NEAR London there lived an old couple. In early life they had been poor; but the husband became a Christian, and God blessed their industry, and they were living in comfortable retirement, when one day a stranger called on them and asked their subscription to a charity.
The old lady had less religion than her husband, and still hankered after the many hard-earned shillings which Thomas had given from regard to the law of God. So when the visitor asked for their contribution she interposed and said: "Why, sir, we have lost a deal by religion since we first begun; my husband knows that very well. Have we not, Thomas?"
After a solemn pause, Thomas answered: "Yes, Mary, we have. Before I got religion, Mary, I had an old slouched hat, a tattered coat, and mended shoes and stockings; but I have lost them long ago. And you know that, poor as I was, I had a habit of getting drunk and quarreling with you, and that you know I have lost. And then I had a hardened conscience and a wicked heart and ten thousand guilty fears; but all are lost—completely lost—and, like a millstone, cast into the sea. And, Mary, you have been a loser, too. Before we got religion you had a washing day, and you had a gown and a bonnet much the worse for wear, but you have lost them long ago; and you had many an aching heart concerning me at times, but those you have happily lost. And I could even wish that you had even lost as much as I have lost, for what we lose for religion will be an everlasting gain."—S. S. Advocate.
OLD SAL.
By Mrs. Susan H. Barney
BY MRS. SUSAN H. BARNEY.
I REMEMBER very well in working in a certain city, the police said to me, "Well, if you could see one woman that comes in here three or four times a year—'Old Sal'!" They told me it always took four policemen to bring her into the cell, and usually they got their faces scratched. One morning these policemen stood there radiant, and then they said, "We have got her here this morning, and we would like to see you bring her in; if you can do that we will not oppose you any more." The chief said he would send two men to take care of me. I said, "I don't want you."
So they let me go. As I came to the cell door, I rapped with the key and opened the door, and there, in the long, dark, narrow, cell, crouched the woman, looking more like a wild beast than like a woman. She was just ready to spring, as she was expecting the policeman, and she cried out:—
"Who are you?"
"I am your friend."
"No, you are not; I haven't got any friends."
"I am," I said.
"I thought something was queer when somebody rapped on that door; I never had that done in all these times I have been here before. Who are you, anyway, a policeman?"
"No, I am a policewoman."
"Oh, I didn't know they had such things."
As I stood there beside her, I dropped my hands down upon her shoulders. Friends, I believe in the laying on of hands in more than a theological sense. I looked down into her eyes, and called her by her last name, with Mrs. before it.
"Who told you that? I have not heard it before for forty years."
I said, "You know you have got to go into court in a minute, and you are not fit to go." And I began to fix her hair. I took a pin out of my own hair. She hadn't a pin, or a button, or a fastening of any kind to her clothes. She sat there tugging and holding them together, and as I tried to fix them, she said:—
"Tell me what you're up to; tell me what you mean."
By and by, looking into her eyes, I said, "Do you remember the first time you were ever in a police station?"
"O God, don't I remember it!"
"How old were you?"
"I wasn't sixteen."
"How old are you now?"
"I am more than sixty."
"How many times have you been in these places?"
"Oh, I don't know, I guess God don't know, it is so often!"
"Look here, Sallie, if I had been there that first morning—do you remember how you felt?"
"Ah, I was almost scared to death; I cried all night!"
"Sallie, if I had been there then, and had taken my hand and wiped the tears off your face, if I had put your hair up, and put my hands on your shoulders, as I have now, what would it have meant to you?"
"Oh, I would never have got back again! But nobody ever cared."
"Now let me tell you, Sallie; I want you to do something for me; I want to get a woman to go into these places to care for the women in the way I want to care for you. Wouldn't you like to do it to help me?"
"I would do anything I could to help you," she said.
"Now, the policemen say I can't bring you into court this morning."
"They don't know what you can do."
"Will you go quietly with me?"
"I will do anything you say to me."
Then after a minute I said to her, "Sallie, do you remember your mother?"
"O God, don't talk about it! She's dead long ago. I suppose she died before I was seven years old."
"Was she a good mother to you, Sallie?"
"The best that a child ever had."
"Did she ever pray with you, Sallie?"
"Oh, don't! You will kill me if you talk about it."
"Sallie, I'm going to pray with you," and with my hand upon her poor head, stroking down the poor face, I lifted my voice to Him who is not willing that she should perish.
"Oh, how pleasant he seemed to us that morning! It seemed to me that, instead of my hands upon her tempted, tired head, there were hands that had the nail prints in them."
She said, "I feel like another woman."
"They are calling us now. We must go. You will remember, now, what you have promised."
"I will remember."
I said to her, "Shall you take my arm, or shall I take yours?"
She looked me over, and said, "Well, I am about three times as large as you; I guess you had better take mine."
So we went into the court. They said they would have cheered us if it had been proper. A policeman swore a round oath that I had bewitched Sallie, but someone keener than the policeman said, "She's got the touch of the Master."—The White Ribbon.
HOLIDAYS IN DIFFERENT STATES.
JANUARY 1. New Year's day: in all the States except Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island.
January 8. Anniversary of the battle of New Orleans: in Louisiana.
January 19. Lee's birthday: in Georgia, North Carolina, and Virginia.
February 6, 1894. Mardi-Gras: in Alabama and Louisiana.
February 12. Lincoln's birthday: in Illinois.
February 22. Washington's birthday: in all the States except Arkansas, Iowa, and Mississippi.
March 2. Anniversary of Texan Independence: in Texas.
March 4. Fireman's Anniversary: in New Orleans, La.
March 23, 1894. Good Friday: in Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee.
April 4, 1894. State election day: in Rhode Island.
April 21. Anniversary of the battle of San Jacinto: in Texas.
April 26. Memorial day: in Alabama and Georgia.
May 10. Memorial day: in North Carolina.746
May 20. Anniversary of the signing of the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence: in North Carolina.
May 30. Decoration day: in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Wisconsin, Washington, and Wyoming.
June 3. Jefferson Davis' birthday: in Florida.
July 4. Independence day: in all the States.
July 24. Pioneers' day: in Utah.
September, the first Monday, Labor day: in California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Washington.
September 9. Admission day: in California.
October 31. Admission in the Union day: in Nevada.
November (generally the Tuesday after the first Monday), general election day: in Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In the States which hold elections in November, 1894, election day falls on the 6th.
November, the last Thursday in—Thanksgiving day. It is observed in all the States, although in some it is not a statutory holiday.
November 25. Labor day: in Louisiana.
December 25. Christmas day: in all States, and in South Carolina the two succeeding days in addition.
Sundays and fast days, whenever appointed, are legal holidays in nearly all the States.
Arbor day is a legal holiday in Kansas, Rhode Island, and Wyoming, the day being set by the Governor—in Nebraska, April 22; California, September 9; Colorado, on the third Friday in April; Montana, third Tuesday in April; Utah, first Saturday in April; and Idaho, on Friday after May 1st.
Every Saturday after 12 o'clock noon is a legal holiday in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, and the city of New Orleans, and June 1 to September 30 in New Castle County, Delaware.
Labor day was made a national holiday by the last Congress and observed as such this month. It is the only strictly national holiday we have, not excepting the 4th of July. Congress has at various times appointed special holidays, and has recognized the existence of certain days as holidays, but there is no general statute on the subject. The proclamation of the President designating a day of Thanksgiving only makes such a day a holiday in those States which provide for it by law.—The Voice.
CHILDHOOD REVERIE.
By C. M. Snow
BY C. M. SNOW.
Into the realms of the shadowy past
The years of our youthtime are flitting so fast!
Like a swift bird of passage that never returns,
Like a flickering candle that fades as it burns,
Like a midsummer brooklet in fetterless flow,
They glide from our grasp, and we grieve as they go.
On swift, noiseless wings, or on down-covered feet
They flee in all haste to their silent retreat.
Through a flower-gemmed valley, pursuing, we haste,
Nor heed the rich beauties there drooping in waste.
We chase the sweet hours that flitted before—
They were once in our grasp, but we find them no more.
The way grows more weary, the flowers more rare;
There's a hush in the voice of the high mountain air.
More slowly we climb, more worn with the strife;
High noon is the hour—'tis the midday of life.
The vision advances; we, seeking, pursue;
Still higher we climb; broader, farther the view.
When the bright shades of evening are tinting the west,
And our toil-weary bodies are longing for rest,
We may gaze on the path we have trodden in haste,
And sigh for the joys of that flowery waste.
Beneath us are lying the valley and plain
And the height where we hoped the fleet phantom to gain;
But the rare golden hours of our youthtime are fled;
The flowers by the wayside are faded and dead.
We sought them in vale and on loftiest height,
Till around us was wrapped the dark mantle of night.
In the evening of life we still long for the past,
And scarce heed the days that are flitting so fast.
Our memory's a sea, where our visions will swim
While the beacon of life flickers faintly and dim.
Recollection's a forest, with bare limbs o'erhead,
Where our youth days like leaves rustle soft to our tread.
Then chide not the aged when childish they seem;
Eternity beckons; their past is a dream.
The days they have lived they are living again;
They are plucking the flowers they heeded not then.
The sweets they had missed when the race was begun
They are sipping again ere their daydream is done.
Amazed they are viewing that echoless clime,
With its borderless sea and its measureless time.
They are crossing the bourne of a limitless land,
With a flickering flame in their faltering hand.
With the clutch of a miser they eagerly hoard
The last slipping strands of that silvery cord.
How priceless the moments when all in the past,
And a spiritless hand holds the last, last, last!
CAUSES OF THE WAR BETWEEN CHINA AND JAPAN.
ALTHOUGH it has generally been assumed that Corea will be the theater of war between China and Japan, there are several factors in the struggle which tend to make such limitation impossible. The first is the bitter race hostility between the two nations, which, if reports may be credited, is now at fever heat, and so points to a real Asiatic war, in which the combatants will fight to conquer and enslave each other. In such a war neither belligerent will be reasonable or conciliatory, nor refrain from pushing its advantage to the utmost through any fear of public opinion, and if one destroys the fleet of the other, the victor is well-nigh certain to extend hostilities to the coasts of the conquered. Again, the motives of the combatants in entering upon the struggle constitute a most important factor in the problem, and the motive of Japan in precipitating the war now is very largely political,—the desire of the present ministry to rally the nation to its support.
The second general election within a year is approaching, and had not the government appealed to the patriotism of the people by declaring a war against China, it would probably have been defeated, and constitutional government in Japan given a serious if not fatal blow. A contest with China, for which the military party in the empire has been clamoring for years, and especially a contest over Corea, to which Japan has historical claims and has longed to punish, was certain to be popular, the more that, with the development of their army and navy, the Japanese believe that they can defeat their great rival. The necessities of politics, race hatred, and confidence in the superior efficiency of its fighting departments, thus combined to favor the course of the government, and, with the popularity of the war, to render it the easiest solution of the domestic difficulty in which it found itself.
Whatever other reasons Japan may have for declaring war, there is no doubt that the motive which prompted her to precipitate it at this time was largely to win the support of the people in the general election. But this fact, so far from promising a speedy or easy ending of the war, militates against it, for, as the object of the government is to strengthen its position with the people by maintaining a vigorous foreign policy, it must continue the struggle until it has secured some real advantage by its military operations. It is not likely, therefore, to give up the contest easily, or to refrain from pushing any advantage it may gain, and if it is victorious in Corea, or by any chance destroys the Chinese fleet, is nearly certain, unless prevented by the Western powers, to advance on Pekin.
On the other hand, the motive of China in entering upon the war—the bulk of testimony goes to show that she deliberately provoked it—was to prevent any possibility of a Japanese occupation of Corea, an occupation which she cannot with safety permit on the part of any aggressive power. A glance at the map will show that the northwestern coast of Corea forms the eastern coast of the Gulf of Pe-Chili, China's closed sea, on the western shore of which, at a short distance up the Peiho, stands Pekin, a city the possession and safety of which is far more important to the Manchu dynasty than is that of any European capital to its sovereign. The Manchu is an alien Tartar dynasty, hated by the real Chinese, and the capture of its capital by any foreign power, or even the menace of its insecurity, would be followed by a revolution which might end the Tartar sovereignty for good and all. With Pekin open to attack from the sea, the occupation of Corea by the Japanese would constitute such a menace, for only the Bay of Corea and the Gulf of Pe-Chili would lie between the capital and the Mikado's fleet, while the Japanese army at Seoul would be within 500 miles of Port Arthur.
To illustrate how sensitive China is with respect to its capital and the gulf of Pe-Chili, it may be stated that Port Arthur, at the entrance of the Straits of Pe-Chili, is the headquarters of her fleet, that the whole squadron is now ordered to concentrate there, and that the Northern Chinese army, the most efficient in the empire, is always spread along the shores of the gulf. China is thus likely to fight to the last man rather than allow Japan to permanently occupy Corea, the more that the only railroad in the empire runs along the coast of the gulf of Pe-Chili, and can be attacked from the sea, in which event the supply of coal from the Kaiping mines would be cut off and the Chinese fleet rendered useless.
Still another potent factor in the situation is the difficulty of waging war on any large scale in Corea, owing to the rugged and almost uninhabited character of the country, and the difficulty of transporting supplies and munitions. A writer in the London Times says that "a less suitable country than Corea for warfare on an extended scale can indeed scarcely be imagined," the peninsula being a "succession of mountains covered with dense covert and valleys, with a scanty population, and villages and towns few and far between."
Whether any of the conditions mentioned will prevent the limitation of the war to Corea, however, has yet to be made known, for, while the intensity of the race hatreds points to a war of conquest, the Western powers cannot be left out of the count, and they are likely to insist upon a war of limited liability.—New York Observer.
TEN LECTURES ON
By John Harvey Kellogg
NASAL CATARRH
By J. H. Kellogg, M. D.
Treats of the Nature, Causes, Prevention and Cure; and Diseases of the Throat, Eye and Ear, due to Nasal Catarrh, and gives a
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Prices: Cloth, 75 cents.
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HELP THAT COMES TOO LATE.
By Margaret E. Sangster
'Tis a wearisome world this world of ours,
With its tangles small and great,
Its weeds that smother springing flowers,
And its hapless strifes with fate,
But the darkest day of its desolate days
Sees the help that comes too late.
Ah, woe for the word that is never said
Till the ear is deaf to hear,
And woe for the lack to the fainting head
Of the ringing shout of cheer!
Ah, woe for the laggard feet that tread
In the mournful wake of the bier!
What booteth help when the heart is numb?
What booteth a broken spar
Of love thrown out when the lips are dumb,
And life's bark drifteth far,
Oh! far and fast from the alien past,
Over the moaning bar?
A pitiful thing the gift to-day
That is dross and nothing worth,
Though if it had come but yesterday
It had brimmed with sweet the earth,
A fading rose in a death-cold hand,
That perished in want and dearth.
Who fain would help in this world of ours,
Where sorrowful steps must fall,
Bring help in time to the waning powers
Ere the bier is spread with the pall,
Nor send reserves when the flags are furled,
And the dead beyond your call.
For baffling most in this dreary world,
With its tangles small and great,
Its lonesome nights and its weary days,
And its struggles forlorn with fate,
Is that bitterest grief, too deep for tears,
Of the help that comes too late.
—Margaret E. Sangster.
THOUGHTLESSNESS.
MANY an unfortunate remark is made by a kind-hearted yet thoughtless person, like that of the minister who had charge of the Tanglewood camp meeting. Meeting one morning four of the young brethren, he spread out his arms over their shoulders, or tried to, and exclaimed in the blandest of tones, "Dear young brethren, I would like to ask every one of you to preach during this camp meeting, but you know—we must consult the wishes of the people." The brothers tried to smile and seem contented.—Christian Advocate.
FIELD NOTES.
By Editor
THE West Virginia Conference school, at Newark, will open for the winter term October 17.
THE new house of worship of the church in Kansas City, Mo., was dedicated on the 15th inst.
AT Hanford, Cal., where Brother Baxter Howe is engaged in tent labor, the Sabbath school numbers forty members.
IN Princeton, Neb., where Elder Loeppke and Brother Lorenz have been laboring, a church of twenty members has been organized.
ELDER R. D. HOTTEL reports the baptism of seven persons at Wilmington, Del. There were others who desired baptism but were hindered by sickness.
THE West Virginia Tract Society and State Depository has been removed from Newburg to Parkersburg. The address is 952 Avery Street. Sister L. F. Russell is in charge.
TENT meetings are being conducted in Mount Holly, N. J., by Elder S. J. Hersum, with the tent pitched on the courthouse grounds. He reports a good attendance.
AS A result of tent labor at Malta, Ill., Elder W. D. Curtis reports fifteen obeying the truth. The Congregational and Methodist ministers had both invited him to occupy their pulpits.
ANOTHER of our brethren, A. J. Howard, a ministerial licentiate, has been arrested in Maryland for working on Sunday. His case is set for trial in the Circuit Court at Annapolis October 15.
FRIENDS who have been sending periodicals and other S. D. A. literature to the reading rooms at 505 Temperance Street, Knoxville, Tenn., are notified that the workers have a sufficient supply for the present. They express thanks for past favors.
SISTER J. A. OWEN reports eight conversions in the region of San Diego, Cal. By accidentally missing a station on the railroad, and going where she did not intend to go, she found two ladies who became much interested in the truth, and one fully decided to obey. What we sometimes call annoying accidents may be overrulings of Providence. "All things work together for good to them that love God."748
A LOCAL paper at Milton, Iowa, has this item: "The Adventists, who have been holding tent meetings here for two months, have moved their tent to Troy. They were nice people, very much devoted to their peculiar church doctrines, and made many friends here."
BROTHER S. N. CURTISS and family arrived in this city on the 17th inst., from Kansas City, Mo., where he has been in charge of the Pacific Press branch office for the past year or more. He is again connected with the home office. Brother B. R. Nordyke succeeds him in Kansas City.
AT the request of the Foreign Mission Board, Brother T. H. Davis, who has been canvassing in the North Pacific Conference, and Brother Fred Bishop, who has of late been doing a like work in this city, will start for South America some time this month, to pursue their calling in new and strange fields.
A SISTER writing to the Workers' Bulletin from Sandyville, Iowa, says, "Our little church is rejoicing because one here has taken a stand for the truth." Let no one think lightly of what some would call a small report. Not only does a little company rejoice because of one addition, but there is "joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth."
LETTERS from South Africa state that our brethren who went into the heathen land of Matabele in search of a center of missionary operations, report securing a satisfactory location. They also find the natives friendly, although without even the "faintest glimmer of an idea of God." After a tour of inspection the brethren found that a telegraph line had followed them as far as Bulwayo, putting them in easy communication with friends at Cape Town.
SISTER VESTA J. FARNSWORTH, writing from College View, Neb., September 18, says of the college opening: "School has been in progress a week, and we have about 200 students. This is rather better than we had dared to hope, on account of the failure of crops caused by the severe drought. There must be suffering for the necessaries of life in many places, for there is an almost entire failure of crops in Nebraska, Kansas, and South Dakota. Many desire to attend school, but see no possible way of doing so."
AT Headland, Ala., a new house of worship recently completed is the first for our denomination in the State. Its building was brought about by the opposition of the enemy. Elder B. L. Dieffenbacher first began meetings in a schoolhouse, which was soon closed against him. Then he secured a store building, but in the midst of a good interest that was also taken from him. Failing to secure another place, he was prompted to attempt building; and, going to work by faith, the lumber was all donated in less than twenty-four hours.
ELDER D. T. BOURDEAU, who is laboring especially for the French in the Northwestern States, tells of a good interest at Marinette, Wis., where, he says, "the Spirit of God is working mightily upon the people." While laboring at Duluth, Minn., the excitement of the great forest fires was at its height. Of this time he says: "As a dense darkness settled upon Duluth and the surrounding country for several hours, making it as necessary to use artificial lights as it would have been in the dead of a moonless and starless night, I thought of the darkness of the day of God."
WE have advices from Pitcairn Island to the 15th of August, mail being brought to San Diego, Cal., by the British ship Port Crawford, and forwarded by Spreckels Bros. Commercial Co. The Pitcairn left the island on the 4th of August for Tahiti. We mentioned two weeks ago that she had gone to Oeno Island, seventy miles distant, to bring off some valuable wreckage that had been secured by the brethren last year. Brother McCoy writes that "they found all things in splendid condition, which are now on the Pitcairn, and she will take them to market, and give the money into the work. They also brought some lumber for us to enlarge our schoolrooms, and we are now making some improvements." He adds that they are "all well, temporally and spiritually."
CHINA FROM A MILITARY STANDPOINT.
By Army and Navy Journal
THE greatest homogeneous nation the world has ever known is now at war, for no other nation known to history could boast of the 420,000,000 inhabitants that Chinese statisticians allot to their country. Now that the problem is worked out before our eyes, we see that three-fourths of this population is worthless for war. It is quite probable that all the forces used will be drawn from the two or three seacoast provinces. A general draft from the whole country would bring together men of more dialects than the building of Babel brought on us. The striking disparity of about eleven to one in population between China and Japan is not the controlling factor. Still, the Northern seacoast provinces of China are quite populous enough to sustain a war with Japan on equal terms. The Imperial Government is rich enough to enlist a swarm of European officers, arm its troops with the best weapons, and obtain supplies from foreign makers. During the last five or six years the Chinese have been going through one of their periodical fits of egotism, economy, and dislike of the foreigner, and have discharged as many of their foreign servants as they could spare. All that will now be changed, and a ready welcome will be given to the adventurous spirits of all countries.—Army and Navy Journal.
OUTGENERALED BY SATAN.
By Ellen G. White
MEN of property are dying spiritually because of their neglect to use the means God has placed in their hands to aid in saving their fellow-men. Some become aroused at times, and resolve that they will make to themselves friends with the unrighteous mammon, that they may finally be received into everlasting habitations. But their efforts in this direction are not thorough. They commence, but, not being heartily and thoroughly in earnest in the work, they make a failure. They are not rich in good works. While lingeringly retaining their love and grasp of their earthly treasures, Satan outgenerals them.
A flattering prospect may be presented to invest in patent rights, or some other supposed brilliant enterprise, around which Satan throws a bewitching enchantment. The prospect of getting more money, fast and easily, allures them. They reason that, although they had resolved to put this money into the treasury of God, they will use it in this instance, and will greatly increase it, and will then give a larger sum to the cause. They can see no possibility of a failure. Away goes the means out of their hands, and they soon learn, to their regret, that they have made a mistake. The brilliant prospects have faded. Their expectations are not realized. They were deceived. Satan outgeneraled them. He was more shrewd than they, and he managed to get their means into his ranks, and thus deprive the cause of God of that which should have been used to sustain it in extending the truth, and saving souls for whom Christ died. They lost all they had invested, and robbed God of that which they should have rendered to him.
Some who have been intrusted with only one talent, excuse themselves because they have not as large a number of talents as those to whom are intrusted many talents. Like the unfaithful steward, they hide the one talent in the earth. They are afraid to render to God that which he has intrusted to them. They engage in worldly enterprises, but invest little, if anything, in the cause of God. They expect that those who have large talents will bear the burden of the work, while they feel that they are not responsible for its advancement and success.—Testimony for the Church No. 20.
FROM CHINA.
By Editor
WE take the following interesting items from a letter in the Bible Echo written by Brother La Rue, and dated at Hongkong, July 12:—
I have sent "The Sinner's Need of Christ" to Japan to be translated into the Japanese language. The officer who has charge of it is a noble young man, who has embraced the truth with his whole heart, and I believe the Lord is fitting him up for a place in the work. There are three Sabbath keepers on board his vessel.
The times are very hard here. It is almost impossible to sell a book, or, in fact, anything else unless it is something good to eat. I have sent to California for over a ton of dried fruit and grains. I have orders for the most of it, and am furnishing some of the best people in Hongkong. This is a help in the missionary work, as I get acquainted with the people by this means.
We have a great deal, even in this hard field, to encourage us. I have seen the hand of the Lord in a great many things since I have been here.
LET US NOT BE WEARY IN WELL DOING.
By M. W. Morse
BY M. W. MORSE.
Be not weary in well doing;
Jesus is the Lord we serve.
Day by day our strength renewing,
Let us never from him swerve.
Though the sky be dark above us,
And though much our toil may cost,
Cheer up, brother. God does love us.
Not a single seed is lost.
No, in vain we shall not labor;
God will his own promise keep;
Through our blessed Master's favor
As we've sown so shall we reap.
—Occident.
Honor and Humility
"HONOR is like a palace with a low door, into the which no man can enter but he must first stoop."
NORTHWESTERN AUSTRALIA.
REV. D. J. GARLAND, of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (Church of England), makes an interesting report of the people of Northwest Australia, from which we take the following extract:—
"It will help you to realize something of our Nor'west when I tell you that it is larger than Queensland, and not settled in anything like the same degree. Over all this area tribes of natives are scattered, who have never been enumerated, though they are estimated at tens of thousands, and the majority of whom have never even seen a white man. In physique our Nor'westers are superior to the average Australian aboriginal, being well built, stalwart, and picturesque in appearance. When, driving far inland, I first met natives stalking along naked, swinging their spears as they went, I was much impressed by their fine appearance—an impression which further acquaintance never lessened.
"Their intelligence is also of a high order for aborigines, as they possess a greater aptitude for learning, for adapting themselves to circumstances, for acquiring the English language, and for making themselves good and useful servants, than is usually the case with our natives in other colonies.
"In the old days cannibalism was and still is practiced beyond civilization. Their mourning for the dead is pathetic. I have come across a woman lying upon a grave keening most weirdly. This she continues for hours, and all the relatives of a deceased paint their faces white for a year. As to religion, it cannot be said that they have any, or, if they have, they conceal the fact. True, they believe and tell you that the jingees, or spirits, walk about, and will not mention the name of a dead relative lest he might hear. But it by no means follows that they are devoid of religious or moral instincts capable of development. I found that an adaptation of the old argument from design was thoroughly grasped by an intelligent native, who was able to realize that the earth and mankind were made by a superior Being, and good or bad behavior in this life would make all the difference in the future life."
Appointments marked by a star will be preceded by a workers' meeting.
GEN. CONF. COM.
CHURCH SERVICES.
By Editor
All of our churches, especially on this coast, who desire their regular weekly services announced in this column, may have it done by reporting through the proper officers.
Oakland.—Church at corner of Twelfth and Brush Streets. Regular preaching services or Bible study, Sunday at 7:30 P.M. and Sabbath at 11 A.M. Sabbath school at 9:30 A.M. Sabbath. Prayer and missionary meeting Wednesday at 7:30 P. M. All are cordially invited.
San Francisco.—Church at 914 Laguna Street. Regular preaching services at 7:30 P.M. Sunday and 11 A.M. Sabbath. Sabbath school at 9:45 A.M. Prayer meeting Wednesday 7:30 P.M. Missionary meeting Thursday 7:30 P.M. Seats free.
Chicago, Illinois.—Church on Forty-sixth Street, corner of Champlain Avenue. Regular preaching service at 11 A.M. Sabbath school at 9:30 A.M. every Sabbath. Prayer meeting, Monday evening at 7:30 P.M. The above services are held in the Forestville Congregationalist Church building until our own church will be completed, when proper notice will be given. All are cordially invited.
Los Angeles.—Church at 143 Carr Street. Preaching service Sunday evening 7:30. Missionary meeting Wednesday evening 7:30. Sabbath school on Sabbath at 9:45, and preaching service at 11 A.M. All are welcome.
East Portland, Oregon.—Church at corner of Eleventh and East Everett Streets. Services every Sabbath 11:30 A.M. Sabbath school 10 A.M. Missionary meeting evening after Sabbath 7 P.M. Prayer meeting every Wednesday evening 7 o'clock. All welcome. Seats free.
Washington, D. C.—Church on Eighth Street between F and G Streets, N. E. Regular preaching service at 11 A.M. Sabbath. Sabbath school 9:45 A.M. Sunday, 7:30 P.M., Bible study. Prayer meeting Friday at 7:30 P.M. All are welcome.
H. W. HERRELL, Clerk.
Sacramento.—Church on G Street between Eighteenth and Nineteenth Streets. Regular services: Sabbath school at 10 A.M., preaching service at 11 A.M., Sunday at 7:30 P.M. Prayer and missionary meeting Wednesday evening at 7:30. Seats free. All are cordially invited.
Pasadena.—Church at corner of Summit Ave. and Mountain Street. Sabbath services every Sabbath at 11:30 A.M. Sabbath school 10 A.M. Prayer meeting every Sunday evening 7:30. Missionary meeting Tuesday 7:30 P.M. All are cordially invited. Box 261.
O. S. SMYTH, Clerk.
St. Paul, Minn.—Church on Greenbrier Avenue, between Jenks and Clawson Streets. Regular preaching services on Sabbath at 11 A.M. Sabbath school at 9:45 A.M. Prayer meeting Tuesday evening at 7:45. All are cordially invited.
NETTIE MCSTAY, Clerk.
"APPLES OF GOLD LIBRARY."
By Editor
This is the title of a little monthly publication recently started by the Pacific Press, and is designed especially for use in personal correspondence. It is printed on thin paper, and one or two numbers can be put in a No. 6 envelope, with an ordinary letter, without increasing the postage.
The following numbers have already been issued:
No. 1. Looking unto Jesus.
" 2. The Christian's Privilege.
" 3. The Sure Promises of God.
" 4. How to Get Knowledge.
" 5. The Church and the World. (Poetry.)
" 6. The Elect of God.
" 7. How Esther Read Her Bible.
" 8. The Thief on the Cross.
" 9. The Eleventh Hour.
" 10. Benefits of Bible Study.
" 11. Righteousness: Where Is It to be Found?
" 12. Power of Forgiveness.
" 13. Responsibility of Parents.
" 14. "Choose Ye This Day."
" 15. The Cross of Christ.
" 16. The New Birth.
" 17. "What Must I Do to Be Saved?"
Five copies for one year, postpaid, 50 cents; or 12 copies for $1.00. Single subscriptions are not desirable, for two reasons: (1) The numbers being so small they are liable to be lost in the mails. (2) If they are used in correspondence, as recommended, more than one copy would be necessary.
Single or assorted numbers of the Library will be mailed in quantities at the following rates: 50 cents per hundred, or $4.00 per thousand copies. Always order by the NUMBER.
Address,
PACIFIC PRESS PUBLISHING CO.,
New York City; Kansas City, Mo.; Oakland, Cal.