The Washington correspondent of the Chicago Record tells the secret of present disturbances in China by the “Boxers,” as follows:—
The Germans and the Belgians who are constructing railroads in the Shantung province have treated the natives in a most abominable manner, and have provoked the riots of which they now complain. That portion of China is one of the most densely populated sections of the earth, and the people have a desperate struggle for existence. Every inch of ground is cultivated; every straw and every sprig of vegetation is utilized in some way for the support of life. The country is divided into little farms, which are cultivated almost with a microscope, one might say, because it is necessary for the subsistence of some family; and the dead are buried in the gravel hills, where nothing can grow.
Through this country and under these conditions, railways are being constructed by German and Belgian engineers, who show a most brutal indifference to the rights and the property of the people. They run their lines across the farms, they tear down houses, burn villages, destroy crops, seize supplies, impress labor, and treat the people in a most cruel and arbitrary manner. If the same things should occur in the United States or in Europe or in any other part of the world, they would be attended with the same results. The “boxers” were organized to resist and revenge these outrages, and they use the only means within their power to punish their oppressors. A Chinaman never gets any sympathy, either in America or elsewhere, and the consciousness of that fact compels him to carry on his operations with as great secrecy as possible. If the German and Belgian railroad people would treat the poor coolie farmers of the Shang-tung province in a just and honorable manner, and give them fair compensation for the property they have taken or destroyed, there would be no need of sending fleets to the Chinese waters, or of demanding indemnity at the Tsung-li-yamen.
The light and understanding and excellent wisdom which were found in Daniel were recognized by him as gifts from God to be used to his glory. The gift of God can not be purchased with money, neither is it to be made a matter of merchandise. The gospel invitation is “without money and without price.” “Freely ye have received, freely give.”
“Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honor: and for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him; and he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and that he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; but hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath is, and whose are all thy ways, hast thou not glorified.”
The fundamental truth which every man is to recognize, whatever station he may occupy, and whether he has much or little, is that everything comes as a gift from God. Daniel acknowledged this for himself, and taught it to others. And so he repeated to Belshazzar what he declared to Nebuchadnezzar in the interpretation of the dream of the great image, that the kingdom over which Nebuchadnezzar ruled, and all the glory of it, were bestowed upon him by “the most high God,” and that all his great power among the people of the earth was due simply to “the majesty that he gave him.” The real acceptance of this truth removes all ground for pride and self-glorification. “For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?”
Daniel then reminded Belshazzar of the self-exaltation and the pride of Nebuchadnezzar, and how they led to the loss of his kingdom and his place as a man among men, until he learned the lesson that “all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field,” and that the God of heaven is to be recognized as “over all, and through all, and in all.” But these facts were mentioned simply as preliminary to the personal message which was to be given to Belshazzar himself. In the experiences of Nebuchadnezzar the gospel of the kingdom, the greatness of God, and the nothingness of man, had been preached, and by the royal proclamation these truths had been spread abroad in all the earth. No man could hear of these things and escape the responsibility which a knowledge of the truth involves. By his acceptance or rejection of the message which had thus been proclaimed in Babylon, every man determined his own future. He would either glorify God and humble himself, or he would exalt himself in place of God. And the course which the king and his lords might take would determine the fate of the nation.
The reason for the fall of Babylon of the Chaldees is plainly stated. The gospel of the kingdom had been presented in a threefold message, revealing the true God, his saving power, and his sovereignty in both heaven and earth, and all the people had thus been called upon to “give unto the Lord glory and strength,” to “give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name.” Belshazzar knew all this, and yet he lifted up himself against the Lord of heaven, and did not glorify him. In thus refusing to give unto God what was his due, and to acknowledge him as King over all, he deprived himself of that glory and honor with which God crowns his loyal subjects; and thus having no longer the power of a ruler, he lost his kingdom. The gods which he praised were a falsehood. “Eyes have they, but they see not; they have ears, but they hear not.” Thus he “exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever.” So Babylon of the Chaldees fell because man was put in the place of God, a lie in the place of the truth, and glory was not given to God.
We have already seen that this history of Babylon is also a prophecy, and that the experiences of ancient Babylon are to be repeated in modern Babylon. Thus we are able clearly to see in this lesson the cause of the fall of Babylon in our own time. In the great threefold message, recorded in Rev. 14: 6–12, which is the everlasting gospel to be preached in all the world, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord’s coming, we have the same gospel of the kingdom set forth which was preached in Babylon. “Every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” are called upon to “fear God and give glory to him,” and to recognize the Creator as the only object of worship. This is followed by the proclamation, equally extensive, that “fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, which hath made all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
From the experiences of Nebuchadnezzar, as given in the book of Daniel, and the lessons which were taught to him, we learn what it really means to fear God and give glory to him, so that for a full understanding of what this gospel message includes we must study the gospel of the kingdom as preached to Nebuchadnezzar. Furthermore, if we would understand the cause of the fall of Babylon in this time, we must note the cause of its fall in the olden time. In both instances the rejection of the gospel message and the failure to give glory to God result in the fall. And in both instances the rejection of the gospel message is shown by the exaltation of self, the putting of man in the place of God.
In the time of Belshazzar this refusal of the gospel invitation to give glory to God and to worship the Creator was shown in open and gross idolatry. They “praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone.” “Knowing God, they glorified him not as God, neither gave thanks; but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”
In the Babylon of to-day the apostasy from God is revealed in the working out of the same principle under a different form. Instead of deifying their own imaginations, or reasonings, by putting them into some material form, and then worshiping the work of their own hands, there has been such a perversion of the gospel, which is professedly accepted, by substituting tradition for the word of God, by putting man’s idea of God and his character in place of the revelation made, by teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, that the true God is not worshiped any more than in Belshazzar’s time. Now, as then, there are those in Babylon who are loyal to the living God, and obedient to the truth of the gospel, who are witnesses for the principles of righteousness, but the very12essence of idolatry pervades the hearts and minds of the great majority.
The true God is distinguished from all false gods by the fact that he is the Creator. “For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.” And he himself has given a sign by which he may be known and acknowledged as the true God: “And hallow my Sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the Lord your God.” His Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, now commonly called Saturday. “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.” It was instituted as a memorial of his original creative work, and is a sign of his new creative work through which we are made new creatures in Christ Jesus. “For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” “He appointed a memorial for his wondrous deeds.” “Moreover also I gave them my Sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord that sanctify them.”
But in the great falling away and the revealing of the man of sin, “who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God,” the true Sabbath was set aside, and the first day of the week, commonly called Sunday, was substituted in its place; and this without any divine authority whatsoever.
In the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, principles were adopted which, if only carried out, would have led to a return to the genuine Sabbath of the Lord, but the work was not actually extended so far as this.
In the message that is now going forth to all the world, calling upon all men to “worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters,” this Sabbath reform is found as the testing truth. Those who are willing to accept the gospel of the kingdom, as it is now being preached to all the world, to submit to God as their King, and the law of his life as the controlling power in all their conduct, and thus give to the word of God its rightful place as above all human tradition, will gladly accept his sign of loyalty, and will be found observing the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath of the Lord. This will be simply the outward expression of the inward experience of the fullness of justification by faith in the work of God for man through Jesus Christ, and of complete deliverance through the creative power of God from sin and all its consequences. This reform will involve the principles of all reform from the ways of Babylon, and an entire separation from all the perversions of gospel truth brought in by her. In this way only will there be deliverance when “with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.”
Even now the call is heard, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities. . . . Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Oh that every one who reads these lines might accept in its fullness the truth as it is in Jesus, and stand in modern Babylon, like Daniel of old, as a faithful witness to the gospel of the kingdom, a loyal worshiper of the true God amid all the surrounding idolatry. “By their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
On that last night of feasting, Belshazzar and his lords became drunken with the wine of Babylon, and so perished in the downfall of their city. With a false feeling of peace and safety they gave themselves up to the fullest gratification of appetite and passion, and then, in the very midst of their revelry, and as a consequence of it, there came sudden destruction. Looking forward to the time when this history would be repeated, the Saviour gave this warning: “But take heed to yourselves, lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that day come on you suddenly as a snare: for so shall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of all the earth. But watch ye at every season, making supplication, that ye may prevail to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.” W. W. P.
A CALL.
By E. A. Sutherland
There is this difference between the work of God and that of the civil power: when the state makes a call for men, and there are not a sufficient number of volunteers, the ranks are filled with drafted soldiers; God, however, accepts only volunteers. He is calling now, and has been calling long. He has said, “In all our churches, and wherever there is a company of believers, church schools should be established, and in these schools there should be teachers who have the true missionary spirit.”
The call is, then, for teachers who have the true missionary spirit. Where are these teachers?—At present many are to be found in the public schools. They are Christians, and long to be missionary teachers, but have not yet heeded the call to forsake all and follow him.
If those children who are left in the midst of worldly associations will be destroyed when the angel of death sweeps over our land, what may those teachers expect who are yet in the Egyptian schools?
God now stands at the door and knocks. “Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.”
Hundreds of children are pleading by their very helplessness and danger, for Christian teachers. Their hands are reaching toward you, and God speaks to you through them. If you heed not their voices, the very stones will cry out; for the time is short, and a great work must be done.
There are those who, by reason of their previous education, may be fitted by a short training, to teach a church school. Such should avail themselves of the instruction offered in the summer school. There are married men and women who, with a brief training, might become teachers. God will make use of such also.
The young and inexperienced need a longer course, for only well-developed and properly educated persons should be intrusted with the shaping of a human mind. Those needing preparatory work need not make application to enter the summer school at Battle Creek; but there are hundreds to whom this call must apply. “Special talent should be given to the education of the youth.”
E. A. SUTHERLAND.
SCOTLAND
By Mrs. Mary Lamie
MOTHERWELL AND NEWARTHILL.—It would be a help to us to know that our brethren and sisters in America are praying for and rejoicing with us in Scotland; and we know you can better do this when you know what we are doing. We have been here a year and a half. We first lived in Longriggend,—a dirty, coal-mining village. Mr. Lamie worked in the mines, and in the evenings held Bible readings and visited. I held children's meetings, women's meetings, and out-door meetings with the women, in a neighboring village, and did whatever I could for the sick, trying to interest the people in healthful living and temperance. The children sold our missionary paper, Present Truth, and we all distributed reading-matter. When we left that place, one man had accepted the truth. He has engaged in the work of distributing papers, and is doing all he can to interest others in the truth he loves.
We removed to Avonhead, a mile distant. The children and I did what we could there in distributing reading-matter. I held meetings with the children, and had a health and temperance reading circle with young girls. We used Dr. Kress's magazine, Life and Health, for our text-book, and the talks were based on Dr. Kellogg's charts.
For the last two months Mr. Lamie has been working in the mines in this place, and I have been nursing in Motherwell. Brother Monteith has been canvassing in Glasgow for Present Truth and Life and Health. My work in Motherwell has been of especial interest, and we have removed to this place, where we are within three miles of the town, and yet have the benefit of the country air for our children and Brother Monteith's.
The first patient I had in Motherwell was a man who had been afflicted for months with rheumatism. He was not even allowed, nor was he able, to lift his hands from under the huge pile of blankets that covered him. I could not at first get permission either from them or from the doctor to do anything. At last they consented to massage. After the first few treatments, the doctor was willing, and they were anxious, that the treatments should be given. In three weeks he was much improved, and is now quite well. The doctor became very friendly, and sent me to other patients. One of them was one of the most influential women in this part of Scotland. I treated her and her two children, and told her all I could about present truth. She went out to a country home, and took only a few servants, and had me go there to help her plan and prepare vegetarian meals. She enjoyed them, and now has the Third Angel's Message by the right hand in the health reform. She and her husband are very active in evangelistic and temperance work; and as they are wealthy as well as zealous, they have it in their power to do much good. I can not use valuable space for details, but the Lord has blessed me every hour in the seed-sowing. Some one else may water what I have sown, and God will give the increase. They have removed to London now, as her husband is a member of Parliament; but she took with her a list of books to purchase at the office. The morning before I left, I made a copy of Dr. Kellogg's food chart for her. She read Mrs. Henry's “Studies in Home and Child Life,” also “Healthful Living.”
I am now giving treatment to a woman evangelist. She has read “The Abiding Spirit,” and thinks it excellent. A man in Motherwell is reading “Here and Hereafter,” and has already decided to live in harmony with God's laws, and wishes to take Life and Health.
The Rechabites recently had a meeting here, and invited me to bring samples of our health foods, and explain the principles of vegetarianism. I also had the privilege of addressing the women at a woman's meeting. When I told them of the work of Mrs. Henry and Mrs. Kellogg in America, a man on the platform said, “Praise the Lord!” This was a remarkable thing for this country, where the people are very “canny” about expressing their feelings. I read extracts from “A Woman Ministry,” and many of the women were deeply impressed. It was my part to give the usual Bible reading, and I chose for a subject The Restoration of the Image of God in the Soul.
I have opportunities in Motherwell to do all the work I am able. There is a small society of vegetarians there, and I have fallen into friendly intercourse with them. I believe we sometimes think that God wants us to call attention to the fourth commandment only; but I am convinced that that commandment is no oftener broken than the sixth. The world is killing, as much as it is breaking the Sabbath. I praise God for a truth that is the truth about everything. I expect to start a cooking-class in Motherwell soon. Several women have already promised to attend. We also hope to have Bible classes, children's meetings, and cooking-classes here as soon as we get settled.
We are in quite a populous district. Motherwell, Hamilton, Wishaw, Airdrie, and Coatbridge are all large cities, with extensive iron and steel works—and all within a radius of six miles. We are about ten miles from Glasgow. The roads are beautiful, and it is pleasant and easy walking. We thank the Lord for strength to walk and for a field in which to work.
MRS. MARY LAMIE.
Paul’s Debt to Those in Darkness
“PAUL said, ‘I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.’ God had revealed to Paul his truth, and in so doing made him debtor to those who were in darkness, to enlighten them.”
NEWS AND NOTES
—In one week cholera caused 1,330 deaths in India.
—The United States has 62,000 soldiers in the Philippines.
—Ten million dollars will be spent in widening and dredging the Chicago River.
—Kansas is asking for 20,000 men to assist in harvesting its wheat crop, which is estimated at 85,000,000 bushels.
—Since the United States took possession of the Philippines under the treaty with Spain, 10,780 of the Filipinos have been killed.
—Census enumerators, to the number of 52,631, are now at work. Pennsylvania has the greatest number, 4,676, and Alaska has but two.
—Twenty-three war-ships are now at Taku, China. In addition to nine war-ships, Russia has on board these boats 11,000 troops from Port Arthur, where 14,000 more troops are held in readiness by her.
—Admiral Dewey has arranged to spend Monday and Tuesday, June 11 and 12, in Grand Rapids, Mich.
—General MacArthur, in asking for more troops for the Philippines, requests that none but cavalrymen be sent.
—The finest gold-mine in Arizona, sixty miles north of Phoenix, was recently sold to a New York syndicate for $1,500,000.
—Wireless telegraphy stations have been ordered by Brigadier-General Greeley, in the harbor of San Francisco, in Porto Rico, and the Philippines.
—Herbert Spencer is now eighty years old. He suffers much from insomnia, and is obliged to bandage his eyes and stuff cotton in his ears, to secure sleep.
—The joint resolution, proposing an amendment to the Constitution, empowering Congress to regulate trusts, was defeated in the House of Representatives.
—Schools are closed, and every precaution is being taken, at West Derby, Vt., on account of an epidemic of black cancer rash, three deaths having occurred within a week.
—A dispatch from Berlin, Germany, says that “Emperor William did not open, as expected, the school-reform conference, as he was busy with important state papers. The conference was opened by Minister Dr. Studt.”
—The steamship “Deutschland,” of the Hamburg-American line, is aground at the Haff, near Swinemünde, on the River Oder, Germany. Eighteen strong tug-boats could not get her out of the mud. Dredging will be resorted to.
—The British Union Jack was displayed over Pretoria, June 5. A London dispatch dated June 6, says: “The promenade from Cape Town to Pretoria was ended yesterday, after a battle of maneuvers rather than serious fighting.” No siege guns were found in the capital city of the Boers.
—Dispatches from Algiers say that “thousands of Boers are massing at Piguig and in the neighborhood, preparing for a determined attack upon the advance posts of the French. The French columns have joined hands at Zouhis, but the men suffer terribly from heat and thirst, and hundreds of camels have died.”
—Nine hundred citizens are doing guard duty in St. Louis, owing to the street-car strike. In the course of the riots attending this strike, forty-seven persons have been shot, and the mob spirit seems to have broken out with a vengeance, blowing up tracks with dynamite, and attacking all who either ride on or operate the cars, regardless of sex or age.
—A dispatch from Shanghai, China, dated June 4, states that “the China Gazette says it has the highest authority for saying that the dowager empress has ordered the Tsung-li-yamen to face all Europe rather than to interfere with the ‘Boxer’ movement.” It is also asserted that “the viceroy has ordered troops to oppose the further landing of parties from foreign war-ships.”
—Washington dispatches state that “Russian intrigue is at the bottom of the present anti-foreign insurrection in China, and that it is through Russian machination that the queen dowager was led to encourage the ‘Boxers’ to make a demonstration of force.” It is also reported that “Germany, Great Britain, and Japan have a thorough understanding concerning the Russian plot,” and that they “will stand together in resistance to the expected encroachments of the great Eurasian power.”
—President Kruger was interviewed June 7, by a correspondent of the London Daily Express. It appears that “the executive offices of the Transvaal government are in a railway car, at Machadodorp station.” Kruger said: “Yes, it is quite true that the British have occupied Pretoria. This, however, does not end the war. The burghers are fully determined to fight to the last. They will never surrender so long as 500 armed men remain in the country. . . . It is only now that the real struggle has begun. . . . What is a capital?—It does not consist of any particular collection of bricks and mortar (Pretoria). The capital of the republic, the seat of government, is here in this car.” He denied contemplating taking refuge on a Dutch man-of-war at Lorenzo Marques, saying: “I shall not leave my country. There will be no need of my doing anything of the kind.”
—On Wednesday, March 2, 1898, Pope Leo XIII was eighty-seven years of age. The following item, written at the time, will be of interest: “Since the pope’s golden jubilee ten years ago, he has been flooded with magnificent gifts. The offerings in gold coin alone exceeded $3,000,000. The total value of jubilee gifts, intrinsically, was more than $25,000,000. There were rings by the bushel, one might say, and crosses by the hundredweight. The President of the United States sent a magnificently bound copy of the Constitution of the United States.” The rulers of every nation sent magnificent presents, France alone contributing gifts to the amount of $5,000,000. “The Sultan of Turkey sent as his tribute a ring that holds the largest ruby ever mined. And the Hebrews came also, for the Grand Rabbi of Germany, called sometimes the pope of the Jews, sent a Bible as old as letters, the ancient covers of which blazed with jewels. The treasures of the house of the pope could not be replaced for $100,000,000.” And yet, with all these riches, and an army of his own, the pope complains bitterly that he is “the prisoner of the Vatican.”14
—William H. Hunt, of Montana, has been selected Secretary of Porto Rico.
—The legislature of Trinidad has rejected the offer of free trade made by Canada.
—Damage from forest fires in the vicinity of Corbett, Pa., will amount to more than $200,000.
—About $70,000,000 will be required to carry out present American seacoast fortifications.
—At a recent entertainment in Paris, given by an American, Sousa’s band was paid $1,500 for an hour’s concert.
—The London Times (England) says that “England, with 500 years of license, is the worst liquor-cursed nation in the world.”
—The Prussian railway authorities will introduce self-coupling air brakes of American manufacture, on their freight lines.
—A Miss Creswell has for ten years been at the head of the postal department at Gibraltar. She receives a salary of $2,740 per annum.
—Recently a thirty-five foot whale was cast up at Atlantic City, N. J., but died soon after the life-saving crew had hauled it up on the beach.
—The betrothal of Grand Duke George, of Russia, a cousin of the czar, to Princess Marie, only daughter of the king of Greece, is announced.
—Manchester (England) conservatives wish to put the English war correspondent, Winston Churchill, in the duke of Argyle’s seat in Parliament.
—The largest coke plant in the world will be established by the Commercial Coal and Coke Company, on 10,000 acres of land, near Brownsville, Pa.
—According to a report recently made, it appears that “66,869 Spanish residents in Cuba have preserved their allegiance to Spain, under the terms of the treaty of Paris.”
—A citizen of Switzerland on one day celebrated his eightieth birthday, his golden wedding, the silver wedding of his daughter, and the marriage of a granddaughter.
—The liverymen of Indianapolis, Ind., have formed a combination, supported by the undertakers, to discontinue Sunday funerals. An advance of one third in price, on Sunday, is made.
—Two expert American diamond thieves, named Morton and Harski, have been arrested in Leipsic, Germany. Diamonds worth 77,000 marks were found among their baggage, and were seized.
—It is said that “at a flower show recently held in London, a vine was exhibited that had been grown from seed taken from the tomb of an Egyptian mummy 2,000 years old. The vine is of a variety much like the sweet pea.”
—Linguists say that 438 languages and 153 dialects are found, so far, in Africa. Of these 591, only 81 have translations of the Bible, whole or in part; more than 500 even have no alphabet. There are 60,000,000 in the Sudan alone, without any missionary among them.
—During thirty-eight years of the present century, Turkey has been engaged in war, or considerably more than one-third of the time; Spain comes next, with 31 years of war; France has 27 years; Russia, 24; Italy, 23; England, 21; Austria, 17; Holland, 14; Germany, 13; and the United States, 11, and still going on.
—It is estimated that there are no fewer than 12,000 windmills in Holland. They are chiefly used in the drainage work, and are most numerous around Amsterdam, the commercial metropolis. The windmill is in all landscapes, as the typical thing in Holland. Some of the mills are of vast proportions, the arms being sometimes sixty feet in length.
—It is said that Lord Kitchener recently “paid a surprise visit to the principal hotel in Cape Town, the resort of all the officers who can afford the luxury. Calling for the visitors’ book, he carefully ran his finger down the list of military guests. He subsequently inquired of each officer the reason for being at Mount Nelson Hotel and not at the front. While in some cases the reason was satisfactory, in many cases the leave of absence was immediately canceled, and the laggard soldiers sent to their regiments.”
—Russia is said to be “the greatest horse-breeding country in the world.” F. Durban, the traveler, says: “All through Eastern Russia, in Europe, vast herds of excellent and serviceable horses are being reared. In the province of Ukraine, vast herds of excellent horses roam over the steppes, and hundreds and thousands are every year brought from Siberia. The horse is the pride and joy of the Russian. I never saw, in all my wanderings, a pony, or steed of any sort, that seemed to be in bad condition through ill usage. The drosky-drivers, of Moscow, put London cabmen to shame in this respect. The drivers may abuse one another vociferously; they may cheat you roundly; they may drink copiously, and swear in the name of the many saints in the calendar; but they never abuse their horses. It is a constant luxury to ride in Russia. With the whip cracking, the bells ringing, the driver singing at the top of his voice, the two outer horses flying off as fast as possible, the troika in full speed is a splendid sight. This love of animals is ingrained in the very soul of the people, and it is akin to their passionate love for their children.”
MISSISSIPPI
By J. E. White
YAZOO CITY.—During the last few months considerable advancement has been made in the work of the Southern Missionary Society, among the colored people in Mississippi.
At Yazoo City the work has been going forward in a quiet manner for about three years. An important part of the work has been done from house to house, giving Bible readings, and teaching the people to read the word of God for themselves. As a result, many can now read who did not know their letters when this place was entered. As a consequence, a deeper respect and reverence for the teachings of the Bible is taking the place of the former blind following of whatever the minister and the church creed might say.
School work has been an important factor at this place. There is a flourishing day and night school at Lintonia, and another at Wilsonia, both suburbs of Yazoo City. In these schools the usual public-school readers have been discarded, and their place supplied with the “Gospel Primer,” “Gospel Reader,” “Christ Our Saviour,” and the Bible.
History is taught from the Bible standpoint. The present season, at the Lintonia school, “Christ Our Saviour” was used as the first book in history, as we believe that the work of Christ on earth is the first and most important branch of history to be taught.
This book was gone through carefully twice. “Patriarchs and Prophets” was then taken up as a second book in history, and is now being studied with the deepest interest. This book correctly treats of the history of our race in the beginning. Our fallen condition, with its causes and results, becomes fixed in the minds of the pupils before the history and works of wicked men and nations absorb their attention. The work of God in the earth, as shown in the history of his people, should certainly precede the study of the work of Satan, as exemplified in the history of his people—the wicked nations of the world. Thus fortified, the subsequent study of profane history will but more clearly emphasize the difference between God’s work and the work of evil men as they follow their great leader, Satan. The interest of these history classes is encouraging. Even the children, who are studying “Christ Our Saviour,” are all interested to know “what Jesus did next,” and they talk of it at their homes, thus deepening and widening the influence of the school.
The Sabbath has come to the people largely through the school. The workers and teachers have endeavored to follow the light given, to educate before bringing out these testing truths. And the wisdom of this instruction is now apparent. The workers have tried to be patient, and let the Lord send conviction to the hearts in his own way. And now the truth is reaching the hearts of the people through the teachings of the schools. Simple school lessons from the books already mentioned have taught the binding nature of the law of God, and historical events have brought the Sabbath question to their notice in the most simple and natural manner. Before they hardly knew it, they were themselves leading out on the subject of the true Bible Sabbath.
As soon as the Sabbath question began to be agitated by the people, it was thought time to start a Sabbath-school and a Sabbath service in the chapel at Lintonia. The Sabbath-school has now a membership of fifty-seven, an average attendance of forty-five, and its donations are about fifty cents each week. The meeting, which follows, consists of a Bible reading or a short talk, and then a social meeting. These meetings are excellent, and the testimonies borne are spirited and intelligent, expressing great joy because of the light being received from the word of God.
Already a goodly number have taken their stand for the truth, and many are investigating with the deepest interest. The Sunday-school, on Sunday afternoon, fills the chapel, and so does the preaching service that follows.
Opposition is following as a matter of course. Our work is preached against in the pulpits of other churches; but so far these efforts seem to awaken a greater interest to know what we are doing, and result in a larger attendance at our Sunday meetings. The ministers endeavored to pass measures in their churches to accommodate all who should attend our meetings, but the members would not allow it to pass. The people are interested, and it is too late for drastic methods to succeed.
We hope for good and lasting results in this place. Pray with us that the enemy may not succeed in any of his efforts to stop the progress of the work. The battle is on at Yazoo City. Everything that can be done to blind the eyes of the people and stop the progress of the truth will be tried. But God has a people in this part of his vineyard, and has been preparing their hearts and minds for the reception of his word. J. E. WHITE.
