WHILE the United States is breaking away from her republican principles there is also a marked and increased activity in the direction of departing from her principles of Protestantism she once held. The country has some five persons under arrest, and the only charge against them is that they worked on Sunday. No fault can be found with them as men. They are honest and upright in every particular. But they observe Saturday, the Bible Sabbath, and hence are placed under arrest. This is a gross breach of the Protestant principles of this country. And then, too, the clamor for still more stringent Sunday laws may still be heard. And since America is to have dependent colonies, the question of a state religion is again coming up for discussion. Thus the old controversies that men had considered dead and buried are arising again. Do not be deceived by the glamor that some are seeking to throw about these things. Look squarely at the facts. The United States is drifting. She is rapidly leaving behind her great principles of Protestant and republican freedom. Despotism, both civil and religious, will soon hurl her to ruin. And the destruction of this country marks the destruction of the world. The prophecies have foretold it, and we see the manifest evidences of their speedy fulfilment.
IN speaking of those who live in the last days, the Lord says: "Men shall be lovers of their own selves . . . lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." 2 Tim. 3: 2, 4. An illustration of the widespread demand for pleasure at the present time, the last days, is seen in the recent proposition of the mayor of Jersey City to furnish dancing space on the streets of the city for those who were compelled to stay in town during the summer months. The mayor's plan is that a block be selected here and there throughout the city, swept clean, made as smooth as a dance floor, and roped off to prevent traffic during the dance, or interference from the rougher element—all for the purpose of keeping the young people from satisfying their thirst for pleasure "in worse places." The admonition to the Christian in such times is: "Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts; for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." James 5: 8. "From such turn away." 2 Tim. 3: 5.
THE latest news which comes to us in the trust line is the combination of all the railway interests of the United States under one central management, headed by Mr. J. Pierpont Morgan, of New York. The object of this combination is to divide the field, establish uniform rates of freight, (with the exception, it is said, of the Standard Oil Company, the president of which, Mr. Rockefeller, is one of the board of management in the railway trust), cut off all county advertising and special rates, dispense with many employees, etc., etc., etc. It will be the greatest combination, involving the most capital, ever known. And it goes without saying, that it is a breeder of trouble, and that it will intensify those already existing.
THE army canteen, that has been such a scandal not only to the army but to the whole country, is to be continued. The government has so decreed, and thus it must be. It is a sad thought that, despite all of the nation's boasted Christianity, still the saloon holds such a power here that men who profess better things are afraid to throw it out of the army camps. Such things as this show that there is not so much Christianity in the hearts of men as there is in their professions. Despite a century of temperance agitation, there is more drunkenness in the world today than ever before. The liquor traffickers never had such a firm hold upon things as they have now. This is a part of the evidence of the truthfulness of the inspired Word in which we are told that "evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse," and what would be the still more terrible condition now had it not been for the noble army of temperance workers who have been used of God in combating the evil?
THE strike situation in Cleveland has been a serious one, necessitating the calling out of the military, 500 soldiers being under order July 22. The following, issued by the strikers' press committee, in an appeal to the public, shows that they justify force: "We believe that force can be applied in many instances, and that it is absolutely essential to the present case. Government protects life and property, but does not regard labor in any light whatever. When great aggregations of capital defy law and wipe out competition, thus minimizing the demand for labor, they must be met by an element strong enough to render their organization futile." Of course that meant more violence, which culminated in the dynamiting, on July 23, of a car loaded with people. The car was wrecked, seven persons were injured, some, it is thought, fatally. At Bridgeton, N. J. (Cumberland Glass Company), and Carterville, Ill. (Bush Coal Mine), there has been violence.
THE art of photography has so advanced that photography in colors has now been successfully performed. One method, that of Prof. R. W. Wood, of the University of Wisconsin, reproduces the colors by diffraction—a new process. The first finished picture is somewhat tedious, but duplicates can be printed as easily as ordinary photographs are made, we are told. The pictures are on glass, and are not only colorless, but almost invisible when viewed in ordinary light, but when placed in a viewing apparatus, show the colors of nature with great brilliancy. This is among the remarkable discoveries which will multiply picture making.
ADMIRAL DEWEY is reported to have said, in speaking of Maximilian's death: "I can not help pitying him. And yet it was right that the end should come as it did; for there must be no empire in America. There can be no other end for those who attempt to erect thrones on this side the ocean." And yet the empire is coming, in fact if not in name. Already, "Imperial America" is often spoken with admiring lips; and, too, the reign of militarism is the reign of imperialism, the reign of absolutism. Rome was called a republic long after she was an empire in fact.
WHILE the Dreyfus matters are progressing in France, the French people are also being treated to a series of sensations because of the Royalist intrigues to overthrow the republic. This is, of course, another outcropping of the old struggles of the French Royalists, that have been continued, more or less, ever since the days of Napoleon Bonaparte. France rejected the Reformation, and she has had nothing but turmoil and revolution ever since, and it looks as tho things will not be any better.
THE papers tell us of another young man, also a young woman, in New York City, made insane by excessive cigarette smoking, and one died from the same cause. How many are there who are one-fourth or one-half insane from the narcotic poison? And added to this list is a five-year-old drunkard—a boy who has delirium tremens from whisky given by his mother for disease. It is horrible.
THE vast capital invested in railways is shown by its great buildings. The shed of New York Central Station in New York City is to be remodeled at a cost of over $500,000.
ONE of the evil tendencies of the day is the preaching of our secular papers. They are more often wrong than right, and they degrade the sacred by mixing it up with the common. For instance, a New York City daily quotes James 5: 1-4, and says: "The laborer is worthy of his hire, and clergymen should advise him to go ahead and get it by fighting for it." The Lord does indeed condemn the grasping and covetous rich, but the poor and oppressed He exhorts: "Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord."
IT has now been demonstrated by Mr. Ottokar Hofman, a civil engineer of Argentine, Kansas, that the human body in perfect darkness emits rays which affect a sensitive plate, operating the same as light in photography. These rays pass through various bodies, non-conductors of electricity, such as rubber and glass, acting the same upon the plate as tho these bodies did not intervene. This opens up a new field of investigation. And every discovery of this kind shows how little man knows.
RABBI M. S. LEVY, of San Francisco, informs us through the Examiner that there are thirty-six Galicians in the Hawaiian Islands, imprisoned there as slaves under the contract-labor system, imprisoned indefinitely till they go back to work on the sugar plantation, or pay the debt of their steerage passage. Their work, they declare, is hard, food insufficient, and overseers cruel. Slavery is not dead. There will be bondmen when Christ comes. Rev. 6: 15.
THE Catholic bishops of the Latin American States have formerly been under the primacy of Spain; now, despite Spanish protests, the pope will choose an American archbishop, and make him a cardinal over all the church in South America, Mexico, and Central America, as Cardinal Gibbons in the United States. Where he will settle, whether in Mexico, Brazil, Argentine, or Chili, no one yet knows. Of course the object is to unify all Latin America.
A MEDIEVAL story comes to us from the town of Neweseilka, Galicia, that a portrait of the late Empress of Austria, who was assassinated, is oozing blood, from over the empress' heart. Pilgrims are flocking to it, and it has been placed in a shrine. The wonderful thing is that the priests do not know what it means. It is delusive.
WITHIN two days, July 21, 22, Southern California experienced six distinct earthquake shocks. Los Angeles was considerably shaken, glass was broken, chimneys fell, and walls were cracked; many people were greatly frightened, and many prayed. It is a good time to trust God in calm, and then we will trust Him in calamity.
MANY of the pulpits of our land have been provided materials for sermon in the death of the great agnostic, Ingersoll, which took place July 22. He died as he lived. He hoped to die in full consciousness, and have his words of confidence in his non-belief taken down; but he was spared this vain boasting.
MUCH is being said about a prominent, wealthy Jewish merchant's sermon on "Jesus, the Jew." He believes that the Lord sent Jesus, as truly as He sent Moses, but that the perversion of Judaism must be laid to Paul's door. But if the merchant knew Jesus, he would know Paul also. Both preached the same Gospel.
JULY 16, treaties between Japan and nearly all the great nations of earth went into effect, by which Japan is recognized as a civilized nation. Japan is the first power of the East so recognized by European governments. So the whole world is coming together, preparing for the great drama of the end.
WE are told in the latest despatches from the East that the bubonic plague is spreading. July 22 it had spread from Hongkong and Mauritius to Reunion. There were, during the week ending July 20, thirty-six cases at Mauritius, of which twenty-nine proved fatal.
HON. ELIHU ROOT, of New York, has accepted the position of Secretary of War in President McKinley's cabinet, in the place of Gen. Russell A. Alger, who has resigned. Mr. Root is a lawyer.
A GERMAN, writing from Manila to Berlin, describes the Americans as practically hemmed in by the Filipinos, with both sides constantly fighting.
YELLOW FEVER is doing its work in Cuba. Poor Cuba! she has many enemies.
In the first two weeks of July twenty inches of rain fell at Manila.
Divorce
Divorce.—Among the marked signs of the last days is that of looseness of the sex and marriage relation. Take, for instance, the evidence in this line of increasing divorce. The United States commissioner on statistics of marriage and divorce is Carroll D. Wright. He gives, in his report to Congress, February, 1889, the number of divorces granted in the Union from 1867 to 1886, inclusive, as follows:—
Year.
Divorces.
Year.
Divorces.
1867
9,937
1877
15,687
1868
10,150
1878
16,089
1869
10,939
1879
17,083
1870
10,962
1880
19,663
1871
11,586
1881
20,762
1872
12,390
1882
22,112
1873
13,156
1883
23,198
1874
13,989
1884
22,994
1875
14,212
1885
23,472
1876
14,800
1886
25,535
Total
122,121
Total
206,595
It will be seen that there has been constant increase during these twenty years, with but a single exception, 1884, when the number was 204 less than the year previous; but the next year the increase was 478; while during the first decade the increase was almost forty-nine per cent., in the last decade it was nearly sixty-three per cent. In social life there is probably nothing which is more demoralizing.
WAKING UP THE EAST.
By W. A. Spicer
[Editor Oriental Watchman.]
THE most notable sign of the times in the East is the growth of the military spirit. By the point of its sword, the West has inoculated the East with the virus of militarism, and human nature makes readily for the spread of the disease.
In olden times God's overruling providence allowed great masses of people to be brought under Assyria, Babylon, and other great organizing powers, and by His dealings with these powers bore witness of Himself. So now Asia is being assimilated by the great Powers. Here in India we see a great variety of nationalities bound together under one rule, which keeps the peace between them as they were never able to keep it in the days of native rule and divided India.
But the old tribal ideas of war were but as child's play compared with the perfect organization of force developed in modern times. This is now to be taught to the East. The West expects, of course, to guide the forces that are being developed to its own ends. But when once the vast masses in the East have learned the art and caught the spirit, no one knows what the results will be, save as we do know of a surety that the people are being made ready so that, when "the way of the kings of the East" is prepared, the hordes of Asia may come up to the world's great Armageddon.
Britain, with that genius of empire which she understands as no other Power, is often said to hold India by its own sons. A few Europeans organize the mass, and, with comparatively few home troops, garrison the empire with native levies. It is the best modern illustration of the power of the masterful mind governing the weaker one; but all the same, India is held by the sword. The people have a saying that the root of British power is three feet from the ground—about the height of the gun and bayonet at guard point. Caste and tribal rivalries prevent combination among the subject races, and the more peaceable know well that the rule of their own kind would be a heavier yoke than Britain lays upon them. But the more of India's sons that are trained in the game of war, and the more they learn of the power of combination, the greater the danger of trouble in time of panic or world-wide upheaval.
The more hardy tribes of Central Asia are learning war from both Britain and Russia. Even defeats are teaching them. The Afghan ameer has an arms factory of his own of which he is proud, but even he is importing the latest weapons. During the last few months 4,000,000 cartridges and 3,000 Lee-Metford rifles have passed through Peshawar for Cabul. The ameer, with Russia on one side and Britain on the other, has compared himself to the earthen pot in the fable, floating between an iron and a brazen one, in danger of bumping against either one, or of being crushed between them.
An “Up Country” Native Soldier of India.
The fact is that all Asia must simply wake up and take part in the furious preparations for the coming struggle. China has slept the longest, but now the Powers are rivaling one another to see which shall be able to get the best chance of drilling the hitherto peaceable and industrious Chinese laborers into modern fighting automatons. Then the German emperor's cartoon of the Yellow Terror threatening Europe may very likely prove a true forecast. Some military authorities have lately pointed out the danger to Europe of arming the East; but in the rivalry of the Powers for expansion of territory it seems a necessity. How true in this world's history that "all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword."
While these things are going on so rapidly on this side of the world, how important that those who are commissioned to preach the Gospel of peace and of the coming kingdom should press on into these lands.
W. A. SPICER.
RELIGION IN UPPER BURMA.
By Rev. Ola Hanson
[By the Rev. Ola Hanson, missionary of the American Baptist Missionary Union.]
AMONG the religions of Upper Burma, Buddhism would naturally claim the greatest number of adherents. All the Burmans—except such as have accepted Christianity, which is not a very large number—profess this form of faith, and conform at least to its outward forms and practices. Within a limited circle of the most advanced classes Buddhism may still exert something of its primitive spiritual influence; but the great bulk of Burmans look upon their religion as so many ceremonies to be observed, holidays to be kept, and feasts to be attended. In the less-favored districts the religion which has a real hold on the populace is nat, or spirit-worship. While professing faith in Buddha and his law, offerings are freely given and prayers as often made to these troublesome intruders into the domestic life and happiness.
All the Shan tribes profess Buddhism, and are probably more bigoted and unshaken than the Burmans. Mission work among the Shans, having been in progress for a number of years, has given but small results. They are strong believers in the nats, to which they erect altars and offer prayers in connection with unbloody sacrifices. Buddhism has never been able to exterminate the original nat-worship, which goes back to the very beginning of Burmese history. Naturally the more backward races would cling the strongest to the old superstition; and, as a whole; the Shans are more of nat-worshipers than the Burmans.
The large tribe known as the Palaung also adheres, in outward form, to Buddhism. The Palaungs, a few centuries ago, having driven out a race called by the Kachins "La People," settled among the mountains east of Irrawaddy, probably as far south as to the modern Lashou. They, in their turn, were driven back by the wild and warlike Kachins, and made their homes along the Shan valleys and on such mountain ranges as were somewhat distant from the new Kachin settlements. The Palaungs around Bhamo may be described as half Shans and half Kachins in customs and habits. They fear the nats almost as much as the Kachins, and set aside certain places as sacred to them. Being less civilized than the Shans, they form a natural connecting link between this race and the Kachins.
With the Kachins we come down to the nat, or demon-worship, in its simple and primitive form. Unlike the nat-fearing Buddhists, they have no images, pagodas or temples. They offer bloody sacrifices, which at times bear strong resemblance to Brahman customs. They believe in omens, divinations and sorcery, and thus conform to the lower ideas of a large class of nominal Buddhists. Races or tribes closely related to the Kachins in religion, customs and traditions, but with languages of their own, are the Maru, Lashi, and Atsi. Certain branches of the Maru tribe offer, besides fowls, pigs, and cattle, which form the general sacrifices among all the Kachins, also dogs, and, at times, cats. No moral idea for good is discernible in this low form of faith. A Kachin fears the nats, and tries to propitiate their anger with the best means at his command.
A race living along the border of China, known as the Yaw Yin, with a language and religion of its own, is, if possible, even on a lower scale of advancement than the Kachins.11They live in cave-like houses, and subsist mostly on corn (maize) and pork. They practise a simple form of ancestor-worship, offering, on special occasions, pigs or fowls to their deceased parents or grandparents. Their New Year's feast, which falls on the same day as the Chinese New Year, seems to be their only festal occasion.
As a whole, we find the religious life on its lowest stages among all the races of Upper Burma. Between the Yaw Yin, whom even a Kachin looks down upon as a very low being, and the most advanced Buddhist, is a long step, to be sure. But the advancement from the highest form of Buddhism to the highest form of Christianity is a still longer and much more difficult step.—The Independent.
MISSIONS
LET ME WIN A SOUL FOR JESUS.
By Mary B. Wingate
Let me win a soul for Jesus!
Win a dear and deathless soul;
I would count it higher honor
Than the grandest earthly goal.
Let me win a soul for Jesus!
Souls are of such priceless worth,
I would count it dearer treasure
Than the richest gems of earth.
Let me win a soul for Jesus!
Let me point the longing eyes
To the Christ who died for sinners—
To the willing Sacrifice.
I would catch the glad hosannas
Sounding from the harps of gold,
When another soul is ransomed,
And another name enrolled.
Let me win a soul for Jesus!
"He that winneth souls is wise."
I am longing for the honor
Of a bright, immortal prize.
Saviour, draw me nearer, nearer,
Till my soul is all aflame,
Till I long to win them only
For the glory of Thy name.
—Mary B. Wingate.
THE TRAMP'S PRAYER.
By The Missionary
THERE had been a railroad wreck, two passengers were killed and five or six injured, and among the latter was a professional tramp who had been stealing a ride. To the doctor who examined his injuries he said, smiling feebly, and with that manner peculiar to his class: "Well, pard, what's the verdict of the jury?"
"You are very badly hurt," was the reply.
"Are my legs off?"
"No; you are fatally injured, however."
"That means I'm a gorner. My pard was on the car ahead. Is he hurt?"
"No, here he is."
At that moment a ragged, unkempt, and typical vagabond came forward, and, bending over the victim, said: "Well, Jim, they say you have to go. How are your feeling over it?"
"Sorter! No use to kick, Tom."
"Kin I do anything for you?"
The dying man gazed at him a moment in silence, and then whispered: "Tom, you are the only pardner I ever had as knowed the Lord's Prayer. Just say it over to me."
The old tramp pulled off his cap and knelt down, and, as the bystanders uncovered and bowed their heads, he repeated the prayer word for word, and with such feeling as astonished everybody. When he had finished, he rose up and said: "That's it, Jim; and kin I do anything more?"
"Nothing more for him," answered the doctor, as he looked down upon the pale face. "Your partner is dead."
Who will say, after reading this incident, that there is no hope for the tramp, and that it is useless to work for him? Why, the very tramps themselves would put us to shame if we did—as in this instance.
For our part, we would rather be the ragged wretch kneeling by the side of his dying partner, and holding just before him the faintest rushlight of a hope to illumine the darkness that was settling down upon him, than to stand in the pulpit of a near-by church and to preach a gospel of good taste to a congregation of a hundred and fifty pious souls, who had made their calling and election sure.—The Missionary.
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
By Editor
In closing meetings at Gorham, N. Y., Sister Lulu Wightman reports that eight persons have accepted the faith.
A CHURCH of twenty-three members was organized at Bear Lake, Wis., July 8, by Brethren T. B. Snow and J. B. Scott.
THE librarian of the church at Cheswold, Del., writes that eight persons were baptized and added to that church July 9.
THE annual conference and camp-meeting for Colorado and New Mexico will be held at Longmont, Colo., August 24 to September 4.
AT Silver Cliff, Colo., July 15, Bro. J. M. Rees, president of Colorado Conference, preached three sermons, baptized six candidates, and organized a church of thirteen members.
MEETINGS are being held in a schoolhouse at Kenyon, Fresno County, Cal., by Brother T. M. Thorne. The place is 5,000 feet above sea level, and is a resort of many summer campers.
"I READILY sold ninety-nine copies of the Independence Number of the SIGNS, and have taken six yearly and four six months' subscriptions," is the report of Brother W. A. Miller, from Walsenburg, Colo.
OFFICERS of Wisconsin Conference have been chosen for the coming year, as follows: President, Wm. Covert; secretary and treasurer, R. T. Dowsett; executive committee, Wm. Covert, W. S. Shreve, C. J. Herrmann, J. C. Mikkelsen, T. B. Snow.
AT the last quarterly meeting of South Side Church, Chicago, four persons were baptized, and four other candidates were awaiting the administration of the ordinance the following Sabbath. On July 15, three members were added to the West Side Church.
A REPORT in the Vineyard notes that a Sunday-school was recently organized at South Sebec, Maine, as a result of the labors of Sister Eva Turney. The initial membership was twenty-seven, with a prospect of considerable increase. A student (name not given) from South Lancaster Academy was chosen superintendent.
FOUR local camp-meetings are to be held in Iowa this year, as follows: For southwestern Iowa, Malvern, Mills Co., Aug. 15-20; northwestern Iowa, Cherokee, Cherokee Co., Aug. 29 to Sept. 5; northeastern Iowa, Charles City, Floyd Co., Sept. 12-17; some point yet to be selected in southeastern part of the State, Sept. 26 to Oct. 1.
OF the work in Tokyo, Japan, Brother W. C. Grainger writes: "Our work is very encouraging. Our two schools have an average daily attendance of about 130 pupils. Many are interested. Our Sabbath-school has an average attendance of 45. Brother T. H. Okohira is superintendent, and Brother H. Kuniya is secretary. Brother Kuniya and Dr. M. Kawasaki are our first converts, having embraced the truth a year and a half ago. They are both very promising young men. Brother Kuniya is one of our most efficient Bible workers, and the doctor is engaged in medical mission work. We opened a medical mission at our house about a month ago. The doctor occupies one room for an office. He has many patients already. We hope to see some of our young men of the Medical Missionary College out here soon to unite with Dr. Kawasaki in his work, for there is a wide field. The Japanese doctors do no charity work. 'No money, no service,' is their motto, I am told; consequently the poor often have to go without treatment when they most need it."
A REPORT in the Bulletin (Des Moines, Iowa), from Brother L. F. Starr, concerning the camp-meeting near Winnipeg, Manitoba, states that the meeting was held on the banks of the Red River of the North, and that about one hundred and fifty of our people were in attendance. Seventeen persons were baptized, four of whom were Indians, and one was a young man from Iceland.
THE June number of the Practical Educator is the Year Book of Union College, located at College View (near Lincoln), Neb. It contains 56 pages and cover, well filled with interesting information and numerous illustrations. The fall term begins September 20, and closes December 12. The courses of study include the Scientific, Literary, Biblical, Normal, Commercial, Missionary, and Preparatory Medical. Also German Biblical and Missionary, and Scandinavian Missionary courses. Prof. W. T. Bland is president of the faculty.
A LETTER dated May 10, from Brother G. L. Lloyd, in the Atlantic-Chesapeake News, tells of his journey from Cape Town, South Africa, to our mission farm in Rhodesia. Two new missions have been opened, one six miles from the farm, where Brother Anderson and his wife have been located, and the other twenty-five miles distant, which is now the home of Brother Lloyd and wife. He says: "Mrs. Lloyd is quite a curiosity here, as she is the first white woman that has ever been in this part of Africa. The natives come for miles to see her. Some white men are known to have been through here before, and therefore, I do not attract so much attention. We are learning the language nicely, or as it is called in their language, 'mucely' (good). Last Sabbath we had quite a good many come out, and we had some pictures we showed them, and taught them about Jesus. This Sabbath about twice as many come out, and before we were through they had learned to sing hymn page 14, of Gospel Song Sheaf. It would do your soul good to see how anxious they are to learn, and how pleased they are when we tell them about Jesus and His love for them. I praise God again and again that we are here among this people. Here around us are no fewer than one hundred and fifty children who want to be taught, but what can we do? We must teach the old and middle-aged, and neglect the little ones, because we can not teach all. We pray to God for help to come. We do not need a college education to teach this people; for they are hungering for the simple Gospel as it is in Jesus."
A YOUNG ABYSSINIAN.
A KEEN desire to learn, to get that knowledge which brings with it power, is shown by the natives wherever Christian missionaries have gone. The incident related by the Rev. J. Lotka, of Alexandria, ought to remind us all of the privileges we enjoy, in being able to get an education.
A poor Falasha youth came to me, asking for instruction. I asked him whether he knew anything of the Gospel.
"No," he replied, in his broken Arabic, "I am a Jew, and know the law and the prophets, but nothing of the Gospel; I want to learn; do teach me."
"Do you know anything of Christ?"
"No; I am a Jew, and know of Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but nothing of Christ; but do teach me; I want to learn."
Though I hardly knew what to do with the poor fellow, I could not shut my ears to his earnest entreaty. In humble dependence upon God I took him up, to send him to the American Mission School, and part of the day I instructed him myself.
He is an intelligent young fellow, and seems well up in his own language. I got him an Amharic Bible, in which he follows me while I read and explain to him the Gospel of St. Matthew in Arabic. And, O, what a pleasure to see the flashes of light and joy spreading over and brightening up his black face at every quotation from the prophets, in which the Gospel abounds, and with which he seems familiar.—Selected.
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A Unique Journal
By Editor
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LIBERTY! LIBERTY!
By Editor
is the cry nowadays from every quarter. We want it ourselves, but deny it to others. The American Sentinel advocates the only true liberty and discusses this and kindred topics in a fearless and straightforward manner. IT'S WORTH READING. Sample for the asking. Address,
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OUR HUMBLE KIN.
By Agnes Maule Machar
[By Agnes Maule Machar, in Our Dumb Animals.]
SEE a countless multitude about us,
Claiming sympathy—our humble kin;
Sadly have they learned to fear and doubt us,
Driven from our side by human sin;
Yet, tho dumb, their hearts to ours are speaking,
Help and kindness from us ever seeking,—
Kindness hard to win!
Inarticulate voices, groans of anguish,
Patient sighs, 'neath burdens hard to bear;
From lone places where dumb victims languish,
Plaintive moans are floating on the air!
Soft eyes, seeking ours with wistful pleading,—
Can we turn away with hearts unheeding
That unuttered prayer?
Innocent of wrong, our own transgression
Lays on them a heavy load of pain,
Sharing all the misery and oppression
Man has wrought beneath his iron reign,
Touch all hearts, O Thou Divine Compassion,
Till they burn with generous love and passion
To remove the stain.
They and we are in our Father's keeping,
Whose compassion clasps both great and small;
Not one wrong eludes that Eye unsleeping,
Not one humblest life unseen shall fall.
None can serve Him with a heart unheeding
His dumb creatures' inarticulate pleading,
For He loveth all.
Kingston, Ont.
PUNCTUALITY.
[From the On Timer's Monthly.]
Not everybody can be bright, or smart, or scholarly, or eloquent, or famous, or rich, but everybody could be "on time." Then, why not?
In the kingdom of the heavenly bodies there is no confusion, but perfect order and peace, because every star and planet moves "on time." The tardiness of a moment often affects the issue of eternity; fame and fortune have repeatedly hung on promptness in performance of duty.
Tardiness generally means light regard for obligation. The man who knows that his meat and bread depend upon punctuality is on time, unless "unavoidably hindered."
An old proverb says punctuality is only common honesty. Mr. Charles Spurgeon added: "For it is due to others that we keep due time. What right have we to rob a man of his hours? Might we not as well steal his money as his minutes in which he might be earning it?"
MURDEROUS MILLINERY.
A LADY told me, the other day, a painful little incident relating to wearing birds on your bonnets and hats. I will try to give her own words. She said:—
"One day our pastor said (during service) that when he was in Florence a lady came to him and said: 'Do come with me and hear those birds sing, O, such mournful notes!' There was a room full of birds in very small cages, and these birds were all blind; they had had their eyes put out. In the night the owners take them outside the city and hang the cages in trees. The trees are then all smeared with tar. These birds keep up their pitiful singing, and other birds are attracted to the cage, and they get stuck on the tar, and then they are caught and their eyes are put out. And these birds are killed and sent to America for ladies to wear on their bonnets."
"And I looked around the congregation to see what ladies had birds on their bonnets, and I was glad there was none on mine; and I don't think I can ever wear a bird again."
