Earlier text: A New Company in Brazil“Lay Up for Yourselves Treasures”
By T. E. BOWEN
Most persons think that in giving of their means to build up the cause of Christ on earth they are somehow enriching the Lord. Not so. He needs nothing. He is infinitely rich; for all the gold, the silver, and the cattle upon all the hills are his, even to the treasures of untold millions of other worlds. No, God does not take it. He turns it over to some one in need, but has such a wonderful system of accounting that that which one does for another is accounted as done unto the Lord, so that he can give the giver credit to his own account on the heavenly ledger. His word to us is, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, . . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” As surely as one can lay up for himself treasure on earth, so surely may he lay up for himself treasure in heaven. And one can so use his earthly treasure by helping others as to lay it up in heaven. Every person has an account in the bank of heaven, where no bars nor bolts nor vaults nor time locks are needed. Accounts there carry heavy compound interest, and the angel accountants never make mistakes. It is impossible to tell by one's appearance now what is the value of his treasures over there. The wealthiest of that land may not be the most attractive here. The apparently rich men of today may indeed be very poor tomorrow, while the apparently poor men of today may be found to be infinitely rich tomorrow. Brother, are you rich toward God? How stands your account on the heavenly ledger? Where are you laying up for yourself treasures, on earth or in heaven? The Power of the Tongue
By F. M. W.
SOLOMON declares, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Words of faith and hope impart light and life, while words of doubt and darkness bring discouragement and defeat. Many a one struggling with difficulties would have weakly yielded but for a cheering word uttered at the right moment by some helpful person. Many afflicted ones would have gone down to untimely graves but for the kindly counsel of a sympathetic physician. And the converse is equally true. Many would have recovered from error’s ways and today be walking in the paths of righteousness had it not been for the unkind words, spoken perchance in a moment of anger or thoughtlessness, which like poisoned arrows rankled until the deadly venom saddened and embittered the whole life. We are in a world of sickness and sorrow. On every side are the disappointed, the discouraged, the embittered. Why speak one word to make heavier the loads which must be borne? Rather, why not add our quota to the world’s cheer and good fellowship? “Apt words have power to suage
The tumults of a troubled mind
And are as balm to festered wounds.” “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” It requires a fine sense of proportion, propriety, and discrimination to speak fitting and appropriate words. Even kind words may be so lacking in point and poise as to defeat rather than to accomplish their author’s design. True, helpful, ennobling sympathy is quite apart from the sentimental utterances which often pass for such. Of this latter kind is the sympathy expressed for the one who considers himself abused, or whose conduct has required disciplinary measures on the part of the church or school. Many an erring one has been helped along on his downward course by the words of well-meaning but sentimental and unwise brethren. In place of making an effort to correct the error, they have questioned the methods if not the motives of the ones who were honestly endeavoring to save a soul from death. There is a charity, generous in its expressed sympathy and lavish in its gifts, which without inquiry or investigation bestows its benefices with an open hand upon all who ask. Many times, however, the result is to rob men and women of their manhood and womanhood and to increase the spirit of indigence and pauperism which exists in the world. On the other hand, there is a sympathy, equally as generous, which seeks to help men to help themselves, strengthens the spirit of manhood and true independence, while at the same time it alleviates suffering and need. “How bad you look!” “How thin you have grown of late!” and many allied expressions, have robbed many a poor nervous dyspeptic or a patiently plodding consumptive battling for health, of the last vestige of his ebbing courage and hastened him into the grave. And strangely enough many who act this part of Job’s comforters pride themselves on being the world’s almoners, the dispensers of love and good cheer. Theirs is a sickly, sad-eyed, long-faced, sentimental sympathy, with which their fellows can well dispense. Never, unless the sick one is your enemy and you cruelly desire to submit him to a painful, lingering death, tell him that he looks bad. Carry with you into the sick room words of life and hope, or stay away. With the sick do not look horrified, do not whimper, do not talk about funerals. Speak sympathetically but hopefully. Inspire confidence in the nurse, in the physician, and above all in God. Then will it be proved indeed in your visit that “the tongue of the wise is health.” In the spiritual realm, as in the physical world, the tongue may prove a savor of life, or a “fire, a world of iniquity.” We may give to our neighbors, our neighborhood, our community, a good reputation or an evil one. We may talk our brethren and sisters “up,” or we may talk them “down.” We may encourage confidence in the church, in its officers, in its enterprises, or we may drop insinuating words which germinate into seeds of doubt and suspicion in many minds. It is painful to contemplate the idle, meaningless words uttered from day to day by the professed followers of Christ. The conversation of many is made up of a discussion of the fashions and follies and foibles of the world. Idle chitchat, jesting, and joking consume precious hours that should be spent in the contemplation of God, in the study of his words and works, or in ministering to the world’s great needs. And even those who are looking for the second coming of the Lord are not exempt from these temptations. We have in our tongues the power of life and death. Which influence shall we exert? Our record we must sometime meet, “for every idle word that men shall speak they shall give an account thereof in the day of judgment.” By our words we shall be justified, and by our words we shall be condemned. Let us think before we speak. We cannot recall our words nor the influence they exert. “Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds;
You can’t do that way when you’re flying words.” Like thistledown scattered to the breeze, words travel we know not where. The influence they exert, and the fruit they bear, only the judgment will reveal. By God’s help we may order our conversation aright before him. And to the one who will do this is the promise given: “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me: and to him that ordereth his conversation aright will I show the salvation of God.” The Worship of Relics
By C. M. S.
“Rome Never Changes”—No. 12
ONE of the earliest manifestations of departure from the simplicity of the Christian faith and practice was seen in the collection and veneration of “relics of the saints.” The church of the apostles’ days knew nothing of relics or relic worship. There is nothing in the Scripture that authorizes relic hunting or relic worship. In fact, there is nothing in the Word of God which in any way suggests divine approval of relic worship, though efforts have been made to torture a few passages of Scripture into such a meaning. By such a misconstruction Jacob is said to have “worshiped the top of his staff,” whereas the text, rightly translated, merely states that Jacob worshiped, “leaning upon the top of his staff.” Heb. 11: 21. An attempt of the Israelites to preserve and worship a “relic” was frustrated when the good king Hezekiah broke in pieces the serpent of brass,8 which Moses had erected in the wilderness. That act of Hezekiah is recorded of him as one of his meritorious deeds, showing that “he clave to the Lord,” that “he trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah.” The people had begun to “burn incense” to the brazen serpent because of its association with the earlier experiences of Israel. But Hezekiah called it “Nehushtan,” a piece of brass; and for what he did in this matter and in destroying idolatrous worship the record says of him: “And the Lord was with him; and he prospered whithersoever he went forth.” See 2 Kings 18: 1-7. New Testament passages that are quoted to give an excuse for relic worship are the following: Matt. 9: 20-22; Acts 5: 12-15; Acts 19: 11, 12. In the first, a woman having an issue of blood was healed by touching the Saviour’s garment. So were the Israelites healed of the bite of the serpents by looking upon the brazen serpent; yet the Lord, through Hezekiah, rebuked and put an end to the worship of that relic. His attitude would be the same toward any attempt to worship the hem of his garment if that were in existence. And it was not the hem of his garment that healed the woman; for the record states that the Lord perceived “that virtue had gone out of him” (Mark 5: 30), not out of his garment. In the second text (Acts 5: 12-15) it is recorded that the sick were placed where Peter’s shadow would fall upon them, in the hope that they might be healed. Was there virtue in Peter’s shadow? There is nothing in the narrative to indicate it. Whatever healing power was manifested on that occasion was the power of God working through his servant in response to the faith of the afflicted ones. The virtue was not in Peter’s shadow. In the third text (Acts 19: 11, 12), the record states that “God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them.” But it was not the handkerchiefs and aprons that wrought the miracles, but God himself who wrought them in response to the faith of the people. Nowhere is it recorded that these articles were laid up and worshiped as relics, or that miracle-working power was retained in them. One writer asks, “How could the shadow of Peter be thus preserved?” Thus is it shown that the Bible nowhere encourages relic worship, but does specifically discourage it, by the record of Hezekiah’s course and the Lord’s approval of it. It was not until two hundred years this side of Calvary that the members of the Christian church began to pay any attention to the “relics of the saints.” After Constantine’s “conversion,” when the church, released from persecution, began to assume a pomp and pageantry ill-suited to its mission in the world, they began to collect the “relics of the martyrs,” and to rebury them under the Communion table. This custom was wholly of pagan origin. Plutarch, in his life of Theseus, describes a similar custom among the Athenians. What the Athenians did with the relics of their heroes, these Christians began to do with the relics of their martyrs. To such an extent has the veneration of relics been carried that no Roman Catholic church is considered completely consecrated without some relic to sanctify it. The second Council of Nice enacted the following law on this subject: We decree that whatever venerable churches have been consecrated without holy relics of martyrs, shall have a deposit of relics made in them with the accustomed prayer. And if after the present time any bishop shall be found consecrating a church without holy relics, let him be deposed, as one that transgresses ecclesiastical tradition. — Conc., vii. 604. Labbe and Cossart, Paris, 1671-2.
This decree plainly indicates that churches without relics were considered defective by the Roman Church; that some portion of the remains of “holy martyrs” or some of their belongings were essential to God’s acceptance of the people’s worship. Churches without such furnishings must be provided with them. This, in itself, shows that at that time the Roman Church made a very radical change,—so very radical that bishops were to lose their position in the church if they did not bring their practice into harmony with the new order of things. The severity of the penalty shows unmistakably that Rome had reason to believe there was danger of some of her bishops continuing to do as they had done heretofore in the matter; that is, continuing to consecrate churches without relics. And that decree, if we had no other proof, proves untrue the claim that Rome never changes. For at least two hundred years this side of Christ relic hunting and relic worship were unknown in the Christian church. Churches were dedicated without relics. Then gradually, as the church began to increase in influence and worldly honor among worldlings and to lose its grip on the fundamentals of Christian faith, and as the partially converted pagans flocked in greater numbers into the church, pagan customs began to appear and claim a place in the faith and practice of Christians. A few churches were dedicated with relics, then more, and finally came the decree of the Council of Nice, above quoted, making that manner of dedication compulsory. And yet the claim of Rome is reiterated that “Rome never changes.” The Council of Trent also authorized and commanded the “veneration and honor” of relics. See “Dogmatic Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent,” authorized translations, page 168. The distinction which a Jesuit would make between the veneration and worship of relics is one which the masses never understand; and for dreary ages it was comprehended by few in the Catholic Church. The wood of the cross, the seamless coat, the images and bones of dead saints, the blood of St. Januarius, were long the gods of Christian nations.—Cathcart’s “Papal System,” page 295. The superstitious faith in the power and efficiency and protection of relics, especially during the Dark Ages, was so great as almost to be beyond the belief of an enlightened individual of the present day. The dead “saints” were felt to be more efficacious in case of need than the living ones. A man by the name of Romuald, who was reputed to be a saintly man, was quietly informed, when about to leave France, that if he could not be persuaded to remain the people intended to kill him in order to secure the protection of his holy remains. See Neander, Vol. III, page 446, note. Teaching men to put their trust in fragments of the bodies of the dead is one of the most glaring and outrageous insults Satan has ever taught men to offer to God; and were the Word of God permitted to the laity in the Church of Rome, to be read as freely as they chose and without human interference, it would be impossible to perpetuate relic worship in that church. Jehovah has plainly taught us in his Holy Word in whom we should put our trust. We are not to trust in man, not even in princes; for we read:— “Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in Jehovah his God.” Ps. 146: 3-5.
If there is no hope outside of God, not even in living princes, what place is there for the bones, and teeth, and hair, and nails of dead “saints,” whose breath has gone forth, who have returned to their earth, and whose thoughts have ceased to be. God is the hope and help and refuge of his people. What an insult to God for us to turn our backs upon him (as we surely do if we trust in relics), and put our hope in those things, and look for help to come to us from the fragments of dead human beings. How9 bitterly has Satan deceived the millions that have put their trust in such things! “How strange it would sound,” says Cathcart, “to hear Paul say, ‘I am able to do all things, for I have a thumb of Moses with which I make the sign of the cross when great efforts are needed!’ Or to hear David say, ‘I have a thigh bone of Abraham, and it is my refuge and my strength, a very present help in time of trouble!’ Or to hear Luke say, ‘The Bereans are more noble than those of Thessalonica because they devoutly venerate the head of Isaiah in a golden shrine!’ How singular John would have appeared praying to God before a leg of Melchizedek! Or Peter kneeling before the relics of Joseph and venerating them! Or Philip, Stephen, Lazarus, and Martha and Mary, at their devotions in a chapel dedicated to ‘all saints,’ before a costly shrine in which were placed a tooth of holy Rahab, the mantle of St. Elijah, a finger of Esther, some of Miriam’s hair, the renowned coat of Joseph, and a foot of the mighty Jacob! There is no record of the veneration or worship of one human relic in the Old Testament or in the New. There was not one adored relic among all the servants of Christ while he lived, nor for two centuries after his death. And as it is written, ‘Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve,’ there never should have been a trace of relic worship among the servants of God.”—“Papal System,” pages 295, 296. The Barrier That Was Turned Into a Gateway for the Truth
By W. A. S.
IN the early days of this generation, when the time had come for the missionary occupation of the great heathen lands, Japan was determined to keep its doors barred against the gospel, even though it had opened two gateways for commercial exchange with foreign ports. Nagasaki was one of these ports of call for ships; and the Dutch were allowed a trading settlement on the island of Deshima, in Nagasaki harbor. But this concession only made the authorities the more determined to keep out the foreign religion. How the effort to set up a barrier for this purpose was overruled by Providence for the opening of Japanese eyes to the light is told as follows in Griffis's “Verbeck of Japan:” — To guard the coast and keep up both the policy of exclusion and inclusion, the daimio, or baron, of Hizen was given charge of the work of defense and surveillance. He appointed one of his karo, or ministers, named Murata, a brave and trusty officer whose title was Wakasa no Kami, that is, the honorary lord of Wakasa. In those days titles did not mean necessarily either rank, revenue, or office. Murata posted his troops at advantageous points, and set a cordon of boats around the harbor, so that no hungry scholar eager for knowledge, or student hoping to slip out from Japan to see the world, could break the blockade and get aboard the English ships. . . . Wakasa frequently went out by night and day in a boat to inspect personally the means of defense and of guard. On one of these excursions he saw floating on the water a little book, which, in type, binding, and language, was different from anything he had ever seen. Curiosity at once seized him to know what it contained. After much inquiry, conducted with wariness, one of the interpreters, able to talk Dutch and read words printed in European letters, told him that it was about the Creator of the universe, and Jesus, who taught his mind and truth, and that there was much also between its pages about morals and religion. All this only whetted the governor’s desire to know the whole contents. He sent one of his men named Eguchi Baitei, to Nagasaki, professedly to study medicine, but in reality to find out from the Dutch more of the book, and they told him much. When he heard there was a translation of this book into Chinese, he sent a man over to China and secured a copy. Murata’s home was in Saga, the castle city and capital of Hizen, and there with the Chinese translation he began the study of the New Testament. It was in 1854 that Wakasa found the floating book as he patrolled the harbor to keep out foreign ideas. A few years later, in 1862, Verbeck began his great educational work for that land by a class of two young men, one of whom was Wakasa’s younger brother. Two years later Verbeck received a call from Wakasa himself, a tall, dignified man of fifty. He was already an intelligent believer in Christ, and related this story of “the Moses of his deliverance,—the book drawn out of the water twelve years before.” He said to Verbeck:— Sir, I cannot tell you my feelings when for the first time I read the account of the character and work of Jesus Christ. I had never seen, or heard, or imagined such a person. I was filled with admiration, overwhelmed with emotion, and taken captive by the record of his nature and life. The government heard of his conversion, and ordered him punished, but the only thing done was to burn some of his books. He died a believer in 1874. To us this oft-told story has now added interest in view of the fact that the daughter of Wakasa no Kami is a member of our church in Japan. W. A. S. What Is Prayer?
By G. B. THOMPSON
“PRAYER is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed;
The motion of a hidden fire,
That trembles in the breast.”
— Montgomery. Prayer, like holy incense, has been ascending to God since the time Adam offered his petition. Abel, the first Christian martyr, implored divine mercy as he offered, by faith, an acceptable sacrifice to the Most High. Through all the millenniums of sin holy men have interceded at the throne of God for help and guidance. “Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend.” Prayer does not bring God down to man, but lifts man up to God. And he who sits on the throne of exaltation and power bids us to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Heb. 4: 16. Prayer is more than mere meditation upon God. Through his Word God talks to man; through prayer man talks to God. Abraham said, “Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes.” Gen. 18: 27. Blessed communion indeed! “There is a place where Jesus sheds
The oil of gladness on our heads,—
A place than all beside more sweet;
It is the blood-bought mercy seat. “There is a scene where spirits blend,
Where friend holds fellowship with friend,—
Though sundered far, by faith they meet
Around one common mercy seat.” If prayer is anything to a Christian, it is everything. We can do nothing without prayer. Through prayer we lay hold of that which will enable us to do all things. “Prayer is the key in the hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the boundless resources of Omnipotence.” Through this avenue we are enabled to lay hold upon all that God has. Truly, puny, destitute man should pray, and draw heavily on the bank of heaven. If the owner of a great bank should place in our hands a key to his vaults, and tell us to help ourselves to the contents, we should respond without delay. Prayer has to do with God and heavenly sublimities. It is adoration. The Lord’s Prayer opens with the words, “Our Father which art in heaven.” Daniel began his prayer, “O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments.” Dan. 9: 4. Prayer brings us into the presence of God. To pray we must realize, so far as mortals can, the exalted position and holy character of the Being whom we are addressing, and in whose presence we are permitted to stand. Prayer is confession. Who could stand in the presence of the holy and omnipotent God without having an awful consciousness of his own insignificance and vileness? His purity stands contrasted with our sins. Like Job we shall be led to exclaim, “Behold, I am vile;” or the seer of God, who, when he had10 seen Jehovah, said, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” Isa. 6: 5. Burdened with a sense of guilt and our overwhelming need, we shall petition Heaven for forgiveness, and deliverance from sin. Prayer is thanksgiving. The psalmist continually breaks forth into words like these: “Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.” Paul exhorts, “Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” By faith we accept the things God has promised, and which we have asked for, and thank him for his inestimable gifts. “Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye,
When none but God is near. “Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high. “Prayer is the sinner’s contrite voice
Returning from his ways,
While angels in their songs rejoice
And cry, ‘Behold, he prays!’ “Nor prayer is made by man alone;
The Holy Spirit pleads,
And Jesus on the eternal throne,
For mourners intercedes. “O thou, by whom we come to God,
The Life, the Truth, the Way,
The path of prayer thyself hath trod;
Lord, teach us how to pray!”
— Montgomery. A Visit to Constantinople
By L. R. Conradi
It being almost impossible to provide our workers in the Balkans and in Constantinople with the necessary money, I decided to undertake a trip for that purpose, and at the same time have opportunity to counsel with our workers in these fields. I was well aware of the increased difficulties in traveling during the war. Traveling permits had to be secured for Austria-Hungary, Roumania, Bulgaria, and Turkey. No return tickets could be obtained, as heretofore, but one-way tickets only from country to country. Railway time-tables were a veritable mystery, which could be solved only as one advanced from country to country. Leaving Hamburg November 10, I spent the afternoon with Elder Schuberth at Berlin, and with Dr. Meyer, who is now in charge of our Friedensau school. The night train brought me to Vienna next morning. Here I secured several visés. Vienna seemed to be much more affected by the war than Berlin. One could see many wounded in the streets, and there were crowds of fugitive Jews from Galicia. That night a fast train brought me to Budapest, where I spent the forenoon with Brother Huenergardt and others in counsel about matters in the Danube Union. Twenty-four hours in the train brought me to Bukharest, the capital of Roumania. En route a number of military trains, and also trains full of wounded soldiers, gave evidence of the grim realities of war. Missing connections here, I spent the afternoon with Brother Paulini, and on account of the urgency of the matter, pressed on next morning. The trains in Roumania and Bulgaria were crowded with new recruits and with old reserves—a sure sign that they were exerting themselves to the utmost to take a hand in the fray at a moment’s notice, if need be. The shores of the Danube were strongly guarded, and it took considerable time to investigate the passports and to search the luggage before the passengers were permitted to enter the steamer at Giurgevo to be conveyed over to the Bulgarian side, where they must pass through the same ordeal. As I had half a day at Rustchuk before a through train left for Turkey, I had ample time to inquire about my ticket farther on, and the possibility of connections. I was informed at the ticket office that the price of the ticket was in gold, and that meant thirty-three per cent more than the price stated on the ticket. Going up to the city, at the exchangers I found the rate was reduced to seventeen per cent. Toward evening the other boat came in, and I was indeed thankful that I did not have to rush through and lose so much on exchange as other travelers. The former main routes to Constantinople were both closed,—the one going by land from Belgrade through Servia to Sofia and Adrianople, the other by sea, from the Roumanian border at Constantza, through the Bosporus. But happily, last year a new route was opened through Bulgaria, right through the Balkan Mountains, via the Shipka Pass. On the way I made the acquaintance of a German engineer from Berlin, an Israelite and an enthusiastic Zionist. He had for several years been employed in the Jewish colonies in Palestine, but at the call to arms had returned to Germany. However, he was allowed to return again in the interest of these colonies. As we got better acquainted, I told him of our faith, and he became intensely interested, especially in our position concerning the Sabbath. I gave him the address of our depository in Constantinople, and he came up the next morning after my arrival; but as I was absent, he called again. He bought a copy of the “History of the Sabbath;” and as he stopped in Constantinople several weeks, he was at our meetings a number of times. He told me that he thought we might do a great work among the Arabs working in these colonies, and I therefore put him in touch with our worker in Palestine. At Tirnova-Sejmen, shortly before reaching the Turkish border, I found myself on the old Belgrade-Sofia route. On account of the nearness of Adrianople to the border, Turkey has lost but few miles of territory along the railway, and there are still over two hundred miles between the Bulgarian border and Constantinople. Around Adrianople one still sees traces of the Balkan War. Blown-up iron railway bridges are seen beside the tracks, but these have been replaced by new ones. Some buildings have been restored, others still remain in ruins. Considerable work has been done to strengthen Adrianople. Late at night I reached Constantinople, where Brethren Frauchiger and Bridde met me at the train, and took me to our depository. I spent two days with the brethren, and would gladly have remained longer, but matters were too unsettled in the Balkans to warrant a longer visit. Our brethren were very happy indeed to be provided with sufficient means for both Turkey and Syria, to last till next spring. I was surprised to find that they had no difficulty whatever in exchanging the German and Austrian bills into gold and paper, and that the Turkish paper is on a par with gold. Three years had passed since my last visit to Constantinople, and I could see many improvements in the city. Some of the main thoroughfares had been widened, fine electric tramways installed, and a good solid bridge now connects the European and Turkish quarters, over the Golden Horn. The city was richly decorated with flags on account of the great demonstration the day previous, when the holy war was declared before the Mosque of Mohammed II, the conqueror of Constantinople. The city seemed to be astir with military preparations. The soldiers seemed well armed and were clad in khaki. The red fez, which had been such a fine target for modern arms, had been replaced by a khaki head covering. I was surprised to see so many autos in use for the army. The main object of my visit, however, was not to see sights, but to spend a few hours in close counsel with our brethren. I was happy to find them in good health and of good courage; and although they have to work amid many difficulties, yet they press on, and some souls are interested. They cannot hold public lectures, but they work quietly. Brother Baharian had left for his field in the neighborhood of Samsun on October 27. As the Russian steamer on which he sailed learned of the outbreak of the war, October 29,11 it turned toward Russia, and thus Brother Baharian found himself soon on Russian territory. The boat anchored for eight days at Iskadovski. While the Moslems were sent to the interior, he was brought to Odessa, November 9. He could not find any of our members there; but after a fourteen days’ stay, he was allowed to return to Constantinople. He wrote us from Rustchuk, Bulgaria, November 30. As we have so few workers in this field, we are surely grateful to God that Brother Baharian is at liberty again to continue his work for the salvation of souls. Our workers and brethren in these fields appreciate the fact that they are remembered in the prayers of God’s people everywhere. On November 18 I left Constantinople; and as the train wound its way through the noted Tshataldsha lines, I had an excellent opportunity to view this great battle field. A broad valley separates the two ranges of hills and forms a natural moat stretching from the Black Sea to the Marmora. It took twenty-four hours to reach Sofia. Here I was met by Brethren Motzer and Thomas, at the train. At this place, as everywhere, the first fifteen minutes had to be spent with the police concerning the passport. Here we had a busy day together in counsel. Our work in Bulgaria has moved slowly. I was very happy, however, to find that the brethren were making headway. We called on a very nice Bulgarian family, where the wife is already a member of our church, and the husband seems about ready to take his stand on the Lord’s side. He is an architect, has been in Berlin, and thus we could converse directly with him. But he encounters very bitter opposition. I also met several of our leading brethren. A good stock of literature has since been shipped to Sofia, so that if there should be any difficulty, the brethren in that field may go on with their missionary work. That night I left for Roumania, crossed at Rustchuk at noon the next day, and reached Bukharest just about Sabbath eve. Elder Paulini had made three appointments for me to meet with the three churches in Bukharest. Friday night I spoke at the North Church, and the hall was crowded to the utmost; Sabbath forenoon I spoke to the German church, and Sabbath afternoon to the Central Church. We now have in Bukharest about 230 members. About twenty-five of the leading members of the churches in this city met in the afternoon, from four o’clock till ten at night, and we had a very profitable time together. We considered the organization of a third Roumanian church in the city. On that same Sabbath our brethren had rather a lively time at a city north from Bukharest, where we have over fifty members. All the priests of the city were gathered at our meeting hall, to attack our faith and to induce our members to give up the message. At every synod the Roumanian Church has, one of the themes considered is how to meet the Seventh-day Adventists. The papers are full of this topic, and yet every effort against us but strengthens the work. We have now six hundred members in Roumania. The work is carried on there by a self-supporting conference, which is growing rapidly. Another twenty-four hours brought me to Budapest, where Elder Huenergardt had arranged for a committee meeting soon after my arrival. As we could not have our regular fall conferences in the Danube Union, we decided to have the ordination of three of our brethren. These three brethren had been called in, and after addressing a large congregation, we ordained Brethren Gassman, Mink, and Popescu to the gospel ministry. Two of these brethren are Germans, the third is a Roumanian. We were sorry that Brother Schillinger could not be with us, on account of sickness, but we were glad to have Elder Meyer, the president of the Transylvania Conference, and Brother Boex with us. By placing Brother Doerner at Pressburg, and Brother Gassman in northern Hungary, we at least have each field provided with ordained ministers for the present. But Elder Huenergardt and his laborers are of good courage, and the work is onward in their union. At Vienna I met Elder Wolfgarten. Our work in Austria is passing through the same experience as in the fields in other parts of Europe. Our people meet on the Sabbath, but it is very difficult to hold public lectures, and much of the work must be done by house-to-house effort. Our canvassing work also greatly suffers in Austria-Hungary on account of the war, and the parcel post and freight move very slowly and irregularly. I felt grateful to the Lord that I was able to make this trip, in the midst of war and turmoil, and that I could provide our workers in Turkey and Bulgaria with the necessary means till summer, and that we could plan together for our work. May our brethren everywhere remember these fields in their prayers. Catholic Versus Protestant Abuse
By Editor
REGARDING the efforts of the Roman Catholic Church to prohibit the publication of attacks on the Catholic faith, and the offensive utterances of the Catholic press regarding Protestants, the Northwestern Christian Advocate of Dec. 16, 1914, declares:— Roman Catholics throughout the country propose to unite in a demand upon Congress for the enactment of a special law excluding anti-Catholic publications from the United States mails. They also advocate the use of the threat that they "cannot support at the polls an administration which is so remiss in its duty as to allow such filthy sheets to use the money of American citizens to circulate their venomous slanders." We have no way of forecasting the success or failure of their effort. We had always thought that existing laws were wholly sufficient for protection against libelous or slanderous statements in the public press. We have from time to time suggested that Roman Catholics resort to the courts for justice in this matter. This they have done with but slight success. But before they proceed with their lobby, it might not be amiss to apply the old suggestion about a physician healing himself before applying his nostrum to others. For instance, there recently came to our desk the journal of a neighboring Roman Catholic diocese that contained a column and a half editorial cataloguing no less than fifty ministers of Protestant faith who had fallen or had been reported morally remissful. The deplorable feature was that the editor had stated as fact in numerous cases what was mere newspaper rumor. The effect of that editorial was bad—very bad. We wrote the editor stating as gently as possible that he had not played fair. His reply was that he had been instigated by attacks upon those of his own faith. A cursory reading of the Roman Catholic press will reveal the fact that considerable of their editorial expression is direct abuse of Protestantism, and falsely founded and ill-directed abuse at that. It is quite true that Protestant papers—with rare exception—keep well within the limits of the permissible in criticism of their brethren. If there are publications that seem to overstep the bounds, they are independent, not actuated by any desire to defend Protestantism. Protestantism does not champion them. They themselves will not claim any pro-Protestant proclivities. They believe the policy of the Roman Catholic Church is anti-American, and fight it with all their might. Some of the severest critics of these extreme papers have been Protestant ministers. That the supporters of these papers are not Roman Catholic is not proof that they are churchmen of the Protestant faith. The fact is, though our Roman Catholic brethren seem ignorant thereof, the great bulk of opposition to that church comes from nonchurch quarters, many critics themselves having once been Catholics. Their attack is more upon civil grounds than ecclesiastical. As long as Roman Catholicism judges herself the sole custodian of salvation; as long as she claims to hold the keys of heaven and hell with power to award or consign; as long as she attempts to apply the cruel principle of the Ne temere decree to the legally married; as long as she lays violent hands upon the public school; as long as she sets church above state, cardinal above President, Rome against Washington, so long may she expect a force, a strong and ever-swelling force, to be directed against her. It is not primarily the protest of Protestantism, but the protest of American citizens.