Principles of Pedagogics for Home and School — No. 6
W. T. BLAND
When one takes upon himself the responsibility of managing or disciplining others, he assumes a very delicate task, though far too often it is not so considered. God works through natural laws, and every infringement on one of these laws produces its certain results. In other words, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” In the great reckoning day the final rewards and punishments will be dealt out to every individual with justice to all.
God has imposed upon man certain duties and obligations. First of all, parents are intrusted with the governing, disciplining, and training of their own children, and they frequently delegate this power, or authority, to teachers for a certain time, and perhaps in a limited manner. While there are many other governing powers, these are all that can be properly considered in this connection.
Authority
There can be no proper government or discipline without recognized authority. And while authority must be recognized by the children in the home and the pupils in the school, yet the parents and the teachers must remember that authority is to be exercised only in a limited sense, and then only for the good of the children, and not to gratify any selfish propensities. Without authority and the necessary power to execute it, there could be no real government. Children should not only learn to recognize it, but to respect it as well. This principle holds good both in the home and in the school; and where it is lacking, the failure generally comes, not from the children, but from those in charge.
The authority that is backed up by mere brute force certainly has no place in the home or school; it may be necessary in prisons and military posts where desperate characters are to be dealt with; but when these methods are used by parents and teachers, the results can be only harmful. Firmness is, however, a necessary qualification, but it should always be mingled with love and good judgment.
The authority vested in the parents for the regulation of family affairs is heaven-given, and is so understood. May we not say as much for that of the teacher in the school, whose duties and perplexities are often many times greater? I acknowledge that this is not always so considered; that the teacher is subject to far more criticism, sometimes limited or hampered by unwise decisions or actions of inexperienced school boards or officers. The teacher, instead of having the children of only one family to deal with, has them from many families, and through the long, restless hours of the day. I refer now especially to the church-school or grade teacher. The children received into these schools have been brought up under widely different influences and environments. If the best results are to be obtained in the teacher’s work, there must be system, order, regularity, and punctuality,—things that many of these children know little or nothing about, so far as their home training is concerned. There will naturally be instances of rebellion on the part of some, and possibly an unwise sympathy or justification on the part of the parent for the child, not only causing an injury to the child, but to the teacher and school as well.
The very fact that a teacher is in charge of a school implies the possession of authority. This should be strengthened and emphasized by the parents in the home and encouraged by the board in official capacity. Parents do a positive injustice when they criticise a teacher in the presence of their children. The teacher may not be perfect, but she is doubtless the best that could be obtained, and is doing all in her power for the children and for the success of the school. It is positively wrong for parents to try to injure or destroy the authority of the teacher by seeking to break her influence in the minds of their children. It not only works a wrong to that teacher, but to the one who shall follow her, and may prove a lasting injury to the children.
Order and System
Our church schools, academies, and colleges should be models of order and system. A spirit of harmony and genuine brotherly love should prevail in these schools. Patrons and school boards should encourage their teachers to improve and strengthen themselves in every way possible for their work, and should co-operate with them in making it a success.
These schools make a high profession, and have imposed upon them the accomplishment of a great work. It is believed that they are instituted by the special providence of God to do a work for our children and youth that can be done in no other schools. For this reason, if for no other, heaven-born principles should be carried out. First among these is order, “heaven’s first law.” There can be no true success without it. Not only is it necessary in order to insure success in the school, but it should become a very part of the character of each individual child. It will require the hearty co-operation of every one concerned,—officers, teachers, pupils, patrons. Especially is it a rare qualification of the successful teacher.
Then there must be system. The lack of proper system sadly mars the work of many an otherwise good school. Again, let us take our lesson from nature. Study the great system of God in the mighty universe; in the exactness of time; the punctuality in the return of seasons and astronomical events,—all manifesting the wisdom and power of God, from which he would have us gain valuable lessons. There must also be thoroughness and completeness. God performs no haphazard work, and the work done in these schools should be after his own order. “Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well,” is a good motto for every child; it will bring its own reward.
Last, but in no wise least, there should be a high degree of spirituality pervading all the work. This should not be spasmodic nor of a feverish, uncertain character, but always prompted by the deep movings of the Spirit of God. While there may still be objections on the part of some to introducing religion into the regular work of the school, yet if the school work is not neglected, rather, if it is strengthened as it should be, these objections cannot hold good. It is impossible to separate God from religion and spirituality; and if his presence is in the school, these attributes must necessarily be there also.
The standard in our schools in all these things must be lifted up higher and higher. As a higher profession is made, and higher ideals are held, so12must the character of the work be correspondingly higher. God demands that it be so; the world will expect it, as surely as the profession becomes known. This can be done only when right methods are carried out; but it will not be done until teachers are encouraged, if need be assisted, in making deep and thorough preparation of heart, of hand, and of intellect. When these ideals are approached in our schools and in our homes, then will the perplexities of discipline be reduced to a minimum. Until that time is reached, there will be perplexing and oftentimes disagreeable problems to meet, while only a correct knowledge of principles, ability to execute, and the Spirit of God to assist, can lead one on to any degree of success.
The Strawberry or Winter Cherry
By Mrs. P. A. Halbert
MRS. P. A. HALBERT
I WISH to recommend to the readers of the REVIEW a valuable fruit called “strawberry or winter cherry,” “husk tomato,” and sometimes “ground cherry.” It is described in seed catalogues in connection with the tomato, but it is not like the tomato either in growth, form, or taste. Like the tomato, it is easily and quickly grown in one season, and is a fruit of which we can have bushels at trifling cost; and yet few seem to know much about it.
People who raise it, prize it highly. It is enormously productive, and once in your garden, it will come up and thrive year after year. The cherries are less than an inch in diameter, of a strawberry shape, a beautiful, bright yellow color, of a delicate, sweet flavor, and inclosed in a husk, which is easily removed from the fruit. When ripe, they drop to the ground. They begin to ripen early if started in time, and continue to ripen until killed by frosts. Last fall, after frosts came, I counted as many as six or seven hundred cherries yet on the vines, in all stages of development. One could gather a bushel of the fruit from ten good plants.
It is well worth growing for canning purposes, both on account of its fine quality and its immense productiveness. The pretty, bright-yellow fruits also make a handsome dessert dish, and they are excellent to eat raw. Children are delighted with them, and eat the luscious fruit with great relish. They are as pleasing to the eye as to the taste—both as a fresh fruit and also when cooked.
One great advantage this fruit possesses over most fruits is its keeping qualities. It will keep nicely until January, when it may be put into cans, the sauce being as beautiful as the Crawford peach.
In experimenting with the cherry, we find that it combines nicely with stronger flavored fruits, such as the raspberry, grape, elderberry; or with the sour fruits, such as the plum, currant, gooseberry, etc. A quart of the cherries cooked with two quarts of raspberries make what appears to be three quarts of raspberries.
We would advise the readers of the REVIEW who have not yet grown this fruit, to try it this summer. It is not yet too late. If treated as they should be, the plants make a wonderfully rapid growth, and begin to blossom when very small. But the earlier they are planted, the larger the crop.
We saved a large quantity of seed last year, and I would be glad to send some, free, to any one who will write for it, inclosing a self-addressed and stamped envelope. I will also give instructions as to growing. Address Mrs. P. A. Halbert, Taylor, Cortland Co., N. Y.
Practical Hydrotherapy
By GEO. THOMASON, M. D.
Lesson 10 — Sedative, or Quieting, Effects
GEO. THOMASON, M. D.
In a previous article mention was made of the fact that the effects of hydrotherapy might be divided into two great classes: tonic, or exciting; and sedative, or quieting. Illustrations of the various tonic effects and the mode of producing the same have been outlined, and we may now proceed to a study of the second division of the classification.
The necessity for quieting effects arises from the strenuous life led by the majority of civilized men and women of the present age. The mad rush for wealth, fame, political power, the demands of so-called “high life,” worry, overwork, and many other features which might be mentioned, are such a tax upon the vital energy of both men and women that unnatural conditions are produced. These conditions often lead to a voluntary sacrifice of many of the hours which should be spent in sleep, until there results such a hypersensitive or irritable condition of the nerves as to render natural sleep difficult, which necessitates resorting to artificial means of quieting the nerves.
Various indiscretions in reference to diet excite the digestive processes until there is necessity for the administration of a soothing, or quieting, potion. Hasty eating, overeating, too frequent meals, the use of condiments and various indigestibles, irritate the delicate lining membrane of the stomach, and lead to congestion, or too great a quantity of blood, with consequent overstimulation of the glands producing the digestive fluids. This necessitates periods of rest and quiet for the digestive function, or the application of a quieting measure of some sort.
As pointed out in the beginning of this series, water has the advantage over most other remedial agencies in that it is capable of producing almost any desired effect to aid nature in its curative efforts. For sedative effects it is sometimes desirable to use cold water, but when used with this end in view, the application must be continued until reaction is to a large degree suppressed.
The most desirable method of producing a sedative effect is by using water at the so-called neutral point. For the body, this is practically at a temperature of from 92° to 95°. Applications of water at this temperature are always sedative in effect. Immersion of the body in water at a neutral temperature shuts it away from all stimulating and exciting influences which are present under ordinary conditions. Friction of the clothing, changes in the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere, and other varying conditions, produce a constant stimulation of the nerves terminating in the skin. Thus, nerve impulses are incessantly traveling to and from the skin. The relief from the sensations experienced by the body in a bath at the temperature named, permits the nerves to rest, and the nerve cells generating the impulses have a period for the replenishing of their energy.
Such a bath taken at night for thirty or forty minutes, or even for an hour or more, just before retiring, as has been proved in many thousands of cases, enables nervous patients to secure restful sleep, which would otherwise be impossible. No harm can possibly result from a prolonging of the bath to any desired length. It is only necessary to maintain the water at the required temperature, and sleep may be secured while in the bath. Cases are on record of persons who have spent weeks and months continuously immersed in water at the neutral point,—persons who were obliged to remain under these conditions by reason of distressing burns or skin diseases.
The effect of the neutral bath may be continued by enveloping the body in a sheet wrung rather dry from cold water, and covered snugly with a sufficient number of blankets to avoid chilling. The pack may be continued until the sheet becomes dry, which will be several hours, taking care that the covering is not excessive, as this would produce overheating, and stimulation would follow, thus antagonizing the result desired. It is quite a common observation with many13persons that they are able to sleep better after partaking of a light meal just before retiring. Often the drinking of warm milk at bedtime is resorted to. This result is readily explained. Activity of the digestive process necessitates an increased quantity of blood in the region of the stomach. This congestion follows immediately upon partaking of food. Congestion of one part of the body results in the withdrawal of blood from other parts; and when the blood vessels in the region of the stomach are congested, there is a corresponding loss of blood in the brain. This favors sleep. There is consequently lessened brain activity and a tendency to sleep after a hearty meal. Perfect sleep, however, cannot take place while the digestive process is in operation. We may, however, utilize this principle of withdrawing blood from the head, producing the result in another way, and still avoid unnecessarily taxing the digestive process. A hot foot bath will withdraw blood from the brain, and this simple procedure, continued for fifteen or twenty minutes at night, will often result in securing excellent sleep, which would otherwise be difficult to obtain, owing to congestion of the brain and consequent mental activity.
The blood vessels of the abdominal area may also be used as a reservoir into which to draw the blood from the brain. This may be accomplished by hot applications, preferably fomentations, over the abdomen for ten or fifteen minutes just before retiring, rendering the effect permanent by the wearing of a moist abdominal girdle during the night. This girdle should consist of six or eight thicknesses of cheese cloth about eight inches in width, and of sufficient length to encircle the body. The cheese cloth should be wrung rather dry from cold water, placed about the abdomen directly in contact with the skin, and covered with a flannel, which is at least ten inches wide, and of sufficient length to pass around the body three or four times. This flannel should fit snugly, to prevent evaporation at the borders of the girdle. The moist girdle should become warm in at least fifteen or twenty minutes, and should retain its warmth during the night. It will thus act as a mild fomentation, and maintain the increased quantity of blood within the abdominal cavity, and conditions favoring sleep will result.
Two Schools
By H. Van Dyke
I PUT my heart in school,
In the world where men grow wise.
“Go out,” I said, “and learn the rule;
Come back when you win the prize.”
My heart came back again;
“And where is the prize?” I cried.
“The rule was false, and the prize was pain,
And the teacher’s name was Pride.”
I put my heart to school,
In the woods where wild birds sing,
In the fields where flowers spring,
Where brooks run cool and clear,
And the blue of heaven bends near.
“Go out,” I said; “you are only a fool,
But perhaps they can teach you here.”
“And why do you stay so long,
My heart? and where do you roam?”
The answer came with a laugh and song,
“I find this school is home.”
—H. Van Dyke, in Atlantic Monthly.
J. N. ANDERSON
By J. N. Anderson
China
J. N. ANDERSON
It is the general opinion that the recent religious and political convulsion in China is the most significant event of modern history. It can be so regarded, not because so many lives were sacrificed, although about two hundred and forty missionaries and several thousand native Christians perished; nor because the outbreak was of a prolonged character, for it lasted only a few weeks; but because, involving the majority of the race, it involved the well-being, the very destiny, of humanity. This alone could dignify the outbreak of 1900 as the most significant event of our times.
HOUSE BOATS, CANTON RIVER, CHINA
The whole world was directly concerned. On the one hand was the empress dowager at the head of four hundred million souls, representing the oldest and the most interesting empire in the world; while on the other hand were the seven leading powers of the West—Russia, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, England, and America, together with Japan, the foremost power of the Orient. The principals in this struggle were not pigmies, petty princes, but world rulers, upon whose shoulders rests the temporal sovereignty of the world. They represented not one continent, nor two, but in very truth the four continents and the islands of the sea. It was, indeed, one half of the world pitted against the other half.
Up to the time of the uprising, these great powers of the West had stood as deadly political and commercial rivals, ever on the alert to seize the favorable opportunity of crushing one another. Let it be remembered that in this situation these very nations, in a moment's time, as it were, brushed aside or held in abeyance their national jealousies and selfish interests in the face of this greater interest or danger. As if prompted by some magic power, they all at once agreed to dispatch with all possible haste their armies and navies to the mouth of the Peiho.
What was this greater danger, or this absorbing interest? To the student of mere secular history this event has one meaning, while to the person who sees God as the Maker of history, directing all things to the ultimate triumph of his purpose, it has a meaning altogether different. And it is also well to remember in this connection that the occasion and the cause of these mighty world changes are very different. The occasion of the American Civil War was the attack on Fort Sumter, but the cause of that war was a very different thing. The occasion of the mutiny in India was a greased cartridge, but the underlying cause of that awful outbreak was something more serious. That the occasion of the great event of 1900 was the Boxer uprising there can be no question; but back of and beyond all that was a deeper and more far-reaching cause, having its origin in the distant past, and extending in its results into the future. This clash was essentially a racial struggle—the impact of two civilizations. While it is true that all mankind is by nature alike, and, hence, one civilization is, in itself, no better than another, yet for some reason unknown to us, it seemed good to God to cast his revelation into the stream of the Western civilization. It is this element in the Western civilization that lay as the fundamental cause of this14mighty upheaval.
It was to make room for his gospel that God permitted this crisis to arise. No doubt many worldly and selfish interests actuated the nations in this lamentable affair, yet underneath it all, and unknown to the actors, was this divine interest involving the destiny of the world.
Nor is it difficult to see how it all came about. God's purpose is ever unfolding and progressing. Resistance to it always brings a crisis. China, in her blindness and ignorance, refused a right of way to the gospel, and the result could only be a tremendous shock. So far as God's purpose is concerned, the race is a unit, and the gospel of our Lord must, despite obstacles, go to the whole world. God said, “I will work, and who shall let [hinder] it?” This applies to nations as well as to individuals.
A prominent writer has recently set forth this truth in the following thought: “It is possible for every one of us to become a little cog in the great wheel of God's eternal purpose that moves the universe; but if we fail thus to fit into God's plan, we shall be ground to powder.” This truth so well put is no less true of nations than of individuals—a fact to which history abundantly testifies. As well might China or any other nation attempt to stop the sun in his course as to try to arrest the progress of God's purpose. The gospel, which prepares the world for the coming of Christ, must be proclaimed to the entire race.
That God's hand guided and overruled in this great upheaval, there can be no doubt; and the correlative truth is equally patent, that by this shaking of four hundred millions our responsibility as bearers of light is greatly increased. If God by such means sets before us open doors, we must see in it an urgent call to enter and bear solemn witness to the truth committed to us. As this great Oriental world is opening up, men who have political and commercial interests to promote are bending all their energies and enlisting all their resources to push their schemes. With how much greater zeal and enthusiasm should we as ambassadors for Christ stand ready just now to enter and advance the claims of the gospel? We are years behind in entering this great field; yet at this late hour there are doors swung wide open, inviting young men and young women of consecration.
Of the many young men and young women in the United States and elsewhere, there must be scores who stand ready, or will soon be ready, to give their lives to this great work. It calls for workers of careful training, sound experience, and, above all, of consecration and spiritual fervor. How many will within the next few months volunteer to enter upon this work as the Lord opens the way?
Letting Your Light Shine
THERE are two ways of letting your light shine among men. One is that men may see your good works, and glorify your Father; the other is that they may see you, and glorify you. People infallibly discern which of these two ways we have chosen. It is not so much a matter of the thing we do as of the way we do it. If we are unselfish in our hearts, and eager only for God's glory, that spirit will show itself in our work. If we are in it for ourselves, for what we can get out of it for our own interests, we cannot conceal it. The false ring of the metal will inevitably betray us.— Bible Echo.
Customs and Conditions, Religious and Moral
By CHAS. GRIN
Belgium
Customs and Conditions, Religious and Moral
CHAS. GRIN
THE people of Belgium are genial, hospitable, and generally intelligent. They make excellent workmen in all classes of industry. They are also a people which, in general, love neatness. When the miner has finished his day's work, he washes himself from head to foot, and changes his garments. The housewife takes great pains, and spares neither water nor soap, to maintain the cleanliness of her dwelling.
The curse of intemperance rests heavily upon this country. In spite of the efforts of several temperance societies, which have been working for a number of years, there are about two hundred thousand taverns, which annually sell nearly seventy-five million liters of alcohol, or eleven and one-half liters per capita. The annual expense for alcoholic drinks is one hundred million dollars, or over fifteen dollars per capita. Tobacco is also excessively used. It is by no means rare to meet children of eight or ten years of age, or even younger, completely given up to this pernicious habit. As would be naturally expected, debauchery marches hand in hand with drunkenness. The corruption of society is greatly hastened by the “kermesse,” or village bacchanalians. The police are unable to stem the inrolling floods, so crimes, thefts, and public assaults of all sorts multiply, especially in the centers of industry.
Among the working class, a considerable number of adults do not know how to read or write, but the government has greatly improved the public instruction, and in most places there are a sufficient number of good communal schools; but a large number of children are placed in the factories at the age of ten or twelve, and many soon forget what they have learned.
Besides several thousand Protestants, the population is mostly Catholic or unbelievers. In the industrial centers, socialism and incredulity predominate, while in the country places the priests still possess much influence. A society has been working for the evangelization of Belgium for more than sixty years. The churches of this society have a membership of about six thousand, the majority of whom are indifferent in religious matters.
From its beginning, our work has met with the opposition of the clergy. The message has been received by some Protestants who desire to follow the Word of God rather than the traditions of men. The work among the Catholics will demand perseverance. Many regard Catholicism as only a form, but remain attached to it to ease their consciences, or to secure material advantages. The love of the truth, and the spirit of sacrifice and self-abnegation are greatly lacking among those who profess Christianity. Nevertheless God has a people in the midst of this Babylon, and they will finally respond to his appeal. Now is the time to sow, the doors are open wide, and liberty exists to announce the message and spread abroad our printed matter. May the Lord of the harvest send workers into his field, that the last message may be proclaimed throughout the country. Who will respond to the urgent call?
Trust in God
“TRUST in God, as Moses did, let the way be ever so dark, and it shall come to pass that your life at last shall surpass even your longing.”
New Highways for the Gospel
Every discovery and every invention should be used and may be used for the glory of God in the progress of his kingdom. Already steam, electricity, photography, printing, and innumerable other modern discoveries have been employed to harness the powers of nature to the chariot of the Lord. When missionaries first sought to carry out the “great commission,” they were at the mercy of wind and wave in long and perilous voyages. Now the highways on land and sea are “prepared for the Lord” by railroads and steamships, which carry the ambassadors of the cross with their “good tidings to all people.”
In Asia the railroads are now binding the nations together with bands of steel. The transsiberian road has already carried missionaries to their fields of labor in China. The journey from London to Shanghai can be made in six or seven weeks, at a cost of about two hundred dollars, including all expenses. In Asia Minor railroads are progressing, and so will make it possible to go from Constantinople to Busrah on the Persian Gulf. China is also being “gridironed,” and India and Japan are already railed.
Two other great projects deserve to be mentioned, as they will greatly facilitate missionary journeys. One is the proposed line in Africa, connecting Cairo with Cape Town, and the other, the “Pan-American” road, connecting Mexico with Colombia. Already the Uganda railway is in operation between the eastern coast and Lake Victoria, and others are approaching this point from the north and south. This opens a large section of the Dark Continent to commerce and travel, and helps on the great Nile irrigation scheme supervised by the British government. But, above all, this railway will facilitate the healing of the “open sore of the world,” and aid in banishing from that territory the horrible traffic in slaves. On the west coast of this enormous continent, Germany has set about the gradual abolishment of this evil. Not content with stopping slave trading, the Germans are determined to end domestic slavery. Masters are compelled to grant their slaves a third of their time to work for themselves, and are to care for them during their sickness and old age. And the slaves themselves are permitted to purchase their freedom. For these decided steps forward we thank God, and take courage.
The American intercontinental link is still “in the air,” but will doubtless materialize in time. These modern inventions should not be monopolized by the devil and his servants, but claimed for God.—The Missionary Review of the World.
The Parsees of India
By G. A. Burrus
G. A. BURRUS
The Parsees of India are descendants of the ancient Persians. When Mohammedanism overspread Persia, those who would not yield their faith fled to India, and for nearly a thousand years have formed in the midst of the Hindus a separate nation, peculiar in race, religion, and social life.
The religion of the Parsees is called Zoroastrianism, from their prophet Zoroaster, who is supposed to have lived about three thousand years ago. They believe that life is governed by two opposing principles, good and evil. All that is good comes from the former, and all that is bad from the latter. The history of the world is the history of the conflict of these two principles.
A PARSEE FAMILY
Their religion is essentially one of works. Their prophet says, 'Your good thoughts, good words, and good deeds alone will be your intercessors.' They believe in the immortality of the soul, and in heaven and hell. There is a bridge in the unseen world dividing heaven and hell. If a man's good actions outweigh his bad ones, he is allowed to pass over the bridge to heaven. If his evil actions outweigh his good ones, he is not allowed to pass over the bridge to heaven, but is hurled down into the abyss of hell.
The Parsees are often called fire worshipers, from their reverence for fire as the most perfect symbol of the divine glory. They are absolutely non-smokers, it being considered sacrilege by them to pollute the air, which is a manifestation of Deity, with tobacco smoke. To the Parsee, the four elements—earth, air, water, and fire—are sacred. For fear of polluting any of them by the touch of death, they neither burn nor bury their dead, but give them to the vultures.
The place where the corpse is exposed is called the tower of silence. It is a large, low, circular building of solid granite, with a sloping platform within, invisible from without, on which the dead body is laid. The moment the corpse bearers withdraw, hundreds of waiting vultures swoop down into the tower, and in a few minutes strip every particle of flesh off the corpse, reducing it to a bare skeleton. The skeleton is left two or three weeks exposed to the sun, when the bones are reverently gathered and placed in a well within the tower, where Parsees of high and low degree are left to turn into dust without distinction.
The Parsees are called the French of India. They are well educated in English, clever and successful business men, and by far the most progressive class among the peoples of India. The Parsee ladies, unlike the Hindus, are well educated, and free to go about just as they choose.
As yet, but very few Parsees have accepted Christianity. Mr. Wilder, in his 'Appeal for India,' writes: 'Their prosperity, their energy, and the prospect of advancement have made many of the younger men materialists. Workers among them should be well educated, and should have a strong personality to pierce the crust of indifference and worldliness. The ranks of Parseeism are unbroken, save in very few instances.'
As we were returning to India, three Parsee gentlemen were passengers with us on the boat from Marseilles to Bombay. One had been traveling in America for a number of months, and the others in Europe. During our two weeks' voyage, we became friends, and had many interesting talks together.
At first they seemed much opposed to Christianity, and did not wish to hear anything from the Bible. One day one of our company was talking with one of these gentlemen in regard to the Jewish people. The Parsee remarked that a very friendly feeling existed between the Parsees and the Jewish people on account of some kindness shown the Jews by their ancestors. They have a legend that many, many years ago, before their nation was broken up, one of their kings had married a Jewish maiden, and that in some way through her connection with the throne, she had been able to confer some great favor upon the Jewish people. He could not remember the legend exactly, but that was the substance of it. The sister said to him, 'We have an account of that in our Bible. Would you not like to read it?' He assented very eagerly, and did not rest until he had read the entire book of Esther. Then he wanted to know if there was anything else in the Bible about his people, and thus an opportunity was given to take up the book of Daniel with him. During the voyage he read the story of Daniel from beginning to end, and expressed himself as much pleased with it. What the result will be, we cannot tell, but I believe impressions were made on his mind that will never be effaced.
Another of these gentlemen was a doctor connected with one of the largest hospitals in Bombay. He had been traveling in Europe for a year and a half, visiting all the leading hospitals, seeking to increase his medical knowledge. This gentleman said that if we opened up mission work in Bombay, he would gladly co-operate with us in treating free any poor people we might find in our work, although he had frankly told us at the beginning of the voyage that he hated missionaries, and could see no reason whatever why they should go to India. These men expressed themselves as thoroughly in sympathy with our efforts to uplift humanity through the medical missionary work, and it is largely through this avenue that this class must be reached.
