p. 8 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 23, No. 25. (7/1/1897)

What Is Required?

By N. W. T.

No. 594. What Is Required?

WHAT is the creed of Seventh-day Adventists as regards the use of intoxicants? Is it abstinence or temperance?

The only "creed" of Seventh-day Adventists is the Word of God. As regards temperance all Christians would doubtless agree on this definition, "Moderation in the use of that which is good, and total abstinence from all things hurtful." Chemistry clearly shows that the nutritious qualities of spirituous and malt liquors of all kinds are practically nil. Common every-day observation shows that their use, "temperate" or otherwise, does not in any way make the user superior to the total abstainer, while, on the other hand, their use is the cause of untold misery. The Bible clearly sets before us two kinds of wine. Against one we are faithfully warned (Prov. 23:21, 29-32; Isa. 5:11, 12; Hab. 2:5, 15; Luke 21:34; Eph. 5:18), while of another wine the Lord permits us to drink (John 2:1-11; 1 Tim. 5:23, et al.). We can not believe that in the above and kindred passages the Lord meant in all cases the same kind of wine. Certainly both fermented and unfermented wine was known to the Jews. Further, the use of spirituous liquors intoxicates and stupefies all the finer sensibilities of the mind and soul. At what limit is their use innocuous? The crucial question of the converted heart is not, How much may I indulge, and still be saved, but, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" See 1 Cor. 10:31; Rom. 14:21.

Unfermented Wine and Bread

By Editor

No. 595. Unfermented Wine and Bread.

Will you tell us in the Question Corner how to make unfermented wine, and the best kind of grapes for that purpose, also unfermented bread for the Lord's supper? M. L. H.

1. For the wine, take juicy grapes of any good quality, fresh picked from the stems, wash thoroughly, and scald without the addition of water in a double boiler till the grapes burst open. Then cool the grapes, turn into stout jelly bags, and drain off the juice without squeezing. Let the juice settle, turn off the top leaving the sediment. Add to the juice about one pound of granulated sugar to six pounds of grapes, reheat to boiling, and can the same as fruit. Keep in a cool, dark place. If put in bottles sterilize the bottles, boil the corks in hot water, and cover with wax. See "Science in the Kitchen," pp. 209, 210.

Wine for communion purposes may be obtained by boiling raisins and straining out the juice.

2. Of the bread we give below a recipe furnished by those who have, at different times, made the bread for the Oakland church, and which gave excellent satisfaction. Of course so much as this would not be required. The quantity provided for in the recipe is for from 200 to 300, our usual number of communicants. For smaller churches it may be reduced proportionately:—

Unfermented Bread for Communion.—To one pint of sweet cream add one-half teaspoonful of salt. Stir in enough flour to make a stiff dough. Knead well for about twenty minutes. Roll into a sheet about one-fourth of an inch in thickness (or less), and cut into square or round pieces about the size of a plate. Dust a flat pan with flour, after which lay in the pieces and mark them off with a knife into squares from one-half to three-quarters of an inch, cutting it at least half way through, so that when ready for use the pieces may be easily broken apart. Bake in a moderately hot oven. When sweet cream can not be obtained, milk with a little butter, or even water and butter, in proper proportions may be substituted.

A little experimenting will enable a woman of good judgment, experienced in cooking, to make bread that is acceptable. One-third the amount of olive oil could be used instead of the cream, if preferred.

ANOTHER SUNDAY CRUSADE.

By Editor

APROPOS of the Christian Endeavor Convention of 1897, which is to be held in San Francisco in July, the state secretary of the C. E. Union has sent out a circular letter to all ministers who are to attend the convention, urging them "to miss no opportunity to strike a blow to help us in the defense of our Lord's day," and to "preserve Sunday as a day of rest, quiet, and worship." It refers to the desperate condition of the State in view of there being no Sunday law here, and this letter is considered as a precursor of another agitation over the Sunday question. It is safe to assume that many of the visiting ministers who are to supply various pulpits around the bay, will follow the advice of the California secretary in the Sunday-worship crusade, but we hope not all.

DR. PARKHURST'S WORK.

By Editor

THE people of the country all know of the crusade begun four years ago, we believe, by C. H. Parkhurst, D.D., pastor of the Madison Square Presbyterian Church, of New York, against municipal corruption. The revelations following the investigations were fruitful in exposing many evils. An unbearable stench was raised, resulting in the use of a great quantity of political deodorizers and disinfectants. The crusade spread to other cities, and would-be Parkhursts sprang up in every municipality. Disreputable methods have been followed by the clergy and their agents in tracing out crime, and the church and ministry have lost influence. They are, perhaps, more feared by corrupt politicians, but they have lost power to help the low and fallen.

While we have never questioned Dr. Parkhurst's sincerity, we said at the time, and still say, that his methods of reforming society are not Christ's methods. The work he has been doing in politics is not the work of a minister of the Gospel of Christ. Now Dr. Parkhurst has retired from the field broken in health; and he promises his church that "so long as I sustain my present relation to this church, my one devotion will be to my pulpit, to the life and work of this church, and to the interests of its families and individual members." This is Gospel work, and this is the comment of the New York Observer, the leading and oldest Presbyterian paper in New York:

"We do not hesitate to commend and encourage such a decision. However brave the fight against Tammany Hall, it was an unnecessary contest for Dr. Parkhurst. We have never believed that any pastor settled over a church in New York was bound by moral or religious responsibility to enter into the political arena, nor to be a leader in party strife. The reform which Dr. Parkhurst championed so ably has been neither satisfactory nor lasting. Such a battle to be successful must be urged without ceasing for summer vacations or winter church duties. It requires not only courage and impulse, but also political training, a thorough knowledge of law and government, and a staying power which turns defeat into victory. The people who get up spasmodic revolutions in municipal affairs usually lack all of these latter requisites, and hence their good work is soon brought to naught by enemies who have made politics a business, who are never weary, and who have everything at stake. The experience of Dr. Parkhurst in public affairs seems to show that the pastor's best work for the public will be done when he devotes himself, with singleness of purpose, 'to his pulpit, to the life and work of his church, and to the interests of its families and individual members.'"

But how many of the clerical reformers will learn this lesson? The only true and lasting reform begins in the heart.

GREATLY BELOVED.

By Fannie Bolton

MRS. PATTERSON was very much discouraged and depressed. She sat down in the midst of the disorder occasioned by the exit of the children for school. The breakfast dishes were still on the table. The beds were unmade; the baby's little garments were scattered about, and Mrs. Patterson sat in the low rocker, and sobbed as if her heart would break. Her life seemed a complete failure; for it was so entirely different from the life she had planned for herself in the rosy days of girlhood. She had married the man of her choice, and as he had a good position, she had looked forward to a large social life, and had had dreams of how she would royally entertain her friends, not for social influence alone, but to better the life of others by sharing her own joy with them. She meant to take a large part in church work, in visiting the poor, in working for the downfallen, and thought to be the center of some waves of influence for good in the world.

Alas! first came financial reverses of so severe an order that they had to move from the aristocratic quarters in which they had lived, and found themselves left out of the circles of influential society. It was too painful to go to the fashionable church of which they had been members, and too humiliating to become members of the little Mission Church that was near by, and so they did not connect themselves with any church. Then the babies came one after another, and it took a great deal of contriving to make both ends meet. Mrs. Patterson did try not to show her disappointment, but out of the abundance of the heart everything flows, and while Mr. Patterson struggled hard against an adverse providence, as it seemed to him, he also had to carry the continual burden of his wife's sorrow and disappointment. Tho he never said it to her, he wished a hundred times that he had never married her, not that he had ceased to love her, but that he loved her too much to see her in grief, and through his failure to provide better things, caused to toil and suffer. Of course the marriage service had provided for the very emergency that had come when it dictated the words, "For better or for worse, for richer or for poorer," but how lightly they had spoken the vows, and how small they had found was their strength as they fainted in the day of adversity.

Yet all this outward combination of disappointing circumstances was not so hard to bear as the combination of circumstances that seemed to develop out of it, that brought about revelations of weakness in the inward life. Mr. Patterson in his soul had some hard thoughts of God; "for," he said, "if he is God, he must have known how it would all turn out, and why has he permitted me to make so great a blunder?"

Mrs. Patterson too thought God had forsaken her, because her heart was full of bitterness. Tho she thought she loved her husband, she always found herself casting her griefs and worries upon him, and she had thought she would be the very sunshine of his home and heart. Then the dear children came in for scolding and fretfulness. She who had thought to be an ideal mother (and she had very high thoughts of motherhood) stood before the record of her deeds and words to her little ones horrified by the crumbling of her own self-ideal. She had thought to be a bountiful, sympathetic neighbor, and she did not even know who was the sorrowing mother that lived next door to her, who had yesterday followed a little coffin to the grave. She who had planned to be a church worker, had not been inside the house of God for years, and, tho she had thought to have always bowed at morning and evening at the family altar, there was not even the ruins of one in her home. They ate their food without thanksgiving, and could it be wondered at that they rose up hungry in heart, and with life after all only a wilderness?

When all the failure of her life had sought to press upon her to her own self-condemnation, up to this time she had thrust it aside, casting the blame upon circumstances, and so upon God, and had hardened her heart to him and to all. But to-day it was too plain to be avoided.

The little serving girl had taken the baby out to the park. The other children were at school, and she had sent them off as usual with pained faces. How little Maud had looked back with wistful eyes! The beautiful ideal life rose up before her, and the shattered reality stood by its side. She was broken-hearted. How utterly selfish she had been! How slow to see her husband's patience and toil for her! How wrapped up in her own disappointments, so that she had no word of comfort for those more sorely tried! O, how thankful she felt that it had not been her own darling babe that went to that narrow couch of yesterday! What if it had been? Whose kindness had preserved him for her? What opportunities she had that she never saw before,—four beautiful children to perhaps be what she had failed to be. "O, they must be!" she cried out. "I covet for them this beautiful life I have failed to live. It's all my fault," she moaned. "O God, forgive me! I see it all. How could I have helped the poor or the sorrowing, who had only a theory by which I have failed to live myself? My strength is as weakness. My whole life garment is filthy rags. It has been I who have forsaken God, yet expected to be godlike. O Christ, what shall I do?"

Mrs. Patterson reached for her long neglected Bible, and silently asked her forsaken God to open it to a place that would meet her soul need. Did it open by chance?—She thought not. As it opened to the ninth chapter of Daniel, she read Daniel's confession of sin. It was the very cry of her soul. How appropriate seemed the words: "O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces." "We do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousness, but for thy great mercies." Then she ran through text after text of God's sweet and wonderful promises. They were all for one in just such a strait as she was.

She read: "Tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; tho they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land." She knew her sins were as crimson. Then she read: "If we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." What comfort she took in the text that when "we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly"! What tears of contrition and love flowed as she took in the words: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. . . . And ye shall find rest unto your souls"!

The meaning of the adverse circumstances of her life began to dawn upon her, and her heart was filled with gratitude that God's love had not granted her selfish wishes, but had brought her to the place where the counsel of her heart was made manifest, and its deceptions unveiled. "It was because he loved me that he has chastened me, and I can truly say that his rod is one of comfort to-day."

She turned back to Daniel and read again the words of confession, and then on to a verse at which she paused, and read and reread, and then lifted her face with such a glow of light and love that it was almost transfigured. It was the verse that says the angel Gabriel touched Daniel as he was confessing his sins, and told him he was "greatly beloved." "O, it means me too!" exclaimed the woman. "It means every poor, broken soul who comes confessing his own weakness and despair. O, what a Saviour I have found this morning! I am greatly beloved of God. Christ has loved me with an everlasting love. Tho I have forsaken him, he has not forsaken me, but has loved me unto death."

The clock struck eleven, and Mrs. Patterson saw the little serving girl coming with the baby. She ran to meet them, and surprised them both with a warm kiss. The baby crowed and lifted up his chubby arms. She saw her neighbor watching her as she hugged baby to her bosom.

"Run in, dear," she said to the girl, "and wash up the dishes, and get the children's lunch. I want to go over to that poor mother who has no darling for her empty arms. God has comforted me to-day, and we all are greatly beloved."

PROBLEMS.

By Memphis Social Graphic

My little one was restless, And his face was flushed and bright, And he said in pouting murmurs His baby prayer to-night.

So I crept to his bedside softly; There were tears on his lashes deep, Which he bravely hid with his fingers, His own little sorrows to keep.

And I said, "Come, tell me about it, And I will kiss it all away." "But this is sure enough trouble, And it comes most every day."

"But mother can help you, dearest, I am sure; now tell me all." "Well—it's cos I can't work them 'zamples What they puts up on the wall.

"They calls them plus and minus, And they writes them just this way:

that's plus, and means addition,

And substracton — is minus, they say."

"Is that all that gives you trouble?" And my arms held a closer touch. "Now add: if I give you two kisses And you give me two, how much?"

"Why, two, of course!" "No, no, dear; I'm afraid you're a little dunce. How can two twos be two, pray?" "Cos we does it both at once!"

"An' I can 'splain that plus an' minus That worried me so to-day: Plus is jus' putting together, An' minus is taking away."

And the tired eyes closed gently, And wrapt in dreams he lay. Aye, "Plus is jus' putting together, An' minus is taking away."

Ah, dear little dreamer, I wonder If after life's problems we say, A mother's dear arms shall enfold us And her lips kiss the worry away! For all of its hopes, loves, and longings Are summed up in thy childish lay, "Plus is jus' putting together, An' minus is taking away."

—Memphis Social Graphic.

THE MOTHER'S MOODS.

By J. H. Kellogg, M.D.

THE household barometer is always to be studied in the mother's face. Others in the home may have moods, but she can not afford to indulge in such a luxury; for her province is to regulate not alone the weather, but to fix the climate, and ordain the atmosphere which shall prevail in the nursery, at the table, in the parlor, and over the whole house. "What is mother about?" inquired a big boy of his sister, as he came home from the shop where he was learning how to be a business man. "Making sunshine for everybody, as usual," was the reply.

When we think how the mother's looks and tones affect the babies, how early the little ones begin to reflect her in that soul-likeness which shines out in the face, we can not overestimate the importance of her self-control. She must be amiable, whoever else frets. She must be brave, whoever else is cowardly. She must be tender, tho others are brusque. Because she is a mother, and, therefore, the arbiter, under God, of her children's destinies, the former of their characters, she must abide with Christ, deriving daily strength from communion with him.—Christian Intelligencer.

THE origin of a custom which has enslaved many millions of human beings in its toils, which has within a few centuries fixed itself so firmly upon the race, and become so widespread as to be practically universal among mankind, whether civilized or savage, can not be without interest to those who are users of the weed, as well as to those who wage war against this evil practise. The latter, especially, will find in the ignoble origin of tobacco-using an argument of no little force against this pernicious habit; and it is for this purpose that we write.

Tobacco-using Discovered.

In the month of November, 1492, when Columbus discovered the island of Cuba, he sent two sailors to explore it, who reported, when they returned, among many other strange and curious discoveries, that the natives carried with them lighted firebrands, and puffed smoke from their mouths and noses, which they supposed to be the way the savages had of perfuming themselves. They afterwards declared that they "saw the naked savages twist large leaves together, and smoke like devils."

To civilized human beings this was the first sight of the vile habit which has become so common that every city, town, and village is actually perfumed, or more properly befouled, with the vile stench of the poisonous weed. The impression made upon the unsophisticated Europeans was evidently not greatly in favor of the custom, since they compared the smoking Indians to devils.

Originating with the wild barbarians of America, the smoking habit was after some years introduced into Europe, and, receiving the sanction of physicians, who just at that time chiefly occupied themselves in searching for new nauseous compounds with which to experiment upon the lives of their patients, it was rapidly adopted, not only by the lower classes, but by those in high authority, even princes and nobles participating in the new intoxication.

Origin of Snuff-taking.

It appears that the taking of tobacco in the form of snuff was also discovered among the savage natives of this continent upon the second visit of Columbus to America, in 1494. A Roman friar, named Pane, who accompanied the expedition, thus describes the custom as it then existed among the Indians: "After reducing the leaves to a fine powder, they take it through a cane half a cubit long. One end of this they place in the nose and the other upon the powder, and so draw it up, which purges them much."

The purging referred to evidently describes the violent sneezing which resulted from the inhalation of the powdered poison. If the sailors thought that the smoking savages appeared "like devils," they certainly must have been ready to compare a party of sneezing Indians to a group of lunatics.

Origin of Tobacco-chewing.

In 1503, when the Spaniards landed in Paraguay, the natives attempted to repulse them, and came out against them in large numbers, beating drums, throwing water, and "chewing herbs and spurting juice toward them." The herb employed was tobacco, and the object of its use in the peculiar manner indicated was to get the poisonous juice into the eyes of the intruders and thus disable them by depriving them of sight. We have seen modern tobacco-chewers whose copious expectoration made it next to impossible for any one to approach within several feet without being soiled by the juice. In the days when warfare was carried on by hand-to-hand combat, we can very readily understand that a wild Indian filling the air about him in all directions with poisonous, irritating, filthy tobacco juice, would be a very formidable object.

Origin of Pipes and Cigars.

The first smokers employed what was practically identical with the modern cigar. Dry tobacco leaves were made into rolls and wrapped with the leaves of Indian corn, one end being lighted, and the other placed in the mouth. Pipes were also employed, those used in North America being shaped almost exactly like the letter Y, except that the stem was longer and the forked end was symmetrical. In use, the forked end was placed in the nostrils, and the other end in the dense smoke arising from tobacco leaves placed on glowing coals. In Mexico and South America, pipes almost precisely like those now in use, with numerous other forms, were employed in the same way in which pipes are now used.

Thus it appears that tobacco-using, together with the implements of its use and all the different modes of taking it, originated wholly with the heathen barbarians who roamed like wild beasts over the plains and through the dense forests of this continent four centuries ago. Civilized men have made no improvements or discoveries of any account in connection with its use; they have simply followed the example of those naked savages whom the discoverers of America saw chewing, snuffing, and smoking "like devils" almost four hundred years ago. It is evident, then, that tobacco-using is a barbarous custom in the fullest sense. In this habit we may unquestionably find one of the causes which have reduced the American savage to his present degraded and deteriorated condition.

Reader, if you smoke, chew, or snuff the filthy weed, we would ask you to pause for a moment between your whiffs, or before you renew your quid or take a new pinch of the delectable poison, and consider whether it is worthy of the dignity of an intelligent, enlightened, cultivated human being to spend his money, waste his time, and squander his health in imitating a vice which originated with ignorant, degraded savages, and remains a relic of barbarism which has been engrafted upon civilization. J. H. KELLOGG, M.D.

Great Victories Require Great Battles

"GREAT victories are only for those who are willing to fight great battles."

PENETRATING POWER OF THE HUMAN VOICE.

A SCIENTIFIC paper published in London states that 18 miles is the longest distance on record at which a man's voice has been heard (without telephonic means). This occurred in the Grand Cañon of Colorado, where one man shouted the name "Bob" at one end, and his voice was plainly heard at the other end, some 18 miles away. Lieutenant Foster, on Perry's third Arctic expedition, found that he could converse with a man across the harbor of Port Bowen, about one mile and a quarter distant; and Sir John Franklin said that he conversed with ease at a distance of more than a mile. Dr. Young records that at Gibraltar the human voice has been heard at a distance of ten miles. — Voice.

A FEW CHINESE CONTRASTS.

By Estella Hamilton

LOOKING at the map of the world, we find China to be upon the other side of the earth from our own country, and, as we sometimes say, under our feet. Perhaps, now that we find them opposite to ourselves in location, we will be able to learn that they are opposite to us in many other respects.

If we were to speak of a Chinaman, we would probably say John Chinaman, but at home he is called Chinaman John. When he goes to school, he sits with his back to his teacher, and studies aloud. The master has a stick called a ferule, which he uses when any fail to study loud enough. "What a noisy school!" I hear some of you say.

Until within the last few years, they did not think it worth while to educate the girls; but now missionaries have gone there, and, through their influence, some schools for girls have been established. When writing or reading, they begin at the bottom of the page and read upwards. The Chinaman shaves his eyebrows and his head, except a small place at the crown, which he braids and lets hang down his back. This is called a queue, and without it in China he would not be respected. He whitens his shoes, and takes them off instead of his hat when entering the house. When he meets a friend, he shakes his own hand, and leaves his friend to do likewise.

Chinamen are fond of fireworks, but usually display them in daylight. The men play marbles and fly kites. If a Chinaman gets offended at his neighbor, he does not try to kill him, but he kills himself upon the other's doorstep. He thinks that by doing this, his spirit will follow his enemy and do him harm.

ESTELLA HAMILTON.

College View, Neb.

OUR WORK AND WORKERS.

By Editor

TENT-MEETINGS were commenced at Prescott, A. T., on the 4th inst., by Elders Geo. O. States and W. L. Iles.

THE officers elected by Minnesota Conference at its recent session are: President, C. W. Flaiz; vice-president, Fred Johnson; secretary, D. P. Curtis; treasurer, C. M. Everest.

ELDER J. G. WOOD reports nine converts in connection with meetings held in Cincinnati. He also reports preaching by invitation in a Baptist Church at Springfield, O., and that the pastor and several of his flock are now keeping the Sabbath of the Lord.

THIRTY persons have covenanted to keep the commandments of God, as a result of meetings held at Levey, near Des Moines, Iowa, by Brethren F. A. Washburn and C. T. Adams.

SISTER FARNSWORTH reports to the Sabbath School Worker that in the Sabbath-school at Christchurch, N. Z., there are thirty children, most of whom are not children of Sabbath-keepers.

AFTER the camp-meeting proper, recently held in this city, the camp was not altogether broken up until one week after the advertised date for closing. The time was occupied in various ways,—by the conference committee in laying out the season's work; by instruction for canvassers, Bible workers, and other laborers; and by earnest seeking for a closer walk with God. There are many testimonies to the good results of these after-services and experiences.

A BROTHER on the island of Trinidad is undergoing a sentence of forty-two days' imprisonment because he declined to appear in a case in court on the Sabbath day. The judge offered him another trial, but the law fixes the holding of the court on the Sabbath day, and he told the judge that he would rather take the punishment, although unjust, than to disobey God. Through the influence of the truth upon the minds of legislators, under the labors of Elder E. W. Webster, efforts of leading churchmen to secure more stringent Sunday laws have been frustrated.

ELDER F. H. WESTPHAL, reporting to the Review from Argentina, S. America, notes the baptism of four candidates at San Cristobal; the organization of a church of twenty members at Felicia; the conversion of nine persons and the organization of a church of twelve members at Las Tunas; the addition of three members to the church at Crespo; organization of a church of seven members at Las Garzas. A mission school is also in progress at this place. In Buenos Ayres a Sabbath-school has been established in one part of the city and a Sunday-school in another part. Brother Westphal says of the Argentina field that there are now 7 churches, with a membership of 220. One of these churches was organized with 12 members, April 17, at Las Tunas.

GOLDEN DAYS.

By A. R. Wilcox

O, THESE are precious golden days for work! This mortal life at best is only short, The hours on rapid wings are going by; Soon comes the night when we lie down to rest. Then work while light is shining, work to-day, To-morrow's shadowed in uncertainty. When God shall ask, what will thine answer be? "Hast thou improved the precious time I gave The best to please My just and holy name?" Our life a service is 'tis truly said, But oft they better serve who only wait, Yes, wait until the Master calls for some To do a greater work, and be content With service small if so He wills for thee, A. R. WILCOX. Athens, Vt.

OUR FOREIGN MISSION'S HEADQUARTERS.

By R. A. Underwood

IT may not be generally known to the readers of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES that the office of the foreign mission board is now located in Philadelphia, Penn., it having been moved east by action taken at the late General Conference in College View, Nebraska.

A pleasant situation has been found at 1730 North Fifteenth Street, and the treasurer of the board, Brother W. H. Edwards, has moved his family from Battle Creek, Mich., where he was for years treasurer of both the General Conference and the foreign mission board, and is settled at the mission building and attending to the business of the board.

By the moving of the board to Philadelphia it is hoped and believed that the mind of God's Spirit is met, and that the office is in a better locality to do its work. And still, as ever before, we look to God and his children for the support of our work. We hope that all to whom God has given a competency will not forget those who have willingly left their native land to brave the dangers of foreign climes—dangers unknown to the habitable portions of the United States—to carry the message of the love of Christ to perishing men made in the image of God. Their skin may not be white, but salvation means as much to them as to the more favored dwellers of civilized lands. In giving to them the Gospel our missionaries must brave the perils of death-dealing fevers, of the dreaded malaria, of the burning sun of tropical lands, of meagerly supplied and badly prepared foods, of impure water, and the many unfavorable conditions and circumstances not met with at home.

The burden has been laid upon some to answer the call, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature," and they have nobly responded to the invitation of the board and gone forth in good faith, believing that the friends of missions at home would second the efforts of the board to render them a support. The treasury is very low, but the expense of living for our faithful workers goes steadily on. Let us take the situation home to ourselves, and place ourselves for a moment in the position of missionaries in an unfriendly region, and imagine, if we can, how it would seem to be without a constituency to favor us, without money, and perchance sick.

May God abundantly bless his people, and pour means into their lap, that out of their supply they may with willing hearts return unto God for the promulgation of his work a portion thereof.

All donations for foreign missions should be sent to Brother W. H. Edwards, 1730 N. Fifteenth Street, Philadelphia, Pa.

R. A. UNDERWOOD, Member of the Foreign Mission Board.

CATECHISM ON THE WORLD.

WHAT is the population of the world?—Some persons estimate it at 1,500,000,000, and others at 1,454,000,000.

How are these divided religiously?—Into Christians, Jews, Mohammedans, and heathen.

How many are called Christians?—About 390,000,000.

How are those called Christians divided?—Into Protestants, Greek and Oriental Churches, and Roman Catholics.

How many are Protestants?—About 116,000,000. These are inhabitants of nominally Protestant countries, but there are only about 30,000,000 who are members of Protestant churches.

How many Jews are there?—About 8,000,000.

How many Mohammedans?—About 170,000,000.

How many heathen are there?—About 856,000,000. Under this head are included Shintos, Buddhists, Confucianists, Brahmanists, Fetish, etc.

What is the population of America?—About 100,000,000, there being 69,000,000 in North America, and 31,000,000 in South America. About one-fourth of the people of North America and nearly all the people of South America are Roman Catholics.

What is the population of Europe?—About 332,000,000, of whom one-third are members of the Greek Church, one-third Protestants, and one-third Roman Catholics.

What is the population of Asia?—About 800,000,000, of whom about one-fifth are Mohammedans, and nearly all the others are heathen.

What is the population of Africa?—About 200,000,000, of whom one-tenth are Mohammedans, and three-fourths are heathen.

In heathen and Mohammedan lands how many Protestant missionaries are there?—About 6,700, of whom 2,700 are women.

How many native laborers?—About 33,000.

How many adherents?—About 2,250,000.

How many members?—About 150,000.

How many organized churches?—About 5,000.

How much money is expended each year by Protestants to give the Gospel to heathens?—About $10,000,000. Of this about $4,000,000 is raised in America, and $6,000,000 in Great Britain.

How many ministers are there in the United States to every 800 persons?—One.

How many missionaries are there to every 400,000 souls in foreign lands?—One.

What is expected of us?—To send the Gospel to every creature.—Gospel in All Lands.

SLAVERY AND THE DRINK TRAFFIC IN AFRICA.

ABOUT one-fourth of the Africans are Mohammedans and almost three-fourths pagans. The religion of the latter is little more than fear of spirits, combined with which is a universal belief in witchcraft. Idol-worship is not so common as fetish-worship. A fetish is a charm, believed to possess powers through an indwelling spirit. Charms are largely used by Mohammedans as well as pagans. At Brass, in the Niger Delta, a huge snake used to be regarded as a god. Human sacrifices are becoming more uncommon, but are not unknown. Old men and women (not slaves) near the Kongo, if unable to provide food for themselves, are put out into the forest to die. The slave trade has not yet been entirely abolished in East Africa, tho, theoretically at least, it has been stamped out on the West Coast. Sir Lloyd Matthews, the prime minister of the sultan of Zanzibar, estimates the number of slaves in Zanzibar and Pemba, i. e., under the British flag, at 140,000. Slavery has since been prohibited here also, and the queen's diamond Jubilee is to be celebrated by the entire abolition of slavery in the British West African possessions.

The drink traffic in West Africa is a terrible curse, and appears to be increasing. In the Niger Coast Protectorate the annual import of spirits increased from 1,300,000 gallons to nearly 2,000,000 when the British Government established a regular administration there. In 1892 the imports of liquor into Lagos amounted to over 1,100,000 gallons; in 1893 they had risen 50 per cent., and in 1894 the quantity was said to be very little short of 2,000,000 gallons. Large public meetings of natives have lately been held to protest against this traffic. The statement that Mohammedans never drink will scarcely bear investigation. A well-known French traveler, a great supporter of Mohammedanism, recently wrote as follows about the Foulahs, who live in the Western Soudan:—

"All are Mohammedans without exception, and all are drunken in the fullest acceptance of the word. Towards five o'clock in the evening it is no longer possible to have serious conversation with them; young people, adults, and old men, all are drunk."

A native catechist wrote lately concerning the importation of spirits to the Abeokuta:—

"It is an enemy within the walls, an enemy that has taken the stronghold of the town, an enemy that has chained our elders, sent into poverty and bondage our young men and young women, filled our streets with broken bottles, filled our homes with desperate and hardened inmates, and peopled hell with souls that might have been saved by the sound of the Gospel."—Missionary Review.

TO THE WILLING-HEARTED.

By Editor

THE way is now open for any whose heart the Lord stirs up to assist the foreign mission board in supporting missionaries in foreign lands. We believe that many of the readers of the SIGNS will be glad to have a part in bearing the Gospel of love to the dark corners of the earth. Let us remember when we pray and when we spend the means that God has intrusted to our care that millions of the souls of men are perishing for the bread of life.

Correspondence solicited.

All offerings should be sent to the treasurer, W. H. Edwards, at the office of the foreign mission board, 1730 North Fifteenth Street, Philadelphia, Penn.

FOREIGN MISSION BOARD.

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