Infer. DR. GREENE, of Constantinople, in reporting the state of the evangelistic work in Turkey, speaks of the depression among the native pastors and ChrisWhat they must tians caused by the withdrawal of aid in this time of their sore need. Of course they recognize the generous bounty of American and English Christians in ministering to their temporal wants subsequent to the massacres, but now that that exigency has passed, the diminished aid given for evangelistic work not only curtails that work but robs them of courage. The Western Turkey Mission, after long and careful scrutiny in the effort to reduce their estimates to the lowest point consistent with the maintenance of the general work, asked for this work, outside of missionary salaries, the sum of $31,639. Under the necessities of the case the Prudential Committee granted but $18,000, or $13,639 less than was asked for, a reduction of fifty-six per cent. Of the effect produced by this reduction Dr. Greene writes: "The supporters of Protestant worship and schools are greatly diminished in number and means, and the long continued and sore retrenchments have convinced both preachers and people that the constituency of the Board is comparatively unconcerned in regard to the prosecution of the evangelical work in Turkey. How otherwise can they interpret the fact that year after year aid to needy and decimated churches is diminished; that those native pastors and preachers who can find other employment in this country or in Europe or America are obliged to give up their spiritual work in order to support their families; that no effort is made to find new recruits for the ministry; that many of the smaller Protestant communities are now left without preacher or school, and that the money is lacking to pay even the traveling expenses of an itinerant preacher? How could it be otherwise than that this supposed unconcern of American Christians, following cruel massacre, robbery, and outrage, should have a most depressing influence upon the native Protestant communities generally? . . . In the prosecution of this work we must have both material support and Christian sympathy, and we cannot but conclude that when those who have sent the missionaries to the foreign field fail to supply the needed support, the reason must be that they have lost sympathy for the work. Of all sad features of the present situation this is the worst." Is this inference correct? We wish we dared say no. Yet we cannot say yes. No one can wonder that such an inference is drawn. The only way to counteract it is by forwarding the needed supplies. Day. FEBRUARY 2 will be the sixteenth anniversary of the commencement of the Christian Endeavor movement, now world-wide, and, according to the cusChristian Endeavor tom of recent years, will be observed as Christian Endeavor Day. It is one of the most blessed features of this vast movement that it keeps at the front the great work in which all Christians should be engaged for the evangelization of the whole world. The religious life of young people will not become morbid and self-centred if they keep in mind continually not their own individual interests, but the bringing in of the kingdom of God on earth. As a means of keeping this great end in view the plan of making a contribution on Christian Endeavor Day for missionary work is most admirable. is as helpful to those who give as it will be to those who are helped. It Rest. TIDINGS have come of the death at Forest Grove, Oregon, on December 5, of Mrs. Mary Richardson Walker, widow of Rev. Elkanah Walker, who with her A Pioneer at husband joined the Oregon Mission of the American Board in 1838. She was the last survivor of the missionary band sent by the Board to Oregon in this early period. Mr. and Mrs. Walker, in company with Rev. and Mrs. Cushing Eells, left New York March 19, 1838, and crossing the Alleghanies by stage, went down the Ohio River by steamer, then on horseback for 129 days, reaching Dr. Marcus Whitman's station at Walla Walla, August 29. Mrs. Walker in her diary records the fact that on arrival and being seated at Dr. Whitman's table, where after their hard toils they were feasting on melons, pumpkin pie, and milk, their meal was interrupted by a thronging company of Indians, so that they must needs rise from the table before eating and shake hands with some forty or fifty of them. After removing to what is now Walker's Prairie, they went in 1848 to the Willamette Valley, where they made a permanent settlement, laboring faithfully for the Indians, of whom they could say, "They have never been at war with our government." These Indians afterwards lived for years without teachers, but did not apostatize. Thirty-three years after their bridal tour to Oregon, Mr. and Mrs. Walker recrossed the continent by rail in about as many days as it had taken them months to go out. Of their seven sons, four have done good work for the Indians, and one, the Rev. Joseph E. Walker, of the Foochow Mission of our American Board, has labored for twenty years in China. What an everlasting reward shall be theirs! DR. HEPWORTH Continues his journey across Asia Minor, and his reports of the marvelous scenes and perils through which he passes are appearing week by week in the paper of which he is the commissioner. In one of Dr. Hepworth in Turkey. his letters he speaks quite boldly and truthfully of the severe administration of affairs, of the wrongs which have been perpetrated by the officials, and of the injustice of the charges which have been made against the missionaries that they sympathized with the revolutionary movements. Dr. Hepworth is to be credited with making statements which certainly must be unpalatable to those under whose escort he is traveling, and it could not have been pleasant for him to criticise his hosts as he has. Writing from Erzroom he says: "No Europeans have traveled across Asia Minor, so I am told, and I judge that foreigners are rare." His informant misled him in this. Since 1839 over thirty missionaries of the American Board have resided in that city, for a longer or shorter period, and representatives of most of the European nations may be found there constantly. Sixty-five years ago Eli Smith and H. G. O. Dwight, sent by the American Board, explored this whole region and published their notable volumes on "Missionary Researches in Armenia." Since that date missionaries and travelers have crossed and recrossed that section hundreds, not to say thousands, of times. SEVERAL of the missionary families in Japan have suffered severely from sickness within the last few months, though, thanks to a kind Providence, no case has terminated fatally. Mr. Allchin and Dr. Davis have been prostrated, and two of Dr. Davis' children were for a long time critically ill. The last reports were of favorable character, indicating restoration to health. Sickness in A REMARKABLE story of enterprise, illustrating the rapid opening of Africa, comes from Bulawayo, the capital of Matebeleland. In April of 1896 the first Progress in South rail of the new line north of Mafeking was laid, and on OcAfrica. tober 19 the first engine entered Bulawayo, completing the construction of 500 miles of railway in 400 working days. This haste in construction was occasioned by the ravages of the rinderpest, which had rendered the transportation of goods in South Africa almost impossible. We can have little conception of the immense losses caused by this cattle disease. It is estimated that in the district over which the Christian chieftain Khama rules, three quarters of a million cattle have died. The Christian Express, of Lovedale, estimates this loss as amounting to $7,500,000, which comparing the condition. of the people in South Africa with that of people in Great Britain would be like taking $750,000,000 from British savings. On account of the loss of the cattle the railroad became a necessity in the transport of supplies for the development of this region so rich in mineral wealth. The situation at Bulawayo may be imagined when it is said that in November last eggs were sold at $4.62 a dozen, and milk at sixty-two and a half cents per pint. It will be remembered that this is the region where King Lobengula marshaled his warlike Matebeles, hoping to stop the onward progress of civilization toward the interior of Africa. But now on the site where four years ago stood Lobengula's kraal stands the present government house, and a correspondent writes: "Under the tree, which has been retained in the garden, sat that ferocious chief dealing out cruelty, mutilation, and death to his unhappy people, where now they are treated with consideration and Christian sympathy." WE call especial attention to the letter to be found in the Notes from the Wide Field, coming from India and addressed to the Christian churches in Irresponsible Great Britain, Australasia, and America. The letter is sent by a Missionaries. Inumber of native Christians, pastors, professors, and barristers, as well as by representatives of several missionary societies, and it appeals strongly to all Christians not to aid irresponsible men who are soliciting aid for independent movements not properly vouched for. They present this statement not merely to prevent the waste of money, but to guard against serious injuries to the cause of missions in India. The argument of this letter coming from India is quite as much in point in reference to appeals coming from other lands, and we beg our readers not to overlook what is there said. Turkey. THE British newspapers have of late reported the preparation by the ambassadors at Constantinople of an identical note addressed to the Porte, demanding Indemnity from the payment of indemnities for losses sustained by the subjects of their respective countries during the disorders in Turkey. This note is said to point out clearly the responsibility of the Turkish authorities for these losses, and that these claims cannot be repudiated. It is known also that the United States Minister at Constantinople has demanded payment for the losses sustained by our own missionaries, especially at Harpoot and Marash. There can be no question as to the rightfulness of this claim. The delay in payment is most unjust. Is it not time for our government to interpose? WE are obliged to report the serious prevalence of the bubonic plague at several stations of our Marathi Mission. It has not only reappeared at BomThe Plague in bay, but it is raging sadly at Sholapur, Ahmednagar, and Sirur. India. The city of Ahmednagar is almost depopulated, the people fleeing for their lives. At last accounts Mr. and Mrs. Gates were in uncertainty as to whether it would be safe for them to reënter Sholapur. Mr. Winsor, of Sirur says that the havoc at that station is dreadful. The school buildings and houses, after having disinfectants thrown over them, are being whitewashed again, and it is hoped that the people will before long return from their quarantine camps. Mr. Winsor says: "No one, unless he has seen it, can have the least conception of the woe-begone appearance of the town, broken up as it is, with great openings made in the walls and the roofs of the houses, the doors all left open and the people gone." Japan. It will be seen that an unusual amount of space is given in this number of our magazine to communications from Japan. They are of special interest as indiThe Work in cating what Dr. Gordon characterizes "the turning of the tide." From all our stations in the empire similar reports are coming. The hopefulness of the present situation lies in the fact that the quickened interest is of a spiritual character, resting not on an increase of numbers or any national or political ambitions, but apparently on the work of the divine Spirit in the hearts of men, leading them to seek after the gospel which bringeth grace and salvation. Save. NANSEN, who in many quarters is the hero of the hour because of his Arctic explorations, is reported to have said to one who censured him for incurring so To Know or to much peril, involving others as well as himself, for an object of such slight importance: "Man wants to know, and when man no longer wants to know he will no longer be man." Without in the least questioning this bright saying, we feel like changing it a bit, with another thought in view. A Christian wants to save the world, and when he no longer wants to save the world he is no longer a Christian. WE regret to record the death of Dr. James Legge, who was for thirty years a missionary of the London Society in China, and subsequently a professor Death of of the Chinese language in the University of Oxford, England. Professor Legge. Dr. Legge was known as the most learned student of Chinese literature the world has seen, his great work naving been to translate into English the classic writings of the sages of China. Aside from his eminence as a scholar he has the record of an able preacher and missionary laborer while at Hong Kong. He died at the ripe age of eighty-two. THE English Church Missionary Society continues to make remarkable reports in reference to the number of its missionaries for whose support special provision Specially Supported is made. Of the sixty-three missionaries, excluding wives, Missionaries. who have been sent out since May last, four are self-supporting and one partly so, while offers have been made by individual friends, or groups of friends, for the support of fifty-two of the sixty-three. The society could therefore report, in November last, that 305 of its missionaries were provided for by special arrangements, ninety-four being supported by individuals. |