before in the history of the world have had a chance to rise, but somehow, of late years, by the circulation of Gospel truth among them, they have grasped the great idea that in Christ and Christianity alone is there hope for them in this life and in all that may come after it.
The sympathy of the Saviour was especially given to this class. He rejoiced that “to the poor was the Gospel preached.” His early ministry taught that God, who “made of one blood all nations of men,” had forbidden these false distinctions and that any man was to be “called common or unclean.” In this spirit our Mission went to this people, and the following table presents the blessed results so far realized.
We, first of all, present at suitable intervals up to 1888, and from that date yearly up to 1894, the numerical statistics, and then add to these the educational, financial, benevolent, and other aspects of the work.
| Numerical Statistics. | |||
| Probationers. | Full Members. | Total. | |
| 1859 | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 1863 | 97 | 89 | 186 |
| 1868 | 203 | 388 | 591 |
| 1873 | 599 | 1,173 | 1,772 |
| 1878 | 1,788 | 2,907 | 4,695 |
| 1883 | 2,819 | 3,393 | 6,212 |
| 1888 | 4,782 | 5,065 | 9,867 |
| 1889 | 5,770 | 6,517 | 12,287 |
| 1890 | 17,191 | 9,877 | 27,068 |
| 1891 | 18,017 | 10,615 | 28,632 |
| 1892 | 27,995 | 15,938 | 43,933 |
| 1893 | 36,971 | 20,961 | 57,932 |
Nor do these figures, wonderful as they are, show the full reality of this great ingathering. The statistical reports for 1894 are not yet all at hand, but from such as have reached us we realize that the increase for the present year will probably not fall below the past five years—and we may therefore already
