JUST after our last number had gone to press, an appeal for aid for famine relief in China was received from Rev. Dr. Nevius, the well-known missionary of the American Presbyterian Board at Chefoo, in the province of Shantung. Dr. Nevius speaks of the devastation caused by drought on one side and floods on the other, so that the extreme of want is felt on the plain bordering on the Bay of Pechihli in the province of Shantung. More than a million of people are said to be reduced to the last state of destitution. Relief to be effective must continue until next June. The plan is to open centres of relief in the famine region and provide the food that is absolutely necessary for sustenance and seed grain for the spring crops. One or two cents will sustain the life of an individual for a day. We learn from England that a vigorous appeal has been made for contributions, and that the Lord Mayor of London has opened a fund for the suffering Chinese. The Secretary of the Chinese Legation in England, Sir H. Macartney, affirms that the distress is even greater than the published accounts have indicated, that the Chinese government is doing all that is possible, and that the authorities of three rich provinces have been commanded by the emperor to retain for distribution in the famine districts the whole of the grain which it is customary to forward to Peking. But the need is so appalling that the aid of all benevolent people is asked to mitigate as much as possible the distress. In the letters received from the missionaries of the American Board both in Shantung and Chihli, there is no mention made of special want, though in a letter given in our last number, Messrs. Smith and Chapin referred to the distress they had witnessed during their tour in the province of Honan. While, therefore, our missionaries, not being in the famine region, have made no call for aid, the Treasurer of the American Board will receive and forward through appropriate channels any sums that may be sent for the relief of those in want in other sections of China. We are glad to see that a committee of merchants and bankers in New York has been organized to receive and transmit contributions.

FRIENDS of Japan in all parts of the world have read with deep pain the tidings brought us by ocean cable of the assassination of Mr. Mori, Japanese Minister of Education. Mr. Mori was well known in this country, having been some years ago Chargé d'Affaires at Washington. While in this country he made a special study of our educational system, and published several pamphlets relating to education and religious freedom. No man has done more to secure religious toleration in Japan than Mr. Mori, and his services since his return to his native country in behalf of education entitle him to the gratitude of his countrymen and the respect of the whole world. We trust it will appear, when the details of the sad event reach us, that the assassination was the work of a single crazy fanatic, and not of any body of religious enthusiasts.

THE London Missionary Society has received word that the disturbances along the African coast opposite Zanzibar have not affected their missions on Lake Tanganyika or at Urambo. Mr. Brooks, their missionary at Urambo, was killed as he was coming to the coast, but there is said to be no need of anxiety in regard to those who remain in the interior.

THERE lies before us a letter signed by twenty-two trustees of the "Tokwa school" in Sendai, Japan, thanking the American Board for the interest it has taken in the institution and speaking in warmest terms of the labors of Messrs. De Forest, Curtis, White, and Miss Meyer. The letter is interesting as showing that the Japanese appreciate the aid rendered them, and their great delight in the Christian school which has been established among them.

In more than one land recently redeemed from heathenism by the preaching of the gospel, the great source of peril to the people is the importation of intoxicating liquor. Strange and sad it is to say that in not a few cases this peril would be slight if the people were left to themselves. The Hervey Islands, now under British control, are cursed by the introduction of liquor. On the Windward Islands the case is different, for the people have prevented smuggling. But what the missionaries now fear is that, being under British protection, the liquor may be forced upon them. The Chronicle of the London Society says: "If Great Britain leaves the people to administer their own laws, they will have little fear." Cannot Christian sentiment compel the nations to have mercy upon the people just merging from barbarism?

WE have often had occasion to present illustrations showing the affection and fidelity of the native African. Mr. F. S. Arnot tells the story of a young lad who was with him and heard his master praying one night for water. The lad started off in the dark night, going miles alone through a country infested by wild beasts, and returned the next day with joy, bringing with him to his master a calabash of water. A race capable of such devotion is capable of great things.

The London Times reports that a pamphlet has appeared in Constantinople reflecting upon the Sultan and the Sheikh-ul-Islam, the head of the Moslem faith, and that this pamphlet has seriously disturbed the Sultan, so that he has not attended to state affairs for quite a while. It is added that a large number of softas, or students of Mohammedan law, have been driven from Constantinople in connection with this affair, though it does not appear what relation they are supposed to have had with the publication of the pamphlet.

WE had expected before this number of the Herald was ready for the press that the letters of Henry M. Stanley, which were said to have been brought to Stanley Falls, and which it was supposed would arrive in London early in March, would have been made public. Perhaps before these lines are read, the whole story of the last great adventure in Africa will be before our readers. But even were that story before them they would hardly be able to divine where the intrepid explorer now is, or to prophesy as to what will be his success in his present undertaking, on his return to the interior in aid of Emin Pasha.

DR. BLODGET reports that in December last two men were baptized who had heard the gospel twenty-four years ago when Mr. Burns and Dr. Blodget first preached in Peking, at the opening of the work there. This reaping was indeed "after many days." But these were only two out of seventeen who, in connection with the Peking station, have been baptized since October last.

THE table of statistics of missionary work in Japan for the year 1888, compiled by Rev. Henry Loomis, agent of the American Bible Society in Japan, has been received just too late for insertion in our present number. The striking facts brought out in this valuable table are the following: The present number of churches is 249, with a total membership of 25,514, which is an increase within the year of twenty-eight churches and 5,785 members. The total number of adults baptized during the year 1888 was very nearly 7,000 (6,959), and of these 2,114 were in connection with the work of the American Board. Truly this is a glorious record.

THE number of "Student Volunteers for Foreign Missions " now exceeds 3,200, of whom it is said that 103 have already sailed for foreign lands and others are soon to follow. A national organization of these "Student Volunteers" has been formed, with a committee of three representing the College Y. M. C. A. and Y. W. C. A., together with Mr. Wilder, of the Inter-Seminary Alliance, with the object of looking after these volunteers and bringing them to the attention of missionary Boards and of the churches. These facts are furnished us by Mr. C. F. Hersey, of Bowdoin College, who also informs us that a branch of this national organization for the State of Maine has been formed, which shall serve not merely as a bond of union among the volunteers, but also as a stimulus in the matter of foreign missions among the churches of Maine. Upwards of forty churches of the State have already been visited, and much interest has been awakened.

AFTER the exposures of the frauds practiced by Madame Blavatsky, of India, there were many of the "Theosophists" who refused to believe that her pretended miracles were ordinary tricks. The Psychical Research Society of England, which had openly favored the Madame, sent a gentleman to Madras to investigate matters, and he is reported to have satisfied himself that the people of India were right in calling Madame Blavatsky an impostor of the first order. But there are doubtless some people who will still believe in theosophy.

THE British and Foreign Bible Society has issued during the past year 4,206,000 copies of Bibles, Testaments, and portions of the Scriptures, a larger number than ever before. The total income of the society for the past year was £253,300. Its grand work encircles the world, preparing the way for missionaries and strengthening their hands.

ARRANGEMENTS are now making for a general conference of Protestant missionaries in China, to be held in 1890. The Shanghai Conference of 1877 was an important assembly, marking a distinct advance in missionary efforts within that vast empire. It is time that another conference be held by the Christian missionaries who in God's name and strength have undertaken the task of evangelizing the millions of China.

"COME" and "go" are short words, but they express the sum of Christ's call to men. First come to him for pardon; then go for him in service. The two duties are inseparably linked together. One may well question whether he has truly come to Christ if he finds himself unwilling to go anywhere for him.

A MISSIONARY SECRETARY'S VISIT TO MONTREAL.

BY REV. JUDSON SMITH, D.D.

Ir is a pleasant duty to report briefly a recent visit to Montreal in the interests of the American Board. Rev. F. H. Marling, the genial and able pastor of Emmanuel Church (Congregational), extended a most cordial invitation to Montreal in the name of the Congregational churches and college, which are in happy affiliation with the work of the American Board, and of the American Presbyterian Church, which has been a constant benefactor of the Board for the past sixty years, and also laid out a full and attractive programme for the three days which could be given to the purpose.

Leaving Boston on Friday evening, February 22, we passed from the mild weather so characteristic of the winter just closed, into a region of ice-bound rivers, deep and drifting snows, and a temperature from fifteen to thirty-five degrees below zero. But the Christian welcome was warm, the hospitality unbounded, and the missionary atmosphere vital and inspiring, alike in colleges and churches and homes. On Saturday morning, after a delightful call upon Dr. Barbour, the popular Principal of the Congregational College, an interview of two hours was enjoyed with the theological students, asking and answering questions on missionary fields and the missionary service. Two of these young men have recently been appointed missionaries of the Board, one from the Presbyterian College has just applied, and others will presently apply. The grouping of the several theological colleges around McGill University and the interchange of services between the faculties of the university and of the several colleges are interesting features in the educational arrangements of the city.

Saturday afternoon, in the chapel of the American Presbyterian Church, of which Dr. Wells continues the versatile and attractive pastor, after nineteen years of continuous service, the ladies of the Canada Congregational Woman's Foreign Missionary Society met with the Canada Woman's Board of Foreign Missions (Presbyterian) to listen to an address on Woman's Work Abroad. The prayer of the pastor, affectionately remembering the Board by name and giving thanks for all that God had wrought through its agency in the past, a common feature in the prayers of all these brethren, was most refreshing and delightful.

Sunday was well filled with appointments. At eleven in the morning, a report of the London Conference was given in the Emmanuel Church, and the annual collection of the church for foreign missions and for home missions was taken at the same time. In the afternoon the Claims of the Foreign Work on Educated Men were presented to the members of the Young Men's Christian Association of McGill University — an attentive and inspiring audience. In the evening, at the Calvary Congregational Church, whose energetic and beloved pastor, Rev. E. M. Hill, is also the secretary of the Canada Congregational Foreign Missionary Society, the work and needs of the Board were presented and the annual collection for foreign missions was taken.

Monday afternoon for three hours there was full and frank conference with the executive committee of the Congregational Foreign Missionary Society upon all

matters of common interest between this Society and the Board, which are so happily united in the work of the West Central African Mission.

These were days long to be remembered for cordial greetings and unstinted hospitalities, for delightful Christian fellowship, for deepened consecration, and for the refreshing sense of unity in a service which knows no boundary lines and seeks no selfish ends and ennobles all who share therein.

CONSTANTINOPLE.

BY REV. JOSEPH K. GREENE, D.D., OF CONSTANTINOPLE.

SEATED on the hills which rise from the shores of the Bosphorus, the Golden Horn, and the Marmora, marked at almost every prominent point by stately mosques, imperial palaces, ambassadorial residences, or public buildings, possessed of a spacious harbor which knows neither tide nor dangerous wind, Constantinople is distinguished not more for the unrivaled beauty of its situation than for the variety in race, dress, and language of its million inhabitants. Here mingle not only the ruling Turks, the polished Persians, the tawny Arabs, and the black Ethiopians, all Mohammedans, and numbering one half of the entire population, but also a non-Mohammedan population of about the same number, and embracing Greeks, Armenians, Jews, Levantines, and Europeans of every nationality. Religious and national sentiment and customs have for centuries prevented any amalgamation of these different races, but modern civilization, with its commercial rivalries and its common facilities of locomotion, such as street-cars, tunnels, steamboats, and railways, is slowly teaching the different races the lesson of equality and the recognition of one another's rights. In the fifty-six years during which American influence has been felt in Constantinople, vast and striking changes have occurred.

The city itself, through the rebuilding of large districts swept by conflagrations, has improved its streets, drainage, and architecture. It is now fairly well supplied with water and partially lighted with gas, and the means of communication are greatly improved. The police are tolerably efficient, and atrocious crimes comparatively few, though the government, for the sake of gain, shamefully tolerates liquor-shops and houses of evil repute. Foreign trade is largely in the hands of Europeans, and internal trade in the hands of native Christians. The water and gas companies, the tunnel and the street railways, the Asiatic and the European Turkey railroads, in fact, almost all large enterprises, whether industrial, mining, or commercial, are in the hands of Christians, native and foreign.

The changes in the Oriental churches have both their cheering and their saddening aspects. The hierarchies have largely lost their ecclesiastical power and their moral influence, and the people with less superstition have also less faith. Among the Greek, the Armenian, and the Slav races, the national sentiment clearly overrides the religious, and worldliness and infidelity threaten to destroy all spiritual life. At the same time many ecclesiastics and many more lay members of the Oriental churches have acquired much scriptural knowledge, and, especially among the Armenians, the spirit of toleration has largely