by them, was a third, about eight feet long, upon which, from end to end, were suspended alternately long dress-sleeves and locks of hair. The sleeves were of different colors and the locks of various shades. The young man so recently buried had been highly honored in life, and at his death this unusual token of deep grief had been erected by the women, who mourned his departure. When a Yezidee is about to die, a kowal (priest) or his agent visits him and removes his sins by transferring them to himself! As soon as he is dead a kowal puts a little of the earth of Sheikh 'Ali in his mouth and upon his face, YEZIDEE GRAVE. afterward praying over him, and by inspiration, the following prayer: "What has happened to him since his death? Will he, or will he not, return to this world? And should he come, in what form, and in whom, will he dwell?" They hold that the spirits of the righteous dead enter, by transmigration, into men on the earth and those of the wicked into beasts. Just now the chief interest attaching to the Yezidees grows out of the fact that the Sultan himself has recently sent four missionaries to Mosul - two mollahs and two army officers who are to endeavor to either persuade or force them to embrace Islam. The Yezidees would prefer to emigrate to Russia rather than become Moslems, and their Moslem landlords are anxious that no harsh measures shall be employed by the missionaries in their singular and difficult mission, lest such should be the result. We too should pray that God, by his providence, will overrule these events that a more open door among them will be given to us. SPOTS OF THE LEOPARD CHANGED. BY REV. ALLEN HAZEN, D.D. [Rev. Dr. Allen Hazen, who went as missionary to India more than forty-five years ago, but who returned to this country some years since, has recently revisited the mission and has been preaching in many of the stations and out-stations with which he was so familiar. Among these out-stations visited was the village of Watwad, in the Marathi Mission, which is sixty miles north of Sholapur, where Dr. Hazen found some remarkable fruits of the seed which he had sown in that region more than twenty years ago. In a letter dated Watwad, December 15, 1891, he gives the following remarkable story.] ONE morning, more than twenty years ago, I was preaching on the street in Sholapur, not very long before I left there. A stranger was among the hearers. He followed me home and stayed two or three days with the Christians, and listened to the Word. He could read, and he took some books, among them the Gospel of Mark. I directed him to go to a Christian living nearer his home than Sholapur. This man, named Ramji, lived forty miles north of Sholapur. He had some knowledge of Hindu systems, and as a guru, or teacher, had his disciples. I think I never saw him after that first visit until last Thursday, when we were at his village. He says his first knowledge of Christianity and first impulse toward the faith came from me. I recognized him, when he came the other day, and he was an intelligent listener to what I said. A few years after I left Sholapur he was baptized by Mr. Park. He began to preach Jesus and his salvation to his disciples and others before he was baptized. One day in his travel he came to this village of Watwad. He stopped at a house to ask for a drink of water. An elderly man was seated at the door and he sent his daughter to bring some fresh water. Ramji noticed that the old man was very sad and not inclined to say much. So he asked him about his trouble. Mesoba told him that he had been a very wicked man, a robber, a leader of robbers. He had been in jail, had actually killed two men, one a soldier who had attacked him, the other a man whom he was trying to rob. These murders he felt to be the greatest of his sins. He had been trying to expiate them by being a very devout Hindu. For some time he had made a pilgrimage, each month, to a celebrated shrine, about seventy-five miles from his home, a pilgrimage which would take about a week each month. But he got no relief from his trouble by all his travel and bathing and offerings. He had not received forgiveness, and what more could he do? Ramji replied that he knew all about it. He could never get peace in that He had tried it. There was but one way of true peace. way. He had tried that too, and knew it. "The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." The old man had never heard of Jesus Christ, but he seemed to drink in the truth at Ramji went on his way, leaving with his new friend a tract, "The True Way." He walked in that way and was blessed. After a year or two, Mr. Park came here. He found Mesoba and his wife, his son and his wife, and the daughter true believers, and he baptized them. once. This was the beginning of a work which has gone on steadily since that time. No missionary has lived in the district. One and another have visited the place, stopping for a few days each year. The work seems to me more remarkable than anything we have had in connection with our mission. There are now more than two hundred members of the church. They live in more than a dozen villages, some of them more than twenty miles away. The greatest number live here at Watwad and at another village two miles east, and meetings are held at that village on Sunday mornings and here on the afternoons. You can imagine the interest I have felt in visiting this region and the Christians here. I had much pleasure on Sunday in preaching to a hundred Christians. There were also thirty or more Hindus. It is pleasant to meet these men and learn of their faith, of their trials, and the Lord's deliverance from them. In place of being robbers these men are now among the trusted classes of the community. To one of the men cases of difficulty among higher castes have been referred, with the promise of abiding by his decisions. The old man Mesoba had learned to read while in jail. After his conversion he read and studied the Bible. As the number of Christians increased it became evident to the missionaries that they must have a pastor. So Mesoba was ordained. I think this is the first case of ordaining a man from a church without any previous course of study. But this is the way indicated by Paul (Titus 1: 5). Mesoba was evidently taught of the Spirit, and he magnified his office. He has been dead for eight years. He was blind for several years, but retained his faculties and continued his duties. A MARATHI FAMILY. Published by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE, I SOMERSET STREET PRESS OF SAMUEL USHER, BOSTON, MASS. Subscription, $1.00. Address CHARLES E. SWETT, No. 1 Somerset Street, Boston, Mass. [Entered at the Postoffice at Boston, Mass., as second-class matter.] Пmerican Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. Americ Mission Rooms, Congregational House, Boston, Mass. Rev. N. G. CLARK, D.D. Rev. E. K. ALDEN, D.D. Rev. JUDSON SMITH, D.D. } Corresponding Secretaries. LANGDON S. WARD, Treasurer. Rev. CHARLES C. CREEGAN, D.D., Field Secretary. Rev. E. E. STRONG, D.D., Editorial Secretary. CHARLES E. SWETT, Publishing and Purchasing Agent. Letters for the above-mentioned persons should be addressed CONGREGATIONAL HOUSE, No. 1 Somerset Street, Boston, Mass. Communications relating to the pecuniary affairs of the Board should be sent to the Treasurer; subscriptions and remittances for the MISSIONARY HERALD, to the Publishing Agent. Mrs. ELIZA H. WALKER, having care of Missionary children, may be addressed Auburndale, Mass. District Secretaries. New York, the Middle and South Atlantic States, Connecticut, and Ohio, States of the Interior, Rev. A. N. Hitchcock, Ph.D., Room 24, No. 151 Washington Street, Chicago, Ill. Rev. Dr. S. J. Humphrey, who still renders partial service, may be addressed at the same office. Office of Rev. Walter Frear, Agent of the Board on the Pacific Coast, is at No. 7 Montgomery Avenue, San Francisco, Cal. Woman's Boards of Missions. W. B. M., BOSTON. Miss ABBIE B. CHILD, Secretary. Miss ELLEN CARRUTH, Treasurer. No. 1 Congregational House, Beacon Street, Boston. W. B. M. OF THE INTERIOR. Miss M. D. WINGATE, No. 59 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Secretary. Mrs. J. B. LEAKE, No. 59 Dearborn Street, Chicago, Treasurer. W. B. M. FOR THE PACIFIO. Mrs. J. H. WARREN, Secretary, 1316 Mason Street, San Francisco, Cal. Mrs. R. E. COLE, Treasurer, Oakland, Cal. Letters relating to "LIFE AND LIGHT" should be addressed Secretary" Life and Light," No. 1 Congregational House, Boston, Mass. Legacies. In making devises and legacies, the entire corporate name of the particular Board which the testator has in mind should be used as follows: "The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, incorporated in Massachusetts in 1812." "The Woman's Board of Missions, incorporated in Massachusetts in 1869." Honorary Members. The payment of $50 at one time constitutes a minister, and the payment of $100 at one time constitutes any other person, an Honorary Member of the Board. Publications. The MISSIONARY HERALD, published monthly at $1.00 per year. "Concert Exercises" and leaflets for free distribution may be obtained at the Mission Rooms. THE MISSION DAYSPRING, for children, published monthly by the American Board ar the Woman's Boards of Missions at $3.00 for 25 copies; $1.50 for 10 copies; single copies, 20 cents. THE AMERICAN BOARD ALMANAC, annually. Price, 10 cents; $6.00 per hundred. WALL MAPS, including Map of the World. Set of seven. Price on cloth, $10.00: OF paper, $6.00. |