THE ONLY HOPE THAT KEEPS.
As ILLUSTRATING how many of the world live, take the makers of leghorn hats, for instance. Godby's Magazine of some time ago said:— “Leghorn hats are lovely for summer, but perhaps women would wear them with less comfort did they know the hardships their production entails. For every sixty-three yards the straw-plaiters receive threepence, and at this rate the most they can earn is twopence [or four cents] a day, while the majority earn but a penny. The plaiters ‘struck’ a short time ago, and, crying, ‘Abasso la moda’ (Down with fashions), they threatened to wreck the city of Florence. Regiments of infantry and squadrons of cavalry were called out to quell the disturbance.” But is there not reason for dissatisfaction? Put yourself in their place. Years ago, while walking with a friend, who now sleeps, through some of the most beautiful rural parts of beautiful England, we fell to talking on the extremes of poverty and wealth, of misery and opulence, as manifest in that fair isle, and on the continent, in the center of which my friend lived. He was of good business capacity, a keen observer, of excellent judgment, a lover of justice, a man among men, large-minded and large-hearted, as every Christian ought to be. He was at that time editor, publisher, and minister, with large business on his hands. Realizing in his justice-loving soul the injustice of the social and national life of Europe, he impulsively exclaimed, “I tell you, M., that if I were not a Christian, I would be a Nihilist.” Looking at the condition of things from the standpoint of this world and this life, the only hope many have of “bettering things” is by the way of the Nihilist. But, praise God, there is a better life beyond this, where rules the King of righteousness and eternal justice, in whose realms men and women in God’s image will not be compelled to eke out a miserable existence on the pittance of a penny a day, or compelled to commit the “crime” of stealing the vile paste used in making match-boxes, in order to keep soul and body together. The Spirit recognizes the injustice, but it does not counsel violence. To those who hope in God the message is, “Be patient, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord.”