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te rly antagonizes Orthodox Church and its schools. A theism and agnosticism most ram p an t now among workmen whose strong anti-C hristian animosity directs itself ag ain st Russian Church as possible reactionary agency. Our conviction is th a t Russian Christianity will thereby become purified, finally surviving socialistic persecution. Ma jo rity workm en and peasants sober- m inded and g radually aw akening to facts. May fu tu re Russia be Christian democracy like America, w ith u n tram meled press, all classes sharing blessing of liberty, equality, fratern ity . May C hristian America not abandon Chris tia n Russia. Need your prayers.— The M issionary Review of the World. PALESTINE The foundation stones have been laid for a Hebrew university on a site purchased before the w ar n ear the Mount of Olives. The establishm ent of th is center of Jew ish learning is an im po rtan t phrt of the Zionist program . I t indicates th a t th e leaders of the race feel assured th a t the Jews will not only make themselves into a nation in Pales tine, hu t th a t they will make th e effort and sacrifice necessary for rebuilding a newer and b etter Zion. There can be no doubt th a t th e university will he an im po rtan t force in th e development of a n ational spirit. In th e in itial cere mony of laying th e foundation, twelve stones, symbolical of th e Twelve Tribes, were laid by representatives of various branches of Jew ish though t and activ ity. General Allenby and officers of the F rench and Italian detachm ents in P alestine were p resen t a t th e ceremony. Another one of the in teresting cere monies which followed B ritish occupa tion of P alestine was the resto ration of th e scrolls of th e Law to th e various synagogues. These scrolls of th e Law of Moses, which are all w ritten by hand and k ep t in magnificent cases— often
solid silver— are the most precious pos sessions of every Jew ish community. So when th e evacuation of Jaffa took place in April, 1917, th e Jews carried w ith them these sacred parchm ents in order to save them from th e profane hands of the Turks. Recently they have ■been b rough t back in solemn procession, headed by bands, while houses were every where decorated w ith flowers and bun ting in honor of th e ceremony. The Chief Rabbi of Jaffa delivered a memor able address, in which he th anked and invoked blessings upon the B ritish arm y and government and expressed th e hope th a t success would crown the Z ionist movement. The Jews desired, he said, to build up and regenerate P alestine not only for th e ir own bene fit, bu t for th a t of all its citizens, whose help and friendship they desired to m aintain.-—The Missionary Review of th e World. Among the many strateg ical mission ary centers of th e world it is not, per haps, too much to say th a t th e Gold fields of South Africa which center in Johannesburg, tak e the foremost place. There are congregated here, working on these mines, hundreds of thousands of natives drawn from all parts of th e sub continent. A little over tw enty years ago the late Rev. Dr. Andrew Murray and others held a convention in Johannesburg in connection w ith th e South Africa Gen eral Mission. A t th a t convention Mr. A. W. Baker, a successful solicitor, who was then practising in P reto ria, received a g reat blessing. Previous to this, God had laid it upon his h e a rt th a t he should devote his energies to mission work among the native races. Having been born in Natal, and speaking the Zulu language from childhood, he was in a position of peculiar advantage to und ertake Such a work. Imm ediately South A frica Compounds and In terio r Mission
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