Earlier text: THE WORK AND THE WORKERSHonoring Men Instead of God
By F. M. W.
THE great heathen systems of worship have been built up around the one central idea of man worship. The gods of these systems are deified men, usually great heroes, who through human achievement have attained to the eminence of deities. But the operation of this principle is by no means confined to heathen religious systems. We see it in the Church of Rome, in the Greek Church, among the followers of Islam, and it is fast permeating the great Protestant church. Man is put in the place of God, man's opinions in the place of God's Word. God is brought down to the level of man by the exaltation of man to the place of God. Upon poor, fallible humanity are bestowed the praise and adulation which belong alone to Deity. The operation of the same evil principle is seen in the industrial, political, and social life of the people. Captains of industry, politicians, and society leaders exert an influence over their fellows and are accorded a servile respect and leadership which Heaven never intended one mortal should render to or receive from another, and which leaves little place for God in the heart and life. It was to meet this very situation, to call the human family from the worship of man to the worship of God, that this movement with which we are connected was called into existence. The opening words of the message of the first angel of Revelation 14 are: "Fear God, and give glory to him." Men are looking to men for salvation. The call of God is for them to turn from this idolatry to the worship of the only true object of worship, God himself. Because the great Christian church rejected this saving message, the second message was made necessary: "Babylon is fallen, is fallen." In her fallen condition she goes blindly on, finally giving her worship to the beast and to his image, receiving in her forehead the mark of her apostasy. This message, calling men from the worship of self to the worship of God, has been intrusted to this people. While professedly standing against this principle, are we unconsciously yielding to its subtle, insidious workings? Is there danger that Seventh-day Adventists will put man in the place of God, and render to humanity the honor belonging to their Redeemer? Israel of old did it; Israel of today is compassed with the same danger. Said Christ to the Jews: "How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?" John 5:44. The reason why they sought the honor of men is revealed in the further record by the evangelist in describing the character of some of God's professed people of his time, "They loved the praise of men more than the praise of God." How easy it is to come to feel that the blessing of Heaven to our souls must come through certain channels, that certain men alone are God's almoners of grace, that instruction in Christian duty and doctrine must come through official sources, and that office bestows upon its holders some power or grace not possessed before. We believe that Heaven recognizes order and system and organization. We believe in the doctrine of the laying on of hands, and recognize it as in God's order. God has set in his church apostles and prophets and teachers. These appointments of God should be recognized, and these gifts greatly appreciated. But to no man, whatever his position, may we look for salvation. Every man must "give account of himself to God." Nor can we limit the choice of God's channels of blessing. He may be pleased to pass over apostle and prophet and teacher as so recognized, and send his message through the humblest of his children. It may come through the farmer or mechanic instead of the preacher, through the weakest member of the flock instead of through the leader, through the little child instead of through the man of mature years. It is for us to see God back of the messenger, whoever he may be, and to stand in that spirit of consecration and attitude of listening where we may say, Speak, Lord, through whom thou wilt and in any way thou wilt; thy servant heareth, and will do thy bidding. How easy it is in our receptions, our social gatherings, our friendly calls, to give and "receive honor one of another." We give praise expecting to receive praise. We flatter our brethren and sisters, hoping to receive flattery in return. We laud and praise the brother in responsible position, hoping it will redound to our advantage. We might be unwilling to admit, even to our own hearts, that these motives prompted our praise and adulation, and yet after all the spirit of selfishness and man worship is the inspiration of much of these manifestations of regard. In any event, God is forgotten, and his glory but little thought or subserved. We need to speak words of appreciation. We need to reach out the helping hand, and assist our fellows by kindly words of encouragement; but this may be done without fulsome praise or flattering words. Let us look beyond the minister who preaches a sermon that8thrills our hearts and awakens us to higher and holier impulses and purposes to the great God, whose servant he is, and who gave him the message to deliver. Let us look beyond the man in official position who possesses genius for planning and for executing to the One who endowed his mind for his special work. He is but God's instrument, a vessel of clay made meet for the Master's use only by Heaven's endowment. Let us see behind the physician who has wrought a mighty cure the great Healer who steadied his servant's hand in the critical operation or suggested to his mind the particular remedy to employ, and who, not because of the physician's abilities or talents, but in spite of his frailties, honored him by making him a channel of divine blessing to his fellows. The more truly we honor God, the more sincerely we shall love our brethren. But flattery and praise are not evidences of true love. Love sometimes wounds, sometimes faithfully reproves. It points out the path of danger, the evils threatening the life, that the soul may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. True Christian unity is not that which comes through human fellowship, through fear of position and office, through subordination of mind to mind, of the weaker to the stronger. The center of Christian unity is Christ Jesus. "One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." When the believer is one with his Master, he will be one with every other follower of the Master. For this kind of unity, for this relationship to God, and for this fellowship with one another, we need today to pray devoutly and labor earnestly. Buildings That Are a Delight
By W. A. S.
WE enjoy passing on to the believers in the churches, who are standing by the missionary advance, the expressions of gratitude that come in some of the letters from workers in the far fields. Articles written for our missionary departments are continually mentioning these things; but now and then in a personal letter comes an unstudied expression of thanks to God and to his people for facilities provided, which we must share with those who are giving every week for missions. One of the Thirteenth Sabbath Offerings last year was to provide, among other things, for school buildings in Soonan, Korea. In a recent letter, Miss May Scott, superintendent of the girls' school at Soonan, writes:— I cannot tell you how much we appreciate our new buildings. At first it seemed strange to hold school in a real schoolhouse. Noises sounded so different through brick walls than through mud walls, and to hear noises above was strange, too; for you see Korean houses have no second story. It is about six months since I moved into my new rooms, and I am enjoying them so much! They are light and have plenty of sunshine. And the abundance of sunlight makes them warm. Further good news in the letter as to the attendance at the school and at the Sabbath services we must pass on through other channels. We simply wanted to give here a little glimpse of that new building—a "real schoolhouse," and of the living rooms for the teacher that let in the sunlight and warmth. By the planting of these facilities in the dark lands scores of young people are to be hastened out, giving the message in the Korean regions beyond. Let those who hold the ropes at home be of good cheer in earning and saving and giving for the missionary cause, for the labor is not in vain. Trusting in Human Law
By C. M. S.
Laws are good and necessary, but the church that trusts to human law to accomplish the work which Christ sent her into the world to do is nourishing a false hope. Some of the States have recently passed laws which are in themselves good, and have repealed others which were in themselves bad; and for every passage of a good law and for every repeal of a bad law we rejoice. The anticigarette laws, the antigambling laws, and all laws that prevent fraud and deeds of violence are good. The laws which make divorce on light pretexts easy, the laws which permit gambling, pool selling, and liquor selling, are bad. We could wish that every bad law on the statute books of our land were repealed, and that every good law that ought to be enacted might be enacted at once. Nevertheless, we are not pinning our hope of a renovated humanity upon the passing or repealing of human laws. They may make the way we travel more convenient or more fearsome, as the case may be; but they cannot change the hearts of men, planting good there and uprooting the bad. Only the power of Jesus Christ in the life of the individual can do that. All who base their hopes on anything else are doomed to disappointment. We have had numerous illustrations recently to the effect that the passing of good laws is not generally due to the awakening of conscience on the part of the legislators themselves. They have yielded to the pressure of an insistent demand on the part of bodies of their constituents, or to the effect of long rolls of petitions. They have passed the laws demanded, fearing lest they fail of re-election, or their party fail of maintaining its dominance. The States in which these "good laws" have been enacted have had many opportunities to learn that the passage of a law does not mean its enforcement. We are living in an age of disregard of law, and the lawyer who can most skillfully manipulate law to the advantage of his client is the one whose services are most eagerly sought and command the highest remuneration. Good men may compel time-serving legislators to place good laws upon the statute books, but the power of money and the inclination of the human heart to do evil nullify the intent of the best lawmakers in the world. He who looks today for any striking reformation in the land by the enactment of law is cherishing a vain hope. The greed for gold is blinding the finer instincts of the race till the conditions which Inspiration has said would characterize the last day are seen about us on every hand:— "They all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net. That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire; so they wrap it up. . . . The day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity." Micah 7: 2-4. That "visitation" is the second coming of Christ; and that "perplexity" is the consternation of the wicked when they see him whom they have rejected; and the conditions here brought to view are the conditions of this present day. Good laws may be passed, but lawlessness is ever increasing and will continue to increase; for it is declared that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived." This being true, the only hope of any worth is the Christian's hope in Christ. Everything else is vanity, and, in the end, disappointment and death. We must not pin our hope to man, or to the laws that man may make; but in perfect submission to the will of God and faith in him, we have an anchor whose hold no stress or strain of storm can break. In that is hope; in that are life and joy and peace. The last deception that comes upon the world, the one act that finally ranges the whole world, except God's handful, on the side of error and against God, comes through the enactment of human law. In that culminating act, federated religion demands and gets a law to compel all men to conform to a human standard in religion. As "a law without a penalty is only an opinion," this law carries a penalty, and the penalty is death. It makes conscience an outlaw save where conscience may be in harmony with that human demand. That being so, it makes all men outlaws who have a conscience that is true to the name. That final act of federated religion9destroys the last hope of any further good being accomplished in the world through the continued existence of the race. So long as Christianity was standing up against the foes of God and against the foes of conscience; so long as nominal Christianity was standing for the rights of man in religious things, souls could be won out of the world. Persecutions might be bitter, and souls hard to win out of the forbidding surroundings of this world; but it is not until Christianity, as expressed in federated religion, outlaws conscience that Heaven declares, "It is finished." When that act has been done by the church, God can do nothing more for the world but to take his faithful ones out of it and let the fires of the last day do their work of renovating the sin-stained world and preparing it for the occupancy of the people who have learned righteousness, in whose hearts God's law had been enthroned. So man's trust in human law is a trust that is sure to fail. Man's hope of accomplishing the purpose of Christ in the world through the enactment and enforcement of human law is a false hope. It is a hope which, if adhered to, sets a federated world finally against its Maker, and ushers in the "day of vengeance of our God." It is a fearful thing to be thus deceived; it is the tragedy of all tragedies; for it shuts heaven against both the deceiver and the deceived, and brings the world to the judgment bar of God to hear the fearful sentence of the great Judge. Today federated religion is laying plans which will bring about those conditions and result in that overwhelming catastrophe. In the chief city of the nation a campaign is now being inaugurated on behalf of federated religion that points directly to that culmination. Every similar campaign that is now being or has been inaugurated in other parts of the nation will be vivified and strengthened by this campaign at the seat of the nation. Every triumph in that line is a stronger lure to the ruin that waits for the completion of the campaign. Every victory won in the campaign for religious legislation and against the rights of conscience is a defeat for those who win it, and will make more bitter the great deception when its full meaning is understood. He who asks for human laws to enforce religious practices or customs and thereby oppress the consciences of his fellow men is playing with fire, and persistence in that course makes it certain that he will suffer the fires of the last day. It is the most dangerous business one can engage in in this world, for its success means the eternal ruin of those who succeed in it. On Carefulness in Dealing With Quotations
By W. A. Spicer
IN an old REVIEW (Dec. 22, 1874) we ran across a note by Elder J. N. Andrews on carefulness in using quotations from historical or religious writings. It fell to Elder Andrews's lot to do more research work than any other of the early pioneers in our work, perhaps, and out of his own experience in verifying and examining historical references he wrote:— This is found in three things: First, in the doctrine or fact or point stated in the quotation; second, in the reliability of the quotation; third, in the appending to the quotation of definite references to the book, chapter, and section, or to the volume and page of the author quoted. 1. Of the correctness of the doctrine expressed in a quotation, or of the value of an alleged fact, or of the sharpness of the point it makes, the reader can and will judge for himself. 2. In the matter of the reliability of the quotation, that is to say, in the question whether the author actually uses the language quoted, most readers are compelled to rely upon the integrity of the one who makes the quotation. There is, therefore, the most sacred obligation upon such person to quote accurately and honestly. It will not do to take a quotation found floating in the papers, for which no one is responsible, and give it to your readers as genuine, thereby yourself becoming responsible for its genuineness. The chances are at least equal that a quotation of this kind will not be found reliable. Sometimes quotations are made from memory by some careless writer, and then, because they suit the views of those who find them, they are quoted from writer to writer, none taking the trouble to go to the original author to see if the words are used by him. Sometimes these quotations are adhered to even by writers who have gone to the author cited and failed to find the words. These writers seem to think that the forgery has become respectable by use. Again, it is sometimes the case that quotations are deliberately coined in malice, in order to blacken the name of some eminent man, or to bring odium upon some sect or some doctrine. Sometimes they are deliberately coined for exactly the opposite purpose. In not a few instances I have taken quotations that were of immense importance if truthful, and have gone through page by page the voluminous works of the author upon whom they were fathered, and found that no such words were used by him. Therefore, those who make quotations should take great care to know that they are reliable. If it is not possible to see the original authority, then give the name of a responsible writer who professes to make the quotation. 3. Tell just where the quotation is to be found. If it is an important statement, opponents will dispute its correctness, and deny that the author uses the language. Therefore, tell the volume, chapter, and section of the work, and accurately name the work and the author. This is better than it is to give volume and page, because with respect to the volume and page, different editions are not always alike. If you quote a newspaper or any periodical, give the date exactly, or give the volume and number. These suggestions are of much importance. These are certainly good counsels for workers in the cause today. There are few of us, very likely, who have not had to regret haste or carelessness in copying statements or making clippings without putting down dates or references with sufficient exactness. Thus matter that might have been used on occasion with good effect was rendered of little or no value. And the keener the controversy with error becomes, the greater the necessity of culling out unreliable references and quotations and of avoiding loose and inaccurate statements regarding the facts of history. By this heading to one of its editorials the New York Weekly Witness of May 13 expresses its convictions regarding the influences which are operating at the present time in the religious, social, and political worlds. An ex-minister who has organized what he calls a church of social revolution, created a disturbance in Calvary Baptist Church last Sunday with the aid of some of his followers. As he had given notice beforehand of his intention, there were a number of policemen on hand, and the intruder was arrested after a sharp scuffle. Over in London, a bomb was exploded in Spurgeon's Tabernacle by suffragettes. Out in Ludlow, Colo., it is said that the military authorities, who now have control of the situation, have orders to drive out all nonresident miners. At least, that is the newspaper report. And the United States Supreme Court has set free men sentenced for contempt of court, on the ground that it is too late to punish them. All these incidents are signs of the times, and very bad signs. They all tend in the direction of anarchy. They all tend to make life less safe and business less secure. They all tend to excite the turbulent element of the population to be more turbulent, and thus to deprive peaceable citizens of that protection which the government is bound to afford them. They all tend to make this country more like Mexico—a country where "might makes right." Up to the time of the Civil War, many persons in Europe thought that this country could not last as a republic. They thought that anarchy or schism would overthrow it. But the Civil War and its outcome seemed to prove that there was enough conservatism in the people of this country to sustain any shock. The present situation and the tendency of public sentiment are, however, well calculated to awaken fear that the republic which has stood so many tests, and stood them so well, may some time become the home of anarchy. The Bane of Cheap Reading
Mr. Chester S. Lord, for a long time the editor of the New York Sun, in a recent speech before the Connecticut Editorial Association, discussed the baneful effects of the large amount of cheap literature now in circulation. He declared:— Our discussions are on the everlasting sex question; many of our plays have excited public indignation; some of our moving picture shows have been suppressed by the police even. Our dances have been denounced by the church and by the few old-fashioned mothers who remain, and the same church and the same mothers have proclaimed against the clothing our wives and daughters are wearing as being immoral and demoralizing. Nine tenths of the novels now written are so-called sex novels, in which sex relations are described and discussed with a freedom that could not have been tolerated fifty years ago, and that must have excluded them from libraries and from homes. The three novels by British authors that attracted most attention during the winter—those of Hall Caine, H. G. Wells, and John Galsworthy—are conspicuous examples of this modern literature. The best seller in America was an attack on religion and an indirect plea for socialism. What the immediate future has in store in the direction of intellectual and moral nourishment may be indicated by some of the publishers' announcements of books for summer reading. He does not feel that the fault is alone with authors or editors, but with the depraved public taste which demands literature of this character. He quotes the late Whitelaw Reid, editor of the New York Tribune, as saying:— The thing always forgotten by the closest critic of the newspapers is that they must be measurably what their audiences make them; what their constituencies call for and sustain. The newspaper cannot uniformly resist the popular sentiment any more than the stream can flow above its fountain. To say that the newspapers are getting worse is to say that the people are getting worse. They may work more evil now than they have ever wrought before, because the influence is more widespread; but they also work more good, and the habitual attitude of the newspaper is one of effort toward the best its audiences will tolerate. To these observations by Mr. Reid, Mr. Lord replies:— Is the magazine editor or the newspaper editor to print the things the people should read for their instruction and general betterment, or is he to give them what they seek to read for their amusement only? Every editor knows that the more details of sin, vice, and crime one crams into a newspaper the more copies of that newspaper will be sold, and every editor knows that the most subtle temptation that ever besets him is the temptation to print the things that should not be printed, and that temptation is more acute because he knows the people want to read them. Ay! that's the rub! The people want the sensational stuff! . . . There seems to be a fascination about exaggeration that appeals both to the liar and to his victim. It makes liars out of well-meaning people, and well-meaning people seem to enjoy being lied to. Indeed, some philosopher has said that an easy road to success lies through exaggeration. The man who exaggerates his own importance attracts more attention than the modest man; the merchant who exaggerates his wares sells more than the merchant who does not. Sensational clergymen fill churches, while prosy ones preach to empty benches. And since newspapers are no longer edited for glory or printed for fun, it becomes us to consider these things. The honest newspaper editors have indeed given them the most thoughtful consideration, and every honest newspaper editor will join me in saying to you: Print your edition in red ink if you like; print your edition in job type if you like; print your edition with headlines a foot long if you like, but—stick to the truth! Admitting the growing depravity of the human family, which creates a demand for the cheap, shoddy literature of the present day, it is sad indeed to see editors of great journals,—men who stand as teachers and leaders of the people,—from a monetary and commercial motive, cater to this evil tendency. If these men could but sense their responsibility and eliminate from their journals much of the crime, scandal, and riffraff which is now published, they could at least have the satisfaction of feeling that they had done their best to turn the tide, and that instead of actually ministering to the commission of crime, as there is no question but that such newspaper reports do, they had thrown their influence on the side of clean thinking and right living. It takes brave men in the newspaper world, as well as in the religious and the political world, to stand against the clamor of public demand, and uphold the standards of right. We believe, however, that if a man publishes a newspaper or engages in any other kind of business, he should be true to the higher interests of those who look to him for leadership. Otherwise a fearful account must be rendered at the last day. How Were Old Testament People Saved?
To this question, raised by one of its readers, the Sunday School Times of April 9 gives the following excellent reply:— The “necessary plan” is Christ; it has been Christ, and Christ only, since the days of Eden. Adam needed Christ, and was saved by Christ, just as much as Simon Peter needed Christ and was saved by Christ. It is not apparent just what passage in the Bible the Illinois reader has in mind when he suggests that the Old Testament saints went to heaven “without the necessary plan;” for the teaching of the Bible is that their only entrance into heaven was through Christ their Saviour, even though they did not know the historic Jesus as we know him. Paul, as a Jew, wrote that the fathers of the Jewish brethren of his generation, or the Old Testament saints, “drank of a spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ.” Again he wrote, “By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.” “But now apart from the law a righteousness of God hath been manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ unto all them that believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” The Old Testament blood sacrifices pointed forward to the final and eternal atonement made by the sacrifice of Christ. Those who offered animal sacrifices to God, in the spirit of faith in him as their forgiving Saviour-God, looked forward to Jesus as their Saviour even though they knew this not. “The Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” is Jesus; and his foreordained and foreknown death opened the gates of heaven, and was the way of life, to every believing sinner since the foundation of the world. Our God is almighty; and our almighty God works in accordance with laws of his own ordaining. If he has ordained and decreed that the only way of life for sinning men is by the pathway of the freely accepted death of his own Son, this does not lessen the omnipotence of God, but it does heighten for us the wonders of his love. God evidently laid upon himself the necessity of a plan which should reveal to us his love, and which should accomplish for us the supreme desire of his love, as no other plan could have done. That plan is our marvelous Saviour Christ. Blessed be his name forever and forever. The World’s Teetotal Navies
To many it will be news that the United States is not alone in having a teetotal navy. There are two others, and if one is to judge from present indications, it will not be long before still another is added. Russia and Japan are in the list with this country, and in a few years Great Britain will probably make a fourth. The Pocket Testament League
The Pocket Testament League has developed from a small beginning. Some years ago a young girl in Birmingham, England, had a great longing to tell her fellow pupils at the girls' high school about her Saviour. The way opened unexpectedly through her little Testament, which she carried with her wherever she went. One by one other girls began to love the Testament, and to carry a copy. The young girl was Miss Helen Cadbury. When she married Charles M. Alexander, the gospel singer associated with Dr. Chapman, the great congregations addressed by her husband were told of the league and its objects, and the appeal was made for organization of other leagues. It is now a world-wide movement. In the Canary Islands
By T. M. French
Our furlough being due, we embarked on January 2 for the Canary Islands, where our West African rest home is situated. We found Brother and Sister B. B. Aldrich well, and laboring earnestly to spread the light of truth in this Catholic Spanish possession. Brother Aldrich had placed a large number of our health books in the homes of the people, and had found a few seekers for truth, with whom he is holding Bible readings. Having pioneered the way with these health books, he is now handling our denominational books with good success. During the first or second day of his work with "Daniel and the Revelation," he could hardly believe it when a gentleman told him that he was reading the same book in the municipal library of Santa Cruz. Doubtless the publishers had sent it out as a sample copy. God is hastening on this blessed truth before even our own workers can carry it. Truly there is an infinite One going out before us in finishing this great work. One can hardly realize that the spiritual darkness of these islands could exist during this enlightened age; but Rome has undoubtedly had almost undisputed sway here since the beginning of the Reformation. The land is filled with cathedrals, hermitages, crosses, and images. I saw heathen idolatry on every hand in dark Africa; but Rome has excelled even this. Brother and Sister Aldrich repeatedly expressed their appreciation of the privilege of associating once more with those of like faith. The last Sabbath we were with them, we celebrated the Lord's Supper, they not having had church privileges for over two years. We regret that we cannot return to our work in West Africa, but Mrs. French's health will not permit it. However, we go with good courage to England to join in the work of that great field, which must bear its part of sending workers and means to British West Africa. South India
By V. E. Peugh
The work is onward in this part of the field. Many are interested in the truth. I believe that the printed page is one of the greatest means of spreading a knowledge of the truth in this dark land. This feature of our work is quite encouraging at the present. Our Tamil paper, the Present Truth, is having a wide circulation. The last edition printed consisted of five thousand copies. A little book of Bible readings, called "Bible Studies for the Church and Sabbath School," is also being widely circulated, along with several other smaller tracts on other phases of the message. Our ten native colporteurs are working on a commission basis, and are having good success. From all parts of the field we are hearing from those who have become interested in the truth through the reading of our papers and tracts, and are desirous of learning more of the message for this time. We have just closed one of the best institutes with our colporteurs and mission workers that we have ever had in this part of the field. It was held during the week of prayer, and truly it was a feast of good things to all who attended. Elder Salisbury and Dr. Menkel were with us, and their talks were a great blessing and encouragement to all. A short time before our last institute I spent a few weeks in the field with the Tamil journal. I had many good experiences while taking subscriptions for it. I secured subscriptions from all classes, from the Brahman to the outcaste. On one occasion, while in Madura, as I was canvassing under the shadow of the large Hindu temple, one of the largest in India, a Brahman subscribed for my paper and then began to canvass the crowds who had gathered about through curiosity. In a few minutes he secured several orders for me; and all I had to do was to write down the names and addresses. One day in the great heathen city of Madura I secured twenty-eight yearly subscriptions in six hours. In Trichinopoli, which is a strong Catholic and Hindu center, in six hours I secured twenty-one yearly subscriptions, besides selling several single copies. Within six days the Lord had blessed me with one hundred and thirteen yearly subscriptions for the journal. My limited experience has taught me that our missionaries may also have a part in scattering the vernacular literature in these darkened lands. The school at Nazareth is doing good work, and the membership is steadily growing. Very soon we hope to have some good workers from it. Some of the Hindu boys who have attended the school for some time, have become very much interested in the Bible studies, and have expressed a determination to be baptized in spite of the determination of their parents to prevent them from doing so. The dispensary is also doing well, considering the limited help we have for it. It is being operated now by a native brother and a native girl, both of whom have had only a limited amount of training. They treat about thirty patients daily. Even under such conditions, we are drawing patients from a well-equipped hospital because the patients are treated kindly by our workers. Because of Brother Thomas's sickness, we expect to start to Nazareth the first of next week to fill the vacancy there. We find that it is necessary for the foreign missionary to be "all things to all men." This we hope, by the Lord's help, to be. Rio Grande do Sul Conference
By F. W. Spies
The ninth annual session of the Rio Grande do Sul Conference convened at Porto Alegre, March 3-8. The principal meetings were held in the chapel, also the evening meetings in Portuguese, the German evening services being held in a tent pitched for the purpose. At Sabbath school on Sabbath morning there were counted almost two hundred, and this is approximately one third of the conference membership. Elder Waldemar Ehlers not having sufficiently recovered to resume his work as president of the Rio Grande do Sul Conference, Elder Henry Meyer was elected president. In many ways the outlook for this conference is promising. A state tract society was organized, and Brother H. H. Hall, of the Pacific Press, whom we were privileged to have with us for a few days, gave good help and counsel in this matter.12Although many states feel sensibly the business crisis which makes itself apparent over all South America, we heard less talk about it in this conference than in any other place we have recently been, and there was a gain in tithes and offerings over the previous year. Special attention was given to the book work, and nine recruits who were added to the canvassing force, were instructed immediately after the conference closed. Some of the young people who have come over from Germany promise to become workers, and three such have already been employed by the Rio Grande do Sul Conference. It is also encouraging to see our young Brazil workers grow up into usefulness in the cause. One young brother who had been working in Porto Alegre as Bible worker for some months previous to the conference, could present seven or eight believers, who were baptized on the Sabbath of the conference. One thing greatly needed in our union is better school facilities, and we believe the way will soon open for something more definite in this line. On the whole, the prospect for the work in the Rio Grande do Sul Conference is good, and we believe we shall see the Lord's special blessing accompany the work in this field. An old man going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide.
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide. "Old man," said a fellow pilgrim near,
"You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way;
You've crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build you this bridge at evening tide?" The builder lifted his old gray head:
"Good friend, in the path I have come," he said,
"There followeth after me today
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been as naught to me,
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim:
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!"
— Selected.