Earlier text: His Loving-KindnessSuggestion and Hypnotism
By GEO. D. BALLOU
Any statement, expression, or assurance designed to restore favorable mental conditions is properly classed as suggestion. Recently suggestion has been put forth as a distinctly modern discovery. It is coupled with occultism and hypnotism, and the effort constantly seems to be to clothe the subject with mystery. The truth is that suggestion is as old as the world. Satan used it when he told the woman she would be like God if only she would take the forbidden fruit. This was an entirely illegitimate use of suggestion, for it was based on two falsehoods: “Ye shall not surely die” and “Ye shall be as God.” When man lost his confidence, and doubt and fear prevailed, the Creator spoke words of hope and cheer to lighten the gloom that settled over his soul. God has ever since been using suggestion in the gospel as a cure for man’s mental ills. Every promise of good things to come is suggestion pure and simple. The Bible, in short, is the encyclopedia of suggestion. Every human effort at suggestive therapeutics is an imitation, a modification, or a perversion of the Creator’s suggestions. Any legitimate assurance will help permanently to restore confidence, hope, courage, and joyful expectation. Other assurance based on false promises may temporarily restore the normal mental conditions, but nothing lasting will result unless the foundations are sound and permanent. Adverse suggestions are those statements which put evil notions into human minds. Object lessons in crime, such as the modern fiction, the modern theater, and the motion pictures present, are full of adverse suggestion to the mind that has strong evil tendencies. There is more evil suggestion than good today in the sayings and doings of men. This makes it all the more important that we emphasize the gospel of Jesus Christ in life as well as in word. Perhaps one of the greatest of all frauds worked on mankind is hypnotism in its various phases. This is a procedure in which by far the principal part of the transaction is the yielding of one mind to the suggestions of another. It is by no means at first a forceful conquest of one mind over another. The mind of the subject must be willing. The thing accomplished is through the yielding of one will to another. It may be carried to that degree that the bodily functions may be nearly suspended and the subject7 lie in a state of comatose rigidity for many hours. Many of the advocates of and apologists for hypnotism claim that it is all purely the application of natural law. There are phenomena outside the scope of natural law in connection with this phase of hypnotism. When a human body suspended only at the neck and feet is made to sustain a thousand-pound weight on the abdomen, there is a manifestation of phenomena that cannot be accounted for on any known natural principles. When God the Creator asks man to give his heart and will to him, and the man submits and gives up his will to God, that man’s self-control is greatly multiplied, and his responsibility immeasurably increased. If he continues in this state of yielding, he is able eventually to bring “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Cor. 10: 5. Thus yielding to the divine strengthens self-control and increases responsibility. When a man yields to the hypnotic suggestion, instantly his self-control and responsibility are gone, and his mind and body become the sport of another will. This form of control surely does not belong to the same class as the other. Those who desire to be self-controlled with the aid of the divine mind, will not tamper with this hypnotic procedure, even though they do sometimes after a long process see some men cured of their old habits of thought and action by hypnotic treatment. In our times the enemy of God and men is working to make men fail to see and appreciate the Creator, and the relationship he is trying to reestablish with them. Out of Sorcery Into Light
By W. A. S.
THE new Zulu Mission station at Spion Kop is only in process of construction. Elder and Sister F. B. Armitage are still living in their mud-walled house. But a proper dwelling is now going up, and soon buildings for boarding school work will be under way, it is hoped. Meanwhile several Zulu evangelists have been developed, and by the combined labors of all, about thirty persons have been baptized among the Zulus. On the Sabbath that I spent at Spion Kop, one Zulu woman bore a joyful testimony. “I am free to follow the Lord!” she said, her heart full of thanks to God for her deliverance. “Who is she?” I asked Elder Armitage. “She has been a sungo-mi, or sorceress,” he said. “Her husband used her gift for financial gain. If people lost anything, they would come to this woman and give her money to go through some sort of incantations, and tell them where the lost articles might be found.” She came to the Sabbath meetings, and the truth caught her heart. Though her husband objected, she continued to attend. “Recently,” said Brother Armitage, “she came to the decision that she would no longer practice her art. This angered the husband, who saw the source of his gain going. “If you do not do as I tell you,” he said to her, “I will get another wife who will do it.” “Very well,” she replied; “I can no longer follow this way. I must follow the true God.” And this Sabbath day of our general meeting the woman was present, rejoicing in a great deliverance. “My husband has taken another wife,” she said, “and has turned me free. So I am coming to meetings every Sabbath.” “What about support for her and her child?” I asked. “O, there will be no trouble about that,” I was told; “it is rather the woman who supports her husband. She will cultivate a plot of ground, and easily make a living for herself and child.” So among these poor natives of the Zulu kraals, victories are being won, and the gospel of Christ is translating souls from Satan’s kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of Christ. An Assured Success
By C. M. S.
THIS work of God, committed to a weak people, is certain of success. In spite of the inefficiency of the agents and the opposition of enemies, God is demonstrating his ability to push the proclamation of his truth into every corner of this world. Among this people as a people and among individuals we see the constant fulfillment of this scripture: “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil. 1:6. Nations have stood in the way of this message to hinder its progress among the people; but in some way God has worked upon the hearts of men and opened ways that seemed effectually closed, so that his truth has gone forward more freely than before. He has used the very oppressions of the nations to his own praise and the spread of his own message of mercy, when exiles have raised up churches in the place of their exile, and when jailers have been compelled to acknowledge that God was working in behalf of those whom they had imprisoned. The place of exile thus becomes, not a place of inactivity, but a new nucleus of operation, a new center of light. “We can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.” God is abundantly able to make even the wrath of man to praise him, and such as would not be to his praise he can restrain. That weapon is not considered a prosperous weapon which operates in favor of the cause against which it is formed.8 And such are all the weapons devised and formed against the progress of the third angel's message. Says the Word: ‘No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper.’ It cannot carry out the intent of its deviser. God will turn its edge against its own cause. He who brought a world out of nothing, light out of darkness, hope out of despair, and life out of death, knows how to bring out of the mine of this dark world most precious jewels for the crown of his glory in the kingdom of light. Such is the God whom we serve; and his message is a manifesto of victory as well as a command to action. The people already gathered out of the various nations of earth to rejoice now in the light of this gospel of the kingdom, is an earnest of the completed work when we shall see the representatives of every nation under heaven in the kingdom of God as a result of the proclamation of this message to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. PICK out the folks you like the least, and
watch them for a while:
They never waste a kindly word, they
never waste a smile,
They criticize their fellow man at every
chance they get,
They never found a human just to suit
their fancy yet. From them I guess you'd learn some
things, if they were pointed out,—
Some things that every one of us should
know a lot about.
When some one “knocks” a brother,
pass around the loving cup—
Say something good about him, and talk
his virtues up. It’s safe to say that every man God made
holds trace of good
That he would fain exhibit to his fellows if he could;
The kindly deeds in many a soul are
hibernating there,
Awaiting the encouragement of other
souls that dare To show the best that’s in them; and a
universal move
Would start the whole world running in
a hopeful, helpful groove.
Say something sweet to paralyze the
“knocker” on the spot—
Speak kindly of his victim if you know
the man or not. The Old and the New Covenant of Relationship
By F. M. W.
We think of the old covenant relationship as pertaining to the agreement made at Sinai between God and Israel. In a historical sense this is true, but in its broader scope and application the old covenant has existed in some degree in the experience of every child of God from the days of Adam down to the present time. It represents the strivings of the members of the human family to make themselves better; to work out by human effort and ingenuity the plans and purposes of God. Abraham and Sarah passed through this experience in seeking to make Ishmael the son of promise. To Isaac and Rebekah the word was given that the elder of their two sons should serve the younger. Rebekah sought to fulfill this word of the Lord by inducing Jacob to practice deception upon his father in order to secure the birthright blessing. Moses was governed by this principle, as he sought in the killing of the Egyptian to effect the deliverance of his brethren from Egypt. The disciples in their experience were not strangers to the working of this power. They sought by human plans and methods to bring about the fulfillment of their understanding of the prophetic word with respect to the Messiah. But these men of God came to recognize the weakness and futility of human effort. They saw that there was no salvation in the arm of flesh; that man could never become his own savior, but that he must take hold of some power outside of himself, even the power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Gaining this experience, Abraham became the “friend of God,” the “father of the faithful;” Jacob earned the title of “Israel,” showing that he had learned to prevail with God and with his fellows; Moses, though “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and . . . mighty in words and in deeds,” came to realize that he himself was without power or wisdom in God’s sight, and that deliverance to Israel must come from on high rather than through his wisdom or strength or skill. He became the meekest of men, and the only man of whom it is recorded that he talked with God “face to face.” And the disciples of the Lord, including the confident, boastful, and impetuous Peter, became so emptied of self that they could experience the infilling of the Holy Spirit poured upon them on the day of Pentecost. Many professed Christians today are still in the bonds of the old covenant relationship. They have not yet come to realize fully that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;” that “there is none righteous, no, not one.” They feel that in some way salvation is a reward of merit, and not the free gift of God through Christ Jesus. Like Israel of old, they depend upon their own promises and resolutions to enable them to do right; and because failures come in their experience, as they inevitably will so long as they seek in their own strength to do the will of God, many are thrown into utter despair. Such need to realize that it is their blessed privilege to take hold of the “better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” That better covenant is the new covenant in Christ Jesus, and the better promises are the promises of Christ to take the believer and work in him his own divine will and purpose. The Lord promises his children that he will put his laws into their minds and write them in their hearts. He will not only forgive their iniquity, but he will take away the love of sin. He will not only forgive the sins that are past, but he will impart power to keep them from sinning in the future. The fruit of this blessed union will manifest itself in good works in the lives of the believers. But these good works will be performed not as a means of securing this new covenant relationship, but as its fruit. Dear reader, under which covenant are you endeavoring to secure salvation today? Are you hoping to earn a home in the kingdom of God by the keeping of God’s commands, by the observance of the Sabbath, by the payment of tithe, or by the performance of any other good work? Salvation will never come to you as a result of Christian service. Your only hope for salvation is through faith in the sacrifice and merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are justified by Christ’s shed blood, and we are saved by his life. Realizing that you are lost and undone, that in you there exists no good thing, that by no effort on your part can you make yourself righteous or acceptable in the sight of God, you must cast yourself at the foot of the cross and cry: “Unclean, unclean.” “God be merciful to me a sinner.” And then as you look up into the face of Jesus Christ and accept his sacrifice in your behalf, opening your heart to the infilling of his Spirit, he will work in and through you that which is well pleasing in his sight. By beholding, you will be changed from glory to glory, becoming “his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Then love will prompt service, and service will be rendered, not as a means in securing righteousness, but as the fruits of the indwelling Spirit. The Way and the Requirement
By C. M. S.
The continued existence of any intelligent being has been made dependent upon the choice of righteousness. That choice makes possible the bestowal of the gift of everlasting life. Freedom from sin is God’s greatest blessing. The opposite must bring the fruitage of sin—everlasting death. If there is guile in the spirit, the tongue will make it known, and help to root it deeper and stimulate its growth. Therefore we have this divine admonition: “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Prov. 4:23. In harmony with this is the following: “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. . . . The face of Jehovah is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.” Ps. 34:13-16. Similarly does Inspiration exhort us through Peter: “Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation.” 1 Peter 2:1. And, further, we have the example of our Saviour, whose steps we are commanded to follow: “Hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.” 1 Peter 2:21, 22. Thus by both precept and example we are shown the way and the requirement. Every human heart is a battle field whereon truth and error, loyalty and disloyalty, sincerity and guile, righteousness and iniquity, life and death, meet in mortal struggle. In every such struggle Heaven is intensely interested. The eyes of the Lord “run to and fro in the earth.” For what purpose if not to observe the progress of that contest in individual hearts?9 Let us not forget the prerequisites of being numbered among God’s jewels. They are the guileless mouth, the guileless heart, the choice of righteousness, the appropriation of Christ’s sacrifice and work in our behalf. The fountain must be pure if the stream is to be pure. The choice of righteousness must spring from a heart that loves righteousness. The guileless mouth can be possessed only by him who has a guileless heart. The life of the accepted child of God will be a continued testimony to the goodness and the righteousness of God, a wellspring of hope, and a savor of life unto life. Signs of the Approaching End
By W. A. S.
Part 4. “The Dark Day” of 1780
We recall that in the vision of latter-day signs given to the prophet John, he saw the “great earthquake” followed by a sign in the heavens:— “And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood.” Rev. 6: 12.
Of this event our Saviour spoke, in giving the signs of his second coming which were to begin to appear following the cutting short of the days of persecution. We repeat his words:— “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.” Matt. 24: 29.
True to the order of the prophecy, following the great earthquake of 1755, in Europe, there came, in America, the second sign of the approaching end, the wonderful darkening of the sun, known in history as “The Dark Day,” of May 19, 1780. This sign appeared at the time indicated in the prophecy, “immediately after the tribulation of those days.” The sun was darkened, and the moon did not give her light. Whatever explanation men may have to offer as to the cause of the phenomenon, the fact remains that when the time of the prophecy came, the sign appeared. The story of that remarkable day has been often told in poetry and prose, few, perhaps, seeing in it the sign that it was, though many at the time felt that it was a token of the approach of the last days. The poet Whittier commemorated it in the poem of “Abraham Davenport:”— “‘Twas on a May day of the far old year
Seventeen hundred eighty, that there fell
Over the bloom and sweet life of the spring,
Over the fresh earth and the heaven of noon,
A horror of great darkness.”
“Birds ceased to sing, and all the barn-yard fowls
Roosted; the cattle at the pasture bars Lowed, and looked homeward; bats on leathern wings
Flitted abroad; the sounds of labor died;
Men prayed, and women wept; all ears grew sharp
To hear the doom blast of the trumpet shatter
The black sky.”
The words of the poet are substantiated by the plain prose of the dictionary maker. In the department explanatory of “Noted Names,” Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (edition 1883) says:— The dark day, May 19, 1780 — so called on account of a remarkable darkness on that day extending over all New England. . . . The obscuration began about ten o’clock in the morning, and continued till the middle of the next night, but with difference of degree and duration in different places. . . . The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known.
Further than this last statement no one has been able to go in assigning a cause. At the time, some explained it as due to smoke from forest fires, others to the exceptional rise of vapors and atmospheric dust in the warm spring following the melting of unusually heavy winter snows. But no forest fires before or since ever produced such a phenomenon, and no melting snows or vapors before or since ever had such an effect over a vast area, a region, too, which has never known obscuration of the sun by such fogs as sometimes darken the sky over the limited area of London’s smoking chimneys. The facts are fully covered by the dictionary’s statement: “The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known.” What we do know is that the Saviour’s prophecy declared, “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.” And when the time for it came, the sign appeared. Though the comparatively small-sized newspapers of the day were crowded with news of the progress of the Revolutionary War, then raging, no little space was given to reports and discussions of the remarkable darkening of the sun. A correspondent of the Boston Gazette and Country Journal (of May 29, 1780) reported observations made at Ipswich Hamlet (Mass.), “by several gentlemen of liberal education:” — About eleven o’clock the darkness was such as to demand our attention, and put us upon making observations. At half past eleven, in a room with three windows, twenty-four panes each, all open toward the southeast and south, large print could not be read by persons with good eyes. About twelve o’clock the windows being still open, a candle cast a shade so well defined on the wall as that profiles were taken with as much ease as they could have been at night.
About one o’clock a glint of light which had continued to this time in the east, shut in, and the darkness was greater than had been for any time before. . . . We dined about two, the windows all open, and two candles burning on the table.
In the time of greatest darkness some of the fowls went to their roost. Cocks crowed in answer to one another as they commonly do in the night. Woodcocks, which are night birds, whistled as they do only in the dark. Frogs peeped. In short, there was the appearance of midnight at noonday. About three o’clock the light in the west increased, the motion of the clouds became more quick, their color higher and more brassy than at any time before. There appeared to be quick flashes or coruscations, not unlike the aurora borealis. . . . About half past four, our company, which had passed an unexpected night very cheerfully together, broke up. Of the evening following, this writer (then at Salem) wrote:— Perhaps it never was darker since the children of Israel left the house of bondage. This gross darkness held till about one o’clock, although the moon had filled but the day before.
The Boston Independent Chronicle (of June 8) quoted from Thomas’s Massachusetts Spy:— During the whole time a sickly, melancholy gloom overcast the face of nature. Nor was the darkness of the night less uncommon and terrifying than that of the day; notwithstanding there was almost a full moon, no object was discernible, but by the help of some artificial light, which when seen from the neighboring houses and other places at a distance, appeared through a kind of Egyptian darkness, which seemed almost impervious to the rays. This unusual phenomenon excited the fears and apprehensions of many people. Some considered it as a portentous omen of the wrath of Heaven in vengeance denounced against the land, others as the immediate harbinger of the last day, when “the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light.”
Manchuria—Our Newest Mission Field in the Far East
By A. G. Daniells
The readers of the REVIEW have been glad, I am sure, to learn of our advance into the Manchurian Mission field. Brother Bernhard Petersen and wife and Brother O. J. Grundset and wife reached Mukden, the capital of Manchuria, in October, 1914. They are the only American missionaries who have settled in Manchuria. The first missionaries to this country were the Roman Catholics, who began work here in 1838. The Presbyterians came in 1869, the Scotch Presbyterians in 1872, and the Danish Mission in 1895. The three Protestant societies have united their interests and endeavors, so they are practically one, and are known as the Presbyterian Society. The Seventh-day Adventist Missionary10 Society is the first North American society to enter the field. Brother and Sister Petersen and Brother and Sister Grundset are young people. After spending a year in Shanghai in language study, they came to Mukden to enter upon their first real work in a foreign mission field. We found them in good health and of the best of courage. They had secured a good compound for temporary occupation, but they should not be left in this place long. It is not at all suitable for their work. On account of the water holes and deep mud in the streets around their compound the vehicle that took us from the station to their place had to stop three or four blocks from the house, leaving us to pick our way the best we could through the mud. We saw delivery carts sunk up to the axles in the mud holes in different streets around the compound. This makes it difficult for people to attend their meetings even in the daylight, and almost impossible to do so at night. But this is the best, if not about the only, habitable compound they could secure in the city. From the top of the city wall may be seen, six miles away, the great tomb of the first Manchu emperor, who conquered China, transferred his seat of government to Peking, and was brought back to Mukden for burial. Our experience in attempting to visit this tomb gives one a fair idea of the character of the Manchu government. Hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, were spent on the tomb of this poor mortal, but nothing was spent on the road from the city to the tomb. In making the journey, each carriage got bogged, three or four traces and one shaft were broken, and finally we had to be extricated on the back of a horse. This is the state of many of the streets three hundred years old in the city, and of all the roads in the country. Poor China has been cursed by rulers who have exacted heavy tribute and spent it on gaudy palaces, luxurious living, and tremendously expensive tombs, instead of improving the country and thereby giving the people employment and other valuable advantages. These poor, oppressed people need the blessings of the gospel, and many appreciate them when they find them. An interest has already been awakened in our message in this new field. Between twenty and thirty men and women are attending the meetings regularly. Some of these have asked for baptism. We had the privilege of meeting these people, and felt greatly encouraged by the deep interest they manifested in our message and by the warm welcome they gave us. Among those who have begun to keep the Sabbath is a very nice family of good education and standing among these people. We believe this family will be a great help to our workers. Somehow reports of the arrival of our missionaries in Mukden, and of the message we preach, have gone to distant parts of Manchuria, and the way is opening to give the message in different places. From near Harbin word has come to the brethren, expressing a desire to hear the message, and telling them that a place stands ready in which to conduct public meetings whenever they can go there. They are meeting with encouragement in the circulation of our literature. The new believers have begun to sell our Chinese magazine and other literature. When we were there, they had sold 11,000 copies of the magazine, 1,000 calendars, 3,000 tracts, and a number of books. It is remarkable how fast our work moves in these days in this part of the world. Everything bears evidence that the Spirit of God is doing a marvelous work in the hearts of the people, preparing them to receive the last message of warning and invitation to a perishing world. No doubt this work will move faster and faster, until people will be moved to take their stand as they did on the day of Pentecost. How important it is that the people of God who know the truth should move with the work as its speed increases. Changes are taking place in Manchuria which cause us to believe that now is the time for us to work in that field. For centuries it has been a dependency of China. It was in Manchuria that the Manchu dynasty arose which ruled China from 1644 to the revolution of 1912, when it was overthrown. Since the Russo-Japanese War, Japan has been extending her control over Manchuria, until now it is a foregone conclusion that she is there to stay, and that Korea's recent history will be Manchuria's history also. When this takes place, Protestant missionaries may expect to meet the same influences and government regulations they are facing in Japan and Korea. If we had pushed on into Manchuria at the same time we entered Korea, we should no doubt have made good progress, and might now have had in Manchuria a work similar to that in Korea. Now that we are starting late, we should hasten our work as fast as possible. Manchuria is a great agricultural country. The soil is very fertile. Farmers plan to gather two and three crops a year from the same ground. The population is said to be between sixteen and twenty millions. Mukden, the largest city in the dependency, has a population of three hundred thousand. The people live in villages and cultivate the soil. If we can establish good churches among these farmers, they will be able to give financial help to the work of the message. As we have entered Manchuria to stay and grow, we should lose no time in providing homes for our missionaries, and a place for carrying on evangelistic meetings to advantage. While in Mukden, we examined various locations the brethren had looked up to show us. We found a block of ground for the homes that pleased us very much. It is on one of the main roads running from the heart of the city out to the large new railway station. The road is macadamized, and if present plans carry, it will have a good street car line. This seemed to us an ideal location for a compound. Then in the heart of the city within the inner wall we found an excellent place for a chapel and dispensary. Thousands of people pass the door every day in the year. Owing to uncertainty caused by signs of war, both these places were offered to us at very low prices. Brethren Porter and Fulton and I were agreed that they should be purchased at once. The bargains are made, and money to bind them will be paid in a few days. Thus we are forced along. We all felt that we must enter Manchuria. That was self-evident. The first step was to select Brethren Petersen and Grundset for the field. These young people, just in the prime of life, accepted the call. They came to China, and got command of the language in a short time. Then they pushed on to this remote spot. They are working earnestly and intelligently. Already they have some good fruit. A large work is to be done. They are here for life if necessary. But they must have suitable homes in which to live, and a place to carry on public meetings to advantage. These last items were involved in the first step taken to enter that field. Surely our people will provide the funds. A. G. DANIELLS. Near Treason and Sunday Laws
DR. WILBUR F. CRAFTS, in an article in the Religious Telescope of June 16, declares that it is a case of “near treason” when a public official who has taken the oath of office fails to enforce the law. Dr. Crafts has in mind particularly those who fail to enforce such religious regulations as the Sunday laws. It is pertinent in this connection to ask if it may not also be “near treason” to take oath to support the Constitution of the United States, which guarantees the separation of church and state and then deliberately seek the enactment of laws which would nullify that Constitutional guaranty? If the former is “near treason” through neglect, may not the latter be “near treason” and by direct intent? An Itinerating Trip Through Basutoland
By E. C. Silsbee
A SHORT time ago Brother J. R. Campbell and I made a very interesting trip on horseback through the interior of Basutoland. Much might be written descriptive of the country through which we passed, and of our experiences. Perhaps the readers of the REVIEW will be interested in some of these. Along the western border of Basutoland there are a few passable wagon roads, but farther on there are only bridle paths or footpaths, so we make the entire trip in the saddle and on foot. The first two days we follow the wagon road down to Mohale’s Hoek, and from there we strike across the mountains to Chief Kori’s villages. Our object is the location of new mission sites, and to see what can be done toward filling the great need of the hundreds of thousands in Basutoland who have never heard the third angel’s message. From Mohale’s Hoek our course lies eastward, over the mountains. Starting early in the morning, we follow the trail right up over the steep, rugged pass of Rulileathunya, or “shooting wind.” When the wind blows here, the dust particles and sand feel very much as if they had a small charge of gunpowder behind them; hence the name. As we climb up and up, near the summit we are treated to a grand panoramic view of the country behind us, lying thousands of feet below, literally strewn with villages, the people of which are in total ignorance of the gospel as it is in Christ Jesus. Such scenes as this make a man cry out under the burden as he sees a whole valley thickly populated with people who are dying for the very life-giving gospel he has, and he unable to do anything for them, his hands being bound as with iron bands because of the lack of men and means. Uttering the yearning prayer to God to “send forth laborers,” we pass on. It has been an exceptionally wet season, and the mountains and valleys everywhere are in their best summer attire, a beautiful garb of green. Mountain streams are numerous all along the way, and we are crossing them every few yards. Farther over among the high mountains the villages are fewer and smaller, occasionally there being only one hut to a “village.” Sometimes we stop to inquire the way, and at once we are asked, “Who are you?” “Where are you from?” and, “Where are you going?” etc., according to the Basuto custom with all strangers. As we mention the fact that we are, baruti (missionaries) and from the Sabbath church, the people look at us in amazement, and we hear many expressions of surprise. They begin asking us questions, which we are more than glad to answer; but we can tell them only a few words and hasten on, hoping for a future opportunity to bring to them the fullness of the gospel truth. Our path is very rugged and steep; sometimes we climb nearly straight up, sometimes we slide and scramble nearly straight down, and sometimes we creep in and out, around the nearly perpendicular sides of a mountain; but even so we make fairly good time, for we each have a good Basuto pony which is well accustomed to this very sort of work, and these ponies climb with comparative ease up or down or around places which are difficult for us afoot. As we ascend to an altitude of nearly two miles, we find ourselves above many of the smaller mountains. Finally we cross the last of the three ranges which intercept our path, and almost literally drop down into the beautiful Qoaseng Valley, with its many villages and gardens, where Chief Kori is ruler. On descending the mountain, we find ourselves in a steep and narrow cañon, which soon widens into a beautiful, well-populated, and fertile valley,—a splendid place for a mission, but accessible only by a steep path at each end of the valley. Lower down, the valley opens into the Ketane River Valley, and still farther down, the Ketane River flows into the Orange River. The Qoaseng is a delightful little valley, with the greater part of the tillable land well covered with native gardens, and while the villages are strewn along the rougher parts at the base of the mountains. The outlet of this valley is well cut up with the deep, precipitous gorges of the Ketane River, which sweeps in grand curves from side to side of the valley, occasionally coming right up to the base of the mountains, thus excluding any thought of entrance or exit except by a very steep and tortuous footpath, reminding us not a little of the descriptions of the natural fortresses of the Piedmont valleys. As usual, the same old question arises, Can we have a mission in this well-favored place? and if so, where are the men and means? Sometimes we wonder if our good brethren and sisters get so accustomed to hearing these pleas for help that they give them only a passing thought. God forbid that it shall ever be so. We should rather by far keep back our requests, doing the best we can until the Lord moves upon the hearts of some to “come over and help us,” than that the pleas should fall upon dull ears and unresponsive hearts. Coming around down to the southward, where we catch occasional glimpses of the Orange River, we cross a few foothill ridges and come to the edge of another little valley. This valley is formed by the sudden widening out of the Orange River cañon to about five miles; this continues for about ten miles farther down, where the valley closes in again to a cañon wide enough only for the river to pass through, thus forming a basin-like valley, with the Orange River (one of the largest in South Africa) flowing through it. This valley is also well populated, and from here there is a road out to civilization. Three denominations have missions in this basin, from which they project outschools farther up into the more inaccessible parts of the mountains. And there are also four traders’ stores here, all of which seem to be doing a thriving business. We cross the river in a trader’s boat, swimming our horses ahead of us, and then stop at the trader’s store over the Sabbath. We come then to the southernmost district of Basutoland, and Sunday morning we proceed to the chief police camp, where we are suspected as rebel spies and ordered before the magistrate. Boer rebels have been active in the adjoining province (Orange Free State) during the past few months; and the government, having arrested the leaders, is constantly on the alert for spies and more trouble makers. We succeed however, in convincing the magistrate that we are on a mission of peace, and he releases us with a caution.