Earlier text: The Prophecy of ZechariahWANING PROTESTANTISM.
By Editor
THERE was a time when Protestants felt that they had a mission to the world, including those in the darkness of Romanism. Then Protestantism was a power for progress, for righteousness, for holy life. It had definiteness. Even tho creeds still lingered, it stood for the Word of God. Now the Bible as the Word of God is in many places discounted, and in many more disregarded; its searching messages of warning to a backslidden church are heard unheeded, and the solemn duties enjoined are slighted. Much that had been gathered from the Word was crystallized into creed, along with much retained from apostate and darkened medievalism, till by association the evil came to seem as holy as the good. When the Word of God was pressed home concerning these things, the majority of Protestants, preferring to follow the route of least resistance, have fallen back upon the old cry of error—precedent and tradition. In doing this Protestantism yielded her only tenable ground, “the Bible, and the Bible only.” Romanism has seen it, and has not been slow to take advantage of it. The Protestant finding himself where he must choose either the Bible or tradition, has generally chosen tradition, and thus placed himself on the same ground as the Roman Catholic, tho much less consistent. Not a few have consistently gone clear back to Rome. Standing on the same platform with Rome, they, of course, have lost power to protest against Rome’s errors. Nay, more, many are counting Rome as a very Christian ally in the great religio-political reforms which are taking place. Thank God, all do not see matters quite that way. Tho not seeing all the truth clearly, tho not wholly casting loose from the old snag, tradition, they are earnestly endeavoring to move the water-logged craft, Protestant largely in name, up the stream. Among these is Wm. Burt, D.D., of New York. Recently home from Catholic countries, he writes a stirring article to the Christian Advocate (Methodist Episcopal), of Nov. 13, 1902, entitled, “Why Do We Send Missionaries to Roman Catholic Countries?” He tells us that in a few days since he came home he had been asked the question a score of times. He says:— Romanism has evidently gained a great victory in the United States, in having put Protestantism to silence. The one who dares to tell the truth about Romanism is regarded, even by some of his own church, as narrow and bigoted, while the one who will tolerate and excuse its evils is regarded as progressive and broad-minded. About the year 1517 one might have seen prostrate on the floor of his cell in the convent of Erfurt a monk in great agony of soul, because oppressed by an ecclesiasticism which discarded the New Testament doctrine of justification by faith. That monk’s name was Martin Luther. Our friends who do not approve of missions to Roman Catholic countries would have passed by that cell without making known to that poor, oppressed soul the good news of salvation through faith in Jesus, alleging that he already belonged to a Christian church. By their neglect they would have prevented the Reformation. If our tolerant friends had seen John Tetzel selling indulgences in the public square of Wittenberg, they probably would have said, “After all, he mentions Christ, and pardon, and grace. He has a certain Biblical diction, and, therefore, must be a Christian man.” They would not have protested in the name of Christ against his infamous doings. Luther and Tetzel are types of persons to be found in the Roman Catholic Church to-day:— - Sincere souls who are seeking light, but at present are groaning under the oppressive influences of a religion devoid of divine grace. There are many such.
- Educated rogues who find in papal pretensions and Romish ceremonies their opportunity for the vilest practices. These constitute the working force of the great organization.
We will give more of Dr. Burt’s article later. We call our readers’ attention to this to let them know that thoughtful, earnest men see the fearful drift and deplore it. He gives what seems to him the causes of this attitude on the part of Protestantism. We wish our readers to study the causes. How much has higher criticism to do with it? How much the influence of human creeds? How much has adherence to tradition rather than to plain duty backed up by a “Thus saith the Lord”? How much has departure from the Word and loss of the Spirit of God to do with this attitude? How much has the overwhelming tide of worldliness, “prosperity,” and commercialism to do with it? How much have many other things to do with it? Ask yourself these questions, reader. Are they worth considering? Is Protestantism worth preserving? If it is, Protestants should awake. THE DECADENCE OF RELIGIOUS JOURNALISM.
The Christian Endeavor World, whose editors admit being “indomitable optimists,” is turned aside from the usual optimistic current long enough to deplore the waning of the religious press. The following is from a recent issue:— During recent years the average religious journal has had a hard row to hoe. There has been a noteworthy and generally acknowledged decline in the fervor of church life—a temporary decline, but still one not to be denied; and this has meant a withdrawal of support from many a religious paper. Secular affairs have pressed upon men with unexampled force and attractiveness. Never before was the world so interesting. Especially, secular magazines have multiplied at an amazing rate, and newspapers and other periodicals have increased their resources, and have gained a fascination which they never before exhibited. Secular books, and especially the novel, have sold in astonishing numbers. All this has had an unfavorable effect upon the prosperity of the religious journal. Outdoor sports have made tremendous strides in popularity. Mammon has such a hold on men’s affections as it never has gained before. Wars among the nations and struggles between labor and capital have absorbed men’s attention. All this has been prejudicial to religious journalism. Our readers know that the editors of this paper are indomitable optimists; and yet there is no sense in shutting one’s eyes to facts. We are not discouraged for the church; our faith is not even depressed; a good time is coming, but this is not a good time. Now the very causes that have rendered the case of the religious journal a hard one have made the religious journal a greater necessity than ever before. If the world is so attractive, there is double need of presenting the attractiveness of heaven. If mammon presses, the more urgently should we press the claims of unselfishness. With the world running mad on the one hand for soul-hardening toil and on the other hand for soul-enervating sport, there is most urgent need for the presentation of sane views of life, for reminders of eternity. The secular press is trying to take the place of the religious press, but it can never do it. Every Sunday paper has its pious page, but it also has thirty pages that are the opposite of pious. Every Monday newspaper prints reports of Sunday’s sermons, but only when they treat the Philippine question, or the labor question, or some other secular or sensational theme. Not once a year could any earnest Christian find a morsel of soul food in the reports of Sunday sermons that appear in most papers. We can not depend upon the editors and reporters of secular papers being religious men. We have ourselves known editors on religious pages in important newspapers who were themselves bitter infidels, sneering at all religion. It is absurd to expect these men, engrossed in the absorbing details of politics, social scandal, crime, and sports to be well informed regarding missions, temperance, denominational positions, theological principles, and the real progress and condition of the church. The most grotesque misrepresentations regarding religious matters are constantly being made by secular papers, misrepresentations that would not be permitted for a moment in regard to politics or society. There is great need for Christians everywhere to consider this matter, and rally to the support of religious journalism. Several important religious papers have died within the past year. We know of others that are in a dying condition. A CAUSE OF ANARCHY.
By S. H. Taft
[From an address by Rev. S. H. Taft.] THE 250,000 saloons of our land are so many deadly cancers on the body politic, so many destroyers of virtue, and are the headquarters of anarchists, obstructing the administration of justice, debauching both the drinker and the seller and filling our alms-houses, lunatic asylums, and prisons with imbeciles and criminals. That the voters and legislators of the nation are responsible for this state of things is well known to all familiar with present social and political conditions. In a late issue of the Baltimore Sun an eminent Episcopal clergyman says: “What an issue is the liquor question! Can it ever be settled except by converting the public conscience to a recognition that every man is his brother’s keeper? Slavery has never been so prolific of crime and want and death as the liquor traffic.” Another clergyman says in the Philadelphia Christian Standard, “I affirm the drink traffic as tolerated by the church and legalized by the State is a greater and more far-reaching evil in the United States to-day than was slavery.” A judge in the city of Des Moines, Iowa, in opening court a few days since, said: “Ninety per cent. of the crimes committed in this city are caused by the liquor traffic.” At a recent convention of the Minneapolis Liquor Dealers’ Association, Mayor Ames made a congratulatory speech in which he spoke of their business as legitimate. The Minneapolis Journal challenged his statement, whereupon the Mayor in a speech to the assembled saloonists the next evening declared: “Every member of Congress, every member of the City Council of Minneapolis, and every voter who helped make that Congress or Council has made your business legitimate, and are sponsors for it. Your business has been legitimized by legislators.” By this criminal alliance of the municipalities,9 states, and the nation with the saloon, the officers of the law, who should be “a terror to evil-doers” and a praise to them who do well, are discrowned of all moral power, and at their best represent only brute force, and are, therefore, helpless to protect the public health and the public morals, which the United States Supreme Court has declared to be the primal duty of government. The rum power by its imperious control of municipal, state, and national politics casts a baneful shadow over the pathway of the young men of our country, who, finding the places of honor and power in its keeping, are tempted to do violence to the high and just ideals of youth and become scheming politicians instead of true statesmen. Not until the officers of the government shall represent the majesty of justice and deliver the spoiled out of the hands of the spoiler, can the tide of anarchy that threatens the destruction of our nation be turned back. On November 3 President Eliot, of Harvard University, spoke before the Methodist Ministers' Meeting of Boston. Among other things, he is reported as saying:— As I weigh the forces that affect mankind, and look back upon the course of human history and the progress of Christianity, it seems to me the finest and greatest civilizer is steady work. That is the way by which the race is lifted up out of barbarism into semi-civilization and into civilization. Labor, steady labor, is the great civilizer. Yet we must admit that the church, and the school, and the university in Christian lands encounter a difficulty in this regard at the very opening of our Bible. The Bible represents labor as a curse, and it had a profound effect on all Christian theology until 100 years ago, and we encounter the false reflection of it in labor unions to-day. The labor unions adopt the Genesis view of labor as a curse, a thing to be avoided. In the intellectual calling, such as you and I follow, we have learned that labor, so far from being a curse, is almost the first of blessings, and that the limit of labor for us is nothing but the capacity of the human body to endure labor in full health and strength. Labor is a great blessing; and it is never represented in any other way in the Bible. Nowhere are we told in Genesis, or elsewhere, that labor is a curse. So far from labor's being a curse, God gave it as one of the means of triumphing over the curse. The cause of the curse is sin. The serpent partook of the curse; man partook of the curse; all nature became tainted because of man's sin. But the curse came upon the ground for man's sake, to be a blessing to man. How?—In this way: If the earth had continued to yield according to its pristine vigor, man never would have known labor; the merest effort would have sufficed to gather sufficient to subsist. The result would have been a life of idle selfishness. Therefore God cursed the ground for man's sake, in order that he must labor, and so reap labor's benefits, a stronger character and a purer life. President Eliot's misconception of Bible teaching is parallel with many other current misconceptions. It is not the Book that is at fault, but its interpreters. Trade Expansion and the Threat of War
The German Fleet Society, of which the emperor and his cabinet officials are members, is now agitating the question of a still greater increase in the German navy, especially in the number of cruisers which can be sent into foreign waters. The official circular of this society states that “Germans must make up their minds whether the business already created shall be protected and extended or permitted to languish.” This extension and artificial protection of trade is making of such nations as England, Germany, France, and the United States nations of manufacturers; and as the people turn more and more to manufactures, more protection and greater extension is required to make markets for their productions. Otherwise the occupations of the people would be taken away and a calamity ensue. This very tendency to extend and protect trade for the purpose of keeping the people employed is driving the nations nearer to war. Each is becoming more and more jealous of the extensions of the other and more insistent upon the acquisition of trading territory and the protection of the trading ground of its subjects. There is coming to be an ominous ring to the words, “We must protect our trade.” Turkey is re-arming her forces, having just ordered of the Krupp gun works 96 cannon of the latest type and 220,000 Mauser rifles. These, with the necessary wagons and ammunition, make an expenditure of nearly $4,000,000. Such an outlay at a time when Turkey seems so near collapse in her financial affairs gives color to the rumor that she is expecting trouble with Italy. The annual report of the Postmaster-General shows the total receipts of the Postal Department for the year ended June 30 to have been $121,848,047, an increase of $10,216,844 over the receipts for the previous year. The expenditures for that period, however, exceeded the receipts by nearly three million dollars. In the realm of labor.—Another strike is reported at Marseilles, France, and numerous vessels are tied up there unable either to discharge or take on cargo. Many of the vessels have been deserted by their crews, who have joined the strikers. It now seems that the town of Keswick, Cal., is doomed to depopulation as the result of a strike. The population of the town is 2,221, and most of the residents there are employees of the smelter which has been compelled to cease operations and shows no signs of resuming. The stores no longer give the miner credit, and many are moving away. The coal strike arbitration commission will now have to settle the differences of the miners and operators after all, the operators having refused to go on with the work of reaching an agreement with the miners outside of the commission. The tyranny of the labor union was shown at Fresno, Cal., on November 26, when a carpenter was denied the privilege of donating one day’s work to a church being built by union carpenters. Fourteen thousand mining men and boys are still idle at the Shamokin, Penn., coal mines. Reports received at Stockholm from the northern part of Sweden state that famine is spreading throughout the northern part of that country. It is declared that 70,000 people are starving or on the verge of starvation. Heavy rainfalls have inundated the fields and meadows and flooded many houses. Much of the live stock is isolated on the hills, which are barren of pasture, and are likely to perish. In a number of the districts the outlook is exceedingly gloomy, and it is feared that all the resources of the famine-stricken district will be exhausted before March. Contributions of food and money are being forwarded to the sufferers. A serious legal question is now being argued before Chief Justice Fuller of the United States Supreme Court, in Richmond, Va. It pertains to the matter of negro disfranchisement in Virginia, which was brought about by the new State constitution. The representative of the disfranchised negroes asks that the State Board of Canvassers be enjoined from issuing certificates of election to the congressmen recently chosen, on the ground that the constitution had been proclaimed by a convention instead of being submitted to the people. There seems to be a prospect of serious trouble in the State of Nebraska over the fencing in of government land by private parties. Colonel Mosby, who is charged with looking after the government’s interests in the matter, expresses the fear that there will be bloodshed before the fences are torn down and the land taken from those who are holding it without right. He states, nevertheless, that the work will be done. The Methodist Church of Utah has declared war against the senatorship of apostle Smoot of the Mormon Church. Mr. Smoot has not yet been elected; but as he holds the highest office but one in the Mormon Church, it is claimed that his election would be a virtual union of Church and State; and the Methodists as a denomination will do all in their power to prevent his election. Within the last two months the game of football in the United States has been the cause of 10 deaths and 70 serious accidents, with an unknown number of minor injuries. There is certainly something wrong with a system of education which carries such a dangerous prize-ring annex, in which the successful contestants outshine even the president of the college. La Soufriere, the St. Vincent volcano, was in eruption again on November 26, the fifth outbreak since the 7th of last May. So fierce was the last outburst that the inhabitants of Georgetown and Chateau Belaire are reported to have evacuated those places. The outbreak was accompanied by fierce lightnings and terrible subterranean rumblings. Advices from The Hague state that the Dutch jurist who has been arbitrating the claims of the American sealers against Russia for the seizure of their vessels has decided in favor of the American sealers, and Russia is sentenced to pay for the vessels seized, with interest. The matter has been in dispute for the past ten years. The queen of Portugal, who was acting as regent during the visit of the king to England, has imprisoned the principal generals of the Portuguese army because of their demand that the king’s cabinet be dissolved. It is stated that she will keep them in jail until they promise better behavior. Congress convened on December 1, and forecasts by the press on the matters which will claim the earliest attention of the legislators indicate that the statehood of Arizona, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, and the problems of the trust question will be the first matters to be considered. Secretary of the Navy Moody, in his annual report to the government, makes an urgent appeal for more officers for the navy and an increase in the number of warships to be built. English and German naval men are making the same appeals. The population of the self-governed provinces of India has decreased 3,500,000 during the last ten years, owing to plague and famine, while the population of those States under direct British rule has increased 7,000,000. The New York Elevated road has been leased by the Interborough Company for a period of 999 years. The directors and stockholders will hardly live to see the expiration of the lease. The London City Association has begun an agitation for the breaking up of London into towns of from 30,000 to 60,000 inhabitants. The association hopes thus to relieve the overcrowded streets of London, and reduce the many evils of life in such a large city as London is at the present time. Its other object is to build up rural communities. The evils of city life are increased in proportion to the increase and congestion of the cities, and at the present time the whole tendency seems to be to crowd into the larger cities rather than to migrate from the cities into the smaller towns. This is one of the most active causes of the increasing evils of the present day. The association sees the increasing evils, but it is questionable whether it will be able to accomplish its purpose in any degree. The flood-tide is setting strongly the other way. During the week a number of cases have been reported where persons had murdered others whose lives they had insured. In one case a mother, by committing suicide, practically admitted the poisoning of her two daughters for whose murder she had been arrested, and neither of them were insured for more than seventy-five dollars. In another case a husband and wife are held for the murder of two children under similar circumstances; while from Texas and Mexico come reports of the arrest of several men who are charged with insuring and putting to death a number of persons—so lightly is human life regarded now-a-days when it stands in the way of dollars! Reports from Macedonia indicate that the Turkish authorities are practising terrible cruelties upon the Macedonian peasants to force them to give up arms or tell where arms are concealed. The bastinado has been frequently employed until the victims were crippled for life, their feet being beaten to a pulp by the Turkish soldiers. Boiling hot eggs have been bound in the armpits of others, causing unbearable pain. The troops are reported to be openly plundering the peasants, who are driven practically to despair because of these hardships. Reports from New England state that Vermont has adopted a high license and local option law, reversing the historic policy of the State on the liquor question. The new law includes an annual referendum on the licensing of saloons, setting the minimum fee at $500 and the maximum at $1,200, with a fermented liquor license of $250 per annum. The measure prohibits treating at the bar. Its advocates call it a temperance measure; but the effort put forth by the liquor interests to get such laws enacted argues strongly to the contrary. A remarkably ingenious contrivance has been invented by a French army officer for suppressing the sound, the flash, and the smoke in the discharge of a rifle or cannon. From the description it seems more complete than a somewhat similar invention of a Frenchman reported some months ago, which was designed to accomplish practically the same purpose. Such weapons as these will be able to do terrible execution because of the inability of the enemy to locate them or be sure of hiding from them. So goes on the work of war preparations. The native constabulary in different parts of the Philippines are still kept busy suppressing the ladrones. There are frequent reports of murders by these lawless bands. The sultan of Bacolod is again sending threatening letters to the Americans, and it is expected that an expedition will be sent against him. It is reported that there is in the islands a rapid growth of secret societies unfriendly to the Americans, and that through the agency of these the natives are being armed for an insurrection. Grand Duke Sergius of Russia has paid a visit to the pope to inform him of the czar’s intention of making a visit to “his holiness.” The pope expressed great pleasure at the prospect of having the czar visit him. What the purpose is of this conference between the heads of the Greek Catholic and the Roman Catholic churches is not apparent. It may be one of the many incidents which, taken together, will finally bring about the condition of things foretold in Rev. 17:12–18. It will be of interest to those who have been students of the prophecies of Daniel to know that diplomatic relations have been resumed between Greece and Persia after 2,393 years of non-intercourse. The diplomatic relations between these two ancient nations came to a close in 491 B.C., when Darius sent heralds to Athens to demand the submission of the Greeks to his sovereignty. During all that time these nations had no diplomatic intercourse. A huge sun motor, or solar motor, has been constructed in Boston, and is in successful operation, generating sufficient steam to run a small saw-mill. By means of a large number of concave mirrors powerful heat rays are concentrated upon the boiler supported in the center of the reflector. The success of this motor has induced its inventor to enter upon the construction of others. The price of silver continues to fall, Mexican dollars being now quoted in New York at 37 cents, and this is about the ratio also in the Philippine Islands. In view of this continual decrease the Siamese Government has ordered its mints to cease immediately the free coinage of silver, and is contemplating the establishment of a gold basis for its currency. The ashes of Christopher Columbus were deposited in a special mausoleum at Seville, Spain, on November 17. We hear much about the glorious prospect of the twentieth century, about the progressive culture and Christian refinement of our time, about the leadership of America in all that is great. But occasionally one steps out of the procession and calmly turns on a side-light, and every such view, by whomsoever taken, reveals a retrogression toward ancient Rome. If the view be from a religious standpoint, the trend is toward Rome; if from the platform of worldly ambition, the grand rush seems to have gone so far around the circle as to be coming up in the rear of Rome. One such snapshot is taken by the Baptist Argus, and from its description we take the following:— America is in the adolescence of athletics. She is like a large boy who has taken the first taste of cider and feels a thrill of festive liberty. The apron strings of Puritanism have snapped, and our people are enamored of physical achievements. They are set on strenuous exploits. They insist on the biggest trusts, the fastest ships, the guns of longest range, the tallest houses, the mightiest bridges and viaducts, and the most prodigious industrial plants. They have a crying passion for bigness. For exhibitions they rival the Romans. Their theaters, their parks, their games, their parades, and contests must be of the most spectacular and sensational order. The amateur and the professional vie with each other. The lady from the most fashionable avenue of the city goes to the Horse Show and enters the list against the most skilled jockey. That is the finest and most attractive football team which cracks the most bones and skins the most scalps. The charm of an exhibition is—well, of course in the skill displayed, but with a wonderfully rich fancy in favor of thrilling and perilous episodes. We are not yet ready for the bull fight, being for the present content to enjoy the sanguinary scenes enacted on athletic grounds, but we will after a while need our Colosseum, and our Ephesian beasts. That is the squint of the times—the trend of current events—the end toward which we are traveling. THE HOME THAT WAS WAITING TO BE FOUND.
SAY, say! Miss Manners, what d’ye think?” The tall young woman in the college settlement turned toward the child who had timidly plucked at her skirt. “’Bout—’bout one uv them homes ye’ve—” The pause was so long that the young woman bent over to ask, “Well, one of the homes? What do I think? What do you want me to think about it!” “Couldn’t yer—couldn’t yer git one uv ’em for me an’ daddy?” At this Miss Manners sat down and questioned the child. She found that her own little talk to the children that morning had already sent out a rootlet. Hetty had become interested and was soon won by the pictures which Miss Manners had described in glowing color, of a clean, orderly home, one that was so sweet and bright that all who belonged in it would want to stay, and whenever they had to go away they would keep a little memory of it in their hearts and come back to it as quickly as possible. So she had asked the rather queer question of the bright-faced young woman, who had come into their neighborhood with the college settlement. Of course, Hetty didn’t know just what Miss Manners meant in all the things she had said; but enough of the meaning caught her attention to make her feel that there was a possible brightness in life which she had failed to receive. Miss Manners’ few minutes’ talk with the little girl resulted in their setting off together without any delay along the noisy, dirty street. When they had reached a most uninviting stairway, about which dirty, half-clad children swarmed, and upon which were seated two unkempt women nursing dirtier babies, Hetty took a little pinch of Miss Manners’ skirt between her thumb and fingers and went before her up the uninviting stairs. Up and up they went together, stopping at last before a door against which the child paused to put her ear and listen for a minute before she drew a key from her bosom, by means of a twine string, and unlocked it. They entered a most dreary and dismal place. Hetty closed the door, then went to stand before Miss Manners and look into her face. “Could—could yer git one uv them homes an’—an’ bring it in here, fur me ’n’ daddy?” The heart of the young woman sank. Transplanting the sweet home spirit into such a forsaken place seemed most hopeless. Still, she answered brightly, “I’m sure that if we go to work we can find one already here.” “Here? now?” asked the child, wonderingly. Then she shook her head. Her face fell. Faith in the bright-faced young woman of the college settlement began to grow faint. “Yes, I think that if we try very hard we shall find one. It’s just hiding. It’s waiting for us to find it. But we’ll have to do a good bit of hard work and planning. Let’s look about and see what we’d better do first.” It was a sorry looking abode. The few pieces of furniture were rickety. The window was dingy with dirt. A cot stood in one corner, upon which the ragged bed-clothes lay exactly as they had been left by the sleeper who had crawled from them that morning. “That’s daddy’s bed,” said Hetty. Her eyes ran over to a heap of rags in another corner, which Miss Manners understood to be the child’s own sleeping-place. “We’ll find lots to do,” said the bright voice. Indeed it was the very brightness of this voice which had caught Hetty’s interest and set her to thinking. “Where does this door lead to?” The young woman tugged at a half-closed door that sagged upon the floor. When it was open she discovered, underneath the coal, broken sticks, and torn papers which were almost covered with dirt and with more rags, a bath tub. She was delighted over her find. “Why, however did this come here?” she asked. “Men brung it,” said the child. “Sal Higgins keeps geese in here. Me’n’ dad hain’t got no geese.” It was found later that this was the very tenement-house about which a friend of Miss Manners had told her, pityingly. It seems that in obedience to a good impulse the daughter of the rich man who owned it had been seized, a few months before, with a spasm of interest in tenement-house work. She persuaded her father to order that the agent supply the people with bath tubs. This done, the rich man’s daughter promptly forgot all about the matter and left the poor tenement folk to do with their strange addition according to their own pleasure. Most of them had never seen a bath tub, much less did they know the use for it. They questioned the plumbers or scolded at them for disturbing their quarters. Some threatened to throw “th’ waterin’ troughs out uv th’ windy, shure!” They took up too much room—“enough fur a bed,” cried one indignant tenant. Hetty with only one room, seemed to be in undisputed possession of the bath room for the whole of the back suite. This delighted Miss Manners, who had hardly been able to credit this tale of the tubs when she heard it. But it was true. She was in the very heart of the most squalid ignorance, and was besought to build a home there. “Why, how fortunate we are?” she cried. “We’ll surely find the little home. I’m beginning to see it already.” The child shook her head. “’Tain’t under them,” she said. “But a good big part is inside of it,” Miss Manners answered. “Now we’ll go back to the settlement and make our plans. Some one must help us; but it will be done, sure!” The face of the child did not brighten. If the tall young woman had proposed to buy a home and have it brought there in a big delivery wagon it might have seemed possible. But to go to work and hunt one out of its hiding-place? She knew better. She had been over every inch of the ground and had turned over, at one time or another, every old chair and soap box, every torn paper and dirty, ill-smelling garment. No; it couldn’t be done. Still, she tramped back with Miss Manners and answered the questions that were put to her. She told that her mother had gone to the workhouse, and that daddy came home “most nights.” “Sometimes she wished he hadn’t come, ’cause he hurt” her. Other times he brought things to eat and didn’t swear at her. Just they two were together now. Her big brothers had both gone off to sea, stoking. They didn’t come back any times. Anyhow, they wouldn’t know where to come, because she and daddy had moved since the boys went away. Miss Manners talked with the committee and, accompanied by a stout woman bearing several large bundles, the two went back and began work. It was a sorry job, but patience and hard labor will do a lot. Before night came the little place was as clean as clean could be. Powder and fluid had been sprinkled about, to get rid of cockroaches, and the whole place had a different look and odor. Many things had to be cast out utterly. Hetty objected to parting with some, but yielded when better ones were promised in their place. When all was clean, even to the smallest old dish and dingy kettle, fresh bedding was brought in, along with other supplies which helped to brighten. A cot was put in place of the bundle of rags where Hetty had slept, and she was instructed how to spread the covers. When bright chintz was laid over both the cots Hetty almost danced for joy. Then Miss Manners explained the use of the bath tub, and stood by while the stout woman gave Hetty a brisk bath and afterward dressed her in the clean, plain clothes they had brought over in one mysterious bundle. The soiled garments—all that promised any further usefulness—were packed in a great basket to be taken back to the settlement for laundering. “Persuade your daddy to do the same,” said Miss Manners, “so as to keep this bed nice and clean. Will send him over some fresh underclothes and socks this evening, and we’ll teach you how to keep them clean and neat. Every day you will come to the settlement, and every day I’ll come here to see how you are getting on. It will be hard work, sometimes, but you’ll like it, I’m sure. And every week that you do well we’ll give you a picture to hang on the wall, or a pot of flowers, or some pretty bit to brighten it all.” “You are to learn to cook, you know, dear. And soon your daddy will have such a dear little housekeeper that he’ll be very glad and proud. We’ve found the little home, Hetty, and we must not let it get lost again.” Hetty took up a little fold of Miss Manner’s gown and held it very tightly. The days went by. Sometimes Hetty worked well and seemed full of courage. Sometimes the old slovenly habits in which she had been reared took possession of her and she spent her time in the streets, and ran to hide whenever she caught sight of one of the settlement folk. But this did not last long. Miss Manners was patient, and, best of all, cheery. “Hetty’s surely ‘one of these little ones’ of whom Christ spoke,” she used to say to herself. “I must not lose hold of her, and she must not lose her home.” So the work went on. Miss Manners was constantly thinking of particular reasons for Hetty’s very best efforts. Any holiday or feast-day was made an excuse for certain improvements. But best of all was the daddy’s own birthday, when the little girl surprised him with a neatly-spread table and a delicious dinner all cooked by her own small hands.11 The poor man was so surprised and delighted that at first he could hardly eat. He sat gazing at the dish of steaming soup set before him. Later on, when the fricasseed chicken had been served, and a plain sponge cake, he looked at his little girl’s bright face. Tears came into his eyes. “It’s time I made a bit change myself,” he said. Then he called her to get on her hat, and he took her hand and went with her over to the settlement and asked to sign the pledge. Miss Manners stood beside Hetty and held both little hands in hers while the big hand of the father took the pen and signed his name. “Say, say!” whispered the child, “we did find it, didn’t we—the home fur daddy ’n’ me? An’ ’twas right there, just as you said. Only we hadn’t seen it, for the dirt an’ th’ clutter. I’m so glad you found it for us.” And Miss Manners? Well, she was glad too.—Christian Advocate. ‘THE hands are such dear hands;
They are so full; they turn at our demands
So often; they reach out
With trifles scarcely thought about
So many times; they do
So many things for me, for you—
If their fond wills mistake,
We may well bend, not break. They are such fond, frail lips
That speak to us. Pray if love strips
Them of discretion many times,
Or if they speak too slow or quick, such crimes
We may pass by, for we may see
Days not far off when those small words may be
Held not as slow, or quick, or out of place, but dear,
Because the lips are no more here. They are such dear, familiar feet that go
Along the path with ours, feet fast or slow,
And trying to keep pace—if they mistake
Or tread upon some flower that we would take
Upon our breast, or bruise some reed,
Or crush poor Hope until it bleed,
We may be mute,
Nor turning quickly to impute
Grave fault; for they and we
Have such a little way to go—can be
Together such a little while along the way—
We will be patient while we may. So many little faults we find!
We see them, for not blind
Is love. We see them, but if you and I
Perhaps remember them some by and by,
They will not be
Faults then—grave faults—to you and me,
But just odd ways—mistakes, or even less,
Remembrances to bless.
Days change so many things—yes, hours,
We see so differently in suns and showers.
Mistaken words to-night
May be so cherished by to-morrow’s light.
We may be patient, for we know
There’s such a little way to go.