Sketches from Formosa.

90
SKETCHES FROM FORMOSA
him, and seemed overjoyed at the probability of his
once more being numbered among those who are welcomed
to the table of the Lord.
Another interesting circumstance connected with my
visit to Giam-cheng at this time was the open destruction
of the idols, ancestral tablets, and idolatrous pictures,
belonging to a number of people who had resolved to cast
in their lot with the disciples of Jesus. Some of the
tablets had been preserved for over a hundred years, and
were covered with the names of deceased relatives,
whose continued presence those pieces of carved wood
A copy was taken of all the
were intended to represent.
names and dates upon them, as likely to prove useful in
deciding certain questions which might arise about the
and then, with the wooden
rightful possession of fields ;
idols some of which were very old and greatly dis-
figured they were brought out and placed beside the
other objects in a wide, open space before the house.
There were about thirty brethren present who gathered
round, and joined in singing one of our well-known hymns.
When prayer had been offered, a light was applied to the
heap in front of us, which was speedily reduced to ashes.
I afterwards spoke to those good-natured, simple people
of the only way of salvation through the blood of Christ,
exhorting those of them who had renounced idolatry to a
living faith in Him, and declaring to all that, without
holiness, no man could enter into the Kingdom of God.
On returning to the chapel, I had the native preacher
with me in examining candidates for baptism. Only
one man had been previously admitted at this station, and
his brother was the first who now came forward. Any-
thing I already knew of him was to his advantage ; and,
as he reads well, and answered nearly all my questions
satisfactorily, I felt that his request could not be denied,
and that we ought to welcome him into our midst.