160 
WANDERINGS IN CHINA. 
Chap. IX. 
ment with Chinese type continually at work, for the 
dissemination of the truths of the Gospel. Several other 
gentlemen and their families had arrived at the same 
port previous to my departure, and were closely engaged 
in the study of the language. Ning-po and Amoy were 
also occupied by missionaries both from England and 
America, and I suppose, ere this time, some have also 
reached Foo-chow-foo, on the river Min. 
From my own experience of Chinese character, and 
from what I have seen of the w^orking of the Medical 
Missionary Society, I am convinced that it must be a 
powerful auxiliary to the missionaries in the conversion 
of the Chinese. I regret, however, to say, that up to the 
present time little progress appears to have been made. 
One portion of the people, and a large one, is entirely 
indifferent to religion of any kind, and the rest are 
so bigoted and conceited, that it will be a most difficult 
task to convince them that any religion is better or 
purer than their own. 
The Roman Catholic missionaries conduct their opera- 
tions in a manner somewhat different from the Protest- 
ants. They do not restrict themselves to the out-ports 
of the empke, where foreigners are permitted to trade, 
but penetrate into the interior, and distribute themselves 
over all the country. One of their bishops, an Italian 
nobleman, resides in the province of Keang-soo, a few 
miles from Shanghae, where I have frequently met him. 
He dresses in the costume of the country, and speaks 
the language with the most perfect fluency. In the 
place where he lives he is surrounded by his converts ; 
in fact it is a little Christian village, where he is perfectly 
