THAT the late President McKinley, who so cruelly died at the hand of an assassin, was a good man, all believe. As far as in his power he doubtless tried to do his duty. Kindly, genial, dignified, an exemplary husband, a splendid, noble man, all believe that he was. But we are sure that he would, if living, utterly decline much of the fulsome laudation and idolatrous sentiment which have been poured over his bier. It is just such sentiment as this that led to hero-worship among the pagans. Every dead hero immediately became a demigod to be worshiped. Here is a sample of this sentiment from a no less noted preacher than Dr. Gunsaulus, who speaks of various things and classes which will “writhe away like serpents smitten with ‘intolerable light, as we think of the awful price we ‘have paid, and ever must pay, if we fail to do our ‘duty in upholding the flag, and making it a symbol ‘as sacred and as just as the cross of Christ. William McKinley has entered into the holy of holies, ‘bearing our sins. Let us awaken to newness of ‘life.”
The honor due to men in responsible positions is one thing; idolatry is another. The one is of principle; the other is pure sentimentality. The one will do honor to the man, recognizing his position, his representative character, his manliness, and also his limitations; the other exalts him above humanity, and worships him as a god. The words above quoted would be absurd and ridiculous if uttered by some unknown man in ordinary times; uttered at the time they were, by a popular preacher, heralded by the press, they become dangerous.
The exaltation of the flag to the same symbolic level of the cross of Christ is parallel to that of exalting Mr. McKinley to the place of our adorable Redeemer. The flag is a political symbol, standing for political liberty. As a symbol of liberty existing, it is to be prized and honored. But when that flag is used to represent tyranny and oppression by any9combination, confederation, or party, toward a single class or individual, it becomes of no more value than any tri-colored piece of cloth. But when men forget the principles, they worship the thing as a fetish. The Pharisees of old stoned the prophets and garnished their sepulchers.
What a refreshing thing it would be, wouldn't it, to hear some of our great pulpit orators thunder out with heartfelt convictions the words of the apostle: “These things, brethren, I have in a figure trans- ‘ferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes, that ‘ye might learn in us not to think of men above that ‘which is written”? I Cor. 4:6. And here is one of the things written: “Put not your trust in princes, ‘nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. ‘His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; ‘in that very day his thoughts perish. Happy is he ‘that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope ‘is in the Lord his God; which made heaven and ‘earth, the sea, and all that therein is; which keep- ‘eth truth forever.” Ps. 146:3-6.
The lesson is, hold to truth and righteousness, not mere material symbols. “Worship God,” not man. So shall you best be able truly to honor and help all God’s children.
EVIL CAN NOT BE REGULATED.
By G.
The fallacy of attempting to “regulate” evil of any kind has had many illustrations, but one of the latest is the result of trying to regulate the liquor traffic in South Carolina by means of the State Dispensary system. Under this law the State retains a monopoly of the business and its profits. The privilege is granted to counties and municipalities to maintain dispensaries on a share of profits. The official organ of the California W. C. T. U. gives this condensed report of a personal investigation by Mrs. Stevens, the national president of the union:—
Mrs. Stevens adds her testimony to that of many others, proving that the dispensary is no help to temperance. She says: “We were in a town where ‘there has been a dispensary several years, and ‘because so much liquor is dispensed contrary to law, ‘the people have ceased to call it a dispensary, and ‘call it a tank.’” She speaks of the “success” of the dispensary in Athens, Georgia, the first in the country. The profits are so large that there is litigation between city and county as to the proper division, and churches are waking up and withdrawing fellowship from their members engaged in dispensaries. She found many who said that once they believed in the method, but experience had changed their minds. It is proved that the dispensary does not reduce drinking, the profits encourage greed; there is as much illicit selling; in fact, the business can not be made “respectable” or be “regulated.” All it has done for South Carolina was to stave off prohibition, which was over half the State when the law was passed. No method can possibly make a wrong principle produce anything but evil.
It will be remembered that the dispensary, like the army canteen, was set in motion as a temperance measure. It was supported by men who really sympathized with the liquor traffic, which was losing ground through the advance of prohibition, and also by that deluded temperance element that imagines the regulation of evil to be possible, and always fears “extreme measures.” There is only one way to avoid the results of evil, and that is to root up the cause. G.
SABBATH PROFANATION.
It is strange how many learned men will utter truth in unmistakable language, and then apply it to the support of error. A case in point is a report in the Toledo, Ohio, News, of a sermon by Rev. J. R. Shannon, of St. Paul’s M. E. Church. The report says:—
After speaking of Jeremiah’s career, Dr. Shannon spoke of the doctrines which he preached. “One doctrine,” said Dr. Shannon, “which the prophet emphasized at the gates of Jerusalem, is the doctrine of Sabbath observance. He arraigns the people for their violations and profanations of the Sabbath day. He preaches that all encroachments upon the Sabbath day undermine a nation’s morality. He preaches that profanation of the Sabbath and national decadence go together, that the nation that abrogates the Sabbath day signs its own dissolution.”
This is truth, but when the minister used Jeremiah’s zeal for the proper observance of the Sabbath of the Lord as an argument for Sunday observance, he just as emphatically perverted the truth which he had so tersely stated. Neither the law of God nor the prophet Jeremiah ever gave countenance to the observance of any weekly Sabbath save the one blessed and sanctified at creation.
Mr. Shannon further says: “We need in this American land to have Jeremiah’s doctrine about the Sabbath preached with new emphasis from all our pulpits.” True again, and this is just what Seventh-day Adventists are set to do,—to preach it not only in every pulpit to which they have access, but in every house and to every individual. This is the purpose of their literature. They stand with Jeremiah on the Sabbath question, as on every other doctrine that he promulgated. And Jeremiah says, “Hallow ye the Sabbath day, as I have commanded your fathers.” Had the people of Jerusalem heeded the doctrine of Jeremiah, that city would have remained forever. It was destroyed because they did not do so. See Jer. 17:19–27.
Now every one who reads the Word of God at all knows that the Sabbath commanded to the fathers was the seventh day of the week. The Word gives no record of God’s ever blessing or making holy any other weekly Sabbath. And why should He? Has He not assured His people that “it is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day He rested.” Ex. 31:17; Eze. 20:12. Now who are the children of Israel?—“We are the circumcision, which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” Phil. 3:3.
With Mr. Shannon, we also “are alarmed at the growing desecration of the Sabbath in our country.” And inasmuch as the seventh day is the only day which God has sanctified, it is the only day which could possibly be desecrated. We also indorse the sentiment that, “Inordinate greed for money is a great enemy of the Sabbath. It says six days in the week are not enough to make money in; we must rob God of the seventh day.” And it is another cause of alarm that men who profess to follow Jesus are the leaders in profaning the day which God has hallowed; they persist in devoting it to the purposes of worldly gain. Not only so, but even those who profess to be ministers of the Word teach men to violate the Sabbath that God has hallowed. Yea, they go even further, and urge the enactment of human law to compel men to observe another day. Thus they would levy a tribute of one-sixth of the God-given working time upon those who desire to observe the Sabbath according to the law of God and the doctrine of all His prophets.
Freedom of Conscience in Russia
It is refreshing once in a while to see a man brave enough to stand for right and truth in the midst of the most dangerous opposition. Such was the stand recently taken by M. A. Stahkovich, marshal of the province of Orel, at a missionary congress in the city of Orel, Russia. Stahkovich boldly preached freedom of conscience, toleration of the dissidents, and other “heresies” with which Russian nobles and officials are popularly supposed not to be tainted. His speech has been printed in a paper more courageous than the rest, and has called forth a storm of protests from the orthodox priests, and from the whole official press. This Russian pioneer of liberty of conscience is a member of the orthodox church, and evidently has faith in it; for he declares that it is strong enough to stand without the help of the police. But he avowed that the time had come to permit everybody to preach and seek salvation after his own fashion. The present system of conversion he held to be barbarous and worse than useless.
FRANCE is adding many new ships to her navy. At the launching of the cruiser Leon Gambetta, on October 26, the minister of marine declared that this vessel was one of a contingent of upwards of 100 war-ships building or to be built, each of which will possess perfect fighting qualities. He declared that soon France’s navy would make her as safe on the sea as her numerous solid battalions now make her on the continent of Europe. But each of the great nations is now preparing in just the same way, both on sea and land, and national safety is not increased in the least, but rather diminished; for as each nation increases her defenses by land and sea, she will consider herself in less danger when provoking another nation.
THE War Department is preparing to submit to Congress a great mass of testimony in favor of the restoration of the army canteen. The department will contend that the abolition of the canteen has been productive of much evil; all this in spite of the recently published report of the highest officer in the regular army, General Miles, who declares that the abolition of the canteen has been productive of great good. Thousands of petitions are being sent in to Washington, protesting against the restoration of the canteen until the present law has been given a fair trial.
REPORTS from China indicate that the feelings of the people are in a very unsettled condition. Many foreigners claim that within three or four years, five at the most, there will be a renewal of the Boxer troubles on a much larger scale. Disturbances of considerable proportions have broken out in different places. Some of these have been put down by imperial troops with considerable loss of life.
A HIGH official of Russia has recently given out the statement that Russia and Japan had arrived at an understanding in regard to the integrity of Korea, which they hope will remove all possibility of war between these two nations. According to this agreement, each of these powers is to respect the present boundaries and the sovereignty of Korea, making of it a sort of buffer State between them.
THE system of fortifications planned for the Straits of Fuca, at the entrance to Puget Sound, is now nearly completed. The fortifications consist of commanding towers, each of which is provided with a system of mirrors so adjusted as to reflect on a chart the exact position of any vessel entering the straits. This enables the gunners to train their guns on any vessel coming within range.
THE Supreme Court of Montana has handed down its decision in a case involving the legality of discrimination against the product of non-union labor in the giving out of contracts for public supplies. The Supreme Court in this decision overrules the decision of the lower court, and declares that such discrimination against the product of non-union labor is illegal.
THE Navy Department’s estimate of expenses for the coming year, amounting to $98,910,984, is nearly $21,000,000 greater than for the present year. In this matter of expense the American navy exceeds all others except that of England, which for the present year amounts to $149,755,620; but England’s navy is about three times as large as that of this country.
MISS ELLEN M. STONE is still in the hands of her abductors, somewhere in the mountains on the border between Turkey and Bulgaria. It has been rumored that the brigands have killed their captive, but the report is not considered authentic. Every effort has been made to get into communication with the captors, but nothing so far has been achieved.
CRIME is rapidly increasing in British India, probably due to the impoverished condition of the people in the districts stricken by the famine. There are 92,000 more criminals in prison in British India at the present time than there were one year ago.
A VERITABLE panic is reported among the people of Teheran, Persia, owing to the discovery of a plot to assassinate the shah, a plot in which his own relatives were concerned, together with the revolutionary party and many of the higher priests. The priests and the members of the revolutionary party involved are to be executed.
THE great strike of French miners has not yet materialized, the government having warned the strike committee that in case they ordered a strike under present conditions, each of them would be liable to indictment for inciting civil war, and that the government would prosecute if necessary.
ITALY is making strenuous efforts to rid certain portions of the country of malaria. The swamps and fever-stricken districts are to be drained, and mosquito-netting furnished for the doors and windows of the houses of the workingmen. Malaria has been one of Italy’s most persistent plagues.
ON October 26, General Weyler, Spain’s minister of war, virtually declared that a dictatorship might soon be declared in Spain, with himself as dictator. The speech created a sensation in the Chamber of Deputies, where it was delivered, and has occupied much of the public attention since.
ON October 23, Yale University conferred upon President Roosevelt the degree of Doctor of Laws. Many other men, well known in public life, were granted degrees by that institution on the same day. This was one of the features of Yale’s celebration of her two-hundredth anniversary.
LEON F. CZOLGOSZ, assassin of President McKinley, was electrocuted at the New York State prison at Auburn on the morning of October 29. His body was buried in quicklime and acid in the prison cemetery, and everything belonging to him will be destroyed in the prison.
A CONFLICT occurred between whites and negroes at Balltown, Louisiana, on October 28, in which nine negroes and one white person were killed, and a number seriously wounded. Much excitement followed the shooting, and many armed men hurried to the scene.
THE Pan-American Congress, which is composed of delegates from all the nations of North and South America, was formally opened in the City of Mexico on October 23. That evening all the delegates and their families were made the guests of the president of Mexico.
ADMIRAL SCHLEY has completed his testimony before the naval court of inquiry, and his cross-examination was taken up by the judge advocate on October 28. There are still several witnesses to testify in his behalf, and a number who will testify in rebuttal.
GENERAL SIR REDVERS BULLER, who commanded the English army in Natal during the operations around Ladysmith, has been retired from the English army, because of certain remarks which he made recently at a luncheon given in his honor.
A DESPATCH from Kentucky states that Caleb Powers, ex-Secretary of State, has been again convicted of complicity in the murder of Governor William E. Goebel in January, 1900, and has been sentenced to imprisonment for life.
ON October 24 a woman went through the whirlpool rapids of the Niagara River and over the falls in a specially constructed barrel. She came through alive, but was much bruised and strained by the terrible force of the water.
BRITISH papers which last year took a position in opposition to the abrogation of the Clayton-Bulwer treaty, are now quoted as favoring such abrogation, in order to facilitate the building of the Nicaragua Canal.
A BIG steel trust is now in process of formation in England, which will have a capitalization of $200,000,000. This combination will completely control the manufacture of rails in Great Britain.
IN view of the continued activity in Cuba over the question of annexation to the United States, the Cuban question is bound to absorb much of the attention of the coming Congress.
IT is now reported that King Edward’s condition is very grave; that he is suffering from cancer of the throat, and has submitted to several operations, which have given little relief.
ARIZONA is now putting forth strenuous efforts for recognition of her right to statehood. The question of granting her statehood will probably come up in the next Congress.
THE army transport Sheridan, with over a thousand soldiers on board, was disabled between Manila and Nagasaki, Japan, and has put into that place for repairs.
NINETEEN persons lost their lives in a destructive fire at Philadelphia on October 25, and property valued at $500,000 was also destroyed by the flames.
A REPORT from Mexico indicates that the Yaqui Indians are again on the warpath, and are preparing to make raids upon unprotected settlements.
AT Brousa, near the Sea of Marmora, the water rose suddenly on the night of October 22, drowning 80 persons and destroying 776 houses.
ACCORDING to a despatch from Vienna, 23 persons have been eaten by wolves while working in the fields near Wilebsk, Poland.
THE BEAUTIFUL IN PLANT LIFE.
By Frederick Griggs
CONSIDER the lilies of the field, how they ‘grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; ‘and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon ‘in all his glory ‘was not arrayed like one ‘of these. ‘Wherefore, ‘if God so ‘clothe the ‘grass of the ‘field, which ‘to-day is, ‘and to-morrow is cast ‘into the ‘oven, shall ‘He not ‘much more ‘clothe you, ‘O ye of little ‘faith?”
Everything in nature, both animate and inanimate, is intended of God to teach us most valuable lessons.
In these words of the Saviour above quoted, two ideas regarding flowers and their study stand out prominently. One is that we are to consider how they grow, and the other is that of their beauty, which was so great that even all the splendor of Solomon’s court was not to be compared to it. It is this point of beauty that I wish first to consider in our study of plant life. The first command of the Saviour to consider how plants grow will apply with equal force to all plant life, for all plants grow. But all plants do not have equally bright coloring, and are not to us equally beautiful.
We should consider the color of plants. Our appreciation of their beauty will thus be increased. A little child will often enjoy color more than one who is older. This ought not to be. As one grows older, he should have an increasing love for all that is lovely. This taste for the beautiful can be increased to a surprising extent, and in a very easy manner. We have simply to consider. And it is such a delightful study—this study of color. Take the universal color of green; no other is so restful. If red were as universal a color as green, the nerves of the world would soon be worn out; indeed, the majority of the people might be driven into the insane asylums. Our whole nervous organization would have to be reorganized to live with such a color. We can think of nothing more restful than a landscape of green, reaching from the velvety lawn at our feet away to the hills and mountains in the distance. Many tints and shades are thrown together in the wildest confusion, and yet there is perfect harmony in this confusion.
The majority of people appreciate very little the value of the beautiful. It does not possess for them that intrinsic value—dollar-and-cents value—which to them is so important. In this they greatly err, for much of the sweetness of life is thus lost. True beauty, whether of color, form, or sound, is always harmonious. Harmony is a union of individual elements into one perfect whole. This is well illustrated by the landscape of which we have spoken. No one ever saw a natural landscape that was inharmonious; and yet every variety of tint and shade may appear in it.
Now this idea of harmony, in connection with the study of color, has, indeed, a very practical application to life. A love for that which is harmonious in nature without, will assist in giving a love for inward harmony. I say assist, for it can never give it. Harmony of soul can only result from perfect at-one-ment with the God of all harmony. There is, then, the greatest need for a study of color from this point of view, than which no other view can be more practical; “for is not the life more than meat, and the body ‘than raiment?”
It will be readily observed that three colors, green, and red, and yellow, predominate in nature. When plants are young, their quite universal color is green. As they mature, the color changes, generally to red, but often to yellow. The cause for this is not far to seek. It is well illustrated by fruits. Green fruit is usually unripe, therefore unfit to be eaten, and it is concealed from the hungry eye of men and birds by its color. When ripe and fit for use, however, its color is changed so as to attract their attention. Here, at least, it can be seen that color has a dollar-and-cents value to man.
The study of color pursued from childhood brings not only many practical lessons, but continual pleasure. There are seven primary colors. From these seven primary colors are variations—tints and shades—to the number of between five and six hundred. A beautiful and interesting study for children is found in making collections of different shades and tints of the same species as of an apple, or a leaf, or a blade of grass, etc. The different shades and tints may be arranged in the order of their growing light or shade from the primary color. One of the most interesting teachers I ever knew told me that he had had whole classes that were able to arrange and name in their order the five or six hundred tints and shades of the seven primary colors—violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. He selected pieces of silk of all these colors, and when his pupils had fully arranged them, they presented a charming sight. The pupils would then duplicate these colors from nature.
Into every child’s hand there should be placed colored crayons and water colors, and he should be encouraged to use them. These are not expensive, and they are not only instructive to the children, but they afford an endless amount of enjoyment as well.
It should be borne in mind that the lesson which the Saviour is attempting to teach from the growth of the lilies and their beauty is one of faith. The things which we consider are not to be studied from the dollar-and-cents point of view, for the life is more than meat. That which tends to the upbuilding of the spirit of an individual is the most valuable. Color plays a large part in God’s plans for His children’s happiness. One has only to read the marvelous description of the city which He is preparing for those who love Him to be convinced of this. The beautiful display of color therein described will bear long study. Color is refreshing and invigorating. Let the love for it be developed.
As I write, I am riding on the banks of a wide, deep river in Maine. It is a calm, somber afternoon. Nothing, it would seem, could be more placid and tranquil than this river. The harvest is gathered, the summer is waning. Such a display of beauty has God hung out for me. All tints are displayed, from the somber evergreens that fringe the banks of the river, to the yellow and red of the ripened verdure. And the river, as if one view were not enough, in which opinion it is quite right, mirrors not only all this but the heavens as well. It thus gives an enchanting harmony of heaven and earth to me, and my soul is refreshed.
“Thou who hast given me eyes to see
And love for what is fair,
Give me a heart to find out Thee,
And read Thee everywhere.”
South Lancaster, Mass. FREDERICK GRIGGS.
IN THE NAME OF SPORT.
By Ernest Seton Thompson
Within half a mile they found blood on the trail; within another half mile the blood was no more seen, and the track seemed to have grown very large and strong. The snow was drifting and the marks not easily read, yet Yan knew very soon that the track they were on was not that of the wounded doe, but was surely that of her antlered mate. Back on the trail they ran till they solved the doubt; for there they learned that the stag, after making his own escape, had come back to change off. This is an old, old trick of the hunted, whereby one deer will cleverly join on and carry on the line of tracks to save another that is too hard pressed, while it leaps aside to hide or fly in a different direction. Thus the stag had sought to save his wounded mate, but the hunters remorselessly took up her trail, and gloated like wolves over the slight drip of blood. Within another short run they found that the stag,11having failed to divert the chase to himself, had returned to her, and at sundown they sighted them a quarter of a mile ahead mounting a long snow slope. The doe was walking slowly with hanging head and ears. The buck was running about as if in trouble that he did not understand, and coming back to caress the doe and wonder why she walked so slowly. In another half mile the hunters came up with them. She was down in the snow. When he saw them coming, the great stag shook the oak-tree on his brow and circled about in doubt, then fled from a foe he was powerless to resist.
As the men came near, the doe made a convulsive effort to rise, but could not. Duff drew his knife. It never before occurred to Yan why he and each of them carried a long knife. The poor doe turned on her foes her great lustrous eyes; they were brimming with tears, but she made no moan. Yan turned his back on the scene, and covered his face with his hands; but Duff went forward with the knife and did some dreadful, unspeakable thing, Yan scarcely knew what; and when Duff called him, he slowly turned, and the big stag’s mate was lying quiet in the snow, and the only living thing that they saw, as they quit the scene, was the great round form bearing aloft the oak-tree on its brow as it haunted the nearer hills.—Ernest Seton Thompson, in Scribner’s.
VENUS
By Susan Birdsall Roberts
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament ‘showeth His handiwork.” Ps. 19:1.
BRIGHT, sparkling Venus, morning’s queen,
Peered through the blinds, and winged my thought;
Till wrapped in wonder and delight, I cried,
What hath our God in beauty wrought?
Star after star, sphere upon sphere!
Countless ten thousands peopling space!
Systems of worlds revolving round,
Each in its own appointed place!
Each with its own high destiny,
Its ceaseless sweep while ages roll.
And whither all these starry worlds?
Where has Jehovah fixed their goal?
Around one common center does
He wheel their hosts in bright array
(Like conquering armies placed on guard),
Around the throne of God for aye.
Unnumbered worlds as Venus fair,
And peopled, as perhaps is she,
Proclaim His praise, as ever on
They scale the vast immensity.
If what we see, and love, and know,
Delights the senses here and now,
What rapture shall the ransomed feel—
As round this “great white throne” they bow—
O’er sights and sounds that then shall greet
Their quickened senses, now no more
Clogged by the fleshly bands, so strong
That bind us on this nether shore!
Forever learning! Blissful thought!
Forever singing as they soar,
All hallelujah to the Lamb,
The Father, Spirit, evermore.
MRS. SUSAN BIRDSALL ROBERTS.
Elmira, N. Y.
AS HEARD AT THE CLUB.
By Edison J. Driver
ON a club-house veranda the other evening a party of young men were having what they called a high old time, drinking wine and telling yarns. As they became “warmed to it,” their stories grew less and less delicate, and of experiences—well, disgusting! In fact, to the old gentleman who sat near, listening occasionally to a word or two, each bit of spicy talk seemed like a drop of poison for the boys’ minds—slow-working perhaps, but sure.
But by and by the conversation lagged. “Hey, there, cap’n,” cried one of the young men, “asleep? No, well liven up, can’t you, and turn the crank awhile! No, no! not a bit late; go on!”
“I’m afraid I haven’t anything you’d like to hear to-night, boys,” began the old seaman; “a fellow gets a little rusty now and then, you know, even on stories.”
“O, yes you have, Uncle. Say, Watson, get the oil-can—he’s rusty; and you, Jack, come over’n scratch his head, so he can think.”
So of course it was no use trying to get out of it! The old man surrendered with as good grace as he could, and raising his feet till they rested comfortably on the veranda rail, began.
“When I was some twenty years younger than I am just now,” he said, “I was captain of a whaling vessel. The Constitution was as brave and seaworthy a little ship as you could find on the water then, and we were justly proud of her. The crew was a good one, always made good money, and tho in this instance we had been in port but a few days, every one was eager to take advantage of the fine weather and hurry out to sea. So I had men on to overhaul everything, and then we started.
“For a long time the weather was fine, and we were getting along to where we thought of returning. But one day about noon a low bank of clouds appeared on the horizon, and by night we were in the thick of a heavy fog. Of course we didn’t care much then; for we were well loaded with oil and bone, and could easily make port by chart and compass if necessary.
“But one heavy, half-stormy night as I was pacing the deck I was astonished to hear the roar of surf just ahead. As soon as possible we dropped anchor, but it was all too late. A great wave bore us shoreward, and there we were—a shudder told the story—on the rocks. The quarter-boat was quickly lowered, and we started after it, when some one called out that we were fast in the rocks. And sure enough, the ship was wedged in between great chunks of lava so that a gale could not have moved her.
“The next morning we found ourselves on what looked to me like the Greenland coast. ‘But that,’ I remarked, ‘is impossible, for we’re all of forty miles from Greenland.’ Nevertheless this called for an examination of the compass, and what do you think we found? In making repairs some drunken or ignorant workman had used an iron bolt about the compass instead of the proper one of brass. This bolt had attracted the needle, and so in the long run thrown our vessel more than fifty miles out of her course. We were really on the coast of Greenland. There we left our brave Constitution, and probably some of her rusting iron-work lies at the foot of those lava cliffs to-day.
“You asked for a story,” the captain concluded. “I have told you the story of your own lives, at least of their endings, if—”
“But, captain, we don’t understand. Isn’t the comparison rather far fetched?”
“Not a bit. Life is your ship; its compass the mind and conscience God gave you. Each evil act and thought batters the compass up a little, making it less sensitive and effective. These stories you have been enjoying to-night are preparing the way for the iron bolt that will wreck the strongest life. I am going to leave that thought with you now. Good night.” EDISON J. DRIVER.
Fresno, Cal.
UPWARD
By Edith B. Goodrich
Upward, my soul,
Keeping the goal
Ever in view!
Shake off the false,
Cling to the true,
Pierce through the gloom
Into the blue.
Grow and expand,
Grasp, understand
Trials and God!
Rise, purified,
Kissing His rod.
Canst thou not tread
Where He has trod?
Upward, my soul!
Before thee unroll
Visions, God-given!
What tho the heart
Be bleeding and riven?
Soar out of self
Into His heaven!
Ballard, Wash. MRS. EDITH B GOODRICH.
AN INTELLIGENT MULE.
Gave Warning of Danger in a Mine.
The mine mule knows a thing or two quite as well as does the army mule. In one of the mines in the Pittsburg district an ever-patient mule proved himself possessed of an almost human sense of coming danger. A chamber had been closed on account of gas, and the men were thinking of what that might mean, when suddenly there came a clatter of hoofs, and a mule appeared—its long ears quivering, and its intelligent eyes full of terror.
It gave a shrill bray, and then was gone down the entry, broken traces flying after it. The men, with one impulse dropping picks, made a headlong dash for the open air. With scared faces other miners joined, and while they were wondering what it all meant, a dull, deep explosion went rumbling through the hollow back of them, followed by wave on wave of noxious vapors. When the bodies of the few poor men who had been hopelessly entrapped were recovered, another was tenderly carried out with theirs—that of the little gray mule that sounded the warning.—Leslie’s Weekly.
FRUIT INSTEAD OF CANDY.
“I wish,” said the doctor the other day, as he watched a group of school children troop out of a candy store, where they had been spending their pennies, “that I could form a society among little folks in which each member would take a pledge to spend all his pocket money for fruit instead of candy.” It seemed a funny way of putting it, didn’t it? But the physician was very much in earnest, and at the moment it probably occurred to him that, as children like clubs, an anti-candy club would be a very good one for them. He wanted to do two things—to stop their eating the unhealthful sweet and to coax them to eat more fruit. An apple or a banana or an orange can usually, one or the other of them, be bought for the price of a little candy, and the fruit is much better in every way than the sweet. —New York Times.
