MISSIONARY WORK IN SWITZERLAND.
By John Nevins Andrews
IN my last report, I spoke of my purpose to obtain the addresses of a large number of French Protestants. I have already obtained several thousands, and many of these are the names of those who give for benevolent and religious purposes, as for the distribution of the Bible. I have also obtained a large number of names of the better class of farmers and of other persons in various branches of industry. Many of the readers of our paper, in response to my request, have sent in the names of their friends and acquaintances. Persons of whom I know nothing except that they take our paper, have sent us lists of names. We now send out almost our entire edition of two thousand copies. We seek to follow the manner of the tract societies in America; and after sending several numbers, we write to those who receive them. This involves much labor, which we are trying to get our friends here to help us perform. I hope soon to give the result of this effort to enlist our friends in missionary work, and to show that they bear their part of the burden of labor and expense. We have many evidences that our paper is doing a good work. A lady who has never seen any preacher of our faith wrote us from the interior of France a few days since, expressing her deep interest in the truths of our paper, and sending twelve francs, which is more than twice our subscription price. We have also just received from a lady at St. Petersburg a letter very similar to the one just mentioned, and containing the same sum of money. Both these ladies send us names for Les Signes, and the lady at St. Petersburg desires the German paper also. A Swiss gentleman that I have never seen has recently sent twenty-five francs for our paper; another who has received one number of Les Signes has just sent his subscription for it, and ordered tracts. We have also a class of readers that take a deep interest in our paper, because it has contained so many articles on temperance. We have received encouraging letters from friends of temperance, some of whom seem not to be professors of religion, from most of the countries of Western Europe. Since my return to Europe, I have been making an earnest effort to render our work as nearly self-supporting as possible. All of our brethren have undertaken to pay the tithe, and they appear to do it gladly. I am persuaded that we can soon sustain ourselves. It is my first business to renew the work of the tract societies, which greatly declined during my long absence. I hope to say shortly that nearly all our friends are active workers. I also hope that our French friends in America will render all the assistance in their power. If they wish to aid in the expense of sending our paper into France, we shall be glad of their assistance. We have plenty of addresses, and are receiving more all the time. We will do all the work, after the manner of the tract societies in America, and only ask these dear friends to bear the expense of such number of copies as they are able. Or, if they wish to send us the names of their friends in France or elsewhere in Europe, we will send the paper to them instead of using such names as we have. We offer to do the work, because it would not be advisable to send our paper to America to be sent back to Europe. The postage in Switzerland is two-fifths of a cent on each number; the postage to France is one cent, and it is the same to all the countries of Europe and to America. Our paper is furnished to subscribers at one dollar per year. We will make the same discount to tract societies that is made on the American papers which they send out. We earnestly ask the co-operation of our French friends in America. And if there are any tract societies of Americans that can consistently aid us, we make them the same proposition that we have here made to the French.