p. 11 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 13. (4/1/1897)

IN THE HOUR OF TEMPTATION.

By Marie Beermann

We are now under divine forbearance, but how long will it continue? Our heart is at ease; believing that we have the truth, we feel secure; but it is the ease of unconsciousness to our real condition; it is the security which makes it possible for us to be lost, not sensing the danger that really exists.

The person who at this time feels most secure is in greatest danger. “Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.” 1 Cor. 10:12. We are in danger of exalting our own righteousness, and losing sight of the righteousness of Christ. But “neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts. 4:12.

If we are pleased with ourselves, and convinced of our own value, we lose our discernment, and do not know where or how we will end. Think of the example of the self-righteous scribes and Pharisees. Had they known that Christ was the promised Messiah, they would not have crucified him; but the exalting of themselves made them blind.

When we feel safe God permits Satan to tempt us, as he permitted Job to be tempted by him. “Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” Rom. 15:4. When temptations come to us, whether from within or from without, it is most important that we recognize them as such; that we understand our own weakness, and the fact that Satan will attack us at our most vulnerable point.

If we give ourselves too much uneasiness about worldly cares, Satan will multiply such cares, and give us ample opportunity to find new ones. But let us trust in the Lord, “for he careth for us.” “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matt. 6:33. When we live out this word, Satan’s designs will be thwarted, and we will learn to cease caring for worldly things. In this way we keep our spirit fresher and more resistive, and can better discern the evil and overcome it; and the Lord will not fail to give us the assistance which we require, if we call upon him for it. “I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from mine enemies.” Ps. 18:3.

If Satan’s attempt to bring misunderstanding and sow discord in the family circle is thwarted and brought to naught, such temptation will serve the purpose of causing the members of the family to press more closely together, and blessings will come out of sorrows. But one failure will not discourage the arch enemy. His temptations will follow one after another, each unlike its predecessor, and each a stronger attempt at robbing Christ of our soul. Therefore we must constantly be on our guard, ever keeping in view the fact that apart from Christ we are perfect weakness, and that in God our strength consists. “Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” Eph. 6:11.

Finally the temptations will come to an end, and “everlasting joy will be upon our heads.” If we have overcome, in God’s eyes, he will not permit us to be still further tempted, but he will pour out again his blessings over us as he did to Job. Even the hour of temptation may be turned into a blessing for us. It acquaints us with our weak points, and teaches us the source of our strength. “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Rom. 8:37. Thus our inner man grows and is strengthened to a perfect character in Christ Jesus. “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” Heb. 12:11.

God gives to every one his hour, his opportunity, his probation. The temptations of different individuals are not similar. Some will suffer persecution, and others will be tempted in different ways,—each according to his peculiarity. These last years before the outpouring of the seven last plagues will be energetically employed by Satan, for he well knows that he has but a little time in which to work. He will use every weapon at his command—and they are many and strong—to turn believers away from God. Therefore, God exhorts us with the grave words: “Now the just shall live by faith; but if any may draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him.” Heb. 10:38. “But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned; in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.” Eze. 18:24.

“Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it.” Heb. 4:1. “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matt. 24:13.

MRS. MARIE BEERMANN.

How Men Deceive Themselves

By J. G. Woolley

WHEN one fails he does so by deceiving himself or somebody else. The disciples failed to cure the boy with a dumb spirit, because their prayers and fasts had not been genuine. The people of Israel failed to enter Canaan because they deceived themselves into believing that a man’s quality is according to his size. The men of Babel deceived themselves and each other by the idea that heaven is accessible by a steeple, and that civic virtue can be built of “brick and slime.” And many a man to-day, and many a church, would be full of faith and power, but that they say, “What will become of my brick—how can I utilize my slime?”—J. G. Woolley.

THE BALLOT AND THE BULLET.

By W. N. G.

The New York Christian Advocate truthfully says that “underneath the ballots always repose the bullets; for if the minority will not submit, force must be brought into requisition or government becomes chaos; and chaos becomes anarchy.” Christians should ponder the meaning of this saying. All civil government is founded in force, and no such government can long stand unless sustained by a sufficient physical force to insure the execution of its decrees. If any government has not the necessary force within itself, it must needs have the guarantee of other power or powers possessed of such force. For instance, Turkey has for more than fifty years been sustained by “the powers” of Europe; and still weaker governments, such as Greece, Holland, Belgium, exist by the sufferance of the greater powers. But under whatever circumstances, underneath the ballot, or will of the government however expressed, lies the bullet as the dernier-resort.

What shall we say, then, of Christians resorting to the ballot to carry out their ideas of Christian reformation? Is it not logically a resort to the bullet? When the ballot is cast, it is expected that the government will enforce the sentiments thus expressed, by whatever degree of force is necessary; and it must be physical force, for the civil power has no other. It was only because man refused to be governed by the power of righteousness (which is love) that civil government, or a government of force was instituted. In the Scriptures the sword is used as a symbol of civil government. Of the ruler, Paul says, “If thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain.” Rom. 13:4. Anciently the sword was a principal weapon and implement of war; to-day, the main dependence in warfare or enforcing the decrees of governments is bullet-throwing weapons. Hence the significance of the statement that “underneath the ballots always repose the bullets.”

Enforcing Christian doctrine and practise by the sword (or power of civil government) always follows a departure from the Word of God. We do not read of any such thing in the first century, and at no later date has that doctrine made such rapid progress, or maintained such a degree of purity. In the United States, where in theory the voice of the people is the government, the ballot is the initial form of expressing the will of the government. Hence, like the decree of a monarch, the ballot could have no influence without the recognized power of force behind it. In these days that power, in case of resistance, is the bullet. So in any resort to the ballot, the bullet is understood in case of determined resistance to the decision of the ballot.

For a number of years there has been an extensive movement on foot in this government to bring about so-called Christian reforms by means of the popular ballot. It is urged that this is a Christian method, but it is a method of force, and is so designed by those who resort to it. At most, the success of such a method could enforce only an outward form of Christian observance; in other words, could only enforce hypocrisy. And if there should be resistance to a sufficient degree, the government must needs resort to the bullet to carry out the design of the ballot. That those who inaugurated this scheme of nominal Christian reform by the ballot fully understood its purport and logical result, we have in evidence the language of leaders in the movement. One of them, now an editor of a paper that sustains this National Reform movement, is on record as saying:—

“Whether the Constitution will be set right on the question of the moral supremacy of God’s law in the government without a bloody revolution, will depend entirely upon the strength and resistance of the forces of antichrist.”

The movement in question was constitutional enforcement of the Christian religion, which it was designed to bring about by means of the ballot, resistance to which would mean the shedding of blood, or the employment of the bullet by the constituted authority of the government. Not only so, but according to another apostle of ballot Christianity, it was expected that the Constitution so amended would disfranchise all who were “logically consistent” in their opposition to it. Thus it was expected that the ballot in this country would be given exclusively into the hands of nominal Christians, together with the physical power to enforce its decisions.

Such a scheme of “reform” is the aim of the much-lauded “Christian Citizenship” movement. This is a scheme for so-called Christian reform by the ballot, a means that admittedly rests for ultimate success upon the bullet. This “Christian Citizenship” idea lays principal stress upon the ballot instead of the Word of God. It is held that should the primary election come upon the evening of the prayer-meeting, it would be the duty of the Christian voter to attend the primary. Thus the prime dependence is placed upon the ballot, and ultimately the bullet, for regenerating the world. This is in marked contrast with the teaching of Christ, whose prayer to his Father was, “Sanctify them through thy truth; thy Word is truth.” In regard to his disciples, he said, “I have given them thy Word;” he said nothing about their using the ballot. On the contrary, when Peter drew a sword to defend his Master, the Lord told him to put it up. And Paul tells us that the Scriptures are sufficient to thoroughly furnish the man of God unto all good works. 2 Tim. 3:16, 17. The doctrine of Christ is to “overcome evil with good.” W. N. G.

TRUE STORY OF A LITTLE SAINT.

VERY tiny and pale the little girl looked as she stood before those three grave, dignified gentlemen. She had been ushered into Rev. Dr. Gordon’s study, where he was holding counsel with two of his deacons, and upon inquiry into the nature of her errand, a little shyly preferred the request to be allowed to become a member of his church.

“You are quite too young to join the church,” said one of the deacons. “You had better run home, and let us talk to your mother.”

She showed no signs of running, however, as her wistful blue eyes traveled from one face to another of the three gentlemen sitting in their comfortable chairs; she only drew a little step nearer to Dr. Gordon. He arose, and, with the gentle courtesy that ever marked him, placed her in a small chair close beside himself.

“Now, my child, tell me your name and where you live.”

“Annie Graham, sir, and I live on K Street. I go to your Sunday-school.”

“You do; and who is your teacher?”

“Miss B. She is very good to me.”

“And you want to join the church?”

The child’s face glowed as she leaned eagerly towards him, clasping her hands, but all she said was, “Yes, sir.”

“She can not be more than six years old,” said one of the deacons disapprovingly.

Dr. Gordon said nothing, but quietly regarded the small, earnest face, now becoming a little downcast.

“I am ten years old, older than I look,” she said.

“It is not usual for us to admit any one so young to membership,” he said thoughtfully. “We never have done so, still—”

“It may make an undesirable precedent,” remarked the other deacon.

The doctor did not seem to hear, as he asked, “You know what joining the church is, Annie?”

“Yes, sir,” and she answered a few questions that proved she comprehended the meaning of the step she wished to take. She had slipped off her chair, and now stood close to Dr. Gordon’s knee.

“You said last Sabbath, sir, that the lambs should be in the fold.”

“I did,” he answered, with one of his own lively smiles. “It is surely not for us to keep them out. Go home now, my child. I will see your friends, and arrange to take you into membership very soon.”

The cloud lifted from the child’s face, and her expression, as she passed through the door he opened for her, was one of entire peace.

Inquiries made of Annie’s Sabbath-school teacher proving satisfactory, she was baptized the following week, and, except for occasional information from Miss B. that she was doing well, Dr. Gordon heard no more of her for about a year.

Then he was summoned to her funeral. It was one of June’s hottest days, and as the doctor made his way along the narrow street on which Annie had lived, he wished for a moment that he had asked his assistant to come instead of himself, but as he neared the house, the crowd filled him with wonder; progress was hindered, and as, perforce, he paused for a moment, his eye fell on a crippled lad crying bitterly as he sat on a low doorstep.

“Did you know Annie Graham, my lad?” he asked.

“Know her, is it, sir? Niver a week passed but what she came twice or thrice with a picture-book, mayhap an apple for me, an’ it’s owin’ to her an’ no clergy at all that I’ll follow her blessed footsteps to heaven. She’d read me from her own Bible whiniver she came, an’ now she’s gone there’ll be none at all to help me, for mother’s dead an’ dad’s drunk, and the sunshine’s gone from Mike’s sky with Annie, sir.”

A burst of sobs choked the boy. Dr. Gordon passed on, after promising him a visit very soon, making his way through the crowd of tear-stained, sorrowful faces. The doctor came to a stop again in the narrow passage-way of the little house. A woman stood beside him drying her fast-falling tears, while a wee child hid his face in her skirts and wept.

“Was Annie a relative of yours?” the doctor asked.

“No; but the blessed child was at our house constantly, and when Bob here was sick, she nursed and tended him, and her hymns quieted him when nothing else seemed to do it. It was just the same with all the neighbors. What’s she’s been to us no one but the Lord will ever know; and now she lies there.”

Recognized at last, Dr. Gordon was led to the room where the child lay at rest, looking almost younger than when he had seen her in his study a year ago. An old, bent woman was crying aloud by the coffin.

“I never thought she’d go afore I did. She used to run in regular an’ sing to me every evening, an’ it was her talk an’ prayers that made a Christian of me.”

“Mother, mother, come home,” said a young man, putting his arm around her to lead her away. “You’ll see her again.”

“I know, I know,” she sobbed as she followed him; “but I miss her sore now.”

A silence fell on those assembled, and, marveling at such testimony, Dr. Gordon proceeded with the service, feeling as if there was little more he could say of one whose deeds thus spoke for her. Loving hands had laid flowers all around the child who had led them. One tiny lassie had placed a dandelion in the small waxen fingers, and now stood, abandoned to grief, beside the still form that bore the impress of absolute purity. The service over, again and again was the coffin lid waved back by some one longing for one more look, and they seemed as if they could not let her go.

The next day a good-looking man came to Dr. Gordon’s house, and was admitted into his study.

“I am Annie’s uncle, sir,” he said simply. “She never rested till she made me promise to join the church, and I’ve come.”

Dr. Gordon sat in the twilight resting after his visitor had left. The summer breeze blew in through the windows, and his thoughts turned backward and dwelt on what his little parishioner had done.

“Truly a marvelous record for one year. It is well said, ‘Their angels do ever behold His face.’”—Christian Arbitrator.

THE BIBLE CLASSED AS A “HUMAN BOOK.”

By W. N. G.

A good many “orthodox” ministers and religious journals are criticizing Rev. Lyman Abbott’s ridicule of the story of Jonah and the fish, and his many other skeptical views of the Bible, who heartily indorse his ideas of enforced Sunday observance. They do not realize that the latter position is the logical result of the former. The “great truth” which he is now declaring is that “the Bible is a human book;” and he declares that studying the Bible from this view “increases its value” to him, and “enhances its sacredness.” Thus it becomes of more value and more sacred when deemed to be human than when viewed as the Word of God. Then it is easy to see how he can more highly esteem a man-made sabbath than “the Sabbath of the Lord.” He is logical at least when he says, “I think that experience demonstrates that Sunday rest must be secured, not merely by private agreements, but by legislative enactments vigorously enforced.” If “the Bible is a human book,” then later human doctrines, human institutions, and human law would logically supersede it. And as man-made institutions must be sustained, if sustained at all, by human power, and as the Sunday sabbath is a later institution than the Bible Sabbath, the Sunday law becomes not only proper, but a necessity. This conclusion, however, be it remembered, can only stand on the theory that the Bible is a human book, insufficient for human needs, and its doctrines variable at human will. Therefore those who hold to the Sunday-sabbath institution, which is not of the Bible, and insist upon sustaining it by legislative enactment, which must be in direct antagonism to the Sabbath law of the Bible, stand logically upon the doctrine that “the Bible is a human book.” It can not be gainsaid that their position can be sustained only on the theory that human institutions are of greater value and more sacred than those of God. Such teachers can no more consistently criticize Mr. Abbott’s view of the Bible than they can criticize the Roman Catholic doctrine of the absolute authority of the church; for both are indorsed when the Sunday sabbath and Sunday law are upheld. W. N. G.

Europe on the Brink of Armageddon

MATTERS in Europe are in a precarious condition. So they have been for years. So they will continue to the great battle of Armageddon. Peace may be promised to-day; to-morrow some little island like Crete will throw all Europe into a ferment. War preparations are going on, national debts are piling up, heavier burdens are laid upon the backs of the people. Over all the Babel may be heard by him who will listen, the Lord’s voice to the heavy-laden, saying, “Come to me.”

A SONG OF HOPE.

By Mary A. Lathbury

Children of yesterday, Heirs of to-morrow, What are you weaving— Labor and sorrow? Look to your looms again; Faster and faster Fly the great shuttles Prepared by the Master. Life’s in the loom, Room for it—room!

Children of yesterday, Heirs of to-morrow, Lighten the labor And sweeten the sorrow, Now—while the shuttles fly Faster and faster, Up and be at it— At work with the Master, He stands at your loom, Room for him—room!

Children of yesterday, Heirs of to-morrow, Look at your fabric Of labor and sorrow. Seamy and dark With despair and disaster, Turn it—and lo, The design of the Master! The Lord’s at the loom, Room for him—room!

—Mary A. Lathbury.

A NOBLE WOMAN.

Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher, whose death took place March 8, at the ripe age of eighty-five, was a lady of the old school, one of the solid, sensible housewives and mothers, now becoming fewer, of a half century ago. When married she began housekeeping in two rooms over a stable, at the rent of $40 a year. She was the mother of ten children. Her opinion of the so-called “new woman” and woman’s place is expressed in the following extracts.

“I confess,” she wrote not long ago in the Thrice-a-Week World, “I have no sympathy for the new woman. I look back some twenty or twenty-five years to a far different type of woman, to homes under their influence which conjugal and maternal love made almost celestial, where the poor were helped, the sick visited and comforted; where the door swung open almost involuntarily with true and hearty welcome to all. No female orator, no ‘new woman,’ ever did the real Christlike good done by saints of former times.””

“What is the ability to speak on a public platform or the wisdom that may command a seat on a judge’s bench compared to that which can insure and preside over a true home?”

Here are two extracts on the relation of husband and wife and the training of children:—

“Don’t let the idea of authority have a part in the discussion. It is an ugly word between husband and wife at all times, and, in the endeavor to settle a disputed point, keep it as far out of sight as possible, if you would hope for good results. Go to your wife in the same spirit that influenced you while wooing her, and speak with the same tenderness. Words thus spoken will be like oil on troubled waters, and bring you into closer and sweeter communion than any intimidating command or authority can do.”

“Sternness and severity in the management and training of children should be avoided if possible. Just as long as they will secure prompt obedience, rule your children by gentle, loving words. But when they fail, the true, holy mother love, which God always accepts and blesses, must work for the child’s best good, even if it can be secured only by present pain. Children thus carefully but lovingly trained will be crosses of glory to their parents and fill their old age with rejoicing and thanksgiving.”

Here are thoughts worthy of consideration, not because uttered by Mrs. Beecher, but because they are of worth.

THE DRINK CURSE.

By Rev. H. C. Minton, D.D.

The drink curse is the wholesale blight of the human race. It is the black demon that strikes death on every side. It threatens Christian nations and heathen nations alike with that damnation of body and soul which means death in the life that now is and death in the life that is to come. No Christian pulpit is worth the name whose utterances are not clear and persistent and consistent in behalf of the work of Christian temperance. Any church is disloyal to its Lord, untrue to its trust, and unfaithful to its opportunity, unless it not only says, “God speed the temperance cause,” but also counts itself a magnificent temperance society. Christianity is itself an offense and a sham if it is not a mighty courage, a tremendous moral force for the throttling and killing of this monster. The Son of man is come to seek and to save the lost; but there is no broader and smoother and more frequented way of the lost than that which leads from the whisky saloon.

I have no patience with men who stand off and say, “O, everybody means well; we must be charitable; we are not to judge of motives.” Liquor dealers, as a class, mean nothing on earth but the liquor dealers’ interest, the liquor dealers’ pocket-book. They organize, they plan, they work, they do everything but pray—I don’t believe they pray much—for the success of their man-killing, nefarious craft. I do not believe in the sin of intemperance, even in fighting the drink traffic and the drink habit; I would not abuse or debase the pulpit by calling any class of my fellow-citizens in the community hard names; but this is the simple fact, their own journals and press organs take no pains to disguise and conceal it, and we may as well recognize and realize that there is in the community a strong, stalwart, stubborn, and well-organized element that absolutely plans for that which in effect curses society, cuts down noble lives, loots households of love and cheer, multiplies widows and orphans, blights happy homes, and smears the face of our beloved land with the slimy trail of this deadly serpent. May he forgive our moderation, may he forgive our indifference and our oily polite nothings in speaking about, and in working against, this awful sin and crime of intemperance.—Rev. H. C. Minton, D.D., in Pacific Ensign.

THE PROFIT OF GIVING.

IN Connecticut a few years ago lived a lady who had a beautiful flower garden, in which she took great pride. The whole county was proud of it, too, and people drove miles to see it.

She fastened two large baskets on the outside of her fence next the road, and every morning they were filled with cut flowers—the large, showy kinds in one basket and the delicate, fragile ones in the other. All the school children going by helped themselves and studied the better for it, and the business men took a breath of fragrance into their dusty offices that helped the day along. Even the tramps were welcome to all the beauty they could get in their forlorn lives.

“You cut such quantities,” some one said to her, “aren’t you afraid you will rob yourself?”

“The more I cut the more I have,” she answered. “Don’t you know that if plants are allowed to go to seed they stop blooming? I love to give pleasure, and it is profit as well, for my liberal cutting is the secret of my beautiful garden. I’m like the man of whom it was said:—

“‘A man there was (tho some did count him mad), The more he gave away the more he had.’”

THE CHRISTIAN CHINAMAN.

A Chinaman applied for the position of cook in a family which belonged to a fashionable church. The lady asked him:—

“Do you drink whisky?”

“No, I Cistian man.”

“Do you play cards?”

“No, I Cistian man.”

He was engaged, and was found honest and capable. By and by the lady gave a progressive eucher party, with wine accompaniments. John did his part acceptably, but the next morning he appeared before his mistress.

“I want quit.”

“Why, what is the matter?”

“I a Cistian man; I told you so before. No workee for ’Melican heathen!”

One Broken Link of Duty Destroys the Chain of Obedience

ONE broken link of duty destroys the chain of obedience.

Every Enemy Has Friends

DID you ever have an enemy who didn't have some friends?—L. A. W. Bulletin.

Shine, Winter Skies!

By Louisa Parsons Hopkins

SHINE, winter skies! That when each brave day’s work is done, I wait in peace, from sun to sun, To meet unshamed, through victory won, Your starry eyes. —Louisa Parsons Hopkins.

THE POLES IN AMERICA.

It will surprise none who know anything of Poland’s sad history and present oppressed condition, that Poles are anxious to leave the land they may no longer call their own, in a large part of which the government is systematically suppressing Polish nationality and language, and to found new homes in this country of freedom and opportunity. But with most of them it is true, “Change the place and keep the pain”—or, rather, “the chief cause of the pain,” which in their case is the tyranny of their Roman Catholic priests, with the resulting ignorance, ghostly fear, bigotry, and violence. This makes their presence in large numbers a very serious matter.

It is impossible to obtain reliable statistics of the number of Poles in the United States, for many of them tell the census official that they are from Russia, or Germany, or Austria, and are set down as Russians, Germans, or Austrians. But it is safe to say that there are between 1,000,000 and 2,000,000 Poles in the United States. Chicago has about 70,000, Pittsburg 65,000, New York and Brooklyn 45,000, Buffalo, N. Y., 30,000, Detroit 25,000, Cleveland 8,000 to 10,000. I have before me a list of 79 Polish colonies in 14 States.

What an important social and political factor these compact Polish colonies are becoming, was pointed out by the New York Evening Post in its issue of April 13, 1892. The Post said: “In Milwaukee, Wis., there is a Polish population of 25,000 in a total of 200,000, and, as they are exceedingly clannish in politics, as in everything else, the Polish vote is cast almost solidly in a block, and this nationality already holds the balance of power in city elections.”

The Pole is as much under the control of his priest as is the Irishman. For him the priest is God’s representative, the priest’s word is law, and the priest’s anger most dangerous. A young Pole, who afterwards joined our Bohemian mission church in Cleveland, unable to pay the priest’s assessment towards building a fine new church, was summarily excommunicated, and thereupon thought himself lost forever; and he was much more intelligent than the majority of our Poles, mostly the descendants of the enslaved serfs.

Polish priests are very strong and even fierce in opposing not only all Protestant influences brought to bear on their people, but also the Americanizing influence of the public school. They have kept their people secluded in Polish colonies and Polish quarters of the cities, where the butcher and baker and grocer are Poles, and have made it an unpardonable sin to send children to our public schools.

A priest told one of our colporters that he had burned seventeen Bibles sold to his people. And when one of our Polish missionaries called on him to ask why he refused his people permission to read the Word of God, the priest became so angry that he set his dog on his visitor; fortunately, the dog had wound his chain around the priest’s legs, and could not reach our brother. Another priest drove away a young Pole, now a member of the Protestant church, by charging him $4.00 for absolution, which the young man was unwilling to pay. One of our female missionaries who worked among the Poles in Toledo, O., reported that the priest had roused the people very much against her, and had forbidden them to buy any books from her, or to send their children to her sewing-school, and ordered that if she visited any of their houses, they should take a broomstick to her.

I have before me a copy of a Cleveland paper of Dec. 8, 1894, in which there is a very remarkable account by a Polish editor of his efforts to start this new movement. He says that as the Polish people are very earnestly and patriotically devoted to their religion, the only way to lift them up is to reach their hearts through their devotion to the church. After he came to this country, eleven years before, he found out that “the Roman Catholic Church keeps the Poles in the worst kind of slavery for its own shallow and egotistical purposes.” He asserts that for a Pole the priest is “almost a personification of God on earth,” so that every Polish priest exercises a tremendous influence over his flock. This editor started to spread the ideas of religious freedom eight years before by means of a paper published in New York. The paper was put under the ban by the Polish clergy over all the country. He made two other attempts, one in Chicago and another in New York, but “in each case the Romish priest won the battle.” When he started this movement again in Cleveland, he determined to put a priest at the head of it. He picked out one who had been driven away from the largest Polish church in Cleveland by his people on account of his alleged immorality and dishonesty.

But later the editor thought himself mistaken, and expressed the conviction that the priest had made his peace with Rome. This led to their parting company. But it seems that the priest had not been reconciled with Rome, and his church continues to the present independent of Rome. On one occasion, when celebrating the anniversary of the giving of a Polish constitution, he invited one of our missionaries to make an address to his church, crowded full of Poles. It was an admirable opportunity to speak to them of the true liberty with which Christ makes us free. This priest has circulated Bibles and tracts among the people. This contest between the new church and the old has opened the eyes of many Poles, and led them to look upon Protestants and Protestant missionaries with much more favor.—Missionary Review.

A BUDDHIST'S TESTIMONY IN JAPAN.

By M. L. Gordon

A FEW years ago there was in the Taiseigak-kwan, a Christian school in the city of Osaka, Japan, a young teacher named Genzo Sugahara. After considerable service in the school he was attacked by a succession of diseases, and finally consumption laid its relentless hand upon him.

He was ordered into a hospital, and visits from friends even were forbidden. His pastor, however, anxious in regard to his preparation for death, disregarded the physician's instructions, and visited him, and questioned him concerning his faith. To his great delight he found the young man looking forward to death, not with doubt and fear, but with the confidence of one whose life is hid with Christ in God. In the freest, frankest way he told his pastor and friend of the presence of Christ with him in his weakness and suffering, and of his joyful hope of a still closer union with his Lord after death. How much relief and comfort these words gave the pastor need not be dwelt upon.

In an adjoining room, separated only by thin paper sliding doors, another young man lay at the point of death, a victim of the same dread disease. He was the son of a priest of the Shin sect of Buddhists, the so-called “Reform Buddhists,” which allows its priests to marry. While Sugahara was telling his pastor of his Christian confidence concerning the future life, the father of his suffering neighbor was visiting him, and vainly striving to quiet and comfort his son, who was bitterly lamenting his own early death, and filled with concern regarding the future.

Sugahara's words of courage and hope, easily passing through the paper partition between the rooms, came upon the ears of the perplexed father like a voice from another world. Pushing back one of the sliding doors, he entered Sugahara's room, and, putting the palms of his hands together as in prayer, knelt before and worshiped the dying but triumphant Christian, explaining his conduct by telling his fruitless efforts, already mentioned, to comfort his son.

This act of worship by no means meant all that worship means to the Christian. The word has a wider signification than our word for worship. Here it denoted astonishment, awe, profound reverence. Coming from the head of a temple belonging to the sect of Buddhists, which, above all others, attaches importance to the life to come, it was strong testimony to the fact that Christ has indeed “brought life and incorruption to light through the Gospel.” —M. L. Gordon, in Sunday School Times.

NOTES ON THE GENERAL CONFERENCE.

It was impossible to report the results of the late General Conference at its close in Nebraska, for the reason that much was left unfinished. However, a summary may be given which will be of interest to the readers of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES.

I. The Division of the Field.—This was a logical conclusion from what already existed. Australasia, on account of her distance, had found it necessary to organize a union conference on independent local lines. The fact that the people and fields were different, demanding oftentimes different methods, made this separation necessary and practicable. Logically the work in Europe should be organized on similar lines; and the European Union Conference of Seventh-day Adventists will take charge of the work under God in that field. The division as at present existing is as follows:—

The General Conference of America.
The European Union Conference.
The Australasian Union Conference.
Mission fields of the world.

The suggestion is also made that the six General Conference districts in the United States organize into union conferences.

The officials of all these various conferences will be elected by the conference of which they have charge, with the exception of the president—the presidents of all conferences to be elected by the biennial General Conference. The mission fields of the world are to be under the management of the Foreign Mission Board, operating in conjunction with local mission boards.

The Officers.—President of the General Conference of America, Elder G. A. Irwin; European Union Conference, Elder O. A. Olsen; Australasian Union Conference, Elder A. G. Daniells; chairman of the Foreign Mission Board, Elder Allen Moon, the headquarters of which board the conference decided to locate in some Atlantic State. The recording secretary and treasurer of the American Conference is A. G. Adams; the corresponding secretary, Elder L. A. Hoopes. The secretary of the Foreign Mission Board, Elder F. M. Wilcox; recording secretary and treasurer, W. H. Edwards. Elder G. A. Irwin was elected president of the International Tract Society, and L. T. Nicola, secretary. The superintendents of the General Conference districts of America are as follows: District No. 1, Elder R. A. Underwood; No. 2, Elder W. W. Allen; No. 3, Elder J. H. Morrison; No. 4, Elder N. W. Kauble; No. 5, Elder R. M. Kilgore; No. 6, Elder A. J. Breed.

Recommendations for Changes in Fields of Labor.—Your Committee on Distribution of Labor would respectfully suggest the following:—

That Miss Birdie Watson, of Kansas, go to Manitoba to engage in Bible work.
That we concur in the request of the Colorado delegation, that Elder J. M. Rees, of Oklahoma, take the presidency of the Colorado Conference and Tract Society.
That we concur in the judgment of the Oklahoma brethren, that Elder E. T. Russell take the place made vacant by the removal of Elder Rees.
That Prof. C. B. Hughes and wife, of Keene, Texas, be asked to answer the call for teachers from Australia.
That Elder D. C. Babcock, of West Virginia, be requested to go to Virginia to take the place made vacant by the resignation on account of illness of Elder W. A. McCutchen.
That Elder G. B. Thompson be requested to go to West Virginia to take the place made vacant by the removal of Elder D. C. Babcock.
That H. J. Duerksen, of Wisconsin, be asked to go to Manitoba to engage in the German work.
That Elder J. J. Gráf, of Minnesota, be requested to labor among the Germans of Wisconsin.
That we concur in the judgment of the Minnesota delegation for Elder C. W. Flaiz to take the place made vacant by the removal of Elder N. W. Allee.
That Elder G. W. Anglebarger, of Colorado, be requested to labor in the New Mexico mission field.
That Elder George O. States, of Colorado, be requested to make Arizona his field of labor.
That Elder W. A. Alway, of Minnesota, be requested to make Utah his field of labor.
That Elder C. P. Frederickson, of South Dakota, in harmony with the consent of the Colorado delegation, be requested to labor in Colorado, taking a place on the Conference Committee.
That, in harmony with the consent of Colorado, Elder G. F. Watson, of the Dakota Conference, be recommended to labor in Colorado.
That L. C. Sheafe, of Ohio, go to district 2, to labor as the district superintendent may direct.
That Elder D. E. Scoles, of the Upper Columbia Conference, be asked to connect in labor with the Minnesota Conference.
That Elder Frank Armitage and his wife, of Nebraska, be requested to go to Matabeleland, Africa, to engage in missionary work.

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