Earlier text: THE MARRIAGE OF THE LAMBUnder the above caption, Rev. W. W. Everts writes concerning the International Sunday-school lessons and the so-called “higher criticism,” in the Examiner, the leading Baptist organ:— There is a growing feeling that the system of the Sunday-school lessons should be changed. This feeling is right in so far as the present system violates the established principles of pedagogy. But with this proper demand comes another improper demand, namely, that the present system must be changed so as to adopt the unanimous conclusions of the “higher critics.” Grant that they are united in their conclusions, that is no proof that they are correct in those conclusions. The impression that unanimity on their part establishes their position is a superficial supposition. Their method is so arbitrary, so subjective, that it is more like trifling play than real work. They can not establish a historical fact by their methods. A fact is established by witnesses and contemporaneous testimony. A fact so established is irrefragable, tho fifty “higher critics” should agree to undermine it. Fifty denials of a fact are as weak as one. Unanimity proves the acceptance of a theory, but it does not affect the standing of a long-established fact. The weakness of the method of the “higher ‘critics,” and the ease with which their unanimous verdict may be set aside, have been made apparent within a year. All the “higher critics” were agreed, a year ago, that the book of Ecclesiastes was a product of the second century B.C. They proved their point in their usual “learned” way. I will not rehearse the “undeniable” proofs, the “accumulated” arguments by which they proved “conclusively” that the book was of this late date. Any one who questioned the conclusions of these learned gentlemen was dismissed with a sneer. If any conclusion of the “critics” was certain, if any one of their conclusions should be adopted by the International Committee without fear of the possibility of error, it was the late date of Ecclesiastes. I now ask my readers to turn to the article on Ecclesiastes in Cheyne’s “Encyclopædia Biblica,” which, as every scholar knows, represents the latest results of the “higher criticism.” What will you find there? Was Ecclesiastes written in the second century B.C.? The author of the article says it was not. It belongs to an earlier period. I refer my readers also to Stade’s Zeitschrift of last year, where they will find that the highest and noblest of the “higher critics,” Professor Noeldeke, says that they were all mistaken, and that Ecclesiastes does not belong to the second century B.C. The facts that have crushed this darling theory that had so many learned sponsors I have explained in the current Homiletic Monthly. The only point which I wish to make is that the breakdown of the method of the “higher critics” as applied to the date of Ecclesiastes, proves that the method itself is nugatory. Its conclusions as to the date of Daniel, “Second” Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and Genesis can not be trusted. They were perfectly agreed as to the date of Ecclesiastes, but they were perfectly mistaken. Nothing can be more absurd than to incorporate into our Sunday-school-lesson system verdicts that can be overthrown as easily as their verdict regarding the date of Ecclesiastes has been. THE EFFORT TO RESTORE THE ARMY CANTEEN.
By W. N. G.
That Satan can appear as “an angel of light,” and make sin appear as a virtue, is well illustrated in the effort to restore the canteen in the army. As most of our readers know, the canteen was a government beer saloon. Any regiment, or any post, could have its canteen, where beer was sold and the profits go to the mess fund. Ostensibly it was for the benefit of the soldiers (1) It was to furnish them stimulating drink without their being obliged to go to the saloons for it; (2) the profits went back to them in a fund from which they could purchase such articles of food and delicacies as are not supplied in the regular ration; (3) the soldier was limited in his drink to beer, and to a limited quantity, and to the canteen as the place to drink it. This was the theory, but the testimony of nearly all those who know is that the limitations were easy of evasion, and were universally evaded. The argument of financial profit to the soldier was most absurd, as any one might see, excepting upon the theory that the soldier must drink. The idea of a man’s drinking a dollar’s worth of beer in order to secure fifty cents profit with which to buy food is simply ridiculous. Then many of the “boys” who did not care to drink were actually badgered into it on the plea of “honor.” They were recipients of the benefits of the mess fund, and in honor should contribute to it. And, strange as it may appear, they do not seem to have conceived the idea that they could do this in any way excepting by the beer route. Thus many a poor fellow has been cajoled into the beer habit on the score of honor. Most of the chaplains, many of the highest army officers and physicians, and many of the rank and file, gave their testimony against the canteen. After hearing exhaustive arguments on both sides, Congress passed a law abolishing the canteen; but the Attorney-General gave a constructive ruling that practically annulled the law, and the canteen went on. Then the last Congress passed another law that had the desired effect. The great brewing and liquor trusts, however, are determined not to be beaten out of their profits. So every effort is being made to have the canteen restored. And the virtuous, magnanimous plea of temperance and good order is the siren song of their campaign. It is claimed that the soldiers drink a great deal more, and are much more unruly and unhealthy, since the canteen was abolished. And they have secured the testimony of a few physicians to this effect. For producers and venders of intoxicating beverages to advocate a system that they maintain will materially reduce the consumption of their own products, is a species of self-sacrifice that one would hardly expect to find in the world. It can be accounted for only on the basis of the scripture which says that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.” 2 Cor. 11:14, 15.9 It has been shown that special efforts have been made to secure results that would prove a worse condition of affairs among the soldiers on pay-days since the abolition of the canteen. The efforts have been made in order to secure data for an appeal to have the canteen restored, on the plea of better morals in the army. Such efforts have been reported by reliable authority both in this country and in the Philippine Islands. But creditable witnesses, both in and out of the army, testify that the desired showing could not be honestly made. The fact that the canteen was zealously defended, and its restoration is now strongly urged, by the organs of the various liquor interests, is the best evidence that the institution itself is favorable to those interests. And that is enough to condemn it as inimical to the moral, social, and physical welfare of its patrons. W. N. G. THE SUBMARINE TORPEDO BOAT.
By T.
In a recent experiment the French submarine torpedo boat Zédé made her dive, and completely eluded detection, while she approached a big battle-ship and successfully attached a torpedo to her. If the battle-ship had belonged to an enemy, the Zédé could have withdrawn to a safe distance, and electrically exploded the torpedo, and blown the ship to pieces. Much is being said in the French press about the supremacy these little torpedo boats will give them over the English navy. But France must not forget that if she builds submarine torpedo boats to destroy the British navy, it will only drive England to build something of the same description with which to destroy the French war-ships. One destructive invention will call for another, and so the strife continues. The New York World, in speaking of these submarine boats, suggests that “cross-invention is the ‘most interesting feature of modern preparation for ‘war.’” “It is among the strongest of the elements ‘now making for universal peace.’” It is strange that any one can look at things in such a light. The “cross-inventions” of these times make the race in war preparation all the more exciting. The nations on the continent are anxious to destroy the supremacy of England’s navy, and on the other hand England is straining every resource in order that this may not be done. The object of the Hague Peace Congress was to get all the nations of the world to discontinue this fearful struggle to outstrip each other in preparing for war. But the congress failed to accomplish its object. Every nation has proceeded since that conference to make still greater additions to both army and navy. And this work will continue to grow in both intensity and volume until the battle of Armageddon, in the great day of the Lord, is reached. And that battle will be immediately followed by the coming of Christ with all His angels. The battle of Armageddon, with its terrible doom for all who persist in preparing for it, is that for which all the engines of war in these times are being forged. But all the glorious joys that center in the coming of the Lord may be had instead by every one who will receive them. This is the great time of preparation. Some are preparing to be destroyed on the field of Armageddon, and others are preparing to have eternal life when the Master comes. In which company will we be found? T. INCREASING BRIBERY AND PERJURY.
READ the following from an address of President J. J. McCarthy, of the State Bar Association of Iowa, delivered before that body at Council Bluffs, July 16:— Where is there a lawyer who has not seen a guilty criminal pass out of the court room, acquitted and set free because of perjured testimony? What one of us but has seen the rights of persons and of property sacrificed and trampled under foot, presumably under due form of law, but really and truly by the use of corrupt, false, and sometimes purchased testimony? One judge of long experience upon the bench writes me that in his opinion about one-half of all the evidence received on behalf of the defense in criminal cases is false. Another judge of equally high repute writes that he believes 75 per cent. of the evidence offered in divorce cases approaches deliberate perjury. Another writes that perjury is committed in a majority of important lawsuits, and that the crime is rapidly increasing. And now read these divine predictions of the last days:— “In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment. . . . And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.” Isa. 59:13–20. “That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up. The best of them is as a briar; the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity” Micah 7:3, 4. “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” 2 Tim. 3:1–5. A recent decision of the Postoffice Department regarding certain classes of second-class mail-matter is a manifestation of imperialism and usurpation of authority which ought to be rebuked. For three several times the matter has been before Congress, and the representatives of the people have refused to exclude the matter which the department has autocratically excluded. The matter of expense in postal service, it has been shown, could be clearly reduced in other directions,—such as the enormous sums paid to railways for carrying the mails. But if the expense were three times as great as it is, the proper authority to act upon the matter is not an executive officer, but Congress; and Congress has acted. But the postal department overrides the will of the people with impunity. It does not impress us with an admiration for war, nor of the army as a school of the manly virtues, to read such items as the following: “At Winslow yesterday, before the soldier train reached that town, the citizens armed themselves with shot-guns and rifles; and when the train stopped at the depot would not allow the soldiers to leave the cars, and ordered the railroad officials to pull out with the train forthwith. All the discharged soldiers carry arms, and they are accused of committing many depredations along the route.” The soldiers on this train had been doing some promiscuous shooting at previous stations; and one man, a colored soldier, had been killed, and several persons injured. And the item is not an isolated one, unfortunately. Besides the suffering and death caused by the prolonged hot weather in the East, serious damage has been done to crops, especially in Kansas and Missouri, where it is said the loss will be millions of dollars. Europe also has had an experience of intense heat and violent thunder-storms. Deaths from sunstroke and lightning are reported, with great loss of property. As the season advances, the heat increases. All previous records have been broken. In Indianapolis and Louisville the thermometer has registered 105°, in Omaha 106°, in St. Louis 107°, and in Decatur, Ill., 109°. The heat is said to be “like the blast from a furnace.” The Cleveland Leader of July 2 states that before the 1st of September of the present year, all the great coal corporations in the United States will be under the control of one combination, similar to the United States Steel Corporation, and under the direction of the same man, J. Pierpont Morgan. Along with this organization will go the coal docks and fast-loading plants that are now owned by the various coal companies. The aim of all this, the Leader says, is the complete monopoly of the bituminous coal production of the territory east of the Mississippi and north of the Ohio and Potomac. One of the subjects of conference at Rome recently was the attitude of the Catholic clergy in Cuba and the Philippines toward the United States. It was recognized that the clergy leaned strongly toward Spain. To counteract this, it was advised that the clergy in the islands be replaced to a certain extent by Dutch, Belgian, French, and American priests. This suggestion, it is reported, came from the United States Government. If so, and Rome has yielded to American wishes in this respect, she is doubtless expecting greater favors from the government in return. There has been discovered in Indianapolis, Indiana, what seems to be an “insanity trust,” through the operation of which lunacy proceedings are brought against sane persons, or in other cases are operated so as to deny to the victim the rights guaranteed by law. The proceedings in many cases are taken in secret, and many of the persons who have been committed to the hospitals did not know that their sanity was questioned until they were taken in custody and hustled off to the asylum—and all for the fees which the county paid. An agent of the Ameer of Afghanistan has gone to Germany to purchase six batteries of guns for Cabul, and the Ameer is organizing an army of 100,000 which is to be equipped with modern weapons. It is feared that this war preparation is aimed at India, or that it is at least a plan of Russia’s to stir up trouble for England. The company of which Mr. J. P. Morgan is head has just purchased two steamer lines,—the North Pacific and the Alaska. These lines have been operating more than twenty steamers, plying between Tacoma, Wash., and Yokohama, Shanghai, and Hongkong; between Tacoma and London via the Suez canal; and between Tacoma and south Alaskan ports. This gives Morgan and company a complete transportation system around the world, with headquarters in New York. Russia is making herself generally obnoxious in China. The postoffice at Port Arthur is watched, and anything which the government considers contraband is unhesitatingly seized. An American was recently a victim to these strict regulations. A home-bound letter contained information about forts and troops at Port Arthur, and not only was it confiscated, but the writer was kept in jail three weeks. A party of about twenty Epworth Leaguers, on their way to the San Francisco convention, were robbed of their money, their railroad tickets, and some of them of their trunks, by a body of pick-pockets operating at Colorado Springs, Col. They were left so destitute that, without aid, they were unable to return home. The Epworth Leaguers—between 15,000 and 20,000 of them—invaded San Francisco, and of course they brought trunks. To handle these successfully it was necessary to ask union draymen to work for a non-union firm. They would not do it, and about a thousand drivers were discharged. A report from Washington states that Postmaster-general Smith has decided to debar from second-class mail privileges a large class of publications that depend largely on gift enterprises, guessing contests, and nominal subscription rates for circulation. S. R. Dawson, who was serving a life-sentence for murder in the Iowa State-prison, claims to have solved the problem of making Damascus steel. The governor has just pardoned the aged inventor, in the interest of science. Three persons, scarcely more than boys, unsuccessfully attempted to rob the Chicago Metropolitan Elevated Railroad, July 17. Shots were exchanged, wounding the agent and one of the robbers. It has been arranged that China shall pay her indemnity to the powers in instalments of 23,000,000 taels ($32,200,000). The indemnity demanded is 450,000,000 taels, with interest at 4 per cent. The Russians are rapidly completing the Manchuria railway, and expect to employ an army of 50,000 men in its defense. Chinese troops are to be withdrawn “to prevent collisions.” The Chinese are removing as far as possible the evidences of the havoc wrought by war in their capital city, that on the emperor’s return his peace of mind may not be disturbed by them. Eleven persons were killed and almost a thousand injured in connection with the Fourth of July celebrations. A sad comment on the popular idea of expressing patriotism. A very successful test of wireless telegraphy has been made off the coast of Newfoundland, a message being received at Cape Ray from a vessel 300 miles out at sea. It was the czar that projected the Peace Congress; but just lately he has issued an order that 308,000 men shall this year be recruited for the Russian army and navy. The Anarchists have been “assisting” in local disturbances at Buenos Ayres; and as a consequence, the city has been proclaimed in a state of siege. John Fiske, an eminent scholar and writer, died on July 4. Professor Fiske was considered the ablest living historical writer in America. Some very good pictures of the sun’s corona were obtained during the late total eclipse by scientists who visited Sumatra for that purpose. The Boers have suffered another severe defeat at the hands of the British. It is hoped that the end of the long struggle is at hand. Missionaries in China say that war preparations are in progress, and they fear another rising. Other information confirms this view. On July 16 two stages between Ukiah and Blue Lake, Cal., were held up by masked men, and the passengers robbed of $400. Three masked robbers plundered the express car of a train at Wagner, Montana, and secured $50,000 booty. China has filed a claim for $500,000, for “outrageous treatment” received by Chinese at Butte, Montana. A $1,000,000 fire in Williams, Arizona, resulted from carelessness with a kerosene lamp. The new bank trust under the auspices of J. Pierpont Morgan, has a capital of $30,000,000. On July 20, Mrs. Kruger, wife of the Boer president, died of pneumonia. Nome, that city of the far north, is to have electric lights. A DANGEROUS RECOMMENDATION.
By W. N. G.
DR. JENKIN LLOYD JONES is reported to have advocated, at a Baptist ministers’ meeting in Chicago, that the “trust methods” be adopted by the various denominations for the advancement of church work. He bases his recommendation upon the fact that the “trusts” have been eminently “successful ‘in building up big enterprises.’” Before becoming enthused with this idea, it would be well to remember that successful church work is a proposition widely different from any worldly enterprise. The former is founded in sacrifice and self-denial, the latter in selfishness and greed. Legitimate church work aims to benefit the masses, the trusts are designed to benefit the few at the expense of the many. Christianity, which is the legitimate aim of the church, says, “Let the brother of low ‘degree rejoice in that he is exalted; but the rich, in ‘that he is made low.’” The worldly “trust” says, Let the rich rejoice in being made richer, tho it crush all the poor in the land. Objects so widely different can not be advanced by the same means. Union for saving the lost can not be on the same lines as combination for crushing the weak. Union for Gospel work must be union in Christ, on the basis of His Word, while union for building up the “trust” enterprises of the world are based in self-interest. The motto of legitimate church work is, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do ‘to you, do ye even so to them.” The motto of the “trust” is, Anything to make money, no matter how others are affected. Stooping from God’s way to the way of the world will never bring success to the cause of salvation. Rather, ‘Let the wicked forsake his way, and the ‘unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return ‘unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; ‘and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.’ Seeking to do the Lord’s work by the ways of the world is a dangerous experiment; for “the way of ‘peace they know not.” W. N. G. THE PAINTER AND THE GIPSY GIRL.
By E. P. Hammond
Come with me, young friends, and look at these two pictures—one of a wild gipsy girl, and another of the Lord Jesus, who “gave Himself for us.” The gipsy girl lived the wild life of her tribe, and had been called in by a German painter, that he might paint her pretty face. She had never been in an artist’s studio before, and did not fail to notice on the other side of the room an unfinished painting of the crucifixion of our Lord. One day she asked, “Master, who is that hanging there?” “That is Jesus Christ,” replied the painter carelessly. “But was He a bad man that they treated Him so cruelly?” “O, no; He was the best man that ever lived.” “Tell me more about Him.” And so he did, tho half unwilling to do so. Day by day as this young gipsy girl came into the studio to have her picture painted, her face was fixed upon this painting of Christ. As the last sitting was over, and as she was turning to leave the room, she whispered, “Master, how can you help loving Him who, you say, has died for you? If anybody had loved me like that, O, I’d like to die for him!” And then with a sad heart she went back to her people. And the painter? He was struck as with an arrow. God’s Spirit sent the words home to his heart. He sought out a mission preacher who could tell him of Jesus, and in the little mission room he fell on his knees, and, covering his face with his hands, confessed before God’s blessed Son how for many years he had neglected Him and sinned against Him; and, looking to God for pardon, he gave his life to Him. His life was filled with a new joy; and he became a worker for Christ. He put aside the half-finished picture, in which he had only thought of depicting the sufferings of Christ, and began a fresh one, with his heart full of fresh love toward the Saviour who had died for him. He felt the Lord helped him as never before. When the painting was finished, it was placed in the gallery at Dusseldorf. Crowds came to gaze upon it. To one heart, at least, that story went home, for beneath the picture the painter had placed the words— “I did all this for thee;
What hast thou done for Me?” Count Zinzendorf tells us that he “felt he would not be able to answer very much, and prayed to the Saviour to draw him into the communion of His sufferings.” Tho I believe Zinzendorf became a Christian when he was a child, yet the sight of this painting led him to live for the Lord as he had not done before. As the father of the United Brethren in Moravia, we know how well he kept his promise. The gipsy girl came to see the picture, too, and the artist, happening to be there, found her weeping before it. “O master!” she cried, “He died for you, I know; but did He die for me—a poor gipsy girl?” And now this painter, knowing by experience something about the love of Jesus, could, out of a full heart and with a deep interest in that dying Saviour, tell her, as he could not have done before, the sufferings and death in our stead; and, pointing to the picture, he said, “Yes, He died for you. I love Him now; won’t you?” (1 John 4:9, 10; 1 Pet. 2:24; 2 Cor. 5:20, 21.) With tears in her eyes, she asked, “Did He really die for a poor gipsy girl? Then I will love Him, too.” Some time after, a stranger came to him with a message from a gipsy girl, who was dying, to ask him to come to her, as she wished at once to see him. He went, following the guide to the forest; and there in a poor hut lay the gipsy girl. It was his old friend, no longer in her dark beauty, but pale and wan and dying. Her eyes were closed, but when she heard his voice she opened them, and with a smile, she slowly said, “O master—I know now—He—died—for—me:—I—love—Him—and—I—am—going—to—live—with—Him.” And thus she died. We do not need any picture of the crucifixion. The simple Bible story of Christ’s death for us is enough to melt our hearts. Only let us, each one, be sure that we can say of the Lord Jesus, “He loved me, and gave Himself for me, and now I love Him.” If we do, the next thing will be that we shall hear Him saying to us, as He did to Count Zinzendorf:— “I did all this for thee;
What hast thou done for Me?” Thus, if we are Christians, will our love for Christ grow stronger day by day, and we shall find something to do for Him who has done so much for us. But what shall I say to those of you who have never loved Jesus? You see, this gipsy girl had never heard of Christ; but you have heard of Him all your life, and yet have turned away from Him, and rejected Him many times. She could not believe that He really loved her, and had taken the punishment she deserved on account of her sins. But when she stood weeping before the crucifixion of Christ in that picture gallery, and the artist explained to her how it was that, because He was wounded for our transgressions (Isa. 53:4-6), God could forgive our sins, then it seems that she trusted in Christ, and found peace in believing in Him. Rom. 5:1. Will not you, young friend, do the same? Then you will be fitted to live the life of a happy Christian, and you, too, can say: “I know He died for me; I love Him; and I hope, by and by, to live with Him in His kingdom.” May I repeat to you the question of this gipsy girl to the German painter: “How can you help loving Him who died for you?”—E. P. Hammond. HOW TOYS EDUCATED AN EMPEROR.
By J. T. Headland
WHEN Kwang Hsu was a child, there were two foreign stores in Peking that had been established without permission from the Chinese Government. As they were on Legation Street, they seem to have been too unimportant to attract official attention. Yet these same stores were destined to have a mighty influence on the future of China. One of them was kept by an illiterate Dane, who sold foreign tops, notions, and dry goods such as might please the Chinese, or be of use to the scanty European population of the capital. By chance some eunuchs from the Imperial palace bought toys in this shop for His Infant Majesty. As the baby Emperor grew, the business of the Dane shopkeeper increased. His stock became larger and more varied. And the Emperor remained a profitable customer. Musical cats, dogs, and sheep, horns, guns, trains of cars, striking clocks, and Swiss watches, all were bought in turn by eunuchs from the palace. As the Emperor grew to boyhood, the Danish shopkeeper supplied toys suitable to his years from his inexhaustible shelves. To understand how searching an influence these products of far-distant lands must have had on the growing mind of the Emperor, you must know that he was shut out from the world, shut out even from his own people, by three strong walls. He never11 left the Forbidden City except in a closed chair or in a closed cart. Every side street was barred from him by hanging canvas of mats. He was a prisoner and slave in the palace of his birthright. If custom forbade his going out to see the world, it did not prevent the world from reaching him in the shape of wares sold by the Dane in Legation Street. These were no longer toys, altho such they seemed to the Emperor. An electric railroad was built for him in the palace grounds, on which he rode as our children ride on merry-go-rounds. For him an electric plant was built in the Forbidden City, and the palace was lighted with incandescent lamps. He experimented with miniature telegraph and telephone instruments. Officials that sought Imperial favor scoured the port cities to find new toys for His Majesty. They came to Peking University and bought our phonograph. They got for him gramophones, music boxes, aeolians, and magnificent clocks that struck the hours with music or with the song of birds. All the resources of modern invention in the West were tapped to procure toys for the Emperor Kwang Hsu. Once the assiduous Danish shopkeeper had a sleigh made for him in Europe. The sleigh was a marvel of ingenuity with its foot-warmers, mirrors, clocks, cushions of yellow silk, and figureheads in the shape of golden dragons. As the boy grew older, his tastes changed. There were clear indications of mental growth as the years advanced. He began to wish to know the literature of the countries that produced the fairy toys and wonderful devices of his boyhood pleasures. He had two teachers appointed to instruct him in English. One of these teachers was the grandfather of a young man to whom I had taught English in return for lessons in Chinese. In this way I learned much of what was going on in the recesses of the palace. I was informed by those who had been into the Emperor’s private apartments that they were more like a museum than like living-rooms, so crowded were they with complicated mechanisms and toys.—J. T. Headland. THE MAN WITHOUT THE HOE.
By Jane Haskell
Bowed by the weight of indolence, he leans Upon his selfish vanity, and looks On those that toil with unappreciative eyes; A form bearded and strong, yet lacking all That makes the man; a gilded frame rifled Of master-piece—the beauteous touch that holds The heart and eye; a sluggard's mind that sleeps And hears no music in the shuttle's song, And feels no flush of joy from labor done. Idly he sits within the world's wide door, And heeds no lesson from the passing throng Of earthly workers, or the ceaseless round Of heaven's bright orbs. Unnatural servitor, Crowning with shame the reaper's hallowed brow, Walking through barren fields, yet sowing not, The weeds of famine rank along his path. Who feeds the helpless babes? Who wipes away The grievous tear? Who leads the sick and blind? Who builds protecting roofs? Who cleaves the hills, And lays the forest low, and towers to heaven The temples of man's love? Who dwells within His father's house in honor? Who? Not he Who gives the flush of shame for labor's hire; Not he, who, with soft cunning, wiles the fruits Of others' toiling to bespread his feast. O, pity for the vapid one that sleeps, And dreams an empty dream, and crushes 'neath His slothful weight the children of his soul. Stern Justice, while she cuts the smiting rod, Will drop a tear. Ah, vain, benighted slave Of weak effeminate impotency, Mincing his way with shackled feet and hands, Breathing death's blight around the tree of life! “Is this the thing the Lord God made, and gave To have dominion over sea and land; To trace the stars and search the heavens for power; To feel the passion of Eternity?” Mother of industry, earnest and great, With fulness of thy busy days, how brook Thy face to smile upon this errant child; Ungrateful one, wasting thy golden hours And throwing scornful shadows at thy feet, Unmindful of thy wondrous handiwork? On the last day, when He, the glorified, Enthroned on heaven's down-rolling cloud shall come, And multitudes look upward to His face, And multitudes bow down their heads, denied, Shall he, whose idle feet have never trod The Master's way, look upward on that day? IN looking up some chronicles the other day, I came upon the story of a man who died on the first of October, 185 years ago. The man was Thomas Britton. He was a peddler of coal, carrying it around in a basket or sack, and he lived in a chamber above his coal store. Yet his associates were the most distinguished men of the day in London, and a famous painter employed his genius to make his portrait, and a noted poet celebrated him in his verses. He became celebrated and the friend of great men simply because of what he was. He possessed an exquisite musical taste and managed to establish musical reunions in his dingy chamber, to which the most aristocratic society in London was glad to be invited as a privilege. Distinguished lords and elegant ladies met the coalman there in his plain garb, and were fascinated by his manners and conversation. The renowned Handel was not ashamed to play in the coalman’s chamber for his brilliant guests. Britton was also at home with rare books and manuscripts, and the welcome friend of the book-lovers of his day. These men, among whom were noble dukes and earls, as well as authors of note, used to meet at the book-store of Bateman, a dealer of that day, and Britton would finish his rounds with coal, then leave his sack at the window, and go in among the titled company. He must have had rare tact and the highest of gifts to break through the barriers of society in that exclusive age. He is a shining example of the power of real worth to conquer in the humblest station. It is not said that he ever neglected his daily work; yet he lived amid an atmosphere of taste and learning in spite of his dingy trade and dusty clothes. In this day, probably, a man of such talents would find some other occupation. But he was never ashamed of his work. The lesson of such a life as that of Thomas Britton is not far to seek. Not only does any occupation leave room for the acquisition of talents and accomplishments, but mental and moral qualities will shine in spite of their surroundings. Britton was a respected musical critic and leader in literary society, tho always a coalman. A great purpose to serve the world can be formed and carried out by a worker at any trade.—Selected. “THE WHITE DEATH.”
By Will Sparks
[Will Sparks in Ainslee’s.] Of all the natural phenomena peculiar to the Rocky Mountain region none is more strange or terrible than the mysterious storm known to the Indians as “the white death.” Scientific men have never yet had an opportunity of investigating it, because it comes at the most unexpected times and may keep away from a certain locality for years. Well-read men who have been through it say that it is really a frozen fog. But where the fog comes from is more than any one can say. This phenomenon occurs most frequently in the northern part of Colorado, in Wyoming, and occasionally in Montana. About two years ago a party of three women and two men were crossing North Park in a wagon in the month of February. The air was bitterly cold, but dry as a bone and motionless. The sun shone with almost startling brilliancy. As the five people drove along over the crisp snow, they did not experience the least cold, but really felt most comfortable, and rather enjoyed the trip. Mountain peaks fifty miles away could be seen as distinctly as the pine trees by the roadside. Suddenly one of the women put her hand up to her face and remarked that something had stung her. Then other members of the party did the same thing, altho not a sign of an insect could be seen. All marveled greatly at this. A moment later they noticed that the distant mountains were disappearing behind a cloud of mist. Mist in Colorado in January! Surely there must be some mistake. But there was no mistake, because within ten minutes a gentle wind began to blow and the air became filled with fine particles of something that scintillated like diamond dust in the sunshine. Still the people drove on until they came to a cabin where a man signaled to them to stop. With his head tied up in a bundle of mufflers, he rushed out and handed the driver a piece of paper on which was written: “Come into the house quick, or this storm will kill all of you. Don’t talk outside here.” “Of course no time was lost in getting under cover and putting the horses in the stables. But they were a little late, for in less than an hour the whole party was sick with violent coughs and fever. Before the next morning one of the women died with all the symptoms of pneumonia. The others were violently ill of it, but managed to pull through after long sickness. “I seen you people driving along the road long before you got to my house, and I knowed you didn’t know what you were drivin’ through,” said the man, as soon as the surviving members of the party were able to talk. “That stuff ye seen in the air is small pieces of ice, froze so cold it goes clear down into your lungs without melting. If any man stayed out a few hours without his head covered up, he would be sure to die. One winter about eight years ago it cleaned out a whole Indian tribe across the Wyoming line. They are more afraid of it than they are of rattlesnakes. That’s the reason they call it the ‘white death.’” REMEMBER! three things come not back:
The arrow sent upon its track—
It will not swerve, it will not stay
Its speed; it flies to wound or slay. The spoken word so soon forgot
By thee, but it has perished not;
In other hearts ’tis living still,
And doing work for good or ill; And the lost opportunity,
That cometh back no more to thee.
In vain to weep, in vain to yearn—
These three will nevermore return.