THE conversation about the fourth commandment had taken place Wednesday evening after the close of school, and subsequent talks only rendered Mrs. Manton more certain she should begin at once to keep the Sabbath that God gave. The children also were fully convinced. Mr. Manton believed such a change ought to be made, but how he was to arrange his business puzzled him. Saturday, as everyone knows, is the busiest day of the week, and he feared if he closed his office on that day, he would lose many valuable clients. He decided, however, to put a card on his door—
"No business done to-day.
Call Monday."
If anyone questioned him in regard to it, he would explain. Sunday should be his day for "catching up" in his writing, etc.
"Mamma," said Hope, "we shall have to do our marketing for two days on Friday, and do our baking Friday, too."
"And the Sabbath begins Friday evening," said Paul.
"Yes, the Jews always begin Sabbath at or about sunset," said Mr. Manton. "And isn't it wonderful," he added, "that, scattered as the Jews have been for eighteen hundred years, they keep the seventh day the world around? It is God's proof of his day."
The Mantons had never known any people who kept the seventh day, and so they kept this first Sabbath as nearly as they could understand from God's word that he would have them.
"It is a day to rest from business and perplexing cares, to think of him and study his word and works," said Mr. Manton.
So, after supper Friday evening, they sang some hymns, talked over their Bible lessons, and went early to bed.
Next morning, after a simple breakfast, they had a Bible class and studied, talked, and read from religious papers, until lunch. Then the whole family took a walk off over the meadows into the woods, and, sitting by the brook, listened to its ripple and the twitter of the birds, admired the flowers, and talked of their Creator. Then they had a song and prayers at home, and the day was done.
"No church to attend, but a real Sabbath at any rate!" said Mrs. Manton.
Sunday morning a perplexity arose. Should they go to church and Sunday school as usual, or remain away? They must let people know they did not longer consider Sunday a sacred day.
"But you know," said Hope, "if people understand that, it will do no harm to go to meeting Sunday as well as any other day of the week. We want to go to Sunday school to-day anyway and hear Mr. Gordon and recite the commandments."
"Yes, we'll go to-day and consider the subject with prayer—that is, our future course," said her mother.
It was a beautiful June day, and the school was unusually well attended. After the lesson was over, somewhat shortened for the occasion, Mr. Gordon arose and asked how many had learned the ten commandments. Quite a large number raised their hands.
"Now," said he, "how many are absolutely certain they know every word just as it occurs in the twentieth chapter of Exodus?"
There were about a dozen who raised their hands, among them Paul and Hope.
"Well, once more," said he smiling, "how many have studied to know the exact meaning of each commandment, and have noted instances of the breaking of each?"
Only two raised their hands,—our Paul and Hope.
"I am glad two have done so," he said. "I will ask several to repeat the commandments, and then see what these little friends have to say as to their meaning."
Bertha Allen and several others recited, then Mr. Gordon called upon Hope to tell all she could about the commandments and their meaning.
She modestly stepped forward, as requested, and told the story of the giving of God's law on Mt. Sinai, of Christ's embodying the ten in two commandments, of his test applied to the keeping of them, and finally of instances she had observed when each had been broken. She finished by saying:—
"And we have found out by studying the commandments that the fourth says, 'The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God,' so we have done wrong not to keep it, but we are going to obey him, now we have learned that his day was meant for us all, and that he would have changed it if he had wanted it changed."
Mr. Gordon, the pastor, superintendent, and teachers, even Mr. and Mrs. Manton, were petrified with astonishment at Hope's confession.
Mr. Gordon was the first to recover himself.
"My dear little girl, you have done nobly. I think you understand God's law better than many older people far more learned in other things. I am glad if you have gained new light by your study, and if after further thought and prayer you are still impressed with it, follow it. I will look into the matter more carefully myself. I think you deserve the prize, and it gives me great pleasure to put into your hands this beautiful copy of God's word, with all these helps to its study."
"Oh, if you please!" cried Hope, "I am sure Paul would have done as well if you had called on him."
"That may be, my dear. But I judge master Paul by myself, and believe he would prefer his little sister should have the first chance. I do not think he or anyone could have done better, so I give you the Bible."
"Thank you, sir. Paul will have it as well as I anyway."
And Hope with beaming face took her seat and showed her prize to her friends, not one of whom broke the tenth commandment.
Mr. Gordon called to Paul, who passed him after the school closed.
"Did I do right, my son?"
"Yes, indeed, sir. Hope deserves it, for I couldn't have told it off so well as Hope, although I think I understand the same as she does."
"You must not think, Mr. Gordon," said Mrs. Manton, coming up, "that we put Hope up to confessing our change of view. I was as much surprised as anybody; but it is a fact we have seen the matter in a new light, and must keep God's day hereafter."
Mr. Gordon took Mrs. Manton's hand and said solemnly:—
"God's servant Solomon said, 'Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.' I am not wiser than he, and I may not understand the law as I should."
"Well, I thank you for being the means of opening our eyes, and God grant you may see it as God intended, and feel the blessing we do."
This might very properly end this little story, but the end is not yet, for several others in the town were led to see the truth, and a few months afterward Hope received a letter from Mr. Gordon saying he had studied with especial reference to the fourth commandment, and had come to see that the law is as unchangeable as the Creator, and he must obey. He added, "And I thank God that in offering a prize to others for a study of his word, he gave me, in a clearer understanding of his law, an unexpected prize."
FALSE SHAME OF YOUNG MEN.
YOUNG men who come from the country to town, and who get on in the world, are often ashamed of their parents, of the rustic dress they once wore, and of the simple but kindly ways of their childhood. And too often when they assume the fashionable clothes and adopt the fashionable ways of their new friends, they leave behind them the religion of their childhood, and forget the piety which they learned at a mother's knee. They have outgrown the priestly dress in which their mother dedicated them to God, and think her religion old-fashioned and worn out. This is false shame. It is a sin against the dearest and most sacred instincts of our74nature. So far from being manly, it is mean and dastardly. Depend upon it, the man who will have the most of the esteem of his fellow-creatures and of the favor of heaven, will be he who keeps unchanged all through life the mantle of heavenly devotion with which his mother clothed him.
He who makes the religion of his youth the habit of his life—his garment and way of acting all through—will come to honor, and will enjoy the proud blessings of consistency. His life will be a gracious verity, like that of Samuel; it will have one steadfast purpose running through it all. The outer life will be of one piece with the inner; one part will not reproach the other; and what he seems, that he ever is.—Selected.
SECRET THOUGHTS.
By Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I HOLD it true that thoughts are things
Endowed with bodies, breath, and wings,
And that we send them forth to fill
The world with good results—or ill.
That which we call our secret thought
Speeds to the earth's remotest spot,
And leaves its blessings or its woes
Like tracks behind it as it goes.
It is God's law. Remember it,
In your still chamber as you sit,
With thoughts you would not dare have known,
And yet make comrades when alone,
These thoughts have life, and they will fly
And leave their impress by and by,
Like some marsh breeze, whose poisoned breath
Breathes into homes its fevered death.
And after you have quite forgot,
Or all outgrown some vanished thought,
Back to your mind to make its home,
A dove or raven, it will come.
Then let your secret thoughts be fair;
They have a vital part, and share
In shaping worlds and moulding fate—
God's system is so intricate.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
A BEE'S STING.
By Washington Star
THE sting of a bee is composed of two spears of polished horn held in a sheath. One gets a notion of the sharpness of the weapon by a very simple comparison. The edge of a very keen razor, when examined under a good microscope, appears as broad as the back of a thick knife, rough, uneven, and full of notches. An exceedingly small and delicate needle similarly scrutinized resembles a rough bar from a smith's forge. The sting of a bee, viewed through the same instrument, shows a flawless polish, without the least blemish or inequality, ending in a point too fine to be discerned.
In the act of stinging, the spears, each of which has nine barbs and is grooved with a channel for the passage of the poison, emerge from the sheath. One of them is plunged into the flesh of the victim, the other following, and alternately they penetrate deeper and deeper. The venom is forced to the end of the spears by much the same process as that which carries the poison from the tooth of a snake when it bites.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE PWOS.
By Rev. L. W. Cronkhite
BY REV. L. W. CRONKHITE, BASSEIN, BURMAH:
AND particularly about the Bassein Pwos. They used to be written Pghos, but neither that nor Pwos is quite right, for no letters in our alphabet will just fit the native term. They differ in dialect from all other Karen tribes, and to some extent also from each other, as locality varies. They are found mostly in Burmah, though they are said to extend also into the country on the Siamese border. A gentleman connected with the English Forest Department in Burmah—Burmah is, of course, under the sway of Queen Victoria—told me several years ago that he had followed them for seven hundred miles down the interior of Tenasserim, the long and narrow extension of Burmah down toward Malacca. However this may be, it is well ascertained that there is a large mass of Pwo Karens lying in the interior, to the east and southeast of Moulmein, and it is painful to be obliged to add that no work for Christ has as yet been done among them. Father Brayton, our veteran worker among the Pwos for the last fifty-five years, saw something of them many years ago. The old man has long been calling for a family from America to go and take up life among them, and I cannot write this without a prayer that the eye of their future missionary may rest upon it.
Like other Karen tribes, the Pwos have been wonderfully prepared for the gospel by their singular traditions handed down from their forefathers. These said in substance: "In olden times we had the word of God, but lost it in time of famine. Presently our younger brother, a white man, will come in a ship from the West, and will bring it again." Often the writer has heard the native Christian preachers appeal to this tradition as pointing to the American missionaries. Their traditions of the creation, Eden, and the fall, are mysteriously parallel with the Christian Scriptures. The comparatively small numerical results which have been attained among this people are chiefly due to the smallness of the mission force which has been employed among them.
In a lesser degree it is due also to the fact that they, most of all the Karen tribes, have been attracted by the Buddhism of the Burmese, and not a few Pwo villages have their Buddhist monasteries, and support Burmans as their priests. The people as a whole are, like other Karens, demon worshipers, or rather demon fearers. Practically one might sum it up thus: There is somewhere a God, but he is good and will not hurt us, and therefore we need pay him no attention; but the streams and the trees and the fields and the hills are full of malignant spirits, from whom our sorrows come, and them we must propitiate. It is a great day when the head of a heathen household hands over to a Christian preacher the common old junk bottle which he has used, in his propitiatory feasts, and which he holds eminently sacred. We have a hymn and an address and a prayer in view of the magnitude of the occasion.
God seems to have put the work for the Pwos, as for most other Karen tribes, chiefly into the hands of the American Baptists. We have now two central Pwo stations, the one covering the Rangoon-Maubin field, and the other the Bassein district. The first, in charge of Rev. Walter Bushell, has seventeen churches with seven hundred and fifty members, and the Bassein field twenty-nine churches with a membership of about fifteen hundred. Besides these there are several hundreds of Pwos connected with the Karen missions at Henthada, Moulmein, and Tavoy, so that there are probably in all some twenty-eight hundred Pwo brethren and sisters in Christ. Of course these represent three or four times that number of adherents. The work in the Bassein district was begun in 1854 by Brother H. L. Van Meter, who labored ardently until his death, in 1871. His faithful wife followed a year later. Rev. S. T. Goodell, and later Rev. J. T. Elwell, were, with their wives, in charge of the field, and continued the laying of broad foundations of self-help among the disciples gathered. Both these brethren have gone to their rest. The present writer and wife succeeded to the work in 1884. Misses Higby, Tschirch, and Black are also connected with this mission. The people for whom this Bassein branch labors number perhaps fifty thousand. The entire Bible has been translated into the Pwo language under the superintendence of "Father" Brayton, now past eighty.
The first meeting among the Pwos that the writer was ever privileged to attend—in January, 1884—was the praise meeting of all Christian Pwodom, held at the neat village of Thayagone, to celebrate the completion of this work. I remember old pastor Moe Coo, the leading spirit of the Bassein association, pleading at that meeting that every Pwo Christian possess himself of a copy.
The deepest conviction, except one, that my missionary life has wrought into me is that all men are brothers, not simply in the judgment of charity, but as per the facts of the case. People have been surprised when I have said to them that I have worked among the Pwos for months at a time without the thought ever crossing my mind that they are of a different race from myself. Once in a while it flashes over me, Why, these people are Karens! Now this is not because I carry a tomahawk and thirst for blood, but because I really cannot see much difference between a Pwo Christian in a jungle in Burmah and a Christian at home. They dress differently, of course, and their habits of thought differ in some marked particulars, but for the most part they live in the same spiritual latitudes.
I have in mind two of the former pupils of our school, Myat San and his gentle wife, Nahn Yeng. The former spent four years as a missionary among the Karens of Northern Siam, in the vicinity of Lakon. To reach the scene of this new work required a journey of75a month on foot across the mountains, and by boat along the streams. Myat San, after his four years of work, returned to Bassein on furlough, and nearly three years ago was married to Nahn Yeng, to whom he had been for several years engaged. How well I remember this girl, her patient, never-varying sweetness and earnestness of character, her searching of the Scriptures, her constant watchcare over her younger brother and sister in school with her, her natural refinement, and the sweet face which mirrored her heart within! After the wedding in our large school building, the young couple set their faces toward Siam, but not until rumors of war and the gathering of dacoits, or banditti, along their route had reached them. Her husband wished Nahn Yeng to remain behind rather than risk the dangers of the journey, but she insisted on sharing them with him. They left us in March, 1890. For nearly two years no tidings came from them, except that she had been very ill with fever the early part of the way. Presently came inquiries from the little flock in Siam as to why their missionaries had not returned to them. At length it transpired that they, together with three of the converts from Siam who accompanied them, had been cruelly massacred by the Shan men whom they employed as guides. Four men received, I believe, five dollars each for their bloody work, having been hired by one who had some grudge against the Christians. . . . The tender flock in their Siam home was left, and is still left, without human care. Our society is, I understand, waiting for an American family to go to this Karen work in Northern Siam.
Perhaps seven years ago there came to us two young men, strangers, and evidently much stirred. They hastened to tell us that they had been sent from a remote village in a densely heathen district. Some time before one of the villagers, while away from home, had come upon a copy of the Burmese tract, "Who Is Man's Lord?" written by the elder Haswell. He had brought it home with him, it had been used in the village, much interest had been stirred, and these two had been sent the long distance to Bassein, where, it was understood, a Christian missionary could be found. They were to seek further instruction, and to make inquiries about schools which, it was said, the Christian missionaries conduct for the Pwo race. I can never forget their intense earnestness. The next term Aung Poo, the younger of these two messengers, entered our Bassein school. He has remained under training ever since, and I have never seen any pupil of any nationality, American or otherwise, show more Christian pertinacity in the pursuit of knowledge. He must have been nineteen when he began. All this is to prepare himself for a life of proclaiming the gospel to his heathen nation, and he is now an honored student in the Karen Theological Seminary. When traveling with him a few months ago, I was struck by the singular tact, as well as the eager intensity, which characterized his preaching among the heathen whom we visited. It is interesting to add that a church was organized in his village not long after his conversion, and that the other messenger who accompanied him on that first visit to the city has ever since been a leader in all good works.
It is pleasant to explain, by instances like these, why it is that the Christian Pwos so win both our esteem and our tender love. When one thinks back over the numbers who have borne estrangement from kindred for Christ's sake, he scarcely knows of which to speak. There rise in mind an old couple who, much of the time for thirty-five years past, have lived alone among scoffing heathen neighbors, and who all this time have borne brave Christian testimony. It was my privilege three years ago to witness the baptism of six of the family of one of our brethren who for thirty years had stood alone for Christ—a long seed sowing, but he had his reward. Not all who are threatened with estrangement from friends are so fortunate nor so shrewd as one of this man's relatives. His wife with outrageous clamor had averred that the day of his baptism would coincide with the day of their separation. Our quiet friend one day suddenly disappeared. No one could say where. As the days passed, his wife began to find the house lonely. She began to make inquiries. Then she began to be anxious. Presently she began to be broken hearted. She averred that if only her husband would come back, he might be baptized, or anything else, and welcome; and thereupon, after two weeks of voluntary exile, our friend reappeared as suddenly as he had disappeared.
The love of money is scarcely a root of evil among the Pwos, though wasteful use of it sometimes is. They are very generous among themselves, and carry the same spirit very largely into their church relations. None of the churches receive outside aid, nor do their village schools. American funds are drafted upon for the salaries of the American missionaries among them, for rather less than half the cost of the work done by native evangelists among the heathen villages, and for a part of the expenses of the central schools, including plant. The Bassein plant is now worth about twenty thousand dollars. The entire membership of the twenty-nine churches gives on an average a tenth of their incomes for Christian work. Noticing last year that the boys in the Bassein school were not using their new football ground, though the game is one to which they are devoted, I inquired the reason. After some hesitation the fact was elicited that they could not afford a new ball. Nevertheless, these same boys were giving into my hands every month more than the price of one.
One Sunday last dry season a young man who had just entered the school as teacher, having been for some years a pupil there, brought an offering amounting to twenty-five rupees, or about nine dollars. Some months before he had decided with himself that if ever he came to have a salary of his own, the first fruits—that is, the pay of the first month—should all go to the Master's treasury. This nine dollars was the first month's salary. For years he has given heavily of his scanty means. During the past seven years the pupils and teachers of the town school have contributed twenty-two hundred rupees through their "school subscription," in addition to about eight hundred rupees through other channels. At present three rupees about equal one dollar. These contributions have sufficed for eleven hundred feet of good fencing, two or three hundred books for the reading room, a large glass case for the incipient museum, cost of painting the new schoolroom, a covered walk, and for many other things. The missionaries in charge of the school have joined in these contributions, but to no such degree as to make it other than a genuine Karen enterprise. It should be remembered that the children's parents live in houses averaging from twelve to twenty dollars each in value, and I may add that I once, at a loss to myself, purchased a native house for forty cents. Families average probably a little over a hundred dollars each annual income. There have been many touching instances of self-denial practiced by these children and by their Pwo teachers in making these offerings.
But, after all, in the end how truly such giving has its reward! "There is that giveth and yet increaseth." Three footballs have been given to the boys since the incident of last year, and I now cry, Hold, enough! To Son Tay, who gave the first fruits, God returned within a few months several times his donation; and the disciples at large rejoice, not only in the increase of their churches and jungle schools, but also in the marvelous way in which God has led them in providing increased facilities for the work of their central school in Bassein. This has one hundred and forty pupils. Five substantial buildings have been added,—a chapel and schoolhouse combined, a home for the American ladies who teach in the school, a large dormitory for the girls, one for the boys, and recently a dining hall,—besides land, grading, fencing, furniture, and apparatus. While speaking of this development of the school, one should not omit to say that every year a large proportion of the older boys and girls, instead of going home, spend the first two months of the vacation in preaching and teaching in remote heathen or newly Christian villages. Most of our churches come into being by such means. These pupils, when the hot season has so far advanced that not even a native can work, return to their homes for three or four weeks of vacation before the rainy season brings the new term of the town school.—Missionary Review.
BECAUSE SHE WAS BLIND.
A SUFFICIENT excuse for pettishness, and selfishness, and grumbling, one might suppose—but what a reason for giving!
At a missionary meeting in Paris a poor blind woman put twenty-seven francs into the plate. “You cannot afford so much,” said the man who was holding the plate. “Yes, I can,” she answered. And on being pressed to tell how she could give so much, she said: “I am blind; and I said to my fellow straw workers, ‘How much money do you spend in the year for oil for your lamps, when it is too dark to work nights?’ They added it up in their minds, and found it was twenty-seven francs. So,” said the poor woman, “I found that I save twenty-seven francs in the year because I am blind and do not need a lamp, and I give it to send light to the dark heathen lands.”—Sel.
THE RESTING DAY.
By D. E. W.
BY D. E. W.
Faithful workers in God's vineyard,
Look! the fields are white to-day;
Onward, then, renew thy courage,
Soon will come the resting day.
Though thy labor may seem fruitless,
*Sow in faith along the way;
Hark! the earth groans 'neath the harvest
Of the ripened grain to-day.
Not in vain shall be thy labor;
Heaven knows thy anxious care;
Onward, then, with greater fervor,
Venture forth to do and dare.
Though the seed thy tears may water,
Precious are they in His sight;
Though thy heart may faint, ne'er falter;
Look to Him and trust His might.
Soon thy labor will be ended,
All thy cares be done away.
Oh, how sweet the precious promise
Of the blessed resting day!
Then, with courage failing never,
In faith the Master's word obey;
Keep thy heart uplifted ever.
Soon will come the resting day.
The Lord’s Correction
"WHOM the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth." Prov. 3:12.
Making Guests Welcome
The guest should be careful to make his presence agreeable and welcome.
A RESTFUL YOKE.
MARK GUY PEARSE tells us of an incident which occurred in connection with a sermon of his on Christ's invitation to the weary and heavy laden: "I had finished my sermon, when a good man came to me and said: 'I wish I had known what you were going to preach about. I could have told you something.'"
" 'Well, my friend,' I said, 'it is very good of you. May I not have it still?' "
" 'Do you know why His yoke is light, sir? If not, I think I can tell you.' "
" 'Well, because the good Lord helps us to carry it, I suppose.' "
" 'No, sir,' he exclaimed, shaking his head. 'I think I know better than that. You see, when I was a boy at home, I used to drive the oxen in my father's yoke. And the yoke was never made to balance, sir, as you said.' (I had referred to the Greek word. But how much better it was to know the real thing.)"
"He went on triumphantly: 'Father's yokes were always made heavier on one side than on the other. Then, you see, we would put a weak bullock in alongside of a strong bullock, and the light end would come on the weak bullock, because the stronger one had the heavy part of it on his shoulders.'"
"Then his face lit up as he said: 'That is why the yoke is easy and the burden is light—because the Lord's yoke is made after the same pattern, and the heavy end is upon his shoulder.'"
"So shall ye find rest to your souls."—Illustrated Missionary News.
DOES THIS MEAN YOU?
By Editor
We notice on examination of our Signs list that many clubs and single subscriptions expire during the month of December. We feel sure that none want to miss any of the valuable instruction that is being printed from week to week in the Signs. We therefore advise early renewals, thus saving a break in the series of articles.
Please notice the date on your address label of this number, and if your time has about expired, please renew at once. This will save us trouble, as well as yourselves.
"OUR LITTLE FRIEND" BOUND.
By Editor
We have a few bound volumes of Our Little Friend, Vol. 1, black cloth, with gold side title, which we will send to any address postpaid for $1.00.
Volumes 2 and 3, bound in heavy manilla paper, for 75 cents each.
Also volumes 2 and 3 bound in cloth, with attractive design on cover, for $1.00 each, postpaid. Or we will send all three volumes bound in cloth to any one address for $2.75 postpaid.
These are just the books for holiday presents to children.
SPECIAL HOLIDAY OFFER.
By Editor
Having purchased several hundred copies of Illustrated Quarto Poems at a price BELOW COST we are able to offer to our customers an assortment of 25 different titles at the astonishingly low price of
50 Cents Each, Postpaid.
These are from the Fine Art Publishers. Each poem is beautifully illustrated and bound in Antique Vellum or Embossed Silk Paper, Padded, and make
Elegant Presentation Volumes.
These are usually sold at 75 cents and $1.00, but our price 50 cents, while the stock lasts.
Below we give the titles, with author's name following
Oriana—Keats.
The Earl's Return—Owen Meredith.
The Bugle Song—Tennyson.
Song of the River—Kingsley.
Fair Ines—Hood.
Lenore—Poe.
Elegy in a Country Churchyard—Gray.
Rock Me to Sleep, Mother—Allen.
Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner—Coleridge.
Eve of St. Agnes—Keats.
Song of the Brook—Tennyson.
Song of the Bell—Schiller.
Songs from Faust—Goethe.
Annie's and Willie's Prayer—Snow.
Bells across the Snow—Havergal.
Wreck of the Hesperus—Longfellow.
Village Blacksmith—Longfellow.
Hark! the Herald Angels Sing—Kingsley.
Evening Hymn—Keble.
Pilgrims of the Night—Faber.
Songs of Christmas—Havergal.
Sweet By and By—Bennett.
The Raven—Poe.
Unknown Way—Bryant.
Daisy Seekers.
It will be well to make second and third choices, so that we may not disappoint you in case the book chosen is sold out. These cannot last long at this price, so ORDER NOW, before the stock is broken.
As a meeting in a district near Papeete on the evening of September 20 was to the native people a grand occasion, some minutes of the proceedings would perhaps be of interest to the people at home. Special attention had been given by the pastor to invite all to come who were in danger of staying away, and all who could not find one for themselves, were provided with an appropriate text to repeat. The golden text for the evening was, "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other." All other texts had some bearing on this one.
As we neared the building, which was a native house of considerable size, we could hear the sound of many voices singing one of their lively native pieces. In front of the house and on the steps we were met by a crowd, who were glad to welcome us, with a hand shake and a word of greeting, to their gathering. Upon entering the house we noticed that the interior consisted of one large room, which seemed quite small indeed with sixty natives crowded into it. We shook hands with all and took our seats on the chairs which were kindly provided for us. After the opening prayer came the songs, which were delivered with much zeal, accompanied by the native grunt, which is made by men who breathe in a full breath, which they force out through their nose by bringing their elbows vigorously against their ribs. These sounds are much like the song of the grouse, and serve the purpose of a sort of drum.
While the natives sat around on all sides of the room, the pastor delivered the opening address and called for reports from the leaders of the district meetings concerning the work of the last quarter. This was responded to, first by our Brother Paa, who is one of the deacons and a very enthusiastic speaker. His report of the work in Arue could almost be understood by the gestures. Then came a report from the Pirae district, which was followed by other songs, which they call himinis.
Those who were not church members were to repeat their verses first, and so it was the children rose, one after another, and repeated some words from the good Book. About a score of adults who, for some reason or other, are not fully in sympathy with the church of the world, followed with their verses. Two natives from a little island to the south of here who were visiting in Tahiti, took an active part in the meeting. One native song which was sung was about the Lord coming down in the cool of the evening to Eden and calling for Adam.
It would be a real treat to our people at home could they have looked into that meeting as the hands of the clock pointed to 11. Seated on the floor and leaning against the wall, with legs outstretched, crossed, and in a diversity of ways, were a row of men. In front of them were the women and children, ranging in ages from the feeble and grey-headed to the little crying baby. In the center of the room were a lot of little children, who were stretched out full length on the floor and fast asleep. In the windows were a row of heads. One young man who found no room for his body inside, had his head resting in the corner of a window sash, and reminded me much of the pictures I had seen in grocery windows at home, where only a head is visible. Another song was on the theme, "I Have a Father in the Promised Land."
The hands of the clock pointed to 9:30 before the first part of the meeting was completed and the forty non-members had finished their verses. Always before repeating their verse there is a long routine of greeting which each native goes through with, so that often the introduction is longer than the verse. While the pastor's dog slept calmly beneath the table, and barnyard cocks, waking from their slumbers, crowed their old-time greeting, and the industrious little flea maintained a lively crusade against our patience, the hands of the clock moved steadily onward toward the small hours, and brought over many of us feelings of drowsiness. Here and there a stirring himini was thrown in to wake the sleeping and revive the drooping head.
As we sat listening to the sermon by Paul Deane, at 11:30, our minds reverted to that memorable occasion at Troas, where Paul the apostle preached to a listening and drowsy company till midnight. At ten minutes before 12 this interesting session came to a close, and, after shaking hands, all around, we returned to our homes. We are sorry that these gatherings are not more spiritual and less lengthy. Our faith is strong, however, that the Lord will, in his own way, work out his plan and save a company from this people to stand at last upon the sea of glass.
ELLIOT C. CHAPMAN.
Papeete, Tahiti, October 6, 1893.
THREE IN JAIL.
By A. F. Ballenger
FROM the report of Elder A. F. Ballenger, in the Review of November 21, we take the following extracts:—
As a result of the trials held at Centerville, Md., November 10 and 13, three of our brethren are now in the county jail at Centerville. These brethren are Isaac Baker, Geo. W. Marvel, and Milton A. Bryan. Brother Baker is forty-five years old, and has a wife and eleven children, the youngest of whom is but three months old. Brother Marvel is about sixty years old, and has a wife and several children, most of whom are grown. Brother Bryan is about twenty-eight years old, and has a wife and one child, a baby eight months old.
Brother Baker's crime(?) was plowing his field Sunday, the 9th day of last April. Brother Marvel's was setting out tomato plants in his garden on Sunday, June 25. The only witness against him was his own son, who holds the office of constable, and who went purposely to catch his father at work in order to prosecute him. Brother Bryan was seen cutting sprouts, chopping wood in his dooryard, and digging in his garden, by two men who were acting as spies, and who had previously threatened to have him arrested for working on Sunday.
After the trials, and just before leaving Centerville, Professor McKee, several of the Maryland ministers, and the writer, called at the jail to bid the brethren good-by, but were rudely ordered by the sheriff to leave the jail and to stay away. We were thus refused a privilege usually granted to the friends of the vilest of criminals. The brethren came to the window of their cell, which is in the second story of the building, and talked with us through the iron bars; and with this picture of persecution stamped on our memory, we bade them good-by. This is but a single manifestation of the persecuting spirit that is now enveloping the world, and which will soon rule in the hearts of all whose names are not written in the Lamb's book of life.
The fine imposed by the court was $5.00 and costs, which of course our brethren would not pay, and the alternative is thirty days in jail.
From the Union Record we take the following in reference to other cases tried at the same term of court:—
Alexander Dodd and Brother C. O. Ford were arrested for hauling window sash, glass, and weights for the new meeting house, from the Jackson Street wharf, on Sunday, June 4. The principal witnesses against them were the two brothers of C. O. Ford. One of them was at that time agent for the steamboat company at the wharf where the goods were discharged. He refused to put the goods in the warehouse on the wharf, and did not notify his brother, C. O. Ford, of their arrival, till Saturday night, at 8 o'clock. The next morning Brother Ford and Brother Dodd hauled them up to the former's store, followed by the witnesses, one of whom testified in court that he had vowed to cause the arrest of any Seventh-day Adventists he saw working on Sunday. Some time ago Brother Ford's brothers, who made the complaint, went and paid the fine and costs for their brother, C. O. Ford, without his knowledge, for they evidently saw that he would go to jail rather than to pay them himself. This left Brother Dodd alone in that case. When the facts were presented, the jury quickly rendered a verdict "not guilty," holding that the work done was one of necessity on the part of Brother Ford, and, therefore, it was lawful for Brother Dodd to assist him. It would be amusing to know how Mr. Frank Ford and Mr. Samuel Ford felt as they reflected on their part in the transaction. First, they had their brother arrested, clearly through malice, on account of his religion, then they went and paid $8.00 to keep him from jail, and the court decided the work lawful.