The Presbyterian of the South : [combining the] Southwestern Presbyterian, Central Presbyterian, Southern Presbyterian. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1909-1931, January 06, 1909, Page 32, Image 32

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32 THE RECOLLECTIONS OF DR. MATEER, OF CHINA. By Rev. Geo. W. Chalfant. On the evening of the second day of the battle of Gettysburg Dr. C. W. Mateer sailed in company with Dr. Hunter Corbett for his distant fioi.i nt uw r"-1? _ MV.u Vi inuui ill V/UUia. The voyage occupied more than five months, and they did not learn of the issue of the great battle for a period of nine months. The coasting vessel on which they made the journey north from Shanghai was wrecked in the Shantung Peninsula. Although entirely ignorant of the language they were sheltered by the plain people on the coast and enabled to reach their desination at Chefoo, not many miles distant. Teng Chow Fu, on the gulf of Pe Chili, fifty miles north of Chefoo, was his appointed field of labor. Horo bo boroQ~ soon as he had acquired a sufficient mastery of the language, the evangelistic and itinerating work of a foreign missionary, but at the same time also what was his great life work?the founding and development of a Christian college. He did not propose to establish a charity school. The students must be for the most part self-supporting. He would not teach the English language?because he would have been soon overwhelmed with young men seeking to qualify themselves for service with foreigners, already coming in considerable numbers to the coast cities. His young men must be educated for the service of their own people. He had to create or translate most of the text-books for the college curriculum. He had to teach many of his students trades by which they could earn their ouyyuiu ne naa to estanusn a grade of scholarship and manhood that would win the respect of all cultured people. All this and more he accomplished. In a few years the great viceroy, Li Hung Chang, sent him an offer, repeated from year to year, of a government appointment for life to every young man holding a diploma from his college. Yet it Is worthy of note that not one of his graduates accepted this tempting offer. Left to their own unbiased choice they proposed to become teachers of their own people at a salary not exceeding three dollars per month, or pastors of native churches, who rarely received more than five dollars per month. Two of these men we heard preaching to large conerreeratinns wnti tv ^ O TT *vu iiiaicci by our side to translate the discourses line by line, our judgment was that in dignity and force, in exposition of the Scriptures and application of the truth these men were the peers of our best American preachers. The graduates of this college are sought after by the missions of all lands and churches in the provinces where the Mandarin dialect is spoken?perhaps nearly half the empire, including Manchuria. The government employs all it can get in the imperial colleges now being established. The future historian may record that the : PRESBYTERIAN OF THE SOUTF greatest event of the twentieth century I has been the awakening of the Chinese i people from the sleep of ages. In that ; event and its momentous results to the I world's progress and the final triumph of the Kingdom of God the college of Teng Chow Fu. now the Union College of Wei Hsien, and Dr. Mateer, its chief founder, j will have no mean part."?The Westmin- j ster. LIFF A niCPIBI IKIET Sooner or later we find out that life is not a holiday, but a discipline. Earlier or I later we all discover that the world is not a playground; it is quite clear God means it for a school. The moment we forget that, the puzzle of life begins. We try to ; play in school; the Master does not mind i that so much for its own sake, for he likes j to see his children happy, but in our play- j ing we neglect our lessons. We do not j see how much there is to learn, and we \ do not care, but our Master cares. He ; has a perfectly overpowering and inex- [ plicable solicitude for our education; and because he loves us, he comes into the school sometimes and speaks to us. He may speak very softly and gently, or very loud. Sometimes a look is enough, and we understand it, like Peter, and go out | at once and weep bitterly. Sometimes the voice is like a thunder clap startling a summer night. But one thing we may be sure of?the task he sets us to is never measured by our delinquency. The discipline may seem far less than our desert, or even to our eye ten times more. But It is not measured by these; it is measured by God's love; measured solely that a scholar may be better educated when he arrives at his Father's. The discipline of life is a preparation for meeting the Father. When we arrive there to "behold his beauty" we must have the educated eye; and that must De trained nere. we need much practice ?that we shall "see God." That explains life?why God puts man in the crucible, and makes him pure by Are. SAFE IN HIS HAND. There is a finality about the past that always gives a touch of solemnity to the passing of the year; the opportunities are gone, as are the failures and temptations. There is in these hearts of ours that which craves something new; a new start is always hopeful. We grow tired of work and the everlasting monotony of life, and the wish to begin over is a natural one. If we only could. It is here that the Gospel comes in with its great good tidings. In Christ all things are new. The heart is made new; born again as a little child. It is dead to the old life and thrilling with a new life? eternal life. Old chains are broken. Old habits are dead. The face is set toward the morning, and the duties of the day uic Laiven up wkd 11 new irusi in mm wdo maketh all things new. "Hid in the shadow of his hand; Oh, blessed hiding place! Or on the sea or on the land That promise doth all fear efface; Hid in the shadow of his hand." He that has more knowledge than judgment is made for another man's use more than his own.?William Penn. I. January 6, 1909. FOR SALE, One, Addressograph Machine, complete, and In first-class condition. Manufactured by the Addressograph Company of Chicago, 111. Address or call on CENTRAL PRESBYTERIAN, 920 E. Main St. Richmond, Va. P?? UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF MEDICINE,nv?R MEDICINE? DENTISTRY?PHARMACY STUART McCUIWE, M.O., President. * First-class in Standard and Facilities. Individual Inuruclion. Seventy Teachers. Number of Students Limited to Fifty In each Class. Three free catalogues?Specify Department. e aT catlin Real Estate in all its branches. LOANS A SPECIALTY. Your Patronage is Solicited. 6 N. Eleventh St. Richmond, Va. Charles K. Bryant ARCHITECT, Rooms 6-7-8-9 and 10, Third Floor, 1014 East Main Street, nivnmuriu, ... VIRGINIA. E. C. Cheatwood. D. P. Edwards. Che&.twood & Edwards, Lumber Dealers, SASH, BLINDS, DOORS, LATHS, MOULDINGS, SHINGLES, HARDWARE AND INTERIOR TRIM. 1211 EAST BROAD STREET. Phone 1963. MODEL STEAM LAUNDRY 311 N. 25th Street, Richmond. PHONE 692. Work Guaranteed to be Satisfactory. TRY US! F0NTICEL10 LITH1A WATER Should Be Used Because? It Dissolves Urinary deposits, Stone and Gravel. It prevents Uric Acid Deposits. It eliminates the Toxins of Typhoid and other Fevers. It is endorsed by the HIGHEST MEDICAL AUTHORITY, and prescribed largely by leading physicians. W. G. TAYLOR. Proorietor. P. O. Box 344. RICHMOND, VA.