Earlier text: INIQUITY WILL ABOUND,LET YOUR LIFE TALK.
By W. E. Cornell
THERE are times and seasons that try men’s souls, great and thrilling events, when questions of momentous concern are to be decided, or when life itself is at stake. But there are times, and they come often, when the injunction of the apostle applies with singular force, “In patience possess ye your souls.” Such a time is when it reaches the ear that a scandalous tale is being circulated about us. Every power of the being is roused to its fullest capacity. Words are inadequate to express our contempt for the wretch who first set it afloat, and the first thing we want to do is to “run it down.” If there is a grain of truth in the report, we are all the more chaffed, and all the more anxious to “prove there is no truth in it.” The fact that we make so much fuss about it is pretty good evidence that it is not wholly false. What is the best way to treat it? If there is no truth in the charge, our most intimate friends will not believe it, and as concerns those who do not know us, they never give it a passing notice, for the world is full of rumors. We are concerned only in that with which we are personally acquainted or intimately connected. We can “live down” a scandal a good deal easier than we can “chase it down.” The following, that went the rounds of the papers shortly after General Grant died, contains so much of truth that it will bear repeating:— Sooner or later a lie is always exploded. Take the case of General Grant. When he began to rise in the army, his envious rivals circulated the report that he was coarse, illiterate, and a drunkard. President Lincoln gave a quietus to the charge of drunkenness. But the notable part of the business is that Grant, without replying to a single slander or invention, managed in the course of his career to completely vindicate himself. He never said, “I am not a drunkard,” but lived so as to show all the world that he was a sober man. He never denied that Rawlins and others wrote his dispatches, but let the public gradually discover the facts. When it was said that his silence was dullness and incapability, he never claimed that he could make a speech, but when the time came, spoke often and successfully in public. People who credited him with no literary ability found out during the last year of the general’s life that he resembled Cæsar in his ability to handle the pen as well as the sword. The wonder is, not that these falsehoods were all exposed, but that the silent and superb contempt with which the general treated them should have triumphantly777 refuted them all. There is a lesson to be learned by liars from the life of this silent and patient man. No man can be talked or written down except by himself. "AN UNEXPECTED PRIZE."
By Mrs. F. A. Reynolds
CHAPTER IV.—HOPE'S SORROW.
IT was now about the middle of May, and the pupils were straining every nerve in these last weeks of the school year. The weather was unusually warm, and many of the more ambitious scholars were "nearly used up," as Hope put it. One evening after school Ethel Wood, Hope's seat mate and especial friend, came home with her to study some lessons for the morrow. Mrs. Manton noticed that she looked tired and pale, and spoke of it. "Oh, I am so tired, Mrs. Manton! I should like to go to bed this minute and not get up for a week." She laughed a little wearily as she finished, but Mrs. Manton looked serious. "Better do it, my dear! If Hope looked and felt as you do, I should think her more fit for bed than school." "Oh, I couldn't give up now; I wouldn't, and mamma wouldn't let me! But I am glad school is so nearly done." The girls went to studying, and Mrs. Manton noticed with concern that Ethel's cheeks flushed high while excited over her lessons, and that she became very pale and languid as soon as she had finished them. She went home about dusk, Hope going a block or so with her. On her return, Mrs. Manton said: "Why is Ethel so worn out? I should think she would be stronger than you are, and yet you seem quite fresh compared with her." "I know," returned Hope thoughtfully. "Well, you see, mamma, Ethel is very excitable, and her mother is so ambitious for her, and pushes her all the time. She has as many studies as I have at school, then her mother makes her take music lessons every Saturday, and she practices two hours each day. She goes to dancing school one evening each week. She has to study until ten o'clock every evening, and then goes right to bed and can't sleep; she says her lessons repeat themselves over and over in her mind. She does not eat either—just drinks a cup of coffee or tea, and nibbles a cracker or so. She doesn't do any housework or take any exercise except her hurried walk to school, and that tires her completely out. Now you know I just have my school lessons, and study only two hours out of school, and practice only what I want to. Then I help about the house, and I sleep well, and eat as much as ever." "Yes, I see," replied her mother. When Hope came home at noon next day, she looked grave and troubled. "Ethel wasn't at school this morning, and I just know she is sick. May I go up after school to see her?" "Come home first," said Mrs. Manton, "then you may go for a little call." As soon after lunch as she could get away Mrs. Manton went up to Mrs. Wood's. The girl who answered her ring said, in reply to her inquiry, "Miss Ethel's quite sick, ma'am, and Mrs. Wood's with her." "Ask Mrs. Wood if I may go up to Ethel's room." The girl soon returned with a request for Mrs. Manton to "step up to Miss Ethel's room." She went upstairs, and, stopping at Ethel's door, tapped gently. "Come in," said Mrs. Wood softly. Mrs. Manton went into the shadowy room and found Mrs. Wood sitting by the bed, holding Ethel's hand. The sick girl's face was very red and her breathing hurried and difficult. Her eyes were partly open, and her mouth and hands twitched convulsively. Mrs. Manton went quietly to the bedside. "Hope said Ethel was not at school this morning," she said, "and Ethel looked so tired last night, I feared she was ill." "Yes," Mrs. Wood murmured tremulously, "and the doctor says she is threatened with brain fever. She has been delirious all day. She just dropped to sleep, but she isn't quiet." So many thoughts crowded into Mrs. Manton's mind as she looked at the fever-tortured girl that she had no reply ready, and Mrs. Wood went on. "It is terrible to me to see Ethel so sick any time, but just now it is doubly hard, for it completely ruins her whole school year's work." "Her year's work has about ruined her," Mrs. Manton could not help saying, as her eyes filled with tears, so she did not see Mrs. Wood's surprised look. "I don't understand," said Mrs. Wood. "You know I just worship Ethel. She is my only child—all I have—since my husband died. His death nearly killed me. If Ethel should—should die too, I would not live." Mrs. Manton was startled to see the bitterness that spread over Mrs. Wood's features and crept into her eyes. "But it cannot be!" she continued. "God would not be so cruel as to take her from me." Just then Ethel threw up her hands and clasped her head, moaning: "Oh, it aches so! Mamma, I don't want to practice tonight. One, two, three; one, two, three. How many tables for to-morrow? Oh, dear! oh, dear!" "That is the way she talks all the time," said Mrs. Wood, in tones of anguish. "Her school has been too much for her," said Mrs. Manton. "I don't see why," said Mrs. Wood.778 "Ethel was never delicate and Hope seems to stand it all right." "Hope has no outside studies," replied Mrs. Manton. Then, thinking there ought to be no talking in a sick room, she added softly, "I will go now. Hope will run up to inquire this evening, and when you need help, send for me." She slipped quietly out of the room and was soon at home, where she knelt and thanked God for the health of her family, and asked for the recovery of Ethel, if consistent with his will. Hope was home promptly that evening. "O mamma! Mrs. Wood's cook told Bertha Allen this noon that Ethel has brain fever. Do you suppose it can be true?" "I am afraid it is," replied Mrs. Manton. "I was there this afternoon. She is very ill indeed." "When can I go to see her?" asked Hope, sobbing. "You may go before dark and ask how she is." "And see her?" asked Hope, wiping her eyes. "Perhaps, for a moment. She is delirious. You can do her no good, and seeing her will only sadden you." Towards dark Hope went up to Mrs. Wood's. She returned very soon, and, entering the sitting room, threw herself down on the lounge, crying in a grieved fashion that touched her mother. Her mother went to her, and, smoothing her hair, asked gently: "What is it, Hope? How is Ethel?" "Oh, she is worse! Mrs. Wood let me see her. She was as red in the face as could be, and so hot. She kept throwing herself and talking about her lessons. She doesn't know anyone. Mrs. Wood is terribly afraid Ethel will die. She cries most all the time. Ann told me the doctor said she would kill Ethel with her tears and moans. Oh, do you suppose Ethel will die?" "I do not know, my dear; God only knows, and it will be for the best, whichever is the result of this sickness." "Mrs. Wood wants you to come up tonight, mamma." "Very well; papa and I will go up before bedtime." There is no need to detail Ethel's sickness. Mrs. Manton almost lived at her neighbor's, dividing with the anxious mother the care of the suffering girl. Ethel was a favorite, and she had all the care that a devoted mother, a faithful physician, and kind friends could give, but she grew steadily and rapidly worse, and in about two weeks she died. She was rational a short time before she died and realized that she was dying. She asked to see Hope Manton, and she came at once from the schoolroom, bearing loving messages from teacher and classmates. That evening, after the still form had been robed for the grave, and Hope and her mother were at home, they naturally talked of the death scene. "Mamma, Ethel was very calm and did not seem afraid to die. How peaceful she seemed after all those days of delirium! But it made me shudder to hear Mrs. Wood talk. She kept saying over and over: 'I just idolized my darling. I worshiped my sweet child. How could God be so cruel as to take her away?' Mrs. Allen said God didn't take her away; that she was killed by ambition. I don't know how that is, but isn't it terrible, mamma, for a mother to worship a child? Why, we should worship only God!" "You are right, Hope, but do you remember you said not long ago that the first commandment could refer only to heathen? Repeat it, please." "Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Why, mamma, is that what it means— that people must not think more of each other than of God?" "Yes, of each other and of worldly possessions, like fame and wealth. I knew a young lady who was very ambitious for fame. She was very brilliant. She tried writing. Her first book was a nice one, and did not attract much attention. She determined to make her next one noticed. And so it was. Critics literally tore it to pieces. She was terribly mortified. Her disappointment, added to her hard work, killed her. Her god was fame—it disappointed her and she was a victim. "A man I knew gave his life to gaining wealth. He was successful, but never satisfied, and was constantly scheming for more. Finally, in a great financial crash, he became penniless. Wealth had been his god, and when it failed him he could not stand it, and committed suicide. There is only one God who never fails us, and he it is who says, 'Thou shalt have no other gods before me.'" CHRIST IN THE FLESH.
By Mrs. M. E. Steward
"EVERY spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." 1 John 4:2, 3. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." John 1:14. Does not our text, "Jesus Christ is come in the flesh," mean more than this? The next verse reads, "Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world." How did Christ come into the world at first? Please read Luke 1:26-38. None can ever solve this mystery; but this we know, the angel told Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." The angel added, as though what he had said to her were almost more than her faith could grasp, "With God nothing shall be impossible." In submission and confidence, Mary said, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word." It is also by the Holy Spirit, the direct "power of the highest," that we receive Christ, which is being "born again." John 3:3-8; Eph. 2:10. Like Mary, the soul must not only submit to God, but it must be receptive before him, and its faith must grasp the work of spiritual regeneration. "If you believe the promise,—believe that you are forgiven and cleansed,—God supplies the fact."—Steps to Christ, p. 53. So it is when Christ comes into the soul. He is in the promises, because he is the Word (John 1:1,14); and when you accept the Word, the life and spirit which are in the Word (John 6:63) beget a holy life in you, which is nothing less than "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Col. 1:27. "He that hath the Son hath life" (1 John 5:12), that is, the life of Christ, which is life eternal. Then can we say with Paul, "I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." BEYOND 29,000 feet above sea level, the height reached by Glaisher in 1862, man has never been able to navigate the air. Various problems concerning the region further away—such as the temperature, the pressure, the amount of moisture, the composition of the air, etc.—have attracted the attention of physicists and have at last led to the experiments of M. Hermite, who during the last few months has been sending up pilot balloons, carrying registering apparatus. These balloons are very light, with a capacity of about 100 to 200 cubic feet. Falling at distances from Paris ranging up to 200 miles, the balloons have nearly all been returned by their finders, as requested on a card attached to each, and one has brought down records from a height of 30,000 feet. The instruments used are very light and simple. With larger balloons and systematic exploration, it is hoped that the secrets of the air, up to at least 40,000 feet, may be made as familiar to us as those of the deepest and darkest depths of the sea are gradually becoming. I WOULD not choose to be, as some desire,
Clever or great, or in the world renowned;
But I would seek to live for others' good,
And let my life with gentle deeds be crowned,
If but one soul for heaven's kingdom gain,
Nor reckon that it had been lived in vain. I would not choose the path with roses strewn,
The seeming sunlit path of selfish ease,
For 'twould not lead by Calvary's rugged cross
Or mid the shades of dark Gethsemane;
I'd rather tread the thorny path with Him,
My suffering Lord, than walk in noonday's beam. I would not choose aught that the world can give;
Its fairest honors are of little worth;
To one whose soul has been by blood redeemed
What are the evanescent joys of earth?
I'd rather bear the cross, and hear, "Well done,"
Than wear its richest diamond jeweled crown. I would not choose to mingle with the throng,
And hear the merry song and laughter gay;
Give me instead the quiet, unnoticed spot
Where I can meet alone with God and pray,
And in the secret of his presence hide,
Gaining fresh grace from whate'er may betide. "My Father, I would choose what seemeth best
To thee, let it be joy, or pain, or loss,
Knowing thy loving hand doth guide my way,
Thy never-ceasing love doth guide my cross,"
And I can say in face of earth or hell,
My God and Father "doeth all things well."
—Selected. BEECHER'S ADVICE TO HIS SON.
By Henry Ward Beecher
THE following letter, recently made public, written by Beecher to his son Herbert when he was just departing on his first independent venture in life, contains advice that might well be heeded by every young man:— BROOKLYN, N. Y., Oct. 18, 1878. MY DEAR HERBERT: You are now for the first time really launched into life for yourself. You go from your father's house, and from all family connections, to make your own way in the world. It is a good time to make a new start, to cast out faults of whose evil you have had an experience, and to take on habits the want of which you have found to be so damaging. 1. You must not go into debt. Avoid debt as you would the devil. Make it a fundamental rule: No debt—cash or nothing. 2. Make few promises. Religiously observe the smallest promise. A man who means to keep his promises cannot afford to make many. 3. Be scrupulously careful in all statements. Accuracy and perfect frankness, no guesswork. Either nothing or accurate truth. 4. When working for others, sink yourself out of sight; seek their interest. Make yourself necessary to those who employ you, by industry, fidelity, and scrupulous integrity. Selfishness is fatal. 5. Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Demand more of yourself than anybody expects of you. Keep your own standard high. Never excuse yourself to yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself, but lenient to everybody else. 6. Concentrate your force on your own proper business; do not turn off. Be constant, steadfast, persevering. 7. The art of making one's fortune is to spend nothing; in this country any intelligent and industrious young man may become rich if he stops all leaks and is not in a hurry. Do not make haste; be patient. 8. Do not speculate or gamble. You go to a land where everybody is excited and strives to make money, suddenly, largely, and without working for it. They blow soap bubbles. Steady, patient industry is both the surest and the safest way. Greediness and haste are two devils that destroy thousands every year. 9. In regard to Mr. B., he is a Southern gentleman; he is receiving you as a favor to me; do not let him regret it. 10. I beseech you to correct one fault—severe speech of others. Never speak evil of any man, no matter what the facts may be. Hasty fault-finding and severe speech of absent people is not honorable, is apt to be unjust, and is cruel, makes enemies to yourself, and is wicked. 11. You must remember that you go to Mr. B. not to learn to manage a farm like his. One or two hundred acres, not forty thousand, is to be your future homestead; but you can learn the care of cattle, sheep, the culture of wheat, the climate, country, manners and customs, and a hundred things that will be needful. 12. If, by integrity, industry, and well-earned success, you deserve well of your fellow citizens, they may in years to come ask you to accept honors. Do not seek them, do not receive them while you are young—wait; but when you are established, you may make your father's name known with honor in halls of Legislature. Lastly, do not forget your father's and your mother's God. Because you will be largely deprived of church privileges, you will need all the nerve to keep your heart before God. But do not despise small churches and humble preachers. "Mind not small things, but condescend to men of low estate." Read often the Proverbs, the precepts and duties enjoined in the New Testament. May your father's God be with you and protect you. I RECALLED the incident a few days ago, says a writer in the New York World, as I sat in Trinity listening to Phillips Brooks' noon-time talks. It happened in the spring of 1883. The four of us had gone to Europe together—Dr. McVickar, of Philadelphia, Phillips Brooks, and Mr. Robinson, the builder of Boston's Trinity Church. Robinson stands six feet two inches in his stockings, Dr. McVickar measures six feet four inches, and Dr. Brooks exceeds six feet in height. Robinson is sensitive about his length, and suggested that in order to shun comment the three tall men avoid being seen together. Arriving in England, they went direct to Leeds, where they learned that a lecturer would address the working classes on "America and Americans." Anxious to hear what Englishmen thought of the great republic, they went to the hall. They entered separately, and took seats apart. The lecturer, after some uninteresting remarks, said that Americans were, as a rule, short, and seldom if ever rose to the height of five feet ten inches. He did not know to what cause he could attribute this fact, but he wished he could present examples to the audience. Phillips Brooks rose to his feet and said: "I am an American, and, as you see, about six feet in height, and sincerely hope that if there be any other representative of my country present, he will rise." After a moment's interval Mr. Robinson rose and said: "I am from America, in which country my height—six feet two—is the subject of no remark. If there be any other American here I hope that he will rise." The house was in a jolly humor. Waiting until the excitement could abate in some degree, and the lecturer regain control of his shattered nerves, Dr. McVickar slowly drew his majestic form to its full height, and exclaimed, "I am an"—but he could go no further. The audience roared, and the lecturer said no more on that subject.—Selected. CAN SEE IN DAYLIGHT.
By New York Independent
NOCTURNAL creatures are generally supposed not to see well in the daylight, but facts collected are gradually dispelling the idea. It is well known that felines, which see well by night, seem to be able to see quite as well by day, and this is being found true of many other creatures. The bat sees admirably by daylight, as anyone can ascertain by threatening it with a twig. The owl, also, has first-rate day sight. Night-flying lepidoptera, when disturbed in their places of refuge during the day, have no difficulty in seeing at once where is the nearest and best place for a temporary refuge.—New York Independent. In severe paroxysms of coughing, from whatever cause, a tablespoonful of glycerine in hot milk or cream will give speedy relief. —Annals of Hygiene. NIUE OR SAVAGE ISLAND.
By Dr. M. G. Kellogg
NIUE, or Savage Island, as it is sometimes called, is about 60 miles in circumference and has an elevation of about two hundred feet. The island contains a population of 4,500 natives. There are two white traders with their families, one with a native wife, and two unmarried young men. These, with the missionary and his family, are all the whites there are on the island. Niue offers no inducement for white settlers. It has no depth of soil and has neither rivers, brook, spring, nor lake. The island is one mass of coral rock, with no soil except that which is lodged in crevices, and a few inches in patches distributed here and there. At least three-fourths of the surface is bare rock, yet so porous and creviced is the rock that there is scarcely a square rod that does not contain a cocoanut tree, a banana plant, an orange tree, or some other kind of tree, shrub, or plant. The natives are all evangelized, the London Missionary Society having placed missionaries there some thirty years back, or thereabouts. There are eleven villages on the island, in each of which there is a school with a native teacher. There is a fine large stone church in each of nine of the villages, and five or six hundred natives can comfortably seat themselves on the floor in each church. The teachers are all well educated on the island by the white missionaries. In all the villages there are assistant ministers who preach the gospel to their several flocks in the absence of the white missionary, who spends Sunday in the various villages, taking them in rotation. The missionaries have accomplished much in the way of lifting their people from the depths of degradation in which they were when found by Captain Cook. Then each tribe or village considered all others as deadly enemies, and a constant watchfulness, especially by night, was necessary to avoid a surprise. These people, however, never practiced cannibalism, nor did they have idols. They believed in ghosts and spirits, and worshiped them through fear. They thought the sea was controlled by an unknown deity, which they also worshiped. Stand where they would on their island, they saw naught else but the sea and sky, and thought that their little isle was all there was of earth, and they its only inhabitants. They believed that the earth was like the end sawed off from a round pole, the surface being flat like the smooth end of the pole, while its outer margin at the horizon corresponded with the rounded surface of the pole. They also supposed that the earth hung upon nothing in the heavens, as a fish appears to hang upon nothing when resting in the waters. When they saw the first ship approach the island, they supposed that it came from the sky, or the heavens, and that the heavens opened for it to pass through to the earth. When Cook came, they saw that he and his people were of a different race and color, so they called them Papalangi, that is, people who came from the opening heavens. The language of the Niue people is evidently of the same origin as the Tahitian and that of the Tonga and Cook isles, many of their words being alike both in pronunciation and meaning, yet the difference is so great that neither can be understood until learned by the people using the other. For this reason the missionaries have had to produce a translation of the Holy Scriptures into the language of each. As yet, the people of Niue have only a portion of the Bible in their language; the remainder, however, is in the hands of the printer. Taking all things into consideration, the people of Niue have made creditable progress in civilization; for their advantages have been few and their disadvantages many. Their situation is isolated, their means of production for export meager. Their produce is prepared for market at the cost of great labor, and they get very little for what they sell, and pay very dear for what they buy. To produce their food they plant cocoanuts, bananas, etc., in crevices not more than four or six inches wide between the rocks, while taro is grown in soil gathered up and carried in baskets and put in any cavity of the rocks which will hold three or four gallons. Their surplus cocoanuts are made into copra. Manioc is also grown, and fungus is gathered. They also make excellent matting for carpets, and broad fan hats. After their produce is ready for market, it has to be carried on the shoulders of the people from one to fifteen miles, the women and children assisting in this, as in all other work. Arrived at the traders, they sell the copra at one and a half cents per pound, and are paid in trade, the traders charging twenty-five cents a yard for common calico and for other things in proportion. The entire exports from the island amount to only about $25,000 per year. Of this amount about $14,000 is for copra; the remainder is for arrowroot, fungus, hats, and mats. A very few of the people have stone houses, but the most of them live in a small one-room hut. The greater portion of the men wear shirts and pants, and the women dress quite neatly as a general thing, especially on Sunday, their dresses being cut Mother Hubbard style, although many wear them short enough to suit the taste of the most radical of the American strong-minded, short-dress wearers, a Mother Hubbard dress for an adult being frequently made from three yards of common print calico. Notwithstanding the great disadvantages under which these people are able to raise means, they contributed in the year 1892 $3,499 to the support of the gospel. Of this sum $1,728 was for the London Missionary Society, and the balance went to the support of the native missionaries. The island has no well-established government. It is independent, no foreign power having considered it worth looking after. The missionaries have been industrious in their efforts to civilize and Christianize the people, and on the adoption of Christianity by them the missionaries have endeavored to have what they consider Christian laws and customs adopted. As a consequence, none but church members are allowed to hold office, and sin is punished instead of crime. The same mistake has been made in all the islands that I have visited where the London Missionary Society have been at work. Strict laws are enacted against what the good missionary considers great sins, such as working on Sunday, for instance. Heavy fines are imposed, and zealous church members are set to spy out the transgressor. The judges, or fakafali, as they call them, are also church members, and they impose certain fines. The fine when collected is divided between the judges, the spies (police they call them on some isles), and the native teachers. On Maugia I was informed by a white resident that the white missionary received a portion of the fine, claiming that he was entitled to it for services as general counselor. The system of laws concocted by the missionaries, and the manner of executing them, have not resulted in arousing the individual conscience to a sense of what is right and to the importance of doing right for the sake of the right. Instead of this the natives who are disposed to do wrong have learned to practice deceit to avoid detection, but, if detected, they, by paying the fine, condone the offense and are again in good social standing, with no real reformation of character. On some of the islands the missionaries have not only been "regal" in authority, but, to use the language of the English resident on one of the islands, their reign has been as autocratic as that of the czar of Russia. THE SUPERNATURAL FACTOR IN MISSIONS.
By Dr. A. T. Pierson
ELIMINATE God from missions and you have nothing left but a human enterprise; all the grandeur and glory are gone; for the one supreme charm and fascination of this work is that, in idea and plan, in origin and progress, it is divine. Nothing is more noticeable than the peculiar emphasis laid upon the supernatural factor in world-wide missions throughout the Scripture. . . . As the prophets and the teachers in the Antiochan church were leading the church in holy ministration and fasting, the Holy Ghost said, "Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them." This is the first step in organized foreign missions. Let us remember that the initial foreign mission tour was undertaken at the special command of the Holy Spirit. However, the church may have separated these two original foreign missionaries and sent them forth, they are expressly declared to have been separated and sent forth by the Holy Ghost. Here, then, is the supernatural factor as the basis of mission work. The Holy Spirit calls, separates, sends forth the workers; God opens the door of access to the nations, and then opens the door of their hearts to faith. He bears them witness, giving them the Holy Ghost,12 and purifying their hearts; and, in a word, the whole story of this mission tour is one of miracles and wonders which God has wrought. "They went forth and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following." That short history is the perpetual type and prophecy of world-wide missions.—Dr. A. T. Pierson. HAST THOU DONE THY BEST?
By Llewellyn A. Morrison
BY LLEWELLYN A. MORRISON. How the fast days, fleeting, fill the short, swift years!
Like a dim dream ending, so this life appears.
All its lights and shadows seem to flash and blend,
Like the ray-flecked meadows where the sunbeams end.
I hear God calling
From the setting sun—
While dew damps, falling,
Tell the brief day done.
"With morning shining
Thou had wondrous zest;
Now the day's declining,
Hast thou done thy best?" There were sore hearts near thee when the day was new;
There were hands upreaching the whole day through;
Didst thou heal and comfort? Didst thou help or heed?
Or did night shades, falling, find the same sad need? And still God calleth
By the setting sun;
Still dew damp falleth
When the day is done;
The cloudway hideth
Still the moon's wan crest;
Still the heart's voice chideth,
"Hast thou done thy best?" Oh, the souls that perish and go down to death,
While our help hopes vanish like our vapid breath!
Ring the call for service e'er the shadows fall
And the white throne shineth where He measures all. God calls at even
By the setting sun;
" 'Tis home and heaven
When the work is done;
Each crown'd brow weareth
A 'new name' confest
When the record beareth—
'Thou hast done thy best.' "
—Word and Works. AT Battle Creek, Mich., September 18, twelve candidates were baptized, whose ages ranged from 8 to 82 years. IN connection with the recent camp meeting held at Little Valley, Cataraugus County, N. Y., twenty persons were baptized. There were over two hundred brothers and sisters in attendance. ACCORDING to report of Elder W. A. McCutchen, work on the new church building at Gainesville, Ga., is progressing, and additions are being made to the membership from time to time. ELDER J. B. GOODRICH reports the baptism of three converts at Boynton, P. Q., and the addition of two others to the faith. He also reports a profitable union meeting of brethren from various localities accessible to Boynton. ELDER VICTOR THOMPSON reports twenty-three accessions during the summer to the church at Indianapolis, which now has 118 members. The work there has been conducted by Elders Thompson and A. W. Bartlett. A NATIVE Japanese Presbyterian missionary and evangelist, having come to San Francisco to attend the Presbyterian Theological Seminary, fell in with our Japanese school and has accepted the Seventh-day Adventist faith. He is now being published in the Japanese newspapers as an apostate. THE largest camp meeting ever held by our people was the one recently conducted at Lansing, the capital of Michigan. There were between 600 and 700 tents, and beside these many rooms in the vicinity of the camp were occupied by regular attendants. The regular attendance was estimated at considerably over 4,000. THE church at Bonacca, Bay Islands, Honduras, has now a membership of twenty-seven, and a comfortable house of worship. It stood the ravages of a severe storm, which blew down some large buildings and otherwise damaged many more. It is said that some of the people there are blaming the Adventists for being the cause of the storm. THE State camp meeting held at Seward, Neb., was one of great interest and profit. There were forty-one candidates baptized, but this by no means indicates the extent of the good work. The report in the Review says: "An evangelist and his family camped on the ground. On Thursday he drove home, thirty miles, intending not to return; but Friday afternoon found him back again. He said he had tried in vain to arouse his own people, and was glad to be where there was some spirituality." A SUCCESSFUL tent work has been conducted at Pendleton, Oregon, by Elder R. S. Donnell and Brethren D. E. Scoles and C. L. Ford. Their effort so far has resulted in twenty-nine accessions to the faith. The ministers of other churches had hoped that when cold weather closed the tent work, the influence could be overcome. But our brethren secured a building in order to permanently establish the work, and this aroused the opposition to such a pitch that it could no longer be restrained. So the work of publicly denouncing the truth was about to commence at date of last report. REV. F. P. SUTHERLAND, a missionary of Upper Burmah, arrived in San Francisco last week. He is one of six missionaries who went to India about five years ago, and after traveling quite extensively in Asia, settled in and about Saigang. To a reporter of the Examiner he made the following statement:— "We found a gentle race of natives; not the savages that have been described in fiction. They are apt pupils and take readily to the Christian religion. We were received with all kindness by the government, and every facility was offered us to spread the light. Of course we had great prejudices to overcome among the people with whom we mingled, but I am happy to say that the gospel is being rapidly accepted as the only true religion in our field. We have now a flourishing church in Saigang. It consists of over three hundred members and is on the increase. I am going to make a short tour of this country and will then return to my labors in Upper Burmah." ATTEMPT TO CLOSE AMERICAN MISSION SCHOOLS IN TURKEY.
A CORRESPONDENT at Constantinople informs the London press that the Porte has decided to close the Protestant college at Anatolia, and has informed the United States minister that the sultan does not desire the return of Dr. Merrick. The government at Washington, the report says, has informed the Porte that American missionaries must be in nowise prevented from returning to Asia Minor from Europe. The Porte claims that no school can be opened in Turkey without a special firman. This will affect Americans chiefly, since there are between 30,000 and 40,000 children in the country under American instruction. The American Minister has taken the position that, as by the treaty between Turkey and the United States, American citizens have the right to pursue a vocation in Turkey, no permits are necessary in the present case. The granting of permits, he adds, would be equivalent to a restriction upon the treaty rights of American citizens, and unless his position be maintained, the whole American system of missionary education in Turkey would be endangered. ARE you going? If so, it will be to your interest to call on, or write to, the undersigned before arranging for your trip. The 'Santa Fe Route' being the only line under one management from California to Chicago, we can offer you advantages, for a safe and pleasant journey, unsurpassed by other lines. It is the only line running Pullman Palace and Tourist sleeping cars through to Chicago, every day, without change, on the same train. Select Overland Excursions leave every Tuesday, with manager in charge through to Boston. Baggage checked to destination. Steamship tickets sold to and from all European points, via all the popular steamship lines. J. J. Warner, Agent, 972 Broadway, Oakland, Cal., or W. A. Bissell, G. P. A. 650 Market Street, Chronicle Building, San Francisco, Cal. THE TALENTS. By M. C. Wilcox. A brief essay on 'The Parable of the Talents,' showing that the talents represent the various gifts of the Spirit which God bestows as he will upon those who are consecrated to him, with the duties and blessed privileges involved therein. Bible Students' Library. No. 77; 16 pp., price 2 cents.