such hidden strength and sweetness, it was like a new revelation.
The prayers that followed were wonderful to hear, coming as some of
them did from lips untutored, ignorant in book lore, but wise in
the hidden wisdom taught them by God himself. _Beautiful_ prayers,
full of deep feeling, of humble confession, of earnest pleading.
There were two strangers with us for the first time, who knelt
with us in prayer, and manifested the deepest interest in all that
was said. After the meeting there were hearty handshakings, kindly
greetings to the new comers, who promised to come again; then they
went away with shining faces, with hearts uplifted and strengthened
for their hard, toilsome life.
Alone in the twilight, I returned thanks from a full heart to the
dear Lord, who had honored our little gathering with His presence
and blessing.
Does it pay? Yes, a thousand-fold!
* * * * *
AFRICA.
* * * * *
EXTRACTS FROM JOURNAL OF REV. H. M. LADD.
Thursday, October 20.—Land! Egypt land! The lighthouse was the
first object in sight this morning, then the low coast and the
domes and minarets of the City of Alexandria, and last, but not
least, Pompey’s Pillar. After taking our pilot on board we slowly
rounded the long breakwater on which the lighthouse stands, and
steamed into harbor. Before we had fairly drawn up alongside the
quay a crowd of boatmen were on board.
We selected the Hotel Abbatmen, and were soon off with them in a
small boat. We passed the Customs without the slightest difficulty
and were driven to our hotel. Here we had our lunch, and then, as
we intended to go right on to Cairo by the early morning train, we
improved what little time we had during the afternoon by visiting
Pompey’s Pillar, the gardens of the Khedive, the Rosetta gate, the
Bazaars, etc.
Friday, October 21.—At 8 A.M. we took the cars for Cairo. Arriving
at the station, we found a large omnibus waiting for us, and we
were driven to Shepard’s Hotel, where we have been assigned very
pleasant rooms. This is a very fine hotel for this part of the
world. In front and around it is a garden filled with tropical
trees and shrubs. Two fountains dash their cooling spray high into
the air, and there is a small menagerie, from which the table is
often supplied.
Here, as on the Galata Bridge, in Constantinople, the past and the
present, the east and the west, flow together. The latest fashions
from Paris, and the garb of the time of Abraham, the luxuriance
of Oriental wealth and splendor, and the miserable poverty and
nakedness of the oppressed “fellahin,” all pass before one like the
shifting figures of a kaleidoscope. It is a most interesting and
absorbing scene, to be found nowhere else in the world.
Saturday, October 22.—Called at the American Consulate the first
thing this morning, but found it closed. We were bothered with a
host of dragomans and donkey-boys, but they are finding out that
people who speak Turkish and Greek and French as well as English,
and a few words of other languages, are “one too many” for them!
We took a little walk alone about the European portion of the
city, to get the hang of the place. Some of the residences and
public buildings are very fine. In some places you quite forget
that you are not in Paris. To-day, our Consul-General, Hon. Simon
Wolf, has been formally presented to the Khedive in great pomp.
The Khedive always makes a great display on these occasions, and
presents the new Consul with a fine Arabian horse. We called again
at the Consulate, and were glad to receive our letters from home.
We talked up our contemplated trip with some of the officials, and
gained valuable information.
Sunday, Oct. 23.—Judge Farman, from the United States, called early
this morning. He is very kind, and is doing all in his power to
pave the way for us to the favor of the officials here. As he was
to leave on Monday for Alexandria, he asked us to go with him to
the Consulate, where he told them what he wanted done for us. A
number of Arabic interpreters have been recommended to us for our
trip, but we take our time in the choice of a proper man. We find
that it will be necessary to take an Arabic interpreter and a cook
from here.
[Illustration: CAIRO.]
We attended the Mission Church, under the care of the United
Presbyterians this morning, and greatly enjoyed being among our own
people again. I presented my letter of introduction to Drs. Lansing
and Watson, and found them to be very agreeable gentlemen, and at
once greatly interested in our work.
Monday, October 24.—Called at the Consulate again this morning, and
had an interview with our Consul-General, Mr. Wolf. We found him
to be a very pleasant man, bright and energetic, and anxious to
promote our interests in every way possible. He proposed to present
us to the Khedive and to introduce us to Sir Edward Malet, the
English Consul, to whom we have letters from the British Foreign
Office, and to General Stone, who is in a position where he can
help us greatly.
October 25.—I’m trying to pick up Arabic, but I find a donkey-boy
better help than a book. We tried this method this morning, and
started for the bazaars. I rode “Yankee Doodle,” a very smart
little donkey, and Doctor rode “Champagne Charley.” We went through
the gold and silver bazaars and the Turkish bazaars and the shoe
bazaars, and various other departments. Here I aired my Turkish and
my Greek. Everywhere we went there was a gentle murmur in our ears,
“Bakhshish,” “Bakhshish.” We have got accustomed to it now, and
rather like it; in fact, we feel quite lost without it.
Wednesday, October 26.—We went this morning to call upon Sir Edward
Malet, K. C. B., with our Consul. I presented our letter from the
Foreign Office, and we were very cordially received. He gave us
some good advice and considerable information, and promised to get
us the necessary letters. He also requested us to report to him
the state of the slave trade on our return. We find that we have
to move very cautiously. The slave trade is a touchy question in
some quarters, and proselytism is another. In order to obtain any
favor, we are obliged to emphasize the educational part of the work
proposed.
Thursday, October 27.—Dr. Lansing called again this evening. He
has a man he wants to send with us as far as Khartoum selling the
Scriptures. He also thinks that there are some from among the
tribes we hope to reach in their schools now who will work in with
us in time.
Friday, October 28.—In the P.M. we went with Dr. Lansing and a
party of friends to see, or rather hear, the Howling Dervishes.
It was something unearthly, devilish, and never to be forgotten.
Doctor and I began to calculate our chances if their religious
enthusiasm and fanaticism should lead them to turn upon us. There
has been a great revival of Mohammedanism lately and fanaticism.
After this we went to the old synagogue, where there is a
manuscript of the law written by Ezra. This is actually the case
Dr. Lansing affirms. He intends to examine it more thoroughly some
day, but it is very carefully guarded. Then we visited the old
Roman gates of New Babylon and also attempted another church, but
found it closed; we finished up with a drive on the fine Shubra
avenue. There we saw the Khedive and a vast turnout of handsome
carriages and handsomer occupants.
Sunday, October 30.—Attended the mission church and heard Mr.
Helditch on Psalm cxxxix. 18. Met some Americans there who
expressed great interest in our work. Remained quietly in our rooms
the rest of the day.
Monday, October 31.—Wrote nearly all day. Received our circular
letters from the Government to the authorities in Soudan and the
Equatorial Provinces. Had a very friendly call from Sir Edward
Malet, K. C. B., who offered himself for any further services he
could render.
Tuesday, November 1.—Called at the Consulate. Our baggage, which we
sent overland by express, has not come yet, but we are told to give
it time—everything needs plenty of time. In the afternoon we called
by appointment at the Consul’s residence. Here we met several
gentlemen who knew all about the Soudan; one had been there, and
another was an intimate friend of the Pasha, the Governor-General.
The Consul then took us around and introduced us to Gen. Stone.
In his position of Commander-in-Chief he can do more for us than
any one else, and he knows more than any one else about Soudan
and the Nile. He received us very cordially and seemed eager to
do what he could for us. With maps before us he gave us much
valuable information in regard to positions and healthfulness. He
also put us in the way of transportation across the desert at the
least expense of time and money. He strongly advises us to have
headquarters at Berber, and in establishing our stations not to
stop at the Sobat, but to go on to Fatiko. He is also going to
furnish us letters to the Governors. We dined this afternoon at
the American Mission House with Mr. and Mrs. Harvey, and spent a
very pleasant evening with the teachers. I conducted prayers in
the girls’ department, and saw there several children who had been
brought down as slaves from the very tribes to which we are going.
They seemed to be very bright and intelligent. If we find as good
material as that we shall have no cause to complain.
Wednesday, November 2.—Called at Consulate and received letters.
We had the clerk translate the telegram which General Stone wrote
for us to send to Souakim, with reference to transportation, into
Arabic, and then we were advised to get General Stone’s seal to it.
Thursday, November 3.—We have found and engaged a good interpreter
at a moderate price. We called on General Stone and obtained his
seal to the telegram.
Friday, November 4.—Called at the Consulate. Sent telegram of
General Stone to Marquette, at Souakim. It will take some days to
get an answer from it. We are told to-day that the English steamer
we intended to take down the Red Sea has been delayed for about ten
days. It is better to pass our Quarantine here than at Souakim.
This is our only consolation, for we are very anxious to be off
now, although they all tell us that we are early yet.
Saturday, November 6.—We hope this week to see at least the
beginning of the end of our waiting here. Much will depend on
the answer to our telegram; some will depend on the letters from
General Stone: much more will depend on the movements of that
English steamer on the Red Sea.
It is not always possible to make circumstances.
* * * * *
THE CHINESE.
* * * * *
CALIFORNIA AND CHINA.
BY REV. W. C. POND.
The new fiscal year opens most hopefully. It began September 1,
and the statistics for September which I have just compiled show
a larger enrolment and a larger average attendance than was ever
before reported in the whole history of our work. The figures
are these: 15 schools; 661 pupils enrolled; average attendance,
332. Among these pupils are 200 who are reported as having ceased
from idol-worship, and 137 who give evidence of conversion. There
are other hopeful features—a good band of teachers and helpers,
numbering 27, not one among them now whom I would like to have
resign, and a spreading and deepening interest in this work among
our churches, and peace in all our borders. The hoodlum element
is measurably quiet, and we work without molestation, except as
now and then the heathen cousins or uncles of some of our young
converts try what virtue there is in stripes to exorcise from them
the Christian devil. The boldness and the constancy which some who
are still children—scarcely in their teens—have shown, declaring to
their persecutors when dragged before an idol, “I will not worship
it, though you kill me,” remind one of the legends of primitive
Christianity.
But I turn from all points of interest in our work here to press
once more on the members and friends of the Association the
opportunity there is and the need there is for its commencing a
WORK IN CHINA.
I will venture to assume that much of what I myself have written
before about this, and what Jee Gam wrote nearly a year ago,
is still remembered. I am glad to say that in the populous
districts from which our Chinese come there is now one American
missionary—Rev. D.D. Jones—American, though born in Wales. Bro.
Jones as a layman at Cheyenne, Wy. Ter., had his heart stirred
for the Chinese in that place. Commencing a mission among them,
he afterwards went to Chicago to do like work there, and then to
Boston on a similar errand. At length he sought ordination, and
went forth, appointed by no society, to become a self-sustaining
missionary in China. It is a comfort to me to give to each of
our returning Chinese a letter to him, though probably in many
instances the probability of their seeing him is very small.
Is it asked: “What would we do by our mission, if we had it
established?” We would, first of all, give a cordial Christian
greeting at Hong Kong to every Christian Chinese returning from
California: we would bring them off ship into an atmosphere warm
with Christian love; we would bring them into meetings for prayer;
and would then let them go out to their old heathen homes, baptized
with the Holy Ghost. In the same spirit we would meet them as they
come back on their return to California, calling for reports of
their experiences, the temptations they have met, the testimony
they have borne, and the results which have followed their words.
Then, we would make our mission house at Hong Kong a rendezvous
and training school for such of our Chinese as may be fitted or
could become fitted for evangelistic work among their countrymen.
We ought to raise up many such through our work in California. The
wise word, “Africans for Africa,” has double wisdom when you read
it “Chinese for the conquest of China for Christ!” They have the
hard language already; they know from childhood the ways of the
people; they know from personal experience the darkness, the fear,
the soul-hunger and the woe of heathenism. It would not be wise
to send them forth with no American supervision; but evidently
here is a great force at present little used, that, properly
directed, might be wielded for the salvation of multitudes, and the
Christianization of the greatest empire of darkness the world now
knows; perhaps has ever known.
“But isn’t the ground already occupied? How many missionary
societies are already operating in and around Canton? Why add
one more?” I have no statistics at hand, and speaking thus from
general knowledge alone I must keep far within the truth; but I
am surely safe in saying that of competent missionaries, either
Chinese or foreign, there are not in the provinces of South China
one to 100,000 people; I know that I am safe in saying that, in the
districts from which our Chinese come there is not more than one to
350,000. I risk nothing, I think, in affirming that Central Africa
has to-day more missionaries in proportion to its population than
these districts of China to which I have referred. Certainly many
a helper might be added before any society now on the ground could
possibly find itself jostled by neighbors.
Besides, we should have our own special methods and our own
special field, growing naturally out of the relationship between
the mission here and the mission there; such that while we should
largely enter into the labors of brethren who have preceded us;
using the books that they have prepared; availing ourselves of
various conveniences that they have contrived, we should in turn
supplement and extend their work and multiply their joys. We should
be then, not as competitors, but as co-workers—one in spirit and
mutually helpful.
“But wouldn’t it cost too much?” Too much for what? Too much for
the souls that would be saved? More that these souls are worth? Not
one of our readers thinks this. But _this_ is the question: Would
it not cost too much for our treasury to bear, loaded as it already
is with such heavy responsibilities? I reply that it would not be
very costly. Two American missionaries, a little property in Hong
Kong, a rented chapel here and there in the larger villages and
the small stipends of the Chinese evangelists; this would be all.
It would not call for a larger sum unless, in the good providence
and by the dear Spirit of God, it came to be, by virtue of its
own success, a _large work_; and then contributions would flow
in for it, so that by means of it the treasury would be enriched
rather than depleted. I seldom prophesy; but I will venture to say
this, that when the American Missionary Association has once taken
hold of this work, and adopted as one of its mottoes: “China for
Christ,” it will take but a brief period—a very few years—to give
it such a place in all our hearts that we would sooner think of
cutting off our right hands than of relaxing our grasp on that land
as ours to be won for Christ.
* * * * *
CHILDREN’S PAGE
* * * * *
HOW A STRAIN OF MUSIC CALLED A WANDERER HOME.
(Toronto Evening News, October 10.)
They were two young girls, and both were inmates of a gilded palace
of sin in the city. One was hardened in her sin—the other had waded
only ankle deep into the black moat which circles the walls of
perdition. The other night they went to hear the Jubilee Singers,
and sat unnoticed in the gallery. The sweet, tender music, so
touching and true to nature, entered like a limpid stream into the
soul of the younger girl, and filled her whole heart. She leaned
forward and caught every word, with her eyes shining and her red
lips trembling. People turned round and wondered at the fair face,
and watched her soul shining through her great eyes, but they never
suspected who she was or whence she had come. There she sat, still
and immobile, with her small gloved hands tightly clenched, and
every nerve in her little body strung to an almost painful tension.
All was still in the pavilion. The very gas lights held themselves
motionless, as if afraid to make a sound. The great audience was
hushed. And then a note sweet and tender, but full and rich as
moonlight, swelled and rose like a sea, and then, like a shower of
pearls falling through the sounding waters, a woman’s voice sang:
Bright sparkles in the church-yard,
Give light unto the tomb;
Bright summer—spring’s over—
Sweet flowers in their bloom.
The girl in the gallery gave a great, shuddering sob. The singer
looked up and went on:
My mother, once—
My mother, twice—
In the heaven she’ll rejoice,
In the heaven once,
In the heaven twice,
In the heaven she’ll rejoice.
Again the girl in the gallery uttered a long, shuddering sob, and
hid her white stricken face in her trembling hands. But still the
music fluttered about her like the rustling of an angel’s wings:
Mother, don’t you love your darling child?
Oh, rock me in the cradle all the day.
She sat still and heard till the last cadence of the music had
wandered out into the moonlight, where the angels, who wished to
learn it off by heart, caught it up, and bore it in triumph into
Heaven.
“I must go from here,” said the girl hoarsely. “Let me go, don’t
follow me—I will be better soon.”
Her comrade reasoned with her, but she kept saying hoarsely. “Let
me go—I will be better soon.”
She hurried out and fled like a frightened deer. She was mad! Her
eyes were hot and dry—her brain was bursting, and all the while a
wondrous choir was singing in her ears:
Bright sparkles in the church-yard,
Give light unto the tomb;
Bright summer—spring’s ever—
Sweet flowers in their bloom.
She fled like a hunted thing till the lights of the city were far
behind and she was alone on a country road. She stopped to rest a
moment, but the chorus went onward through the sky and she could
not stop, for the words were beckoning to her:
“Your mother, once,
Your mother, twice,
In the heaven she’ll rejoice.”
Tireless she followed on, on, on, the long, long night. The moon
went down and she got blind and staggered and groped upon her way,
but still she said hoarsely, “I must go on. I’ll be better soon.”
In the morning a farmer threw open his door and saw lying on the
steps the soiled figure of a girl. He picked her up and laid her on
his own bed, and his wife laid the wild, pleading face against her
warm bosom. A stream of music reached the ears of the dying girl.
“Mother, don’t you love your darling child?
Then rock me in the cradle all the day.”
She sank back with a weak, pleased smile. “Rock me, mother, that’s
it—oh! how nice—how nice it is. Oh, rock me, rock me—rock me,
mother. I am too tired to say my prayers to-night, mother. Let me
sleep, mother, and kiss me, but let me sleep—sleep—sleep!”
And she closed her eyes and slept, and the choir in Paradise, lest
they might wake her, sang softly:
“Her mother once—
Her mother twice—
In the heaven she’ll rejoice.
In the heaven once—
In the heaven twice—
In the heaven she’ll rejoice.”
* * * * *
MISSIONARY VEGETABLES—A GOOD EXAMPLE.
_By C. H. Kellogg._
Last Spring, our Sabbath-school having become greatly interested in
the work of Atlanta University, one of the lady teachers proposed
to the superintendent that the boys in the school be asked to
raise as their own during the season, corn, potatoes, cabbages,
squashes, etc., these to be called “missionary vegetables;” and
the girls were asked to make fancy articles, and in the Fall a
fair held called a harvest festival. The boys and girls entered
heartily into the enterprise, and last week we held the fair, which
resulted in the raising of $80 for Atlanta University; this is to
go toward supporting some worthy student. The money will be placed
at the disposal of Miss Emma Beaman, one of the teachers, who was
instrumental in awakening an interest here by giving us a talk
in regard to her work at Atlanta. Is not this a good example for
_other_ schools to imitate next Summer?
NORTH AMHERST, Mass., Oct. 17, 1881.
RECEIPTS FOR NOVEMBER, 1881.
* * * * *
MAINE, $78.72.
Brewer. First Cong. Ch. $16.72
East Waterford. S. E. Hersey 2.00
Garland. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 5.00
Hallowell. Hon. H. R. Baker, _for Atlanta U._ 5.00
North Anson. “A Friend” 6.00
Searsport. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 20.00
Thomaston. “A Friend” 2.00
Thomaston. Bbl. of C.
Woolwich. John Percy, deceased, by I. Percy 2.00
Yarmouth. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. 20.00
NEW HAMPSHIRE, $310.73.
Acworth. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 10.00
Amherst. L. R. Melendy, $25; Ladies’
Missionary Soc., $21, _for Student Aid,
Straight U._ 46.00
Amherst. Cong. Ch. 11.00
Auburn. Cong. Ch. 10.71
Colebrook. Cong. Sab. Sch. 17.61
Concord. Ladies of North Cong. Ch. and Soc.,
Bbl. and Box of C.
Derry. “Friends,” Bbl. of C., _for Washington,
D.C._
Exeter. MRS. WOODBRIDGE ODLIN, to const.
herself L.M. 30.00
Exeter. Hervey Kent, _for Atlanta U._ 25.00
Goffstown. Mrs. Mary A. Stinson, _for John
Brown Steamer_ 10.00
Hampstead. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 29.66
Hancock. E. W. 1.00
Hollis. Cong. Ch. 3.20
Lyme. Cong. Sab. Sch., _for John Brown Steamer_ 12.00
Manchester. First Cong. Ch. and Soc. to const.
DEA. HORACE PETTEE, L.M. 31.05
Milford. Peter and Cynthia S. Burns 30.00
Nashua. J. G. Proctor 5.50
Northhampton. E. Gove 10.00
Pelham. Cong. Ch. and Soc. (ad’l) 3.00
Salmon Falls. O. S. Brown, _for Atlanta U._ 25.00
South Newmarket. Ladies of Cong. Ch. and Soc.,
2 Bls. of C., _for Wilmington, N.C._
VERMONT, $416.96.
Barnet. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 18.43
Brattleborough. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 2.00
Burlington. Winooski Ave. Cong. Sab. Sch., $48
(incorrectly ack. in Dec. number from Ct.)
East Dorset. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 21.02
East Poultney. A. D. Wilcox 5.00
Grafton. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 9.16
Hartland. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 8.24
Holland. Cong. Ch. 4.33
Jamaica. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 7.57
Jeffersonville. “A Friend,” to const. MISS
HELEN LUCRETIA MOODY, L.M. 30.00
Peacham. Ashley Blodgett 5.00
Saint Johnsbury. “A Young Man,” $5; ——, $1 6.00
Saint Johnsbury Centre. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 7.00
Springfield. Mrs. F. Parks 100.00
West Brattleborough. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 11.15
West Charleston. Cong. Ch. and Soc. 23.25
West Danville. J. M. 1.00
West Derby. Rev. John Fraser 5.00
West Randolph. Susan S. Albin, $6; S. J. A.,
$1; Miss Betsey Nichols, $2 9.00
Woodstock. First Cong. Ch. and Soc., to const.
REV. JAMES F. BRODIE, DEA. MASON W. LADD,
DEA. JUSTIN S. MONTAGUE, and CHARLES DANA,
L. Ms. 143.81
MASSACHUSETTS, $6,569.96.