Earlier text: General ArticlesPRAYING FOR HOLINESS.
By Morning Star
MEN pray for holiness as if it were something apart from their every-day life, something that had nothing at all to do with their conduct in their domestic, social, and business relations. They sing, "Nearer, my God, to thee," with glowing fervor, but never think that the prayer can be answered only by the uplifting of their own lives to the plane of God's requirements. Holiness is not a mere sentiment, not a vague vision of glory overhanging us like a heavenly cloud, not a rapture or an ecstasy, not something that God sends down to wrap us like a garment in its radiant folds. If being holy means anything at all, it means being true, honest, upright, pure, gentle, patient, kind, and unselfish. We really have no more religion than we get into our every-day practice. Wherein our devotion is higher than our living, it counts for nothing. Watchfulness Against Temptation
WE cannot be too circumspect—too watchful and careful in our conduct. In our life journey we are constantly exposed to seducing influences—temptations to evil—which are sometimes difficult to resist and overcome. The most exalted piety is no safeguard against the assaults of the evil one. Even the Master himself was cruelly assaulted by the great adversary of souls. And we cannot expect that in this regard the disciple shall be above his Lord. Indeed, Christ assured his disciples, in regard to the opposition of the world, "If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you." Knowing our danger, we should be careful to guard against it. If we are found off our guard, we may at any moment be overcome. Hence we are exhorted to watch and pray, lest we enter into temptation. And it is said, "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." He that would walk safely along a dangerous road must walk cautiously and circumspectly. If he does not, he is liable at any moment to slip and fall. Remember, if you are a Christian, that you have many spiritual foes, and that you "wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." Then be ever on your guard, lest the adversary gain some advantages over you. The strong arm of Christ is able to deliver you, but you must constantly lean on it for support. In his strength you will be more than a match for every spiritual foe. Wisdom and the Riches of Christ
ALL cannot become great scholars, but all may be wise unto salvation. All cannot acquire wealth, but all may gain the unsearchable riches of Christ. Pitiful and Generous Judgment
BEING ourselves tempted, let us be pitiful and generous in judging others. Spiritualism in a Presbyterian Journal
By Editor
The Christian at Work of February 18, 1886, contained an original story so full of Spiritualist teaching that one would think it was in a Spiritualist paper, instead of an independent Presbyterian journal. That the reader may get the full force of the article, we quote quite largely from it. It opens thus:— "'Mamma, are you thinking of Jessie?'"
"'Yes, dear, she seems to be very near me tonight.'"
"Bertha drew a low stool to the window by mamma's side, and asked in hushed tones, 'Do you indeed think that sister Jessie can sometimes be with us in this room?'"
"'I cannot doubt it,' was the reply. Mamma's hand was laid caressingly and soothingly upon the bowed head, for Bertha had not yet learned (alas, how few in this weary world do learn) the quiet repose and steadfast hope of a perfect faith."
"After a moment's silence Mrs. Grey continued, 'I have been sitting here alone thinking of Jessie's life among the angels. How happy she must be in her beautiful home! I often wonder in just what way the hopes and aspirations, that made her earth life so pure and true, are finding their perfect realization in the unrestricted possibilities of spiritual life.'"
"'But, mamma, what comfort do you find in that?' cried Bertha. 'I want her here; she was older and so much wiser and better than I, and she would have helped me so much.'"
"'But that is a selfish grief, dear Bertha; is it no comfort to know that Jessie is safe and happy? She knows how much you need her help, and can guide you far more truly now, in her perfect knowledge of the good and true, than she could have done in her earthly existence.'"
"'But I cannot see her; I cannot hear her. How can she help me now?' and Bertha sobbed with the unreasoning abandon of a grief that would not be comforted."
"'Be quiet, my child; Jessie does not wish you to mourn for her in this rebellious way. It can be a help to you always to think in what way your angel sister would rejoice to have you think, and speak, and act. If you seek to do those things that merit her approval, you will surely feel her guiding power. Jessie can both see and hear you; but her spirit is released from its earthly fetters, because the loving Father had need of her among the angels. We cannot hear her voice, but we may feel the holy influence of her angelic presence; we cannot see her face, but we may be cheered and comforted by the thought that her bright spirit is near us, and that she loves us with a love that is purer and holier than earth-love, even as her life in its changed relations is purer and holier.'"
"Bertha sobbed no more, but listened with eager interest, while her mother talked to her of Heaven and the angels. The gentle voice subdued the rebellious heart. The loving words of faith, submission, and steadfast hope lifted her thoughts from the dark and narrow grave to the beauty and grandeur of the Father's 'many mansions.' Sitting in the moonlight, with her mother's hand clasped in hers, a strange, sweet peace came upon her. Her heart was filled with an unspeakable joy, born of the thought that Jessie—angel Jessie, might always be unto her an invisible guardian, an intangible, loving presence." Then follows an account of a dream that Bertha had, in which she seemed to be dead and in the spirit-land, with her sister Jessie and other spirits, all told in the regular Spiritualist style. The story closes thus:— "Suddenly the scene faded from view. In another instant Jessie also had vanished. She felt herself sinking to earth again and was soon conscious of lying in her own bed without the pangs of disease. She opened her eyes to find herself alone in the silence of night, awakened from a beautiful dream. Its calm influence entering her heart taught her that death is indeed life; that God's angels must far exceed in beauty and power any dream-like conceptions of earth; and that unseen spirits—God's messengers—may indeed be near us, if the heart be kept pure and true, receiving their whispered counsels and holy influence." Is this Spiritualism, or is it not? If it is not, can anybody show us the genuine article? We affirm that no more direct Spiritualist doctrine can be found in any Spiritualist paper in the world. It is not Spiritualism simply to the extent that it teaches the intercourse of spirits of the dead with the living, but it carries the thing to the logical conclusion of utterly ignoring Christ. Notice how Bertha's doubt of the presence of her dead sister is given as evidence that she had not learned "the quiet repose, and the steadfast hope of a perfect faith." A "perfect faith" in what? in Christ? Oh, no! a "perfect faith" in the doctrine that her dead sister "might always be unto her an invisible guardian, an intangible, loving presence," and that if she should do the things that merited her sister's approval, she would always feel her guiding power. Thus the people are taught by a professedly Christian journal to put their trust in the dead, instead of in Christ. Such teaching is not a single degree removed from the ancestral worship of the Chinese, or the hero worship of the ancient Greeks and Romans. When people swallow down such teaching, what is there that is opposed to the Bible, that we may not expect them to accept, if it coincides with their fancy? But we have some more "Christian" Spiritualism. In an article commemorative of Dr. Daniel Curry, in the N. Y. Christian Advocate of September 8, 1887, Rev. J. Pullman, D. D., said:— "And he is gone! We are not to see him on the Conference floor ever again! We are not to see that white head among us, that noble white head, nor to hear that peculiar, strident voice to which we have listened all our lives! And that face, that wonderful face, with its deep-seeing eyes and beetling brows and massive chin—a face as unique and startling in its way as the face of Giotto's Dante, but kind and tender, and yet the hiding-place of thunder. 'A soft, ethereal soul looking out so stern, implacable, grim, trenchant, as from imprisonment of thick-ribbed ice.'"
"'But he is not gone. We will not say 'Good-by' to him. We will keep him among us still. Reserve that seat in the front pew of the Conference. Let the old place be kept sacred. He was not the man to leave his friends. In the thick battle, in the time of danger or holy communion, in the solemn hour of crisis, he will be there. Are they not ministering spirits?' No, thou art not gone from us, beloved friend, and we will love thee till Conference is convened in the presence of the King." Just before Dr. Curry's death, one of his Methodist brethren called upon him. As the visitor puts it, it was "as he lay within sight of his triumph." In answer to a wish that he might live many years longer, Dr. Curry said:— "I had marked out in my mind that I might live on till about eighty-five, perhaps; but when a man has lived and worked till nearly seventy-eight, what is left is not of much consequence. About the future, as I wrote to Brother Smith, there are two things. The first is, I have perfect confidence in the general truth of Christianity (although I expect my conceptions to be changed when I get over there); and the second is, that I know that Christ has taken my case in hand."—Christian Advocate (N. Y.), August 25, 1887. Some people think it an impossibility that professed Christians should ever as a body deny the doctrine of Christ, which they now profess, and which alone holds them to morality. But compare the last two quotations. Dr. Pullman has said that Dr. Curry is not gone, that he would not leave his friends, and that in the thick battle, in the time of danger, he will be there, occupying the front seat which they reserve for him. They will probably not be disappointed. Satan will be most likely to gratify them with the sight of the form of their fallen leader. But before he left, Dr. Curry gave notice that he expected many of his conceptions to be changed when he reached the home "over there." Therefore when Satan, or one of his angels, does appear to the Methodist Conference in the form of Dr. Curry, and tells them, as Mr. Ravlin's spirit friend did, that he has learned that his old views of the Bible were all wrong, they will have their minds all prepared to receive whatever he may give them in their stead. The Michigan Christian Advocate of September 1, 1887, contained an address delivered at the funeral of Bishop Harris, in which the following occurs:— "He is not dead—God's saints don't die; they only change their modes and forms of life." At the funeral of Rev. Israel Thrapp, August 29, 1887, Rev. A. S. Fisher delivered an address which was printed in the Methodist Recorder of October 29, 1887, from which we take the following:— "For more than fifty-six years he answered the roll call of his Conference here on earth. He answers now to another call, where the weary are at rest. At rest, but not idle. He cannot be. It would not be Israel Thrapp if he were idle. He was not idle here, and he cannot be there. He will go, if bidden to itinerate as a ministering spirit, and carry help to some who are to be 'heirs of salvation.'" Surely the Methodists stand in grand array on the side of Spiritualism. W. NO "PERHAPS."
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
In the first chapter of second Corinthians, verses 18-20, we find the following positive statements: "But as God is true, our word toward you was not yea and nay. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by us, even by me and Sylvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea. For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him amen, unto the glory of God by us." In this fact alone can the sinner find any confidence in approaching to God. "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever," is the sinner's only hope. It is not to taunt them, nor to glory in disappointing them, that the gracious call is given to men. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isa. 55:1. Says Jesus, "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37); and Paul says that "He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him." Heb. 7:25. And the same apostle also says:— "Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." Heb. 4:14-16. Again we read: "But without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Heb. 11:6. Faith, then, and boldness, are characteristics that the Lord wants those to manifest who come to him. Our mind was forcibly turned to this line of thought a few days ago, by reading an old hymn, the first three stanzas of which are as follows:— "Come, humble sinner, in whose breast
A thousand thoughts revolve;
Come, with your guilt and fear oppressed,
And make this last resolve:—
"I'll go to Jesus, though my sins
Like mountains round me close;
I know his courts, I'll enter in,
Whatever may oppose.
"Prostrate I'll lie before his throne,
And there my guilt confess;
I'll tell him I'm a wretch undone
Without his sovereign grace." That is good; no better resolve could possibly be made; it is just what God wants every sinner to do. He says:— "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Isa. 55:6, 7. This is the language of positive assurance. What then shall we say to the sentiment expressed in the fourth stanza of the hymn above referred to? It reads thus:— "Perhaps he will admit my plea,
Perhaps will hear my prayer;
But if I perish, I will pray,
And perish only there." Such language might be excusable in one who knew nothing of God; but uttered by one who has103known God, or, rather, is known of God, it can be regarded only as a libel upon God’s word. The sinner is exhorted to resolve to throw himself prostrate before God, to confess his sins, and plead for mercy, and then is “encouraged” with the thought that perhaps God will hear his prayer, and admit his plea. Not in that manner does God encourage those who are sick of sin. Says the beloved disciple, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9. He promises that he will “have mercy” upon and “abundantly pardon” those who turn to him confessing and forsaking their sins. There is no such thing as “perhaps” with God. His promises to the penitent, and his threats to the impenitent, are equally positive. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark 16:16. To the straying he says: “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will harken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.” Jer. 29:12, 13. Again he says: “I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain; I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right.” Isa. 45:19. Christ says: “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Matt. 11:28, 29. There is no “perhaps” about this. “God is love;” he has revealed himself to us as a God that “delighteth in mercy.” The surety of this is found in the fact that Jesus died for us. “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom. 5:8. And “he that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” Rom. 8:32. “This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” 1 Tim. 1:15. Since he came for this express purpose, how can there be any doubt about his receiving those who come humbly to him? When Queen Esther was implored to go in before Ahasuerus, to beg for the life of her people, she at first refused, because it was death to go before him without being summoned; but finally she yielded, saying: “Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day; I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:16. Ahasuerus (Xerxes) was a heathen king, and an unreasonable despot. In going before him, the queen took her life in her hand. But our God has held out his scepter to us; he wants us to come, and entreats us to come. “As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?” Eze. 33:11. We said that there is no such thing as “perhaps” with God. James says that with him is “no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” Then those who come to him, doubtful if they will receive what they ask for, must displease him, because they reflect upon his truthfulness. That God is displeased with the one who doubts, is evident from Heb. 11:6, and also from the following words:— “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.” James 1:5-7. The man who thinks that “perhaps” God will hear his prayer, thinks that “perhaps” he will not; such an one cannot ask in faith, nothing wavering and consequently cannot receive anything. The only way to come is to come boldly. The violent take the kingdom of Heaven by force. One thought more. God is pleased to have us come to him with confidence, because it shows that we believe what he says; and his own glory depends on the fulfillment of his promises. Says Paul: “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are saved); and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us, through Christ Jesus.” Eph. 2:4-7. That is, God intends to exhibit us throughout eternity, as an evidence of the exceeding riches of his grace; the souls that are saved will be an everlasting trophy of his unchanging goodness; how then can it be imagined that he will not hear the prayer of the contrite soul, with whom he has said that he delights to dwell? Have you repented of your sins? do you hate them, and long for a better life? Have you confessed them? Then take the assurance of God’s word as evidence that your sins are forgiven, and that you are entitled to peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Then you may say with the prophet: “O Lord, I will praise thee; though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortest me. Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.” Isa. 12:1, 2. WAS THE REFORMATION A MISTAKE?
By W.
He who keeps his eyes open to observe the signs of the times, cannot fail to note how rapidly Catholicism is advancing, and how little opposition there is to it on the part of professed Protestants. Last week we gave liberal extracts from the Independent and the Christian at Work, in praise of the Pope, and now we have something still more pronounced, from the Christian Union of January 26. Following is a large portion of the article, which is headed, “Another Sign of the Times”:— “Nothing shows more clearly the decay of old religious animosities than the fact that so little has been heard of late of the old anti-Popery cry. . . . The old and somewhat panicky feeling which Protestants used to entertain toward the Pope and the church has evidently passed away. If evidence of this were needed, it would be found in the fact that the President’s gift of a copy of the Constitution of the United States to the Pope has for the most part passed unchallenged—has, indeed, been commended as an act of courtesy, and as a sensible way of discharging what was, under the circumstances, a matter of national obligation; for as the author of ‘Religio Medici’ long ago suggested, the Pope is a temporal prince, and the amenities which are paid to princes are due to him. . . . In England, where the anti-Popery feeling has been even more rabid than in this country, an English nobleman of the highest rank has recently conveyed to the Pope the personal sympathy and good-will of the Queen, and was instructed ‘to give expression to her feeling of deep respect for the elevated character and Christian wisdom’ which the Supreme Pontiff has displayed in his high position. ‘The temperate sagacity,’ said the envoy, ‘with which your Holiness has corrected errors and differences, from which much evil might otherwise have arisen, inspires her Majesty with the earnest hope that life and health may long be granted to you, and that your beneficent actions may long be continued.’” After mentioning the events connected with the Pope’s jubilee, and the brilliancy of the pontifical mass in St. Peter’s, the editorial continues:— “Among the almost countless congratulations that were received from all parts of the world, Protestant good wishes and congratulations mingled with those from Catholic sources. This is as it should be, and marks the coming of the better age in which the bitter and unchristian animosities of the past are disappearing as the shadows at the dawn. “One may hold Protestant convictions as resolutely as his fathers held them, and may oppose the Catholic propaganda in Church and State with the greatest zeal and earnestness, and still preserve toward this church that attitude of Christian courtesy which ought to be, although it never yet has been, the characteristic of Christian peoples. It is not impossible that the time may come when the old antagonism of the Catholic and the Protestant may appear insignificant in view of the deeper antagonisms which shall make them essentially one. Thomas Carlyle declared that the real struggle in every age is between the believer and the unbeliever, and it has seemed at times of late as if this phrase might soon describe the practical issue of certain tendencies in modern society. For anarchism and social disorder of the radical kind have their roots in atheism, and it is quite possible that the time may come when the real issue will be between the theist and the atheist; the man who believes in God, and order, and freedom, and rights of person and property on the one side, and the man who disbelieves in all these on the other side. Whenever that time comes, the Protestant and the Catholic will stand side by side in a common defense of those common beliefs which have been their mutual possessions these many centuries. Stranger things have happened in history than such a change of attitude as would be involved in the fellowship of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant; and it is well to remember in any event that the only Christian way to hold one’s convictions is to hold them with charity and courtesy.” Can anybody give a reason for this change in the feeling of Protestants toward Catholicism? Was it all just a senseless “panicky feeling,” when the Waldenses and Albigenses used to tremble at the approach of the minions of the Pope? Was Luther’s feeling toward the Pope nothing but jealousy? Did Huss and Jerome, and tens of thousands of others whom we call martyrs,—did they commit suicide? Was it foolish superstition on the part of the Lollards, when they used every means in their power to conceal their Bibles, so that the agents of the Pope might not burn them? In short, must we say that the Reformation was a mistake, and that the men who stood so firmly for principle were nothing but cranks? If not, why should there be any change in feeling towards Rome? She has not changed at all. Leo XIII. believes every dogma that the church has ever put forth, and he believes that every one of his predecessors in the Papal chair was infallible, and could not do wrong. What is it, then, but that he would do the same things if circumstances seemed to make it necessary, and he had the power? When we remember the record which Rome has made, it is startling to read in an influential Protestant journal that “the Pope is a temporal prince, and the amenities which are paid to princes are due to him.” And it is still more startling to learn that almost every nation is giving practical evidence of its belief in this statement. Someone may say, “Oh, it is not because they favor Catholicism; they do it simply from political motives.” Of course; nations and their rulers never take any steps except from political motives; and the Roman Catholic Church is simply a vast political machine, and therein lies the danger from it. We have no fears that Protestant America will ever turn Catholic in name; but when Protestants cease to protest, they might as well be Catholics. We hold that Protestantism today ought to stand in the same relation to Catholicism that it did in the days of the Reformation. That does not mean that we should hate Catholics, or that we should have any feelings toward them other than those of Christian charity and courtesy; but it does mean that we should protest against the principles and practices of the Church of Rome, and not be dazzled by its display of wealth and power. But the last paragraph of the Christian Union’s article should be read with care. What do we read? “It is not impossible that the time may come when the old antagonism of the Catholic and the Protestant may appear insignificant in view of the deeper antagonism which shall make them essentially one.” “Stranger things have happened in history than such a change in attitude as would be involved in the fellowship of the Roman Catholic and the Protestant.” All we have to say is, Woe to the Christianity that will be defended against atheism by an alliance of Catholics and Protestants. It will be a form of Christianity upon which the wrath of God will fall. Is it not time for some to be crying aloud and lifting up their voices like a trumpet? In other words, is it not time for the rapid spread of the Third Angel’s Message, which is to the nineteenth century what Luther’s work was to the sixteenth?
W. Give Thanks Unto the Lord
"O GIVE thanks unto the Lord, for he is good." SOME QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.
By Editor
A CERTAIN clergyman in California, "actuated by a desire to be of service to the young men of our country," has sent a series of questions to a number of persons in the State, requesting answers to them. He did not send us the questions, but we feel disposed to answer them anyhow, as they are questions which involve considerations that are of much importance to society in general. His first question is as follows:— "1. Do you think the average young man in our country as sturdy and well qualified to be useful to self and country as were those of fifty years ago?" No. The average young man is not as sturdy in any sense, neither morally, mentally, nor physically; therefore in the very nature of the case he is not as well qualified to be useful to self and country as were those of fifty years ago. Because the average young man of eighteen of to-day is acquainted with more kinds of immorality, and more of a kind, than the man of forty was fifty years ago. And there is in the young men of to-day more of an inclination to practice many kinds of immorality, than there was in those of fifty years ago for the reason that all kinds of immorality are much more popular than they were fifty years ago. There is no need to particularize on this point, nor is it necessary for anyone to have lived fifty years to know full well that it is true. Physically the young men of to-day are not as sturdy as they were fifty years ago, because they are much more intemperate, and at a much earlier age, than were those of fifty years ago. To prove this we need not go beyond the consideration of the one item of tobacco-using. A good deal less than fifty years ago the young man who used tobacco before he was eighteen, was rather an exception; but now the boy who does not use it before he is ten is rather an exception. He uses it in its very worst form too, that is, in the shape of cigarettes. There is no disputing the fact at all that cigarette-smoking has the very worst effect upon the heart, the brain, and the nervous system. Nor is that all. The boy buys his package of cigarettes, and finds in it lewd pictures, and the cigarettes themselves are so "doctored" as to excite the animal propensities in the direction suggested by the lascivious picture. And thus not only the physical but the moral powers are weakened, and the very soul is defiled. But even though they do not use tobacco in the shape of cigarettes, though they use it in the form of "the best Havana's," or in the form of "the best plug," the case is little, if any, better, as all of it, whether in cigars, fine-cut, or plug, is so saturated with opium, laudanum, rum, gin, cognac, champagne, Piper Heidsieck, cascarilla, valerian, etc., etc., that it is only an excitant to strong drink. Here is a test which it would be perfectly safe to apply, with the assurance that the result would be against the young men of to-day. In proportion to population, there are more young men and boys using tobacco to-day than there were fifty years ago. But take the young men of to-day who use tobacco, and compare them with those who used tobacco fifty years ago, and it will be found that these are not as sturdy as were those. This is proved by the fact that within a few years the authorities of the military and naval academies of the United States, have been compelled to prohibit the use of tobacco in those institutions, because those who used it could not pass the course of studies and come out such men as the Government wants. No such thing was necessary fifty years ago. These are some of the reasons why the young men of to-day are not as sturdy as they were fifty years ago, and therefore they are not as well qualified to be useful to self or country as were those of fifty years ago. "3. Do you think our educational system that best calculated to prepare our young men for success in life?" As a system of education which is within the province of the State, when manual training shall have been generally added to it, as it is now in some States, we know not how it could be made better. But this we say of our national educational system in itself, and not of the manner of the working of the system. For the way in which this system has been run of late years, it is growing less efficient every day. There is too much system and too little education; there is too much machinery and too little work; too much cramming and too little training. Children are put through the school system from the lowest to the highest grade, about as a grist of wheat is put through a mill, and when they come out it is much as a mass of flour that has all the life ground out of it—it appears all well enough, but it is hard to make anything of it. They can, perhaps, give correctly every rule in what is called English grammar, and very likely can answer the most of the questions under each rule, and violate the rule in answering the questions. They can perhaps talk admiringly of the beauties of Longfellow, or the, supposed, elegance of Tennyson, while at the same time they cannot spell many common words of every-day usage. They have probably been graduated from the High School, and may have passed through the State Normal, and yet are unable to write correctly twenty connected lines. This is not conjecture, it is fact, as anyone may see who will observe. Here again we may refer to the national military academy, as furnishing a decisive test of the question. It is shown by the records of the West Point examinations for admission, that the standard of education of those who apply is lower than it was thirty years ago. Our educational system is good, but the principal result of its machine-working of late years has been, more than anything else, the development of intellectual pride and practical inefficiency. The three most interesting and important questions we must defer till another time.