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Review and Herald, Vol. 85, No. 33.

Keep Sweet!

Review and Herald

Aug 13, 1908

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 13, 1908

Keep Sweet!

By Elmer Allen Bess

When the day is dragging, dragging, And your heart is sorely tried, When your work is sadly lagging, And ambition’s end denied, Keep sweet!
Hold your faith to constant hoping, Never doubt amid your groping, Keep sweet!
When your enemies assail you, And your character impugn, When your courage seems to fail you, And your voice is out of tune, Keep sweet!
Hold to hope and constant winging, Never let your soul cease singing, Keep sweet!
If the sum of all creation Shine through those of hopeful heart, You will take a lofty station, And, performing well your part, Keep sweet!
You will make a dark world brighter, You will make its burdens lighter. Keep sweet!
—ELMER ALLEN BESS.

The Book Department Mirror

Being a Reflection of Interesting Happenings and Notes on Our Publications. Conducted by the Book Department of the Review and Herald Publishing Association.
¶ “Just waiting for the truth”—this is the testimony which our canvassers are hearing almost daily. Perhaps there are some very near your home who are just waiting for you to bring them the truth. Enlist among the Home Workers—your State tract society will tell you how.
¶ We have just received copies of two pamphlets—“The Destroyer,” and “Harry Spencer: Dyspeptic.” The former is the story of a drunkard’s reformation. It shows the dreadful effects of alcohol on both mind and body. The latter tells how a confirmed invalid is fully restored to health through the use of nature’s remedies. A large number of testimonials have come to the author. Mrs. E. G. White says, “They are good little books, and should have a wide circulation.” “The Destroyer,” 10 cents, post-paid; “Harry Spencer,” 8 cents.
¶ “Those who desire to be accepted as workers in the future of this cause must advance step by step.”—Mrs. E. G. White.
¶ This idea is carried out in “Steps to Christ.” Daily growing in grace and the knowledge of Christ, the Christian is to go forward. To many the way seems obscure, and the path indistinct; but this little volume directs the reader to a closer study of the Bible, the real guide-book to heaven. Several attractive bindings are furnished, and the book is an ideal one for Home Workers. Prices— Morocco, de luxe . . . . $1.50 Red leather . . . . . . . 1.00 Cloth, gilt . . . . . . . . 1.00 Cloth, plain . . . . . . . . .60 Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . .30
¶ Ever since Satan declared to Eve, “Thou shalt not surely die,” men have been building on this falsehood regarding the state of the dead. “Here and Hereafter” gives the Bible doctrine on this important subject. Its 357 pages are devoted to an exhaustive study of the whole question of man’s nature and destiny, answering all objections, and giving a clear, lucid explanation of this vital theme. Price, $1, post-paid.
¶ What does religious liberty mean to you? Soon we may not enjoy the privileges which are ours at the present. We should do all in our power to defer the disaster as long as possible, that the work may be finished. To this end, campaigns of education could be conducted in your locality. Try the tract, “Prohibition and Sunday Legislation,” Words of Truth Series, No. 49. It is a clear, direct statement of the principles of religious liberty in small compass, and will appeal to all classes. Price, 12 cents a dozen; $1 a hundred, post-paid.
¶ Have you seen the Religious Liberty Post-cards? They are inexpensive, and often a picture-lesson stays in a person’s mind long after an article, no matter how cleverly written, is forgotten. There are ten cards in the set, and each one is a reduced facsimile of one of the timely cartoons which have appeared in Liberty. A full set, post-paid, 10 cents; five or more sets, 6 cents a set, post-paid.
¶ Every Seventh-day Adventist should be provided with a copy of “Early Writings.” This book contains the pith of the entire message. Convenient size; prices to suit all. Pocket edition, paper, 35 cents; cloth, 75 cents; leather, $1.25.
Any of the publications mentioned on this page may be ordered through any State tract society or publishing house, or direct from Review and Herald Publishing Association, Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C., New York City, or Battle Creek, Mich.

A Call to Earnest Action

INTELLIGENT observers of the present trend of events must recognize that we are facing a crisis. The authority of the Bible is being denied; the fundamental principles of the gospel are being subverted; the doctrines which have differentiated Christianity from other religions have been discredited until religion is being reduced to the plane of good citizenship; and with all the rest, more earnest efforts are being put forth than ever before to unite religion and the government, and to secure to the church the power of the state for the enforcement of religious observances. In all this we can plainly see the fulfilment of prophecy; but there is also a responsibility resting upon those who know the truth, to make known the message for this time. The situation now ought to stir the blood and quicken the pulse of those who have long been looking for these very things, and ought to arouse the church to earnest action. Doors now open may soon be closed, and opportunities which are now allowed to pass unimproved may never come again. Let every one do his duty.

Editorial

By Editor

THE most valuable of all books is the Bible. None study it too much. Nearly all study it far too little. It brings peace into the life. It gives an inspiration and power for worthy action. It is not only the beginning but it is the finishing of knowledge and wisdom. It should be made not only the warp and woof of all we study, but it should be a part of the very nerve and fiber of our being. The better we know it, the more we love it.

Crowds and Crimes

THE crowded condition of the large cities of this country, and the results consequent upon such an unnatural way of living, are commanding more and more attention from those who are capable of appreciating the inevitable outcome of this state of things. Some of the facts connected with this problem are told in an editorial in the Independent, from which the following extracts are taken:—
Our cities contain a congested mass of human beings that are a shame to themselves and to the age in which they are bred. While we can boast of magnificent architecture, art, music, etc., we have to allow that the word “city” covers a sort of humanity that was not dreamed of when the Erie Canal was dug, or even when the Pacific Railroad was built. . . .
Mr. Rowntree tells us, in “Poverty,” that in London those who live below a living wage, and are deprived of every reasonable comfort of life, are just about one half of the population. Thirty thousand are without homes of any sort whatever—sleeping at night either in the street or in public lodging-houses. We have twenty American cities that must tell a similar story; while probably New York, with its annual inflow of impoverished foreigners, is even worse off than London.
In its discussions of the best methods for remedying this deplorable condition, the Independent says:—
We believe that Mr. Booth is right, and that he is the best qualified man now living to pronounce on this subject. He has settled down to the conviction that colonization is the only remedy for our new barbarism; that we can only get rid of city congestion by moving the masses outward, and creating a new sort of home life.
In its endeavor to account for the fact that there is an astonishing demand for workers in the country while so many men are idle in the cities, the editorial speaks of the poorest class thus:—
They have been herded until they simply can not stand the country. It is dolefully, lonesome beyond endurance. They know nothing of trees or shrubs, and have not an acquaintance among the birds or beasts. To move these people into the country as individuals would not be worth the while. They would get back again as soon as possible. It is only possible to move them in families and groups of families.
In the opinion of the Independent, there is great need that proper attention should be given to the solution of this problem. It says, further:—
We can not stand this congestion much longer. It is affecting the most sacred of all social convictions, the family; it is destroying morals; it leaves no place for economy, and none for betterment; it is making country labor impossible in harvest-time; it is fouling politics, by creating a vast number of salable votes.
In conclusion, the Independent emphasizes its demands for prompt action in these words:—
We have got to have a social readjustment. The city has become a menace. . . . Slum life is hell; it is intolerable as an adjunct of civilization. We must do more than believe; we must abolish. . . . Out with the shops, with the publishers, with the factories, and out with the people.
Those who have given study to the striking parallel between the days of the decline of the old Roman republic and the recent history of this republic, will not fail to note the similarity of the conditions of city life. Rome became crowded with a class of unemployed dependents, who were ready to embark in any unlawful adventure, or to shout for any political agitator, if only by this means bread and drink could be provided. The Roman senate attempted to relieve the situation by placing the people upon the land, which was furnished to them free, but the distaste for hard work and the craving for the excitement of the capital soon brought thepeople back to the city, to be manipulated again by unprincipled politicians. The indications are that the experience may be repeated in this country. Those, however, who appreciate the meaning of the present situation, and who have light as to the developments to be expected in the near future, ought to shun these centers of population and breeding-places of crime, except so far as it may be necessary that some must proclaim the gospel in them, lest they be overtaken in the judgments which are soon to be visited upon these modern Sodoms.

The Vital Principles of the Gospel

THE vital principles of the gospel are always the same. There is the great fact of sin: “All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” There is only one way of escape: “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” There is only one way of laying hold upon the provision made for sinners: “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God.” “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” This is the gospel of salvation from sin, of justification through faith in the merits of Christ, the eternal Son, which is to be proclaimed anew in this generation to all the world in view of the fact that “the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.”

Some Good Testimony

THE minds of religious teachers seem to be greatly stirred at the present time over various phases of the Sabbath question. This is shown in the number of articles written, and the number of addresses delivered, upon this subject, as well as in the constant effort to secure an enforced regard for Sunday by legislative enactment.
But there is considerable confusion among the advocates of Sunday observance as to the authority to which appeal may be made in behalf of a first day sabbath. Some writers, however, perceive clearly, and frankly admit, that there is no basis for the Sunday sabbath in the fourth commandment. Paul Moore Strayer, D. D., of Rochester, N. Y., in an article in the Homiletic Review for August, states the case thus:—
The Jewish Sabbath has been succeeded by the Christian Sunday. The Sunday is not the sabbath. The law of Moses designated the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, and for the reason that Jehovah rested on the seventh day. The Christian observes the first day of the week. The Christian Sunday is a new institution, as baptism is. And, to be strictly literal, the fourth commandment can no more be appealed to as enacting the Christian Sunday than the laws requiring circumcision, the Hebrew’s initiatory rite, can be appealed to as making obligatory the Christian’s initiatory rite of baptism. The fourth commandment is kept to-day only by orthodox Jews, the Seventh-day Adventists, and a few others. . . . The change from the seventh day of the week to the first was, we are justified in saying, the result of divine guidance. It was a gradual change, and has absolutely no authority in the New Testament.
We fully agree with these admissions that there is no authority either in the fourth commandment or in the New Testament for the observance of Sunday as a sabbath, but we can not consent to the claim of “divine guidance” which would lead the church to a practise directly contrary to the divine commandment. God’s providence does not contradict his precepts.
Those who accept the Protestant principle that the revelation made in the Scriptures “is abundantly sufficient for man’s guidance in all questions of faith, practise, and modes of worship, and excludes the necessity and the right of any human inventions,” will, if consistent, observe the seventh-day Sabbath as soon as their attention is called to the lack of Bible testimony in behalf of Sunday. The observance of Sunday as a sabbath is a purely human invention.

The Rise and Fall of Religious Liberty in America

By C. M. S.

The Laity Revolt in Massachusetts

PERSONAL experience and the history of all civilized lands teach that the kindness of Jesus is banished from the creed of a church united to the state. Jesus said, “If any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not.” The church-and-state régime says, “If any man believe not, he is a heretic, a blasphemer, a dangerous character, a criminal.”
The gospel of Jesus and the policy of enforced religion are thus seen to be utterly opposed to each other. And that is why the enlightened consciences of the laity have so often been in opposition to the determined policy of the clergy. The latter, when wedded to the theocratic idea, have considered no punishment too severe to use in bolstering up the foundation of such a government, and have used the influence of their position to steel the hearts of their parishioners against every feeling of sympathy, even with the bodily sufferings of the excommunicated, and even to turn the hearts of the parents against children, and the hearts of the children against parents, when they have feared the effect of opinions not in harmony with their creed. That policy was carried out in New England until there came an uprising of the people themselves that shook the hierarchy to its foundations, and ushered in a day of better things.
The conditions were these: The Congregational Church was made the established church; it was supported by public taxation; all, whether belonging to that church or not, or whether belonging to any church or not, must pay their proportion to the support of that establishment; attendance at church was compulsory under pain of a heavy fine; no work must be performed, no traveling done, on Sunday; no one must express an opinion contrary to the opinions propounded from the pulpit, under pain of fine, whipping, banishment, or even death; one man in ten was a “tithing man,” whose duty it was to see to it that the other nine attended to their religious duties; no church could be built without the consent of the state officials, and the state officials were the creatures of the state church; no one was allowed to hold meetings in his own home; in short, the state was under the complete domination of the church, and that church proposed to permit the existence of nothing within the jurisdiction of that state which was not under church control.
No sooner had the church-state entered upon the carrying out of its purpose, than the cruel and necessary result of its premises began to appear. It is true that the large majority of those within the fold felt it necessary to their religious loyalty to steel their hearts against the expression of any sympathy with those who suffered. It is equally true that in those very religious bodies there were those who did sympathize with the oppressed, sometimes openly, but more often in silence, feeling the uselessness of protest. In calling attention to the following incidents, it is not the writer’s purpose to heap contempt upon men, but to show the evil results of the course which they took.
In the year 1644 the general court of Massachusetts ordered that if any should oppose the baptism of infants, or attempt to seduce others to a disbelief in that practise, “every such person or persons shall be sentenced to banishment.” While expressing the sentiments of the power-blinded clergy, that law seems to have been unpopular; for in the year following its passage a number of merchants and others petitioned to have the law repealed, “because of the offense taken thereat by the godly in England.” The court seemed inclined to accede, but the clergy opposed, and the court did nothing. The colony’s agent in England in 1646, realizing the disapprobation of the home government toward the persecutions in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, attempted to apologize for his constituency in these words: “It is true that we have a severe law, but we never did or will execute the rigor of it upon any. . . . But the reason whereof we are loath either to repeal or alter the law is, because we would have it . . . to bear witness against their judgment, . . . which we conceive . . . to be erroneous.” It is true that at that time no one had been banished; but a Mr. Painter “for refusing to let his child be baptized,” was brought before the court, and “sentenced to be whipped, which he bore without flinching, and boasted that God had assisted him.”
The unmerciful whipping received by Mr. Obadiah Holmes of Rhode Island for the terrible crime of ministering to the spiritual needs of one of his brethren (a Baptist) in Massachusetts, was not without its effect in strengthening the opposition to religious persecution in that State. Like his divine Master, Obadiah Holmes prayed for his persecutors while they were laying the cutting strokes of a three-thonged whip upon his bleedingback. The record of it states that he was whipped with “such horrible severity that it was many days before he could endure to have his lacerated back touch the bed, and he rested propped upon his hands and knees; . . . and his dignity and courage so impressed the people that, in spite of the danger, numbers flocked about him when he was set free, in sympathy and admiration.”
In spite of the penalties suffered, the spirit of independence in “religious concernments” continued to grow. This was manifest in such incidents as the formation of a separate church by one Thomas Gould of Charlestown, because of the perpetual annoyance of the officials of the established church. For this crime of organizing an independent church, Gould was summoned to appear and listen to a setting forth of his sins. He was so strongly denounced by the minister of the church from which he had withdrawn, that “many of the people went out; and these were the excommunicated persons.” The court took the matter up, convicted the “sectaries” of schism, and ordered them “to be imprisoned until further notice.” They were fined four pounds and kept in confinement from April until October, when the legislature ordered them to be discharged upon payment of fines and costs. A few years earlier they would not have escaped so easily; but the leaven of a spiritual unrest—the unrest of the soul in confinement—was working among the people. The imprisonment and punishment of these “sectaries” not only did not cause them to recant, but “persecution added to their numbers.”
On March 27, 1668, this same Thomas Gould with two others, styled by the hierarchy “obstinate and turbulent Anabaptists,” were banished under pain of perpetual imprisonment. They determined to stay and face their fate, were imprisoned, and kept in prison for more than a year. But the cruelty of their treatment was appealing to the people. A feeling of indignation and of sympathy was aroused, and sixty-six of the most influential inhabitants of Charlestown petitioned the legislature for mercy on behalf of the sufferers. Their petition was couched in humble and respectful language; but the document was voted “scandalous and reproachful,” and the two chief promoters were censured and admonished, and fined ten and five pounds respectively; the others were made to sign a paper expressing their sorrow “for giving the court such just ground of offense.”
The matter was next taken up in England, and thirteen of the most influential dissenting ministers in London (the Congregationalists themselves, in England, were dissenters) wrote the ministers of New England, begging that they exercise moderation lest the dissenters in England should be caused to suffer through retaliation. This plea of their own brethren was likewise disregarded, and the three prisoners were kept in jail. After their release, they were again arrested, and treated with the utmost rigor, and at least one of them is said to have died in prison.
While the hierarchy was thus tightening its grip on the cords of oppression, the loyalty of the people was drifting away from their oppressive leaders. These fearless Christian men, by their very sufferings, were teaching the people that the course of the church-state party was out of harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The sufferings of the Quakers, as well as of the Baptists, were appealing to the magnanimity and sympathy of the people and helping to win their loyalty away from the hierarchy. After four Quakers had paid with their lives for exercising the rights of conscience, the popular indignation rose to such a pitch that it was deemed inexpedient to carry out the death sentence upon Wenlock Christison. After two years, however, a letter from the king confirming the Massachusetts charter, excluded the Quakers from the general toleration, and the old spirit of oppression against them was revived. They did not dare to put them to death, but adopted what some historians have called “a humaner policy;” that is to say, they were tied to a cart’s tail and whipped through three towns; and this barbarous decree was carried out upon women naked to the waist in the severest winter weather. While these condemned persons were not condemned to death, there is no doubt that many of them would have perished under the terrible scourgings, had not the people interfered. They were sentenced under the Vagabond Act, which would seem to have been invented for use against them particularly. Under its provisions any foreign Quaker, or any native Quaker upon a second conviction, might be ordered to receive an unlimited number of stripes, which were laid on with a two-handed whip armed with lashes made of twisted and knotted cord or catgut. During the autumn following the enactment of this decree, it was found expedient to discontinue it; but it was again revived ten months later. After the death of Governor Endicott in 1665, a period of tranquillity for the oppressed dissenters ensued. It seems that the spirit of the common people was finding a reflection in many of the constables, and they were not careful to arrest dissenters. In 1675 the hierarchy made one more desperate effort to fan the dying embers of persecution into a flame, and they secured the passage of an act fining constables who failed in their duty of breaking up Quaker meetings. One third of the fine was to go to the informer. A number suffered under this temporary revival of persecution. Two years before this last effort of the hierarchy, however, Sir John Leverett, who was opposed to persecution, was elected governor. By his election the people expressed their dissatisfaction with the cruelties which they had witnessed in the name of the Christian religion. They had protested faint-heartedly at first, and taken punishment for protesting at all; but the ranks of the protesters grew, and their protests became stronger, until the supporters of that false theocracy saw, in the election of Governor Leverett, the end of its dominance. The completion of that work will be the subject of another article. C. M. S.

By Asiatic Cable

By William Ambrose Spicer

Who that knows this message can fail to see that the cable news from Asia is day by day and week by week a call to us to press with the advent message into that vast continent where half the world is living and dying?
The granting of reforms in Turkey, the effort to establish a constitutional government, should certainly lead us to pray earnestly that out of the changes inaugurated may come a wider measure of religious liberty for our workers in that great country. History is in the making, and it may be doors are opening where before our way was barred.
The uprising in Persia, setting the land in turmoil, and causing much loss of life, reminds us that we have never yet entered that land, with its eleven millions. The years of peace which we have thus far not improved may possibly be not quite yet ended, but it is high time we were there with the last warning message. Two young men have volunteered for work in Persia; but there must be increased giving for missions all around before the Mission Board can finance new enterprises.
India is astir, and all observers feel that stormy times are ahead. If only a few more years of measurable tranquillity can be given us, we should set into that stronghold of heathenism scores of workers before the storm breaks. We have touched but six or seven of the hundred leading languages of India.
In the far East there is comparative quiet, and now is our time to work; for all the news from China and the East shows that these years of peace are fast passing, and the heathen are waking up.
Half the world lies in Asia, and Asia is astir. The Lord's commission tells us definitely to send the witnesses into all parts of that great continent. Let us pray for it, and give for it, and work toward it unceasingly. W. A. S.

The Revolution in Turkey

By C. M. S.

EVENTS are moving rapidly in the sultan's dominions just now, and what scarcely any one expected has come to pass in a day. The great change in Turkey, so unexpected and unheralded, should prepare us to expect great things from God in completing the work of warning the world and ushering in his kingdom.
Just one hundred years after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in America, a constitution was proclaimed for Turkey; but before it could be carried into effect, the Russo-Turkish war broke out, so disrupting plans and impoverishing the country as to give the sultan a plausible excuse for keeping the entire control of the government in his own hands.
From 1876 to the present time, a considerable portion of the people have been persistently agitating for the restoration of the constitution. They have carried on their work in secret, and yet thousands of them have been exiled for their activity in this matter. It is estimated that two hundred thousand exiled members of the Young Turk party are in the United States at the present time.
The encroachments of the European powers have added fuel to the flames of discontent among the Turkish people. The international control of certain regions in Turkey has humiliated the Young Turks, and the excessive taxation of the people to support a government of which they did not approve, has served from year to year to widen the breach between the sultan and his subjects.
This disaffection has been carried into the army itself, honeycombing that organization with disloyalty to the throne, until even the Albanian legions, in whom the sultan placed his principal reliance, were found to be uncertain, having taken oath to favor the constitution's establishment. Two of the sultan's trusted generals were assassinated, a provincial governor was kidnapped, and three provinces were in open mutiny. Then the leader of the Young Turk party sent to the sultan their demands for administrative reforms coupled with a threat of revolution if he did not take favorable action within eleven days. One despatch states that the leader of the Young Turks threatened to move on Constantinople with three hundred thousand troops at the expiration of the time allowed.
The sultan chose to yield rather than attempt to put down the revolution with an army upon which he knew he could not depend. So on July 24, he issued an irade, establishing a constitution for Turkey similar to that of 1876; and orders were sent to all Turkish officials to prepare for the election of representatives to the new parliament. The constitution of 1876 provided for the indivisibility of the empire; the irresponsibility of the sultan; the equality of all citizens before the law, irrespective of creed or race; freedom of worship, of education, and of the press; reform of taxes; inviolability of domicile; and a parliament of two houses, the upper one appointive, the lower elective.
Because of the withdrawal of the constitution in 1876, the revolutionary party did not have implicit faith that the sultan would keep his promises, or that he would go any farther after the restoration of the constitution than he pledged himself to go under the present pressure. Therefore they made another demand to the effect that he recall all who had been banished for political offenses. He yielded in this also. Then he and the grand vizier swore allegiance to the constitution, and Turkey had passed from an unlimited monarchy to a constitutional government, guaranteeing freedom of the press, freedom of education, and freedom of worship to all within the realm, of whatever race or religious persuasion.
Many fear that the sultan is insincere, and that he will seek the first opportunity to annul the new constitution. However, he has dismissed the grand vizier, who has supported the policy against which the Young Turks rebelled, and has appointed one who is said to be fairly acceptable to the revolutionists.
Just what bearing this new movement may have upon the solution of the Eastern Question we can not foresee, but we shall wait with interest to note the effect of this great political change and its significance in its relation to the fulfilment of prophecy.
What means it that nations which for centuries have been under the control of autocratic rulers are just now proclaiming constitutional governments, and withdrawing those age-old restrictions against freedom of speech, of education, of the press, and of worship? There is but one answer: The last solemn message of God to this world is due, and God is breaking down the barriers. A few years ago Russia scouted representative government, and seemed to seek a nullification of it after it was instituted; but that form of government is now established within that realm; and where a few years ago the propagation of any religion other than the orthodox was punished with extraordinary severity, religious liberty has been proclaimed, and the “sects” are free. Persia has a constitution; and in spite of the fact that the shah has been bombarding parliament, and a kind of civil war is in progress, we may expect the nation to settle down to its parliamentary order with probably as good grace as Russia has done. God will yet work greater wonders in the lands that have been closed against his work; and while we see his hand so shaping events that “this gospel of the kingdom” may go into all the earth, let his servants seek earnestly that preparation of heart which will enable him to use them in bringing that mighty work to its culmination.
C. M. S.

The Missionary Campaign

By I. H. Evans

Let us not forget the date of this missionary campaign week,—November 22-28, inclusive. All our union conferences are laying plans to take hold of this work, and to do the best service in behalf of foreign missions that has ever been undertaken by our denomination. It will be interesting to our brethren and sisters throughout the field to read what some of the union conference presidents have written concerning this matter. Brother E. W. Farnsworth, president of the Atlantic Union Conference, says in part as follows:—
As to the matter of raising funds for foreign mission work, I will say that I shall certainly do the very best I know how to do. I shall correspond with the presidents of conferences, church officers, etc., and try to get them to work diligently on the matter of raising this money for missions. If we can get the church officers at work, I think we shall accomplish something.
The suggestion you make that we ask every Seventh-day Adventist to contributeto the mission work the proceeds of one week's labor, from the president of the General Conference down to the smallest member among us, is a good one, and I hope we can carry it into effect. Then if we could get thousands of them to go out to solicit funds from the outside world, it seems to me we ought to be able to secure a large sum of money. I would like to see it tried anyway. I will promise to do all I can to get the thing going.
Brother Allen Moon, president of the Lake Union Conference, writes concerning this enterprise in the following words:—
I wish to co-operate with the General Conference brethren in anything that will advance the work. I have for years believed that when we are genuinely consecrated, the Lord will give his people favor with “the Egyptians,” and favor his cause with the riches of “the Gentiles.” And why not?
Brother R. A. Underwood, president of the Northern Union Conference, writes of this campaign as follows:—
Your communication of June 28, touching the plan for a new move to secure funds through the special number of the REVIEW, with the additional thought of asking those who did not enter into this to dedicate their wages or income during that period as a self-denial offering, has been received and read with interest. I can assure you that I will do what I can to give the plan encouragement, and push it to success. I will do all I can to bring it before the brethren in this field.
Brother W. A. Westworth, president of the Southeastern Union Conference, the last union conference organized in America, says:—
Your letter of recent date is before me, and has been read with more than usual interest, for the plan is one that has appealed to me from more than one standpoint. For many years we have been preaching Isa. 60: 1-3, but for some reason or other, we have overlooked the promises of verses 4, 5, and 6. I have often thought that we as a people did not ask enough from the outside, and hence did not receive.
Now in regard to the plan, I will say that I am with you. Most gladly will I set the pace as to salary and whatever else I can do, and will try to rally my brethren to lift as well.
From the Pacific Coast, Brother H. W. Cottrell, president of the Pacific Union Conference, writes in part as follows:—
Now in reference to the special week in November, beginning the twenty-second, during which time it is suggested that time or wages be contributed to the foreign mission work, I will say that I am in hearty accord with the proposition, or any similar proposition that will bring funds into the treasury to be used in the foreign work. This would be a wonderful ingathering if we could get all the people to take hold of it with a full determination that each one would do his duty.
Brother W. C. White, in writing of this plan, says:—
I see that you have large plans regarding the missionary ingathering beginning November 22. I would not dare to express an opinion as to how much can be gathered by our people, but of this I feel confident, that it will be a blessed experience for them to prepare for, and engage in, this work, and that this experience will do much to broaden our understanding and faith regarding missionary enterprises.
In one of mother's articles published in the Southern Watchman in 1904, regarding the work of Nehemiah, there are five or six paragraphs arguing that “the Lord's work might receive far greater favors than it is now receiving if we would approach men in wisdom, acquainting them with the work, and giving them an opportunity of doing that which it is our privilege to induce them to do for its advancement.”
This universal opinion of our leading brethren concerning the importance of this plan, should be an inspiration to our people to take hold of this campaign as we have never taken hold of anything in the past. We must arouse ourselves to the conditions that confront us, and I believe that the Lord will send us financial relief in proportion to our faith and earnestness in this campaign. Let us not forget the date,—November 22-28, inclusive. I. H. Evans.

The Endowed Scholarship Fund

By M. E. Kern

EVERYTHING indicates that this people are setting themselves in earnest to finish the work of God in the earth. The volunteers for mission fields, the gifts of means to carry forward the work, the overflowing schools, and the establishment of the Foreign Mission Seminary, are a few of the omens indicating our determination that “there shall be delay no longer.”
And now our youth are leading out in the raising of an endowed scholarship fund for the purpose of helping worthy young people to prepare quickly for the foreign work.
Good reports are coming in concerning the success of this effort. The Colorado Conference has already raised three scholarships, and others are pushing the plan vigorously. Some have already given an entire scholarship, and doubtless others will.
Let all our people encourage the youth in this good work. Leaflets explaining the object and use of the fund can be had free of charge by addressing your conference Missionary Volunteer secretary, or the Missionary Volunteer Department of the General Conference.
We are hoping to see this fund raised by the first of November. M. E. KERN.

The Novel in Japan

THE unclean novel, that pernicious parasite of a free press, is rapidly finding its way into countries but recently opened to modern ways. China and Japan are suffering already from a flood of such literature, and soon no doubt Korea also will be bearing her share of the noxious burden. Modern civilization brought to the Orient the demoralizing agencies of liquor and opium which ruin the body, and the salacious novel is following in their wake to do the same work for the mind and heart. A Tokyo paper appropriately designates the writers of such works “the messengers of Beelzebub, putting on the masks of smiling angels to tempt men.” That paper calls such books “the most terrible enemy of young people,” and warns every household to “build an iron wall to keep out immoral novels.” Japan having opened wide her door to the messengers of gospel, Satan will do what he can to make her regret it by ruining the character of her young people with the vicious product of a conscienceless press. Japan would set the world a good example if she would refuse to permit such literature to enter her ports.

Note and Comment

Beery Temperance Men

It is a new phase of reform work when a great brewery concern makes it appear through its advertisements that the brewing and the drinking of beer are an aid in promoting temperance. The great temperance wave, with the consequent reduction in the consumption of liquors, seems to be responsible for this latest effort to misrepresent the facts. We are reminded of the old proverb, “When the devil was sick, the devil a monk would be.”
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