty letters to your wondering and
gloriously delighted friend Jin. You can
imagine how I revelled in them ; and coming
when M. was here we could talk and discuss

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 133

to our hearts content. We had a lovely
time. . . . The boys gave me a lovely
huge fern, which stands on a pedestal in my
room."

** November 9. — I am kept in perfect peace
and comfort all through. When I am worse
there is the great joy of feeling I may enter
in at any moment the gates of the City, and
when better, I can enjoy the good things of
life. You need never be sad for me. Do
you like this } I think you will.

" This life doth but our life begin,
Is but outside the porch of the abode,
And death the going home, the entering in.
The stepping forth on the wide world of God."

*' November 28. — Such a lovely sunny
morning. My natural woman would just
love to be trotting along with you down to
Sin-lo-thau jetty for a day at Kang-thau.
Would it not be more than lovely ! Well, it
is nice to have many such days to look back
upon. This is M.'s last day in England. . . .
I sometimes just long to be in the rush of
Amoy life again and at Sa-loh ! . . . This is
just a lovely home to be ill in — every one so
kind and cheerful, and everything I want to
be had for the asking. In the evenings they
all come and read aloud and sew. It is most
cheerful. ..."

''November 29. — This day last year I had

134 JIN KO-NIU

my last lovely Sunday at Sa-loh. How well
I remember it ! On Saturday we took
* Home * photos and called on the B s., etc.
I had a jolly little lunch with Mrs. T.,and in
the evening we three and Mrs. M. sat in the
back veranda. What a comfort we did not
know it was the last time ! How it would
have spoilt it all !"

^'December 2. — It will be a year on the
1 8th since I went to bed with these spasms.
How little we thought I would know so much
about lying in bed ! I'm getting quite a lazy
thing. I do nothing but read and sleep and
eat. I like an active life better !"

'' December 2t, 1904. — I'm having such a
lovely Christmas ! You should see my room
all decorated with holly and ivy and beautiful
chrysanthemums and lily- of- the- valley. To-
day a big box of bright-red-berried holly
came from Ireland. Everyone is so mindful.
The heaps of cards and flowers and presents
that have been coming in these days is
marvellous, and I am so well to-day to enjoy
it all. After tea all the family are coming to
my room, and we are to have a huge bran-pie.
There has not been such a big home-party
for many years. Father is all right again
and enjoying everything."

''January 23, 1905. — For years, ever since
I was ten or twelve years old, I have prayed
almost daily, * Lord, prepare me for what

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 135

Thou art preparing for me.' It was in one
of Miss Havergal's little books for children.
I thought it would be nice for the Chinese,
and amused myself translating it. It could
probably be better done, but I send it for
what it is worth. ... I pray daily, many
times a day, for Mr. Campbell Browns
meetings, and have spoken to others."

''February 8. — What do you think Vm
doing these days ? Yesterday I was so busy
I could not write a line. All day I was
knitting gloves for you ! There is love in
every stitch, and I am so enjoying it. It is
such easy, pleasant work, and does not tire
the eyes, but the fingers are fikie, and take a
lot of time. You would laugh to see me and
my knitting — I laugh myself. . . . These
are nice white wool gloves — so warm, and fit
me nicely. I am measuring the fingers by
my own. ... I enjoy puzzling out patterns
and doing things — what pleasure there is in
the world ! — and never having done such
things, it is the more new and interesting.

** Today I am worrying L. to start a
' Baby Roll ' for the mission.* I am offering
to start the certificates and booklets if the
committee approve. ... I had a little

The Baby Band was started at the Synod of 1905,
and Jessie greatly rejoiced in each addition to the roll,
and all the little members were remembered by her
in prayer.

136 JIN KO'NIU

malaria last week ; was so glad I had written
early."

''February 22. — I am tired these days. . . .
I count it a good night when I get to sleep
before three. I am quite comfortable, and
find the time pass easily even when it goes
on to five o'clock ; then I nearly always get
an hour or two. Oh, I have so much to be
thankful for ! Isn't prayer a boon i^"

''February 24. — I've finished your gloves!
. . . Doesn't it seem queer I can't be out
there, where there is so much to do ? Some-
times I would give the world to go back and
work! And then I think. How foolish!
Surely God keeps watch above His own,
and will arrange all right for His work. . . ."

"March 10. — I thought I should not get a
line written this week, but am better to-day.
On Monday I had malaria, and on Wednes-
day fever and pains, but so joyful in my
soul. ... It was such a comfort, when I
knew any moment I might go, to feel no
fear, no doubt — ^just such joy. It was good
of God to let me have the foretaste, and I
am glad to have you know. God will be
sure to be near, and physical pain is nothing
when the heart is at peace. . . . The doctor
says only the girls* good nursing has kept
me — the least roughness would be fatal — so
I am giving them each certificates : ^ I have
been kept from glory for many months by the

EX TRA CTS FROM L E TTERS 1 37

care of this excellent woman ^ and */ have
been enabled, to crochet many egg- cosies and
bedroom slippers by the attentions of this
estimable nurse /' Does this read frivolous ?
I don't mean it so, but the funny side always
comes up. It always has done, and I quite
feel there will be fun and humour in heaven,
else why is the gift allowed ? It helps us
here a great deal. We have lots of laughing
and fun. This is all about me''

''March 15. — I am longing to know about
the meetings. What a business all the pre-
paration must have been! It was splendid
to get the women down, and I do hope you
had a real stirring of ' dry bones.' Oh, how
I should have loved to be there! Tm glad
I was not so sleepy then, for I could pray for
you night and day. I can move myself very
slightly by putting my hands underneath. It
is a great relief, and partly due to my being
so thin and light. . . . Please congratulate
Ti S. S. on the new church. I should like to
see it. May it bring gladness to many who live
in darkness, and quicken all the members ! . . ."

''March 23. — It is just a line I can send.
I'm so tired, but you understand. These lines
have been rhyming in my head since Sunday,
from an old Scotch version of Ps. xxiii. :

" * Yer sel is nar me,
Yer staff and yer stock
Haud me aye cheery.'

138 JIN KO-NIU

** Do you remember my saying, *To die I
could stand, and to get well and come back,
but not to be an invalid ' ? and how you
said, * Yes, Jin, you could be happy that way,
too?' I felt grateful at the time, because I
knew you were right, and I should not have
said it ; and it is true. It is just wonderful
how full of peace and happiness one can be
in circumstances one naturally would most
go against ; and I am so surrounded with
love and comfort/

''March 28. — I am more than rejoiced
to hear of the meetings, and am so grateful
to you all for letting us know about them.
I do appreciate your taking time to write. I
am in great hopes of getting ' Home * this
month. Don't think I am the least whit less
interested in every bit of news. I just
devour the letters ! My heart all the time
sings, * God is good !' "

''May 18. — I had such a nice long call
from Miss C. W., and we had great fun
telling about Foochow, and of her arrival in
Amoy with the eleven, and how we pre-
pared tea for them at Sa-loh, and only one
turned up ! Do you remember it } I have
been reading Gordon's book on Prayer, and
much like it. I, too, have wondered if God
were calling me to pray more. It is a great
joy to join you in this little bit of work left."

"May 25. — I have just been gloating over

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 139

the school photos. I keep them by my bed-
side, and don't think a day passes but 1 have
them out to ponder. The school marching

Schoolgirls Marching,

and turning their backs, with the dog, is
capital — so natural and so quaint — and the
classes are just delightful. . . . Changes in

I40 JII^~K0-NIU

the children's Home or school — all — any
news is most interesting."

"■June 23. — How very nice Moa's photo
(and the baby) is, and Hoey's ! I just feast

my eyes on them. Moa's face is so exceed-
ingly nice, and she is so tastefully dressed.
Dr. M. (Moderator oF Synod) has been here ;
it was his first free time. Wasn't it good of
him to come? He had an arm-chair, and

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 14^

spent an hour or two before and an hour
or two after dinner, and we talked the whole
time ! He is going to China in November.
How nice the Prayer Calendars are!''

^' July 5. — I may not be able to write
to-morrow, as this week I have had another
turn of malaria, so I want to make sure of a
letter, while I am a'little better, this afternoon.
I am sending you some magazines. You
see I have been busy, though most were
written a month or so ago. I hope the
Tek-chhiu Kha account is correct. Do you
remember that day, and what a good time
we had at Phoa-bo T

A friend mentioned having made some
extracts from her letters to send to mutual
friends, and that others, strangers to her, had
been helped and encouraged by them.

In answer, Jessie wrote :

**What do you find to 'extract' in my
letters."^ It appals me! I am but a worm
of the dust, if you only knew. When these
people get to heaven, and say, * Where is
Miss Johnston on her throne ?* think how I
shall feel when they are pointed out a low
footstool ! You will get such a shock to see
the real me in heaven — such y/rong motives,
and omissions; and careless performance.
But, indeed, it is only the words of Christ,
* Whosoever cometh,' and such, that are one's
comfort and rest.*'

142 JIN KO'NIU

^' July 17. — Yes, indeed, I will pray for . . .
as I do for all your work. Lately I have
been praying that God will thrust forth
labourers. They seem so slow in answering
the call. I like that verse so much :

" * One who was known in storms to sail
I have on board ;
Above the raging of the gale
I hear my Lord/

How that knowledge keeps one at rest !"
''July 18.—

" A cloudy day
And an irritable J. {that's me /).

The school examination papers you sent
created great fun/'

^'July 20. — Well, I have had a day ! A
visit from Mrs. W. How we talked! I
enjoyed it very much, hearing about every-
thing. She has just left, and the time passed
very quickly. . . . The other night when I
could not sleep I made a Ka-oh Sian-si Koa
(school-teachers hymn), which you will find
enclosed. I wonder what you will think of
it. I thought it might be printed at the end
of our Ka-hoat (lessons on teaching) when
we have a new edition, or as a leaflet to give
to the girls who go out as teachers — that is,
if you think it of any use. ... I am so
glad about the women's meetings. Mrs. W.
made me hungry for the old active life."

'^ July 29. — To-day brings the school

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 143

plans. I like them very much. I had
hardly any sleep last night with thinking
of the school up till nearly 6 a.m. My
meditation this morning was on * Commit
thy way ' and * Rest in the Lord.' What a
lot I have yet to learn ! I get so worked up
over things. No wonder I am still here !"

(A new girls' school had to be built in
Amoy, and Jessie's great ambition was to
have a good building, as there had been
much overcrowding. She felt, too, that the
supply of teachers greatly depended on Amoy
being efficiently equipped. But the Com-
mittee could not grant more than ;^500.
Some relatives and friends, hearing of this,
collected nearly another ^^500. This kind-
ness greatly touched and delighted Jessie.)

''August 2. — Amy's sister writes that she
is very near the Border ; they cannot hope
to have her long ; but she has no pain.
Doesn't it seem strange to think that when
you were helping me a year and eight months
ago she was well and strong, looking forward
to her furlough } , . . There is such need
of workers. What can we do but pray ?
Christians seem deaf to the glorious call to
work in China. Can you understand it ^
But * what is it to the Lord to save by many
or by few T He will surely be doubly near
in this time of stress."

^'August lo. — I was much interested in

144 JIN KO-NIU

Children's Home news. Do you like the
giving away of children whom we have long
cared for? I don't a bit. Look what a
splendid lot the older ones have turned out.
Is not An-a very young to begin trousseau-
making ? I thought we were to keep them
till twenty. She will need all the help she
can get in the wilds of the South ! Will you
be very careful of Un-tian ? How I love
writing to you about them all. Amy will
likely get to heaven before me. I have less
pain just now. It makes me long to be at
work — oh ! just long for it. I'm glad you will
have Hoey in school another year. The
photos of the thirteen were very good. I
knew almost all. What a big girl Sui-soat
is ! Khun-a looks so nice. I thank you for
telling me about the women at the Home."

** September 7. — There are so many, many
faults to fight still. . . . You will pray that
I may be brave and bright, a help, not a
hindrance. I know you do. I am sorry I
wrote you about the worrying over the school
plans. It is over now. God will surely
arrange that we have a nice school building."

** September 20. — Oh, the photos are
lovely ! I'm just awfully pleased with them.
How good to send them for my birthday!
Chhin-a's and Bo-gi s came first ... we just
pored over them. Hoai-tek has made such
a fierce face, but Chhin-a is her own dear

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 145

sensible self, and the children are very nice.
They never take as they should do. those
twins, but it is very like them. I like the
wee boy. Will you tell them when you see
them how pleased I am to have the group ?
They are a fine family,"

" October 4. — Father has been very ill.
He is just twice my age, and we both have
' wonderful rallying powers,' according to the
doctors !"

"October 5. — J. and M. came last night.
Father wanted them, but he is much better
again. I don't know when 1 'II go. As

146 JIN KO'NIU

father is much better, J. goes back to-night.
I do so wish I could help. All I can do is
to be as little bother as possible. I had such
a lot of birthday letters. Such a big mail,
and just right, for the Suez Canal will be
blocked till the 8th."

*' October 8. — Father seems better to day.
He and I may go any time, or he may rally
and get quite strong again. A fortnight ago
he was playing croquet and so well."

''October i6. — Father has gone 'Home.'
He left us last night very peacefully. . . .
Yesterday he was very weak, though with-
out much pain. There was a consulting
physician, and both he and R. seemed to
think it was serious yesterday, and last night
he slipped quietly Home. I was awake all
night, but heard no sound. The last time I
saw father he was so cheery, and gave me my
text, our favourite, his and mine, * Surely
goodness and mercy,' etc., and he is already
in the * House of the Lord.' Your Jin is a
laggard. Every one gets before her."

''October 19. — I have been very drowsy
these days and could not write. . . . Every
one is so kind. Father left such a dear letter
to us all. I expect he will have so many
round him 111 hardly get in a word ! Oh,
the brightness of the joy ! the goodness
and kindness of our Lord ! They had the
'tie funeral service downstairs to-day, and

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 147

again I had all peace reading about the
* crossing ' in * Pilgrim's Progress ' — some
*wept' and some 'shouted for joy/ It
seemed so near and real. How I longed to
hear the call !"

** October 26. — Your Jin is often impatient
as one and another passes her and casts
anchor. A. we only heard of this morning,
and she was so well and strong long after I
came home. I wonder why I am left. It is
a strain on my friends . . . but it is all well.
Dr. M, took the service at father's grave ;
was it not nice ? J. said it was a lovely
evening, and such a quiet spot, and a robin
came and sang on a tree close by. There
have been notices in all the papers, some
such nice ones, but no one can tell what he
accomplished in his long, full life. One
sentence in his letter struck me forcibly :
' Let each seek personal perfection, but do
not fret if you do not find it in one another.'"

''November 2 " (written when very ill). —
** Just a line. Td like to make comments on
your letter, but I can't see. . . . My eyes
will close with lead weights, so I will stop
and think for a while. . . . God is a God
of great kindness. I love to think of father
with Him Whom his *soul loveth,' and we'll
soon be there too. I'm better for a while."

** December 6. — I have been so tired lately.

I lay with my eyes shut nearly all day and

10 — 2

148 JIN KO-NIU

night. It was too tiring to open them. I
thought I was Home. Now I am off on
another tack — long or short, I know not.
When the doctors say, ' pulse no weaker,'
and I feel the strength coming back, then I
pray to be brave. When I am lying tired I
think of old China tales, and L. sometimes
writes them for me. It is all I can do, and
pray."

About this time she was longing to go, but,
speaking of it, said : ** I don't think you quite
understand — if a hundred gates were open
into heaven, and all the sentinels asleep, I
would not go one moment before the Master
calls me."

''December lo. — The Master's peace is
unfailing. . . . Soon . . . oh, won't it be
grand! *A little while — only a little while*
— and then always with the Master ! I don't
know when I shall go, but it will be the right
time.

''December 29." — Her sister wrote: *' Jessie
was very well for Christmas. If it had not
been for her, we would have made little of it
this year, but she has taken great interest in
buying us all presents and making * high-
class poetry'! When she woke I helped
her to make up her parcels and write out her
rhymes. We were all ready by dinner-time,
and J. had arrived, so we were a big party.
Quantities of flowers had been sent. to Jessie,

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 149

SO she had quite a garden. After dinner the
tub was filled with presents and * poems.'
Jessie always loves to have some sweets to
hand to her visitors. We had made some
fun of this ; and R.'s present was a big box
of candied fruit, with the inscription :

" * You talked to me the other night

About the joys of giving,
And told me that to give aright

Made life well worth the living.
I chuckled to myself with glee,

And thought of bliss that comes
From giving such a one a box

Of candied sugar-plums !'

'' The night-nurse is a great comfort, and
Jessie finds her so, though she mourns over
her as a life-prolonger ! All through the fun
the thought of last Christmas has never been
away. What do people do who believe in
purgatory? * In His presence is fullness of
joy ' is such a different thing."

Jessie herself wrote later :

** Christmas has come and gone. It was
a very happy one. ... I thought — we all
did — of father last year . . . and this year in
the Glory-land, with the Father of all and
Christ his Saviour ! What a change ! How
could we be sad } And it is such a little
while till we all are there, too ! . . . Thank
you for the photo of your room. How
natural it is! How I would like — like is not
the word — to be in that ^ rocker M"

ISO JIN KO-NIU

''January i8, 1906. — IVe been so excited
over the elections. It was touch-and-go to
the end ; and I am so divided on the cause
and on the parties here that it is harrow-
ing. . . . What joy and gratitude I have
about the Bay-pay Conference ! Do thank
M. for telling me the names of all the women.
How I rejoiced and gave thanks ! Of course
there are rocks ahead and disappointments,
and Satan will be working hard. I am pray-
ing chiefly now lest he work discourage-
ment and faction, but thanksgiving is the
keynote. ... I have written a Chinese
letter, which L. is sending. We thought it
might be printed. ... It may not be worth
it ; if not, don't have it done. I just thought
it might be a reminder to some old school-
girls, and so a little help to them."

Her friend had five hundred copies printed
and distributed among her many Chinese
friends, and reported how very greatly they
were enjoyed by them.

''March 14. — Oh, I've been dissipating
at a great rate ! Last week the chimney-
sweep. I did enjoy him ! — an honest British
workman. All the things taken out of my
room, and me under a dust-sheet ! Then,
this week, Aunt C. and Miss R. (a friend
from China). We talked hours ! Yester-
day she sat for an hour or so, and then,
in the afternoon, I had the dentist. What

EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS 151

do you think of that? R. and he lifted
the bed near the window, and I saw out
and he saw in, and stopped quite a big hole
— nerve exposed and all ! I quite enjoyed
the novelty! What am I made of ? Some-
thing pretty indestructible, I think — some
fabric that won't wear out! To-night J. is
down, and is to have a magic-lantern show
in. my room.''

''April 7. — There is one Rock on which I
lean, sure and steadfast : * Him that cometh
unto Me, I will in no wise cast out/ If it
were not for Christ's words to the most
graceless — the most unworthy — I would be
desperate. But I can trust Him. I some-
times think I haven't done one thing right ;
but, then, that is mistrust. He knows and
understands the bungling. No, I can rest
quiet and leave it all ! . . . The Master
appoints our places, and He sees best."

" May 3. — You were brought so near
when C. came. My heart ached to be with
you all again, teaching and helping. It was
almost more than I could bear ; the * Why }'
of it all came very near the surface . . .
but it is restful to turn to the other side
and know that the * far better ' will soon
be mine ; meanwhile it is a joy to do His
will — to know He can trust us to suffer
without knowing the reason^ as some one
put it. We know in Whom we tru

152 JIN KO-NIU

soon we'll be over there, * for ever with the
Lord/ "

''May ID. — We both know the peace of
leaving things with ' our Father.'. . . It is
true my three crosses are gone : for the first,
'troubling my friends,' they won't seem to
hear of; and the second, * being out of
things' — I really am * in ' everything most
wonderfully, thanks to letters keeping me in
touch with all; and the third, * physical
suffering,' gone, too, only tired. ... I am
so glad about your school enlargement. It
is capital."

''May 14. — You should see my table! A
huge vase of lilacs and a rose-bush growing
with six buds opening. In the middle a
most exquisite pink carnation and pale-yellow
tulips. Then there is my book corner, a
vase for pencils, knife, etc , an upright stand
for letters to answer. . . . Behind all is the
big screen of pictures and photos. . . . You
are not praying for me to get well "i Please
don't ! . . . Oh, how glad I was about your
school revival, and Hoey and Loan leading !
It is just splendid ! I am so glad !"

"May 22. — I was almost *Home' last week.
Heaven seems near — near! — and the gates
swing open only to close again for a little
while. I am getting accustomed now to one
and another passing in first, but I do not
think the Master is going to call me to stay

EXTRA CTS FROM LE TTERS 1 53

much longer. ... I do love to look at the
photos, but I am so tired these days, and
often can't look at all. ... I wonder if you
could remember, when convenient, a dear
little Chin-a in our school, and our old
teacher, now a widow ? Tve had such nice
letters from them. Please thank the girls
for their beautiful letter. . . . You all spoil
me with kindness, and I can just pray ; but
it is a big * just/ isn't it T

''June I. — The first of June! I never
expected to write this mail, and behold my
*firm and vigorous pen'! (The letter was
written in pencil, like all the others, and
evidently with great effort.) ''I've been think-
ing much of the wideness of God's kingdom
and the broadness of His plans. How little
we know of all ! Our part is just to do,
moment by moment, the little bit of work
given. It makes it grand, and yet so simple,
doesn't it ?"

Here the letters fail us, but the haven so
often neared was not yet within reach. There
were months of weakness, sleeplessness, and
delirium to be passed through, and when
towards Christmas-time she began to regain
lost ground, there was in her quiet cheerful-
ness a loss of the old, quick brightness and
mental vigour that had always been such a
part of herself that her friends missed it sadly.

154 JIN KO'NIU

She was very happy during the months
that followed. Nothing seemed to trouble
her. She was freer, too, in her powers of
movement, and could enjoy being carried
from one room to another, and even down-
stairs, to share in the hymn-singing on Sun-
day evenings. The China mail, which in the
past months had so often to be left untouched,
was welcomed again. With her old hopeful
spirit she noted the signs of physical amend-
ment, and began to look forward to further
progress — even with distant anticipations of
a return to her well-beloved work some day.
But this was not to be. Something far better
was in store for her, and on March 24, 1907,
suddenly the call so long listened for was
heard, and she entered into fullness of joy for
evermore !

STORIES

J. M. J.

BUEY'S STORY

She stood at the top of the slippery bank
before the cottage door — -a compact little
figure in a dark blue coat and trousers of
Chinese make. Her face was broad and
rosy, and her dark eyes looked out over
the plain before her. The "Great Hat"
Mountain towered above her, and the tiny
footpath, worn by passing feet, straggled
across the plain to her right and to her left
past some eating-stalls, and ended in the
one village street, where stood the Christian
chapel, little different from the other houses
of the village.

She wore a look of quiet content till a tall
foreigner strode out up the village street.
He paused on seeing the girl, as he knew
she had belonged to the Amoy Mission
School, and looked rather . sternl y throug h
his kind eyes at the tig' ' ^~

small shoes with their I

"What is the mes

IS8 JIN KO-NIU

asked. " Why are you not reading in school
this year ?"

The girl was silent, shamed by his dis-
approval, and he soon passed away over the
plain and through the mountains to the sea.

A voice was heard calling her, and Buey
hastened down the slope, and stepped through
the open door with its high board to keep
the chickens and pigs within the courtyard.
Many doors opened off the court, and many

BUEY'S STORY

people crowded into its tiny space. The
men were washing the soil of the rice-fields
from their feet and legs. They wore the
loose blue cotton clothes of the Chinese

farmer. Children ran about among the
chickens. A brick stove stood in the court,
and over it an old woman was busy watching
the rice in a big iron rice-boiler, and cutting

i6o JIN KO-NIU

up vegetables and bean curd for the evening
meal.

Buey was soon at work, and, after the
men had eaten, the women finished what
was left over from their repast. It was a
Christian house, and evening prayers followed.
The tired working folk soon separated to
their different rooms, and Buey and the old
woman went to bed. The old woman soon
slept, but Buey lay with open eyes thinking
of the future. All seemed hopeless. Who
was there to help her.'^ The missionary had
gone to Amoy. The old woman had bought
her years ago to be the wife of her son, a
sickly lad, who had lately taken to opium-
smoking and gambling. Her own father and
mother were heathens, who lived in a village
far below in the plain, and would not think
of rescuing her from a difficulty so common
to girls in China. She thought of the Mission
School, and what she had learnt there ; and
as she prayed to the * God of heaven ' a plan
unfolded itself to her practical mind.

Not many days after, the few Christians
met for worship in the little chapel in the
street. An old man preached to the stolid
farmers who formed his audience. A wooden
screen, with a chintz curtain hung from an
iron rod, ran up the length of the church,
ending at the wall on one side of the pulpit.
Behind it was a long narrow table and a few

^VBY^S work i6i

benches, where some women and children sat
through the service. Buey spoke to one
of these — a tall old woman. Her face was
wrinkled, but her smile was pleasant. She
agreed to go with the girl for help to the
Mission School.

When the time came, Buey stood — clean
and quiet as usual — by a fence not far from
her home. Her clothes were packed in a
blue cotton cloth, and she scanned the
hill-side anxiously for the tall figure of the
old woman, who had not come. It was little
wonder, for the ground was sodden with rain,
which poured in torrents, and the woman
dreaded an attack of rheumatism in her feeble
old bones. Buey looked towards the sea-
road, but she did not know the way. She
could not return to the noisy courtyard and
her opium-smoking fiance. She thought she
could remember a little the long journey to
her home in the plain, where some Christians
lived who might help her. So down the
steep hills she travelled the long day, past
the huge boulders with bracken and maiden-
hair at their bases, down the slippery granite
slabs, which served as stairway in some parts
of the mountain, along the dripping foot-
path, through the shallow rivers and weary
stretches of heavy sand, until she arrived at
the house of a Christian.

It was a busy farmstead to which she

II

1 62 JIN KO'NIU

came. Outside, the roadway and the rice-
fields were turned into sheets of water, and
the courtyard looked melancholy with its be-
draggled live stock in pools of rain, tut
inside the family were cheery enough. The
old grannie was nursing a baby, and the
mother was busy with her elder daughter at
the loom. True, the farmer looked some-
what disconsolately at the landscape, but the
children were busy at play or preparing food
for the animals which (locked round. At the
great wooden entrance Buey appeared wet
and footsore, but smiling. A warm welcome
was given her, the ever-ready teapot was pro-
duced, and the rice-pot set a- boiling. Behind
the bamboo screen she found dry clothing,
and was able to remove the bandages — long
blue strips of cotton — which crippled her poor
feet. Plans were discussed. The women
talked much, and the tall farmer came to her
help. He had some furniture to take to his
father in Pechuia, which he said he could
take at one end of his pole ; Buey must
squeeze herself into a big basket and balance
the other end, for her crushed feet refused to
carry her any further.

In a day or two they set out. Buey was
rosy and smiling, and her heart was happier,
though still anxious. She carried an umbrella
to hide her from any curious passer-by. The
farmer, with his rquick carrying step, passed

BUEVS WORK

in the bright sunshine along the narrow mud
footpaths between the ricerfields. Blue smoke
from cooking breakfasts went up from the
red-tiled houses, and all the plain was busy

The Unwibldv S;

with fresh life after the rains. Parties of
coolies, laden with pigs and farm produce for
the Pechuia market, joined them, following
single file, and among them Buey, with dis-
may, recognized her heathen brother. He

1 64 JIN KO'NIU

seemed amused at the curious burden, and
when a roadside eating-house was reached,
he came up to make some laughing inquiries.
Buey turned her umbrella as he tried to scan
her face, and prayed again to the " God of
Heaven " for help.

**What are you doing with a woman in
your basket ?'* queried the brother.

** Oh, just doing a kindness — helping the
poor thing along — she can't walk !" said the
farmer. ** But it isn't polite to look at women.
Come along and get something to eat."

In the afternoon they reached the pastor's
house, and a passage in a junk for Amoy was
secured.

As the great sculling-oar creaked in its
socket and the un wieldly sails were spread,
the curious brother caught a glimpse of who
had been in the basket, but it was too late
then to try to drag her home.

Next morning the rosy, happy Buey, no
longer shadowed by trouble, surrounded by
all her schoolmates, greeted the ladies as
they came in for prayers. Buey took. her
old place at the desk, but all the anxiety was
transferred to her teachers.

Some days after, up the dusty road came
some farmers from the plains, among them
Buey's father. He wandered at will through
the schoolrooms, saw the heaped rice-boiler,
watched the merry schoolgirls, looked at

BUEY'S WORK 165

their lesson-books with their familiar Chinese
characters, and examined the beautiful
needlework on which some were engaged.
He said little, but he and his companions
soon trudged away again along the broad
white road to the sea.

It seemed as though there would be no
more trouble, but the old woman was not
going to give up so easily the wife she had
procured for her son at such a bargain long
ago. Many months passed, and then a
deputation came to demand that Buey be
returned. Pleading was vain and argument
useless, so the ladies acquiesced, at the same
time producing their trump card — a full
account of all that the girl had cost. ** Here
is Buey, and if you pay the bill you can have
her," said the ladies. Ready-money is always
difficult for a countryman to obtain, and when
the alternative was that Buey should be
entered as a regular scholar, it seemed easier
to agree to that. The three rules for pupils
entering the boarding-school are : that feet
be unbound, that the pupil stay at least
three years, and that she be married to a
Christian.

The men went away to tell the old woman
the result of their quest. Next night there
was much loud talking in the cottage on the
hill, the Christians approving of what had
been done, and others agreeing with the old

i66 JIN KO'NJU

woman that no fate was bad enough for a girl
who was so bold and insubordinate.

As the years passed there were several
attempts made to catch Buey and bring her
forcibly back to her doom, but somehow they
failed. By Chinese law, if the girl reached
twenty-three before the marriage took place
she would be free. But at last the ladies
heard with gladness that the father had per-
suaded the old woman to make arrangements
for his daughters marriage to a Christian,
and the sickly youth, being under authority,
had nothing to say.

In the far-off, busy city of Chang-chew, a
young Christian tradesman was found willing
to pay the ransom money for a wife. Before
her marriage Buey became teacher in the
mission-school of the large city where she
was to make her home. She had learnt to
trust the Father in heaven Who had been
her helper in time of need. Two little sons
now like to watch the bright placid face, and
a great river rolls between her new surround-
ings and the sodden plain where she tramped
in the day of her trial.

AMOY : NOTES OF A SERMOM
AT CREEK END*

It was a clear afternoon in December. The
sun shone brightly through the windows of
the whitewashed church at Creek End as
Pastor Lee rose to address his flock.
Mr. Lee is a tall, fine-looking man of thirty
or forty, and his eye glanced rapidly over the
fifty or sixty men and women in front of him
— hard-featured, wrinkled men and women,
in coarse blue coats and trousers, with here
and there a rainbow-vestured boy or girl to
enliven the scene and distract attention.
His own little daughter in gay attire drummed
her tiny heels against the wooden plat-
form where she sat at his feet. The subject
of the morning sermon had been **The
Broad and Narrow Way," and doubtless
Pastor Lee had experience of the capacity or
incapacity of his audience, for instead of
giving out a fresh text for the afternoon, he

* Reprinted from Our Sisten in Other Land%, hy
kind permission of the editor.

U,7

I68 JIN KO-NIU

went through a brief summary of his morning
discourse, and then turned briskly to a bald-
headed, wizened old woman, who woke up
from a nap to answer him " Mrs. Hu, were
you at church this morning ?" " Yes, I was

here." " Can you tell me what the sermon
was about?" "No, I can't do that," said
Mrs. Hu, "for I came late, and had to go
out to cook the rice for dinner." "Well,
this afternoon you have .been here all the

AAfOY 169

time ; what have you heard ?" ** I didn't
hear anything. I don't understand about
hearing." " Now, Mrs. Hu, I know you
have come a long way and have a long way
to go home. You ought to listen very well,
or else your coming and going is useless.
Isn't that true i^ — Brother B., what did you
hear ?" ** The broad way leads to death,
and the narrow to life," said Brother B., with
much difficulty and many grunts and groans.
** That's right ; and what death does it mean
— the body's or the soul's death T' ** The
soul's death in hell." **Yes." ** The devil
is in hell," volunteered Brother B., much
encouraged. Then followed questions to
Brother C. on the second birth, ending,
**Are you born again, Brother C. ?" Silence,
on which the pastor explained shortly the
fruits of the second birth, and asked, " Have
you sinned against God ?" ** Well, maybe,
perhaps I have." ** It isn't only maybe. I'll
make it plainer to you. Did you ever wor-
ship idols.'*' **No, I worship God, I've
nothing to do with idols." *' But long ago
did you noti^" "Oh, before I knew — I once
did." *' Wasn't that sinning against God ?"
**Yes, so it was." "And again, you sell
meat. Suppose a man comes along and asks
the price of a piece, won't you sometimes
say, * It is 220 cash, and cheap at that, and
very little gain on it,' when you know well

170 JIN KO'NIU

enough you are making a good deal ?" " Of
course I do ; if I didn't say that, people
would not buy from me." " Then you prefer
a few cash to telling the truth. Isn't that
sin .f* — Sister D., how are you to day }'\ " I'm
much better;" and Sister D. is only stopped
from a voluble explanation of her illness and
its cure by the question, " Did the idols make
you better?" **Oh dear no; God did."
*' Then do you worship idols anv more T^
" No, no." •' Not at all ?" ^' No/' '' What
about the ancestral tablets ?" " I love my
parents very much. I must worship them."
" But it was God Who made you better, and
He says, * Thou shalt make no graven
image.' — Brother H., what did you get from
the sermon this morning?" "My ear is
rather deaf, and I'm not very well. I did
not hear a word." " I think you sat too far
back. Come and sit nearer, and you'll hear
better. Now I'll tell you what I said over
again. — Sister E., how did God save us?!'
** By sending His Son." *' How did God
save us by His Son ?" " By His death."
*/ Has God forgiven your sin ?" ** Yes."
" How do you know He has?" " They told
me so at the hospital." ** God has promised
to forgive sin ; do you trust Him ?" ** Yes ;
I have not much sin, it is true. My sins are
very light, but what there is I trust Him to
forgive." ** Sister M., what do you re-

AMOy 171

member ?" ** I don't remember anything at
all." ** Why, what a bad memory you
have!" shouted a heathen woman who had
been listening curiously at the door. ** You
ought to listen ; I remember better than you
do." " Why don't you always come ?" said
the pastor. ** You understand how to listen ;
you must come again." " I am very poor ;
shall I get employment if I come ?" ** You
come and hear, and you'll soon know about
it. You are God's child, and if you truly
worship Him, He will certainly take care of
you. — Now Siong-liu (to his child), don't
clatter your feet on the pulpit steps. — Brother
S., if you suffer persecution, must you com-
plain ?" '' No." " Why not ?" As Brother
S. cannot answer, Pastor Lee takes an
instance of a man travelling to Singapore,
who does not grumble over the incon-
veniences of the journey because of his hope
of gain in the future.

Here my notes come to an end, and I
fancy the questioning also ; the strange
congregation disperses in the gloaming, and
we wend our way over the mud to the
sampan waiting for us in the creek.

NAU-A

Peh-chioh might be called a mud village.
True, at certain tides there is a sun-baked
road leading round the creek, but usually the
chair-bearers plunge and slip in the black
ooze which covers the stones of the pathway
crossing the shallow water. And when a boat
is hired one has the doubtful pleasure when
landing of being carried pick-a-back over
yards of deep black mud to the firm shell-
strewn ground on which the village stands.

It is an everyday, straggling Chinese
village, but it has the distinction of possessing
a Christian church and very many Christian
families. Dirty, healthy little children tumble
over the ground in front of mud hovels, where
the loom takes up the chief part of the
common room. Curious farm implements are
hung about everywhere. Bins of rice and
stacks of fuel help to fill up the apartment.
The spinning-wheel stands by the door, and

huge black grunters, along with hens and

172

chickens, wander at their tviil through house
and tiny courtyard.

In one of these houses an old man thought
it would be " profitable " to become a Chris-
tian, and for many Sundays attended the little

chapel at the village corner, although not a
church member. After some time his tall
daughter-in-law was allowed to read in the
Bay-pay school. She studied to some pur-
pose, for when the old gentleman thought he

"would join the Roman Catholics, as more
ready to help in this world's matters, she
refused to accompany him, saying that she
had already found the true God, and could

Black Gruntebs.

not worship idols, as the images of the Virgin

and Child are called in China.

Her husband had turned out a gambler,

and been sent abroad, and the family was
■ altogether unsatisfactory. The old man beat
■and starved the girl, but to no avail. In

NAU'A^^ 175

the end he took a knife to stab her, and was
only prevented by being forcibly dragged
away. After this she fled, and in her loneli-
ness had a dream that God would help her.
She decided on going to the mandarin.
When the case was tried, the whole plain
was full of people. It was a most desperate
and unusual course for a girl to take in China.
The heathen expected her to be handed back
to the father-in-law, but the Christians had
gathered in full force, and were praying for
her. To the surprise of all, the mandarin
decided in favour of the Christian girl, saying
that there was abundant evidence that the
old man could not rule his own family, as
Confucius had ordained. He asked where
she would like to go, and she answered
immediately, ** To the ko-niu." The man-
darin agreed, saying the father-in-law must
give money for her support ; but to make
things even, he said she should receive three
slaps on her face !

The Christians were overjoyed at the de-
cision, and helped the girl to find her way to
Amoy, where she was allowed to study in the
women's school. From it she went to act
as matron in the children's home ; but the
easy, careless ways of the heathen still had a
hold on her, and she was transferred to the
girl's school, where it was felt she would do
better with supervision as under-matron.

176 JIN KO'NIV

She proved fairly satisfactory, and was sent
later on to her old school at Bay-pay, to do
what she could to help the children and
women in the district round.

The old church at West Plain had at that
time no woman teacher, and it was proposed
that the Bay-pay women should take turns to
help there on Sundays. The bulk of the
work fell on Nau-a, and, even at the rainy
season, when the river separating the two
churches was flooded, she rarely missed her
weekly visit. It was no easy thing for a
Chinese woman whose feet had been crushed
to take the long walk in her thin cotton
garments, and face the few women who would
venture out in such weather to meet her.

When one of the ladies spoke of the
flooded river, she replied : '' Yes ; but when
I see it I think of the hymn,

** * But none of the ransomed ever knew
How deep were the waters crossed.
Nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed
through
Ere He found His sheep that was lost,'

and that helps me/'

A NIGHT-SCHOOL IN CHINA*

Behind the low hill, over against the little
church at Kang-khau, the glow of the sunset
still flames red, but high in the east the
moonlight is already piercing the few even-
ing clouds. From the sands and the waves
troops of tall girls and red-hooded children
have wound their way home laden with the
spoils of the ocean. The men of the village,
with light ploughshares over their shoulders,
and driving their small brown cattle, have
sauntered in from the fields ; and the white
haze over the red-tiled house-roofs is fading
into the air as the kitchen fires die out, and
the chatter over the steaming rice-bowls gives
place to long pipes and gossip in the moon-
light The one foreigner in the village
lingers on the little veranda, loath to leave
the quiet splendour of the heavens for the
dirt and noise below. But a warning babel

'•' Reprinted, by permission, from Our Sisters in Other
Lands, April, 1902.

177 12

178 JIN KO-NIU

of voices causes her to hasten down to meet
the inflow from the village — a noisy crew —
boys and girls, rosy-cheeked and healthy
from the sea-breezes and the brine ; young
women and old, in the inevitable blue jacket
and trousers of village workaday dress ;

mothers, and sisters, and grannies, flocking to
the novelty of the night-school.

The little church looks clean, with its white-
washed wails and the bright red curtains by
which the men's seats are divided from the
women's. The preacher is lighting the lamps,
and soon forms . are arranged, and some sort
of order established among the noisy, eager

A NIGHT-SCHOOL IN CHINA 179

crowd. Near the further door at least twenty
boys and girls swing respectively bare toes
and little bandaged feet, to the rhythm of a
Chinese version of ** Jesus loves me," and
sorely tax the patience of their young teacher,
with her baby wrapped warm in the folds of
her long blue coat. By the lamp on the table
sits Mrs. Peow, the Bible- woman, repeating
line by line the first hymn in the Chinese
hymnal :

" The Supreme created heaven and earth.
He gives birth to all things : He is all-powerful."

After her, laboriously, in slow tones, follow
the voices of the older women, as their work-
begrimed fingers wear their way down the
columns of strange characters. The younger
women are gathered round the second Bible-
woman, and there is much laughter as they
try to recognize the letters of the Romanized
Chinese primer: *' U, u — that is what the
children call when they play. L, 1 — that is,
how the wind blows ! Ng — we go to the hills
to gather *ng.' Hi, hi — that is the market:
there is a market at Cheng-tan. S — that
is like a serpent. O — that is a baby s hat."
With their smooth, glossy hair, flowers, gilt
pins, and bright faces, these make a very
attractive group, and a very pleasant class to
teach.

The advanced class, the ** Red Covers,"

12—2

i8o JIN KO'NIU

Study in a low monotone — a busy, eager set
of scholars, from tiny ** Pomegranate " to
middle-aged Mrs. ** Hanging Brow/* all being
proud to work their way, unaided, through
their bright new books. Even the pulpit is
occupied with two or three, anxious to add
writing to their accomplishments, and taking
possession of the preachers desk for their
copy-books.

Round the ko-niu are the "unadjustables,"
the new-comers, the old women too old to
remember even a single hymn, and the little
girls with babies strapped to their shoulders,
who cannot be kept away, but poke their
eager little heads against one's arm, or steal
a soft grimy hand on to one's knee. And in
every hiding hole behind the pulpit, over the
screen, are the boys, big and little, trying
hard to keep quiet as the sad price of non-
eviction.

After about an hour the busy hum of study
is stopped, forms are dragged into position,
a Bible picture is shown, and questions and
answers follow in rapid succession, for the
Kang-khau womeo and children are quick
and responsive, and the children's faces, as
they crowd near the platform, are an inspira-
tion ; while the row on row of girls and women
— wondering, surprised, interested — make one
long for the right words to teach and help
them. The Commandments repeated in con-

A NIGHT-SCHOOL IN CHINA i8i

cert, a verse learnt, a hymn sung, a short
prayer, and the night-school is over for to-day,
although the ** Red Covers " linger for their
turn, and will not be dismissed.

Soon after nine the lights are out in the
little church, but heaven's lights are ablaze
as a crowd of blue-clad women watch at the
foot of the ladder to call out good night ere
the door of the tiny room on the roof closes.

Not so long ago the Kang-khau church
was a small mud-floored building, dirty and
low. Then the '' Red Covers " were non-
existent, and the bright little preacher's wife,
so busy to-night helping every one, was a
heathen, unable to read or write, bound foot
and mind. Then, almost the only Christian
woman in the place was the mother of little
** Pomegranate," and she so ignorant that she
had sold three of her daughters to heathen,
and was only persuaded to keep this last little
girl by the gift of a dollar to buy her clothes.
Mrs. Peow, the Bible-woman, herself had
destroyed two of her baby girls ; and most
of the helpers of this evening had wor-
shipped the old tree-stump by the sand-drift
at the entrance to the village. ** What hath
God wrought!"

** BLACK SILK" AND ^^ BLACK

SATIN ^

It was a forlorn little family group that we
found on our veranda, well out of the glaring
sunshine of a hot summer day. The father
was a small, unkempt-looking man with
scanty clothing, and his two little girls
looked with anxious, frightened eyes at the
foreign ladies whom they saw for the first
time. He had only lately become a Christian,
having been a play-actor in one of the
densely populated villages near Amoy. It
was a heathen village, and when the Chinese
Christians began preaching there, claiming it
for Christ, the headmen of the village at once
took prompt measures of opposition, sending
round cakes with a stern message that if
anyone dared to become a Christian, he must
leave the village.

But the words of the Christians had
entered the heart of the play-actor, and he
felt he must leave his acting and opium-
smoking and find his way back by road and

junk to the '' Ancestral Home," which was

182

"BLACK SILK" AND "BLACK SATIN'' 183

but a dingy cabin after all, with a few yards
of sandy soil which he and his son cultivated,
and which were all the family had to support
them. The ground was near the sea, and

A Few Yardi!

millet or rice would not grow then', so they
planted their long, red, sweet pntatui's. ur <»
few ground-nuts, and watered thcni uDxinusly
from tiny buckets on a lonjj; poir, '\'\\v
mother's time had been much takiru up by

i»4 JIN KO-NIU

the care of the second son, a delicate, de-
formed little boy, and all the family was
sickly from want of food and care.

Now the mother had died of plague, and
no one in a heathen village would attend to
the two little girls, who now stood on our
veranda, looking at once so sad and eager.
The Christians nearest their village, though
willingly doing what they could, were too
poor to support the children, and it was with
thankful hearts that we found we could make
room for little " Black Silk" in the girls' school,
while tiny " Black Satin's *' pleading eyes were
irresistible, and she found her way to the
Baby Home.

Soon it was discovered that though "Black
Silk " looked but three or four years old, she
was a very clever little girl of eight or ten.
Hands and head worked well, and the bright
eyes delighted the teacher who gave the Bible
lesson every morning. Year by year ** Black
Silk " reached a higher class till she was
in the top form in school ; but, strange to say,
she hardly grew at all, and still occupied the
front bench with the tiny children. Nice hot
basins of rice with a little fish or meat and
vegetables seemed to make little difference.
Even cod-liver oil was resorted to, but
though she was quite well, the height-mark
on the door, anxiously examined from time
to time, grew little higher. What was to be

" BLACK SILK'' AND " BLACK SA TIN'' 185

done ? At last some one suggested that she
should be sent for change of air ; and although
it seemed a little hard to send a mite of four-
teen or fifteen so far away, she went as
teacher to'a mission-school in the north, three
or four days' journey away.

There she worked splendidly. Both in
discipline and progress her pupils were in the
first rank, and with all her heart she strove
to lead them to Christ. So when, later on,
a head teacher was wanted for the ** Eternal
Springs " School, '' Black Silk '' was again
sent to the fore.

The north air seemed to suit her, and she
grew to the average size of a Chinese woman.
She worked well, as usual, and I think the
ladies in Eng-chhun were as sorry as she
when the time for parting came, and she left
to marry the tall, nice-looking brother of the
pastor at Golden Well.

So the tale ends like a fairy story after all
with wedding bells, and we hope they will
live happily ever after.

DARKNESS AND DAWN

A FEW of US sat at tea in the hall, which was
crossed by four passages to allow any cool
winds that blew to reach the room which

DARKNESS AND DA WN 187

served as reception and dining room. Sud-
denly the glass doors at the end of one of the
corridors was darkened, and a number of
Chinese women entered.
, From their clothing one could see that they

Hair Ornaments

were field-women from a district two or three
days' journey to the north of Amoy. Some
carried babies tied to their backs by a square
blue-checked cloth. All wore silver ear-rings
and gilt or silver pins and flowers in their
glossy hair. They wore red shoes on their

i88 JIN KO-NIU

bare feet. There were many children with
them, and as each woman tried to explain
the reason of their coming, it was some little
time before one could understand.

At last the centre of interest was dragged
forward — a tiny mite of a child about three

He is of no Use: He is Blind."

or four years old. There he stood on the
table, the small pathetic face and thtn little
hands and cheeks. " We wish to give him
to you," they said. " He is of no use to us :
he is blind."

We thought of our merry little party in
the Children's Home, and our hearts ached

DARKNESS AND DA IVjV 189

toadd him to the number, but it could not be
done. He had parents to support him, and
there were others more needy. " Then we
must give him to the b^gars or throw him

Children's Home."

away," they said. "A blind child is of
no use."

So the little figure was lifted down and
dragged wearily after the noisy group,
leaving a pain in the hearts of the mission-

aries far greater than the strain of their daily

work.

» « « * »

It was midday. The deserted tennis-lawn
with its level stretch of cool green lay on one

hand of the roadway, and on the other stood
the temple of the " Protector of Life, Great
Emperor." On the open ground before the

DARKNESS .1X11 />.lli:\ i-yi

temple one or two viriwiors o) Mimir-tant;,
pea-nuts and tea plied ii drstillury tradr, ami
some children played with sioik-s and hits of
wood.

The roof of the lumpU; l')<ik(:<i picturesque
with its red and '^r*:v.u ;jlazed tiles, ami in
one corner the smoke rosr: la/ily fnitn a pillar

in which was an openinj^ where paper, picked
up by the virtuous, was burning.

A wide openin;^ in the high, wooden paling
gave access to the temple itself. Through
this an old woman passed, her Muc garinctits
patched and fadc^d. and hi'r gny hair hound
by a black band of i-Ioili. The great hlack
idol, with its hid<:ous liu'i-, was sealed direelly
in front of her, while the gnddrss of iiu^rcv

192 JIN KO'NIU

and lesser deities crowded the niches in the
wall and lined the long, high table. Pewter-
stands filled with fine ash held the thin
incense-sticks which were placed in front of
the gods. The old woman took up two semi-
circular pieces of bamboo-root which were
lying on the table, and kneeling on the dusty
floor after worshipping the image, she threw
them again and again until she gained a
satisfactory answer. Then, after consultation
with the priest, who had emerged from a side-
door, she drew a slip of bamboo, on which
characters were written, from a tin cylinder
hanging on the wall. After reading it the
priest handed her a paper with a few written
characters, in which, after more prostrations,
she placed a little of the fine ash from one of
the pewter-stands.

Some loungers were standing by the
temple smoking. *' A powder for her grand-
child ; he is dying," said one, as she hurried
cLway, her features twitching and her eyes
dull, her only hope the incense powder and
her worship of the '' Protector of Life, Great

Emperor."

# * * « 9it

GLIMMERINGS

It was market-day at White- water Camp, and
a babel of sounds rose from the narrow street
in which the Christian church was built. In

DARKNESS AND DA WN 193

most of the shops medicine was sold, and one
caught weird glimpses of dried snakes, sharks'
fins, tigers' flesh, and live tree-loads, together
with many vegetable compounds. The narrow
pavements at either side were lined with
motley groups of fruit-sellers and others
bringing market produce from the country.

Every now and th<:n a pi^ was carried past,
squealing, tied to a bamboo pole, and the
chorus of voices rose high.

The wide doors of the mission-church stwjd
open, and the preacher, a delicate, con-
sumptive- IfK>king man, was anxiously trying
to make his voice h'ytrd al^ijve the din out-
side. In front sat the Church elders, S';em-
ingly oblivious of the nois'iS without. Each

194 JIN KO'NIU

carried a Bible and hymn-book, and appeared
to be listening attentively. Near the door
a shifting crowd, attracted by the novelty,
passed in and out, staying for a longer or
shorter period as they were more or less
interested. Beside the large central door of
the church a smaller entrance led to a space
screened off for the women behind and at
either side of the pulpit. The townswomen
looked gay and attractive in their coloured
and elaborately trimmed garments, mostly of
foreign material. Some had the crushed and
bandaged feet of the Chinese lady, while
others wore the stamp of the Christian in
the natural feet and prettily worked "Gospel"
shoes.

Many women came from villages in the
country, and could be told at once by their
long jackets of native homespun. Their
skirts were of gay pleatings of yellow and
red, and, on entering, were immediately
taken off and hung up on pegs on the walls.
They wore the high-heeled shoe and false
bandages which the exigencies of farm life
required, and carried branches as walking-
sticks, 5 feet long, painted a bright red, and
often finished with some carved device.

When service was over, the country women
pored over their well-worn hymn-books, re-
peating the names of the strange characters
with the help of some brightly adorned little

DARKNESS AND DA WN 19S

schoolgirl. Many of the women conned
over passages of Scripture they had prepared
for the missionary. Some read over the
afternoon's lesson, and others had questions
to ask.

"Many Woms

A pleasant -faced, middle-aged woman was
sitting with a ten-year-old boy at her side.

" I did not know you had a son of that
age," remarked the missionar)'.

196 JIN KO'NIU

** Oh no ! This is my newly adopted son !"
answered the woman brightly. ** He was
stung on the foot by a serpent the other day,
and his father feared he would be lame for
life, so he took him to the river-bank and
buried him up to his neck in mud, thinking
the incoming tide would drown him ; but
some Christians heard of it, and dug the lad
out, and they gave him to me. 1 got some
medicine for his foot, and it quite healed.
His father wanted him back again, but the
boy prefers to stay with me. I call him
Joseph, for he was saved out of a pit. You
do want to stay with me, Joseph, don't you,
and to worship the true God ?"

The bright smile of the lad was sufficient,

without his emphatic, ** I do !"

jfc jfc ^ ^ ^

•jP •jP "IP TP TP

A little crowd was gathered in a picturesque,
dirty little Chinese village. The blue waves
of the Pacific broke in a white line on the
stretch of sandy beach before them. A
matronly woman, a few books tied in her
handkerchief, passed by the group. Her
curiosity was aroused, and she looked in-
quiringly at the sack of coarse matting which
was being tied up by a respectable-looking
farmer.

** What is he doing T she said.

** His wife has had a baby girl, and he
says he can't keep any more daughters.

DARKNESS AND DA WN 197

There is no one in the village wanting one
just now, so he is going to throw her into
the sea !"

In vain the Bible- woman expostulated, and
spoke of the duty of parents to their children.
It was all of no use, and he was carrying the
sack to the sea when she remembered the
Children's Home in Amoy.

"Wait at least a day or two," she en-
treated, ** until I find out whether the Chris-
tian ladies will take the baby."

He consented. Fortunately there was a
vacancy, and the little one was soon in safe
shelter.

DAWN

It was such a funny little group that I came
upon on rounding the corner by the well,
sitting on a piece of matting in the only
shade that was to be found anywhere that
hot July day — tiny girls with little flowered
coats, shaven heads, and tight pig- tails stick-
ing out in all directions. In the eldest I
recognized a seven-year-old schoolgirl. She
had a book in her hand, from which she was
reading to the others.

** What are you reading about, Koai-a?" I
asked.

198 JIN KO-NIU

The little maid rose from her low bamboo
stool and looked up from the book she was
holding so tightly in her pretty hands, over
which the silver bracelets dropped.

" I am reading about the management of a
family," she replied seriously.
The grave eyes of all the prospective
198

DARKNESS AND DA WN 199

managers of families being upon me, I had
to keep the laughter out of my own, but it
helped me up the last stretch of hill into the
road where Koai-a s grandfather — an old sea-
pirate, now a Church member and captain of
the mission-boat — was smoking peacefully at
his son's house door.

CONTRASTS

Looking down from the shade of the
veranda, we saw a spare, blue-clad figure
hurrying along the white road. He wore
the broad bamboo hat and straw sandals of
a Chinese coolie. A long box was slung
over his shoulders at the end of a pole, and
balanced by some rough digging implements.
** It is a coffin," we were told, *' and he is
going to bury his child round the hill corner."

* * * Hf *

Again, we were passing through some
narrow unsavoury lanes near our home. A
woman sat sewing by a still narrower foot-
path on the right hand, and a little crowd
was collected at the house further back.
** The son in there has died," she said, in
reply to our inquiries. ** He had just taken
his degree, poor fellow ! worked too hard, and
died of consumption. It was sad to hear
him repeat over and over again, * I have

been of no use to you, my parents ; I have

200

CONTRASTS aoi

only wasted your money — it is all waste,
waste, waste.' "

* « « * «

On the hill before our house an old woman
was wailing. She lay prostrate before two

1

^'^-a-^

w

C

^^

newly made graves, and all one could hear
was the constant repetition of the cry heard
so long ago, " My son, my son; would that I
had died for thee, my son, my son !"