WE are prone to cling to many things that injure us; we are prone to fling aside many things that would do us good. The heathen will continue to chant a charm for a loved one's recovery when every charm has failed, and after the enlightened medical missionary has taken over the dangerous case; and the white man will keep his seat in the saddle of his hobby—his pet project—when the thing has been proved a failure again and again.
This peculiar tendency has been strikingly illustrated in the attitude taken by some Sunday-law advocates toward the report of the Sunday-labor investigating committee of the Massachusetts Legislature.
The report contains many statistics in regard to Sunday labor. It shows among other things that travel of the short-distance class (such as excursions to parks and beaches and points of interest and pleasure) has nearly doubled within the last ten years, and that the large proportion of this increase was in Sunday travel, both by land and water. Commenting upon this report the Congregationalist says:—
"The public demand for labor on the Lord's day has thus been multiplied within a decade. Nor is this demand confined to any class or community. Church-goers are probably as exacting in these requirements as church-neglecters.
"It must be evident that what the general public demands it will not consent to be deprived of by legislation. Attempts to forbid men by law to engage in Sunday recreation have been less and less effective, except so far as their amusements disturb the quiet to which others are entitled. Recent efforts have been chiefly directed to protecting workingmen from being compelled to work on Sunday. But the facts presented in this report show that workingmen would consider compulsory rest as great an injustice as compulsory labor on Sunday. Many of them have no religious scruples against working on that day, and they want the money they can thus earn. Social interdependence has grown so rapidly in recent years that it has become difficult, and in many cases impossible, for individuals to adjust their hours and days of labor to suit their convenience or their convictions.
"Whatever legislation is to succeed in protecting the Lord's day must take into account existing conditions and public demands, and it must provide for a large degree of freedom both to work and to refrain from working. The people require that they shall be served with what they think they need on that day, and this includes being fed with wholesome food, having perishable goods cared for, and being transported to places where they can secure fresh air, out-of-door life, and social enjoyments." (Italics mine.)
Now, here are several things that have been learned: The demand for labor on Sunday has been doubled in a decade; the demand is made by church-goers as well as by church-neglecters; attempts to forbid Sunday recreation have met with less and less success; the efforts put forth to "protect" laborers from Sunday work have been resented by the laborers, many of whom prefer to work on that day for the additional remuneration; notwithstanding the laws for the day's protection, it has become more secularized than ever.
What should this have taught the workers for Sunday laws?—That their experience in this is attesting and emphasizing the fact that all religious legislation is wrong; that men can not be made religious, nor a day be made sacred, by legislation; that a longing for God can not be created in the human heart by any kind of human law; that a human prop can not strengthen the law of God; that an attempt to legislate sacredness into Sunday makes it more secular than it had previously been; that a human law to protect a divine thing (if Sunday were such) is a failure and a folly; that the Church and the State have each their proper functions, and that neither should interfere in the domain of the other—in short, that religion and the State should be kept "forever separate."
But the lesson is not heeded. The quotation given above states that "whatever legislation is to succeed in protecting the Lord's day must take into account existing conditions and public demands."
The facts and the conditions show unmistakably that Sunday legislation is a failure in creating a sentiment of sacredness for the day, or in decreasing the pleasure-seeking propensities of the people. Have they, then, discarded the hobby?—Not at all. They have expressed an intention of changing the style of its livery; but the same hobby,—the attempt to protect an institution which they consider divine with a shield which is only human,—is being ridden still. Ignoring the fact that all legislation of this character is wrong in principle and futile in practise, it is proposed simply to modify the legislation instead of discarding it wholly, in accordance with the lesson taught.
When David found that Saul's armor, instead of "protecting" him would work against his success, he discarded it—he did not try to fashion it to fit his form. The Sunday law as a protector of Sunday sacredness has proved itself a failure, because it can not regenerate the heart. As a protector it has hampered the thing protected, for it has cultivated a trust in human law instead of a revival of religious feeling in the hearts of men. Energy has been spent in making, passing, and enforcing the law, when it should have been spent in teaching Christ in word and life, and the power and presence and sufficiency of His salvation.
But to what will the change of livery in this war-worn hobby lead?—The quotation given above shows that, if carried out, it must lead to a man-made moral code. In other words, men are to become the dictators of their own morality; for "whatever legislation is to succeed in protecting the Lord's day must take into account existing conditions and public demands, and must provide for a large degree of freedom both to work and to refrain from working." Is man, then, to be both lawmaker and judge concerning the proper observance of the Lord's day? This is certainly the construction to be placed upon the quotation just given. The laws for the observance of that day must not run counter to existing conditions or the demands of the public. The public, as shown by the report of the Massachusetts investigating committee, are demanding that they be allowed to go where they please on Sunday, and that they be provided with traveling facilities for going there, a provision which necessitates labor on that day by others. There are many other things that the people are demanding for their Sundays, one of which is that they may do what they please on that day so long as they do not injure the persons or interfere with the rights of others in doing it. Still, they must have a law protecting the day, but it must permit the people to do whatever they demand to do. This simply makes the morality of Sabbath-keeping depend upon the wish or the whim of the populace; and when the people have decided the standard of their moral obligations in this instance, how long will it be before they will be attempting to establish for themselves in other things standards of morality which shall "take into account existing conditions and public demands"?
What a flood of error such a sluice-gate as this would let in upon the world! It is wrong in theory; it is worse in practise. The law should change the existing conditions instead of the existing conditions changing the law.
God does not hold men accountable to other men for their manner of worshiping Him; nor does He hold men accountable to Him for worshiping Him according to the commands of other men. But to what straits are men driven when they attempt to do that for which God has given them no authority?
C. M. SNOW.
"ENGLAND'S INCONSISTENCY ON ARBITRATION."
By T.
UNDER the foregoing title the New York World says the following:—
"The Peace Conference at The Hague agreed upon an elaborate scheme of arbitration, intended to prevent such wars as that which Great Britain seems now to be forcing upon the Boers.
"It agreed that every effort to arbitrate should be exhausted before resort should be had to force; that the parties to every quarrel should invoke arbitration, and that neutral powers should be free to offer mediation without offense, even after armed conflict should have begun.
"As an additional inducement to peaceful adjudication the conference agreed upon a permanent court of arbitration open to all countries, whether signatory powers or not, and a permanent bureau through which appeals might be made to that court.
"There was no authority, of course, to compel any power to submit its case to that court, but it was agreed that all the signatory powers held themselves morally bound to do so in every case not otherwise arbitrated or settled by negotiation, except such as involved the national honor, independence, or sovereignty.
"Yet almost before the ink is dry with which the British representatives at The Hague signed this agreement, Great Britain is forcing war upon the Boer republic in assertion of British right to control that republic's internal policy and domestic affairs.
"The issue is clearly one of those that should be settled by arbitration, and the Boers have earnestly besought Great Britain to submit it to that kind of impartial adjudication, stipulating only that one of the five arbitrators shall be selected by an entirely neutral government—that of Switzerland or that of the United States preferred.
"England rejects this proposal. Her excuse is that the Transvaal is not an independent State. But that is precisely the question in dispute, and no less eminent an English statesman than Sir William Vernon Harcourt says with emphasis: 'The Transvaal's independence is complete. Even in foreign affairs the only thing reserved is the final approval of the queen to treaties negotiated.'
"And Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, who has forced the present issue, expressed the like view until he found it convenient to revert to the suzerainty doctrine as an excuse for intermeddling with Transvaal affairs fifteen years after the signing of the London convention of 1884, which guaranteed Transvaal independence.
"These are facts which mankind will surely consider in making up its judgment upon England's course in South Africa."
And to what the World says it might be added that these are also facts that men should consider when they try to make themselves believe that we are in the beginning of a reign of diplomacy that will establish a universal and permanent peace on this earth. We must look to another quarter for peace.
War and the Coming Crisis
By Editor
THE long-talked-about war between Great Britain and the Transvaal republic is at last declared and the fighting has begun. It is not the province of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES to follow the battles that are fought, and give the details of the slaughter. But we do hope that every thoughtful person will be wide-awake to the possibilities that this war presents. Some of these wars that start up will lead right on to the battle of the great day of God. It does not seem probable now that this is the one that will do it. But in these times who can tell what a day may bring forth? With Germany, France, and Russia strongly against the British in the conflict, it will be easy for some accidental spark to fall into the great war magazine and result in an international explosion. And why it is, when everything points so unmistakably to war, that men will persist in saying that the world is bordering on a universal and lasting peace, is a great mystery. It must be that the eyes of many are blinded so that they do not see things as they are. God's Word should be our guide in all these matters, for it sets the situation before us fully, and of course in its true light. The great day of God is right at hand, and there is no mistaking it. Everything indicates it clearly.
It has been the manifest policy of Pope Leo XIII. to try to work in harmony with whatever form of government might be in existence in the various countries. In countries where there is a republican form, he is a republican, and so instructs his clergy to act accordingly; in countries where there is a monarchy, he is a strict monarchist, and asks his clergy to do all in their power to support that form of government. But in France his clergy have not been so obedient to him as the laws of the Catholic Church require, and so there is trouble brewing. Some of the French officials are threatening to cut off the annual stipend of 40,000,000 francs that goes from the government to the Catholic Church. So it seems that all the troubles in France are not confined to the State department. In fact, when any State has a State church, that church is sure to get into all the broils that the State gets into. Hence, it ought to be evident to any one that the pure Christianity of the Christ is something that has no place in politics to figure as a mere political factor. Christianity is not clannish, it is not partisan. It can not afford to ally itself to any clan or political organization, for that would make it narrow and local. Christianity is as broad as the world, and is intended to point men to Christ, and to Him alone. And if, in pointing men to Christ, the effort is made to point at the same time to some mode of politics that should be adopted, the sinner is apt to see nothing but the politics, and the Christ is obscured entirely. The weighty interests of eternity are sufficient to absorb all the energies of the one who has professed discipleship to the Prince of Peace. Let us seek to follow Him and Him alone, and devote all our energies to pointing men to the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world. It is only when political movements fulfil prophecy that the servant of Christ need have anything to do with them, and then to merely point to them as the fulfilments of the Father's Word.
FRANCE adds her name to the list of countries that are strongly denouncing England for her war in the Transvaal. This is but another of the evidences that show the jealousies among the nations of the earth, and every person who looks at the situation without prejudice must see that it is only a question of a little time till the whole world will be involved in war. The present strained relations must bring a crisis. It is absolutely impossible for it to be avoided unless every nation on the earth would begin at once to make decided reforms. But this we know will not be done; for the conditions all over the world are getting worse and worse. And thus hath God's Word declared that it would be.
An association has just been organized in New York City called the "American League." The concluding clause of the association's declaration of principles states, "We adhere to the American idea that a government derives its just power from the consent of the governed," and it further says that "we are therefore opposed to the use of force in the extension of American institutions." A number of the most influential men in the nation have already joined the league. We are glad to note that there are still some that cling to the good old American doctrine of freedom and independence, and that imperialism can not be brought in without a struggle.
AT the laying of the corner-stone of the new post-office building in Chicago, Postmaster-General Smith said:—
"What citizen of the republic shall so impugn the honor of his country and the integrity of her institutions as to proclaim before the world that her scepter extended over rude and remote peoples means wrong and oppression and spoliation? What American shall so discredit his own blood as to declare that the American people will either falter in the duty of their trust or fail in the capacity of their task? Our inspiring past is the prophecy of our glorious future."
The "inspiring past" of this country can not be a prophecy of its future, for the simple reason that the principles that have guided in the past are being repudiated, and the country is now going in the opposite direction to what it has gone in the past. We are not to look to the past history of this country to get a prophecy of its future, but to the republic of Rome after she forsook her republican principles and became imperialistic. If we so desire we can get a perfect prophecy of the future of this country by studying the history of Rome. This nation is traveling over the same ground exactly that Rome traversed to her "decline and fall." And if men will open their eyes to actual facts they can not help seeing it.
ABOUT two or three weeks ago the Mexican Government notified the Yaqui Indians that all who would lay down their arms inside of ten days would be granted a full pardon and would have their lands restored to them. But only about a hundred responded, and these were mostly old men who could not endure the rigors of a campaign. The Mexicans have now commenced active warfare against them again, and it is said that it will be a war of extermination. The report is that the Mexican generals are instructed to take no prisoners. That means that every one of the poor Indians that can be found will be killed. And yet they tell us that the world has marched past barbarism into a perfect Christian civilization. But wherein? If the doings of men are analyzed to-day, they will not be found very much ahead of what existed in former times. Indeed, when we take into account the greater enlightenment of these days, is it not true that the conditions of this time are even more inexcusable than were the things that men did in the Dark Ages? Just think seriously of the situation. There are popular fads in every age that men accept merely because they are affirmed by nearly every one. But if a little sober and serious thinking was done, the errors would be perceived. Bring everything to the Word of God and then you may know of a surety of its truthfulness.
AS THE crown incomes which Spain has been receiving from Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippines, have now been cut off, anti-tax riots have begun to follow the increased demands upon the people's income. About three-fifths of all the taxes collected in Spain, now go to foreign bondholders, as interest on the Spanish bonds which they hold, and the colonial revenues are almost entirely extinct. There seems certain bankruptcy ahead for Spain, and with that she may expect rioting, bloodshed, and distress.
NOT long since the president of the little republic of Santo Domingo was assassinated, a provisional government was instituted, and soon after General Jimenez, who was then in Cuba, went there to become the popular candidate for the presidency. His election seemed certain. However, there has now been discovered among some of his supposed followers a conspiracy to accomplish his assassination. A number of generals are under arrest for complicity in the attempt on his life.
ENGLAND is planning to organize a flying squadron, in order to overawe the jealous powers of Europe in case they decide to interfere in the Transvaal war. It is also stated that England is depending on the United States to help her out in case of any interference of any other powers. This offers a chance for this government to get into the difficulty. Of course it may not come that way. But who can not see that everything stands in readiness for an international tangle?
A DESPATCH from Cape Town, South Africa, says that a revolution of the Dutch in Cape Colony is regarded as imminent. This is, of course, an outgrowth of the war with the Transvaal. All the Dutch in South Africa seem to be sympathizing with the Boers, and the fight seems destined to grow into greater proportions, and also to be a very stubborn one
SIR LOUIS HENRY DAVIS, Canadian minister of marine and fisheries, has announced that he has given Canada's consent to a temporary arrangement of the Alaskan dispute. It is considered that this practically settles the whole matter for the time being.
A DESPATCH to the Navy Department in Washington states that all hopes of an understanding between the government and the insurgents in Venezuela have been abandoned, and a decisive battle is expected right off. President Andrade has prepared to flee.
THE Mexican Government is now at war with three of the Indian tribes within its jurisdiction. The braves of the Mayo tribe have joined forces with the Yaquis in Sonora State, and the Mayi tribe in Yucatan are still hostile to the government.
A TERRIBLE scourge of dysentery is sweeping over Japan. Up to September 14, about 12,000 persons had died of this disease. The mortality thus far has been about twenty-five per cent.
WILLIAM L. WILSON, framer of the free-trade tariff act of 1894 and Postmaster-General in Mr. Cleveland's second cabinet, is lying at the point of death, at Parkersburg, W. Va.
TELEGRAMS from Linse, the capital of Upper Austria, state that the inhabitants of that district are in a state of terror, owing to a series of "Jack the Ripper" murders.
A LIEUTENANT of the native police in Manila is under arrest, charged with plotting to have the police force turn against the Americans in case of an uprising.
An earthquake in the island of Ceram, one of the Sunda Islands, destroyed the town of Amhei, and instantly killed 4,000 people. About 500 others were injured.
TWELVE new regiments have been recruited for service in the Philippines, and will be on their way within the next three weeks.
UNITED STATES consuls are intrusted with the work of guarding British interests in South Africa.
THE bubonic plague has reached North China and the Asuncion Island.
Imperialism and the Army’s Honor
Apropos of the passing of the death sentence recently upon two American soldiers in Manila for assaulting native women, an exchange says, "It is necessary that an example be made, and it can not be made any too soon, lest the reputation of the American army suffer." But why the American army only? Is it only the army that suffers when an unprincipled soldier practises his brutality upon a defenseless native woman? Is there no occasion for the bestowal of sympathy upon the victim of such a soldier's action? Even so soon is public interest in the reputation of the army overshadowing public interest in the protection of the most vital rights of the individual. It is one of the first straws whose leeward bend indicates the tornado of approaching imperialism which will swallow up the individual in its crushing swirl. France has had her lesson in supporting the "honor of the army," and America is planning for herself a similar curriculum. s.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS.
By Eugene G. Wood
THE group of islands forming the archipelago in that part of Oceanica called Malasia, is called the Philippines, so named after Philip the Second, then king of Spain.
This group of tropical islands lies between 4° 45' and 21° 17' north latitude, and 120° 5' and 129° 8' east longitude. On the north and west lies the China Sea; on the east, the Pacific Ocean, and on the south, the Celebes Sea.
The total number of islands comprising this group is about fourteen hundred, varying in size from a body of land with an area of over forty thousand square miles to a mere speck in the sea.
The Philippines are divided into three general groups, the Mindanao group being the southern, Vasayan the central, and the Luzon the most northern.
Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines, is about four hundred and eighty miles in length and has an area of forty thousand nine hundred eighty-two square miles. It is the richest, most densely populated, and one of the most fertile islands in the group.
The population of the Philippines is made up from all nations of the globe. At present it numbers about nine million, sixteen thousand of these being Europeans, not including the United States soldiers. There are also a large number of Chinese, and one of the southern islands is inhabited by a tribe of Mohammedans.
There are over thirty different dialects spoken on the islands; the Vasayan, being the most general, is spoken by more than two and one-half millions of the population. In the central part of Luzon, around Manila and Cavite, Tagalog is spoken. Around the seaport towns and where the Spanish have been garrisoned, all can speak Spanish; but very few speak the English language.
The climate of the Philippines is quite healthful compared with that of other tropical countries of the same latitude. This is especially so along the northern coast of Luzon and in the small coast islands.
Corregidor, a small island about five miles long and one mile wide, situated at the mouth of Manila Bay, some thirty-three miles from Manila, has a most delightful climate, the thermometer rarely going above ninety degrees, and seldom below sixty-five.
During the months of December, January, and February, the cool monsoon blows off the China Sea, bringing health and vigor to all on the island.
A Monument and Vault Erected in Honor of the First Mayor of Corregidor Island.
In the Philippines they have three seasons, the cool season beginning the latter part of November or the first of December and extending to the middle of March, during which time they have very little rain; then the dry season, continuing until the first part of May. After this comes the wet season, with an occasional shower until June, and then it is not an unusual thing to see it rain and clear up three or four times in one day. When it rains, the water comes down in torrents, and it is not an uncommon thing to see it rain without a cloud in sight. And the way the sun comes out the next few moments, the atmosphere being so humid, makes the heat almost intolerable for a white man. This is most noticeable in the interior of the islands. This wet season continues until October.
In the mountains it is said to be quite pleasant. Some have cool, fresh-water springs in abundance. Many of the mountains reach an altitude of several thousand feet. They are very rugged and steep, many of them being extinct volcanoes. Fire and smoke were seen to issue from one last November.
Admiral Dewey at Corregidor Island Lighthouse, Manila, P. I.
The largest river in the Philippines is the Pasig, in the island of Luzon. It is a swift-running stream, rising in the Laguna de Bay, some thirty miles above the city of Manila. It, with its many small tributaries, forms excellent thoroughfares for traffic between the small villages which are scattered along its banks and Manila. It is also deep and wide enough to allow the Hongkong steamers to come up to the docks and quays and discharge their cargoes.
Laguna de Bay, a large fresh-water lake, is about thirty or forty miles wide. Its margins are thickly covered with bamboo and other tropical foliage, many places being a dense jungle. Wild duck and other aquatic fowl abound.
The native Filipino does a thriving business during the fishing season, as the waters abound with a great variety of fish. Many villages are located on the banks of this lake, some of them quite picturesque in their tropical fastnesses.
In the interior, along the rivers, lakes, and low hills, a great variety of most valuable timber abounds. It is all of the hard-wood variety. Many of their stately trees reach six or eight feet in diameter. They consist of mahogany, ebony, madara, narra. Also the cinnamon, clove, and many other spice trees abound. The gentian, sarsaparilla, and soap-root plants of the finest quality are plentiful.
Strange to say, with this almost inexhaustible supply of valuable timber, there is not a steam saw in the archipelago. All the lumber that is used and exported is sawed with what is called a whip-saw, and by Chinese labor. Quite often it takes one day to saw out a single piece of lumber. This lumber is brought into Manila on rafts and small schooners from the interior and adjacent island. It is used for furniture, building purposes, and exported to China, Spain, and the United States.
The bamboo tree is used to great advantage. It grows from forty to sixty feet high, and from six to eight inches in diameter. The Filipino builds his house out of it, with the exception of the nipa thatch of the coconut tree for the roof and sides. He uses the large poles for the frame and rafters and splits them for the floor of his casa.
Many excellent quarries afford an unlimited amount of stone for building purposes, which is used for the building of quays, warehouses, massive cathedrals, the paving of streets, etc.11
At the present time all traffic with the interior is cut off. Lumber is scarce, and it is not safe to go into the interior after it. Consequently all building is at a standstill.
Agriculture is in a backward state in the Philippines. Of the one hundred and twelve thousand square miles of areable land in the archipelago, scarcely eight thousand square miles are under any kind of cultivation. This is largely due to the fact that the natives are very indolent. They will not exert themselves beyond obtaining the bare necessities of life. Many English and German capitalists have opened up plantations around Manila, Cavite, and Malabon within the last few years, and several sugar and other factories have been established. At the present time the agricultural industry is on the retrograde; the rice, sugar, and tobacco fields are barren, and the rich, fertile valley land around Manila Bay is desolate. May the time soon come when war will cease, that the land may be tilled and bring forth her fruit, and the factory wheel turn again.
EUGENE G. WOOD.
THE VOICE OF THE HILLS.
By Priscilla Leonard
[Priscilla Leonard, in The Occident.]
PEACE is the message of the hills,
A peace that broods
Upon their mighty heads, and fills
Their forest solitudes.
The leaping mountain waterfalls,
As each unto the other calls,
Blend in a murmuring noise,
Whose silver rushing music stirs
The petty play of human moods,
And bids the candid soul rejoice
In the deep secrets of the woods,
The majesty of nature's voice.
Swedish Missionaries in China
A WEEK'S conference was recently held in Stockholm of between twenty and thirty Swedish missionaries who were home on a furlough. They represented four different societies, and the conference was the first of its kind held in Sweden. The last evening they were invited to Prince Oscar Bernadotte's for tea, and afterward a prayer-meeting was led by the prince, in which the princess also took part. The first Swedish missionary to China was Eric Folke, who went out in 1887. To-day, after twelve years, there are 250 Swedish missionaries in that country. Of these about one hundred are sent out and supported by Swedes in America. Sweden, compared with its population, has more missionaries in foreign fields than any other country.—Christian Work.
The Growth of Sacerdotalism
It is said that in 1851 there were only 17 monasteries and 53 convents in England and Wales. At the present time there are 243 religious houses for men and 493 for women. Along with this, there has been a tremendous growth of Sacerdotalism in the Church of England. Parallel with this, also, there has been a general lessening of the authority of the Bible, and a lifting up of human authority. This same thing is working in mission fields, more generally perhaps in the cities than in the country districts, where close contact with sin and misery tends to drive the worker closer to the only hope and refuge. There is desperate need for the preaching of the Gospel message of reformation throughout Christendom in the power of the Holy Spirit, whose the Word is. —Oriental Watchman.
Prepared for Missionary Emergencies
In the early days of the Christian dispensation men were sent as missionaries who had given proof of their ministry at home. In some way the Spirit of God indicated the persons, and the brethren sent them forth after prayer and fasting, and formally bidding them Godspeed. But, in the case of the first church at Jerusalem, when the time came that they were dispersed by persecution, they were so prepared, by study of the Word and a spirit of self-denial, that "they went everywhere preaching the Word." They had not thought of going abroad as missionaries until the emergency arose; but when it came, they were prepared for it. Now it behooves every Christian to ask himself, "Am I prepared for such an emergency?" The disciple who has his all in the cause will have nothing to restrain him should either a call come to him or a persecution drive him out.
THE HEATHEN HAVE BEAT.
ROBBIE went to a missionary meeting, and heard for the first time about the poor heathen who bow down to wooden and stone images, and who do not know about God. The children were asked to bring in money to help missionaries go out and teach them about God.
Next day Robbie coaxed his mother to give him a penny.
"Now," said he, when the penny was in his hand, "I'll buy me a stick of candy; I've wanted some this long while."
"Is that the best use you can make of your penny?" asked his mother.
"Why, yes," said he, "because I wanted it very badly."
So off he ran to the candy store across the street. His mother watched him from the window, and saw him running quite fast. Then he stopped, and then ran on again. Then he stopped quite short again, and she thought he must have lost his penny; but he soon ran on again, never stopping until he reached the door of the candy store. There he stood still for a few minutes, his hand in his pocket holding his penny, and his eye on the candy in the window.
Was he choosing what kind he would buy? No; she was very much surprised to see him turn around from the store and run home as quickly as his little feet would carry him. Soon he rushed into the room shouting: "Mother, the heathen have beat! The heathen have beat!"
"What do you mean, Robbie?"
"Why, mother, as I went along I kept hearing the heathen say: 'Give us your penny to help send us missionaries. We want Bibles and tracts. Help us.'"
That is what his penny went for.—Anon.
SAD FACTS.
THE women of America pay more for artificial flowers for their hats and bonnets, a great deal, than the whole church of God for missions.
The men of America spend more in a year for tobacco than the whole church has spent in eighteen centuries to spread the Gospel.
Sinners spend more for whisky in forty-eight hours than all the churches give to the missions in a year.
The needless use of buttons that women put on their kid gloves would double the missionary contributions.
India has 24,000,000 widows, 75,000 of whom are under nine years of age. The number of women shut up in zenanas is 40,000,000.—Christian Worker.
CHURCH-SCHOOL TEACHERS
By Editor
WILL find a forthcoming series of articles in the Youth's Instructor on 'Drawing from Nature,' by Pedro Lemos, of special help in their work. The first four numbers of the series take up the subject of perspective in a simple way, which, with accompanying pen drawings, will make it easily understood. The first number will appear in the Instructor of November 9.
Free for Two Months!
By Editor
Send us 75 cents, the regular yearly subscription price, and we will forward the Instructor to your address from the time your subscription is received until Jan. 1, 1901. Don't fail to mention this offer.
Tell It to Your Neighbors.
By Editor
The Instructor will be sent anywhere in the United States, Canada, or Mexico, three months for 20 cents, or six months for 40 cents. Address the Review and Herald Publishing Co., Battle Creek, Mich.
