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Signs of the Times, Vol. 22, No. 41.

Assurance in Trial
Earlier text: A LESSON FROM GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE

THE PROGRESS OF THE SUNDAY CAUSE.

By Editor

Most readers of this journal know that those who conduct it understood more than forty years ago from the "more sure word of prophecy" that there would be a world-wide agitation over the Sabbath question; that the truth concerning the Sabbath of the Lord would be proclaimed by voice and pen and type throughout the world; that not only would efforts be put forth to obtain world-wide Sunday laws, but that world-wide Sunday laws would be obtained. These views were received in silence, incredulity and derision at first, but now their truth is patent to thousands. In almost every state of the American Union exist Sunday laws, and in consequence of this in some states have been notable persecution. Even in heathen Japan Sunday is in the ascendancy, and China is tending that way.
It will be of interest to our readers to know the progress the Sunday cause is making in Europe. We gather the following from an article by W. W. Atterbury, D.D., in the Independent of September 24. The leading items we number:—
1. In all Europe, Dr. A. tells us, the Sunday-rest movement "is making quiet and rapid progress."
2. At Geneva, Switzerland, is the headquarters of the International Federation of all organizations of this kind. It has already received four national medals by way of recognition.
3. "In France the movement is meeting with surprising success." At the head of the Sunday league is M. Cochin, a Roman Catholic, and member of the Chamber of Deputies. "The league embraces men of all religious beliefs, Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Reformed, Wesleyans, and even Israelites." "The whole movement has the warm support of the leading Catholic bishops." "More and more it engages attention in public journals, and some even of the more radical organs do not hesitate to advocate it." In some cases where proprietors of stores would not close, "lists have been distributed and posted of the stores that are willing to grant the Sunday rest, and appeal has been made to the citizens to aid the movement by discriminating in favor of such." It might naturally be expected that that country which showed despite to the week and Sabbath of the Lord by a rest day every ten days would accept the false Sabbath, and indulge the boycott. "Jewish storekeepers have been among the foremost in granting the Sunday rest." Why not? They have rejected the Lord, why not the sign of his power?
4. At the head of the "active Sunday-Rest League" of Belgium is Baron Priss. This league "though composed chiefly of Catholics, embraces men of all faiths, including the Liberals. The state, in the railways it controls, and the post-office department, coöperates in the work. A commission has been appointed by the government to make thorough inquiry into the Sunday-labor question.
5. "In Germany, since 1891, numerous enactments restrict Sunday labor both in trade and manufactures." "Within the past year the Prussian Government has taken steps to relieve from all Sunday work 50,000 railway employees engaged in freight transportation. The Emperor William a few months since issued an order to the Prussian Minister of War for the purpose, as he says, of making known anew to his army his desire for the maintenance and progress of religion, in which it is directed that the soldiers shall have every possible facility and liberty for attending the services of religion." The army, he adds, "I know to be one with me in a living and joyous faith." The Bavarian Minister of War has issued similar orders.
6. In Baden, Sunday perishable freight trains have been suppressed, as also in Bavaria.
7. The Austrian Government proposes to adopt similar measures to those adopted in Bavaria on all railways under state control.
8. In Switzerland there is but one delivery of letters on Sunday in all cantons except Zurich, while freight trains were prohibited five years ago. Many stores are closed in Geneva, and many still remain open.
9. In Italy at Milan and Rome, Sunday-rest leagues exist, and the movement finds favor and coöperation on the part of many, among whom is the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs.
10. "In Norway the Secretary of State, M. Lehman, is president of a Sunday society, and advocates the cause in the public journal. Railway employees, bakers, confectioners, and other classes are making progress in their agitation for Sunday rest. The idea is that in order for one to have rest all must rest.
America is rapidly drifting toward the Dark Ages, and her influence is being greatly felt in the Old World. These Sunday-rest laws and leagues seem now to be harmless or positively good; they will ere long be made engines of tyranny and persecution. And yet so deceived will those be who advocate and support them, that the Sunday will be considered the sign and mark of Christianity, and the governments which adopt the laws advocated will be said to be governments of Christ; while on the other hand, those who will not bow to the deified pagan holiday will be considered enemies of the church, and traitors and conspirators against government, and worthy of death. This is the power of deception in this Sunday movement. May God by the truth of his word keep our readers from its baleful influence.

A TEMPERANCE STORY.

By E. D. S.

[Founded on fact.]
THE scene of my story is a familiar one to any person who has taken a stroll down any of the usually little-frequented streets of a large city. "Shantytown," for such was the name of a particular portion of the city to which our attention is called, was rightly named.
The home, if such it might be called, of Jim Black and his family might have been taken by a stranger to be the stable of a dumb brute, rather than the dwelling-place of a human being. The memory of the oldest inhabitant could not go back to the time when the tumble-down house had known a decent roof, and the windows had made the acquaintance of but few panes of glass. To be sure Jim worked a little, and now and then his wife took in washing; but their united earnings went mostly to Jake, the saloon-keeper, for beer.
Jenny Daily was a bowery girl when James married her a few years before, and he earned most of his money as bartender and general manager of Jake Culver's saloon and billiard hall. Night after night in the saloon, beer-gardens, and cheap theaters brought them to the condition they are in when our story begins.
Some five years before our story begins, a bright baby boy made his appearance in the home, but the little stranger was not welcome, and many a time would he have gone hungry but for the kindness of Widow Jenks, who kept a notion store around the corner. He was of a tender heart, and loved companionship; and, as is usually the case when deprived of loving companionship at home, sought it among the city "arabs" that frequented the streets around his home. Of late his father had been more abusive than usual, and Charley found it better to remain away from home than to suffer the cruel treatment that he was sure to receive from his tyrannical father.
His mother was rarely ever at home long enough for him to be acquainted with her, and she cared very little where he went, only so that he did not bother her. It was to her credit, however, that when she did chance to be at home and in her right mind, she never beat him as his father did, consequently, with all her faults and neglect of him, he loved her more than he did his father.
One afternoon in December, as Charley was sauntering along the street, he chanced to meet a little playmate who was going to a mission school not far away, and having nothing else to amuse him, went along with her. There was a room full of children, for it was the regular day for sewing school. The children under the leadership of Miss Saird, the missionary, were singing when our little friends entered. Charley became interested at once, and when the leader, after the singing was over, began talking about the use of intoxicating liquors and what they would lead to if indulged in, the tender heart of the little boy was touched, and in spite of him tears rolled down his cheeks. So earnest was the leader in her talk that she took little notice of the fact that a man came in and whispered something in Charley's ear, and then walked out and disappeared down the street.
As soon as she had finished talking, each class began working on the garments which were to be the property of each individual member when finished. This being Charley's first day there, he was given a piece of cloth on which to practice, and he busied himself trying to sew a button on it, while in his mind he was revolving the words of the missionary.
As the children filed out of the room at the close of school that night, Charley remained behind, and with tears in his eyes poured his story into Miss Saird's ears. "My pa do all those things that you say is wrong," he said. "That man who came and spoke to me told me that I must not go home now, because my pa has come home drunk, and if I go home now he will whip me."
"Where do you live?" said Miss Saird, becoming interested in his story.
"I live at 110 A Street," he answered. "Will you come and see me?"
"Yes," answered his new-found friend, "I will walk around that way and see your father and mother."
Mr. Black was in a beastly state of intoxication, and his wife was little better, when our friends entered, and she could do little that day except to promise Charley that she would be sure to call again. She resolved to do her best for the boy.
Early the next morning she again sought an interview with Charley's parents. She was intending in a short time to go for a vacation to her home in a distant state, and after a great deal of talking succeeded in getting permission of his parents to take him with her. "Be sure to bring him back with you, for I have a standing contract with Jim Daily, the gambler, to give him a position in his gambling hall to learn him how to make money by his wits," said the besotted father.
She saw that to remove him from his surroundings permanently would be impossible at that time, but to save him from such a life must be her mission.
Bright and early one morning Charley found himself on the train with his friend, the missionary, bound for her home in Indiana. A ride of one night and a day brought them to the home of the missionary, whose father, Mr. Saird, the farmer, took them in his comfortable carriage to her home, where a hearty welcome and a bountiful repast prepared for them by her mother, awaited them.
Charley was given the freedom of the farm, and right heartily did he accept of the invitation to help Farmer Saird milk his cows and tend the sheep. Milk never tasted so good as it did at milking time, when some of it found its way to Charley's mouth. Indeed every day had its pleasures. There were rides in the old farm wagon to the woods after wood to burn, and evenings spent in cracking nuts that Robert had gathered in the early fall. The battles fought in the snow with the farmer's son would have made the heart of the oldest veteran tingle with joy at the remembrance of similar battles fought in his youth. Every day Charley learned new things about life and for the first time in his existence spent a few weeks in a true home.
The time came altogether too soon for him to go back to the city, and he cried bitterly. His home seemed more miserable than ever to him. His friend, however, had her plans for him, and after repeated calls and much urging succeeded in obtaining permission of his parents for him to go into the office of Dr. S——, the physician who was a friend of her and her work, and had promised to take him into his employ as errand boy.
After a term of years, he, with the help of his friends, the doctor and the farmer's wife and daughter, the missionary, succeeded in completing a course in medicine.
Ten years later, when, after a long absence from the scene of her early labors, Miss Saird again visited Charley's home, she found things very much changed from what they were when first she visited the wretched shanty where he lived. Instead of the old rickety house there stands a fine new dwelling, in front of which is a sign—

CHAS. BLACK, M.D.,

Physician and Surgeon.

Inside the change is equally apparent. Instead of the larder being empty, it is full now. The happy and contented faces of James Black and wife, as they sit by the fireside and talk over old times, tell more eloquently than words can the joy in their hearts and home since, by the help of their kind friend, the missionary, and the greater Friend, who sent the missionary, whisky went out of their home, and peace and prosperity came in.
Nor did the work stop here, for in his active business life Charles Black finds many a young man in danger of being ruined by the intoxicating cup and the evils of the world; and, mindful of how he received a helping hand in his time of need, he takes the needy by the hand and tries to lead them from the snares of Satan into the paths of right and truth; while she who helped him in his youth, in her declining years is reminded of the promise, "In due season we shall reap, if we faint not."

Sons and Daughters

"That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; that our daughters may be as corner-stones, polished after the similitude of a palace."

I KISSED HER IN MY HEART.

By S. T. Perry

SHE came to my room at nightfall— My blue-eyed lass of four, Her wee bare feet so noiselessly Tiptoeing 'cross the floor. "There's no one now but you, papa," She lisped, "to hear my prayer." And in her snow-white gown she knelt Devoutly by my chair.
And with those holy words, it seemed Like that pure "inner place" Where "their angels" always do behold The beauty of His face. I marveled much that ne'er before I'd turned from "fret and wear" Of earthly strife, when nightfall came, To hear my baby's prayer.
"No one but you," the wee lass said, Climbing upon my knee, "To give, now dear mama's away, A good-night kiss to me. There are your kisses—four, five, six— Please now a letter write, And tell mama that I kiss her Down in my heart to-night."
I carried her so tenderly To her wee, soft, white bed; Loved ministries the mother gave I tried to give instead. And as the little lassie slept I felt that hallowed power Which mothers feel, of faith and love, At children's bedtime hour. —S. T. Perry.

The Bible in the Universities

The Bible in the Universities.—It is used as the basis of certain courses of study in some of our universities and colleges. For instance, in Brown University, which makes it as prominent as any other educational institution, "the Bible is the basis of eleven courses of study," says President Andrews, "covering three hours a week for one-third of a year." Harvard does not use it as a basis book at all, altho in the Divinity School it seems to come in incidentally. The greatest book of all books, the study of which will expand, invigorate, enlarge, vitalize and discipline the mind as no other can, is treated as a mere literary work, suggestive, perhaps, of certain things, but as a final authority, never.

Call for a National Fast

By Editor

"Call for a National Fast."—We published in our last issue a call for a "Day of Prayer" for the nation by Mr. Moody and others, and intimated that it was another indication in the direction of a national religion. It is thus that National Reformers look upon it. The Christian Statesman of September 26 earnestly adds its voice to the appeal. Quoting a part of the language of the "call," it says: "This means that the nation has relations as a nation with God; . . . and that God's law as given in his Word is the Supreme law of national life." On confession of sin it says: "The nation, as such, then, is guilty of the transgression of God's law. It needs forgiveness, and it needs salvation from its sins and their legitimate consequences, the national adversities that are upon us and the threatening perils that fill us [why not say 'it'?] with perplexity." Yes, and the nation should be baptized, and should partake of the Lord's supper, and should be confirmed, etc! All this may be National Reform Gospel, but it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The law of God in a government run by National Reformers means the law as interpreted by National Reformers, a law of man exalted by man to an equality with God. God's word in such a government is not "the word of faith," but man's interpretation of the word exalted above the real word. Such a government means hypocrisy for the time-serving, and persecution for the honest, righteous, and courageous dissenter.

A PLANT DANGEROUS TO HORSES.

It is often said that man is the only animal that seeks for intoxicants. This is not true. In Mexico and portions of Texas grows a plant known as the "loco." It grows wild upon the plains, and has to be very carefully exterminated by ranchmen.
Horses and cattle are very fond of it, and evidently seek it for its effects, which are similar to those of drunkenness in men. When a horse eats it, his value is gone. He will stagger, and a very slight blow upon the head will kill him. When he recovers from the effects of one debauch, he is crazy until he can again get the plant, and in a short time the subtle poison has done its work, and he is dead. It is a source of constant dread to the ranchmen, and a careful search is made for it when inspecting a range for cattle.—Cincinnati Enquirer.

ANCIENT ART.

THE priests of Ptah, at Memphis, were adepts in the glass-maker's art, and not only did they have factories for manufacturing the common crystal variety, but they had learned the vitrifying of the different colors and the imitation of precious stones to perfection. Their imitations of the amethyst, and of the various other colored gems, were so true to nature that even now, after they have lain in the desert sands from 2,000 to 4,000 years, it takes an expert to distinguish the genuine article from the spurious. It has been shown that, besides being experts in glass making and glass coloring, they used the diamond in cutting and engraving glass. In the British Museum there is a beautiful piece of stained glass, with an engraved emblazonment of the monarch Thothmes III., who lived 3,400 years ago.—St. Louis Republic.

PAINTING SKULLS.

A STRANGE custom, dating back to the Dark Ages, has survived in some of the mountain districts in Austria—the painting of skulls. The small size of most cemeteries in those regions makes it necessary to regularly remove the skeletons of the buried who have lain there eight or ten years, to make room for newcomers. The relatives of the dead thus to be exhumed are generally notified before the removal, so that they can attend to the cleaning of the skeleton and be present at its deposit in the so-called "bone-house" or "charnel-house." On such occasions the skull is often ornamented with paintings, representing rosaries, wreaths, snakes, etc., or it is marked with the name of the dead person.—N. Y. World.

ANALYSIS OF A CIGARET.

THE following is the result of an analysis of a cigaret, made recently by a physician: "The tobacco was found to be strongly impregnated with opium, while the wrapper, which was warranted to be rice paper, was proved to be the most ordinary quality of paper, whitened with arsenic. The two poisons combined were present in sufficient quantities to create in the smoker a habit of using opium without his being aware of it, his craving for which can only be satisfied by an incessant consumption of cigarets." These facts would be sufficient to stop the manufacture of anything less insidious in its influence. But smokers will smoke on to the death.—Selected.

A Spider’s Extraordinary Consumption

Commenting on the amount which a spider actually consumed during twenty-four hours, Sir J. Lubbock says: "At a similar rate of consumption, a man weighing 160 pounds will require a whole fat steer for breakfast, a steer and five sheep for dinner, and for supper two bullocks, eight sheep, and four hogs, and just before retiring, nearly four barrels of fresh fish."

THE GOSPEL IN RUSSIA.

By Delavan A. Pierson

BY DELAVAN A. PIERSON.
THE land of the czars is almost as much a closed land to the Gospel as are Tibet and Afghanistan. No stone is left unturned to bring every inhabitant into the Greek Church, and no persecution is too severe for those who become apostate. Active proselyting is carried on in the Baltic provinces and elsewhere, and between bribes and threats many of the people have joined the Russian Church. Proselyting for Protestants is not forbidden among Jews and others who are not adherents of the Greek faith, but converts are often sorely persecuted, as has been so abundantly seen in the case of the Stundists. The Baptists in Russia also continue to suffer deep persecution, to which has now been added the confiscation of all religious literature. In spite of the great difficulties under which they labor the work goes on, and they now report a membership of more than 17,000, with 90 ministers, and the baptisms last year were more than 1,200.
The religion of the great majority of the European inhabitants of Russia is, of course, the Orthodox, or Greek Church. The absence of a celibate clergy gives it an advantage over the Romish Church, and, until now, little, if any, obstacle has been placed in the way of the free circulation of the Holy Scriptures. The monks and the higher clergy are, however, forbidden to marry, and any advantage which the Greek Church possesses over its great rival in the matter of doctrine is almost outweighed by the superstition and idolatry which press alike on priest and people. Strong pressure is now being brought to bear to drive outsiders into the bosom of the Orthodox Church, but secession is making far greater progress than forced conversions. God is, indeed, working mightily in Russia among Jews and gentiles, in the midst of so much sin and wrong. In the case of the Jewish population the old prejudice is found to be slowly but surely giving way before the spirit of inquiry, and the seed sown in the past is beginning to bear fruit. The outlook for Christian missions is more than hopeful, and, altho theoretically absolutely forbidden by the government, up to the present time there has been little difficulty in carrying on the work of the British Bible Society, tho the workers have been compelled to exercise much tact, patience, and forbearance. The spiritual harvest is indeed plentiful. Denied the liberties enjoyed by all civilized people, the Russians thirst for the better liberty of the sons of God.
A clergyman of the Russian Orthodox Church recently wrote to a Moscow paper, saying that the rigorously suppressive laws lately promulgated against the Stundist sectarians are not only unsuccessful, but would actually appear to have given a renewed impetus both to the open and to the clandestine spread of the schism; while the best efforts of the special missionaries appointed to counteract the teaching of Stundism, and to re-attach the Orthodox apostates to that creed, have been absolutely fruitless. The most lamentable feature of this propaganda, says the clerical writer, is its evident progress among the intelligent class of Russians who have practically abandoned the state church, or who attend the church service once or twice a year as a mere habit. It is also to this growing public inclination toward Stundism that the writer attributes the difficulty of getting the majority of the ordinary magistracy to convict the Stundist propagandists, and for the same reason large employers ignore the legal injunctions laid upon them with regard to the exclusion of Stundist work-people of both sexes.
This writer makes a significant admission when he candidly avows that a large number of intelligent and educated people who are gradually adopting the Stundist creed would otherwise become freethinkers. Unlike many other Russian sectarians, the Stundists, whose religious tenets very closely resemble those of the Baptists, do not proselyte, and hence the police authorities find it difficult to convict them. It is by the force of example only, by their exemplary lives, their high-toned morality, sobriety, industry, thrift, and honest dealings that they attach the adherence and cohesion of their Orthodox neighbors. Their bitterest opponents in the state church can not deny these many virtues of the "heretics," nor can they, if they bear truthful evidence, decline to acknowledge the reclaimed lives and material prosperity of the many thousands of ignorant, intemperate, and degraded peasants who have voluntarily adopted the Stundist teaching and copied the manners and morals of the sectarians. There are no more conscientiously law-abiding subjects in the czar's dominions.
With the exception of part of Turkestan, Siberia, or Asiatic Russia, comprises the whole of Asia lying north of the Chinese Empire, Afghanistan, and Persia (area 4,833,496 square miles larger than Europe).
The greater part of this "land of exile" consists of monotonous lowlands stretching away to the horizon "like a limitless ocean plain." But toward the east rises a vast tableland, the Great Divide (i. e., between the Arctic and Pacific oceans), connected with which are the Yablonovoi, or Apple Mountains, and other ranges. In the southwest is the famous mining district of the Little Altai Mountains.
To the north are the extensive Tundra swamps, covered with snow eight months of the year under dull, leaden skies, the long nights now and then relieved by magnificent Northern Lights. The nomadic tribes dwelling here depend on the reindeer for their existence.
South of the Tundra is a forest zone, or Taiga, reaching almost uninterruptedly across the continent. The noted Siberian pine is conspicuous, and berry-producing bushes are abundant, supplying food for man and beast, quantities of berries being preserved for winter use.
The water system of Siberia is the most extensive, but least serviceable, of any in the Old World. The Obi, Yenisei, and Lena, running north, with the Amoor and lesser rivers, cover the country with a network of about 30,000 miles of navigable waterway. But unfortunately all are ice-bound most of the year, and only serve as sledge roads.
The people are chiefly of Mongol (or Tartar) descent; but many of the native tribes seem to be dying out or becoming absorbed in the advancing Russian element. Population, 8,000,000.
Eastern Siberia is largely occupied by the Tunguses, of whom it is said: "Travelers are never wearied of extolling their many admirable qualities; and there can be no doubt that they are one of the very noblest types of mankind. They are cheerful under the most depressing circumstances, persevering, open-hearted, trustworthy, modest, yet self-reliant, a fearless race of hunters, born amid the gloom of their dense pine forests, exposed from the cradle to every danger from wild beasts, cold, and hunger. Want and hardships of every kind they endure with surprising fortitude, and nothing can induce them to take service under the Russians, or quit their solitary woodlands, where they cheerfully face the long and harsh winters, when the snow-storm often rages for days together."
The Yakuts, of Turkish origin, dwelling on the banks of the Lena, are the most energetic and versatile of all Siberian people. This tribe, unlike the others, is increasing in numbers. They are described as "men of iron," and more inured to cold than perhaps any other people in the world.
The Koriaks, belonging to the "Hyperborean" group, treat their women and children very tenderly, but put an end to their weak or aged kindred, thinking it an act of mercy to save them from lingering death. The Kamschadales (aborigines of Kamchatka) keep their houses scrupulously clean, but the doors are so low that they have to be entered on all fours.
The Buriats, on Lake Baikal, are much addicted to drink and tobacco; even young children may often be seen smoking Chinese pipes.
In western Siberia the aborigines are of Finnish race—Soyots, Ostiaks, Samoyedes, and Voguls. The Cassocks hold villages on military tenure, supplying man, horse, and uniform, in lieu of rent.
The principal races in Russian Turkestan are the Uzbeks and the Tadjiks; the former an agricultural, and the latter a commercial people. High walls of sunburnt brick surround the towns, and gardens and vineyards are interspersed among the houses, which are of mud, thatched with reeds.
Over the steppes northeast of the Caspian and Aral seas roam the Kirghiz hordes. Their square graves, made of the trunks of trees, look at a distance like log huts. On the borders of Persia and Afghanistan dwell the Turcomans, shepherds and farmers.
Siberian towns, which are not populous tho covering large spaces of ground, form both trading and military posts, the mass of their inhabitants being Russian. Irkutsk is the capital of eastern Siberia, Omsk of western; Tobolsk, the chief commercial depot, exchanges the produce of Siberian mines, fisheries, and hunting-grounds for manufactured goods. Tomsk is the sole Siberian university; Yakutsk, on the Lena, probably the coldest town on the face of the earth.
The religion is nominally that of the Greek Church, but throughout south Siberia, or Russian Central Asia, Mohammedanism prevails, and toward the Chinese frontier Buddhism. The old religion of Siberia was Shamanism, a kind of nature-worship, based entirely on oral tradition. Many of the people, tho outwardly Buddhists or Greek Christians, are still at heart Shamanists, e. g., the Tunguses and Yakuts, who (tho under Russian compulsion most of them have been baptized) despise the rites of the Greek Church as mere formalities, and are true nature-worshippers.
They believe that two principles of good and evil took part in the creation, the former making the earth level, and the latter tearing it up in a rage, whence the hills and valleys. It is held that a Supreme Being reigns above all, but too far off to hear prayer, too good to need supplication; and the circumstances of life are controlled by good and evil spirits, the latter requiring to be propitiated, but not the former.
The Samoyedes are idol-worshippers.
Political prisoners are chiefly found in the Transbaikal District, but "whole regions of Siberia are simply huge prison regions." Many of the exiles are Jews and Stundists. "The Stundists, for sobriety, industry, and godliness, are the cream of the czar's subjects. They send them off to Siberia; but they can not abstract from the Stundist his religious belief, his love of God's word or his love of proclaiming that word. So pure and undefiled religion penetrates into the prisons."
There is not a single resident Protestant missionary in the whole country. But in this, as in other lands where little personal effort has been made, that silent yet most eloquent missionary, the Bible, has found its way and brought light into many a dark home. The colporters of the British and Foreign Bible Society during the last year distributed nearly 50,000 copies, and met with universal kindness from the authorities and others. One colporter had an interview with the State Inspector of Prisons, who greeted him warmly, thanked the society, and "fervently wished that the blessing of God might rest on it and its work in Siberia." He said it gave him much pleasure to grant the colporter a permit to visit the prisons.
Dr. Baedeker, well known in Siberian prisons as the "good old man, the Anglichanin with the fine gray beard," has within the last few years preached the Gospel to multitudes in these dreary abodes, journeying across the whole continent. Describing his last visit, from which he has but recently returned, he speaks of "the joyful service in having new congregations of real sinners in every place, and even in every ward; sometimes also hundreds together in the corridor or in the yard eagerly catching the sound of the Gospel, which they have never heard before." All prisoners who could read were supplied, gratis, with copies of the Scriptures.
To resolute hearts the door into Siberia stands open. Whole-heartedness invariably wins the day. But "the half-hearted measure in which we evangelize the age deserves and brings failure. Steam and electricity in religion will win; old-fashioned, easy-going methods mean defeat. We have not heretofore won the age; let us not put all the blame upon the age."—Missionary Review.

Those Who Turn Many to Righteousness

"AND those who have wisely taught shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and those who have turned many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever." Dan. 12:3, Boothroyd.

GOD'S LOVE.

By Paulina M. A. Anderson

BY PAULINA M. A. ANDERSON.
O MATCHLESS love of God Contained within thy word! It far surpasses anything That we have ever heard. Depth, like unfathomed seas, Thy mighty works display— Creation's bright and shining light, Redemption's glorious day! On every plant and flower This knowledge we can see; But greater love—he sent his Son To die for you and me. O, shall we not accept This love so freely given, And daily walk with him on earth, And reign with him in heaven, Where we can contemplate The fullness of his love, And worship, honor, praise, and sing With the blest choir above?
Continue reading: TRIALS FOR SUNDAY LABOR AT FORD'S STORE, MARYLAND