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On further inquiry I discovered that there was no other way that
the eunuch could have learned about the Gospel, except in the way
indicated. This man was invited to dine with the eunuchs day
after day until he had told them all he knew about Christianity,
after which they requested him to bring in the pastor of the
church of which he was a member, and who was one of my former
pupils, to dine with them and tell them more about the Gospel.
The pastor hesitated to accept the invitation, but as it was
repeated day after day, he finally accompanied the
horticulturist.
When offered wine at dinner the pastor refused it, at which the
eunuch remarked: "Oh, yes, I have heard that you Christians do
not drink wine," and like a polite host, the wine was put aside
and none was drunk at the dinner. During the afternoon they took
their guests to visit some of the imperial buildings, advanced
the sum of three hundred dollars to the horticulturist to enlarge
his plant, and gave various presents to the pastor.
It must not be inferred from this that the Emperor was becoming a
Christian. Very far from it, though the interest he took in the
Christian doctrine set the people to studying about it, not only
in Peking but throughout many of the provinces, as was indicated
at the time by the number of Christian books sold. As early as
1891 he issued a strong edict ordering the protection of the
missionaries in which he made the following statement: "The
religions of the West have for their object the inculcation of
virtue, and, though our people become converted, they continue to
be Chinese subjects
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