p. 8 | Review and Herald, Vol. 88, No. 32. (8/10/1911)

True Foods and Emergency Foods

By George B. Starr

G. B. STARR

True food, that provided by the Creator for all the creatures of his vast creation, contains just the elements essential for the supply of energy, waste, and repair; the complete and harmonious building up of all the body processes.

True food does not walk about and so expend energy, but it grows standing still, or waving only in the breeze, receiving from sun, and air, and earth, and storing up energy and heat for man and animal to break up and use.

Man and animal and all organized life are dependent upon the products of the earth — fruits, grains, nuts, vegetables, and grasses — for nourishment and all energy supply; there is positively no other original supply; all foods must be made from this storehouse.

True food contains no poison. It is impossible to conceive of a loving and benevolent Creator providing for the sustenance of his children and other creatures anything that would harm them in any way, causing either sickness or pain. No true food substances, in their natural and healthy condition, contain anything that would in any way interfere with the delicate working of the intricate body machinery. Poisons could be introduced only by an enemy.

The flesh of animal or fowl, in the light of science, can be regarded only as emergency food, to be used only when true food is not obtainable. The flesh of animal or fowl contains only the remnant of energy and food elements and nutrition originally obtained from the grains, which the animal has not used up in its own vital functions. This remnant of energy amounts to twenty-eight per cent to the one hundred parts of flesh food eaten. In the grains the percentage is eighty-eight to the one hundred parts, with twelve parts of waste matter; thus it is seen that the animal has used up sixty per cent of the original energy stored. This is exactly as intended by the Creator. The animal was created to be the servant of man. His muscles were made for work, and not for food. When eating flesh, we are eating muscle and nerve-fiber, mingled with veins and arteries, broken-down tissue, carbonic acid, and uric acid. Thus remnants of food elements are mingled with seventy-two parts of waste matter, much of it decidedly poisonous and destructive to life, and positively injurious and obstructive to the delicate working of the body machinery. Certainly this is not true food.

It is an error to imagine that by eating the flesh of a strong ox, man may obtain strength. It is true that by eating the same grains that the ox eats, man may obtain strength.

People feel stronger after eating flesh because it is a rapidly burning fuel, and, like oil or pine, produces a quick and flashy fire, from which immediate but not lasting effects are obtained. Flesh is also stimulating because of the presence of the large amount of waste and poisonous matter, which the body recognizes and puts forth energy to expel rapidly. This effort on the part of nature to rid herself of poison is mistaken for real energy, the same as it is when tea, coffee, cocoa, and alcohol are taken. The body temperature is raised from 98½° to 99½° or 100° in ten or fifteen minutes after a meal of flesh.

True food is beautiful to the sight, is pleasant to handle, is inviting to the most delicate person, and when the taste is natural, is most agreeable to the taste-buds, as seen in the choice of foods made by children and most animals.

Flesh is unpleasant to the sight, disagreeable to handle, and repulsive to the unperverted taste or smell. Nature’s storehouse furnishes an abundance for all the human family without the taking of a single life of bird or beast for food, except under emergency conditions.

Melrose, Mass.

Paradise Restored

By Calvin Green

CALVIN GREEN

O PARADISE! Thou blest abode! Within thy gates what joy awaits The saints of God! Life’s crystal waters freely flow, Celestial breezes gently blow, While on thy plains of living green Lions and playful lambs are seen.

O paradise! how sweet to rest Within thy bowers, amid thy flowers, With all the blest! The lame shall leap, the deaf shall hear, The dumb shall sing in anthems clear, While lovely birds in sweetest lays Prolong the notes of endless praise.

On thy fair plains, O paradise! No drifting snow, no fierce winds blow, Nor tempests rise. No palsied limbs, no weary feet Within thy sacred, calm retreat; No sightless eye, no anxious care, Since Eden blooms forever there.

O paradise! what joy sublime! No grief, no fears, no cause for tears In that fair clime; For sin’s dark curse shall be no more, But truth shall reign from shore to shore. Transporting thought—no death, no tomb, When paradise again shall bloom!

O paradise! thou home of God! Thy vast domains, thy fertile plains How wondrous broad! Within thy spicy gardens rare Ambrosial fruits of Canaan fair Delight the senses, charm the soul, Long as eternal ages roll.

Sweet paradise! thou blest abode! Within thy gates what joy awaits The saints of God! For there, beyond the cold, dark tide, The mighty host, the glorified, With harp and tongue shall praise the Lord In blissful paradise restored.

Hebron, Wis.

The Duty of Forgetting

IT is nearly as important to forget as it is to remember. The apostle says, "Forgetting those things which are behind." May we forget?—Yes; but as it requires an effort to remember, so it requires an honest effort to forget. We should dismiss from the mind all the vile things which have found lodgment there. Open the cage, and let the unclean birds fly away. But they will not go? Then give the cage away. Turn over the memory to the Lord Jesus, let him have his way, and he will make a clean sweep. Let the stronger man in, and he will bind the strong man, and cast him out. One may have his mind so full of Christ and his love and life that base things will take their departure.

We must not overstate a matter. The truth may suffer from exaggeration. Let us not claim more than the facts will warrant. But we may be well assured that our Lord can so charm any soul with his beauty and loveliness that all vile things will lose their hold. We all know that a man can easily forget one pleasure when he is introduced to another which is sweeter. You can forget one companion when you become thoroughly acquainted with another who fills your heart and mind. So we can forget the leeks and onions of Egypt when we have tasted the milk and honey of Canaan. Cast out the vile by making way for the pure.

Forget injuries. Forget the faults of neighbors, and the injustice they have inflicted on you. Forget old grudges and strifes. This is a national obligation. There is a national as well as an individual memory. What is memory?—A record of the past. What is history?—A record of the past. The one is national, the other individual. The one is written with a pen, the other on the tablet of memory. Writing history is a means of perpetuating the memory of the fathers and their patriotic and heroic deeds. By monuments and statues we seek to hand down to future generations, and keep fresh in our own minds, the lives and names of men who have done something for their generation. But it is also a national duty to forget.

In almost every war there is a favorite war-cry. "Remember the 'Maine,'" is still fresh in mind. Whatever good purpose that cry may have served at one time, awakening enthusiasm and patriotism, it is quite certain that this sort of

remembering may be overdone, and it has been overdone. Some people would continue to remember the “Maine” too long. It is well to forget the “Maine.” Our country will do well to forget the strife between the States which raged fifty years ago. He is no true friend of his country who will fan the flames of hate. We have a great future before us; but if we are to realize it in all its fulness, we must have the courage and good sense to forget many things.

Bury all strife and hate so deep that they can never have a resurrection. Forget mistakes and blunders. One is weakened by brooding over his mistakes. If our errors have any place, let it be to inspire us to more heroic, intelligent, and thoughtful labors in the time to come.—Selected.

Self-Control

By Della T. Lutes

It is impossible to say that one quality of character is more necessary than another, since all are independent. Self-respect, perseverance, individuality, trustfulness, patience, sympathy, self-control, judgment, all are dependent upon one another, and all are necessary attributes of a well-rounded character. Without self-control, however, the accomplishment of developing other qualities is impossible. Self-control is obedience of all the qualities, either mental, moral, or physical, to the supremacy of the will,—power of will over all inclinations, temptations, and impulses; intelligent superintendence of the spiritual over the animal nature.

Self-control, more than almost any other quality of character, is less likely to be a natural gift or to be acquired without long and grievous experience. It is, therefore, one that needs to be, above all others, developed in the child by judicious training.

Those children who are by nature or inheritance of a nervous temperament are less likely to be self-controlled than others, and will be hard to train. Also the child of keen sensibilities and sympathetic nature will be less easily controlled than the phlegmatic child.

Punishment is sometimes thought to be a highway to self-control, but it is more often a source of humiliation, lessening the child's respect for himself, and consequently his control of himself. The nervous, high-strung, strong-willed, temperamental child will need the strongest lessons in self-control, but he also needs most judicious and delicate handling. He must be dealt with calmly, cheerfully, and by a steady hand. Excitement, anger, scolding, will only increase his agitation, and lessen his control of his own nerves and will. He should be diverted instead of punished. He should be surrounded with a placid, restful, soothing atmosphere. A nervous, excitable, irritable parent, teacher, or guardian can never help an excitable, nervous child to gain control of himself.

Self-control, like self-respect, must be early inculcated into the childish character. He must be taught that to cry for whatever he wants is the surest way not to get it.

“Self-control,” says Charlotte Perkins Gilman, in her excellent book “Concerning Children,” “can be taught a child by gently graduated exercise, so that he shall come calmly into his first kingdom, and exercise this normal power without self-consciousness.”

The child should be taught that there are better ways of acquiring an end than by direct opposition. And here, as in every other instance, the parent must first learn the lesson. A mother or a father who loses control of herself or himself, whose voice rises excitedly at the first encounter, can never hope to teach a child control of himself. It is example, example, example! What a man sows, that shall he also reap. Give, and it shall be given to you again, no matter what it is.

Control yourself, and you can control your child. “Keep your voice low,” and your child will not shout. Never get nervous, or say nervous, and you will be far less likely to have nervous children.

Suggest control to all with whom you come in contact.

Controlling a child by the “don't” method will never teach him control of himself. You can restrict his will, but this is not the subject. Bend his will toward the right direction. Don't wet-blanket his efforts, no matter how ineffectual they may seem to you. So long as he is going to harm neither himself nor others, let him alone. When you see that he is, suggest other occupation and amusement—divert his attention from the wrong channel into the right.

Dissension in the home atmosphere, discord, quarreling, irritability, fretting, nagging, scolding, disputing, whether between adults or children, is bound to breed discord, discontent, impatience. Example! Example! Example! What you are, your children are bound to be; and this is true of the infant in its cradle as well as of the adult. It is susceptible to impression, and its plastic mind receives the imprint of your example only to breathe it forth again at the first occasion.—Della T. Lutes, in American Motherhood.

Good Health and Good Sense

By F. R. Birdsall

Is it not strange how little attention people pay to the greatest of all blessings—health?

Tell a man his house has a defective flue and is likely to catch fire and burn down, and off he rushes to get a man to fix it. But tell him he is drinking too much coffee at his meals, swallowing his food without chewing it, or using too much tobacco, and he will laugh at you, and say it has never hurt him yet, and he reckons it won't. But it will hurt him, sooner or later. Nature is sometimes very lenient in enforcing her laws; but there will come a time when the penalty for their violation must be paid.

The boy who carelessly forms the cigarette habit may not feel the ill effects for a while; but the day will come when the shattered nerves, the lusterless eye, and the “tobacco heart” will convince him all too plainly of the awful mistake he has made.

The man who allows himself to become addicted to the use of spirituous liquors may think he is doing himself no harm, but the day finally dawns when he realizes what it means to have an inflamed stomach, a diseased liver, and a craving that can not be satisfied.

But liquor and tobacco are not the only evils one must shun in the preservation of health. Many ills are brought upon us by rapid eating; drinking tea, coffee, milk, iced tea, etc., with our meals; eating hurriedly; eating when excited, tired, or angry; loading our stomachs with useless and unnecessary pies, cakes, puddings, and other desserts; using milk and sugar at the same meal (causing fermentation), or milk upon acid fruits (producing hard curds); eating late at night or between meals. These and many other things are done; and when the pains come,—as come they must,—we wonder what causes us to suffer.

These things are not always the result of ignorance. People know better, but they don't like to deny themselves the things that tickle their palates. They go right ahead drinking two or three glasses of iced tea at a meal, when they know full well it means a visit of the family physician to their home.

Recently I heard two girls talking. One remarked: ‘I had seven ice-cream sodas this afternoon; how many have you had?’ Her companion replied: ‘O, I beat you; I had eight.’

Ice-cream soda is simply a palate-tickler; it contains nothing to replace worn-out tissue, supply nerve-force, or build up strength. If girls expect to build strong bodies on ice-cream soda, they will sooner or later realize their mistake. What girls and boys need is plenty of good, wholesome food, thoroughly masticated, plenty of pure water between meals, and lots of time outdoors, with head erect and shoulders thrown back.

Dr. Baker, of Baltimore, says physical weakness is a crime, either your own crime or that of your ancestors. The country to-day is in sore need of men and women of strength,—men and women with strong bodies, strong minds, well-developed muscles, and plenty of rich red blood,—individuals whose systems are so fortified with strength and energy that disease germs turn from them in disgust, finding no soil in which to breed, no place to start a colony.

Good health, clear eyes, a rosy complexion, steady nerves, and fine digestion are within your grasp—all you have to do is to observe a few of the laws of nature.—F. R. Birdsall, in Yazoo Sentinel.

The Value of Inspiration and Joy

By C. Hanford Henderson

It is a stupid thing to go on doing anything after the inspiration and joy and human profit have quite gone out of the doing. Life is simply what we get out of it, and it is a great pity to cheapen so magnificent a gift.— C. Hanford Henderson.

Be Ye Reconciled

By C. M. S.

THE ministry of Christ and his followers in this world is primarily a ministry of reconciliation. Satan’s work misrepresented God before all his creatures, and they who harbored the misrepresentation were bound to become estranged from God. If angels in heaven went down into doubt and disloyalty under the fire of Satan’s accusations, it is not surprising that human beings should fall before the same onslaught. Angels fell, and men fell; sin was born in earth as well as in heaven, and its progeny has peopled every corner of the globe.

Sin has so wrought upon the spiritual eyesight of mankind as to produce true spiritual myopia, and man sees God and his dealings and purposes as the near-sighted individual sees distant objects with the natural eye—blurred, indistinct, and distorted. When the eye distorts the image of the object looked at, the individual is unable rightly to judge the object, or to form a correct conception of its characteristics. A veil is virtually hung between the eye and the object, and the vision is never clear.

That is what sin has done for man. His vision of God and his character is a blurred and distorted one. It misrepresents God to him, and he misrepresents God to others. He sees things which he regards as unlovely and hateful. He feels that he can not love what he sees, and he turns from it to look upon something nearer at hand, something that is made to appear to him better than it is. That is self and its immediate interests; and Satan holds self so close to man’s eyes that he can see nothing else that looks so beautiful, for he sees everything else distorted and out of proportion.

That spiritual myopia is the result of sin, and the misrepresentation of God and his attributes follows as a natural result; and the natural result of that again is alienation from God. That must go on until the universe is wrecked, unless a remedy is found. The remedy was found—a ministry of reconciliation through humiliation and sacrifice. The principles in that warfare are sharply contrasted. On the one hand, it is self and its apparent interests against everything visible and invisible, even the perpetuity of the kingdom of the omnipotent and all-righteous One. On the other hand, it is the utter and complete forgetting and sacrificing of self for the good of that kingdom and each and all of its subjects. The one is the ministry of self, dissension, and hatred; the other is the ministry of sacrifice, reconciliation, and love. Jesus Christ came as that sacrifice, that minister of reconciliation, that exemplification of the love of God. To the eyes blurred by sin, he would give that divine eye-salve which would enable them to see the loveliness of the character of God. To those who had learned to hate and to distrust the purposes of God, he would bring a revelation of God that would win the hearts of many, and leave all without excuse for continuing to hate and distrust, for refusing to be reconciled to the Author of their being. And his life of sacrifice—sacrifice of all that could be sacrificed, even life itself—was to be a perpetual example to his followers in their ministry, and a perpetual object-lesson to the world of the contrast between the principles of the kingdom of light and the principles of the kingdom of darkness.

The principles of the kingdom of darkness brought in selfishness; selfishness engendered strife, hatred, murder, and every other evil thing. How appropriate, then, that when the angels announced the birth of the One who was to be the great Reconciler, they should also have announced, “On earth peace, good will to men”! The principles of the kingdom of light bring peace to displace the discords and strifes of this world; and it was the business of Christ, and is the business of the Christian, so to represent God to the world that men will understand that God’s thoughts toward them are thoughts of good, and not of evil. “Good will to men” expresses the attitude of heaven toward humanity. That fact was demonstrated for all time when heaven sent its representative to earth to live a life of service for humanity, and to die in man’s place that man might be freed from the condemnation of the broken law.

“Be ye reconciled to God,” has been the message from the time of Adam to our time, and will be the major cord in the message to the last generation of men upon this earth. “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?”

C. M. S.

Proper Sabbath Observance

By F. M. W.

WE need continually to be on guard lest the spirit of the world enter the church. We must hold aloft the banner of truth, and let the light shine forth in clear, distinct rays. The church of God in the past has made shipwreck of its faith and experience because it has lowered its ideals and standards to meet the measure of the world's thought and action. By so doing it has become more popular, but the vital power of godliness has been lost, and the great Christian church to-day is weak in consequence of this spirit of compromise and worldly fellowship.

If the Seventh-day Adventist Church follows in the same path, it will reach the same unfortunate condition. But the standard of truth in the church can be held, and the power of vital godliness maintained, only as each individual member making up the church preserves his living connection with Heaven. The church drifts as the individual membership drifts. The source of spiritual power in the church is the power in individual experience; hence back of the church life must be considered the family life and the individual life. We as a church shall be able to hold forth the word of truth in the power and demonstration of its spirit to the extent, and to the extent only, that that truth works with power in our own lives.

To this church has been given, for all the world, a message of reform regarding the Sabbath of the Lord. The Bible arguments which we present can not be gainsaid nor refuted; but after all, these will fail largely in producing results unless by our own lives we demonstrate our faith in the perpetuity and sanctity of the Sabbath institution. If we observe the Sabbath of the Lord as a great many observe Sunday, making it merely a day of rest from physical labor, the effect on others can only be to deaden the power of the truth which we seek to represent.

The Sabbath should not be a day in which we seek our own pleasure, or follow our own ways, or speak our own words. Isa. 58:13. The Sabbath should not be made a day of gossiping, or even of social visiting. By too many its sacred hours are employed in such ways as these. It is proper to call on our brethren and sisters, provided we do it for the purpose of Christian conversation. Visits to the sick and suffering are certainly appropriate, but we should be careful that these occasions are employed in a way befitting the character of the day on which they are made. It is so easy to permit the standard to be lowered, to allow the conversation to be directed into channels not only of no value, but positively injurious to the

spiritual life, that we should be continually on our guard.

Every week, as God’s rest day comes round, it should be hailed with delight, as a day in which may be found spiritual rest as well as physical rest. The affairs in the home and in the personal life should be so regulated that all work shall be accomplished, or unfinished work be laid aside, before the day begins. The Sabbath should be welcomed with songs of praise, with prayer, and with the study of the Word. What an influence goes forth from the home when the Sabbath is thus made an honored guest! With what pleasure does Heaven look down upon such a scene as this!

During the Sabbath hours, the needs of the children should especially be borne in mind. It should not be required that they sit noiselessly all day in thought or study. The older members of the family should seek to enter into their experience. A walk through the green fields or in the woods, pointing their young minds through nature to nature’s great God, and drawing lessons from the material universe which will direct the mind to the world to come; reading to them some helpful religious book, uniting in Bible study with them in new and unique ways suited to their capabilities, relating to them incidents in the experiences of God’s people,—in these and many other ways which active minds may suggest, may the Sabbath of the Lord be made a day of delight to the younger members of the household of faith.

We need as a people to return to a simplicity of Sabbath observance. Without rigorness or austerity, but joyfully, we should return to the old-time carefulness which once characterized the experience of this people. Sabbath observance should not be a service of bondage, but a service of joy. Let us come so near to God, and enter so liberally into communion with him, that all his service shall be this to us.

F. M. W.

The Biennial Council in Friedensau, Germany

By William Ambrose Spicer

Third Report

The early morning workers' meetings, devoted to prayer and testimony or to Bible study, and the nine-o'clock Bible study hour have been occasions daily of rich blessings. The school chapel is crowded with workers at these hours.

One of the daily sessions of the council has been devoted to reports from the great field divisions, and in these the progress in the mission fields has been caused to pass before us like a panorama of the closing work of God in the earth.

In Russia

The Russian Union reported first. Elder J. T. Boettcher described the development of the work from the days of 1887—when Brethren Conradi and Perk landed in the Crimea and in the prison—to the present, a wonderful testimony to the fact that when the sure word of prophecy declares that the message is to go to every nation, no power on earth can shut out the message. Elder Boettcher read to us the new law under which any general meeting must now come—a representative of the government to be present at every session, none but members of the church to be admitted, no one to vote in a business meeting except his name be registered at St. Petersburg and he be given permission by the government, and every question introduced to be first set before the government authority. Many other restrictions are included; but the Russian Union reports 731 new members last year, and all the delegation from Russia are of abounding courage.

Elder J. Sprohge, from the Baltic, and Elder K. A. Reifschneider, from the Caucasus, reported progress. In the latter conference, in the land of Ararat, they have baptized 254 members in the last two years, mostly Russians. We have a church of thirty at the foot of Ararat. Elders D. Isaak, of the Crimea, and J. Perk, of Little Russia, followed. Little Russia, as it is called, is the very heart of Russia, its people thoroughly Orthodox and superstitious. Of its three ministerial workers, one is now serving a sentence of two years' imprisonment for turning members from the state church. But in the last two years, two hundred fifty souls have been baptized. The recital of the experiences of these brethren, who had come in from their ofttimes trying and perilous posts of duty, gave all hearts new courage, and firmer confidence in the delivering power of God.

Committee Actions

The following actions of the council may be reported here. It was recommended,—

That Miss Hermine Roth, of Switzerland, be invited to go to America to act as teacher in the newly established French department of the South Lancaster Academy.

That the North American Foreign Department be encouraged to raise an educational fund to aid students to attend the French department of South Lancaster Academy.

That Elders F. Kuempel and A. Rockel, of Germany, be invited to make the Brazilian Union Conference their field of labor.

These brethren, with their families, are in attendance at the council, and at its close they are to sail for South America. Brazil has so long waited that our hearts were made glad to see these strong and devoted ministers and their wives preparing to bring help to that destitute field. Elders Kuempel and Rockel came before the council and were commended to God in special prayer as they accepted the call to their new work.

That the call for teachers in St. Thomas, West Indies, be referred to the Educational Department, to make such arrangements as may be possible in consultation with the president of the West Indian Union.

That the general topic of the next Week-of-Prayer Readings be “A Spiritual Awakening and Missionary Advance.” [The writers of the various readings were selected.]

That great care be used in planning the expenditure of the $300,000 Fund, for the erection of mission buildings in the fields, and that time be taken for the closest cooperation and counsel between the mission fields and the Mission Board, in order that every expenditure may be made to serve the present and future interests of the work in the fullest measure possible; and we urge that local stations be given counsel by the general mission committee in the field as to details of building plans, and that no local committee or company of workers proceed with building operations or expenditure of the money without such counsel.

That workers in mission fields occupying homes provided by mission funds, pay rent for the same at a reasonable rate, as may be arranged between the mission field committee and the Mission Board; and further,—

That any serious inequality in wage rates of workers of the same rating, due to the varying costs of living in different towns or districts, be equalized as far as possible by adjustment of allowance for rent.

Medical Department

Dr. D. H. Kress, secretary of the Medical Missionary Department, made a most cheering report of last year's work of our sanitariums. The year 1919 has been a good one. On the very lowest basis, much lower than the facts might warrant, he reported that our sanitariums had forged ahead financially during the year by over $60,000. In many ways the sanitariums are being made the bases of much more active evangelistic and educational work than ever before. The discussion of the report emphasizes the evangelistic side of the medical missionary work and the important service which physicians and nurses may render in the evangelization of the great cities near which the institutions are located.

Brethren spoke of the active work in the ministry of the word of God which our physicians and nurses are doing in the mission fields while ministering to physical needs. Dr. Thomason, of South Africa, testified to blessed experiences, as he had determined to cultivate this gift of public ministry in work among the churches at the camp-meetings, and otherwise. He referred also to special experiences of spiritual blessing, as he yielded to the counsel of the brethren at the recent South African meeting, and accepted ordination to the gospel ministry. Dr. A. B. Olsen, of England, and Dr. N. P. Nelson, of Denmark, spoke of the close connection between the medical and the evangelistic work, and of the importance of the evangelistic spirit in the institutions. Sister Mackie, a nurse of India, spoke of experiences in that field. The following recommendations relating to special medical questions were adopted by the council:—

That Dr. V. Pampaian, now of Constantinople, be advised to secure suitable qualifications for legal medical practice in Turkey.

That a health home for missionaries be established at some suitable location in East Africa, to serve the growing missionary force in British and German East Africa, so that those who are attacked by fever or other illness may receive care in the field.

That qualified medical help be provided at the earliest possible date to assist Dr. P. A. DeForest in his work at the Gland sanitarium. [The Gland sanitarium, in French Switzerland, is receiving a splendid and increasing patronage; and in the councils of the European members of the committee, it was recommended that Brother L. E. Conradi, who this year will finish his medical course in Germany, visit Switzerland at once in order to investigate the steps necessary to qualify for medical practice in that field.]

That the starting of the proposed sanitarium quarterly, which has been under consideration, be deferred until the next meeting of the General Conference; in the meantime, that all those interested in the matter give it their earnest study and consideration.

India

Elder J. L. Shaw, superintendent of the India Union Mission, sent from India a very interesting report of progress and a fresh review of the crying needs of that great field. The first on the list is the call for evangelistic help to reach the long-neglected and populous English-speaking centers of India. Already Elder C. B. Haynes, of Baltimore, is under appointment to India for the English work, and it was recommended,—

That the officers of the General Conference plan to send a second evangelist to India in the coming autumn, to join in the English work.

That the Publishing Department be requested to hasten the selection of two canvassers to go this autumn to India.

It was agreed that these calls must be responded to without further delay, but that other urgent calls for reenforcements must await consideration at the close of the year, when it may be ascertained how far the increased mission gifts will allow of further help to be sent forward. Earnestly the council prays that the Lord may open fresh streams of liberality, so that these sore needs may be supplied.

The First Sunday

Just a word as to the first Sunday in the camp. During the time of the morning public service the members of the committee visited the school farm, about a mile and a half distant. By noon the public had begun to gather in from surrounding towns and villages, the newspapers having given much notice to the meeting. A little narrow-gage railway, which runs within a mile of Friedensau, brought hundreds. The country roads were lined with cyclists—men, women, and children. The brethren who managed the wheel-check department (charging a ten-pfennig piece, 2½ cents) took care of 380 bicycles, and many other wheels were not placed in check. As the crowd was a moving one, the afternoon was occupied by various speakers, giving brief talks concerning mission fields and experiences in preaching the message in the far lands. The little children gave a missionary program,—arranged by Miss Creeper, of Hamburg,—which was most interesting and touching, their childish voices ringing out over the vast congregation in earnest appeal for souls dying in the darkness. Then the children gathered from the congregation $135 for missions.

Further report must be deferred.

W. A. SPICER, Secretary.

Friedensau.

Heirs of God With Christ

“THE Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

Church Union and Federation

ACCORDING to the United Presbyterian of July 6, there is very little disposition on the part of the various religious organizations to effect an organic union. Negotiations have been carried on for some time between the principal Methodist churches, also some of the different branches of the Presbyterian Church; but these negotiations have received a check, and “apparently the tide is set backward, although the bodies are so nearly alike.” However, “the trend everywhere appears to be toward federation.” The very spirit of church federation is a selfish one. It is contrary to the spirit of the free and open gospel. That it will succeed in the end, we have but little doubt. Its success will be accomplished on the same basis as the other great federations in the world. But this sort of union will not work for the betterment of the world or for the advancement of the gospel. In its federated capacity the great Christian church will turn its back upon the truth of God, set up a false standard of religious requirement, and compel its observance. Religion will be enforced by the law, and the principles of the church in the fourth century will again be put in operation. All this, according to the prophecy of Revelation 13 and other scriptures, will result from the present agitation of church federation. The only true federation and union which the church of God should know is that which has as a basis the spirit and power of the Lord Jesus.

Note and Comment

A Destroyer of Girlhood

THIS is the charge which Judge K. M. Landis, of Chicago, brings against theaters. In addition he says:—

Much has been said and written of the ways of these five-cent theaters, and of their dangers and demoralizing influences. But the wildest stuff that ever has been written or said has not got beyond the merest fringe of the real facts.

It is to be deplored that so many who pass as Christian people are found among the patrons of these playhouses. The theater, the ballroom, the card-party, the circus, and many other popular amusements contribute their full share of evil influence in lessening moral integrity and lowering the moral standard. Some of these amusements may occupy a different place in the scale than others, but together they form a connected series, a chain, the influence of which is to lead men to plunge into the mad whirl of sensuous pleasure and forget God. We may perhaps expect little else of the world. Surely to those who profess the joy of Christian life and service, these pleasures should make no appeal.

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