Guilford, 1st Cong, ch. and so. Milford," Plodder," 36.00 5 00 1,324 93 New Haven, 1st Ch. 796.81; do. Mrs. J. A. D. 100; North ch. 274.67; College St. ch. 121.59; Davenport ch. 21.86; Taylor ch. 8; Dr. W. W. R. 2; Orange, Cong. ch. and so. Woodbridge, Cong. ch. and so. New London county, L. A. Hyde and L. C. Learned, Tr.'s. Jewett City, Cong, ch. and so. Liberty Hill, Mrs. M. A. Preston, Norwich, 1st Cong. ch. and so. add'l, 10; 2d Cong. ch. and so. m. c. 36.84; Tolland county. E. C. Chapman, Tr. Gilead, Cong. ch. and so. 90 7 15 94 81-1,510 89 Washington, Wm. H. Campbell, 18 50 NORTH CAROLINA. Wilmington, 1st Cong. ch. and so. 5 00 No. Coventry, Cong ch. and so. to const. L. HENRY GAGER, H. M. 149 20 Union, Cong. ch. and so. Willington, Cong. ch. and so. Windham county. Brooklyn, 1st. Trin. ch. and so. Hampton, Harriet Colman Thompson, Cong. ch. and so. An old friend, II 00--205 00 Legacies. Tabitha Skilton, by George Belpre, Cong. ch. and so. 69.10; Euclid ave. Cong. ch. and so. 19.10; Madison ave. Cong. ch. and so. 2.30; Columbus, James L. Bates, 100 00 Delhi, Jolin Winsor, 4,962 73 Dover, Cong. ch. and so. Elyria, 1st Presb. ch. C. Woodruff, 50 00 5,012 73 NEW YORK. 5 20 12 00 90 50 Arkport, Jarvis P. Case, Coxsackie, M. Lusk, 97 29 10 00 1 00 5 00 East Bloomfield, 1st Cong. ch. and so. 61 08 Geneva, Mrs. D. A. Foster, Kiantone, Cong. ch. and so. Lenox, Mrs. A. H. D. Johnson, New York, A friend, through Rev. 100; North Bergen, Rev. Shubael Carver, Rome, John B. Jervis, Sherburne, Cong. ch. Mrs. William Newton, 100; A friend, 12; 14 00 2 80 60 92 80 21 52 6 20 Madison, Central Cong. ch. and so. Marietta, 1st Cong, ch. and so. add'l, Marysville, Rev. W. A. James, Norwalk, ist Cong. ch. and so. Oberlin, 1st Cong, ch. and so. 47.55; 2d Cong. ch. and so. 20.42; Paddy's Run, Cong. ch. and so. Springfield, ist Cong. ch. and so. 610 00 6 00 INDIANA. Terre Haute, S. H. Potter, So. Salem, Elizabeth Beers, 112 00 Stamford, M. E. Richards, 5 00 Wellsville, 1st Cong. ch. and so. Yonkers, ist Pres. ch. Stockholm, J. Hulburd and wife, Syracuse, William Carr, 5 00 5 00 30 46 46 40 00-1,359 79 Legacies.- Canandaigua, Mrs. Eliza R. Coleman, of 1st Cong. ch. by A. G. Coleman, Ex'r. Bloomington, S. S. Smead, Geneseo, N. B. Huntington, Oak Park, Cong, ch. and so. 36.51; A friend, 10; A friend, 1; 5 00 20 00 28 00 5 00 19 50--899 44 2.00 60 00 393 39 566 7 00 6 00 10 00 3 95 II 40 10 00 124 75 49 11 1,073 30 25 00 NEW JERSEY. Polo, Robert Smith, 500 00 Princeton, Cong. ch. and so. 51 73 Chester, A friend of missions, 30 00 Jersey City, 1st Cong. ch. and so. Rockford, 2d Cong. ch. and so. Rock Island, A friend, 82 00 8 00 43-16; A friend, 10; 53 16 Newfield, Rev. Charles Willey, 20 00 Orange Valley, 1st Cong. ch. and so. add'l, 250 00 Vineland, Cong, ch. of the Pilgrims, 22; A Pilgrim, 1; 23 00-392 22 200; MAINE. - Brewer, 1st Cong. s. s. 22.29; Brunswick, Cong. s. s. 6o; Cumberland Cen., Penny Contr. of s. s. for Madura, 50; Norridgewock, Cong s. s. for a school at Harpoot, 30; Yarmouth, 1st Cong. ch. and so. 18.76: NEW HAMPSHIRE.-Gilmanton, Cong. s. s. VERMONT.- Barnet, Cong. s. s. 40; Northfield, Cong. s. s. 1.80; South Royalton, Nellie Stearns, 25c.; St. Johnsbury, South Cong. s. s. for Normal School at Harpoot, North Cong. s. s. 45: Sudbury, Penny Collection, 18c.; Wells River, Cong. s. s. 37.60; MASSACHUSETTS.- Brookline, Bethany Sisters Bible Class, Harvard ch., for school at Amasia, Turkey, 25; Granby, Cong. s. s. for student at Harpoot, 30; Hadley, 1st Cong. s. s. 8.67; Newburyport, An. offer. of Kittie (3.) and Alice (2.), 5; So. Adams, Cong. s. s. 40; CONNECTICUT.-Windsor Locks, Cong. s. s. for Theol. Student at Marash, NEW YORK. Berkshire, Cong. s. s. for student at Marsovan, 30; New York, Olivet Miss. Asso. for Olivet Mission School, Turkey, 30; Mary P. Cushman, 50c.; Margaret Cushman, 50c.; PENNSYLVANIA.- Philadelphia, Cent. Cong. S. S. MARYLAND.-1st Cong. s. s. for teacher in India, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Washington, George Irving, OHIO. Hudson, Cong. s. s. for Madura, 6; Tallmadge, Cong. s. s. 30.57; ILLINOIS.Chicago, N. Eng. Cong. s. s. for Theol. pupil at Harpoot, 65.16; Payson, Cong. s. s. for child in Madura, 25.30; Princeton, Cong. s. s. 3; Rosemond, Contents of Artie's bank, 63c.; MICHIGAN.-Calumet, Cong. s. s. for Japan student, 12; Marcelona, Lewie, and Mary Bryant, 1; MINNESOTA.-Christmas offering in Cong. s. s., for pupils at Marsovan, IOWA.-S. s. class for the Dakotas, CANADA.-Montreal, A. Kingman's s. s. class for scholar at Ahmednuggur, 181 05 7 50 324 83 108 67 50 00 61 00 25 00 25 00 10 00 36 57 94.09 13.00 10 00 5 0015 00 600 500 25.05 30 00 -58 75 972 76 CALIFORNIA. Donations received in January, Legacies 33,778 91 2,416 86 Portland, E. B. Babbitt, $36,195 77 Total from Sept. 1st, 1878, Donations, $100,590.81; Legacies, $16,768.71 $117,359.52. FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. CHINA. If all the people of all the world can be imagined as standing abreast, in a single line, so that they should just touch one another, that line would be about 500,000 miles long, long enough to reach around the earth twenty times. And if you could pass in front of that line and look on each face, at least one man in every four you would see, would be a Chinaman. There are eighteen provinces in China proper, each one being about as large as Great Britain, and yet it is very doubtful whether many of the boys and girls who have finished their geographies, know so much as the name of any one of these provinces. We Americans talk much of our vast country, yet China with its dependencies has 300,000 more square miles than are found in all our States and Territories, including Alaska. On each square mile in the United States there dwell, on an average, ten or eleven persons, while China has at least two hundred and fifty inhabitants for every one of her square miles. There are from three to four hundred millions of souls in the empire, and though we think a good beginning has been made towards giving them the gospel of Jesus, and many thousands have already learned to love him, there has not yet been sent from all Christian lands so much as one minister for each million of people. What should we think if there were only forty ministers of Christ in all the United States of America? If Christians knew more about China and thought more about it, they would surely make more effort to give to its millions the gospel. THE CENTRAL FLOWERY KINGDOM. The Chinese have many names for the land they inhabit. It is from their name Tsin or Chin, that our word China comes. This is very like the name Sinim, by which it is supposed China is referred to in the Bible (Is. xlix. 12). They call it also "The Middle Kingdom," sometimes "The Central Flowery Kingdom," because they suppose it stands in the centre of the earth. On the opposite page is a picture of the Great Wall built upon the northern boundaries of the empire two hundred years before our Saviour came to earth. It was designed as a defense against the warlike Tartars, but is now quite useless. It runs from the sea along the northern border of the empire for 1,300 miles (some authorities say 1,500), passing through the valleys and over lofty mountain ranges. The wall varies from fifteen to thirty feet in height, and is about as thick as it is high, while at intervals. there are large square towers, some of them being fifty feet high. It is said that six horsemen could ride abreast on the top of the wall. What energy and patience the Chinese must have had to build this enormous structure, which has lasted now for over two thousand years! WORSHIP OF ANCESTORS. There are said to be three national religions in China. One originated with Confucius, a sage who lived about six hundred years before Christ. All the Chinese reverence him, and yet a large portion of them follow another religion than the one he taught. Some are Taoists, and some Buddhists. But while these three forms of religion are professed, the people care little about any one of them. Once or twice a year each Chinaman bows and worships heaven and earth, but every day of the year and in every house in the land, worship is offered to departed ancestors. The universal religion of China is the worship of ancestors. Each family keeps what are called ancestral tablets. These are boards, usually about twelve inches long by three wide, on which are written the name, rank, titles, birth and death days of each deceased member of the household. Every day, morning and evening, incense is burned and worship offered before these tablets. One of the saddest things about the religions of China is that none of them seem to have it for their object to make men better. A priest once said to a missionary: "Your religion does not give what the people want. When they worship they wish to know whether they can grow rich and recover from disease. In the case of believing in Jesus, there are no ben |