p. 8 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 30, No. 9. (3/2/1904)

Loving the Brethren.

"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." 1 John 3:14. We have frequently heard people use this text as tho passing from death unto life were a reward for loving the brethren. A San Francisco journal quotes a clergyman of national repute as saying, "I know I pass from death unto life by loving the brethren." If this were true, men could earn salvation, but we know that this is beyond human power. "By grace are ye saved." Loving the brethren is not the cause of the transition from death unto life, but it is the evidence of such a condition. Love is a fruit of the Spirit, therefore one must be born of the Spirit before he can love the brethren. Through a love of the brethren comes a knowledge of a change of heart. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in Himself" (Ch. 5:10; Rom. 8:16), and it is manifested in love of the brethren. Here is another point in which many people are deceived,—they mistake sentimentality for love. Love is not a mere sentiment, or sensational feeling; it is action. Like faith, without works it is dead. For the real meaning of love of the brethren, we consult the Word; and here we find that to love the "children of God" (or "the brethren") is to "love God, and keep His commandments." 1 John 5:2. Anything short of this is not recognized by the Lord as love of the brethren.

CHRISTIAN PATRIOTISM VERSUS WAR.

THERE is a general impression in this country that patriotism means a readiness at all times to fly to arms in defense of the flag. The popular teaching of patriotism to the children has too much of the drill for war. The association of the flag with gunpowder is far too common on all "patriotic" occasions for the inculcation of a love of peace in the hearts of the rising generation. Even the President of the republic believes in the cultivation of the war spirit for the development of patriotism, and our universities and many colleges and higher schools have more or less of militarism in their course of education.

But it is a noticeable fact that the men who know most about war deprecate the war spirit and the resort to war. General Sherman concentrated discussion of the subject into three words, "War is hell;" and, as far as describing its process and influence goes, that is about all that need be said. General Miles, whose field experience covers every official rank in the army and every grade of foe, does not see the necessity of a special cultivation of the war spirit. He says: "I have had experience in wars, and I have never found Americans lacking in prompt patriotism or in fighting qualities in any worthy cause. But the people do not want war; they want peace." To this the Cleveland Press adds: "The sooner the war spirit is let die, the better for this or any other nation."

It is a dangerous patriotism that is founded on the war spirit. One of the greatest defects of human nature is its belligerency, and this tendency must be overcome in the Spirit of the Prince of Peace before the great mission of "peace on earth" can be fully appreciated. If we desire to pose as a "Christian nation," it is time to be inculcating the idea that, as such, our contest is "not against flesh and blood" (Eph. 6:12), and that "the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God" (2 Cor. 10:4). And if we are to march under the Captain of our salvation, we should be learning that His flag is a banner of love. Under this flag there is no respect of persons or of nations, but all are one in Christ. This is Christian patriotism. It means loyalty to Christ and His Word. "If ye love Me, keep My commandments" is the test set before us; and our dealings with our fellow-men of all classes—regardless of race, color, or previous condition—must be after the order of the Golden Rule.

CLASPING HANDS WITH ROME.

As THE spirit of confederacy, or unionism, for purposes of oppression is abroad in the land in these last days, it is well to notice one of which all the people should beware, because of its insidious, deceptive character. Its presence is lamblike, and its promises righteous, but its ultimate object is dragonic. A bill is before the New York Legislature which authorizes the opening of saloons in New York City and Buffalo a few hours on Sundays. As usual with people who advocate closing saloons only on Sunday, the opponents of this measure are more concerned about the "desecration" of the man-made "sabbath" than for the prohibition of liquor selling. The Indicator quotes Bishop Colton, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Buffalo, as saying:—

It is the spirit of the Catholic Church to keep the Lord's day for rest and spiritual observance, and anything that would clash against the religious observance of the day is something that the Catholic Church in this country is opposed to. . . . We should take warning by them [the Continental Sunday nations of Europe], and not give way to the small minority.

The Buffalo Courier is then quoted with reference to remarks of a Presbyterian pastor the following Sunday, in which he said:—

The words uttered by Bishop Colton last Sunday were strong and patriotic. This is a common danger to public welfare, and it is one against which Roman Catholics and Protestants should join hands in fighting. The bishop is right. I would like to see the Catholics and Protestants unite on this proposition.

With these utterances it is pertinent to place the following significant words from a little book entitled "Gospel Workers," pp. 336, 370:—

The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of Spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and, under the influence of this three-fold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome in trampling on the rights of conscience. . . . We are coming to a crisis which, more than any previous time since the world began, will demand the entire consecration of every one who has named the name of Christ.

IS THE GOLDEN AGE AT HAND?

By Editor

IN view of the roseate assurances of the popular clergy and the advocates of the "New Thought" that we are rapidly approaching the era of universal brotherhood, peace, well-being, and wisdom, brought about by the quenching of our own evil tendencies by the upgrowth within us of our own inherent goodness, it is well for us occasionally to look the actual facts in the face, lest we find, when too late, that we have been following a will-o'-the-wisp into the mire and quicksands of our own ruin. We hear much of this teaching, and see much of it in print, and see those who are being deceived by it turning away from the truth of God in which is salvation, and turning to these figments of human imagination which can hold out no hope to the soul. Human vanity is playing a large part in this doctrine of self-salvation, of soul-growth through human effort alone, of self-dependence in the perfection of righteousness; and because such vanity was never greater than now, these doctrines had never a more successful age in which to be propagated.

Advocates of these doctrines close their eyes to the increase of crime in the world from year to year, a fact which completely overthrows the very base of their teachings. The following extract from one of our exchanges, under the title "Increase of Unnatural Crimes," while it touches the very heart of the matter, might be expanded into many columns, and still not tell it all:—

The thoughtful man or woman who reads or merely scans the news of the day must be struck by the increase of unnatural crime, if such a term may be used. Of course, all crime is unnatural, or ought to be; and yet, on the other hand, it is the legitimate fruit of a seed-sowing of lawlessness, lust, and sin. As an instance of the prevalence of this sort of crime, we pick up a local paper of October 10. It tells of a school-teacher in North Dakota shooting three trustees, three girl pupils, and then committing suicide. This was in a settlement of Mennonites, a place that would not be expected to bring forth such results. From Pittsburg comes the news of an intelligent young man of seventeen years of age brutally murdering his mother and sister, wounding four smaller sisters, and seeking to kill three brothers, who overpowered him. Just the other day it was discovered that two young lads, one of whom was considered a good boy, in a town near San Francisco, had been setting fire to various buildings in the village for months, destroying many thousand dollars' worth of property. The sister of one, a pretty girl, was privy to the work. The motive seems to have been sheer maliciousness. The commissioners of prisons in England report that 17,163 more persons were sentenced to ordinary imprisonment in the year just closed than in the year previous, and 183 more to penal servitude. And such items as these are found in every day's news. Truly the apostle and prophet said: "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse," and, "In the last days perilous times shall come."

Further, we might say that the statistics of the past year show a steady increase of crime. For instance, there were 8,597 suicides last year, as compared with 8,291 in 1902. In 1901 there were 7,245 suicides in this country; in 1900, 6,755; in 1899, 5,340 suicides. The number of murders in 1903 was 8,976; in 1902, 8,834; and in 1901, 7,852. While there were more murders, there were less hangings. There were 406 persons killed by burglars and footpads last year, against 333 in 1902. While the amount of defalcations, bank-wreckings, etc., was a little less last year than the year previous, it was still nearly two million more than for 1901, over two million more than for 1900, and over four million more than for 1899. The amount of such stealings for 1903 was $6,562,165. Statistics of the French Government show a remarkable and steady increase in criminal activity among the young.

In view of these serious facts, it is the worst possible folly to turn to these human inventions, and pin our most vital interests to such a sinking ship. In the powers of our own being such teachings would have men put their trust; but the Word admonishes us: "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help."

BEDLAM LET LOOSE.

By Editor

Under the above title Watchword and Truth truthfully epitomizes the present situation in this world, and shows the dangerous fallacy in that teaching so popular with the mass which predicts the speedy entrance of the race into a golden age of peace, knowledge, and universal brotherhood. We quote a portion of the article:—

As the end of this age approaches, the birth-throes of nature, and the spasms of humanity increase in frequency and intensity. Our earth has been the scene of extraordinary catastrophes and cataclysms during the past few years, which have been as great a source of mystery to the scientist as they have been a cause of superstition to the fanatic. But the man of God who has the Bible as a lamp to his feet, knows that these earthquakes, pestilences, and roaring of seas are but the ordinary characteristics of the material world unto the end and the advent.

It is in the political, social and "religious" sphere, however, that we see the greatest manifestation of "freaks," "cranks," "fads," and "fanatics." One man in Persia, another in India, and another in England, is posing as the Messiah returned to earth again. In strange inconsistency with these claims we have three men setting themselves up as Elijah, the Messenger of the Covenant, heralding the coming of the great King of the Nations. Of one of these, little is known, except that occasionally he thrusts himself upon the scene and gets some sympathy because he denounces the other claimants to the distinction. A second, Mr. Sanford, has come to his end in Shiloh, Maine, and has settled in Boston with a handsome property in his possession. But his great "Temple" that was to be built for the tens of thousands of followers in Boston, and his wonderful scheme for evangelizing the world from Jerusalem as a center, have never come into view. But the greatest of them all is a man who claims to be a man "sent from God whose name is John"—John Alexander Dowie. But his coarseness, vulgarity, vanity, bombast and braggadocio, his extravagant living and dramatic display, his evident desire to "make a name" while he built a city and made money, to reign as a prince in an age when Christ is still rejected by the world, to repeat in his own life and work the very mistakes and sins committed by the Roman church which he so bitterly and boldly denounces,—all these have been sources of deepest sorrow to all thoughtful, chaste-minded and humble-hearted Christians. Pride still goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. So this deluded man has come to a sudden halt, and his whole ambitious schemes have barely escaped a complete collapse, under pressure of financial embarrassments.

There are at least a dozen different sets of "cranks" in Jerusalem waiting for the coming of the Lord; and all because they disobey the command of the Lord to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. Now comes a new sensation about "The New Jerusalem" [teaching that New York is to be that city].

But wherein does all this nonsense differ from that which declares that the "New Jerusalem coming down from heaven" is the "new thought" coming into new minds? What new thought?—O, the brotherhood of man and the Fatherhood of God, the belief in a God of love who is too good to be angry with the wicked—the belief in goodness but the denial of sin, the belief in heaven but the denial of hell, the belief that everything is all right and going well in spite of the lying, the perjury, the "artistic swindles," and the daring robberies—in spite of political corruptions, and private defalcations, in spite of the betrayals of innocent women and the murder that so constantly follows, in spite of the startling increase of crime in the whole civilized world, and in spite of the awful revelations of the divorce courts, exhibiting the destruction of the marriage tie, the passing away of the family sanctity, and the wrecking of the divinely-constituted home. "Bedlam let loose" is ravaging in every street, and yet those sleeping, dreaming, deluded watchmen shout their incoherent utterances that the New Jerusalem from God is just at hand.

HOW THE STANDARD OIL DOES IT.

A PLOT by which the Standard Oil Company secured the business secrets of a competing company was revealed in court to-day. Harry McKinley and his wife, employees of the Royal Oil Company, filed affidavits stating they had furnished Windfield S. Merritt, an employee of the Standard Oil Company, a daily statement of the shipments of the Royal, for which they were paid liberally. Manager Ells, of the Royal, declared the Standard Company also buys information from the railroad employees.—Chicago Record-Herald.

THE OUTLOOK

By Editor

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THE OUTLOOK FOR AMERICA IN THE EAST.

JUST now the nations of earth seem more ripe for a universal conflict than at any time since history began. The traditional policy of the United States against entangling alliances with the powers of the Old World is changing under the crushing pressure of that process which is hastening the culmination. America has quickly sprung into place as one of the powers mutually interested in the entangling questions that are absorbing the attention of the Old World. Her forces are reckoned with, her wishes debated, as they were not in former times. She has taken the lead in the delicate matter of seeking to restrict the area of operations in the present war in the Orient, actually leading the concert of world powers, bringing pressure to bear upon the two powers now in arms. So the question no longer is, How can America become involved with these striving powers in affairs which would seem to involve them alone? But rather, How long can she now abstain from actual participation in their disputes?

The question of a coalition of European powers against America is being steadily agitated among certain of these powers, who fear that the continued increase of America's wealth and powers will soon constitute her a dangerous menace to theirs. Besides these things there is the fact of America's "colonial" interests in the far East, close to the present scene of hostilities, and still closer to the great empire on which European powers have long looked with covetous eyes. America has become one of the powers interested in the Orient. So much for the probabilities of America's entanglement in the sanguinary affairs of the Old World.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL AS NOW PLAYED.

THE following is taken from a letter from Charles Fessenden Nichols, a gentleman, a physician, and a graduate of Harvard University, “who is not willingly iconoclast or faultfinder,” to Geo. T. Angell, editor of Our Dumb Animals, and appears in full in that paper for February, 1904:—

In that game [football], as in all American “sport” of the sort, it is understood that each player of light weight shall be slugged, if possible with the hope of disabling him. In the course of two of this season’s games, one of those consigned to slugging—a brilliant student and president of his class—was waylaid, held down, thrice kicked on the head by heavy boots, rendered entirely unconscious for two hours, finally left with dangerous brain symptoms and sent home entirely incapacitated for study.

“A burlesque of a fine game,” says the London Graphic, “is football as conducted in the United States.” “Lovers of Rugby football would not recognize the game as played in America, where it seems to be a thoroughly brutal pastime, played without skill and without science.”

An apologist for football—Professor S. W. Patrick—in the American Journal of Psychology says: “This game is more brutal—that is, more primitive—than others, permitting us to revel for a time in long restricted impulses.” To the writer it is shameful that authority in our great universities should encourage a low and cowardly form of slugging contests, costlier than those of the Roman amphitheater or the professional ring, because of the material used to the detriment of scholarly rivalry.”

The past year shows twenty-one dead players of football, sixteen more who have suffered grave injuries, and one insane. The injuries have been skull-fracture, broken backs, a broken neck, ruptured hearts and arteries, and internal injuries. And a very small proportion is this of the general wreckage of a school or college course.

Betting and gambling come in for their full share, both at and after the “season.” For “Rules of Football Poker, which has now become the rage with college students,” see a half page of the —.

In other matters a prison or lasting self-reproach is the lightest penalty following death inflicted unless in self-defence, but the yells and thumbs in the stadium can not deny that the football injuries which frequently cause death are deliberately dealt. Law should require the State to punish every case of manslaughter, wherever committed.

One of the most insidious and dangerous of drugs known in pharmacy is cocaine; the cocaine habit is an extreme danger, as evil as the absinthe habit. The habit is readily formed, for it gives pleasure and stimulates flagging strength. Besides enormous doses of strychnine, cocaine is known to be employed by “professionals” in athletic games. I have unquestioned evidence that in the last Harvard game one of the eleven was drugged (I speak advisedly,—the dose was small, but it acted specifically) to force his supreme effort. The amazing excuse was given that it entered the boy’s heels only. As every medical man knows, it also entered his brain. The boy was a wreck when cocaine’s stimulation ended. And one downward step had been taken! There is hypocrisy in “fearing to remonstrate against cocaine” on the ground that “innocent” college boys may learn to use such things.

The same surgeons who find football and cocaine “locally applied” harmless, have found it necessary to send this boy from study, an invalid for the winter—one of the illustrations of the “invigorating effects of football training.”

The prince of darkness alone keeps a full list of football doses of strychnia, cocaine, etc.

To “overtraining,” the surgeons now attribute boils, weak joints, and general football exhaustion, mental and physical. There seems to be a deal of overtraining in training. It is known professionally that “athletes,” so called, with the heart and other muscles overdeveloped and strained, are apt to die suddenly before middle age.

The annual report of the Board of Education of the District of Columbia finds that the statistics of the game for the year show a startling list of players killed, and the serious maiming of many more, and that no self-respecting school organization should tolerate such manslaughter in the name of athletics, and that the board will not fail, if need be, to prohibit the game.

Another highly-esteemed physician, a graduate of Harvard, the rules of whose medical society will not allow the publication of his name to his communication, writes to Mr. Angell:—

In connection with your investigation of college football, I would say that yesterday I was called to see a student at Harvard who had fallen in a fit in one of the class rooms.

After he recovered consciousness he informed me that he had had over a hundred such convulsions, and that they were due to a blow on the head received during a game of football.

The only hope of recovery in his case is a surgical operation, which might possibly cure him.

I would also say that a student at Harvard with me was thrown on his head during a game of football, and ever since has been a mental wreck.

I also know of various broken limbs and minor injuries which have been permanent.

What can be said in defense of such an education?

THE WAR AND POSSIBLE COMPLICATIONS.

By Editor

THE reports from the scene of the war in the Orient are conflicting generally as regards details and quite often as regards most important events. This is due partly to the inability of the correspondents to get at the news and partly to the fact that neither of the parties desires the other party to know just what the conditions are. Many of the reports which are supposed to be all but official are found to be misleading. It is known that the Japanese are concentrating a large army in Korea, and reports state that considerable numbers have been landed in Manchuria. Russia is reported to be ready to withdraw her forces from near the coast, taking the principal part of them back several hundred miles to new headquarters at Harbin, leaving a garrison to defend Port Arthur, which she would expect to be besieged. Russia plans to make no general forward move until she has amassed a ponderous force. Her intention then is to move on slowly, driving the Japanese out of Manchuria and Korea, and annexing this province and kingdom. While Russian scouts are crossing and recrossing the Yalu River into Korea, she is making no aggressive move whatever, whereas the Japanese are rapidly concentrating toward the Yalu.

Russia is suffering much inconvenience through the insufficiency of her railroad facilities. It is impossible to transport provisions as rapidly as they are needed, or troops as rapidly as desired. Manchuria brigands are reported to be attacking the railroad. It is likely that many of these are Japanese in disguise. The army in Manchuria is also greatly handicapped by the hostility of the inhabitants. The Russians have lost another cruiser, the Boyarin, by striking a mine (or being struck by a Japanese torpedo). She had on board 196 officers and men, all of whom are reported lost. China has an army on the Manchurian frontier, whose general reports to the government that he finds it well-nigh impossible to restrain his troops from attacking the Russians, who are guarding the railroad. Some of the Chinese officials are urging the government to become the allies of the Japanese and assist them in driving the Russians out of Manchuria.

Two prominent Russian generals have been ordered to prepare for the invasion of India, in case England becomes openly hostile or injures Russian interests in Thibet or Persia.

The present war is stirring the nations as no other war has done. The friendship between England and Japan and between Russia, France, and Germany is an element of great danger; while the disposition of the Turks to invade Bulgaria seems specially designed just now to provoke a European war. All the European nations are looking to their defenses. Sweden is strengthening her fortifications. Spain is mobilizing her army, fearing the attempt of one of the powers to wrest from her some of her ports. The smaller nations fear that, while the great powers are involved with one another, some power or powers may think it a good time to absorb them. Canada is preparing to defend her eastern and western coasts against possible attack.

There is quite a general movement of warships to eastern waters. War vessels of the United States have left Philippine ports for Chinese ports, and it is feared that there may be trouble between the Americans and Germans in certain ports of China where the Germans consider that they have exclusive rights.

There are factions throughout all Russia that are opposed to the government, and it is thought that these may foment a revolution at home. There probably never was a time when the elements that could bring on a universal war were better arranged for that purpose.

China has given warning to both Japan and Russia that, altho she has declared her intention of neutrality, she will not remain idle if either of the belligerent powers in any way interferes with the graves of the ancestors of the Chinese emperor. China’s communication states that she has troops in Moukden and at other points in Manchuria, and that orders have been given to these troops to vindicate the honor of China, and meet force with force, in case any injury is done to the imperial tombs or to China herself. The contents of the note and its firm, almost defiant, tone has created a profound impression. It indicates that China will not be an entirely negligible quantity in the present war; and that, in case of Russia’s defeat, she may assert her rights again in Manchuria. It is known that Japan will respect China’s demand, but the answer of Russia is awaited with considerable interest.

The war in the East does not prevent Russia making life more miserable for the Jews in her realm. A St. Petersburg correspondent of the Jewish Chronicle (London) states that the commission now sitting in St. Petersburg, charged with the revision of the laws in force against the Jews, proposes to recommend that in ten provinces of Poland where, hitherto, Jews have enjoyed unrestricted rights, these rights shall now be restricted in every respect to conform to the regulations obtaining in other parts of the realm. Jewish merchants and professional men will be deprived of the right to employ Jewish clerks as assistants. It is believed that this will result in a large exodus of Jewish merchants and professional men, who must have Jewish assistants to carry on their business.

The reception of John Alexander Dowie at Sydney, N. S. W., is declared by him to have been the worst treatment yet received. His meetings at the town hall were forced to suspend, altho admission had been by ticket only, and a large force of police and a large number of Dowie’s disciples were present to preserve order. A furious mob gathered around his hotel, and he, fearing to return, spent the night in his carriage, according to reports from Sydney. Melbourne promises to treat Mr. Dowie worse than did Sydney.

A Russian gunboat remains at Shanghai, China, in spite of the fact that China has declared her neutrality and requested the vessel to put to sea. This is a virtual violation of China’s declared neutrality by the Russian Government. A small Russian squadron is reported still lying at the French port of Jibuti, deeming it dangerous to proceed to Chinese waters, and not wishing to return to his home port. This also is looked upon as a violation of the laws of nations.

Swedish workmen are being driven out of Finland by order of the Russian Government. Notice has been served on all such persons in Finland that they must leave on twenty-four hours’ notice before February 26. It is stated that no excuses for delay will be accepted. Workmen in many instances are being forced to abandon their property. This move on the part of Russia is stirring a strong anti-Russian feeling throughout Sweden.

The Federal Grand Jury has issued its indictments against the leaders in the conspiracy to defraud the government by securing large areas of land. The principals have been arrested, and it is intended that they be taken to Washington, D. C., for trial. A legal battle will be waged by the arrested men against extradition to Washington.

The bill making an appropriation of $200,000 to ex-Queen Liliuokalani, of Hawaii, for losses sustained by her through the overthrow of the monarchy, was lost on a tie vote in the Senate on February 15, even after an amendment had been accepted, reducing the amount to $125,000. Senator Blackburn will move to reconsider.

In a collision between freight trains at Jackson, Utah, on February 19, an explosion of dynamite occurred which resulted in the death of 28 persons, 8 Americans, and 20 Greek laborers. The explosion destroyed the cars, the tracks, and the station building, and broke windows in houses 55 miles from the scene of the disaster.

Great excitement reigned in the Chicago wheat exchange on February 20, where the price of wheat was forced up to $1.07 per bushel for May deliveries. The advance was irresistible, and millions of bushels were sold, while, as the report states, pandemonium reigned.

Considerable time is being taken up in the Senate at Washington over the question of the ratification of the canal treaty with Panama. From the opposition there is heard much censuring of the course taken by the national government in the Panama affair.

Fourteen persons were killed and twenty injured by an explosion of gas in a celluloid factory in Paris on February 20.

IN LINE AGAINST PROHIBITION.

“LIQUOR Men Organizing to Fight Prohibition.” This is the headline in a leading paper of Mississippi, and the report which follows shows that the liquor dealers are perfecting an organization preparatory to fighting the proposed amendment for constitutional prohibition. The liquor dealers of Canton, Greenville, Vicksburg, Natchez and other sections of the State are determined that all movements which look toward prohibiting the sale of liquor shall be defeated. And yet there are some good people who claim that prohibition does not reduce the amount of liquor sold. If it does not, why is it that the liquor men despise prohibition and that they always speak and work against it? O, that people would reason concerning the liquor traffic in the same way that they reason concerning every other traffic!—Union Signal.

THE HOUR OF PRAYER.

By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle

BY MRS. L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.

"NEVER mind, this morning, Edward,—we would better omit prayers, I think. I have the lunch to pack for the children's dinner, and it's almost school-time. The dressmaker will be here soon to fit Annie's dress, and I just haven't time to stop a minute."

I fancied Edward looked a trifle uneasy, and grandma's face grew sad, but the anxious and care-worn little housewife, with the two deep lines between the eyebrows, and the flushed face, did not seem to notice it.

The children, Jack and Milly, hurried off to school, father went to his office, the seamstress began her duties, and the nervous little mother pinned her sleeves higher as she rushed from one thing to another in frantic haste to "catch up with her work."

And so the day was begun without prayer. What wonder that the wheels seemed clogged all the day long? What wonder that Jack and Milly, hedged about with no mother's prayers or father's benediction, should go sadly astray at school, and bring disappointment and anxiety at their home coming?

No time for prayer! Danger and death on every side, and yet no time to run to the everlasting arms for protection and help. Wickedness and crime, sensuality and lust, ever grasping new victims; the enemy of souls constantly on the outlook to lead into evil and ruin son or daughter, and still we are so engrossed with the all-absorbing question of what we shall eat or what we shall drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed, that we neglect the one great business of seeking "first the kingdom of heaven."

Some day the dear old home, with all its sweet associations, will be broken up; some day there can be no more homecomings; some day our loved ones who make up the family circle will be scattered far and wide. What memory then so sweet to son or daughter, beset, it may be with temptations manifold and dangers many, as the memory of the quiet hour of evening, when father and mother, brother and sister,—all present,—joined in a song of praise, and each by turn supplicated the blessing of Heaven upon the dear home? Ah, to how many sons and daughters is this sweet memory denied!

"As thy servant was busy here and there, the man was gone." How many times in the rush of business, eager to make sure of the meat that perisheth, we all but forget the One whose locks are wet with the dews of night as He stands waiting for us to bid Him welcome. Shall we be so "busy here and there" that the MAN will be gone when at last we seek Him?

Then, too, shall we not all take part in the evening song of praise and in prayer to the loving One whose power has kept us all the day, and whose love has crowned our life with mercies? Let us gather the lambs of the flock, morning and evening,—let not one be missing.

Where is Mary? entertaining callers in the parlor? Never mind; it is the hour of evening worship; invite her in, and make room for the guests; there is another Guest who is waiting to breathe upon us all a sweet benediction fresh from the gardens of God.

Where is John? busy with his lessons? Let them be laid aside for a little, that the great Teacher may impart to us all a lesson better than any to be found in the books of earth's most learned men.

Let all the doings of the day; all the little joys and sorrows; all the victories over self, gained or lost, be freely discussed with each other. What could so bind the hearts of the family together? What so teach them to sympathize with each other? O, shall we not make the hour of evening prayer the sweetest in the day?

"I knew you would help me, mother," says Jack. "The temptation came so strong to-day to take that position Mr. Blank offered me in his hotel; but tho I need the money so badly, I refused the position because I knew he would expect me to sell liquor, and I could not look into your eyes to-night if I had consented."

"God bless you, my son! 'Woe unto him that selleth his neighbor drink.' We may be poor, but we will at least keep our garments clean from the blood of souls."

"And I," says Mary, "I have been tempted, too. The entertainment to which I have been looking forward all winter has at last been appointed on Sabbath evening. All the girls are going, and of course I have my ticket; but, like Brother Jack, I felt that I could not look into your eyes at this sweet and sacred hour if I had consented to do my own pleasure on God's holy day."

"The Lord of the Sabbath will bless you, my daughter, and I can not tell you how much you have added to the happiness of us, your parents."

"What have you to say, Susie?"

"I was just going to say that if Sister Mary had gone to the entertainment, I should have felt quite justified in going, too; as it is, I refused."

And so the heart-to-heart visit goes on. Mother and father hear all about every temptation, every failure, every victory of the day; brothers and sisters unite in encouraging and helping one another, until even baby Bess catches the blessed infection and declares she is "doin' to be dood all day morrow!"

Then every head is bowed in prayer, and the pure angels hover with their benediction of peace over the happy household.

Ah, were the blessed hour of prayer made the most of, there would be fewer family jars, fewer misunderstandings, less bickerings and complaining, and fewer hasty words! And, O, then—

Then peace, sweet peace, would rule our hearts, And blessed joy and heavenly love, Till we exchange our home on earth For home, sweet home, in heaven above.

GROW YOUNG AS YOU GROW OLD.

NEXT to air and food in the human economy, comes exercise. We may have plenty of fresh air, and a proper allowance of the right kind of food, and yet, without helpful daily exercise, these will not avail to keep the body in good condition. In answer to the question, "Why do we grow old?" a French writer gives these three reasons: "We do not get enough physical exercise in the open air, we are poisoned by microbes which the phagocytes have not succeeded in destroying, and we are depressed by fear of death." Of the three reasons it will be noted that he gives the place of first importance to lack of exercise. There is nothing else which can take the place of physical activity as a preserver of youth and energy.

In short, it is exercise that keeps the body in tune and "up to concert pitch," just as exercise keeps the voice or a musical instrument in perfect tone.—Success.

Continue reading: HOW JOHN PAID NAN