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Consul General. I lived with the latter gentleman, but dined with the Bishop and consulted him at length on several different occasions.
[[underlined]]BISHOP ROOTS[/underlined]] He was anxious to be of service to me on my present mission, and to the American School in the future. His studies of the Chinese classics, of which he is a noted scholar, gave him deep interest in Chinese history, religion and literature.
In his opinion, the missionaries of his church in the different parts of China would gladly cooperate with the work of the School by sending to headquarters accounts of local antiquities. He pointed out that they were in close touch with their native communities and that their training in the language tended to give them an interest in history etc. He advised that we make a catalogue of missionaries according to Provinces, and then arrange to organize them with the help of their Bishops and the Board Secretaries at the various headquarters. Speaking for the members of his church, he volunteered to be
our agent for them throughout China, and when the time should come, to make a personal appeal for their interest. In this way he believed that we might also be of service to the China Monuments Society, and they to us.
Concerning the manner of training the future members of the staff, Bishop Roots entirely approved of the plan which I had elaborated with the aid of Bishop Graves and Dr. Hawkes Pott of Shangh^[[ai]]. His opinion on this matter should receive the more consideration for the reason that, as a missionary Bishop, he is constantly faced with the problem of training young