Signs of the Times, Vol. 28, No. 42.
JOY, PEACE, RESTPage 1
Earlier text: MEDITATION AND PRAYERThere seems to be a pretty general feeling that the existing social and economic system is not what it should be—that men, and the things men have made in the life about us, are not altogether right. Something is wrong; on this point all men are agreed. Reformers multiply, each with his own patent nostrum, his own theory of the thing which alone will mend all the evil of the world. It is socialism, or anarchism, or nationalism, or individualism, or government ownership, or anti-trustism, or free silverism, or populism, or prohibitionism, or new reform partyism, or female suffragism—a magnificent, glittering cornucopia of “isms” poured out upon a patient public. There appears to be a very general belief that there must be some trick of management or organization in our social and political affairs, if once we could find it, which would enable us to make the crooked things straight and the rough places plain. And so we are forever amending our charters and constitutions, and getting up new movements to bring the highest sagacity to bear upon them, as if our very life depended upon our success in this undertaking. The world, we seem to think, is a machine which goes in rather a lame and impotent fashion, and does thus far very imperfect work. There must be a way to take out a wheel here and put in one there; to add a self-acting contrivance at some weak point, so that it will deliver a much more finished product. Perhaps this might be expected to be the belief of a people which takes as much patent medicine as we manage to consume. May there not be some connection between the two things? We learned the other day that the proprietor of one of these nostrums, which is warranted to cure almost everything from cholera to chilblains, had recently ordered seventy thousand gross of corks from a maker of those useful articles. Presumably each of these corks represents a bottle of the precious liquid; and the science of mathematics therefore assures us that something more than ten million of people are expected to take, in the near future, each one his pint or quart of the healing fluid, or that half this number will pretty surely double that dose. This is only one of a dozen or so of popular remedies whose names are emblazoned on rocks and fences and trees from ocean to ocean. The saffron and pennyroyal and boneset teas and other spring decoctions of our grandmothers sink into entire insignificance beside this huge medicinal flood, which is one curious product of the modern art of advertising. . . . That all the people who are perpetually curing themselves are really sick enough to resort to medicines passes belief. The work of the world could not go on for a single day if that were the case. The truth is that a great many people imagine themselves to be sick, or on the verge of dreadful illness, when, if they would simply go on about their business, their next birthday would find them much better off, both in pocket and in health, for lack of the stuff they are accustomed to buy and swallow. The regular physicians, and still more the “irregular” ones, reap a bountiful harvest of golden shekels from the pockets of the multitude of people who fool themselves into thinking they are sick. . . .9 If the medicine does not act as was expected, try a bottle of something else. Plenty of nostrums are afloat, and and there must be one which will just hit the case. . . . All properly educated physicians in recent years have tended to place less and less reliance upon the action of drugs. . . . The world is not to be cured by legislation, or by any kind of medicine that is to abolish temptation. Righteousness must come from the inside. The kind that is plastered on by legislation doesn’t stick. The great lack of the world is its lack of good men and women—at least in certain places where their presence would be of much advantage; and personal character is what, above all, we have most need to produce. Given the character in the man, we shall get like character in the work of his hand and brain and heart. So the root of our industrial troubles is not in condition, but in character. We have threatening social questions, not because the economic system is bad, but because people are bad. The solution is to be reached, not through good machinery, but through good men.—San Francisco Chronicle. UNIFORM DIVORCE LAW.
By G.
THE divorce curse has become so common, and is fraught with so much social scandal and family disaster and individual ruin, that it may well be classed with the evil “habits.” Yes, the divorce “habit” is abroad in the land, and the morals of the people have become so inured to the effect of the scourge that only extraordinary cases produce any perceptible shock. Twice divorced is not uncommon, and three times is losing its rarity. In some cases the divorce is contemplated even before the marriage is consummated. Not only is the evil increasing at an alarming rate, but it is no longer confined to any class or grade of society. Even the church recognizes it as a legitimate procedure. There could hardly be a more decided evidence of moral degeneracy than this growing disregard of the most sacred of all earthly ties, the most solemn of all vows pertaining to earthly relationship. Nothing could more positively indicate that condition noted in Scripture as “without natural affection,” a condition especially applied to the “perilous times” of the “last days.” See 2 Tim. 3:1-5. Even in the olden times, divorce was conceded because of hardness of heart. In the very incipiency of the idea it was evidence of sin in the heart. It was not so designed in the beginning, therefore its introduction was a result of sin and its increase an evidence of the growing prevalence of sin. See Matt. 19:7-9; Mal. 2:14-16. What shall the remedy be? As to the condition of the individual, there is but one remedy for sin, namely, obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ; in other words, the law of God in the heart. But as to the abuse of the social well-being, there may be an amelioration of disrupted social conditions through civil law. The civil law is designed to correct as far as possible uncivil conditions. While human law, unlike the “law of the Lord” (Ps. 19:7), can not convert the soul, it is designed to prevent abuses of the rights of men and women. The United States Government is a compact of States for the mutual benefit of the people of all the States, and Congress may pass laws for that purpose. At present marriage and divorce are regulated by State laws, and these are quite conflicting. Yet persons legally married in one State are recognized in any other State as being married. Divorces in most cases go in the same way. So while one State may close the bars against divorce for any cause, the State just across the line may open the way to divorce on any pretext. In this way temptation is open for the gratification of laxity concerning the marriage relation, a corruption of social conditions, and the violation of the rights of many individuals—men, women, and children. The general government could materially curb the practise of this species of licentiousness by a uniform marriage and divorce law. And the general government is being persistently importuned to enact such a law. But unfortunately the parties—the “league,” the “association,” the “bureau,” etc.—urging this matter do so mainly from a religious standpoint, and appeal for a religious law. So far those who have agitated the matter are such as desire to have the whole government operated on a religious basis, and every “reform” they advocate is primarily a means to that end. And every success they attain is another step in that direction. Thus, while some of their “reforms” would be good in themselves if established on a right basis, they are to be used by these “reformers” to gain public confidence, and prestige for the furtherance of their ultimate purpose—a religious government. Already they are boasting their successes as encouragement in the main purpose. The suggestion of a uniform marriage service as part of the “reform” is significant. In the nature of the case it means a “ritual” service, and to satisfy the advocates of the measure—the leaders generally being ministers—it must needs be such a religious ceremony as would meet the approval of those who already use such service. Such a law would confine the administration of the marriage ceremony to the ministry of the churches, and by the time this “National Reform” movement gets a little further along we will have the ritual of the national religion, whatever that may be. And the man who will not subscribe to that religion will be denied the privilege of marriage at all. Is the picture overdrawn?—Not at all. That is the way such things have gone in other countries; it is the natural course. We are in favor of a uniform marriage and divorce law in the United States, but let us have it without the National Reform-papal adornments. Congress would do well to look to the end of the “reforms” suggested by the Reform Bureau, the National Reform Association, the Reform League, and other strands in the same lash. There is a sharp cracker at the end. Jesuitical?—Well, that hardly expresses it. Imitations are always more deceptive than the original. Beware of anything that savors of national religion! The centuries are strewn with the carcasses of its victims. G. THE PLIGHT OF THE JEWS IN RUMANIA.
By S.
PARTLY out of sympathy for the oppressed Jews in Rumania and partly out of a feeling of duty toward his own country, Secretary of State Hay has protested to the “powers of Europe” against Rumania’s treatment of the Jews, who tho domiciled there for generations, are still looked upon by both the laws and people of Rumania as aliens and men without a country. The Rumanian laws speak of them as the “unprotected aliens.” Other aliens residing in Rumania are regarded as “protected aliens,” by virtue of the fact that they owe allegiance to other governments, and those other governments would protect them in their rights. But these Jews have no country, and because they have none, Rumania has made their lot as hard as she could without condemning them to perpetual imprisonment or capital punishment. The reason that they have no country is because Rumania has denied them the privilege of citizenship or the protection of the law. Because they have been thus oppressed, the civilized in every nation have sympathized with them; but the oppression which they have suffered there has made it impossible for them to make of themselves citizens desirable to any enlightened and civilized country. This is no fault of theirs, and still the majority of such immigrants are bound to be a burden upon any country to which they may go. These are the grounds of the secretary’s protest to the powers. Rumania was formerly a province of Turkey, but was recognized as an independent nation by the treaty of Berlin which ended the last Russo-Turkish war. That treaty is a part of the constitution of Rumania, and the “powers” of Europe were to see that its provisions were enforced. By that treaty the inhabitants, no matter of what race or religion, were guaranteed equal rights. But Rumania has paid no attention to these provisions, and the “powers” that signed the treaty have made no attempt to enforce them. If they should attempt now to enforce the provision which would bring relief to the Jews, they would have to enforce also other provisions which they dare not now touch, such as the provision for the dismantling of certain fortifications. To enforce this, would doubtless open anew the Balkan question, and none of the powers of Europe are yet ready for the embroglio which would be almost bound to follow that step. Mr. Hay requested the “powers” to enforce the provisions of the treaty, as, by their signing the treaty, they had agreed to do. There is a feeling on all sides that they dare not do it if they felt so disposed. This strengthens Rumania in her position, and instead of complying with America’s wishes, she retaliates by making the conditions of the Hebrews still harder. They will not now be allowed to emigrate without paying a considerable tax, and the government is said to be planning to grant them no passports for emigration to the United States. This eliminates America from the question entirely; for her protests now can only be on the ground of humanity, and Rumania has steeled herself against all such protests. It thus appears that Mr. Hay’s note to the “powers” has not helped the Jews, and the result has been a sorer plight for them than that in which they were already. England has seconded America’s plea for these oppressed peoples, but the other powers have decided not to interfere, and the increased burdens heaped upon the Rumanian Jews must cause a feeling of deepest regret in every heart where a love of justice and humanity continues to reside. Special legislation, legislation in favor of one class as against another, wears everywhere and always the badge of injustice. The Christian can neither vote for nor advocate legislation of such character. It is such laws that have made religious persecution possible, and stained the history of our own country as well as that of other nations and other times. Ship Trust, Boxerism, and Coal Strike
The Atlantic Ocean has at last come under the rule of the great ship trust. This is a combination of American and British steamship companies under the leadership of Mr. J. P. Morgan. The capital stock of this concern is placed at $120,000,000. It will have the power to compel other shipping companies to come under its direction or go out of the shipping business. It has already begun to make its influence felt in inaugurating an increase in passenger rates. Other companies have followed its suggestion in this for their own protection. A despatch from China states that Boxerism is increasing in the provinces of Szechuen and Chili. In the first-named province the Boxers are led by a woman who is said to have been one of the “Boxer goddesses” in the outbreak of 1900. She is said to have a following of 10,000 Boxers. In this province many native Christians have been killed. In Chili province the Boxers are said to be drilling every morning before daylight in the vicinity of the capital. The great strike of the anthracite coal miners is still on, and at the present time both sides seem as firm as ever. Representatives of the coal mine operators and of the labor organizations met in Washington at the invitation of President Roosevelt, on October 3, and held two sessions with the executive; but the representatives of the mine owners refused to recognize the labor leaders or to accept suggestions of compromise. The mine owners’ representatives demanded that the President send Federal troops into the strike regions to compel the strikers to cease intimidating those who were willing to return to work. From the standpoint of the inevitable distress of the poor, the President urged that these representatives of the miners and the mine owners reach an agreement by which work could be resumed at the mines. On October 5 a cabinet meeting was held to discuss the strike situation, and it was decided at that meeting to urge each local coal company to arbitrate with the miners in their own employ. This would mean a compromise on the part of each of the parties concerned. Mayor Maybury of Detroit has called a meeting of mayors and governors for the purpose of discovering some ground upon which the long-continued strike may be brought to an end, and the threatened fuel famine be averted. Some large manufacturing plants have been compelled to shut down on account of lack of coal. Many members of the English Parliament from Ireland are now in Irish prisons for violation of the Crimes Act. A report from Dublin states that “Ireland is completely in the throes of a coercion campaign.” The government has taken up the prosecution of members of Parliament, editors, and tenant leaders. According to this report, the crimes consist in boycotting landlords and opposing the landlord system. The boycotting process consisted in isolating the person boycotted by refusing to have any commercial dealings with him or to work for him. The next step by the government will be the proclamation of the United Irish League as illegal. When that has been done, a great portion of the people can then be thrown into jail for belonging to that organization. The report states that “the situation is becoming more bitter every hour.” Contrary to treaty stipulations, but in deference to the strong urgings of Russia, the sultan recently permitted four Russian torpedo-boats to pass the Dardanelles. Now the Grand Duke Nicholas, on a visit of friendship to the sultan, in a regular Russian warship, has been permitted to pass through these forbidden waters. The unarmed torpedo-boats established the precedent which permitted the warship to pass, and the passing of this warship has virtually annulled the treaty stipulations. When Russia desires to bring a whole fleet through the strait she will appeal to these precedents, and come through in spite of protest. All the union teamsters for the various express companies doing business in Chicago have declared their intention to go on strike within ten days unless the demands made by them upon the companies for which they work are conceded. They demand a recognition of their union and the employment of none but members of that union. It is said that the companies will not yield to these demands. The American force operating against the Moros of Mindanao has captured 40 forts and completely routed their defenders. The Moros were driven from their forts by artillery at long range. Their loss is placed at a hundred killed, while the Americans had but two wounded. So confident were the Moros of success that it is thought this signal defeat will cause them to submit. On account of renewed activity among the Hudson Valley Electric Railway strikers, soldiers of the National Guard have been called out to guard the peace of the town of Glens Falls, where the principal disturbance is anticipated. The street-railway men of New Orleans also are on strike, and the company has stopped running its cars until they can be assured of protection. A proposition is now being put forward in Europe for a conference of European statesmen and economists for the purpose of arriving at some understanding regarding the treatment of trusts and combines. The idea is receiving considerable support from economists and the press, who declare that Europe must adopt some means to meet the “American danger.” All the great steamship lines whose vessels ply between American and European ports have agreed to raise the rates on passage across the Atlantic. Second cabin rates have already been raised $5.00, and first cabin rates will be increased before winter. This movement was instituted by the great steamship trust; but lines not in the trust have joined in the increase. A Chicago inventor has devised a mechanical appliance for reciprocating steam engines that is designed to increase the speed and power of such machines. It does away with the crank and rods, and increases power by means of a spiral shaft cross-head and a stub shaft, giving a leverage hitherto unknown in any type of engine. A new copper company, with a capital of $100,000,000, has been organized to fight the copper trust. Like all other movements of this kind, it will end either in their amalgamation or in one’s swallowing the other, thus eventually increasing trust power. Colombia and Nicaragua are said to be on the verge of a clash of arms, and Colombia is still protesting against the course of the American commander at Panama. In Venezuela the revolution is thought to be gaining in strength. It is reported that the president with his army is surrounded by the revolutionists. The English torpedo-boat destroyer Wolf, which was recently completed at a cost of $1,250,000, has now been placed in a specially fitted dry dock to be demolished. The purpose of this costly destruction is to ascertain wherein lies the peculiar weakness which has affected this class of England’s war vessels. By a new method of painting cannon and their accompanying limbers, it has been found that they can be rendered almost invisible at a few hundred yards distance, and totally invisible, even with field-glasses, at a distance of 3,000 yards. The guns are painted in daubs and streaks of red, blue, and yellow. Advices from Japan state that during the early part of September a terrible typhoon visited the coast of that country, causing widespread disaster and loss of life both on sea and land. Six hundred fishing smacks with 1,500 men were lost, and many persons were killed and injured on shore. Large amounts of money are flowing in to the leaders of the anthracite coal strikers for distribution among needy families; the receipts for the last three months for what is termed the “miners’ defense fund” reached the total of $865,351, as high as $25,000 having been received in one day. On September 30 two aeronauts were flying over New York in their air-ships at the same time. Neither of them flew a great distance, but both reached the ground safely, although one of the aeronauts had to climb down a telegraph pole on the top of which his ship was tangled. The election of a governor for Vermont having been thrown into the Legislature, that body, on October 1, elected to that office John G. McCulloch, Republican, of Bennington. Vermont’s new governor was at one time a member of the State Legislature of California. Sixteen members of the city council of St. Louis have been indicted by the grand jury on the charge of receiving bribe money from those interested in the passage of a certain bill. It is charged that $47,500 was distributed among these men for voting in favor of the bill. M. Emil Zola, the best-known French writer of the present day, was asphyxiated in his sleeping-room, on September 29, from the fumes of a heating-stove. It was through his efforts chiefly that the second trial of Dreyfus and his release was brought about. By order of the Secretary of the Navy a new division of the North Atlantic fleet has been made, which gives a special fleet for the Caribbean Sea. This special fleet is charged with looking after American interests in the West Indies and Central America. Serious revolts against the rule of the sultan have occurred in Bulgaria and Albania, and a number of sanguinary conflicts have taken place. The sultan has called out 38 battalions of the reserves to cope with the revolutionists. The famous Pius Fund Case, which was being tried before The Hague Arbitration Tribunal, was closed on October 1. The decision of the court will be rendered at a session the date of which has not yet been fixed. At the annual conference of Mormons at London, on September 5, great progress was reported in the countries of England, Germany, Scandinavia, Holland, Turkey, Palestine, Italy, and Switzerland. On October 2, 2,500 miners in the employ of the Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad Company in Alabama ceased work, and it is thought that other miners in adjoining mines will join the strike. A party of four well-known explorers, well equipped for a long journey and for scientific research, left Paris last week for the unexplored regions of the Caucasus, Persia, and India. At Salina Cruz, Mexico, on September 23, seventy earthquake shocks were counted in one day, and these were followed by a great tidal wave which destroyed a half million dollars’ worth of property. Signor Marconi is now credited with the invention of an electric automobile which will carry sufficient electrical energy at one charging to travel 560 miles at the rate of 38 miles an hour. A large combination of stockmen has been formed for the purpose of combating the great beef trust. The stockmen are said to plan the erection of independent packing-houses. The epidemic of cholera is raging fiercely in the province of Iloilo, Philippine Islands. The number of deaths is said to exceed the total reported from the province of Manila. For the month of September the government’s surplus of receipts over expenditures amounted to $11,000,000. On September 29, 1,200 public schools were opened on the island of Porto Rico. There seems to be a natural inclination toward the fictitious in mankind. There is a fascination about the unreal and a glitter reflected by the imitative that in some mysterious way holds the mind and attracts the eye of the average human being. It is unaccountable excepting that the natural man is averse to the truth; and because he does not love truth, the “father of lies” is permitted for the time being to feed him with falsehood. The stage, the novel, “society,” and to an increasing extent the newspaper, are popular channels through which the demand is supplied. The church social and the “drawing” sermon, the milliner, the dressmaker, and the tailor are potent factors in furnishing the fictitious for the entertainment of the popular church. But there is a growing disposition to utilize the stage in the portrayal of religion; and inasmuch as religion is becoming more and more formal and unreal, the idea is logical. Harper’s Weekly of recent date says:— Rev. Forbes Phillips, vicar of Gorleston, England, submits a new scheme for the union of the church and the stage. Clergymen, he says, overdo the religious side of life, and action must be taken in arrest of such a mistake. So he proposes the establishment in each parish of a sort of Oberammergau society, with a revival of the mystery plays of the Middle Ages. Allowing that the Rev. Mr. Phillips will get his plan into operation, it is safe enough to predict that, however the clergyman may err, the parishioners will never fall into the mistake of overdoing the religious side of their lives. As a provocative of the vices of hatred, envy, and all uncharitableness, the amateur stage has long been acknowledged without a superior, and its presence in every parish would establish a fine recruiting ground for the adversary of all souls. Those in the play would be consumed with jealousy or vanity, while those in the audience would be given over to a bored contempt—neither emotion being friendly to pure and undefiled religion. Seriously, why can not clergymen have sufficient faith in their work to let it bear its own burdens and accomplish its own way? Why should they try to make the church a big department store, with bargains on every counter every day in the week? Men who succeed in other avocations are men who believe that their work is worth something in itself, and who are not inclined to cheapen it by incongruous attachments. Of all men, the preacher, claiming to deal with the eternal verities, ought least to need the help of gimcrackery. There is no more occasion to prop the church with a theater than to fortify it with a dental parlor or a bootblacking emporium. Church and stage keeping house together is neither necessary nor desirable. Undoubtedly the only club of the kind is the Los Angeles Silk Culture Club—a club of women—which has recently organized to promote silk raising in that part of California. In response to numerous inquiries, it has issued a booklet of instruction, and, according to the president, Mrs. E. P. Keeney, many young girls who would otherwise be compelled to clerk in a store for a stipend, as well as invalids and elderly women, have decided to enter upon this light outdoor work. A number of women in this club have already experimented in silk raising with splendid results. One Los Angeles woman has raised nine crops of cocoons in a year, and eight is a common number, while in11 Europe only one is secured annually. The possibilities in this field are therefore very encouraging, especially since the club has received an offer from a New York manufacturer for a part of the product at the highest market price. Club women elsewhere who are so interested in the industrial education of women, and in attempting to ameliorate the conditions resultant from women rushing into the stores and the factories, should keep an eye on the Pacific Slope. The more outdoor and at-home occupations open to women, the sooner will these problems be solved.—The Pilgrim for September. FOR GIRLS.
By M. Colburn-Warner
True Incidents and Their Lessons.
“THE liberties taken in this age of corruption should be no criterion for Christ’s followers. These fashionable exhibitions of familiarity should not exist among Christians fitting for immortality.” SOME way it seems hard for some girls to see that there is any wrong in any of these things. They love the attention of the opposite sex. They must have a “jolly good time.” A girl is beset by dangers on every side. If she has the priceless gem of modesty, she will be safe. O that girls would positively refuse any attentions from strange men, especially while traveling! Satan may weave a romantic spell about it, but the end will be a sad reality. One of Satan’s emissaries, clad in garment of light, formed the acquaintance of a young girl on the train. The night was passed in a sleeper. . . . In course of time he was obliged to marry her. He abused her in every way he dared till she took her baby and fled. Then what! The roar of the lion was again changed to sweetest music. The claws were again encased in velvet, while he went about seeking whom he might devour. At last, to his intense delight, he found, as he supposed, a victim. He was madly in love with her; but this time his pleadings were in vain. The girl frankly told him she did not care for him, and even if she did, she would not marry him, for he had one wife already. Being a married man, he had no right to force his attentions upon her. Then the lion changed his tactics. He was a talented man, and was tired of serving the devil. If she would only give him some encouragement, he would get a divorce and then, with her help, he would live a Christian life. The girl told him he could do that, without marrying her. It was the Lord’s help, and not hers, he needed. Prayer was offered. As they parted the man said, “If all girls were pure like you, we men would lead a different life.” Even a bad man admires a girl that carries herself with queenly dignity. Another incident: At seven o’clock one evening, a lady, in company with her husband and child, boarded an eastbound express train. After traveling some distance, some one touched the lady on the shoulder. She turned. A young girl, evidently about sixteen, asked the time. As the girl looked tired, the lady asked her if she had been traveling far. I will relate the conversation that followed. “I have been in Kansas for a month, visiting my uncle,” said the girl, “and am now on my way home. Uncle came with me as far as Chicago, for the rest of the trip could be made without a change. My home is a few stations beyond Toledo. The man back of me says this train does not stop there, so I’ll have to get off at Toledo, and take an accommodation train later; but my father will be so worried for he is to meet me.” “Is this man a friend of yours?” “No; I never saw him before. He says he is going to Toledo, and will help me with my baggage.” “He is kind. But you want to speak to the conductor about the train stopping, he will know. As long as you have a through ticket you will not be carried by. I should pay no attention to the man, but trust to the conductor. Here he comes, ask him.” She did so. The conductor said if the train did not stop he would let her know before they reached Toledo. While she was talking to the conductor, I was studying, unobserved, the man on the back seat. He was very nicely dressed, wore a silk hat, and altogether made a fine appearance. But to me something said, he is dangerous. I felt I must keep a watch on the girl. As we steamed into Toledo, the man bent over the girl’s seat, and said something. The girl arose. I turned and said:— “You do not have to change here, do you?” “But the conductor was to let you know if you were, and he has not said a word.” “O, what shall I do? My father will be worried not to find me.” “What shall you do? Stay where you are. Suppose you get off here, do you know that an accommodation train runs down later?” “No, but this man says so. He is acquainted there.” “If there should be no train, then what?” At that the man said: “I know of a nice hotel near the depot, where I will take you, if a train does not run down to-night. We must hurry.” Just then my little boy called, “O mama, quick, I feel sick to my stomach!” As I hastened to him, I heard the man say, “Shall I carry your grip for you?” The next few minutes were spent in attending to the child, that seats and clothes might not be soiled. As soon as I could I turned to the girl, but the seat was vacant. The girl had gone. Thus ends the story told by the lady. But what of the girl? Girls take warning from these two incidents. Let Christ live in you, and you will be safe. ONE WHITE LILY.
By L. M. Stormont
MISS TALBOT stood looking down at the pure white blossoms lifting their sweet faces from among the dark heart-shaped leaves of the calla lily which was now rewarding her for the good care given it the previous months. The great bay window had been a favorable location for the lily, and it was now in full bloom. “I’m going to take this one to Mrs. Spears,” she said to her mother. She never has time to raise flowers, and is shut up in that little store all day long—that is all day after she gets there. Some one was telling me the other day that she rises at four o’clock every morning and washes, irons, gets breakfast, or does whatever work has to be done for her five children, before eight o’clock, when she must be at the shop. I believe she’ll like this lily.” Accordingly that afternoon it was carried to Mrs. Spears, and her admiration of the flower, as well as her appreciation of the thoughtfulness of the donor, were heartily expressed. It was placed in a slender vase and was a pleasure to the customers who came, as well as to herself. The next morning a woman who, like Mrs. Spears, had many burdens in her home, and an invalid mother to care for, came to the little shop. The lily was sent to the aged invalid and reminded her of the Saviour’s words, “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?” Many of us do not realize the depth of meaning in these words to those who are helpless to provide for their needs, and this mother and daughter were comforted by the presence and message of the lily. In the evening a young lady from another village called, whose mother was also shut in, and again the flower was carefully wrapped and passed on to her. The spotless robe of Christ’s righteousness, to be obtained as a free gift and worn in the city of light, was the theme suggested by the lily to this invalid’s mind. Nor here was its mission ended. The young woman was the leader of a children’s society, and the next day she took for their lesson, “The True and the False,” and illustrated it by the beautiful calla lily as the true, and a paper imitation as the false. The little ones were delighted with the flower, and so remembered the lesson. If we were more watchful we might oftener find opportunities to give small pleasures to others, and to pass those on which come to us; and if we were as pure and as true to God’s purpose as the beautiful white lily, we would, wherever we went, carry peace and joy and blessing, and so brighten others’ lives. Kirkwood, Ill. L. M. STORMONT. LET GOD HELP YOU.
By Margaret E. Sangster
“You are face to face with trouble!
No wonder you can not sleep;
But stay, and think of the promise,
The Lord will safely keep;
And lead you out of the thicket,
And into the pasture land;
You have only to walk straight onward,
Holding the dear Lord’s hand. O! face to face with trouble,
Friend, I have often stood;
To learn that pain hath sweetness,
To know that God is good.
Arise and meet the daylight;
Be strong and do your best;
With an honest heart and childlike faith
That God will do the rest.
—Margaret E. Sangster. SAVED THE DEER.
By T. S. Nash
[T. S. Nash, in International Good Templar] I once lived in northern New York for several years, and deer were very plentiful. I owned a saw-mill, and a few feet below my mill there was a starch factory. There was a glade which was kept from freezing by the swift current of water from under the mills. One day in mid-winter a pack of dogs drove a young deer down to the river; the deer saw this open water and jumped in. The current was so swift the dogs did not dare to follow, but stood upon the ice and continued their barking until they drew the attention of the operatives in the mill and factory, who rushed out to rescue the deer. The dogs were driven away and Mr. Alger, the owner of the factory, soon had the deer in a place of safety. The deer was fed on hay and oats, and showed no sign of wanting to escape, but seemed as contented and quiet as a pet lamb. Two days after the deer was rescued it seemed so tame that Mr. Alger let it follow him into the main room of the factory, where it had more room for exercise. All went well for a while, until one day a man, followed by a dog, came to the factory. As soon as the deer saw the dog it jumped through a window and the dog followed after, the deer running at once to the open water. I chanced to be in the mill-yard between the mill and the factory and saw the flight of the deer. I picked up a club, ran down and drove the dog away, and as soon as the dog was out of sight the deer came to my side. The dog came back again, and I kept driving him away. The deer kept on the opposite side of me from the dog until we reached a place of safety. The owner of the dog came out before I got the deer in a safe place and wanted me to let his dog alone, but I told him the laws of the State prohibited the killing of deer at that season of the year, and that I was a loyal citizen. WHAT LIGHTNING DOES EACH YEAR.
It is probably not generally known or even imagined, says a writer on lightning, in Leslie's Monthly for September, that every year in this country between seven and eight hundred lives are lost by lightning stroke, and more than a thousand persons injured. During 1899 there were 4,253 animals—cattle, horses, mules, sheep or pigs—killed by lightning in the open fields, while the value of the property destroyed, either directly or through fires caused by bolts, was estimated at six million dollars. There are numberless cases on record where whole herds of sheep and cattle have been struck with fatal effect. In one instance, in Colorado, ninety-one sheep were slaughtered by a single stroke, and fifty-two in another. In Iowa, where during one year 266 head of cattle were killed by lightning, the curious fact was noticed that 118 were found in close contact with wire fences. Their death was probably caused by the shock received from the fence and not from the direct stroke, as it was evident in many cases that the lightning struck the fence at some distance from the animals. If there had been sufficient ground connections from the fence the cattle would probably have been saved.