As one passes along the narrow, dirty streets of a Chinese city, in addition to the various other odors, is the sickening odor that comes from the opium-smoking. If compelled to lodge for the night in a Chinese inn, the opium fumes are very stupifying. It is well called "China's curse," for the enormity of the evil can hardly be exaggerated. It is alarming that the heaviest users of the vile poison are the young men, the educated, and those in charge of the affairs of the government.
It is a very rare thing to find a mandarin who is not an opium user, and it is almost impossible to secure a well-educated man for a teacher, who is not an habitue.
In a promiscuous crowd of the people there will be seen a number who are greatly emaciated, the face expressionless and sallow, and features pinched; the eyes bleary, and eyesight very poor. The body is gaunt from poor nutrition. The hand is unsteady, and on the fingers will be seen the black stain that comes from rolling the opium. The man's gait is uncertain, and the whole appearance is that of a worn-out, useless body. And useless and worse than useless the man really is, smoking his drug until midnight or later, and sleeping until noon the next day. His business, if he has any, does not receive attention, and his only desire and care is to satisfy his craving.
Not only will there be seen men in this condition, but many boys, of twelve years old and upward, have followed the example of their elders, and are inveterate users at this early age. Among the well-to-do the percentage of women who are addicted to its use is by no means small. The same is true, to a certain degree, of opium as of tobacco and alcohol, that many use it who have a very strong constitution, and so do not show the ravages of the poison in so marked a degree.
The farmers are led to cultivate the poppy, because it is more profitable than any other crop they can raise. In the province of Si-Chuen, in the west of China, there has been a very rapid extension of poppy cultivation. The principal crop formerly was wheat. An acre of wheat was made to yield twenty dollars or more. The same acre planted with poppies, while it would require considerable more work, would yield over thirty dollars.
The effect of this is seen in the increase in the price of wheat and rice. By poisoning the best talent of the nation, and by depriving the poor people of their necessary food, opium proves to be a double curse.
Below are a few figures from the English Consul General's report on the province of Si-Chuen:
"The province has a population of 40,000,000. Of this population three-tenths are urban, and seven-tenths rural. Out of this number about 2,400,000 adult males, and the same number of adult females, inhabit the cities; and 5,600,000 adult males, and the same number of adult females, inhabit the country. In the city at least 50 per cent. of the males and 20 per cent. of the females smoke opium, and in the country not less than 15 per cent. of the males and 5 per cent. of the females use it. This makes a little over 17 per cent. of the adults and 7 per cent. of the whole population of the province opium users.
"The average daily consumption of an habitue is about two-tenths of a Chinese ounce. This would give a yearly consumption of 127,750 piculs (about 17,000,000 English pounds).
"In one city, Chen-tu, it was found that there were 7,500 opium saloons, or one saloon to every 34 of the population of 306,423. The dens are open to men only, and the women have to smoke in their own homes."
It is called foreign opium by the Chinese, and is looked upon as a foreign curse. It was first imported into China from India, and the trade was encouraged by England, because of the great revenue. The Chinese soon awoke to the danger of the trade, as they saw the havoc that was being caused by it; and they declared its importation illegal, but it was still imported from India in spite of protests from the Chinese Government. The difficulty arising from the opium trade was one of the important causes of the Opium War of 1840-1843, between England and China.
England being successful in the war, the trade grew to immense proportions, and, at the conclusion of the second war between China and Great Britain, 1856-1860, the opium trade was legalized by treaty, and from that day until the present opium has been a great factor working against the prosperity of the Chinese people.
Hsiang Cheng Hsien, Honan, China.
Poppy Field, with Graves Beyond.
THE PEOPLE OF RUSSIA
We must seek the real Russia, not among the enlightened classes, but in the 70,000,000 mujiks. The Russian peasant is not attractive in appearance. He looks dull and heavy. He is very ignorant, generally dirty, often half-starved, and too often drunk. He is suspicious of strangers, and not easily approached, even by Russians of the upper class. But his appearance belies him. He is no fool; he has ideas of his own; He is willing to work, and he makes an admirable soldier. He is intensely religious. Superstitious?—Yes; but with a firm faith in the Gospels as the Word of God and in Jesus Christ as the only Saviour. The saints?—Yes; he believes in them, too, and often seeks their aid. Dishonest and immoral?—Yes, too often; but he is possessed of a greater fund of kindness and good-will than is common to peasants in other countries.
The very essence of the mujiks' religion is the idea that it finds its truest expression in voluntary suffering for others or for the Lord, such as is illustrated in the suffering and death of Christ for the redemption of the world. The real character of the mujik comes out most clearly in those dissenting sects which take their start directly from the study of the Gospels, and there are many such. There is always an attempt to bring the life into harmony with the teaching of Christ. Many of these much-persecuted communities are models of simple and virtuous social life. Other sects are based upon strange misconceptions of the teaching of the Gospel.
The so-called "Old Believers" are those who think that the modern church has departed from some of the forms and ceremonies sanctified by the ancient church. It is true of all these sects that the mujik looks upon his religion as the most important thing in life, and is ready to die for it. With all his ignorance, with all his faults, he is worthy of our sympathy, and I believe he is destined to play an important part in the development of European civilization.
No one can foresee, at the present time, what changes are to take place in Russia. We have no evidence, as yet, that this great peasant population has been moved at all by the existing crisis, and no one can predict what would happen, if they were suddenly aroused to shake off their chains, and stand for their rights. It is probable that any sudden and violent changes would result in general anarchy. It is by no means clear what the czar means by his promise of religious liberty; it is very doubtful whether it implies any change in the relation of the church and the state; very doubtful whether it will lead to any change in the policy of the government as to the toleration of foreign missionaries in the empire. We may be thankful if it puts an end to the bitter persecution of native Russians who are dissenters from the Orthodox Church. This vast peasant population needs instruction, religious as well as secular.
Russia and Missions
The difficulty of reaching the other races in the empire in the past has been that there is a law which forbids any man changing his religion, except to join the Orthodox Church, and there has been a certain amount of genuine missionary effort on the part of the church to win converts from the heathen tribes, but none, so far as I know, from the Mohammedans. Central Asia was once Christian, and long resisted the inroads of Mohammedanism. It might be a fair field for Protestant missionary enterprise now, but I suppose that this law is still in force, and we do not know that it will be repealed. The Russian Government is not likely to repeal it for the benefit of Protestant missionaries.
The great Protestant nations have sympathized with Japan rather than with Russia in the present war, England has been her ally, and the people of America have been almost unanimous on the same side. They have rejoiced over the destruction of the Russian navy and the defeat of her armies, and the Russian autocracy never forgets. There was a time when no foreigner had such a welcome in Russia as the American, whoever he might be; but this is true no longer. Perhaps in time it will be understood that, while we can not sympathize with the Russian Government, such as it has been for the last twenty-five years, we have the deepest interest in the Russian people and the Slavic race. There is no reason why this race should not rise to play as important a part in the history of Europe and Asia as the Latin or the Teutonic races which have preceded it, and it is for the interest of all the world that they escape from the crushing despotism which keeps them in darkness, and have the opportunity to give the world an example of that higher civilization and purer faith of which the mujik dreams now in the midst of his misery and suffering.—Missionary Review.
The Church’s Closing Conflict
By Samuel Garratt
We are living in the very age toward which all eyes have been directed as those of the closing days of the church's conflict, as long ago as the time of Luther.—Rev. Samuel Garratt.
NOT GOLD, BUT BLOOD.
By Frances Eugenia Bolton
BY FRANCES EUGENIA BOLTON.
This we call gold, this tide of circulation
That fills the veins and arteries of trade,
This life-flood flowing, ebbing 'mid the nations,
What is it? Of what substance is it made?
Is it mere metal, hard, unfeeling, witless,
Unthrobbing? Nay, 'tis made of pulse and mood,
And has unnumbered voices that bear witness,
This is not gold, but blood.
Men poured this river into marts by dying
Beside their picks down in the bowels of earth;
And women gave it up in tears and sighing
And throes of hard child-birth.
'Twas oozed out in the sweat of luckless toilers
Whose wage was held by fraud to swell the flood;
And wanton Pleasure dipped in gory boilers,
And dyed her robes in blood.
Behold in all the earth the way it goeth
Through calloused hands that harden for its mold;
And men are broken for the tide that floweth
To feed the "frenzied finance" scheme with gold.
Heart-break and brains awreck must give it motion;
Its substance must be stamped with human dole.
It draws the nation's armies for its ocean,
And blots out hope and soul.
It swells in heartless centers all congested,
With blood of millions starved of food and breath.
Its odor rises like a thing infested—
A dreaded plague foreboding blight and death.
Playing about these vats of corporation,
Think to escape, O Trusts, that stay this flood?
Nay, in it is your own soul's sure damnation,
Ye feed it, too, with blood.
Lo, Calvary's cross! Behold the spotless Victim!
'Twas thirty pieces Judas set for cost.
This was the price men gave for Love's eviction;
Yet Christ poured blood for every soul that's lost.
This tide of gold, so fed by man and woman,
Is Christ's own life that ye have so abhorred;
And in the wreckage of the soul of human
Ye crucify the Lord.
Stop! Hold a moment from this frenzied action;
He comes whose right it is to keep and hold.
Turn now these tides to earthly benefaction;
Restore the wage; be just to young and old.
Think not to buy earth's honor, God's salvation;
Come to the cross and feel its crimson flood;
Or answer to the Judge for souls of nations
Drowned in the golden blood.
The Personal Second Coming
By S. J. Austin
The Lord Himself is coming personally the second time to earth—not at death, but at the harvest time, the end of the world. This is the good hope, the blessed hope, the hope that purifies, the hope of the church, the Scripture hope, and the great incentive to holy watching.—Rev. S. J. Austin.
Ready for Christ’s Coming
By Dwight L. Moody
I BELIEVE He is yonder, getting His guest chamber ready, and the moment it is ready, those clouds shall roll away, and He shall come, and we shall be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. So there may be some in this audience who may never taste death.
EDUCATION IN THE HOME. NO. 22
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
BY MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE
[This series of articles began in our issue of May 17, and has been growing in interest with each number. Brother and Sister Hartman, loyal and fervent Christian parents, had come to realize the terrible influence of the infidelity daily taught in schools, and elsewhere, and so decided to begin evening classes in Bible for the benefit of their children. Each evening some new friend or neighbor was added to the circle until a goodly number were coming regularly, and manifesting deep interest in the different topics considered. Up to the present time they have studied the inspiration of the Bible, the second coming of Christ, the prophecies concerning the great kingdoms of earth, the unchanging nature of the law of God, the Sabbath question, baptism, and the condition of man in death, the last of which is now under consideration.]
"WHAT is my opinion?" repeated Billy slowly. "May be my opinion ain't worth anything; but it seems to me that a body doesn't need the Bible to tell him that dead folks don't know anything any more,—I should suppose they ought to know that without telling!"
It was a long speech for poor Billy to make,—awkward, bashful, uneducated Billy; and by the time he had ceased speaking, his face was very red, and he glanced appealingly first at Brother Hartman and then at grandma—whom he instinctively recognized as a friend.
Mrs. Wilbur's eyes were blazing indignantly. "Why," she exclaimed hastily; "the lad would have us believe that when we die, we must die like the brutes!"
Grandma Hartman was a very tactful woman, and this most happy faculty stood her in good stead now. While she had seen and noted poor Billy's appealing glance, it would never do to allow their pleasant, cozy study to be marred by a shadow of ill-feeling on the part of any. Already Sister Hartman was looking uneasy, and Elsie was fidgeting with her handkerchief. Mrs. Gray and Mrs. Jones exchanged glances, and Brother Hartman did not forget to send up a silent prayer to heaven.
"Why, Billy!" exclaimed grandma. "Surely you are too intelligent a boy to believe that God cares no more for us than for the brutes, when He made us in His own blessed image. And still, my friend,"—turning to Mrs. Wilbur, whose expressive eyes had already lost their fire, "we can hardly blame the poor boy for forgetting to say anything about the glorious resurrection. It all depends on that, you know. If it were not for the resurrection, I'm afraid Billy's diagnosis of the state of the dead would be correct to all eternity. Thank God, thank God for a certain hope of a resurrection from the dead;" and grandma's mild, blue eyes shone with happy tears.
"Have you any scripture to prove that particular point?" asked Mrs. Gray anxiously.
"O certainly; Elsie, can't you find the verse you and I were studying to-day?"
"Here it is, grandma, and its right to the point. I am sure it will answer Mrs. Gray's question; it is the thirty-second verse of 1 Corinthians 15. May be Mrs. Gray would like to read it herself. You see," continued Elsie, as Mrs. Gray turned to find the place indicated, "you see, Paul had a pretty serious time of it, because he tried to follow Christ, and he says plainly that were it not for the resurrection, he would not be profited at all; and he couldn't say that, if he expected to get his reward at death,—now could he, Mrs. Gray?"
But Mrs. Gray made no reply, and began to read: "If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to-morrow we die."
"Here is another text equally strong," said John. "It is Luke 14: 13, 14. I would ask Billy to read, but he made me promise long ago that I would not. But Walter will read the verse:"
""But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind; and thou shalt be blessed; for they can not recompense thee; for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.'"
"Are you sure it does not say at death, Walter?" asked Mattie, roguishly.
"At the resurrection of the just," repeated Walter, solemnly. Mr. Gray, who had said nothing for some time, now exclaimed earnestly:
"Yes, yes, my son; I believe, myself, on evidence which has already been produced, that people do not receive either their reward or their punishment at death. But I think," he continued, "our friend Mrs. Wilbur said something about our dying like the beasts. Now I believe there is something said somewhere in the Book to the effect that as one dieth so dieth the other. I don't remember just where it is—"
"Here is the text, Mr. Gray," said John. "Let me read Eccl. 3: 19, 20: 'For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them; as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath. . . . All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.'"
Mrs. Wilbur looked very serious, as John read the words of Inspiration slowly and deliberately. "I never supposed there were such words in the Bible. I am much surprised, to say the least," and the good lady looked full into Sister Hartman's eyes, questioningly.
"I understand somewhat how you feel, my friend," said Sister Hartman. "But we must not forget that it is only in death that we lie as low as the animal creation. Of course, we as well as they, must turn to dust. But as the prophet Isaiah exclaimed victoriously, even so may we:"
""Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust.' Now, Mrs. Jones, I would like you to turn to Job 19: 25, 26, and read what Job says about his hope:"
""For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And tho after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.'"
"Now, Mrs. Jones," said Mrs. Gray, "what would you truly think was the writer's hope, from this language?"
Mrs. Wilbur awaited the reply of Mrs. Jones with great eagerness.
"Why, it actually seems to me that his hope is in the fact that he expects in his flesh to see God,—and not in his disembodied spirit."
"Well, then, that looks as if it must be brought about by a resurrection from the dead," said Mrs. Wilbur musingly.
Mr. Gray smiled, while Brother Hartman said quietly:
"It is the only way he can ever see his God,—and it is the only way any of us will ever see Him, except those who are translated at Christ's coming. When we see Him, it will be in our flesh,—purified and immortalized, and made like our Redeemer after His resurrection."
"All this sounds very strange to me, Mr. Hartman," said Mrs. Gray, "but I must say it looks reasonable, only—"
"But I'd like to ask Mr. Hartman how he knows we are to be like Christ, in the resurrection," interrupted Mrs. Wilbur.
"If you will turn to Psalms 17: 15, I think you will see very plainly that we have good reason for our hope. Josie, will you read the verse?"
""As for me, I will behold Thy face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied, when I awake, with Thy likeness.'"
"Yes, yes, praise the Lord," murmured grandma, "yes, I shall be satisfied THEN."
(To be continued.)
HOW MARY GOT AN OUTING
By Susan Teall Perry
[Susan Teall Perry, in New York Evangelist.]
"You ought to have an outing, Mary," said one of the members of the society organized to lighten the cares and labors of the working-girls.
The pale-faced young girl, whose appearance plainly showed that physically and mentally she had been overworked, looked up with a smile. "O, if I only could have an outing, miss!" she said.
"Yes, Mary, you are sadly in need of one; we will try to arrange to get you off next week."
Mary went home with a lighter heart, and when she slept she dreamed of green fields, of daisies, and of singing birds. But the next day when she spoke to her employer of the happiness in store for her, a frown came on his face, and he said: "If you go away, you must get some one in your place, and if your substitute does the work well, and wants the situation, I shall not turn her off when you come back. You understand?"
Yes, Mary did understand, and she sat down to her machine and stitched up the long seams of the heavy pantaloons with the weight of a terrible disappointment lying on her heart. What would the loved ones do at home if her work were taken from her? How would the mother get on, and Tommy, the crippled brother who was always so grateful for the evening's offering of fruit, which she had been enabled to bring him during the heated summer weeks? Mary was well used to giving up anticipated pleasures, and she did not tug at the weight long. The outing was an impossibility, and she dismissed the thought of it entirely from her mind. The light of a loving sacrifice, for the sake of those nearest and dearest to her, came upon her face—a beautiful light, but the mercenary employer who walked by her machine an hour later did not see it. He only saw the stitches his employee was putting in the garments. They passed his closest scrutiny. Mary's work always did.
That evening the good young lady who had her interest at heart came to see Mary. "It is all arranged for you," she said. "You are to go next Monday morning, Mary, with the party who are to spend a fortnight at the cottage."15
Then Mary told the young lady that it was impossible for her to go, and gave her reasons.
"I will see your employer myself. You must go, Mary. You need the change more than any of the girls. Keep up good courage, dear, I am sure I can make arrangements for you," her benefactor said.
The employer was quite polite to this young lady when she called, altho he would not promise to give Mary her place when she returned.
"But if I get a substitute for Mary who will do her work and be willing to give her the situation again, what then?"
Of course under that consideration Mary could go, but it was very plain to be seen that the clothes dealer would not give her a pleasant "good-by," and say cheery words about her prospective outing.
Early Monday morning Mary took the train with a large party of other working-girls, as happy as herself, and was soon outside of the city's limits, outside of the dust and noise, into the quiet and grass-covered country, which seemed fresh from God's hand.
Meantime her good friend presented herself at the clothing manufactory, and was taken to Mary's machine, and the usual number of garments piled on the chair. The man in charge looked at her quite critically, and said, "You do not look as if you had been used to this kind of work. I'm afraid you won't be able to do it."
But the new substitute did do it, and to the employer's satisfaction, and every day during that fortnight she was in her place at seven o'clock in the morning, and worked the required number of hours. The heat was extreme during that period, but she had grace and strength given her to persevere and finish the work she had taken upon herself to do.
The new-comer always had a smile and helpful word for the girls who worked with her, but they soon said to each other, "She is different from us; she is not one of us;" but they added oftentimes the words, "She is like a sunbeam here; she does us good; I wish I was like her."
The fortnight outing was over, and Mary came home with a brightness in her eye and a pink in her cheeks never seen there before. When her substitute left her work at the end of her stay, the employer said: "You have done your work well. I am sure you can easily get a place somewhere when you want one." She passed out, with a "thank you" and a "good-evening." Imagine that man's chagrin and surprise to hear on the following Monday that Mary's substitute was the daughter of one of the wealthiest and most prominent men in the city. She had been educated in the most accomplished manner, had been abroad twice, and traveled all over her own country.
This incident will be all the more appreciated when it is known to our readers that every word of it is literally true, and took place in a Western city during the extreme heat of the early part of July.
CHANGE
By L. D. Santee
BY L. D. SANTEE
Change is the common lot of all,
As through the earth we roam,
The lips may smile, or tear-drops start,
As joys or sorrows come,
To friends we often say good-by,
Kind friends, so tried and true,
As the star fades out of the summer sky,
And only leaves the blue.
But, ah, thank God, there is a home,
Just on the other side,
Where tears or pain can never come,
And loved ones e'er abide,
That home of rest is drawing nigh,
And in the earth made new,
No star shall fade from the summer sky,
And only leave the blue.
Dixon, Ill.
PRACTICAL JOKES
By Harper's Young People
A PRACTICAL joke is a sort of trick played by one person upon another, in the hope of making him uncomfortable and ridiculous. To put one's friend in an absurd situation, to interfere with his rights, to do something which will hurt him in body or mind, not very deeply perhaps, yet really, is the object of the practical joker. I have never in my life been able to see the least good, the least innocent fun, in practical jokes, but I have seen a great deal of evil and mischief resulting from them.
Some years ago, just at dusk, a maid-servant in a certain beautiful home took it into her head that it would be rare fun to dress herself in a sheet and frighten another of the servants. So she slipped into the grounds and hid herself behind a tree, and waited for her opportunity. Dancing merrily along and singing with a voice like a bird, came a sweet little daughter of the home, who had been sent on an errand to the lodge at the end of the green avenue. The merry child, sensitive to her fingertips, caught a glimpse of the straight, stark figure skulking behind the oaks, and was so frightened that a few months afterward she died—of nervous shock, the physicians said, which then began its fatal work.
In one of our New England colleges a youth who had been studying hard that he might enter the Freshman class was startled from his sleep at midnight by a party of fellows in masks, who proceeded to make sport for themselves by that stupid process called "hazing" their companion. They had their silly fun, but it is to be hoped that none of the number engaged in it can ever think of that night without a pang, for it made the youth insane.
COMPANY IN THE SICK-ROOM
Many people have a morbid curiosity to see the sick, especially if they are very sick. But if a patient is very sick, it is best that visitors be entirely excluded. A considerate person seldom visits a sick-room unless he can be of use to the patient or to the family.
But if the patient is not very sick, agreeable company may be of benefit to cheer and encourage. But visitors should not wear a gloomy countenance. They should not talk concerning sickness, but endeavor to turn the attention of the patient away from himself and his disease. Some who visit the sick-room love to relate their own ailments, and tell how much they suffer in almost every imaginable manner. Banish such from the room without ceremony. If religion or religious exercises are introduced, let the scriptures read, the word spoken, and the prayers offered, be trustful. The Psalms of David are always appropriate, as they breathe the spirit of penitence, of submission, and of trust. They are especially comforting to the sick and afflicted.—Pacific Health Journal.
KEEP TRYING
By Advance
If boys should get discouraged
At lessons and at work,
And say, "Ther's no use trying,"
And all hard tasks should shirk,
And keep on shirking, shirking,
Till the boy became a man,
I wonder what the world would do
To carry out its plan!
The coward in the conflict
Gives up at first defeat;
If once repulsed, his courage
Lies shattered at his feet.
The brave heart wins the battle,
Because, through thick and thin,
He'll not give up as conquered—
He fights, and fights to win.
So, boys, don't get disheartened
Because at first you fail;
If you but keep on trying,
At last you will prevail;
Be stubborn against failure;
Try, try, and try again;
The boys who kept on trying
Have made the world's best men.
—Advance.
SUNSET MAGAZINE
By Editor
DESCRIBES
California
Not only California, but all the great West, is truthfully described in the beautifully illustrated pages of this virile Western monthly. Its fine half-tones make you SEE the country, while its descriptive and industrial articles TELL YOU EXACTLY what is to be found there. It is
"Opportunity"
in visible form, for it shows the wonderful chances for success now open in the new West for wide-awake people.
If your news dealer doesn't carry SUNSET, send us his name and address and write for sample copy.
HOME OFFICE: 431 California St.
San Francisco, California.
THE NORTHWESTERN LINE
RUSSIA-JAPAN ATLAS.
Send ten cents in stamps to R. R. Ritchie, No. 617 Market Street, San Francisco, for Russo-Japanese War Atlas, issued by the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, three fine colored maps each 14x20, bound in convenient form for reference. The Eastern Situation shown in detail with tables showing relative military and naval strength and financial resources of Russia and Japan.
TEN DOLLARS A WEEK.
Some agents are making as high as $10 a week selling E-Z Washing Table's. Why not you? Sample bar sufficient for a month's washing for 10 cents post-paid. TERMS FREE.
Address, Alfred Mallett, Elkridge Sta., Baltimore, Md.
BROWN'S MILLENNIAL TEXT-BOOK.—500 texts and diagram. Aid to ministers, workers, everybody. Quick seller for agents. Copy prepaid, one dime. Eugene A. Brown, Phoenix, Ariz.
Notes on the Coming Issue
By Editor
Do you love Jesus Christ? Then, of course, you love His appearing, and you will be glad to know He is coming again, and coming soon.
In our next week's issue (not our next Special) will be found our first "experience meeting." We are sure the testimonies will cheer and comfort other hearts.
Laodicea.—On page 6 is a combination of pictures in one heading. One of those is the ruins of Laodicea, once an important and wealthy city in Western Asia. It was not an ancient city, hence is not named by any of the older prophets. There was a Christian church in the city, and that church is used as a type of the backslidden state of the church in the last days. The city itself is not denounced in prophecy, but the Laodicean church is denounced. The Lord tells her that because of her utter indifference to holy things He is about to spew her out of His mouth. Rev. 3:14-16. He designs that His church shall be the salt of the earth; but if the salt has lost its keeping power, there is nothing to prevent both the salt and that which is designed to preserve from going to destruction. So God's denunciation of the church, and the failure of that church, meant denunciation against the city and the failure of the city. When Lot's family failed, Sodom went down. When the church of Judah failed, Jerusalem was ruined.
Our Cover Page.—Study our cover page by Mr. Mente, of New York. In the center is a type of a strong prophet of God, with scroll and pen. Upon him shines the light of God. "Holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." On the left side of the picture is a symbol found in Daniel 2, a great metallic image, composed of various metals, gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay, symbolizing respectively the empires of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia, and Rome in its imperial form and its broken condition, all to be succeeded by the everlasting kingdom of Christ Jesus, symbolized by the Stone cut out of the mountain without hand. This is God's declaration of the lasting power of earthly empire. Nebuchadnezzar, a type of all other worldly patriotic rulers, believed that his empire should stand forever, and he imaged forth his idea in a figure all of gold, in appearance, at least, as represented in the image on the other side. In the four corners are God's symbols of the nations as set forth in Daniel 7. Below the prophet is the open Bible, emphatically made so by the light of prophecy, while above, mirrored in the clouds, is the everlasting city of God prepared for His children. Heb. 11:16; 13:14. To get a full understanding of what that first page means read the whole paper.
