Earlier text: Question CornerThe Everlasting Rock
By Ernest Lloyd
IT is no argument with a skeptic, yet it is so encouraging to a Christian, that in noticing what may be considered pledges of the success of Christianity one grand fact stands out most clearly—Omnipotence is on its side. This is our security and our strength. Modern infidel philosophy may utter its blasphemies in the colleges and universities, skepticism may prosecute its subtle schemes in society, and, as the consequence, our ranks may be thinned by the desertion of pretended friends; the faith of many of the sincere may be shaken by the severity of the conflict; our adversaries may institute more powerful organizations, and employ far greater talent than we can command; humanly speaking, Christianity may seem doomed to perish; but it is nevertheless safe in the hands of One who is able to protect it, and who will cause it ultimately to prevail. “In estimating our strength,” says one, “we must not look at that which is seen only, at the array of talent and wealth and influence ranged on either side—we must look to the invisible helpers of the faithful, the horses and chariots of fire which surround the church, as to the eye of his servants they appeared to surround the prophet of old; we must remember the omnipotent arm of which prayer lays hold; we have only to pray, and that arm will be moved, and a power will be called into exercise which will baffle the skill and the might of our adversaries, and render our cause triumphant.” The deluded skeptics and sophists may sneer at our weaknesses, and talk contemptuously of the “expiring of Christianity,” and of “Jew-stars now gone out;” but our King reigns. “He who has fought the battles of His church during centuries past, lives to fight her battles still.” His vainglorious adversaries can not contend successfully against Him. He sits in the heavens and laughs at them; He holds their best schemes in derision. Ps. 2:4. Tho far distant, and invisible to them, His ear is open to our prayers; His eye watches the conflict; and in due time He will come forth with great power, and clad in the robes of His imperial majesty. The sound of His voice, as in days of old, will give courage to His people, but strike terror into the hearts of His foes; and “while their exultation will be followed by their overthrow, our feebleness will prove to be the prelude of our victory.” In these days of unsettlement and uncertainty among men, a deeper study of the Word, combined with fervent prayer, will tend to increase our confidence in the triumph of Protestant Christianity. Whatever sneering sophists may vauntingly affirm about the “expiring of Christianity” and “the passing of the Bible,” let us thankfully remember that the wonderful progress of the Gospel message during the past decade tells most nobly that an almighty Power is leading it on to certain victory. The triumph of the right will soon appear. “The morn will break, the dawn of peace is nigh.” “All other religious systems are indeed tottering, because there is no life in them; but simple, Protestant Christianity, even amid the storm and earthquake of nations, is striking deeper into thousands of humble hearts, which are preparing for conflict and for victory.” “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” God will not leave Himself without a faithful host of witnesses in these cloudy days of doubt and mysticism. It is the short-sightedness of man which leads him to suppose, from the objections with which skeptics obscure the light of God’s Word, that that Word no longer exists as the guide of mortals; but, as William Landels truthfully said, “as surely as the winds disperse the passing clouds, and we see that the stars are not blotted out, but are shining still in their serene heights, lighting the traveler on his lonely way, and guiding the mariner in his course over the pathless deep, so surely shall the objections with which Christianity is assailed be dissipated, and that star of the world’s hope be seen shining with an ever-increasing brightness in its mystical night, guiding not the sages alone, but inhabitants of every land, to lay their offerings, and pay their homage, at the feet of the world’s Redeemer, there to find that heart’s ease after which they have been panting so long, a solace under all their sorrows, and the supply of all their wants.” The billows of error, superstition, and infidelity have dashed against the Bible for a thousand years; but they have only shown, on the one hand, the impotency of their fury, and on the other, the impregnability of the foundation against which they have broken. We have no fear for the Bible. It can not be damaged. It can not be shaken. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but the Word of God shall not pass away. It may be assailed by objections which we can not always satisfactorily refute; clouds may surround it which our reason can not penetrate; and we may even hear some songs of triumph wafted from the skeptical camp, where they are exulting over what they call its defeat; but we will feel confident that that exultation is premature, and that it will be speedily followed by wailing. We will be able to say, with another: “I can not answer all of your objections; but I have tried this Word, and felt its power. It must be true, for it has done for me all that it promised, it has satisfied all my longings, and relieved me of my load of wo; it must come from God, for it has led me to Him; and being the Word of truth, and being the Word of God, I know it can not fail.” “Tho the tempests of man’s wild unrest
Have raged around this Book, and all the power
Of human intellects that would not bow
Before the Man Christ Jesus—ay, and all
The stronger powers of darkness have been joined
To hurl Him from His place—He stands to-day
Unmoved, unchanged, within the reach of all,
With outstretched hands and tender voice, and calls
To us who far off in the shadows grope
For light: ‘I am the Way, the Truth, the Life.’” Patrick Henry and the Bible
PATRICK HENRY, eloquent beyond comparison, amiable, virtuous, temperate, never rude, never known to utter a profane expression, valued earthly things more than he did the spiritual life. Not long before his death his eyes were opened to see this; and to a friend who found him reading the Bible he said: "Here is a book worth more than all the other books which ever were printed; yet it is my misfortune never to have found time till lately to read it with proper attention and feeling." Each Day Is the Scholar of Yesterday
Each day is the scholar of yesterday.
—Publius Syrus. The Sabbath Through the Ages
By Charles L. Taylor
XVI. The Sabbath in Eternity
ABOUT six thousand years ago the record of time began. It was then that God, by His own creative word, spoke light and life and symmetry into the darkness, death, and chaos of earth. It was then that in His own image He made man, and set him to have dominion. It was then that Jehovah pronounced His completed work "very good," and gave to man a memorial of His glorious creation in the gift of the Sabbath.
Without fear of successful contradiction it may be said here, on the strength of Inspiration, that the Eden in which our first parents found a home was not an experiment. "Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever." Eccl. 3:14. The life given to man — the life in uprightness — was to measure with the life of God; and his dominion, as a part of God's greater dominion, was to be everlasting. The earth, perfect in all its proportions, and glorious beyond description, was formed "to be inhabited;" and, as the home of an eternally upright ruler, was to abide forever. Eccl. 1:4. Eternity was stamped upon the face of the whole Eden plan. All this is so plain that even a child can see and know it. But what shall be said of the Sabbath which was so wonderfully placed at the close of creation week? Have we not seen very clearly that God instituted the Sabbath day as a monument to His Creatorship, that through it man might always be kept in touch with his Maker? Was not the Sabbath the spiritual crown of a completed creation, a halo of divine beneficence encircling the handiwork of the Eternal? But so certainly as that great truth is taught in the Scriptures, so certainly the Sabbath was to continue without end. That was before sin entered. Has the coming of sin caused the Almighty to discard that creation arrangement, and adopt some other not clearly revealed? Is earth to be abandoned? Will Satan really succeed in holding the ground which for a short time he has occupied as a usurper? Will man never be restored to his lost estate? The very day when sin made the first breach, that day the Son of God, the "Seed" of the woman, threw Himself into the gap, and by the gift of Himself insured the restoration of all that had been lost. In all its purposes, plans, and parts the Edenic concept will through Him be carried out. Man's life, man's righteousness, man's home, and man's Sabbath gift will all be given back. That the foregoing statements are correct may be seen by reference to the Gospel plan as revealed in our Lord Jesus Christ. He came to seek and save that which was lost. Luke 19:10. To Him, the second Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), "the first dominion" will be restored. Micah 4:8. Unto Him all things shall be subdued, even as at the first. 1 Cor. 15:27, 28. The day will come when our Lord's priestly work shall be finished, and when the kingdoms of this world shall become His. Rev. 11:15. At that time He will call all His redeemed ones to share with Him the inheritance, even the kingdom prepared "from the foundation of the world." Matt. 25:34. That kingdom will be this world (Matt. 5:5; Rom. 4:13), and will therefore be "under the whole heaven" (Dan. 7:27), the earth in its length and breadth. To bring about that wonderfully blessed state, our heavenly Father has covenanted to "make all things new." Rev. 21:5. By the mighty workings of His grace, by angel ministration and Spirit power, the Son of God draws man to Himself, and makes him a "new creature." The "old things" of life are destroyed, made to pass away; and the "new" and better take their place. 2 Cor. 5:17. By the presence of His own consuming power in the soul, the dross of character is consumed, the being is purified, and made ready to stand "face to face" with the Eternal. Thus is man made ready for him, — the home beyond. A Renewed Earth for a Renewed People
But this is not the all of Gospel creative power. Earth itself is to be made new. Isa. 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Rev. 21:1. Man having been made ready for home, so will home be made ready for him. The same creative power which made him a new man, now makes a new earth. In that renewed state, made clean by the purifying fires of God's own kindling (2 Peter 3:10-12), neither sin nor sinner shall find the least place; all that marred is forever removed. Rev. 5:13. There, Eden will again be found; there the Tree of Life, and there the River of Life. Rev. 22:1-5. And God Himself shall dwell among men. Rev. 21:3. In that day of life and peace and joy, in that country all undefiled, the blessed Sabbath will also hold a large and honored place. Listen to God's great announcement: "For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before Me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before Me, saith the Lord." Isa. 66:22, 23. How wonderfully this parallels the plan followed when earth first came from the hand of the Almighty! Of that time we read: "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And . . . He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it; because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made." Gen. 2:1-3. And just so it will be again. When "the new heavens and the new earth" shall be completed, when new men and women and children, created anew in Christ Jesus, shall be found in Eden's recesses, then again God will rest, and give to a sinless people an unchangeable and eternal Sabbath. Hindered but Not Thwarted
The blessed design of the first Eden was marred and for a time lost because man, on probation and test, proved unfaithful to the trust committed to his care. But when Paradise shall finally be restored through Christ, the testings will all be past, and character fixed. Sin shall not rise up the second time. Man will then be immortal, and beyond all possibility of falling. And thus it will be that the Sabbath, by choice of unchangeable people, shall be observed throughout ceaseless ages. How beautifully fitting is the thought of eternal Sabbath-keeping! God's eternal power and creatorship will constitute an eternal reason, and call for an eternal Sabbath memorial. Every pulsing of every redeemed heart will be a reminder of the goodness and mercy and power of Divinity; and thus indeed "all flesh," out of the very spontaneity of overflowing and ever-increasing enjoyment of creative results, will gather "from one Sabbath to another" and join with the "morning stars" in ascribing praise to the Author of redemption. Then, in truth and in all fulness, Ex. 31:16, 17 will find its fulfilment. In the experience of eternal "Israel"—the overcomers of all the ages—Sabbath-keeping will prove a "perpetual covenant" of life and peace. "There remaineth therefore a Sabbath rest to the people of God." Heb. 4:9. That which was given at the very "foundation of the world," when "God did rest the seventh day from all His works," has been kept8 throughout the ages. The oppositions of sin, the unbelief of God's professed children, and the rivalry of a corrupt sun-worshiping day, have sought to obliterate both the fact and the time of Jehovah's "rest;" but it still remains, held in trust for God's triumphant church. Dear brother, sister, think carefully upon these things. They are more than mere tales to be heard and soon forgotten. The day of life is near at hand. Soon "He that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Make sure of right relationship to God, that in the glorious new earth, where Sabbaths shall have no end, you may join in the holy service of the redeemed which, week by week, shall enlist the interest and enthusiasm of the entire universe. What the Methodist Episcopal Church Teaches
(From Catechism No. 2. Articles 5 and 6 are substantially the same.) "86. What is the rule of our obedience? "The moral law. 'If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.' Matt. 19:17. "87. Where is the moral law given? The Teachings of Albert Barnes
"We learn, hence, (1) that all the law of God is binding on Christians (compare James 2:10); (2) that all the commands of God should be preached, in their proper place, by Christian ministers; (3) that they who pretend that there are any laws of God so small that they need not obey them, are unworthy of His kingdom; and (4) that true piety has respect to all the commandments of God. Compare Ps. 119:6." David’s Triumph and Saul’s Downfall
The week begins with the war with the Philistines, and passes on to Goliath's challenge, David's triumph over the Philistine, Jonathan's love for David, and Saul's anger and jealousy, the story of David's fleeing from Saul's wrath, from one stronghold in forest and mountain to another; Saul's inconsistent and awful madness; David's going at last to the Philistines to escape Saul's anger; and Saul himself reaching that place of degradation in spiritual things that God leaves him, and he seeks the counsel of one who has a familiar spirit. Then comes that last great, sad battle, in which the hosts of Israel are defeated. Saul himself is slain, and the news is brought to David by one who thought that David would rejoice in that news, but who for all his part in it is slain by the now king of Israel. One wonderful mark of character manifest in David all the way through is his submission to the government that was. Hunted, despised, hated by Saul; himself already anointed as king,—yet he will not lift his hand against the Lord's anointed; he will leave all this judgment with God, who, David knows, in His own time will bring to naught all those who had conspired against him and kept him back from his own right. Very beautiful is the song David composed over Jonathan and Saul. THE eyes of Jehovah run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him.” Thus spoke the seer of God to King Asa of Judah, who in his fancied extremity turned from his God to Syria. He put the seer in prison, but did not destroy the truth. It is a solemn truth to the hypocrite, to the dissimulator. Men often, nearly always under some circumstances, try to act better than their heart. In thus doing, they often deceive men, but never God. “Man looketh on the outward appearance; but the Lord looketh on the heart,” and discerns the inward motives, the springs of action. He knows whether the outwardly good act was prompted to deceive or to win some coveted prize, or whether it was the fruit borne by a heart yielded to God. But the text is a blessed, comforting thought to the true man who makes what seems to him such slow progress and does such poor work for God. He knows that the will is his to do, that the heart responds to God’s love; and the Master knows. He will cleave to the Infinite One, who is strong in his behalf. It is the time of trial which tests, trials where great moral principles are involved. When God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, Jonah petulantly refused, and sought to run away from God. Yet he did not deny Him; and when the ship was imperiled on his account, he came forward nobly, acknowledged his fault, and told the shipmen to cast him overboard. To him it meant certain death, and he met it bravely; but God knew that after all Jonah’s heart was true, and He showed Himself strong on behalf of the petulant prophet. It is good for the Christian to know that God knows the heart. Sometimes we meet impatient men, nervous men, dyspeptic men, passionate men. They profess to be Christians, and God seems to use them. But we wonder if they really are. But some great test comes into the life, and they meet it faithful to God; and our self-complacent, self-conceited heart sinks in shame at our littleness of soul, at our assumption in judging. God knew that the heart was perfect all the time; but the training was not yet complete. Remembering this will help us to see the reason of God’s dealing with Abraham, David, and others. Abraham’s concubinage was sin. David failed often. Yet deep down below all the mistakes, were the hearts true to God in every test, the involving sacrifices dearer than life. It is “throughout the whole earth” that God searches. Not only among His own professed people, but out in the great, dark, heathen world God searches to find the men of single, true-heartedness. They may be ignorant of many things; but if the heart is yielded to the highest conception of God, the Master will lead on to glorious and eternal light and victory. THE narrow way is just as roomy horizontally, straight ahead. It seems sometimes as if no other track were ever so beset with obstacles. How they loom up—opposition, disaster, barriers that can not be passed. But the beauty of it is that the obstacles are always more than one step ahead. There is always room for that one step. Who wants more? If this does not always seem so, one has only to take the step, and he discovers that what looked like solid, formidable rock was only a shadow cast by his own fears or the enemy's frown. Never yet has there been a rock in the narrow way. It is the channel, the path of duty, the way where the sailing is. Breasting some unknown river, one sees ahead of him the stubborn mountains closing in till there is no sign of an outlet; but all he has to do is to follow the Pilot's directions, and he will find the formidable gateway unclosing just where it seemed the most unyielding. We hesitate to run our boat into that slender lane between the ice-floes. We are sure we shall be crushed. But a mighty Hand holds the floes apart while we pass through, and makes them the buffer that wards off more fearful blows. The narrow way seems a lane, but it is an avenue. The broad way which appears to have so much room ahead is always leading us into unexpected difficulties; we are forever crashing into unlooked-for rocks, the sure result of our selfishness, or blind ambition, or unspiritual desire, or other and deeper sin. It seems an avenue, but it continually proves "no thorofare."—Sunday School Times. SUFFERING in the truest sense can not fairly be pictured by a crushed and baffled, pain-smitten wreck of a man, but rather by the vision of a form erect and competent, sturdily set up for the lifting of loads and the carrying of cares, pushing on enduringly as conqueror and not as captive. To suffer is to bear up into the teeth of things, painfully if need be, but with no unstringing of fiber, no liquefying of the bones, no shuddering lapse into a mere quiver of aches and pains.—Anon. NEVER forget God's nature; God is love. Never forget that He "is no respecter of persons;" that He loves you just as truly as He loved Paul or Luther or Wesley. In Christ Jesus He loves you as He loves His Son. Never forget that "He delighteth in mercy;" that He "taketh pleasure" "in those that hope in His mercy." Never forget that Jehovah has sworn by His very life that He has "no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his evil way and live." Never forget that it is He who says: "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto Jehovah, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon." Surely, with all these assurances and many more, the Christian need never be discouraged. Nay, more, no man need ever be discouraged. If the man be not a Christian, God will make him one, if he so desires; and in covenant relation with Christ, all the promises are his. O, there is no god like our God, Creator, Redeemer, Preserver, Friend. He will never cast you off as long as there is hope; then why should you reject Him? With Him only is "the fountain of life." "The Spirit and the bride say, Come." In all the dark, hard places of life, never forget the goodness, the love, the mercy, the power, of God. The Child and His Religion
"The Child and His Religion." By George E. Dawson, Ph. D., Professor of Psychology, Hartford School of Religious Pedagogy. 124 pages. Price, cloth, 75 cents net, 82 cents post-paid. The book is a summary of magazine articles by the author. Many who have read the articles and listened to the addresses have wished that the material be put into accessible form, and this book is a response to that request. The scope of the work is fairly well expressed by the chapter headings, Interest as a Measure of Values, The Natural Religion of Children, Child's Interest in the Bible, The Problem of Religious Education. The author recognizes the fact that it is a theoretical as well as a practical demand of the Christian religion that the Bible should be a principal source of religious culture material, and that that reasoning is not apt to be questioned by any one who thinks seriously upon the subject. The author evidently feels no deep conviction in respect to this. He simply admits it in a general way. His conclusion is that, everything considered, it is probable that the typical boy or girl from nine to fourteen is more attracted to the Old Testament than to the New. But we do not know how any Biblical reader or lover could agree with him in his statement that "fear, anger, jealousy, hatred, revenge, etc., are conspicuous attributes of God and men in the Old Testament; while sympathy, compassion, trustfulness, and love are the most prominent attributes of God and men in the New." He reads the Bible in a very shallow way indeed who can not find the love and tenderness of God in an abundant measure in the Old Testament as well as in the New. There are some suggestions in the book which may be helpful to the wise teacher. On the other hand, we believe that the sympathetic teacher will find greater benefit in instinctively grasping the needs of the child, and meeting its genuine spontaneous longings by feeding the simple faith upon the blessed truths of the Word of God and the teachings of nature in harmony with that Word. "The Valor of Ignorance." By Homer Lea. Illustrated with specially prepared maps. Cloth, gilt top. Price $1.80 net. Harper and Brothers, publishers, New York and London. A better understood title of this striking book would be "The Control of the Pacific," or "The Future Mastery of the Pacific;" for General Lea very clearly sets forth who the master of the great ocean might be regardless of the United States in her present unprepared naval condition. The matter composing this book is not a hasty, ill-considered utterance. It was written before the Portsmouth Treaty (between Japan and Russia), signed in September and October, 1905. It was laid aside by the author, that sufficient lapse of time might verify or disprove its theories. He now feels that his views have been confirmed, and that he is justified in giving his conclusions and the reasons therefor to the public. Some of the chapters appeared in Harper's Weekly last year, and we gave them quite extended review at the time. They are before us now in book form. The author is himself a military officer, and evidently writes whereof he knows. Lieutenant-General Adna R. Chaffee, late chief-of-staff, United States Army, writes the "Introduction," and says of the work, "We do not know of any work in military literature published in the United States more deserving the attention of men who study the history of the United States and the Science of War than this—The Valor of Ignorance." A second introduction by Major-General J. P. Story, a retired officer of the United States Army, echoes the same thought. The object of General Lea's book is to show the utter unpreparedness of the United States, in case of war with Japan, for instance, and therefore her utter inability to defend or retain her possessions in the Pacific, or to prevent Japan from seizing and holding for indefinite time her entire Pacific Coast region. He shows that the United States is lacking in colliers and complete naval equipment, in transports, in men, in disciplined soldiers, in effective plans, to meet possible attack or invasion. He shows that Japan is now the great military power of the Pacific, and that it would be perfectly possible for her to seize and safeguard with defenses the Philippines, Guam, the Hawaiian Islands, and Alaska. That little island empire has sufficient transports to land on the Pacific Coast, within three months, 400,000 troops, and seize all its large cities, defended with "insignificant resistance," before the United States could muster an army to repel or even to check her. And then if the army and the navy of the East were sent to the West, the East itself would be open to the invasion of an army of 250,000 from Germany, which according to the German General Staff could be landed in two weeks. Under latter-day transportation conditions America is indeed isolated no longer. The first part of the book is an able philosophical treatise on the underlying reasons of the rise and fall of nations. The author keenly dissects and analyzes the different forms of patriotism, the commonest of which "is to be found in uncompromising and general contempt for all nations, together with an inveterate prejudice against some one of them." Another is that which condones or conceals national faults and crimes, and indulges in vaingloriousness. Conversely, the true patriot is the one who recognizes the strength and power of other nations, notes the faults and crimes and weaknesses of his own, and seeks at all times to correct them. To quote: "If there is any patriotism worth having, it belongs alone to the primitive principles of the Republic, to the militant patriotism of those who in simple, persistent valor laid with their swords the foundation of this national edifice, and who after seven years of labor cemented with their own blood the thirteen blocks of its foundation. The continuation of this building, and the endless extension of the Republic, the maintenance of its ideals, and the consummation, in a world-wide sense, of the aspirations of its founders, constitutes the only pure patriotism to which an American can lay claim, or, in defense of, lay down his life." The author recognizes that many will be bitter against him for the writing of the book, for laying open the faults and weaknesses of the great Republic; but this very thing he believes it duty to do. The book presents conditions pregnant with awful possibilities. Fear of untoward complications—to our mind, God's supervision over the affairs of nations—will postpone war for a time—then Armageddon. The conditions in America, her unpreparedness for war, her heterogeneous, unstable population, her ignorance of actually changed conditions, seem to demand from the patriot lover of his country just such a warning as this. It is eloquent of the truth of divine prophecy. "The Wrong and Peril of Woman Suffrage."
By James M. Buckley. Bound in red cloth, back and side stamp in white: Price 75 cents net. Fleming H. Revell Company, New York, Chicago, and London. He who writes on the other side of the woman suffrage question under the present trend of opinion, must be brave, and willing to become unpopular in large circles. Dr. Buckley, the editor of the Christian Advocate (New York), has the courage of his conviction; and he presents some strong, clear arguments against woman suffrage. He presents these arguments not because he despises woman, or does not to the full recognize her superior gifts, her rightful position in life, her power, her great influence for good, but because he does so recognize the rightful exalted place of woman. The book is "dedicated to men and women who look before they leap." In twenty-five short, pointed chapters, the author quite thoroly covers the ground. He reviews the movement in different lands, discusses the nature of womanhood in relation to society, gives us five chapters in the refutation of arguments for woman suffrage, shows the results of trials, and presents seven chapters of vital objections against it. The last article of Dr. Buckley's "creed" is as follows: "I believe that there are two objects in nature alike obnoxious—a mannish woman and a womanish man; also in the wisdom as well as the wit of the toast offered at a banquet, a day after woman suffrage went into effect in one of the states of the Union: 'The ladies: Our superiors yesterday, our equals to-day.'" Those who wish an instructive handbook on the subject, will not be disappointed in the above work. "Crime and Criminals." By the Prison Reform League. 330 pages; cloth-bound; illustrated; price $1.00. Prison Reform League Publishing Company, 443 S. Main St., Los Angeles, Cal. The object of this book is to demonstrate the truthfulness of its text, an utterance from President William H. Taft: "I believe, and I regret to say it, that throughout this country the administration of the criminal law and the prosecution of crime are a disgrace to our civilization." The book in its fourteen chapters and appendix abundantly evidences the truthfulness of the text. It shows from governmental and official reports that crime is increasing. It discusses capital punishment and its motive, and the cruelty of deterrent measures. It reveals the awful inwardness of life in San Quentin, in both its male and female departments, by reports from those who know. Southern convict camps, county and city jails, and in fact most of that which pertains to crime and criminals, are set forth strongly, clearly, in order if possible to arouse the public conscience, that a reform may be effected. The truth of the text from President Taft is forcibly, horribly, tremendously, yet dispassionately, judicially, demonstrated. Every chapter demands reform in dealing with crime and criminals. We wonder if this clear note by Colonel Griffith, the secretary of the Prison Reform Association, will be heard by those who have it in their power to help the fallen and the weak. Decisive Battles of America
"Decisive Battles of America." Edited by Ripley Hitchcock. Illustrated. Price $1.50. Harper and Brothers, New York and London. This book is not a mere list or catalog of noted battles of America. It gives a general view of the country, and its principal events, chiefly military, in its development. Not less than fourteen writers, historians and military men, are laid under tribute in the building of the book. It covers the history of the country from the earliest "territorial concepts," shortly after the discovery of the continent, to the last conflict in the war with Spain. Battles which are noted in most accounts by the barest facts, are herein told in strong and graphic sketch. The intervals between the "decisive battles" are filled by a synopsis of events. There are 22 chapters, 16 half-tones, and several maps and diagrams. It is an interesting book to read, as well as a useful handbook of reference. "Practical House Framing." A Simple Explanation of the Best Methods of Laying Out and Erecting Balloon and Braced Frames. By Albert Fair. Price, cloth, 50 cents. Industrial Book Company, New York City. Mr. Fair is also author of the "Steel Square as a Calculating Machine," and other useful works. The book contains a house framing chart which is decidedly instructive, and numerous text illustrations. As indicating the scope of the work, some of the chapter headings are, The Frame House, Sills, Joists, Studs, Balloon Framing, Floors and Joists, Framing the Floor, Framing the Walls, Partitions, Bay Windows and Towers, Special Forms of Sills, Principles of Bracing, Braced Frames, Fire Stops, Sheathing. It seems to us a decidedly practical little book in every way, for both the experienced and the inexperienced carpenter. It has also an excellent index. Martyrs in All Ages; or a Persecuted People
"Martyrs in All Ages; or a Persecuted People." Compiled by F. L. Potter. Metropolitan Church Association, Waukesha, Wis. The object of this little work is to call to memory, through representative cases, the martyrs of the Christian dispensation who have stood boldly and suffered gladly for Christ rather than deny the faith. The time covered is divided into five periods: From the early disciples to the Reformation, during the Reformation, in Scotland and the Huguenots, of the modern Inquisition, and since the Inquisition. There are many persons enumerated, and there are various illustrations, which we do not believe help much. It seems to us that the thing which needs emphasis is the faith and endurance of the martyrs, not the wickedness of their persecutors. Victims themselves of a vicious system, they are more to be pitied than the martyrs. The book is of value in the list which it gives, if data are correct. An index would be helpful. May the recorded faith inspire faith to endure. The American Prohibition Year Book for 1910
By The Editor
"The American Prohibition Year Book for 1910," edited by Charles R. Jones, Alonzo E. Nilson, and the editor of the Prohibition Press, Fred O. L. Squires, published by the National Prohibition Press, 92 La Salle Street, Chicago, comes to our table filled with all sorts of information which every temperance worker, as well as political Prohibitionist, needs. The minister and social reformer will want it. The politician and statesman ought to weigh its arguments and facts. We have not space to list a tithe of the good things it contains and the information it gives on the temperance question; it is multum in parvo. It contains 256 pages of latest data, tables, diagrams, facts, and arguments, arranged for ready reference. The diagrams are very forcible, and figures we are assured are accurate. Cloth, 50 cents; paper, 25 cents. Sermons on Bible Characters
“Sermons on Bible Characters.” By Rev. Ed[win] S. L. Harvey. Metropolitan Church Association, Waukesha, Wis. There are eleven sermons in the book, upon Belshazzar, Jacob, Jabez, Joseph, Jonadab, Moses, Achan, Abraham, Rahab, Lazarus. We do not, can not, because it is utterly unbiblical and unchristian, unjust, and unreasonable, endorse the theory of an ever-burning hell filled with the never-dying damned. Apart from this the book contains good practical lessons.