Earlier text: Table of ContentsA Visit to Our Huntsville School
By Arthur G. Daniells
In company with Elder J. S. Washburn, I recently had the privilege of spending two days at the school for the colored people, at Huntsville, Ala. This was my first visit to this institution. My stay there was too brief to enable me to speak very positively regarding the more important and difficult features of this school; but there are some features that I feel free to place before the readers of our church paper. I presume it is understood by all our people that the mission of the Huntsville school is to give our colored young people in the South the advantages of an education. It is hoped that a fair percentage of those who attend the school will develop into useful workers in the cause of the third angel's message. At the present time, there are about forty boarding students in the school. This number is about equally divided between young men and young women. A few of the youth in the neighborhood attend the school as day students. Some of the boarding students have been in the school a number of years, and have shown themselves faithful, loyal Christians. Brother B. E. Nicola, who has been the principal of the school for about five years, has bent all his energies to the education of the colored youth who have been placed under his care. Those who know anything about the colored youth, and the educational problem in the South, can easily imagine the difficult task the principal of that school has on his hands. The closest application is required from early in the morning until the retiring bell has sounded, and the lights are out. This is a task that no man would seek for amusement, nor for the moderate remuneration granted. Whoever accepts this position does so for the uplifting and salvation of a very needy class. I was profoundly impressed with this from what I saw, and I bespeak for Professor Nicola and his associate teachers the interest and prayers of this denomination. But the labor and perplexities of this school are not confined to the school-room. Those who have charge of the work on the farm have a stupendous task upon their hands. Young men and young women go there without means, to earn enough to pay their board, lodging, and tuition. But few, if any, of these have ever been trained to work systematically and perseveringly. They are without skill, order, and perseverance. There is very little they can do as it ought to be done. A very important feature of their training at this school is to teach them how to be industrious, and to do their work well. In order to make this phase of training what it ought to be, those in charge should have a strong staff to assist them, and abundant facilities for their work. But these are not provided for Huntsville. As I looked the ground over, I felt that the time had come for the denomination either to make more of the Huntsville school or to terminate it. I do not believe it is possible to secure results from the present arrangement that will justify the toil, care, and expense of operating the school. This is not a criticism of those who do the work in the schoolroom, nor of those who carry on the work on the farm. The fact is, we have made only a beginning in providing what is necessary for a colored industrial school. During the last week of the Southern Union Conference a large amount of time was given by the newly elected school board to the needs of this institution. They were not able to solve the problem to their satisfaction. They have the matter under advisement, and will no doubt speak to our people through the REVIEW during the present year. I believe that when the situation is plainly stated, so that all can understand it as it is, there will be a cheerful response to a call for help to place the colored school in a better position. But notwithstanding the lack of teachers, means, and facilities, those who have worked so earnestly and untiringly in this institution have been cheered with good results. We can not do less than give them our prayers, and we may add to these, gifts of clothing, food, and means as the Lord has prospered us. More will be said later in behalf of the Huntsville school. A MEMBER of the staff of the Baltimore Sun who was an eye-witness of the catastrophe which so recently drew the attention of all eyes in the country to that city, makes these statements with reference to the supernatural character of the work of destruction. We copy from the Washington Post of February 8:— “You can not imagine it; you can not imagine it,” he kept repeating. “I have seen big fires in New York and Chicago,” he said, “when block after block would fall before the sweep of the flames, but nothing that approached in terrible fury the catastrophe that fell upon Baltimore to-day. The flames swept down the streets with the onward rush and fury of a tidal wave. Great billows of fire two hundred feet in height would fill the space between the buildings, and, sweeping from side to side, would blot out of existence a skyscraper as if it were a box of matches. “The Union Trust building and the Atlantic Trust building shared this fate. One moment they stood in the stately beauty of stone and marble; a moment later and they were not. The flames would dash against their sides, beat in the massive walls, leap from windows and roofs and—then would come the collapse. The Union Trust building, one of the handsomest in the country, seemed to my mind to vanish almost as I looked. “The city was a mass of whirling, burning, blinding embers. In the Sun office, where we sat at work over our desks, the copy paper would burn as we wrote. In the streets the embers fell in sheets and rose and fell again, as the swift wind carried them along. Everywhere were drawn and anguished faces, and the marks of desolation.” In the presence of such visitations the pride of man is humbled, and he is made to realize that there are about him mightier forces than he is able to control, ready to rise up and assert their sovereignty over the works of his hands. He is called upon to humble himself under the mighty hand of God. That well-known French heroine, Joan of Arc, has been “beatified” by the pope, so that she is now the “venerable” Joan of Arc. She has not, however, yet been canonized. The difference between that which entitles one to beatification and that which justifies canonization appears to be that for the latter it must be proved that four miracles have been done by the prospective saint’s intercession, whereas only two such miracles are required for the former. Considering the fact which a religious authority points out, that the judgment which sent this unfortunate heroine to the stake was affirmed by a Catholic bishop, and by abbots, canons, priests, monks, and doctors of divinity to the number of sixty-eight in all, her present beatification by the same church presents an interesting instance of the papacy reversing itself. The Extent of Intemperance
Some figures showing the present extent of the curse of intemperance in some of the world's leading nations are given by the Washington Times. This authority says:— Recent statistics show that the consumption of alcoholic or strong drinks in the United States is about 150,000,000 gallons per annum; in France, 160,000,000; in Great Britain, 155,000,000, and in Germany, 186,000,000. The United States spends on drink $400,000,000 a year. The number of deaths annually reported from drink in this country is about 7,500; the number of cases of insanity caused by drink annually, 62,000. The above figures touching the various nations do not include beer and wine, of which in the United States 1,500,000,000 gallons are consumed a year, while Great Britain consumes over 1,000,000,000, France nearly 1,200,000,000, and Germany about 1,000,000,000 gallons. The nations of Europe and the United States probably spend $2,500,000,000 a year on alcoholic drinks, beer, and wine. The whole foreign trade of the United States, great as it is, would hardly do more than pay for the world's drinks. The world's luxuries, accordingly, are giving the world a great deal of fun, a great deal of pain, disease, insanity, crime, and death. “The lesson of the hour is the need of self-control.” “Thy Will Be Done”
By The Watchman
YESTERDAY, when I said, “Thy will be done,”
I knew not what that will of thine would be,
What clouds would gather black across my sun,
What storms and desolation waited me;
I knew thy love would give me what was best,
And I am glad I could not know the rest. “Thy will be done,” I say, and to the scroll
Of unread years consenting, set my name;
Day after day their pages will unroll
In shining words that prove thy love the same,
Until my years are gathered into one
Eternal, sanctified “thy will be done.”
—The Watchman. Lights in the World
By Ellen G. White
Christ declared himself to be the light of the world. To his disciples he gave a part in the work of shedding light on a sin-darkened world. “Ye are the light of the world,” he declared. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” The church has been made the depository of the truth of the gospel, the agency through which God’s light is to shine forth to the world, in clear, distinct rays. How is this light to shine? Let God’s Word tell us:— “Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Do all things without murmurings and disputings: that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world.” “And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.” “Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light.” “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.” God has made every provision for our justification and sanctification. He has given Christ to us, that through him we may be made complete. Christ gave his life for sinners. By his death he opened a fountain in which all may wash their robes of character, and make them white. He died on the cross, but he rose from the tomb, proclaiming, “I am the resurrection, and the life.” He made his followers joint heirs with him in his glory. In his name they were to go forth to carry out his purpose of bringing many souls to a knowledge of the truth. Heaven’s resources are limitless, and they are all at our command. Why, then, I ask, is the progress of the Lord’s work in our world so slow? Why are not the Lord’s followers increasing in knowledge and purity, holiness and power? Are there not presented before Christ’s followers the highest virtues to be cultivated, the greatest honors to be gained? God calls upon them to enter a race in which every one may win. He calls upon them to enlist in a warfare in which every one may be a conqueror. A robe of righteousness and a crown of everlasting life,—this is the reward held out before the overcomer. The inhabitants of the heavenly universe expect the followers of Christ to shine as lights in the world. They are to show forth the power of the grace that Christ died to give to men. God expects those who profess to be Christians to reveal in their lives the highest development of Christianity. They are the recognized representatives of Christ. Their work is to show that Christianity is a reality. They are to be men of faith, men of constant growth, men of courage, whole-souled men, who without questioning trust in God and his promises. God calls for men of undaunted courage, men full of hope and faith and trust, who rejoice in the thought of the final triumph, refusing to be hindered by obstacles. He who steadfastly adheres to the principles of truth has the assurance that his weakest points of character may become his strongest points. Heavenly angels are close by him who strives to bring his life into harmony with God and his holy law. God is with him as he declares, “I must overcome the temptations that surround me, else they will drive Christ from my heart.” He combats all temptation and braves all opposition. By the strength obtained from on high, he holds in control the passions and tendencies which, uncontrolled, would lead him to defeat. The presence of the man who loves and fears God is as a sweet fragrance in his family. His example speaks eloquently in favor of the truth. All with whom he comes in contact are constrained to say, “He has been with Jesus, and has learned of him.” When the Christian takes his baptismal vow, divine help is pledged to him. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit stand ready to work in his behalf. God places at his command the resources of heaven, that he may be an overcomer. His own power is small; but God is omnipotent, and God is his helper. Daily he is to make known his wants at the throne of grace. By faith and trust, by availing himself of the resources provided, he can be more than a conqueror. Why, then, should not those who are fighting against the powers of darkness move forward with faith and courage? God and Christ and the Holy Spirit are on their side. The Lord expects those who believe in Christ to co-operate with divine instrumentalities, and thus reveal a strength that the worldling can not reveal. God is dishonored, and his cause is reproached, when the Christian shows less zeal, less self-denial, in his strife for the mastery over evil, than do those who are striving for the mastery over the things of the world. We know not how soon our probation may close. How dare those who know the truth live in unpreparedness, not ready to meet their Lord? How dare they remain sinful and defiled? Why are they not afraid? Why do they not realize their peril? The weakness of the church is due to its unbelieving, unconverted, unsanctified members. The Lord would work mightily for his people if they would put off the works of darkness, and be clothed with his righteousness. He calls upon every one who names the name of Christ to depart from all iniquity, to be “not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.” God calls upon those who profess to believe the truth to show by unquestioning obedience that they are faithful soldiers of the cross. Let not those who stand under the blood-stained banner of Prince Emmanuel do anything that will dishonor the cause for which they are fighting. Christ expects his soldiers to be brave and loyal and true. The work that Christ did on this earth his followers are to do. With the power and efficacy brought by the Holy Spirit they are to carry forward his plan for the restoration of the divine image in humanity. The Lord will do great things for them when they work under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. But they must place their entire dependence on God. For the last twenty years a subtle, unconsecrated influence has been leading men to look to men, to bind up with men, to neglect their heavenly Companion. Many have turned away from Christ. They have failed to appreciate the One who declares, “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Let us do all in our power to redeem the past. Making God our trust, let us go out into the waste places of the earth to work for the salvation of perishing souls. We shall meet with close and trying times. Temptation and trial will come. But the Lord is an all-powerful helper. He desires those who work for him to move forward with singing, because he co-operates with every unselfish effort. “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged. . . . For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness9 like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody.” Why This Stupor?
By G. B. Thompson
A BROTHER said to me recently, “Why is it that these great and solemn truths of the third angel’s message do not stir my soul as they did years ago when I first listened to the glad news of my Saviour’s return?” How is it with you, my brother, my sister? Once you were mightily stirred as you listened to the message; and at the risk of losing everything,—friends, position, and every worldly joy,—you eagerly laid hold of it. As the various lines of prophecy were traced down, and the signs in the heavens, in the earth and sea, in the social and political world were studied, your heart was moved, and you believed that the end was very near, and that it was time to lay all on the altar a sacrifice to God. And it was no fable you heard, but the vital truth of God. But do these things awaken a response in your heart to-day as they did then? This was a number of years ago, perchance, and the Master was even then “at the door.” He is nearer now than when we first believed. But does it seem so? Are we as active in missionary work, as faithful in the church, as zealous in the prayer and social meeting now as then? If we are not, there must be some reason for the change that has taken place in us. It is not because the message is less powerful and convincing. The numerous lines of prophecy are as clear to-day as ever. The study of the Word, and the events taking place around us, illuminates, rather than obscures, the tremendous and immovable pillars of our faith. After years of siege by the enemy, every fundamental principle stands unshaken. In some things we no longer walk by faith; for we have come down the stream of time so near to the vast ocean of eternity that we can, if we but open our eyes, really “see the day approaching.” Can it be that our hearts are to-day less ready to respond to the appeals of the Holy Spirit than years ago? Herein lies a grave peril. This position is the most solemn and dangerous that it is possible to occupy. An alarm-clock unheeded will soon fail to arouse us. So with the heart. Stirred for years by the Holy Spirit, but in vain, it becomes hardened, calloused, and less susceptible to the call of God. The sin against the Holy Ghost is not some sin of such awful turpitude that God will not forgive it; for “all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men.” But if we continue to disregard the call of duty, smother the convictions of the Holy Spirit, and refuse to give up known sins, the heart becomes hardened, and we may reach a place where it is impossible to renew us “again unto repentance” (Heb. 6:6), having placed ourselves beyond the reach of the Spirit of God, the only thing in the earth which convinces of sin and changes the wicked, deceitful heart of man. “There are none so hardened as those who have slighted the invitation of mercy, and done despite to the Spirit of grace. The most common manifestation of the sin against the Holy Spirit, is in persistently slighting heaven’s invitation to repent. Every step in the rejection of Christ is a step toward the rejection of salvation, and toward the sin against the Holy Spirit. In rejecting Christ the Jewish people committed the unpardonable sin; and by refusing the invitation of mercy we may commit the same error.”—“Desire of Ages,” page 324. To continue in sin is exceedingly dangerous. Sin is an opiate. Every refusal to yield the heart to God, obtunds our moral feeling and increases our drowsiness. Paul speaks of a class who, because of sin, have reached a place where they are “past feeling.” Eph. 4:19. This terrible condition is not reached at one step, but gradually. Sinning, living in violation of known duty, disregarding the plain injunctions of the Word, daily hardening our hearts against the appeals of the Holy Spirit, deadens our spiritual faculties until the truths of God’s Word can be heard with the ear, but they move our hearts no more. Unless we change this condition, the time will come when the most terrible warnings which ever fell on the ears of mortals will fail to stir us in any degree whatever, and we become dead, “past feeling.” Like the man who is freezing, yet feels comfortable, so sin has its congealing effect, and we do not, because of continued violation of our conscience, sense our real condition. This is a lamentable and an alarming condition indeed. Can any one ever be recalled from this terrible stupor of insensibility when once reached? We would not limit God, but the risk is too great to be considered. Physical death is not so much to be dreaded as the death of moral feeling or spiritual perception. “There is a line by us unseen,
That crosses every path,—
The hidden boundary between
God’s patience and his wrath.
O! where is this mysterious bourne
By which our path is crossed,—
Beyond which God himself hath
sworn
That he who goes is lost?”
Have you lived past the meridian of life, yet unconverted? Have you felt the drawing influence of the Holy Spirit, and resolved that you would give yourself wholly to God, but are still standing out against the Lord, expecting sometime to yield and obey when circumstances are more favorable? Beware! There is danger in procrastination. The alarm-clock of the soul may warn unheard ere long, and you be “past feeling.” In a few short years at most probation will close, and the irrevocable doom of the ungodly be pronounced, and upon your unsaved neighbors and friends, rich and poor alike, will fall the seven last and terrible plagues, and on every hand will be heard the lamentations and unutterable woe of the eternally lost. This terrible truth is enough to move a heart of stone. Does it move you as it should, or as it once did, my brother? Why this insensibility, almost “past feeling”? Let the tocsin be sounded, that the latent energy of the soul may be awakened. Can you listen, unmoved, to the plaintive cry which comes from the unwarned millions of the Orient for laborers to come and tell them about the coming One,—you who know that in a “little while” the besom of destruction from a long-suffering God will destroy the nations that forget God? Can you listen to this, and not say, Here I am, Lord, use me anywhere to save souls? Why this dearth of laborers? Why this stupor which has settled like a pall of death upon so many? It is surely time to heed the call, “Awake thou that sleepest.” Can you read the urgent calls from the home and foreign fields for means to establish and extend the work in these fields, and though possessing much of this world’s store, give only a pittance to ease the conscience, an amount less than you once spent before receiving the message for some idol? Do you spend more annually to decorate your home, or for needless articles of dress for yourself, or to pander to the pride of unsanctified members of your household, than to extend the message in the “regions beyond”? Does the spirit of sacrifice burn as brightly in your soul to-day as when you began to obey the truth? Do you give less now than formerly to advance the message? It is surely time to awake from the deadly stupor of the enemy. Have we allowed the world to enter our hearts, and to chill almost “past feeling” the tender love of God for lost souls? Have we lost our first love? Is the prevailing iniquity in the earth deadening our spirituality? The Lord calls us to repentance. The end of all things is upon us, and it is time we were honest with ourselves. In heaven it has been decided to end the delay in the prolonged controversy in the earth, and it is time that in the strength of God we cut loose from sin, and put a period to this everlasting delay and compromise with sin in our own experience. MRS. S. N. HASKELL
By Mrs. S. N. Haskell
THERE are three sanctuaries brought to view in the Bible. The heavenly sanctuary is the dwelling-place of the eternal God (Ps. 102:19), where he sits enthroned in glory beyond the conception of mortal minds. 1 Tim. 6:16. We have the blessed assurance that the faithful, beyond the reign of sin and death, shall behold his face, and his name shall be in their foreheads. Rev. 22:4; Matt. 5:8. They will then dwell in his presence. When the children of Israel came out of the darkness of Egyptian bondage, they were unable to comprehend the exalted work of God and Christ in man's behalf in the heavenly sanctuary. In order to lift them above this low plane,10 God directed that an earthly sanctuary be built after the pattern of the heavenly sanctuary (Ex. 25:8, 9), and that men divinely appointed by God officiate as priests in this shadowy temple. Heb. 8:4, 5. He also directed that the life of innocent animals be taken, illustrating the death of the Lamb of God. The Lord's presence was manifested in this structure by the bright light overshadowing the mercy-seat. Ex. 25:22. Before this visible presence of God, the priests presented the blood of the offerings in type, illustrating how our great High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary would plead his blood before the Father in man's behalf. The work of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary, and the work of the priests in the earthly temple, had one end in view,—that fallen man would open his heart to the gentle knocking of the Saviour, and let the Spirit of Christ enter and sit enthroned in the soul temple of the human body. “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price, therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.” 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. We are under just as much obligation to glorify God in our body as in our spirit. In order to do either we must recognize the fact that we are not our own; but that we are bought with the precious blood of Christ. One can not be a Christian and deny the fact that God, when the individual surrenders to Christ, requires the body temple as his dwelling-place. “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” Rom. 12:1. This work can only be accomplished by a heart surrender to God. A wicked person can not be the dwelling-place of God. “He that hath the Son hath life” (1 John 5:12), but no “murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.” 1 John 3:15. He that hungereth and thirsteth after righteousness will be filled. It is the one who, hearing the voice, opens the door, whose body becomes the temple, or dwelling-place, of the God of heaven. Higher Christianity
By C. A. HANSEN
From the thousands of testimonies to which I have listened, there is no doubt in my mind that many are really questioning within themselves as to whether they will stand in the presence of the devouring flames of the judgment day, or after many years of trial, be castaways, and lose heaven and eternity. Perhaps the following plain questions might be an aid in testing one's Christian experience: Am I to-day as far advanced as I might have been, had I done all to stand? Do I pray to God every day in secret? Is there anything nearer or dearer to me just now than my Redeemer? Am I indulging in any habit that grieves my Saviour? Am I cross at home? or am I trying to make it pleasant for all around me? Would any one who does not know that I belong to the church, think that I am a Christian? Do I pay tithe, and give offerings to advance the missionary work? If we can not satisfactorily answer such questions as these, may we not at least discern the reason why we have not advanced faster in our walk with God—the reason we are so weak and have such a dry experience? And is it not high time to break loose from the Sodom we are living in, and make some radical changes to-day? Satan will offer excuses, but let us remember that right here is where we are to rise above the world, condemn every sin, and form a character for eternity. We must be perfect. We must stand before the throne without fault. No matter how long we have cherished sin, nor how natural wrong habits may be, whatever grieves Jesus, must go. Let us talk of our doubts to no one but Jesus. We may go to him with all confidence. He would have us tell him of our weaknesses and discouragements, tell him alone. If we fail to love the dear Saviour as we ought, if we do not yearn for his coming, let us hasten to the secret closet, and there tell him about it, and plead with him to set us free from doubt, unbelief, and the snare the enemy has thrown around our feet. Let us remain in that secret closet till the carnal spirit has left us, and the sweet atmosphere of heaven fills our hearts, then go forth and give to other darkened hearts the rays of comfort we ourselves have received. If every true-hearted Christian would continue this course, day by day, we should soon hear of practised "Higher Christianity." Such a life would preach Christ, and hasten his advent, by speaking to every burdened heart of a better way to live, and giving assurance that— “This world has no sorrow for to-day or
to-morrow
But Jesus has known it and felt long
ago,
And when it comes o’er me, and I’m
tempted so sorely,
I will tell it to Jesus my Lord.”
The Contagious Energy of Unbelief
UNBELIEF has a contagious energy wholly independent of reason no less than has faith, and affects multitudes who know nothing of its grounds, as the iceberg chills the summer air for leagues, and makes the sailors shiver long before they see its barren peaks.—Maclaren. The Sunshine and Joy of Today
“There are bitter herbs enough
In the brimming cup of to-day,
Without the sprig of rue
From to-morrow’s unknown way.” “Then take the meal that is spread,
And go with a song on thy way,
And let not the morrow shade
The sunshine and joy of to-day.” If we could see beyond to-day,
As God can see;
If all the clouds should roll away,
The shadows flee,
O'er present griefs we would not fret,
Each sorrow we would soon forget;
For many joys are waiting yet
For you and me. If we could know beyond to-day,
As God doth know,
Why dearest treasures pass away,
And tears must flow,
And why the darkness leads to light,
Why, dreary paths will soon grow bright!
Some day life's wrongs will be made right;
Faith tells us so. If we could see, if we could know,
We often say.
But God in love a veil doth throw
Across our way;
We can not see what lies before,
And so we cling to him the more;
He leads us till this life is o'er;
Trust and obey. THAT there is something the matter with Spain no well-informed person will doubt. It has dropped from the position of a first-class power to that of a third or fourth-class power. Mr. William E. Curtis, special correspondent of the Chicago Record-Herald, who has recently been traveling in Spain, writes that the trouble with Spain is:— - Too much pride.
- Too much politics.
- Too little respect for the dignity of labor.
- Lack of enterprise.
- Too many old-fashioned notions about the proper habits of a gentleman.
- Too many crowded monasteries and empty churches to support.
- Too few schools.
- Too many holidays.
- Too many cigarettes.
- Too much dishonesty in official circles.
Perhaps I might properly include other items in this enumeration of “what is the matter with Spain,” but these are the principal evils, and the people will never be prosperous until they change their habits and their notions on the points mentioned. For example, about one third of the three hundred and sixty-five days in the year are holidays authorized by the church, and their celebration is encouraged by the priests on the theory that religious interest is thereby stimulated and contributions are increased. The earning power of the laboring classes is not only reduced more than thirty per cent by this loss of time, but there is so much drinking and fighting that half the laboring population require an additional day to sleep off the effects of the celebrations. Do those who hope to make the United States a Roman Catholic country expect it as a result of its loyalty to the Roman Church, to be like Spain?—Northwestern Christian Advocate. When Papa Comes Home at Night
By Percy F. Bicknell
How the children's faces brighten,
How they drop their toys and books,
How the mother's burdens lighten,
How expectant each one looks,
How the youngsters run to meet him,
How they shout in their delight,
How they throng to kiss and greet him—
When papa comes home at night! How all troubles seem to vanish,
How all little quarrels cease,
How he seems all gloom to banish,
How he brings in joy and peace,
How his smile smooths every wrinkle,
How he sets all wrong aright,
How he unkinks every crinkle—
When papa comes home at night! Blest, ah, blest beyond all speaking
Is that happy family
With a loving father seeking
To preserve it trouble-free.
Let no harm, we pray, come near him—
Sudden death—untimely blight;
But long may his children cheer him—
When papa comes home at night! MR. JENNINGS had passed his three-score and ten, and had come to a time of enforced inactivity. A long illness kept him for months in bed, and when he recovered, he had dropped out of the procession; every one recognized his breakdown as the unmistakable sign that his days of work were over. Mr. Jennings was not altogether happy. He almost resented the fact that the church and the community could get on so well without him, and it seemed hard that his manly vigor, carried so finely into old age, should waste in unwilling idleness, with nothing to look forward to but final helplessness and death. “I stay at home and pray,” he said, “but I can do nothing to answer my own prayers. I can’t go to meeting, and I have little chance to influence any one for good. The world has gone by while I have been resting by the way, and I can’t catch up.” Mrs. Jennings comforted him, and the aged pair sat down together, making the most of each other’s companionship, and daily praying for the Lord’s work, which was going on without them. One morning the two old saints finished their breakfast, read their chapter in the Bible, and knelt down, according to their custom, to thank God for their blessings, to ask his guidance and care for the grown-up and scattered family, and his benediction on the work which others were doing, and in which they no longer had a share. While they were on their knees, a ladder rose against the open window, and a man began to ascend. The old couple were a little deaf, and prayed on. The carpenter, who had come to repair the roof by the bay window, ascended two rounds, and stopped. He stood for a minute, at least, undecided whether to go up or down or to stay where he was; then he descended quietly and stole away. A little way from the house the carpenter sat down in the shade and waited. The prayer was not a short one, and its tones still came to him. He recalled the words he had heard on the ladder, and his eyes filled with tears; he brushed them away, but they came again; he thought of another gray-haired couple, now dead, who never failed, while they lived, to pray to God for an absent son. He remounted the ladder at length, but the accents of that prayer rose and fell in his ears with the tapping of the hammer; and when Mr. Jennings came out and leaned on his staff and inquired about the repairs which the roof needed, the carpenter felt as if he had received a benediction. All this was eight months ago, in Chicago. A few days ago Mr. Jennings’ door-bell rang, and a man entered, and said: “I am the carpenter who repaired your roof last spring. I had godly parents, but I entered the army, and led a hard life. I had not been to church nor heard a prayer for years. I heard your prayer when I put up the ladder. For eight months, by the help of God, I have lived a new life.” Then Mr. and Mrs. Jennings knelt down again and thanked God for an unexpected answer to their prayers.—Selected. JEHOVAH'S instruction to his ancient people was very full and explicit concerning the public worship in the sanctuary, but it was also explicit concerning the teaching of God's fear, God's truth, and God's providence in the home: “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. . . . And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.” Deut. 6:6-9; see also verses 20-25. The solemn meaning of the feast of the passover was to be carefully explained in the home circle (Ex. 12:25-27; 13:8, 14, 15), as was also the significance of the twelve stones which were brought up from Jordan to Gilgal on the day that witnessed the wonderful passage of the nation through the angry waters into the land of promise. No man can measure the influence of the devout acknowledgment of God in the home. Those who go out from godly homes may for long years seem to forget the early instruction, but how often, perhaps under some peculiar circumstance, the recollection and the influence of the childhood home come over the soul with overwhelming power, and the good seed so long buried yields its blessed fruitage. The following incident well illustrates this truth:— “Some years ago an English gentleman visited America, and spent some days with a pious friend. He was a man of talent and accomplishments, but an infidel. Four years afterward he returned to the same house, a Christian. They wondered at the change, but little suspected when and where it had originated. He told them that, when he was present at their family worship, on the first evening of his former visit, and when, after the chapter was read, they all knelt down to pray, his recollection of such scenes rushed on his memory, so that he did not hear a single word. But the occurrence made him think, and his thoughtfulness ended in his leaving the barren wilderness of infidelity, and finding a quiet rest in the salvation wrought out by Jesus Christ.”—Selected.