Earlier text: LIFE IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOMIt has been a cause of deepest regret to all right-thinking minds that the rising generation is having set before it so poor an example of moral rectitude. The curse of gold-worship is eating out the vitals of this age’s morality and producing a characterless existence where great moral power and high principles should dominate. The science of government has deteriorated into the confederacy of “graft,” and young men are taught to look upon politics as an open door to wealth, a machine which is to grind out for them stocks and bonds and double eagles. Looking upon the evidence that is given from day to day in the court of the people, the many who long for good government, who desire to see right principles set before the rising generation, are beginning to question whether it will be possible for government by principle to win against government by price; whether it will be possible for the life of principle to hold its own against the constant assaults of the life of pleasure. And it must be confessed that the general prospect is not reassuring. There are several million young men in the United States to-day who do not attend church, who never listen to the preaching of the Gospel, who have never learned to take an interest in the progress of evangelical work at home or abroad. All they see or hear of Christianity is what they see in the lives of the professing Christians whom they meet or hear in their conversation, and it must be admitted that the majority of professing Christians are not preaching Christ in public in a way to carry a very strong influence for the converting of souls. Thus that class fails to see the claims of such a religion upon them. This kind of society is proving a soul-trap of the adversary of souls. The tendency now manifest in society to divide up into classes is another of the baneful influences against which rising manhood must contend; but it is a fact that a great portion of it is either not trying to contend, or finds itself unable so to do. Evil is bound to follow such a condition. Each class is coming more and more to stand apart from the others, to be more exclusive; and in this condition there is portrayed more and more vividly “man’s inhumanity to man.” This is making more pronounced the warfare between the classes, setting man against man, eliminating the spirit of brotherhood, and working toward the general deterioration of the race. The more fortunate preach contentment to the less fortunate, and the latter remind the former of the Golden Rule, and each grows to hate the precepts of the other. It is this very thing that is threatening Europe to-day, and is already coming to the front to a dangerous extent in this country. The lines of conflict between the rich and the poor, the ignorant and the learned, are becoming more and more marked, and the education thus received is bringing a heartlessness into heart and life that is proving a snare to souls. Another deteriorating factor in the life education of the rising young men and women is the cramming of the mind with facts and figures while great moral principles are largely or wholly neglected. The twig is bent toward the low plane of material advantage, and grows in that direction. Social influences are leading thousands of young men and women astray. The young life must contend against the evil influences of the ball-room, the theater, the billiard and pool room, the saloon and the immoral resort. The general drift of fashionable life is toward a compromise of morals. The spirit of reverence for chastity and virtue is being constantly assailed. The shades of evening open, in every city and in most large towns, clandestine resorts where boys and young men are made welcome and ruined. There is a social atmosphere about these places which capture young men wholesale. If it is true, as one has said, that more boys are ruined by questionable social resorts in our cities than by the saloons, what a multitude must be flocking into the downward road daily! Now, all these evil influences are working in harmony. The way to evil is made easy—is made difficult of escape. Every fancy of a perverted sense is provided for; the taste for every forbidden fruit is pandered to. One author declares that “Temptations were never so abundant, never so subtle, never so powerful, as now, and perhaps young men were never so poorly equipped to withstand them. By inheritance, by birth, by education, and by experience, the young men of to-day are morally weak. They are, to a deplorable degree, willing prey. While this is true, there never was such a determined and persistent effort to ensnare them. More than ever before, capital is invested, energy enlisted, and business ability arrayed in schemes and enterprises to lure and ruin them. Young men have become a necessity—a staple commodity—in the markets of sin.” All these soul snares are set by the evil one; the schemes invented by unscrupulous men to ruin the young are really instigated by the enemy of souls. Having debased the moral faculties of the race, he occupies a vantage-ground. He can pander to the very appetites that he has produced, and, in that pandering, he chains a slave. He gives what fallen nature craves. He sets pleasure before the eyes of youth, and, as she flees, he snares the feet of the pursuer. In every street and byway, in every city and town, these agencies are busy seven days in the week—busier than ever before, because they know that their time is short. The swift increment in this terrible business is a sign that the close of earth’s history is near; a sign that the forces are focusing their powers for the final fray; and these things should teach the young person of this age that his soul is being sought for with determined earnestness by the powers of evil as well as by the powers of good. He should also remember that the acts of his life are indications now of the side upon which he will finally take his stand. The following extract from the Christian Work is a sober setting forth of a condition which modern science knows no way of altering. It is a condition, also, which is becoming more pronounced with each year. We quote:— From the statistics just put forth by the State Commission on Lunacy of New York it is shown that the past year has been marked by a disquieting increase in the number of the insane. This increase is some forty per cent. above the normal. Very similar conditions obtain in other states. In Massachusetts, for example, the net increase has been much greater than in New York, and the same is true in many states where the statistics are presumably complete and correct. The observation of greatest interest in this connection would seem to be that there is a relation between the increase of insanity, and the development of industries, which is sufficiently pronounced to unsettle the popular belief that the isolation and monotony of farm life are conducive to insanity. The reverse seems to be the fact. In this relation it is worthy of attention that Superintendent White of the Government Hospital in Washington, who has made a study of this subject, finds that insanity prevails much more in the manufacturing districts than in the agricultural districts. The ratio of insanity per capita is three times as great in Massachusetts as in Texas. The state of New York is now carrying 40,000 insane people. All the facts obtainable point to the conclusion that an agreeable, quiet life, free from anxiety and worry, is the best guarantee against the dread disease, insanity. While the closing sentence is true, still that fact does not relieve the situation; for the general tendency of the times is to desert the country and flock to the cities. This not only adds to the congestion of the cities, but, by thus doing, increases the very causes that are admittedly increasing insanity. What a proof of a debilitated race, that one state alone is able to muster an army of more than thirty-three regiments of insane. It is a striking sign of the times. THE NATIONAL REFORM AIR-CASTLE.
The whole National Reform Association theory is based on the assumption that the nation stands in the same relation to God as an individual. All the subtle arguments and specious pleas of the leaders of this movement spring from this fundamental fallacy. But the air-castle reared on this sandy foundation is made so alluring by perverted Scripture and flattering promises of reform, that many people are beguiled by the gilded structure without taking pains to examine the ground-work. The unit of responsibility to God is the individual. It was the individual who disobeyed God, and brought sin and death upon the race. So Christ died for the individual, that the individual might be saved; that “whosoever [not whatsoever nation] believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” The national idea did not come into consideration in either case. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he [the individual] that believeth not the Son shall not see life.” So far as the evidence of history goes, the human race existed more than two thousand years without a nation. Yet the Gospel was preached, and the work of salvation went on. The building of nations was the work of human ambition, yet God has overruled and utilized them just as He has other machinations of sinful men, making even the wrath of man to praise Him. There is no assurance that any of the world's nations will be saved; on the contrary, we are assured that they will all be destroyed to make way for the everlasting kingdom of Christ, whose kingdom is “not of this world” (John 18:36), yet “it shall fill the whole earth” and “stand forever” (Dan. 2:34, 35, 44). This shows that no matter how much “reform” the National Reformers may secure through religious legislation and its resultant persecution of heretics, the nation can not be made Christian, nor be saved as any constituent part of the kingdom of God. The National Reformers lay great stress on the claim that “this is a Christian nation,” but their principal evidence lies in the assertion of the United States Supreme Court to that effect. And in support of its declaration the court has only the claims and pretentions of men, and these primarily resting on Roman Catholic documents dating back to the days of the Inquisition. If an individual were to pose before the world as a Christian, with no more convincing evidence of Christian character than the testimony of the Supreme Court, we doubt if even a National Reformer would heartily accept his claim. No one with the most rudimentary knowledge of what it means to be a Christian, will contend that a character is worthy the name of Christian that would not pass the unerring judgment of the Court of heaven. And any one possessing even such rudimentary knowledge knows that no person can pass the judgment of God, and be saved, whose Christian character has no higher voucher than the endorsement of an earthly court, however exalted. All the Christians in the world could not construct a Christian nation. The moment they would undertake to set up an earthly government, they would place themselves in a position of distrust of the government of God. Christians ought not to need any other government than that of God for themselves (Luke 22:24-26), and it is not their province to rule other people. They are to be subject to the powers that be. Romans 13. “The Gentiles shall come to thy light” (Isa. 60:3), but not to submit to thine authority. God alone can make a Christian nation, and that only of citizens with His law in their hearts, and the government of such a nation would be solely a spiritual government; for the law of God is spiritual. No code of laws save “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” can constitute a Christian government, and no human power or human agency can administer such a code. Nor can any authority administer such a code upon a sinful people; for “the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.” Rom. 8:7. All this was fully illustrated in the government of ancient Israel. It failed so utterly that God took9 away the kingdom, and will not establish it again in the earth until Christ Himself shall come to reign. Dan. 2:25-27. At its best, the government of Israel was only a type, a shadow, of the real kingdom of Christ. We are now past the dispensation of types and shadows. To undertake a repetition of such a government is to deny the faith of Christ. To presume to set up a better theocracy than that of Israel, in which God Himself made the laws, is to assume a superiority over God. Moreover, the principle of church-and-state union, since the Christian dispensation was ushered in, was also fully tested, and the test was the Dark Ages. So what could the adoption of a religious administration of civil government in this country be but a return to the methods and consequences of the church-and-state rule under Rome? Like causes produce like effects; and history repeats itself, because human nature is always the same. It has been demonstrated over and over again that political religion can work only a corruption of both church and state. To attempt their union is to reject the plain Word of God and the lessons of past experience. Christian reformation never can be accomplished by human law. The prayer of Christ to His Father in behalf of His disciples is, “Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy Word is truth.” The system of national reform by means of national religion and church politics is a delusion and a snare, a broken reed, a system wrought of the traditions of men, that would make of none effect the law of God. SO PREVALENT has become the gambling mania among salaried persons, persons occupying official positions, that it has become a matter of deep concern to the companies that have stood sponsors for these persons. Agents of bonding companies have begun to cancel surety bonds in all directions on account of the prevalence of gambling on horse races. In some instances men occupying responsible positions in large mercantile houses have been found to be addicted to the turf speculation mania. “We are canceling bonds all the while,” says the agent for the United States Fidelity and Guaranty Company. “The race-track habit is bad. We keep track of our patrons by secret service. When we receive a bad report concerning the movements of a person we have bonded, we drop him before he causes us loss.” “When a man starts to play the horses, he becomes an extra hazardous risk for a surety company to carry,” says the agent for the Bankers’ Surety Company. The testimony of the agent for the National Surety Company is this: “If we confirm some of our suspicions, there will be many cancelations. We do not care to carry any person who is addicted to gambling or speculation in any form. Betting on horse races seems to have reached a mania stage in Chicago.” The secretary of the Guaranty Company of North America has issued a circular letter to large corporations asking their co-operation in suppressing race-track gambling among their employees, and giving warning of cancelations of bonds. These concerns whose business is becoming surety for persons occupying positions of trust and responsibility, and who are required to make good any embezzlements or defalcations committed by the persons whose surety they are, are being called on so frequently and for such large sums that their very existence as business concerns is threatened. They have seen no way to save themselves but by warning their patrons and cutting off their list all who persist in the gambling habit. This saves the company, but it does not necessarily stop the individual’s gambling propensity. Having formed the appetite, it is as difficult to break away as to give up some other debasing practices. One of the worst features of the situation is the growth of the gambling mania among women, hosts of whom are seen at every race-track. They stake their money on the horses as readily as do some of the men. They patronize the coursing park, and bet on the hares and hounds; and they win and lose at the card tables in their own homes, where the young of both sexes become familiar with, and imbibe, the gambling spirit. Thus is the new generation educated into the gambling habit, ready when they go out into the world to follow the habit formed at the fireside. It is this gambling in the home that is making of this generation a generation of gamblers, and undermining the moral stamina of the race. MONASTIC life was utterly unknown in the first two or three centuries of the Christian church. It has no encouragement in the New Testament, it was never dreamed of by the apostles, and it is contrary to the spirit of Christ. Moreover, from time to time, the lives of those who have shut themselves out from the world, have become so utterly pernicious and rotten that the civil powers have been compelled to interfere, and dissolve or expel them. World, flesh, and devil can not be shut out by stone walls, and by the exclusion of the opposite sex, on either side. France is expatriating these pests and plague spots from her shores. But to our amazement the “Protestant Episcopal Church” of America has just opened a monastery on the Hudson River, in the diocese of New York, under Episcopal sanction! This heathen institution, adopted by the Roman Church from the teachings of Buddha, and condemned by that church itself, is now to be linked with a professedly Protestant church. Even a committee of cardinals in 1538 reported as follows:— Another abuse which needs correction is in the religious orders, because they have deteriorated to such an extent that they are a grave scandal to seculars, and do the greatest harm by their example. We are of the opinion that they should all be abolished, not so as to injure the vested interests of any one, but by forbidding them to receive novices; for in this wise they can be quickly done away without wrong to any one. At present we think the best thing to be done is to dismiss all the unprofessed youths from their monasteries. The Protestant Episcopal Church is entering a course that will end in the substitution of “sacrament” for Christ, and pious prayers for heart worship and loving service.—Watchword and Truth. The following is a list of the reported actions in the Russo-Japanese War during the past week: The Russians attacked the Japanese position at Motien Pass July 17, and dislodged them temporarily; but re-enforcements arrived, and forced the Russians to retreat, with the loss of about two thousand men. The Japanese loss in this engagement is reported to have been 300. The Russian Vladivostok fleet has put to sea, skirting the east coast of Japan, capturing and sinking one Japanese steamer, and is believed to be awaiting the arrival of certain war-vessels recently purchased from another nation. A squadron of Japanese torpedo-boats is reported to be searching for the Russians. It is thought that the Russian fleet will attempt to capture some of the vessels plying between American ports and Japan. All along the front of General Kuropatkin’s army the Japanese are moving into position, and skirmishes between outposts are frequent. A report from Chefoo states that 4,000 Japanese have been blown up by the Russian mines before Port Arthur. There are reports of heavy fighting in the vicinity of Liao Yang, in which the Japanese are reported to have suffered great loss. Chefoo reports state that a fleet of forty Japanese vessels bombarded Port Arthur on July 22. A battle was fought on July 23 near Ta Che Kiao, which is believed to have been attended with heavy losses. There has also been an engagement in the vicinity of Newchwang, but details are lacking. During the week there have been indications of serious trouble between Russia and England over the seizure of regular British steamers by Russian vessels in the Red Sea. The British Government and people were highly incensed over the matter. The government made energetic demands for the release of the steamer Malacca, and a threatening disposition was made of vessels of the British fleet in the vicinity. The temper of the British people and government was such that, had not satisfactory promises been made by Russia, British war-vessels would have retaken the seized vessel. The work of seizure had been done by vessels of the Russian fleet which had passed out through the Dardanelles under the flag of merchant steamers, and had assumed their war attitude after the passage. This is believed by England to be a breach of the treaty, and that phase of the matter will receive consideration. At the same time the German Government and people are considerably wrought up over Russia’s seizure of German mail and regular German steamers in the Red Sea. The German press is demanding the release of these steamers. Russia is reported to have promised England that there would be no more seizures of British vessels in the Red Sea. The Russians believe that contraband of war is being taken to Japan in these vessels. The incident serves to show how delicate is the band that separates between peace and war in the world to-day. It is fully believed that war would have resulted had not Russia agreed to release the Malacca. Riot and general lawlessness have been ruling at the town of Bonesteel, S. D., for several days past. Crowds of men and women had arrived there to file on the land of the Rosebud Reservation, just thrown open to entry, and the lawless element had disarmed the police and were ruling the town according to their own will. However, on July 22 the law-abiding element, armed with rifles and shot-guns, had a pitched battle with the thugs and gamblers. As a result, three special police and twelve gamblers were shot, and the gambling element were driven out of town. The new cruiser South Dakota was launched at the shipyards of the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, on July 23. The cost of this vessel when complete will be $6,177,848. The vessel is 502 feet in length, and her total displacement, 13,680 tons. She will carry a crew of 829 men, and will have a speed of 22 knots. Her principal armament consists of eight-inch and six-inch breech-loading rifles. The great packing-house strike which affects a number of states, and was in a fair way of being settled, has been declared on again through the report that the companies have been discriminating against some of the men who had gone on strikes. This strike threatens to reach larger proportions than the former. Great heat is causing intense suffering in many eastern cities, and in some there have been many deaths and heat prostrations. While the country is being flooded with the advertisements of the teachers of hypnotism, and thousands are taking up the study, we would call attention to the dangerous nature of the thing itself. It is true that hypnotism is being practised by a portion of the medical profession at the present time, and it is of that phase alone we wish to speak. Dr. L. Menard, of Paris, who employs hypnosis in the treatment of certain diseases, and advocates its employment, makes the following admission in regard to its dangerous power:— By cultivating the tendency to passivity and credulity, which is at the bottom of the hypnotic state, we cause in the subject a sort of habitual automatism, a need for direction, which is injurious. Neuropaths are not apt to be self-controlled; we should strengthen in them the will power, the power of control, and diminish the tendency to impulsive acts. Just the opposite is done in hypnotizing them. This makes them still less reasonable. The morbid symptom is sometimes cured, but the psychic state is not bettered. Yet knowing this, the same physician employs hypnosis in what he designates as an indirect method on the very patients who are detrimentally influenced by the dangerous hypnotic power. The attempt to arrest or cure a malady by a method which would drag the mind and inclination at the chariot wheels of the hypnotizer is but the displacing of a physical ill by a mental one of much graver nature. Who surrenders his mind and will to another has opened the citadel of his soul to the soul’s most malignant adversary. One physician who has been practising hypnotism for years, and has been delivering lectures upon the subject in different parts of the country walked into Bellevue Hospital, New York, recently and became a voluntary patient in the psychopathic ward. He was in good health in every way except that he had become a victim of the dangerous practise in which he had indulged. He had come to be possessed with the fear that he would hypnotize himself, and being unable to arouse himself, an autopsy would be performed upon him, or he would be buried alive. The thing was possible, and he had practised hypnotism so long that he felt it extremely probable with him. He was neither despondent nor insane; but admitted that he was on the verge of total collapse through fear of his own hypnotic powers. There is no denying the fact that this occult power is from the prince of darkness, and they who yield to it are putting themselves within his clutches. BEAUTY IN THE HOME.
By L. D. Avery-Stuttle
BY MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE. “There is beauty in the skies at evening,
There is beauty in the morning fair;
There is beauty in the mellow sunlight,
There is summer beauty everywhere.
There is beauty, there is beauty everywhere.” The fresh young voice had a ring of happiness and contentment in it, and poor Sarah Taft looked up from her washing in the back room, as the sweet face peeped in at the open door. The contrast in the appearance of these two—one young and beautiful, the other old and ugly—was as marked as their lives. The frown deepened upon the old face, as she bent lower over her tub. What had she to do with beauty,—they had been strangers many a year. Beauty everywhere? She straightened herself slowly as if every movement was painful, placed her rough, red hand upon her back with a sigh, glanced around the bare, naked, comfortless rooms, and then toward her young visitor. “Good morning, Aunt Sarah; I was taking a walk, and I thought I’d just look in on you.” “There has never been a ‘good morning’ for me, Miss Francis, since my poor man died, and left me, and as for beauty, I’ve given up trying for it. O it’s well enough for such as you to talk of beauty, but it’s not for me;” and the gray head shook drearily, and two or three tears trickled down the withered cheek, and dropped upon the ragged apron. “O but you must cheer up, auntie. Here is this lovely bunch of roses I was taking home for my new vase. I’d much rather give them to you. Where shall I put them, auntie?” “Put them? I haven’t anything good enough for the likes of that—O yes, here is a vase my boy Jamie gave me on my birthday—let’s see; that’s years and years ago. Jamie was my only boy, but he died long ago, and I never could bring myself to use the vase. But I do declare: the flowers sort of cheer me up, already. See, here comes little Nan,—she’s Jamie’s baby, and all the comfort I’ve got left. See if she’ll notice the flowers.” “O gramma! whose posies—and the pretty vase—papa got it for gramma, Miss Francis, but we never use it,—nothin’s pretty ’round here,” she said, wistfully glancing about the bare room, “and I’m so hungry for—for something bright! Do you think it’s awful wicked to like bright, pretty things, Miss Francis?” “Wicked?—why you dear child, of course not. Surely God loves to see us happy, and He wants us to enjoy the beauty He has made. Really, Aunt Sarah, don’t you think so?” “Maybe; I never thought about it that way. Nan’s always coaxing me to plant flowers and buy pictures and pretty things, and of course I can’t do that,—pretty things cost money, you know.” “That’s true about some pretty things,—but not all. I’ll give Nan all the flower seeds she wants, and bulbs for beds, and—why yes,—I think I can spare her a picture or two. If you will let Nan go home with me, I’ll see what I can do.” Half an hour afterward, a very happy little girl with arms full of flowers and pictures, and pockets filled with seeds for planting, appeared in the humble doorway. “See, gramma, what she gave us! all ours! Look! I’ll hang this picture up over your bed where you can see it the first thing in the morning,—then you’ll be happy all day, won’t you, gramma? ’cause it is a picture of a little boy saying his prayers by his mama’s knee, and you can play it’s you and papa.” Aunt Sarah’s old eyes filled with tears, as the happy child ran about the tiny rooms, placing a flower here and a picture there, until a little cheer and brightness appeared everywhere. “I’d no idea these old rooms could be so cheerful like; it makes me feel as if maybe there might be a little joy left in my poor heart yet.” And so it was. The vases of flowers and the cheerful pictures led to greater care in keeping the cottage clean and tidy. Then came a pretty rug or two, made by the careful tho unaccustomed old fingers. Next, a neat coverlid ornamented the bed, and a few new dishes took the place of the old, cracked ones, till little Nan declared she didn’t feel lonesome any more, and Aunt Sarah sang instead of groaned over her wash-tub. Now, there are a great many Aunt Sarahs, who would be much happier if they would try to bring a little beauty and sunshine into their homes,—for there is no home, however plain and poor, but that a few touches of beauty can be given which will almost transform it,—yes, and the very lives of the inmates will be made sweeter and better. “But” you say, “I am too poor; I have no money to expend in beautifying my home, and I consider it a sinful extravagance.” Well, it is not sinful nor extravagant to cultivate flowers, surely. The very poorest can at least afford a few seeds and a shovel of dirt. Why is it that we will persist in denying ourselves every touch of beauty in our homes, when the Creator has placed so many beautiful things within our reach. For whom did He make the sparkling fountains and the gloriously-tinted flowers? the wide-spreading tree and the sweet songsters with their brilliant plumage? Why did not God paint the grass black? Why is the rose pink? why is it not green like the leaf?—The only reasonable answer is that He who made them loves beauty; and it is natural for us to love it. Why?—because we are made in the image of God, and He—our Father—loves it. There is no real beauty in earth or sky, that He has not made, and that He does not delight in. I once said to a dear friend: “If ever I get to heaven, how I shall revel in the magnificent and bewildering array of colors!” “What! colors in heaven! I never thought of that in connection with heaven. I always think of it as simply a place of blessedness and peace and rest.” Ah, it is certainly this—and more. Heaven is a place of beauty. Did you ever think of the magnificently-tinted walls of the New Jerusalem? or see in imagination the glorious rainbow which encircles the throne of our Father? Oh, we may be sure that our God loves beauty; and He does not want His children to close their eyes to it. Shall the Master Artist paint His sunsets in the sky with such colors and tints as mortals can never reproduce, and shall we go about with head so bowed and eyes so blind that we see it not? But I have known people who have never seen a beautiful sunset; or, if they see, their hearts are not warmed thereby—their tongues are silent. They are the men who never see or appreciate the efforts of a faithful wife, to beautify the home. “I would like a little corner of the garden, Stephen, to plant my flowers in.” “I can’t spare it, Mary; I need it all for beans and potatoes.” “But, Stephen, you’ve got eighty acres; can’t I have a place for a few flowers?” “It’s all nonsense. I’ll have none of my ground planted with trash!” And so the meek little woman, whose home life is so barren of beauty, drops a tear or two and goes about her work. But one of these days, when her work is all done,—the last pan of milk skimmed, the last loaf of bread baked, the last heavy churning done, Mary will lie down to rest. Then Stephen will walk silently and sadly into the parlor, and look upon the white face on which are many premature lines of sorrow, and place those flowers she so loved in life, in the calloused, brown fingers,—but, “poor Mary” will not care for flowers then. O let us make our homes beautiful! Rich or poor, we can do it, for LOVE will beautify the humblest home. It will turn the cottage into a palace,—but without this, cottage or palace,—both are alike,—dungeons. Well, by and by we are all going home to the Father’s house of many mansions. We love the beauty of earth, but we long to revel in the glories He is preparing for us. We are so tired! We all sing, “Home, sweet, sweet, home!” and, as we sing, our hearts yearn for the land of light and never-fading beauty,—our everlasting home; where we shall “build houses, and inhabit them; and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.” “Shout with the voice of triumph,
Soon shall the saints be free;
Glory to the Lord, hallelujah!
Hasten the Jubilee.” A SPARK THAT KINDLED FRIENDSHIP.
By Anna Felzel
MRS. DOUGLASS was surprised to see her daughter at home before school was out, but a look at the girl’s face plainly told her that something was wrong. Mary laid her head on the table, and gave way to her grief. “Tell me all about it, Mary,” said her mother. Soon her grief was abated, and, in broken sentences, she unburdened her heart. “If that is all, Mary, you can set your mind at ease, as the guilty one will be found, and you will be stronger to meet the trials that even children have. ‘Right will triumph in the end.’ Pay no attention to any one who may taunt you, or hint at your having committed a theft.” O what a comfort to have such a mother! The load that seemed to bear her to the ground was now lifted, and in its place was peace and kind feeling toward every one. Mary knew who it was that had played the cruel joke, but did not tell her mother, as the latter did not ask her. The mother also had her suspicion, but did not make it known, for fear that she might be misjudging an innocent person. Mary went to school again, but she could see who were her enemies, as they seemed to avoid her. When she passed them she could hear their whispered taunts, such as, “We have no ribbons on to-day,” or “We wore the ribbons but a short time.” But she gave no heed, yet it was hard to bear, knowing she was innocent. The few friends she had showed by kind little deeds that they felt for her. So matters went on, and no clue had yet been found, but when the teacher one day asked Mary if she had any idea who the guilty one was, Mary blushingly said, “I have, but would rather not tell, as I might be wrong.” “Very well, Mary, I respect you more than ever, and had I entertained the slightest doubt of your honesty, your noble action now has dispelled it.” The teacher, too, had her suspicion. How was it with the perpetrator of the deed? Did he, too, feel any remorse? Yes! at times his better nature would assert itself, and he felt that he must speak out and proclaim11 himself the coward he was. It was just this cowardice that kept him from doing right. So he let matters go on, intending some day to make amends. “Mary,” said Mrs. Douglass one day, as they were at home alone, “I smell something burning; step to the door and see what it is.” Mary did, and rushing out called to her mother that Vane’s barn was on fire. They ran as near as they dared, but saw that any efforts on their part would be useless. They had seen a man drive in but a few minutes before with a load of hay, which was even now being rapidly consumed. It was undoubtedly he who had caused the fire through carelessness with his pipe. What to do they did not know, as the town was a mile away. “O, mother there is a telephone in the house,” and without delay she darted toward the house, but it was locked, the family having gone to town. Was help so near, and yet so far? “I’ll break one of those large window-panes, and get in,” said Mary. She did so, and with trembling hand seized the receiver, and sent in the message that Mr. Vane’s place was on fire. Her work now done, she unlocked the door, and stepped out, and as she did so she noticed that her wrist was cut and bleeding. By this time a few men had gathered, and through their efforts many pieces of machinery were saved. Soon the fire department arrived, and further damage was prevented. Mr. Vane and family hearing of the fire hastened home, and the former was very profuse in his thanks to Mrs. Douglass and Mary. Mrs. Vane simply thanked them. Albert, however, like his father, thought Mary had rendered them a service that could hardly be repaid with simple thanks. There was a tumult in his heart. O, the hot coals were being heaped on his head, and they had sunk into his heart, and were kindling a flame of remorse and shame. His course lay open. The time had come when he must make a clean breast of his guilt, and take from Mary’s shoulders the burden which she had so patiently borne. O that to-morrow were Monday that he might beg her pardon before the whole school. Of course he could tell her alone and receive the pardon, which he was sure her noble heart would grant; but he had openly wronged her, and now in the same way he must make amends. Monday came at last, and Albert started off earlier than usual, as he said to himself, “I must give my heart time to settle down in its proper place, as it seems now to be up in my throat.” As soon as the school was opened, he held up his hand, saying, “Miss Ford, may I speak please?” Permission being granted, he stood before the school and said: “I have a confession to make, a pardon to ask. It was I who tied those ribbons on Mary’s hair, and let the finger of scorn be pointed at her, and now I humbly beg her pardon. Will you forgive me, Mary?” Although Mary knew who it was that had wronged her, yet she was surprised at the open declaration of his guilt. As soon as she could collect her thoughts, she arose, and, with a trembling voice, and tearful eyes, she said: “I freely forgive you. I never had any ill feelings toward you, and will be glad to be friends.” “Albert, you may take your seat, while I give the pupils a clearer insight into Mary’s noble nature. She knew all the while who tied the ribbons on her hair, but would not give his name, altho asked to do so. She preferred not to accuse, and so suffered in silence. Who of us could have done more?” When recess came, every pupil shook hands with Mary, and said a few kind words, except Helen, who, through shame, could not face Mary. It was not long, however, before she and her mother were won over to the “enemy’s side,” as Albert laughingly put it. Even their proud spirits could not withstand such charity which “endureth all things.” NO GREATER TREASURE.
By Benjamin Keech
There's a little brown-eyed laddie
Comes to see me, every night,
And I fold him closely to me,
And I hold him warm and tight.
With his tiny arms clasped 'round me,
And his cheek against my face;
Is there any earthly treasure
That could take my darling's place? When my little, brown-eyed laddie
Comes to say his sweet “good-night;”
When I kiss his golden tresses,
Like the sunbeams, fair and bright;
Then my worries all desert me,
Thankful joy wins out the race;
And there's not an earthly treasure
That could take my darling's place.