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Review and Herald, Vol. 87, No. 8.

He Is Coming
Earlier text: He Is Coming

Faithfulness in Health Reform

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE
I AM instructed to bear a message to all our people on the subject of health reform; for many have backslidden from their former loyalty to health reform principles.
God's purpose for his children is that they shall grow up to the full stature of men and women in Christ. In order to do this they must use aright every power of mind, soul, and body. They can not afford to waste any mental or physical strength.
The question of how to preserve the health is one of primary importance. When we study this question in the fear of God, we shall learn that it is best, for both our physical health and our spiritual advancement, to observe simplicity in diet. Let us patiently study this question. We need knowledge and judgment in order to move wisely in this matter. Nature's laws are not to be resisted, but obeyed.
Those who have received instruction regarding the evils of the use of flesh-meats, tea, and coffee, and rich and unhealthful food preparations, and who are determined to make a covenant with God by sacrifice, will not continue to indulge their appetite for food that they know to be unhealthful. God demands that the appetite be cleansed, and that self-denial be practised in regard to those things which are not good. This is a work that will have to be done before his people can stand before him a perfected people.
The remnant people of God must be a converted people. The presentation of this message is to result in the conversion and sanctification of souls. We are to feel the power of the Spirit of God in this movement. This is a wonderful, definite message; it means everything to the receiver, and it is to be proclaimed with a loud cry. We must have a true, abiding faith that this message will go forth with increasing importance till the close of time.
There are some professed believers who accept certain portions of the Testimonies as the message of God, while they reject those portions that condemn their favorite indulgences. Such persons are working contrary to their own welfare, and the welfare of the church. It is essential that we walk in the light while we have the light. Those who claim to believe in health reform, and yet work counter to its principles in the daily life-practise, are hurting their own souls, and leave wrong impressions upon the minds of believers and unbelievers.
A solemn responsibility rests upon those who know the truth, that all their works shall correspond with their faith, and that their lives shall be refined and sanctified, and they be prepared for the work that must rapidly be done in these closing days of the message. They have no time or strength to spend in the indulgence of appetite. The words should come to us now with impelling earnestness, “Repent, . . . and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” There are many among us who are deficient in spirituality, and who, unless they are wholly converted, will certainly be lost. Can you afford to run the risk?
Pride and weakness of faith are depriving many of the rich blessings of God. There are many who, unless they humble their hearts before the Lord, will be surprised and disappointed when the cry is heard, “Behold, the Bridegroom cometh!” They have the theory of the truth, but they have no oil in their vessel with their lamp. Our faith at this time must not stop with assent to belief in the theory of the third angel's message. We must have the oil of the grace of Christ that will feed the lamp, and cause the light of life to shine forth, showing the way to those who are in darkness.
If we would escape having a sickly experience, we must begin in earnest without delay to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. There are many who give no decided evidence that they are true to their baptismal vows. Their zeal is chilled by formality, worldly ambition, pride, and love of self. Occasionally their feelings are stirred, but they do not fall upon the Rock, Christ Jesus. They do not come to God with hearts that are broken in repentance and confession. Those who experience the work of true conversion in their hearts will reveal the fruits of the Spirit in their lives. O that those who have so little spiritual life would realize that eternal life can be granted only to those who become partakers of the divine nature, and escape the corruption that is in the world through lust!
The power of Christ alone can work the transformation in heart and mind that all must experience who would partake with him of the new life in the kingdom of God. “Except a man be born again,” the Saviour has said, “he can not see the kingdom of God.” The religion that comes from God is the only religion that can lead to God. In order to serve him aright, we must be born of the divine Spirit. This will lead to watchfulness. It will purify the heart and renew the mind, and give us a new capacity for knowing and loving God. It will give us willing obedience to all his requirements. This is true worship.
God requires continual advancement from his people. They need to learn that indulged appetite is the greatest hindrance to mental improvement and soul sanctification. With all our profession of health reform, many of us eat improperly. Indulgence of appetite is the greatest cause of physical and mental debility, and lies largely at the foundation of feebleness and premature death. Let the individual who is seeking to possess purity of spirit bear in mind that in Christ there is power to control the appetite.
If we could be benefited by indulging the desire for flesh-meats, I would not make this appeal to you; but I know we can not. Flesh foods are injurious to the physical well-being, and we should learn to do without them. Those who are in a position where it is possible to secure a vegetarian diet, but who choose to follow their own preferences in this matter, eating and drinking as they please, will gradually grow careless of the instruction the Lord has given regarding other phases of the present truth, and will lose their perception of what is truth; they will surely reap as they have sown.
I have been instructed that the students in our schools are not to be served with flesh foods or with food preparations that are known to be unhealthful. Nothing that will serve to encourage a desire for stimulants should be placed on the tables. I appeal to old and young and to middle-aged: Deny your appetite of those things that are doing you injury. Serve the Lord by sacrifice. Let the children have an intelligent part in this work. We are all members of the Lord's family, and the Lord would have his children, young and old, determine to deny appetite, and to save the means needed for the building of meeting-houses and the support of missionaries.
I am instructed to say to parents, Place yourselves, soul and spirit, on the Lord's side of this question. We need ever to bear in mind that in these days of probation we are on trial before the Lord of the universe. Will you not give up indulgences that are doing you injury? Words of profession are cheap; let your acts of self-denial testify that you will be obedient to the demands that God makes on his peculiar people. Then put into the treasury a portion of the means you save by your acts of self-denial, and there will be that with which to carry on the work of God.
There are many who feel that they can not get along without flesh-meats; but if these would place themselves on the Lord's side, resolutely resolved to walk in the way of his guidance, they would receive strength and wisdom as did Daniel and his fellows. They would find that the Lord would give them sound judgment. Many would be surprised to see how much could be saved for the cause of God by acts of self-denial. The small sums saved by deeds of sacrifice will do more for the upbuilding of the cause of God than larger gifts will accomplish that have not called for denial of self.
Seventh-day Adventists are handling momentous truths. More than forty years ago the Lord gave us special light on health reform, but how are we walking in that light? How many have refused to live in harmony with the counsels of God? We as a people should make advancement proportionate to the light received. It is our duty to understand and respect the principles of health reform. On the subject of temperance we should be in advance of all other people; and yet there are among us well-instructed members of the church, and even ministers of the gospel, who have little respect for the light that God has given upon this subject. They eat as they please, and work as they please.
Let those who are teachers and leaders in our cause take their stand firmly on Bible ground in regard to health reform, and give a straight testimony to those who believe we are living in the last days of this earth's history. A line of distinction must be drawn between those who serve God, and those who serve themselves.
I have been shown that the principles that were given us in the early days of the message are as important and should be regarded just as conscientiously today as they were then. There are some who have never followed the light given on the question of diet. It is now time to take the light from under the bushel, and let it shine forth in clear rays.
(To be concluded)

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

Arise! He Calleth Thee

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

Arise! he calleth thee! Not to a conflict fraught with woe, Where carnage reigns and death-floods flow, But to a warfare armed in light With triumph sure, for God is might, And faith gives victory.
Arise! he calleth thee! Not unto grief with hopeless fear, Stricken, alone, midst midnight drear,— But unto suffering with Christ thy Lord, Sharing with him his blest reward Of joy through eternity.
Arise! he calleth thee! Not to the pomp earth's plaudits win, Fickle, and fleet, and smirched by sin, But to a mansion in the skies,— Effulgent glory, where the wise Shall shine eternally.
Called art thou to a robe and a crown; Called to proclaim where God's treasures abound; Called to be constant, and loyal, and true, Doing with thy might what he bids thee to do,— Called to excel in thy faith, hope, and love, Knowing that triumph awaits thee above.
Portland, Ore.

GEO. O. STATES

By GEO. O. STATES

My Lodge Experience — No. 1

GEO. O. STATES

Why I Left the Lodge

In writing this series of short articles for our good old REVIEW, I wish to state that it is with “malice toward none, good will to all.” It is not my desire to create any controversy with the lodges as such. My position, in few words, is that the whole secret-society principle is unscriptural and unchristian.
In the past few years, I am sorry to say, I have seen a growing slackness coming in among us in regard to this question. People are baptized, taken into fellowship, placed in official positions in the church, and the question of lodges is never mentioned. In so doing I believe we are doing an injustice to the individual and to the church. I hold that when the lodge enters the church, it is out of its place; and always has made trouble, and always will, wherever there are earnest, God-fearing Christians.
While engaged in business a number of years ago, I found that many of the leading business men with whom I was associated were members of a certain lodge. I finally decided to join; and so one night in January, 1880, found me in the anteroom, where I was blindfolded and then put through the initiation. I was not half through before I became disgusted with myself and those who were carrying it on. The only thing that saved the man who went through the initiation with me from having his leg broken was the fact that the spear with which he was being punched was broken. I do not care to say more respecting this disgusting initiation. “For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret.” My repugnance to the lodge increased every time I attended and took part in the initiation ceremonies; but I was a member, and found it very hard to withdraw, for pressure was constantly brought to bear in order to keep me from so doing. I affiliated with them about a year, my own heart condemning me all the time. One thing always worried me, and that was, in all the religious ceremonies, Christ was never mentioned. He was never spoken of as the sinner’s only hope.
In order to be received into these lodges, one must profess a belief in God as a supreme being. This profession, however, is merely nominal, as indicated by this prayer, taken from the ritual of the Knights of the Maccabees, edition of 1902:—

Prayer

“Chaplain: Supreme Ruler, strengthen our hands in building up the Order. Aid us in carrying out the great principles of fraternity, which underlie it. Aid us in bringing peace on earth and good will toward men. May the deliberation of this body be conducted in that spirit of harmony so necessary to success. May our Order grow and prosper. May its usefulness be enlarged and its protecting arms extended so that we may be better able to provide for widow, protect the orphan, and care for those dependent upon us. May we so speak and act as not to bring reproach upon the Order nor disgrace any of its humane principles. Make us a power for good in this land, and worthy exponents of the brotherhood of man.”
This is a fair sample of the prayers in all lodge rituals, the name of Christ never being mentioned.
Not long after I became a member of the lodge, our chaplain was absent one night, and another member was asked to read the opening prayer. This man was noted for his profanity outside of the lodge room. This was a great shock to me, and brought to mind 2 Tim. 3:5: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” These things worried me very much, for I could see that the obligations of the lodge were at war with the family and church. Although some of my associations in the lodge were pleasant, yet I must say the general tendency was demoralizing to a true religious experience. I soon found I was becoming more interested in the lodge than in the church. There were many things in lodge work that I could not harmonize with my convictions of the principles and teachings of the third angel’s message. The more I thought about these things, the more I became convinced that sooner or later I would have to drop the church or the lodge.
In my next article I will relate some of my experiences in dropping the lodge.
Cedaredge, Colo.

J. O. CORLISS

By J. O. Corliss

History of the Hebrew Sanctuary — No. 5

J. O. CORLISS

Its Establishment in Palestine

It already has been pointed out that the ark was held by the Hebrews to be their guarantee of God’s presence. That they at least counted it as their shield from danger is shown by their carrying it to battle when strongly pressed by the Philistine host. 1 Sam. 4: 3. Indeed, the people were trained to that belief from the time they entered Palestine. It will be remembered that, in order for Israel to cross the Jordan safely, God caused the waters of that river to stand “upon an heap,” and thus the waters were “cut off” before the priests who bore the ark, that the people might pass over on foot. To insure the waters remaining “cut off” until Israel “rushed across” (Heb. of Joshua 4: 10), the ark was retained in the midst of the river bed until the last person was “clean passed over.” The ark was then removed to the river bank “right against Jericho,” and the river immediately resumed its natural course.
But before this was permitted, twelve stones from the center of the river bed were taken to the shore, to be set up in Gilgal as a memorial of the day’s transaction. The people were there taught to reply to inquiries regarding the meaning of that heap of stones, that they were there to commemorate the holding back of the waters by the presence of the ark in the river bed. Verse 7. And yet, they were told that “God dried up the waters” until the people all crossed over. Verse 23. Coupling these statements with the miracle of the occasion, it must not be thought strange that the people were led to invest the ark with that peculiar sacredness which made them afterward stand in awe of its latent power.
The first night of the Hebrews in Palestine was passed in Gilgal. Just how long they remained there is not definitely known. Shortly after the capture and burning of Ai, however, we find the “camp” of Israel at Makkedah (Joshua 10: 21), ten or twelve miles south of the present Jerusalem, which would imply that the sacred tabernacle was also there. But be that as it may, it seems that about this time, the division of the territory among the tribes was, in a measure, settled. This, however, was not the end of trouble to them; for their experience had only begun in the promised land. They were now to enter upon a campaign of extermination with the warlike nations of the country, whom they expected to supplant.
The first place to engage the attention of the Hebrews was Jericho, the “city of palms.” Gilgal, being about five miles west of the Jordan, was almost a suburb of that famous city, lying close under the range of the whitish-gray mountains of Judea. Spies had already visited the place, and had reported favorably the situation to Joshua. Joshua 2: 1, 23, 24. This first place to be taken, being high and “fenced up to heaven” (Deut. 9: 1) and filled with savage warriors, it would not do to let the people suppose themselves left alone to cope with so powerful a foe. Some visible representation of God must not only accompany them, but take the all-important part in capturing the citadel. The “ark of God,” chosen for this purpose, was therefore taken from the sanctuary and carried in procession around the city walls once each day for six days, and on the seventh day seven times. By a preconcerted arrangement, at the close of the last circuit, seven priests going before the ark were to blow a long blast on their ram-horn trumpets, and at the same time all the people were to shout at the top of their voices. This was done as agreed, and the wall of the city “fell down flat.”
This early use of the ark by the Hebrews, would seem to imply that it was regarded as the important factor in establishing their relation to God. Its location, therefore, would naturally determine the situation of the sanctuary itself, which was designed for God’s “habitation.” As already seen, Gilgal was its first resting-place in Palestine. We next find it at Shiloh, a city of Ephraim. This seems to have been the unanimously chosen site for the sanctuary, since the entire assembly of the people were there present, at the erection of the holy tabernacle. Joshua 18: 1. It probably seemed fitting that this Canaanite Taanath (Joshua 16: 6) should become a permanent “rest” for the “house of God,” since it was located in the midst of Ephraim, one of the sons of Joseph, the first-born of Jacob’s beloved Rachel. Joshua and the people doubtless believed that God recognized Joseph’s birthright title to the ascendancy among the tribes (1 Chron. 5: 1, 2; Gen. 49: 26), and probably this carried some influence in settling upon the principal city of Ephraim as the sanctuary’s resting-place and the capital of the nation.
It is true that in the time of the judges Shechem became a central and important place in the affairs of Israel. Even in Joshua’s day, it had begun to assume a phase which betokened its future greatness, as the coronation city of the realm. Joshua 24: 1; 1 Kings 12: 1. One thing which gave the place its material standing in the eyes of the people was the fact of its being the site of the venerable oak consecrated by both Abraham and Jacob as a sanctuary. Joshua 24: 26. It was also the burial-place of their ancestor Joseph, whose bones were brought thither from Egypt (Joshua 24: 32), and the home and burial-place of Joshua. Joshua 24: 25-30.
But notwithstanding this prominence of Shechem, the Levitical city of refuge in Mount Ephraim (Joshua 20: 7), the sanctuary remained undisturbed in Shiloh from the time of its location there, for more than three hundred years. As before cited, the ark was then removed from its resting-place in the tabernacle, in the days of Eli the high priest, and borne to the field of battle, where it was captured by the Philistines. “The ark of God was taken,” is the sacred record of the event. 1 Sam. 4: 11. Not only this, but the two priests accompanying it, Hophi and Phineas, were slain, and when the news of the calamity reached the ears of Eli, the high priest, he, too, fell down and died. So the tabernacle was forsaken of God; for he had “delivered his strength into captivity, and his glory into the enemy’s hand.” Ps. 78: 60, 61.
This indeed was a deep loss to Israel; for by it their sanctuary service was greatly interrupted. So great, indeed, was the grief of all the people at the captivity of their “ark of God” that the irregular services in the rival sanctuary at Dan were then brought to a close. Judges 18: 30, 31. See also God’s condemnation of this rival worship in Ps. 78: 58-64. But if Israel’s grief was great at the loss of the ark, the men of Ashdod were alarmed with its possession; for their own fish-god, Dagon, had been found prostrate, and broken before it. Being thus made weary of their captive assets, the ark was taken to Gath. Here men and boys were smitten with a most painful disorder, when they in turn sent the sacred chest to terrified Ekron. From that place the distressing cries of the people “went up to heaven,” as they prepared to send the ark back to the land of the Hebrews.
Left to themselves, the cows, which drew the cart bearing the ark, went direct to Beth-shemesh, a city seven miles away from Ekron, on the northern border of Judah. The people of Beth-shemesh, after offering in sacrifice the cows which had brought the ark to them, became inquisitive regarding the contents of the ark, and foolishly attempted to view its interior. Many thousands of them died in consequence. Because of this they desired the ark removed from their city, and so sent for the people of Kirjath-jearim (a place on the borders of Benjamin, eight miles west of Jerusalem) to come and take it away. This was done, and the ark was carried into the house of “Abinadab in the hill,” and Eleazar was appointed as its keeper. Here the ark remained twenty years (1 Sam. 7: 2), but the tent of the sanctuary was still at Shiloh.
Mountain View, Cal.

The Purpose of Affliction

By U. P. Long

U. P. LONG
ELIPHAZ truly said, “Affliction cometh not forth of the dust, neither doth trouble spring out of the ground.” Job 5: 6. The afflictions of the righteous do not come upon them by accident or chance. The Lord reigneth! He ever sees and knows the trials of his children and intervenes and controls in their behalf. Job 1: 10; Ps. 91: 11, 12. His angels keep watch over his children, delivering them from every assault of Satan. They permit his attacks only when the intended harm can be overruled for the good of God’s servants. Job 34: 23. Otherwise the Lord withdraws the affliction, heals up the wound, and his hands make whole. He will not lay upon man more than is right, and he shares in all the afflictions of his children, ever suffering with them. Isa. 63: 9.
He has a purpose in these afflictions. Job 5: 17. They are for our correction, that we may return to the path of right.
God speaks to us by his Word, and even by visions and dreams, but we do not heed. Then he permits affliction to come upon us. We are chastened by sickness and severe pain. We become emaciated, our bones stick out, and we draw very near death. He does this only that he may open our ears, so dull of hearing, and that he may withdraw man from his proud purposes, and preserve him from destruction. See Job 33: 14-30.
“Lo, all these things worketh God ofttimes with man, to bring back his soul from the pit, to be enlightened with the light of the living.” Job 33: 29, 30.
“Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.” Ps. 34: 19.

The Need for Christian Ministers

“THERE IS one Christian minister for every 500 of the population of the United States, and there is but one for every 114,000 in Japan, one for 165,000 in India, one for 220,000 in Africa, and one for 437,000 in China. There are 405,297 temples and shrines in Japan, and only 1,635 churches, chapels, and preaching-places, nearly 250 times as many places to worship myriad gods as to worship the living God.”

Don'ts for Mothers

By Dr. Madison C. Peters

DON'T coddle the child. Gratify many wants, and you will make a slave of him. Your husband is probably a better man than your boy is likely to become, because he had to rough it.
Live in simplicity. Stick close to nature, and you are sure not to go wrong.
Don't dismiss your child to an ignorant hireling. If you have never seriously tried the companionship of a little child, you have missed one of the greatest pleasures of life.
Join the child's game. Solve his doubts. Answer his questions. Become a child again yourself.
Don't deceive your child. Keep your promises. Let your word to your child be your bond.
Don't make your child an epicure. Better for his health and happiness that a child be brought up more as a Spartan than as a sybarite. Simple food is best for the health. Don't lead him to the belief that he lives merely to eat, and does not eat to live.
Don't tell ghost stories. The Pennsylvania Dutch delight in ghost stories, and how many horrible nights I spent as a boy in consequence! I used to be distracted at the figure of a tree or the shaking of a bulrush, and affrighted at my own shadow.
Don't surfeit your children with severe religion, unless you want to turn them against it. Christianity is not a cynic. The gospel message is joy.
Don't make home irksome. If you would not have your children lost in after-life, make home happy to them when they are young. Don't force the children to look elsewhere than at home for pleasure.
The home evenings present a field rich with possibilities of lasting influence. It is one of the misfortunes of our times that neither men nor women spend many evenings at home. In neglecting the culture of our own homes, we let our children slip from us forever. The boy or girl whose evenings are spent on the streets almost inevitably turns out bad.
Make the home life for the evenings so pleasant, so attractive, that the children will not want to leave it for any amusements.
Don't grow away from the spirit of childhood. Never become old in heart. Grow always toward youth. If you grow old, it will be bad for your household.
In some homes children are expected to wear a countenance grave enough to break an undertaker's heart. All the joyousness of their nature is suppressed. It is a crime to repress gladness and make children stately. Make childhood joyous, playful, bubbling over with laughter. Put as much sunshine into childhood days as possible. Provide all the happiness you can, and let your children have so much fun at home that every place outside will seem dull to them.
Don't exaggerate. The great want of Americans is accuracy. If a man is to be accurate, he must be taught in his childhood, or he will never learn it. As a small mistake in leveling an arrow at the hand makes a great difference at the mark, so a small mistake in the notion of truth makes a wide difference in the telling of the truth.
Don't be affected. A child is never affected naturally; he must be made affected either by imitation or by instruction.
A great deal of bigotry comes from wrong education in the home circle. Never caricature or jeer other denominations that differ from yours. That kind of education often results just opposite to what was expected.—Dr. Madison C. Peters.

A Valuable Temper Fumigator

By Mrs. H. E. Warner

MRS. H. E. WARNER
It seems to me that most people do not appreciate the value of fresh air as a temper fumigator. More bad temper can be blown away by a good ten-minute walk than can be gotten rid of indoors in two or three hours. The other afternoon I was very much discouraged. I had been needlessly disappointed by some one. I had tried very hard not to think the disagreeable things that came to my mind, but had ended in thinking them over and over. I was lying on the couch, reflecting on my own and other people’s sins, when a walk was suggested.
At first I demurred. I was too blue not to demur at any suggestion whatsoever. But the sight of the snowflakes won me over, for there is nothing I like better than a walk in the snow.
So I went. And an hour later I came back. But not the I of the “blue mood.” No, indeed! an entirely made-over “I”—a magnanimous “I” who freely forgave my disappointer,—a hilariously cheerful “I,” who walked the mile, saying,—
“The world is so full of a number of things, I am sure we should all be as happy as kings.”
This is not an argument for letting one’s passions rise; far from it! merely a suggestion that, when you feel blue, instead of staying in the house and repressing your feelings, you go out for a walk, or take a run in the garden, and get rid of your depressed spirits.
How about it? Isn’t it a plan you might with benefit apply to your family, or even to yourself?
Clintonville, Conn.

Speech Vulgar and Profane

There is no need of going to Webster for the definition of a cigarette. Everybody knows that it is a little cigar. It is a bit of tobacco rolled up in a bit of paper, and made to look both attractive and harmless. It is a cigar in its infancy. In time, if the one who indulges in cigarette smoking lives long enough, it will grow into a cigar. But the vile weed done up in the fine style of a cigarette is not thought to be quite so offensive and vulgar as when enjoyed in the form of a pure Havana or a big black Conestoga, or a clay pipe. It is tobacco all the same, filthy and poisonous, whether held together by a leaf from its own stem, or wrapped up in curl papers, or crammed into the bowl of a meerschaum. For obvious reasons it is the cigarette that is most affected by ladies.
However, it is not with cigarette smoking that we are now concerned, but with cigarette swearing. For there is a kind of profanity which bears the same relation to the coarser sort of taking the name of the Lord in vain that the tempting little cigarette does to the full-grown cigar. This, too, is the form of swearing which is most indulged in by the fair sex. It is not often, fortunately, that one hears a round, plump oath from the lips of a woman. When one does, it is unutterably shocking, especially if it be from the lips of a mother in the company of her children.
But profanity akin to this loud-mouthed and repulsive type, and which suggests a very strong inclination to use the more emphatic words, were it allowable to do so, is not uncommon in the conversation of large numbers of our well-meaning and even cultivated ladies. At every turn of surprise in the talk that is going on, on every little occasion when there seems to be a call for protest, it is “Good Lord!” “Good heavens!” “My gracious!” and so on through the list. Sometimes there is more boldness in the expletive employed, and one whose opinions on actions are not satisfactory is denounced as a “blank idiot.” Every one who hears the expression knows exactly what the speaker wishes to say, and the softened substitute does not much relieve the situation, nor atone for the suggested blasphemy.
Now there is no need here of wandering off into wide ethical discussions, and trying to fix the precise measure or the comparative measure of guilt in God’s sight which there may be in this or that or the other form of profanity. It is enough to say that the cigarette habit of swearing is not good. It is a mild type of profanity; and because it is mild is more frequently put in evidence by women than men; but it is not good. It is an offense to a refined taste. It is a debasement of language, and tends all the time to reduce one’s vocabulary of choice and appropriate words. It lowers the mental tone of individuals and circles, and under the delusive guise of vivacity reduces thought to the cheap quality of a bargain-counter.
The atmosphere of a home which is filled with these explosives is not a wholesome one for children to breathe. It is bad anywhere and everywhere. It is impossible to believe that a disciple of our Lord can be quite so spiritually minded, can live in quite so close and vital a relationship with him who made that startling deliverance about our responsibility for even the idle words that we use, and be quite so much like him in mind and aim and character, if there is no restraint of the kind of speech which savors, even in a mild degree, of the profane. If one can not express one’s opinion, and say one’s say, whether man or woman, without swearing, or so much as indicating a desire to swear, it is better to remain silent.—Northwestern Christian Advocate.

Singing on the Way

By Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I THINK we are too ready with complaint In this fair world of God's. Had we no hope Indeed beyond the zenith and the slope Of yon gray blank of sky, we might grow faint To muse upon eternity's constraint Round our aspirant souls. But since the scope Must widen early, is it well to droop, For a few days consumed in loss and taint?
O pusillanimous heart, be comforted, And, like a cheerful traveler, take the road, Singing beside the hedge. What if the bread Be bitter in thine inn, and thou unshod To meet the flints? At least it may be said, Because the way is short, I thank thee, God. — Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
Continue reading: L. R. CONRADI