Earlier text: TWO OBJECTS OF SATANIC MALICETHE RAILWAY AND THE DRINKER.
By C. M. S.
The New Voice has been making a systematic canvass of the railroad companies of the United States to ascertain how they stand on the question of liquor-using employes, and announces the result of its investigations in its issue of May 16. The facts therein brought to light are certainly important, especially when considered in connection with the position taken by the War Department on the temperance question. Of the ninety-four principal railways to which letters of inquiry had been sent, forty-nine had submitted the information desired. Of these forty-nine, thirty absolutely forbid employes frequenting saloons, under pain of dismissal. Total abstinence, both while on and off duty, is required by twenty of the roads, whose officials responded to the inquiry. Only two of the roads so replying have rules merely against “intemperance.” The position taken by those failing to report in the matter can only be surmised; but it is safe to say that a considerable number of these roads have regulations governing their employes similar to those who submitted replies. Thus we see the estimate which these great corporations place upon the trustworthiness of even the moderate drinker, as compared with the employe who abstains from all intoxicating drink. The liquor-drinker, even when not strictly under the influence of drink, is not as reliable, either for steady, exacting duty, or in a crisis where steady nerve and cool judgment are demanded, as is the man who takes no ardent stimulant. Many of these roads also have regulations in reference to the use of tobacco. Some of them will employ no person known to be a user of cigarettes, and those who contract the habit while in the employ of the roads are dismissed. This is as it should be. The lives of those who travel should not be placed in jeopardy by the unnerving of the men who have to do with the operating of the road. If this is a sound policy for a corporation to adopt for its employes, it certainly is a sound policy for each individual to adopt for himself. The effect of liquor and tobacco upon the employe, which makes his services undesirable, simply indicates the ruin which those things are bringing about in his constitution. The corporation has no use for him because he is unreliable; he should have no use for the liquor because of the terrible ruin it is causing in his own system. It is because it is ruining him that his services are undesirable; and it is because of the ruin which it is causing thru the length and breadth of the land that the influence of Christians should be exerted against it in every legitimate way. THE CHRISTIAN NATION.
By C. M. S.
The Marquis of Salisbury, in a recent speech at the Non-Conformist Unionist Association, after making reference to the sad retrospect of the past two years, and the 15,000 lives that were snuffed out in South Africa among the troops of England, is reported to have said, “It is a grievous retrospect; yet from it any suggestion of wrong on the part of the empire is absolutely absent.” A government, even a so-called Christian government, can engage in the systematic slaughter of men, and yet feel perfectly free from any “suggestion of wrong.” Is any other argument necessary to show that earthly governments are not Christian? There may be the most faithful, earnest Christians under the rule of every government on earth; and yet not one of those governments is entitled to the name Christian. That being is Christian that is patterned after Christ; but9 there is no government on earth that is carrying out the principles enunciated by Christ. That being is Christian who is accepted of Christ; but there is not a government on earth to-day that Christ accepts, for He said, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Therefore there is not a Christian nation on the earth to-day. God is saving men out of the nations that exist to-day; and those who are so saved He will make subjects of the only Christian nation that will ever be in this earth. That will be an everlasting kingdom, and the dwellers therein shall never die. Dan. 7:27. That nation will wage no war, carry on no conquests, slay no men, hang no murderers, imprison no malefactors; for “the former things are passed away.” That will be a Christian nation; for there will be none but Christians under that dominion. C. M. S. INCREASING USE OF NARCOTICS.
If alcoholic intemperance were the only evil thing which confronted the true reformer, there would be more hope; but it is questionable whether the use of tobacco, opium, morphine, and other narcotics, is not doing far more injury to the people than the use of alcohol, because so much more insidious. The increase of the use of narcotics may be indicated somewhat by the following, from the Rutland Herald, on the “Use of Narcotics” in said old Vermont:— “Dr. A. P. Grinnell, of Burlington, has been making some investigations as to the consumption of narcotics in Vermont, and the facts, as he finds them, are astonishing. We can hardly believe his statement that ‘in the regular drug-stores, and in 160 of the 172 general stores in the State of Vermont, there are sold every month 3,300,000 doses of opium, besides what is dispensed in patent medicines; and besides what the doctors dispense, which gives 1½ doses of opium to every man and woman in the State above the age of 21 years, every day of the year. By dose I mean one grain opium, one-eighth grain morphine, one-half ounce paregoric, and 20 drops laudanum. The amount consumed each month means a half-dose for every man, woman, and child in the State every day of the year.’” “Dr. Grinnell had considerable difficulty in getting at the facts. He was compelled to send a second series of letters on account of the incompleteness of some of the answers. ‘The amounts given in some instances,’ says the doctor, ‘were so large that I thought they must have estimated by the year instead of by the month, and I sent the questions back with a stamped envelope. They were returned with the statement that the reports were correct. When I tell you that in one place, so small that it hardly shows on the map, 3½ pounds of gum opium, six ounces of morphine, five pints of paregoric, five pints of laudanum, and three ounces of powdered quinine are consumed in a month, it will be hard for you to believe it. In another town where there are two drug-stores (one refused to give me any information, and in such cases I put it down as zero), one store alone sold three pounds of opium, one gallon of paregoric, three-fourths gallon laudanum, five ounces powdered quinine, and 1,000 two-grain quinine pills. Another store, situated not many miles from Burlington, sold only five ounces opium, two ounces morphine, eight quarts laudanum, and six of paregoric. This was a retail drug-store. A druggist in a town of considerable consequence replied that he did not sell very much of these things, so I put it down as zero. Another druggist in another town said, ‘I could not tell you, because I have no time to look over my books.’ I put that down as zero. And there were others who answered about the same way, or gave meager information, and I placed them all in the zero column.’” How can a people soaked in alcohol or stupefied by narcotics rightly weigh the tremendous moral issues of these times? What can be hoped of him who will follow the voice of such a people as the voice of God? We sometimes hear that the pope is not interested in politics or the governmental affairs of earth, but the following from the Catholic World Magazine for May shows that Leo XIII. is doing among other things a fair share of politics, and evidently much more than is here suggested:— “All this work is done by a man who is daily engaged in the field of politics and diplomacy; in furthering, for instance, the submission of French Catholics to the existing form of government; of opposing Carlist pretensions in Spain; of arguing with the Russian government for the more humane treatment of Catholics in the Muscovite Empire; of seeking the reunion of dissident and schismatic Catholics of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman dominions; of writing personal letters to the potentates of Europe, and to the civilized and semi-civilized rulers of Asia and Africa; of controlling and supervising the work of the various sacred Roman Congregations; of keeping account of the state of religion in his own particular diocese—that of Rome—and of attending to myriads of other details, besides giving odd moments to the composition of encyclicals and apostolic letters, and even of Latin verses. All this, again, is performed by a man in his ninety-second year, daily receiving a multitude of visitors from all quarters of the globe, hearing their narratives and querying them, with a minuteness that involves the exercise of a prodigious memory, regarding the details of religion and the progress of civilization in their various districts.” This is what the Master declares will be a characteristic of the last days. “And because iniquity [lawlessness, disregard of law] shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Matt. 24:12, 13. The abounding lawlessness is everywhere manifest not less so are the evidences of love waxing cold in the courts of Zion. Here is an instance, one among many, which we take from the Christian Advocate of May 9:— “Literal Description of a Certain Methodist Church.
“A Methodist church has not far from 300 members; it is beautifully located amidst an intelligent population, and on pleasant Sundays quite well attended. But seldom is the voice of any member under forty years of age heard in the weekly prayer-meeting, nor do more than three below that age take active interest in the church, and these are perhaps twenty-five or twenty-eight years of age. The young men of the congregation seldom attend the morning service, and not many of them attend the evening service. Even in the social assemblies and entertainments of the church, the workers are generally women in middle life. Yet the community swarms with young people, many of whom are worthy of high admiration, seem to love and desire to know the truth, and to be willing to do right, but the church is not reaching them. Unless there is a speedy change, that church is doomed to disintegration. Within fifteen, or at most twenty, years the leaders and workers will be disqualified or dead. None are ready, or becoming ready, to take their places. “What is the matter? Life never brings forth the fruits of death. Death is decomposition; life is construction. Most of the people seem content while they find the pastor pleasant company; and not more than one pastor has appeared to have any burden on his heart. Yet no church where the pastor and the people are growing in grace, anxious for the wisdom that winneth souls, can be in such a state. Nor can a spiritual pastor and an unspiritual people long be on happy terms, nor a spiritual people long bear the incubus of a careless pastor, however popular he may be in the outside community.” It is in no spirit of criticism that we repeat these things. Would God there was the same power among Methodists now that was seen in the days of the Wesleys. But these stern facts are sad facts which point out sad conditions. A dying Christianity can not even help the world. A love waxing cold will not beget love or win the world-loving. The church needs reforming; but the reforming power must be the transforming power of Christ’s life received not from error-perverted traditions or dead creeds, but from the living Word of God, regardless of creeds. God’s message of transformation is Rev. 14:6-12. THE HUNGER FOR WAR.
By C. M. S.
This is not a time of peace, nor of love of peace. The Gospel of peace does not hold the attention of the masses, and many who claim the name of Christian are loud in their plaudits of the heroes of the battle-field. The literature of war is the literature that sells. What our red-wet histories do not supply is furnished by the fervid imagination of the fiction-vender, and novels of the battle-field type are being turned out by the hundred thousand—and turned out in such quantities because the people are demanding that kind of literature. One book reviewer, in referring to this fact, says, “If you believe that the fiction-reading public is wearying of blood and battle, and craving a respite from the historical romance, you need but to read the titles of the popular novels issued in April to be convinced of your mistake.” There were eighty-eight of these war romances issued in the month of April; and April is not an exception in this matter. It is but an indication of the trend in public reading. This increased drugging of the mind is in perfect harmony and keeping perfect step with the increased drugging of the body, mentioned elsewhere in these columns, and shows a tendency far removed from the cultivation of peace. These retrograding conditions are deplorable, and their results unspeakably sad. C. M. S. General Wheeler Opposes Army Canteens
The National Temperance Society has planned for a national temperance congress, to be held at Rochester, N. Y., from August 3 to 15. General Joseph Wheeler was present at the meeting which planned this congress. In an address in reference to the use of liquor in the army, General Wheeler said that fully one-half the young men who joined the army had come from good homes, where they had been brought up to let liquor alone, and he considered it wrong for the government to place this class of young men in such surroundings that their only chance of recreation was in the presence of a bar. He held that if it was wise for corporations and business men to require total abstinence on the part of their employees, it was equally wise for the government to encourage total abstinence in the army. He favored the continuance of the anti-canteen law. General Wheeler has had a long experience in army life, and has been in a position to know the real merits of the temperance question in the army. Further than that, he would have nothing to gain in taking the position he does—except a clear conscience. He knows, as every unprejudiced, thinking man and woman knows, that liquor in the army, as everywhere else, is evil and only evil. Railway Control Changes Hands
An almost amusing feature in the present consolidation of railways is the fact that roads have changed hands without the knowledge of the officials having charge. This was true in the case of the C. B. and Q. railway. In one instance, the Springfield Republican tells us, the president of a large railway company was waited upon in his office by a young capitalist who bluntly informed him that he (the young man) now controlled the road. This was the first the president had heard of it, and he promptly tendered his resignation, which was not accepted, tho that of several of the directors was. It is extremely difficult to tell what men control or own some of these great trust companies nowadays. Watch Trust Plan Abandoned
It is reported that the plan to form a watch trust has been abandoned for the present on account of the refusal of a number of large manufacturers to join the combine. Pan-American Exposition Opens in Buffalo
THE Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo, N. Y., formally opened its doors to the public on May 20. The opening was preceded by a parade, in which persons from nearly every country in the world took part, and ended with an aerial bombardment from flying bombs and a brilliant electric illumination. One of the features of the opening was the flight of 10,000 homing pigeons. Suddenly released from captivity, the pigeons arose in a great cloud, circling round and round thru the towers of the buildings. Then breaking away, they soon disappeared to all points of the compass, bearing their messages announcing the dedication of the exposition. New Battleship Ohio Launched
The new battleship Ohio was launched at the shipyards of the Union Iron Works, San Francisco, on May 18, President McKinley and the governor of Ohio being present at the launching. This vessel will be one of the three largest in the American navy. She is 388 feet long, 72 feet in breadth, and her displacement is 12,440 tons. Her battery consists of 4 twelve-inch breech-loading rifles, 16 six-inch rapid-fire guns, 6 three-inch rapid-fire guns, 8 six-pounder rapid-fire guns, 6 one-pounders, 2 two-pounders, and 2 Colts. Her equipment is designed to make her one of the most destructive war vessels afloat. England’s Declining Agriculture
AGRICULTURAL statistics in England show that there has been a rapid falling off both in the number of acres devoted to the raising of wheat and in the amount of land cultivated for green crops. This decline has amounted to 25 per cent. within thirty years, which means that England is becoming more and more dependent upon the rest of the world for the necessaries of life. Her population shows a continued tendency to migrate to the cities, many of which are growing rapidly. Especially is this true of Greater London, which now has a population of more than 6,000,000. Passion Play for Siwash Indians
FATHER CHIROUSE, a Catholic missionary, is instructing a band of Siwash Indians at Chilliwack, B. C., in the production of a passion play, in which he hopes to teach the Indians more of the sufferings of the Lord than he has been able to make them realize heretofore. There is no doubt that the Indians will be interested in the production of the play; there is no doubt also that it will have as little influence for the cause of God as the passion play produced at Oberammergau, which lures the curiosity-seekers from all parts of the world. Turkey Prohibits Typewriters
Turkey has declared against the use or importation of the typewriter in that country, and 200 machines now in the custom-house have been ordered returned to the shippers. The authorities have taken this position because of the impossibility of ascertaining the authorship of type-written manuscript by any distinctive features in the writing, which would enable persons to write seditious matter without fear of being discovered by the government. Powers Debate China's Indemnity Payment
The powers, having practically settled upon the amount of indemnity which China should pay, are now experiencing considerable difficulty in deciding how the money shall be raised. China proposes to raise the customs duty, which would virtually make the powers assist materially in the payment of their own bill. To this the powers object, but they have not yet decided upon a plan to which they can all agree. Chinese Petition for American Control
The War Department has received a petition which had been presented to General Chaffee in Peking by the native Chinese of the district where the American troops have been in control. The petitioners request that the Americans remain in control of that district. The Americans, however, have already begun to evacuate their quarters, and will soon be in Manila. Eclipse Observations in Sumatra
The first reports from the astronomers who went to Sumatra and other places to view and photograph the eclipse indicate that the results generally have been unsatisfactory on account of unfavorable weather. The Boston party on Sumatra seems to have been an exception in this regard, and to have obtained results highly satisfactory. Machinists’ Strike Across the United States
A GREAT strike of machinists is now in progress thruout the United States. In many places the employers have acceded to the machinists’ demands, and in such shops strikes have not occurred. A great many shops, however, have refused to yield to the demands of the machinists, and about 50,000 were out on strike on May 21. Malvar Declares Himself Dictator
GENERAL MALVAR, who was expected to surrender with his command to the American commander in the Philippines, has now declared himself dictator of the Filipinos, to carry on the work laid down by Aguinaldo. He will make an effort to reconstruct the Filipino forces, and put new life into the Filipino cause. St. Petersburg Strike Suppressed
THE St. Petersburg strike has been practically crushed thru the stern measures taken by the military. Many have been injured in the rioting incident to the suppression of the strike. Of the employees of one institution alone 250 men have been placed under arrest. Large Reflecting Telescope for Yerkes Observatory
A LARGE horizontal reflecting telescope is being constructed for the Yerkes Observatory. The telescope itself has a focal length of 165 feet. MacArthur Liberates Filipino Prisoners
ON MAY 20 General MacArthur celebrated the surrender of two Filipino generals by liberating 1,000 Filipino prisoners. Presbyterians Protest Sunday Exposition Opening
The Presbyterian General Assembly is now (May 20) in session at Philadelphia. During its session on the date mentioned, a resolution was adopted deprecating the action of the directors of the Pan-American Exposition at Buffalo in opening its gates on Sunday, and earnestly urging the closing of the Exposition on that day. The committee on “Sabbath Observance” brought in a report, which was adopted, protesting against “seven-day journalism,” commending Congress for making its appropriation to the St. Louis Exposition conditional upon the closing of its gates on Sunday, and deprecating the use of that day for the promotion of business and commercial interests. Leadville Plans to Mine Its Streets
THE city of Leadville, Colorado, is planning to mine all its streets and alleys. A recent decision of the Supreme Court gives the city absolute right, both surface and subterranean, to the streets and alleys of the city, and it is designed to use the proceeds of the mining to pay the expenses of the city government. The report states that the city is in a fair way to pay dividends to its citizens instead of taxing them to pay for the municipal government. Albany Street-Car Strike Ends in Bloodshed
THE great street-car strike in Albany, N. Y., has been brought to a close, but not without bloodshed. Many persons have been injured by bricks, stones, and clubs, and on one occasion the soldiers fired into the crowd, killing two men. More than 3,000 troops were on duty during the strike; but even these were powerless at times to protect from injury, the company's property, or the men who were operating it. Deaths of Three Notable Figures
DEATH has come to three persons of note within the past week; namely, Edwin F. Uhl, former Assistant Secretary of State and ambassador to Germany; Congressman Charles A. Boutelle, of Maine; and Mrs. Lyman J. Gage, wife of the present Secretary of the Treasury. Public Libraries and Fiction Reading
It is stated that the public libraries of this country have doubled within the last twenty years. This is taken by some as conclusive evidence of an increasing thirst for knowledge; but it is truer evidence of the great prevalence of fiction reading on the part of the masses. Sultan Yields on Foreign Mails
THREATS of force from the powers have at last induced the Sultan to yield to their demands in the matter of mails. The Porte promises to apologize for interfering with mails from the foreign embassies in Constantinople and to grant them their former immunity. San Francisco Iron-Workers Strike
SEVEN thousand iron-workers are now on strike in San Francisco, owing to the refusal of their employers to yield to the demand for a nine-hour day with increased rate of pay. The iron-workers are adding their strength to that of the machinists who are on strike. Tensions Over Shoshone Ration Distribution
The Indians on the Shoshone Reservation in Wyoming are threatening trouble over the distribution of rations. The Indians are assuming a defiant attitude toward their Indian agent, and he has asked the government for troops to suppress them. The present naval strength of Russia amounts to 23 battleships of the first class and 23 cruisers of the first class, 16 coast-defense ships, together with a large number of second and third class cruisers, gunboats, torpedo boats, destroyers, and transports. Carnegie’s Gift to Scottish Universities
Andrew Carnegie is reported to have given $10,000,000 to the four Scotch universities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, and St. Andrew’s. The donor stipulates that only Scotchmen shall be beneficiaries of his gift. Bindon Blood Captures 1,000 Boers
GENERAL BINDON BLOOD has just completed a campaign against the Boers in the Northern Transvaal, which has resulted in the capture of 1,000 of the burghers, with great quantities of supplies, stock, and wagons. Cuban Convention Tables Platt Amendment Reports
The Cuban Constitutional Convention on May 20 tabled both the majority and minority report in reference to accepting the Platt amendment, with the understanding that they would be taken up at a later date. Russian Officers Imprisoned for Mapping Nagasaki
THREE Russian officers, who were caught making maps of the harbor of Nagasaki and adjacent fortifications, have been sentenced by the Japanese Government to six months' imprisonment. German Railroad Planned in East Africa
The German Government is planning to build a railroad in East Africa from Dares Salaam to Mrogoro, a distance of 140 miles, for the purpose of opening up the country to settlement. England’s Battleship Building Plans
ENGLAND is preparing to outdo all her rivals in navy building. Next year she will build three 18,000-ton battleships, which will be 3,000 tons larger than any vessel now afloat. Lead and Oil Companies Unite
The Union Lead and Oil Company and the American Linseed Oil Company are to unite and form a lead and oil trust with a capital of $17,000,000. Mrs. McKinley's Health Improves
ALTHO Mrs. McKinley's life was nearly despaired of during her visit to San Francisco, the latest reports indicate her restoration to usual health. BIBLE ELECTION.
By M. C. Wilcox
By M. C. Wilcox. A brief presentation of God's plan and purpose concerning man, showing that the doctrine of election, or predestination, according to the Bible, is full of comfort and instruction. It throws new light on old controversies. Bible Students' Library, No. 67; 24 pp.; price 3 cents. Address Pacific Press Pub. Co., Oakland, Cal. WANTED—A BOY.
By Frances Bennett Callaway
THERE is not a place of vice in this country,” declares Mrs. Mabel Conklin, the purity worker, “which has not over its door the sign, ‘Wanted—A boy.’” In confirmation she gives the story of two little boys in Brooklyn, playing innocently on a sand-pile in the street, when a saloon-keeper coming to his door called to them. The children ran to him at once without fear. No one had ever hurt them. Why should they be afraid? Taking them inside the door, the saloon-keeper mixed two small glasses of brandy with sugar and water, and gave it to them to drink, asking them if it was not good. “What did you do that for?” demanded an old toper who, altho a habitue of the place, had looked on with amazement. “O, I know what I am about,” returned the saloon-keeper. “Those children have their homes in this neighborhood. I am only training them now, so that when they are older they will come into my place of their own accord.” Some months ago at a brewers’ convention, the question came up as to who would fill the places of the drunkards who are constantly dying off. The question proved to be a serious one; for unless something could be done, business would go down. Finally a young man arose, and in a brilliant speech, suggested that the boys be brought in. He closed with these ringing words, which have been commented upon all over the country, “Nickels spent in this way to-day, mean dollars in our pockets to-morrow.” Following this advice, saloon-keepers are now making the effort to bring in little boys, in some cases even offering them handsome gifts to draw them across the threshold. It is not hard to lure this fearless, confiding boy into the saloon. His tired, nervous mother can not bear his noise at home; his sister considers him a torment; his father would not be troubled with him on any account, so he is turned loose on the street. With ruddy cheeks and sparkling eyes, and a laugh that bubbles over with honest joy, this boisterous little lad is always looking out for fun. Is it strange, then, that a strain of music, a glitter of light, or even a trifling gift should attract him to the only place that stands wide open for boys at any time of day or night? The saloon-keeper realizes that to-morrow this boy will be a young man, and young men are his best-paying patrons. “When we realize,” says one observer, “how few young men are in our churches and Sunday-schools, and how many are to be found in saloons and jails, an alarm should startle us as with a fire-bell.” Besides the saloon, the snare of the cigaret is awaiting this boy. He thinks it is manly to smoke. He cherishes among his possessions a button gaily ornamented with the picture of some great hero, and a bright-colored motto assuring him that a certain kind of cigaret “is the best thing in the world.” On the way to school, great blazing posters in red and yellow remind him of the cigaret said to be “recommended by the highest medical authority.” To be sure, the small boy is warned against cigarets, but no one is willing to sit down and in a half hour’s reasonable conversation explain to him why he is forbidden to smoke them. In a great city the lowest and most miserable of creatures may be seen on the streets gathering cigar-stubs out of the gutters, or in the saloons fishing them up with sharp-pointed iron rods as they float in the spittoons. This accumulated filth when gathered up is carried to a factory, where it is soaked in great vats of liquid medicated with alcohol and opium, and a dash of nicotine to give the cigarets a pure Havana flavor. When dried and rolled, this preparation is sold to the confiding boy, who believes it to be the best thing in the world. The stand employers are taking in regard to cigarets may be judged from the report that one of our leading railroad companies is to discharge all the cigaret-smokers among its brakemen. “Why not?” comments an editorial. “A man or boy who sucks himself full of cigaret poison is only one degree removed from an imbecile, and the sooner he realizes his true position the better for him.” In the same paper is found the following advertisement:— “Wanted—A boy with fair common-school education, from sixteen to seventeen years of age, to learn the printing trade. No boy who smokes cigarets, or who expects at any future time to become a cigaret-smoker, need apply.” While nearly all the men and women in Japan smoke, they are convinced that it reduces the strength of body and mind, and for this reason have passed a law forbidding smoking materials to be sold to any boy or girl under twenty. They hope for much good from this anti-tobacco law, for after twenty these young people will not be so liable to learn to smoke. The law itself is strictly enforced, and not long ago two American lads were arrested in the depot at Tokio for smoking, and their smoking materials confiscated.—Frances Bennett Callaway. ARE THE CHILDREN SAFE?
By Mrs. J. F. Willing
There were some people living on the shore of the bay near Boston. Just back of the garden gate was a stake driven into the ground, to which a boat was fastened by a rope. When the tide was out the boat was on dry ground; but when the tide came in it would come up around the boat, and the children would get in and let the little waves teeter them this way and that. One day they stayed out at their play longer than usual. Their mother missed them, and began to look for them. She went to her neighbor’s house and asked, “Have you seen anything of my children?” “Yes,” said the neighbor; “I saw them playing in the boat after the tide came up around it.” Then the mother ran down to the garden walk and looked for the boat, but it was gone. Then she knew that the children, playing in the boat, loosed the rope from the stake, and when the tide went out it carried them out upon the bay. She looked over the water, but could see nothing of them. Then she began to cry and wring her hands, and all the neighbors came running together, and everybody was in great excitement about those three little children who had been carried out to sea by the tide. They telegraphed to Boston, and men with rowboats came and pulled out upon the water as far as they could go, and looked in every direction; and the tugboats came steaming down, going out this way and that, but nobody could find the children. At last it began to grow dark, and the people built a great fire on the beach and stayed there all night. The mother was on her knees, with her hands clasped and her pale face lifted toward the skies, while her heart prayed in agony that God would take care of her little children in that boat away out upon the lone, dark sea. Early in the morning the people were looking off over the water, when an old sailor, whose eyes were sharper than those of the other people, saw a large ship coming in. He thought perhaps the crew had seen the little boat floating on the water in the night and had picked it up, so he waited till the ship came near. It was weather-beaten, and looked as if it had met storms in coming all the way from India. He put his hands together and made a speaking-trumpet of them, so that his voice would go farther; then he sang out to the sailors on board the great ship, “Any children on board?” Every one was as still as death, and the old sailor himself could almost hear his own heart beat while he waited for an answer. It came presently over the water, faint but clear, “Children all safe!”11 Sure enough, in the night the great ship had picked up the little boat, and the children were all safe. You can hardly think how glad everybody was when they were brought home after their dangerous night out upon the sea. God means the old ship, His church, to have all the little children safe on board. And I think our Saviour, as He sees the ship come in, will call to us to know if we have the children safe on board; and we should then be able to say, “Yes, dear Lord, the children are all safe!” The day is long, and the day is hard;
We are tired of the march and of keeping guard,—
Tired of the sense of a fight to be won,
Of the days to live thru, and of work to be done,—
Tired of ourself and of being alone. And all the while, did we only see,
We walk in the Lord’s own company:
We fight, but ’tis He who nerves our arm;
He turns the arrows which else might harm,
And out of the storm He brings a calm. The work which we count so hard to do,
He makes it easy, for He works too;
The days that are long to live are His,
A bit of His bright eternities;
And close to our need His helping is. O, eyes that were holden and blinded quite,
And caught no glimpse of the dying light;
O deaf, deaf ears, which did not hear
The heavenly garment trailing near!
O faithless heart which dared to fear! TRUTHS RESPECTING PHYSICAL SALVATION.
By David Paulson
Shall We Impart Them to Others?
In the days of Nehemiah the walls around Jerusalem had been torn down, just as the walls of physical resistance have to-day been battered down by the adoption of wrong physical habits. The Lord raised up Nehemiah to institute a great reform, and the walls were again reared, altho it had to be done in troublous times. There is a similar opportunity to-day for divinely-inspired teachers to impart to others the necessary knowledge as to how to restore the walls of physical health and vigor. In Nehemiah’s time the people were gathered together, and Ezra the priest read to them distinctly from the long-forgotten book of the law, and gave the sense; and particular pains were taken that the people should understand the reading. The clear enunciation of these principles stirred hearts; but there were some who could not enjoy the privileges of that wonderful day, and so directions were given that portions should be sent to them for whom nothing was prepared. Neh. 8:8-10. So to-day those who have heard the principles of physical law and understand them—are they not under a similar solemn obligation to impart a knowledge of them to those who have not enjoyed the same advantages? The leaves of the tree of life are for the healing of the nations. Rev. 22:2. But “a wholesome tongue is a tree of life.” Prov. 15:4. And again: “The tongue of the wise is health.” Prov. 12:18. In other words, such a tongue dispenses health principles on every suitable opportunity, and these have healing power in them for all who accept them. One of the signs that follow those who believe is, they shall speak with new tongues. Mark 16:17. The man who is saturated with divine truth will have a new tongue even in his own language. We may certainly be sure that the Christian worker who has not had a new tongue in his own language, will not be given another language to tell that which he has failed to tell in his own language. The man who desires to send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared must send not simply husk, but kernel. He must also furnish substantial facts for every principle that he seeks to maintain. Principles are like the planks on a bridge, but facts are like the spikes that hold them down in place. There are many who go out to teach useful principles and instinctively feel that they are right; yet because they lack the necessary facts to sustain them, they fail to secure the confidence of those who are more or less skeptical in reference to the necessity of reform. DAVID PAULSON, M. D. Chicago, Ill. BEHIND the crest of yonder purpling hill,
Low sinks the splendor-glowing western sun;
The odorous air, profoundly, sweetly still,
Proclaims, with silent voice, that day is done. Upon the breast of Night, in sweet repose,
The wearied Earth reclines her grateful head;
Forgotten, all her sins and griefs and woes,
She dreams Love reigns and all her sorrow sped. Alameda, Cal. MYRA E. BURNS.