Page:The Chinese Empire. A General & Missionary Survey.djvu/58

22 Bishop Moule), with his family, moved to Hangchow in Chekiang. This was an important occasion, for it was the first definite case of inland residence at other than a Treaty Port, though the settlement of the American Presbyterians, as mentioned above, at Tengchow on the coast, some 55 miles from the nearest Treaty Port, must not be overlooked. The American Presbyterians and American Baptists soon followed to Hangchow, and in November 1866 Mr. Hudson Taylor made that city the first headquarters of the newly-formed China Inland Mission. It should also be mentioned that the United Methodist Free Church commenced its work in Ningpo in 1864.

Although great opportunities for the evangelisation of China were presented to the Christian Church by the signing of the Tientsin Treaty, unfortunately the Civil War in America seriously crippled the Missionary Societies of that country, and a spirit of religious indifference was no less seriously affecting the Churches of Great Britain. In 1860, when the Peking Convention was signed, the total number of missionaries in China is estimated to have been about 115; while in March 1865, when the China Inland Mission was projected, the total was only 112. When the year 1866 dawned, there were in all only 15 Central Mission Stations, which were all at open ports, with the exception of Tengchow, which had been opened by the American Presbyterians in 1861; Kalgan, on the Mongolian frontier, which had been opened by the American Board in 1865; and Hangchow, which had been opened by the present Bishop G. E. Moule in 1865. These stations were all located in 7 provinces (including Formosa), all coast provinces, with the exception of Hupeh, in which Hankow is situated.