As the coming session of the General Conference draws near, the importance of the gathering presses with increasing weight upon our hearts. There was a time when all the delegates to the General Conference were from the United States alone. The most of the proceedings of the conference related to affairs in the United States. There were few laborers and fewer organized conferences and enterprises outside of this country.
But all this is in the past. A great change has come. We have hundreds of laborers, thousands of believers, and scores of organized conferences and missions outside of the United States. Many members of the General Conference Committee are located in other countries. This cause is as strong today outside of the United States as it was in all the world in 1884. Delegates from all parts of the world will attend the coming conference. They will bring their share of conference business with them. They are coming to place before the conference the situation and needs of the great fields they represent; and as their fields' needs and opportunities are so great, the conference must of necessity be a world's conference. We can not in justice confine our attention chiefly to interests in America.
To know just what to do and what not to do in such a conference will require more than human wisdom. The Spirit of God must brood over our gathering7to enlighten our minds that we may be able to discern what is vital and essential. We must exclude local details that belong to union conferences, and give ourselves to the great fundamentals upon which the success of this cause in all the world rests.
In view of these considerations, we crave the prayers of God's people during the conference. May we not ask the ministers and church officers to bring these considerations before the people? May we not ask all our brethren and sisters to pray for us every day at family worship? May we not ask that earnest supplications of secret devotion be made in your homes, that the special blessing of God shall rest upon this meeting?
We are doing all that we know how to make thorough preparation for it. The Lord knows just what we need most. He will regard and answer the cries of his people. No power can stand in his way. Earnest, persevering, triumphant prayer is needed.
A. G. DANIELLS.
Money in Our Hands
By H. W. Cottrell
We are just now called to action as minutemen in war, to complete the raising of the One Hundred Thousand Dollar Fund to begin the work of establishing our denominational headquarters at the capital of this great nation. Let us take hold of this work at once, and answer the call of the Master. The spirit of prophecy tells us that the means is already in our hands with which to meet the demands of this work. I quote from an article by Mrs. E. G. White, as follows: “We are intensely desirous that the Washington fund shall be closed as quickly as possible. . . . This means is in the hands of His stewards, and I pray that he will make them willing to give liberally.”
There being no lack of money in our hands to turn into the treasury of the Lord the remainder of the fund, shall the angels record that there is a lack of willingness to do so on either your part or mine? Let each of us act his part under the Lord, and thus see to it that inasmuch as the money is now in our hands, it is placed in the treasury during the General Conference, May 11-30, 1905. The appeal is not alone to a select few who give to every good cause, but to the stewards of the Lord, that is, to every one to whom the Lord has entrusted means, and in proportion to the amount entrusted.
Then again, on account of the dearth of means in the Mission Board treasury, and because we can not conscientiously overwhelm the cause of God in debt, we have been compelled to place a check on aggressive missionary work, which is a heart-rending thing to do when this work is the dearest of all things to us.
A goodly number of devoted, active persons have offered themselves to the Mission Board to go to heathen countries, and to give their lives to the uplifting, under God, of the benighted heathen; but there being a depleted treasury, we were compelled to request them to tarry here, where the people have heard more or less of present truth for sixty years. And these people with whom these missionaries are by force of circumstances compelled to tarry, when compared in numbers to the population of one heathen nation, China, are equal only to three fourths of one fourth of its population. And we have only fifty-seven Sabbath-keepers in China.
Then consider the many other heathen countries. Can we not, under the Lord, bestir ourselves and all others with whom we come in contact, to replenish the treasury? Let a few thousand dollars come in from the churches and isolated Sabbath-keepers in this Atlantic Union Conference to supply the mission treasury by the time of the opening of the General Conference. Send all money to your conference treasurer, and state plainly whether it is for the One Hundred Thousand Dollar Fund, or for the foreign mission work.
In the ancient days, when the Lord called his people to worship him in the holy convocations, he commanded that those who came up before him should bring an offering with them. “Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him.” 1 Chron. 16:29. When the tabernacle was being built in the wilderness, the following record is given: “And they came, every one whose heart stirred him up, and every one whom his spirit made willing, and they brought the Lord’s offering.” Ex. 35:21. We believe that a large number, if not all, of those who come to the General Conference to be held in Washington, May 11-30, will bring with them an offering for the Washington building fund in one hand, and one for foreign mission work in the other. And will not the people see that their delegates are furnished with a representative offering in every State and conference? Remember that the population of the Atlantic Union Conference is more than one third that of the whole of the United States; therefore we should not come short in our gifts. We believe that the brethren and sisters of the Atlantic Union Conference will realize that, as the headquarters of our work (Washington, D. C.) is situated within the bounds of their territory, there comes to them a special duty and privilege to support this great work. Let them read the notice on the last page of this paper, and act upon it. H. W. COTTRELL.
Note and Comment
REAR-ADMIRAL MELVILLE in an address before the Geographical Society of Philadelphia, on the occasion of its annual dinner, April 27, expressed the opinion that the present navy of the United States is far too small, being sufficient to protect only its North American territory, and that to insure the protection of the Philippines and the Panama canal, a navy treble the present size is required. The existing navy cost something more than $200,000,000. Every addition to the navy means a permanent increase in the cost of maintaining the government.
Higher Criticism and Christ’s Resurrection
“MANY Christian believers will learn with a certain shock,” observes the Literary Digest, “that German theologians are seriously debating, at this Easter time, whether Jesus ever rose from the dead. Professor Gunkel, of Berlin, a leader of one of the most radical schools of Higher Criticism and an advocate of the so-called ‘historico-religious’ method in dealing with the Scriptures, has written a book . . . in which he tries to show that the belief in the resurrection of Jesus was the natural outgrowth of the mythology of the times.”
It is not at all strange that the “Higher Criticism” should have been carried by its champions of the German school of theology, to a point where it denies the resurrection of Christ, for this is only the natural development of that antagonism to Christianity which is concealed in the germ of this method of dealing with the Word of God. When this stage of development is reached, it can no longer pretend to be in harmony with Christianity, and must be recognized as having an antichristian origin. Christianity stands or falls with the doctrine of the resurrection of Christ. “If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain . . . ye are yet in your sins.” 1 Cor. 15:14-17.
The mouths of the human critics of God’s Word are stopped on this subject by the testimony of the risen Christ, who lives to-day among men in the person of each of his followers. “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Gal. 2:20. We are witnesses for Christ on this disputed, and vital point of Christian doctrine. God gives the world not merely historical evidence, but present, tangible evidence of which they can take personal cognizance; not hearsay evidence, but the testimony of Christ himself, in the words and lives of his believers now living, that the world may be without excuse. And let us beware that we are not found false witnesses.
The Gift of Christ
By Ellen G. White
MRS. E. G. WHITE
God manifested his love for the world by sending his only begotten Son to save sinners. Christ took our nature, that through his grace we might be partakers of the divine nature. His divinity was bound up with humanity that humanity might stand on vantage-ground with God.
“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
“Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God loves his brother also.”
We need to watch unto prayer, walking and working in constant dependence upon God. He in whose heart Christ is formed, he to whom Christ is the hope of glory, enlightening, sanctifying, strengthening, will be preserved from the false representations that will be made of God.
The false sentiments that prevail today are of the world; they belong to the world; they are worldly in spirit and character. The apostle declared, “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us.” The teaching of the apostles is not to be set aside. Men are not to feel at liberty to speak disrespectfully of these teachings because they do not agree with all that they set forth. Those who teach the truth for this time must understand the Scriptures, that they may give the right interpretation of the Scriptures, exalting the principles of the truth, and in life and character revealing the spirit of the truth. God works with such ones as speak of the life and miracles of his Son.
He whose heart is filled with the love that proceeds from God, does not allow self-exaltation or dishonesty to find place in his life. He who is “born again,” of the Spirit, reveals Christ in the daily life. He is upright in all his dealings. He does no sly, cunning, underhand work. The good fruit that appears in his life testifies to the condition of his heart.
Christ’s true followers are made complete in him, because he gives them of his Spirit. The blessed hope of seeing Christ as he is, and being like him, works in mind and heart like a quickening power, cleansing away impurity and depravity. “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him”—the hope of seeing Christ as he is—“purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
How wide the contrast between the ones thus described and those who, though professing the faith, have not the love of God in their hearts. The latter class have not been made Christian gentlemen by the purifying influence of the truth. They are transgressors of the law of God, and their work is opposed to the work of Christ.
Those who walk humbly with God are approved by him. Let us build ourselves up, through Christ, in the most holy faith. The truth of God alone is invincible. Those who profess to believe the Scriptures need now to know where they are standing. Christ will receive all who come to him confessing and forsaking their sins, and will give to them transformation of character. He offers to all the eternal-life-insurance policy. The everlasting covenant is sealed with the blood of his crucifixion. Through his sacrifice on Calvary he makes peace for us. In him are hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He is the divine storehouse of all light. He alone can prepare us to enter the gates of the holy city.
Work to Save Sinners
By Wm. Covert
WM. COVERT
Christ came to our world to save sinners. Luke 19:10. This was the one consideration that brought him from heaven. His life-work related wholly to the salvation of sinners. He died and rose again for the accomplishment of this important work. The Christian worker is sent into the world that he may devote his time and energies to sinners' needs. The preaching of the gospel is done wholly for the benefit of sinners in our world. Churches are organized and conferences maintained to provide teachers, that sinners may be instructed.
Here is the only place in the universe where there is a chance to save sinners. Just now is the accepted time for bringing them from darkness into the light, that they may be saved. In a very little while it will be too late to do this. Jesus, who loves sinners, and who died to save them, is calling upon us from heaven,9and urging every soul who has accepted salvation, to consecrate all his energies to the purpose of saving sinners. The strenuous condition of things in our world to-day is traceable to the great controversy raging relative to sinners. The adversary is striving to destroy sinners, and Jesus is working to save them. The many thousand excellent facilities now being operated in our world are made to serve on both sides of the contest. Our business is to utilize them as rapid transit agencies in carrying the message of salvation quickly to sinners. By wisely doing this, the riches of the Gentiles are made to serve in the cause of righteousness. They bring the message of redemption to sinners. God gives his people riches that they may invest them in the business of saving sinners.
The Lord invests all the tithes and all the offerings that he receives from the service of man, in the enterprise of saving sinners. Should we not imitate the Lord in this? Laborers who are paid from these funds are expected to do faithful service in behalf of sinners. The effort that does not have this element in it is not acceptable to God. Only when we are filled with a burden for sinners can we hope for his approval.
Our preaching and our praying, our working and our planning, must all be done with reference to finishing the work which God has given us to do for sinners. Our field for work is the world, and we must hunt for every lost soul in the whole field. The pathetic cries of these lost sheep have reached the ears of the Great Shepherd, and all heaven is astir in their behalf. There is no time to lose on work and things which do not relate to this question. All we possess should go into this work, and our whole being should be wrapped up and absorbed in it. The great battle is now on, and the Lord calls for every loyal subject to do valiant service for the kingdom of heaven.
Bethel, Wis.
The Bible Is Not a Riddle
“The Bible is not a riddle, but a revelation.”
Offerings for Missions
By N. P. Nelson
N. P. NELSON
WHAT is the greatest and most important theme to be brought before the world at the present time? Is it not the proclamation of the everlasting gospel in this generation? This indicates that we have no time to lose. But the question is, How shall I be able to help in the promulgation of this message? or will the Lord excuse me because I can not go in person to a foreign land?—No, by no means; the Lord says that he has given to every man a work. Facilities are within reach with which the weakest may have a part in this glorious work. It is a marvel what facilities the Lord has placed in the hands of his people with which to accomplish this work in a short time.
We are glad to know that the living preacher has now gone to nearly every civilized country in the world. Believers in the soon-coming Saviour are being raised up everywhere, but still we hear the “Macedonian cry” for more workers. Thanks be to God for our colleges and academies which are educating and preparing young men and women, who are willing to sacrifice home, to go out to proclaim this last message. So a way has been provided by which those who are so situated that they can not go in person may have a part. This way is by systematically giving ten cents each week to help defray the expenses of those who can go. Dear brethren and sisters, how do you look upon this most important work? Are you willing and ready to place your ten cents each week in the Lord’s treasury? O brethren, let us awake out of this lethargy that has taken such a hold upon many of our people. We all want to hear the “Well done” said to us when the Lord comes to call his people. So shall we not all take hold of this plan to support laborers in foreign lands?
Keene, Tex.
Christian Courage
By Frederick W. Faber
WORKMAN of God, O! lose not heart,
But learn what God is like;
And in the darkest battle-field
Thou shalt know where to strike!
Thrice blest is he to whom is given
The instinct that can tell
That God is on the field when he
Is most invisible.
Blest, too, is he who can divine
Where real light does lie,
And dares to take the side that seems
Wrong to man's blindfold eye.
Then learn to scorn the praise of men,
And learn to lose with God;
For Jesus won the world through shame,
And beckons thee his road.
— Frederick W. Faber.
Organization
By GEO. O. STATES
GEO. O. STATES
IN the early days of our work we had no organization. As a result there were some poor representatives of our work who attempted to preach the message.
As time passed on, some of our leading brethren saw that some kind of organization must be formed. Others thought that to organize would be to return to Babylon, and when Elders White and Loughborough and others advocated it, these strongly opposed it. As this question was being discussed, it became apparent that there was a lack of unity among our ministers on this great question. Not only this, but there were ministers who professed the truth, but whose teaching was not calculated to lead others into the truth.
In the matter of taking a name, some of our good brethren honestly felt that it was decidedly wrong, that it was copying after the world, and would bring disaster to our work.
In the midst of these perplexities the servant of the Lord was shown that “the name Seventh-day Adventist carries the true features of our faith in front, and will convict the inquiring mind. Like an arrow from the Lord’s quiver, it will wound the transgressors of God’s law, and will lead to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” This counsel from the Lord settled the question with those who believed in this important gift in the church.
It seems to me that in the wonderful conversion of Saul the Lord teaches us the respect we should have for his organized church. When Saul asked the question, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” he was at once directed to the church. In “Sketches from the Life of Paul,” pages 28 and 31, we read as follows:—
“Jesus sends the inquiring Jew to his church, to obtain from them a knowledge of his duty. Christ performed the work of revelation and conviction; and now the penitent was in a condition to learn of those whom God had ordained to teach his truth. Thus Jesus gave sanction to the authority of his organized church, and placed Saul in connection with his representatives on earth. The light of heavenly illumination deprived Saul of sight; but Jesus, the great Healer, did not at once restore it. All blessings flow from Christ, but he had now established a church as his representative on earth, and to it belonged the work of directing the repentant sinner in the way of life. The very men whom Saul had purposed to destroy were to be his instructors in the religion he had despised and persecuted. . .
“The Redeemer of the world does not sanction experience and exercise in religious matters independent of his organized and acknowledged church. Many have an idea that they are responsible to Christ alone for their light and experience, independently of his recognized followers on earth. But in the history of the conversion of Saul, important principles are given us, which we should ever bear in mind. He was brought directly into the presence of Christ. He was one whom Christ intended for a most important work, one who was ‘a chosen vessel’ unto him; yet he did not personally impart to him the lessons of truth. He arrested his course and convicted him; but when asked by him, ‘What wilt thou have me to do?’ the Saviour placed him in connection with his church, and let them direct him what to do.” In all God’s dealing with Saul he recognized his church, which had been established on the earth to carry forward his work.
It will be readily seen from God’s dealing with Paul that he was not fitted for the full work of the gospel minister until his ordination. I am well aware that this ordinance has been greatly abused by some churches, and men have put more stress upon an outward ordination than on having the heart right in the Lord’s sight. At the same time my observation has taught me that where there is an independent course taken, and men insist on going ahead independently of the recognized church which God has established in the earth, it has always resulted in confusion.
My heart has been made sad of late to see some advocating doctrines that are not in harmony with the spirit of prophecy, which God has placed in the church. I believe that from this time till the close of the work there will be more and more to draw us away from the message. No doubt there will be side issues and mystical interpretations of the plain message until the truth that is so dear to us will be eclipsed in many minds, and they will become more interested in fine-spun theories than in the important work God has given this people to perform, and thus some will draw away from the closing message, instead of building up the work.
Brethren, the Lord will not reveal new light, which is entirely foreign to the church and the Testimonies of his Spirit, to one individual. Our ministers make mistakes, but the Lord is leading in the message, and our safety is in keeping on board the old ship of the third angel’s message, and in avoiding the fine-spun theories that draw away from the testing truths for our time. I know I have written very plainly, but I have watched these things for years, and my observation is that those who switch off on these various side issues, sooner or later give up the truth, or come back and take their stand in the message.
Cedaredge, Colo.
A Suggestion
By M. E. Kern
M. E. KERN
“I do not know that I have any suggestions of books for your daughter to read, if she has not read the seventeen volumes of messages the Lord has sent to his people,” said an earnest worker among the young to an inquiring parent. The remnant church has the spirit of prophecy, but how little we prize it! How can our young people worse than waste their time on the driftwood of fiction when the precious messages the Lord has sent us to prepare us for our heavenly home, lie unread!
In speaking to a young lady recently about the latest volume of the Testimonies, she remarked that the volume had recently been added to their church library, and she would procure and read with it. Here is a suggestion to church officers. Remember that you are overseers of the flock, and plan in a very definite way for the spiritual growth of old and young. See to it that the “good old REVIEW” is in the home of every member of the church. If every one can not own the volumes of the Testimonies, do as was done in the church referred to; establish a well-selected library from which books will be loaned. Some churches are doing this. Remember that “while we live, we grow,” and let the leaders do all in their power to supply the conditions of growth.
College View, Neb.
Humane Education of the Young
By Anna Harris Smith
(Concluded)
It is astonishing that a mother, a woman with any mother-love in her, should show such disregard of the comfort of the weak and helpless animals that are so much like children in their dependence on us, and often so much better than children in their faithfulness and obedience. A woman who will countenance impudent words and disobedience in her boy, excusing him on the ground that he is only a child and can not be expected to be perfect, will punish a dog or cat severely, or cast it out of her home, for a slight fault. A man expects his dog or his horse to be much more obedient and better tempered than his children are. Why? Are these lower animals more intelligent than children? If so, how greatly they must suffer from man's injustice to them.
A writer, whose name I do not remember, wrote the following good thing which shows how very thoughtless some men and women are of the comfort of the domestic animals that are at their mercy, and that do them such great service: “That a baby, once sound asleep, must on no account be awakened, is one of the cast-iron laws of physicians and nurses; but few people ever stop to consider that the same rule holds good with the young of every animal. Hardly any one, even the professed lover of domestic pets, feels the slightest compunction about snatching up a puppy settled for a comfortable nap, and a sleeping kitten is even more a butt for this species of rude imposition. Sleep is regarded as luxury for a little plaything of this kind, whose mission in life is to amuse and divert. So nobody makes any bones of waking it up either roughly or by a series of furtive caresses, and the sleepy little mite often tries in vain for the rest that is so essential to its comfort and health.
“Particularly is this the case where there are small children in the family. It is all very well to want to have their puppy to bring up with the baby, but the puppy usually gets the worst of the bargain. Animals mature so much more rapidly than the young of the human race that by the time a baby is a lad of ten, the puppy that grew up with him is an elderly dog. A dog of twelve is venerable, while a boy of twelve is in the heyday of boisterous animal spirits and a love of teasing. Aged animals, like very young animals, should be allowed their little snoozes and forty winks without risk of interruption.”
Children who are taught that their pets have much the same needs as themselves, and suffer if not provided with fresh water, regular meals, given oftener when the animal is quite young, a comfortable bed to sleep in, gentle handling, will learn to be more considerate, kind, and tender to their brothers and sisters and parents. It is quite natural that a child should not think about these things unless reminded; thus we see much thoughtless cruelty that a mother could easily prevent.
If the boy is not taught to think, he will not see any reason why, when he gets a chance to drive the market or the grocer wagon, he should not keep the old and tired horse on a constant run, using the whip freely. The boy thinks that it is smart to make the horse run, because he has never been taught to think that the old horse is getting stiff and lame and short winded, or the young horse is tired from hurrying on the road all day. It is the people with no imagination who can never see any suffering but their own.
The idea that sympathy and tender consideration for the speechless animals is “sentimental” is contrary to the highest education as well as to Christianity. It was the greatest educator the world ever knew who said, “Blessed are the merciful,” and who told us that not even a little sparrow was forgotten by God. Education of the head without education of the heart is never going to make the world better.
Mothers and school-teachers can plant no better seed for the future happiness and prosperity of the children in their care than the seeds of kindness to every living creatures, but to do this, mothers and teachers must themselves have learned the value of kindness as one, we might say the most important, factor in building up the character that will be respected and loved.—Mrs. Anna Harris Smith, President Animal Rescue League, in American Motherhood for March.
Spring-time to Me
By Ruth Sterry
A HINT of softness in the air,
The answering note of nature’s prayer,
Spring’s wondrous miracle to be—
Let it be spring-time, Lord, to me!
Long have I dwelt in winter’s night,
When moon and stars withheld their light,
With raging winds and roaring sea—
Let it be spring-time, Lord, to me!
I dream of lilies flecked with gold,
Of jasper cups from nature’s mold,
Of shimmering lights on land and sea—
Let it be spring-time, Lord, to me!
Across the chill of winter’s night,
There breaks a softness and a light.
Bowed at thy feet, I cry to thee—
Let it be spring-time, Lord, to me!
—Ruth Sterry, in the Criterion.
Why He Did Not Drink
I READ the other day of four young men riding in a Pullman car, chatting merrily together. At last one of them said:—
“Boys, I think it’s time for drinks.”
Two of them consented; the other shook his head, and said: “No, I thank you.”
“What!” exclaimed his companion, “have you become pious? Do you think you will become a missionary?”
“No, fellows,” he replied, “I am not specially pious, and I may not become a missionary; but I have determined not to drink another drop, and I will tell you why; I had some business in Chicago with an old pawnbroker, and as I stood before his counter talking about it, there came in a young man about my age, and threw down upon the counter a little bundle. When the pawnbroker opened it, he found it was a pair of baby shoes, with the buttons a trifle worn. The old pawnbroker seemed to have some heart left in him, and he said:—
“Look here, you ought not to sell your baby’s shoes for drink.”
“Never mind, Cohen; baby is at home dead, and does not need the shoes. Give me ten cents for a drink.”
“Now, fellows, I have a wife and baby at home myself; and when I saw what liquor could do in degrading that husband and father, I made up my mind that, God helping me, not a drop of that stuff would ever pass my lips again.”
— Herald and Presbyter.
The Food Value of the Tomato
THE tomato is sometimes subject to controversy as to whether it is a fruit or a vegetable. The truth seems to be that the tomato is a fruit in the herbarium, and a vegetable in the market. Dietetically, it seems to occupy a sort of middle position. It is acid like a fruit, but at the same time is composed of so large an amount of woody structure, or cellulose, that it must often be excluded with the same class of cases in which coarse vegetables are proscribed.
The tomato unquestionably possesses a high dietetic value, and has been especially recommended for use in cases of blood impoverishment, a suggestion which perhaps rests upon the fact that it contains a considerable amount of iron. The presence of iron may easily be detected by applying to the cut surface of a tomato the ordinary tests for this reagent. As a food for supplying iron, the tomato is far superior to any of the combinations of iron so commonly used as a means of enriching the blood. It is unquestionably a fact that the tomato is a most valuable fruit, and that, when properly cooked, it is well received by all stomachs capable of receiving any food at all, except, perhaps, in cases of chronic gastritis, and its use may be advantageously encouraged.—Selected.
In Syria
By S. Jespersson
S. JESPERSSON
After spending a little over two years in Jerusalem, during which time our medical mission had been established on sound principles, and had gained the confidence of the public and the physicians, we started for Syria at the suggestion of the brethren. The object of the visit was to see what the prospects were for the establishment of a medical mission here.
We arrived in Beyrout in March, 1904. Soon after our arrival we visited a Syrian lady, who is conducting a school for boys and girls in a village about an hour and a half's drive from Beyrout. She has eighteen boarders and about forty day-scholars.
BEYROUT: LEBANON IN THE DISTANCE
They all look bright and happy, and seem quite at home in the school. I have had the privilege of speaking to them several times, and also to some adults who are more or less interested in the school.
About five years ago the teacher, Miss Khourrie, went to America, and there she became acquainted with the third angel's message. After spending several months in America, she returned, and during these four years she had not seen an Adventist until two of our brethren happened to come to her place some months ago. She has done her best to walk in the light she received in America. She is glad to have us visit her once in a while to encourage her and give her further instruction in the truth for this time, which we hope she will fully accept and carry out in her work.
We have also visited Braumanah, which is, perhaps, the best-known and most beautiful summer resort on the Lebanon. On arriving there we first went to the Hotel Lebanon, the proprietress of which spent several weeks with us in Jerusalem two years ago. She received us very kindly, and made us acquainted with her friends and relatives. Her son-in-law has built a fine three-story building, which he intended for a sanitarium, but finding it too difficult to secure the needed physician and nurses at reasonable salaries, he abandoned the idea of having a sanitarium, and is now using his house mostly as a place for convalescents and those who need recreation. Both this place and the Hotel Lebanon are beautifully located, and the proprietors are very pleasant persons, trying not simply to get money, but also to do good.
We also visited the Friends, or Quakers, who have been carrying on missionary work in this place for more than thirty years. They now have a boys' school with forty-two boarders and seventeen day-scholars, a girls' school with a still larger attendance, and a hospital with room for eighteen patients, especially for the natives, and a dispensary. The tuition for the boarders in the boys' school is about fifty dollars a year, and less for the girls. The price in the hospital is $1.70 monthly for those who are able to pay. An English lady is trying to get money with which to build a sanitarium for consumptives. The Catholic convents in around this place are too numerous to be described, or even mentioned, in this article.
The altitude is about 2,400 feet; it is not quite so warm as in Beyrout, and the nights are cooler, yet the fever is not unknown. The view is splendid in every direction; the snow-covered mountain tops are seen clearly in the far distance, and the Mediterranean Sea seems very near.
Beyrout is the most European city in Syria, but does not contain the largest number of Europeans; for out of the one hundred and twenty thousand inhabitants only one thousand are Europeans. The Syrians here, being rather proud and vain, call it the Paris of Syria. The suburbs are fine, with many splendid houses and large, beautiful gardens, but the town itself is far from what it ought to be in cleanliness and order. The French language is, next to the Arabic, the most common, and is spoken freely in all the better stores and offices; but if we attempt to speak to them about religion, they do not understand, neither can they express what they would like to say.
We thought that Beyrout might be a good place for a medical mission, but since coming here we have found that it is not so favorable for a center for our work. For instance: If a person wants to go from Jaffa to Beyrout, he pays only one dollar for the ticket, but he has to pay $1.40 for a passport that will enable him to land. In the summer all who can do so, go to other places, so our workers would have but few for whom they could labor.
Thus far we have been trying to learn all we could about conditions and circumstances here, and at the same time we have visited and distributed our literature in the houses and on the ships. Fourteen French men-of-war spent a few days here, and we seized the opportunity to distribute a large number of tracts among them. It might be their only opportunity to become acquainted with the blessed truth for this time.
