At the W. C. T. U. convention held in St. Louis last autumn, some seemingly incongruous resolutions were adopted which need explanation. For instance, the following:—
Resolved, That we reaffirm our belief in the fourth commandment as of divine authority, binding upon all men at all times; that the perpetuity of our government depends upon the Sabbath as a day of rest and worship, and that we will continue to petition Congress to enact a Sunday rest law which shall release government employees from unnecessary labor on Sabbath and give them opportunity to engage in public worship, and which shall thus give the sanction of government to Sabbath observance.
If they really believe in the fourth commandment, as “binding upon all men at all times,” why ask Congress to add another rest day? Is not one rest day in the week enough, and is not “divine authority” sufficient authority? But “divine authority” says the “seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord,” and if that is “binding upon all men at all times,” why do professed believers in that commandment ask Congress to ignore it and supplement another? Is not the asking of Congress to “enact a Sunday rest law” a tacit admission that there is no “divine authority” for such a law? Is it not an admission on the part of those who ask for such a law that they do not believe in the fourth commandment, as given by “divine authority” for “all men at all times”?
But the foregoing resolution was followed by another, in which there is also a most illogical attempt to identify Sunday as the Sabbath. It is especially illogical in the light of a professed belief in the fourth commandment. Here it is:—
Resolved, That we look upon the Sunday newspaper as doing more to secularize the Sabbath than any other agency, and that we will not countenance it in any way, and will do all in our power to lessen its circulation.
How, we ask, can a Sunday newspaper “secularize” the Sabbath which “divine authority” has made holy—the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, which says that the “seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord”? No influence can “secularize” that which never has been sanctified; and no act performed on one day could affect the character of another day. Furthermore, no act of man can undo what the Lord has done. Even if the Almighty had sanctified Sunday, no power on earth could “secularize” it.
Here is another resolution which is eminently proper in its expression, but from the standpoint of the utterance first quoted we are forced to the conclusion that it is not intended to mean what it says:—
WHEREAS, The bicycle, which should relieve both man and beast from much necessary Sabbath labor, has been made an instrument of great Sabbath desecration; therefore
Resolved, That we will discourage its use for pleasure on the Lord’s day.
Inasmuch as the “Sabbath desecration” complained of is sought to be abated by a “Sunday rest law,” the inference is that the use of the bicycle for pleasure is to be discouraged on Sunday. But the Lord never has called Sunday his day. The only day that he ever has specifically denominated his day is the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, which always has been specifically designated as the “seventh day.” This day he has denominated “my holy day,” and pronounced a blessing for its observance. See Isa. 58: 13, 14. It was made for man (Mark 2: 27, 28), in the beginning (Gen. 2: 2, 3), for “all men at all times.”
W. N. GLENN.
LYING WONDERS.
We have no doubt that a great many of the so-called marvels of Hypnotism and Spiritualism are what may be called fakes, mere slight-of-hand performances, which are easily accounted for by those who are in the secret. The New York World recently gave an account of the career of a so-called prince of fakirs in the hypnotic line. He was one of those who remained buried six feet underground in a so-called hypnotic trance for a week; and yet he now tells the public that he was fed during the whole time. He had the remarkable faculty of having almost absolute control over his heart. He could send the pulse beats up to 150 and from that down to one-third the number, almost instantly. He could swallow cayenne pepper without any discomfort, and bear any amount of pinching and piercing without manifesting any signs of pain. But he now tells us that the hypnotic part was all a fake.
The same is true concerning many things in Modern Spiritualism. A little over two years ago papers in Massachusetts reported strange fires in a house, twenty-five mysterious fires having started within a short time in the most unaccountable manner and places,—now in a newspaper, then in towels hanging on a rack, then on a lounge, then in the middle of a bed. It was said that the mysterious blaze would spring up before the eyes of the watcher; two pillows on which women were working broke out in flames and were destroyed; and that the fire marshal could find no trace of matches, or anything else which would lead to the belief that an incendiary had been at work. We wrote at that time to two gentlemen in Hopkinton, Mass., the town where these fires were said to have occurred. One of them, Mr. R. I. Frail, the chief of the fire department, wrote:—
“Altho no one saw a fire set at the house of Mrs. Fisher Hemenway, it is a fact that there were twenty-five or more fires there in twenty-four hours. The first, as near as I can determine, happened in the woodbox, at least it might have been. I myself think that they in the house made so much talk about the matter that a boy in the family thought to further entertain them, but none of the fires started in rooms where the folks were. While they were occupied in putting out a fire in one room, a fire would start in another. After they called me, and I found how things were going, I said I would watch upstairs alone, and there were no more fires there. After a time I went downstairs, but found I could not watch everywhere, and the fires came fast. At length I sent the boy thirteen or fourteen years old, after a fireman. He was gone twenty minutes and there was no fire while he was absent. When the other man came, we sent off some of the women and put the boy out-of-doors. Then the fires began in the barn. Then the boy’s uncle had him go off the place, and the fires stopped.”
This is an illustration of many of the so-called wonders of Spiritualism. Yet many such instances as these do not disprove the fact that there is such a power as hypnotism, which is used many times where there is no design or object whatever to mystify or deceive the public; nor do they disprove the fact that there is a supernatural power connected with Spiritualism, by which the angels of Satan possess and control men and women here as they did in the time of our Saviour. That there would be frauds connected with Spiritualism is expressly declared; for we are told that Satan will not only work “with all power and signs” but with “lying wonders.” 2 Thess. 2:9. It is only the love of God’s truth which will keep men from these delusions. And the love of that truth in the heart will save from the wonders of Satan, whether they be lying, or real.
MUTUAL RESPECT BETWEEN HUSBAND AND WIFE.
It is not unusual, when women meet in a social way, writes Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher, in the Thrice A Week World, for them to speak in a half-jesting manner of the shortcomings of their husbands. One begins, and of course the others assent and corroborate her assertions, each giving her own experience. It is all done in a good-natured way, of course. They are the happiest and most cheerful company of martyrs that one could wish to see. Each wife would be ready for a battle in a moment if by her remarks any one was led to imagine that this same troublesome, inefficient husband was not as near akin to the angels as mortal could be. But it must be confessed that one who sits by and listens at a social gathering could hardly fail to decide, mentally, that husbands must at best be troublesome comforts, needing constant watchfulness, advice, or reproof.
I recall a scrap that was given me entitled “Respect Due to Wives,” and which read like this:—
“Do not speak of great virtues in another’s wife to remind your own of a fault.”
“Do not treat your wife inattentively in company.”
“Never upbraid her in the presence of another.”
“Do not be stern and silent at home, but noted for your sociability elsewhere.”
I thought it excellent advice, and still think so, knowing it is often greatly needed. But I see many reasons for believing that wives need these cautions quite as much as their husbands do. I have sympathy and respect for husbands, believing they are equally entitled to respect and delicacy. While it is right that husbands should take these suggestions to heart, and in all ways endeavor to augment and strengthen the happiness of the home life, should not wives listen to like suggestions and advice and endeavor to profit by them? Are we not equally blameworthy? Ah! more so, for home is our kingdom, where we may reign supreme, if we hold the scepter with a gentle hand, and with the law of love and kindness ever on our lips.
I have known young people to begin life with the rich promise of perfect happiness, yet to make entire shipwreck of it all by their own unguarded words, impatient looks, and uncontrolled temper. A talent for spicy and brilliant repartee may enliven a party, give zest and interest to social intercourse, and endow its possessor with a certain position, enviable or otherwise; but in the home circle it is a dangerous gift, and, unfortunately, one more frequently possessed by the wife than by the husband.
I have often recoiled, as from a blow, on hearing those who should be one in heart draw comparisons prejudicial to each other and complimentary to others. Do they remember that in marriage they take each other’s honor in keeping, to cherish or destroy, and that God has made the bond so inseparable that all honor bestowed on the one passes over and is shared by the other? All dishonor or error that disgraces the one is equally injurious to the other.
There is much said about injustice to women, of her slighted feelings, of her rights ignored. The possibility of her attaining literary eminence or being in any way equal to man is scoffed at, and her efforts to elevate her sex are met with ridicule and contempt. Now, I am by no means indifferent to any work that has for its aim the elevation of woman; but I am often mortified by the very disagreeable manner manifested by some who can not speak of “women’s rights” without a tart and vixenish fling at man.10
There is much truth, I am fully aware, in what is said of man’s rough, overbearing ways. These are not at all attractive or to be excused. But by dealing honestly and impartially with ourselves we may find enough of the same qualities in our own sex to establish our claims to sisterhood, at least, if not to equality. But admitting that those are purely masculine elements, which find no response in our own character, can we not learn a way to conquer and eradicate even these characteristics in men if they prove undesirable and uncomfortable? Small blemishes in the character of husband or wife, through the imagination, or if oft repeated, begin to be thought of as serious faults that threaten much unhappiness. This is especially the case with the wife, who usually has more time to brood over them. The most certain cure will be for her to turn resolutely from all the shortcomings that begin to look like faults in her husband’s character, and take an honest inventory of her own failures or mistakes. The same rule will be a safeguard for the husband to follow. One will need no magnifying glass to find plenty of faults. Having found them, place them, honestly, side by side with what seems wrong on the other side, and I doubt if either will feel inclined to carry the investigation further. If they are fair-minded, both will rest content, and will bless the union which God has sanctioned.
MINISTERS IN POLITICS.
By W. N. G.
The tendency of professed ministers of the Gospel to rush into the political arena is manifest on every hand. The “Christian Citizenship” movement seems to have been concocted with special reference to giving them opportunity to step into the front rank and become conspicuous as political leaders. The experience of Senator Morehouse, of Santa Clara County, Cal., is a significant illustration of this point. Here is what he said to a reporter of the San Jose News on the subject, as quoted in the issue of December 31:—
“From the day of election, I began receiving attention from abroad. I always thought I had been greatly appreciated at home, but the way letters came pouring in at once flattered me somewhat. I got about 100 letters within a week from as many ministers from all over the state. I was congratulated, etc., and finally the letters closed invariably with a petition for appointment as chaplain of the Senate. Some of these were immediately backed up by petitions from others who recommended this or that reverend gentleman as a most worthy Christian, etc. I began answering these, and the first day I spent $2.00 in postage. The next day I spent less, and now much less, but through all I was reminded of Lord Chesterfield’s remark that every respectful letter was entitled to a respectful answer, and I have for that reason given all petitions at least answers.”
This rush for the chaplaincies in legislative halls is evidently an endeavor to get something in the way of a salary for no return. The chaplains are on duty from two to four minutes a day, and the salaries range from four to six dollars. Heretofore it has been six dollars in California. Not only is the time occupied merely nominal, but that the benefit to the legislature or the state is simply nothing, is plainly shown in the Scriptures. The apostle James says “he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.” If there is such a thing in the world as a wavering man, it surely is one who tries to undulate between the Gospel ministry and a political sinecure. And of the wavering man James adds the pointed assurance, “Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.”
The apostle Paul enjoins upon Christians that prayers be made “for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority.” Such voluntary prayers in faith will be honored at the throne of grace, but the prayers of men who strive for the political privilege of saying a short prayer at a good salary for a day’s work, have no assurance of divine favor. “Verily, they have their reward” in cash and political preferment; what more have they reason to expect?
W. N. G.
Sunday Employment and Urban Poverty
AFTER all of the so-called reforms which have been conducted for some time in New York City, an investigation of one district having a population of 40,000 shows that there is one saloon for every 444 people, and one church building for every 4,547 of the inhabitants, and a church organization for every 3,327 people. Another thing which seems to bring sadness to the Sunday reform forces is that of 10,657 wage-earners in the district of 40,000, 18 per cent. are employed on Sunday. But there is no question of the fact, we believe, that those who are thus employed are more thrifty, honest, and sober than those who spend their Sundays in the saloons and rookeries of the cities. It is also stated that there was barely one bath to every eight families. Such showings of life in our great cities is an indication why there is popular unrest and discontent among the masses.
HELPING A CONVICT.
The Domestic Journal tells a story which shows that one convict, who doubtless represents many others in the aggregate, is anxious to reform, and would lead a respectable life if helped in the beginning. Humanity is suspicious, and man in general will not trust or employ the one who has served a sentence for crime, and as a result they soon fall back into crime to make a living. The late Henry Raymond, so long editor of the New York Times, once helped a convict on the way to respectability by loaning him ten dollars.
One day, while busy in his office, there appeared to him a man, saying, “Is this Mr. Raymond?” Being assured of this, he continued:—
“Can I speak to you a few minutes, sir?” The MSS. were shoved aside.
“I have just come from Sing Sing,” hesitated the man.
“Not from the prison, I hope,” said the editor, by way of putting the caller at ease with a joke.
“Yes, sir,” said the visitor. “I got my discharge a few days ago.”
“Well, my man, I hope you were innocent.”
“No, sir,” replied the convict, “I was guilty. You see, sir, I am an engineer and machinist by trade; I want to lead an honest life, and when I got a place to work all went well, until some kind friend came along and told my boss that I was a prison bird, and I had to be out of that. Then I got another place and got well to work, and the same thing happened. Now I am looking for another job, and I am going to begin by telling what I am, and when I get anything to do, I shan’t lose it in the same way.”
“How much is it, my man?” said Mr. Raymond.
“Well, sir,” replied the man, “I haven’t got the price of one dinner with me now, and I don’t know where I am to sleep to-night. I think if I had ten dollars I could get along until I found somebody to take me for what I am worth, and give me some honest work to do. I don’t want to go down-hill, sir.”
The ten dollars closed the conversation on the instant. Perhaps a year afterwards, Mr. Raymond was at a fair of the American Institute, and while looking at some machinery on exhibition, a decent man in charge of it approached him and said, “Is this Mr. Raymond?”
“Yes,” he replied. “I don’t remember you.”
“Don’t you remember the man from Sing Sing?”
“No,” said Mr. Raymond, “I don’t remember any man from Sing Sing.”
“Why,” said the man from Sing Sing, “don’t you recollect?” and then he rehearsed the story recorded here.
He had subsisted on Mr. Raymond’s loan until he found employment in his own line with a good man who knew his story and was well pleased with him, giving him good wages and steady work in a place of honorable trust and responsibility.
Taking a bank-note from his pocket, the engineer repaid the borrowed money, saying he had carried it for some months without finding an opportunity to leave his work and come to town for the purpose.
“It’s a good ten dollars, Mr. Raymond, for it’s the cost of saving me from ruin.”
When he told the story afterwards, Mr. Raymond said it was cheap, and he said he had charged all his other loans to the account of the engineer and balanced it.
Reciprocating Civilities
NEVER accept of favors or hospitalities without rendering an exchange of civilities when opportunity offers.
THE SNOWS OF SHASTA
By Mary C. Bantz
Across the fields all gray and bare,
The foothills rise in ranks of blue,
And through the shadows here and there
Are flecks of clearer, brighter hue—
The sunset’s glow.
The lower hills in shadow rest,
The higher peer above the gloom,
To where, against her shining crest,
The last beams cast the faintest bloom
On Shasta’s snow.
In calmest dignity she stands,
While darkness gathers round her base,
And shadows climb with clutching hands,
And clouds approach in billowing race
As wild winds blow.
The winds will wrestle all the night,
And hurl the clouds against her side;
The storm will beat and spend its might,
In effort strong to quell the pride
Of Shasta’s snow.
Yet, in to-morrow’s cloudless day,
Her stately head with snowy crown
Will sparkle in the sun’s first ray,
And mists will chase the shadows down
To vales below.
Through ages gone the storm has sought
To move, to crush that stately form,
But still she stands and yields to naught,
And gathers whiteness from the storm
For Shasta’s snow.
If we, who bear the storms of life,
Could calmly, patient wait the day,
Could bear the beat of toil and strife,
And never falter on our way
O’er paths of woe,
The light would come, the sun would rise,
And we would stand all strong and sure,
Eternal sunshine in our eyes,
Our doubts at rest, our souls as pure
As Shasta’s snow.
— Mary C. Bantz, in S. F. Call.
NOTES FROM THE DIARY OF A MEDICAL MISSIONARY.
By Mary Pierson Eddy
The life of a medical missionary presents many varied and interesting phases, writes Mary Pierson Eddy, M.D., from Deirut, Syria, to the Missionary Review. The first week of stay in a village is pretty well occupied with tending to patients; still one can take time to return the salaams of one who comes to pay merely a formal visit. But the next week the patients swarm in from all the neighboring villages, and if the stay is prolonged over a fortnight, patients travel three, four, and five days’ journey for consultation; they encamp on walls, steps, porch, and roof, so that you are a prisoner in your own house. It is necessary to move on to other places, but it is heart-rending to leave such numbers needing help behind.
One of the last days of my stay in Keffeir, a village on the slope of Mount Hermon, a poor leper came from a distant village, and hearing that I would receive no new patients before leaving, was in despair. He saw the throng at the door, and knew that waiting would be of no avail. He was the local versifier or poet improvisator of his district, so he went to the teacher in the place and said, “Get pen and ink quickly.” The teacher did so. “Now,” he said, “paper, for I’m in haste.” He then improvised a poem in Arabic, a really remarkable production, in which he first extols my skill and wisdom, then draws on his imagination regarding a conversation in which my father tells me in starting out upon my life-work to regard the poor, the weakest, the most needy. He then relates his case, and describes the long years of his misery, and point by point makes his case to resemble those for whom my father desired me especially to labor. The poem ends with the full name and home address of the poet patient. Armed with this precious document and a long reed, he painfully toils up the hill once more. The tip of the reed is slit, the fluttering document is slipped into it and hoisted to the window. I was operating at the time, but one of my assistants was attracted by the paper and the hubbub under the casement, and finally the poor fellow was allowed to enter.
One learns something in such a life of how Christ needed to go apart for rest and prayer. Sometimes after a meal I could not get across the hall to my own room for a few moments’ rest before resuming work. I would be obliged to go outside of the house, climb over two roofs, let myself down onto some steps, and enter my room through the window.
The evening gatherings in every place are largely attended, from 60 to 300 persons usually coming together. We choose a large house, but usually have to adjourn first to the front steps, then to the porch, front yard, the village winepress, or the village church, as our numbers nightly increase. One night, when our congregation had been densely packed in the hall, we lifted a corner of the rug to close the door, and saw an immense scorpion in hiding there. What a providence that no one had been bitten! At another meeting, held in the cool evening breeze on Hermon, the gray-beard of the village was present, and another of the audience was a baby boy eighteen days old. At another time the village priest was making us a call, and a fine young fellow who had bought 24 mules to take down to Egypt to sell came in to receive a parting blessing, to insure quick and profitable sales.
All my other traveling experiences are as nothing compared to crossing unknown rivers at uncertain fords. Usually in August the largest rivers are fordable, but high up in the mountains an earthquake caused a landslide last summer which demolished several houses and killed several villagers. In the early spring even the smallest streams are swollen with rapidly melted snow, and my assistant, who braves everything on land, often stands appalled at the brink where the flood rolls swiftly before her over the large, smooth, treacherous stones of the brook.
Sometimes I am obliged to hold my clinics in the village church, and it can not be very reassuring to the patients to recount their ills and ailments while the village bier affords them a temporary seat. During the evening meeting in one of my stopping-places, the bier was the favorite seat of the smallest children, who were lost in the crowds on the crowded church floor.
The fierce, warlike Ansairy people have recently for the first time furnished me patients, and I am hoping on my next trip to visit one of their villages if the country is safe enough. I am leaving home this week for a trip northward, and expect to visit a tribe of Turcomans who have been encamping in the plain of the Bukâa; they are clothed in sheepskins, men and women.
OUR REST.
By Minnie Embree
Our busy time was ending,
And so a trip was planned;
We’d travel to the ocean,
And camp upon the sand.
We all had worked so busy,
And were so very tired,
A camping trip might furnish
The rest we so desired.
We longed to see the ocean
And hear the breakers’ roar;
We’d rest, and read, and study,
And walk upon the shore.
We worked hard getting ready;
We washed, and baked, and canned;
Did sewing, too, and ironing,
And talked, and talked, and planned.
Alas, some word was brought us
Which showed we could not go!
Awhile, O, how it grieved us,
And disappointed so!
But, when we talked it over,
We knew that it was best;
There are other ways of pleasure,
And other ways of rest.
To me it brought a lesson
Of the rest that’s by and by;
To that we’re looking forward;
We know that it is nigh.
If for that rest we’re working,
Our talk will be of it—
Of the flowers that we shall gather,
Of the streets with glory lit.
We will plan to walk with angels
On the shining streets of gold,
And enjoy for aye the beauty
Of those pleasures never old.
We must wash our robes and make them
Pure and white in Jesus’ blood;
They must have no spot or wrinkle
If we reach the mount of God.
If we look to Christ our Saviour,
If each day we do our best,
There will be no disappointment—
We shall reach the heavenly rest.
MINNIE EMBREE.
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
FIVE converts were recently added to the company at Joplin, Mo., under the labors of Brother L. W. Terry.
IN all nine persons were baptized at Great Falls, Mont., during the month of December, as a result of meetings held by Elders C. N. Martin and W. J. Stone.
A CHURCH organization was effected in New York City on the 9th inst., and Elders E. E. Franke and C. H. Keslake are preparing for another series of meetings.
ELDER W. T. MILLMAN closed a series of meetings at Elgin, Mo., and reports a company of eleven who have espoused the cause of “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.”
ELDER I. D. VAN HORN reports the organization of a church of eleven members at Locust Point, Ohio, and a dozen others deeply interested. Preparations are on foot for the erection of a house of worship.
THE last number of the General Conference Bulletin gives a list of thirty-three periodicals issued by the Seventh-day Adventist denomination, thirteen of which are in foreign languages, and eleven published in foreign countries.
ELDER N. W. ALLEE reports the recent baptism of six converts in the new baptistry of the church at Minneapolis. He also states that a good company accepted the message at Pipestone, Minn., as a result of tent labors by Elder C. W. Flaiz and Brother C. H. Parker.
THE organization of a new church at Durango, Colo., is reported by Elder L. W. Angelbarger. From there he went to Alamosa, and notes a stirring interest about eight miles from that place, where meetings were held in a schoolhouse. This work was bitterly opposed by local ministers, by the usual means of misrepresentation.
RECENT labors of Brother H. E. Giddings at Tarsney, Mo., resulted in the addition of six to the number of those who look for the Lord and “love his appearing.” A professed minister of the Gospel went from Independence to Tarsney on purpose to raise a disturbance and block the progress of the meetings, but his purpose was finally defeated.
IN a report to the Workers’ Record, Elder W. A. Hennig, president of Missouri Conference, states that one man in that jurisdiction is selling 100 copies of the SIGNS every week. How many who read this will say, “Well, I couldn’t do nearly so well as that,” and will therefore do nothing? But labor in faith will never fail, whether the results seem great or small. The first thing the Master requires in his work is a willing mind, then “we shall reap if we faint not.”
JUDGING from reports from many localities in the United States, and our increasing subscription list, there is a quite extensive awakening on the subject of missionary work with the SIGNS. And the general report is more lively missionary meetings. Many who are actively engaged in selling the paper, and otherwise bringing it before the people, report precious experiences, and find openings for further work. They also find that the Spirit of the Lord is going before and preparing the hearts of the people to receive the truth, especially in the cities.
THE church at San Jose, Cal., has recently lost ten of its active members, including an elder, a deacon, and one who had acted as leader after the departure of the elder. But they have all gone to localities where their services were more needed than in San Jose. Four have located at Soledad, where there is no organization, and six in Santa Cruz, where three immediately found official positions in the church, which was short of material with which to fill important places in the organization. There are other places where transfers of this character could be made with decided advantage to the weak points. Brethren should be on the alert for locations where they are most needed in the good work.
THE Indicator, of Rome, N. Y., copies a letter from Brother R. G. Stringer, of Rurutu Island, South Pacific, from which we take the following paragraph:— “It makes our heart ache to see the condition of the poor natives—so ignorant of the Scriptures, and yet so anxious to know their true meaning. They say that they have been taught by the white missionary that Sunday, not Saturday, is the Sabbath, for which reason they changed; that sprinkling is right for baptism; that the soul never dies, etc. All this has to be removed, and truth placed before them in its true light. As the whites have deceived them in so many ways, especially in regard to what the Bible teaches, they will not grasp a new idea at once, and have but little confidence in foreigners. This makes it much harder to reach them.”
Marriage Customs on Aneityum
It is said that the substitute for the marriage ring on the island of Aneityum, New Hebrides, was the “marriage rope,” put round the neck of the bride. This she wore all her life, and when her husband died she was strangled with it by his nearest relative. The Rev. John Inglis, who began his work there in 1852, reported that there was not a widow on the island, nor any word in the language for widow. The law demanded that on the death of her husband the wife be strangled, and her body cast into the sea with his.—Missionary Review.
