After patiently waiting for the fruit, the following Annual Report of our China Mission, in the city of Fuh Chau, shows that the harvest time has come. Let the whole Church ask of God that it may be an abundant harvest: FUH CHAU, CHINA, September 30, 1858. TO THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY: DEAR BROTHER,-The annual retrospect of our labors, as a mission, furnishes, we conceive, a suitable occasion for the expression of our gratitude to Almighty God for his mercies vouchsafed unto us. We have been preserved alike from "the pestilence that walketh in darkness," and from "the destruction that wasteth at noonday." Excepting a six weeks' absence at Shanghai, last summer, of myself and family, and an occasional river excursion of a few days by the other members of the mission, there has been, during the past year, no important departure from our plan of labor as indicated in the report of this mission for 1857. The war which existed at the date of our last annual report, between China and the allied powers, England and France, has happily ceased; and the Chinese government has formed new treaties, of a most liberal character, with England, France, Russia, and the United States. GENERAL STATE OF THE MISSION.-We would refer with profound gratitude to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon this people which we have witnessed, in connection with our labors during the past year. Since the date of our last annual report we have baptized thirteen adults and three infants. All the adults remain with us in Church fellowship, and give encouraging evidence that they have indeed become the children of God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. On the 7th of August, 1858, we organized our first class of Chinese converts in this city. The class is attached to the Iongtau appointment and now has fifteen members. Rev. Otis Gibson takes charge of the class for the present, with Brother Hü Pó Mí as assistant leader. Three stewards were appointed, of whom two are Chinese. Arrangements were made for class-meetings, quarterly meetings, monthly collections for the poor, and quarterly collections for the support of the Gospel. A Sunday school was organized for the children of Church members and others. The school is conducted by our native members and at the present time contains seven pupils. THE CONVERTS.-Brief notices of some of our converts may, perhaps, be interesting to the friends of the China mission. I note them in the order of baptism. 1. Hü Pò Mi, aged 31. He has a good common education, is a soldier by profession, has taken the lowest military degree, and is entitled to hold office in the army. Baptized January 17th, 1858, he has given us much satisfaction by his humility, zeal, courage, and desire for a thorough knowledge of the Bible. He is a fluent speaker, and has rendered us efficient aid in the public preaching of the Gospel. His wife, also, has been baptized and received into the Church. 2. Ngu Teng Hai, aged 37. He is a scribe by profession, and has been connected with missionaries three or four years. His education is respectable, and he possesses some ability as a public speaker. He was baptized March 21st, 1858, and renders us important help in public preaching. His mother, aged 69 years, has also been baptized and received into the Church. 3. Wong Cheng Kuong, aged 50. He is a common day-laborer, but has sufficient knowledge of the written character to enable him, with a little study, to read our books. He was baptized March 21st, 1858, and exhibits good evidence of the genuineness of his conversion. 4. Ting Seng Mi, aged 20. He is quite illiterate, is by trade a basket-maker; and, so far as we know, has the honor of being the first of our converts in Fuh-Chau who has suffered open and violent persecution for embracing Christianity. He was converted while serving his apprenticeship, and after making arrangements with his master for a proper |