Earlier text: Dreams of ParadiseJuly 6, in company with Brethren F. W. Field and F. H. DeVinney, I left Tokyo for Kobe, where we were to hold a five days’ meeting. About four hours’ ride south of Tokyo we stopped over one night at Numazu, where had been found favorable locations for the sanitarium and school, which we hope soon to have for Japan. It was raining so hard that it was impracticable to see the various locations which had been thought suitable for our work. We visited the places the best we could in jinrikishas; but there was so much rain and fog that it was impossible to appreciate the beauties of the scenery. The next day we proceeded to Kobe, reaching there about nine o’clock that night. We were heartily welcomed by many of the believers, including the helpers in the sanitarium. Brother De Vinney and myself were taken to the sanitarium for accommodations, while Brother Field went home with Brother and Sister J. N. Herboltzheimer. The workers in the sanitarium had been long looking for our arrival, and all were anxious to see Brother DeVinney, who had come to take an active part in the work in Japan. The managers had done everything in their power to make our stay agreeable and pleasant. A well-furnished room was prepared for our reception, and supplied with every convenience; and during our entire stay they insisted we should be served with food after the foreign (that is, the European) style. This added much to the labor of those doing the work, but it was greatly appreciated. Meetings were held at 6 A. M., 2 P. M., and 8 P. M. They were attended by nearly all the church-members, and the hearts of the workers were greatly encouraged. The last evening four arose for baptism, thus expressing a desire to join the church. It was a great pleasure to me to meet once more these children of the Lord. Scarcely one in the company of believers had given up the truth since I last met with them two years ago. The church-membership is increasing; and notwithstanding that all the foreign workers except Brother and Sister Herboltzheimer have left Kobe, the attendance at the Sabbath services seems to be on the increase. Much literature has been distributed by the canvassers in Kobe and vicinity, and there is some interest to hear concerning the truth. The sanitarium in Kobe is doing a splendid work for the Japanese. It is built for the Japanese, and is run according to the customs of the country. When we arrived, every room was taken except the room fitted up for foreigners, which had been reserved for us. Before we left, the patients had come in so rapidly that several had to be accommodated in one room. The prospects are most encouraging for a good patronage this summer and fall. The institution is becoming known among the higher classes, and several persons from the royalty have lately been numbered among its patients. Men of wealth have been so well pleased with the good work it is doing that they have interested themselves in bettering the conditions of the institution. One wealthy man hires a room by the year, and sends any one he chooses at any time to occupy it. Another felt so kindly disposed that he hired a plat of ground adjoining the sanitarium, and loaned it without charge to the institution for five years. Another, learning that the sanitarium had to have some money, loaned it over six thousand yen to help meet a demand made upon it. Thus friends are rising up on every side, and the work of the institution is growing. We found the spiritual interest very encouraging. This sanitarium seeks to win its patients to accept Christianity and to become believers in the message. All who come find most of the helpers and inmates sincere, earnest Christians; and as they receive relief from their physical maladies, they often find their faith in the Christian religion greatly strengthened by beholding the godly lives of this Christian family. Surely this institution is a light set upon a hill, enlightening the benighted souls about it with a knowledge of the gospel of the Great Physician. One is strongly impressed with the gentleness, the sympathy, the Christian charity, of this band of workers. There are about twenty in the family of helpers, and all seem united in love, and of one purpose,—to make the sanitarium do its work well, and be an instrument in bringing many souls to Christ. Dr. Noma stands at the head of the sanitarium, and she is most anxious that it shall do the work the Lord designs for it. Dr. Arita, from Tokyo, is also connected with the work there, and is doing all he can for the upbuilding of the cause in Kobe. After spending five days in Kobe,—which were altogether too few,—we were compelled to leave for Hiroshima to attend the general meeting beginning July 13. It was with regret that we said good-by to the workers, and we left them feeling that we were leaving a group of devoted children of the Lord. It is wonderful what Christianity will do for people in a few years. Only a short time ago, most of these workers were heathen. They came to the sanitarium for various reasons; and now there is a family of earnest, praying, believing Christians. They not only believe in Christianity, but they try to live the Christian life. Before the patients they set a daily example of what the Christian life should be. Dr. Noma’s work, supplemented as it is by her husband and her faithful corps of workers, means much to the influence of Christianity in and about Kobe. We trust the Lord’s rich blessing will abide with the work in the sanitarium. Whitefield Protects the Lord’s Money
A HIGHWAYMAN plunged out upon Whitefield as he rode along on horseback, a sack of money on the horse, money that he had raised for orphan asylums. The highwayman put his hand on the gold, and Whitefield turned to him, and said: “Touch that if you dare; that belongs to the Lord Jesus Christ!” And the ruffian slunk into the forest.—Selected. India Needs a Little Sanitarium
By T. E. BOWEN
INDIA has long waited patiently for funds to build a little sanitarium up in the bracing atmosphere of the hills about Mussoorie. Dr. H. C. Menkel and those associated with him have almost lost hope that the blessing of having a little institution of their own will ever be realized. But they should have funds out of the $300,000 Fund right away, if we expect at all to continue this work for the people of India. What would sanitarium workers here in the homeland think, if, at the close of every season of surgical work, they were compelled to pack up everything in the sanitarium as securely as if it were to be shipped across the continent, only to reset the institution again in the spring? But this is what we are compelling our medical missionary workers in India to do every fall and spring, year after year. In a personal letter from Dr. Menkel, he gives us a little insight into the situation:— “The sanitarium season ends November 1. We must then pack up, and take our departure for the plains. I trust that by the time another season has passed, there will be sufficient money in hand from the $300,000 Fund to secure a property, so that this task of packing and unpacking the entire institution each year may not be repeated more than necessary. If you can imagine one of our small institutions at home being obliged to pack everything in boxes, as securely as if to be shipped from San Francisco to New York, and in four months’ time return, and go through the process of fitting up the institution as if they were fitting up a new plant, you will not wonder that we so keenly feel the need of having an institution of our own. Until we have a place of our own, where some one can remain throughout the year, this process will be necessary. We can assure you we are watching this fund with keen interest, and are earnestly petitioning the Lord to impress hearts to contribute sufficient that our request for a sanitarium may be speedily realized.”
And who, under circumstances such as these, would not watch with keen interest the progress made in the raising of the $300,000 Fund? By taking an active interest in raising this money quickly, we shall be instrumental in answering many earnest prayers sent heavenward by our faithful missionaries. IN closing the reports of observations in Europe during the summer season, I should speak of the cheering message that comes to all in other lands from Europe generally. I do not refer to the greetings from our brethren. They do send salutations to all, and assurances of fellowship in the truth, and comradeship in the service. They have voiced this in public services, and again and again brethren have personally spoken, wishing their greetings to be conveyed to their brethren in America and abroad. Our European brethren appreciate the efforts that the believers in America have made to send laborers and means to establish the work in Europe. Their hearts warm with gratitude and thanksgiving as they think of it; for they count this truth their chiefest treasure. And as they received the good news from others, so are they ready now to sacrifice and toil to send on the message to those who have never heard. But the work itself has a message of good cheer for us in all other lands. A Vigorously Growing Work
In the first twenty years of our work in Europe, about a thousand souls had been gathered out; and gratefully we thanked God for that fruitage. Last quarter in Europe about a thousand new converts were reported—now one brief quarter bringing the increase of that first score of years. Every fresh recruit means another voice lifted up amid the millions, crying the message of the Lord’s soon coming. It is no figure of speech to say that the message is going with “a strong voice,” as the prophet wrote so long ago. Where, in this time of shaking, one drops out and raises the voice of murmuring and unbelief, in the same time,—this time also of the latter rain,—scores step into the ranks to raise to still louder volume the glad voice of the third angel’s message. Not in accessions only, but in increasing gifts and tithes, Europe sends us a message of good cheer. Their tithes and offerings to missions this year are running close up to the quarter-of-a-million-dollar mark, if they do not go beyond that. Every field is growing in financial strength. The income in Europe to-day is about the same as our entire world-wide income only twenty years ago. And our brethren there have their eyes upon the goal—the finishing of the work. They know that the only way to follow the Lord of the third angel’s message is to follow him on toward “every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.” They have one third of all the population of the world within the recognized territory of the European Division of the General Conference. And while they are working country and city in the older conferences, they are also continually sending the workers on into their newer mission fields. And of this very increase of membership in their older fields is evidence that the Lord is blessing the missionary policy of these conferences. Here is a strong and a blessed work going forward, that is reaching into a third part of the world, and even beyond. My heart was made to rejoice as I mingled with the believers in Europe, north and south, east and west, and saw how this message that rose to organized strength first of all in America, has in a measure, duplicated in Europe what we have in America. It means a great force swung into line for the final effort. I could see it plainly, that if there could be so impossible a thing as that America should drop out of the work altogether, our brethren in Europe and in the colonies would yet carry the message to the ends of the earth in this generation, and see the glad triumph. But while the cause in Europe has grown into vigorous strength, the brethren there have not the slightest feeling of independence of the general work. The organized work, of which they are a part, is their hope, under God; and they are ready at any time to sacrifice local needs for the general good. The message has in itself the power to weld together in one brotherhood of interest the peoples of all languages and races. For the prosecution of the work it is needful that the forces be divided into regiments and battalions, but it is all one army, marching under one standard. A few years ago the Swiss Conference was divided into two, the German-speaking portion in the east, and the French portion in the west, each forming a conference. At first it seemed like cutting things back rather severely, especially to the German portion, as it meant the removal of the old institutional interests from Basel to the French division. But year by year the German-Swiss Conference has forged ahead, and now it is as strong as the entire conference before the division. And the French-Swiss Conference has had about the same experience. Divide and multiply has been the rule, within natural geographical or national lines. Last year the German Union was divided into two unions. This year’s conference was a West German Union meeting; but the attendance was only about two hundred less than the year before, when the meeting was for the entire field. And our brethren in Europe, judging by conference attendance, are not forsaking the assembling of themselves together. In the local conference meetings in Holland, and in German and French Switzerland, about three fourths of the membership was present. All seemed courageous in the truth. When, at the camp-meeting in the Catholic town of Olten, in German Switzerland, Elder L. R. Conradi opened the way for a social meeting, and said, “Who will be the first?” sixty persons stood up as one, and I noticed that one of these was a young brother who had but recently come out of prison, where he had been confined for refusal to work on the Sabbath. The great Latin field of southern Europe, with its hundred millions, is passing through significant changes. We rejoiced at the good reports brought by field superintendents to the union committee meetings in connection with the good French-Swiss meeting at Cernier. Brethren J. Curdy and T. Nussbaum brought good words from northern and southern France. The power of the clergy is being broken in that country; and while irreligion is the fruitage of Catholic supremacy, there is a shaking up of conditions that promises to open wider the door of access to seekers after truth. And Spain, so long under the fullest measure of clerical domination, is turning upon its oppressors in very desperation. We were glad to hear from Brother Walter Bond that these events of which we read in news despatches are evidently being overruled for the opening of Spain to gospel effort. It is a plain signal to us from Providence to enter in, and strengthen the work in Spain. And believers are being steadily gathered out. The same good report was brought by Brother C. E. Rentfro from Portugal. There is a breaking with the Vatican also in that land. In Spain and Portugal, Rome has had its own way for these centuries. Now, in God’s providence, it appears that out of the tumult and the unrest must come a time of greater liberty, for the message13of the coming of the Lord to be preached. And Elder L. Zechetto brought a cheering word from Italy, where our work has seemed to move most slowly. In the north and in the south, as they are getting among the people with cottage meetings, and with public services where possible, results are coming. The truth has power in Italy, and we believe the work there is to share in the revival that is making waste places bloom with hope. It seemed best to our brethren, under the circumstances, to decline to encourage the continuance of the school in Rome, to which friends in America had formerly generously contributed. The unconsecrated Italian teachers in the school have supplied abundant confirmation of the good judgment of our brethren by bringing suit in the courts for various sums on account of the discontinuance of the school. It is evidently unprofitable to conduct work with such material in mission fields. The methods that bring results in all the world are the gospel methods of the preaching and teaching of the truth by those who have the truth in their own hearts. But the brethren in Europe are encouraged by the evidences that the message still bears fruit in Italy, and will press the battle there more vigorously than ever. Thus from every part of Europe comes the news of the onward march of the message. The splendid progress there, amid difficulties and hindrances, amid great masses crowded into cities, and amid Protestants and Catholics, is a signal to us to be of good cheer and to press the battle to the gates. Steadfast Unto the End
By Francis M. Wilcox
Success in every enterprise comes as a rule from earnest, steadfast effort. He who starts, however bravely, only to cease his efforts in a short time, can not hope to succeed. This principle is particularly true as applied to the Christian warfare; for many make shipwreck of their experience on this very point. The apostle Paul says, “We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.” Earnest Christian living does not admit of a wavering, vacillating experience. Real strength of character can be secured only by the exercise of constancy, faithfulness, and perseverance. Living for God is not a question of mental power or brilliant attainments; but it is a matter of being right, and of earnest, steady plodding in right-doing. During these summer months many have experienced a revival in Christian living. In the excellent camp-meetings which have been held in various conferences, scores have obtained a new awakening. New purposes have been formed. There has been made to God and his service a new consecration. Will this new-found experience be only for a day or a month or a year. Will the next annual camp-meeting find those who have taken their stand for God this year in a backslidden state? Will vows be broken, resolutions forgotten, and there be a lapse into the old state of lethargy and indifference? It need not be so. The experience in God gained to-day may be made brighter to-morrow, and may grow brighter through all the coming days and years. This is God’s purpose. This is the experience of Christian growth. One great safeguard to those who have obtained a new experience in the Lord will be found in the exercise of their faith in engaging in active service for their Lord and Master. Exercise is life; without it we can not live, either physically or spiritually. It is a law of nature that those who do not work, die. While we see this illustrated in the natural world, we see continually many illustrations in the spiritual realm as well; hence let every believer take up active missionary labor for those around him. Seek some one in need. Be a missionary in the family, a worker in the church, a light in the neighborhood. This will keep the lamp of life burning in your own experience; and as you seek to impart that which God has given you, he of his grace will add the more to your supply. Every one finding God this year may come up to next year’s season of refreshing with a broader knowledge and a brighter experience. Shall we permit God to make this possible in our own lives? Will the year to come be a year of advancement or retrogression? May we hold fast the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end!
F. M. W. Forewarned in the Prayer Closet
By W. A. S.
DR. W. H. VAN DOREN years ago repeated, in the Evangelist, a story of the historic Wyoming Valley, in Pennsylvania, in the times of 1778. An aged father living in the mountains had asked his sons to go next day to the mill in the valley with corn to replenish the meal chest. The boys prepared bright and early for the journey, expecting as usual to spend the night at the mill, and return the day after. The account runs:— As the father came out in the morning from the closet of prayer, and said to the waiting sons, “Not to-day!” the young men were greatly surprised. “But, father, our supply is used up, and why should we delay?” they said. “Not to-day, my sons,” the man of prayer repeated with emphasis. “I know not what it means, but in my prayer my mind was deeply impressed with this word, ‘Let them abide till the morrow.’” Without charging their venerated parent with superstition, the obedient sons yielded, unl aded their horses, and waited for another morning to come. That memorable night a horde of savages, with torch and tomahawk, entered Wyoming Valley, and began their work of destruction; and it is said that before their work was ended, not a house, barn, church, nor mill escaped the flames; and few of the inhabitants escaped. In the morning at sunrise the father and sons were watching the valley filled with ascending volumes of smoke and flames. The awful truth flashed upon their minds. The aged saint knelt down with his sons on the mountain top, and in adoring prayer thanked God for the warning voice of his Spirit. The Divine Uplift
By C. M. S.
Our Lord said of himself, “I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.” John 12:32. He never intimated that all men would yield to that drawing. But that drawing influence is sent out into all the world, and souls are choosing every day one of two paths,—the one leading upward into the light of life, and the other downward into the darkness of death. Wherever men yield to that drawing power, there is an uplift in the soul that brings them nearer God, and perfects in them qualities that had otherwise remained buried under the clods of worldly cares, trampled by the feet of doubt and rebellion. Scientists often speak of uplifts in the earth’s crust. These uplifts bring to light gold, and silver, and precious stones. So Christ’s uplifting, drawing power in the human soul brings to light the gold and jewels of godlikeness in human character. The uplifts in the earth’s crust represent Christ’s work among earth’s inhabitants. The image, or likeness, of the Creator in man was buried deeper and deeper under the superstition, and demonolatry, and darkness of the ages. Christ promised to perform that mighty work when his sacrifice (the lifting up) had been accomplished. His promise has been kept, and the great work of drawing men out of the world, out of the snares of self and Satan, is permeating every quarter of the globe. The story of the life, and death, and resurrection, and ascension of Christ is thrilling the hearts and drawing the souls of men as no other theme has ever done. There is being set before the world the fact that the heathen doctrine of a man-hating god14is a deception of the enemy, a falsehood of his invention, an utter perversion of fact; and in the place of that falsehood the great and glorious fact of God’s undying love is being made known. Agents of Satan have accused God of cruelty and injustice, and have turned thousands down into death through that cruel untruth. But God is causing his servants to proclaim this glorious message: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” And again: “I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee.” Jer. 31:3. “The Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and ransomed him from the hand of him that was stronger than he.” Verse 11. When men have yielded to that drawing power, and have allowed God to work out in them his purpose concerning them, then he can say of them, “I have satisfied the weary soul, and I have replenished every sorrowful soul.” Verse 25. No penitent, sorrowful soul is ever turned away from Christ unsatisfied. At that fountain there is cleansing and forgiveness for all who seek it, and Christ himself says, Come, come without money and without price; only come and taste and see that the Lord is good. That invitation which he gives he teaches all who accept it to repeat to all who have not yet done so. He sends them forth after the souls that have not known him, or who, having known, have forgotten; and, in the joy of seeing souls yield to God, Christ permits his faithful messengers to share. They go forth to find the lost ones, even as Christ sent others to find them; and, when they find, and with his help retrieve, the wanderers, then they find Christ in a newer, and larger, and more glorious sense than they had ever known him before. You will not find Christ among the feasting, recreant shepherds. He is out in the wilderness seeking the lost. If you would have fellowship with him in its truest sense, you must go with him in the search for the straying ones there. While the great business of the gospel continues in this world, the faithful shepherd will be found seeking the lost. He will not be feasting in the fold while the flock, or any portion of the flock, is straying in the wilderness. He might stay by the fold and himself be lost from Christ, his Overshepherd, who is busy on the mountainside and in the wilderness, where the wolves of sin are worrying the lost. The sheep that has lost its way knows it; the “piece of money” that was lost did not know it was lost. So there are the two classes to be drawn by the power of God, and through the instrumentality of man, back into the ownership and protection of God. Over these Christ leans in love, and for their rescue he sends forth his faithful followers. It is a great business, an urgent business, and the call to this service is a holy calling, a glorious privilege. The Kinship Restored
By C. M. S.
THE gospel of Christ has brought in the principle of brotherhood between persons who are not children of the same father and mother. Sin made enemies of brothers; Christ makes brothers of those who had been enemies. Where Satan put hatred even of brother against brother, Christ has put that feeling of brotherly love which reaches out far beyond the mere circle of the household, and grasps the hands of persons of every nation, without regard to color, creed, or caste. The first feeling of the natural heart toward a person of another nationality is to set up a wall of repulsion, especially if the outward appearance of that person is unlike that with which we are familiar, and the language which he speaks is different from our own. It is this feeling that prompts the Chinaman at home to denominate all foreigners “foreign devils.” It is the same spirit which prompts the unconverted in America, or England, or any other country, to look down upon or torment or abuse a Chinaman or a foreigner of any other nationality. The truly converted man or woman will never engage in “amusement” of that order. The considerate regard for men, without regard to race or nationality, is one of the characteristics of Christianity. Christ brought the gospel that brings men back into brotherhood with one another, and back to the acknowledgment of the Fatherhood of God; that unites again the disrupted family, in so far as men are willing to reunite the severed ties—but only that far. The unwilling brother can not be forced back into harmonious family relations. He remains outside because he chooses so to remain. He is still a member of the family, still under the same fatherhood; but still a prodigal, unwilling to return to the home which he has forsaken. Persistence in that course disinherits him in the end; but the faithful brother never ceases to watch and pray for his return. If he does return, he becomes more of a brother only in that he acknowledges the brotherhood and the fatherhood, and brings himself into harmonious relations with the brothers, and the sisters, and the Father whom he had disowned. He brings in loyalty instead of disloyalty, love and interest instead of hatred and indifference. As soon as he has come into full fellowship with the family of God, he begins to realize that he has other brothers and sisters who are astray on the bramble-grown moors of sin, or who, with calloused hearts, are wandering in dangerous ways of their own choosing, which must end on the dark precipice of eternal ruin. Then he begins to realize something of the burden of heart which others felt for him while he was disowning those who were seeking after him in love. The true brotherly feeling takes possession of his heart, and the burden for souls rests upon him. Then he becomes a seeker instead of a wanderer, an advocate for God instead of a recruiting officer for the army of the evil one. The heat of the desert will then be nothing to him, if only he may find the wandering footprints of his brother there. The beasts of the forest, the fevers of the jungle, the terrors of wild men, will not deter him from following, even there, the path which the feet of his unreconciled brother have taken; and out of all such inhospitable places the searchers in God’s family are to-day seeking out—are finding—the brothers and sisters who are straying there, disheartened, bewildered, lost beyond any power of their own to find their way again. “Into all the world” the Head of the family is urging his children to go in search of the prodigal members of the household. It is a glorious work, an imperative work. The business is very urgent. When a neighbor’s son or daughter is lost in the woods, the whole neighborhood is intensely in earnest, and no time is lost in searching the hills and valleys till the lost one is found. We have brothers and sisters who are as truly, and much more dangerously,15lost, and who must eternally perish, unless some one shall go to the rescue. God is calling for such service. The time for rescue is short. Who will say: “Here am I; send me”? Have you found Christ? There are millions who have not found him. You can help. The Greatest Test
By F. M. W.
THE great test of character is faithfulness in little things. “He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.” Many who in the limelight of public recognition would march boldly to the martyr’s stake, signally fail in meeting some of the small tests in life’s experiences. The true foundation for character-building is every-day life. In the inmost recesses of the heart, in the life in the home, in social relationship and business dealings, are found the experiences and opportunities which, if recognized and rightly regarded, will result in the development of a true, strong Christian character. The Christian religion is a practical hope. It will serve the purpose of every-day use. It will stand the test of every trial in personal experience. It is not a hope to cheer in death or sickness alone, but an anchor to the soul in all the storms of life. Let us make it a reality in our every-day living. The Call for Missionaries
By M. E. KERN
A Word From the Foreign Mission Seminary President as the School Year Opens
Two encouraging features of the effort now being made to secure and train foreign missionaries are the hearty approval of the plans by leading workers, and the willing response to the call for volunteers. One worker, who has spent several years abroad, writes:— The plan has appealed to me as a most practical and sensible one. No doubt had it been adopted before, much might have been saved to the cause in more ways than one. Another missionary says:— I believe the plans as outlined for the preparation of workers for the mission fields to be excellent; and as a result of them, the fields will be better supplied with workers who are qualified to meet and overcome the peculiar difficulties that await them. From all parts of the country young people and workers of experience are volunteering for the service. The call of the multitudes who are stretching out their hands unto God has reached the ears of loyal hearts. One young person of considerable education and some years of experience writes:— I was a member of the Foreign Mission Band at —— last year. When I first heard of the call for one hundred twenty workers this summer, I felt deeply impressed that I ought to offer myself; but I held back for some time, for it seemed that I could not go now. I thought I had a good excuse, but still the same impression was upon me to offer myself. I had a severe struggle over the matter, but at last the Lord conquered. I told him I would give up home and friends and my desire to finish my course at —— if he desired me to go. . . . I am sure I should enjoy the work at the Seminary, and I believe that it would be just the preparation that I need. Still there is room. The work of securing these recruits is necessarily slow, as a thorough investigation must be made in each case. It seems best to the Foreign Mission Board that some remain in the home field for the present, and others are advised to secure more education in our regular schools. There are three classes who can profitably take work in the Foreign Mission Seminary: (1) Those under appointment for foreign fields; (2) volunteers of mature age, who need more than one year's course of study, and who for a short course would not wish to change schools; (3) conference workers who are ambitious for improvement, and desire the benefit of studies in Bible, history, denominational organization and work, or other special branches of study offered by the Seminary. There are quite a large number of the second class. Many individuals have good ability, and are consecrated to the work, who are lacking in systematic habits of thought and work. Earnest effort in the perusal of a two or three years' course of study, wisely selected, will give such persons an idea of system and method, as well as the information they need, which will enable them to secure definite results from their efforts among the people. This class should not expect provisional appointment. All, however, who contemplate taking work at the Seminary should make arrangements before coming. School begins September 14. A ROMAN CATHOLIC newspaper of New York describes as follows the presentation to the Pope of a party of American pilgrims who visited Rome a few days ago:— Calmly the holy father passed through the lines of Americans, ladies and gentlemen, who fervently kissed the ring which he wore on his right hand, and took his seat on the pontifical throne, covered with gold, which his beloved Venetians presented to him on the golden jubilee of his priesthood last year. All these trappings of royalty proclaim to the world that the Papacy is indeed that apostate “little horn” that grew up among the kingdoms of divided Rome, asserting for itself a kingdom of this world. With his jeweled crown and golden throne, the Pope advertises that the whole Romish system is thoroughly of this world and altogether antichristian. The report says that the Pope, after a few introductory remarks, “drew down a touchy topic:” — He spoke of the ingratitude shown by certain parts of Europe that were called to the faith so long before others, and which were now beginning to show such ingratitude. Providence has showered favors on them; but they have showed themselves callous and unappreciative. Let them take care, continued the pontiff, lest Heaven should, in the words of the gospel, take away its favors, and give them to those who will know how to appreciate and use them better. The Pope was, of course, speaking especially of Spain and Portugal, which have recently been following the lead of France and Italy in repudiating the pretensions of the Papacy to interfere in governmental affairs. By speaking of the favor which has been shown those countries, he, of course, refers to the centuries during which the papal church has been supreme among the people, doing absolutely as it listed, and making the government a subject of ecclesiastical domination. As the sure fruitage of such a system, those countries have been thrown down in the race of civilization, and are recognized generally as a hundred years behind the countries of northern Europe. It is in very desperation that the worm has at last turned, much to the chagrin of the Papacy, which would like to boast only of its conquests. As a matter of fact, the conquests of the Papacy are due mainly to the apostasy of Protestantism itself. A Remarkable Scene
By J. N. Q.
ONE of the characteristics of this generation is the rapidity with which changes are made,—changes favorable to the promulgation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Within the memory of our fathers, David Livingstone obtained his first view of the Victoria Falls. In the year 1910, half a century afterward, an event occurred there which, if it had been suggested to Dr. Livingstone, would no doubt have been regarded by him as altogether improbable. A press despatch of August 18 thus describes the event:— The sculling match for the championship of the world between Richard Arnst, of New Zealand, and Ernest Barry, of London, was won to-day by Arnst, the champion, by two lengths. The race was rowed upon the Zambesi River, a short16distance from the famous Victoria Falls, over a course of three and one-half miles. The stakes were $2,500 a side. The men met upon an ideal course, a fine stretch of river, half a mile in width, within sight of the island from which Dr. Livingstone fifty-five years ago caught his first view of the Victoria Falls. Until a time within the memory of living men, the scene of the race lay in an unexplored part of the Dark Continent, never looked upon by white men; but the river banks where not long ago the crocodile and hippopotamus held unchallenged sway, were to-day thickly lined with holiday makers brought here by the railroad completed in 1904. Tugs with cinematographs darted about the river, taking pictures of the race; and the other usual accompaniments of rowing contests in the older countries were not lacking. May the day hasten on apace when scenes indicative of an infinitely nobler conflict, the work of the Holy Spirit in winning the affections of Africa’s dark-skinned sons and daughters, will be witnessed not only in the region of Victoria Falls, but throughout the entire Dark Continent. J. N. Q. Catholic and Protestant Missions
The following quotation from a German Catholic journal makes an interesting comparison between the activity of Protestants and Catholics in the mission fields:— ‘It has been computed that the 260,000,000 Catholics contribute about 20,000,000 marks ($5,000,000) annually for mission purposes, while the 160,000,000 Protestants contribute 80,000,000 marks ($20,000,000). This is an average of eight pfennigs for each Catholic, but more than six times that much for each Protestant. This greater degree of liberality on the part of the Protestants is to a large extent caused by the superior organization of the latter. Especially do the mission conferences and regular congregational mission festivals in common vogue among the Protestants do much to make the mission cause popular among them; and these auxiliaries could with advantage be adopted by the Catholic churches. The number of mission workers in the foreign fields of the Protestants is 45,622; on the Catholic side, 34,454. It is true that the Catholic Church reports no fewer than 30,414 mission stations, while the Protestants count only 3,790; but to counterbalance this the latter have 18,921 schools, with 867,400 pupils, while the Catholics have 17,834 schools with 790,880 pupils.