p. 9 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 2. (1/10/1900)

THE TRUE PLACE FOR RELIGIOUS REFORM.

By Editor

'A "National Reform Association" held its convention in New York last week. It seems to be a movement of recent organization, and its aim, as defined by one of our correspondents, representing it, is "to preserve the Christian features of the institutions of our country," the Bible in the schools, the sacred rest of the Sabbath, and the defense of the family from a wrecking system of loose marriage and easy divorce.'

'Now, as to the Bible, would it not be more appropriate to undertake a specific reform in the theological seminaries and among the clergy who teach that it is human, fallible "literature" only? Of course, if that view of the Scriptures is accepted, the obligation of keeping Sunday as a sabbath has no divine or supernatural foundation. If the Bible is the faulty and more or less spurious book made up of documents of unknown authorship, which Dr. Briggs, of the Episcopal Church, teaches it to be in the Presbyterian Union Theological Seminary, for example, why should it be read in the public schools more than any other book of religious literature? If, as the Rev. Mr. Schermerhorn, another Episcopal clergyman, contends, "portions of the Bible are indecent, inhuman, and false," unfit to be read in churches, are they suitable for reading to schoolchildren? Moreover, these expressions of opinion come from clergymen who continue in good standing in the church, in spite of them. Ought not, then, the work of reformation to begin in the church itself; for upon the divine authority of the Bible depend all the arguments used by this association? If it fails, the Sabbath must fall with it, and its observance become nothing more than a purely human institution of the Jews; and marriage and divorce must be relegated to the category of purely human conventions.'

'It seems to us, therefore, that the "National Reform Association" ran away from the true source of the trouble when, on Thursday, it went outside of the church to search for it, and in its vain quest passed a resolution attributing the cause to the publication of newspapers on Sunday. The Sunday newspaper, asserted one of the speakers, is the foe of "the church, the Sabbath-school, and religious services." "I charge upon the Sunday newspaper," said another, "the crime of being one of the greatest agencies in overcoming the fear of the living God." Now, all this might be true of a newspaper of evil purpose and influence, but, surely, the harm done by such a journal is not confined to the seventh day only. Every unprincipled paper is the foe of its readers on all days; its lies, its perversions, its vulgarity, its low morality are constantly harmful, and the mischief it does, the degradation it encourages, is in cultivating during the week a taste for the debased which craves more of its stuff on Sunday.'

'Our own correspondents and many other ministers and lay students of society have discussed lately the cause of the decline in church attendance at the present time; but how can there be any doubt on the subject? No coincident decline in the intellectual ability of the ministry is discoverable, and there is no decrease in the attractions offered by the churches in the way of music and their services generally. Rather has there been an unexampled effort to increase their popularity by the invention and adoption of many devices, some of them repulsive to good taste and grossly offensive to genuine religious sentiment. Sermons are made as distinctly secular and sensational as the most catch-penny newspapers are, and not less offensive and mischievous by reason of loose and superficial and fallacious reasoning. Now, the competitor of such pulpits is not the self-respecting newspaper, which appeals to the intelligent people, but the debased newspaper of kindred cheap and tawdry and sensational methods.'

'Naturally, such devices fail as a permanent attraction of church attendance; they simply lower popular respect for the church. Nothing can induce men to go to divine service as an imperative religious duty except a hearty and profound faith in God, in their need of salvation, and in the teaching of the church as an authoritative exposition of divine truth. If they regard the services and sermons simply as they look on the theater or the opera, or as inviting only so far as they appeal to their fancy, they are likely to seek other means of entertainment, for, apart from faith in it, a church is a dull place for the run of people. Men who will sit out a play for two or three hours or tire themselves out with a day's golfing or bicycling are wearied beyond endurance by an hour in church, unless they enter it in a worshipful spirit and with unquestioning faith that in it alone the way to salvation can be pointed out to them. But if they are told by even their own ministers and theologians that the Bible is only fallible, human literature, how can they be expected to go on believing in a church which preaches it as a guide to salvation?'

'That, reverend reformers, is the cause of the trouble which vexes your souls; the Sunday newspaper has nothing to do with it. Believe, yourselves, deeply and genuinely, and create such belief in men, and neither the newspaper nor any other outside influence will detract people from going to you to learn the way to everlasting life. That faith is a magnet whose attraction no other can overcome or even lessen. No church having it and inspiring it has ever any reason to fear competition. But if the faith departs and grows cold, and doubt begins to displace it, the vital force goes from the church, and there is no possibility of its revival except by rekindling that fire.'—New York Sun.

The foregoing editorial from the Sun is quite to the point. If more faith in God were exercised by men, and less dependence in human laws and other human inventions, many of the present-day difficulties would be solved by the mighty acting of divine power. And they soon will be solved, anyway, for this very lack of faith that is so characteristic of this time is given as one of the evidences of the soon coming of Christ. And when He comes, every question will be settled by the destruction of the wrong and the glorification of the right.

Perilous Times

A DESPATCH from Dallas, Texas, under date of December 25, says: “This has been a bloody Christmas for Dallas, and the coroner has been kept busy. Six men have been shot since last night, three fatally. Newspaper reports from over the State announce thirty-one affrays in which guns or knives were used, with fatal results in most cases.” This is but an index to the violence of these times. Does it look as tho the millennium was dawning? God says, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.” 2 Tim. 3:1. Observe that the text says perilous times shall come “in the last days,” and not a millennium of righteousness. God knew beforehand what would be the condition of things, and He told it as it would be. And are not these times becoming indeed “perilous”? Lynchings, and murders, and robberies, and wars, and rumors of wars, all show the increasing perils of these times. The very last of the last days are right here. Everything shows it. Not one or two things merely testify to it in an obscure way, but multiplied evidences testify positively to the fact that the great and final day is right at hand. Get ready for it, and then do all in your power to carry the message to others, and help them to get ready.

THE INCREASE OF SUICIDES.

By Editor

SOME years ago a young lady, well known to the writer, left her father's house and forsook her father's God, and married an infidel Spiritualist. It was not many years before her heart was broken, her home wrecked, her life blasted, and she was a homeless wanderer in the earth.

In her distress she wrote to the great high priest of American infidelity, asking him what comfort there was in infidelity for her. She got no answer. Defaming the Bible, blaspheming the God of Abraham, pointing out the mistakes of Moses, and defending star route thieves and government plunderers perhaps left little leisure for writing answers to such epistles.

About the winter of 1894 the infidel oracle found voice, and through the columns of a New York paper gave, in substance, the following advice: “When you are sick or poor, or in trouble or disgrace, and see no way out, go and hang yourself; blow out your brains; swallow poison; commit suicide.”

That year, 1894, there were 4,912 suicides in the United States—an increase of 452 over the previous year; and numbers of the suicides had on their person copies of the infidel arguments showing that suicide was no sin. One New York editor testifies that a dozen instances of suicide have occurred where these same documents were in evidence in the case.

When people believe they have a right to kill themselves, it does not take them long to claim the right to kill others, and that same year there was an increase of 3,000 murders in the United States, making a total of 9,800, or nearly ten times as many as would occur in a year twenty years before.

Dr. Ireland, in the Journal of Mental Science, asserts and shows that “a steady and rapid increase of self-destruction is common to the whole civilized world.”

Infidels boast that infidelity is spreading. Doubtless this is true; and with it murder and suicide are increasing with rapid strides. And there is the most suicide where there is the most infidelity.

Most of the church-members in America are women; most of the infidels are men. But the men who commit suicide outnumber the women suicides nearly three to one. In New York in 1892 there were 805 female suicides, and 3,055 men. In 1897 there were 1,452 women and 5,078 men who committed suicide.

In London, where more Bibles are printed than in any other city on earth, there are 87 suicides to a million people in a year; but Paris, gay, godless, Christless, Sabbathless, has 592 suicides to a million, or more than six times as many as London in proportion to the population.

God gives to those who obey Him “length of days, and long life, and peace” (Prov. 3:2), and promises to them eternal life at last. The men who serve Satan write books inquiring, “Is life worth living?” That depends on how men live it. If you live it as God commanded, life is well worth living, for “the hoary head is a crown of glory, if it be found in the way of righteousness” (Prov. 16:31); but Satan has no happy old men, and if men will serve the devil, the shorter their lives are the better, and so “the wages of sin is death.” Rom. 6:23.—The Christian.

A GOOD WORK.

By Editor

We are in receipt of the eighteenth annual report of the principal of the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegee, Ala., for the year ending May 31, 1899. As is well known, the head and chief worker in this great enterprise is Prof. Booker T. Washington, himself a colored man, who is doing more for his race from an earthly point of view than any other man. He aims not to educate alone, but to teach to do. The Tuskegee Institute has connected with it twenty-six industries: agriculture, blacksmithing, brickmasonry, carpentry, carriage trimming, cooking, dairying, drawing of various kinds, plain sewing, plastering, plumbing, printing, sawmilling, founding, housekeeping, harness-making, horticulture, laundering, machinery, mattress-making, millinery, nurse training, painting, shoemaking, stock-raising, tailoring, tinning, and wheelwrighting. It began in 1881 in a little shanty, with 1 teacher and 30 students; it averaged last year 1,164 students, and 88 officers and teachers. It is a good work, and we bid Professor Washington Godspeed.

Peace and Safety

By Editor

THE President has sent to the Senate the treaty negotiated last July by the representatives of the various nations at The Hague Peace Congress. It is said that ten signatures have already been attached to the convention for the pacific settlement of international disputes. It will be agreed among men that they will quit fighting, but they will not keep the agreement. And when they complete this agreement that they are to have wars no more, then will they say, “Peace and safety,” just as the Word of God foretells. But this “peace and safety” is such only in name, for the sure Word further says, “Then sudden destruction cometh upon them; . . . and they shall not escape.” “Sudden destruction” can not come where there is real “peace and safety.” We should not be deceived by peace congresses or peace talk. Any one should be able to recognize that the world was never in such a ferment for war as now. Every nation is involved. It is the rush of all the armies of earth in their preparations for the great battle of the great day of the Lord that we hear, and not the gentle and kindly whisperings of an assured peace. Study the Word of God, then look around you, and you will know for yourself the meaning of the events in these times.

International Alliances

The many rumors of international alliances are a significant omen. On one day the papers report a proposed alliance between England and the United States. The next day it is England, Germany, and the United States that have reached an agreement of alliance. Then, again, it is Russia and France, and then England and Turkey, and so on. This is a strong indication of the feverish condition of the world. It shows that the rulers of the nations are disturbed and afraid as they view the situation in international politics, and hence they are eagerly looking about for some means of augmenting their strength so that they may stem the tide. But all men should know that the collapse of the whole world is right at hand. Every prophecy shows that the end of all things is almost here. And the spirit of war that is calling out these proposed international alliances is the clear fulfilment of one of the plainest of these divine prophecies.

America’s Naval Ambitions

Negotiations have been opened by the United States for the purchase of Chatham Island, one of the Galapagos group. The island is desired by the Navy Department for a coaling station. How feverish is this country becoming to make of herself a great naval power! The order of things in the government has been reversed, and it will be nothing but war preparations and various broils and entanglements until the time is reached when America will rush, with all the other nations, into the great and final battle-field of Armageddon.

A Wireless Telegraph Receiver

Prof. Reginald Fessenden and his assistant, Professor Kitner, of the Western University of Pennsylvania, are said to have invented a receiver for the wireless telegraphy that is two thousand times more sensitive than the one invented by Marconi. Marconi’s instrument has sent messages a distance of over 90 miles. Professor Fessenden thinks that his instrument, when fully perfected, will transmit messages without any wire clear across the Atlantic.

Menelek Threatens Great Britain

Rumors continue to come in regard to the prospect of King Menelek leading his forces against Great Britain. The subject is causing much uneasiness in London. If Menelek and his Abyssinian forces, with all their modern equipments for war, should rise up against England just now, it would make a very serious situation.

Freight Train Collision in Montana

A SLEEPING operator on the North Pacific Railroad in Montana, allowed two freight trains to collide on December 25, near Bearmouth, and four men and nine horses were killed, and several other men were more or less seriously injured.

The Ariosto Driven Ashore

In a severe storm off the North Carolina coast, on December 24, the British steamship Ariosto was driven ashore, and twenty-one sailors were drowned.

Major-General Henry W. Lawton Killed

MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY W. LAWTON was instantly killed by a Filipino bullet near San Mateo on December 19.

CONSUMPTION OF BEER.

By T.

A RECENT issue of the Scientific American says:—

“In 1897 in Germany 1,383,700,000 gallons of beer were consumed; 1,192,000,000 were drunk in Great Britain, 180,000,000 in France, and 90,000,000 in Russia. It is estimated that 36 gallons per head are drunk in Belgium, 32 in Great Britain, 25 in Germany, 21 in Denmark, 12 in Switzerland, 10 in the United States, 9 in Holland, 5 in France, 3 1/2 in Norway, 2 1/2 in Sweden, and 1 in Russia. A writer in the North American Review declares that a large quantity of beer is consumed in order to satisfy the craving for the elements which are eliminated from wheat in making white bread.”

It will be observed that the foregoing figures represent nothing more than the beer that has been drunk; they do not include wines, whiskies, and numerous other alcoholic drinks. The suggestion of the doctor who writes for the North American Review is worthy of consideration. And in connection with the thought that the system is being deprived of the natural food elements that are taken out of the flour for making white bread, there are some other points that should be thought about.

This is an age of stimulants and stimulation. Every nerve is drawn to the highest possible tension in prosecuting business or pleasure, or, more frequently, in trying to prosecute both. Flesh foods, which form the most stimulating diet that can be eaten, have come to be almost universally used. A beefsteak or a mutton roast is not merely a food; it is a stimulant as well. And this flesh food stimulant calls for other stimulants and irritants. The flesh-eater desires with his meat such things as pepper, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and other similar stimulants and irritants. And by thus stimulating the body through the foods that are eaten daily, the system clamors for stronger and still stronger stimulants. At first tea and coffee seem to satisfy the demand. But in thousands of instances wines, beer, and other strong drinks are soon indulged, so that this increasing craving may be satisfied.

The tendency, however, is strongly running toward a more and more exciting life, and, consequently, toward a more and more exciting diet, and along with the diet a still greater demand for strong drink. The tastes and habits of the people are becoming more and more luxuriant and extravagant. Debasing luxuries that only a prince could afford a few decades ago are freely indulged by the common people to-day. So-called “high living” is becoming well-nigh universal, and the spread of the drink habit is alarmingly enormous.

Should we leave the utterances of divine prophecy out of the question, any philosopher who is not blinded by prejudice would be able to see that the race can not continue in its present course without soon destroying itself. Every sincere person should honestly and earnestly study the conditions of to-day. T.

RELIGION IN THE PHILIPPINES.

By Eugene G. Wood

THE Catholic religion prevails throughout the civilized portion of the archipelago, with the exception of the Mohammedans in the Sulu group and the island of Mindanao, comprising a population of about two hundred and fifty thousand. Polygamy is also practised in this Mohammedan territory, and it is a part of the Mohammedan religion. They are a race of powerful and fearless men, and are religious fanatics. It is part of their belief that the road to heaven can be attained by killing Christians. This portion of the archipelago is governed by the Moro chiefs, they having set up an independent government of their own, having at no time been under Spanish or Catholic sovereignty.

San Sebastian Church, Manila, Philippine Islands.

The archbishop of Manila presides over the spiritual welfare of the Ladrones and the Caroline group as well as the Philippines. The Philippines are divided into five dioceses, and are presided over by five bishops. They are also divided into one hundred and eight parishes and missions, which are in charge of the Jesuits. Each province or district is presided over by at least one or more Spanish priests.

The archbishop of Manila has his seat in the Walled City, and is assisted by an ecclesiastical chapter consisting of a dean and four dignitaries, the archdeacon, the precentor, the superintendent of schools, and the treasurer.

The Church and State under Spanish rule were inseparable. The monks had such a grasp upon those in authority that all they had to do was to speak the word, and their wishes were carried out to the letter, the Spanish Government being a mere puppet in their hands. The monks imposed exorbitant church taxes on the Filipinos, and many times they succeeded in getting the land of the natives confiscated and made over to them, compelling the original owners to till the land for them and continue to pay their church tax. If their crops should fail, their tax was not reduced, but increased. Failing to contribute to them, their carabou and cattle were seized, and in many instances the families were driven from their old homesteads. The monks, not being content with this, interfered with their family relations, many of them living in their quarters like despotic pashas. Many instances are on record where women have taken their own lives to rid themselves of these clerical traitors.

With such a state of affairs existing, what can be expected of a people who have seen nothing but corruption and vice existing under the cloak of religion?

The non-recognition of the Filipino priests by the Spanish also had a tendency to irritate the people at large. Instead of treating their priests as colleagues and co-workers, they were treated as inferior beings and underlings. Were they given a parish, it would be in some of the poorer districts where their income would hardly sustain them.

The cause leading to the Filipino rebellions of 1872 and 1896 was the despotic and tyrannical treatment of the native Filipino by the monastic orders. Freemasonry was a great bane to the monks. It was largely through this and other kindred orders, and the instigation of their leaders, Andres, Bonafacio, Dr. Jose Rizal, Emilio Aguinaldo, and many others, that the Filipinos have been kept in a state of rebellion.

It was through the pen of Dr. Rizal, in his novels, that the Filipinos and the world at large were made acquainted with the misdeeds of the monks. All complaints of the natives about the wrongdoings of the clergy remained without response, for the monks had colleagues in Madrid and Manila, and all complaints were intercepted or the complainants intimidated before reaching the higher Spanish authorities. One after another of these opposers of the ecclesiastical rulers were put out of the way, or driven into exile. Dr. Rizal was executed on the Luneta, in Manila, in 1897, and a reward of $25,000 was offered for the head of Aguinaldo. His countrymen being loyal to him, he lived to see the overthrow of Spanish rule, and, it is wished, religious oppression in the Philippines.

Nave of Church in Manila, Used as a Hospital by American Troops.

The native Filipino is naturally of a religious turn of mind, but seems to seek that form of worship which has outward show, and appeals to his imagination. A form of worship without images, incense, pomp, ornamentation, and bright colors will not appeal to his sympathies. This explains why the Catholic faith has such a strong hold in the Philippines. Anything imaginable or bordering on the supernatural makes a strong impression upon the Filipino. They wear charms and armlets with Latin prayers engraved on them, which they believe will protect them from all harm. Most of the Filipino families have a crucifix or shrine at which they worship since the priests have left the small villages. It is not uncommon to see the natives congregate in houses and have their worship at early morn and at the close of day. The women are the most religiously inclined. They seem very devoted to their religion, and nothing can prevent them from attending their regular masses.

There are but a few Protestants among the English and Germans around Manila, and so the native Filipino has comparatively little knowledge of the Protestant religion, and but few have heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They ask vague questions concerning our God, and whether it is the same One they have in the Philippines. I have put in many hours trying to tell them of our religion, and have always found them ready and willing listeners. They all seem anxious to learn what they can "of the religion of the Americano."

The church property, like the clergy, was under the control of the Spanish Government.

In Manila, like other Catholic cities, the churches form interesting studies of architecture. They were built by the sweat and blood of an oppressed people, and are now relics of a dead tho not forgotten past. Manila has many massive cathedrals. They, with their towering spires and many-chimed bells, present an imposing spectacle. The church of San Sebastian without doubt is by far the grandest. It, from outward appearance, looks to be made of granite; but it is constructed of steel throughout. Its walls are of plates of steel bolted to a frame of the same material. The interior is very imposing. There are two rows of pillars which branch out and form the arches of the ceiling. The furnishings of the altar are very elaborate, and many vessels and ornaments are of silver and gold. In the vestry is a hard wood table made of one piece of timber nine feet across, and twenty-seven feet in circumference. The windows of stained glass are most wonderfully designed. Great pipe-organs may be seen, and at early mass they fill the spacious cathedrals with, mellow music. Many of these churches are not ceiled, but are most elaborately finished to the very top of the domes, from which hang beautifully ornamented chandeliers.

The most peculiar feature connected with these cathedrals is the fact that they contain no seats; the congregation remains standing during services.

To attend these churches, to see the gold and silver ornaments, the priests with their almost priceless robes, and then to note the half-clad, half-starved beggars forming part of the congregation, one would decide that the time has come for the introduction of a different religion. It tells a story of tyranny and oppression more eloquently than words. Is it not time that the shackles of such a religion be shaken from the necks of this people? Is it not time that we should stir ourselves to the utmost to spread the Gospel to these sin-sick souls?

It is a strange fact, but nevertheless a true one, the grander the church and more demonstrative the religion, the more plentiful and destitute the beggars. This is said to be true all over the world, and I know it to be true in the Philippines. The people are anxious and waiting to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It has been the one object of their lives to be rid of Spanish rule and the tyranny and oppression of the leaders of the Catholic Church.

It is beyond the comprehension of one living in our country of religious liberty to imagine the degree of persecution that has been perpetrated upon this people in the Philippines. It goes to show what the Church and State will do when combined under one rule.

May they soon be liberated from this religion, and have an opportunity to hear the simple Gospel of Jesus Christ.

EUGENE G. WOOD.

DO GOOD.

By Nels Anderson

Do good; for good alone will live, The rust of time defying, When darkness comes, when chaos reigns, Tho even hope lie dying.

Do good; for good doth make the soul The better for the doing, As arms grow strong from laboring strong, Love sweet from lovers' wooing.

Do good; tho small may seem thy deed, And none thereof be knowing, Yet some day thou shalt ken its shade; Thy good tree's ever growing.

Do good; for good was done to thee When God gave thee to-morrow; Do good; for thinkest thou, O man, There's not enough of sorrow?

Fort Robinson, Neb. NELS ANDERSON.

WAITING GOD'S TIME.

By Editor

THIS is what the editor of the Sunday School Times quotes the veteran missionary of Zululand, Aldin Grout, as saying at a missionary gathering in 1858, of his early labors in South Africa—saying it "not despondently or sadly, but with a ringing, soldierly voice:

'I worked there as God gave me opportunity and ability for ten years, with various interruptions and intermissions, yet at the end of that period I could not point to a single convert in all the field in all the years; nor could I even point to a single one of my hearers of whom I could confidently say that he had been really interested or benefited by my message during all the time. Yet in all that time it never entered my head to doubt that I and my fellow-workers were where God had called us to labor, and were doing what God had set us to do. We were there giving God's message, sowing the seed of God's truth. It was for one to plant, for another to water, for God to give—or to withhold—the increase as seemed best to Him. Thirteen years added to that ten, have passed since then,' he said; 'there are now more than thirty Christian churches with hundreds of church-members in that apparently unfruitful field.' It is good to be in God's field and work, whatever the seeming results, for a time, may be."

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HOPE'S MISSION.

By Martha Shepard Lippincott

SWEET Hope, thou angel beckoning on, To teach our weary souls to rest Within a haven of sweetest bliss, While earthly cares our faith shall test! Hope is the messenger of faith, Which teaches us in trust to wait Until God's will hath been revealed, To show us what shall be our fate.

'Tis the consoler of the heart, A good physician near at hand, When trials come to overwhelm The trembling earth on which we stand; Hope lifts us in her restful arms, And her sweet consolation lends, Till happiness shall reign again, And sorrow into gladness blends.

MARTHA SHEPARD LIPPINCOTT. Moorestown, N.J.

SOUTH AMERICA'S THOUSANDS.

By F. H. Westphal

SOUTH AMERICA is an extensive missionary field, divided by the natural conformation of its surface, its mountains and rivers, into four general mission fields, as follows:—

NORTHERN FIELD.

Name.	Area, square miles.	Population.
Colombia,	502,000	3,500,000
Venezuela,	594,165	2,550,385
Guiana,	168,962	367,443
Total,	1,265,127	6,417,828

EASTERN FIELD.

Name.	Area, square miles.	Population.
Brazil,	3,219,000	14,000,000

SOUTHERN FIELD.

Name.	Area, square miles.	Population.
Paraguay,	91,970	560,000
Uruguay,	72,110	648,299
Argentina,	1,125,086	4,086,492
Total,	1,289,166	5,294,791

WESTERN FIELD.

Name.	Area, square miles.	Population.
Chile,	293,970	3,115,815
Bolivia,	567,240	2,330,000
Ecuadór,	120,000	1,200,000
Peru,	500,000	2,971,844
Total,	1,481,210	9,617,659

SUMMARY.

	Area, square miles.	Population.
Northern Field,	1,265,127	6,417,828
Eastern "	3,219,000	14,000,000
Southern "	1,289,166	5,294,791
Western "	1,481,210	9,617,659
Grand total,	7,254,503	35,330,278

Surely here is a large field, in which scarcely a beginning has yet been made.

F. H. WESTPHAL.

FOLLOW THE GUIDE.

By Rose Porter

LIKE Alpine climbers, our only safety is in steadfastly fixing our gaze on Jesus, our guide, and following step by step the path He trod, that He might know the dangers and difficulties that beset our way. And we may be sure He will never lead us further or faster than we can safely follow.—Rose Porter.

USE YOUR STRENGTH.

A LADY was watching a potter at his work, whose one foot was kept with "never-slackening speed turning his swift wheel round," while the other rested patiently on the ground. When the lady said to him in a sympathizing tone, "How tired your foot must be!" the man raised his eyes and said: "No, ma'am; it isn't the foot that works that's tired, it's the foot that stands. That's it."

If you want to keep your strength, use it; if you want to get tired, do nothing. As a matter of fact, we all know that the last man to go to for a helping hand for any new undertaking is the man who has plenty of time on his hands. It is the man and woman who are doing most who are always willing to do a little more.

The people who are tired of life are not those who work, but those who are too proud or too lazy to do so. Many of the rich are morbidly restless, while those who have to earn their daily bread are comparatively contented and happy. The Bible says that "the sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eat little or much" (Eccl. 5:12); and the busy worker has health and blessing which the listless idler never knows.—Selected.

Buddhist Missionaries and Biblical Faith

A DELEGATION of Buddhist missionaries from Japan have commenced operations in San Francisco. If the professing Christians in this country had stood true to their faith in the literal Word of God, there would be but little soil here for the seed-sowing of such missionaries. But so many have been led to look upon the Bible as only partly true, and they have covered it over with so many human speculations and fallacious reasonings, that the hearts of men are not fortified, even against these worse than ridiculous theories of the darkest heathenism. The speculative way in which men have been dealing with the Bible has educated this generation to the place where men and women are eager for the most fanciful and mystical doctrines. It does not matter whether these doctrines have any sense to them or not. If they are only mysterious and mythical there are thousands of people who are eager to espouse them. And yet men tell us that the world is getting better and we are soon to have a millennium of righteousness.

DR. J. E. CHILDS

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