SPAIN FOR THE GOSPEL.

MR. GULICK writes strongly from Biarritz in reference to the promising opportunity for work in Spain:

"Surely the isles shall wait for me and the ships of Tarshish first.' Oh, the ships of Tarshish! If some have been destroyed, others have been saved. We pray not that these may be destroyed, but, rather, that they shall be the nucleus for the new navy of New Spain. Has Spain lost ships and men and territory? Even so, she has not lost all; and if that which is left to her can be won to the gospel the prophecy will be fulfilled, and her coming history will be more glorious than that of the centuries that are passed.

"Elements of hope are not lacking. With this paper I send messages of greeting and of appeal from the pastors

in connection with the American Board who for many years have been honored co-laborers with us in the gospel at the important stations of Santander, Bilbao, San Sebastian and Zaragoza.

66

Knowing the natural enthusiasm that there will now be among missionaryspirited American Christians to enter those Roman Catholic fields that have fallen into their hands as one of the results of the war, they foresee a possibility of a somewhat corresponding tendency on their part to slacken their efforts for Spain, with whom they have been in combat. They urge that the very fact that God has permitted them to take to themselves so large a part of Spanish territory, and after a struggle that has destroyed so much of the public property of the Spanish people, in itself. makes a claim upon the American Chris

tians greater than ever before to give to them the blessings of the gospel. To us, as American missionaries to Spain, it seems simply impossible that the Christians at home can now think of doing less than before for the spiritual and moral good of that people who has suffered so terribly at our hands in the stress of war. Shall we be content to show to them less generosity in the field of missionary activity than we have shown to them on the field of battle? And shall we show less prowess in our campaign against the spiritual enemies in their land with whom we are in mortal struggle than we have in the use of worldly weapons of warfare?

"It has been argued with some force that a union of Spanish and American arms to wage a war against a common foe in the Philippines would not be safe nor practicable; but our experience for twenty years and more has proven that there is an element in Spain itself that will work loyally and enthusiastically and successfully with American forces under the gospel banner and against the traditional foes of the country entrenched in ignorance and fanaticism. Our prayer is that that alliance, so happy in its results hitherto, may be strengthened, rather than weakened, now in the time of Spain's greatest need — and perhaps, also, of her greatest opportunity."

"I find the work here growing both in interest and in encouragement. The growing interest in my little family of Europeans for work being done among the natives promises much for the future. At their own request the older girls spend an hour every Sabbath afternoon with the wife of one of the Zulu evangelists, learning to read the Zulu Testament, that they may be able to teach the people upon their home farms after leaving school. It seems significant that the father of one of my girls has named his farm Lindley,' after the town in the Free State which was named for our Dr. Lindley.

"The kraal school gives me even greater satisfaction this term than last.

The numbers in attendance have increased and the average is much higher. Usually at this season the fathers have made the cutting of the mgoza an excuse for keeping their children at home. One can scarcely wonder, for the grain is not much larger than mustard seed and each head is cut with a knife. This year, however, when our boys go along through the kraals, the children leave their work and go with them to the kraal. The two boys who are teachers work in the morning two hours before school, and are hard at work as pupils for three hours. half-past eleven they start for their walk of four miles, and these short winter days they are not back until dark.

At

"We have been having two weeks of very cold weather. Last night it rained, and today I have not been warm even though near a fire most of the time. I suggested to one of the boys this morning that perhaps they had better not go. His respectful but firm We will go' settled the matter. As yet they have no school building. One most gratifying

result of this school is the increased attendance at the Sabbath services held at this kraal."

MALAT SEMINARY.

affection of all. I only wish that we had raised many more, or even a few, like him in this mission. Alas, how few they are of his stamp !

"I am growing more and more nervous in reference to the support of the seminary as the months pass by. I am spending every month nearly three times the amount granted by the Board for the support of it. The assistance which I received from friends at home last year is not, by any means, forthcoming this year, and so I am in serious straits.

"I do not wish to be complaining all the time, and yet the present situation is very conducive to the production of what seems like a complaint. In other words, I am in a serious pinch and do not know what to do whether to wait in faith or to send most of the students home. Alas! that this problem should so seriously confront one almost every year, and never greater than at this time. Is there no hope for help anywhere?"

"It is with deep joy and satisfaction that I am able to write that the song of joy of the summer time is turned into a song of praise to the Lord of the harvest for the things he has done for us. The closing months of fall found us with our home chapel completed, and by Chinese New Year the tile floor was dry enough to use and we were actually seated in it during our station class meetings. The daily evening meetings in the waiting-room of the dispensary led up to these larger meetings in the chapel, where the probationers and baptized had been invited for a two weeks' study of the truth. The evangelist from Tai-ku, Mr. Liu, was with us and preached 'in the demonstration of the Spirit and with power.' Morning and evening services were held daily and the classes in the study of the truth occupied the available time between. Faithful work was done in these classes, the interest increasing to the end. Most of the funds for the expense of board had been subscribed beforehand by the converts, so that we were relieved of the financial burden of the work.

"Sunday, February 6, might well be called a red letter day' in the history of this station, when our new chapel, with its annex of dispensary and waiting-room for the women was packed nearly full with interested listeners, and at the close of the service twelve men, heads of families, received the rite of baptism, and in the afternoon the celebration of the Lord's Supper was ob served, when between thirty and forty

baptized male members partook of the communion. It was an inspiring sight and filled us with great hope for the future.

"Quite a number were advised to wait a few months longer testing before receiving the rite of baptism, and in all probability there will be as many more in the fall prepared to receive baptism. We are now planning for church organization at the time of the annual meeting of the mission here in April.

"Several incidents during the meetings attested the power of the Spirit's presence, and subsequent results we feel are sure to follow in many cases. One young man, of some prominence in the city, brought his household gods and ancestral tablets and burned them before the congregation in the chapel stove. At a later meeting Mr. Hau, a sorcerer, brought his stock in trade of sign books, chart, and all the paraphernalia of the black art a great pile tied up in a square cloth--and also burned them before the congregation, after making a confession of his sin and taking a manly stand for the Lord Jesus. As the hope of his gains from this source is gone he plans to open a small store of his own, and will try, by the help of God, to live an honest life. Such signs as these give us great courage to take hope and go forward, for it is evident that His arm is not shortened that he cannot save."

At a later date Mr. Atwater, in view of what has transpired, says that "new days have come in Shansi. The church is really taking root in many places." He refers to a communion season at which a young man was greatly moved at the sight of the breaking of the bread and the pouring of the wine in commemoration of Christ's death, so that he wept audibly.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL.

Fellow Travellers. A Personally Conducted Journey in Three Continents, with Impressions of Men, Things, and Events. By Rev. Francis E. Clark, D.D., President of the World's Christian Endeavor Union. New York, Chicago, Toronto: F. H. Revell Co.

Dr. Clark's remarkable gifts as a sightseer combine with his exceptional opportunities as a traveler and his deep interest in missions to make this an allround book, attractive alike to all classes of readers. He disclaims attempting in these pages a connected narrative, and gives instead some of those more intimate glimpses of foreign life which his relation to Christian Endeavor Societies the world around enabled him to obtain.

It will be a special pleasure to all who love our missions and their workers to look through the eyes of Dr. Clark into those far-off homes and upon the evergrowing communities gathered out of heathenism into the fold of Christ.

NOTES

SPECIAL TOPICS FOR PRAYER.

The book should have an immense circulation. For picturesque description and for earnest and helpful reflection, as well as for valuable information, it is worthy of its author.

The Story of John G. Paton, told for Young Folks: or, Thirty Years among South Sea Cannibals New York: A. C. Armstrong & Son. $1.00.

This volume is a condensation by Dr. Paton's brother of the larger work which had such an extraordinary sale in Great Britain and America. It is issued in popular form, at the low price of $1.00, that it may reach a great number of young people who will be truly delighted with the story of the brave missionary. Nothing could be better for young people than this volume. The illustrations are many, and are certainly graphic, and we have no doubt they will add greatly to the attractions of the book, but we frankly confess that many of them are not to our liking.

DEPARTURES.

ARRIVALS IN THE UNITED STATES.