ONE is sometimes reminded of the poet’s statement, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” Some time ago the writer received two letters, one from Iowa and one from Colorado, asking the original Greek reading and literal meaning of Matt. 28:1 and other parallel texts. The particular phrase whose original meaning was desired, was that which appears in the Authorized Version correctly translated as the “first day of the week.” Some one, with but little acquaintance with the Greek and with even less knowledge of the Jewish way of reckoning the days of the week, not wishing to acknowledge the claims of the seventh day, tried to make this text prove the end of the Jewish Sabbath and the beginning of the Christian Sunday.
He first objected to the expression “first day of the week,” stating correctly that the word day was supplied, and then incorrectly adding that, as the original Greek word here translated week was sabbaton, it should not be translated “of the week” but “of the Sabbaths.” Thus supplying “Jewish” and “Christian,” he made the whole passage read: “In the end of the Jewish Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first of the Christian Sabbaths, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.”
When correctly understood, the phrase here discussed, simply shows how important the Sabbath was in all the Jewish reckonings. I quote a paragraph from a book, written by a teacher in the Theological Seminary of Princeton, and published almost one hundred years ago by the Western Sunday-school Union:—
“The Jews had not particular names for the first six days of the week, but distinguished them merely by their order; thus, what we now call Sunday was termed the first day of the week, Monday was the second, Tuesday the third, and so of the rest. The seventh day, which we name Saturday, was styled among them the Sabbath, that is, the day of rest. And because this was the most important day of all in the week, the whole week came to be called from its name, a Sabbath; whence the other days were called also the first day of the Sabbath, the second day of the Sabbath, and so on in their order.”—“A Summary of Biblical Antiquities,” John W. Nevin, assistant teacher in the Theological Seminary of Princeton (2 vols.), Utica, Western Sunday-school Union, 1828, Vol. I, page 187.
This is one of the many quotations that are being collected for the revised edition of “Facts for the Times,” which is now being prepared. References to good quotations which might well be included in the new book would be thankfully received. It is desired that the new book may be made a veritable library of authentic quotations so carefully selected as to make the book indispensable to all classes of workers.
Only a Trifle
A GREAT deal that is right can be fatally marred by a very little that is wrong. It takes only a little thing to spoil a big thing. An outing in the finest and coolest of country air, with the best of meals, the most luxurious of houses, and the most comfortable and sleep-inviting beds, may be ruined by the barking of a dog or the humming of mosquitoes. A mere trifle like that has changed more than one paradise into an inferno.
And it takes only a single serious trifle in the character of an otherwise strong, attractive man or woman to more than blot out all the attractions that might count for so much. It does not pay to overlook the little things, in our surroundings or in ourselves. It may seem an unfair principle, but it is inexorably true, that a little that is bad will more than offset a great deal that is good, while a little that is good will not offset the large evil. Hence it behooves us to be vigilant against all evil, no matter how tiny.—Selected.
Silent Lives Can Bless the World
By J. R. Miller, D. D.
There are ways in which even silent persons can belong to God and be a blessing in the world. A star does not talk, but its calm, steady beam shines down continually out of the sky, and is a benediction to many. Be like a star in your peaceful shining, and many will thank God for your life.—J. R. Miller, D. D.
Modest Dress
By F. M. W.
The apostle Peter considered it necessary in his day to sound a warning to the Christian believers against extravagant and extreme dress. He says:—
“Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; while they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands.” 1 Peter 3:1-5.
This warning needs reiterating today. In fact, it was designed quite as much for this generation as for those living in the first century.
This is an age of excess and extravagance. On every side iniquity abounds. It is the evident purpose of Satan to lead men and women to depart from true standards in every department and phase of life's experiences, and to cause false standards of thought and practise to contribute as far and as fast as possible to the moral overthrow of the race.
Through the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, the love of the world, the human family are insidiously and oftentimes unconsciously led to pervert the way of purity and become a prey to Satan's snares in the end. The influence of dress is a powerful factor in the accomplishment of this purpose. That many of the extremes of fashion directly contribute to immodesty and impurity even men of the world admit. Low-necked dresses and gauze waists and hosiery have long been condemned by sober-minded persons.
Now comes the slit skirt and gauze skirt, still greater perversions of the modest standard of dress commended by the apostle. Justifiably the police in some cities have arrested the wearers of such costumes who appeared on the streets. That the styles are commended and adopted by some leaders of fashionable society shows the degeneracy of this superficial age.
Of the true source and character of873these immodest styles of apparel, Edward Bok, editor of the Ladies’ Home Journal, speaks in an article which he contributes to Collier’s of Aug. 30, 1913. Under the heading of “The Remedy for the Present Wave of Indecent Dressing,” Mr. Bok says, in part:—
Whatever may be the opinion of the present indecent styles in women's dress, or the impenetrable enigma of their adoption by even a portion of our heedless American women, we know where they come from, and in view of that fact the remedy lies in the hands of every decent American woman.
During the past five years in particular the Paris dressmakers have, step by step, shown the steady degeneration of their waning art in the so-called “Paris styles” which they have sent over here. Each year the tendency to lower the standards has become more strongly marked. But it must be said to the credit of the French gentlewoman that these “styles” are neither indorsed nor worn by her. She scorns them with contempt. They are the creations of the disordered minds of French dressmakers who have lost all sense of art and decency, have become pure commercialists, and who, laughing in their sleeves at the American women, are, as one of the greatest of them recently said, seeing how far they can go “in making fools of the American women.” No Frenchwoman of the slightest refinement wears these “styles:” they are the hall-mark of the women of the French underworld that frequent the Paris boulevards and the French race-courses. As Mme. Sarah Bernhardt said upon her last visit to America, it was a perfect amazement to her to see apparently decent American women dressed like the demi-monde of Paris.
Nor is this a matter of my own or any personal opinion: it is an incontrovertible fact known and acknowledged by every American buyer who goes to Paris and every one conversant with the French fashion situation. It is known to every woman of the underworld in America. As one of these recently said: “Here are a lot of girls and women who draw aside their skirts when they meet us, and yet are dressed exactly like us.” A walk along Fifth Avenue verifies this statement—that two classes of girls are today dressing exactly alike. A social service worker only a few days ago said that more decent girls had been approached during the last year by men in the streets of New York, under a misapprehension as to their standing, than ever before in her recollection.
Mr. Bok states that on the part of many clean-minded and clear-thinking women, in both Europe and America, there is a strong reaction of feeling against longer submitting to Parisian standards of dress. He urges that American women adopt a standard of their own, one consistent with good taste and becoming womanly modesty.
Whatever models of dress American women in general may adopt, the duty of the Christian woman is apparent. Her style of dress should be such as to commend to others the holy religion of purity and truth which she professes.
Especially should the women of the Seventh-day Adventist Church be examples of modesty and propriety. Those who are preparing for the coming of the Master and who expect to share the communion of his holy presence here as a prelude to an eternity of association in the world to come, should seek to conform their words, their dress, the motives and purposes of their lives, to the standard of purity enjoined in the Holy Word.
Till the Lord appears, we must live in a world of sin, surrounded by its evils and associating with those whose standards are lowering and demoralizing. We must hold up the standard of purity and truth. We must call our fellows to higher planes of thought and purpose. Failing to do this, we shall be recreant to our holy trust. Doing it, we shall have Heaven's approval, and our lives will bear testimony to God's saving grace. F. M. W.
Christ's Comforting Promise
By Editor
Editorial
Christ's Comforting Promise
To him who is in the line of Christian duty this most comforting promise of our Saviour applies in all its fulness: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” We cannot expect the fulfilment of that promise to us if we are going contrary to his will, going where he has not told us to go, doing what he has not commissioned us to do.
That promise of the continual abiding presence of our Lord seems to be contingent upon giving heed to the command, or commission, that precedes it. Christ was a worker, a missionary, and his life was a life of self-sacrifice. In commanding his followers to go into all parts of the earth making known his truth and baptizing converts, he was only continuing through them the work he had himself begun, the work he counted worthy of his life of sacrifice, worthy of the price he paid on Calvary.
Because that is true, we never need fear that he will become indifferent to his work or his workers in any part of the world. His eye is upon each worker at home or abroad. In every discouraging circumstance he is there to give courage. When dangers surround, he is there. When human power seems waning, and human words powerless to convict, Jesus Christ is there by his Spirit to supply the needed power, to carry conviction to hearts, to uphold the worker by the comforts of his grace.
Too often we do not realize this. Previous success unconsciously leads one to depend too much on himself and too little on him who only can make our ministry a success. It is always true that he who realizes to the greatest extent his dependence upon Christ accomplishes the most for Christ; and he who trusts most in himself accomplishes least and becomes soonest discouraged. Man has no power in himself to wage successful warfare with the great deceiver. But he who is fully submitted to the will of Christ and is seeking to carry out his purpose has a power behind him, a defense around him, and a disperser of foes before him that is bound to insure his triumph. He who has Christ with him to the end of the world is certain to triumph over the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is a blessed fact, and a fact that ought to put heart into every sincere Christian. Let not Satan draw a veil between your eyes and that fact.
C. M. S.
A New Round-the-World Record
By W. A. S.
BECAUSE of the fact that the gospel commission bids us go “into all the world,” and “to every creature,” the development of facilities for getting into all the world is a matter of practical missionary interest to us. It is in our own generation, when the time has come for a quick work in evangelizing all nations, that God’s providence has brought into service means of travel and intercommunication that no other generation ever thought of.
In July and August, Mr. Mears, a representative of the New York Sun, set a new record for travel around the world. The course of his journey and the time schedule are of interest, as our missionaries are called to pass over the same routes:—
Mears’s Round Trip
July 2, 1 A. M.—Sailed from New York on Cunarder “Mauretania.”
July 7, 8 P. M.—Arrived Fishguard, four hours late.
July 8, 2:20 P. M.—Left London for Paris.
July 9, 1:45 P. M.—Left Paris for Berlin.
July 10—Left Berlin for St. Petersburg.
July 12, 5 P. M.—Left St. Petersburg for Vladivostok.
July 14, 12:30 P. M.—Encountered washout at Ekaterinburg (18 hours’ delay).
July 20—Passed through Manchurie, Manchuria. Had made up ten hours.
July 21—Arrived Harbin. Changed plans; started for Yokohama via Fusan, Korea.
July 24, 6 P. M.—Left Yokohama on C. P. liner “Empress of Russia.”
August 2—Arrived off Victoria, British Columbia. Delayed by fogs twelve hours. Across Puget Sound by yacht and hydro-aeroplane to Seattle, arriving 8:17 P. M.
August 2—Left Seattle at 8:25 P. M.
August 5—Left Chicago at 11:30 P. M.
August 6—Arrived New York at 10:10 P. M.
Total time for record journey, as planned, 35 days, 21 hours, 35 minutes.
Former record, held by Andre Jaeger-Schmidt (of Paris), 1911, 39 days, 19 hours, 43 minutes.
Only recently the Canadian Pacific steamship line has reduced the time between Hongkong, China, and Vancouver by two days. Now their fastest schedule is seventeen days from Hongkong to Vancouver, and nine days from Japan. Think of it, the Orient only nine days distant from the New World! How wonderfully the highways have been prepared for the rapid spreading abroad of the gospel message for this last generation! W. A. S.
What Germany Is Doing
By W. A. S.
A FINE missionary turn has been given to the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the German emperor’s accession to the throne. A national call has been made for a great fund for mission enterprises in the colonial possessions of the empire. The call says:—
Our kaiser’s jubilee is at hand. The German people look upon him with reverence and gratitude, and seek a way to bring these feelings to expression. The twenty-five years of his rule have been a period of great national expansion in economic and intellectual directions. The German Empire has not only asserted its position as a great power among the peoples, but has built up flourishing colonies abroad. To the most active pioneers of Germany in these dependencies belong the Christian missions. The whole German people are in duty bound to recognize and further the national and humanitarian culture work of these missions. Other colonial states have long recognized this and have, without regard to the political and religious opinions of individuals, made great sacrifices for the cause from purely patriotic reasons. In this respect we lag behind.
The jubilee of the emperor’s rule demands that we close this gap in the fulfilment of our national duties and go to work in earnest to help the financially hard-pressed missions in our colonies. Representatives of both evangelical and Catholic communions have agreed to celebrate the anniversary day of the emperor’s coronation by a gift to missions.
The kaiser is to distribute the funds among all the German societies, a representative committee giving counsel. Our own people in Germany have taken part in the enterprise, having given about seven thousand dollars, according to the last word. There is a distinct awakening among Protestants in Germany on the subject of missionary endeavor, and this, we know, will result in greater effort to spread a knowledge of the Scriptures throughout the vast German colonial possessions. Everywhere one can see the way preparing for a rapid work of evangelizing the world.
W. A. S.
Note and Comment
Rome's Representation at the Panama Exposition
THE San Francisco Monitor is responsible for the statement that the center of the exposition grounds will be known as “The Vatican,” and will be a replica of the world-famous structure in Rome. What is known as an old adage will be literally true in that every main walk, road, or boulevard will lead up to or past the “Vatican.” The dome of this structure will rise 183 feet above the ground, and will be surmounted by a cross eighteen feet high. This will be illuminated at night, and will throw its luster over the waters of the Pacific for many miles. The Catholic Church will doubtless reap advantage in the estimation of those who are attracted by pomp and glory by this representation. Eliminating the pageantry, or show, from her service, there is little left to make it attractive to the minds of men.
Morality by Law
At a Methodist camp-meeting held at Great Falls, Va., during the latter part of August, Vice-President Marshall made an address in which he spoke some pointed truths with reference to the futility of attempting to secure morality by means of human legislation. The following is an excerpt from his address:—
One of Thomas Jefferson’s deeds, recorded on his tomb, is his authorship of the bill of religious freedom. The right to worship God according to the dictates of one’s own conscience is the right to worship God or not worship him, as one may choose. That man is not worthy of his American citizenship who does not realize that this republic is an outcome of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth.
At the foundation of the republic Jefferson wrote, “Every man has a right to life.” Jesus of Nazareth said, “I come to give you life and to give it more abundantly.” I believe that God gives us the right to ruin our lives or not, as we please. He says, “Give me thine heart;” but he will not take it from us against our choice.
Mr. Marshall said that if he were able, he would have a great revival in all the churches of this land which would fill their pews to overflowing. “But such a thing could not be accomplished by legislation,” he said; for “it is not possible to make good men by that method.” In this he is taking the true ground of religious liberty.
LILLIAN ODELL LICKEY
By Lillian Odell Lickey
Peace
LILLIAN ODELL LICKEY
If you have bravely borne
The trials of each new day,
Nor felt the tempter oft your spirit mar,
But prayed the Heavenly Father
To guide you on your way,
You have caught a glimpse of heaven
not afar.
If you have been forgiving
When unkind words were said,
Remembering that the Saviour saith for
thee
My grace is freely given,
In perfect peace they're led
Whose minds are confidently stayed on
me;
If you have kept the anchor
Of peace along your way,
Nor suffered doubt as billows to increase,
You have the joy of heaven,
Your song makes glad the day
Until with him your soul finds perfect
peace.
Galt, Mo.
The Bahama Islands Mission
By W. A. Sweany
W. A. SWEANY
A YEAR ago last winter, among the many tourists who fled from the frozen regions of the North to spend a few weeks in the “isles of golden sunshine and sapphire seas,” were two prominent Canadian gentlemen who conceived and proposed to the people of the Bahamas the idea of seeking for the admission of the colony into the Canadian federation. Through mass-meetings and legislative enactment, the people indorsed the proposal, and the plan met with favor in official and mercantile circles in Canada. But the agitation of the matter led to the discovery of the somewhat peculiar fact that multitudes of the people knew nothing of the existence of the Bahama Islands; and others who knew of them had a very hazy idea of their location. These islands, beginning just off the east coast of southern Florida, extend in a southeasterly direction a distance of nearly eight hundred miles, to Haiti and Santo Domingo. The group consists of thirty islands of some size, 660 islets, and 2,387 rocks, reefs, and cays.
Compared with the great, populous countries and cities, the sixty thousand inhabitants of this little corner are only as a drop of the ocean, and the work of carrying this message to them might seem to be easy of accomplishment. But in undertaking it, we find them scattered in hundreds of small settlements, many of them only a few families, reached only by small schooners and sloops, oftentimes long delayed and hindered by contrary winds, or by calms in which the vessel lies as motionless as “a painted ship upon a painted ocean,” for days, and sometimes even for weeks.
R. C. PORTER AND WIFE. I. H. EVANS AND WIFE
Four years ago we located in Nassau, the capital of the colony, a town of about thirteen thousand inhabitants, on the island of New Providence. As far back as fifteen years ago, Brother C. F. Parmele and family spent some time in the colony, sowing the seed in the form of the printed page, in a number of the islands. Two or three other canvassers have, since then, passed through Nassau, remaining, however, only a few days or weeks.
As some of the results of Brother Parmele’s labors, we found two lone sisters keeping the Sabbath. One of these died soon after our arrival. The other, with her family, joyfully accepted the whole message as soon as it was presented to her, and slowly but steadily the number of believers increased, till at the present time we have an organized church of twenty-one members and a Sabbath-school of about thirty-five.
As an indication of the quality of these believers, a few items from our annual financial report are presented. Tithe for four years, $1,245.26; Sabbath-school offerings, $412.20; other mission offerings, $223.67; offerings for local work, $325.29. Total, $2,206.42. The establishment of the work in this field, together with its prosecution for four years, has required only $918.97 from the Mission Board treasury, and half of this has been received in the form of literature. Only a few more believers like those we have now, and the field will be entirely self-supporting, and from the vantage-ground of the beginning already made, that much-to-be-desired result will be much easier of accomplishment than has been the beginning. The necessity of first establishing the work in the capital has prevented us from visiting more than about a dozen of the out-island settlements. Our experience in these few places, and the invitations that come to us from those we have never visited, reveals the fact that they are ripe for the message. The simple announcement that an open-air meeting will be held quickly spreads through the village, and
practically the whole community assembles and eagerly listens to the message as long as one wishes or is able to proclaim it.
Our services in Nassau are held in a storeroom, in a poor suburb, but our Sunday night preaching services have all along been well attended, not only by the common people, who still hear the message gladly, but by a considerable number of more prominent persons, many of whom, including at least some of the many tourists who spend the winter there, would attend if we had a suitable church in an accessible locality. A good, substantial church building and parsonage in the center of the city could be purchased for about $3,500; but although our people are loyal and liberal, that is still beyond our reach, unless some one in the States comes to our assistance with a large donation. However, we are praying, planning, and giving, and have nearly $900 in cash in our church building fund, and are hoping sometime to erect a building into which we can without shame invite the Lord and the people.
Perhaps our greatest need is a church-school for the children of our people, a need so desperate that I despair of portraying it before you. Suffice it to say it is awful to have to leave our children in Babylon, from which we ourselves flee to escape impending wrath. Compulsory educational laws require the attendance of all children under twelve at some school. Even a primary church-school would, of course, meet the requirements of the law.
There are plenty of schools, both gov-ernment and denominational, but many of the people sense the need of a better brand of education, and better conditions under which to obtain it, than these schools afford. And strange to say, although we have not yet made a start toward a school here, the people are looking to us for help. Only a few days before we left, to our unbounded astonishment, a committee of citizens—none of them Adventists—called on us with a memorial, which they wished us to present at the General Conference, asking that we start and operate a school for their children and youth, and pledging themselves to erect the building and fill it with paying pupils.
And so, although this corner of the field is small, it presents some openings, which, if filled, will surely lead to gratifying results. George Washington, Grover Cleveland, Mark Twain, Sir Frederick Treves, and thousands of other noted visitors unite in pronouncing the climate of these “sun-kissed, wave-washed isles of everlasting June” to be the best in the world. Here Columbus landed, De Leon sought the fountain of youth, while Black Beard, the pirate and buccaneer, long carried on his wicked operations. French, Spanish, and English have here made much bloody history, and in the days of the civil war, Nassau was the most noted rendezvous of blockade runners. It was just off the bar of Nassau that Captain Wilkes, of the “San Jacinto,” overhauled the “Trent” and captured Mason and Slidell, Confederate envoys to England, thereby nearly embroiling the Union in war with Great Britain.
But the greatest thing that can be said of these isles is that by patient effort jewels of worth, pearls of great price, may be found which, when polished by the truth, will shine in the palace of the King. The day of small things should not be despised nor neglected, for the Master says, “Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.”
MRS. G. F. JONES
By Mrs. G. F. Jones
Our Mohammedan Sisters—No. 3
MRS. G. F. JONES
It is quite a common thing to hear Arab women tell of the loss of one, two, and even four or more children. The mortality of boys in infancy is greater than that of girls. This is doubtless due to the way they are indulged from the day of their birth, being generally overfed and pampered in every way. Not only does this treatment affect their physical condition, but should they survive till the age of two, they are real tyrants and soon begin cursing their mothers and sisters. Having taught him, the mother is proud of his cleverness until, growing worse with age, she regrets having been the means of bringing him into the world. A boy of four has been seen to go in search of a big stone to throw at his mother with curses. By that age he utterly defies her authority and repulses her embraces.
Who is to blame for this state of things? Surely not the child, but the religion of Islam that utterly despises womankind and makes her what she is under its blighting influence. “Being distrusted, she has become untrustworthy; being abused, she has become abusive, and every evil passion is given free rein.”
The jealousy of rival wives often leads to dreadful crimes. One woman became blind from vitriol thrown in her face by another wife. An only son, most precious, of high rank, was poisoned in his innocent babyhood by his mother’s rival; and indeed every harem has its unwritten tragedies. Not the least feature of the moral ruin into which they have fallen is the impurity which seems to permeate every thought.
-ARABIC MALAY
The whole system of the Islamic religion destroys the purity of the home, and makes it impossible for the children to grow up pure-minded.
One would naturally expect to find great superstition where there is so much ignorance, nor is one mistaken. Beware of admiring an infant, however much tempted to do so, for such admiration will attract the “evil eye,” and then woe to the little one. A mother will not be in the least offended, but quite the reverse, if you should remark, “What is that ugly thing, black as tar, in your arms? Ugh, how ugly! Is it a boy or a girl?” “A girl,” answers the mother, although it may be well known that it is a boy. Because of the value set on boys, it is quite common for them to be dressed as girls, and even called by girls’ names to evade the evil eye until they are old enough to rebel. Many women will not even wash their boys for fear of making them attractive and in danger of falling under the influence of the evil eye. Talismans, amulets, and all sorts of charms are worn for protection against the evil eye, bites from wild beasts, and wounds in war. Women often wear amulets round their necks, with verses inscribed from the Koran, to protect them from harm of various kinds.
The question now arises, not only what can be done to help the sad lot of these millions of women,—our sisters, as precious in the sight of God as any of us,—but, What can I do? Will it suffice if I simply pity them?—No, we must do much more. We must pray and work for them,—pray earnestly that a way may be found to lift them up from such a terrible life of degradation, and give of our means to support those who can minister to them and tell them of the love of the Saviour who died to save them.
Buenos Aires, Argentina
By C. E. Knight
C. E. KNIGHT
On January 1 of the present year, the church was divided into three organizations, and we left the house that we have occupied for four years, having secured another nearer the center of the city. Meetings have been held three times a week, as well as on the Sabbath, and the attendance has nearly always been all that could be desired. Sometimes we cannot well accommodate with seats all who come. A goodly number attend regularly.
We notice a great difference in the people as to the amount of time and instruction necessary to prepare them for baptism. Some listen for only a few weeks and decide to obey, while others continue coming for as many months without making a decision.
At the same time that the work has been carried on in the center of the city, meetings have also been held in a private house with good results, so that we were able to hold a baptismal service on April 19, nine being baptized. The illustration shows seven of these.
A few words in regard to the army officer might be interesting, for it was in his house that the meetings were held. When a young man he began studying for the priesthood, but after a time, seeing and protesting against the evils that were committed, he was treated so brutally12that he abandoned that profession. He then entered the military service, and was actively engaged under the great Argentine general, Martin, the idolized military man of the country and one of its liberators from Spanish rule. In course of time he married the general's daughter. He saw much service in war with Paraguay, and rose to the rank of captain. He is now nearly eighty years old, is the last survivor of San Martin's army, and is the guardian of the general's tomb and the souvenirs of his military career. He receives a liberal government pension, and now in the closing days of his earthly pilgrimage has enlisted courageously for the finishing of the advent message. He has shown his courage and love for the truth in conquering a lifelong companion,—but a foe,—the cigarette. He testifies to having better health since abandoning the habit; and we know it is true, for his brightened countenance demonstrates to us what that victory is worth to him.
RECENTLY BAPTIZED BELIEVERS IN BUENOS AIRES
The baptism took place in the patio, or enclosure, between the union conference office and the printing-office, in Florida, in the presence of the brethren and sisters of both churches. Others have expressed a desire to be baptized and to unite with us. Last week two sermons were given on the Sabbath question, and when the question was asked, “How many believe the seventh day ought to be kept?” twelve or fifteen new ones raised the hand, and several of them have begun to observe it.
The workers are four in number, and we earnestly desire that the truth may win its way to the hearts of the longing ones in this great and wicked city.
