“My wife,” said an old farmer proudly, “had a paper o’ pins given her on her weddin’-day forty years ago, an’ she’s never had to buy a pin since. It seem’s if pins is on her mind most o’ the time. She’s saved an’ added to ’em till I believe she’s got more now’n what she had then.”
Very likely. A woman with a mania for saving pins and adding to them would be apt to increase her store materially in the course of forty years. But in the meantime—what? Can a mind that dwells upon pins be the mind to care for the great things of life—“the things that matter”?
If one would crowd out what tends to broaden and enrich life, if he would dull the endeavors, dwarf the vision, paralyze the springs of action, he need but fill his mind with a mania for pins, or some kindred petty object.
But if he cares to grow, if he would take from life but its best, if he realizes that he has a destiny which he alone can fulfil, he will eschew the time and strength needed for the accumulation of “pins,” and place them upon something better worth his time and attention.
AFTER ONE OF THE BATTLES.
AFTER one of the battles in the terrible war in South Africa two wounded men were brought into the hospital. One of them was a Briton, the other a Boer. Each had had an arm shot to pieces. The arms were cut off in the same place by the surgeon. The two men were laid upon cots close together. When Tommy (every common English soldier is called Tommy Atkins) saw the Boer near him suffering from his wound, he called the nurse and asked her to take the Boer something from his case of supplies. “Tell him,” said Tommy, “that I sent it.” The nurse did as she was asked. The wounded Boer was so affected by the little kindness from his fellow-sufferer, who had an hour before been his supposed enemy, that he broke down and cried like a child. Tommy also gave way and cried, and the nurse who was caring for them both had to hurry away to keep from joining them in their tears.
How sad it is that war should bring such men as these to treat each other as enemies.—Angel of Peace.
If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,BUT HAVE NOT LOVE,I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal.And if I have the gift of Prophecy,And know all Mysteries and all Knowledge;And if I have all Faith, so as to remove Mountains,BUT HAVE NOT LOVE,I am nothing.And if I bestow all my Goods to feed the poor,And if I give my Body, to be Burned,BUT HAVE NOT LOVE,It profiteth me nothing.
LOVE suffereth long, and is kind:LOVE envieth not;LOVE vaunteth not itself,Is not puffed up,Doth not behave itself unseemly,Seeketh not its own,Is not provoked,Taketh not account of evil;Rejoiceth not in unrighteousness,But rejoiceth with the Truth;Beareth all things,Believeth all things,Hopeth all things,Endureth all things.
LOVE NEVER FAILETH:But whether there be Prophecies, they shall be done away;Whether there be Tongues, they shall cease;Whether there be Knowledge, it shall be done away.For we know in part,And we prophesy in part:But when that which is Perfect is come,That which is in Part shall be done away.
When I was a child,I spake as a child,I felt as a child,I thought as a child:Now that I am become a man,I have put away childish things.
For now we see in a mirror darkly;But then face to face:Now I know in part;But then shall I know fully even as also I was fully known.
But now abidethFAITH, HOPE, LOVE,These three;And the greatest of these isLOVE.
“PAY AS YOU GO.”
A MINISTER in Messiah’s Advocate gives the following incident, and counsel which is good, not only for young ministers, but for young Christians:—
On one occasion, while residing in Dansville, we had eaten everything in the house, and there was not a scrap on hand for dinner, neither had I any funds to purchase, and my rule was never to run in debt for food, raiment, or fuel. This rule I have followed during all the years of my ministry, with unalterable determination, and I have never suffered above what I was able to bear. At one time, I remember that I ordered some coal delivered, and went away from home to preach over Sunday, and on returning I went to find the coal dealer, to pay him. He said: “You needn’t pay it now, your credit is good.”
“All right,” said I, “I’ll save my credit and pay my money.” A business man stood by, and hearing what I said, spoke up, “You are right, Mr. Burr, save your credit and pay your money. If all would adopt that motto they would be better off.” I would advise all young ministers to adopt the “pay as you go” policy; and if you have no means, then go without things, and I warrant that if you mean business on that line, the Lord will see that you are cared for. You may see times of distress, but if you wait earnestly on the Lord, He will not fail you. Your faith may be extremely tried, but what of that? In fact, it is a grand thought that the Lord has confidence enough in you to call you into hardships.
It is needless to say that the Lord sent food, through a kind grocer whose heart He touched.
DAILY BATH.
One thing in regard to which there is no room for difference of opinion is the daily bath. No matter whether you are a dweller in the city or the country, a hand worker or a brain worker, a farmer or a mechanic, the daily bath, not alone for cleanliness, but also for perfect health, is a necessity. To remove harmful excretions, to keep the pores of the skin open and in a condition to act freely, to stimulate the flow of the blood, to promote a vigorous state of body and a happy frame of mind, nothing can take the place of a liberal use of soap and water. A brisk shampooing is necessary to produce that healthful glow which should follow bathing, if it is to produce the best results. A daily cold water bath for those who react readily, is not only a powerful tonic, but also the best known preventive of colds, disease, or illness in any form. A hot bath, weekly, will prove a renovator of the whole system.—Anon.
KIND LISTENING.
THERE is a grace of kind listening, as well as a grace of kind speaking. Some men listen with an abstracted air, which shows that their thoughts are elsewhere. Or they seem to listen, but by wide answers and irrelevant questions show that they have been occupied with their own thoughts, as being more interesting, at least in their own estimation, than what you have been saying. Some interrupt, and will not hear you to the end. Some hear you to the end, and then forthwith begin to talk about a similar experience which has befallen themselves, making your case only an illustration of their own. Some, meaning to be kind, listen with such a determined, lively, violent attention, that you are at once made uncomfortable, and the charm of conversation is at an end. Many persons, whose manners will stand the test of speaking, break down under the trial of listening. But all these things should be brought under the sweet influence of religion.—Frederick Wm. Faber.
Worrying and Selfishness
“WORRYING is often a form of selfishness, which makes self and one's little affairs the boundaries of life's horizon. With our burdens we shut ourselves within the narrow limits we have set, and condemn ourselves to dwell in the shadows when the bright sunshine, the moon, the stars, or other glories of the universe, woo us to come out and bathe in the light,—not to be niggardly, either, but to give even as generously as we receive.”
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SOUTH AFRICA AS IT IS.
By G. W. Reaser
THE dogs of war are chained; the cannon’s roar has ceased; Briton and Boer have met in deadly conflict; the brave Boer matched his strength against superior numbers; the weaker failed, laid down their arms, and wisely sued for peace. Peace has been proclaimed; 25,000 soldiers of the former Transvaal Republic, have surrendered. Deadly enemies have, professedly, become friends and fellow-citizens; 85,000 British Colonial soldiers have been disbanded by one sweeping order from the Commander-in-chief; full 2,000 block-houses are vacated, and their demolition has begun; 2,000 miles of barbed-wire barricade is being removed; entrenchments no longer required, are being filled; military authority is gradually loosening its iron grip for the milder and less burdensome civil rule; the military permit system is gradually giving way to allow the public to travel at will; military rebel-courts are clearing their dockets for want of fresh cases; military prisons are being emptied, except of long-service prisoners found guilty of high treason.
A Zulu Woman with a Hoe.
Government Avenue and Parliament House, Cape Town.
British generals are joyfully returning home to receive glory and honor of fellow-countrymen; the railway lines and cities of South Africa are overcrowded with too-often demoralized, disorderly soldiers, against whom citizens are raising their voices in righteous indignation, and freely using the public press in condemnation of their maudlin conduct, hopeful that they may thus secure suppression of such conduct, and so relief.
Britain-bound steamers are over-crowded with home-going soldiers; labor markets are congested with discharged soldiers and civilians, the latter having waited long at the ports for access to the up-country mining centers.
No more are troops and mounts being hurried to the front; and armored trains are discarding their war-scales, to take up again the business of peaceful transportation. Erstwhile soldiers are returning to occupations of peace. There is great rejoicing in England over the triumph of British arms and relaxation of burdensome taxation.
Untold thousands of unknown and unnamed graves are scattered over the “veldt,” their occupants silently awaiting the roll-call to the last judgment.
Millions of pounds sterling, invested in food and forage for rider and steed, are being released by offering stores at auction to civilians. Half a million horses and mules, for cavalry and transport, are soon to go under the auctioneer’s hammer to the highest bidder.
The Boer is no longer disturbed at night and compelled to hurry away over the “veldt” to escape a deadly volley from Mauser and Gatling. Boer generals are visiting concentration camps, to cheer occupants who are disheartened at defeat. Steamers laden with Boer prisoners are returning from faraway Ceylon and Bermuda, or from the nearer place of exile of the great Napoleon. Late antagonists are pledging loyalty to King Edward VII. Oom Paul is sadly spending the last days of an eventful life, not under the proud folds of the Transvaal flag, but in the Fatherland of the Boer people, and under the protection of Queen Wilhelmina. No longer will the “image and superscription” of Uncle Paul appear on coin, stamp, and seal of the Transvaal Republic; for it is no more.
Boer families, long separated, are joyfully reuniting; and if the misfortunes of war have left them a few pounds sterling, they “treking” back to desolated farms and ruined homes, recounting, as they journey, their bravely-endured hardships, and making loving mention of the missing ones, while fathers and sons relate battle scenes and hair-breadth escapes, or tell of how some members of the family gave up their lives on the field of battle, in a vain effort to support a lost cause. Boer women and children are parting company in the concentration camps, while thousands remain as British prisoners till funds can be provided to settle them on farms.
Hundreds of thousands of home-seekers, adventurers, and speculators are turning their faces toward the Cape of Good Hope. Speculation is running wild, and property is changing hands at fabulous prices. Apparently the best opportunities have been secured by capitalists on the alert during the war. All the cities are “booming,” especially Johannesburg. The prices of nearly all commodities are inflated, while wages are only moderate. Such are some of the conditions produced by the late South African conflict.
Thrice welcome peace! Would that the special peace proclamation of “peace on earth, good will to men,” made 1900 years ago, had been accepted by all members of the human family, and that the conditions were such that we might reasonably hope for a long period of peace and prosperity. But we are not justified in indulging this hope for South Africa, nor for the other countries of the globe, for we are living in a time when “the nations are angry,” and when “the kings of the earth and of the whole world” must soon be gathered together to the “battle of that great day of God Almighty.”
There must, however, be a short interval of peace for the giving of the last message of mercy to the nationalities who will make up the cosmopolitan population of South Africa. Is it not especially due the Dutch people—who have heretofore been deceived into thinking that they were to fulfil Bible prophecy in holding the temporal supremacy in South Africa—that they now receive the everlasting Gospel in all of its fulness? G. W. REASER.
Cape Town, South Africa.
A WORTHY EXAMPLE.
ABOUT the highest record for church activity that has come to our attention is that reported in the current issue of the Missionary Herald. The church whose record it gives is a native Zulu church at Durban, Natal, South Africa. “That church,” says the Herald, “nearly reaches its ideal in the sending out of every male member that is at all qualified for such service, to take some active part in preaching the Gospel each Sunday. Do not overlook this remarkable record of a church presided over by a Zulu pastor, and holding fifty-two meetings of varying character on each Sunday. From the same Zulu mission comes an account of a young man who was earning about ten dollars a week in business, large wages for a native. He gave up this position that he might prepare for the ministry. His employers asked him how much he could expect to receive as minister after his three or four years of13study, and he replied, ‘Perhaps five or ten dollars a month.’ He was told that he was a fool, but he replied that he was convinced that God had called him, and that he must obey the voice of God.”
Is there not in this a lesson for many of us who have long known the way? These native Christians are up as early on Sunday as on other days of the week, and all day long some of them are conducting meetings in some part of the city. How many churches in the home land have such a record as this? How many should have?
FOR HIS USE.
By John William Stein
A LUMP of earthen clay
In Jesus' hands to-day;
Yet He has organized design,
All-wise, almighty, all benign.
I would subserve His wisdom, skill,
His gracious purpose, sovereign will.
Then He must have His way,
With this poor lump of clay.
Only an ashlar rough
In my Lord's hands, enough;
'Tis hard to guess what I may be,
When once He lays His hands on me.
O may His chisel, compass, square,—
His instruments whate'er they are,
Subserve His will and way,
In using me to-day.
What if He passed me by,
In my rough state to lie!
Then what attainments could I make?
Could I my own rough edges break?
But as an object of His choice,
I may in His great ways rejoice.
O may His hands to-day,
Fashion this lump of clay!
John William Stein.
Kalamazoo, Mich.
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
VERY encouraging reports of the canvassing work come from Natal, S. Africa.
A NEW church-school building has been erected at Spirit Falls, Wis., and the school itself is under way.
THE brethren in St. Paul, Minn., have opened two church-schools—one English and one Scandinavian.
AT the Nebraska State camp-meeting, which closed September 15, twenty-two persons were baptized.
BROTHER G. W. REASER is now conducting progressive work in Johannesburg, S. Africa, with an organized company.
AT the recent camp-meeting at Long Prairie, Minn., nine persons were baptized. A collection for foreign missions amounted to $1,012.61.
THE October Life Boat is a Home Purity number, and an edition of 75,000 is being printed. Price, 2 cents. Address 28, 33d Place, Chicago, Ill.
IN Buffalo, N. Y., September 20, four persons were baptized by Brother A. O. Burrill. The Baptist Mission on Virginia Street was used for the occasion.
THE brethren of South Dakota Conference have secured fifty acres of land near Elk Point, and are erecting buildings for an intermediate industrial school.
IN a recent issue of the Minnesota Worker is a report of a branch Sabbath-school in St. Paul, by Sister F. E. Stewart, who states that the number of members is seventy-one. There are many other places where a like work could be done.
OUR sanitarium at Skodsborg, Denmark, has been visited by the King of Denmark, the Queen of England, and the Empress of Russia. The papers have noticed the fact, and that these royal visitors were pleased with the institution, and said many kind words for its work. The sanitarium has more patients than it can conveniently accommodate.
BROTHER W. A. FLODING and wife are now on the way to Samoa; Dr. S. A. Lockwood and wife are ready for Japan; Sister Cora Blodgett, of Nebraska, will leave this month for Natal, S. Africa; and a brother and sister are to be selected for China in a short time.
BROTHER M. E. OLSEN writes from London that “our school opened with something over thirty students. We are holding it this year in Holloway Hall.” He also notes that his father (Brother O. A. Olsen) was making a short stop at Skodsborg, Denmark, for treatment and rest.
THERE is a growing missionary spirit among our young people. At the recent Iowa camp-meeting about three hundred pledged themselves to enter the work of the Lord whenever and wherever called. At a later camp-meeting in Nebraska, upon a like call, nearly two hundred responded.
BROTHER R. W. MUNSON writes to the Mission Board from the Island of Sumatra, E. I.: “At the coal mines at Sawah Loento there are four thousand convicts, mostly Javanese, and two thousand free coolies. I have been asked to preach to them. The mines are government property. This is a good opening.”
THE Fortnightly Visitor has this encouraging word from our Matebele Mission, Rhodesia, S. Africa: “The father of two of the girls recently baptized has given consent for them to live at the mission, and they have brought a sister with them. Two more young men and another girl have come to attend school. We have now sixty-four pupils enrolled. Two of the native boys are assisting in the home school, besides spending a portion of each school day in teaching another school seven miles away. They have an average of twenty-eight in that school.”
A BATTLE CREEK, Mich., paper makes the following reference to the progress of our new sanitarium: “The steel gang at the sanitarium has begun work on the supports for the first floor of the men’s bath-rooms, and the bricklayers have started laying the walls of the first floor. The pillars to support the gymnasium floor have also been set in position. The cement floor gang is now putting in the fourth story in the main wing of the big building. The other floors are filled with plumbers, steam-fitters and electric wiring men, who are putting in their part of the work as fast as possible.”
FROM Fiji, Brother J. E. Fulton writes to the Bible Echo that “a native has begun to preach the Sabbath truth, tho he had never met any of our missionaries. He accepted the Sabbath through reading a portion of a torn tract, and quite a number more have become Sabbath-keepers by reading our native literature.” Under date of September 12, Brother Fulton writes to the editor of the SIGNS that himself and family designed to go to Australia the present month. He says: “We feel the need of a change. My wife has been quite poorly of late. I feel better than I did a few months back. I will write from Australia for our little monthly paper here, and will continue translations already under way. We will be located at Cooranbong, N. S. W., for a time.”
AMIDST the sufferings caused by financial panic and smallpox epidemic in Barbados, W. I., Bro. W. A. Sweany writes encouragingly of the work. He says: “None of our people have taken the disease so far, and we are hoping and praying to be spared to the honor and glory of His name and cause. I am glad to say that despite all these forbidding circumstances, our work is prospering and making some advancement. The church members are almost all earnest and active in the various lines of church missionary work. No phase of our work has as yet been interrupted. The church is packed and surrounded by interested listeners on Sunday nights, and some are deciding almost every week to obey God, and many more are studying. There will be quite a large class to be baptized at the next quarterly-meeting.”
RELIGIOUS PROGRESS IN UGANDA.
Dr. O. R. Cook, a medical missionary of Mengo, the native capital of Uganda, declares that the present opportunity must not be lost for training a band of native Christians who shall, in their turn, educate and evangelize East Africa. Uganda is that part of Africa under British administration comprising the Nile territory from the river’s exit from Lake Victoria to Gondokoro, where the Egyptian Sudan begins—an area of nearly a hundred and fifty thousand miles. Nile steamers ply between Khartum, the capital of the Sudan, and Gondokoro. In Uganda, as in China, the most far-reaching work is now being done by the natives. In the African province there are now twenty-seven native clergy and two thousand native teachers. Without this native support the wonderful work of the foreign missionaries could not have been accomplished. Ten years ago there was but one church for the three million natives in Uganda, now there are more than seven hundred; then there were only two hundred baptized native converts, now they exceed thirty thousand; then there were only twenty native teachers, now they number over two thousand. Best of all, this magnificent work is self-supporting. From Dr. Cook’s article, published in the Missionary Review, we see that a prime cause of the success has been in the work of the medical missions. The first medical missionary to arrive was Dr. Felkin, one of the authors of “Uganda and the Central Sudan.” Dr. Felkin went out nearly twenty years ago. The Mengo mission dates from 1897—even as late as that date the journey from the coast required three months; it is now made by the Uganda Railway, just completed, in four days.—The Outlook.
IS COARSENESS NECESSARY?
Not long ago a young evangelist was discussing the question of meeting people on their own level, saying that it was necessary to do so in order to win them to Christ. He was very “loud” in his methods, coarse in his language, free with slang phrases; and his defense was that this was necessary in order to get the sympathies of the people among whom he labored, and thus lead them to a higher life.
It is one of the most common mistakes in Christian service; all the more strange, too, when we have before us the striking example of Christ, the Master soul-winner. In His conversation with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, in His midnight conversation with the proud Pharisee, He never lowered His level of true manliness. In the former case, tho talking with an outcast, He was the soul of honor and courtesy. Had He descended to her coarse manner of living and speech, that which follows in the story—in some respects the most valuable teaching in the New Testament—would never have been written.
There is a difference between being all things to all men and doing the things all men do. Coarse methods are never necessary; he who degrades himself in the fond hope of winning others to a higher place will soon come to grief and disappointment. No man ever spake like that Man; no man ever lived as He lived; yet He descended to the lowliest, not by degrading Himself, but by taking His own pure life and speech, translating them into pity and helpfulness. Much slum work might be more successful, if the workers did not so often use street manners to win street characters. The first characteristic of Jesus was, always and everywhere, the true Christian Gentleman. Wilful coarseness is no element of power. Self-identification with the needs of men does not mean partnership in the wrongs or weaknesses of men. Imitate the Master, who said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” —Anon.
Prohibition of Liquor.
The utterances of King Lewanika, of Barotsoland, can not fail to have an excellent influence on thoughtful citizens who have noted his words on drink, as he has traveled through our country. He has, it is said, long been an abstainer, and has followed the good example of King Khama, who visited our shores some years ago. King Lewanika wants to protect his people from having the drink curse thrust into his country. In this respect he is giving evidence that wisdom is justified of her children. Once an inroad was obtained into this land by the liquor men, and his people fascinated with the poison, it would be difficult for him then to drive them beyond his borders. The strength, safety, and progress of his country depend upon his keeping them out, and not admitting them on any pretext whatever. The Emperor Menelik, of Abyssinia, has just been compelled to take action against the importation of French wines and German beer into his territory. He has watched their pernicious effects on his people, and has issued an edict prohibiting alcoholic drinks from being smuggled or legally brought into his empire. Thus the war against alcohol is being waged, and sober and enlightened heathen are teaching our country serious and valuable lessons, if we have judgment and wisdom granted us to take them. While our Parliament has great difficulty in getting a comparatively mild measure of temperance reform passed, it is pleasing to witness the kings of Abyssinia and Barotsoland, excluding from their States a vicious liquor that has rendered millions of our people at home little better than a class of human waste.—Christian Advocate, Ireland.
BE CHEERY.
The way is weary,
The day is dreary;
Still, still be cheery—
All bravely face!
This life thou’rt spending
Will have an ending;
Meanwhile God’s lending
All needed grace.
—New York Observer.
PUBLICATIONS WANTED.
ANY of our publications suitable for jail and prison work. Address, post-paid, James F. Agard, 106½ S. 20th Street, Birmingham, Ala.
NOTICE
By K. C. Russell
OUR church in Boston, Mass., has secured Gilbert Hall, in Tremont Temple, on Tremont Street, where their regular Sabbath services will be held as follows: Sabbath-school at 1:30 P. M., and preaching at 3. P. M. K. C. RUSSELL, Pastor.
