WAITING one night in the darkness on a railway platform, I heard two ministers discussing the secret of a certain noted evangelist’s power. After listening awhile I ventured to intrude the suggestion that if they could get a look at that evangelist’s old Bible, they might learn the secret of his power; for it contained more marks of use than fifty ordinary well-kept ministers’ Bibles. It reminded me of the old Scotch warrior’s claymore. He had been in twenty-four battles, and there were twenty-four hacks in the edge of his well-tempered blade. He had struck fire every time. A well-studied Bible, believed and preached and practised, is a source of power which will ever remain a mystery to those who neglect the Word of the living God. How many are longing, seeking, and praying for power, while a whole magazine of divine power lies unopened in their neglected Bibles! A man in a meeting prayed loud and long for “power.” “We want power! We want power!” After he was done, a plain-spoken brother said to him, “You don’t seem to need power so much as you seem to need ideas!”
Christ’s Gospel furnishes divine ideas; and, preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, it is still “the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.” And he who faithfully preaches that Gospel, will find that it is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and that it is still “like as a fire,” and “like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces.”—Selected.
Question Corner
“Enquire and make search and ask diligently.”
ALL questions designed for this department must be accompanied by the name and address of the inquirer, or they will reach the waste-basket by the quickest route. This is an invariable rule. We do not ask the name for publication, but that we may reply by letter if thought best.
Taking verse 30 in connection with verse 29, it would seem to refer to God’s power and care in continually repeopling the earth with animal and vegetable life. Verse 30 will, however, be gloriously fulfilled when the earth shall be renewed and repeopled with the undying things. Every good thing which God does now is a promise and a prophecy of His ultimate work of perfection.
WILL you please harmonize Acts 18:17 with verse 8 of the same chapter? Who is Sosthenes? H. C.
When Paul went to Corinth, Crispus was the ruler of the synagog. When the Jews turned Paul out of the synagog, Crispus must have gone with him; for if Crispus had remained ruler, Paul would have continued to preach in the synagog instead of going to the house of Crispus. When Crispus left, or was turned out, of course another ruler of the synagog was chosen, and this was Sosthenes. It is thought by some, and the supposition is reasonable, that Sosthenes himself was converted, and afterward referred to by Paul as “Sosthenes our brother.” 1 Cor. 1:1.
PLEASE give a logical explanation of Job 14:22, with the preceding verses of the chapter: “But this flesh upon him shall have pain, and his soul within him shall mourn.” N. A. R.
It seems to us plain as it is. The subject of Job’s discourse is man’s frailty and nothingness compared with God’s greatness and power. Verse 20 speaks of man’s death: “Thou prevailest forever against him, and he passeth; Thou changest his countenance, and sendest him away.” Verse 21 shows that in man’s death he knows naught of what is taking place on earth: “His sons come to honor, and he knoweth it not; and they are brought low, but he perceiveth it not of them.” Verse 22 does not refer to man in a state of death, but reverts to the opening statement of the chapter: “Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.” Verse 1, “His flesh upon him [his physical nature] hath pain, and his soul [his mental-spiritual nature] within him mourneth” (R. V.); that is, in this life here; not “shall have,” as in our version, but “hath,” as in the R. V.
PLEASE explain Rev. 12:7. Who is Michael? and when did this war take place? Also same chapter, verses 14-17. Was that actual water, or is it a figure? Was the woman the Virgin Mary? A SUBSCRIBER.
The symbols in brief in Revelation 12 are as follows: The woman is the church of God, the “daughter of Zion.” See Micah 4:10. The man child is Christ. Rev. 12:5 with Ps. 2:9. The dragon is “that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan.” Rev. 12:9. Michael (which means “who is like God”) is Christ Jesus, the Archangel, “the great Prince which standeth for the children of thy people,” whose voice shall raise the dead. Dan. 12:1; Jude 9; 1 Thess. 4:16; John 5:25. The war was the spiritual conflict previous to and at the first advent of our Lord. The triumph was in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The water of verse 15 is the flood of persecution and error by which Satan has sought to destroy the church. Verse 16 refers to the staying of the persecution, and verse 17 to the last exercise of Satan’s wrath against the remnant church.
734. Jude, verse 9.
WHAT was the point in discussion concerning the body of Moses?
Satan, or Lucifer, the instigator of sin, claims all those who have died (for death is finished sin) as his prisoners, and he is determined to keep them in the grave. See Isa. 14:12-17. Michael, or Christ, is the Prince of life. The dispute, therefore, must have been over the resurrection of Moses. That he was raised from the dead is shown by Matt. 17:1-3, and other scriptures.
Discretion in Speech
“DISCRETION of speech is more than eloquence.”
THE INFINITY OF GOD’S MERCY.
“His mercy endureth forever.” Mercy is that quality of disposition which treats an offender better than he deserves. It is the basis of all compassion, pardon, and forgiveness. As God’s mercy endures forever, so will He forever forgive the offender who seeks His pardon. There is no end, no limit to God’s mercy on His part.
“But,” says an inquirer, “are we not taught that mercy will sometime fold her wings; that God will refuse to forgive? Is there not danger that we will sin beyond His forgiveness, sin so greatly that He will no more have mercy upon us?” These are important questions, which affect not only our relation to God, our ideas of God’s character, but our relations to our fellow-men.
The Word declares over and over again that “His mercy endureth forever.” We may know, then, that His mercy is unlimited in extent. “Thy mercy is great unto the heavens.” The infinite God has infinite mercy. “With whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning.”
This mercy is not dormant, but active on God’s part, outflowing, full and free. Is it not written, “He delighteth in mercy;” “The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy”? Our God is pleased to exercise mercy, and pleased with those who hope in His mercy.
The object of the exercise of God’s rich mercy is the cleansing from sin. After speaking to those who had once been “dead in trespasses and sins,” who had once “walked according to the prince of the power of the air,” “fulfilling the desires of the flesh,” children of wrath and disobedience, he refers to their change, and that by which the change was brought, in these words: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us [made us alive] together with Christ.” “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour.” “According to His abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
To whom is His mercy extended?—To every soul who will receive it, for God will compel none. He holds it for us in all its infinite fulness, ready to pour it out abundantly if we will but open our hearts, and “hope in His mercy.” He holds mercy especially for the needy. “Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”
But the wicked must forsake his wicked way. God’s mercy is exercised in harmony with His holy law. It is one of the “weightier matters of the law.” It must therefore be in harmony with the law; and if the sinner is to receive it, he must give up his transgression of God’s law and yield to its righteous demands. Then he will receive of God’s mercy. Then that mercy will cleanse from sin, and renew the sinful soul.
It matters not how sinful that soul may be. “Tho your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; tho they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” “But my sins are so great,” says a poor soul. Listen: “He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.” “To the uttermost,” however great the sin, if you will yield it all to God and submit to His holy law. He will remove every blot. He will wash away every stain. O soul, laden with sin, only believe God, and submit all to Him, and let Jesus Christ take away the sin He has purchased, and recreate you, the man He has bought, into His own image!
Knowing God’s willingness and power of forgiveness, you will forgive your brother. God represents your debt which He forgives at 10,000 talents, $9,000,000. His mercy is not exhausted in this. He represents a debt which man will not forgive at $15, one six-hundred-thousandth of man’s debt to God! See Matt. 18:23-35. But he who will not forgive the little, can not receive God’s forgiving mercy. He is not in harmony with the law of that mercy. “Forgive and ye shall be forgiven,” is a law of receiving mercy. “But he has done the same thing over and over,” you say; “and shall I still forgive him?”—How has God dealt with you? What does Christ say? “Then came Peter to Him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?” That seemed many times to Peter, and even more to others. Hear our Lord’s reply: “I say not unto thee, Until seven times; but, Until seventy times seven”—an indefinite number. “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”
Do you hope in God’s mercy?—grant it to others.
THIS COVETOUS AGE.
In James 5:3 it is stated in the clearest and most direct manner that “ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” The Revised Version translates it, “in the last days.” This scripture does not leave any believer of the Bible in doubt as to what constitutes one of the signs that will show us when we are in the “last days.”
That “treasure” is being “heaped” together to-day as never before must be apparent to any one who is giving even the most careless attention to passing events and surrounding conditions. And this “heaping together of treasure” will keep on getting worse and worse till the culminating crisis in the end of time and the second coming of Christ. We may know this not only from this prophecy in James, but it is also stated by Paul that “in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous.” 2 Tim. 3:1, 2.
There is a long list of sins that are mentioned in this chapter of Second Timothy and which the apostle informs us are to make the last days perilous. And it should be observed that this list is headed by the statement that “men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous.”
This Scripture language is all so perfectly clear that no one need mistake its meaning. In the “last days,” says Paul, “men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous.” And says James, “Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.” The men who are “lovers of their own selves, covetous,” of course can see no good in treasure except to get it for their own hoard. If they see a chance to spend any of it for “their own selves,” to gratify their own pleasure, or to satisfy their real or imagined wants, their money is called out. But otherwise men who are “covetous”7will do nothing with their money except to let it go on piling up. Their supreme self-love blinds their eyes, closes their ears, and freezes their hearts against the pitiful, touching cries of suffering humanity. All their God-given energies are prostituted to the one work of “heaping” together treasure. What sordid motives, what unworthy ambitions, to occupy the minds of men created for so much better purposes!
These scriptures bring to our minds the great facts that self-love, covetousness, and the heaping together of treasure are to characterize the last days. We have only to open our eyes and look around us to see the literal fulfilment of the predictions.
In the first place, this is the age of trusts. And “a trust,” as the Hon. Mr. Butler expresses it, “is a scheme or a device to establish a complete monopoly of any line of business.” The “trusts” enable a few men to control the railroads; a few other men control the coal; others have the petroleum output under their care; another trust controls the wool, and so on through the list. Says Mr. Henry D. Lloyd in his “Wealth against Commonwealth,” “The Hon. John De Witt Warner, member of Congress from New York, has published a list of one hundred trusts, which have been able to influence the tariff legislation of the country in their favor.”
From the time we enter the world the trust follows close by our side, asking its small tribute from each one of us for the use of any of the commodities and appurtenances of daily life. And when life’s journey is ended, and sympathizing friends are preparing to lay our bodies away to rest, we find that even the portals of the tomb are guarded by the agent of the undertakers’ association, who asks a toll in favor of his trust, which has assumed (for the sake of the profits, of course) the work of furnishing all the burial cases for the dead.
The well-known Luxow Anti-trust Committee, appointed by the New York Legislature, made a very careful and thorough investigation of the subject. This committee denounced the trusts as one of the most menacing evils of the age, but reported that their Legislature was powerless to deal with them, that redress must be found in Congress. One of the last official utterances of President Cleveland was to offer a warning against the menace of the rapidly-strengthening trust. And in the very first official address of President McKinley the trust was pointed out as one of the dangers of our time. And so we might go back through a score of years, and find repeated warnings, admonitions, and denunciations against the trusts. And these warnings have been given by the highest officials in the land, and repeated and emphasized by men in all the walks of life, but still the trust survives and flourishes.
There are very few men, indeed, who will affirm that a trust is a good thing. By practically every one are they denounced. The great mass of the people deplore them as most to be feared of any of the evils of the age. They have been fought in courts, in Legislatures, and in Congress; but all to no purpose. The trusts still live and thrive. Every little while some well-meaning person, who seems to have the good of all at heart, arises and declares vengeance on the trusts. He pursues them in court, Legislature, and Congress. Sometimes he feels buoyant over the thought that success is about to crown his efforts; but in the moment when victory seems in sight, his hopes are blasted. Yet he courageously follows the monster of evil through continued windings and labyrinths of crookedness, until legal technicalities, and bills of exceptions, and writs of error, etc., are so piled up around him that he just sickens of the job and quits.
Each time the trusts emerge from one of these conflicts they are stronger and more confident. They plan openly to be still more bold in carrying on their work of “heaping” together treasure in these last days.
But why is it that the great evil can not be arrested? The scripture quoted from Second Timothy very plainly tells why. As a towering beacon light it points out the fact that the last days are made “perilous” by the men who “shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous.” And this self-love, this covetousness, is one of the crying evils of this evil age.
There is no legislation that can reach it. Earthly courts of justice can not find it. The evil is in the hearts of men. And so many men have become infected by it that its great proportions have marked it as one of the evidences that we are in the last days.
Reader, if you are in this scramble that is “heaping” treasure together “in” these “last days,” pray stop at once, and turn your attention to a preparation for the coming of your Lord. For the brightness of His glorious presence will soon be revealed, to put an eternal period to the oppressions of this age, so under the control of covetousness and self-love.
A “CHRISTIAN” IDEA OF IT.
The following item clipped from the Pacific Christian indicates the feeling of a great part of so-called Christendom:—
Once upon a time there was a stern pedagog who soundly thrashed a pupil for an alleged offense, and then discovered, shortly afterward, that the victim of his wrath was innocent of the misdemeanor. Calling the boy before him, he said: “My lad, I have discovered that you were not guilty of the wrong for which I whipped you. You have done so many other things, however, for which you should have been thrashed, that we will just call it square.” We feel that way about Spain. Possibly she is innocent of the destruction of the Maine, but she has been guilty of so many other offenses, that a thrashing would not be amiss. Certain it is that the people of the United States are anxious to see Spain whipped off this hemisphere. The common expression is, “I’m only afraid there won’t be a fight.” Not only Johnny, but other youths are getting their guns and are preparing to spill Spanish gore. “War’s hell,” as General Sherman once tersely remarked, but other things are even more so, and we confess that we believe that the best thing that can happen in the interests of humanity and right and ultimate peace, is war.
We have no apology to make for Spanish outrages or cruelty. From purely humanitarian and political view points, America may be justified in interfering in Cuban matters; but however this may be, war is not justifiable from a Christian basis. “Put up thy sword,” was the command of our Lord on an occasion that seemed to justify resort to force if anything could. “All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.”
The Pacific Christian has for its motto: “That they may all be one; . . . that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.” Would sanguinary strife between two so-called “Christian nations” be likely to make these nations one, or to convince the onlookers of the oneness of the participants? Is a Christian justified in a resort to hellish means? Are the cannon and the torpedo part of the Christian armor? These and a lot of other questions are suggested by such utterances as that above quoted. Here are some truly Christian utterances: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance;” “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven.” If “war is hell,” how stands he who has war in his heart?
“HE FOLLOWS NOT US.”
By T.
“AND John answered Him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in Thy name, and he followeth not us; and we forbade him, because he followeth not us.” Such is the language with which the Saviour, upon a certain occasion, is addressed. The disciples had found a man casting out devils, but he did not belong to their company. Their “zeal for the cause’ led them to promptly forbid him. The disciples at that time were young in the faith, and so did not have the broader view of Christian work that further years with the Master and labors in His service gave them. They had not yet learned the great lesson that the Lord would use every lawful means to draw men away from sin and its eternal consequences.
And so they came to him to tell of the man they had found, whom they thought was to be censured. And as children coming to parents to tell of some deed that they believe is worthy of praise, they relate to the Master how promptly they had forbidden the work of this man, whom they say “followeth not us.” What must have been their surprise to hear the Lord, instead of commending them for their course, say decidedly, “Forbid him not; for there is no man which shall do a miracle in My name, that can lightly speak evil of Me.”
There is a great lesson for us in this scripture, else the Lord would not have caused it to be recorded. Study it well, Christian brother or sister. You will find it in Mark 9:38-42 and Luke 9:49, 50.
Our Lord knew that the tendency all down the ages would be for a few men to get together, formulate a creed, and outline methods and plans of church work and discipline. And having it all formulated, they would then say, “Unless you subscribe to that, you are not orthodox.” The Master knew that John and the disciples who were with him would not be the only ones who would get disturbed by finding persons “casting out devils” but “following not us.” He knew that the tendency of mankind would ever be to form in cliques and combines, and that this spirit would even take possession of some who would be seeking to do His sacred work. Hence He gives a lesson by which we can know that even some who “follow not with us” may after all be doing the Lord’s work.
“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matt. 7:20), and not by the fact that they follow with us. The Christian knows the Master, and his acquaintance with the Lord enables him to recognize His work, wherever and whenever he sees it. And it is the work that the Lord bids us know and recognize, and not look so much to see that the man is following with us.
So then when we meet a work that is being done in the Master’s name, let the first inquiry be, What is the character of that which he is doing? Is the “fruit” good? If so, then do not stop to ask if he has started this work in the veritable orthodox fashion, and is he following with us? It may be that the Lord desires to use you, as He did Aquila and Priscilla of old, to instruct some one in “the way of God more perfectly.” But it is very evident that He has not commissioned us to forbid work in His name simply because the worker follows not with us.
How comprehensive and complete are the Scriptures! And how closely should we study them, lest we become narrow-minded, and possibly bigoted, and so be found hindering the worker for Christ, simply because he “followeth not us”!
T.
ACTIVE CATHOLIC PROPAGANDA.
AMONG the most zealous missionary workers in this country are the Paulist Fathers. They are holding many missions in large cities. They are circulating literature, endeavoring to convince non-Catholics that their church is the only church, and that its doctrines are of God. The Christian Advocate says that “there is a movement to organize a guild of Catholic authors and writers of the United States. It is to be a national affair, and number among its members some distinguished writers. Archbishop Corrigan approves of it.” The object in all this is to spread Catholicism. In this we do not blame Roman Catholics, because they believe they are right, and they feel that they ought to do all in their power to propagate their belief. We do not wish their erroneous and baneful errors placed under ban by law. They have equal rights with others. But we would appeal to Protestants, for the sake of truth, of Catholics, of others in darkness, lift up Christ and the Word of God. In no other way can the delusive errors be met.
The Law of the Harvest
By G. D. Boardman
THE law of the harvest is to reap more than you sow. Sow an act, and you reap a habit; sow a habit, and you reap a character; sow a character, and you reap a destiny.—G. D. Boardman.
When Religion Does Not Agree
“MANY people look as if their religion did not agree with them.”
ANXIOUS FOR THE FRAY.
By T.
Men have claimed that modern equipments for war are so fearfully destructive that nations will settle their disputes by arbitrament rather than take the risks of a resort to arms. In the past this has sounded quite good, simply as talk, but what are the facts as revealed in the occurrences of to-day.
From the moment that the news reached us that the Maine had been destroyed, the government has been besieged by those who want to enter the army and navy to fight Spain. There seems to be no lack for men who are not only willing but eager to go. Of course all these men have studied the modern preparations for war. They know the nature of the present-day slaughtering weapons; and yet they are ready to go.
So it seems that all prophecies of peace so far have failed. And they ever will fail. There will be no peace in this world so long as Satan and evil men are permitted to live here. And what a consolation it is to turn from these scenes of strife and contemplate the fact that it will soon, all be over. For we know that what we see about us to-day very clearly points to the fact that the Prince of peace, our blessed Saviour, is soon to come.
And when driven and tossed by the turmoil in this life; when the horrors of approaching war rise up before you to fill you with gloom and dread, just invite this great Prince of peace to take possession of you and save you. As the Lord, our Saviour, comes into our hearts, it is not to enforce peace, but to bring us peace. And we can have His peace now, and in just a little while will see Him in peace.
Why choose this world when it has nothing to offer? Why not choose the Master, who freely and richly gives us all things? T.
THE ALL-ABSORBING POLITICAL QUESTION.
By W. N. G.
THE question as to how this or that action will affect their chances of reëlection is a potent factor in the course pursued by many members of Congress. It is remarkable how frequently this argument is openly made with reference to prominent measures; as tho re-election were the prime end in view. Just recently a measure was under discussion in which this tendency was reflected in an unusually conspicuous manner. The representative of that district in Oregon of which Yaquina Bay is a part, made a motion to add to the River and Harbor Appropriation Bill an amount for the continuation of improvements in that harbor already commenced. The Secretary of War was about to advertise for the continuation of the work, but the bill as reported by the committee contained no appropriation for that purpose. This improvement has for years been subject to bitter opposition by the railroad companies, because it gives a large section of farming country an outlet by water for products which are otherwise at the mercy of the railroads. It was argued by opponents of the bill that the improvements never would be a success, and that the money already expended had been a waste.
As to the merits of the case we know nothing; it is a certain feature of the argument that we deem significant, because it is characteristic of the times. A member from Ohio, who boasted of having been a railroad magnate for thirty years, was particularly hostile to the appropriation, and the argument which he offered as a kind of clincher was that the gentleman from the Yaquina district could not be re-elected if he insisted on supporting the improvement of that bay. He significantly warned the gentleman in open session of the House that every representative from that district who had favored the improvement of the bay in the past had failed of re-election.
Another instance worthy of note is a recent speech of a member in favor of interference in behalf of the Cuban insurgents. The climax of his eloquent peroration, which seemed after all to be the burden of his appeal, was couched in these words: “I say if we do not terminate this unholy warfare, I expect to see the next House of Representatives have in it many faces that we do not see here to-day; and I see here to-day many faces that I do not expect to see in that House of Representatives. [Applause.]”
This is in keeping with the action of Congress in 1893 for closing the Chicago Exposition on Sundays, when the effective argument was that members who did not vote for the measure would fail of a re-election. It is becoming more and more manifest that much of the boasted patriotism of our time is a mere question of political prestige or expediency. As it is written, “In the last days perilous times shall come, for men shall be lovers of their own selves.”
W. N. G.
THE FORM OF PATRIOTISM.
By W. N. G.
On the 26th ult. a bill was introduced in the New York Senate which is designed to encourage patriotic exercises in the public schools. The Sun gives the following summary of its provisions:—
“The bill makes it the duty of the authorities of every public school to purchase a flag and flagstaff and cause such flag to be displayed during school hours. Rules and regulations shall be established for the proper custody and display of the flag. When the weather will not permit it to be otherwise displayed, it shall be placed conspicuously in the principal room of the schoolhouse. The State superintendent of public instruction shall provide for the necessary expenses incurred in developing and encouraging patriotic exercises in the schools, and shall prepare a program for the use of the public schools of the State, providing for a salute to the flag at the opening of each school day. He shall also make special provision for the observance in the public schools of Lincoln’s birthday, Washington’s birthday, Memorial day and Flag day. This act shall not be construed to authorize military instruction during school hours.”
All this sentimental formalism does not inculcate true patriotism; it simply inspires a desire in the young to become military heroes. It educates them in the idea that a great hurrah is valor, and to fight and kill is heroism. It is the old Roman idea over again, that the power and glory of the government is above every other consideration. The people of this so-called Christian nation of ours are carrying on a rather anomalous educational system. On the one hand, they are teaching the doctrine of the early advent of the millennium of peace, while on the other hand they are teaching the children the art of carnal warfare. While it is a well-known fact that vice and crime are increased many fold on holiday occasions, yet there is a continual call for more holidays—on the plea of patriotism, etc. While the poverty of the masses is ever on the increase, the religio-political patriots are urging a multiplication of the days when the poor wage-workers not only can not earn anything, but are impelled by their surroundings to squander what little they have.
If it is desirable to teach true patriotism to the rising generation, teach them that “he that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” Prov. 16: 32. Making a daily business of flaunting the flag and calling it patriotism is a mere formality; it is too much like wearing a crucifix and imagining that we are bearing the cross of Christ. The greatest hero, the greatest benefactor, that this world ever saw, never used a carnal weapon even to protect life. Nor did He ever take a human life on any pretext. “The Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them,” were His emphatic words. Love of country does not mean war, for the worst calamity that can befall a people is war. The flag is all right for the purpose for which it was designed, that of a national emblem; but that purpose never was to engender a spirit of strife and hero-worship in the minds of children. Mere formality in patriotism is like the same quality in religion: it lacks the power of the genuine. W. N. G.
RUNNING TO AND FRO.
By T.
A recent issue of the Railroad Age, basing its statement upon the report of the Interstate Commerce Commission, says that “last year the railways of the United States carried over 13,000,000,000 passengers one mile.” A little calculation will enable one to see that if all of the 70,000,000 people in the United States had done their full share of this railroad traveling, it would have made an average of 185 miles for each and every man, woman, and child in the whole country
Just think of what a vast amount of traveling this involves. Imagine the whole of the swarming millions of this vast country taking a trip of 185 miles. And if your imagination can grasp the picture, it will give you an idea of the traveling just in this country alone during one short year.
Daniel was bidden to “shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” Dan. 12: 4. The great truths of prophecy have been unsealed, and the book is now open, showing that we are right down to “the end.” If other evidence were lacking to show this, we certainly can see that there is such a running “to and fro” of men in the earth to-day as was never seen before.
How impressive! At the “time of the end” the prophet shows us that “many shall run to and fro.” And the time of the end having been reached, how ponderous, how immense, how wonderful are the figures which show how literally this prophecy is being fulfilled! T.
Turkey
By W. N. G.
Turkey.—For more than half a century the Government of Turkey has been styled “the sick man,” “the pauper kingdom,” etc., yet there is hardly a government in the world that holds to her positions more persistently than this same proverbial invalid. It is a standing illustration of the fact that it is sometimes convenient to be poor. For this reason Turkey owes so much to the capitalists of some other nations, that those nations can not afford to permit her overthrow, or even her serious damage. In almost any emergency she has interested friends enough to protect her autonomy against any single enemy that may threaten her existence as a nation.
Even the United States has found Turkey about the hardest nation to bring to any kind of terms that she has had to deal with. During the last administration Minister Terrell was severely censured by the opposing party, and by religious enthusiasts of both parties, for not accomplishing more in the way of securing indemnity for the destruction of American property in connection with the Armenian massacres. When the present administration came into power, Dr. J. B. Angell, president of Michigan University, was sent to Turkey. It was confidently expected that his friendship for missions would soon bring “the sick man” to a settlement of the claim of $100,000. But it is now asserted by Dr. Angell’s friends that he is about to resign his position because he is unable to accomplish anything. The Christian Work, a staunch friend of Dr. Angell, admits his failure, and gives as a reason that President McKinley will not press the matter on account of Turkey’s poverty.
That journal also admits having “spoken somewhat severely” of the former minister, and now takes occasion to do him the justice of saying that he did succeed in securing the release of two American prisoners at Iskanderun, Northern Syria. The fact that even that much of a concession could be forced from the sultan is deemed worthy of special mention, in view of the fact that the present Minister, with all of his supposed prestige, is unable to secure even that which has been formally conceded. About the worst country in the world for any single nation to go to war with to-day is Turkey, because there are so many nations interested in the disposal of her resources. The United States could far better afford to pay that $100,000 to the injured parties out of the treasury than to undertake to compel its payment by the Turkish Government. W. N. G.
Universal and Perpetual Peace
An universal and perpetual peace, it is to be feared, will never exist but in the imaginations of visionary philosophers, or in the breasts of benevolent enthusiasts.—James Madison.
Football: Athletic Rowdyism and Brutality
The London “Mail” speaks of football as “athletic rowdyism.” It is all of that, and more beside; it is an outright brutality that is worse than ordinary “rowdyism.”
