At midnight sounds the trumpet's piercing blast,
That rends the glassy sea and flint-ribbed land,
While swaying cities crash on every hand,
And, buried in the brine, each flag-topped mast,
Capsized, lies lost. Meanwhile, descending fast,
Appears a war-cloud in Orion, manned
By angel cohorts under the command
Of King Immanuel, called First and Last,
With Vengeance' sword, in battle garb arrayed,
His vesture dipped in blood, His eyes like flames,
As brass that burns in furnace fire His feet.
He comes to punish those who've disobeyed
God's law, but save the loyal ones whose names
Have been accepted at the judgment-seat.
War and Change in Europe
gues, while, in the meantime, constant war and change fill Europe.
The Broad and the Narrow Path
By Mrs. D. W. Myers
By Mrs. D. W. Myers
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. Matt. 7:13, 14.
THESE are words which Jesus Himself spoke. He pointed out plainly the two ways, one which leads to destruction, the other to life.
Dear reader, which path have you chosen? If you have lived a reckless and self-pleasing life, and sought to enjoy all of this world's pleasures, honor, praise, and exaltation, then remember that the majority of the people are seeking after these things, and therefore they are on the broad way, and you are also numbered with the millions traveling the way "that leadeth to destruction."
Will you turn and begin walking in "the narrow way" which leads you to the city of God, to life eternal? Will you join the "little flock," the few pilgrims? Will you bravely "fight the good fight of faith," regardless of the fact that the world scorns you, scoffs at you, and "knows you not"?
Jesus said that the world knew Him not, for if they had known Him, they would also have known the Father who sent Him. John 8:19. Then if the world knew not Jesus, our Master and Saviour, how will they know His servants? But we know Him, and are willing to labor for our Redeemer, our King. And we know that our labor shall be richly repaid, for a crown of glory awaits us, and a home in the city of God, the New Jerusalem, where we shall live eternally.
Nevermore shall we know the bitterness of disappointment, the anguish of pain, the heart-breaking scenes which surround the death-bed. Rev. 21:4. O, no; the promise is sure and true. Rev. 22:6.
Let us read a verse which will seem to puzzle us: "But wo unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in." Matt. 23:13. What! Jesus calling the scribes and Pharisees hypocrites! people who were supposed to be doing God's work!
Are there any such scribes and Pharisees nowadays? — O, yes. There are many who profess to teach the Word of God, but are neither entering in themselves nor letting others enter into the kingdom. Strive to enter. Labor to enter. As Paul says, "Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." Heb. 4:11.
Let us not fall by the way of unbelief. Let us look steadfastly to the "Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." Let us take Jesus for our example, and not those who fell by reason of unbelief. Let us strengthen one another. Let us set a holy, godly life before our neighbors, those outside the ark of safety, that they may say, even against their own wish, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile."
And now which path would you rather pursue, the one to everlasting death, or destruction, or the one to life everlasting and glory? Every individual is to decide for himself.
May God help you to choose the narrow way. Even tho it seems hard at first, still it is the smoother and the happier even here in this life; and we will be recompensed with life eternal, joy, and everlasting happiness in the end, and a home in the kingdom of God throughout all the ages of eternity.
"Saying Prayers" Indeed
THERE is [some time since now] a peculiar suit in court at Springfield, Massachusetts. A certain man died, and a relative has brought a suit to recover compensation for time consumed and expenses incurred in saying suitable prayers for the deceased. The following is the itemized bill:
Fares and expenses of two trips to Springfield $ 40
Expenses for a five weeks' stay in Springfield 50
Loss of business at Buffalo ....................... 150
Time spent in saying prayers for the dying.. 13
Time spent each day for one year from the
death in saying prayers for the dead at
$6 a week .................................................. 300
Total ......................................................... $553
Under such circumstances the phrase "saying prayers" is most appropriate.—Christian Advocate.
A Future Out of the Past
By Phillips Brooks
O, THERE are some who want to get away from all their past; who, if they could, would fain begin all over again. But you must learn; you must let God teach you that the only way to get rid of your past is to get a future out of it. God will waste nothing.—Phillips Brooks.
The Religious Aspects of Socialism and Their Significance
By George W. Rine
By George W. Rine
DRIVING IN RIVETS 400 FEET ABOVE THE STREET
IN its beginnings, modern Socialism was essentially and even rabidly secular. It vehemently eschewed all religions. In season and out of season it proclaimed itself to be exclusively political and economic in its character and mission. This was especially true in France and Germany. As the years rolled by, however, this attitude of Socialism toward religion underwent so radical a change that to-day the majority of leading Socialists declare the movement to be essentially RELIGIOUS.
In 1889, "The Society of Christian Socialists" was organized, in Boston, largely under the lead of the Rev. W. D. P. Bliss. This society declared some of its objects to be, (1) "To show that the aim of Socialism is embossed in the aim of Christianity; (2) To awaken members of the Christian churches to the fact that the teachings of Jesus Christ lead directly to some specific form or forms of Socialism." Torn asunder by internal dissensions, this organization continued to exist less than ten years.
The religious sentiment of the movement, however, continued to expand and deepen. Accordingly, in 1906, there was organized in Louisville, Kentucky, the "Christian Socialist Fellowship"—a federation far more virile and aggressive than was its predecessor. This body avows its objects to be: "To permeate churches, denominations, and other religious institutions with the social message of Jesus; to show that Socialism is the necessary economic expression of the Christian life; to end the class struggle by establishing industrial democracy; and TO HASTEN THE REIGN OF JUSTICE AND BROTHERHOOD UPON THE EARTH." Its American organ is the "Christian Socialist," published in Chicago.
Alleging the Realization of the Aim of Socialism to Be the Realization of the Kingdom of God
In a circular recently issued by the "Christian Socialist Fellowship," the following citation is given from the last address of the late Miss Frances E. Willard: "What the Socialist desires is that the corporation of humanity shall control all production. Beloved comrades, this is the higher way. It eliminates the motives for a selfish life; it enacts into our every-day life the ETHICS OF CHRIST'S GOSPEL. Nothing else can bring the glad day of UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD. It is Christianity applied." In this circular are offered the services of "a clergyman" to any gatherings that wish to hear addresses on the subject of Christian Socialism, naming several noted ministers, and offering "many others, including the leading denominations." Not long ago more than two hundred clergymen in the vicinity of New York City signed a paper committing themselves to the fundamentals of Socialism, "tho not ready as yet to avow themselves openly as Socialists, because of a lingering prejudice which still clings to the name." Almost daily we read of clergymen forsaking the pulpit to enter the arena of the Socialistic propaganda.
Mr. Edmund Kelly, in his recent book, "Twentieth Century Socialism," pages 400, 401, says: "Socialism leaves the church free to proceed along the lines of its faith; but it furnishes the churches with the inestimable advantage of creating economic conditions THAT MAKE THE PRACTISE OF RELIGION FOR THE FIRST TIME POSSIBLE. . . . Socialism, by eliminating misery and injustice, WILL MAKE HIS PREPARATION [for a future world] EASIER. . . . It may be that the grace of God will help man to be noble and just. Let the church continue to teach this. But let science be heard also in the positive proof it furnishes THAT MAN WILL AND MUST BE WHAT ENVIRONMENT MAKES HIM; that if we continue to tolerate economic conditions that appeal to his selfishness, HE MUST AND WILL REMAIN SELFISH; whereas if wiser economic conditions appeal to his unselfishness, HE WILL AND MUST TEND TO BE UNSELFISH. And so in Socialism and IN SOCIALISM ALONE, DO WE FIND RECONCILED THE ETHICS OF THE CHURCH, THE NEEDS OF ECONOMICS, AND THE DEMANDS OF SCIENCE."
According to these astounding pronouncements, it is not the grace of God imparted to the soul of man by the Holy Spirit, that makes "the practise of religion . . . possible," but the environment furnished by the realized Socialistic régime! Man's salvation, then, is not dependent upon DIVINE POWER THROUGH CHRIST, but upon an ECONOMIC CONDITION. Now, we all know that environment is a potent factor in character-building; but that Christian or righteous living is contingent upon an outward condition instead of an inward power—the power of God in the soul—is a theory utterly hostile to the whole tenor of Scripture teaching and of Christian experience. "Without ME," said Jesus, "ye can do nothing." Again, that great teacher and exemplar of the Christian life, Paul, asserted, "I can do all things THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME." Mr. Kelly even avers that realized Socialism will make the practise of religion for the FIRST TIME possible. By implication he declares unmistakably that the practise of the Christian religion never has been possible. Such a conclusion is not only absurd, in the face of history, but it is puerile. We can not too often remind ourselves that the GOSPEL "is the POWER OF GOD unto SALVATION."11
We see that Socialism would change the circumstances and conditions of men's lives, expecting the changed environment to transform morally their disposition and character. On the other hand, Jesus would change men's disposition and character, expecting that these in turn will work a change in environment. Socialism centers its hope of human well-being in society, the aggregate of all individuals; Jesus centers all such hope in Himself. Socialism seeks morally to renovate humanity from without, by means of a political and economic revolution; Jesus seeks morally to renovate the individual from within, by means of a moral revolution effected through His omnipotent Spirit. Jesus works for social reformation through individual regeneration. In society Jesus would bring about not merely a merger of economic interests, but a symphony of mutual affection and devotion. There is much truth in the contention that environment affects human character and conduct. Yet there is vastly more truth in the converse proposition, that environment results from human character and conduct. Fine feathers make a pretty bird; but fine clothes, a fine equipage, and a fine house can not make a fine man.
In his little book entitled "The Ethical Aspects of Socialism," Mr. John Spargo, a prolific writer on Socialism, argues in a vein similar to that of Mr. Kelly, but at much greater length. A few of his most striking lucubrations follow:
The man of religious predilection and faith sees that the religious life is impossible under capitalism. Everywhere and at every turn the spirit of capitalism kills religion. . . . Brotherhood in a real sense is impossible under capitalism. . . . To live the Golden Rule is impossible. . . . There can be no religious life for the individual until it is possible for all. . . . Seeing that under capitalism the ethical heart of religion dies, and faith degenerates into a cold, barren, futile creed of formulas for vain and fruitless sermons, many a religious enthusiast turns to Socialism, and finds in the teachings inspiration, solace, and hope. To such a believer, Socialism appears as a great vital and vitalizing religious principle. . . .
The man who, because his soul rebels at the bondage of the mind, sees in Socialism mental and intellectual freedom, is right; and the man who, because his religious faith withers under the blight of capitalism, sees in Socialism the force which will make the religious life possible, is right. . . . The torch which all the prophets from Moses to Jesus bore aloft is to-day being borne onward by Socialist agitators. . . . I know of no satisfying, inspiring, and ennobling hope for the life that is, other than that which belongs to Socialism. In an age of unfaith and pessimism, Socialism is the only hope and anchorage for millions of souls. The spirit of Socialism cries out:
"I am religion; the church I build
Stands on the sacred flesh with passion packed;
In me the ancient Gospels are fulfilled —
In me the symbol rises into fact."
All Socialists bear witness that, economically, we are living under capitalism. Hence if the astonishing contentions of Mr. Spargo are true, then there is no genuine Christian living anywhere in Christendom, for it is there that the capitalistic régime is most pronounced. The Golden Rule is a beautiful but impossible ideal. The sorrowing, the sick, the oppressed, the dying, can find "solace and hope" in Socialism only. Is there power in Socialism to assuage the conscience smarting, under a sense of sin, and to let the spiritually oppressed go free? Is there power in Socialism to break the chains of vicious habits, and to set at liberty those who are thus bound? These questions answer themselves. According to Mr. Spargo, SOCIALISM IS THE POWER OF COLLECTIVE HUMANITY UNTO SALVATION TO EVERY ONE THAT BELIEVES—in Socialism. That is certainly preaching "another gospel" with a sweep and swing that leaves no room for doubt.
A Religion of Humanism
The religion which Mr. Spargo and multitudes of others profess to find in Socialism, is, according to their own testimony, a distinctively HUMAN religion. It is based upon a complacent faith in the power of man to compass his own salvation, socially and spiritually. In short, it is based upon faith in man's essential divinity. It is a religion that exalts and apotheosizes man. In confirmation of these statements we cite the testimony.
Mr. Spargo: "In an age of unfaith, these Socialists, despised, reviled, hated, and feared, as they are, HAVE A MATCHLESS FAITH IN MANKIND AND THE FUTURE OF MANKIND. . . . Where is their faith in mankind, faith in the future of the race, IN THE CAPACITY OF MANKIND TO RISE HIGHER AND HIGHER, to complete the chain of evolution from brute to brother? ONLY IN THE SOCIALIST MOVEMENT DOES THIS FAITH ABOUND, only in the Socialist movement do we find the stirrings of the heart CAUSED BY THE DREAM OF A REVIVIFIED WORLD. . . . We are in the midst of a great SPIRITUAL REFORMATION unmatched in the history of the world. FAITH IN MAN, FAITH IN HIS POWER TO RISE, TO REALIZE HIS NOBLEST ASPIRATIONS AND DREAMS, IS THE DOMINANT SPIRITUAL IMPULSE OF THIS WORLD-CIRCLING MOVEMENT. Labor, like another Prometheus, is bound to the rock of private profit and greed, and Socialism comes as the mighty Hercules to cut the cords and break the chains that bind the soul of man, SETTING IT FREE FOR ITS UPWARD AND GODWARD FLIGHT. . . . DEMOCRACY IS THE MOTOR POWER WHICH MAKES FOR BROTHERHOOD, the grand passion of all religion. . . . DEMOCRACY IS RELIGION."
The Rev. J. Stitt Wilson, Socialist mayor of Berkeley, California, declares: "Socialism is a deeply religious question—it is divine, and is virtually the second coming of Christ. . . . At this hour of divine vision He [Jesus] perceived that WHAT HE WAS ALL MEN WERE. . . . He was divine; THEY WERE DIVINE. He was the Father incarnate; they were also. . . . He was not concerned about emphasizing HIS divinity, but in disclosing to them [men] THEIR divinity. . . . GOD WAS THE FATHER OF JESUS IN NO SENSE OTHER THAN IN THE SENSE THAT HE IS YOUR FATHER AND MY FATHER. THE FATHER COULD BE NO MORE TO JESUS THAN HE IS FOR YOU."
The New York sky-scraper as it will appear when completed
We see that the basis of the whole Socialistic movement is the profound belief that in man, in society, in corporate humanity, lies the power to redeem the race, to bring in the golden age, to lead humanity to the delectable mountains—TO REALIZE THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH. This means virtually that society, or man, is the actual god from whom all benefits flow to the individual, and whom each individual is bound to serve. It is not the religion of the Bible, of the Lord Jesus Christ; it is the religion of man—of humanism. It is the apotheosis of collective humanity. It is the worship of the creature rather than of the Creator.
Mr. W. E. P. French, in a booklet entitled "We-ism," says: "We believe in the religion of humanity. Socialism is the religion of humanity. . . . Socialism is the evolution of the human race from cannibalism and savagery to fraternity and philanthropy; from the infamy of the swine to the splendor of God. . . . Socialism is the trinity of love, justice, and truth. . . . Socialism is the gospel of the atonement of humanity for 'man's inhumanity to man.' . . . Socialism is faith in the motherhood of God, hope in the comradehood of humanity, and charity for all the world. . . . SOCIALISM IS THE SECOND COMING OF THE ELDER BROTHER."
Now, in the face of all these well-nigh blasphemous claims for the religion of Socialism, the famous author H. G. Wells, himself a Socialist, makes this significant admission: "With the people JUST AS THEY ARE NOW, with their prejudices, their ignorances, their misapprehensions, their unchecked vanities and greeds and jealousies, their crude and misguided instincts, their irrational traditions, no Socialist state can exist other than the one we now have, with all its squalor and cruelty."
Mr. Wells sees clearly that no better social state is possible so long as human nature remains what it is; that the one prerequisite to an ideal society is an ideal humanity. An ideal humanity is unthinkable apart from ideal individuals; and an individual can be brought to an ideal state only through the power of God in Christ. And this power is the Gospel as enunciated by the Spirit of God in the Scriptures. The editor of the San Francisco "Argonaut" says truly: "The reform of human nature is the last task that the reformer will ever willingly face, but actually there is nothing that can be reformed except human nature. All other reforms are the result of this. . . . So long as there are faults in human nature there will be faults in human government. The only way to better things is to reform the faults in human nature—beginning with one's own." Said Mr. George Harvey recently, editor of "Harper's Weekly:" "It is mainly to RELIGION that we must look to make men friends of peace, respecters of justice, upholders of righteousness. . . . All attempts to Christianize the country by legislation will be futile. . . . You can not make character by passing laws, but religion can make character, and character is what our country needs."
It is the RELIGIOUS aspect of Socialism that makes it one of the manifold perils of these last days. It presumes to usurp the mission of the church of Christ. It looks to humanity, instead of to God, as the hope of humanity. It aims to establish the kingdom of God on earth, while the earth is still under the blight of the curse of sin, while the vast majority of mankind are still in a state of conscious sin, and victims of its endless concomitant evils. The Socialist forgets that in the kingdom of God, when objectively realized, there will "BE NO MORE DEATH, NEITHER SORROW, NOR CRYING, NEITHER SHALL THERE BE ANY MORE PAIN: for the former things are passed away." In that kingdom, says Isaiah, "Thy people shall be all righteous." Again, that kingdom, in its outward glory, will not be realized till the Son of Man comes again in all His glory; for it is then that He will "sit on the throne of His glory." It is then that Christ will say to those on His right, "Come, ye blessed of My Father, INHERIT the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Christ knows no "class-consciousness." The universal brotherhood is coming—coming through Christ.
Johnny's Reason
A circus came to town; and everybody knows how the music and the grand tent and horses set all the boys agog. Quarters and shillings were in great demand; and many choice bits of money have the circus riders carried away which was meant for better purposes.
A little boy was seen looking around the premises with a great deal of curiosity. "Halloo, Johnny," said a man who knew him; "going to the circus?"
"No, sir," answered Johnny, "father don't like 'em."
"O, well, I'll give you the money to go, Johnny," said the man.
"Father don't approve of them," answered Johnny.
"Well, go in for once, and I'll pay for you."
"No, sir," said Johnny; "my father would give me the money if he thought 'twas best; besides, I've got twenty-five cents in my strong box—twice enough to go."13
"I'd go, Johnny, for once; it's wonderful, the way the horses do," said the man. "Your father needn't know it."
"I can't," said the boy.
"Now, why?" asked the man.
" 'Cause," said Johnny, twirling his bare toes in the sand. "After I've been I couldn't look my father right in the eye, but I can now."—Exchange.
The Palace Outdoors
By Miss Z. I. Davis
By Miss Z. I. Davis
The earth is one great palace fair,
Its great walls, wide and high,
Are wrought with sparkling jewels rare,
Pinned back against the sky.
The music from the tiny throats
Of bird life on the wing,
Falls on the ear in thrilling notes,
A prophecy of spring.
The fleecy cloud land far away
Is clearly arched o'er all;
And sweeping through the gates of day,
The sunbeams softly fall.
And ever still, the unseen hand
Of Him who dwells above,
And who for us has wisely planned,
Is stretched forth in His love.
Patty's Secret
MRS. LOMAX softly opened the nursery door and peeped in. "I'm awake, mother," said a voice from the white cot; "come in."
The lady quickly poked the smoldering fire into a blaze and opened the blinds. It was a bitter cold day, and Jack Frost had decorated the window-panes with silver pictures of forests and castles.
"What wakened you so early, Patty dear?" asked her mother, coming over to sit on the edge of the bed. To her surprise, the young face was wreathed in bright smiles.
"I had such a strange, sweet dream," said Patty, her eyes shining. "I think it must have been my dream that waked me."
"What was it, love?" But Patty was silent. "You don't want to tell me your dream, little daughter?"
"I think I'd rather not, mother, if you don't mind."
"No, I don't mind."
"Well, then, I won't tell it."
Patty's mother had no dream of her own to tell, for she had hardly slept a single one of the many hours between dark and dawn. Many of them she had spent on her knees beside her bed, pouring out her heart in prayer for her darling, who was, with the returning day, to undergo a painful and dangerous surgical operation.
For days Patty herself had been in a sad state of nervousness and depression. It had been necessary, for certain reasons, that she should know what was before her; and tho she bore up bravely for her years, it could not but be to her like entering a dark cloud.
And yet there was the smile on her lips and the light in her eye, tho the hour of trial had come!
The weeks slipped away, each one leaving little Patty stronger than it found her, and nearer to the end of her prison life behind the window-panes. For the great trial was safely past, and the surgeon said one reason that the little girl came so safely through it, without fever or inflammation of any sort, was that she was so quiet and brave, and didn't excite or fret herself.
When Patty heard these praises, she only smiled and said, "That's my secret." Tho she did not ask, Patty's mother sometimes wondered what she meant and why she would not tell her secret.
But one day Patty overheard a visitor speaking of another child who was to undergo an operation. This visitor was one of the managers of the hospital, and the child she spoke of was a charity patient, a poor little deformed girl in the public ward. She was an orphan, and had no friends except the kind people at the orphanage, where she had been put when only a few months old.
Patty was very quiet until the visitor left; but when her mother turned to her sofa, she found her little daughter eager to tell her something.
"O, mother!" she cried, "I must see that little girl; I have something to tell her."
"I'll see her for you, dear," said Mrs. Lomax, "and tell her anything you say."
But Patty, who had been so reasonable and obedient, did not seem able to listen to reason. She wept, and entreated to be carried to the hospital, until at last her mother consented to let her go in a closed carriage, with her father to lift her in and out, and carry her every step up and down the halls and stairway. "Only father," she said; "I'd rather have only father."
After all, the drive did not seem to hurt Patty at all; when she had taken off her wraps in the waiting-room, and was being carried up to the ward, she whispered a little nervously, "Can I see the little girl all by myself, father?"
Mr. Lomax felt troubled at this almost stubborn secrecy. "I think not, daughter," he said gravely; "the nurse would hardly leave her patient in the hands of such a little girl as you. Why is it that you can't trust me to hear what you have to say?"
Patty hesitated a minute, and then said: "I'm afraid you might laugh at it, or say it was just a fancy; and, O, I couldn't stand anybody's laughing, because it helped me so."
Mr. Lomax held her closer to his breast. "Dear little girl!" he said to himself. Then he answered Patty in a very gentle voice: "You need have no fear of that, darling. Now that I know how you feel about it, whatever you have to say will be very precious to me."
Nothing more was said, but the little arms tightened about his neck, and he heard a little sigh of content.
Laugh at her! No listener could have smiled at Patty's secret, except as one might smile in glad surprise if an angel spoke.
In very simple speech, as one child speaks to another, Patty told this little hospital patient of her long time of suffering and disease; how she had felt that she could not stand the surgeon's table, the knife, the stitches, and all the horrors of an operation.
"But the night before it was to happen," said Patty, "after I had prayed with all my might to our Saviour to help me to bear the pain, I fell asleep, and dreamed that I saw Him."
"O, I wish you could know how He looked! Just as if He was all our mothers and fathers in one person. I did not hear Him speak, but I knew from His smile that He was going to be with me. And then I waked up, and remembered what He said when He was going back to heaven, 'Lo, I am with you alway,' and I wasn't afraid any more after that."
"And did it hurt very much?" eagerly asked the child in the cot.
"I don't know," said Patty, looking rather puzzled. "Maybe it did. The doctor couldn't give me as much of the go-to-sleep stuff as he will you, and part of the time I knew what he was doing, and felt the pain. But I did not mind it; I said to myself, 'Why, I can easily stand it, just as long as I must.' You see, Jesus had answered my prayer, and He will answer yours, too. Don't forget, please, what He said about 'Lo, I am with you.'"
"Will you ask for me?" said the little stranger. "I don't know Him very well."
And Patty promised.—Selected.
The Call to Be a Missionary
By David Livingstone
For my part, I have never ceased to rejoice that God has appointed me to such an office. People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice which brings its own best reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny hereafter? Away with the thought in such a view, and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say, rather, it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, or danger now and then, with a foregoing of the common conveniences and charities of this life, make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver and the soul to sink, but let this be for only a moment. All these are nothing when compared with the glory which shall hereafter be revealed in and for us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk when we remember the great sacrifice which He made who left His Father's throne on high to give Himself for us: "Who being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high."—David Livingstone.
Show Kindness to Animals
By Humane Press Bureau
EVERY dollar spent for humane education is a dollar spent for the prevention of wars, incendiary fires, railroad wrecks, and every form of cruelty and crime.
Kindness to animals is capital well invested, and pays the farmer in return a large revenue. If possible always have the same person milk, and let it be one who is naturally kind, and who inspires the cow with confidence, so that if she moves or puts the milker to any inconvenience she will not expect punishment.
It is true economy to give a cow plenty of good, wholesome food.
Gentle treatment is due to all animals. Animals are often thought to be ill-tempered or obstinate when they are really suffering from some pain or irritation of which we do not perceive the cause, but which may be soothed by patience and quietness.
Fowls Are Not Made of Wood
The practise of carrying fowls with their heads downward and their feet tied together is very cruel, and in most States is an offense against the law, and punishable by fine. Those whose haste or carelessness tempts them to carry any live creature head downward should consider how they would themselves like it. It is also cruel to carry them in bags or to leave them in bags.
Toads Are Hungry
Toads are useful to the farmer. It has been estimated that a single toad in one summer devours about 10,000 insects and worms and prevents damage that would amount to ten dollars.
Horses in Summer
Do not let your horse get overheated by too long exposure to the hot sun.
A little refreshment given the horse during a long drive will keep up his strength wonderfully, and this is easily provided. A pound or two of rye flour stirred in half a pail of water will make a very nutritious drink, and can be given with perfect safety even when the animal is heated. This drink is given to stage horses in Italy during their long journeys over mountainous roads.—Humane Press Bureau.
Signs of the Times Leaflet Series
By Editor
Here you have, reduced by one half, facsimile TITLES of each of the sixteen numbers in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES Leaflet Series.
Advantages
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Subject is presented from Scripture alone, the question and answer form followed in many.
Series adapted for systematic study, or distribution.
Excellent for liberal general circulation.
Most inexpensive missionary material obtainable.
How Furnished
In unbroken packages of a hundred of each number, a package ................................................. $ 0.15
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