could accomplish, charged the man never to come and sell his books at their doors again, and let him and his precious burden depart.

I suppose we all have sung, "We won't give up the Bible." Can you sing it as I quote it below?

"Menk chenk tsuker Soorp Keerku, Asdvadzashoouch madyan." And yet it sounds sweet to us, and is the song of many faithful Christian hearts in this dark land of the Koran and the longforgotten ancient tongues.

LETTER FROM MISS ELLEN M. PIERCE, OF AINTAB.

DEAR LIFE AND LIGHT: I am sure that for some years I have allowed the claims of private correspondence, the interests which have grown up around the dear branches which have so long been our foster guardians and patrons, our faithful and tried friends, to in a measure supersede the claims of a more public nature. I am well aware, however, that we have other friends, and we trust many others, who perhaps are not much less interested in our work and welfare, and who may be glad to hear from us through your friendly pages.

Perhaps some may be asking, "Has the Aintab Seminary ceased to be?" or, "Is it doing so insignificant a work that it does not report itself?" I might better ask you in America if you have allowed your harbor lights to go out, and left precious treasure and lives dear to you and others to be wrecked daily on your coasts. For twenty-five years our dear Aintab Seminary has been a beacon light in this land of Moslem rule and faith and dead Christian churches, of social immoralities; this land where only till within the date of this seminary woman has been recognized as capable of being educated,- of being anything but a slave to her lord and the most degraded of drudges.

Well, dear friends in America, what interest do you think the money you have invested has gained for you in keeping this light burning all these years? Who can give the exact sum either by the rules of simple or compound interest? But I am sure it will look large to you when you come to look over your treasures in heaven. You will wonder that so small a sum could purchase so many and so rare jewels. Would you not regret that in the place of pennies you had not given pounds? Do you want to know now if it has paid and if it will continue to pay,-all this trouble, all this self-denial, to keep this light burning? Yes, if it paid for Christ to come into this world and give his precious life to redeem

just such souls as these. I believe it has paid, and will continue to pay.

Let us come down to things of human reckoning and to things of tangible form and shape. Year after year we have gathered into our seminary the most hopeful girls we could find, culling them with great care from all parts of our large field,- Kessab, Killis, Antioch, Oorfa, and many smaller villages. Such girls have been in our family for from four to five years.

The larger part have become Christian girls, and with very few exceptions have afterward become teachers and Bible-women. You in America can only partially realize the power for good these girls become in this way. I wish I might show this mountain village (Hassan Beyli) where Miss West and I are spending a few days, as a good example of what our seminary is doing in educating such girls. Only four girls from this place have finished the course, and two partially finished, at Aintab. Three are married and live here, and one married in Antioch, where she was a teacher. Each one of these is a teacher of a large and interesting class of women in the Sabbath-school, and three have also been teachers in the day-school here. It is hard to realize that these girls really belong to this village, their whole bearing, neatness, good taste in dress is so different from the educated classes here; and what we see here is only a sample of what we find in all villages where we have girls who have been educated in our school.

I wish I could make you understand how all eyes in this country are looking toward such institutions as ours to-day. If the Christian Church is to lead and conquer, these schools must lead. There is great activity in the old church, and great enlightenment among the Moslems on such matters. A few more pennies, a few more pounds, and let us win to-day and we win forever. The cry is for more teachers and better teachers. We cannot meet these urgent demands. A few weeks ago two intelligent Armenians from the old church, from a place near Diarbekir, came to see our school. I showed them about the building, supposing they had only the usual curiosity of visitors; but after we had gone the rounds, they said, "We want to talk with you about your school and work." And never have I had so many and more intelligent questions asked me about our school by strangers. They were evidently men of influence and wealth, and thoroughly awakened as to the importance of education. They gave a pitiful account of the great ignorance and lack of interest in such matters in their community, especially as regarded their women. Before they left, one of them said to me, "I have one daughter, whom I shall send to your school next year, and shall pay all her

expenses, and I shall send a poor girl with her to be educated for a teacher for our place." We feel that we must be careful that this newly awakened interest be not drawn in other directions. Our new seminary is just what we need. Our dormitory room this year was crowded,-thirty beds in a room of forty-two feet by twenty-four. I hope to be able to let you hear from us again

soon.

JAPAN.

LETTER FROM MISS COLBY.

SINCE my last letter my work has been increasing in interest. At that time I was living in the house of a normal school-teacher in Sakai. As that school was closed at the end of March, this gentleman became a teacher in the Commercial College of Osaka. The wife has since joined one of our Osaka churches, and one daughter has entered our Osaka Girls' School, and is a candidate for baptism. My engagement for Sakai was only for the winter. As the time for my withdrawal drew near, the young men began to attend the Bible studies at the meeting-place; but as they interrupted the meetings by controversies, no apparent good resulted. I was told that because I had said that my object in going to Sakai was not to teach English, but Christianity, they hoped to hold me by showing an interest in Bible study; and they were wise, for of course I could not leave their opened ears, whatever was the cause of their opening them. I had especially hoped that the two Japanese teachers of English would become Christains, and that I could transfer my scholars to them; but they both left the city, and urgent appeals came to me not only to continue, but to open new classes. The scholars hired a house in a beautiful garden for me to live in, and near by another house for class-rooms.

Sakai is a very ancient city. But a few years ago the governor of its province was called to Tokio, and it became a part of the large province called Osaka Fu. One day my hostess asked me to visit with her the home of the former governor, a few miles away. It is beautifully situated on a hill in the midst of a very flat country, but only across a small river from a squalid village swarming with naked children and repulsive women. We wandered about, and were treated to candy, cake, and tea in the lovely gardens and in the five rooms that a servant opened for us; but although I waited two hours, neither the sister nor a concubine who live here could find courage to enter a room to meet me.

At last I said that as they evidently did not wish to welcome me I would return; and I was told that each of the ladies was continually urging the other to go first. As they had never before met a foreigner, they were afraid and did not know how to treat

me.

As we were leaving, we found them sitting together in the last room, nearest the gate, and we had a pleasant little conversation. I could not let such an object lesson pass without comparing heathenism with the teachings of Christianity, that uplifts the whole instead of selfishly aggrandizing leading individuals. Would that so-called Christian lands were full of the fruits of . Christianity.

My hostess lets a part of her place to the head of police, who is a very pleasant scholar, although, seemingly from bashfulness, but perhaps from policy, he keeps himself and his wife from any intimacy. With the aid of one of the most advanced of the young men and one of the graduates of our Osaka Girls' School, I received new scholars from the first of April until we had seventyfive, among whom were eight young ladies, seven policemen, and a Buddhist priest. The latter, however, was very stupid, and after receiving special instruction, ceased to come. Nearly all continued through the term. While all have treated me with special respect, the policemen have been very diffident; so I was surprised and specially pleased to receive a kindly letter from them during my summer's absence. In fact, my Japanese correspondence has been so large, it has crowded out my foreign letters. I have felt inclined to substitute the translations of some of them for this letter. These two thoughts will make you rejoice: "Through the mercy of God, the Holy Spirit has aroused Sakai." "Nightly prayer-meetings of not less than sixty."

I had hoped to teach through the month of July, because these summer evenings are full of terrible temptations; but after the cholera came the policemen were obliged to guard the infected houses, and care for the sick and dead; and as the disease increased, the police force was greatly overtaxed, and many deaths occured among them. Others among the scholars were ill, and the heat being too intense for satisfactory work, I closed after the middle of July. Our Sunday-school had over sixty names of those whom we knew, although the average attendance was only between forty and fifty. The woman's meeting at my house, two days in the week, averaged twenty-one or two. The most satisfactory work was a morning Bible class of eight or nine.

I am sorry to say, that after the spring work in English became an established fact, the attendance at meetings from among the

scholars largely diminished. Owing to the intense feeling against Christianity, and the fact that I knew of no Christian Japanese who was capable of teaching the men that I could call upon, I simply taught English in my evening classes, without any attempt to introduce the Bible; but I chose as text-books those that had a great deal of Bible in them,-which books, happily, are printed in Japanese, and sold at a low price; and I brought a Bible study between my two afternoon classes, including eighteen. Mr. Niyagawa came once a week to teach a Japanese translation of Haven's Mental Philosophy; but the thoughts based upon the previous teaching of there being one Creator, were completely beyond the comprehension of these public-school teachers.

... At length I could keep silence no longer, and began to read the Bible in my evening classes, and to urge the men to rouse from their sleep and work for their country. Then came the questions about the evils of Christian lands. Different ones came to talk the matter over with me at my house. One day six of them brought a leading Buddhist, with whom I had a long talk, and another day over twenty came. If the so-called Christian countries were in truth Christian, the evangelization of the heathen would be easy.

My letter is already too long, but I beg to tell one little story. The Japanese preacher came one day with the request that I would call at a house where the wife had become interested in Christianity while she had been in a Christian home in Osaka, receiving treatment from Dr. Taylor; but the husband would have nothing to do with the preacher. Mr. Kanamori kindly accompanied me. We went to a street with wretched hovels on one side, and a wide, offensive drain on the other, followed by a crowd of squalid and naked children. Crossing the drain, we entered a large house, and were shown into a fine room facing a lovely garden, with an expensive rug covering a large part of the Japanese mats. A tall, goodlooking man received us, had an elegant fire-bowl brought, and began to smoke, although we, the guests, refused. After asking for the wife three times, she came and sat down behind her lord, while I was, of course, opposite, and could hold no conversation with her. I went and sat down beside her, and managed to get a little acquainted; but I left the house feeling that it was a hopeless place, although I had been astonished to find that the oldest son was one of my younger pupils. Much to my surprise, the mother attended one of my woman's meetings, and the little girl joined the Sunday-school; the father made me several long calls, and even went to the evening meetings, dismissing the attending priests. I repeatedly warned him of the danger of the drain. He has also