and nerveless hand or with vim and vigor, will test the very
character of our churches; will touch the conscience and well-being
of the nation; and will, without a doubt, have vital and decisive
connection with the future of that most populous empire on the globe.

There is China, with its four hundred million souls, subject to a
single sovereign--a heathen empire. Here is America, Christian
America; the foremost republic among the nations, and soon to be the
leading power among the Governments of the earth. It holds already
the position of moral leadership in the far East. What shall be done
with this leadership? Right here in our midst are some two hundred
thousand representatives of that empire, every one of whom with
hardly an exception hopes some time to return to his native Orient.
What will the Christianity of America do for them?

There is an unmistakable providence of God in the presence, in the
country, at such a time as this, of so many representatives of the
great empire. Such providences are to be reverently heeded. They are
as the banners of the Almighty, meant to lead forth His loyal people
to the gracious conquest of the world. As for ourselves, what are we
disposed to do about it?

This conquest of the world for Christ is not to be achieved by
hap-hazard dashes. There is need of transcendent wisdom in the
strategic methods of the campaign. We have not wisdom enough for this
except as we have the wisdom to note which way the manifest hand of
God is pointing for us. Then is the time for assurance, for
obedience, and for enthusiasm in the fullest meaning of the term.

A few thousand Chinamen are here. The Chinese Empire is open to