Joy of the World.—Many rejoice, or have joy, in the lustful things of this life—some in riches, some in fame, some in pleasure, and all in man or some thing or things that man has done or may do. All this, apart from God, we are assured by the wise man is "folly," and folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom. The prophet declares that such "rejoice in a thing of naught;" hence, at the best, "the joy of the godless is but for a moment." And this the children of earth know to be true. "Man
22 “And it was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem; it 23 was winter; and Jesus was walking in the temple in Solomon's porch. The Jews therefore came round about him, 24 and said unto him, How long dost thou hold us in suspense? 25 If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you, and ye believe not; the works that I do in my 26 Father's name, these bear witness of me. But ye believe 27 not, because ye are not of my sheep. My sheep hear my 28 voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, and no 29 one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father, which hath given them unto me, is greater than all; and no one 30 is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the 31 Father are one. The Jews took up stones again to stone 32 him. Jesus answered them, Many good works have I showed 33 you from the Father; for which of those works do ye stone 34 me? The Jews answered him, For a good work we stone 35 thee not, but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called
them gods, unto whom the word of God came (and the 36 Scripture can not be broken), say ye of him, whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, Thou blasphem- 37 est; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the 38 works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do them, though ye believe not me, believe the works; that ye may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father. 39 They sought again to take him; and he went forth out of their hand. 40 “And he went away again beyond Jordan into the place 41 where John was at the first baptizing; and there he abode. And many came unto him; and they said, John indeed did 42 no sign; but all things whatsoever John spake of this man were true. And many believed on him there.”
QUESTIONS.
What public gathering was now held? At what season of the year?
Where was Jesus?
Who came to him? What did they say?
What did Jesus declare that he had already done? To what did he refer as his credentials?
Why had they not accepted him?
What general truth did he announce?
What gift does Jesus bestow upon believers? What experience will be theirs as the result?
Upon what basis does this certainty of experience rest?
What relation did Jesus declare between the Father and himself?
What effect did this statement have upon the Jews?
What inquiry did Jesus then make?
What answer was given to him?
What scripture did Jesus quote in reply?
How did he apply this scripture in reference to his own mission?
On what condition did he release them from any obligation to believe on him?
What conditional demand did he make of them? For what purpose?
What did they attempt to do? Did they succeed?
Where did Jesus go?
Did he thus escape the notice of the people? What did they say?
What was the result of his teaching?
NOTES.
THE Feast of the Dedication “was instituted by Judas Maccabæus to commemorate the purification of the temple and the renewal of the temple worship, after the three years' profanation by Antiochus Epiphanes. It was held for eight days, commencing on the twenty-fifth day of the month Chisleu, which began with the new moon of December.” “The weather had been wet and rough, so that he (Jesus) was fain to avail himself, like the crowds, of the shelter of the arcade running along the east side of the temple enclosure, known as Solomon's Porch, from the fragment of the first temple, left standing by Nebuchadnezzar.”
“THE comparative equanimity with which they (the Jews) consider the claim of Jesus to be the Messiah, is changed into fury when they imagine that he claims also equality with God. . . . No incident could more distinctly prove that the claim to be the Messiah was in their judgment one thing, the claim to be divine another thing. . . . In a word, it was a Messiah the Jews looked for, not the Son of God. They looked for one with divine powers, the delegate of God, sent to accomplish his will and to establish his kingdom, the representative among them of the divine presence; but they did not look for a real dwelling of a divine person among them. It is quite certain that the Jews of the second century thought it silly of the Christians to hold that the Christ preexisted from eternity as God, and condescended to be born as man. ‘No Jew would allow,’ says a writer of that time, ‘that any prophet ever said that a Son of God would come; but what the Jews do say is that the Christ of God will come.’ . . . This fact, that the Jews did not expect the Messiah to be strictly divine, sheds light on the real ground of accusation against Jesus. So long as it was supposed that he merely claimed to be the promised Christ, and used the title ‘Son of God’ as equivalent to a Messianic title, many of the people admitted his claim and were prepared to own him. But when the Pharisees began to apprehend that he claimed to be the Son of God in a higher sense, they accused him of blasphemy, and on that charge he was condemned. . . . When brought before the sanhedrin, he was first asked, ‘Art thou the Christ?’ . . . He merely says that they themselves will one day own his claim. ‘Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God.’ This suggests to them that his claim was to something more than they ordinarily considered to be involved in the claim to Messiahship; and at once they pass to their second question, ‘Art thou the Son of God?’ and on his refusing to disown this title, the high priest rends his clothes, and Jesus is there and then convicted of blasphemy.”—Dods.
3. “My sheep hear [are hearing] my voice, . . . and I give [am giving] unto them eternal life.” “Hear, and your soul shall live!” There is life in the voice of the Son of God. John 5:25. His words are life. John 6:63. “If we would listen to his voice, we must let silence reign in the heart. The clamors of self, its pretensions, its lusts, must be rebuked, and we must put on the robe of humility, and take our place as humble learners in the school of Christ.” What has been implied in the former teaching of Jesus, is now expressly stated: He and the Father are one. He appeals to the Scripture in justification of his claim, in repelling the charge of blasphemy which his statement had called forth. He says in effect: “If men were called gods to whom God's word came—and they are so called in Scripture, which can not be broken—appointing them to their office, may he not rightly be called Son of God who is himself sent to men, whose original and sole destiny it was to come into the world to represent the Father?”
Suggestions for Further Study.
Jesus says of those whom he designates as “My sheep,” “They follow me.” Is any further description necessary?
On what charge had the Jews previously sought to slay Jesus? Is there any essential difference between the two charges?
Did the Jews have legal authority to put any man to death on any charge? In their pretended zeal for God, what were they really doing?
Christ's use of Scripture is worthy of special study. Mark the force of the testimony of its own Author that “the Scripture can not be broken.”
How is life only through Christ taught in this lesson?
What were Christ's credentials from the Father?
SUGGESTIVE QUESTIONS ON THE TEXT.
(1) In what words does Luke, the writer of the Acts, refer to his Gospel? Verse 1. (2) Of how much did his Gospel treat? Verses 1, 2. (3) What does he say of Christ's appearance after his death? Verse 3, first part. (4) For how long did Christ remain on earth after his resurrection? (5) What was he doing during this time? Note 1. (6) What did he command the apostles on one of these occasions? Verse 4. (7) In what did he say that promise should be fulfilled? Verse 5. (8) What question did they ask him? Verse 6. (9) What did he reply? Verse 7. Note 2. (10) What might they know? Verse 8. Note 3. (11) What would the Spirit fit them to be? Note 4. (12) To what extent were they to be witnesses? (13) What notable event then occurred? Verse 9. Note 5. (14) What message did the Lord send them? Verses 10, 11. Note 6. (15) Where did all this occur? Verse 12. Note 7. (16) To what place did they return in Jerusalem? Verse 13. (17) In what did they and their companions engage? Verse 14.
NOTES.
1. THE Gospels give the briefest history of Christ's work up to the time of his ascension. The Acts continue the record of that work through his body, the church. Jesus gave abundant proof to his disciples that he was literally risen from the dead. He appeared to them. They saw him, and the wounds in his hands, feet, and side. They touched him, talked, walked, and ate with him. By many incontrovertible proofs (proofs by sure signs) was he shown to be the same Jesus. See 1 Cor. 15:1-8.
2. By this question the disciples showed a prominent characteristic of human nature, a curious desire to know things which do them no good. This Jesus rebuked, not only for them, but for us, for for us it is written. All those who are "setting times" for the Master's coming and kingdom would do well to take home to their hearts his reply. And yet we may know when he is near. Matt. 24:33. But while vain curiosity is not satisfied we may know that every longing of the heart will be filled by the Spirit of God, the promise from the Father.
3. ALL power, all fulness, comes with the Spirit, the life of God. Life, cleansing, fruit-bearing, spiritual gifts,—all blessing comes with the Spirit of God. God is pleased and anxious to bestow it; what hinders is lack of desire, faith, and consecration. Tho they might not know the times, they might know him.
"I know not the way I am going,
But well do I know my Guide."
4. Witnesses.—Men can bear witness only to that which they know. The disciples were not prepared to be witnesses of Christ, not till they knew of him; but till they knew him. See John 17:3. Many know of Christ, few know him. To know him is to have his Spirit, his life, his power. Such may be his witness, and can say, "I know whom I have believed."
5. He was taken up.—What a blessed sight to those disciples from one view. Of course they felt sad at his leaving, but how triumphant was his departure. They had seen him lifted upon the cross to die; they had seen him buried and sealed in the earth; but now, their last look, was a triumphant ascension into heaven. He was above all earthly power. Attraction of gravitation was annihilated in him. He was King. Again the three chosen ones saw his glory as on the mount. A cloud of angels, the royal escort to the city of God, received him out of their sight. Yet he does not leave them; his presence, his Spirit, his life, will flow out from him to every one. His ascension was the crowning act of his life-work.
6. Shall so come.—He is coming again, the shining messengers declare. "The same Jesus"—"This Jesus"—"shall so come in like manner," escorted by the mighty hosts of the angels of God. See Matt. 16:27; Luke 21:27; Rev. 1:7. There is no deception about it. Jesus is coming again, not in a spiritual way, not at death, but personally, literally, the same Jesus; not in humility and lowliness, but in power and glory to redeem his own. How will you receive him?
7. Olivet.—From Olivet Jesus ascended; upon Olivet he will descend with the holy city at the close of the 1,000 years, with all his saints. Zech. 14:4, 5. He who receives Christ now will be accepted of Christ then.
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
"Take heed unto thyself; and unto the doctrine;" "that thy profiting may appear to all."
1 "The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all
2 that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in
which he was received up, after that he had given commandment through the Holy Ghost unto the apostles whom
3 he had chosen; to whom he also shewed himself alive after
his passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the
space of forty days, and speaking the things concerning the
4 kingdom of God; and, being assembled together with them,
he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait
for the promise of the Father, which, said he, ye heard from
5 me; for John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be
baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.
6 "They therefore, when they were come together, asked
him, saying, Lord, dost thou at this time restore the king-
7 dom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to
know times or seasons, which the Father hath set within
8 his own authority. But ye shall receive power, when the
Holy Ghost is come upon you; and ye shall be my witnesses
both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto
9 the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had said
these things, as they were looking, he was taken up; and a
10 cloud received him out of their sight. And while they
were looking steadfastly into heaven as he went, behold,
11 two men stood by them in white apparel; which also said,
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye looking into heaven? this
JESUS, which was received up from you into heaven, shall
so come in like manner as ye beheld him going into heaven.
12 "Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount
called Olivet, which is nigh unto Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's
13 journey off. And when they were come in, they went up
into the upper chamber, where they were abiding; both
Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphæus, and
14 Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. These all
with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer, with the
women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his breth-
ren."
Golden Text: "While He blessed them, He parted from them, and was carried up into heaven." Luke 24:51.
NOTE.—The Sunday school lessons for 1897 are on the book of Acts, the establishment of the church this side of the crucifixion. This lesson is the connecting link between the Gospels and the history of the early church. Let the pupil study the book, the lesson Scripture and its context, thoroughly. Here he will find an inspired history of the early church,—a history worth more than all the testimony of the "early Fathers," and all the unwritten tradition of the ages. The lesson section includes the whole of the first chapter. The date of the ascension was in May 31, according to Hale's Chronology. This is verified by the prophecy concerning Christ in Dan. 9:24-27. The book of Acts was written by Luke. Compare Acts 1:1 with Luke 1:1-3. The rulers at this time were: Tiberius Cæsar, emperor of Rome, 18th year; Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, 6th year; Herod Antipas, governor of Galilee, 35th year; Herod Philip, governor of Trachonitis and the northern regions beyond Jordan, 35th year; Caiaphas, son-in-law of Annas, high priest, 7th year.
INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
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Bible Students' Library No. 142.—"Is Sunday Called the Sabbath in the New Testament?—An Examination of the Greek of Matt. 28:1 and Parallel Passages," by Uriah Smith. Price 1 cent.
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CYCLONE WASHER.
BATTLE CREEK, MICH., Oct. 16, 1896.
MESSRS. COON BROS., Battle Creek, Mich.—
Gentlemen: In fourteen hours' work in the city of Battle Creek, selling the Cyclone Washer, I have sold seven. It is the best-selling article that I have ever handled.
Yours truly, H. M. LITTLE.
ASBURY PARK, N. J., Oct. 21, 1896.
MESSRS. COON BROS., Battle Creek, Mich.—
Gentlemen: Since writing you before we have had the Cyclone used in our family, and all are delighted. Money is close here as elsewhere, and will be until confidence is restored by the election of McKinley and Hobart. We are talking the machine with confidence, and hope to increase the orders as its use extends. Yours truly, H. & G. MARTIN.
MAGAZINE.
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HOW TO SAVE MONEY!
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NEWS AND NOTES
FOREIGN.
—A dynamite explosion near Matamoros, Mexico, November 28, killed six men and destroyed property valued at $28,000.
—Special Chinese envoys now in Italy are reported to have placed orders for the construction of several battle-ships and cruisers.
—An additional steamer is to be placed on the line between Victoria, B. C., and Australian ports, as soon as it can be brought out from Liverpool.
—American residents in Constantinople insist, notwithstanding Minister Terrell's denial, that an American house in Haskull suburb was looted, the man in charge killed, and the American flag torn down.
—The Italian steamer Salier was foundered off the coast of Spain last week, and all on board were lost. The steamer was bound from Bremen to Buenos Ayres, and had on board 210 passengers, the crew numbering 65 men.
—A London despatch says that the French Government has at length decided to abolish the penal establishment in New Caledonia, which the Australians have long demanded. Convicts are to be sent to Madagascar instead.
—A press despatch announces that the Madagascar insurgents looted the town of Ambohemanga, ten miles from the capital, on the night of November 18, capturing forty prisoners and all the cattle. The English residents had a narrow escape from being massacred.
—King Leopold, of Belgium, has announced his intention to visit, next spring, his African colonial possessions, the Kongo Free State. He is to be accompanied by Henry M. Stanley, the noted explorer, and will preside at the opening of the Matavai and Leopoldville Railroad.
—After absorbing the great Boleo copper mines in Lower California, besides a number of mines in the United States, the Rothschilds combination is said to be reaching out after the La Paz, Encarnacion, and Espiritu Santo mines, in the state of Chihuahua, Mexico. These are all old and very productive properties.
—The noted Jewish rabbi, Emil G. Hirsh, has abandoned the Sabbath, and is now quite generally regarded as the leader of the "liberal" Jewish movement based on the theory of adapting one's religion to the customs of the country in which it may be transplanted. Had he believed Moses, he would have accepted Jesus.
—Advices from Blantyre, the chief town of British Central Africa, dated October 25, state that three columns of British soldiers were advancing against 30,000 warriors under Chikus II., who invaded the southwest Nyassaland and burned the British missionary station, besides killing the inhabitants of several villages.
—Detailed accounts by mail via Hongkong bring serious charges against the Spanish officers who are dealing with the rebellion in the Philippine Islands. They are accused of torturing their prisoners in a merciless manner, using some of the infamous implements of the Inquisition. The property of wealthy natives, non-combatants, is confiscated, and is being placed as security for loans of money. Even the Japanese Government talks of interfering to stop the cruelties practiced upon prisoners.
—It is now stated, on authority of London despatches, that Russia has obtained the right to construct a railroad through the Chinese province of Manchuria, and to fortify, ostensibly for China, the important harbor of Port Arthur. This virtually gives Russia control of the Manchurian province, and a long-sought open winter outlet to the Pacific Ocean. A year ago Great Britain talked war when such a proposition was mooted, but, as the despatches say, the situation is now accepted with merely "a regretful sigh."
—The great Topolobampo Colony, which was organized eight years ago on the community of interest plan, and which was granted a large land concession by the government of Mexico, has finally collapsed, and the grant has been revoked. The effort to build up a great settlement on mutual interest was, as such effort ever will be in this selfish world, against human nature, and consequently a failure. The colonists were nearly all from the United States, many of them colored people. They were without money, and undertook to transact a credit business. One man and a few friends managed the enterprise, and undertook to eliminate a desire for gain on the part of the rest of the community. The lazy and vicious were willing to live at community expense, but the thrifty and industrious soon found that it would be easier to support themselves elsewhere. Failure to fulfil the conditions of the land grant in the matter of public improvement has caused the revocation of the concession.
—It is claimed that General Antonio Maceo, the leading spirit in the Cuban rebellion, is dead. This news has been promulgated so many times that there is a general disposition to discredit it. Altho it is quite positively announced in press despatches, yet there are conflicting stories as to the manner of his death. It is stated on the one hand that he was killed in battle, and on the other that he was lured by a proposal for a conference, and assassinated. The question now exciting the parties most directly interested is, What will be the practical effect on the Cuban cause?
FOREIGN
DOMESTIC.
—St. John's Episcopal Church, one of the old landmarks in this city, was burned at an early hour on the 13th inst.
—Reports from the western part of Washington, especially the Puget Sound region, state that great damage to orchards has resulted from recent frosts.
—By an explosion of gasoline, which occurred during a fire in the smelting works of the Mountain Mine, at Keswick, Shasta County, Cal., on the 8th inst., twenty-three men were killed.
—Rev. Dr. McLean, of Los Angeles, wants to be appointed a policeman, so that he can wear a star and people will not be backward in telling him their troubles. So far, however, the chief of police objects.
—A young man named Cheesman, of Berkeley, Cal., made his eighth unsuccessful attempt at suicide last week, and is expected to live to try it again. The doctors say his mania is induced by the use of cigarettes.
—Ex-Queen Liliuokalani, of Hawaii, arrived in San Francisco last week. She came unannounced, and went to a hotel like anybody else. She declined to state whether she is on any other business than to see the country.
—The measures being forced to the front in Congress are: The recognition of Cuban independence, the Pacific Railroads Refunding Bill, and some kind of a tariff amendment for the temporary relief of the stringent condition of the national treasury.
—Representatives of the Japanese Legation at Washington state that it has been practically decided to build two cruisers in this country for that government. It is also decided to have one of them built at Philadelphia, and the other at San Francisco.
—The new Holland submarine torpedo boat, under construction at Baltimore, is about ready for launching. It is designed to run under water and fire torpedoes under war-ships. Electricity is to be used as motive power, for lights, and also for discharging the torpedoes. The cost is to be $150,000.
—Serious flaws are being found in our naval outfit. The great battleship Texas is pronounced unfit for seagoing purposes, and the turrets of the Massachusetts are said to be utterly worthless as a means of protection for the guns and gunners which they are supposed to shield from the missiles of an antagonist.
—Samuel P. Putnam, the noted freethought editor and lecturer, and Miss Mary Collins, also a freethought lecturer, were found dead in the latter's room in Boston, on the 12th inst., death being caused by asphyxiation. Putnam was a graduate of a Chicago theological seminary, and was for a few years a minister of the Gospel; but he finally became a Unitarian, and thence developed into a leading apostle of so-called Freethought.
—As might have been expected, there are various opinions regarding some features of President Cleveland's annual message; but his expression on the subject of trusts and monopolies will certainly find endorsement by all but those who are in some way interested in such investments. The President says: "Their tendency is to crush out individual independence and to hinder or prevent the free use of human faculties and the full development of human character. Through them the farmer, the artisan and the small trader is in danger of dislodgment from the proud position of being his own master, watchful of all that touches his country's prosperity, in which he has an individual lot, and interested in all that affects the advantages of business, of which he is a factor, to be relegated to the level of a mere appurtenance to a great machine, with little free will, with no duty but that of passive obedience, and with little hope or opportunity of rising in the scale of responsible and healthful citizenship. To the instinctive belief that such is the inevitable trend of trusts and monopolies is due the widespread and deep-seated popular aversion in which they are held, and the not unreasonable insistence that, whatever may be their incidental economic advantages, their general effect upon personal character, prospects and usefulness can not be otherwise than injurious."
LITERARY NOTICES.
By Editor
"DISCUSSION OF THE SABBATH AND NATURE OF MAN," between Elder W. M. Healey, of the S. D. Adventist Church, and Bishop W. E. Dillon, of the United Brethren denomination. Pacific Press Publishing Co., Oakland, Cal.; 39 Bond Street, N. Y.
This neatly-printed book of 228 pages presents on the Sunday side as able an argument as doubtless could be produced. Bishop Dillon is an old debater. On the other side is the able argument made by Elder Healey. While we do not believe in the presentation of the truth in this way, yet this work presents the latest and best published debate on these questions. The reader may not always agree with the arguments used, or with the explanations given the Scripture testimony adduced, but we believe, if candid, he will come to the conclusion that the law of God is in its entirety of binding obligation, and that only in Jesus Christ have we eternal life and immortality.
"THE LEGAL SUNDAY," by James T. Ringgold, Esq., of the Baltimore Bar, author of the "Law of Sunday," "The Theory of Culpability," "Fallacy of the Civil Service Act," etc. International Religious Liberty Association, 39 Bond Street, N. Y.
This is emphatically a timely book, and we wish it could be candidly read by every Sunday law advocate, clerical, lay, and legal, in the land.
The author's "Law of Sunday" is a technical legal work, addressed to the profession. This is in a more popular vein. It discusses the Historical Aspect of the Question, in six chapters; The Moral Aspect of the Question, in six chapters; The Constitutional Aspect of the Question, in five chapters; with a supplementary part on the distinction between Immorality and Incivility. Two hundred and sixty pages, pamphlet form, 40 cents; cloth, 75 cents.
"THE MISSING LINKS; OR THE ANGLO-SAXONS THE TEN TRIBES OF ISRAEL," by Rev. Morton W. Spencer, A.M. Volume 1, 474 pages, price $2.00; sold by subscription. M. W. Spencer & Co., Augustine, Fla.
Of the mechanical execution of this book, it is all that is required. It is neatly, clearly, printed and bound, tho such a work as this demands an index.
The entire argument of the writer, as indeed the arguments of all who write on that side of the question, is based on the supposition that there were ten tribes of Israel lost, and that they never were found until found in the Anglo-Saxon race. The position, to our mind, is: (1) Contrary to the free Gospel of Christ as set forth in Rom. 9: 6-8, 24; 10: 11, 12; 1 Cor. 12: 13; Gal. 3: 27-29; Eph. 3: 2, 8-22; 3: 1-6, and many other passages. (2) It ignores the idea expressed in the term "spiritual Israel," demanding that Israel must be of the literal seed, when the original idea of Israel is spiritual. The true Israel of God are those who obtain victory by faith. See Gen. 28: 24-28. (3) It places, to our mind, strained and false interpretations on many passages of Scripture to endeavor to make them fit England's commercial and maritime supremacy. (4) This book makes God responsible for a change in his law that he said could not be changed, and makes him the indorser of the old pagan sun-worship and Sunday. Mr. Spencer also finds proof of his theory in the nursery rhymes, "Jack and Jill," "Little Jack Horner," etc. We wish the talents of these writers, earnest men we believe, were turned in a better direction. The last part of the book is a poem, entitled "The Rosy Cross; or Christ in the Catacombs." It contains some beautiful and precious truths.
"THE NEW AND TRUE RELIGION," by Charles M. Stebbins. Bound in the same volume by the same author, "THE BODY POLITIC; SOME OF ITS ILLS, AND THE REMEDIES THEREFOR." Publishers Printing Co., Boston, Mass.
The two works together form a neatly printed volume of 338 pages. The mechanical work is good, the reading clear. The author writes in a clear style, and you know what he means. The greater part of the book is taken up with a discussion of financial schemes. But the religion of it is both old and false. It is simply nature worship, which results in man being his own guide, own god, and finally his own destruction.
AMONG the interesting articles in the Cosmopolitan of December are the following: "A Pre-Arranged Head End Collision," in which two engines and trains were made to collide; "The Ancient Silver Mines of Zacatecas;" "The Gold Fields of South Africa;" "Personal Recollections of the Tai-Ping Rebellion," and other articles of interest. Nicely illustrated.