132 



CHRISTIAN CONNECTION. 



to withstand powerful and crafty neighbors who 

 seek advantages and combine to overpower China. 

 An edict was iued by the Kni|>rror changing the 

 basis of thr higher education of the Celestial Empire 

 by on le ring that the official decrees which consti- 

 tute the indisjiensable qualification for office should 

 be conferred in future upon an examination in 

 modern subjects, including mathematics, political 

 economy, and the practical M-iences. A university 

 for the diffusion of Western science was established 

 at IVkin. with 1W. Martin, an American, as presi- 

 dent. Changes of officials in the summer indicated 

 that the Kmperor had adopted progressive views. 



In June the office of Minister of Trade wns cre- 

 ated. A juitent office was established, with a view 



icotiraging inventors. A central bureau for 

 mining and railroad administration was formed 

 and placed under the presidency of two Cabinet 

 mini.-ters. Frequent edicts decreed reforms and 

 ordered expenses to be cut down. The operations 

 of the |*>M otfice were extended over the whole em- 

 pire, putt ing an end to the clumsy system of Gov- 

 ernment couriers. The Tsung-li-Yamen was directed 

 to afford facilities for the sons of members of the 

 nobility to visit foreign countries and to promote 

 international intercourse. Chang -Chi -Tung, an 

 opponent of Li-Hung-Chang, who had freely criti- 

 cised the Tsung-li-Yamen, was summoned to be- 

 come a member of the Government in April. In 

 September Li-Hung-Chang was dismissed from the 

 Tsung-li-Yamen. Other edicts permitted Manchus 

 to engage in trade, decreed reforms in the civil 

 service, and introduced energetic measures of ad- 

 ministrative, financial, and industrial reform. A 

 radical reform was announced in an edict giving to 

 the whole official class the right to memorialize the 

 throne. The Emperor appealed to the people to co- 

 operate with him in strengthening the resources of 

 the empire. It was ordered later that monthly ac- 

 counts of the Government receipts and expenditures 

 should be rendered and published throughout the 

 empire, so that every one could see the endeavors 

 that the Emperor was making to promote their 

 welfare. The Emperor explained his new policy in 

 a proclamation declaring that in many respects 

 Western civilization is superior to Chinese, and that 

 he meant to adopt its good features, while discard- 

 ing the bad. This series of startling edicts, issued 

 in BeptMBber, were the work of a Cantonese, Kang- 

 Yu-Mei, a friend of England, who had gained the 

 confidence of the Emperor. On Sept. 21 this re- 

 former was suddenly banMicd from Pekin, and the 

 dowager Empress assumed charge of the Govern- 

 ment. announcing that she would henceforth be 

 present at all Cabinet meetings and audiences, see 

 all memorials, and approve all edicts. On Sept. 22 

 an imperial edict formally restored the regency. 

 < IIKISTIAN CONNECTION. The tables of 



Jtica of the churches for IS'ts. published in the 

 "Independent" newspa|>er. New York, for Jan. 5, 



tli 



and 107.8flH 



Smth. UK ministers. , 



municants: total for the united body, 1,498 min- 

 l.Vis .-Lurches, and 124,368 communicants. 

 The American Christian Convention met in its 

 quadrennial session at Newmarket. Ontario, Oct. 

 11. The retiring president. Kev. A. II. Morrill, 

 I>. !>., presented a re|M>rt giving a satisfactory ex- 

 hibit of the condition of the Church and its 

 ent. -rpri-vs faring the past four years, and in con- 

 nection therewith recommending some changes in 

 the constitution. Committees were appointed to 

 drvjs,. s<,ine j.lan of apportionment of financial 

 bun!. 'us. and to report ui>on a plan of co-opera- 

 tion with Independent churches and upon the 

 feasibility of appointing an assistant missionary 



>e. ew or, or an. , 



liN IMM|V l.:|'.il ministers. 1.424 churches, 



communicants ; Christian Church, 



inisters. 17-4 churches, and 16,500 com- 



secretary to promote the work in the home field. 

 The Kev. O. W. Powers was chosen president of 

 the Convention for the ensuing four years. The 

 report on Christian Endeavor Societies repre- 

 sented those bodies as increasing ''in numbers, 

 enthusiasm, and spirit of sacrifice." There were 

 now 449 societies, with 9,504 active and 2,592 asso- 

 ciate members, and 69 junior societies with 2,077 

 members ; and they returned collections of $1,218 

 for missions and $2,018 for other purposes ; in ad- 

 dition to which the books of the missionary treas- 

 urer showed that $4,040 had passed through the 

 hands of the missionary secretary during the past 

 four years. Many societies were also regularly con- 

 tributing clothing, books, etc.. and money for Frank- 

 linton school, North Carolina. Other contributions 

 for conference, local and city mission work, for Ar- 

 menian and other famine-relief work, and for the 

 local churches not regularly reported should be cred- 

 ited to these societies. The societies of the New Eng- 

 land Convention were supporting two missionaries in 

 the field. The Convention urged all other societies 

 to form groups for the support of missionaries in a 

 similar way. It also called on them to make reg- 

 ular and systematic collections for foreign missions. 

 The reports on foreign missions related to missions 

 in Japan and included an account of a visit of the 

 missionary superintendent to China. The work in 

 Japan had been somewhat interrupted by illness of 

 missionaries ; the schools had not been as successful 

 during the last as during the previous year. No 

 progress had been made toward self-support. The 

 Convention advised the establishment of a mission 

 among the Armenians in Cyprus, to be under the 

 direction of Mr. Alexanian, an Armenian. The 

 secretary of the educational department reported 

 concerning the condition of nine institutions, viz. : 

 the Christian Biblical Institute, Stanford ville, N. Y. ; 

 Union Christian College, Merom, Ind. ; Elon College, 

 Suffolk, Va. ; Palmer College, Le Grand, Iowa ; 

 Kansas Christian College, Lincoln, Kan. ; Weau- 

 bleau Christian College, Weaubleau, Mo. ; Frank- 

 linton Christian College, Franklinton, N. C. ; the 

 Christian Correspondence College, Eddytown, 

 N. Y. ; and Starkey Seminary, Eddytown, N. Y., 

 controlled by Christians and more or less direct- 

 ly affiliated with the Convention ; that they em- 

 ployed 59 professors and 11 teachers; had lands 

 and buildings valued at $192,300, and aggregate 

 cash endowments of $65,187, besides notes for $28,- 

 026. Some of these institutions were working in 

 the college grade and carrying on a preparatory 

 department, and others were more exclusively lim- 

 ited to preparatory studies. A proposition to 

 establish or acquire a second college in Indiana 

 was under consideration. The urgent need of a 

 fund for the aid of young men contemplating the 

 work of the ministry was presented in the report. 

 The subject had been brought before the Conven- 

 tion at two previous meetings, yet the department 

 had no money at its disposal for such purposes. 

 The treasurer of the Woman's Home-Mission 

 Hoard represented that of the seventy conferences 

 of the Connection only thirteen had reported, and 

 that the total amount of contributions from the 

 conferences and gifts to the society was $916. 

 The corresponding secretary of the board reported 

 that she had ascertained, in answer to letters of 

 inquiry, that a majority of the conferences in the 

 Central States had conference home-mission boards. 

 The boards in the Eastern conferences had boon 

 formed previous to the organization of the General 

 Board, and its work was not yet so universally 

 adopted by them as in the boards of more recent 

 organization. These boards were adopting meas- 

 ures of co-operation and education, with varying 

 degrees of success. A more rigid investigation 



