And there came to me this question:  Is it possible that in the midst of this beautiful free land of ours, there lives a people so densely ignorant, so darkly superstitious, sunk so low in heathenism, as this incident shows?  And this is only one of many such incidents.  May God help us when such things are possible in a Christian land.

* * * * *

THE CHINESE.

* * * * *

THREE DAYS OF EVANGELISTIC WORK AT PETALUMA.

BY JEE GAM.

I reached Petaluma a little while before school began.  The scholars soon poured in and the attendance was the largest the school ever had.  In order to have a little preaching service, we hurried through the lessons.  At the conclusion of school, two hymns were sung.  I then preached to them of Jesus.  They all listened very attentively and appeared interested.  At the close, I asked them to come again the next evening and bring their friends.  To my great surprise, the next evening not only all the scholars came, but many outsiders; some of these had years ago attended our school for some little time, but the majority of them had never been inside our mission.  I was informed, after the meeting, that five or six of them were very highly educated in Chinese, and that they were chief officers of the Chinese Branch Masonic Society in Petaluma.  I thought they came simply for curiosity and perhaps for argument.  Just before the meeting commenced, I went into my room, knelt down and said to God:  “Oh Lord, Thou art the Almighty God, Thou knowest the motives of those who have come to this meeting; Thou knowest I am very weak.  I can do nothing without Thy help, so I beseech Thee to make me a good agent in Thy hand.  Give me the right word to speak, fill me with power.”

I arose from prayer and felt that God was with me.  I went into the meeting and announced my subject.  It was on Daniel being cast into the lions’ den.  I noticed the marked interest they all seemed to feel.  At the close, I again asked all present to come the next evening (Sunday evening) and bring more friends.

The Sabbath evening meeting came.  Sunday-school began at six o’clock.  Not only the scholars and every one of the outsiders who had attended the meeting of the night before came, but many others besides, so that we had to bring in extra benches, and yet we lacked room.

My subject this evening was Daniel, third chapter, the three Hebrew children cast into the fiery furnace, being a continuation of my Bible reading of the previous evening.  I endeavored to bring home to my countrymen three things:  1st.—­That this was the true God, and he was the Supreme Ruler mentioned by our Confucius, Mencius and other sages. 2d.—­He was all-powerful and not like the golden image which Nebuchadnezzar had set up, nor like the idols that we Chinese serve. 3d.—­He was able to save