There is nothing to harmonize. When two statements of Inspiration seem to be in conflict, the difficulty is not in the statements, but in our limited understanding. We need to be brought into harmony with the Word. Ex. 34:28 reads: "And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And He wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." Each of the first two times that the pronoun "he" occurs in the above it refers to Moses, who was in the holy mount by the invitation of the Lord. Verses 1, 2. The last "He" refers to the Lord, who wrote the Ten Commandments, as he told Moses he would. See verse 1, where the Lord says, "I will write upon these tables the words that were in the first tables." See also Deut. 10:1-4, where Moses declares that "he [the Lord] wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments." Boothroyd translates Ex. 34:28, last clause, as follows: "And Jehovah wrote upon the tables, the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments." The Ten Commandments are not the mutual covenant, the covenant which God made with Israel, as recorded in Ex. 19:5-8 and 24:3-8. Yet they are called the Words of the covenant, and the Ten Words of the covenant, because the covenant was made in respect to these words. That is, Israel in that promised to keep the Decalog. The covenant into which Israel entered depended on the Decalog, not the Decalog on the covenant. The covenant, the agreement which Israel made, could be broken a thousand times, but that would not affect God's law. A foreigner may promise to keep the law of this country on condition that he be received as a citizen. That law would be the law of his covenant or promise. He then might break his promise, or violate his covenant; but that would neither abolish nor confirm nor affect in any way the law of the land. That would stand whether he kept it or not. The covenant mentioned in Heb. 8:7 was the covenant into which Israel entered. It was faulty, because Israel, being sinful and weak, could not keep the law. In the new covenant, old as the days of Abel, God puts the same law in the heart, and then man keeps it.
Eph. 2:12-15 refers to the covenants and man's relation thereto. Verse 12 shows the condition of the Gentiles who do not know God. Verses 13, 14 show how they are brought nigh to God through Christ, who is our peace, to reconcile us to God. He does this by abolishing "in his flesh the enmity." The "enmity" is not on God's part, but ours. "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Rom. 8:7. This carnal mind, Christ abolished in his flesh for us all. In other words, Christ took away the sin, and all those typical services and symbols which pointed out sin, and made remembrance of it, but could not take it away. Jesus Christ in no way abolished or changed the moral law, the Ten Commandments. See Isa. 42:21; Matt. 5:17-20.
Infant Baptism
By A. C.
No. 659. Infant Baptism.
WHEN and by whom was infant baptism first introduced?
It is impossible to trace it. The Herzog "Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," edited by Dr. Philip Schaff, a believer in infant baptism, informs us, article, "Baptism of Infants," "No time can be assigned to the beginning of the practise of infant baptism." And again, "It must be admitted that adult baptism was the rule, infant baptism the exception, in the apostolic age, and continued to be till the church was fairly established in the Roman Empire." It came in with the erroneous idea that the mere act or rite of baptism regenerated. If that were so, of course children ought to be baptized. And in this belief certain zealots in the Catholic Church later on compelled baptism. Dr. Schaff says: "Compulsory infant baptism was unknown in the ante-Nicene age; it is a profanation of the sacrament, and one of the evils of the union of Church and State against which Baptists have a right to protest."
Born of Water and of the Spirit
By A. C.
No. 660. Born of Water and of the Spirit.
WHAT is meant by being born of water and of the Spirit? John 3:5.
Born of the Spirit is what is referred to in verse 3, margin, "Except a man be born from above." It is a change, regeneration, a new creature. 2 Cor. 5:17; Titus 3:3-5. Born of water refers to baptism according to Scripture, the outward symbol of the inward union of the believer with Christ. It is putting on Christ before the world. Gal. 3:27. In Rom. 7:4 it is evidently referred to under the figure of marriage. Compare Rom. 6:3-6 with Rom. 7:4. In true marriage there is first union of heart and purpose. The marriage ceremony is the outward and legal ratification of those vows to the world, a witness of the believer's union with Christ, and of obedience to his commandments.
MOB LAW AND DECADENCE OF FAITH.
By Editor
THE increase of the exercise of mob law is an evidence of the decadence, or lack, of faith in God. Men who believe in God can afford to wait. Men who do not believe in God are the ones who attempt to take justice in their own hands, and put themselves in the place of God. We know the plea that is often made over such matters. They are often palliated under the names of "justice," "Christianity," "acting for God," and kindred expressions; but nevertheless mob law is always unreasonable and unjust. Mobs are controlled by passion and sentiment, but never by law or justice. If justice be done it is incidental, not objective. Revenge is generally the object. Mob law has many times executed noted and wicked criminals; and it has many times slain the noblest of earth. It was mob law that would have stoned Caleb, Joshua, and Moses. It was mob law which stoned Stephen and Paul. It was in demand to the mob spirit that Jesus Christ was delivered to be crucified. Just law ought to be enforced in order to protect human rights, but if the wicked often go unpunished, those who have faith in the Lord may know that in his final adjustment everything will be done just right, and every man shall receive the due reward of his deeds. In times of great excitement he who has no faith in God will be carried away with the mob spirit, while he who has faith can wait. In speaking of the work of recent mobs, the St. Louis Republic truly says:—
"The disgrace of the outbreak in a measure is shared by the whole country, because it represents so complete a breakdown of civilization, but it is better that it should have happened at Urbana than in some community where past slavery would have given a color of truth to the charge that a negro can not get justice. . . . It teaches that human nature is the same all over the country, and that one community is no more secure than another from the temptation of the gust of passion aroused by brutal crimes."
The security from mob law is not in civilization, but in faith in Jesus Christ and his Word, for only so can man be saved from his evil, unregenerate nature.
"The evil can not brook delay,
The good can well afford to wait."
The increase of crime, which is often but personal revenge, and the increase of mob law, is a sure evidence of the decadence of faith, notwithstanding the claim to the title of a "Christian" nation. It also reveals that we are nearing the end of mundane rule and glory, and that soon the King will take to himself his great power, and reign.
WHO WAS THE SINNER?
By Helen A. Steinhauer
"WHAT do you think of your new neighbors?" asked Mrs. Catchatall, a look of sharp distrust in her keen brown eyes.
"I like them very much," replied Mrs. Mutterlich pleasantly.
"Folks tells some purty hard stories agin 'em," said Mrs. Catchatall, with a sidelong movement of her head, that was quite expressive, and very characteristic of the woman; "an' some of the neighbors say as they ain't a-goin' nigh 'em. I suppose you've heard w'at's said," she added insinuatingly, "ain't you?"
"I presume that I have," replied Mrs. Mutterlich, with a dignity of tone and manner that did not invite further questioning.
But the irrepressible Mrs. Catchatall must needs make one more inquiry.
"You ain't a-goin' to neighbor with 'em, be you?"
"I intend to be the very best neighbor that they ever have had, that is, if they will let me," replied Mrs. Mutterlich emphatically.
"I shall wait till I see how things turns out," answered Mrs. Catchatall, this time nodding straight up and down, "an' I'm a-thinkin' you'd better do the same."
"I am an old woman," replied Mrs. Mutterlich; "my gray hairs will protect me. If one-half that has been said of them is true, they are in sad need of a helping hand; and I never yet have been able to help those whom I held at arm's length."
Mrs. Catchatall looked unconvinced, but contented herself with repeating, with an incredulous smile: "Well, I wish you luck, but I think it best to be keerful; an' I'm a-thinkin' you'll wish you'd ben, time you git through."
Soon another caller came, and with her the question—
"What kind of people are these newcomers?"
"They seem respectable, quiet, always busy, staying at home and attending to their own business."
"Yet there have been pretty damaging reports afloat respecting them, as I suppose you are aware."
"So I have heard," replied Mrs. Mutterlich briefly.
"Do you believe them?"
"I have no reason to."
"But they say that they are true."
"That does not necessarily make them so."
"Well, I prefer not associating with doubtful characters."
"It hurts no one to be kind; and we can not help people unless we are," replied Mrs. Mutterlich gently.
"Ah, well, we know you're philanthropic!" replied her caller lightly; and then the conversation took another turn.
The days flew by, weeks lengthened into months, and still Mrs. Mutterlich pursued the even tenor of her way, and found more and more to commend in her neighbor, Mrs. Gurlish—all of which she took pains to report duly to inquiring critics. When pressed as to the faults which they were sure must exist, she invariably replied, laughingly:—
"The very worst that I know of her is that she burns soft coal, and it threatens to spoil my cistern water. I confess at first I did not like the thought of having a house built quite so near to mine; but I could not have any one in it that I minded less than Mrs. Gurlish. She attends to her own business—though always ready to do one a kindness if she can—stays at home and makes it pleasant to husband and children, and, withal, seems as circumspect a little body as one well could find."
At this juncture Mrs. Catchatall resolved to call and find out for herself the true state of affairs. But as the "fates" would have it, before she had the opportunity to fulfil her intention, something else befell. Mrs. Mutterlich saw at the house of her neighbor on the other side some exquisite fancy work.
"Won't you lend it to me for just ten minutes?" she asked impulsively; "I want to show it to Mrs. Gurlish, she is so fond of such things, I am sure it will please her."
"Certainly," replied Mrs. Friendly, ever on the alert to do a kindness.
Arrived at Mrs. Gurlish's the articles were duly shown and admired, when the little woman said archly:—
"Let me show you some carpenter work that I did yesterday." And so saying she led the way into her pretty parlor, where near a window stood a neat tripod stand of her own manufacture.
"Two broom-handles, one mop-stick, stained and varnished, nailed together and tied with ribbon; a common pine board covered with velvet, and about two hours of my time—with this as the result!" she exclaimed gaily. "Doesn't it look quite respectable, and make a nice rest for any album?"
"Indeed it does!" exclaimed Mrs. Mutterlich enthusiastically. "It is just as pretty as can be. I am sure that your husband thinks that he has a treasure of a little manager for a wife."
"I couldn't resist the temptation of joking him a little," replied Mrs. Gurlish, laughing merrily, a mischievous twinkle in her bright brown eyes. "You know we are paying for our place, and we have to be very economical; James says that we mustn't get anything that we can possibly do without until that is paid for. So yesterday when he came home from10the office I said demurely, 'I got something this afternoon, James.'"
"Did you?" he asked indifferently, what is it?
"Come and see; it's in the other room," I answered.
"O, bring it out, May; I'm tired and lazy!"
"I can't very well; it's furniture."
"Furniture!" he exclaimed quickly.
"Yes," I said, throwing the door open; "that stand."
"What store did you get that at?" he asked, looking very grave.
"Not at any store; I made it myself."
"You never made that!" he exclaimed, and actually wouldn't believe that I hadn't bought it till I turned it upside down and showed him how badly the nails were driven in; and then he was so pleased that he kissed me"—this shyly—"and I don't dare to tell you what pretty things he said to me."
And the young wife blushed and dimpled till she looked as if she deserved the very best that her fond husband could have said of her.
This was far too sweet a little incident to keep to herself, so on returning the borrowed articles, while standing at the half-open door, Mrs. Mutterlich related it to Mrs. Friendly, whose kind-hearted interest was pleasant to behold.
But another neighbor, Mrs. Catchatall, was within ear-shot in the adjoining apartment. Just how much she heard never was known; but it came to pass that a rumor got started that the new neighbors were "about to lose their home, and all because of the frightful extravagance of Mrs. Gurlish—which her husband had striven in vain to restrain. And there had been a really shocking scene there in consequence, for Mrs. Gurlish had told an intimate friend that she 'did not dare to repeat the awful things her husband had said to her on that occasion.'"
About this time it looked as though the guardian angels of the good people at Harmonia must have been at their wits' end how to restore quiet and untangle the snarls in the yarn spun by the gossips of the picturesque little village, that nestled so cozily in the valley on the sunny side of the grand old mountain, whose summit was snow-crowned until midsummer.
Only one person appeared to be at no loss what to say or do. This was Mrs. Catchatall. But, alas! she manifested more zeal than discretion, for her first step was to go to Mrs. Gurlish—who had been happily unconscious of the tempest that was raging outside of her snug home walls—and mysteriously hint that frightful stories were going the rounds about her, and that she had better be careful whom she trusted. In this connection she took pains to state that, owing to these same fearful reports, she had at first said that she should never call upon her, but that she had thought better of it and so came.
"But why should you not have come?" said poor Mrs. Gurlish, in sore bewilderment.
"I ain't a-goin' to tell," said Mrs. Catchatall virtuously; "I don't never make no trouble between neighbors; but I will say this—there is them as calls 'emselves friends as is awful deceivin'; an' I ain't the only one as knows it, either. Ef I wus you I'd never speak to Mis' Mutterlich no more while I lived!"
"Mrs. Mutterlich!" exclaimed Mrs. Gurlish in blank amazement.
"Yes, Mis' Mutterlich!" repeated Mrs. Catchatall with solemn emphasis and a perpendicular nod. "Now mind I ain't said nothin' ag'in' her; but 'a hint's as good as a push to the wise,' an' w'en a person talks all over the neighborhood I think it's about time it wus stopped. But I must go. Come over, do, an' bring the children, too."
A little later that same afternoon the perplexed young neighbor might have been seen (her face piteous in its expression of doubt and distress) talking to Mrs. Mutterlich, across the low fence that divided their lots.
"Why do you talk about me so?" she said. "What have I done to deserve it? I stay at home all the time, and am always at work; I can't see what you should say about me that is so bad."
"I speak evil of thee, dear child?" asked the motherly woman, tenderest solicitude in both look and tone, as she unconsciously lapsed into the idiom of her native tongue, as occasionally happened in moments of intense emotion. "I have often of thee talked, dear heart, but never unkindly." And the homely face grew strangely bright and almost beautiful in its expression of sweet sincerity.
"Yes, but they say that you do—and such dreadful things!" plaintively persisted Mrs. Gurlish.
"What, for instance?" asked the elderly woman gently.
"I don't know; they will not tell me; but I am warned against you, and advised never to speak to you again."
"I shall not say, for I will not make trouble for anybody."
"My child, believe me"—this very earnestly—"I have never spoken ill of thee. Time will prove to thee who thy true friends are."
But, meeting Mrs. Catchatall the next day, Mrs. Mutterlich said gravely:—
"I shall sift the thing to the bottom, and see that the mischief-maker is silenced; I can not allow my little neighbor to be harassed in this cruel way."
Imagine her amazement when her officious neighbor, drawing herself up to her full height, and bending over in her zeal, said impressively:—
"An' do you want to know how to stop it, Mis' Mutterlich? I will tell you: jest you go to Mis' Gurlish an' confess your sin, an' then don't you never talk about her no more! That's the way to stop it, fur you're the one as has done it all."
In the brief silence that ensued Mrs. Mutterlich did some very rapid retrospective thinking. As a result, that evening a circle of invited guests met in her pleasant parlor. Of these some were merely spectators and listeners; others were interested parties, whose straightforward testimony, freely and frankly given, unraveled the mystery and effectually cleared up the reputation of all accused.
To Mrs. Catchatall's credit be it said that, seizing Mrs. Mutterlich impulsively by the hand, she exclaimed vehemently:—
"I declare for't, I'm clean beat! an' I'm free to confess I done wrong repeatin' of things I didn't mor'n half hear. I'll never do so ag'in' while I live. This'll be a lesson to me from now on! An' [turning so as to include Mrs. Gurlish] I do hope that you'll both furgive me."
Thus was peace restored to Harmonia, and with a large accession of warm friends to the circle of Mrs. Gurlish's acquaintances.
HELEN A. STEINHAUER.
38 Walter Avenue, Battle Creek, Mich.
PUBLIC OPINION.
By J. Morgensen
OLD Public Opinion, like a giant tall and grim,
Stalks about by night and by day;
Tho your words and your actions be nothing to him,
Yet he always has something to say.
And his words are most cruel—they pierce through the heart,
Often causing the lifeblood to flow
From innocent victims. They come like a dart
From the hand of a vigilant foe.
He oftentimes will speak in tones of highest praise
The virtues of men who are dead.
But while they were pursuing their old accustomed ways,
No word of such flattery was said.
And many are the prophets and godly men of old—
Likewise, mighty men and men of renown,
Who've been hunted to their death, with suff'ring untold,
Wearing Public Opinion's thorny crown.
Take the truth; let the truth, which forever stands fast,
Unchanged, let happen what may.
Be thy guide at the first and thy crown at the last,
Thy shield and thy buckler alway—
Yes, guide thee forever, whatever befall,
Unpopular tho it may be;
For the glad day is coming when falsehood must fall;
In the truth there is refuge for thee.
J. MORGENSEN.
Tygh Valley, Oregon.
WAR AND RUMORS OF WAR.
SAYS Sir John Lubbock, of England: "In fact, we never now have any real peace; we live practically in a state of war, happily without battles or bloodshed, but not without terrible sufferings. Even in our own case, one-third our national income is spent in preparing for future wars, another third in paying for past ones, and only one-third is left for the government of the country. Our interests at stake are enormous, and the interests of nations are so interwoven that every war now is in fact a civil war."
But are there not actual battles and bloodshed in Africa and India? Truly it is not a time of peace. From 1870 to the present the war debt of Europe has increased from twenty thousand million dollars to thirty thousand million—from $20,000,000,000 to $30,000,000,000. And the end is not yet.
The Rising Generation
By Editor
"The Rising Generation."—The New York World voices a common sentiment in these days of political corruption:—
"This 'rising generation'—young, vigorous, alert, resolute, progressive—has in it none of the stuff of which is made the creature whom Cicero described as the basest of all,—'the slave from choice.' To this 'rising generation' in nation, State, and municipality, we appeal with hope and confidence."
But vigor, alertness, resolution, and progression after a worldly sort will not make honest men. The probability is that the "rising generation" will excel their teachers in the very lines the lessons have been given. Young blood or new blood is not necessarily good blood. Education in a worldly sense does not make men moral; and the crying need of the day in all places of life is morality; and morality can come to men only by faith in the religion of the Lord Jesus Christ, by the transfusion of the life of God in the veins of the corrupt body. The vital question, upon which the very life of the country depends, is not whether the rising generation shall be alert, progressive, or resolute, but will it be moral? The prophetic Word and the inevitable logic of history indicate otherwise.
The Press in London
The Press in London.—Mr. Silas K. Hocking, an optimistic religious journalist of London, England, thus characterizes the debauching of the daily press:—
“I can not understand the spirit and temper that have come over the London press. With a few notable exceptions, the whole of the daily newspapers seem to have gone over to mammon and lust and diabolism. From certain of the papers, of course, nothing better was expected. They are under the thumb and in the pay of the blacklegs of the prize-ring and the vampires of the Stock Exchange. They know no god but gold, no love but lust, no right but might, no morality but that which finds expression in Leicester Square or on Epsom Downs. Faith has given place to cynicism, and courage to most contemptible cowardice. Religion as set forth in the New Testament is made the butt of their cheap and beery wit. The crescent appears to be more sacred to them than the cross. The Bible says, ‘Put not your trust in princes.’ We need a new variant to-day, ‘Put not your trust in newspapers.’ The erstwhile champions of liberty have had their hands paralyzed by the touch of gold, and their lips silenced by the kiss of betrayal.”
And the London daily press has no need to blush before the press in general in the great cities of America.
THE DEBT TO MOTHER.
MOTHERS live for their children, make self-sacrifices for them, and manifest their tenderness and love so freely that the name "mother" is the sweetest in human language. And yet sons, youthful and aged, know but little of the deep anxiety, the nights of sleepless and painful solicitude, which their mothers have spent over their thoughtless waywardness. Those loving hearts go down to their graves with those hours of secret agony untold. As the mother watches by night, or prays in the privacy of her closet, she weighs well the words which she will address to her son in order to lead him to a manhood of honor and usefulness. She will not tell him all her grief and the deadly fears which beset her soul. She warns him with trembling, lest she say overmuch. She tries to charm him with cheery love, while her heart is bleeding. No worthy and successful man ever yet knew the breadth and depth of the great obligation which he is under to the mother who guided his heedless steps at the time when his character for virtue and purity was so narrowly balanced against a course of vice and ignominy. Let the dutiful son do his utmost to smooth his mother's pathway, let him obey as implicitly as he can her wishes and advice, let him omit nothing that will contribute to her peace, rest, and happiness, and yet he will part from her at the tomb with his debt to her not half discharged.—Anon.
SPARE THE SWEET SONGSTERS AND LIVING FLOWERS.
By Editor
It was reported at the annual meeting of the Selborne Society in London that on the 13th of last April nearly half a million birds were sold at auction in London alone. Here is a list as then given:—
What a fearful slaughter this is! Occasionally one sees a hat with as many as three birds on it. We are glad of the war against the wicked slaughter and traffic, and hope it may be successful. As to the responsibility the Christian Advocate says:—
The chief responsibility for the wicked slaughter of our birds lies at the doors of those women who insist upon having their hats adorned with the heads, wings, or entire bodies of the birds. The editor of Natural Science assures us that we can hardly realize the rate at which some of our rarest and most beautiful birds are being destroyed to gratify this extraordinary and, in a sense, vicious taste.
We hope the SIGNS family will spare the birds.
HELP THEM TO PERSEVERE.
MANY children, for want of words of encouragement, and a little assistance in their efforts, in childhood and youth, become disheartened and change from one thing to another. And they carry this sad defect with them in mature life. They can not make a success of anything they engage in, for they have not been taught to persevere under discouraging circumstances. Thus the entire lifetime of many proves a failure because they did not have correct discipline. The education in childhood and youth not only affects their entire business career in mature life, but the religious experience bears a corresponding stamp.—Anon.
WEST CENTRAL AFRICAN MISSION.
Self-Supporting Mission Work.
UNDER date of May 20, says the Missionary Herald, Mr. Currie writes from Chisamba:—
"Four lads have just been in to report their efforts for Christ when on their journey to the coast and back with their own truck. They are among the younger members of the church, but they have neither been ashamed nor afraid to call their fellows together around the camp fires, and sing, read, and speak to them the things of Christ.
"I am sometimes oppressed by a sense of responsibility as the conviction grows on me that our young men are going to be and do very largely what they see we are, and are striving honestly to do so. During the past year our young people preached Christ to all the districts within two days' march from this station, with the exception of the districts immediately in the neighborhood of Kamundongo station. In addition to this they attended twelve caravans sent from this station to the coast. Some of their number also attended two caravans to the interior, to about the neighborhood of the Kasai River, going on these occasions with their own goods, to teach and preach as they went. It is safe to say that in half the districts visited last year the message was almost or entirely new to the people; while as for the interior it is well to note that there is not a single station from here to the French station in the Barotse Valley, and only one station (Plymouth Brethren in Kavungu) between here and Lake Moero, so that any effort to preach the Gospel in connection with a caravan going in either of these directions is almost sure to touch people to whom it is yet unknown.
"In one sense the native agency under my care is all self-supporting, and is not at all dependent on mission support. Young men going to the coast with a caravan look after the loads, for which they are paid, and preach the Gospel without stipend, and if they carry their own trade, they get nothing for services rendered in the cause of Christ. The church this year pays half the support of the evangelists and all their rations while working among the villages, and the rest I pay for out of the returns of the Industrial Department."
A NEW CHINESE ALPHABET.
A CAMPAIGN has been begun by the Christians against the educated classes of China—a battle not with the sword, but with 25 letters. It is well known what a difficult task it is to learn to read and write even a small part of the 40,000 Chinese characters. The various missions in China have long striven to introduce the Roman alphabet, but these letters are awkward to the Chinese, who are accustomed to write with a paint brush and Indian ink, and those who have learned writing in our Christian schools do not find it easy to get firm paper, pens, and ink. Lately Mr. Wong, the pastor of the self-supporting Chinese church in Hongkong, a brother of our ordained helper Wong, has invented a new alphabet, which, like the Chinese signs, can be written on Chinese paper with paint brush and Indian ink. Many of the most distinguished Chinese Christians build great hopes on the introduction of this character. They think the people will soon find out that they can learn it in a very short time; they will no longer need the old complicated signs, and the Confucian schools where these are taught will become deserted. Thus the influence of the half-educated heathen teachers will fall away, the worship of Confucius will dwindle, and the study of his writings will be left to the learned. School-books and Christian tracts are to be immediately printed in the new character and circulated among the people.—Berichte der Rheinischen Missions Gesellschaft.
THE BIBLE.
By Mrs. Martha J. Gates
How precious the Bible!
How dear to my heart
Are the lessons of love
Which its pages impart!
It teaches the wisdom
Of God, Who is love;
It shows me a pathway
Which leadeth above.
It tells of a Saviour,
Who came among men
To redeem and to save
The vilest of them.
It speaks of a home,
Of a land that is fair,
Where the pure and holy
Alone enter there.
It gives to the poor,
The sad, and oppressed,
The comfort and promise
Of heavenly rest.
It calls to the sinner,
"Repent and believe,
O, come to the Saviour,
And you He'll receive!"
O, blest is that volume
Of heavenly lore;
May we treasure its lessons,
Its Author adore!
Mrs. Martha J. Gates.
Willet, N. Y.
CHOOSING DEACONS IN CUBA.
According to Rev. A. J. Diaz, the Cuban apostle, what queer saints they must have down in that island! He says: "The people are of a peculiarly jealous nature. If one of them is selected to perform a duty, they think he is in better favor than the rest, and are accordingly much hurt. This was the difficulty which confronted me when I found it necessary for me to select the seven deacons to aid in carrying on the church. I studied the problem over for some time, and at last hit upon a plan which I thought would work satisfactorily. One evening, at the close of the services, I announced that the next Sunday we would select the deacons, and that the sermon would be on the duties of the deacons. That Sunday every member was present, and the church was crowded.
"I told them that it was the duty of the deacons, when they were notified of a case of smallpox, to go immediately and attend to it; the same if it were a case of cholera, or in any epidemic, they must be the first to be present and offer aid and the last to come away; that they were to have their Testaments with them always, and were to make a conversion whenever the opportunity presented itself. After presenting the case in as serious a light as possible, I requested those who felt courageous enough to assume the responsibilities of the position to stand up. I knew it would be useless to attempt to make any selections, so I said to them, 'Go ahead; you are all deacons.' Now they all carry their New Testaments around with them, and tell, whenever they have a chance, of the religion of Christ. Thus you see we have a whole congregation of workers."
—Missionary Review.
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
By Editor
THE attendance at Battle Creek (Mich.) College has reached almost five hundred students.
AT the last quarterly meeting at Poy Sippi, Wis., three new members were added to the church.
AT Lehigh, Kansas, a church school was opened on the 25th ult., with a promise of over forty pupils.
MEDICAL missionary work has been inaugurated in Butte, Mont., by Brother C. G. Allen and wife, late of Wisconsin.
ELDER W. H. SAXBY, late of Ohio Conference, has taken up the city work in Louisville, Ky. His address is 2431 W. Broadway.
THE church at Lime Ridge, Wis., received five new members at the last quarterly meeting. Three were baptized by Elder W. S. Shreve.
THE formal opening of the new training-school for medical missionaries in Chicago has been set for the 13th and 14th of the present month.
ELDER J. C. MIKKELSEN reports the baptism of four candidates at Rock Falls, Wis., and a church organization was effected at the same place.
ELDER J. W. WESTPHAL baptized a husband and wife at Medora, Kansas, October 21. He is now laboring with the German population of Atchison.
ELDER M. H. GREGORY reports twelve converts and a Sabbath-school of thirty members, in connection with meetings held at Rosedale, a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas.
ELDER FRANCIS HOPE, who went from California to England nine years ago, and has labored in that field ever since, returned to his former home in this city with his family on the 28th ult.
TENT-MEETINGS held at St. Martins, N. B., conducted by Elder G. E. Langdon and others, have resulted in the addition of twenty or more to the ranks of those who adhere to the Sabbath of the Lord—the "perpetual covenant" and "sign" between him and his people "forever." Ex. 31: 16, 17.
DURING the last quarter six members were added to the church of colored brethren at Danville, Va. Also at Portsmouth, where Brother J. H. Strickland has been laboring, a good interest is reported among the colored people; about a dozen families are keeping the Sabbath "according to the commandment."
THE statement in last week's paper that Montana Mission Field had been organized into a State Conference was an error. It is still a mission field, but in charge of an executive committee, consisting of Elders C. N. Martin, W. J. Stone, and C. E. Shafer. Brother L. A. Gibson is secretary, and the Montana Tract Society is treasurer.
ELDER J. H. DURLAND, president of the Michigan Conference, announces that several church institutes will be held during the winter. Instruction will be given to church, tract society, and Sabbath-school officers. One has already been held at Allegan, and another is appointed for Charlotte, from the 23d to the 30th of the present month.
ELDER JOHN F. JONES writes concerning tent-meetings held at Wilmington, Del., immediately after the camp-meeting. Elders V. L. Lucas, E. E. Franke, and himself had each given some labor in connection with the meetings, until cold weather necessitated the close of tent labor. As a result nine were baptized, and several others began keeping the Sabbath of the Lord, who had not yet united with the church. He adds, "The whole city has been stirred as never before, and many are saying, 'Men and brethren, what shall we do?' It is a sad fact that communities are often stirred by the solemn message of the Lord's soon coming and the impending judgment, but the cross connected with a firm stand on the unpopular truth impels them to 'quench the Spirit' and do nothing. Those who will stand in the 'brightness of his coming' (2 Thess. 2:8) will be 'they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus' (Rev. 14:12)."
WANTED.
To know the whereabouts of Mr. Peter H. Koll, who is believed to be located in this state (California) having emigrated from Germany about 1854. Any information furnished as to his whereabouts, whether dead or alive, will be rewarded by his daughter, Mrs. E. D. Zimmerman, Wilmerding, Penn.