Page:China- Its State and Prospects.djvu/99

Rh is evangelized. In this view of the case, numbers no longer appal, nor difficulties dishearten; and though China contained double the amount of inhabitants, fenced around by much severer restrictions, we need not fear attempting, nor despair of succeeding, in the work of evangelizing that people.

On the contrary, there is something in the very abundance of the population which constitutes a ground of encouragement; for, the inhabitants of that empire, though numerous, and spread over eighteen provinces, must be considered as a great whole; and what bears on the political, intellectual, moral, and religious condition of the people bears upon them as a whole. Thus China, though vast, is under one despotic form of government, and if measures could be adopted that would influence the ruler of so vast an empire, the whole mass of his subjects would, in a great measure, be affected thereby. It is not a fanatical suggestion, that the prayers of pious Christians, on behalf of the "Son of Heaven," would be heard in the court of heaven, particularly if all the available means be employed to inform, enlighten, and affect his mind. It is not impossible that a remonstrance drawn up by Christian missionaries, may reach the "dragon throne;" or, that a devoted and zealous preacher of the Gospel should get introduced to court, and plead the cause of Christianity in the imperial ear: and though the expression of his "holy will" might, at first, prove unfavourable, yet the repetition of such attempts might, in time, prove successful; and induce the government to grant free toleration to the profession of real godliness, through the length and breadth of the land. The man, who should make this the business