Sketches from Formosa.

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SKETCHES FROM FORMOSA
do not despair, for the little Church in Formosa is a living,
growing institution, and one which is the sincere helpful
friend of all ranks and conditions of men.
As to the women members of the Church, our lady
missionaries recently invited them to meet for a three
days' General Conference at Tainan. We were not at all
prepared that so many would respond to the invitation,
but it was the calm, intelligent, and practical way in
which those country-women who stood up as speakers and
addressed their sisters in the faith that caused us most
surprise. Their short speeches one following another in
rapid succession were on such subjects as the duty and
the blessedness of being believers in Christ ; the importance
of prayer and of searching the Scriptures ; temptations
that assail us and the way to overcome them ;
our duty
towards relatives and others ; and how to make the
women's Tuesday afternoon prayer-meeting at our widelyscattered
stations a more potent influence for good. The
benefit of those meetings and the fresh elevating thoughts
they set in circulation were a great stimulus to us all.
I may add here that our Day Schools and Boarding
Schools for boys and girls are regarded with much
favour both by Church people and by outsiders. The
Primary School in Tainan has now about one hundred
and fifty pupils, and could easily be enlarged had we
only an increase of trained teachers and of funds. Many
non-Christians send their children to this, and our schools
elsewhere, because (as they say) the missionaries are
very painstaking in the correction of evil habits and
the development of good conduct among the young
people. The Mission Boarding Schools are also con-
tinually sending out pupils who generally set a good
example when they return home at the end of their four
years' course. This is especially seen in the Girls'
Boarding Schools at Tamsui and Tainan. Many of