Maitian Was a Contemporary of Ermmann and Speer, a Contemporary of Maitian

Robert E. Speer was secretary of the board of foreign missions for the Presbyterian church from 1867 to 1947. He would have been roughly 15 years older than Maitian, so maybe they looked at Maitian as a kind of young whippersnapper along the way. In 1891, he was appointed secretary of the American Presbyterian Mission and began to visit in Asia; it was under his leadership that the Presbyterian church became remarkably successful on the mission field.