When the dumb man swallows a tooth he may not say much about it, but it is all inside." Since its foundation in 1887, the Inland Mission of Wanhsien has been conducted with brave perseverance.

There are, unfortunately, no converts, but there are three hopeful "inquirers," whose conversion would be the more speedy the more likely they were to obtain employment afterwards.

They argue in this way; they say, to quote the words used by the Rev.G.L.Mason at the Shanghai Missionary Conference of 1890, "if the foreign teacher will take care of our bodies, we will do him the favour to seek the salvation of our souls." This question of the employment of converts is one of the chief difficulties of the missionary in China.

"The idea (derived from Buddhism) is universally prevalent in China," says the Rev.C.W.Mateer, "that everyone who enters any sect should live by it....

When a Chinaman becomes a Christian he expects to live by his Christianity." One of the three inquirers was shown me; he was described as the most advanced of the three in knowledge of the doctrine.