THERE are two mighty forces in the world struggling for supremacy, politically and religiously, namely, Roman Catholicism and Socialism. The claim of Roman Catholicism is centuries old. The pope is the head of the church, and, as Roman Catholics view it, the power to which all religions, all kings and rulers, should be subject in all things that pertain to the support of the church, the promotion of her objects, the propagation of her work, and the extirpation of heresy. For that she works; for that she ever will work till the end is accomplished, and she perishes in the ruins her own doctrines have wrought.
Her chief opposer in these lines to-day is Socialism, not as a theory so much, but as a definite propaganda, rapidly taking shape as a world power. Socialism, to judge by many of its adherents, probably most of them, is not a religious cult. Many of its ardent promoters are evolutionists or atheists, irreligious and non-religious. Many others profess to be Christians ethically. Yet underneath it all there is a dominant religious tone, the worship of an ideal state, or commonwealth; and it is safe to say that every religion which opposes that would find little tolerance in the Socialist régime.
Roman Catholicism is essentially imperialistic. Socialism is democratic. The iron of the one will not mix with the clay of the other. Roman Catholics recognize this. The wild onward march of the Socialists in Europe, especially in Germany, is like the onslaught of the Northern Barbarians upon Rome in the earlier centuries. Rome then felt, as she feels now, that she must both conquer and win them.
Rome's feeling over this matter is revealed in an article in the Catholic Mirror, of March 26. It sets forth the increase of Socialism in Germany, declaring that over 3,000,000 votes were cast in the last election for Socialist candidates, more than twice as many as were cast for any other party in the German Empire. We quote further:—
The strength of German Socialism lies in the cities among the workingmen. Berlin gave Socialism 212,000 votes against 100,000 for all other parties combined. Hamburg sent a solid delegation of Socialists to the German Parliament. The Socialists carried the six largest cities in Germany. Of the thirty cities with a population of 100,000 and over, the Socialists carried twenty.
After showing that the Socialism of Germany is in its essence and fundamentals the same as that in the United States, the writer says:—
While Socialism has not grown so rapidly in the United States as it has in Germany, almost every day marks the growth of Socialistic sentiment among the masses of workingmen in the great cities. Some of the trades-union are going over to Socialism bodily.
The Western Federation of Miners, composed of metalliferous miners of the West, recently declared for Socialism. The American Labor Union, which is the Western rival of the American Federation of Labor, is a Socialistic organization. The International Association of Machinists, which, ten years ago, was a conservative body, decided a few months ago, to a referendum vote, to instruct its delegates to vote for Socialistic resolutions, which were to be offered at the recent convention of the American Federation of Labor. "To pretend that social life is undisturbed, or is but superficially agitated, is simply to confess that one had been caught in an eddy of the age, and does not feel the sweep of its main current," writes Professor Peabody, of Harvard University.
It is in view of this rapid advancement, and of the nature of Socialism, that this Catholic writer declares, "Socialism has come to be a factor in world politics." And it is not a factor because of its mere political propaganda, but because of its religious element. This writer, contrasting it with true religion, says:—
We have nothing to do with the economic value of Socialism. It is mentioned in this connection for another purpose. Socialism has become to thousands of workingmen a substitute for the church. This was brought out very plainly in the answers received from a series of letters which I sent out some months ago. Socialists boldly declare that Jesus Christ was a Socialist. They insist that their system is nearer the ideal presented by Jesus Christ than is Christianity, so-called. It may be true that a man may be a Christian and a Socialist too, but Socialism is avowedly materialistic. Its leaders despise the church, because, they declare, the church stands for the present social system, and that it is a barrier in the way of advancement of Socialism. At a recent convention held in Dresden, the victorious Socialists passed a resolution that no member of any church be permitted to hold any office in the gift of the Socialist party. It was declared, further, that Social Democracy supplied all that religion proposes to give. The temper of the American Socialist is similar to that of his German comrade.
To meet all this the writer urges that the Roman Catholics "must begin a propaganda which shall at least equal the efforts of the Socialists in their endeavor to win workingmen. It would be a safe thing to say that the Socialists have as many open-air meetings in our cities and country towns as the churches support. In some cities they are even more active. We can well afford to increase our efforts in this direction. Furthermore, the Socialists are getting out a literature, written in the language of the people, with which the printed matter issued by the church does not begin to compare."
But Romanism may teach as assiduously and faithfully as she will, she will not convert Socialism until Socialism comes to that place where, to maintain itself, it must have the aid of the greatest organization of the world religiously—the Roman Catholic Church. Then, when the Socialistic powers of Europe can not control themselves, they will call to their aid the Church of Rome. But that is only for a little while, and then the perishing of the order they have created, at Christ's coming. See Revelation 17.
"THE HEALING OF THE DEADLY WOUND."
We have not space in this to present the argument from prophecy; but the evidence is there, strong, masterful, overwhelming, that the beast power of Revelation 13 represents union of church and state, a system or condition of things operative under different forms from the days of Babylon to the present; that the various great organized forms, or dynasties, under which this system has existed are represented by the heads of the beast, beginning with Babylon; that this system and these heads are severally and singly opposed to the church and Gospel of Christ; and that the fifth of these forms is that of the beast under its fifth head, the Papacy, which held sway by consent of the state for 1,260 years, from A. D. 538 to 1798, as "head over all the churches and true and only corrector of heretics."
By the influence of the Bible in the great Reformation the influence of the Papacy over the minds of men and kingdoms was mightily shattered; and when, at the close of the French Revolution in 1798, the pope was taken prisoner by the French, there was no power in Europe so poor as to recognize the papal mandate as to heresy and its due. The deadly wound was the deprivation of civil recognition, support, and authority.
From that day the Papacy has been bemoaning her condition, and lamenting her widowhood—separation from the civil power. But the declaration of the prophecy concerning that head of the beast is, "His death-stroke was healed; and the whole world wondered after the beast."
We are nearing the time of the complete healing. Protestant powers which once recognized the danger of Rome's friendship are now courting it. Outpost after outpost has been yielded in England, till now but one flimsy barrier lies between Catholicism and the throne. While Catholic France, "the eldest daughter of the church," is forcing restrictive measures against the teachings of the Catholic orders, Protestant Germany, alarmed at the spread of Socialism, is admitting the once-expelled Jesuits as part price of Catholic support in the government. The United States is rapidly going in the same direction. The Roman Catholic vote becomes a necessity, but as the Roman Catholic vote can not be secured, except at the price of Protestant and truly democratic principle, the compromise is effected and the price is paid, to the government's undoing and Rome's profit.
The following from the Catholic Mirror, of March 26, the official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, thus expresses its satisfaction at the course of Germany and America:—
On the 4th of July, 1872, Bismarck succeeded in passing his anti-Jesuit law, barring the members of the Society of Jesus from the German Empire. At that time, inflated, as he was, with the conceit of power, he little thought that but a few short years would pass, when yet the memory of the enactment was fresh in the minds of many, the feat would be pronounced bad, and accordingly abrogated. Fate was kinder to him than to many of his class. Thrown out after a sensational reign, and shunned and avoided by his former adherents in his enforced retirement, it was not his lot to witness the repeal of his "pet" legislation. . . .
Nay, more, not only are they [the Jesuits] permitted to return, but gladly welcomed; the power that Bismarck raved against is now the hope of the empire. The Social party has been making rapid strides, and has attained such proportions that the established order trembles under its demoniacal influence. To stem this tide, and to counteract the baleful influence of such a vast spread of opinion, these brainy men, clear in their logic, and determined and steadfast in purpose, faithful followers of Ignatius of Loyola, have been allowed to return.
It must be said that this early vindication is due, in a long measure, to the kaiser, who, from the very beginning of his reign, has shown his disapproval of the tactics of the indomitable Bismarck. Since he ascended to the throne he has availed himself of every opportunity to manifest his good-will toward the Holy See and her faithful children. The interest he took in the Golden Jubilee of Pope Leo XIII. of holy memory, and his subsequent anxiety during the venerable pontiff's last illness, will ever be remembered as a beautiful tribute worthy the distinguished recipient.
How unlike will be the reception accorded President Loubet, when he makes his anticipated visit to Rome, to that given the Imperial William on the occasion of his last visit. And Loubet, too, from Catholic France. Shame on the name!
This chapter of German history is complete; that of France is yet in the moulding. Will Combes close the chapter as ignominiously as did the prostrate Bismarck?
While the process of abrogation has been in operation in the Bundesrath, our own Congress has not been idle. The ruling of Secretary Hitchcock, made some years ago, that the granting of rations to Indian children attending sectarian Catholic schools should be discontinued, as it constituted an appropriation to sectarian schools, and was for that reason against the policy of Congress, has been abrogated. The injustice of this position was never lost sight of from the very first. Ever since, a number of congressmen, notably Senator Jones and Mr. Sherman, loyal to the cause of justice, have been working for its repeal. Through the niceties of parliamentary distinctions the opposition succeeded in staving off the measure, only to meet with it again under an amended form, and, may it be added, to defeat it on the same point of order. Finally, through the ingenuity of Mr. Sherman, an amendment was drafted which met with the approval of the chair, and was accordingly carried.
This unjust discrimination has been a source of much embarrassment to the Catholic institutions laboring among the Indians, and against which they could make comparatively slow progress. Now that this impediment has been removed, we can safely hope for much good work from our missionaries [supported in part by the state].
Along with the aforegoing proceedings might be mentioned the decision of Judge O'Brien in the Court of Appeals of New York State, in the case of James Sargent against St. Mary's and St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Orphan Asylums. The case was raised upon a temporary injunction granted to Sargent to restrain the Board of Education of Rochester from paying salaries to four sisters of St. Joseph's School, who were teaching secular branches. The decision does away with the wrangle that has been going on in New York about the municipality furnishing means for secular education of orphans in asylums. The opinion is based on the fact that the schooling is but an incidental feature of the asylum work, and the fact that the schooling is given does not change the character of the institution. Thus within the last few weeks Catholicism has triumphed over her unscrupulous adversaries, and the cause of justice upheld.9And thus the mightiest nations of earth are blindly, passively, supinely, permitting themselves to be led back to the captivity of that power which brought the Dark Ages, and ruined Italy, Spain, and other nations.
It is not Roman Catholics, as individuals, of whom we speak, but Roman Catholicism—the Papacy—as a system. All who ignore God's Word and the free salvation of Christ Jesus will be found at last in her doomed captive train. Rev. 13:8.
"RESTORATION OF THE OLD ORDER."
By Editor
THESE are days when the busy pen and the printing press make history of almost every transaction by persistently taking notes and printing them. Therefore, the making of history and the fulfilment of prophecy are made unusually conspicuous. In this way public sentiment is brought to view from every quarter, throwing a light on fulfilling prophecy that can not be mistaken. And the rays of this ever-increasing light beam forth from sources whence ordinarily they would not be expected to emanate.
To illustrate: The seven-headed, ten-horned, composite beast of Revelation 13 is very generally conceded to represent the great Roman power. The prophecy notes the general tendency of the world to admire, and, consequently, to imitate it. Altho Rome has had its downfalls, even the Papacy being "smitten unto death" in 1798 (when the pope was made a prisoner, dying in exile a few years later), yet its "death-stroke was healed," and the prophecy shows it to be a world-wonder in the close of time. Protestantism, through whose influence Rome's great reverses were made possible, is now, in its apostate state, leading the world in the admiration and adoption of papal institutions.
The return was made easier by the fact that Protestantism never fully completed its work. Even Luther and his colaborers never became fully divested of Roman doctrine. The complete eradication seemed too much for a single generation, and those who followed did not venture any farther than their predecessors had gone; and their attempted standstill made the eventual reaction sure. They organized state churches, reared edifices, adopted rituals, and espoused doctrines in imitation of Rome, and unto this day these have been and are yet becoming more and more like the original "mother."
That which seems to mark an epoch in this retrogression is the furor for the celebration of church "days" (Gal. 4:8-11), the seed of which was brought over into Protestantism in Sunday observance. The fruit is seen in the growing attention that is given to Easter, to Good Friday, to Passion Week, to Lent, etc. As stated at the beginning, the record of events and of public sentiment by the press, throws a light on the progress of this return toward the papal fold that could not otherwise be observed, and would hardly be realized but for this agency. So, surprising as it may seem, we see such Protestant papers as the Christian Work advocating the observance of the entire church calendar. The following brief excerpt gives the gist of that journal's counsel in the matter of looking backward toward Rome:—
In several localities we notice the churches have united in observance of Lent, and especially of Passion Week. It is a favorable sign, presaging, as it does, the final adoption by the Christian churches of the church year, and the passing of the incongruous "Week of Prayer," instituted at a time when the Christian Church, as a whole, is feasting. The restoration of the old order, carrying uniformity and consistency is far better, and is destined to possess the church as a whole, to the betterment of its order, to the attainment of a greater measure of uniformity, and the better emphasizing in a congruous way of the chief events in the life of our crucified and risen Lord.
We have italicized some words by way of comment. It is indeed an "incongruity" to attempt a "week of prayer" while "the church as a whole is feasting." But does not the incongruity rather lie in the church's wholesale feasting during a season set apart by common consent for prayer? Is not this the view-point from which the real condition is seen? And is not the incongruity further shown in the season of feasting and other pleasures carried to excess just before the Lenten weeks of so-called fasting, to be renewed with fresh excesses of pleasure immediately after the apparently unwelcome formality of cessation?
Then the "old order," of which "restoration" is advised, and which is said to be "far better," is simply the old order of Rome, for that is the source from which it all came. The "uniformity," too, which is so desirable on the part of those who are becoming so infatuated with these things, is simply uniformity with Rome. Of course if the apostate Protestant churches are to adopt the principles and forms of Rome, there is more "consistency" in their coming into line with the "old order," and dispensing with their "incongruous" week of prayer.
After noting the position of the Christian Work on the points already noted, the reader will not be surprised to learn that in the same issue, same column, a movement for a Protestant mission among Catholic Italians in a suburb of New York City is deplored, with the distinct statement that those engaged in it might "find a better way of spending their time and money." The reason given is, that "these Italians are professedly Christians, and very many of them are leading exemplary lives." Therefore, they do not need Protestantism, is the logic of the argument; and certainly it is good logic, if the Protestantism, into which they would be inducted, were to lead them right back through Roman institutions into Rome again.
IN THE ORIENT.
By Editor
No serious engagement has yet occurred between the warring powers. The Japanese have continued to advance, and the Russians to withdraw, until the Japanese have possession of all Korea. Some reports indicate that the Japanese have crossed the Yalu into Manchuria. There are grave fears in Russian official circles that the fall of Port Arthur is near at hand. There is very little of the channel now free, and the next attempt of the Japanese will probably block that, bottling up the fleet, if it remains inside. This would be followed by land operations against the fortress.
Japan now has more than a quarter million of troops in motion, while the Russian general expects to have 500,000 in the field soon to confront them. Japan has ordered two great battle-ships to be built in England, which will be larger and more powerful than anything now afloat, and it is reported that Russia has purchased six war vessels, it being her intention to raise her fleet to a position where it will be superior to Japan's, then concentrate the different squadrons, and give battle to the Japanese.
United States Senator Burton, of Kansas, has been convicted in the U. S. District Court at St. Louis, of receiving illegal fees as an attorney. In pronouncing sentence, Judge Adams said: "Your conviction necessarily results in your punishment. Its importance, in my opinion, is not confined to its effect upon you. Your exalted station in life and the character of your offense give unusual significance to your conviction. It demonstrates that the law of the land is equal to any emergency, and that it can be administered, regardless of the personality or station of the accused. It also demonstrates to all the people that public office can not be used for self-serving purposes, and that public office is not a sure or safe passport to private thrift." The sentence imposed is a fine of $2,500, and six months' imprisonment. The conviction carries with it a disability to again hold office under the government of the United States. The case has been appealed to the Court of Appeals.
A car containing sixty-three Indians was run into by a mail train near Maywood, Ill., on the 7th inst. Three of the Indians were killed, three were fatally injured, and twenty others were more or less seriously hurt. They were on the way to Washington to visit the President. Chief White Horse, in charge of the Indians on the train, was fatally injured. The bodies of the Indians who had been killed outright were laid on the prairie beside the track, Chief White Horse being carried with them. He said he knew that death was near, and requested that he be placed near his dead companions. The chief was propped up, and sat stoically while physicians worked over his injuries. He smoked a pipe quietly, and showed no signs of the pain he must have been suffering.
The most important event of the week was the signing of the treaty between France and England. Concessions have been made by both sides, and differences of long standing, and which have caused much irritation, have thus been settled. Great Britain has made more concessions than France; but this was deemed necessary, in order to obtain a stable basis for peace with that nation, in view of the conflicting interests of England and Russia. With this treaty signed, and all probability of difficulty with France out of the way, it is the general opinion that England will hold Tibet.
The clergymen of Chicago want to gain access to the Federation of Labor, and recently issued a call for a mass-meeting of members of trades-union to discuss the proposition of slating clergymen as fraternal delegates to the meetings of the Federation. One local union receiving the call for the mass-meeting adopted resolutions rejecting the plan, and suggesting, if the ministers are not being paid enough wages, that they form a union, and make application for membership in the regular way.
It is planned, according to a report from Washington, to send a fleet of forty American war-ships to Turkish waters the coming summer. At the time of the Alexandretta incident several American war-ships were sent to Turkey, but were finally withdrawn at the sultan's personal request; but he was informed that if certain diplomatic differences were not settled, they would return in greater strength. This is thought to be the reason for the contemplated move.
In Russia a general mobilization is in course of preparation, says a despatch from St. Petersburg. The police have been instructed to prepare lists of all university graduates under forty years old, capable of serving as reserve officers. A portion will be detailed to guard the Siberian railroad. This will give them something to do besides plotting against the Jews or propagating schemes against the government.
Isabella, former queen of Spain, and grandmother of the present king, died at her home in Paris on April 9.
Operations in Tibet
Operations in Tibet.—The British expedition which has been advancing toward the capital of Tibet, encountered a large force of Tibetans on March 31, who had built a wall across the road. The British advanced to clear the road, and, during the parley, the Tibetans opened fire. They were in a compact mass, and the return fire of the British and Indian riflemen was fearfully destructive. About one-half of the 1,500 Tibetans were either killed or wounded. After the first encounter, the Tibetans turned, and marched sullenly toward the rear, while the British artillery wrought havoc in their ranks. The expedition will now push on toward the capital, Lhasa, which has so long been barred to all foreigners. There is much comment in the European press over the work of the British in Tibet. It has been known that the expedition has been advancing in the face of Russia's disapproval; that Russia had incited the Tibetans to oppose the advance; and that she had supplied them with arms and ammunition. Rifles bearing the Russian imperial stamp were found at the scene of the encounter. At the present time, however, the Russian press discusses the incident in a very calm manner. The outcome of the expedition will probably be the declaring a British protectorate over Tibet. It is even rumored that Russia will permit this, because of an understanding to the effect that England will give her a free hand in Manchuria.
Liquor Canteen at Soldiers' Home
The State G. A. R. encampment of California, recently held in Los Angeles, voted in favor of continuing the liquor canteen at the Yountville Soldiers' Home.
RUSSIA'S RIGHT IN MANCHURIA.
By D. W. Stevens
[D. W. Stevens, Counselor to the Japanese Legation at Washington, in Leslie's Monthly for April.]
THERE are, of course, two standpoints from which Russia's motives and actions in the Far East may be judged. She has constructed railways through fertile regions, hitherto inaccessible; built fine towns, mills and factories where before nothing of the kind existed, and established orderly government where formerly misrule prevailed. In doing these things she has made enormous expenditures, thereby creating important interests which she has now a valid right to protect. Considering the methods by which Russia gained a hold on Manchuria and the means she has taken to strengthen and perpetuate it; considering, also, the ulterior object her actions have plainly shown she has all the time had in view, this argument, let me say with all due respect, puts the cart before the horse. It is the same as if, having obtained your permission to erect a building on your land for our joint use and benefit, and, having built a far more elaborate structure than was originally planned, I claimed exclusive ownership and control, not only of the building and the land on which it stood, but also of your adjoining property, because I had spent a great deal of money in the enterprise, and had succeeded in constructing a very fine building indeed. The justice of such a claim, as between individuals, could hardly be admitted, and yet it differs in no degree in principle from the claim set up on Russia's behalf in the extension of railway enterprises in Manchuria.
READING AND MEMORIZING POETRY.
By Mrs. L. D. Avery-Stuttle
THE passing years, with their burdens and cares, their worries and their heartaches, have left behind them gray hairs and bent forms. But let the dull ear catch the snatch of that song mother used to sing in those old days, or let some one repeat a single line of that childish rhyme we learned so long, long ago, and immediately we are a child again. Among most of us, our first memory is of a little song or prayer in verse, learned in our childhood; and this memory is among the sweetest which haunt the chambers of the soul. We forget that it is forty, fifty, sixty years since we first heard that sweet childish refrain, and, like a flash, memory brings back the very place where we were when we first heard it. Perhaps we were at mother's knee, with our head in the dear lap, and the soft, cool fingers—than whose none have ever seemed quite so soft and cool—smoothing our curly locks. Perhaps we were out in the old barn hunting eggs for mother to make a cake for company, when we first heard somebody sing that song or repeat that little verse. The mind and brain of childhood is so plastic and easily impressed that we have never forgotten it. Memory may be treacherous at other times, but it is accurate enough now. I can never hear that sweet old song—
"Up to a land of light we're going,
Joys, joys are there,"—
without seeing, pictured on the walls of memory, a very little girl mounted on the shoulders of a big boy, and borne slowly over the dusty road, leading down a hill near our country home, while the yellow rays of a summer sun paint earth and sky with a mellow light.
Then, there was my bedtime prayer,—that was in verse also. What is there about rhyme and rhythm that make them linger so lovingly in the memory? The little verse of prayer was of my mother's own composition,—I think she prepared it especially for me,—and to this day, whenever I repeat it, I am a child again, tucked carefully away in the trundle-bed my father made me, away in the old log house with the red front door—the home of my early years.
"Watch over me, Lord, through another night,
And keep me safe till the morning light,
And when I awake may I love Thee still,
And ever delight to do Thy will."
The simple little rhyme has a sacred cadence yet, which the passing of the swift years can never hush.
Now, if there is something about those twin sisters, Poetry and Music, which is so easily remembered, and so difficult to forget, how careful we all ought to be, and parents particularly so, that the poetry memorized and the songs learned by the little ones be such as to awaken only sweet emotions, as memory faithfully reproduces them in after years.
It is a true saying that poetry is the sweetest vehicle ever employed by truth. But, while this is so, the opposite of truth, insidious error—
Hideous, dark, unholy thing,
With thousand heads and poisonous sting,—
employs also the subtle charm of poetry with which to express her unholy thoughts and doctrines, and sacrilegiously brings the livery of heaven with which to clothe the sooty imps of darkness.
One of the gravest errors, and one of the commonest, which the arch-enemy tries, with his original cunning, to palm off as truth, is the fallacy of the natural immortality of the soul; and this dangerous doctrine is sandwiched in between every other leaf of the popular hymn-books of the day. In fact, there seems to be something about this particular error which is so fascinating as to appeal to the finer sensibility of the poet, until, forgetful or ignorant of the truths of the Bible, he pours out his soul in an offering of verse to the goddess of error.
Poetry is beautiful, but error is hideous. How sad to unite the two, as in the following sweet lines, with which many of us are acquainted:—
"Over the river they beckon to me,—
Loved ones who've crossed to the farther side;
A gleam of their snowy robes I see,
But their voices are hushed by the rushing tide."
And so on through the poem.
Again, we all know there are some selections from even the acknowledged great poets of earth, which we can not read without a blush of shame. O, the pity of it!
But, while this is undeniably true, we will not dwell upon this phase of our subject. We must hasten to place upon the roll of honor such names as noble Milton, our beloved Longfellow and Whittier and Holmes and Lowell and Bryant—and there are many others who deserve mention. But surely these may be fitly termed masters of verse. Such poems as "Snowbound," "Evangeline," "The Hanging of the Crane," or "The Chambered Nautilus," can scarcely fail to inspire us to sweeter, higher, purer living.
It is possible to express the most lofty sentiment and the most holy aspirations in no other way so perfectly and so beautifully as in verse. How could such perfect love and trust in the All-Father be better expressed than in the following?—
"I know not where His islands lift
Their fronded palms in air,
I only know I can not drift
Beyond His love and care."
"Nothing before, nothing behind,
The steps of faith
Fall on the seeming void, and find
The rock beneath."
What wonderful majesty, sublimity, and strength is expressed in that poem of Derzhavin, which thus opens:—
"O Thou Eternal One, whose presence bright
All space doth occupy, all motion guide,
Unchanged through Time's all-devastating flight,—
Thou only God—there is no God beside."
Ah, Poetry! sweet inspiration from the Eternal! capable of giving best and fittest expression to the countless emotions of the human heart,—it alone plays as with the fingers of a master upon the many-keyed instrument of the human soul.
What poetry loftier than that of Isaiah? or sweeter than the Psalms of David? or tenderer than the Songs of Solomon—which out-rival the passionate strains of Thomas Moore? or more pathetic than the weird Lamentations of Jeremiah from his pit of slime and darkness?
It is not safe to conclude that we may profitably read and commit to memory the compositions of any of the great poets simply because of their popularity. Neither is it wise or in good taste to toss the poems of an unknown writer aside as unworthy our attention. Among my most cherished possessions is a personal letter written me by our beloved Quaker poet, J. G. Whittier, penned from his home in Amesbury, Mass., many years ago. In this letter he says:—
"The way of poetry, like that of the transgressor, is hard. Hard work, great patience, and long, brooding thought are requisite."
As nothing short of this will do in the preparation and composing of most true poems, we find that few young writers of the day are willing to pay the price.
If one wishes to memorize a poem, let him simply read it aloud two or three times daily for a week. I have always found it to be true that anything which I have committed to memory hastily has seldom stayed with me.
In conclusion: Let us read and memorize that poetry which is up-lifting and beautiful in its sentiment, and which is free from anti-Scriptural errors; and remember that the one great object of true poetry is only
"To make the souls of mortals pure and white
And fair and sinless as the angels be,
To keep the fire on Love's high altar bright,—
This is thy mission, O sweet Poetry."
BLOWN OUT TO SEA.
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
WE are told that in stormy weather it is not unusual for small birds to be blown out of sight of land to the sea. They are often seen out of their reckoning and far from the coast, hovering far up over the mast on weary wings, as if they wanted to alight and rest themselves, but feared to do so. A traveler tells us that on one occasion a little lark, which followed the ship for a considerable distance, was at last compelled through sheer weariness to alight. He was so worn out as to be easily caught. The warm hand was so agreeable to him that he sat down on it, burying his little cold feet in his feathers, and looking about with his bright eye, not in the least afraid, as if feeling assured that he had been cast among good, kind people, whom he had no occasion to be so backward in trusting. A touching picture of the soul who is aroused by the Spirit of11God, and blown out of its reckoning by the winds of conviction; and the warm reception which the little bird received at the hands of passengers conveys but a faint idea of that welcome which will always greet the worn-out, sin-sick souls who will commit themselves into the hands of the only Saviour.
—Spurgeon.
WHAT TO REMEMBER.
REMEMBER all that time has brought,
The starry hope on high,
The strength attained, the courage gained,
The love that can not die.
Forget the bitter, brooding thought;
The word too harshly said;
The living blame; love hates to name
The frailties of the dead.
Commend me to that generous heart,
Which, like the pine on high,
Uplifts the same unvarying brow
To every change of sky;
Whose friendship does not fade away
When wintry tempests blow,
But, like the winter's icy crown,
Looks greener through the snow.
—Anon.
"GOODNESS LAID UP."
By Julia H. Johnston
"My dear, I have been longing to see you again ever since you were a tiny girl."
Laura Lee looked up amazed into the kindly face of a friend of her hostess, who greeted her in this fashion upon introduction. She only said, "Why, Mrs. Gordon, how strange!" but her face was full of interrogation points. The older lady drew Laura to a chair, still holding her hand in a tender clasp.
"I knew your father and mother, and I knew you in G—," she said. "I heard your father preach his farewell sermon in that far eastern town before you all came west. No one who knew your father and mother ever forgot them. When I came west myself I heard of you through others, and in some way I kept up the knowledge all these years. I remember you well as a wee child. I always felt that I should see you again. I have had a heart full of love waiting for you till now."
"O, to think that I should never have known it in all these years!" exclaimed the impulsive girl.
"It has been kept for you just the same," was the gentle answer.
"How beautiful it is," said Laura. "I need it more now than ever before."
"Yes, I know," and the new friend laid her other hand upon the one she held with tender caressing.
After that, during the visit the two friends saw much of each other. "Now that I know of it," said Laura, "I want to draw upon my treasure kept for me so long."
"How great is Thy goodness which Thou hast laid up," was her "pillow text" one night. It took on a new meaning as she read it. "It makes me think of Mrs. Gordon's love kept for me so long," she said to herself.
Ah, truly we are not given all our good things at once. We come into our heritage by degrees. Like earthly parents, God "knows how" to give, and He knows when. Not all the store-up good will be kept for eternity.
"Along the daily path, and in the common round,
The sweet surprises fall in love-thoughts which abound."
—Julia H. Johnston, in Boys and Girls.
