This great centre was early preempted by the pioneers of missionary enterprise.  Here Griffith John set up the banner of the cross forty years ago and by indefatigable and not unfruitful labours earned for himself the name of “the Apostle of Central China.” [Page 47] In addition he has founded a college for the training of native preachers.  The year 1905 was the jubilee of his arrival in the empire.  Here, too, came David Hill, a saintly man combining the characters of St. Paul and of John Howard, as one of the pioneers of the churches of Great Britain.  These leaders have been followed by a host who, if less distinguished, have perhaps accomplished more for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ.  Without the cooeperation of such agencies all reformatory movements like those initiated by the viceroy must fall short of elevating the people to the level of Christian civilisation.

The London Mission, the English Wesleyans, and the American Episcopalians, all have flourishing stations at Wuchang.  The Boone school, under the auspices of the last-named society, is an admirable institution, and takes rank with the best colleges in China.

At Hankow the China Inland Mission is represented by a superintendent and a home for missionaries in transit.  At that home the Rev. J. Hudson Taylor, the founder of that great society, whom I call the Loyola of Protestant missions, spent a few days in 1906; and there Dr. John and I sat with him for a group of the “Three Senior Missionaries” in China.

The river provinces may be divided into lower and upper, the dividing-line being at Ichang near the gorges of the Yang-tse.  Hupeh and Hunan, Kiangsi and Anhwei occupy the lower reach; Szechuen, Kweichau, and Yuennan, the upper one.  The first two form one viceregal district, with a population exceeding that of any European country excepting Russia.

[Page 48] Hupeh signifies “north of the lake”; Hunan, “south of the lake”—­the great lake of Tungting lying between the two.  Hupeh has been open to trade and residence for over forty years; but the sister province was long hermetically sealed against the footprints of the white man.  Twenty or even ten years ago to venture within its limits would have cost a European his life.  Its capital, Changsha, was the seat of an anti-foreign propaganda from which issued masses of foul literature; but the lawless hostility of the people has been held in check by the judicious firmness of the present viceroy, and that city is now the seat of numerous mission bodies which are vying with each other in their efforts to diffuse light and knowledge.  It is also open to commerce as a port of trade.

One of the greatest distinctions of the province is its production of brave men, one of the bravest of whom was the first Marquis Tseng who, at the head of a patriotic force from his native province, recaptured the city of Nanking and put an end to the chaotic government of the Taiping rebels—­a service which has ever since been recognised by the Chinese Government in conferring the viceroyalty of Nanking on a native of Hunan.