Shut up in the purlieus of Canton, it is astonishing how much Dr. Williams was able to effect in the way of making China known to the Western world.  His book on “The Middle Kingdom,” first published in 1848, continues to be, after the lapse of half a century, the highest of a long list of authorities on the Chinese Empire.  Beginning like Benjamin Franklin as a printer, like Franklin he came to perform a brilliant part in the diplomacy of our country, aiding in the [Page 284] negotiation of a new treaty and filling more than once the post of charge d’affaires.

EXPANSION OF THE WORK

The next period of missionary activity dates from the treaty of Nanking, which put an end to the Opium War, in 1842.  The opening of five great seaports to foreign residence was a vast enlargement in comparison with a small suburb of Canton; and the withdrawal of prohibitory interdicts, first obtained by the French minister Lagrene, invited the efforts of missionary societies in all lands.  In this connection it is only fair to say that, in 1860, when the Peking expedition removed the remaining barriers, it was again to the French that our missionaries were indebted for access to the interior.

MEDICAL WORK

From the earliest dawn of our mission work it may be affirmed that no sooner did a chapel open its doors than a hospital was opened by its side for the relief of bodily ailments with which the rude quackery of the Chinese was incompetent to deal.  Nor is there at this day a mission station in any part of China that does not in this way set forth the practical charity of the Good Samaritan.  This glorious crusade against disease and death began, so far as Protestants are concerned, with the Ophthalmic Hospital opened by Dr. Peter Parker at Canton in 1834.

MEDICAL TEACHING

The training of native physicians began at the same date; and those who have gone forth to bless their [Page 285] people by their newly acquired medical skill may now be counted by hundreds.  In strong contrast with the occult methods of native practitioners, neither they nor their foreign teachers have hidden their light under a bushel.  Witness the Union Medical College, a noble institution recently opened in Peking under the sanction and patronage of the Imperial Government.  A formal despatch of the Board of Education (in July, 1906) grants the power of conferring degrees, and guarantees their recognition by the state.  For many years to come this great school is likely to be the leading source of a new faculty.

THE SEEDS OF A NEW EDUCATION

Not less imperative, though not so early, was the establishment of Christian schools.  Those for girls have the merit of being the first to shed light on the shaded hemisphere of Chinese society.  Those for boys were intended to reach all grades of life; but their prime object was to raise up a native ministry, not merely to cooeperate with foreign missions, but eventually to take the place of the foreign missionary.