A MAN'S real character will always be more visible in his household than anywhere else; and his practical wisdom will be better exhibited by the manner in which he bears rule there than even in the large affairs of business or public life. His whole mind may be in his business; but, if he would be happy, his whole heart must be in his home. It is there that his genuine qualities most surely display themselves,—there that he shows his truthfulness, his love, his sympathy, his consideration for others, his uprightness, his manliness,—in a word, his character. If affection be not the governing principle in a household, domestic life may be the most intolerable of despotisms. Without justice, also, there can be neither love, confidence, nor respect, on which all true domestic rule is founded. Erasmus speaks of Sir Thomas More's home as "a school and exercise of the Christian religion." "No wrangling, no angry word was heard in it; no one was idle; everyone did his duty with alacrity, and not without a temperate cheerfulness." Sir Thomas won all hearts to obedience by his gentleness. He was a man clothed in household goodness; and he ruled so gently and wisely that his home was pervaded with an atmosphere of love and duty. He himself spoke of the hourly interchange of the smaller acts of kindness with the several members of his family as having a claim upon his time as strong as those other public occupations of his life which seemed to others so much more serious and important.
MAN AND HIS WIFE.
For a man to enjoy true repose and happiness in marriage, he must have in his wife a soul-mate as well as a help-mate. But it is not requisite that she should be merely a pale copy of himself. A man no more desires in his wife a manly woman than the woman desires in her husband a feminine man. A woman's best qualities do not reside in her intellect, but in her affections. She gives refreshment by her sympathies, rather than by her knowledge. "The brain women," says Oliver Wendell Holmes, "never interest us like the heart women." Men are so often wearied with themselves that they are rather predisposed to admire qualities and tastes in others different from their own. "If I were suddenly asked," says Mr. Helps, "to give proof of the goodness of God to us, I think I should say that it is most manifest in the exquisite difference he has made between the souls of men and women, so as to create the possibility of the most comforting and charming companionship that the mind of man can imagine." But though no man may love a woman for her understanding, it is not the less necessary for her to cultivate it on that account. There may be difference in character, but there must be harmony of mind and sentiment,—two intelligent souls as well as two loving minds:—
"Two heads in council, two beside the hearth,
Two in the tangled business of the world,
Two in the liberal offices of life."
DISAPPOINTMENT IN MARRIAGE.
Some persons are disappointed in marriage because they expect too much from it, but many more, because they do not bring into copartnership their fair share of cheerfulness, kindliness, forbearance, and common sense. Their imagination has perhaps pictured a condition never experienced on this side of heaven; and when real life comes, with its troubles and cares, there is a sudden waking up as from a dream. Or they look for something approaching perfection in their chosen companion, and discover by experience that the fairest of characters have their weaknesses. Yet it is often the very imperfection of human nature, rather than its perfection, that makes the strongest claims on the forbearance and sympathy of others, and, in affectionate and sensible natures, tends to produce the closest unions. The golden rule of married life is "Bear and forbear." Marriage, like government, is a series of compromises. One must give and take, refrain and restrain, endure and be patient. One may not be blind to another's failings, but they may at least be borne with good-natured forbearance. Of all qualities, good temper is one that wears and works the best in married life. Conjoined with self-control, it gives patience,—the patience to bear and forbear, to listen without retort, to refrain until the angry flash has passed. How true it is in marriage that "the soft answer turneth away wrath!"
MORAL INFLUENCE OF A WIFE.
There are few men strong enough to resist the influence of a lower character in a wife. If she does not sustain and elevate what is highest in his nature, she will speedily reduce him to her own level. Thus a wife may be the making or the unmaking of the best of men. An illustration of this power is furnished in the life of Bunyan. The profligate tinker had the fortune to marry, in early life, a worthy young woman of good parentage. "My mercy," he himself says, "was to light upon a wife whose father and mother were accounted godly. This woman and I, though we came together as poor as poor might be (not having so much household stuff as a dish or a spoon betwixt us both), yet she had for her part 'The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven' and 'The Practice of Piety,' which her father had left her when he died." And by reading these and other good books, helped by the kindly influence of his wife, Bunyan was gradually reclaimed from his evil ways, and led gently into the paths of peace.—Selected.
HOUSEHOLD RELIGION.
By Indian Witness
SURELY this is the only kind worth mentioning; that is, the religion which is not felt in the household from day to day, the religion which confines itself to the church and to Sunday, or to a certain round of outward observances, must be spurious. It certainly will not pass muster as genuine Christianity.
The sort of piety on which Christ puts his stamp studies the comfort of all around. It is full of sympathy, brotherly kindness, and friendly aid. It is considerate for other's feelings, and scrupulous about other's rights. It carries a cheerful countenance, speaks pleasant words, and abounds in little deeds of love. It does not forget that happiness is made up mainly of trifles, being not a single magnificent gem, but a mosaic composed of a thousand pieces; and it resolves to enroll itself in the number of happiness makers, burden bearers, who scatter flowers, diffuse sunshine, and take all possible pains to give pleasure.
Of what vital importance it is to every household that it be a shrine of this religion! How otherwise can the children grow up good? Of what use is right instruction by the preacher one day in the week if it be offset by bad example at home six days? What avails a formal lecture from the parent now and then if it be not emphasized by a consistent life?
Blessed are the children of true Christian parents, day by day drinking in wholesome spiritual food and strengthening moral nutriment. Blessed are the parents of Christian children, sending forth into the future prolonged influences for good, permanently represented on the earth by intelligence and virtue long years after they themselves have passed away. How miserable the estate of those whose names must go down to posterity linked with creatures of wretchedness, vice, and crime! Too late for repentance do such behold the legitimate outcome of the absence of household religion.
Some have we seen whose own parents had left in their hearts and lives a precious legacy of Christian faith and love divine. Yet they themselves were not pious, and so were making a break in the chain, and defrauding their children of that boon which should have passed on without diminution. Those children had no godly influences around them, and hence in the hour of temptation would have no sweet memories to hold them fast, and in the stress of the world's conflicts they would be almost sure to deteriorate. An impaired vitality of virtue would probably be10passed on in turn to their children, and so the stock would degenerate. How sad!
Let every man that is a man, every woman that is a woman, reflect very seriously on these things, and in some moment of sacred silence answer honestly one or two questions: Will your children have as good a chance as you had, not merely in temporal but in spiritual matters? or will they reproach you some day, and say that they have been robbed of the best part of what should have been theirs? Are you doing by them as you would wish to be done by? They have a right to receive from you an example of positive piety. It will be worth to them more than lands and gold.
Household religion, something that shall brighten the eye, sweeten the voice, check the hasty word, alter the impatient tone, make the brow smoother, the heart happier, and the home a paradise—this is what we need. May it grow and prevail mightily throughout the land in this year of our Lord 1894.—Indian Witness.
GIVE THE CHILDREN YOUR COMPANIONSHIP.
PARENTS do not, as a rule, sufficiently appreciate the value of their own personal companionship as a factor in the bringing up of their growing girls and boys. A parent is apt, while giving his children a great deal of many other things, to give them but little of himself. But the little girl who is so favored through the years as to have her mamma for friend, playmate, and companion, rarely, if ever, goes wrong when she grows up. And the boy feeling the subtle tie of the camaraderie between his parents and himself is "grappled" to home, and its pure and ennobling associations, as with "hooks of steel."
John Habberton, in a late article, relates the following incident of a preacher, who, when consulted by a father about a bad son over whom he had expended great agonies of prayer, but whom otherwise he had left to his own devices, said: "My friend, your prayers won't do that boy any good unless you give him a good bit of your own companionship. Make yourself actively his friend, taking an interest in all his affairs, and he won't ask for bad company."—Annals of Hygiene.
THE LEAST OF THESE.
She had little of earthly beauty,
She had less of earthly lore;
She climbed by a path so narrow,
Such wearisome burdens bore!
And she came, with heart-a-tremble,
To the warder at heaven's door,
And said, "There were hearts of heroes;"
She said, "There were hands of might;
I had only my little children,
That called to me day and night;
I could only soothe their sorrows,
Their childish hearts make light."
And she bowed her head in silence,
She hid her face in shame,
When, out from a blaze of glory,
A form majestic came,
And, sweeter than all heaven's music,
Lo, someone called her name!
"Dear heart that hath self forgotten,
That never its own hath sought,
Who keepeth the weak from falling,
To the King hath jewels brought.
Lo, what thou hast done for the children,
For the Lord himself hast wrought!"
—Woman's Journal.
"WHERE'S MOTHER?"
WHEN the tired father returns home at night from the office or shop, when the children come home from school, the first question is always—unless she stands in the very hall before their eyes—"Where's mother?" It is often said that the mother is the home. This question is one of the many proofs of the truth of this proverb. Unless the mother is in the house, the vital principle of the home seems to be lacking. She comes, and comfort, love, and joy seem to enter with her. She goes, and there is a sort of breathless and uneasy waiting time until she comes back again.
To the true mother the knowledge that she is thus indispensable to the loved ones should be one of the choicest possessions. It is only by cherishing the spirit which prompts the question, "Where's mother?" that she can properly instill into the hearts of her children that "passion for home" which one of our great writers has called the "first characteristic of manly natures." And yet, not infrequently, a tired mother will exclaim impatiently, "I wish I could stir without having an outcry, 'Where's mother?'" To one who sets true value upon life and its duties and pleasures, such words come with an awful shock. Pearls seem to have been cast wastefully before the feet of such a woman.
But even if a mother hold most dear this precious tribute of love, how many are there who take pains to be at home when the children come, or, if she must be absent, to leave word for them, or to tell them before they go in the morning or at noon that she expects to be gone when they return, with the reasons and regrets? It is only by mutual thoughtfulness in these so-called trifles that the harmony of the home life can be preserved; and woe to her who does not appreciate them at their true value. It is impossible that the busy mother of a family, with shopping to do, calls to make, and meetings of various kinds to attend, should always be in when the children come home from school. It would show an undue regard for sentiment if she were to shut herself away from the outside life which every woman needs so much, and which she needs especially for the benefit of her family. But by following this rule, to tell the children in the morning, whenever she can, just where she is to be, and how soon she will be at home, she may keep alive, and still foster, though she is absent, the sacred flame which she so prizes.
—Selected.
PROTESTANT MISSIONS IN MEXICO.
By Elder D. T. Jones
IN 1821 Mexico became an independent nation, after having been a Spanish province for just three hundred years. But to be independent of Spain was not to throw off at once the effects of three hundred years of spiritual bondage, nor, indeed, to become independent of papal rule. The Declaration of Independence was called the "Constitution of the Three Guarantees." These guarantees were religion, independence, and union. The guarantee of religion provided that the nation should be Roman Catholic, without toleration of any other faith. This guarantee continued in effect, practically, till the laws of reform, referred to in a previous article, were enforced, after the overthrow of Maximilian, in 1867. But a circumstance which the Mexican Government could not control, had, ere this, awakened an interest in the minds of many to hear the pure apostolic gospel. Sometimes blessings come in disguise, and so it was in this instance.507
In 1847, when the American army penetrated the country to the capital, representatives of the American Bible Society accompanied this army and distributed Bibles in the Spanish language to all who would accept them. The Bible was an unknown book to the people; it was like a new revelation. Many devoured it eagerly, and the seeds thus sown afterwards bore fruit. But as yet for nearly twenty years no missionary dared to enter the country.
About the year 1850 Miss Matilda Rankin went from Bloomington, Illinois, to Brownsville, Texas, and, establishing herself there on the north bank of the Rio Grande, improved every opportunity to send Bibles into Mexico, or to otherwise introduce the gospel into that country. Since the experiment of sending Bible agents with the army of General Scott, and in that way learning of the desire on the part of many to possess a copy of the word of God, the American Bible Society felt a deep interest in Mexico, and only awaited an opportunity to send their colporters into the country. In 1860 Mr. Thompson, an agent of the society, was stationed on the border with instructions to improve every opportunity to send Bibles across the Rio Grande. About this time the political kaleidoscope was given another turn.
As we have already stated, the Laws of Reform were enacted in 1857, and directly following this a new constitution was adopted, providing for the fullest religious liberty, and the freedom of the press. The following year Benito Juarez, the author of the "Laws of Reform," and a principal mover in the adoption of the new constitution, was elected president of the republic. The country was in a disturbed condition. For almost forty years insurrections and revolutions had followed each other in rapid succession; and, with the church party in bitter antagonism to his policy, it was not an easy matter to reduce the country to a state of tranquillity, and quietly enforce the constitution and laws. But Juarez was rapidly bringing order out of confusion when an unexpected obstacle suddenly presented itself. It was at this juncture that what is known in the history of Mexico as the French Intervention occurred. At first France, England, and Spain united and sent their ambassadors to Mexico to demand the satisfaction of claims which certain of their respective subjects held against the government. Finally England and Spain withdrew, but France, violating her plighted faith, marched her army to the capital and took forcible possession of the government. It was now apparent that the intervention on the part of Napoleon III. was only the first step in a plan to overthrow the republic and establish an empire on its ruins. The church party, encouraged by Napoleon III. and the pope, made one more grand effort to get possession of the government. They saw clearly that the republic must be overthrown, or their own power in civil matters must cease. It was decided to establish an empire, and, in order to secure foreign sympathy and support, it was further decided to offer the throne to a foreigner. Napoleon III. was authorized to nominate the candidate, and he offered the glittering prize to Maximilian, archduke of Austria. Maximilian accepted it, and after visiting Rome to receive the pope's blessing, which was given, with the further assurance that heaven approved the enterprise and would bring it to a successful issue, he set out for his new dominions, arriving in Mexico in May, 1864.
He was received with great demonstrations of joy by the church party, and repaired at once to the capital, amid every demonstration of royalty. President Juarez and his cabinet were driven from place to place, till they reached the little village opposite El Paso, Texas, which has since been named Juarez City. Here they kept up the form of government and directed the war against the imperialists. In December, 1865, Mr. Seward, then Secretary of State of the United States, notified the French Government that his government requested the withdrawal of the French troops from Mexico "within some convenient and reasonable time, . . . and thus leave the people of that country to the free enjoyment of the system of republican government they have established for themselves, and of their adhesion to which they have given what seems to the United States to be decisive and conclusive, as well as touching, proofs." This encouraged the Mexican patriots, and, after the withdrawal of the French troops, they steadily gained ground. The armies of the republic already held the northern part of the country, and this gave the Bible Society and the missionaries some opportunities for prosecuting their work. In 1866 Miss Rankin advanced to Monterey, and established a school, and a little later Mr. Thompson advanced to San Luis Potosi. In May, 1867, Maximilian, with two of his leading generals and the larger part of the imperial army, was captured at Queretaro, and a few days later Maximilian and his two generals, Mirimon and Mejia, were executed.
Thus ended the last struggle for Catholic supremacy in Mexico. From that time the republic was thoroughly established. The political power of the Church of Rome was broken. The only thing that now stood in the way of executing the Laws of Reform, and enforcing the provisions of the constitution, was the spiritual power which the Roman Church wielded over the masses of the ignorant people, through her numerous clergy and the confessional. But the special provisions which were made by the republic for free schools, and the protection of Protestants as far as possible from all such violence, has gradually broken down prejudice, and opened up the country to the Protestant missionaries.
The various missionary societies began at once to lay plans for occupying this new field. The first plan adopted was for a union and undenominational work. In 1869 a minister was sent to Mexico City, and found the field already fully ripe. Two able priests had renounced the Catholic faith, and were preaching the gospel with power. The minister began his work under very flattering auspices; the best people of the city crowded to his meetings; many renounced the Catholic faith and became Protestants. It almost seemed that Protestantism was to make a rapid and easy conquest of the capital, but the preacher, intoxicated by his apparent success, made mistakes that disgraced the cause which he represented, and cast a cloud over its influence. The union effort was abandoned, and each society commenced work along its own lines. For a time the work moved slowly. In many places the missionaries could neither rent houses to live in nor buy food or clothing. In some places they were beset by mobs. Some were killed. In all 58 persons, of whom only one was a foreigner, sacrificed their lives in the interest of Protestant missions in Mexico—an average of one for every three months from 1873 to 1878.
There are at present not less than ten societies operating in Mexico, with a total of 177 foreign workers, 512 native workers, 385 churches, and 16,250 communicants. There are 11 religious periodicals published in the country and 4,000 pupils in Protestant schools. Every State, and almost every important city and town in the country, has been entered by the missionary. Catholic superstitions and prejudices are gradually giving way, and the civil and religious liberty which Protestantism inculcates is beginning to be recognized by the better class of people in the republic, as a needed and desirable reform. Juarez, the Washington of Mexico, though a descendant of the Aztecs, without a strain of foreign blood, no less a statesman than a patriot, in considering the influence which religion must exert on the commonwealth, said, "Upon the development of Protestantism largely depends the future happiness of our country." The rapid improvement of the country in business enterprise, education, and morality, as Protestant influence increases and the abuses of Catholicism are checked, shows the wisdom of this observation.
HAVE SOMETHING.
HAVE a tear for the wretched,
A smile for the glad,
For the worthy, applause,
An excuse for the bad,
Some help for the needy,
Some pity for those
Who stray from the path
Where true happiness flows.
Have a hope in thy sorrow,
A calm in thy joy;
Have a work that is worthy
Thy life to employ.
And, oh! above all things
On this side the sod,
Have peace with thy conscience,
Find peace with thy God.
—Selected.
LAUGH.
By Annals of Hygiene
LEARN to laugh. A good laugh is better than medicine. Learn how to tell a story. A well-told story is as welcome as a sunbeam in a sick room. Learn to keep your own troubles to yourself. The world is too busy to care for your ills and sorrows. Learn to stop croaking. If you cannot see any good in the world, keep the bad to yourself. Learn to hide your aches and pains under a pleasant smile. No one cares whether you have the earache, headache, or rheumatism. Don't cry. Tears do well enough in novels, but they are out of place in real life. Learn to meet your friends with a smile. The good-humored man or woman is always welcome, but the dyspeptic or hypochondriac is not wanted anywhere, and is a nuisance as well.
—Annals of Hygiene.
The Purpose of Existence
By Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
EVERYTHING exists for some end—a horse, a vine. Why dost thou wonder? For what purpose, then, art thou? To enjoy pleasure? See if common sense allows this.
THE BAR.
Young man, has not your eye been frequently attracted to a sign having the following common word on it, "Bar"? Avoid the place; it is no misnomer. The experience of thousands have proved it to be:—
A bar to respectability;
A bar to honor;
A bar to fame;
A bar to happiness;
A bar to home felicity;
A bar to heaven.
Every day proves it to be:—
The road to degradation;
The road to vice;
The road to the gambler's hell;
The road to the brothel;
The road to poverty;
The road to wretchedness;
The road to want;
The road to robbery;
The road to murder;
The road to prison;
The road to the gallows;
The road to the drunkard's grave;
The road to hell.
—Selected.
THE CHILD CHARACTER.
By John Ruskin
THE first character of right childhood is that it is modest. A well-bred child does not think it can teach its parents, or that it knows everything. It may think that its father and mother know everything—perhaps that all grown-up people know everything—very certainly it is sure that it does not. And it is always asking questions and wanting to know more.
A second character of right childhood is to be faithful. Perceiving that its father knows best what is good for it, a noble child trusts him wholly, gives him its hand, and will walk blindfolded with him if he bids it.
A third character of right childhood is to be loving and generous. Give a little love to a child and you get a great deal back. It loves everything near it when it is a right kind of a child, would always give the best it has away if you need it, does not lay plans for getting everything in the house for itself, and delights in helping people. You cannot please it so much as by giving it a chance of being useful in ever so little a way. And because of all these characters it is cheerful.
Putting its trust in its father, it is careful for nothing; being full of love to every creature, it is happy always, whether in its play or its duty.
So, then, you have the child's character in these four things,—humility, faith, charity, and cheerfulness.—Ruskin.
Views of National Reform
By Editor
VIEWS OF NATIONAL REFORM.—Bible Students' Library No. 3, 13 subjects treated; price, 15 cents, postpaid. Address, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal.
TEMPERANCE AND THE CHURCH.
By Editor
ONE of the strangest things in modern so-called Christianity is the idea that the church in its church capacity is not a temperance society; that it needs a temperance organization within its church organization, to inculcate the principles of temperance. A church that does not include temperance in all things (1 Cor. 9:25), in its precept and example, is not worthy the name of a Christian church. The following letter illustrates the thought. It is from Rev. A. Jeffery, a missionary at Ceres, South Africa, and is taken from the Mission Field. The village referred to is Prince Alfred's Hamlet, in the diocese of Cape Town.
"A fairly good and promising work is being carried on by a female native teacher in charge of the station. This village, before we started a lodge in it, was renowned for the insobriety of the inhabitants, which evil was by no means confined to the native races.
The population consists of about 200 white people, all of whom belong to the Dutch Reformed Church, and a mixed population of 150 persons, representing Bushmen, Hottentots, Fingoes, and Kaffirs, nearly all of whom belong to us and are baptized, many of the adults being confirmed and communicants. Since our temperance lodge has been opened, in 1891, there has been, I rejoice to say, a very visible improvement in the morals both of white and native races.
"There have been a good many failures, which I suppose one must reasonably expect, considering the temptation to which these people are exposed in a wine-growing district; but the fact of a temperance lodge doing its steady and persistent work amongst them has had the very desirable effect of checking an evil which threatened at one time to completely undermine our mission work."
Missionary Work in Japan
Mrs. Naylor, a Presbyterian missionary to Japan, after a brief visit to America, was in San Francisco, recently, on the return trip to her field of labor at Kanazawa. Of missionary work in that country she says: "Missionaries can only enter Japan as teachers, and must have a passport before entering any city. These passports are given for five years or less, and must be renewed when they expire. All this renders itinerary work difficult. Yet these and even greater obstacles are met by the teachers, and the word is taken into towns and villages often sixty miles distant from the missionary station."
Reopening the Alaska Mission Station
The Congregationalist notes the reopening of the mission station of the American Missionary Association at Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska. Mr. and Mrs. Lapp, who were formerly stationed there, were, at the solicitation of the government, transferred to Port Clarence, and placed in charge of the Reindeer Station. Now, however, they return to Cape Prince of Wales with the approval of Dr. Sheldon Jackson, the government official.
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND.
By William C. White
AUSTRALIA.
THUS far in 1894 the workers in Australasia have had much to encourage and prompt them to activity. Two tent companies have been at work in the suburbs of Melbourne, one at Williamstown, and one in Brighton and Auburn. A company of Sabbath keepers, which will in time be organized into a church, has been brought out at each of these places. At the same time there have been additions to the Prahran and North Fitzroy churches, so that, altogether, there are seventy-five new Sabbath keepers in Victoria since the camp meeting.
In New South Wales tent meetings have been held in Seven Hills, a fruit-growing district, about eighteen miles from Sydney, by Elder Arthur S. Hickox, assisted occasionally by Elders McCullagh and Starr. Here eighteen or twenty have accepted the message, and there is some talk of building a meetinghouse.
Our brethren in this vicinity are aroused to new activity by the recent summonsing and fining of two of our brethren of the Kelleyville church, for Sunday labor. The action was taken under an old obsolete act of Charles II., which not only forbids labor but enjoins attendance at worship. Many condemn the action, and some uphold it. The agitation will bring the Sabbath question to the front.
For a year we have been planning to send laborers to Queensland, and now we hope that the time is near at hand when that colony will receive the warning message. Already there are small companies keeping the Sabbath, who plead for help. In one place there are said to be thirty Sabbath keepers, and they wait for instruction.
THE BIBLE SCHOOL.
The Bible school has been cut down somewhat, owing to the continued financial depression. Several of the canvassers who under ordinary circumstances could have earned enough in vacation to help them through the winter school, have found that, as times are so changed, this short vacation does not prepare them to enter this winter.
The permanent location of the school has received much study, and we hope that the matter will soon be settled. During the last two weeks two offers have been received, that are very encouraging, and we trust that one of these may be accepted.
NEW ZEALAND.
Elder G. T. Wilson, the president of the New Zealand Conference, has been visiting Kaeo, Auckland, Helensville, and other places in the North, and reports an excellent interest where he has been. Eight were baptized in Kaeo, and five in Helensville.
Brother Wm. Crothers, the colonial canvassing agent, who took a company of canvassers from Australia, at the close of the Melbourne meeting, reports that most of the canvassers are doing well, and he regards New Zealand as a good field.
Elder Steed, who was assigned to New Zealand by the Union Conference, but who was detained so long in Melbourne, on account of his health, has now reached his new field of labor. It is expected that he will settle in Palmerston North, which is the center of an important district, where there are many already interested in the truths of the message.
W. C. WHITE.
THE MEMORIAL SERVICE OF THE "PITCAIRN."
THE departure of the missionary ship Pitcairn on its third voyage to the South Sea islands was the subject of a farewell memorial service at the church in this city on the evening of the 10th inst. The occasion was one of profit, and the exercises were of a most interesting nature. The meeting was opened by singing, "Father, We Come to Thee," by the congregation, when Elder M. C. Wilcox read the following selections from the Scriptures: Isa. 48:1–4; Mark 4:35–41, and Matt. 28:18–20. Elder M. H. Brown offered prayer, and the song "Missionary's Farewell" was sung by the choir. An address was delivered by Brother C. H. Jones, giving a brief review of the outfitting of the vessel for former voyages and the work in the islands. Brother H. H. Winslow sang a solo entitled "Rocked in the Cradle of the Deep." Elder E. H. Gates, who went out on the first voyage and returned with the ship from her second tour, delivered a short address, partly in the nature of a charge to those going out as missionaries, laying special stress on the importance of revealing Christ to the people. Many of the islanders are already nominal Christians, but they do not know Christ. He also referred to the vast field as yet untouched by our workers, and in some parts of these fields the people are still cannibals. Yet somebody will have to go to these fields. The choir then sang "Hark! Hark! My Soul," after which remarks were made by members of the ship's company—Elder J. E. Graham, Brother W. G. Buckner, Brother J. R. McCoy, Dr. J. E. Caldwell, and Brethren Wellman, Hicks, and Owen. At the close of these remarks the choir sang the "Pitcairn Missionary Hymn," which appears on this page. The exercises were closed by prayer by Elder Wilcox and benediction by Elder Gates.
There go out with the vessel this time twenty-seven persons, of whom nine compose the crew, fourteen are missionaries, and four are children from ten to fourteen years of age. To the names heretofore published there have been added those of Miss Maud Young, who returns to her home on Pitcairn Island, and Brother R. G. Stringer and wife, who arrived from Michigan on the 10th inst., prepared to embark on the ship. It is not expected that the Pitcairn will be gone longer than about six months, when she will be fitted out for a more extended voyage to entirely new fields, and carry a larger number of missionaries.
FIELD NOTES.
By Editor
BROTHER W. H. BROWN reports the organization of a Sabbath school of twenty members at Joplin, Mo.
ELDER W. F. MARTIN reports the baptism of six persons at Ava, Perry County, Ark., and five at Ellsworth.
In connection with the quarterly meeting at Stephenson, Mich., six were baptized and added to the church.
AFTER the close of the recent canvassers' school in Indianapolis, twelve members were added to the church there by baptism.
In three months, ending May 4, our canvassers in Louisiana took 1,905 orders for books, notwithstanding the exceeding hard times.
ELDER S. P. HORTON is conducting tent meetings at Church Hill, Md., and states that the "rulers" are using herculean efforts to prevent attendance.
ELDER R. D. HOTTEL has located in Wilmington, Del., and is conducting a series of tent meetings in that city. He reports the baptism of two sisters at Rock Hall, Md.
THE Indiana Conference Committee has placed six tents in the field for the season, beginning as follows: Fort Wayne, Connersville, Buffalo, Princeton, Lovee, and Nashville.
ELDER P. B. OSBORNE notes that the camp meeting last year at Bath, Me., left a good impression; and subsequent labor has led a goodly number to further investigation, twelve of whom had taken a stand for the truth at date of report.
UNDER the labors of Brethren J. W. Boynton and F. B. Armitage, a church of fourteen members has been organized near Goose Lake, Nebraska. The company has erected a new house of worship, and the Sabbath school membership is reported at thirty-six.509
BROTHER J. E. EVANS reports a few days' labor through an interpreter of the Holland language at Fremont, Mich., when five persons started in the service of the Lord. Following this work he made a short stay at Muskegon, where four young people gave themselves to the Lord. At Baldwin a Sabbath school of sixteen members was organized, and weekly prayer meeting established.
THE Supreme Court of Tennessee has affirmed the Circuit Court in the case of Brother W. B. Capps, convicted of violation of the Sunday law by cutting corn on that day. He will now have to serve a term of imprisonment, and the State has squarely assumed the responsibility of enforcing the observance of a religious institution upon its citizens, regardless of their conscience in the matter.
ELDER ISAAC MORRISON and wife, formerly of the North Pacific Conference, have been selected by the Foreign Mission Board to go as missionaries to the Windward and Leeward Islands. This group is comprised in a British colonial government, of which the principal islands are Barbadoes, St. Vincent, Grenada, Tobago, and St. Lucia. They are also known as part of the Lesser Antilles, in the West Indies.
ELDER J. M. COLE writes encouragingly of the work on Norfolk Island. Some have commenced to keep the Sabbath of the Lord, although at the time of writing he had not preached a sermon on the subject. Of the population, he gives the number at 575; married couples, 91; widowers, 10; widows, 13; number above 21 years of age unmarried, 96; above 14 years, 77; under 14 years, 197. The island is about twenty miles in circumference.
PITCAIRN MISSIONARY HYMN.
[The following hymn, written by Brother Charles M. Snow, for the occasion, was sung at the memorial service of the ship Pitcairn, held in Oakland S. D. A. Church, Sunday evening, June 10, a few days before the sailing of the ship on her third cruise. The tune is "Let Me Go," No. 504 of our regular hymn book.]
FROM the isles a plaintive pleading
Echoes o'er the sounding sea,
And the Heart of Heaven answers
In the Name of Calvary;
And that Heart that once was broken
With its load of sin and woe,
Still is yearning, still is pleading,
"I have saved you, will you go?"
CHORUS.
Oh, we know 'tis Jesus calls you
To his vineyard in the sea,
To the isles that waited for him,
To the lost ones calling thee!
What though loving ties may bind you,
Kindred dust, or weeping eyes,
Richer far will be the meeting
In the land beyond the skies.
Go then forth in heaven's keeping,
Sowing precious seeds in love;
Soon will come the glorious reaping,
Soon the rich reward above.
There'll be vacant places waiting
At the old familiar home,
There'll be eyes and hearts that follow
To whatever isle you roam.
Yet we grieve not at the parting,
Though for long and weary years;
God's reward will heal the heartache,
And his smile will dry the tears.
Speed them on, ye wings of heaven,
O'er the pathless, rolling sea.
"I'll be with thee," says the Master,
"I, thy Pilot, pilot thee.
I, who stilled the raging tempest,
I, who calmed the angry sea,
I, who tasted death to save you,
I, thy Pilot, pilot thee."
PERSONALITIES.
By John Hall, D.D.
KEEP clear of personalities in general conversation. Talk of things, objects, thoughts. The smallest minds occupy themselves with personalities. Personalities must sometimes be talked, because we have to learn and find out men's characteristics for legitimate objects; but it is to be with confidential persons. Do not needlessly report ill of others. There are times when we are compelled to say, "I do not think Bouncer is a true and honest man." But when there is no need to express an opinion, let poor Bouncer swagger away. Others will take his measure, no doubt, and save you the trouble of analyzing him and instructing them. And as far as possible dwell on the good side of human beings. There are family boards where a constant process of depreciating, assigning motives, and cutting up character goes forward. They are not pleasant places. One who is healthy does not wish to dine at a dissecting table. There is evil enough in man, God knows. But it is not the mission of every young man and woman to detail and report it all. Keep the atmosphere as pure as possible, and fragrant with gentleness and charity.—John Hall, D.D.