Signs of the Times, Vol. 8, No. 6. (2/9/1882)

Signs of the Times

Feb 9, 1882

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, Cal. · Feb 9, 1882

General Articles.

By Geikie

Early Days of Jesus.

That both parents of a Jewish child took an active part in its early education is shown by the instance of Susanna, of whom we are told that "her parents also were righteous, and taught their daughter according to the law of Moses," and by that of Timothy, "who from a child, had known the Holy Scriptures;" his grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice, having been by implication his teachers. But it was on the father, especially, that the obligation lay, to teach his children of both sexes, the sacred law and the other Scriptures, the knowledge of which constituted almost exclusively the sum of Jewish education. Abraham had found divine favor on the express ground that "he would command his children and his household after him, and they should keep the way of Jehovah;" and express injunctions required every father to teach the sacred history of his nation, with the great deeds and varying fortunes of his ancestors, and the words of the law "diligently" to his children, and to talk of them while sitting in the house, or walking by the way, when they retired to rest, and when they rose for the day. It was, indeed, required by the rabbis that a child should begin to learn the law by heart when five years old. As soon as it could speak it had in the same way to learn the lessons and petitions of the morning service. At the frequently recurring household religious feasts, special rites, which should stir the child to ask their meaning, formed a regular part. The book of Proverbs abounds with proofs of the fidelity with which these commands were carried out by both fathers and mothers. In a virtuous home no opportunity was lost—at the table, at home or

abroad, evening or morning—of instilling reverence for God's law into the minds of the family, and of teaching them its express words throughout, till they knew them by heart. When we remember that the festivals made labor unlawful for two months in each year, in the aggregate, it is evident that the leisure thus secured would give great facilities for domestic instruction.

Such had been, for ages, the rule in Israel, and it doubtless still prevailed in many households. Elementary schools, however, gradually came to be felt a necessity for orphan children, and in the decline of manners, even for those of many living parents. Whether they had been generally established in the days of Christ's childhood has, nevertheless, been questioned. "If any man," says the Talmud, "deserves that his name should be handed down to posterity, it is Joshua, the son of Gamaliel. For, but for him the knowledge of the law would have perished in Israel. In early times he who had a father was taught, but he who had not, did not learn the law. For they were commanded in the words of the law, 'you'—doubtless the fathers—'shall teach them.'" At a latter date it was ordered that school-masters should be appointed to teach the youth of Jerusalem, because it is written, "The law shall go forth from Zion." But this plan did not remedy the evil, for only the child that had a father was sent to school, while he who had none was not sent. It was therefore provided that higher teachers should be provided in every district, and that the youth of sixteen or seventeen years of age should attend their schools. But this plan failed, because any scholar whom the master chastised presently ran off. Then, at last, Joshua, the son of Gamaliel, ordained that teachers should be appointed, as in every district, so in every town, to whom the boys from the sixth or seventh year of their age should be committed." But such a law must have been only supplementary to already existing customs, and it cannot be doubted that boys' schools were already general in the time of Christ. . . .

The age at which children were to be sent to school is fixed in the Mishna. Raf said to Samuel, the son of Schilath, a teacher, "Do not take a boy to be taught before he is six years old, but from that year receive him, and train him as you do the ox, which day by day, bears a heavier load." Even the number of scholars a teacher might take is rigidly fixed. "Rabba (or Raf) has said, a school-master may receive to the number of twenty-five scholars. If there be fifty, there must be two school-masters; if only forty, there must be an assistant, who is to be paid, half by the congregation, half by the school-master." The few children who were not sent to school from whatever cause, were called Am-ha-aretz, or boors—it being taken for granted that they must have lived in some rude district where schools were not easy of access. Neither unmarried men or women were allowed to be teachers. The Hazan or minister of the nearest synagogue was, in general, the master, and the synagogue itself, in a great many cases served as a school-house.

In school the children, according to their age, sat on benches, or on the ground, as they still do in the East, the master sitting on a raised seat. The younger children had, as text-books, some simple passage from the Bible, carefully written out—for, of course, there were no books, in the sense, then—and they seem to have repeated it in a sing-song cadence, till they learned it by heart. In eastern schools, at this time, some are written by each scholar, with chalk, on tablets of wood, like our slates in shape, and these are cleaned after each lesson. Some centuries after Christ the boys, having had portions of the "law" as their class-book till they were ten years old, began at that age to read the Mishna or Rabbinical comments, and at fifteen entered on the reading of the Gemara, or the collected comments on

both the law and the Mishna. In Christ's day, advanced education was, no doubt, much the same, but it must have been given by oral instruction, for the sayings of the rabbis were not as yet committed to writing.

The early years of Christ were, doubtless, spent in some such school, after he had passed from the first lessons of Mary, and the instructions of Joseph. Mysterious as it is to us, we must never forget that, as a child, he passed through the same stages as other children. The Apocryphal Gospels are full of miracles attributed to these opening years, describing the infant as already indefinitely beyond his age. There is no warrant for this in Scripture. Nothing was out of keeping in the life of our Lord. As Irenæus says, "He sanctified childhood by passing through it." Neither his words nor acts, his childish pleasures nor his tears, were different from those of his age. Evil alone had no growth in him; his soul gave back to the heavens all their sacred brightness. The ideal of humanity from his birth, he never lost the innocence of childhood, but he was none the less completely like other children in all things else. We are told that "the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit;" that "the favor of God was upon him," and that "he kept on increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man;" and this can only mean that, with a sweet attractiveness of childish nature, he spoke, and understood, and thought, as simply as his playmates, in the fields, or on the hill-sides, of Nazareth. The earlier words are the same as are used of John the Baptist in his childhood, and can bear only the same meaning. Both grew in the shade of a retired country life, in the sanctuary of home, apart from the great world, under the eyes of God, and with his grace upon them. It was only in later years that the mighty difference between them was seen, when the fresh leaves of childhood, much alike in all, passed into flower. There was no moment in Christ's life when the higher light began to reveal itself in his soul; life and "grace" dawned together, and grew in a common increase to the end.—Geikie.

GETHSEMANE.

By A. T. Gorham

O GARDEN fraught with direst woes, Where erst the suffering Saviour prayed, Thy gloomy haunts my spirit knows, My soul hath bowed beneath thy shade; And life indeed has proved to me A starless, sad, Gethsemane.

I wrote love's name upon the sand, Where Time's dark, curling waves go by; The breakers foamed along the strand— I saw the symbols fade and die. My hopes had floated out to sea, My heart found its Gethsemane.

I stood amid the passing crowd With head erect and haughty air; Alas! the hapless soul endowed With plenty, pride, and naught of care! When fortune, friends, and favor flee, How dear is life's Gethsemane!

The seasons sped. A sunbeam strayed By chance athwart my cheerless way; My soul was lifted from the shade— The night of years dethroned by day: As dreams of yore perchance will flee, Naught leaving but Gethsemane.

Naught, quoth I? Ay, there is a hope Still reaching that within the veil: It buoys the fainting spirit up When sorrows swell, and foes assail. That blessed hope still beams for me, A beacon in Gethsemane.

I hear the Master's thrilling voice— He stretches forth his bleeding hands, And cries, "In me, oh, child, rejoice!" I yield me to his great commands; And as my day my strength shall be, Till Heaven illumes Gethsemane.

—A. T. Gorham, in World's Crisis.

Holding Fast to Great Certainties

By William M. Taylor

The sound religious thinker holds fast by the great certainties which he has verified, and turns them to account by living under their influence. He does "one thing" like Paul, and spends his life in seeking to apprehend that for which he was apprehended of Christ Jesus. His positive convictions give him energy and aggressiveness, and he is effective in the work of his own sanctification and in his efforts for the good of others just in proportion as he holds by the great principles whose truth he has learned from Christ, and keeps himself from disputing about those things concerning which valid conclusions cannot be reached, or if they could, they would be of no practical importance.—Wm. M. Taylor, D. D.

BLESSED CERTAINTY.

By Newton

If all the blind men in the kingdom should endeavor to bear me down that the sun is not bright, or that the rainbow has no colors, I would still believe my own eyes. I have seen them both; they have not. I cannot prove to their satisfaction what I assert, because they are destitute of sight, the necessary medium; they would not—they could not—hesitate a moment, if they were not blind. Just so they who have been taught of God, who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, have an experimental perception of the truth which renders them proof against all the sophistry of the infidel.—Newton.

Using the Present Moment

The surest method of arriving at a knowledge of God's eternal purpose about us is to be found in the right use of the present moment.

Keep Thy Heart

"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

William Miller’s Convictions on the Advent Doctrine.

By Editor

ALL truly great and good men who have been the honored instruments in the hands of God of accomplishing good, and of leading his people in the way of truth, have had wrought in them a deep experience in the things of the Spirit of God. This being the case with William Miller, we are happy to give in this chapter some of the important facts in his experience. His biographer says :—

"From the time that Mr. Miller became established in his religious faith, till he commenced his public labors—a period of twelve or fourteen years—there were few prominent incidents in his life to distinguish him from other men. He was a good citizen, a kind neighbor, an affectionate husband and parent, and a devoted Christian; good to the poor, and benevolent, as objects of charity were presented; in the Sunday-school he was teacher and superintendent; in the church he performed important service as a reader and exhorter, and in the support of religious worship, no other member, perhaps, did as much as he.

"He was very exemplary in his life and conversation, endeavored at all times to perform the duties, whether public or private, which devolved on him, and whatever he did, was done cheerfully, as for the glory of God. His leisure hours were devoted to reading and meditation; he kept himself well informed respecting the current events of the time; occasionally communicated his thoughts through the press, and often, for his own private amusement, and for the entertainment of friends, indulged in various poetical effusions, which, for unstudied productions, are possessed of some merit; but his principal enjoyment was derived from the study of the Bible. His state of mind at this time can be better given in his own language.

" 'With the solemn conviction,' writes Mr. Miller, 'that such momentous events were predicted in the Scriptures, to be fulfilled in so short a space of time, the question came home to me with mighty power regarding my duty to the world, in view of the evidence that had affected my own mind. If the end was so near, it was important that the world should know it. I supposed that it would call forth the opposition of the ungodly; but it never came into my mind that any Christian would oppose it. I supposed that all such would be so rejoiced, in view of the glorious prospect, that it would only be necessary to present it, for them to receive it. My great fear was that in their joy at the hope of a glorious inheritance so soon to be revealed, they would receive the doctrine without sufficiently examining the Scriptures in demonstration of its truth. I therefore feared to present it, lest, by some possibility, I should be in error, and be the means of misleading any.

" 'Various difficulties and objections would arise in my mind from time to time. Certain texts would occur to me which seemed to weigh against my conclusions; and I would not present a view to others while any difficulty appeared to militate against it. I therefore continued the study of the Bible, to see if I could sustain any of these objections. My object was not merely to remove them, but I wished to see if they were valid.

" 'Sometimes when at work, a text would arise like this: "Of that day and hour knoweth no man," &c.; and how, then, could the Bible reveal the time of the advent? I would then immediately examine the context in which it was found, and I saw at once that, in the same connection, we are informed how we may know when it is nigh, even at the doors; consequently, that text could not teach that we could know nothing of the time of that event. Other texts, which are advanced in support of the doctrine of a temporal millennium, would arise; but on examining their context, I invariably found that they were applicable only to the eternal state, or were so illustrative of the spread of the gospel here as to be entirely irrelevant to the position they were adduced to support.

" 'Thus all those passages that speak of the will of God being done on earth as in Heaven, of the earth being full of the knowledge of the glory of God, etc., could not be a time when the man of sin was prevailing against the saints, or when the righteous and wicked were dwelling together, which is to be the case until the end of the world. Those who speak of the gospel being preached in all the world, teach that, as soon as it should be thus preached, the end was to come; so that it could not be delayed a thousand years from that time, nor long enough for the world's conversion after the preaching of the gospel as a witness.

" 'The question of the resurrection and judgment was, for a time, an obstacle in the way. Being instructed that all the dead would be raised at the same time, I supposed it must be so taught in the Bible; but I soon saw it was one of the traditions of the elders.

" 'So, also, with the return of the Jews. That question I saw could only be sustained by denying the positive declarations of the New Testament, which assert: "There is no difference between the Jew and the Greek;" that the promise that he shall be the heir of the world was not to Abraham and his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith; that "there is neither Jew nor Greek, bond nor free, male nor female;" but that "if ye are Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." I was, therefore, obliged to discard an objection which asserts there is a difference between the Jew and Greek; that the children of the flesh are accounted for the seed, etc.

" 'In this way I was occupied for five years—from 1818 to 1823—in weighing the various objections which were being presented to my mind. During that time, more objections arose in my mind than have been advanced by my opponents since; and I know of no objection that has been since advanced which did not then occur to me. But, however strong they at first appeared, after examining them in the light of the divine word, I could only compare them to straws, laid down singly as obstacles on a well-beaten road; the car of truth rolled over them, unimpeded in its progress.

" 'I was then fully settled in the conclusions which seven years previously had begun to bear with such impressive force upon my mind; and the duty of presenting the evidence of the nearness of the advent to others—which I had managed to evade while I could find the shadow of an objection remaining against its truth—again came home to me with great force. I had, previously, only thrown out occasional hints of my views. I then began to speak more clearly my opinions to my neighbors, to ministers, and others. To my astonishment I found very few who listened with any interest. Occasionally one would see the force of the evidence; but the great majority passed it by as an idle tale. I was, therefore, disappointed in finding any who would declare this doctrine, as I felt it should be, for the comfort of saints, and as a warning to sinners.' "—Life of Miller, pp. 64-68.

A Meditation on Death.

By William Swan Plumer

THE following is an extract from a "Meditation," found among the manuscripts of Dr. W. S. Plumer. It was written shortly before his death:—

It is certain I must die. Sin has made death inevitable. The decree has gone forth. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." (Rom. 5:12). "It is appointed unto men once to die." (Heb. 9:27).

The precise time of my death is not and cannot be known by me or any mortal. "Thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." (Prov. 27:1). "Ye know not what shall be on the morrow." (Jas. 4:14). I am glad it is so. A knowledge of the time of my leaving this world might unfit me for some of my duties. Such knowledge did not promote piety in good Hezekiah. If I had so great a secret I should be apt to tell my loved ones, and that would make them unhappy before the time.

Yet I know I must die soon. I have already lived several years on borrowed time. "The days of our years are threescore years and ten." (Ps. 90:10). I am away beyond that. Many things in my bodily health warn me that I have but a short time to live. I may die at any moment. My strength and agility are both impaired.

Death under circumstances the least appalling may well strike one with awe. Under some circumstances it is dreadful. One of the ancients called it the king of terrors; another the terrible of terribles. Death puts a full end to our connection with the scenes of earth. It closes the day of grace. With it probation forever ends. After death all is unchanging and eternal. When my eyes shall close in death I can preach no more. Thenceforth my voice will be silent in the grave, and my lips be sealed till time shall be no longer.

I cannot say that I have any desire to live my life over again. It has been full of mistakes; but I know not that I should be able to correct them. I know enough of the deceitfulness of sin and the treachery of my own heart to feel assured that a second trial would result in nothing flattering to me. Indeed, I marvel at the mercy which has kept me from doing worse.

I see in my past conduct much to deplore and awaken shame. At times the sense of my own folly and sin overwhelm me. And I here acknowledge that if I shall be finally saved, it will be a manifestation of grace that I have never seen surpassed. I also see in God's past dealings with me a vast multitude of amazing mercies. These ought to awaken the most lively gratitude. All the blessings I have received were wholly undeserved. Many of them have been remarkably opportune—in the very nick of time. It would be the basest ingratitude in me not to say these things.

With as great humility as I ever felt, and with great earnestness, I pray God that, if consistent with his holy will and purpose, he would grant me these great favors:—

That I may never forget that I am mortal.
That he would greatly increase my faith.
That I may never again, particularly in my dying hours, be harrassed with temptation, either to despair or to self-righteousness.
That I may be doing some good as long as I live, bring forth fruit in old age, and glorify God in my decease.
That my sufferings in death may not be intolerable.
That in that awful hour my spiritual enemies may be still as a stone, and not a dog be allowed to wag his tongue.
That I may have such measures of the Holy Spirit that there will be no danger of my courage or patience failing.
That I may have some glimpses and foretastes of heavenly glory before I lose my consciousness.
That God will graciously take charge of this whole matter, and enable me now, and to the last, to say from the heart, Thy will be done.

If there is a living man that I have injured, I know it not; but if any one thinks I have wronged him, I humbly ask his forgiveness. I hope to leave the world without a grudge against any. I wish well to every human being.

My expectation is, and long has been, that through infinite and unmerited kindness manifested in Christ Jesus, I shall be happy to all eternity. I know that my everlasting condemnation would be perfectly just. My cry is to God, "Enter not into judgment with thy servant; for in thy sight shall no man living be justified." (Ps. 143:2). But I also know that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin. He has died for sinners such as I am, and I believe in Jesus Christ. He is all my hope. Without him Heaven would not be Heaven for me. I take him for my one and only mediator, my prophet, priest, and king.

My soul greatly exults in the doctrine of the resurrection, as it was held and glorified in the martyrs even before the coming of Christ; as it was taught by the word, and made certain by the rising of our Lord; and as it was taught and held by all the apostles. Without a firm belief in the resurrection, I should be miserable beyond expression.

I suppose I never did a more solemn act than to write this paper. Yet I have done it with great composure of mind. I am surprised at my own calmness at the near view of eternity. It does not cost me a sigh or a tear to contemplate my removal from this to the invisible world.

Christian Women and Heathen Husbands

A MISSIONARY writes from Ceylon: "It is a noticeable fact that where Christian women are married to heathen husbands, generally the influence in the household is Christian; whereas, when a Christian man takes a heathen woman, he usually loses his Christian character, and the influences of the household are on the side of heathenism."

Growing in Grace Through Solitude

In order to grow in grace, we must be much alone. It is not in society—even Christian society that the soul grows most vigorously. In one single quiet hour of prayer it will often make more progress than in days of company with others. It is in the desert that the dew falls freshest and the air is purest.

Meddling and Marring.

A good many people seem to understand all kinds of business except their own—in that they fail—but they have advice, counsel, suggestions, and orders to offer others, whenever occasion presents itself. Sometimes it is well to let them have their own way.

The Cultivator tells of a Boston artist, who received a commission to paint the portrait of a lady. During the first few sittings he had things all his own way, without interruption or annoyance; but when the picture began to take shape, there came a series of criticisms and suggestions, which drove him nearly wild. After contending against them without effect, he decided to accept each and every one of them; in a word, to paint to suit the lady and her friends, rather than himself. It took a long time to do it, but at length their criticisms and suggestions were exhausted, and they admitted that the picture was satisfactory. It was accordingly framed and sent home, and the painter promptly received his check for the stipulated amount.

About a month afterward he received a call from one of the ladies of the family, who came to say that, while the picture was in every respect satisfactory, one thing had been forgotten. "What is that?" asked the artist. "Why," replied his caller, "you neglected to sign it." "By no means," answered he, in his blunt way. "It isn't my picture, you know; it's your picture. If you're proud of it you'd better put your name to it. I wouldn't sign it for a thousand dollars." And he bowed the lady out of his studio.

It is perfectly right that the persons who direct enterprises should have the credit of their work. And if they ruin everything they touch let them take the honor to themselves.

When men who have no religion undertake to manage churches, when men who cannot preach themselves try to rule and control preachers; when men who cannot write, sit in judgment upon writers; when men who cannot establish or build up institutions, undertake to pervert those which others have fostered, it is sometimes well to let them have their own way and show themselves; but when they have wrought folly, confusion, and disaster, then if they are proud of it they had better put their names to it.—The Christian.

The Successful Man.

WHEN our successful man was a boy, and lived in a manufacturing village of New Hampshire, a widow's son, the greatest luxury he knew was to eat apples; so he told us the other day, when we fell into conversation about old times.

"Yes," said he, "when I was ten years old, I used to think that if ever I was rich enough to have as many apples as I wanted, all the year round, I should be perfectly happy. And now!"

He went on to say that he had one of the finest orchards, on a small scale, to be found anywhere in Massachusetts, which produced last year ninety-four barrels of apples of the best varieties yet produced. But he did not eat two apples per annum. He could not; for while he was making his fortune, he worked so hard, and confined himself so closely, as to contract a chronic weakness of digestion. With all the luxuries of the world at his command, he was obliged to live principally on oatmeal and milk.

Later in his youth, his ambition soared above apples. He was beginning to get a little more money than he absolutely needed, and was able occasionally to indulge in a ride. He then thought if he could own a horse fast enough to pass everything on the road, and take no man's dust, he should be the proudest and happiest of men.

"Well," he continued, "I have a horse that I think is the fastest in my county; but I never drive him. I gave him to my son last summer, and for my own use I keep an old plug that jogs along six miles an hour, without troubling myself about him."

At this point our poor successful man wearily took out his watch to see how time was getting on, and we observed that the watch was of a peculiar pattern rarely seen in this country.

"This watch," said he "is another case in point. One of my young ambitions was to possess as good a watch as mortal man could make. I have one. I gave six hundred dollars in gold for it, at a time when gold was a more expensive article than it is now. But, knocking about the world in sleeping-cars and Mediterranean steamboats, I was always a little anxious about my watch; and besides, the possession of so costly an article by a traveler, is a temptation to robbers. One day in Paris I noticed in a shop-window, this curious little watch marked twenty-five francs. A five dollar watch was a novelty, and I bought it. I deposited my six-hundred-dollar time-keeper with my banker, and it has there ever since in an iron safe. I find that this little watch keeps time as well for all the ordinary purposes of life, as the other, and I have carried it ever since."

The successful man said these things with what we may call a good-humored despair. He made no complaint; but at the age when he ought to be in the full tide of cheerful activity, he appeared to have exhausted life.—Youth's Companion.

MAKE IT RIGHT.

HAVE you wronged another— Stranger, neighbor, sister, brother— In God's sight? Have you strewn their path with sadness— You, who should have given them gladness? Then, as morning follows night, Make it right.

Make it right by strong endeavor; Conscience is a mighty lever, You will find. If you can, make restitution, Nor delay its execution, Lest you, of a different mind, Wax unkind.

It may cost you time and money, Make your pathway seem less sunny, Home less bright; But in that you are mistaken— Man was never yet forsaken Climbing up God's holy height— Make it right.

Should the wrong be past undoing, Still, the path of right pursuing All the way; That you ne'er may wrong another, Stranger, neighbor, sister, brother, Pray, friend, pray, Every day!

—Selected.

Finding One's Place.

A good many people spend all their life hunting for a place in this world that they were never intended to fill. They never settle down to anything with any sort of restful or contented feeling. What they are doing now is not by any means the work that is suited to their abilities. They have a sunny ideal of a very noble life which they would like to reach, in which their powers would have free scope, and where they could make a very bright record. But in their present position they cannot do much of anything, and there is little use to try. Their life is a humdrum and a prosy outline, and they can accomplish nothing really worthy and beautiful. So they go on discontented with their own lot, and sighing for another; and while they sigh the years glide away, and soon they will come to the end, to find that they have missed every opportunity of doing anything worthy of a rational being on the passage to eternity. The truth is, one's vocation is never some far-off possibility. It is always the simple round of duties that the passing hour brings. No day is commonplace if we only had eyes to see its splendor. There is no duty that comes to our hand, but brings us the possibility of kingly service.—Selected.

The Art of Pleasing

TRY TO PLEASE. The late George Merriam, publisher of "Webster’s Dictionary," whose early life, though spent in poverty, gave token by its diligence, purity and kindness to his mother, of what a true, noble man he would become, said, when he was an old man: "I trace my success in life to a desire to please. To try to please was my great aim; first my father, and then for his sake, my employer. I lived with my mother, and took four or five apprentices to board with her, and if at the end of the year she came out short, I evened it up."

The one who tries to please makes many friends, and therefore has wide influence. One need never sacrifice principle, but one can always be kind. "What is the secret of the success of Miss — ?" — one of the belles in Washington last winter — we asked a friend "She does not appear remarkably intellectual and she is not very beautiful." "No," said the person addressed, "but she tries to please people." And this was the secret of her being loved.

Work Today

By Benjamin Franklin

WORK to-day, for you know not how much you will be hindered to-morrow.—Franklin.

Decency Towards Horses.

A HORSE cannot be screamed at and cursed without becoming less valuable in every particular. To reach the highest degree of value the animal should be perfectly gentle and always reliable, but if it expects every moment that it is in the harness to be "jawed" at and struck, it will be in a constant state of nervousness, and in its excitement as liable through fear to do something which is not expected, as to go along doing what you started it to do. It is possible to train a horse to be governed by the word of mouth almost as it is to train a child, and in such training the horse reaches its highest value. When a horse is soothed by the gentle words of his driver—and we have seen him calmed down from great excitement by no other means—it may be very fairly concluded that he is a valuable animal for practical purposes, and it may be certainly concluded that the man who has the power over him, is a humane man and sensible one. But all this simply means that the man must secure the animal's confidence. Only in exceptional instances is a horse stubborn or vicious. If he understands his surroundings, and what is required of him, he gives no trouble. As almost every reader must know, if the animal when frightened can be brought up to the object, he will become calm. The reason is that he understands that there is nothing to fear. So he must be taught to have confidence in the man who handles him, and then this powerful animal, which usually a man could not handle, if it were disposed to be vicious, will give no trouble. The very best rule, therefore, which we would lay down for the management of the horse, is gentleness and good sense on the part of the driver. Bad drivers make bad horses usually.—Western Rural.

Speak Gently.

A young lady had gone out for a walk, but forgot to take her purse with her. Presently she met a little girl with a basket on her arm.

"Please, miss, will you buy something from my basket?" said the girl, showing a variety of bookmarks, watch-cases, needle books, etc.

"I am sorry I can't buy anything to-day," said the young lady. "I haven't any money with me. Your things look very pretty." She stopped a minute and spoke a few kind words to the girl, and then, as she passed, she said again, "I am very sorry that I can't buy anything from you to-day."

"O, miss," said the little girl, "you've done me just as much good as if you had. Most persons that I meet say, 'Get away with you!' But you have spoken kindly to me, and I feel a heap better."

That was "considering the poor." How little it costs to speak kind words, and how much they are worth. If we have nothing else to give, let us at least give love and sympathy.—Sel.

Mark This, Boys.

Did you ever know a man who grew rich by fraud continue successful through life and leave a fortune at death? This question was put to a gentleman who had been in business forty years. After reflecting a while he said:—

"Not one. I have seen many men become rich, as if by magic, and win golden opinions, when some little thing led to the exposure of their fraud, and they have fallen into disgrace and ruin. Arson, perjury, and suicide, are common crimes with those who make haste to be rich regardless of the means."

Boys, stick a pin here. You will soon be men and begin to act with those who make money. Write this good man's testimony in your mind, and with it put this word of God, "He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him."

Let these words lead you to resolve to make haste slowly when you go into business in the matter of making money.—Christian Cynosure.

Kindness in Farewell

LET us beware how we ever sever what is painful in intercourse from what is encouraging; never quit a friend with words of displeasure; let your last discourse with him be always kindly; never give to censure the painful distinctness of succeeding silence.

Meditation on God’s Precepts

"I WILL meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways."

Continue reading: Thoughts on Daniel