worse than saloons that draw men off the
streets and away from the saloons.”
This is the first time we have ever seen it
argued that the street corners and the saloons
are better resorts for young men than places
of honest business. What are “some things
worse than saloons” that draw men “away
from the saloons”? If there is anything in the
cities that is worse than the saloons and the
things directly associated with saloons, what
is it? Is it honest work done on Sunday?
We have no hesitation in saying that honest
labor is a thousand times better on any day,
both for the individual and the community,
than street loafing or doing that which is done
inside the saloons. It is amazing that the
leading Methodist organ in this country should
count honest secular employment more degrad-
ing and destructive to health, either imme-
diately or in the long run, than dissipation on
the streets or in the saloons. In what other
cause but that of enforced Sunday observance
would such an idea he advanced?
For no cause which has any apparent back-
ing in either reason or revelation, it has long
been made illegal in England for a man to
marry his deceased wife's sister. ‘The power
behind this inexplicable requirement is the
Anglican or established Church. Recently this
disability was removed by act of Parliament:
upon the significance of which act a South
African paper makes this comment :—
“The recent successful passage of the ‘ De-
ceased Wife's Sister’s Bill’ in the British Par-
liament has struck a severe blow to the tra-
ditional teachings of the Anglican Church.
There is not one scripture against such a mar-
riage as the bill permits, which in my humble
opinion, is much more proper than the union
of cousins, which invariably produces unfort-
unate physical results in their offspring.
“The passage of the bill is significant, as
showing the growing tendency of public feel-
ing against the continuation of an established
church. The state has cast the church aside
and treated its authority with utter disrespect,
while on the other hand, the refusal of the
Archbishop of Canterbury to sanction the mar-
riages allowed by the state, is a tacit acknowl-
edgment that the position for which this paper
stands; viz.,, a total separation of church and
state, is the only consistent basis of both civil
and ecclesiastical government.
“The British sovereign is, through his gov-
ernment, the ‘Defender of the faith.’ The
title is more ornamental than useful, and for
all practical purposes is meaningless. It was
designed only as a part of the scheme to have
the Anglican faith the recognized faith of the
nation. The passage of the above-named bill,
however, may be taken as an evidence that
‘The Defender of the faith’ has no faith in
the faith of the church. The recent change of
faith (for the sake of marriage) in the royal
household strengthens this view; and I may
be forgiven for advancing the suggestion that
the time has come for the British nation to ac-
knowledge that God requires no earthly poten-
THE WATCHMAN
GOOD NEWS FROM AFAR
“O now pleasant, how reviving
To our hearts to hear each day
Joyful news from afar arriving,
That the message wins its way.
Those enlightening and enlivening
Who in death and darkness lay’
“God of Israel, high and glorious,
Let thy people see thy hand;
Let the message be victorious
Through the world in every land :
Come, Lord Jesus, O come quickly,
And thy blessing now command!”
SJ
BRITISH EAST AFRICA
Some Experiences among the Kavirondos
It is now over nine months since we first
landed at the present site of our Mission, and
it might be interesting to our people at home
to hear of some of our experiences among
this people.
A few days after landing on this side of the
bay, we wished to move our tent and other
goods from the shore up to the hill that we
had chosen for a location. Though there
were hundreds of people living near, when
we tried to get men to carry our things we
found it almost impossible, and had to spend
several hours in gathering a few men together.
As some were passing by, we called them to
help us, but they only answered by running
away. However, we secured enough men by
noon, and got our goods carried to the hill.
When the goods were all safely delivered, we
paid each man a penny, which seemed to please
them very highly, as they feared we would
drive them away without giving them anything.
From that time we have had their confidence,
and have never had any trouble in getting our
oods delivered. It has not always been so
sy, though, to get men to come and work
for a month. They do not mind working for
a few days, but a month is too long for them.
We had a very interesting experience a few
days ago which fairly illustrates how the na-
tives hate to work for any length of time.
We had ten men digging a piece of land for
us, and just a few days before their month
was up, they brought one of our large bush
knives to us broken in two, and confessed to
having broken it. They should not have had
the knife, and we asked them where they got
it, and what they had it for. They answered
that two days before they had gone to the
house and taken it, and had kept it hid ever
since, but were just trying to cut down a tree
INNA AAA AAA AAA A
tate to defend true faith, but rather that the
nation needs God to defend them from their
enemies, among the chief of which stands tra-
dition that is unsupported by God's word.”
with it, and it broke. Of course we had no
intention of punishing them, but just thought
we would see what they had to say, so asked
them if they did not think we should punish
them for stealing the knife. They said they
knew they had done wrong, but were sorry.
We asked how they would like to work another
month as punishment, but they at once pro-
tested very strongly. We then asked whether
they would rather work another month or he
punished with the whip. They said they
would rather be punished with the whip, so
we inquired how many stripes they would
take. Oh! they said, just one. We told them
that one was not worth a month's work, that
it would have to be fifteen. They tried to beat
us down to five, then to ten; but we refused
to make it less, so they all agreed to take fif-
teen stripes each rather than work for another
month. We then brought the whip, and had
them all lie down on their faces, but instead
of punishing them we talked to them, and got
them to promise never to take any other tools,
then told them we would forgive them this
time, and let them go.
The people here have a great habit of tak-
ing things and hiding them for a few days.
If they are not missed, they carry them home
and keep them. Whenever we catch them do-
ing such things, we have to deal firmly enough
with them to frighten them, but not severe
enough to destroy their confidence in us.
Undoubtedly that which will interest our
people most is an account of our work among
the natives. When we first came, we could
not get enough boys to carry wood and water,
but now we have all the boys we need, and
new ones want to be taken on two or three
times a week. Some boys will come for ten
or twelve miles and ask to stay with us. A
few days ago a boy from thirty miles away
wanted to come and stay with us. He said
one of our other boys told him this was a nice
place to work.
Our public meetings are very encouraging.
As we have no house to hold meetings in, the
people have to sit out in the sun on poles
that we have put down for seats. Men,
women, and children come, and all seem to
take a good interest. At each meeting we
sing some hymns in Kavirondo, and ask ali
the people to join in. They do the best they
can, and we are hoping that they will soon
learn to do quite well.
A short time ago we visited some other mis-
sionaries north of the bay, and they seemed
quite surprised to hear that we had over onc
hundred present at the meetings. They say
that they can only get the men to come, and
not so many of them. I do not know what
they would think if they were to hear that
we had at least seven hundred people last
(We count at least seven hundred
Sabbath.