p. 9 | Review and Herald, Vol. 80, No. 18. (5/5/1903)

Our Privilege in Service

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.”

Thus Christ has promised to guide, comfort, and sustain his people. He declares, “I will be with you in your work of persuading men and woman to be my disciples.” The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have pledged themselves to aid you in your unselfish efforts to turn men from unrighteousness to righteousness, from darkness to the light of truth.

The commission given to the disciples is given to us. The power promised to them is promised also to us. But have we fulfilled the commission? Have we placed ourselves where God can give us the power that he gave the disciples,—power which enabled them to preach the gospel so mightily that thousands were converted in a day? How can we expect the approval of heaven while we leave our fellow beings unwarned? Our people in the home field have not felt as they should the responsibility of working for their neighbors. They have not prayerfully taken up the work lying before them. Earnest, sanctified efforts have not been put forth for those in America who are unenlightened. In this field there are many unworked cities, many places that should be made centers of truth.

The Need of the Hour

God’s people should no longer fail to comprehend the needs of the present time. Every hour has its importance. They should see the need of standing in their lot and place, and of putting their powers to the stretch in doing their appointed work. Why are there so many idlers among those professedly engaged in the Lord’s service? Every soul may catch the divine fervor. How can these idlers afford to hoard their wealth of knowledge and experience, while precious souls are out of the fold?

My brother, my sister, all your physical and mental and spiritual powers are God’s gifts. Use them wisely. Develop the capabilities that the Lord has given you. Let every power of body and mind be used in earnest, willing service for God.

We need the deep moving of the Holy Spirit. All along the way we see souls dropping out of the ranks. Why?—Because they are not yoked up with Christ. United with him, we are safe in any peril. Faith cleaves to him, twining about him. The promise is fulfilled, “Let him take hold of my strength, that he may make peace with me; and he shall make peace with me.”

Divine wisdom is at our command. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” The Lord Jesus is waiting for his people to feel their need of his grace. When they draw near to him, he will draw near to them, by his power supplying all their needs. As they become one with him, they receive the riches of his grace. They follow in his footsteps, helping those who need help, lifting up the hands that hang down, strengthening the feeble knees, and directing the gaze to him who gave his life for the life of the world.

Perils in the Closing Work

The coming of the Lord is nearer than when we first believed. What a wonderful thought it is that the great controversy is nearing its end! In the closing work we shall meet with perils that we know not how to deal with; but let us not forget that the three great powers of heaven are working, that a divine hand is on the wheel, and that God will bring his purposes to pass. He will gather from the world a people who will serve him in righteousness.

Fearful perils are before those who bear responsibilities in the Lord’s work,—perils the thought of which makes me tremble. But the Word comes, “My hand is on the wheel, and in my providence I will carry out the divine plan.”

Whom He Chooses

The Lord will call young men from the humble walks of life into his service, just as he did when living in person on this earth. He passed by the learned rabbis, to choose as his first disciples humble, unlearned fishermen. He has workers whom he will call forth from poverty and obscurity. Engaged in the common duties of life, and clothed with coarse raiment, they are looked upon by men as of little worth. But they will become precious jewels, to shine brightly for the Lord. “They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels.”

Christ’s perfect knowledge of human nature fits him to deal with minds. He knows just how to treat each soul. He judges not as man judges. He knows the real value of the material upon which he is working. He will give wisdom and knowledge to those who are willing to be controlled by the Holy Spirit, willing to be doers of the word, and not hearers only, willing to uplift Christ before the world.

On the Saviour’s coronation day he will not acknowledge as his any who bear spot or wrinkle. But to his faithful ones he will give crowns of immortal glory. Those who would not that he should reign over them will see him surrounded by the army of the redeemed, each bearing the sign, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. They will see the head once crowned with thorns crowned with a diadem of glory.

In that day the redeemed will shine forth in the glory of the Father and the Son. The angels of heaven, touching their golden harps, will welcome the King and his trophies of victory—those who have been washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb. A song of triumph will peal forth, filling all heaven. Christ has conquered. He enters the heavenly courts accompanied by his redeemed ones,—the witnesses that his mission of suffering and sacrifice has not been in vain.

Will You Accept His Offer?

You may be weak, erring, sinful, but the Lord holds out to you the offer of partnership with himself. He wants you to come under divine instruction. Uniting with Christ, you can work the works of God. It is his righteousness that goes before us, and the glory of the Lord that is our rearward. Ye churches of the living God, study this promise, and think how your lack of faith, of spirituality, of divine power, is hindering the coming of the kingdom of God. If you should go forth to do Christ’s work, angels of heaven would go before you, preparing hearts to receive the gospel. Were every one of you a living missionary, the message for this time would speedily be proclaimed in all countries, to every people and nation and tongue. This is the work that must be done before Christ shall come in power and great glory. Are you individually workers together with God? If not, why not? When do you mean to do your heaven-appointed work?

The Best We Have

CHRIST wants the best. He in the far-off ages Once claimed the firstling of the flock, the finest of the wheat, And still he asks his own with gentlest pleading To lay their highest hopes and brightest talents at his feet. He'll not forget the feeblest service, humblest love. He only asks that of our store we give to him The best we have.

Christ gives the best. He takes the hearts we offer, And fills them with his glorious beauty, joy, and peace. And in his service, as we're growing stronger, The calls to grand achievements still increase. The richest gifts for us on earth, or in the heaven above, Are hid in Christ. In Jesus we receive The best we have.

And is our best too much? O friends, let us remember, How once our Lord poured out his soul for us, And in the prime of his mysterious manhood Gave up his precious life upon the cross! The Lord of lords, by whom the worlds were made, Through bitter grief and tears gave us The best he had.

— Selected.

Our Present Duty

By John M. Hopkins

JOHN M. HOPKINS

It is not usually difficult for me to arrange my thoughts, nor to find words suitable to express them. But for some time there has been an intensity of feeling which I find it difficult to express. And the only solution I can give for this is that the great day of God is just before us. The crisis of the world is here! Everything emphatically declares this. In the physical world the agitation of the forces of nature proclaims it. In the religious world the rapid decline from Bible and primitive holiness proclaims it. In the social world the evils that have obtained, and the unrest, and the wild race for fashion and for pleasure proclaim it. In the financial world the mad rush for money, for possessions; the cruel oppressions of the poor,—these proclaim it. The complete fulfillment of the many lines of prophecy proclaims it. The fulfillment of the many signs of that important event proclaims it. We all at least profess to believe this—all who read these lines say they know this is true.

Well, then, what are we, as intelligent men and woman, going to do in view of this? Are we going to buy more land and build more fine houses and barns, and bury our means and talents in this world to be consumed? Are we going to gratify pride, and ambition, and appetite, and lust, and every desire of the carnal heart, when we know that both we and our possessions can remain but a little while? Brethren and sisters, is that just the thing to do?

Now we know that Jesus said, “Occupy till I come,” and that we should certainly do. We should follow our various crafts and occupations diligently. Every duty and responsibility should be faithfully discharged. The family and home interests should be carefully attended to. That is Christianity. Nothing short of this will meet the mind of God. If ever there was a time when God’s people should be examples of industry and integrity, it is the present time. If ever the time was when men should be manly men, and women womanly women, it is this time. That is Christianity. Nothing else than this will meet the mind of God.

But this does not mean that we should do all this with a view to this life only. In business we should acquire every dollar that we can honestly, and consistently with the principles of righteousness. Then we should study, and pray, and plan to use our means to the best possible advantage. And every dollar, and dime, and nickel, and penny that is not actually required to supply our needs, to make our families and ourselves comfortable and respectable (not to imitate the unnecessary and sinful fashions of the world), should be placed in the cause of Christ. That is where it belongs. It seems to me that as a people to whom God has committed the soul-thrilling message that we have, it should and must be our study to do all in our power to carry it forward. It should be the one thing nearest the heart. We should work, plan, pray; cut off needless expenses, economize; in short, just make this the grand object of life. This does not mean to become fanatical. It means to use good Christian judgment in all we do. Consult necessity in our gratifications rather than sinful inclination. I am not making a coat for others to wear; it fits me also. And this is what I feel. I know that I can do better. I know that many of our people could cut down many unnecessary expenses, which in the aggregate would amount to many thousands of dollars that ought to be put into the Lord’s work. I am fully convinced that if we would make the work of God our first object, the Lord’s treasury would speedily be filled, the rich blessing of heaven would be poured out upon his people, and the work would go with such mighty power that we would all soon be at home.

Isn’t that so, brethren? When we really think we want a certain thing, we work, and plan, and contrive until we get our desired object. Now suppose we as earnestly desired to help the cause of Christ, suppose we really loved the Saviour with all our hearts, and really longed for his appearing, suppose we most earnestly desired to be taken to our beautiful city home, don’t you think we would all work, pray, and plan to deny ourselves of every needless thing in order to aid his precious cause, so our hope could be the sooner realized? I believe this is true. Our zeal for the cause of God may be accurately estimated by the effort we make in its behalf. Not by noise and excitement, but by holy living, by calm, deliberate thought and action.

If God’s remnant, commandment-keeping people were in heart and life as intimately identified with the interests of Christ’s kingdom as he is identified with their best present and eternal interests, what a mighty change would come to his precious cause! How the means would pour in for the prosecution of the work! How the tract and missionary work would rise! How men and women would press into the work until thousands would be heralding the glad message of redeeming love everywhere!

And may not this be? It must be, it will be! And this is not confined to the educated and the wealthy. You, my brother, my sister, although in the really humble walk of life, can do something for Jesus. You can do the best you are able

and his blessing will make that little very much. And it is when we all—fathers, mothers, children, old and young, everywhere—consecrate our all to Christ, to work, to pray, to plan, to save for him,—it is then that the blessing of the Lord will come to our hearts, our homes, our churches; the cause of God will rise in the earth, and victory and immortality will speedily crown our efforts.

For this blessed result let us arise and press forward in the strength of Israel’s God.

Ministerial Experience

By John Norton Loughborough

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

“How ready is the man to go, That God hath never sent! How gentle, yet how slow, The truly eloquent!”

Those possessing real ability to stand in defense of the gospel are not often found pressing their claim to a position in the gospel work. It is after their brethren who have recognized the gift that is in them, and have urged them to improve it, that they are led to confess, “Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!”

This was truly so in the case of our lamented Brother Uriah Smith. Those who knew him personally are well aware of his retiring disposition, and consequent reluctance to anything that appeared like putting himself forward.

After his connection with the REVIEW AND HERALD, and especially after the removal of the Office to Battle Creek, Mich., his brethren in that church saw from his testimonies in the devotional meetings that he had talent qualifying him for ministerial service. When this was mentioned to him, he quickly replied, “I can not preach. I have no talent for that work.”

This position he maintained until about the year 1865, when, one day, a man came to the Review Office from Climax Prairie, about twelve miles from Battle Creek, to secure the services of a minister at a funeral. The woman whose funeral he was to attend had not belonged to any church, but requested that an Adventist minister preach her funeral sermon. It so happened that every Adventist minister was absent from the place that day. The man said that he could not return without an Adventist minister to attend the funeral service, because it was the dying request of the woman, and that must be carried out.

Finally the thought was expressed that Brother Uriah Smith could conduct the service. Hearing this, the man urged Brother Smith so earnestly that he at last consented to go, but said, “I am not a preacher; but under the circumstances I will go and read a few Scriptures, and excuse the matter.” He went. When the man brought him back, he reported to the brethren in the Office that the people were all highly pleased with the service, and said, “If that man’s talk is an excuse for a sermon, we don’t know what a sermon would be; for that excuse was the best funeral discourse we ever heard.” The man further stated, “The people instructed me to say, ‘If there is ever another call at Climax Prairie for one of your ministers to attend a funeral, we hope you will send the man that came to excuse the matter!’”

At the next session of the Michigan Conference Brother Smith was voted a license to preach. He still insisted that he was no preacher. He, however, took a little more time in talking in the devotional meetings of the church than he had previously done. At the conference in the spring of 1866, it was voted that he be ordained and receive credentials. This he would not consent to at that time.

Thank the Lord that this retiring and unassuming brother at last heeded the earnest entreaties of his brethren, and yielded to the evident call to the ministry. Glad are we that his voice has been heard in so many places, sounding forth the same precious truths that have flowed so fluently from his ready pen. Soon will the faithful hear that voice again, in the triumphant shout, “O, grave, where is thy victory?” May it be our happy lot to join with his ascriptions of praise to the Lamb on the other shore.

Send the Best

By Rev. Frederick B. Price

DAVID LIVINGSTONE, in his appeals to England from darkest Africa, reasoned somewhat as follows: When you have a critical case in surgery, you do not choose an amateur, but the most experienced and skillful physician available. Africa is in a critical state. Millions are perishing. Send your best-trained men and women to the rescue! So, too, the late Bishop William Taylor, whose apostolic zeal rivaled even that of Paul, himself urged the conviction that “in missionaries quality is of far greater importance than number.” And the son of Adoniram Judson, in his biography of that great missionary, declares that “Christianity will advance over the earth with long, swift strides when the churches are ready to send their best men, and the best men are ready to go.”

Often the impression exists among Christian people that the heathen of India, for example, are totally ignorant and depraved. On the contrary, many of them are trained in various useful arts, and, as servants, mechanics, merchants, and even professional men, they often astonish those who would evangelize them, by their business shrewdness and philosophic inquiries. To master but one of their languages, match their arguments, win their respect, inaugurate educational and religious enterprises for their betterment, and expose the fallacies of such venerable systems as Hinduism and Buddhism requires the utmost courage and versatility. Only the best-trained workers can hope to succeed, especially under the health limitations of a tropical climate. Yet how often missionary boards have been obliged to accept candidates who, though well-meaning, were ill-prepared for such responsibility! While many of these have wrought heroically, they have realized how much more could have been accomplished if they had been better equipped. Others have discovered their own unfitness, and have either engaged in secular employment or sadly withdrawn from the field. Meanwhile the work has suffered from lack of continuity and efficient leadership. True, “God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise,” and many a luminous chapter could be written of gracious results attending the humblest instrumentality. But the rare endowment and training of Moses, Paul, and Wesley were no hindrance to spiritual conquest when subject to the divine will. All the facts of missionary enterprise that emphasize the importance of sending those who are best equipped, in mind and heart, for so important service.

But are the best willing to go? One would think so, in view of the missionary awakening of recent years, particularly that of the Student Volunteers among the colleges. Recruits already in the various foreign fields are demonstrating the wisdom of their choice, and many others are being stimulated by their example. Yet the emergency of the Christless nations far exceeds the response thus far elicited. Shallow excuses are frequently made by those who ought to heed the divine commission. Bishop Thoburn has observed a singular connection between so-called leadings of Providence and appointment to metropolitan pulpits, in the case of many whom he has sought to enlist as missionaries to India.

If the best equipped are willing to go, is the church willing to send them?— Yes, when fully convinced of her supreme privilege and calling. And she can well afford to do so. What with her splendid educational institutions and throngs of graduates, her steadily increasing wealth, the crowded state of many of the conferences, and the too often unreasonable demands of congregations, the offering of even a tithe of the best-equipped workers for such a cause would react most favorably upon both schools and churches, broaden their sympathies, enlarge the scope of their usefulness, develop much latent talent, and give to the mission fields an unprecedented spiritual quickening. If God gave his only Son for man's redemption, can the church refuse to send her best-beloved sons and daughters to the most spiritually destitute peoples for whom he died? — Rev. Frederick B. Price, of Rangoon, Burma, in The Christian Advocate.

Covering Sin

By D. L. Moody

THERE are two ways of covering sin — man's way and God's way. You cover your sins, and they will have a resurrection sometime; let God cover them, and neither devil nor man can find them. There are four expressions in the Bible with regard to where God puts sins. He puts them “behind his back.” If God has forgiven me, who shall bring a charge against me? “He has blotted them out as a thick cloud.” You see a cloud to-night, and to-morrow there isn't a cloud to be seen. “He casts them into the depths of the sea.” Some one has said: “Thank God that it is a sea, and not a river; a river might dry up, but the sea can not.” The greatest blessing that ever comes to me this side of heaven is when God forgives me. Have you been forgiven? The fourth expression is that he removes them “as far as the east is from the west.” Do you know how far that is? Perhaps some good mathematician will figure that up. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Then make sure that you are forgiven.— D. L. Moody.

The Hard Life

THERE is nothing arbitrary in God's judgments. The way of the transgressor is hard because it brings him into conflict with the world's true order and his own appointed way of growth. Prophet and poet agree that it is out of the sinner's own transgressions that the penalty grows.

“The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices Make whips to scourge us.”

“Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts.”

The sinner's life is a hard life in its penalties. He who sows a sin sows a seed which will spring up and bear fruit after its kind. The sowing men call pleasure, but the harvest all agree is suffering. It is a hard life to suffer for old sins, and harder still to see others suffer. For no man can sow evil, and be sure that none of it will ripen in his neighbor's fields. To reap the evil harvest is bad enough, but to see it ripening in the lives of those we love is harder yet. Our increasing knowledge has only emphasized this certainty of penalty following transgression. The warnings of the book are continually illustrated in the experiences of the world.

The transgressor's life is hard, in its deprivations. The question is sometimes raised whether the sinner does not, after all, get more out of the world than the true disciple. He who has turned from evil to live with God never raises that question. He knows that the earth, without peace of heart, without joy in right and sympathy with good, without the happiness of God's presence and the delight of service, is a hard and narrow and unhappy place. The true and full inheritance of the earth belongs to the children of God, and to no others. To be self-deprived of the highest and the best is to be cheated of what makes our life worth living.

Far back, also, in every transgressor's consciousness lies the hard trial of self-contempt. He may not admit it to his thought. Conscience may be ill educated and under careful discipline; but in the moments when he sees clearly, the sinner is self-judged. God has let us sit upon the seat of counsel, and we see what value we have put upon our souls in bartering with evil.

“Still, as of old, Man by himself is priced; For thirty pieces Judas sold Himself, not Christ.”

It is hard to fear to meet one's own thought sitting as the judge; to dodge and shift and evade the quiet hour that brings self-condemnation. It is hard to be, amid whatever passing joys, without God and without hope in a world that is so full of hope and so bright with the presence of our Heavenly Father.— The Congregationalist.

Experiences in Chile

By H. F. Ketring

H. F. KETRING

Nov. 27, 1902, Elder J. W. Westphal, of Argentina, reached Santiago, Chile, and the following week arrived at the home of the writer in southern Chile. After spending a week in Pua, where we are endeavoring to establish a school, we started south to visit some companies of Sabbath-keepers.

Reaching Nueva Imperial the twelfth of December, we spent Sabbath and Sunday with the company of believers at that place. Monday, after a horseback ride of fifteen miles, we boarded a little river boat, and reached Bajo Imperial. At this place we visited the two families that I baptized last year, and found them firm in the faith. The following Friday the two brethren accompanied us back to Nueva Imperial, where on Sabbath we united all the believers in that part in a church organization of twelve members. The next day we returned home to attend to some things before starting on a more extended trip in the north.

We started north Tuesday morning, December 30, reaching Valparaiso, Wednesday evening, the 31st. Quickly the few believers there were notified of our arrival, and all met together, eager to hear the blessed Word. There we remained, instructing them, until the following Monday. Sunday I baptized two in the Valparaiso harbor. Others desire baptism later.

Monday evening, Jan. 5, 1903, we took a German steamer for Iquique, the headquarters of our work on the west coast, arriving there Friday, a distance of about nine hundred miles. There we were sorry to find Sister Ogden sick in bed, but before we left, about ten days later, she was able to be around again.

During our stay in Iquique, we talked over the plans for the coming year, and we believe that the Lord helped us in reaching decisions. Evening services were conducted regularly in Spanish, to which we had a good outside attendance.

Our hearts were made sad to find the church in that place much distressed, as the result of losing eight of their believers. A short time before, a man had gone there who was formerly an Adventist, and as the result of their not being thoroughly instructed on the sanctuary and the twenty-three hundred days, he was able to confuse the minds of some, and lead them off into heresy and fanaticism.

For several years our work here has been opposed by this same fanaticism, which, if all were thoroughly established on the sanctuary and the three messages, would have no effect whatever. Since coming to this field, my work has largely been to instruct and teach our people these things, that they may be able to resist such doctrines.

We left Iquique for Valparaiso on a freight steamer, Tuesday, January 20, and were nine days in reaching Valparaiso. After spending a day in Valparaiso, we went to Santiago, the capital of Chile, where we have a church of forty or fifty members.

On Sunday, February 1, desiring to hold the business meeting of the church, we called for the reading of the names, but found that there was no authorized list of members, neither was there any record of the organization of the church. It therefore seemed necessary to organize the church. We examined each one thoroughly, and received forty-two members. There were a number who lived in other places who were not present. Several whose lives were not in harmony with the truth, and who were bringing a reproach on the church, remained outside.

In the evening services we had a large outside attendance, the greater number having to stand. Considerable interest was manifested, and a modern Demetrius, a Catholic priest, determined that the exposition of the untruthfulness of the doctrine of purgatory and other like Romanistic teachings should cease, lest their traffic in souls should suffer.

Accordingly, he banded together a hundred men to attend the meeting the following night to cause a disturbance. Being notified of their intentions, we were not taken by surprise. The police headquarters, also hearing of it, sent seven mounted policemen, four ordinary policemen, and two of the secret police force, so that order might be maintained.

The Lord gave me courage in speaking the truth, and as the message was urged home to them, some sneered, while others looked thoughtful. As soon as I had finished speaking, the “temple keeper” rushed forward with the Catholic Bible in hand, declaring that he would prove the existence of purgatory from it. At that the mob from outside filled the room till there was no standing room. I told him to sit down, as the service was not over yet, which he did. I then motioned to the crowd to be silent, and we announced and sang the closing hymn.

After the song he rose again, while the crowd cheered him. But his mind was so confused that he could not find the text he wanted to read. At times he searched for five or ten minutes for a single text. I then improved the time preaching to the people until he found it and read it, after which I continued speaking. They manifested a good degree of respect, and listened attentively. Finally, seeing that their champion was unable to prove anything, they turned against him, and made fun of him. After more than an hour spent in that way, I asked him if he was ready to close the meeting, and the poor man was indeed glad to do so. After singing, we were dismissed with the blessing of the Lord. Thus the Lord gave us the victory. To him be all the praise. Pray that the good seed may find root in some hearts.

Brother Westphal had gone home the day before this meeting, but I remained until the following week. Pray for our work among these priest-ridden people.

Pua, Chile.

Santa Catharina, Brazil

By F. W. Spies

Colonization and Agriculture

F. W. SPIES

THE efforts to colonize the province of Santa Catharina really date from the declaration of Brazil’s independence from Portugal in 1822, and almost from the beginning an effort was made to induce German colonists to come to this province. The inducements offered by the government generally included free passage from Europe to Brazil, the few simple tools (ax, hoe, and brush-hook) needed to go to work, and in some instances also provisions until the colonist could raise something to sustain himself and family. Yet with all this, the colonists generally had a hard time, as most of those testify with whom I have conversed concerning their early experiences in Brazil.

Even to this day, many who come here, no sooner take in the situation than they

decide that Brazil is not the promised land they had expected; and if they have sufficient means to do so, they return by the first steamer to the place whence they came. Those who lack the means to return are forced to accept the situation, and with many tears they go to work to establish a home in Brazil. Some seem to adapt themselves to the situation from the beginning, and express themselves as fully contented, but these are only a small percent of the whole.

But when we stop to consider the situation, it is little wonder that these people feel disappointed. Wonderful reports are circulated in Europe concerning the advantages and opportunities offered in Brazil. The land is represented as being both very cheap and productive, and still other inducements are held out. All this tends to dazzle the people living in the overcrowded cities of Europe, as also the peasants who sigh under the heavy burdens imposed upon them by the European estate holders, and with a desire of securing their freedom, and thus bettering their condition, they come to Brazil.

But when the emigrant sets his foot on Brazilian soil, and is shown his future possession, lo, it is covered with dense forest, giant trees; and as in most cases he is a man who lived in a city, even in Germany, and has never taken a lesson in the science of felling these monsters, no wonder that he shrinks from the thought of making a home in such wilds. But he is chained by circumstances; there remains for him but one thing to do, that is, go to work, and this he does, though as a rule against his will.

The government having furnished him an ax, a brush-hook, and a hoe, his agricultural implements are supplied, and he proceeds to clear a piece of land. This is hard work, especially to one unaccustomed to such labor. Next he will build himself a small shanty or hut, usually covered with a roof of leaves. He will also be likely to experience much difficulty in getting the needed food for his family the first year; for after he has cut down a roca (a patch of ground to plant), the timber must lie a long time, sometimes even half a year, before he can burn it; and when it is finally burned, only the small trees and the limbs of the larger ones are consumed by the fire, and his future corn field is covered with large, charred tree trunks lying across one another, and making it almost impossible to move around among them. But this is the soil on which he must raise his crops, and so he climbs around among the tree trunks as best he can, planting his corn, which is the chief product raised in this province, as it serves as the staff of life for both man and beast.

The tuber family is well represented, there being five or six varieties, as the sweet potato, aipim, mandioca, Irish potato, arrowroot, etc. Bananas and oranges are found in great abundance. The mamão, pineapples, watermelons, figs, and some small fruits also do well. The chief articles of export are sugar, cachasse (a rum made from the sugar-cane. This rum is very cheap, and as a consequence there exists much drunkenness), tobacco, and farina, a preparation made from the mandioca root.

From the stock of agricultural implements already named, and from the condition of the planter’s land, the reader will observe that the planter in Santa Catharina, especially in the beginning, must do his work all by hand, a task which is very laborious. Then, too, as a rule the land is very hilly, which makes it impossible for many to employ horse and plow even at a later time when the land is sufficiently cleared so that they could otherwise be used. Hence most of the planters prepare their ground for planting with a hoe, and the crops, when gathered, are carried home in sacks on the back, frequently as far as one fourth of a mile, up and down steep hills. These conditions make it necessary for the women, and even the children, as soon as they are able to do so, to assist the head of the family in his arduous duties in gaining a support for himself, his wife and children.

Thus the life of the Brazilian planter is a hard one from first to last. He has no luxuries, and nearly always he lacks even the ordinary comforts of life. Could our brethren in the United States see in all its details the life of the colonist as it is here, they would wonder how these people can get along, yet we find many of them ready to accept the truth for these last days, and especially is it a comfort to them to realize that the Lord will soon come to take them to a better home. Many more laborers are needed here, to finish the work only begun.

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