hour, especially in the darkness, that we should

find ourselves close on a lee shore.

The sublim

The wind blows

ity of such a storm on the ocean surpasses all

that a landsman can conceive.

with a fury which seems at times

sistible. And then such a sea!

absolutely irreOur fore-yards

dipped into the crests of the billows! The largest vessel, noble an object as she is, seems like a poor, helpless thing in such circumstances. God was with us however, as a protector and preserver. We escaped without suffering any damage, except a few bruised limbs of sailors who were thrown over the wheel.

"We set foot in Shanghai on the afternoon of September 1st, and received a cordial, Christian welcome from Rev. Dr. Bridgman and wife, and from the whole missionary company. It was a real pleasure to lie down at night, secure from all the dangers of the deep, without a thought as to how the wind blows or the sky looks. I trust some proper feelings of gratitude to God filled my heart, when I thought of the long way in which I had been kindly led, and the many dangers from which I had been delivered."

Shanghai is a city of nearly 150,000 inhabi

tants, perhaps 200,000 with the suburbs. It is the most northerly and most important of the five ports which were opened to foreigners by the treaty of 1842. It is in the latitude of Southern Georgia, in this country, although of a much colder climate. It is surrounded by a vast and fertile plain, rich in products such as rice, wheat, barley, cotton, and teeming with a busy population. Its harbor sometimes contains three thousand vessels and junks, all swarming with human beings, a city afloat, while its communications and trade by water alone extend to one third part of the whole empire. There was in this city a number of missionaries of other denominations; and Rev. Mr. Bridgman, who was the first missionary of the American Board to China, having gone out in 1830, and who had been stationed at Canton, had been residing in Shanghai for several years, and in connection with a committee of the several missions, was engaged in revising and perfecting the translation of the Holy Scriptures; but as yet the American Board had no established mission in this important city. Mr. Aitchison and Mr. Blodget were to begin one. But first, Mr. Aitchison makes his safe arrival the occasion of

THE CITY IN THE HANDS OF THE REBELS. 95

a solemn thanksgiving to God for all his mercies in the past, for protection and comfort in the long and perilous voyage; and then still more solemnly consecrates himself anew to the service of his Divine Master, and especially to all the toils and trials of his contemplated missionary life, praying fervently for divine guidance and help in his holy calling.

The city, on the arrival of the missionaries, was in the hands of a band of local banditti, a part of the great rebellion, who held it in the face of thousands of imperial troops for about a year and a half, with no little annoyance, inconvenience, and sometimes danger, to the foreign residents.

It is here, in the midst of this confusion, and these troubles, that Mr. Aitchison begins his missionary life. We have seen how God led him by that mysterious way which his own thoughts could never have marked out, to make him a "chosen vessel" unto himself; and we shall now see the sanctified fruit of that baptism of sorrow which his soul had received.

The following is from the letter of Sept. 7th, to which we have before referred :

"The city is still in the hands of the insurgents, and is likely to be till dooms-day for aught the Imperialists can do.

on here is mainly a farce.

The war as it is carried

Skirmishing goes on

at any hour of the day or night; and indeed there

is hardly an hour in

booming of cannon.

which you do not hear the All last night

"We heard the distant and random gun,
Which the foe were sullenly firing.'

Even while the Imperial troops are engaged in bombarding the city, the residents are attending to their daily business about as usual.

"Of course such a state of things is unfavorable to the successful prosecution of missionary labors, so far as the city is concerned. But hundreds of thousands in the country around are accessible. I wish you could have accompanied me last Sunday in the distribution of tracts. Everywhere we were kindly received. Our books were eagerly sought for; and a new comer would suppose that the people were hungering for the bread of life. There appeared to be a wonderful readiness on the part of the people to receive the truth. But alas! the experience of the mis