--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - J. M. Tanner collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 6 number: 12 published: 1903-10 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'J. M. Tanner, "Some Leading Events in the Current Story of the World", *Improvement Era* 6, no. 12 (October 1903): 929–939.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0612unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0612unse start_page: 929 end_page: 939 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1903-10) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0612unse publication_year: 1903 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1903, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Some Leading Events in the Current Story of the World PRESIDENT LYMAN'S TRAVELS AND MINISTRY. 923 widens and straightens the thoroughfares. But Stockholm is not only a progressive city in material affairs, but is also a good home for the Saints. Great religious freedom is enjoyed, and while in Norway the sacrament may not be administered publicly, in Sweden no legal hindrance is placed in the way of the performance of gos- pel ordinances. The elders may be forbidden to preach anything that causes division in the state church, but this power is very seldom resorted to. Monday evening, August 3rd, President Lyman set sail for Finland. Our passports had been duly viseed by the Russian con- sul — The cruise otherwise tickets could not have been bought. through the Stockholm archipelago in the bright moonlight, with the dark shade of the firs and pines on the banks broken by the gleam from the windows of the villas, was one never to be forgot- ten. We passed through the open part of the Baltic during the night, and when morning dawned we were again plowing through a network of islands — the Abo archipelago.We reached this old Finnish city at noon. We had thought that all the inhabitants understood Swedish, but were unable to find a cab-driver who spoke that language, and only one who understood a few words. This, with subsequent experiences, brought the conviction that any general missionary work in Finland must be done by those who speak Finnish; a knowledge of Swedish is not enough. The better classes speak both languages, at least in the southern part and along the coast, but seven-eighths of the people speak the lan- guage of the country —Finnish. In one cf the odd little open cabs we rode around the city, vis- ited the ancient castle and finally reached the top of a finely wooded hill where the observatory stands. Beside this building, to the east, is a mound of earth rising about twenty feet. This is the highest ground for miles around, and from it a splendid view could be had of the country. As we stood facing the north, the length of Finland, and was quiet, we being alone, President all Lyman decided that there was the proper place to offer prayer. Behind us on the mound, a little building was being reared, but the workmen were absent. We took off our hats, but remained standing. After expressing gratitude for our safe arrival and for the 924 IMPRUVEMEN1 ERA. peace and blessings that were with us,President Lyman besought the- Lord in behalf of Finland and its people. He prayed that this sturdy race might never be crushed or subjected to tyranny, but that the people might ever have liberty to worship the Lord. He prayed for the government, that the officers might be just and merciful, that they might feel kindly toward the people and toward the servants of the Lord when they come to preach the gospel. He prayed for the land, that it might be productive and support its inhabitants. He asked that the Spirit of the Lord might be poured out upon the people that they might hunger for the truth, and with the authority of the Priesthood, he turned the key and opened the door for the preaching of the gospel in Fin- land, and dedicated the land for this work. He besought the Lord to bless the people with faith, that true servants and prophets might soon be raised up among them. The cause of Zion and the servants of the Lord were all remembered, and the blessings and favor of heaven were prayed for them. The prayer was inspired and inspiring, and we felt that the Lord had heard it and acknowledged the dedication of the land. When we were through, we found that the laborers had returned and were looking with wondering eyes at the two bare-headed men who spoke in a strange language. The Finnish people are a strongly-built, hardy folk, not very but with well-knit bodies. They are somewhat swarthy, but a tall, majority have blue eyes and fair hair. In the real Finns there is often a slight Mongolian caste in the countenance; and this can well be, for they sprang originally from the same stock as the Hungarians and Turks, but like these people they have undergone great changes with time. There has been a great admixture of Scandinavian and Germanic blood. Certainly there is much of the blood of Israel in their veins. They are not related to the Rus- sians particularly, and their language is entirely different from the Slavonic tongues. Way back in time, St. Erick came over from Sweden, and after defeating the Finns with great slaughter he had the survivors baptized. Thus the Christian faith was planted among them. When the wave of Protestantism swept over the northern peoples of western Europe, Finland adopted the: Lutheran religion and has retained it up to the present. — PRESIDENT LYMAN'S TRAVELS AND MINISTRY. 925 Hard times and Russian rule are driving thousands of Finns to America. There is a tone of sadness in all they say concerning their present humbled condition. The loss of their soldiery and flag, the things so dear to the liberty loving Finns, the themes of their great poet Runeberg, is not eaay to bear. May the time soon come when they will open their hearts and receive the goppel of the Lord. The truth will make them free indeed. Millennial Star. [A note from Elder Cannon, dated St. Petersburg, July 25, (August 7, new) 1903,sends greetings to the Era from President Lyman and him- self, and conveys the information that on the day previous, President — Lyman offered prayer for the land of Russia. Editors.] TELL HIM SO. If you have a word of cheer That may light the pathway drear Of a brother pilgrim her^, Let him know. Show him you appreciate What he does; and do not wait Till the heavy hand of Fate Lays him low. If your heart contains a thought That will brighter make his lot, Then in mercy, hide it not; Tell him so. Wait not till your friend is dead Ere your compliments are said: For the spirit that has fled, If it know, Does not need to speed.it on Our poor praise; where it has gone Love's eternal, golden dawn Is aglow. But unto our brother here That your praise is very dear; If you've any word of cheer Tell him so. — Good Health. TALKS TO YOUNG MEN. XII.— CALLED ON A MISSION. There comes a time in the life of nearly every young man in the Church when he is called on a mission. It is a new experience, and only the young man who receives the message can form an idea of the peculiar sensations that stir the soul when the call is made. If the young man is faithful only one thought is upper- most in his mind: "I will go, but am I prepared?" The message doubtless comes to different people in a differ- ent way, and no two young men feel just the same emotions when the summons comes. But it is safe to say that the first thought is to confide the news to father or mother, or a dear friend who can sympathize with the feelings, and, perhaps, impart valuable counsel as a guide upon the untrodden way. A letter from a father who was in England on a business trip, in 1896, when his son received a missionary call, has come to the writer's notice, and it so brims with good advice, that it is worthy the study of other sons who are called on missions; it is therefore presented here int full: My Dear Son: I have learned that you have been called upon a mission to Germany, to preach the gospel, and the knowledge of that fact fills me with mingled feelings of pleasure and solicitude. One of the most responsible positions, and at the same time one of the greatest privileges, that can be conferred upon a man in this world, is to be chosen and set apart as a servant of the Most High God, to bear his holy priesthood, and to carry his gos- TALKS TO YOUNG MEN. 92T pel of salvation to the nations of the earth. And it is my most earnest and prayerful desire to impress you with the vast import- ance and sacredness of the position to which you have been called — that of a holy minister and a mouth-piece of God to the people of the earth; with authority from on high to minister in the ordinances of his everlasting gospel. If you accept this position, realizing its importance, with a firm determination to prayerfully and humbly magnify your calling as God shall give you strength, you will be astonished and over- joyed at the power of God which will accompany you and sustain you in every position in which you may be placed; and you will be enabled to overcome and surmount every obstacle that may lie in your pathway; and fill your mission to the honor and glory of God, to the salvation of souls, and to your eternal joy and benefit. In order to perform your mission to the approval of God and to your own satisfaction and credit, it is your bounden duty, and God expects of you, that you will improve every opportunity to store your mind with useful knowledge to qualify you for your high and holy calling, and if you will do this and look to him with a pure and prayerful heart, his Holy Spirit and his power will rest upon you to an extent that you never dreamed of. But remember, my boy, that the express mission of the Holy Spirit is to "bring things past to your remembrance" (which you have previously learned or heard) at the time they are needed; to assist you in ac- quiring knowledge, and to enable you to discern between truth and error; "and to show you things to come," but it is not its mission to impart to you knowledge which it is your duty, and within your power to obtain by study and application. Now, my son, you were born under the "Everlasting Cove- nant;" an heir of right to the holy priesthood; you are blessed with a strong, healthy and powerful physical body and constitution; you have been taught correct principles from your earliest youth; I believe you to be strictly moral, and to have acquired no bad habits, except that of slackness and indifference to study, and, possibly, too much of a disposition to idle and waste your time, and for which I am not disposed to censure you too severely, knowing, as I do, the natural disposition and inclination of youth to seek for pastime and pleasures. But now, standing as you are — 928 IMPROVEMENT ERA. upon the very threshold of life and manhood, endowed with all the advantages and blessings I have enumerated, God has called you into his service, and I entreat of you, my son, with all the earnest- ness of a father whose sole desires on your behalf are for your present and etarnal happiness and welfare, that you will put aside all frivolity and carelessness, and from this time forth devote your time and energies and your talents to the acquirement of useful knowledge, to be used in the spread of righteousness and truth upon the earth, to the salvation of mankind and the glory of God. And in doing this, I promise you in the name of Jesus, you will have more peace, more satisfaction, pleasure and joy, than you could possibly obtain by any other course; in addition to which you will be loved, respected and honored by the pure and upright in this life, and will secure exaltation and eternal life in God's presence in the world to come. I have met many of our young missionaries since I have been here, all of whom are feeling well, and are zealous in doing all the good they can, but they all regret that they did not better improve their opportunities of obtaining knowledge before coming here, for they now keenly realize the vital importance of it. So let me once more urge upon you, my dear son, to improve every moment be- tween now and the time you start in qualifying yourself for your mission. I will be at home before you start, but in the meantime re- member you are the only man at home. Your mother has a great deal to see to in my absence, and much to worry her. Try to make her task as light as possible, and try to gladden her heart by car- rying out her every wish with cheerfulness and pleasure. And now, with reference once more to your mission: While it is a trial for me to part with you for a time, so far as I have a claim upon you, I freely surrender and dedicate you to the service of God ; and I bestow upon you a father's choicest blessing, and assure you of his constant prayers for your present, your future and eternal welfare. Go, my son, upon your mission. Do your duty, and magnify your calling as a man of God, and God be with you. Your loving father, SOME LEADING EVENTS IN THE CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. BY DR. J. M. TANNER, SUPERINTENDENT OF CHURCH SCHOOLS. The American Vice-Consul at Beirut. On the evening of the 27th day of August while Vice-Consul Magelssen, at Beirut, was riding in a Carriage through the streets of that city, a shot was fired, whether at him or into the sky, by a party returning from a marriage festival, in a moment of glee, is not known. Unfortunately, by a mistake cablegram sent in the from Beirut to Constantinople, our minister there made a mistake in deciphering the message, and cabled our goverment here that Vice Consul Magelssen had been assassinated in the streets of Beirut. The United States goverment at once ordered two of its battleships to the port of Beirut for the purpose of obtaining re- dress, and of giving security to the Americans in that city. When it was found that Magelssen had not been assassinated, and that it was not even certain that he had been shot at, the Presi- dent and Secretary of State were very much annoyed at the blund- er that had precipitated their action. The Americans insist on taking that version of the affair that will best justify our action in sending warships to the coast of Syria, and therefore adopt the view that the Vice-Consul was at least shot at. There was no up- rising at Beirut, and the revolution going on in Macedonia had no influence whatever upon the people of that Turkish seaport town. The Mohammedans at Beirut are Arabs, with the exception of a few officials who are Turks. But Beirut is, perhaps, infected more by criminal classes than any other seaport about the Medi- terranean. The influence of the Christian element upon the Arabs seems to be worse than upon the Turks. The Turks simply remain 930 [IMPROVEMENT ERA. aloof from Christians, and will have absolutely nothing to do with them, and it is, therefore, extremely rare that a Turk becomes a member of any of the Protestant churches. It is different, how- ever, with the Arabs, many of whom become Christians for a very small consideration. That they are bought into Christianity in scores of instances is well known, and is a scandal upon mis- sionary methods. Then many of the Arabs imitate that which is basest in the Christian world, and become the worst sort of rene- gades. The criminal element in Beirut is, perhaps, nearly if not quite as bad as it is in the slums of Liverpool, Glasgow, New York, or Chicago; and there are scores of Arabs in Beirut who would quickly kill a man for a few dollars if there were any hope of escape. The Arab boatmen of this place are particularly bad. Besides the degenerate element at Beirut, there has been some trouble detween the American officials there and the Mo- hammedans. The Americans have a college at Beirut, and there is a large colony of Americans and converted Arab Moslems. Numbers of the Mohammedans, and Armenians come to the United States where they are naturalized and become full-fledged Ameri- can citizens. Many of them return to Syria and land at Beirut, the principal seaport. Some of these Mohammedan Americans be- long to the criminal element. On their return, they sometimes commit crimes, and the Turkish government would like the privi- lege of punishing them, but by terms of our treaty with Turkey, American citizens who commit crimes against the laws of Turkey must be tried by American consular courts. The better informed classes understand the treaty arrangements, and yield with as much grace as they can muster the more ignorant and ; violent classes resent them, and not only hate the treaty arrangements, but also our representatives who are there to enforce them. Sometimes the officials at Beirut object to the landing of these Mohammedan Americans on their return to Beirut, because perhaps of some aggravating circumstance associated with these naturalized Americans before they left Turkey. Sometimes the Turks claim that they have left the country with taxes standing against them unpaid, and undertake to enforce the payment of obligations that were due to the Turkish government before they became Americans. These difficulties always lead to contentions CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. 931 between our consuls and the Turkish officials, and Beirut is the chief center of these contentions. In the very nature of things, Vice-Consul Magelssen in the discharge of his duties would have to engage in many controversies, and thereby create more or less personal enmity against himself. The Americans are, perhaps, stronger and more influential at Beirut than at any other Turkish seaport. From Beirut, a railroad is built to Damascus where the Arabs of the south and the Turks of the north bring their pro- ducts from the interior of Asiatic Turkey. Lord Salisbury. In Lord Salisbury, England has lost the last of her great Victorian statesmen. From the time he entered the House of Commons, in 1854, he has commanded the attention, though not the applause of his countrymen. He was a man whose strength was due to his ability, for he never sought popularity, and was ap- parently very indifferent to the popular applause- upon which statesmen so frequently feed. In his manners and habits, he was shy and reticent; however, it was easy for him to detect the shams or pretentions of others. Before he came to the premiership, he was often a free lance, being pugnacious and often aggressive to- wards foreign countries whose policy was at variance with the in- terests of Great Britain. The supreme responsibilities which the highest office in the gift of.his country imposed upon him had a sobering and softening influence upon his later years. Lord Salisbury was always popular with the Queen who found him much more congenial than Gladstone had been. At heart, Salisbury was aristocratic, and the extensions of manhood suffrage was at variance with his own preconceived notions. His domestic life, though he married against the wishes of his father, was happily lived and as happily ended. His last days were devoted to his favorite study of chemistry which he pursued with interest through his long political career. His relations with this country never bore evidences of dis- pleasure, though he never sympathized with our democratic insti- tutions, which he distrusted more or less. He doubtlessly realized, however, that the best interests of England would be promoted by cultivating cordial relations. When Mr. Cleveland issued a : 932 IMPROVEMENT ERA. message against England on the Venezuelan question, Lord Salis- bury forbore resentment; and when the Spanish- American war broke out, he informed the continental powers of Europe that England would permit no interference. So much of Lord Salis- bury's life was known only to his intimate friends, that the world at large has really not known much of the man. The Revolution in Macedonia. The revolution which began in Macedonia a month ago, in small and insignificant skirmishes, and by acts of anarchy com- mitted by the Bulgarians in dynamiting public buildings, railroads, and Turkish quarters, has been constantly gaining in force and extent until now it is spread throughout the whole of Macedonia. The reports that come from the country must be taken with great allowance. In the first place, they are chiefly from the revolu- tionists who are holding up the horrors of the Turks to the exe- cration of the Christian world. Not the half of these reports are true. Readers of the newspapers, no doubt, often wonder why the Great Powers do not intercede; but the governments of the Great Powers have a different sort of information from that disseminat- ed by the public press, and they know more accurately the real facts. The Literary Digest says: "If half the reports from there [Macedonia] are true, we can have the unpleasant assurance that there is not an hour when the smoke of some village is not rising to the sky mingled with the cries of its dying inhabitants." Of course, the Literary Digest does not believe half that is sent out in the reports; besides, these reports make it appear that the barbarous and horrible conduct of the revolution is all on the side of the Turks. The New York Tribune furnishes the following statement which permits the Christian world to see a little of the other side of the picture. It is as follows Krushevo was a beautiful, prosperous, and peaceful town. It was inhabited by only a few Bulgars, and they were the poorer part of the people. The great majority, and practically all the well-to-do, were Wallachs, who are radically different from the Bulgars in race and re- ligion. If was really a Wallachian town. It was not concerned in the insurrection, and had little or no sympathy with it. The Bulgarian in- CURRENT STORY OF THE WORLD. 933 surgents regarded it as a rich place for plunderand one the seizure of which would especially exasperate the government. So the Macedonian committee organized an attack upon it by a party of Bulgars and cap- tured it. They then massacred a number of the chief citizens not — Turks, but Christian Wallachs —and levied wholesale blackmail upon the survivors. A Turkish force was sent to recapture the place. Before attacking it, the Turkish commander offered to let the women and children depart out of harm's way. This the Bulgars refused to permit, insisting that the Wallachian women and children, some of whose hus- bands and fathers they had murdered, and most of whom they had robbed, should remain to share the fortunes of war. Then, when the Turkish attack became hot, the Bulgars sneaked away and took to the woods, leaving the women and children to their fate. That fate was unspeakably horrible. The Turkish soldiers, infuriated at the escape of their foes, and having the lust of slaughter fully aroused, ravished and plundered and slaughtered at will. Now, it is impossible to find excuses for such conduct on the part of the Turks. No language can too strongly express the horror and detestation of it which the whole civilized world should feel. But, then, neither is the conduct of the Bulgars to be condoned. It was cowardly, savage, and criminal in the extreme. In order to promote their cam- paign against the Turks, the Bulgars attacked the Wallachian town, massacred and plundered its people, and then delivered its women and children over to the wrath of the Turks. That is the sort of thing that justly alienates the sympathies of the world from the Bulgars, and dem- onstrates the necessity of some other than Bulgarian rule in Mace- donia as a substitute for Turkish misrule. Generally the newspapers of the United States are holding up the Turks as exclusively blameworthy, and urge the interference of the Great Powers. If one were to read today the German newspapers, one would get a wholly different impression from what is conveyed by reading American newspapers. The Ameri- cans are largely governed by the reports of American missionaries in Turkey, whose hatred of that country is often so violent that their reports are practically worthless to one desiring a knowledge of the real situation. I have often heard merchants and travel- lers in Turkey say that if Turkish missionaries came to the United States and conducted themselves in this country as American missionaries do in Turkey, we would banish them all within twenty-four hours. Of course, this is an extreme statement on