Sketches from Formosa.

SEED AMONG THORNS AND ON GOOD GROUND 217
About thirty of us sat down at the table of the Lord,
and to some at least it was a time which recalled that
word spoken by the disciples of old, " Did not our hearts
burn within us while He talked with us by the way,
and while He opened to us the Scriptures ? "
During my subsequent stay with the brethren there,
I was grieved that Church matters with them were not
by any means in what could be called a prosperous way.
It seems that the Sabbath attendance has considerably
fallen off, while hardly anyone is found willing to come
near the chapel on week-days for instruction. It
should no doubt be borne in mind that the Tek-a-kha
people are very poor, and dependent for a livelihood
on their daily work, which usually begins at daybreak
and lasts on till about dark. Another thing is that,
as a rule, they are quite unable to read or write, even
the few educated persons amongst them being some-
times unable to catch the meaning of sentences in the
Chinese written character. With these facts before us,
it is obvious that in all our dealings with such brethren
we cannot but attach a very special value to their
diligent attendance on the means of grace.
It need hardly be added that such brethren occupy
a very different position from worshippers at home,
where church-going comes in very much as a mere
matter of course ;
and where not only the opportunities,
but the positive inducements to a life of progress in
the knowledge of Christ, may be said to hedge one round
on every side. Take the very ordinary case of Brother
Thiok, who was baptized on the occasion of this visit.
He is a man of some thirty years of age, unable to read,
and earns his living as partner in a little grocery business
in the village of Khe-chiu, about two miles from Tek-
a-kha. Now, supposing
this man to be insincere in his
profession, all one can say is that, considering the pres-