THE commandments of God are comprehensive and far reaching; in a few words they unfold the whole duty of man. "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength. . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." In these words the length and breadth, the depth and height, of the law of God is comprehended; for Paul declares, "Love is the fulfilling of the law." The only definition we find in the Bible for sin is that "sin is the transgression of the law." The word of God declares, "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." "There is none that doeth good, no, not one." Many are deceived concerning the condition of their hearts. They do not realize that the natural heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. They wrap themselves about with their own righteousness, and are satisfied in reaching their own human standard of character; but how fatally they fail when they do not reach the divine standard, and of themselves they cannot meet the requirements of God.
We may measure ourselves by ourselves, we may compare ourselves among ourselves, we may say we do as well as this one or that one, but the question to which the judgment will call for an answer is, Do we meet the claims of high heaven? Do we reach the divine standard? Are our hearts in harmony with the God of heaven?
The human family have all transgressed the law of God, and as transgressors of the law, man is hopelessly ruined; for he is the enemy of God, without strength to do any good thing. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." Looking into the moral mirror,—God's holy law,—man sees himself a sinner, and is convicted of his state of evil, his hopeless doom under the just penalty of the law. But he has not been left in a state of hopeless distress in which sin has plunged him; for it was to save the transgressor from ruin that He who was equal with God offered up his life on Calvary. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Jesus was the majesty of heaven, the beloved commander of the angels, who delighted to do his pleasure. He was one with God, "in the bosom of the Father," yet he thought it not a thing to be desired to be equal with God while man was lost in sin and misery. He stepped down from his throne, he left his crown and royal scepter, and clothed his divinity with humanity. He humbled himself even to the death of the cross, that man might be exalted to a seat with him upon his throne. In him we have a complete offering, an infinite sacrifice, a mighty saviour, who is able to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him. In love he comes to reveal the Father, to reconcile man to God, to make him a new creature renewed after the image of Him who created him.
Jesus is our atoning sacrifice. We can make no atonement for ourselves; but by faith we can accept the atonement that has been made. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God." "Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, . . . but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." It was through infinite sacrifice and inexpressible suffering that our Redeemer placed redemption within our reach. He was in this world unhonored and unknown, that, through his wonderful condescension and humiliation, he might exalt man to receive eternal honors and immortal joys in the heavenly courts. During his thirty years of life on earth his heart was wrung with inconceivable anguish. The path from the manger to Calvary was shadowed by grief and sorrow. He was a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief, enduring such heartache as no human language can portray. He could have said in truth, "Behold and see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow." Hating sin with a perfect hatred, he yet gathered to his soul the sins of the whole world. Guiltless, he bore the punishment of the guilty. Innocent, yet offering himself as a substitute for the transgressor. The guilt of every sin pressed its weight upon the divine soul of the world's Redeemer. The evil thoughts, the evil words, the evil deeds of every son and daughter of Adam, called for retribution upon himself; for he had become man's substitute. Though the guilt of sin was not his, his spirit was torn and bruised by the transgressions of men, and he who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Voluntarily our divine substitute bared his soul to the sword of justice, that we might not perish but have everlasting life. Said Christ: "I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again." No man of earth or angel of heaven could have paid the penalty for sin. Jesus was the only one who could save rebellious man. In him divinity and humanity were combined, and this was what gave efficiency to the offering on Calvary's cross. At the cross mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace kissed each other.
As the sinner looks upon the Saviour dying on Calvary, and realizes that the sufferer is divine, he asks why this great sacrifice was made, and the cross points to the holy law of God which has been transgressed. The death of Christ is an unanswerable argument as to the immutability and righteousness of the law. In prophesying of Christ, Isaiah says, "He shall magnify the law, and make it honorable." The law has no power to pardon the evil doer. Its office is to point out his defects, that he may realize his need of One who is mighty to save, his need of One who will become his substitute, his surety, his righteousness. Jesus meets the need of the sinner; for he has taken upon him the sins of the transgressor. "He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." The Lord could have cut off the sinner, and utterly de72stroyed him; but the costlier plan was chosen. In his great love he provides hope for the hopeless, giving his only-begotten Son to bear the sins of the world. And since he has poured out all heaven in that one rich gift, he will withhold from man no needed aid that he may take the cup of salvation, and become an heir of God, joint heir with Christ.
Christ came to manifest the love of God to the world to draw the hearts of all men to himself. He said, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." The first step toward salvation is to respond to the drawing of the love of Christ. God sends message after message to men, entreating them to repentance, that he may forgive, and write pardon against their names. Shall there be no repentance? Shall his appeals be unheeded? Shall his overtures of mercy be ignored, and his love utterly rejected? Oh, then man will cut himself off from the medium through which he may gain life eternal; for God only pardons the penitent! By the manifestation of his love, by the entreating of his spirit, he woos men to repentance; for repentance is the gift of God, and whom he pardons he first makes penitent. The sweetest joy comes to man through his sincere repentance toward God for the transgression of his law, and through faith in Christ as the sinner's Redeemer and Advocate. It is that men may understand the joy of forgiveness, the peace of God, that Christ draws them through the manifestation of his love. If they respond to his drawing, yielding their hearts to his grace, he will lead them on step by step, to a full knowledge of himself, and this is life eternal.
Christ came to reveal to the sinner the justice and love of God, that he might give repentance to Israel and remission of sins. When the sinner beholds Jesus lifted up upon the cross, suffering the guilt of the transgressor, bearing the penalty of sin; when he beholds God's abhorrence of evil in the fearful manifestation of the death of the cross, and his love for fallen man, he is led to repentance toward God because of his transgression of the law which is holy, and just, and good. He exercises faith in Christ, because the divine Saviour has become his substitute, his surety, and advocate, the one in whom his very life is centered. To the repenting sinner God can show his mercy and truth, and bestow upon him his forgiveness and love.
But Satan will not permit a soul to escape from the captivity of sin if by any means he can prevent it. Though all heaven has been poured out in one rich gift—for when God gave his Son, he gave the choicest gift of heaven, and the treasures of heaven are at our command—yet to the repenting soul the enemy will seek to represent God as stern and inexorable, unwilling to pardon the transgressor. At different times letters have come to me from persons who were in despair over their sins. One and another have written: "I fear I am past all help. Is there any hope for me?" To these poor souls the message has been given: "Hope in God. The Father has bread enough and to spare. Arise, and go to your Father. He will meet you a great way off. He will give you his love and compassion."
When the enemy comes in like a flood, and seeks to overwhelm you with the thought of your sin, tell him: "I know I am a sinner. If I were not, I could not go to the Saviour; for he says, 'I came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.'" And because I am a sinner I am entitled to come to Christ.
I am sinful and polluted, but he suffered humiliation and death, and exhausted the curse that belongs to me. I come. I believe. I claim his sure promise, "Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
Will such a plea made in contrition of soul be turned away?—No, never. By the suffering and death of Christ is proven his boundless love to man. He is willing and able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him.
Then as a little child come to God, presenting yourself as suppliant at his feet; for we need not ascend into the heavens to bring Jesus down, nor into the earth to bring him up; for he is ever near us. He says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." How willing is Christ to take possession of the soul temple if we will let him! He is represented as waiting and knocking at the door of the heart. Then why does he not enter? It is because the love of sin has closed the door of the heart. As soon as we consent to give sin up, to acknowledge our guilt, the barrier is removed between the soul and the Saviour.
SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS.
By Elder G. E. Fifield
BY ELDER G. E. FIFIELD.
THE spiritual, and on some points it would seem even the intellectual, blindness of the popular clergy is a matter of marvel. Surely that is fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet. Wherefore saith the Lord: "Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men; therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid."
Last evening the writer attended one of a series of meetings of a missionary conference, holding in the First Baptist Church of Springfield, Mass. The meeting was one of more than ordinary interest, and a deep spirit of earnestness seemed to pervade the whole service. Dr. Gordon, of Boston, first spoke, showing that modern missions had from their very beginning been under the special guardian care of the Holy Spirit, even as were the first missionary efforts of the early church. He said the record of the founding of modern missions was only one of the latest chapters in the Acts of the Apostles. After this the audience joined in silent prayer for a few minutes, during which a number of young men went forward and voluntarily consecrated their lives to the work of missions.
After this Dr. R. S. MacArthur, of the Calvary Baptist Church of New York City, gave the principal address of the evening, on the subject of "Our Present Duty in Relation to the Work of Missions." The speech was a master effort from beginning to end. The writer was thrilled with its truth and apparent earnestness. The duty in maintaining in all their mission work the distinctive doctrines which had made the Baptists a separate denomination, was earnestly urged. Among these distinctively Baptist doctrines were enumerated the following: The word of God as the all-sufficient guide to faith and practice. A baptism which must be preceded by repentance—a baptism which really means a death to the world and a resurrection to a new life, and which is, therefore, the only possible door of entrance into the church; and last, but not least, the doctrine of the total separation of Church and State. This last the speaker said the Baptist denomination had given to the world. "Nevertheless," he said, "there is at the present time a great reaction against this doctrine."
Many influences are at work in our land which constantly tend to bring Church and State nearer together. We may, in the near future, have to stand up again for this doctrine, as did the Baptist of old.
Then most earnestly and eloquently the reverend doctor exhorted the congregation if such necessity did come, to stand up nobly and manfully for the doctrine of soul liberty. Imagine my surprise, after listening to these words from Dr. MacArthur only last evening, to discover this morning an extract from a recent Examiner, the Baptist organ of New York City, which reads as follows:—
A mass meeting, as previously announced, was held in the Calvary Baptist Church of this city on Friday evening last, to give expression to the approval with which Christian people everywhere received the action of Congress in regard to the Sunday closing of the World's Fair. The meeting was presided over by Colonel Elliott F. Shepard, the president of73the American Sabbath Union, an organization which has played a leading part in bringing public opinion to bear on Congress, and in persuading, or, to be more accurate, in compelling, that body to make the appropriation of $2,500,000 conditional on the observance of the Christian Sabbath. The speakers included several prominent men of various denominations in New York, among them Dr. R. S. MacArthur and Major General O. O. Howard.
So it seems that this very man who sees that there are influences at work toward a union of Church and State in this land, and who exhorts others to stand manfully against them,—this very man has not only not stood manfully against them, but he has opened his church for a mass meeting in their favor.
This mass meeting was presided over by Colonel Elliott F. Shepard, the president of the American Sabbath Union, who is himself at the very head of the allied forces of these who are fighting for a union of Church and State and a subversion of our Constitution. Dr. MacArthur himself was one of the prominent speakers in this mass meeting, in support of the object for which it was called. This is the more remarkable when we remember that this very guarantee of liberty in our Constitution, for the subversion of which this mass meeting was called, was the result of the heroic work of the early Baptists in favor of liberty; and that one of the reasons why Roger Williams was so cruelly banished in the dead of winter from the colony of Massachusetts, was because that, as a Baptist, he taught the total separation of Church and State, and denied to the theocratic magistrates the right to enforce Sunday laws. Banished thus from Massachusetts, then under the rule of the theocracy, Roger Williams became the founder of Providence, which was the city of refuge for all persecuted sects; he also was the leader and founder of the Baptist Church in America.
How can Dr. MacArthur imagine he is standing by the early principles of the Baptist Church when he thus espouses the very principle for the protesting against which the early Baptists were banished? And why this inconsistency and blindness? Why but that the Baptist Church has not made the word of God its all-sufficient guide to faith and practice? Why but that it has taken into its creed and religious practice an institution that not only is not founded on the word of God, but that, while resting solely upon human tradition, is in open opposition and defiance to that word? If this man-made institution is not preserved in a mock sanctity which God never gave to it, but which comes first from the Roman Catholic Church, and, secondly, as a heritage from the gloomy theology of a Puritan ancestry, they fear that the church will be disabled, and the nation go to ruin. And for this they abandon, while professing to reëspouse, the very principle for which their fathers toiled and suffered. Surely, as the text saith, their blindness is because that even their fear toward God has come to be taught by the precepts of men.
HIS MASTERPIECE.
By W. T. Helms
BY REV. W. T. HELMS.
WHOSE masterpiece? not mine; not man's, in fact;
But his, that Wicked, who, to counteract
The work good men, God helping, here have done
In building up our land of Washington,
Transforms himself, the artful prince of night,
Into a day god, decked in starry light,
And champions the cause of Liberty and Right.
Your fathers, says he, built a temple grand,
A home for the oppressed of ev'ry land;
But in their building strangely left unset
A central pillar—you must have it yet.
God in your Constitution recognize;
Your nation "Christian" hasten to baptize;
For surely here alone your path of safety lies.
See how the wily serpent works his plan,
Bad men controls—the good where'er he can;
His logic, subtle poison, down they quaff,
And angels weep, but demons only laugh
To see how well their chieftain's masterpiece
Works on the public pulse. Enough of these,
And Congress to his pleasure bends its pliant knees.
You who to heed this leader are inclined,
Not wisting what he is, and what behind
The show of good of evil lies concealed,
Or what, the false light gone, would be revealed,
Oh, think to what proportions we have grown!
A fraction late, this continent we own;
The path of wisdom is, Let well enough alone.
Let no hand move to mend what has been done
By patriot hands, approved by Washington.
How can a soulless thing a Christian be?
Is't not enough to boast that we are free?
God asks for hearts to recognize his claim,
For holy lips to spread abroad his fame,
And men, not kingdoms now, to wear the Christian name.
—The Cottage Pulpit.
Life and Health Principles
By Ellen G. White
Our Heavenly Father does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. He is not the author of sickness and death. He is the source of life; he would have men live, and he desires them to be obedient to the laws of life and health, that they may live. . . . Our workers should use their knowledge of the laws of life and health. They should study from cause to effect. Read the best authors on these subjects, and obey religiously that which your reason tells you is truth.—Mrs. E. G. White.
GOD'S ARM IS LAW.
"ANSWER me this question," says Dr. Guthrie: "Is it not as easy for the sea to carry the bulkiest ship as the seaweed or foam it flings on the shore?" Is it not as easy for the affluent sun to battle a mountain as a molehill in the light? Is it not as easy for this vast earth to carry on its back an Alps as a grain of sand? Just so, believer, it is as easy for God to supply thy greatest as thy smallest needs, even as it was as much within his power to form a system as an atom—to create a blazing sun as to kindle a firefly's lamp.—Ram's Horn.
HOPE.
By H. V. Adams
BY H. V. ADAMS.
"HOPE unto the end." "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you." A great many things are written about hope, and many more things said about it, and yet there is much more that might be written and spoken. But what is it?—It is a great desire, with strong expectation of receiving the thing desired. That is hope. Now a man may have a great desire, yes, a good many desires (and most men do), but if he cannot or does not expect to realize them, then he has no hope. There are a great many things in the world which pass for hope, but which are as far from really being hope as an ant-hill is from being a mountain. They are not hope at all, although called hope.
Many Christians profess such hope, so called, the result of which is constant discouragement to the professor; and that because the essential quality—strong expectation—is lacking. They have what they think is hope, but when tested it does not, it will not, stand. There is no expectation, and that because the man has no reason for his professed hope. When a man has that hope for which he can give a reason, then he is of good courage—he expects fruits. The Christian's hope begets praise and courage. "And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope; and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us." Rom. 5:3-5. Thus we can rejoice in hope.
Have you a hope? Well, what are your reasons for it? Be ready to give them. If you can do this, you can expect to receive fruition. Farmers cannot hope for good crops when they have no reasons to expect them. You cannot hope your boat will run up stream without your rowing. So if you have hope in God, and know your reasons, be ready to give them. You will find them in God's word. Search for them. Dig till you get some, and then dig for more. You can never exhaust the treasure. As you get those precious reasons—God's immutable promises—your hope will blossom with praises and joy, and men will see the blossoms. They will ask you where you got them. They want just such—have been hunting them all their life. They have seen so much that is called hope that is nothing but sheer presumption, and which bears only discouragement and doubt, that they have concluded they really don't know as they care for such a hope. And no wonder. The one who has it don't want it either, but is superstitiously afraid to let it go. But hope that produces joy and praise they want. So do you.
And how long shall men hope?—Until you get what you hope for—"unto the end." There is too much spasmodic hope—hoping five minutes, or a day, or a week, and then no hope. And this away-up and away-down experience continues until the individual gives up in despair, completely worn out. The vibration was too wearing, the transition from one to the other too vexatious for the man. But, brother, if you have a hope in God, stick to it. "Hope unto the end."
The Devil’s Satisfaction
"THE devil never feels that he has lost the day when he can manage to get a couple of God's people mad at each other."
WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE?
By Elder L. A. Hoopes
BY ELDER L. A. HOOPES.
WHO are responsible for the lax observance of the Sabbath? The day of final reckoning will reveal the correct answer to all such questions. In this life we are not permitted to judge the motives of our fellow-men. When Christ was on the earth he judged no man. John 12:47. He did not judge after the seeing of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears (Isa. 11:3); and, if we are followers of him, we shall not judge any man. It is enough for us to take the words of Holy Writ and there learn our duty. We all exert an influence, either by precept or example. If we are walking in the truth of Scriptures, then our influence is what God designs it should be.
We are to be witnesses for Christ. He was a standing rebuke against all manner of sin. In other words, Christ kept the law. He constantly held up before the people that which condemned every sin. If we are followers of Christ, we shall do likewise. But if we teach the abrogation of the law, then that which convinces and convicts of sin is taken away, and the consciences of sinners are at ease. The worst thing that we can do for a sinner is to teach the abrogation of God's law. For said Paul, "I had not known sin, but by the law." Rom. 7:7. "For by the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3:20. All must be brought to the conviction that they have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:2), for when man once realizes his sinfulness and utter helplessness without a Saviour, he will flee to Christ, his only rescue (1 Tim. 1:15). Then let us forever hold up before our eyes that great moral mirror, the law of God. James 1: 23-25.
If we desire that our example shall not lead others to disregard the Sabbath of Jehovah, let us be careful that we do not teach that the fourth commandment, the only Sabbath law given by God, is abrogated or nailed to the cross. For where there is no law, there is no transgression. Rom. 4:15. For when we teach that that commandment—the only Sabbath law—is done away, do we not say to all that it is no harm if we work every day? Who, then, is responsible for the impression that is out "that it makes no difference if no day is kept for the Sabbath"? Let each one answer for himself. In the light of the following scriptures, which is safer to follow, the man who ignores the law of Jehovah or the man that keeps the commandments and teaches men to keep them?
Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. James 2: 10-12. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than one tittle of the law to fall. Luke 16:17.
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven [or "of no esteem in heaven"—McKnight]; but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matt. 5:19, 20.
RESPONSIBILITY OF MOTHERS.
By Mrs. M. A. Humeston
BY MRS. M. A. HUMESTON.
As the different nationalities become merged in one to form our peculiar American people, the nervous type sooner or later gains ascendency in nearly every family. No matter how stolid the race from which we originally sprang, in the commingling of bloods we eventually lose our coolness and become hasty and irritable, to a greater or less degree, according to the power of our wills to control these feelings or the manifestation of them.
We seem to have gotten into the habit of laying our blunders and sins at the door of "nervousness," deeming that a sufficient cloak for all, and going right on our way in a rapid, nervous fashion, as if we were in haste to commit some mistake more grievous than any in the past. Is it not time to inquire if our life in this world could not be made to yield us more serenity and enjoyment?
If too late to benefit ourselves—which can scarcely be true—may we not find how to add to the health and comfort of our children?
Our moral and physical natures are so interdependent upon each other that it becomes a perplexing and entangling subject to handle in detail. There is a responsibility laid upon mothers which they cannot avoid, however much they may desire. If they seek to evade it, they meet with a moral loss, and their children suffer, both morally and physically.
The nature and disposition of a child should be an especial study, not alone to give proper bent and direction to the mind, but also to send the physical forces in the right paths. When, upon the occasion of a slight accident or ailment coming upon a child, the mother becomes nervous and perturbed and sends for a doctor, when it is all unnecessary, she is trying to shift her responsibility to the physician's shoulders. But she really weakens her child's confidence in her judgment and opinions when they may be both sensible and just. Physicians are very good in their place, but their place is much too large in a majority of American families.
Children should be taught to control themselves, their appetites, passions, and desires. They should be taught that disobedience to God's laws inevitably brings suffering.
The man, or woman, of healthy body and properly cultured mind we find cool, clear-headed, unbiased in judgment, and capable of forming just opinions. He has wholesome appetites for plain, nourishing food, with no morbid craving for dainties. He is a cheerful, untiring traveler, and a comfortable individual to meet in all the walks of life. He is possessed of a "sound mind in a sound body," but, alas, how rarely is he met with!
The noticeable national habit of forcing ourselves to the utmost limit of our powers, both physical and mental, is having its effect, not only upon ourselves, but upon those coming after us. We lose in concentration of thought and purpose, and scatter when we wish to gather and hold. As a consequence of all this the coming generations must succeed to an inheritance of weakness, or at the best to a lack of balance. If the strength of mind and body be given to the cultivation of one talent, how is it possible for a just mental and moral equipoise to be maintained? Mother of a gifted child, you are running a great risk when you cultivate one gift at the expense of the rest.
Much the safest and happiest way is to seek the healthy action of every faculty of both mind and body; then the especial talent will develop in a manner that will give you satisfaction and pride, without fear of ignominious failure or crushing defeat when your dear ones goes from your sheltering care to the battle of life.
The health of a people depends more upon its mothers than upon its medical men, and it becomes a study to give thoughtful attention to the subject in all its bearings.
Let us have a plentiful supply of pure air, pure water, pure lives, pure conversation, and pure thoughts. Let there be clean bodies, clean clothing, clean hands, and clean hearts.
Let us moderate our desires, and attempt only the attainable; then we shall have fewer blunders and crimes to lay at the door of "nervousness," and we will also gain in individual and national strength and happiness.
—The Voice.
THREE PAIRS OF SHOES.
THERE they are in a neat little row under the mantel in the children's bedroom, a pair of twelves, a pair of nines, and a tiny pair of fives belonging to baby.
They are all more or less wrinkled and worn, and the pair of twelves have holes in the toes which caused me to say a little while ago to the sturdy wearer of them that there was no sense in his kicking out shoes like that, and if he were not more careful he would just have to go barefooted. He heard me with the utmost indifference, as I know from the fact that the threat was hardly out of my mouth when he asked me if I knew whose little boy he would have been if I had never been born.
“You might have been the little boy of some papa who couldn't have bought you any shoes at all,” I said reproachfully.
“Oh, well,” he said calmly, in the fullness and beauty of his childish faith, “God has millions and trillions of shoes, and I could just ask him for a pair whenever I wanted them! Don't you see, papa?”
Three pairs of shoes! Three pairs of tender little feet upon the untried border of life's mysterious land!
I sit and look at the little shoes, wondering where the feet that wear them will be led in time to come, the little feet that
“Through long years
Must wander on 'mid hopes and fears.”
How much I would give to know the future, that I might stand between them and the temptations so sure to assail them, that I might guide their feet aright, that I might shield them from pain and sorrow if I could!
There is something strangely appealing and half pathetic to every loving father and mother in the sight of a row of little shoes like those before me now. They arouse the tenderest instincts of one's nature. I don't know why.
The wearers of the little shoes may have been very fretful, or mischievous, or trying all day. You may have been “all out of patience” with them. You may have whipped the little hands, or put the rebellious little ones to bed, declaring that they were “worrying the life out of you;” but they are not “worrying” you any now, and you go about picking up a little stocking here and a little skirt there, with nothing but tenderness in your heart toward them.
You think only of how precious the wearers of the little clothes are, and there is no melody on earth one-half so sweet to you as the music of the baby voices when they knelt around you a little while ago, saying, “God bless mamma and papa, and keep us all safely11through the night.” You will hear no sweeter music than that this side of Paradise.
You reproach yourself for your lack of tenderness and patience as you look at that little row of shoes, and sometimes you fall to thinking of the unutterable sorrow that would fill your heart to breaking if the wearer of any one pair of the little shoes would wear them no more—if you should awaken some morning, as heart-broken fathers and mothers have sometimes awakened, and find that the wearer of one pair of the little shoes had gone from you in the night to wear the garments that wax not old.
Three pairs of little shoes! There are tears in your eyes as you look at them now; and perhaps you steal softly to the bedside of the little sleepers to make sure that they are sleeping sweetly and safely, and to touch their little hands or their cool, moist brows with your lips, your heart filled with tender memories, with hopes and fears, with unspoken prayers.
Three pairs of little shoes! Three little pilgrims setting out on the voyage of life, their frail barks as yet untouched and unharmed by adverse winds and waves. God bring them all to port.—Selected.
WHEN NUTS ARE RIPE.
By Good Housekeeper
THE frost king comes by stealth at night,
Painting the leaves in colors bright.
With magic wand, in impish glee,
He breathes upon each shrub and tree;
O'er hickory, walnut, and the oak,
He sheds a variegated cloak,
And as they ope' their sleepy eyes,
His breath comes thick from chilly skies.
The morning sun, in mild reproof,
Sweeps from the fences and the roof
The crystal footsteps of that raid;
He smiles upon each leaf and blade,
And welcomes to his genial rays
The friendship of a mystic haze,
While voices through the hill and dell
Echo clear as silver bell.
Glad, golden days! O mystic haze,
And all the swelling symphonies
Of ringing shout and childish mirth,
The brown nuts pattering to the earth,
The scolding of a saucy jay—
Ah, glories of an autumn day,
Of earthly paradise a type,—
The frost-crowned woods, when nuts are ripe!
—Good Housekeeper.
A GIRL'S DRESSING ROOM.
"A GIRL'S dressing room is a sure index to her character and habits. A clever woman asserted lately that she could gain a better knowledge of one of her own sex by an inspection of her dressing room than after a casual acquaintance of years," says the New York Press. "In fact," she continued, "when one of my sons announces his engagement, I leave no stone unturned to have the girl under my eye for her morning and evening toilet. She is judged accordingly, and from what I see I can pretty well guess the sort of wife she will make. How so? Because we women think a thousand times more of such details than you men, and every thrifty or slovenly trait is sure to crop out then. Why, I could make a black and white list for my marrying men friends, after this method, that would prove a safe guide to future happiness in wedlock. For instance, the girl's own room is almost an infallible indication of her tastes and necessities. I do not mean silver-mounted toilet articles, a lace-draped dressing table, or full-length mirrors. They are well enough if she can afford them, but the first thing to note are her books and pictures, her sewing basket, her toilet articles. It is worth while catching a glimpse of her closets and drawers, as they speak volumes for or against their owner's tidiness. When gloves are rolled in a hard knot, veils jammed under salve pots, ribbons tumbled in with powder and hairpins, beware. That kind of thing is eloquent of curl papers at the breakfast table, muddy coffee, and cold biscuit to come."—Christian at Work.
A DEAR BARGAIN.
"It is a jolly knife," said Ted, admiringly.
"There are three blades besides the corkscrew," said Tom; "it could not have cost less than half a dollar."
"What made him give it to you?" said Ted. "I wish he had taken it into his head to give it to me."
"Why, I'll tell you," said Tom, laughing. "He's so green, you know. I gave him my red alley for it, and the medal I picked up in the road; and I told him the medal was silver, and the alley was real marble, and worth a lot of money, and he thinks he's got a great bargain."
"Oh," said Ted, "that alters the case! I would not have it at that price if you gave me a hundred pounds as well."
"Why not," said Tom, "if he's such a softy as to believe everything you tell him?"
"He's welcome to sell his knife how he likes," said Ted, turning on his heel, "but I would not sell my character for all the knives in the world."—Boys' and Girls' Companion.