Sketches from Formosa.

XLIX
PRESENT POSITION OF THE CHRISTIAN MOVEMENT
ACCORDING to chronological order, Christian work in
Formosa was commenced and is now carried on in con-
nection with the Roman Catholic Church, the Presbyterian
Church of England, the Presbyterian Church of
Canada, the Church of Christ in Japan (Presbyterian),
and the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel.
For many years the Roman Catholic Mission derived
much of its support from the Spanish Dominican
Brotherhood at Manila, but since the Philippines were
ceded to the United States of America in 1899, only some
three or four foreign priests carry on work at the few
churches under their care in Formosa. It has not been
possible to obtain reliable statistics regarding the Roman
Catholic Mission, and the other missionaries hear almost
nothing about it when travelling through every accessible
part of the Island. Nor can much be said now about
the Church of Christ in Japan, or the Society for the
Propagation of the Gospel. It is still the day
of small
things with them, as their efforts are confined to the
relatively very few official and mercantile residents
who have come from Japan proper. The first-named
Community has a Presbytery made up
of four or five
native Ministers with commissioned Elders, and publishes
a monthly Church paper in Japanese which is found to be
very useful amongst those for whom it is prepared.
Our two British Missions divide between them the
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