NEW PUBLICATIONS.

As to the new tracts prepared and published during the past year at this place, I lay stress upon a number of page tracts, entitled, Saved or Lost, A Follower of Christ, The True Doctrine of Jesus, A Guide to Salvation, God's Loving Message to You, and Thoughts on the New Year. A small volume of thirty-two pages, on the Descent or Mission of the Holy Spirit, has been issued, bearing on the personality and work of that Divine Agent, specially in the matter of redemption. The excellent volume of Archdeacon Hare has been of service to me in preparing it, and my design in it was the instruction of the native Christians on the subject, while the need of Divine agency is urgently shown from the natural condition of man, and in order to the effectual application of the redeeming work of Christ. I do pray that the Holy Spirit may bless it for the building up of the native Christians in holiness and devotedness, and that many others who read it may be savingly benefited. The page tracts are not only handy for general distribution, but are written in a plain, earnest, forcible way. They are invaluable in connection with our mission services, and for circulation from house to house. Both in the city, the suburbs, and the country they are extensively used, and I am glad to see the native assistants are anxious to have them for their work, as an introduction to the people round about.

USEFULNESS OF TRACTS.

There can be no doubt as to the value and utility of the messages of life and salvation. Whether accompanied with direct preaching, or left alone, with the Divine blessing, they are both eagerly sought after, and helpful in diffusing the knowledge of Christ. We are greatly indebted to them for the acquaintance which the people hereabouts have with the way of salvation, and our only desire is to make use of this and all other means of grace, for the carrying on and promotion of God's work among the Chinese. Though these are conservative in the extreme, yet a movement is going on which will tell mightily in the end, and we are glad to acknowledge the service of the Tract Society in the matter.

THE SOCIETY'S HELP.

The Committee and friends of the Society at home may be encouraged by the assurance that their kind help to the mission cause in China is of very great consequence to those engaged in it. By such means the Word is made known far and near, where it would not otherwise be, and many are thereby enabled to follow up the preaching, to which they listen in a way that tends to deepen the truth in their minds and attract them to come again.

Grants have been made in aid of the expense of tract distribution among the literati at Hangchow and Nanking, of which details will be found further on in the report.

CHINESE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.

The Committee have continued their help to this Society by a grant of £100 towards its publication work, and £100 towards the two illustrated periodicals, formerly published by Dr. Farnham, but now carried on by the Chinese Religious Tract Society. Blank Scripture picture books have also been supplied. Dr. Farnham, the Committee regret to learn, has been obliged temporarily to leave China to recruit his health. He has, however, furnished a report of the operations of this Society, from which the following extracts are given :—

THE PERIODICALS.

At the suggestion of Dr. Murdoch, we undertook the publication of The Chinese Illustrated News and The Child's Paper, commencing with the beginning of the year. These two monthlies had been published, the former three and the latter six years, and were widely and well known. Every effort has been made to keep them up to the high standard they had always maintained, both in matter and style. Thanks to the generous grants of electrotypes you have made, we have been able to keep up the illustrations throughout the year.

SABBATH CALENDAR.

The Sabbath Calendar, a poster nearly seventeen inches by twenty-three inches, has been published as usual. This sheet was prepared by the Rev. E. H. Thomson, of the Episcopal Mission, and contains essays on the Sabbath, astronomy, and geography, illustrated with diagrams representing the eclipses of the sun and moon, and a map of the two hemispheres. It also shows on what day of the Chinese month the Sabbath occurs. Another sheet, the same size, and containing much the same matter, is published with a pictorial border. The Society has also issued a sheet of this kind containing some account of its publications and the names of its local secretaries. The Chinese buy these sheets, and stick them up in their houses where they are likely to be read by all who come and go throughout the year.

LEAFLETS.

The edition of more than 300,000 leaflets which we published near the close of last year, seemed to some a large edition, but early in this year it was exhausted, and a new edition printed. They are very popular for gratuitous distribution in connection with preaching. Each leaf contains a suitable picture at the top of the page, with a simple and earnest presentation of some gospel truth; each one of them brings Jesus to view as

the Saviour.

The Story of Seppi, the Swiss Boy, translated by Mrs. Nevins, has been revised by the examining Committee, and a tentative The same may be said of The Story of Kweino and

edition printed. Christie's Old Organ.

SCRIPTURE PICTURE BOOKS.

Missionaries have been requested to prepare the Chinese text for the Stories of Daniel and The Prodigal Son, for which you were so kind as to send out the paper with the coloured cuts. It is to be hoped they will soon be ready for the press, as they will be a valuable addition to our Chinese Christian literature for the young. It is proper to remark that the Society is taking a lively interest in furnishing suitable books for youth in our Sunday and day-schools.

PRODUCTION AND CIRCULATION.

Including leaflets and posters, we have published sixteen different works during the year, of which please find a detailed tabulated statement enclosed. It shows nearly 300,000 different volumes and sheets, and an equivalent of more than 2,500,000 pages. These figures represen tthe publications up to January, and the periodicals reckoned on up to the end of the year. Our opportunities for carrying on and extending the tract work could hardly be surpassed. We are centrally located, having our head-quarters in Shanghai, one of the great commercial centres of the world. We have our agents in thirty-two different localities in China. Missionaries and other friends carry on this work as an important branch of evangelical labour and without charge, with the exception of small incidental expenses. Nor is there any rivalry or conflict between the Society and missionary organisations. Missionaries of all denominations, and in every part of the empire, have superior opportunities to distribute tracts, and many regard them as indispensable as their working tools. When they have lifted the people a little out of their darkness and cease speaking, they wish to leave something in print to recall what has been said, to speak when they are gone.

VALUE OF THE SOCIETY'S GRANTS.

If you can continue your help we shall gladly keep this machinery in motion. The Chinese are interested, and take an important part in the work. Though their contributions are small, they are highly prized. It is only right to say that your generous grants have furnished most of the means used in this work.

SEAMEN'S MISSION.

A renewed grant of tracts in English and other languages has been made to Mr. and Mrs. Dalzell, of the China Inland Mission, who carry on a special work among the sailors at Shanghai.

MID-CHINA.

HANKOW.

It was mentioned in last year's report that the Committee, in addition to an annual grant of £100, had authorised the Hankow Committee to draw for an additional £50, should their work require it. The permission thus given was acted on; thus, last year's grant amounted to £150. In addition, £50 was granted to the Rev. Griffith John, as in former years, to enable him to supply the colporteurs of the Scottish Bible Society, whom he superintends, with tracts. Electrotypes for calendars have been granted, and the Committee have paid £72, half the cost of printing, in England, the Parables, on broad sheets, with illustrations.

The Committee have had the advantage of being able to confer during the year with two former secretaries of the Hankow Committee, the Rev. J. W. Brewer and the Rev. T. Bryson, who, though in England, have continued to take a lively interest in their work in China, from which for a time they are separated.

The following are extracts from the report of the Hankow Committee, forwarded by the Rev. T. Bryson :

RESULTS OF THE YEAR.

The progress made in many directions has surprised and gratified the most sanguine members of our Committee. In 1876, the year when our Society was formed, we circulated 9,000 tracts. In the following year 12,500 were circulated. Four years later, in 1881, the books and sheet-tracts issued amounted to 131,395. In 1882 the circulation rose to 212,913, or an increase on the previous year of over 62 per cent. During the seven years of the Society's existence considerably over 500,000 tracts have been put into circulation.

Had these tracts been given away gratuitously to any who applied for them, or sent away only to cumber the shelves of local agents in other parts of the country, there would be less cause for congratulation on the large increase in our circulation. But in nearly every case our tracts have been bought and paid for by missionaries who are actively engaged in the work of distribution, which is the best guarantee that the tracts are speedily put

into the hands of those for whom they are prepared, and being mostly sold to the Chinese they are likely to be more carefully read and prized by the buyers. Last year, with the exception of a few thousands of sheet-tracts, voted for gratuitous distribution among the students attending the triennial examination at Wu-Chang, and several hundreds of specimen copies issued to missionaries, all our tracts were sold.

THE DISTRIBUTORS.

As in former years the members of the China Inland Mission and the colporteurs of the National Bible Society of Scotland have been the largest distributors. Nearly all the western, north-western, and central provinces were visited by the tract distributors, and a special effort was made by the Wesleyan Mission at Hankow to circulate Mr. Hill's series of prize essays in the principal cities and towns of Hupeh. Outside the limits of our own immediate field of operations, tracts have been sent to Peking, Shanghai, Hangchow, Foochow, Amoy, and Hong-Kong. It was a most pleasing incident to those who remember the devotion of our first secretary, the late Rev. J. R. Race, to have applications for the only tract he was permitted to write, The Errors of Vegetarianism, from the widely-separated regions of Kansuh and Canton. He, being dead, still speaks to multitudes of the most religious people of China, and points them from their own self-righteousness to the merits of our adorable Redeemer. A large selection of tracts was also despatched to San Francisco for the benefit of the Chinese emigrants there, and some were sent to Australia and Burmah. To meet an increasing request for information about our publications, catalogues-Chinese and English-have been prepared and published.

PUBLICATIONS OF THE YEAR.

Progress has been made in the number and range of subjects of our tracts. Four new ones and eight new sheet-tracts were added to our list in 1882. The Committee are indebted to the fertile pen of their senior member, the Rev. Griffith John, for these four new tracts, and to the pencil of our president, the Rev. W. Scarborough, for most of the illustrations. The new sheet-tracts are one by the Rev. E. Faber, of Canton; four on the Parables by Mr. Scarborough, illustrated; and the three chapters of Mr. John's tract on Right Guidance, published separately, also illustrated.

PROGRESS IN IMPROVEMENT.

A great effort was made to improve the printing of our tracts during the past year. We also endeavoured to make our publications as attractive as possible by the use of illustrations. The first difficulty was to obtain suitable drawings, but this has so far been overcome by the kind assistance and artistic skill of Mr. Scarborough. Bishop Moule has also kindly interested himself in this matter, and through him we have received some spirited native illustrations for any future edition of The Red Dwarf, one of the four new tracts, adapted from Mark Guy Pearse. The greater difficulty still remained of getting the pictures well cut, and this has caused the