Molly Byrne was the daughter of very poor Roman Catholic parents. Her mother was a superior woman for her station in life, but her father was a drunken, good-for-nothing fellow. When Molly was about fourteen years of age, she spent a good deal of time in the house of some Protestant neighbors, giving help in the housework and with the children. These Protestants—Mr. and Mrs. Bentley—were godly people, and Mrs. Bentley did not fail to speak to Molly upon the needs of her soul. One thing took a fast hold upon the girl's mind, and that was that the worship of images was an abomination to the Lord. Mrs. Bentley also pointed out that, in every catechism published in Ireland, the second commandment, forbidding the making of images and the worship of images, is omitted, and the last commandment divided into two parts to make up the number to ten. When Molly fully grasped the fact that she had been deceived, and that God had expressly forbidden image worship, a fixed determination settled in her mind that she would never bow down to images as long as she lived. In the churches she saw images on every hand, and from that time forward she never felt happy inside a Roman Catholic church.
It happened some time after this, that the Wooden Hall of the Irish Church Missions was brought to the town, and Mrs. Bentley took Molly to hear the preaching. The girl listened with a glad heart to the story of the cross, and rejoiced to learn of a living, loving Saviour, able and willing to save to the uttermost all who come unto God through Him. She heard, also, of many of the errors by which Roman Catholics are deluded, and from that time, Molly made up her mind to put her trust only in the Saviour, and no more to take part in worship which she saw was so contrary to the will and Word of God. From that day she went no more to mass or confession. Then there was
“War in the Camp.”
Her father, a dissolute, wicked man, was nevertheless a bigoted Roman Catholic. He determined, as he said, to “knock the religion out of her.” Poor Molly was the object of cruel and barbarous persecution. She carries to this day a terrible scar on her head, made by an attempt to kill her with a poker; and a gash on her neck, where her father tried, upon another occasion, to cut her throat. Molly, in speaking of these experiences, says she was never in the least moved from her faith by her father's cruelty, and even when she was suffering most at his hands, a wonderful joy would come into her heart, and she knew and felt that Jesus was with her. “The joy of the Lord” became her “strength.” At last, the mother interfered, and said to her husband: “It is of no use to beat Molly. This religion has got into her, and all the beating in the world will never knock it out. So you would better let her alone, and we must do the best we can under the circumstances.”13
The poor child was therefore let alone, but was told by her parents that while she was under age and lived in their house they would not permit her to avow herself a Protestant.
It was at this time that I became acquainted with Molly. My wife engaged her as general servant, but without knowing anything of her past history. She was a delicate young woman of twenty. She asked to go home for a little while on the day after her arrival, as her mother was dangerously ill. When she arrived at her home, she found her father drunk and violent. He actually struck the poor woman lying helpless upon her bed, whereupon Molly felt that her mother's life would be in danger if left in his cruel hands. Accordingly, she went for the police, and had him arrested and locked up for the night. The next day he was brought before the magistrate and fined. This happened on a Thursday.
The Cost of Fidelity.
On the Monday following, we went—my wife and I—to the weekly prayer-meeting. On returning, we were met at the gate by Molly, pale and trembling, and hardly able to walk. Her father was out upon the road, walking up and down before the house, and evidently bent upon mischief. This had frightened the girl, and brought on a serious illness. We got Molly into the house, and while my wife put her into bed, I went for a doctor. He found her very ill, and said her only chance of recovery was to get her into a hospital; she would require special treatment, which could only be given there. I tried all the hospitals, but found that the only one into which I could get her admitted was managed by nuns. Molly said she was quite willing to go there, and was not afraid, as no one on earth would alter her convictions or take away her faith in the Saviour.
Accordingly, we carried the girl down in the blankets and put her into a carriage, and my wife with fear and trembling handed her over to the mother superior. Molly was hardly settled in bed when the time had arrived for the evening recital of the rosary. This consists largely of an interminable invocation of nearly all the saints in the calendar, and this is recited in turn by the patients in the ward until the list is exhausted. When it came to Molly's turn, she was silent. One of the patients said, “Why don't you say the rosary?” “I don't know it,” said Molly. The next question, “Are you a Protestant?” “No.” “Are you a Catholic?” “Yes; I'm a Catholic, but not a Roman Catholic.” (Molly was not allowed by her parents to say she was a Protestant, and she had not yet joined any Protestant church.)
This was at once reported to the mother superior, who interviewed Molly, and sent for the priest. When he heard that she had not been to confession for five years, nor inside a Roman Catholic church for three years, he was full of fury; he threatened her with all sorts of pains and penalties, and demanded that she should make an instant and full confession. She replied that she had nothing to confess, she had made a full confession of her sins to her Saviour, and He had pardoned her. The priest went away in a great rage, and another—an older and more experienced man—was sent to deal with her. He inquired diligently as to the state of her mind, and soon saw that she was hopelessly
Lost to the Church of Rome.
He then tried to find out the person to whom she owed her conversion; but Molly told him that long ago, when a child, she had come to the conclusion that the worship of images was a grievous sin in the sight of God, and since then she had practically ceased to believe in the Roman Catholic religion.
When the nuns found out the true state of affairs, their heartlessness was soon made manifest. Many people believe that a convent is always an abode of peace and love, and that nuns are the embodiment of the meekness and gentleness of Christ. Such are greatly mistaken. Molly experienced that the tender mercies of these poor deluded creatures were cruel. They left her for three days entirely uncared for, and gave her neither food nor medicine; and if it had not been that the young woman in the next bed took pity upon her, and gave her a drink of milk, nothing would have passed her lips for three days. At the end of that time she put on her clothes, walked out of the hospital, and made her way home to her mother as best she could. We then managed to get her into a hospital in Dublin, and after a month's treatment, she returned home fairly well.
Molly is now married to a young man, who, like herself, is the only Protestant in his family. He, too, had seen the error of Romanism, and turned to the Lord. They have both suffered persecution for Christ's sake. Let us pray God to keep them from all that would harm them, and give them such things as be profitable for their soul's good. May He enable them to adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things, and stand firm in the liberty wherewith Christ has made them free.
GOD SENT HIS LIGHT TO ME.
By Mrs. J. W. Dennis
YEARS I lived like many others
Thinking I was doing right,
Till the Saviour send His servant,
Made my pathway clear and bright.
Praise the Lord, O praise the Lord,
For His blessed holy Word!
Now I'm walking in the light,
And His law is my delight.
I like others read my Bible,
Tried its precepts to obey,
Blindness keeping me from seeing
God's own day, the seventh day.
Long I followed blindly on
In the way the world has gone,
Till the Lord sent me the light
Of His truth, and set me right.
Now I'm living for my Saviour,
His commandments I'll obey;
Ever I will work for Jesus,
In His vineyard day by day.
O that you, dear friend, may find
This same Saviour, true and kind,
Learn of Him, the Truth, the Way,
Sinner's Friend, the Christian's Stay.
MRS. J. W. DENNIS.
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
A NEW house of worship is being erected by the church at Elk City, O. T.
FOUR candidates were recently baptized at McLoud, O. T., by Brother Wm. Braley.
FIVE adults and four children are the fruit of labor at Dallas, Texas, by Brother Thomas Freeze.
BROTHER HANS BONDE, who has been laboring in Oklahoma, will go to the Alberta, Canada, mission field in the near future.
A CHURCH was organized at Urbana, Ill., March 10, by Brother W. D. Parkhurst, president of Southern Illinois Conference.
AFTER a discourse by Brother Wm. Covert at South Side Church, Chicago, February 17, three candidates were baptized.
THE CLAREMONT UNION COLLEGE, Kenilworth, near Cape Town, is now recognized as the training school for South African laborers. School commenced January 24.
IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN MISSIONARY, Brother D. H. Groenewald, who has been laboring among the Dutch people, reports the baptism of three persons at Warmwater, and two at Bonnie Vale.
AFTER a few meetings held at Douglas, Texas, by Brethren N. V. Willess and W. L. Brandon, six members were added to the church. Others convinced deferred action until quarterly-meeting.
AT THE RECENT meeting of the Southwestern Union Conference the following officers were chosen: President, Clarence Santee; secretary and treasurer, C. N. Woodward, educational secretary, C. B. Hughes; auditor, H. T. Curtis; Union Conference Committee: Clarence Santee; presidents of local conferences, C. N. Woodward, D. C. Ross, M.D., W. C. Green, M.D., H. T. Curtis.
AT THE SESSION of Northern Illinois Conference, held last month, officers were elected as follows: President, Wm. Covert; vice-president, S. P. S. Edwards; secretary and treasurer, H. E. Moon; field missionary secretary, I. D. Richardson; Sabbath-school secretary and educational superintendent, Pearl Hallock; executive committee—Wm. Covert, S. P. S. Edwards, H. Hansen, S. Mortensen, F. J. Harris, J. W. Cummins, W. T. Bland.
THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES-DEMOCRAT shows commendable patriotism in giving space to matter anent the general principle of Sunday laws. In the issue of March 3 there appears a lengthy article by Brother S. B. Horton, on the subject, “Why We Should Oppose Sunday Laws;” and the issue of March 12 gives liberal extracts from a discourse by Brother Horton, before a large congregation. The discourse was based on Matt. 22: 21: “Render therefore unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar’s; and unto God the things that are God’s.”
WE acknowledge receipt of a copy of the December number of Fuh In Hsuen Pao, our Chinese periodical, published at Shang Tsai Hsien, Honan, China. A letter to Brother E. R. Palmer from Dr. H. W. Miller says: “This little paper is gaining in circulation, altho we can but say that we have made a start. We have some men who devote their entire time now to selling it. We are receiving some subscriptions from the states and other lands. I see no reason why it should not be placed in the hands of every Chinese in these lands, as the Chinese very seldom learn enough English to secure any book learning in a foreign tongue.” Price, 25 cents a year, monthly, including postage. Address Dr. H. W. Miller, as above.
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The Saloon According to the Saloon-Keeper.
ONE of the most highly respected inhabitants of this city, interested in the special religious meetings of the church on the lower West Side, felt it to be his duty to visit eight saloons. He desired, if possible, to secure, and was ready to pay for the use of, a saloon for the holding of a Christian meeting, and also to sow some seeds of truth in the hearts of those to whom he might obtain access. He is no ordinary volunteer missionary, but a man of culture, of wide experience, and who during the civil war obtained almost a national reputation by his efforts to provide libraries for the soldiers in camp. Happening to meet him, he gave us an account of his experiences with the proprietors and bartenders of saloons, which was of much interest and shed such light on the general spirit of the business that we asked him to write for us an accurate statement of his visits, of how he was received. He has complied, and we present the result:
First I entered the saloon nearest the church. The following conversation, in these or nearly these words, occurred:
“Are you the proprietor?” “Yes; what do you want?” “I want to get this room for a meeting to-morrow afternoon at four o’clock.” “What kind of a meeting?” “A Christian meeting.” “You can’t have it. Are you just off the island?” “You’d get some money.” “Don’t want your money. I’ve got so much money now I don’t know what to do with it. See that gold? See these bills?” “Will you come to a four o’clock meeting in the church and tell your experience, how you got into this business, what keeps you in it, and how it works?” “No; that church stands for getting people to heaven; this business gets people to hell.” “I have not taken any intoxicating liquors in sixty-two years.” “I haven’t taken any in forty-four.”
In another saloon, the proprietor said: “A man can not follow this business and get to heaven.”
In another, the proprietor, a Roman Catholic and member of — Church, said: “I wouldn’t be in this business if I could get anything else to do. Well, somebody will do it, and it brings in the heaviest revenue to the state.”
In two other saloons, two young men selling, not proprietors, promised to attend the meeting the Sunday night following.
The reference to “the island” needs some explanation to persons not familiar with this city. Blackwell’s Island contains a number of public institutions, including an asylum for the insane, and the proprietor expressed his surprise that anyone should wish to hold a religious meeting in his saloon by intimating that he thought the applicant a little out of his mind. The terrible frankness of his recognition of the nature of his business was accentuated by the fact that for forty-four years he had found it to be to his advantage to be a total abstainer. There was something pathetic in the responses of the others. It is such places that some clergymen and their parishioners and many politicians would like to have open on Sunday, except a few hours in the morning.—The Christian Advocate.
HELPS FOR YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS.
A CARELESS servant will sometimes be found scratching matches upon a door or window frame. These unsightly marks may be entirely removed with a soft rag dampened with warm water and dipped in powdered pumice stone. The damp cloth is an invaluable adjunct to the thorough sweeping and dusting of a room, and a damp chamois leather is an excellent polisher. Its constant use will keep the furniture in shining countenance. After rubbing with the damp chamois, use a dry leather or old silk duster to polish. The cloth should never be wet, but should be wrung as dry as possible.
Remember that there is just as much dust on the floor as there is on the furniture that stands on it, and don't consider your room properly dusted until you have wiped up that on the floor with a damp cloth. After the carpet has been thoroughly swept, rub it with a flannel wrung out of warm water to which a tablespoonful of turpentine has been added. Wash only a small portion at a time, and rub it as dry as possible with a clean cloth before proceeding to the next spot. To clean painted woodwork without scrubbing, cover the soiled places with kerosene oil; let it remain a few moments, then wipe off with a soft cloth. Stained woodwork may be cleaned by wiping off with cold tea. To clean a willow chair so it will look like new, first brush away all the dust that may have accumulated in the crevices, and then scrub with a strong lather of ivory soap and warm, soft water; and if the chair is much soiled, a little ammonia should be added to the suds; and if desired, the chair can be painted white or stained brown after cleaning.
Dining-room chairs can be cleaned without any injury to the paint or varnish, by dipping a soft cloth in the suds and washing carefully a small portion at a time, and then wiping dry with another soft cloth, and after the whole chair has been cleaned, polish with a piece of old silk. If the work is carefully done the chairs will come through the cleaning process looking as good as new.
FAMILY WORSHIP.
It matters not what societies and organizations there may be for the nurture and development of Christian life, there is nothing to take the place of the Christian home, and there is nothing in the home to take the place of family worship. Other things being equal, there is most of piety and strong character to be expected from that home in which God’s Word is read daily and prayer offered to God by the united household. Out of such homes go men and women to walk reverently and obediently before God, to do His will, and to serve Him in their generation.
If family worship were carried on in every home of a congregation, the church would be stronger and more hopeful, even without prayer-meeting, Sabbath-school, or Christian Endeavor, than it would be with these last three, but without family worship. This may seem a very sweeping statement, but if one will stop to consider what is involved, he will scarcely care to question it. The Bible would be read aloud in the presence of the members of all these families, including the children, every day, and prayer would be engaged in which would, necessarily, be much more personal than is possible in most public services. The house would be distinctly religious in its atmosphere, and children would be brought under religious influence as they would under no other circumstances.
But it would not be necessary to forego all the other services to which reference has been made. They would be all the more appreciated and the better sustained by reason of the influences of all these family altars, as would be all the other public services of the sanctuary. A community can be no better than its homes, and a church often lacks spirituality because its homes are deficient in divine grace. Where parents lead their children to serve God, the pastor can lead the community to follow Him.
But however good and pious the pastor may be, he is sure to be weak if the parents are not upholding his hands by piety at home, as Aaron and Hur upheld the hands of Moses.
If the people of this age want a revival, let them commence working for it and praying for it at home, with their children gathered about them in the exercises of family prayer. God blessed the house of Obed-edom while the Ark of the Covenant abode under their roof, and He will still bless the homes where He is loved and honored, as He can not bless “the families that call not upon His name.” The Jewish fathers were to hold the Passover service in their homes, and they were to explain to their children what they meant by the service, and out of that fact grew up the whole nation that was knit together as one great homogeneous people. If fathers would often explain to their children what is meant by the great services and sacraments of our evangelical faith, there would be more to follow Jesus Christ as the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world.15
Many fathers excuse themselves from holding family worship by saying they are so hurried that they do not have time. There is certainly some time during the whole twenty-four hours of each day, when the entire family could be gathered together for five or ten minutes. Presumably it is just before breakfast or just after the evening meal. Let all assemble gravely for a little time. Let a passage of Scripture be read aloud by the father, or by the family alternately, or in unison, and then, kneeling down, let a short prayer be addressed to God, thanking Him for His mercies, and beseeching Him to continue protection, forgiveness, guidance, and grace, closing, if desirable, with the Lord’s Prayer in unison.
Such scenes as this, depicted, as we find it, in Burns’ “Cotter’s Saturday Night,” made Scotland great as a God-fearing people, or occurred because her people were to have been God-fearing. We must make a new effort to establish, or to reestablish, family worship in all our families. We can not afford to do without it in one single Christian home.—Herald and Presbyter.
SIGN THE PLEDGE.
By L. D. A. Stuttle
Come, sign the grand old pledge, my friends,
Throw down the poisonous cup;
And from the cool and sparkling fount
"Fill every beaker up,"
Till saddened hearts all o'er the land
Shall fill with joy again,
And thankful lips shall sound the cry,
"God bless the temperance man."
Come, sign the pledge, the grand old pledge,
Ye humble, high, and low,
Throw down the filthy pipe, and let
The vile narcotic go.
Yes, let it go—the noxious weed;
The poisonous, deadly bane;
It gives such foul, unsavory breath,
And stupefies the brain.
While coffee hot and bitter tea
With trembling hand is quaffed,
The bubbling spring of nature yields
A luscious, cooling draught.
"Why do you spend your gold for naught?"
Well hath the prophet said,
"For that which satisfieth not,
And that which is not bread."
L. D. A. STUTTLE.
HOME MANNERS.
By Beatrice Fairfax
[Beatrice Fairfax, in the Examiner.]
You can’t have two sets of manners—that is to say, one manner for home use and one for public.
The habits and mannerisms of home life are bound to slip out in public.
For instance, I know a girl who has an irritating and unbecoming habit of clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth.
She imagines that she only does it in the privacy of the home circle, but she very often does it quite unconsciously in public.
We have no right to be careless about our home manners.
To those whom we love best we quite complacently show our worst side.
Sisters think nothing of appearing before their brothers in untidy, unbecoming curl papers and wrappers.
Brothers go unshaved before their sisters without a thought of how ugly they look.
I wonder how many brothers think of offering their sisters the most comfortable chair in the room, or how many sons offer it to their mothers, for that matter.
If a stranger came into the room they would be on their feet at once; but any old manner will do for the home circle.
A man may love his wife very dearly and yet he will speak to her in a tone of voice that he would not dare to use in speaking to another woman.
It’s a queer way of doing things, isn’t it, to be all courtesy to a perfect stranger and brusque rudeness to those we love best?
You see, we got into the way of thinking, “O, our own people understand us; they know we mean well; we don’t have to be polite with them.”
And that is just where we make a great mistake, for we should be just as courteous at home as abroad.
You can’t slip good manners on like a cloak. Home training shows. You can tell in a minute whether good manners are put on for the occasion or whether they are natural.
Just because a girl happens to be a man’s sister is no reason why he should not show her the little courtesies he does other girls.
He would fight to the death for her if need be, but he would not dream of putting out her chair for her when she came to the dinner table.
I know a girl who is all sweetness when in a strange house and far from it when in her own.
All her bad tempers are vented on the family. She will sit through meals without speaking a word, save to snap at some one who ventures to address her.
Lots of people are like that. They are sweet in public because they don’t dare to be anything else, but to the poor home people they show a vastly different side.
Don’t have two sets of manners. One is all you need, but let that one be a good one.
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Trials and Triumphs.
The friends of the cause in Mountain View have been blessed and cheered by the visit of Brethren A. G. Daniells and G. A. Irwin, president and vice-president respectively of the General Conference. They were here Sabbath and Sunday, March 17 and 18. Most of the time in public meetings was occupied by Brother Daniells. He recounted some of the struggles through which God's cause had passed and was passing, and also the victories which God had given and was giving. His talk on missions Sabbath morning was especially inspiring. He went on to say that at the beginning of 1905 the mission outlook was dark and depressing. Calls were coming in from all quarters, and there were not only not funds enough to meet these needs, but the mission board was in debt $14,000. The committee concluded that it would make the year a quiet year, would establish no new missions, would retrench and establish more firmly the weaker stations; but they found no peace in doing this. The little wave which started in Mountain View one year ago of a surprise offering to the General Conference spread throughout the field, and gathered strength in its going, and funds began to come in apart from solicitations by the committee. The year 1905 had established eighteen missions in various parts of the world, had strengthened other missions, and found itself one year later with a balance on hand of $57,000. Of course, this will soon be used. There are calls from all parts of the world. Open doors are swinging and voices are calling; and, praise God, hearts and purses are opening. It was a glorious meeting. Even after a large collection had been taken at the beginning of the service after a special appeal, opportunity was given for a thank offering after the mission talk, and $60.00 was given. The spirit which characterized this meeting possessed them all. Certainly the visit of these brethren here has been a great blessing to the work. There were also present in council, Pastors W. B. White, H. W. Cottrell, W. C. White, W. T. Knox, and Brother H. W. Kellogg, besides local brethren. Praise God for the unity and harmony which exists, and for the great promise of greater blessing.
Worth of Advertising.—
California has a Promotion Committee, of which Mr. Rufus P. Jennings, 25 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, is the executive officer. Its object is to advertise truthfully, faithfully, and assiduously the resources of California, and the openings and opportunities which await men of energy and ability. For the last year it has had a lecture bureau in San Francisco, at the Academy of Sciences, lectures given every afternoon except Sundays and holidays. All the counties in the state have been asked to send lecturers. As a part of the results by the counties in fourteen weeks, note the following: San Joaquin County, 82 lectures, more than a score of people settled in the county as a direct result, and inquiries at headquarters increased 400 per cent. Santa Clara County, 71 lectures, 25 people located in the county as a direct result, 75 who have gone from the lectures to inspect the county, and an increase of 500 per cent. of inquiries at headquarters. Certainly these are good results, and it shows that it pays to advertise. Lectures and Literature Investigation are still potent.
Child-Widows.—
Referring to the article in our Missions department, by Mrs. J. L. Shaw, a missionary in India, stopping only a few months for health, in America, we wish to add another word from the latest Indian census:
Those who think that infant marriages have become a thing of the past in this age of enlightenment and progress should have their eyes opened. In Bengal alone there are no fewer than 538 widows below one year of age. The number of Hindu widows in this presidency between two and three years, 651; between three and four years, 1,756; between four and five years, 3,861; between five and ten years, 34,705, and between ten and fifteen years, 75,590. In Bengal nearly every fourth girl is a child-widow.
It would seem that the hearts of our readers would be touched by this unfortunate class of children. Cut off from all friendship among their own, many of them can be reached by the representatives of Christ. Having no earthly hope, they embrace that in Christ Jesus.
