CRITIC, croaker, grumbler, growler, kicker, knocker,—these are all different names for the same class of individuals. They may be found in every community and among all nationalities. We meet them in social life, in the business world, and, sad to say, sometimes in the fellowship of the church. They pride themselves on their foresight, their keen sense of justice and propriety, their good judgment, and their own righteousness. By their conceptions of right and duty, they seek to gage the conduct of their fellows. They are the self-constituted guardians of faith, conduct, and morals.
But whatever these individuals may think of themselves, and however high they may rate their own value, it must be confessed they always prove to be leaners instead of lifters, and hinderers in place of helpers. They never bear the burdens, but stand by and criticize those who do. They show no spirit of sacrifice for the cause of Christ or the relief of the poor, and credit with ulterior motives those who manifest this spirit.
Evils and wrongs in every cause should be righted, and we exempt from the above classification those who in the fear of God and in the spirit of the Master undertake such service. But the ones who right the wrongs are not usually the sour-spirited members of this negative class. Rather they are the bright, cheerful, helpful souls who look through the mist and cloud to the blue above, believing that God still rules in the affairs of men.
The only hope for the unfortunate class of people represented by the term knockers is a different viewpoint. They need a new conversion of heart, a renewal of spirit. Don't be a critic, a croaker, a grumbler, a growler, a kicker, or a knocker; pray earnestly for those who are. Be a Christian, a great, whole-souled, humble, patient, charitable, devoted, cheerful follower of the Master.
God Shall Supply All Your Need
WHAT a picture is presented of the work of God in the earth to-day! Here is a little company of believers numbering a few thousand, a small company indeed compared with earth's millions, among whom they are living to shed abroad the light of the truth of the gospel, and to represent in their lives and experiences the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Some are living in earth's great centers, in the midst of the mad rush and whirl, the bustle and din of commercial life; others, in earth's solitudes: some are in so-called Christian lands; others, in the midst of heathen darkness: some are surrounded by associates of like precious faith; others are alone among unbelievers and in the midst of opposition. The gospel minister before public audiences is seeking to hold up the cross of Christ. The Bible worker is endeavoring to carry forward the same work in the family circle. The faithful canvasser travels from door to door, carrying the printed page to homes. And in the confines of quiet neighborhoods, fathers and mothers are endeavoring by godly lives to train their children for God, and to bring their neighbors to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What varied experiences are represented! How much of joy and sorrow and pathos and heroism are represented in these lives! What varied needs are presented before the Father of mercies! but his grace is sufficient for all. The blessed promise through the apostle is, "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
God sees every one of his little flock. Day by day his care is over his children. Hourly his hand is reached out to save. His eye follows the canvasser as he journeys from day to day upon his labor of love. He takes note of the faithful mother in the home; of the faithful father as he goes forth to his daily toil; of the minister in the desk; of the Bible worker in her round of service. He sees his children in earth's great centers. He sees the lonely isolated ones. He takes note of his faithful soldiers in heathen lands.
He knows the trials of us all. He recognizes our weaknesses; and like as a father pities his child, so the Lord pities us. He loves us with an everlasting love. From our place in the world's great work, wherever it may be, it is our privilege to reach up and take hold of his mighty power. Men to-day are not compelled to go to Jerusalem to worship. The Lord is as near to his people in India, China, Africa, and the lonely islands of the sea, as he is to those who are living at the great centers of his work. Every reader of this paper, however remotely situated from his brethren, may come as near the throne of grace, and is privileged to take as strong a hold upon the mighty source of power, as is the highest official in this denomination.
Thank God for this blessed democracy in Christian service; for this individual connection with heaven; for this direct communication between God and man. Let us reach up then, wherever we may be and whatever may be our circumstances, and grasp the divine help within our reach, realizing that we are God's heritage, and that because we are his own, he loves us with the love of a father. From him we may draw supplies of grace for every need. He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. "He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust." Our weaknesses and our needs are our strongest appeals. By permitting him to come in and fill us with his fulness, our weakness may be made perfect in his strength, and our lack supplied in his great sufficiency.
F. M. W.
Professed Protestantism Assisting Rome
By C. M. S.
The American Federation of Catholic Societies
Professed Protestantism Assisting Rome to Attain Her Ends in America
IN the two previous articles reporting the work done and declarations made at this convention it was shown that the Catholic Church has abated no whit in her intention to make America Catholic, that she is molding and controlling legislation in this country, in its dependencies, and in Cuba, with the one object of advancing the interests of that church in opposition to the will of the people, and that she is fostering the growth of the Federation with the idea of making it an effective weapon in the accomplishment of her purpose. But she is not required to depend exclusively upon avowed Catholic support. Professed Protestantism, with its lack of harmony and with its blindness to Rome’s purposes, is doing much to make Rome’s victory easy. The Federation is bound by prejudice, by unquestioning loyalty, and by avowed declaration, to move as one man in support of any proposition or purpose which the head of the Catholic hierarchy may declare for. With such a united organization as that in the field, and with Protestantism refusing to believe there is any menace in the situation, the outlook becomes darker with each new day.
Because Protestantism has been falling away from the sure foundation on which it was built,—the Bible, and the Bible only,—and because so many professed Protestants have taken up the work of dissecting and casting discredit upon the Bible, Rome has come out now as the8champion of the Bible, and through that course is winning to herself many who would otherwise have remained in the Protestant fold. By taking that position, Protestantism has weakened itself and strengthened Catholicism. What Rome has accomplished in checkmating Protestantism by this move was illustrated by the following editorial, clipped from the Louisville Herald of Aug. 21, 1912:—
Possibly the phase of the convention that has appealed to us most strongly is the courageous faith with which the representatives of Catholicism grapple the live-wire problems of the hour, and declare their confidence that the teaching of their church is all-sufficient to furnish a thorough and satisfying solution. This attitude invites trust, and assuredly wins admiration. The note of certainty in an age of doubt is sufficiently unusual to ring with a striking clearness over all other sounds. It is the biggest thing about the creed of these men that they believe in it,—that they believe in it as a dynamic, and not merely as a dogma.
If we may be allowed to trespass diffidently upon dangerous ground, we would venture the opinion that it is just here Protestantism fails. The world misses the splendid assurance, the serene reliance, and the courageous faith that challenge skepticism, materialism, and ungodliness through the voice of the Catholic Church.
Such editorials, and the facts which make them possible, are greatly strengthening the propaganda of Romanism in America. A note of certainty in this age of doubt is just what many conscientious Christians are seeking, and they are not hearing it from the majority of the pulpits of the fashionable Protestant churches to-day.
Another way in which Rome is receiving help from outside her fold is through testimonials from non-Catholics as to her worth, and the work she is doing in various directions. This also was brought out at this convention in the report of the president of the organization. One such testimonial reads:—
Dr. Hamilton, president of Tufts College, a non-Catholic New England institution, said: “Men who believe in law and order must learn to work with the Roman Catholic Church and the American Federation if they would save the republic.”
A Protestant Episcopal clergyman was also quoted by the president as strongly indorsing the work of the Catholic Church among the Indians. If such men understood—and it ought to be plainly apparent—that every move made by that church in any department of her activities is made for the glorification of the church, they would not offer such full-some praise.
This convention was largely attended by persons of Protestant affiliation and profession, whose presence and whose conduct strengthened the cause of Romanism. During the celebration of “mass,” which was conducted by the Pope’s special representative, these persons took part. The press report says:—
The bull of Pope Pius X, granting to his legate the power to confer upon all those at the mass the apostolic benediction, was read at the close of the mass, and then as all knelt, Archbishop Bonzano blessed them with the triple cross of the Holy Father. A fact which was remarked upon by many of the visiting bishops was that practically the entire congregation, including hundreds of non-Catholics and many prominent members of Protestant churches, knelt to receive the blessing, as well as participated in the whole service.
These professed Protestants should have understood that in taking part in such a service they were recognizing as of divine appointment the idolatry for which that service stands, and that in bowing to receive such a blessing they were recognizing as legitimate and true the claims which the Roman Church makes in reference to the efficacy of that service in the salvation of souls, and in reference to the authority and ability of the Pope to bless as God blesses. By so doing they strengthened the claims of Rome in the eyes of all present who were not fully established in the true gospel of Jesus Christ.
The president of the Louisville Purity League, who is a non-Catholic, was profuse in his praise of the Catholic Church for its work along certain lines in which he was interested. President Feeney declared that “it is gratifying to note that non-Catholics are becoming profuse in their praises on the church’s stand against an evil that is sapping at the very life of the nation.” President Taft and Hon. Champ Clark were also quoted as strongly recommending the Catholic Church’s attitude in certain lines. There can be no question that the full-some praise given the Roman Church by those professing to belong to Protestant denominations is having its effect, both in winning adherents to the Roman Church and in helping that church to achieve its political ambition in this country.
By taking the attitude which she has taken against socialism, the church expects to win many to her standard who have hitherto been in the Protestant fold. That she is opposed to socialism on principle, there can be no doubt, for the two movements have practically nothing in common. There are many Protestants who believe that socialism is a great and growing menace to stable and equitable government. They see it winning in many lands, and at the same time they hear the Roman Church making emphatic declarations that she is the only power which can cope with that movement. On the strength of what she professes to be able to do against socialism, Rome expects great additions to her fold from non-Catholic faiths. Through the president of the Federation, Rome, at this convention, made an earnest plea to non-Catholics to join her in an effort to combat socialism. With Rome inviting Protestants to join her in fighting socialism, and with professed Protestants inviting Rome to join them in enacting and enforcing Sunday laws, it would seem that the world will not have to wait long for some basis of union which will put Rome in the saddle as the leader of the religious world.
At this convention there was no secret made of the fact that Rome is interested in the enforcement of Sunday laws. One of the declared aims of this Federation was “for the proper observance of Sunday.” One of the resolutions passed by the Federation at this session reads:—
Upon the basis of Pope Leo’s encyclical on labor we express our sympathy with every legitimate effort to obtain the total abolition of all unnecessary Sunday work.
Another reads:—
In the interests of the working man’s physical and spiritual welfare, we deprecate his constant employment on the seven days of the week, and we appeal to all our citizens to further any movement toward the abolition of unnecessary labor on the Lord’s day.
Secretary Matre had the following paragraph in his report in reference to Sunday observance:—
Our societies in many localities are urging for a more rigid Sunday observance, and have encouraged the movement for the post-office closing on Sunday. They are also opposing the holding of political rallies on the Lord’s day. The Boston archdiocesan Federation has recently passed a resolution to introduce in the next Massachusetts Legislature a bill requesting the closing of liquor establishments on Good Friday.
It is very logical that having entered determinedly upon the matter of legislating on religious questions, Rome should follow her Sunday-law activities with efforts to make other religious practises of her church matters of legal compulsion. We have predicted for years that this would be the result of Sunday-law agitation, and we see its beginning now.
The declarations made in this convention leave no room for doubt of Rome’s determined purpose concerning America. She is equally interested in making England and her dependencies dominantly Catholic. It will be interesting to Protestants to know why she is so greatly interested in the future of these countries. In the Missionary (Catholic) for May, 1910, a Catholic editor tells the reason, as follows:—
The main support of Protestantism comes from the United States and England. The millions subscribed in these two countries keep Protestantism alive. So far as converting the heathen to Christianity is concerned, it is true that the Protestant missionaries accomplish nothing, but they do interfere with and retard the work of our missionaries, and they sow the seeds of discord, strife, and irreligion in Catholic countries. If we put an end to this effort in England and the United States by making these nations dominantly Catholic, we shall have removed the chief obstacle to the conversion of the whole world to the true faith. . . . A vigorous effort in the United States at this time will reduce the opposition to an insignificant condition. . . . In the course of another century, the Protestant sects will be a study for the historian and the antiquarian, along with Arianism.
Rome is following a logical purpose, and with Protestantism asleep or in doubt as to the danger of her designs, there seems but one possible result of the campaign. That result is well depicted in the book of Revelation,—Rome triumphant for a time over all but a small company, and then the terrible punishment from the Almighty that will be visited upon her.9C. M. S.
The Era of Missions
By W. A. Smith
The Hand of God in History — No. 21
Notes on Important Eras of Fulfilling Prophecy
The Era of Missions
(Concluded)
Just as the call of missions was meeting a response in Christendom, there came also into the hearts of men a new determination to open up the countries of the world which had been discovered, and to lay bare the secrets of unknown lands and peoples. This desire to find new avenues of commerce, and the natural spirit of adventure and love of learning, were factors, under providential overruling, in the missionary advance.
To many an explorer, and martyr to science and the extension of human knowledge, might be applied the word spoken by the Lord to Cyrus: “I girded thee, though thou hast not known me: that they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me.” Others have been conscious of the divine impulse upon them to press on and on into the regions beyond, blazing many a trail along which later the gospel missionary passed.
There was Mungo Park, for instance, the Scottish surgeon in the service of the African Society, seeking the route to Timbuktu for the benefit of trade. When at last he reached the upper Niger, flowing eastward, “broad as the Thames at Westminster,” he fell on his knees and “gave fervent thanks to God,” who had granted him success in his perilous journeyings. And after two years he returned, in 1797, having collected, it is said, “more facts as to the geography, manners, and customs of the country than all preceding travelers.” And these were the facts that began to give West Africa a place in the thoughts of the awakening church at home.
The journal of Captain Cook’s voyages among the Pacific islands (1768-79) was one of the influences that deepened William Carey’s conviction that the time had come when not alone explorers, but missionaries of the cross of Christ, must be out in the wilds, telling the good news among the heathen peoples.
Speaking of Africa during the later years of the eighteenth century, Jules Verne wrote:—
“During the eighteenth century Africa was literally besieged by travelers. Explorers endeavored to penetrate into it from every side. More than one succeeded in reaching the interior, only to meet with repulse or death. This discovery of the secrets of this mysterious continent was reserved for our own age, when the unexpected fertility of its resources has astonished the civilized world.”
The newly started missionary movement was knocking and prying at hitherto closed doors. Just a glance at the story must suffice to suggest how that early period witnessed the opening of the outer doors and the gaining of the first footholds.
India
When Carey landed in Calcutta, in 1793, he found missionaries decidedly not wanted. British India was then a possession of the East India Company. “One of the company’s directors said that he would rather see a band of devils than a band of missionaries in India. From 1792 to 1812 religious and educational labor was prohibited.” But an open door was found in the little settlement of Serampore (on the river above Calcutta), which providentially had been left under the Danish government.
Here Carey and his associates planted the mission which for many years was “the model and stimulus of almost all others.” In 1800 the first convert of the mission from Hinduism was baptized in the River Hooghly, one of the mouths of the sacred Ganges. Next year the Serampore press issued the New Testament in Bengali; and thus the opening of the new century saw the work of missions permanently established in India.
China
Here, too, as the end of the eighteenth century came, there were only barriers in view. Dr. Leonard says of China’s policy at this period:—
“It was largely through mortal fear of invasion and conquest that it was decided at length to close and bar every gate. . . . All trade with foreigners was to be confined strictly to Canton, and to a tract fifteen acres outside the walls. . . . It was a capital offense to teach the language to any ‘outside barbarian.’”
But in this time of missionary revival, hearts were praying for a way into China. In 1804 Robert Morrison was under appointment in London; and in 1807 he landed in Canton, having sailed via New York, because passage to a missionary was refused in the ships of the East India Company.
“So then, Mr. Morrison,” the New York shipping agent had airily said, “you really expect to make an impression on the idolatry of the great Chinese empire?” “No, sir,” Morrison quickly replied; “but I expect that God will.” The expectation was realized. With many a token of providential care, the missionary acquired the forbidden language; and by his labors in Bible translation and the compilation of a dictionary, was used of God in laying the foundation for Protestant missions in China.
Morrison had believed that the living God would open even China’s doors as the hand of faith knocked for entrance. “Some pious people,” he said, “justify their apathy concerning the inhabitants of the eastern limit of Asia, by saying they perceive no opening; they see no movement. As if the dry bones were to move before they were breathed upon! as if the door were to be opened before any herald of salvation knocked at it!” He did not live to see the doors flung really open; but the hour came at last, and to-day every missionary in China thanks the guiding Providence that sent Morrison to knock at the barred gates in the early years of the missionary century.
Africa
Treating the subject of modern missions in Africa chronologically, the late Dr. James Stewart (in “Dawn in the Dark Continent”) divided the history into three periods, thus:—
The Early Period—from 1790 to about 1840.
The Middle Period—from 1840 to 1860.
The Recent Period—from 1860 to 1900.
The early period, it will be noted, opens with the closing decade of the eighteenth century. A single Moravian missionary had earlier founded a station seventy miles from Cape Town, in 1736. But his work met bitter opposition, and was abandoned a few years later, when he was deported, charged with being “a great Hottentot converter.” In 1792 the10Moravians renewed their work, and in 1799 British missionary effort began, since which has come the extension of missions into so many parts of the Dark Continent.
The South Seas
The London Missionary Society directed its first efforts to the South Pacific. In 1796 the first mission ship, the "Duff," sailed from London for the Society Islands. As the ship started down the Thames toward the sea, the thirty missionaries on board sang the hymn "Jesus, at thy command I launch into the deep." If the inspiration of the missionary movement had been a merely human impulse, the practical difficulties in the way and the powerlessness of all human effort before a single unconverted soul, would quickly have halted the advance. Of the launching of this South Sea effort and its early history, Dr. Leonard says:—
“The tide of enthusiasm ran high, and great things for the gospel were expected soon and easily to be brought to pass. But bitter disappointment, and sorrow, and pain were in store; for the better part of two decades the two words failure and waste seemed to sum up the results, though as we now can plainly discern, the results of that undertaking, direct and indirect, near and more remote, were so various and so great that the ship which bore the pioneers to their destination may fittingly be classed with the ‘Mayflower,’ and even with the three caravels which some three hundred years before put forth westward from Palos.”—‘Hundred Years of Missions,’ page 250.
Thus, as the "time of the end" came, there was sent of God a distinct evangelical and missionary revival. Barriers were broken through. Doors double-locked to shut out the messengers of light were thrown open; there was a searching and a running to and fro, and knowledge was increased; and the missionary movement then set going is spreading still into all the world.
"The healing fount that in Ezekiel's dream
Forth issued from the temple's sacred sill—
Behold it now no more a slender rill,
But far and wide an overflowing stream,
That doth each heathen land with hope
and gladness fill."
Sunday Post-Office Closing
By Frederick M. Wilcox
THE recent action of Congress in providing that first- and second-class post-offices should not be opened for the purpose of delivering mail to the general public on the first day of the week, has come in for a great deal of criticism. The religious press, as a rule, looks with favor upon the passage of the act. On the other hand, the newspaper criticism of the measure has been quite marked. The New York City papers speak of it as "backwoods legislation," "exasperating folly," "the work of meddlesome and rash congressmen," "puritanic blue-laws," etc. The New York World feels that the action is not Puritanism, but "oppression of the people by the paid servants of the people." Other papers express themselves in similar terms.
Of course the press of the country, both religious and secular, views this question from the standpoint of either religious prejudice or personal interest. But very few, in fact none that we have seen, recognize fully the real principle involved in such legislation. Those who have followed for years the trend of the religious controversy and the attempted legislation regarding religious questions, see in this measure another step in the fulfilment of the prophecy of Revelation 13.
This Sunday-closing enactment commits the federal Congress to the principle of Sunday legislation, and that, too, in a far greater sense than the provision for the closing of the World's Fair on Sunday, attached to the appropriation made for that exposition. That proviso was limited both as to time and as to locality. The closing of the post-offices on Sunday affects the whole country. With the growing sentiment throughout the country in favor of Sunday laws, the probability is that this measure will be made more and more restrictive in its operations. Its influence, too, will be potent in that it will be used as an argument for the passage of similar enactments and Sunday laws which will be brought forward in the future, in both State and national affairs.
The Congress of 1829 recognized this principle in adopting the famous Johnson Mail Report, which states the matter in the following convincing manner:—
If the principle is once established that religion, or religious observances, shall be interwoven with our legislative acts, we must pursue it to its ultimatum. We shall, if consistent, provide for the erection of edifices for worship of the Creator, and for the support of Christian ministers, if we believe such measures will promote the interests of Christianity. It is the settled conviction of the committee that the only method of avoiding these consequences, with their attendant train of evils, is to adhere strictly to the spirit of the Constitution, which regards the general movement in no other light than that of a civil institution, wholly destitute of religious authority. What other nations call religious toleration, we call religious rights. They are not exercised in virtue of governmental indulgence, but as rights, of which government can not deprive any portion of citizens, however small. Despotic power may invade those rights, but justice still confirms them.
Let the national legislature once perform an act which involves the decision of a religious controversy, and it will have passed its legitimate bounds. The precedent will then be established, and the foundation laid, for that usurpation of the divine prerogative in this country which has been the desolating scourge to the fairest portions of the Old World.
This is but one of the many and growing indications on every side that we are nearing the final crisis. We may not hope to save the nation from taking the fateful step at last which will place it among the powers of earth that oppress and persecute the truth and people of God; but through God we may be the agents of saving individuals, and for the realization of this purpose we should labor earnestly.
F. M. W.
Note and Comment
By Editor
Appeal to Religious Prejudice
It is to be expected that politicians will take advantage of religious prejudices to advance the interests of their cause. That through the advocacy of some political party religious measures will be passed in the future, resolving this country into a church-and-state power, as indicated in the prophecy of Scripture, is most reasonable to expect. Through the influence of what political party this will be brought about, we can not, of course, anticipate. To the point in this connection is the recent utterance of Col. Theodore Roosevelt, in a speech delivered at Point of Pines, Boston, Aug. 17, 1912. Speaking of the proposals of the Progressive party to secure social and industrial justice, according to the Atlantic Gleaner of August 28, he said:—
In the first place, we set forth definitely what we mean to try to secure at the present time in the way of social and industrial justice; for instance, to secure by law one day's rest in seven for all wage-workers. . . . We do not intend to let either executive or legislative officers forbid us to have such laws; and, my friends, neither do we intend to let the judges forbid us to have such laws. Therefore, in our platform we have stated that we intend to provide easier and more expeditious methods of amending the federal Constitution.
In this statement Mr. Roosevelt does not specify that his one day's rest in seven should come on Sunday. But with the demand that is coming up from every quarter for Sunday legislation, and the custom of the majority of the people in regarding Sunday either as a holiday or holy day, there can be no question as to which day would be selected. Nor would it greatly matter to the Sunday-law advocates whether the first day of the week was recognized by legal enactment as a civil sabbath, a sabbath for physical rest, or as a sacred day, which they believe it to be. Legislation once secured on almost any basis, and a precedent is established whereby further and more restrictive legislation may be passed. Congress has no right to enforce Sunday rest on any basis, spiritual, physical, economic, or from any other standpoint11whatever. When this is done, it clearly oversteps the bounds of its civil jurisprudence, and begins legislation on questions of man's inherent rights bestowed by his Creator, which any government can not of right confer upon its subjects, and of which it can much less deprive them.
The Work of the Recent Congress
THE second session of the Sixty-second Congress of the United States adjourned August 24. Some important bills were left over for future consideration. A large number of bills which were introduced never came up for consideration. The principal bills passed at the recent session are summarized as follows by the New York Times:—
Abrogation of the Russian treaty regarding passports.
Passage of the Panama Canal bill providing for the opening of the canal, allowing its use free of tolls by vessels engaged in the American coastwise trade, and prohibiting its use by vessels controlled by railroads or trusts.
The act for the preservation of the fur seal herd in the North Pacific Ocean, providing for a closed season of five years, during which seals may not be killed on the Pribilof Islands, and giving effect to the recent treaty with Great Britain, Russia, and Japan.
A Constitutional amendment providing for the election of United States senators by direct vote of the people.
The Sherwood dollar-a-day service pension law, involving an additional expenditure of about $25,000,000 annually for civil war pensions.
A law providing for an eight-hour day on all government work.
An elaborate act for the federal regulation of radio-telegraphy, requiring all radio stations sending interstate or foreign messages to take out federal licenses.
An act changing the wireless law of 1910 so as to require all vessels carrying more than fifty passengers to be well equipped with radio apparatus, and requiring them to have a wireless operator at his post at all hours.
The Sulzer bill, providing a form of civil government for the Territory of Alaska.
The Hay bill to equip all army transports with sufficient life-boats to carry every soul aboard.
The creation of a Child Labor Bureau in the Department of Commerce and Labor.
The Sulzer resolution congratulating the people of China upon their assumption of a republican form of government.
A federal employees' compensation act.
Marriage Laws
By Editor
CONSIDERABLE agitation is now going the rounds of the press regarding the question of a uniform divorce law. It is argued that this would tend very greatly to reduce the number of divorces granted on various pretexts in the several States, and so would be an aid in safeguarding the marriage relationship. There surely is need of something being done to check this growing evil. We question, however, if there can be accomplished by legal enactment all that is desired. The work must go deeper than this, and reach farther back. The growing number of divorces is an indication of a growing moral degeneracy, a letting down of the moral restraints of the heart and life. What is needed is an education of men and women, yea, and of our youth also, regarding the sanctity of the marriage relationship.
Marriage is often entered into hastily, as a result of caprice and passion rather than of sober thinking and genuine affection. The result is that when the novelty has passed away, many tire of the relationship, and by any pretext that will serve the purpose, seek to escape from its obligations.
The divorce evil is a sign of the times in which we are living. Our Saviour declares, in Luke 17:26-30, that as it was in the days of Lot and Noah so it shall be in the days of the coming of the Son of man. Moral degeneracy marked these periods of earth's history, and its presence among us to-day is a significant sign of the times in which we are living. By our own faithful regard of the family relationship, by proper education in the church and in the home, and by suitable legislation as well, the character of this union should be impressed upon the minds of the public. By these means some influence may be exerted in holding back the on-sweeping tide threatening the destruction of the home institution.
High Price of Meat
If people generally would accustom themselves to the use of the food products which God designed for the human family in the beginning, there would be little concern felt over the increasing cost of meat. It is possible to maintain the health and strength wholly upon a vegetarian dietary without the use of meat products. This is being demonstrated in the experience of thousands of people in various parts of the world at the present time. One subsisting upon grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables is capable of quite as hard manual labor and quite as taxing mental effort. Then, too, the use of these natural products of the earth is not attended with the danger in the way of disease that comes from the use of flesh foods. It is not often we hear of ptomain poisoning from the use of vegetables, fruits, or grains. Such poisoning, however, very commonly results from the eating of flesh foods. The products of the vegetable world constitute a saner, safer dietary than the flesh of animals.
The Catholic International Associated Press
REPORTING the Louisville federation convention, M. Kinney, S. J., in America for Aug. 31, 1912, speaks as follows concerning the establishment of the Catholic Press Bureau:—
We have it in our power to compel our papers, the thinking machines of the people, to tell the truth and refrain from transmitting slanders on Catholic matters. We can prevent the wells at which the people drink from being poisoned. We can, following the lead of the Austrian Catholic Congress, establish a Catholic International Associated Press; and to accomplish this object every Catholic of the right spirit, reading in the daily papers calumnies of our religion and the most brazen justification of the robber bands who drive our religious from their homes and confiscate their property, should be willing to contribute a tithe of his possessions. All this and more can be accomplished by federated action. Individual effort is lost before the thundering roll of the multitude; marching shoulder to shoulder with the spirit of soldiers on the battle-field at the call of the church, we can successfully combat the organizations of her enemies, and make this an era of Catholic manhood.
The Heathen at Home
By Editor
THE Christian church can never escape its responsibility at home by efforts in behalf of the heathen in other lands. Sometimes the needs of the far-away fields appeal to us more vitally than do the needs of near-by territory which may be quite as great. This is suggested in a grand jury report handed to Judge Dike, borough of Brooklyn, by the grand jury of Kings County. The jury declares:—
We have noted with deep regret the number of young men and boys who have just commenced a life of crime brought about by idleness and improper associates.
Especially brought to our attention has been the number of minor girls who have gone astray from a virtuous life by apparent laxity or inability of parents or guardians to give their coming and going from their homes proper watchfulness.
The remedy for these conditions is a subject that should receive the attention of the authorities and the various religious denominations of this borough.
This grand jury would suggest that if the head representatives of the various denominations were invited to attend a session of the county court on arraignment days, they would see for themselves what is actually going on, and then instead of paying so much attention to foreign missions, they would better understand the maxim that "charity begins at home."
This does not argue by any means that the Christian church should do less for the cause of missions. God has made his church debtors to all men. But it does emphasize the necessity of the church's recognizing the needs of the home field; and while it seeks to labor for heathen abroad, it should labor as well and as earnestly for the heathen at home. Outside of Christ all men are lost, and in need of the saving gospel.