THE KING’S BUSINESS
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lishmen-t of thè ‘people’s realm’ (the new republic) calls loudly for renovation in everything, and therefore this ancient Tao ist faith shall be reformed and reaffirmed.” This is only one indication of the religious ferment of New China. Writing of a winter’s itineration among forty-three villages in the Rupar district, Mrs. U. S. G. Jones of India says : “A Christian widom whom we tried to get a husband for we found hard to suit. Tust before going into the room where a would- be suitor was waiting she whispered to me, ‘Please get him to pray’—with the result that she could not have him. And he cer tainly did not show up well, but then the circumstances were trying! I have never' heard a village woman pray the way this woman can.” Men in China who are not Christians' say that China must adopt the Christian re ligion to be the nation they wish. Presi dent Yuan has declared that there shall be religious liberty. The Vice-President savs. “The missionaries are our friends; JesUs is better than Confucius. I am in favor of more missionaries coming to our country.” The governor of one of the provinces most distant from the coast said, “The religion of Jesus is the greatest religion in the world, and before long it will be the re ligion of our China.” A number of denominations have united together to build a large university in the Yangtse valley, China. It will be in the midst of about 80,000,000 people. In that whole region there are very few physicians of any kind, and it is said there is not a single skillful surgeon. We know of some people who are deeply moved by this great need. One surgeon of distinction is giv ing up his practice and a large income and, the greater portion of his property, to es tablish a surgical center in that land. We are praying God to lay it upon the hearts of many Christian surgeons to enter this open field. Just think of 80,000,000 of people without a skillful surgeon! What a chance
to heal the body and to preach the Gospel both at the same time. At Resht, a station in Persia, is a Sun day school. Such a cosmopolitan little school! Mohammedan. Russian, Greek, Jewish and Armenian children gather every week to hear the story of the one Lord and Saviour of them all. Recently they had a missionary meeting on China, in which they had a map study, and articles trans lated and read in Persian arid Armenian. By a united vote their precious collections for the past six months, amounting to $18.75, were sent to the New York Board “to' be used in this crisis of China’s need.” A missionary in the West, comparatively a young man, tells of meeting in his new field an old Indian who had once been chief of a hostile tribe, but now for many years a Christian. The old man heartily welcomed the newcomer, and said in the poetic manner of his people, “Bishop, I pledge you my invisible shoulder.” What a power for sympathy and support that might be! To stand shoulder to shoulder with someone else in life’s hard battles more than doubles the strength. Tp know that someone is watching, hoping, praying on our side even when we seem to stand alone, is to lay hold of new courage arid power; it is the “invisible shoulder” of a brother. We should receive and give the comfort of that knowledge far oftener than we do, and through it remember Another who never fails to stand by our side, in visible but mighty. There are 323,000 Indians in the United States by the latest returns. The great body of Indians live between the Missis sippi and the Rockies. One-third of the whole number—117,000—are in Oklahoma, where the five civilized tribes have so long resided. The next largest settlement is in the Dakotas, where there are 28,000 Sioux. Minnesota has 11,000, and Montana 10,000, made up of Crows, Blackfeet, Cheyennes and Flatheads. Between the Rocky Moun tains and the Sierra Nevedas there are 71,-
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