Earlier text: Sainthood and ChristianityTHE KINGDOM OF CONGO AND THE ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARIES.
(Continued.)
About the middle of the sixteenth century, however, the labors of the missionaries met with a serious interruption in consequence of an invasion of the country by hordes of the war-like Giaghis. San Salvador was burnt to the ground, and the king and his people had to betake themselves to the "isle of horses," on the Zaire, for safety. In this extremity, the king of Congo appealed to Don Sebastian, king of Portugal, for help, which was promptly granted. Don Francis Gouvea was dispatched with six or eight hundred Portuguese troops, and after having been re-enforced by two or three hundred more, from Angola, he gave battle to the invaders in the heart of the kingdom. After several engagements, in which the Giaghis showed great bravery, he succeeded in driving them from the country, and restored the king to his throne.
The missionaries, who it is supposed retired to Angola during these strifes, returned to their labors, and having been re-enforced by new recruits from Europe, not only re-established the Catholic worship in all the provinces of Congo, but extended their labors into neighboring districts over which the king of Congo had no jurisdiction. In the meantime San Salvador was rebuilt, commerce was resumed on a more extended scale, and the country soon attained to a degree of prosperity and power quite beyond anything it had previously known. This period of peace and prosperity, however, was not of more than forty or fifty years' continuance.25
In the year 1636 a civil war broke out between the king of Congo and the count of Sogno. The occasion of this war arose from an unjustifiable attempt on the part of the king to transfer the province of Sogno to the crown of Portugal. Having had need of the aid of the Portuguese of Angola to effect his coronation, he engaged to give them for their assistance two gold mines and the country of Sogno. The proposition, as might have been foreseen, roused the indignation of the people, as well as the count, to the highest pitch, and they soon placed themselves in an attitude of defiance. The count denied the sovereignty of the king of Congo, and not only charged the Portuguese with fraud in accepting what he had no right to give, but reproached them bitterly with ingratitude, inasmuch as only a few years before, when they were driven out of Loando St. Paul by the Dutch, he had given them shelter in his country and extended to them pardon that had never been requited. The king of Congo raised a large army, and having been joined by about eighty Portuguese, he determined to force the count into submission. In the first engagement the Sognoese army was beaten, and the count himself was slain. His son and successor, who was a man of equal energy and bravery, resumed the war, and in the first engagement the royal army was not only defeated, but the king himself and a large number of his Portuguese allies were made prisoners. The king, Don Alvaro the Second, obtained his own liberation by acknowledging the independence of the count and ceding to him an additional district of the country. It was not long, however, before this treaty was denounced, and hostilities were recommenced by the king, but with no better success. For a time hostilities were suspended, but the country of Sogno was never afterwards united to the crown of Congo. The part which the Portuguese had taken at the commencement of these troubles, made them ever afterwards intolerably odious to the Sognoese. The count indulged his resentment by persecuting the missionaries in his country. Several of them were ignominiously dragged out of his dominions and thrown among the savages on the opposite side of the river, where it was thought they would be put to death. It was not long, however, according to the statements of the missionaries, before this deed of violence recoiled with redoubled force upon the count's own head. The love which the people bore to their religious teachers, and the apprehension of some dreadful calamity from Heaven, roused them to a state of frenzy, and the count in turn was seized and drowned in the Zaire, near the spot where he had perpetrated this deed of cruelty against the missionaries. A more devout successor ascended his throne, and the missionaries were recalled to exercise more absolute authority than they had ever done before. About the same time Don Alvaro the Second sent to Pope Urban the Eighth for a new recruit of missionaries. In compliance with this request, twelve Capuchins were sent; but having been detained on account of the war with Spain, they did not reach Congo until after this king's death. A part of this company remained with the count of Sogno, and the others found their way to San Salvador, where they were kindly received by Don Garcia the Second, the son and successor of Don Alvaro. The reign of Don Garcia was short, and he was succeeded by Don Antonio the First, who, by his unparalleled wickedness and brutality, not only threw his whole kingdom into disorder and anarchy, but had nearly extirpated every trace of Christianity from the land. He not only behaved in the most despotic and brutal manner to his own subjects, but treated the Portuguese residents and the missionaries with so much indignity that they were compelled to fly from his realms. It was not long, however, before the Portuguese of Angola determined to resent these indignities. An army of one or two thousand natives and four hundred Portuguese soldiers was raised, and they determined to give this impudent king battle in the heart of his own country. Don Antonio himself was killed, and his crown was taken to Loando St. Paul. Had the Portuguese been so disposed, they might have turned this victory to good account by subjecting the whole kingdom to the Portuguese crown. But this seems never to have been desired. As they enjoyed a monopoly of the trade of the country, there was no object in making it a dependency of the crown of Portugal. There was also, it is probable, a religious motive which prevented the Portuguese from seizing upon the country. Congo had received the Catholic religion at a very early period after its discovery, and its sovereigns, with one or two exceptions, had always shown as much deference for the authority of Rome as those of Portugal itself. All of her kings had been crowned according to the Catholic ceremonial, and the crown itself had been bestowed by the pope as a testimony of their loyalty. After the signal defeat just mentioned, the country was left to recover from its disorders as best it could. It was not long, however, before order was restored and another king placed on the throne of Don Antonio, but who he was we are not informed. He signalized his reign by an unsuccessful effort to reunite the province of Sogno to the crown of Congo. Father Carli, in 1667, saw the great duke of Bamba, who was always the leader of the royal forces, just after he had disbanded an army of 150,000, with which he had in vain attempted the subjugation of the count of Sogno. Twenty years later, and the great duke himself had renounced his allegiance to the king, and cut off all intercourse between the capital and Loando St. Paul. The close of the seventeenth century may therefore be regarded as the termination of the national existence of the kingdom of Congo. The missionaries continued their labors in some parts of the country, especially in the province of Sogno, some time after the dissolution of the Government. During the earlier part of the eighteenth century their authority in Sogno was nearly as great as it had ever been; so much so that English vessels could not buy slaves in the port of Sony without first conciliating their good-will. At what time precisely, or from what causes, they finally abandoned the country altogether, we are not certainly informed, and can therefore only conjecture. Before the close of the eighteenth century, indeed, for anything we know to the contrary, before the middle of it, not only all their former civilization, but almost every trace of Christianity, had disappeared from the land, and the whole country had fallen back into the deepest ignorance and heathenism, and into greater weakness and poverty than had ever been experienced, even before its discovery.—Bibliotheca Sacra. NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
THIS is a lesson so full of strong points that but little space can be devoted to each. Jesus had just returned from healing the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman, and had reached the region of Cæsarea Philippi. Seemingly without any previous introduction, he asked his disciples: "Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist; some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets." These ideas that were held by different persons were no doubt derived from Deut. 18:18; Mal. 4:5. Besides this, it seems they had a tradition that before the end some of the prophets would rise from the dead; they were looking for the Messiah at about the time of Christ's advent, but they had confounded the prophecies concerning his first and his second advent, and were looking for him to come in glory. Accordingly, some thought that Jesus might be one of the prophets risen from the dead as a pledge of the general resurrection. Notice, however, that nobody is reported as saying that Christ was the Son of God. It seems that a belief of this was confined almost exclusively to his disciples.26 "He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." Here was a recognition of Christ's real nature and mission. "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God,"—the Son of the Author of life,—conveying the same idea as in the confession recorded in John 6:68, 69: "Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God." The confession of faith which Peter made on behalf of the disciples, must have been as a refreshing draught to Jesus, in view of the way in which he was regarded by the world at large. AND Jesus answered and said unto him, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona [Simon son of Jonas]; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven." No human being had revealed this wonderful truth to Peter; no human being could reveal it. For "the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 1 Cor. 2:14. Says Paul: "Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God." 2 Cor. 5:16-18. From these texts we learn that no matter how much one may have heard of Christ, he doesn't know him if he has not received the revelation which God alone can give by his Spirit. He who has this knowledge indeed, is a new creature. Many can testify that when Christ was revealed to them as the Saviour of sinners, and not merely of sinners in general, but of them in particular, it was in the place of secret prayer; or perhaps it was after hearing words, the like of which they had often before heard unmoved. And nothing could be more positive than the knowledge which is thus revealed. No argument could make it so plain, and no argument could make the individual doubt the knowledge thus revealed. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit." John 3:8. "AND I say unto thee, Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Upon this we quote the following from Edersheim's "Life of Jesus the Messiah:"— "Not less Jewish in form are the succeeding words of Christ: 'Thou art Peter (Petros), and upon this Rock (Petra) will I build my church.' We notice in the original the change from the masculine gender, 'Peter' (Petros), to the feminine, 'Petra' ('Rock'), which seems the more significant, that Petros is used in Greek for 'stone,' and also sometimes for 'rock,' while Petra always means a 'rock.' The change of gender must therefore have a definite object, which will presently be more fully explained. Meantime we recall that, when Peter first came to Christ, the Lord had said unto him: 'Thou shalt be called Cephas, which is, by interpretation, Peter [Petros, a Stone, or else a Rock]'—the Aramaic word Kepha meaning, like Peter, both 'stone' and 'rock.' But both the Greek Petros and Petra have (as already stated) passed into Rabbinic language. Thus, the name Peter, or rather Petros, is Jewish, and occurs, for example, as that of the father of a certain Rabbi (José bar Petros). When the Lord, therefore, prophetically gave the name Cephas, it may have been that by that term he gave only a prophetic interpretation to what had been his previous name, Peter. This seems the more likely, since, as we have previously seen, it was the practice in Galilee to have two names, especially when the strictly Jewish name, such as Simon, had no equivalent among the Gentiles. Again, the Greek word Petra—Rock—('on this Petra [Rock] will I build my church') was used in the same sense in Rabbinic language." "Believing that Jesus spoke to Peter in the Aramaic, we can now understand how the words Petros and Petra would be purposely used by Christ to mark the difference, which their choice would suggest. Perhaps it might be expressed in this somewhat clumsy paraphrase: 'Thou art Peter (Petros)—a Stone or Rock—and upon this Petra—the Rock, the Petrine—will I found my church.' If, therefore, we would not entirely limit the reference to the words of Peter's confession, we would certainly apply them to that which was the Petrine in Peter: the Heaven-given faith which manifested itself in his confession. And we can further understand how, just as Christ's contemporaries may have regarded the world as rearen on the rock of faithful Abraham, so Christ promised that he would build his church on the Petrine in Peter—on his faith and confession." SOME have thought from the reading of Eph. 2:19, 20 that Christ referred, not to Peter alone, but to all the apostles, as the rock upon which his church should be built. That text reads: "Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone." But 1 Cor. 3:10, 11 shows just how this should be taken. There the apostle Paul says: "According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." THIS text teaches that Jesus Christ is the only foundation; he is not only the chief corner-stone, but the entire foundation. Then how could Paul say to the Ephesian brethren that they were built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets? He means the foundation which the apostles and prophets laid, as he says in 1 Cor. 3:10, that is, Jesus Christ as the Life-giver and the Saviour of sinners. That this is the foundation to which he refers, is proved by the second verse of the preceding chapter: "For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified." This was the foundation which all the apostles laid, as Peter himself said after he had healed the lame man: "Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:10, 12. And this was likewise the foundation of the prophets, as Peter further says: "To him [i.e., to Jesus] give all the prophets witness, that through his name whosoever believeth in him shall receive remission of sins." Acts 10:43. Thus we see that the rock upon which Christ's church is founded, is belief from the heart in him as the one whose blood can cleanse from sin. "AND the gates of hell [hades, the grave] shall not prevail against it." This does not mean that the gates of the grave are carrying on an aggressive warfare against the church, hurling themselves against it in a vain endeavor to overthrow it. Gates don't "prevail" in that way, neither do men use gates in that way in warfare. Gates "prevail" against anyone when they effectually bar his passage. Now Christ is the Son of the living God; and "as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself" (John 5:26), "that he should give eternal life" to as many as the Father should give him. See John 17:2. He says of himself, "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forever more, Amen; and have the keys of hell [hades, the grave] and of death." Rev. 1:18. SATAN has the power of death (Heb. 2:14); the grave is his prison-house, and all the dead he counts as his lawful prey, since death came because of sin. So he, as "a strong man armed keepeth his palace" (Luke 11:21), and "opened not the house of his prisoners." Isa. 14:17. But Christ is the stronger than he, who has come upon him, and overcome him, and passing through his prison-house, has carried away the keys, and will divide the spoils. Luke 11:22; Isa. 53:12. The saints of God may go into the grave; Satan may stir up persecution against them, and may slay them by the thousands; but the gates of the grave cannot prevail to hold a single soul that has been fastened to the eternal Rock. "He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." "AND I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven." No power was here conferred upon Peter that was not conferred in equal measure upon the other apostles, and in more limited measure, perhaps, to the entire church. In his instructions as to the method of dealing with an obstinate church member, Jesus said: "But if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican. Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven." Matt. 18:17, 18. Whatever the church does acting unitedly and in the fear of God, is ratified in Heaven, because it is the body of Christ. Eph. 1:22, 23. As such, it is Christ's representative on earth, and he has no other. To no individual, in the church or out, has Christ given power to bind or loose. And even "the church" cannot do this, except when it is walking in the light, and its members are abiding in Christ; for when this state of things ceases, it ceases to be the church of Christ, no matter what its name or pretensions. Government and Self-Government
THE best government is that which teaches us to govern ourselves. LESSON 3.—SABBATH, JANUARY 21.
1. In what condition was the whole creation when it came from the hand of God?
“And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” Gen. 1:31. 2. Did this include man also?
“Lo, this only have I found, that God hath made man upright.” Eccl. 7:29, first part. 3. Did man retain his uprightness?
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:12. 4. What prohibition had God laid upon the pair in the garden of Eden?
“But the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. 2:17. 5. Who first partook of this forbidden fruit?
“And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Gen. 3:6. 6. Was Adam deceived as to the consequences of the act?
“And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.” 1 Tim. 2:14. 7. How was Eve deceived?
“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Cor. 11:3. 8. Who was the serpent?
“And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.” Rev. 20:2. 9. How did he begin his work?
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” Gen. 3:1. 10. When Eve repeated the prohibition, what did the serpent reply?
“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die.” Verse 4. 11. What did he say that eating from the tree would do for them?
“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Verse 5. 12. In so saying, what imputation did he cast upon God? 13. In telling them that by eating the forbidden fruit they should be like God, what was Satan instilling into their minds?—Pride. 14. What was the cause of Satan’s fall?
“How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! for thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” Isa. 14:12-14. 15. What always follows pride?
“When pride cometh, then cometh shame; but with the lowly is wisdom.” “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Prov. 11:2; 16:18. 16. What was it that brought the heathen nations into their deplorable condition?
“Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” Rom. 1:22, 23. 17. What was the result of Adam’s transgression?
“And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it; cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken; for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.” Gen. 3:17-19. 18. Was he allowed to remain in the garden?
“Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.” Verses 23, 24. 19. How extensive were the consequences of his fall?
“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Rom. 5:12. 20. Did death pass upon all men regardless of their character, just because Adam sinned? See last clause of Rom. 5:12. 21. What kind of nature do all men inherit?
“For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; all these evil things come from within, and defile the man.” Mark 7:21-23. 22. By what means may we get rid of this evil nature, and have a better one?
“Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.” “For whosoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.” 2 Peter 1:4; 1 John 5:4. THE mean cunning of the serpent may be seen in the way that Satan approached Eve. From the fact that while they were talking Eve took of the forbidden fruit, and ate, indicates that when the conversation began they were near the tree. Said the serpent, “Is it so, that God hath said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” “Is it possible that God would make so arbitrary and unjust a command?” The object of this speech can be seen at once. It was threefold, namely, to cause her to doubt the goodness of God; to raise himself in her estimation to the same extent that he lowered God; and to make her feel that she was being deprived of her “rights.” Pride and discontent were aroused, which prepared the way for open rebellion. “AND the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Here was a square issue between Satan and God, and Eve had been worked into such a condition of doubt and discontent that she readily sided with Satan. This was the first sermon on the natural immortality of the soul of man. Notice that it was this teaching that caused the fall; consequently the teaching that man is by nature immortal, is responsible for all the evil that has ever come to mankind. “FOR GOD doth know,” etc. Here again Satan charged God with deliberately withholding a good thing from Adam and Eve, so that he might keep them in a position inferior to that which their natural talents entitled them to. What was that position? “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof ye shall be like God.” This is just what Satan said, and a literal translation of the Hebrew. Said Satan, “You might as well be like God; he knows this, and has placed this prohibition upon you, so that he may keep you down. Now will you consent to be thus imposed upon? Don’t do it; assert your rights and be free.” Who is there that doesn’t recognize this kind of talk? WE see that Satan caused Eve to fall, by instilling into her mind the same ideas that caused his fall. See Isa. 14:12-14. We see, also, whence Spiritualism comes, which claims that what the Bible calls evil is a necessity, that men cannot die, no matter what they do, and that each individual is the judge of his own acts, and is therefore equal to God. But read in Isa. 5:20-24 the fate of those who call evil good. BEWARE of the flatterer. When a man begins to sympathize with you, to tell you how you are being “kept down” and abused, and what high positions you might occupy if it were not for the grasping selfishness of some in authority, then make up your mind at once that Satan is talking to you through him. Don’t listen to him. Says Paul: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Cor. 11:3. THERE is a vast difference between honest praise and flattery. It is right and just to encourage people by letting them know that their good work is appreciated. But flattery is always lying. It is Satanic in its origin. Look up and read carefully what the Bible has to say of the flatterer. “A man that flattereth his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet.” Prov. 29:5. See also Job 32:21, 22; Ps. 12:3; Prov. 20, 19; 26:28. SOLOMON’S words in Prov. 20:19 indicate that a tale-bearer is likely to be a flatterer. Satan’s question to Eve, “Is it so that God hath said,” etc., carries with it the air of virtuous indignation. The idea designed to be conveyed was, “I would never do such a thing; just trust me, and you shall have liberty.” How aptly the apostle Peter describes the people who work in this Satanic manner: “For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.” 2 Peter 2:18, 19. The man who comes with some false story about somebody else, trying to cast reflections upon him, does so only to conceal his own faults. The gist of all his talk is this: You and I wouldn’t do such things, would we? He is seeking to build himself up, and by flattering your vanity, to take advantage of you. Look out for such; and, above all, “be not thou like unto them.” W. It was a quaint old scene,—the ruined mill,—and the artist sat long with his pencil in hand and his sketch-book open before him, as he looked over the narrow stream to the spot where it stood. "It's a deserted spot now," said a voice from behind him, as a man halted in the narrow foot-path through the woods, "it's deserted enough now; but I remember when it was full of bustle and life, and that not so many years ago as you might think, either, sir." "Not many years?" repeated the artist, looking up. "It does indeed look very desolate." "Well, not many years as I look at it," answered the man, "but it might seem a long enough time to you. Eighteen years off your head would leave you quite a stripling, I take it." "So it is eighteen years since the mill was inhabited?" asked the artist again, anxious to hear particulars. "Nigh about eighteen years," replied the man. "If you ain't too busy," with a glance at the sketch-book, "I wouldn't mind telling you about it. Everyone knows the story in these parts, and they do say as how the mill is haunted, but I never believed in that. I know how such things get started; the water running under that wheel, in the dark night, and the wind whistling among those boards, sounds dismal enough to anyone going along this lonely path, or the road over the other side; and then, when you remember what happened, it does seem kind of awesome." "I see," answered the young man, moving along the log to make room for his companion. "It is dreary enough in the day-time, and it would be unbearable at night. But you were going to tell me what happened." "Well, then, to begin at the beginning," said the man, laying down his ax and taking the offered seat, "I must tell you that that little house over yonder, behind that clump of underbrush, at the other side of the mill—you can't see it from here, but you must have passed it this morning—that little house was where they lived, the miller and his wife. "He bought it when they were married, for he had some money on hand which had been left him by his father. And then, when they got married, they put their earnings together, for she was a thrifty girl and had a store of her own, and they furnished it just as nice as could be. There was nothing great or grand in it, of course, but everything was so cozy and home-like; and there was never a king more proud of his palace than poor Dave was of his snug little cottage. "When he went home at night, there was Rosy always ready to meet him at the gate, and then they would look over the beds of posies together, and see how fast they were growing; for Dave took great stock in his posy-beds, and often worked at them evenings, weeding and fixing them up. Why, sir, they were as happy as two children was Rosy and Dave." "Well, things went on this way for over a year, and everyone was setting great store by Dave—but all at once his old habits began to crop out again. He had been a trifle wild before he got to keeping company with Rosy, but everyone thought she would make a new man of him, and for a while she did. But just about this time some of his old companions came back to the village. They had always had a great influence over him, and it soon began to show itself again. They would go down to the mill to meet him late in the afternoon, and sometimes he would stop running a little earlier than usual, to have a talk with them. He was a jolly, kind-hearted fellow, and didn't realize the danger he was in; when they brought their bottles, he had not strength to resist the temptation or bear the ridicule. Then it began to be a common thing for Rosy to wait at the gate a long time, with her pretty blue eyes fixed on the road where he would come in sight. Sometimes a neighbor would happen along instead, and she would turn at the first glimpse and run into the house—it hurt her so to let anyone see that her Dave was not doing just right, or that she was uneasy about him. "By and by the roses began to fade from her cheeks, and she was more like a lily than the Rosy we used to know; but she never complained, and when anyone would try to put in a word of sympathy, she would actually try to make out she didn't know what they meant. She couldn't bear to own that her husband did anything wrong. "Well, time went on, and things kept going from bad to worse. Dave was losing his trade, for he was getting to be so unsteady that no one could depend on him. When the farmers took in their grist to be ground, they never knew when it would be ready for them to bring home again. Dave was careless, and he was growing surly, too. So there came long afternoons when the mill stood idle, and the miller lay down in some quiet corner, more than half stupefied with drink. Poor Rosy used to come after him sometimes and try to get him home, but it wasn't much use, she often got nothing but harsh words, and orders to leave him alone. She was a broken-hearted woman, and that was plain to everybody. "At last there came a spring morning something like this. I remember it well. The trees were just a-budding out, and the little twigs down by the water's edge were a-putting out their leaves. I had just come down the road past the cottage, and I noticed that nothing had been done to the posy-beds this year; I didn't suppose either of them had the courage. Then I walked slowly down this way to the mill. I wondered when I heard the heavy wheels going, for Dave hadn't worked much of late. Then I stepped in, but there was no grist being ground, and I knew something must be wrong. My legs shook under me as I walked round the outside, toward the big wheel, and then—I can hardly think of it yet, sir, it was so dreadful!—right on the ground by the wheel lay poor Dave, with his head crushed and bleeding, and when I touched him I found he was dead. I don't know how I gave the alarm, but I did someway; and we fixed him up as well as we could before we carried him home to poor Rosy. "She didn't scream or moan, but sank in a dead faint, and lay like marble till we thought she never would come to; and when at last she did, we saw it was all over with her—poor thing!—and she would never be well again. "She lingered on awhile, so kind and gentle to everyone, never complaining of her lot; but everyone knew that the end was coming, and it came very soon. Before the leaves fell over Dave's grave, we laid her beside him, and the little cottage was desolate. The mill has never been used since that awful day, and the winds and storms have done their work with it. It isn't much wonder that folks shun it, knowing its story." "And isn't it a wonder that they don't shun the evil that caused it all?" asked the artist, looking sadly over the water at the old mill as he spoke. "Aye," said the old man thoughtfully, "you are right there, sir; that is the wonder."—Voice from the Old Brewery. A BOY'S RELIGION.
By Royal Road
If a boy is a lover of Jesus, he can't be a church officer, or a preacher, but he can be a godly boy, in a boy's way and in a boy's place. He ought not to be too solemn or too quiet for a boy. He need not cease to be a boy because he is a Christian. He ought to play like a real boy. But in all he ought to show the spirit of Christ, and be free from vulgarity and profanity. He ought to eschew tobacco and intoxicating drinks. He ought to be peaceable, gentle, merciful, and generous. He ought to discourage fighting. He ought to refuse to be a party to mischief, to persecution, to deceit. He ought to show his colors. He need not always be interrupting a game to say he is a Christian; but he ought not to be29ashamed to say that he refuses to do something because it is wrong and wicked, or because he fears God or is a Christian. He ought to take no part in the ridicule of sacred things, but meet the ridicule of others with a bold statement that for the things of God he feels the deepest reverence. The Home Circle.
By Susan Coolidge
If I were told that he would come to-morrow,
That the next sun
Which sinks should bear me past all fear and sorrow
For anyone,
All the fight fought, all the short journey through,
What should I do? I do not think that I should shrink or falter,
But just go on,
Doing my work, nor change, nor seek to alter
Aught that is gone,
But rise and move, and love and smile and pray
For one more day. And lying down at night for a last sleeping,
Say in that ear
Which hearkens ever: "Lord, within thy keeping,
How should I fear?
And when to-morrow brings thee nearer still,
Do thou thy will." I might not sleep for awe; but peaceful, tender,
My soul would lie
All the night long; but when the morning splendor
Flashed o'er the sky,
I think that I could smile—could calmly say,
"It is his day."