A GIPSY boy lay dying in one of the hospitals in England. A Christian nurse bent over him, and repeated: “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The boy gazed intently into her face a moment, then with his dying breath said: “And I never thanked him.” O, the forgotten blessings that have so noiselessly come into our lives! We have used them to make our own way in the world, instead of making God’s way into the hearts of men; never once thinking of, or even thanking, the One from whom all blessings come; seemingly taking it for granted that since God created us, it is his bounden duty to give us his greatest blessings. Is it any wonder that our spiritual growth is slow?—No, the wonder is that his Spirit still hovers over us. Let us give thanks to him.—Selected.
Reasons for Lean Christians
THEY own Bibles, but feed on newspapers.
They sing about peace, but do not surrender to get it.
They pray that the kingdom of heaven may come, but block the way by worldly living.
They listen to sermons on unselfishness, but pamper themselves in food and dress.
They wear crosses, but shrink from bearing them.
They praise Christ with their lips, but declare the things he did to be wholly impracticable now.—Selected.
Be Patient With the Boys
By Elbert Hubbard
I HAVE a profound respect for boys. Grimy, ragged, tousled boys in the street often attract me strangely. A boy is a man in a cocoon,—you do not know what it is going to become,—his life is big with possibilities. He may make or unmake kings, change boundary lines between states, write books that will mold characters, or invent machines that will revolutionize the commerce of the world. Every man was a boy—it seems strange, but it is really so. Wouldn’t you like to turn Time backward, and see Abraham Lincoln at twelve, when he had never worn a pair of boots—the lank, lean, yellow, hungry boy, hungry for love, hungry for learning, tramping off through the woods for twenty miles to borrow a book, and spelling it out crouching before the glare of the burning logs.
Distinctly and vividly I remember a squat, freckled boy who was born in the “Patch,” and used to pick up coal along railroad tracks in Buffalo. A few months ago I had a motion to make before the court of appeals at Rochester. That boy from the “Patch” was the judge who wrote the opinion granting my petition.
Yesterday I rode horseback past a field where a boy was plowing. The lad’s hair stuck out through the top of his hat, one suspender held his trousers in place, his form was bony and awkward, his bare legs and arms were brown and scratched and brier-scarred. He turned his horses just as I passed by, and from under the flapping brim of his hat he cast a quick glance out of dark, half-bashful eyes, and modestly returned my salute. When his back was turned, I took off my hat and sent a God-bless-you down the furrow after him.
Who knows? I may yet go to that boy to borrow money, or to hear him preach, or beg him to defend me in a lawsuit; or he may stand with pulse unmoved, bare of arm, in white apron, ready to do his duty, while the cone is placed over my face, and night and death come creeping into my veins.
Be patient with the boys; you are dealing with soul-stuff. Destiny waits just around the corner.
Be patient with the boys!—Elbert Hubbard, in the Philistine.
The Science of Bathing
By Mary Wood-Allen
A PHYSICIAN once ordered a bath for a sick man. Making his usual visit the next day, he was greeted with the joyous exclamation: “Say! doctor, if I’d ’a’ known how good a bath would make a fellow feel, I’d ’a’ taken one forty years ago.”
The bath as a luxury is quite well understood by the present generation, and yet it is a fact that a great proportion of people do not understand the science of bathing.
There is a right way and a wrong way even in the simple taking of a bath; and in the case of infants it is quite important that this be understood, and the right way chosen. Adults can speak their wants, or object to what does not please them: infants are obliged to accept the dictum of their caretakers, however disagreeable it may be.
In the first place, the temperature of the room in which the bath is given is of great importance. Remembering that heat is radiated much more rapidly from the body when wet than when dry, we can see that our own feelings as to the warmth of the room will hardly be a criterion for the comfort, or even for the safety, of the child.
The room should never be at a lower temperature than seventy degrees Fahrenheit; and in the case of a delicate infant or an invalid, it may be raised to eighty-five degrees, and even then it may not be wise to expose the wet body uncovered to the air. With very delicate babies it may be needful—in order to secure the best results—to sponge the body under cover, drying in same way, instead of giving a tub bath.
The temperature of the bath, too, should not be guesswork. We use the words “cool,” “warm,” “tepid,” or “hot;” but they have no absolute meaning unless measured by the thermometer. A cool bath is from sixty degrees to seventy-five degrees; a tepid bath, from eighty-five degrees to ninety-two degrees; a warm bath, from ninety-two degrees to ninety-eight degrees; a hot bath, from ninety-eight degrees to one hundred and twelve degrees.
But what is the mother to do who has no thermometer, and can not immediately procure one? Her hand will afford no guide to the temperature of the water, for what will seem only warm to her hand may be actually hot to the skin of the child. The elbow will give a surer indication of the temperature of the bath, as its skin is more delicate and sensitive than that of the hand.
Dr. J. H. Kellogg gives a method of approximating the temperature of the bath without a thermometer. He says: “It is a well-known fact that, at the level of the sea, water boils at two hundred and twelve degrees Fahrenheit. Well and spring water, and the water of cisterns, does not vary greatly from fifty-three degrees Fahrenheit. By combining the proper quantities of water of these known temperatures, any required temperature may be produced.” Thus:—
Two quarts at fifty-three degrees added to one quart at two hundred and twelve degrees equals three quarts at one hundred and six degrees.
Two and one-half quarts at fifty-three degrees added to one quart at two hundred and twelve degrees equals three and one-half quarts at ninety-eight degrees.
Three quarts at fifty-three degrees added to one quart at two hundred and twelve degrees equals four quarts at ninety-three degrees.
Eight quarts at fifty-three degrees added to one quart at two hundred and twelve degrees equals nine quarts at seventy-one degrees.
There should be no delay in adding the boiling water to the cold water, or the temperature will not be accurate.
It will be seen that all that is needful to figure out the temperature approximately for any amount of water is to multiply the number of quarts of spring or cistern water by fifty-three, then multiply the number of quarts of boiling water by two hundred and twelve, add the two products, and divide by the whole number of quarts. This is only a make-shift, however, and not advisable except where it is not easy to procure a thermometer.
In order that a bath be successful, the mother or nurse should be dextrous13and skilful, that the handling of the child may not be productive of discomfort or of fright, and that the infant should not be chilled in the process of drying. The least possible time should be spent in giving the bath.
Care should be taken to wipe the head dry, especially if there is much hair. In such cases the child should be kept out of drafts or the head be protected until the hair is perfectly dry.
If the child looks blue or seems exhausted after the bath, you may be sure that the bath has not been given scientifically; that is, in accordance with the physical condition of the child.
The first bath of the new-born infant should be about body temperature; that is, ninety-eight degrees Fahrenheit. But the temperature may be gradually lowered, so that in a few weeks it may be from eighty degrees to ninety degrees. A very warm bath is exhausting, while a cool bath is invigorating. There is not so much danger of taking cold after a cool bath as after a hot one. If the bath is very warm at first, it should be cooled by the addition of cold water just before the child is lifted out of it, so as to secure the tonic effect.
The child should be encouraged to use his limbs vigorously while in the water, but at the same time the bath should not be unduly prolonged simply for the delight it gives the mother or other friends who enjoy seeing the little one splash. In this, as in everything else, the welfare of the baby must be the first consideration.—Mary Wood-Allen, M. D.
The Croaker
By Joe Lincoln
ONCE by the edge of a pleasant pool,
Under the bank, where ’twas dark and
cool,
Where bushes over the water hung,
And grasses nodded and rushes swung,
Just where the brook flowed out of the
bog,
There lived a gouty and mean old frog,
Who’d sit all day in the mud, and soak,
And do just nothing but croak and croak.
Till a blackbird whistled: “I say, you
know,
What is the trouble down there below?
Are you in sorrow, or pain, or what?”
The frog said: “Mine is a gruesome lot!
Nothing but mud, and dirt, and slime
For me to look at the livelong time;
’Tis a dismal world!” so he sadly spoke,
And voiced his woes in a mournful croak.
“But you’re looking down!” the blackbird said;
“Look at the blossoms overhead;
Look at the lovely summer skies;
Look at the bees and the butterflies—
Look up, old fellow! Why, bless your
soul,
You’re looking down in a muskrat’s
hole!”
But still, with his gurgling sob and
choke,
The frog continued to croak and croak.
And a wise old turtle, who boarded near,
Said to the blackbird: “Friend, see here:
Don’t shed your tears over him, for he
Is wretched just ’cause he likes to be!
He’s one of the kind who won’t be glad;
It makes him happy to think he’s sad;
I’ll tell you something—and it’s no
joke—
Don’t waste your pity on those who
croak.”
— Joe Lincoln.
How a Quarrel Begins
ONCE upon a time a farmer said to his wife, “Suppose we keep a buffalo.”
“Very good,” said the wife; “only it were wise to count up the necessary cost before buying it. If we get a buffalo, we must get a peg to tie her to.”
“Yes,” said the farmer, “and a rope to tie her with.”
“And a cask to feed her in.”
“And a blanket to keep her warm.”
“And a pail to milk her into.”
“And a churn.”
“And a butter paddle,” said the wife, “and I think that is all, except that we might get a second pail so that I might give my mother half the buttermilk.”
“What!” shouted the farmer, “you feed your mother on my buffalo’s buttermilk!”
“And why not, pray? If my mother hadn’t fed me, you would have had no wife to churn your buttermilk for you!”
“And a good thing that would have been for me. If my mother hadn’t been inveigled into promising me to you—who knows?—I might have married a princess!”
“Well, since you are so grieved you got me instead of your grand princess—who couldn’t milk a buffalo if you had her—I’ll go back whence I came!”
Then in their overmastering anger the couple scold and shout both together, neither waiting to hear what the other is saying, until they are purple in the face, the veins of their necks stand out like whip-cord, and at last the throat of each ‘sits down’—as the picturesque Hindustani idiom has it—and refuses to work longer.
Then the husband, still whispering, because he has no voice with which to talk, goes out to his plowing. The wife, also whispering, gathers together a bundle of clothes, and goes away to her mother’s house. There she abides for the space of three months.
When the wife’s brothers see that so long a time has elapsed, and that the farmer has not come in contrition begging his wife to come home, they realize that the matter is serious, and that something must be done, or their sister will be left on their hands, and the ‘face’ of their family will be ‘black’ before the whole world. So, arming themselves with a stick apiece, they go to the farmer’s house. Failing to find him there, they go to his field, and find him working among the corn. Then they fall upon him, and beat him soundly, saying:—
“Your buffalo has ruined our fields!”
“Impossible,” says the farmer, “since I have no buffalo.”
“No buffalo! Why our sister, you said, fed our mother on your buffalo’s milk. So it must have been your buffalo that ruined our fields, and we want satisfaction.”
“But I have no buffalo.”
“Indeed,” say the brothers, “you have, for it is your buffalo who for the past three months has been feeding at our expense. Come, take her away.”
So the farmer goes and gets his wife, and indeed he is glad enough to have her help again. And the wife is glad enough to get back without having to apologize. Therefore, it is a lesson to both.
So the quarrel is cured—until next time.—Hindu Folk-Lore.
For the Home Gardener
This is the month in which we begin to prepare for our summer garden.
Give your house plants more water, more fresh air and some kind of fertilizer. All of them should be making active growth.
This is the month when we may root our cuttings for later use, thus getting extra plants, also pruning the original plant. I use sand kept constantly moist, and cover the cuttings with a tumbler or glass jar, and I seldom lose a cutting.
Plant your tuberous begonias and gloxinias. Give them good drainage, and a sandy, fibrous soil. Keep them in a warm place until active growth is well under way.
Have you any chrysanthemums stored in the cellar? If so, bring them up, water well, and in a short time there will be numerous sprouts all over the top. Cut such of these as you wish, and root in moist sand, then keep them steadily growing, repotting as they need it.
This is a good time to start pansies, salvias, coleus, asters, and ageratum from seeds. By the time the ground is warm enough, they should be ready to plant out.
Syringe all plants often, and be on the war-path for the insect pests on the plants and in the soil. A little care and watchfulness every day is all that is required.
An excellent box in which seeds for early flowers can be sown is about eighteen inches long, fifteen inches wide, and three and a half inches deep. This box can be placed in the window beside the cutting-box. A good soil for the seed-box is made of three-fourths soddy loam and one-fourth sand. This mixture gives a soil which drains well, and does not run together after it has been watered a few times.
In this box can be sown pansy, verbena, petunia, snapdragon, sweet alyssum, salvia splendens, or seeds of any other similar plants which will stand transplanting and are desired for early blooming. Enough plants can be grown in a box of this size to supply a good-sized flower-garden.—Selected.
Cure for Pneumonia
THE following was recently published by the board of health of a New Jersey town as a reliable remedy for pneumonia:—
“Take from six to ten onions, according to size, and chop fine; put in a large spider over a hot fire, then add about the same quantity of rye meal, and vinegar enough to form a thick paste. In the meanwhile stir thoroughly, letting the mixture simmer five or ten minutes. Then put into a cotton bag large enough to cover the lungs, and apply to the chest as hot as the patient can bear it. In about ten minutes apply another, and thus continue by repeating the poultices, and in a few hours the patient will be out of danger.
“Usually three or four applications will be enough, but continue always until the perspiration starts freely from the chest. The remedy was formulated many years ago by one of the best physicians of New England.”
The Value of Hard Foods
HABITUALLY eating soft foods, even soft bread, to the exclusion of everything that is hard or crusty, is not only weakening to the digestive organs, but it leads to the rapid decay of the teeth. When they are not used in the mastication of harder foods, the teeth become covered with tartar, and sometimes loosened in their sockets, or the gums bleed. The use of hard bread and other substances requiring thorough mastication will do more to preserve the teeth than all other things put together. It will also tend to keep them clean; and by insuring good digestion it will help to make the breath fresh and pure. Those who suffer from indigestion seem instinctively to reject the softer, sloppy foods, as they are apt to make disturbance almost as soon as swallowed.—Selected.
Use What Talent You Possess
“Use what talent you possess. The woods would be very silent if no birds sang there but those which sing best.”
Our Work in Sumatra
By R. W. Munson
R. W. MUNSON
(Concluded)
The more intimately the missionary can associate with the people he is seeking to reach, the more quickly and effectually he will accomplish his object; for by familiarity with their sorrows and trials he comes to sympathize with them in all their vicissitudes; and nothing so quickly or so surely draws the hearts of men to Christ as intelligent sympathy.
A MALAY HOME
Timothy and I used often to go out upon the street in the Chinese quarter, and sell tracts and Scripture portions, and preach the gospel. It was most humiliating to his family to have one of their members preaching on the street, and so they tried to influence him and stop his work. They also learned that a widowed relative was becoming interested in the gospel, and they felt that to have another member of the family turn Christian (the name Christian carries with it just as much reproach as it did in the days of the early Christians) would be additional disgrace; so there was also that motive for silencing our preacher. But the Lord gave him the victory.
Sometimes Mrs. Munson accompanies us with the Bilhorn organ, and we soon gather a motley crowd of Singke Chinamen, babas, and Malays, with a sprinkling of Hindus. Once in a while the face of a Eurasian (half-caste) is seen. We sing some of our gospel songs in Malay, and then we preach to them the message of salvation. Now and then some Mohammedan or baba offers a word of opposition, but as a rule we get a very respectful hearing. You would be interested if you could be present at one of these meetings, and could understand Timothy as he reasons with the crowd about the plain, simple truths of the Word, and hear the quaint illustrations and parables he uses,—nothing appeals to the Oriental mind so strongly as this manner of address,—and the replies he makes to objectors. It is so evident that the Spirit of God is speaking through him, that we are not surprised when men acknowledge that what he says is true, and turn away silenced.
Street preaching, however, is not the most desirable form of missionary effort and is useful chiefly in the earlier stages of the work, in order to get the attention of the people turned to the great theme. In British India in the early days of missionary work what was called “bazaar” preaching was simply street preaching in the native quarter where all the small shops were found. These open directly on to the street, so everybody inside can see and hear everybody outside. There the missionary, assisted by a native helper, would address the motley crowds that would gather around, and that would listen from the shop doors, upon the great theme of redemption. He was often interrupted by hard questions from the Mohammedan or Hindu casuist who was seeking not information, but confusion to the missionary. That some good was done by this means is not to be doubted; for in this way some, though not many, of the first converts were interested in the gospel.
After a time, however, this sort of effort was abandoned for another form of endeavor. Along the main streets may be seen small courts on either hand, in which, arranged in a square or parallelogram, are from twelve to twenty houses occupied by the poorer classes, usually all of one caste, and frequently of one family or clan. In one of these courts the missionary might stand unobserved from the main thoroughfare, and speak undisturbed by Mohammedan controversialists. The people were more disposed to listen and more readily influenced than they would be in so public a place as the bazaar or market. It very often happened also that when one man accepted the Christian faith, the whole crowd would soon follow him. The next step was to go out into the country and labor in the small villages of the cultivators of the soil.
Among these Chinese people every institution of any pretensions at all is represented by some tangible monument of its power or sign of its stability. We have a score or more of Chinamen, some of them with families, who attend our services, and consider themselves as Christians, although not yet baptized. There are many others who are interested, but who are delaying because they are doubtful about the permanence or stability of our mission, simply because they see no building or church of any sort that stands for our organization. Therefore it is that we are planning to build a modest wooden structure with corrugated iron roof, which will serve the purpose of church, school, and dwelling for the Chinese pastor. Such a building will cost from four hundred to five hundred dollars.
We have already about forty dollars in hand, and we are taking up a weekly offering to help swell this amount, but it is certain that we can not raise the entire sum here in Padang. Therefore we are praying earnestly that the Lord will open the hearts of some of his dear children to contribute toward the erection of the first Seventh-day Adventist church in the East Indies. If any readers of this article feel that the Lord would have them contribute something toward the enterprise, let them send the money to the treasurer of the General Conference, and he will see that it is forwarded.
Since the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese war we feel more than ever the urgency of haste in pressing the work of the third angel’s message. We are as yet the only laborers in the entire archipelago. We have been praying and hoping for help for four years, but we are no stronger than when we first came, as far as a force of missionaries is concerned. I do not forget that there are other lands in as great, or it may be even greater, need of the gospel, yet there must be workers and money for the prosecution of the work here.
O that our brethren who own property would be as wise in their generation as the children of light should be, heed the warnings God has given, and dedicate their property to the spread of the gospel message for this age!
If they were in the needy fields and15could see how much could be accomplished with their consecrated wealth, there would be no delay in surrendering the money which God has entrusted to them as his stewards to the great need of the hour. May the Lord open their eyes to see that they can invest their money to the highest possible advantage now. Here is an opportunity that will never come to them again. Let them not lose it by clinging to what they must soon see perish in the flames of the last day if they do not give it to God in this time of need and shortage in funds for the extension of the work.
We are in good health on the whole, and crave an interest in all your prayers, that we may be spared to remain on the field, and that the Spirit of God may move hearts to bring or send the gospel to Malaysia and its fifty million people, few of whom have any knowledge of God and his truth.
We are of good courage; for the word has been spoken that the isles shall yet hear his gospel, and we live in hope and by faith.
Lessons From the War in the East
By F. W. Field
F. W. FIELD
The war between Japan and Russia has at last broken out, and we feel anxiously over the effect it may have upon the Lord’s work in these two countries, and in other parts of the world. In fact, there seemed to be danger that other nations would be involved. So, before and since the opening of the war, we have been praying that the Lord would still hold the winds of strife. Then news came that the United States government, through Secretary-of-State Hay, had proposed to the other great powers that Russia and Japan be prevailed upon to recognize and preserve the integrity of Chinese territory outside of the disputed territory of Manchuria. The other powers have received this proposal favorably, and it has also been agreed to by the two belligerents. This will certainly tend to simplify matters by confusing the war to a limited territory, and by averting complications with other powers. The student of prophecy can but recognize a power behind the scenes, working to hold in check the elements of strife, that the gospel of peace be not hindered. Let us still pray that this war may be brought to a close soon.
From “The Four Track News” WISTERIA AND FIRST BRIDGE TEMPLE, TOKYO, JAPAN
The Japanese hope to win by controlling the sea with their fleet. They claim to be able to place a much larger force in the field than the Russians can transport and maintain over the single line of railway through Siberia. But the Japanese admit that their weak point is their financial standing. Should the war continue more than a year, or more than eighteen months at the longest, Japan would be brought into serious financial straits. But the people are intensely patriotic, and will do their utmost to maintain their national standing. The emperor and the empress have contributed some of the imperial treasures to the war fund. At a meeting of prominent citizens held in Tokyo, a well-known bank president made a speech, in which he proposed that wealthy Japanese contribute to the war fund their costly treasures of gold coins and curios. Then he set the example by turning over to the Bank of Japan seven gold cups and a quantity of rare gold coins. This example has been followed all over the country, and large sums have been contributed. Marquis Tokugawa, former lord of Mito, contributed from the family treasures to the amount of thousands of dollars. One wealthy Japanese owns a very valuable collection of works of art, — an art museum in itself. This collection is valued at several hundred thousand dollars; and the owner has offered it for sale, the proceeds to go to swell the war fund.
And this they do to win praise to the individual, and prestige to the nation. What shall we say of the wisdom of these “children of this world”? And to what lesson is there in all this for “the children of light” who have treasures laid up on the earth?
Tokyo.
The East German Conference
By Guy Dail
GUY DAIL
LEAVING Heilbronn early on the eighteenth of January, Elders Conradi and H. F. Schuberth, and the writer, stopped in Nuremberg overnight. This city was founded about the middle of the eleventh century, and many of its ancient towers and walls have been preserved in good repair until the present day. It has two hundred and ninety-five thousand inhabitants. Watches were invented here, and were known as “Nuremberg eggs.” On the high hill overlooking the town is the castle, and in one of the buildings were shown to us many of the instruments of torture that were used during the Middle Ages; among these was the famous Eiserne Jungfrau, which, we are told, was used to punish political offenders. Over the two doors of the city hall, cut in solid stone, were the four beasts of Daniel 7, so that the people of Nuremberg have ever before their eyes an object-lesson in the study of the prophecies. As yet our work here has not received the privileges we hope it may have in the future. We had to meet in secret in the evening, because a fine of six dollars has been threatened any one who would attend our services. About forty were present. Elder Conradi was blessed in presenting the need of patient endurance in the midst of adverse circumstances. The visits of the government official in no way restricted our liberty of speech, and he himself several times expressed his satisfaction at the manner in which the business meetings16and the lectures were conducted.
On Tuesday, the nineteenth, we reached Dresden, the capital of the kingdom of Saxony. The following evening our East German Conference began, and it has closed tonight, the twenty-fourth. We could not have asked for a pleasanter city in which to hold our meetings. It is situated on both banks of the Elbe, and is the “most pleasant town of Germany, owing to its numerous museums and the gentle manners of its inhabitants.” It has the finest gallery of pictures to be found in the empire, and has sometimes been called the “German Florence.” It contains a population of four hundred and ninety-four thousand. In Saxony there are 4,200,000 people, and this small country is more densely inhabited than any other land of Europe, there being seven hundred and forty-three persons to the square mile. A great deal of mining and manufacturing is carried on in this small kingdom, and over half the people are engaged in various kinds of industrial work. The government is Roman Catholic, and formerly we had not a little difficulty here. Even at this conference, we were always favored with the presence of the government detective, and were not allowed to take up collections, and on Sunday we did not dare have our meeting until after eleven o’clock in the morning, according to the law. We are also denied the right to baptize.
In the entire territory of the East German Conference, which is composed of the kingdom of Saxony and the provinces of Posen, Pomerania, Brandenburg, and Silesia, with seventeen millions of people, the work is going forward rapidly.
During the twelve months ending Dec. 31, 1903, the East German Conference tithe amounted to $8,165.60; Sabbath-school donations to $787.91; First-day offerings to $312.98; week-of-prayer collection to $508.35; 192 were baptized during the year, and seventeen were added by vote, making the present membership 784. It must be remembered that lately a new conference, the Prussian Conference, has been organized out of the former territory of the East German field, and this new conference now has a membership of four hundred and fifty-two. It received four hundred and fifty dollars from the East German Conference, besides having its laborers paid from East German funds up to Jan. 1, 1904.
That question which has aroused the deepest interest at this meeting is the East African Mission. Elder Conradi had much freedom in presenting the opening providences of God in reference to the beginning of our work in this heathen land. At this meeting the commodious hall, which is located near several of the state buildings in the heart of the city, and will seat about four hundred, was packed with enthusiastic listeners, about three hundred of whom were our own people. The latest reports received from our missionaries were read. At that time, Brother J. Ehlers was sick with the fever. After paying two tithes to the German Union, and completing its audits, the East German Conference was still able to vote five hundred dollars of its surplus tithe to the East African Mission. God has richly blessed the brethren here for their liberality and self-sacrificing spirit.
Yesterday, Sabbath, was a blessed day. Elder Erzenberger spoke in the forenoon, calling upon all to renew their covenant with God, and asking sinners to give their hearts to his service. About twenty made a start for the first time, and some who had formerly known the truth, but had become lukewarm, gave themselves to God anew. In the afternoon, after a few appropriate remarks, opportunity was given for those who desired to testify publicly of their thankfulness and gratitude to God, to rise; the whole congregation arose at once, and scores stood, waiting their opportunity to bear testimony. I had never seen a meeting like it. The Lord’s presence was with us. In a few, pointed words, each one had the privilege of acknowledging God before the entire assembly. At the close of this exercise, Brother K. Sinz was ordained to the ministry, and three local church elders and one deacon were also set apart to their respective offices, by the laying on of hands.
During the whole session there was a wide-awake spirit, a desire to learn more of the Word of God, and to appropriate the spiritual feast that had been prepared. The meeting was a real success; for God met with us. Nine were secretly baptized. The ordinances of the Lord’s house were celebrated with fifteen who have recently accepted the truth—a very precious season.
All lines of the third angel’s message were carefully considered. The public lectures were full of present truth. They were well attended. The conference sessions were intensely interesting. Sixty delegates were here, and they, with the more than two hundred other members, have obtained a new and clearer view of the work that they are to do at this time. Five new churches were received into the conference. Several canvassers’ meetings were held, and the intercourse the canvassers had with their fellow laborers strengthened their faith, and renewed their courage. The vice-president of the union had a good, earnest talk with the workers, with reference to the importance of giving their whole attention to the work before them, and keeping themselves unspotted from the world.
The new year sees the president, Elder E. Frauchiger, assisted by two ministers, three licentiates, and nine Bible workers, in the field. They have a great work before them, and we trust they may be remembered in the prayers of all God’s children. The message must go with greater power. In Berlin, where we have four churches, we are thinking of erecting a small chapel, right in the center of the city, if we can secure the site. This would be our third chapel in the German empire. Surely that great city, with its two millions of people, ought to have a Seventh-day Adventist chapel. May God help us in this effort, too, as well as in all that is to be done in the East German field in 1904.
The Marquesas
The most easterly group of islands of any extent in the Pacific is the Marquesas. Seventeen islands are comprised in the group, the total area of which does not exceed five hundred square miles. The climate is very hot on the coasts, but as the traveler proceeds inland to higher altitudes, the tropical heat gives place to a much cooler atmosphere. Notwithstanding the heat, the climate is healthful, giving rise to little sickness either among natives or strangers.
When Captain Cook visited the group, he declared the natives to be the finest in outward appearance of all the South Sea islanders, the expression of their countenance being pleasant and open. Prior to the labors of the missionaries, they practised a form of worship similar to that of the Tahitians. Being controlled by the French government, Roman Catholic teachers have had the pre-eminence; but, although the natives have nominally adopted the tenets of Rome, many of them are said to be little better than heathen savages. From contact with the customs and vices of white men, the population has been reduced to a mere fragment of what it formerly was. It is regrettable that men of such fine physique should learn, from their contact with civilized men, vices, the practise of which drives them to greater degradation than they knew even in heathenism.—Australasian Signs of the Times.
The Task Still Incomplete
A BRIEF survey of the conquests of the Bible over the world's languages must fill us with wonder and praise. Yet, while we thank God for so splendid an achievement, we dare not forget how much still remains undone. The enterprises and triumphs of the missionary create many new and imperious claims upon the Bible society. Each fresh tribe evangelized, each new country opened up to the gospel, appeals for fresh translations to be printed and spread abroad. Thus, some part of the New Testament has already been published in over one hundred of the languages of Africa, but this list must go on enlarging year by year. Within the borders of the Indian empire alone, no version of the Scriptures exists as yet in a hundred and eight languages, in use by no fewer than seventy-four million souls. In the islands of Polynesia and Malaysia, and on the upper waters of the Amazon, there are hundreds of languages and dialects in which the Scriptures have never yet spoken; and though many of these are local, and probably evanescent, yet scores of them remain in which the gospel must still learn to speak. And still beyond the utmost frontier of the Bible conquests lies unconquered Tibet.—Bible Society Record.
