of our Sunday-schools, in which the Lord is perfecting his praise; that in the work of their past we find the promise of the future in this young life, and we are encouraged to hope that they will carry, by Christmas and Lord's day offerings, their $50,000 to $75,000 in this the first year of the Board's second half century.

5. That special offerings to work in papal lands be made and sent through the treasury of this Board, as a wise, safe and Presbyterian agency, doing the work by Presbyterians in those lands.

6. That the first Lord's day in November be observed as a day of prayer and special effort to enlist the sympathy of all our churches, Sunday-schools and people in the work of foreign missions.

7. That, so far as it is practical, this day be followed by "Simultaneous Meetings," so popular in England, in centres of influence throughout each and every synod for a day and an evening; for which synodical and presbyterial committees shall be instructed to make preparation and give supervision as to place, speakers, and inviting the co-operation of the women's boards, bands and Sunday-schools, scattering

suitable literature to be furnished at the discretion of the boards, and to make these occasions as far as possible memorable for spiritual power and practical utility, in this centenary year of the General Assembly. For such meetings the Synod of New Jersey has made ample preparation. To such a course the Presbytery of Philadelphia North overtures the Assembly. 8. That we commend the literature of this Board, of the Woman's Boards, to their constituency, and instruct pastors and sessions, in monthly concert and otherwise, to keep this literature before the people, that they may know the signs of the times, and how far and how fast the Lord is seeing of the travail of his soul.

9. That, in connection with all saints, finding their way obstructed and the work of the kingdom hindered by the liquor traffic, issuing from the same ports whence go the ambassadors for Christ, and under the same flag, this Assembly voices its most emphatic protest against the greed that is carrying this wasting scourge amongst barbarous people, and instructs the Foreign Board to co-operate in every practicable way with similar boards in this and other lands, that this evil may be stayed.

10. That the Board of Foreign Missions be instructed to be wisely conservative, to avoid debt so far as they can without crippling their work, and to be vigorously aggressive anyhow.

11. That this Assembly urges upon the churches the duty of raising for the work of this Board this centenary year a sum not less than a million dollars.

12. That the attention of the sessions of 2588 non-contributing churches be called to their privilege and duty to share in this work of the world's evangelization.

13. That the following members of the Board, whose term of office expires with this Assembly, be re-elected, to wit: the Rev. Drs. Charles K. Imbrie, James P. Wilson and George Alexander, and elders David Oliphant and Henry Ide.

14. That these resolutions be printed in THE CHURCH AT HOME AND ABROAD, and then in leaflet form, to be scattered among the churches, lest they forget and fail to heed the injunctions of the Assembly as to these weighty matters.

UNION PRESBYTERIES.

We desire to place on permanent record the following action of the late General Assembly touching Union Presbyteries. In 1884 "The Alliance of the Reformed Churches," which met at Belfast, appointed a committee to consider and further the cause of co-operation in foreign missions on the part of churches holding the Presbyterian system. The American section of this committee issued a circular letter on the subject, embodying some important inquiries, and sent a copy to this Board. After careful consideration by the Board, the whole question was referred to the General Assembly of 1886. That Assembly appointed a special committee, of which the Rev. D. W. Fisher, D.D., was chairman, to examine the entire subject and report to the Assembly of 1887. The paper here subjoined was the report of that committee, which, after earnest discussion, was unanimously adopted by the Assembly. It is worthy of note that our church is the first to take such pronounced and advanced action on this important subject. The resolutions are as follows:

I. That in order to build up independent, national churches holding to the Reformed doctrine and the Presbyterian polity, on foreign fields, the more general and complete identification of our missionaries with the native

ministers and churches and other foreign missionaries on these fields is of the most vital importance, and needs to be pushed forward as rapidly as is consistent with a due regard to the interests of all parties to these Unions.

II. That in countries where it is possible satisfactorily to form Union Presbyteries, the further organization of Presbyteries in connection with this General Assembly is discouraged, and in countries where there are now presbyteries in connection with this General Assembly, but where it is possible satisfactorily to form Union Presbyteries it is strongly urged that the steps be taken, as rapidly as this can wisely be done, to merge the membership in Union Presbyteries, and to dissolve the presbyteries of this General Assembly.

III. That in the case of our ordained foreign missionaries who are not in full membership of Union Presbyteries covering the territory where they reside, it is urged that so soon as practicable, they become full members; and also that when our foreign missionaries are full members of these, or as rapidly as they become such, they are urged to ask letters of dismissal from their presbyteries to these Union Presbyteries; and it is hereby ordered that, so soon as these letters are accepted, they cease to be regular members of the presbyteries of this General Assembly.

IV. That in case any missionary thinks it undesirable to make this transfer of ecclesiastical membership, the decision as to the question shall be left to the home presbytery to which he belongs; before which body, if so desired by it, he shall lay his reasons for the delay; and the presbyteries are requested to use patience in dealing with such cases.

V. That each presbytery shall from year to year, in its statistical report, place on a supplementary roll, to be published with the remainder of the report in the minutes of the General Assembly, the names of all ordained missionaries who having been sent out by them are still engaged in our foreign missionary work, but who, by joining Union Presbyteries in harmony with the Reformed doctrine and Presbyterian polity, have severed their former membership with the home presbytery.

VI. That in all regions where, through the organization of Union Presbyteries, there are no presbyteries in connection with this Assembly, each mission organized as such under our Board of Foreign Missions may send to the General Assembly an ordained missionary or ruling elder as a delegate; and the standing rules of the Assembly are hereby so amended

that such delegate is entitled to sit as an advisory member in the Assembly, and to speak, under the rules, on all questions, and that his expenses from his domicile in this country to and during the Assembly and return shall be met as those of commissioners out of the funds of the Assembly; and further that synods be requested to make a suitable provision for a similar representation at their meetings.

VII. That presbyteries are advised that the rules as to foreign ministers who seek to enter our presbyteries is interpreted as not applying to missionaries who have been placed on the supplementary rolls of presbyteries, and who bring letters of dismissal from Union Presbyteries.

The following resolution, subsequently introduced by William Rankin, Esq., Treas urer of the Board of Foreign Missions and a member of the Assembly, was unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That in the adoption of the paper and resolutions on the ecclesiastical relations of foreign missionaries, it is understood by the Assembly that the missionaries of our Foreign Board, in severing their relation to Home Presbyteries in order to join Union Presbyteries in the field, do not thereby lose any claim they might otherwise have for themselves and their familes upon the Board of Ministerial Relief.

SECULAR BURDENS OF MISSION-
ARIES.

It is difficult for one whose attention has not been drawn to the subject by experience, observation or study, to understand the amount of secular work which confronts the missionaries. The experience of Teheran station the past year furnishes a striking example of the extent to which, under exceptional circumstances, this burden of secular work may grow.

The mission property purchased nine years ago is situated between that of two Persian officials of high rank, one of whom was greatly incensed at the erection of a Christian chapel adjoining his ground, and consequently gave the mission great annoyance. The Persian minister for foreign affairs urged as a peace measure that the mission property be sold to the Persian neighbor. The missionaries were

the more inclined to entertain the proposition, as the amount of land in the premises was quite too small for the needs of the work. After eight months of constant negotiation the terms were agreed to by both parties, and on February 11, 1886, the two male members of Teheran station, accompanied by a deputy of the Persian Foreign Office, the dragoman of the United States legation, and the chief Persian secretary of the British legation, proceeded to the house of an eminent doctor of Mussulman law, before whom legal documents are acknowledged, and a deed conveying the mission premises to one of the most powerful men in the kingdom was properly executed. The mission received a certain amount in cash, with a note for the balance guaranteed by the Persian government, together with a permit from the government for the erection of buildings including a chapel, and also a lease from the purchaser for the occupation of the premises one year free of rent. The official recognition and approval by the government of the sale, and the official permit for building elsewhere, seemed almost unparalleled, and the transaction opened before the missionaries an enterprise which for magnitude can hardly be matched in the experience of other stations.

The place sold contained a chapel, girls' school building and two residences, and the sale synchronized with the allowance of the boys' school building appropriation, for which we had been asking and waiting several years. In view of this appropriation, and with an eye to future growth as well as the anticipated sale of the mission premises, a large piece of land at a very reasonable price had already been secured, and the deed, in consideration of the sale of the previous premises, was subsequently sealed by the Persian Office for Foreign Affairs.

Since that eventful date last February much has been accomplished at the station, of which the following items may be mentioned: The purchase of a perpetual water right of twelve hours a week in a running stream, the purchase of a street on the south of the new land, and of a small piece of land, desirable for the mission, cut into by the street, the purchase of a street on the north, and of a piece of land

outside of the city as a Protestant cemetery, effected after sundry visits of inspection in the fierce heat of summer, as well as two petitions to the shah; the construction of four buildings on the new land, viz., the chapel, some 80 feet long and having a roof of sheet iron; the girls' school building, about 125 feet from end to end, and two stories high; the boys' school building and a residence, together with some 500 yards of enclosing and dividing walls, and the construction of an underground waterway almost half a mile in length, to bring the water to the new land. Besides this may be noted the obtaining of a permit, from the Persian minister of foreign affairs, for the opening of the school among the Jews, which had been broken up by the persecution during the summer; and last, but not least, after many months of assiduous and persevering endeavor, the permission of his majesty the shah for the erection of the hospital.

The careful consideration of proposals and counter-proposals connected with these several transactions, the planning of houses, the purchase of material and the oversight of the work, the collection of the monthly payments on the property sold, and the overwhelming flood of accounts connected with the building operations, can only be faintly imagined by those who have not had some similar experience; and all this in addition to the ordinary work of the station!

TEHERAN, PERSIA.

J. L. POTTER.

MEN OF SAN ANDRES.

South of Mexico City some four or five leagues, on the side of the sierra back of Tlalpan, in the shadow of the volcano Ahusco, nestles the little village of San Andres, more than half hidden by the trees; its white temple is, however, plainly visible from the seminary windows that look south. Alas that this church set on a hill should be a beacon-light of superstition! But we need not despair, for near at hand is a modest building, witness to the industry and self-denial of the little band of Christians who worship within its walls. They are a sturdy, independent lot, these men

of San Andres; would we had thousands like them all over Mexico!

Not so very many months back these brethren bought an organ-a good one, too-for which they agreed to pay $106. They are none of them rich; indeed all are dependent for support on their wages, for some are daylaborers in the fields about Tlalpan, and others are factory hands in the neighboring San Fernando mills. For three months they had saved their medios and reales until last Sunday, when, unable to get away on a week-day, they came to see me, here in the despacho, after the even

ing service in Divino Salvador. There they

sat about me in a dark semi-circle, a half dozen dusky sons of the Aztec, their huge straw hats beside their chairs, their rough serapes drooping from the shoulder, their coarse white cotton shirts and trousers belted at the waist by a colored sash, rude leather guaraches on their feet. It was a picturesque sight. Then two of their number, pulling colored handkerchiefs from their belts heavily filled with Mexican silver eagles and a family of lesser coins, counted out to me $96. How they watched while I made out a receipt! and how proud, and justly so, they all looked and must have felt! Then, buying some of our new hymn-books, with many a hand-shake and a request that I would soon visit them they went back into the night. HUBERT W. BROWN.

MEXICO.

IN MEMORIAM. Recently a post-office order for $18 was received at the Mission House, the amount of a gift which has a touching story connected with it. It was the savings of a boy of eleven years of age, who died on the first day of April last. He had enjoyed the nurture of a Christian home, and was a member of one of our Sabbath-schools in Nebraska. When it pleased the Lord to call the dear lid to himself, the father and mother felt that a sacred trust had been committed to them in the savings which their covenant child had left behind him. In executing that trust, they resolved to give the money to the work of foreign missions, in the hope

that it might help to bring some boy or girl born in heathen darkness into the light and liberty of God's dear Son. No human eye will be able to trace the course of these savings, as they go on their errand of love; but the eye of him who sat over against the treasury and commended the poor widow for her spirit of self-sacrifice and consecration, will direct them to his own glory.

RATBOREE OR RECHABOREE.

This is the name of the city in which the prime minister of Siam is anxious to have our mission open a station, for which purpose he has offered the free use of three brick houses. Rev. Mr. Dunlap says of it:

Ratboree is located on the Meekling river. As to size this river is second in Siam; from the gulf to the city the river is broad, with high, well-defined banks, on which are numerous villages. The river is so deep that the nobility are able in their pleasure steamers to reach Ratboree. Above the city the river is very winding, but broad and clear, and navigable for travelling boats to Bangsum, the last village in Siam before reaching the Burmah line. Nine hours from the village by elephant the boundary line is reached. Before taking the fork of the river in which Bangsum is located we reach Kanboree, one of the most important towns in northwest Siam. All the way from Ratboree to Kanboree are villages on the banks. These details will show at once what a grand field it affords for itinerating. During the cool season the missionary on his tours would find the people assembled at their threshing-floors, and, travelling along the river comfortably in his boat, resting between villages, he could preach in several villages each day. The inland towns are easily reached by horseback from Ratboree. In Ratboree, like Petchaburee, we would not have the trouble of boating, as by a few minutes' walk we could reach audiences in the city. I have endeavored from officials to ascertain the population of the entire province; but no accurate census has been taken. There are about 10,000 Laos, descendants of war captives. All speak Siamese; the greater part by far are Siamese. The city is located about thirty miles from the Gulf of Siam, and is about thirty hours by boat through canals to Bangkok.

INDIA.

BRAHMANS CONFESSING CHRIST.

MAINPURI. REV. GEORGE A. SEELY:-Scarcely had I entered upon station work when a young Mathura Brahman appeared asking for baptism. He had known the truth as it is in Jesus for years, but recently having been more perfectly instructed in this way by our Scripture-readers at an out-station of Etawah, he determined to make a public confession of Christ as the true incarnation. With this firm purpose he came to Mainpuri in preference to Etawah, owing to his wife's friends living near the latter place. A few days previous to his baptism his wife also came to cast in her lot with him, and so both were admitted to full membership in the church of Christ. A few weeks later the

young wife was struck down with a malignant type of typhoid fever, and after a long, trying illness, during which she showed marked resignation and submission, "entered into rest." The kindness, patience and perseverance of the several members of the Christian community who nursed her throughout the terrible illness is worthy of special mention, and drew forth from her heathen father, who came to see his daughter at the crisis of the disease, this expression: "There is great love among you people.”

AFTER MANY DAYS."

Within a month from the above-mentioned baptism I received a card from my old friend Hassu Khan, living in the Furrukhabad district, and of whom I have spoken before as an old student of the Furrukhabad mission school. He is one of many throughout these provinces who have been kept from confession of Christ by fear of friends and kindred. Again and again had he promised me to come soon; but his time was always in the future, and I feared procrastination would steal away his life. Conceive then of my joy to learn from his card that he had at last firmly resolved to leave all-horses, lands, friends-and cleave to Christ. There was still a fear, however, that the way would be closed against him, so that not till he actually stood before me was I at rest regarding him. He had gathered together a bundle of clothes, a few favorite books, among them a muchworn copy of the New Testament in English, and,

saddling a faithful and to him a much-valued pony, made his journey quickly over. His adopted son, who now possesses the small estate, and his wife, knowing of the old man's intention at some future time to become a Christian, had again and again besought him to put such wild thoughts far away and never to think of leaving them. They told him, "Believe what you now believe, or whatever you like, but remain here. This is your home; here stay, eat, drink and sleep; come and go as you please. You will have no care, no thought for anything, and so spend the remainder of your time in peace and plenty. If you go, you know not what will befall you. You'll be a disgraced man-a wanderer on the face of the earth." But conscience and God's word said no! and the words "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess," etc., long ringing in his ears, sounded

clearer and louder than ever. He could remain no longer, and it was truly a glad day for him and for us all when he cast in his lot with God's people. To the last, however, Satan left no means untried to prevent the decisive step. Even here old friends gathered about him and bade him reconsider and not be so foolish. What "maza" (flavor) had he found in Christianity in his old age? But by God's grace he remained firm, and in course of time before a large, attentive audience of both Christians and heathen, embracing many of his co-religionists, he joyfully confessed his Saviour. It was a glad hour-one I cannot forget. "Cast thy bread upon the waters, for thou shalt find it" even "after many days." Much has been said and written against spending time and means on education, but a single instance like the above is quite enough to show how far-reaching and lasting are the impressions made by Bible instruction in our schools. How many have thus received life-long lessons, the fruit of which can only fully appear in that day when our Lord shall count up his jewels! Hundreds go out from our schools better men; not only so, but hundreds are to be met in all our districts who would to-day come to Christ could caste prejudices be done away. Many a man like Hassu Khan has grown gray in seeking a way out of the entanglements of home ties-an open way to Christ, whom he learned years ago. You meet such men at every turn. I met many at Furrukhabad. I have met many here.