There have been and still are thousands who believe that the whole tendency of the race-track is to drive out morality and goodness. And since gambling and betting in connection with the races has become so universal, and as their debasing evils are being revealed more and more, of course every one who has any of the elements of right thinking left in his mind will naturally raise his voice against them.
And so it is a stroke of business policy for the managers of the races to give a day's proceeds now and again to some charitable institution. In this way the managers of an institution that is really good in itself are led to work for the other institution that is very much to be questioned; for as soon as the charitable institution decides to accept the gate receipts of a day at the races, it will naturally be expected of them to work hard to have as large an attendance on that day as possible. And, further, this gives the race-track managers a chance to talk of the great good they are doing by bringing so much money into the treasuries of charitable institutions.
Even the secular papers are condemning the growing evils of race-track gambling. Hundreds of young men, so we are told, are being ruined in this way. And since the results of the race-course are manifestly so bad, no man or institution should encourage the wrong by attending it, and much less by partaking of its ill-gotten gains and working to get others to attend on these special days when the gate receipts are to go to some charitable object.
Spain has a special day at her bull-fights, and the gate receipts go for the building up of her navy.
People that claim to be more civilized look upon such a thing with abhorrence. But, shocking tho it may seem to some, nevertheless there is ground for believing that the principle underlying the one is not so far removed from the principle that actuates the other. That is, we are not willing to give fifty cents or a dollar toward some particular cause unless we can be in turn amused to a certain extent. In Spain the most popular amusement, perhaps, is the bull-fight. In the United States the race-track is one of the most popular entertainments. And while the bull-fight seems more barbarous, yet does it furnish a worse medium for assisting mankind on the road to depravity?
It is indeed gratifying that the bull-fight would not be tolerated in the United States to-day. But if the tendency for exciting amusements continues, who can tell that the time may not come when it will be introduced? “But here is our great civilization,” I hear you say. Yes, that is perfectly true. But Rome at her midday had as high a civilization as anything the world can present to-day. And yet Rome fell. And every one knows, or at least should know, that the downfall of Rome, more than by any other one thing, was brought about by the people giving themselves over completely to the sports of the day. And when the evil is fully begun, who can predict where it will end? These are some facts that charitably-inclined people should carefully consider before accepting the proceeds of races. For it can not be denied that when the race-track is allowed to devote a day to any popular charity, the managers of the races are benefited by far the most in the end.
Proper relaxation and recreation should always be encouraged; for it invariably elevates. But this age is running wild over mere amusement and fun, and the marks of degrading degeneracy that always have and ever will accompany it are clearly to be seen. And it is indeed a pity that people with good intentions should be found helping to spread the evil, and that, too, in the name of “sweet charity.”
And sadder still is the thought that the professed church of Christ has set the example and pioneered the way in this popular plan of amusing people in the name of charity. The church pays for their organ, buys a new carpet, cushions their pews, or makes up the lack in their pastor’s salary, with the proceeds of various kinds of entertainments, many of which have gambling under one form or another connected with them. And when professed Christians appeal to men’s appetites or their love for amusement in order to get funds for the church, is it any wonder that the people flock to all sorts of places of amusement, and wildly join in gambling, in order, without taking the trouble to earn it, to get money for their own private use?
Recently a minister well known in certain parts very severely rebuked from his pulpit the managers of a popular and charitable institution because they were advertised to receive the proceeds of a day at the races. His rebukes of the evils of the race-course, aside from a few unfortunate remarks that were rather personal, could not be justly condemned. But, as might have been expected, some very severe criticisms were publicly made against the pastor for his denunciations of the institution that would partake of the evils of the race-track by accepting a part of its receipts. Of course none of the invectives hurled at him could overthrow the principles that had been set forth against the evils of gambling. But one pungent pen asked him to show the difference between the evils of raffling and other forms of lottery that were practised by his church, and the evils of the race-track gambling. Then the poor pastor was called away from denouncing sin in the world to the shameful task of apologizing for a similar sin in the professed church.
This is certainly a very deplorable condition for professors of Christ to be in. And every one should recognize the fact that a church is not following the Master when its minister can not rebuke the most flagrant evil without striking the church as hard as he does the world. And when Christ’s professing church sets the world the example of debasing sinfulness instead of leading in the way of holiness, it is time for reflection on the part of all those who are truly desirous of following their Lord.
Gambling is recognized as one of the most menacing evils of this age. Horse-racing, football, baseball, and numerous other so-called amusements and sports, are organized largely to carry out the purpose of the gambler. Even the very staples of life are gambled over in board of trade and stock exchange. And there are hundreds of unscrupulous men who provide the means for their profligate living by these various evil ways.
Now who will venture an estimate as to how much of this evil seed has been sown by the various lotteries, grab-bags, etc., by means of which pastors claiming to stand purely for righteousness have taught young men that “taking a chance” was no harm “if they only had a good object before them”? In the great reckoning day there are some who will most surely have an awful account to render for these evils that have been wrought in the name of Christ.
It behooves all who would love the Lord to set themselves uncompromisingly against this sin of gambling, no matter where they find it. If it is in the church, that does not excuse it, but makes it all the worse.
T.
THE BOYCOTT EVIL.
By W. N. G.
The Los Angeles Times calls attention to a decision in the Superior Court of that county which, it says, “has excited some comment.” The case is entitled “Dellamore vs. the Master Plumbers’ Association, T. T. Stevens et al.” Says the Times:—
“Briefly stated, the facts, as alleged by the plaintiff, are that defendants are associated together for the purpose of preventing all master plumbers not members of the association from obtaining employment, contracts, labor, or material to carry on their business, and generally to stifle and prevent competition, and that the association prevented plaintiff from carrying out a contract which he had obtained in Los Angeles, by not permitting him to purchase the necessary materials, or procure the necessary labor, by intimidating merchants from selling such material to him. Judge Clark sustained the demurrer, thus deciding in favor of the association.”
The Times is not a court or a lawyer, and does not pretend to question the legal correctness of the decision in the case at bar, so far as it is confined to the issues actually before the court. We do, however, find that in rendering this decision, the court has gone out of the way by adding extraneous matter, not necessarily pertinent to this particular case, and in doing so has furnished unnecessary and undeserved encouragement to those who uphold the boycott in all its bald, unreasonable, and unreasoning brutality.”
It is by “adding extraneous matter not pertinent” to the particular case at bar that courts may and have declared dangerous dicta which become precedents for more dangerous legislation and other court decisions. It was by means of a great volume of “extraneous matter not pertinent” to the case under consideration, that the U. S. Supreme Court found occasion for uttering the dictum that “this is a Christian nation,” in which the Congress of the United States found warrant for enacting certain religious legislation contrary to the Constitution. From this dictum, also, a certain class of people find “unnecessary and undeserved encouragement” in continuing to importune Congress and State Legislatures for more of such legislation.
On the other hand, the Times refers to the once noted case of a newspaper proprietor against the Cincinnati Typographical Union, in which Judge Sage decided adversely to the boycott. He quoted Judge Blodgett as saying:—
“It shocks my sense of justice to say that a court of equity can not restrain systematic and methodical outrages like this of one man upon another’s property right. If a court of equity can not restrain an attack like this upon a man’s business, then the party is certainly remediless, because an action at law in most cases would do no good, and ruin would be accomplished before an adjudication would be reached. Statements and charges intended to frighten away a man’s customers, and intimidate them from dealing with him, may wholly break up and ruin him financially, with no adequate remedy, if a court of equity can not afford protection by its restraining writ.”
The Times closes its logical comments on the subject in the following pointed language:—
“The law defines the good-will of a business to be ‘the expectation of continued public patronage.’ The civil code says that ‘every person is bound without contract to abstain from injuring the person or property of another or infringing upon any of his rights.’ In another section of the code the good-will of a business is included in the definition of property, transferable like any other.
“The issue herein involved often trenches so near to the line of what is or is not unlawful, that we need not be surprised to find much variance among local decisions on the subject. Looking at the question from the broad standpoint of common sense, justice, and equity, the idea that a citizen may be prevented by boycotters from carrying on legitimate business in a peaceful manner is certainly repugnant to the properly-constituted mind.
“The true doctrine, whether it be declared by courts and lawyers in their own language, or by laymen in their own way, is that every citizen has the right, under the constitution and the laws, to pursue any lawful avocation in a lawful way.
“The boycott is a two-edged weapon, which cuts both ways. Its effects are sure to react upon those who resort to it in order to enforce their views. To boycott is to play with fire. In almost every case where a boycott has been started, those engaged in it have professed their intention to keep strictly within the law, and it may be admitted that in a majority of cases they have been honest in making such representations. In almost every case those engaged in a boycott have sooner or later overstepped the lawful limits. A ‘peaceful boycott’ is about equivalent to a ‘peaceful war.’ The boycott is doomed. It is an institution absolutely contrary to the spirit of this free country. It is violative of the fundamental law. A few years ago, when it was first introduced, it was hailed in some quarters as a panacea for all the ills of which laboring men are wont to complain. Already they are beginning to look at it askance, having found that almost invariably they are the ultimate sufferers from this discreditable and discredited practise.”
“This is a free country, but that is a curious conception of freedom which would grant to any man, or combination of men, the right to prevent others from following a lawful calling in a lawful way.”
Of all the dangers to which the people of a republican government are subject, none so threaten their liberties as court-made law, and the assumption that precedent is law. When once these heresies get deeply rooted, there is no remedy but a direct appeal to the people. Constitutions stand for nothing as long as any one co-ordinate branch of the government may with impunity usurp the functions of another, and one wrong act may be made a precedent for more of the same character.
W. N. G.
Faith to Remove a Mountain
CAN you remove a mountain? “Of course not,” you say. But the Saviour says you could if you had sufficient faith. Who is likely to know the better about it?—The Evangel.
THE WINNING OF MARGARET.
[In three parts.]
MARGARET DONALDSON walked up the garden path, and an expression of weariness and sorrow spoke from face and attitude. Grandma watched her from her low chair by the window. She entered the room, and did not seem to realize that any one was there, but sat down by the table, dropping her face into her hands, as if in great perplexity or pain.
CALIFORNIA SCENERY, No. 18.—Among the striking forest trees of California are the great redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens), oftentimes reaching a diameter at the base of 13 feet, and a height of 250 to 300 feet. Similar scenes to the above are common in the redwood lumber regions. The diameter of the logs may be judged by the height of the men. One of the grandest places one ever walked, is in an unbroken redwood grove; a stronger feeling of worship is enkindled than dim-aisled and vaulted cathedral ever knew.
“What’s the matter, my bairn?” questioned Grandma. “Has the world gone ill wi’ ye the day?”
“O grandma, it goes ill with me every day! Everything is a great mystery to me, and I seem like a poor bird, beating its wings against the wires of a cage in a vain attempt to find liberty of spirit. What is truth? I ask over and over.”
“Why, bairn, ha’ ye lost your hold on God and His Word?”
“Grandma, I have never before breathed a word; but the greatest of my troubles is that I can find no harmony in God’s Word, and the story of Jesus seems to me like a beautiful story alone.”
“O my bairn! is it possible that ye ha’ come to this state of darkness?”
“Yes, grandma. Ralph has talked his doubts to me, and showed me the inconsistencies of those who profess to be Christians. The long, cruel history of the world itself seems to say that God, if there is a God, cares naught for His creatures. I was down in the city to-day, and the people’s faces seemed full of unrest and trouble. Poverty and wealth were side by side, and the contrast was too painful. The papers teem with reports of murders, atrocities, and crimes, of famines, pestilences, and wars, and even the church is full of pride, vanity, and selfishness. And there’s no truth in anything or anybody.”
“And so, my bairn, ha’ I so poorly represented my God that ye can say these words before me?”
“O grandma, if there is anybody I have confidence in, it is you! You are true, but we can not believe alike. Hush, there is some one coming! Don’t breathe a word of my trouble, dear grandma.”
“O, it’s your mother and sister! How long they ha’ been out this afternoon! So ye ha’ come at last,” said grandma, as they entered.
“Yes,” said Mrs. Donaldson, “and we have had a strange, glad experience. We met a missionary and his daughter at Mrs. Brown’s, where he was holding a Bible reading, and I have invited them to spend the evening with us. They seem to be devoted Christians; and, grandma, my heart beats with joy as I tell you they think that we are living near the coming of our Lord.”
“Do they? I ha’ been thinking of His coming to-day; for I read in Titus this morning where it says we are to be ‘looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.’ It is a ‘blessed hope,’ and will be a ‘glorious appearing.’ I wonder will these old eyes see that day of days?”
“O grandma!” exclaimed Bertha, “how can you talk so? I should be frightened out of my wits if I thought the coming of the Lord was near. Why, that means the end of the world, doesn’t it?”
“It means the end of all sorrow and evil, and the coming of all that is beautiful and bonny. He that is robed in the wedding-garment of Christ’s righteousness need never fear for His coming. It will only mean to such the entering in to the marriage supper of the Lamb. It will only furnish the chariots of God to conduct us to the palace of the King,” said Mrs. Donaldson.
“But, mama, suppose you are more interested in getting a dress to appear at Margaret’s wedding than one for a marriage far away in heaven; then what will become of you?”
“Bertha, do not talk in this light way. No wedding-garment of earth can be compared to the heavenly garment that was purchased with the precious blood of Christ. It is whiter than any fuller of earth can white it. My heart’s desire for you, Bertha, is that you may become one of the King’s guests, and don the spotless wedding-garment. Without it you may well tremble at the thought of the coming of the Lord, lest you be found naked before Him.”
“Ah! well, mama, I do not think it will come in my day. I intend to live a long, merry life, and then repent when I get old. In this way I can have this world and the next too.”
“Get all you can,” said Ralph, as he entered the room. “But what is it that you are so earnestly discussing?”
“The coming of the Lord,” said grandma.
“What lord?” asked Ralph.
“The Lord Jesus Christ, who was once despised and rejected of men, but who will some day come in great power and glory, to be admired by all who believe.”
“O, well, do not trouble yourselves about the Lord’s coming! You know that according to the orthodox faith the millennium must first come. Of course, you all know that I have little faith in the orthodox doctrine, but rather believe that the world will go on as it has done from the beginning. There is no telling what is to happen.”
“That’s so,” said grandma meditatively. “The millennium must first come, I suppose. There are puzzling things about the coming of the Lord. But then I know that the Judge of all the earth will do right. We shall not be left to go astray; but the honest seeker after truth will be led into all truth.”
“It does not look as if the millennium were coming very soon,” said Margaret. “My heart is fairly broken in looking on the terrible troubles in the world. In the last few years we have heard of pestilences, earthquakes, famines, and rumors of wars. Only the other night my blood ran cold hearing Stitt Wilson lecturing on the appalling social problem that confronts the world. The Stundists have been banished in Russia to Siberia; the Armenians have been slaughtered by the Turks; the Indians have starved by the million; the Chinese have been engaged10in terrible massacres; the Jews have been driven from country to country in pitiful persecution; fearful disasters by land and sea have desolated the world; Cuba is under an iron hand, and our own land is plunged into war.”
“Talking of suffering in the world,” said Ralph, “it seems to me that the poor are the most wretched victims. Look at any large city where the homeless, friendless, outcast masses are pouring in. Tenement houses are fairly stuffed with classes whose condition is almost indescribable for hopelessness. I saw sights in London that cling to me like a nightmare. The rich are getting richer and richer, and the poor, poorer and poorer. Looking at the social world alone, one can but conclude that some terrible revolution must take place. The history of the past promises that a bloody revolution is at hand.”
“Everybody seems to feel that we are on the eve o’ some great crisis,” said grandma.
“Yes, but it’s not the coming of the Lord,” said Bertha; “for has there not always been poverty, trouble, pestilences, famines, and national difficulties. It looks to me as tho there are two opposite forces warring together in this world. The question is, Which is the strongest? One would be a frightful pessimist to think that evil would overcome good. I believe that we shall soon see the golden age again. You know that they have long talked of arbitration. The war can not last long. No doubt the old world will never again take up arms. The dream of Tennyson is about to be fulfilled, when he says,—”
“‘The war drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furled,
In the parliament of men, the federation of the world.’”
“That is a poet’s fancy, sure enough,” said Ralph. “Why, child, do you suppose that the nations have invented the most atrocious, death-dealing weapons for nothing? All Europe is armed, as they say, to the teeth. There’s Russia with her bear’s paw over Turkey and China, and Germany and England and France and Spain all watching like so many hungry wolves, ready at the first possible opportunity to join in the scramble for territory. War has always been a terrible thing, but the war that is ahead of us, that statesmen declare inevitable, will be something unparalleled in the history of the world. If there is anybody left after the war is over, maybe there’ll be a thousand years of peace. The world will need it in order to replenish its inhabitants.”
“Well, I am weary of the whole thing,” sighed Margaret. “I know that inventors seem to be inspired with diabolical ingenuity in devising implements of destruction. One would be led to conclude that men were not made to love one another, by a God of love, but by a God of hate, to hate one another. I look toward the future with dread, and I know that statesmen fear that there threatens the world one of the bloodiest war storms that ever burst upon men. Grandma says that God is love, and that He is long-suffering. I can hardly see how He can forbear to put an end to all the sorrow and strife of the world. But there, mama, come the missionaries, and Mr. McClaren is with them.”
“McClaren is a man that I put little confidence in,” said Bertha. “Whatever has brought him with these missionaries? He always reminds me of the text, ‘O Israel, thy prophets are like the foxes in the deserts;’ for he is always finding new holes through which to crawl out of the conclusion of an honest argument.”
(To be continued.)
BEREAVED
By James Whitcomb Riley
LET me come where you sit weeping—aye,
Let me, who have not any child to die,
Weep with you for the little one whose love
I have known nothing of.
The little arms that slowly, slowly loosed
Their pressure round your neck—the hands you used
To kiss—such arms, such hands, I never knew.
May I not weep with you?
Fain would I be of service, say something
Between the tears that would be comforting,
But ah! so sadder than yourselves am I
Who have no child to die.
—James Whitcomb Riley.
Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee
By H. P. H.
JOTTINGS FROM PALESTINE. No. 3.
Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee.
FRIDAY, January 7, early in the morning, we started from Nazareth for the Sea of Galilee. It was with a keen sense of pleasure that we entered upon this journey. What land is so fraught with thrilling memories as the regions round about Galilee? In the early morning of midwinter the air is fresh and crisp; ascending from Mary’s Well to the north, the road was narrow, and in places so rough and rocky as to be almost impassable; so the first half hour of the journey we walked, till the hill-top was reached. From here we had a fine retrospective view; it is claimed by those that have traveled extensively that this is one of the finest views of all Palestine.
After passing the summit of the hill, we descended gradually to the north by a winding road through quite well cultivated valleys. Here and there are olive and fig orchards. The tops of the hills are generally bare rock, and large portions of some of the valleys are so thickly covered with stones as to be good only for grazing. All of this country from Nazareth to the Sea of Galilee belonged to the tribe of Zebulon.
Nearly one hour from Nazareth, we passed Gath-Hepher, the birthplace of Jonah the prophet. 2 Kings 14:25. Nearly nine hundred years before Christ, the word of the Lord came to Jonah at this place commissioning him to go to Nineveh. In going to Joppa to take a ship for Tarshish, he would pass via Nazareth, across the plain of Jezreel, over Mt. Carmel, and along the shore of the Mediterranean, about three days’ journey. Gath-Hepher is also mentioned in Josh. 19:13, as on the border of the possessions of Zebulon. The place is now but a poor, small village. Near it is shown what is claimed to be the tomb of Jonah.
Scarce half an hour from Gath-Hepher, or nearly an hour and a half from Nazareth, is Cana, where Jesus performed His first miracle by turning water into wine11was taken from this place. While we were watering our horses, several women came with jars on their heads to draw water. They were poorly clad and barefooted, and looked inferior to the women of Nazareth.
A few minutes beyond the spring we reach the village of Cana, called Kefr Kenna in the Arabic. Its population is 600, one-half being Moslems and the other half Christians. The road leading from the spring to the village is lined on both sides by cactus hedges some fifteen feet high. Here and there some of the crimson fruit, called cactus figs, could be seen. At places the road was quite muddy, and as the horses would shy from one side to the other in their efforts to avoid deep holes, we were in constant danger of being suddenly thrust against the threatening spines of the cacti. In the village is a Greek Church, where one is shown a broken water-pot, claimed to date from the wedding at Cana.
CANA OF GALILEE, WHERE JESUS TURNED THE WATER INTO WINE.
Cana is also of interest as having been the home of Nathanael. John 21:2; 1:46. Having lived so near Nazareth, Nathanael was well acquainted with its reputation, hence when Philip said to him: “We have found Him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Joseph,” he at once replied, “Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?” One might conclude that living within an hour and a half’s walk from Nazareth, Nathanael might have been personally acquainted with Jesus; but the Scripture indicates that this was their first meeting. John 1:48.
After leaving Cana we traversed a long, fertile valley, in the land of Zebulon; here and there is a poor village; and usually in the vicinity of the villages are olive and fig orchards. The farming is very poorly done. Should the soil be no better tilled by farmers in America, it would scarce yield a meager living. All through this region the birds are quite plenty. In places, the land is exceedingly stony. After four hours from Nazareth we reached an extensive and fertile, undulating valley. The view here is exceptionally fine; the land is less stony, and the whole reminds one of the valleys of Switzerland, except that trees are almost entirely wanting. It takes us over an hour to cross this valley. At its northwestern extremity rises a conspicuous point called Horn Hattin, to an altitude of 1,135 feet.
While the coachman stops to water and rest his horses, we walk on ahead. As our road passes within half an hour’s walk of Horn Hattin, we determine to ascend it; for this is called the Mount of Beatitudes. It is quite generally accepted that it was here that Christ preached the Sermon on the Mount. The Jewish professor accompanied me; as I proposed to leave the road and ascend the mount, he objected; for he had no special interest in places which are connected with the life of Christ; so he tried his best to dissuade me by assuring me that the distance was very deceiving, and that it would be too fatiguing, etc. But my interest was too great to be easily turned aside; hence I encouraged him to leisurely continue along the road while I made a hasty excursion to the summit; but he was afraid to be left alone, and so unwillingly accompanied me, every little while making fresh efforts to turn me from my purpose.
On the way up we crossed successively plowed fields, meadows, and patches overgrown with weeds; part of our way lay along a ridge, a mound of stones and earth, cast up as a defense in the noted battle which took place here in 1187, when the Moslem general Saladin finally defeated the Crusaders.
As we neared the summit, all at once, to the east, a portion of the Sea of Galilee burst upon the view. The day was fine, and the sea calm; the mountains to the east of the lake were high and treeless, with many ravines leading down towards the sea. As we ascended, more and more of the lake came in view, till we could see nearly the whole length from north to south. At the north end we could plainly see where the Jordan flowed into the sea, and the plain on which Capernaum was situated.
From the summit of Horn Hattin the view is exceptionally fine; to the south are fine stretches of rolling valleys flanked by dome-like hills, mostly covered with soil and green with verdure; to the south rises Mt. Tabor, and to the southeast rise the hills of Gilead and the Hauran Mountains; as our eye sweeps from these towards the east, the lower end of Lake Galilee and the country of the Gadarenes come in view; then the precipitous mountains just east of the lake, and nearly north, looking up the valley of the Jordan, we see in the distance the white summit of Mt. Hermon. Almost directly north we see Safed, a city of 25,000 inhabitants, at an altitude of 2,749 feet, the highest of any town in Galilee. This is a great center for the Jews, it being held as one of the sacred places; for, according to a tradition, the Messiah is to come from Safed. Most of the Jews here are Polish emigrants, under Austrian protection. Looking to the west, we can see a wide range of the hills of Galilee, nearly to the Mediterranean.
The ascent of Horn Hattin is an easy one from the south, the land sloping gradually from the valley to the summit; but on the west it is abruptly broken off. Just beyond, to the west, is a deep valley extending down to the lake. The abrupt cliff commencing with Horn Hattin extends also nearly to the lake; and it was in these cliffs that those notorious robbers had their dens whom Herod destroyed by lowering soldiers with ropes from the summit.
No better place for a large gathering could be made than the gentle and extensive slope to the south from the summit of Horn Hattin. A sermon delivered from this mount could readily be heard by thousands; and the air is so clear that the speaker could be distinctly seen at quite a distance. Then the beautiful and extensive surroundings, with hills, valleys, mountains, grain fields, meadows, Lake Genessaret, and villages and cities, olive and fig orchards,12and palm trees, furnished an almost endless variety of scenes for object lessons. From descriptions which I had read of the Mount of Beatitudes, I had never received the idea that the surroundings are so extensive and so picturesque. Let us rest here awhile, to contemplate the beautiful views and review the many interesting scenes with which they are connected.
H. P. H.
THOROUGHNESS
· WORK thoroughly done brings the worker its own reward, while anything done at random gives the article an unfinished appearance, and stamps the worker—to say the least—as belonging to the crowd.
Thoroughly good work will never be destroyed or go unrewarded.
If we have a favor to confer, let us not do it grudgingly, but thoroughly. If we give a welcome to any one, do it with a will. If we have wherewith to give, give it with all our might.
What is it that lifts the politician, the dauber of paints, the player, and the singer above his fellows, and turns them into prime ministers, artists, musicians, and prima donnas?—It is thoroughness. Thoroughness is the elder brother of genius, and the stronger of the two. Thoroughness will stand alone when genius requires holding up.—Mrs. St. John Leigh.
THE BLIND WEAVER.
By Beth Day
A BLIND boy stood beside the loom
And wove a fabric. To and fro
Beneath his firm and steady touch
He made the busy shuttle go.
And oft the teacher passed that way
And gave the colors, thread by thread,
But by the boy the pattern fair
Was all unseen; its hues were dead.
“How can you weave?” we, pitying, cried.
The blind boy smiled. “I do my best;
I make the fabric firm and strong,
And one who sees does all the rest.”
O happy thought! Beside life's loom
We blindly strive our best to do,
And He who marked the pattern out
And holds the threads will make it true.
—Beth Day, in Youth's Companion.
SWEET-OIL IN COOKING.
By Mrs. A. C. Bainbridge
ONE of the best foods given to mortal man is sweet-oil; but, like many other good things we have wandered away from, we have to learn our way back.
Few stomachs can bear at first, if ever, raw sweet-oil. Buying it in large-sized bottles brings it cheaper; and by putting it into a granite or porcelain kettle, it can all be boiled at once. When it has cooled, put into smaller bottles, more convenient for use. Put it on the back part of the stove, and let it heat slowly; when quite hot, it will bubble, and give out a snapping sound. Cook it until it is clear of bubbles and looks paler in color.
To grease pans or gem-irons, put a half teaspoonful into a clean cup and use a soft paper to apply. It takes very little oil, and the paper can be renewed every time without waste.
To toast mush, lay the slices in a lightly-greased pan, put in the oven, shake once in a while, and turn over so that both sides may brown. The slices may be rolled in germea, corn-meal, granola, or crumbs, according to fancy, and nuts, or slices of banana or other fruit placed on the top.
Oil and Beans.—When the beans have been cooked soft, add one teaspoon of oil to one quart of beans, and simmer carefully for an hour or so. It will form a rich gravy. Oil may also be used in baked beans, bean soup, bean sandwiches, vegetable turkey, or any other form of beans.
Hulled corn, or large hominy, if cooked quite dry, can be fried in oil either in slices or separated in kernels—the latter is preferred by many.
Lightly smear with oil the pan you pop your corn in, and note the flavor.
Just before you dish up your rice, drop a little oil on the top, cover close, and it will soon disappear. Oil the dish very lightly that you serve it in. Some prefer to stir the rice after adding the oil.
One teaspoon oil mixed with one cup of whole-wheat flour, makes a very nice short cracker. Use more oil if you want pie crust.
Many other ways will suggest themselves, as you experiment.
MRS. A. C. BAINBRIDGE.
THE LIFE-CREW MAN.
By Ernest McGaffey
Tho salt as the sea beneath him,
And gray as a foam-tipped swell,
With skin like a wrinkled parchment,
And rough as an ocean swell,
There was something of Christ about him—
Just what, I could not tell.
But the curlew’s cry above him
Of a sudden fired my blood,
And I saw in a chilling vision
The sea in a raging flood,
And a boat on the hungry billows
All dashed with the flying scud.
And there, with his comrades by him,
The bravest of the brave,
The life-crew man flashed by me
On the crest of a giant wave,
And that was the Christ within him—
To succor and to save.
