Up and Down by G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Apr 15, 1903

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 29, No. 15.

Up and Down

By G.

The successes, the honors, the highest attainments that this world affords, soon pass away; yet the multitude follow on in quest of these transient baubles, in face of their unsatisfactory and uncertain possession. Nor is there any keeping power in the honorable positions of this life, nothing to give any assistance or to inspire any inclination to do right. A striking incident in illustration of this truth is the suicide of Major-General Sir Hector MacDonald, of the British army, in a Paris hotel, on the 25th ult. Inside of fifteen years, by dint of great courage, endurance of hardship, and innate military skill, he passed from the rank and file of the army to the grade of Major-General. He was conspicuously successful in India, in Egypt, and in South Africa, and was especially complimented by the highest authorities of his government. No blemish appeared on his career as a soldier until, basking in the sunshine of high reputation and honor, he is suddenly confronted with charges that demand a court-martial. To evade the disgrace, he deliberately ends his life, going down and out of life's possibilities with a tacit admission that the charges were true, and were enough to demolish the monument he had raised. How much better to humbly build on the Rock, and to securely grow in Him who “is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.” G.