Josiah Strong, D.D., of New York, tarried in San Francisco after the adjournment of the Christian Endeavor Convention, apparently to give his Evangelical Alliance ideas practical shape. He had addressed the ministers during the convention on the subject of establishing local alliances having for their object the dissemination of reading matter setting forth the duties and responsibilities of citizens. The end in view was the purification of politics, which is fast coming to the front as the one great purpose of so-called evangelical religion.
On July 26 the ministers of the evangelical churches held a union meeting and determined to begin a campaign bearing on “good citizenship.” The churches were well represented, and Dr. Strong again gave his ideas concerning the proposition. He, being the secretary and leading spirit of the National Alliance, naturally expected the San Francisco organization to be connected with the national body; but the clergymen present decided that if a local alliance were formed it should be, for some time at least, independent of the national body. It was also decided to ask the various congregations to elect delegates to constitute an executive committee. The Examiner report says that “as part of the plan of campaign it was proposed to divide the city into districts for the distribution of educational pamphlets instructing public officials concerning their duties, and the citizens in regard to what they should do to control the ballot in opposition to the corrupt element in politics.”
Thus we see that such alliances mean the assumption on the part of professed ministers of the Gospel to dictate to civil officers how they shall perform their duties; also an attempt to dictate to the people—to such of the people as will cater to the scheme—how they may control the ballot. Now there are two things that are generally conceded: First, that the law gives the proper instruction to civil officers, and secondly, that “the corrupt element in politics” is that element, of whatsoever profession, that seeks to “control the ballot.” Then the assumption of such an alliance as is contemplated by these ministers is to place themselves above the law in the matter of giving instruction to civil officers; and by their scheming to control the ballot, they logically lower themselves to the ranks of the “corrupt element in politics.”
As we have heretofore shown, this ministerial alliance idea was agitated at the late Christian Endeavor Convention, and the plan, as outlined by Dr. Strong in a public address, is to utilize the young men of that society in furthering the object of the alliance, namely, a general manipulation of political affairs. Thus the seed sown by those in charge of this feature of the convention is already taking root,9and the religio-political machine is already being constructed. How it will work is easy to forecast: It always has been, and always will be, that the mingling of religion and politics tends to religious debauchery and political tyranny. The worst politics the world ever has known has been that which was swayed by a power professing the Christian religion. The Word of God defines the union of the two as fornication on the part of the church and drunkenness on the part of the State. W. N. G.
Tobacco Weighed by Science
By John Harvey Kellogg
Our engraving shows tobacco placed in the scales of reason and weighed with science in the opposite scale. Our artist has pictured the scale-pan which carries the smoking cigar as rising high in the air, while the other scale-pan, weighted with the charges which science brings against the use of the weed, falls heavily down.
Respecting the use of tobacco, there is a difference of opinion, as there is upon every other question relating to human affairs, physical, moral, or political. Science is a great arbitrator, to whom all questions of this sort may be referred. Modern science has by its marvelous achievements won the respect of all civilized men, and established its authority upon a basis of unquestioned solidity.
The mathematician sits down at his desk, with certain unexplained facts before him, and after months of figuring announces to the world a new planet. The astronomers turn their powerful instruments toward a vacant spot in the heavens, and the new world shines out, for the first time beheld by the eyes of man. Science takes a handful of earth, throws it into a chemist’s crucible, and after weeks of patient toil, writes down upon a bit of paper all that that handful of earth contained. Science does not stop with this little earth, in her inquisitive researches. She turns a spectroscope at the sun, or at a distant nebula, and with equal certainty names its constituents.
This same marvelously exact science has investigated tobacco, and has disclosed certain things about this nauseous but strangely fascinating drug, which every user of the weed ought to know about. Here is what science says about tobacco and tobacco-using:—
1. Tobacco Is a Deadly Poison.—It contains a peculiar oil, found in no other plant that grows, which is almost as deadly in its effects as prussic acid. A drop or two will kill a cat in a few seconds, and five times that quantity is a deadly dose for a strong man.
2. Tobacco Intoxicates.—A man who uses tobacco is never really himself while he is under its influence. A hungry man takes an extra cigar or quid, and ceases to be hungry. A tired man indulges in an extra pipe, and no longer feels fatigue. All his senses are benumbed, and it is reasonable to suppose that the delicate moral sensibilities, like the more purely physical senses, succumb to this powerful narcotic. Benzoni, who traveled on this continent (America) more than three centuries ago, thus described the effects of tobacco upon the aboriginal smokers: “They lose their reason” and “fall down as if they were dead, and remain the greater part of the day or night stupefied.” Men who smoke much are really intoxicated all the time; and there is no doubt that the vice of smoking leads in a powerful manner to the vice of alcoholic intoxication.
3. Tobacco-Using Stunts the Growth.—When the use of tobacco is begun before the body is matured, its worst effects are seen. It effectually stunts the growth. The intellect is also blunted. This fact is now so well known that France, Switzerland, and several States in this country, have prohibited the sale of tobacco to boys under sixteen years of age, and have even made it a crime to give tobacco to boys. If tobacco is so bad for boys, is it not unwholesome for men?
4. Tobacco Is a Great Cause of Disease.—It would naturally be expected that a poison so powerful as tobacco would be a potent cause of disease, and the facts fully justify this conclusion. It is positively known that the use of tobacco, by lowering the vital tone, is a predisposing cause of many diseases, and it is equally well known that it is a positive cause of many maladies, among which are the following: (1) Nervousness is one of the characteristic results of the use of tobacco. Every narcotic has the effect to diminish the nerve tone, and it is only a question of time that the nerve tone will become exhausted, and then the individual will become a victim of that hydra-headed malady, neurasthenia, or nervous debility. (2) Dyspepsia. Some persons are induced to resort to the use of tobacco under the delusion that it is a panacea for dyspepsia. It will undoubtedly benumb the stomach, but it is an effectual cause of this protean malady rather than a cure for it. (3) Disease of the lungs. This is particularly true of smoking, which introduces into the lungs a considerable amount of soot, which is deposited in the lungs and may cause the development of tubercle. (4) Injury to the voice. This is particularly true of smoking. The hot, acrid vapors taken into the throat injure the delicate mucous membrane, and produce what is well known to physicians as “smoker’s sore throat.” (5) The tobacco heart. The rigid examination made of men seeking to enter the army has developed the fact that a very large proportion of old smokers are afflicted with what has been called “the tobacco heart.” The pulse is feeble and irregular, and indicates that the heart is in a condition of chronic poisoning. This condition is the precursor of more serious diseases of this important organ, which may result fatally. General paralysis, and especially that form known as creeping paralysis, is very frequently caused by the use of tobacco. Locomotor ataxia, a disease in which the patient reels like a drunken man when he walks, is also sometimes due to this cause. The use of tobacco in any form is now well known to be a potent cause of a peculiar form of blindness which comes on insidiously, and is called “tobacco amaurosis.” This disease is well known to oculists. (6) The sense of smell is soon lost by snuff-takers and cigarette smokers. The sense of taste, also, seldom survives the long use of either the quid or the pipe. Tobacco is a general paralyzer. (7) Smoker’s cancer. The death of General Grant and several other prominent public men within the last10few years from smoker’s cancer has fully informed the public of the fact that the filthy weed is capable of inducing this horrible and usually incurable malady. (8) Other bad diseases. The very worst and vilest of diseases are often communicated by means of cigars and pipes. Cigars are often infected by diseased workmen.
Science says most emphatically, tobacco is a vile and filthy weed, destructive of both mind and body. Reader, if you are addicted to its use, make haste to rid yourself of the baleful influence of this poisonous drug.
J. H. KELLOGG, M.D.
“AS IT WAS IN THE DAYS OF SODOM.”
As it was in the days of Sodom, or Lot, our Lord tells us, “thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.” Luke 17:28-33. “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me; therefore I took them away as I saw good.” Eze. 16:49, 50. The idleness and fulness led to abominable licentiousness. This history is repeating to-day. Says Dr. Wilbur F. Crafts, in the Union Signal of July 15:—
“Impurity is increasing apace in all parts of the land.” This was the verdict of a recent convention of physicians, based on the awful evidence which comes to this profession in diseased men and ruined girls. The crowded divorce courts, and, yet more, the divorce lawyers, tell the same story. Mrs. Maud B. Booth, several years ago, on the basis of abundant information gathered by the Salvation Army, estimated that there were in this country 230,000 professional prostitutes. Adding the apprentices, there was even then a full quarter million, supported by more than a million male prostitutes. In this, as in other crimes, the offenders are not more than one-tenth women. They follow this awful trade but five years, on the average. That means 50,000 deaths a year, and 50,000 seductions to fill their places—1,000 a week. No other vice more swiftly and surely ruins body and soul, and none has been so fatal to national life. Babylon, Greece, Rome, all were destroyed by this plague, and France is dying of it to-day. In no other civilized nation is impurity so bold as in France, and in no other is the birth rate falling below the death rate, a warning to individuals and nations alike.”
And the only reformation which will cure the evil is the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, through consecrated and willing hearts. Civil law may cause a vice to hide, but it will not change the fountain. But grace will do it if the fallen are willing.
Cleansed by the Blood of the Lamb
A SECULARIST paper, the Torch of Reason, in endeavoring to lift up its constituents, asks the question, “Are you washed from the filth of selfishness, superstition, and hypocrisy?”—No, brother man, and they, or any one else, never will be till they are washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, cleansed by the power of the life of God. This may be ridiculed, but it is a fact, nevertheless, a fact proved by the very exceptions. You may reject him in reason, but whenever you will come in the greatness of your need and in simple faith, he will cleanse you and wash you from your sins.
In a recent decision by Judge Canty, of the Supreme Court of Minnesota, he holds that the Salvation Army or other unincorporated organizations, in order to take advantage of bequests left them must be incorporated; otherwise they can not receive a bequest, no matter on what terms the property may be left them. Incorporation is required that the beneficiary of the trust may be certain, or capable of being rendered certain, or, in other words, so that the courts may be sure that the property bequeathed goes to the use and enjoyment of the association for which it was intended.
Lady Somerset Resigns.
Lady Somerset has resigned the presidency of the British Women’s Temperance Association. She recently addressed a circular to the presidents of the branch associations asking them not to approve or sign petitions to Lord George Hamilton, secretary of state for India, against the renewal of the Contagious Diseases Acts for India. The branches almost without exception refused to be governed by Lady Henry’s request, and she has consequently resigned the presidency of the association.—Western British American.
THE MOTHER'S MISSION.
Yes, clothe the little bodies with all a mother's care,
Yet think not all important, What shall the children wear?
And feed the mouths uplifted to you for daily bread,
But deem it more important to mold the heart and head.
Make clothes and food and living as simple as you can;
For well remember “it is not the coat that makes the man.”
Look upon the little forms that gather round your board
As just so many messengers in training for the Lord.
He's given you the training work, a glorious work it is,
And not one child is all your own—He's bo't them; they are His,
While those who go to foreign lands—to India and Japan—
Are workers in the vineyard, and we'll help them all we can;
Yet she who acts a mother's part, in faithfulness to give
Her little ones the living Word, that they may look and live,
Has just as great a mission, and when the Lord shall come
He'll take her and her jewels and carry them safe home.
SYSTEMATIC GIVING.
Aunt Rachel, an old colored woman, had lived with Mr. and Mrs. Allyn for years, whether as mistress or servant of the establishment they could scarcely tell; they only knew that she was invaluable. She had taken a grandmotherly guardianship of all the children, and had a voice in most matters that concerned the father and mother, while in the culinary department she reigned supreme.
Aunt Rachel had strong opinions, especially in the matter of giving to the Lord. “I believe in systematics ’bout such things,” she emphatically said, and out of her own little store she carefully laid aside one-eighth.
“Cause if dem old Israelites was tol’ to give one-tenth, I’d just like to frow in a little more for good measure!” But the friends, so beloved, paid little attention to the old woman’s opinion. “The idea of counting up all one’s income, and setting aside a fixed portion of it for charity, and then calling only what remains one’s own, makes our religion seem arbitrary and exacting; it is like a tax,” said Mrs. Allyn, one day; “and I think such a view of it ought by all means to be avoided. I like to give freely and gladly of what I have when the time comes. Money laid aside beforehand has only a sense of duty and not much feeling about it; besides, what difference can it make so long as one gives what he can when there is a call?
Soon there came a call.
“Came, unfortunately, at a time when we were rather short,” Mrs. Allyn said regretfully. “However, we gave what we could,” she added. “I hope it will do good, and I wish it were five times as much.”
Old Rachel shook her head over that cheerful dismissal of the subject. She shook it many times that morning, and seemed intensely thoughtful, as she moved slowly about her work.
When the dinner hour arrived, both master and mistress scanned the table with wide-open eyes, astonished at the plain and meager fare, so unlike any dinner that had ever before been served in that house.
“What has happened, my dear?” asked the gentleman, turning to his wife.
“I do not know,” she replied, with a questioning glance at Rachel.
“Dat’s all de co’ meat dar was—sorry I didn’t have no more,” she said, half apologetically.
“But I sent home a choice roast this morning,” began Mr. Allyn wonderingly, “and you have no potatoes either—nor vegetables of any kind.”
“A body has to think ’bout it a good while aforehand to get a roast cooked, an’ I thought I’d give ye what I happened to have when de time come, an’ I didn’t happen to have much of nuffin’. O, I forgot the bread!”
“No bread!” murmured Mrs. Allyn.
“No, honey; used it all up for toast dis mornin’. Might have made muffins, if I had planned for ’em long enough, but that kind o’ makes a body feel’s if dey had to do it, an’ I wanted to get dinner for yer all out o’ my warm feelin’s when de time come.”
“When a man has provided bountifully for his household, it seems as if he might expect to enjoy a small share of it himself, even if the preparation does require a little trouble,” remarked Mr. Allyn impatiently.
“Cur’us how things make a body think of Bible verses,” said Rachel musingly. “Dar’s dat one ’bout, ‘Who giveth us all things richly to enjoy,’ an’, ‘What shall I render to de Lord for all his benefits to’ards me?’ Dar! I didn’t put on dem peaches!”
“Dat’s all,” she said, returning with a very few peaches at the bottom of a large basket. “De chil’erns eat a good many, an’ dey was used up one way an’ ’nother. I’se sorry dar a’nt no more, but I hopes ye’ll ’joy what dar is, an’ I wishes ’twas five times as much.”
A look of sudden intelligence flashed into Mr. Allyn’s eyes. He bit his lip for a moment, and then asked quietly:—
“Couldn’t you have laid aside some for us?”
“Well, s’pose I could,” said the old servant, relenting at the tone. “I will next time. Allers thought de folks things belonged to had de best right to ’em; but I’d heard givin’ whatever happened was so much freer an’ lovin’er way o’ servin’ dem ye loves best, dat I thought I’d try it. But it does ’pear’s if dey fared poor, an’ I’ll have to go back to de old plan of systematics.”
“Do you see, George?” questioned the wife, when they were again alone.
“Yes, I see—an object lesson with a vengeance.”
“And if she should be right, and our careless giving seem anything like this!” pursued Mrs. Allyn.
“She is right, Fanny. We call Christ our King and Master, believe that every blessing we have in this world is his direct gift, and all our hopes for the world to come are in him. We profess to be not our own but his, that his service is our chief business; and yet, strangely enough, we provide lavishly for our own apparel, entertainment, and ease, and apportion nothing for the interests of his kingdom or the forwarding of his work, but leave that to any chance pence that may happen to be left after our wants and fancies are gratified. It doesn’t seem like very faithful or loving service.”
There was a long talk over that dinner table—indeed, it did not furnish opportunity for much other employment; and that afternoon husband and wife together examined into their expenses and income, and set apart a certain portion as sacred unto the Lord, doing it somewhat after Rachel’s plan of “good measure.” To do this, they found, required the giving up of some needless indulgences, a few accustomed luxuries. But a cause never grows less dear on account of the sacrifices we make for it, and as these two scanned the various fields of labor in deciding what to bestow here and what there, they awoke to a new appreciation of the magnitude and glory of the work, and a new interest in its success,—the beginning of that blessing pronounced upon those who “sow beside all waters.”—Author Unknown.
“NOT IF IT WAS MY BOY.”
By Anon.
SOME years ago the late Horace Mann, an eminent educator, delivered an address at the opening of some reformatory institute for boys, during which he remarked that if only one boy was saved from ruin, it would pay for all the cost and labor of establishing such an institute as that. After the exercises had ceased, in private conversation a gentleman rallied Mr. Mann on his statement, and said to him:—
“Did you not color that a little, when you said that all the expense and labor would be repaid if it only saved one boy?”
“Not if it was my boy,” was the solemn and convincing reply.
Ah, there is a wonderful value about “my boy”! Other boys may be rude and rough; other boys may be reckless and wild; other boys may seem to require more pains and labor than they will ever repay; other boys may be left to drift uncared for to the ruin which is near at hand; but “my boy”—it were worth the toil of a lifetime and the lavish wealth of a world to save him from temporal and eternal ruin. We would go the world round to save him from peril, and would bless every hand that was stretched out to give help and welcome. And yet every poor, wandering, outcast, homeless man, is one whom some fond mother called “my boy.” Shall we shrink from labor, shall we hesitate at cost, when the work before us is the salvation of a soul? Not if it is “my boy,” nor if we have the love of Him who gave His life to save the lost.—Anon.
QUEEN VICTORIA'S CORONATION OATH.
THE official oath signed and subscribed to by the queen on her coronation was as follows (according to Florence Hayward, in the Century for June):—
Archbishop (of Canterbury)—Madam, is your majesty willing to take the oath?
The Queen—I am willing.
Archbishop—Will you solemnly promise and swear to govern the people of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the dominions thereto belonging according to the statutes in parliament agreed on and the respective laws and customs of the same?
The Queen—I solemnly promise so to do.
Archbishop—Will you to your power cause law and justice in mercy to be executed in all your judgments?
The Queen—I will.
Archbishop—Will you to the utmost of your power maintain the laws of God, the true profession of the Gospel, and the Protestant reformed religion established by law? And will you maintain and preserve inviolably the settlement of the United Church of England and Ireland, and the doctrine, worship, discipline, and government thereof, as by law established within England and Ireland and the territories thereunto belonging? And will you preserve unto the bishops and clergy of England and Ireland and to the churches there committed to their charge all such rights and privileges as by law do or shall appertain to them or any of them?
The Queen—All this I promise to do. The things which I have here before promised I will perform and keep. So help me God.
VICTORIA R.
Treating a Mule Better Than a Wife
“THE devil is proud of the man who treats his mule better than he does his wife.”
THE MESSAGE IN GERMANY.
By H. P. H.
While the German emperor was on his pleasure trip along the coasts of Norway, an important work was going on at his capital. July 2–11 believers in the speedy return of the Lord were there assembled from all parts of the empire and from several surrounding countries, and engaged in the earnest study of the Word of the Lord for this time. A finely decorated hall had been secured within a few steps of the imperial palace and many other prominent edifices of the German capital. Our morning walk to the meeting took us past the National Peace Monument, decorated with cannon, the new Reichstag building, down the whole length of Unter den Linden, past the fine bronze equestrian monument of Frederick the Great, the National Library, the university, with marble statues of the two Humboldts at either side of the entrance, the art gallery, museum, imperial palace, and the new, partially completed, bronze monument of the late emperor William, already called the Great.
But while in the midst of the splendors of the German capital, our attention was more absorbed by the capital of our own country; and instead of looking at the things which can be seen, we spent most of our time beholding the invisible, the dazzling glories of which shone out more brightly as we beheld them day by day in the inspired Word. About 225 believers from most of the states of the German Empire, and from Holland, Bohemia, and Roumania, were in attendance at this meeting. These represented in language the German, Dutch, Lithuanian, Polish, Bohemian, Hungarian, Russian, and Roumanian. Of these 225, about sixty are engaged as colporters, ministers, and Bible workers in proclaiming the truths of the third angel’s message in the tongues named. During the past year over seventeen million pages were printed for their use; of these 47,305.36 marks worth ($1,050) were sold.
Altho infidelity is making fearful ravages in Germany, there remains much of the element which produced the Great Reformation in this field; and as the work of reformation now goes on, this element still responds to the light of the Word. The active work in preaching the message has been in progress but 7 years, there are now 1,145 believers in this field. During the past 2 years, 6 new churches and 12 companies were established. During the past year 280 members were added. Few people manifest more of the missionary spirit than the Germans; as soon as one receives the light of truth he can not rest till his neighbors know about it; in consequence, wherever a new company is established, the truth works like leaven, and the number of members increases.
In few fields do we see more of the fruits of the Gospel along the line of sacrifice than here; tithes and offerings come in freely; during the past year these amounted to 36,404.35 marks.
So far as our work has extended, we have found no field where so many difficulties are met by those that walk in the whole counsel of God; the administration of the laws is thorough and vigorous, and according to these, it is impossible to keep the commandments of God without conflict with the authorities. All children must attend school on the Sabbath, and every able-bodied man must do military service and serve on the Sabbath. On account of refusal to do so, several have met severe punishment, while others have been more lightly dealt with. But everywhere these cases testify before the authorities that there is a God in heaven whom some fear more than mortal man.
The message is spreading rapidly in this field; the calls for labor are more than can be filled; some new workers are being recruited from year to year, and this year one young man, John Huenegard, from Kansas, was added to the native forces.
In addition to the meetings held for the affairs of the mission, two Bible studies were held daily by Prof. W. W. Prescott, who came from London for this purpose. The Lord gave much light and blessing from his Word, to the refreshing and rejoicing of all. At the close of the meeting one was ordained to the work of the Gospel ministry, and nine were baptized. Lectures on present truth were held each evening, and were attended by 300 to 400. A good degree of interest has been awakened in Berlin, where there are already over 120 members. The meeting closed with an excellent spirit of courage on the part of all; and we doubt not that its influence will live and be extended into all parts of this large field.
H. P. H.
MISSIONS IN SYRIA AND ASIA MINOR
By Henry H. Jessup
BY REV. HENRY H. JESSUP, D.D.
THERE are in Syria and Palestine 252 foreign laborers, men and women, 168 being in Syria and 84 in Palestine. Of the 168 in Syria there are men, 73; wives, 34; unmarried women, 61; Of the 84 in Palestine there are men, 34; wives, 14; unmarried women, 36; the totals of the 252 in Syria and Palestine being 107 men, 48 wives, and 97 unmarried women. Of the men 53 are ordained, and 26 are physicians, and one of the unmarried women is a physician. This is certainly a large corps, and should be effective in doing great good to the souls and bodies of the people.
The population of Syria and Palestine is not far from 2,600,000. This gives, on an average, one foreign laborer to every 10,000 of the people. But it should be borne in mind that a large part of these laborers are engaged in educational work, having under instruction not far from 10,000 children and youths. For this reason certain centers, like Beyroot, Damascus, and Jerusalem, have more than their share of foreign laborers, while some of the outlying districts have none.
Beyroot has 52 foreign laborers, with a population of 100,000. Of these 22 are in the Syrian Protestant College, and almost all of the rest are in the various institutions, American, English, Scotch, and German.
Jerusalem, with a population not half that of Beyroot, has 28 laborers, who have charge of schools, hospitals, and general evangelistic work.
The large institutions like the Syrian Protestant College, the Prussian Orphanage, and the British Syrian Training Institution for Educating Teachers, the American Female Seminary, and the Hospital of the Protestant Knights of St. John in Beyroot, with the boarding schools, orphanages, and hospitals in Damascus, Brummana, Nazareth, Jaffa, Bethlehem, Tiberias, and Jerusalem, will no doubt remain for many years to come in foreign hands and be maintained by foreign funds. It will be a long time before the men or the means can be found in this land to conduct such institutions.
And in the evangelistic work, the founding of churches and communities, the obstacles to self-support are very great. The people seem to be growing poorer instead of richer. In Asia Minor the flourishing self-supporting churches in Aintah, Marash, and Kharpoot have been well-nigh blotted out by the recent massacres.
In Syria and Palestine tens of thousands of the active and enterprising young men have emigrated to North and South America and Australia, depleting and almost destroying various little country churches.
Whatever may be said by defenders of the government, it is not denied that it is the fixed policy to obstruct the building of churches and the opening of schools by Christians everywhere and always. Christianity is at a discount.
On the other hand, the Eastern and Western Churches, the Russian and the Roman, are now engaged in a desperate struggle for the preponderance of political and ecclesiastical influence in this historic land. Russian and French gold is pouring into the country. Priests, monks, fathers, brothers, sisters, clerical and lay, swarm in all the historic and non-historic sites. Rival buildings, churches, schools, and hospitals spring up in Galilee, Samaria, and Judea, and all through the mountains and seacoast cities of Syria. They fight one another, and only unite in opposition to Protestant missions.
The Russians now have 34 schools in Palestine and Syria. The redeeming feature of these schools is the fact that they require the use of the Arabic Scriptures as a text-book in all their schools, using the translation of Dr. Van Dyck, published at the American Press by the American Bible Society. They are also using numerous religious, moral, and educational works from the American press.
All their schools are free. Tuition and books are given without money, so that even in places where the people have been willing to pay a moderate sum for the education of their children, they now can have it for nothing. With the Jesuits on the one side, and the Russians on the other, bidding for pupils, you can hardly expect the principle of self-support to gain ground in the little Protestant communities.
And yet solid progress has been made. The natives of Syria contributed during 1895 for the education of their children in Protestant schools and for church expenses the sum of $19,000, which is a very creditable showing. Of this sum $11,000 was paid as board and tuition to the Syrian Protestant College. Yet during the first few years of this college almost all the pupils were taught gratuitously. The Female Seminary of the American Mission received last year $1,200 from pupils, whereas thirty years ago its boarders were lodged, fed, taught, and clothed without charge.—Mission News.
WITH ALL THE HEART.
By Rosa Young
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”
It, perchance, may only be
Just one word;
Speak it softly, lovingly,
For your Lord.
Or a tender, touching song
You may sing,
Set it going all day long,
On the wing.
It may cheer some saddened heart,
Soothe some pain,
Make some darkened, hopeless life
Bright again.
Some sweet song of other days
Long ago,
Oft has changed to notes of praise
Sighs of woe.
“Jesus, Lover of my soul;”
“Safe in Thee,
“Rock of Ages,” let me hide—
“Cleft for me.”
Do the work you find to do,
With your might,
Let your words, your smiles be true,
Glad; and bright.
Just a word, a smile, a song
Soothes life's stings,
Even tho they only are
Little things.
Use but these, and you your life
A blessing make
If you do it only for
Jesus' sake.
ROSA YOUNG.
Oakland, Cal.
Act Well in the Moment
By Lavater
Act well at the moment and you have performed a good action to all eternity.—Lavater.
