At the present time there is strife in the following divisions of the earth: South Africa, the Philippine Islands, Colombia, Venezuela, Formosa, and Sumatra; and threatenings of strife, strained relations, or an active jealousy (which may at any time lead to active strife), between Germany and Venezuela, France and Venezuela, Peru and Bolivia, Chile and Argentina, England and Russia, Colombia and Venezuela. At the same time, for selfish reasons, the nations are dissolving alliances and forming new friendships which they hope will be of more advantage to their own interests. Germany is actively cultivating the friendship of the United States, and other nations are doing what they can to show to the latter nation that Germany was not and is not America's sincere friend. At the same time England sought to show that she alone of trans-atlantic nations stood by America at the outbreak of the Spanish war, and prevented the other powers combining against America. Other nations immediately took up the matter to show either that nothing serious was contemplated, or that England was herself concerned in the threatened combination.
Russia now seeks to offset the sudden friendship which has arisen between Germany and the United States by working for an alliance with Austria. By this Russia hopes to counterbalance any influence which Germany might gain from American friendship.
Just now Russia and England are controverting each other's rights to the positions taken on the shores of the Persian Gulf. Both desire to control the gulf terminus of the railroad now building in Asia Minor. To further her plans in this respect, England has given her support to the ruler of Koweyt in renouncing the sovereignty of the Sultan of Turkey, while Russia has been urging Turkey to put down the pretensions of this local ruler, well knowing that otherwise England will have the advantage in the Persian Gulf, and Russia's dream of an outlet there would be long in coming true. So far, in this particular locality, England seems to be in the lead; but Russia has now seized an island in the Persian Gulf; and as the possession of this island might interfere with England's entrance and exit, the latter country is protesting against the seizure as a breach of the statu quo. At the same time it is rumored that Russia is massing troops north of India and that England is quietly preparing to check a threatened invasion from that source. China is just rising from her first encounter with the combined forces of the rest of the world, and is hastening to adopt whatever methods they have that will be a help to her when the time is ripe for the next encounter. Her arsenals are now busy turning out arms and ammunition of the latest pattern, and her generals are preparing for the equipment and support of a large army to be drilled in accordance with modern ideas.
Looking at this picture of unrest, strife, and threatened strife, and coupling with that the universal scramble for the trade of the world with all the germs of strife which it contains, truly the veriest optimist can find little ground for the cry of peace and safety which God's Word declares is to be heard in these very days; and yet in spite of the accumulating strife and threatenings of strife, in spite of all this evidence against the possibility of any peace and safety in this present evil world, the cry goes up just as God has said it would. He has said that while war, preparation for war, strife, jealousies, and great accumulations of wealth would be seen in these last days, men would be deceiving themselves with the cry of peace and safety. They are doing it now; and that very cry in these times is but another witness to the truth of God's Word, and another sign that we are in the end of the world. There never before was a time when the whole world was so ready for a universal war. The conditions now are as tho the god of war had strewn powder over the face of the whole world, and had struck the match to set it off. Every element seems ready for that last great war. That the clock of destiny has not yet struck the hour for the fray, is due to the fact that the angels are still holding the winds of strife. See Rev. 7:1-3. How much longer this will be done, it is not given to man to know; but we do know that we are in the time when it is being done. He who truly realizes that, will live as on the eve of eternity; will put away selfish ambitions, and work as for eternity. May God help us to realize what it means. The time is near; it is near, and hasteth greatly.
S.
SOME TRADE CONDITIONS.
RECENTLY in discussing what it terms “a crisis in British industry,” the London Times makes some startling statements, one of which is that “a man who wants to do honest work is subjected to bullying and persecution. Sometimes a foreman is compelled to dismiss a good workman because he is good, under penalty of seeing four or five hundred men refuse to work at all. Any man more capable or more willing than his fellows is a ‘scab’ or a ‘black-leg’ or something equally disagreeable, and if he persists, in spite of petty persecution, he is fined by his union. If he does not pay the fines, he is9ejected from the union, and all the money he has paid in as a provision for old age or sickness is confiscated.
“Thirty years ago,” says the Times, “a brick-layer would lay 1,000 to 1,200 bricks in a day. Now, by an unwritten but mercilessly enforced trade-union law, a man must not lay more than 400, and if he works for the London County Council—that is to say, for the rate-payers—he must not lay more than 330. Our correspondent quotes a case of a building put up for the school board, in which the average output of the bricklayers was 70 bricks a day. Yet these are men receiving the highest current rate of wages, a rate very greatly in excess of what was paid when 1,000 bricks were laid per day.”
These statements may be more or less exaggerated, but in some places in this country, and in some trades, similar conditions prevail. Such facts are as much a sign of the times as are the immense aggregations of capital, about which so much is said.—Gospel Herald.
“SCIENCE FALSELY SO-CALLED.”
“Science” means knowledge. It is generally used as meaning knowledge ascertained and verified by a correlation of facts and experiments. But how much of what men have called science, which scholars thought was demonstrated beyond the shadow of a doubt, is, after years of research, still tossing upon the sea of doubt. As illustration of this, a paper by T. C. Mendenhall, president of Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in the Independent of May, 1901, may be cited. He refers to the unsolved problems passed over from the last century, and says:—
“Toward the solution of some of the older problems, which means the explanation of some of the very commonest of physical phenomena, little progress has been recorded. The nature of gravitation is quite as far from being understood as it was a hundred years ago. While we have learned to create and destroy other “fields of force,” electric and magnetic, and to direct and control the lines along which these forces act, we are helpless in the omnipresence of gravitation, which we can neither create, destroy, nor control in any fashion.
He tells us that the beautiful, simple law of Newton that two particles of matter attract each other with a force directly proportional to the product of their masses, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them, “has not been proved by actual laboratory experiment,” but rests upon “astronomical observation,” and therefore it is in doubt. Newton’s “apparatus and methods would be regarded to-day as very crude and indecisive.” Electric and magnetic forces are supposed to have much to do with the problem, but this is all hypothesis. Professor Mendenhall tells us that this “greatest of all problems in physics, the solution of which may be the pass-key to innumerable of nature’s storehouses of knowledge” is “now locked against the most cunning investigator.”
We wonder that some of the scientists, among whom there must be devout Christians, can not see in all this “gravitational” power the power and life of God. “By Him [Christ Jesus] all things consist [hold together].” Col. 1:17. “Upholding all things by the word of His power.” Heb. 1:3. Simple faith in God and His Word indeed unlocks many of “the storehouses of knowledge now locked against the most cunning investigator” who seeks by his own wisdom, and often uses that imperfect wisdom to seek the overthrow of God’s truth.
Another great, unsolved problem we are told is the nature of matter. Are there eighty elementary substances, “or is there a common magma from which they all come?” Again, why not believe that all came from the power of God’s creative Word?
The old atomic theory is yet atoss on the doubting sea, and scientists are basing great hope on “the physics of the ether, already found to be one of the most fruitful fields of research.” The nature of some of the physical properties of matter of everyday observation, such as cohesion, elasticity, etc., the writer tells us, “will doubtless continue to be obscure for a long time to come.” “Crystallization” is still a “mysterious phenomenon,” “terrestrial magnetism” is as “yet little understood.”
There is a constant hoping for certain, sure conclusions, but each “settled” fact of importance unsettles others. O soul, it is a better thing to be established in God than to follow “science falsely so-called.”
ANOTHER UNSATISFACTORY “REFORM” MOVEMENT.
By G.
And so it is with all the so-called reforms of these “perilous times.” A few weeks ago there was general rejoicing among “reform” people all over the land because of the overthrow of Tammany in New York City. Now the new set of officers are hardly seated until the same class is bewailing the disappointment in general expectation. The executive committee of the Society for the Prevention of Crime, of which Dr. Parkhurst is president, has addressed a letter to the new mayor, stating that so far the present regime has made it “entirely indefinite as to what civic righteousness in this city is and what it is not, and to that extent has operated to put the reform administration in the same criminal attitude toward law as was that occupied by the administrations of ’92, ’94, ’97, and 1901.”
Of this letter the Observer says:—
It deplores the fact that “while chartered by the state to labor for the prevention of crime,” the society is “not quite certain any longer what is crime,” and says that “the atmosphere is clouded by ambiguity, emanating from administrative incertitude,” and that “the situation is morally intolerable.” The letter further says that “there is not very much to choose between a Tammany administration that has bad principles and a reform administration that has good principles, but is afraid to use them.”
There was also great rejoicing by reformers over the Raines Excise Law in New York, but it soon proved to be in the interest of the very traffic it was designed to curb. So the Sunday-closing law in New York City proved such a failure that the “reform” officials have decided that it would be a reformation, or a lessening of the saloon evil, to legalize their opening on part of the day. But reforming the saloon is uphill work. It is like every other evil,—tolerate it at all, and you give it the advantage. To close it one day in the week is to recognize it as legitimate the rest of the week; and it is a victory for the traffic when reformers set a standard that recognizes it at all. Splitting hairs over a few hours when it shall be prohibited on this day or that day, or the particular days on which it shall be prohibited, is as futile as trying to frighten an enemy with war paint.
Prohibition in toto is the only remedy for the saloon evil. Temperance people—those who profess that virtue—claim to be in the majority; but they will not vote the saloon down and out. It would not take any more votes to close the saloon all the time than it would take to close it one hour in the week; so the saloon to-day is a creature of the sufferance of professed temperance people, who try to compromise with it by asking it to be good and close on Sunday. Some of the reformers, it seems, think it would be better if it would close only part of the day. So the saloon can laugh at this quibble among the “reformers.”
But this is only a sample of the greater disappointment that will follow the success of the much-boosted National Reform movement. All the modern religio-political reforms are exceedingly rich in promises; but the greater the promises, the more disappointing the performance. And the National Reform movement is the greatest promiser of them all.
“In the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, . . . having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” They ignore the only power of true reform—the Spirit and Word of God, and seek the political power of the government in the furtherance of their schemes. The cry of “reform” is the fad of the politicians, and any reform carried on by political means, whatever the pretense, is political in character, and subject to like vicissitudes. G.
IS PROHIBITION IMMORAL?
PUBLIC OPINION asks the question in the light of what episcopal Bishop Potter and Dr. Rainsford of New York City have to say on the subject. Thus Dr. Potter is reported:—
Wherever it has triumphed, it has educated a race of frauds and hypocrites. In Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont to-day, by actual statistics, the consumption of certain preparations is larger than anywhere else in the country. One of these is a sarsaparilla which has 17 per cent. of alcohol, another is a compound with 27 per cent. of alcohol, another is a bitters with 61 per cent. of alcohol. Besides that, everybody who knows anything about the administration of the law knows that it is a grotesque farce. It has been a huge failure in the city of New York. We are going to persist in this policy, to screw up all the front doors on Sunday and open the back door; we are going to nurse a race of hypocrites, to furnish an opportunity to the police to exact a bonus, and to close the door to the manly and Christian method of dealing with intemperance. Prohibition is an impudent fraud and an impudent failure. Education, elevation, transformation, are notes which the church should learn to strike.
And thus Dr. Rainsford:—
The trouble is, the reformers want to make the people right by law. Then they leave the law to carry out itself. On the committee of fifty, I wish you could have heard the reports of the women representing the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, all good women, but doing the devil's work. It was appalling.
Now all that is said about the sale of alcohol-laden medicine in Maine may be true; that does not affect the question. Is not Maine better for the law after all? That can not be called prohibition which does not prohibit. There are in Maine laws prohibiting murder and theft; but it is a fact that there are many crimes committed there forbidden by these laws. Are they a failure? Should they be repealed?
Sunday-closing is a different thing. It is a compromise at its best, having a religious basis. It is in the interest of religion, fraud, and hypocrisy. It is not prohibition even for Sunday. It never has been.
As to Dr. Rainsford's remark, which is the most “appalling” the work of the W. C. T. U. for temperance, or the work of the saloons in New York City alone?
Storms and Disasters Across Europe and America
This week has been one of disasters both on land and sea, in which many lives were lost and much property destroyed. A great storm has swept over Europe and along the Atlantic coast, and scores of vessels have suffered, while lines of travel and communication have been greatly interfered with. The steam trawler Anlaby, with her crew of twelve men, went down in the north Atlantic. The French ship Chanaral went down with twenty-one of her crew. Two vessels were lost off the coast of Massachusetts with their crews, ten men in all. Several corpses have been washed ashore on the eastern end of Long Island, and a number of vessels are aground at various points on the coast. Four acres of buildings are in ashes in Waterbury, Conn., the loss from the conflagration being placed at $3,000,000. Italy, France, Spain, and Switzerland are in the grip of the most severe storm experienced in many years. Forty lives are reported lost in the storm along the Italian coast and avalanches have added to the list of casualties there.
Santos Dumont’s Dirigible Experiments
Santos Dumont is continuing his experiments with his dirigible balloon. The present experiments are being conducted at Monte Carlo, on the southeast coast of France. Dumont has made several successful trips out over the sea, returning in safety. He expects soon to make a trip to the island of Corsica, a distance of about 130 miles. He has greatly improved upon the air-ship, and can control its movements with ease when sailing conditions are favorable.
China Organizes a Naval College
A DESPATCH from Tien-tsin, China, states that the emperor has ordered Admiral Yeh to organize a naval college at Chefoo, and to engage Rear-Admiral Lord Charles Beresford to act as naval instructor at the college. China’s experience at the hands of Japan, and more recently at the hands of the “powers,” has shown her the necessity of adopting their ways in order to save herself from their attacks. Her people are good imitators, and it will not take them long to learn the game. It will not be long before the people of that part of the world will be as well prepared as the people of this part for the battle in which they are all to engage.
Growing Debts of American Cities
Six years ago Chicago’s city debt was $17,700,000; it is now $26,000,000. Boston’s debt was then $35,000,000; it is now $56,000,000. Cleveland’s debt was then $6,100,000; it is now $9,300,000. Kansas City’s debt was then $900,000; it is now $4,500,000. Jersey City’s debt was then $4,600,000; it is now $16,300,000. The debt of Worcester during that time has grown from $2,500,000 to $6,000,000. Most of the other large cities of the country have increased their debts in about the same ratio.
Smallpox Infection Carried by the Air
INVESTIGATIONS made on behalf of the Essex County Council, England, seem to indicate that smallpox infection is carried by the air. A list of seventy-five cases is given, which are alleged to be due entirely to the proximity of hospital ships in which smallpox patients were being treated, where there had been no communication personally. Whenever smallpox was under treatment on the hospital ships in the Thames, outbreaks occurred in the vicinity.
Holland Offers Mediation in South Africa
THE Government of Holland has offered its services to the British and Boers in bringing about peace in South Africa. England's position in reference to Holland's offer has not yet been made public. Both British and Boers are tired of the war; but with the British insisting on unconditional surrender, and with the Boers insisting on independence, it is hardly likely that any satisfactory solution of the difficulty will be reached in the near future.
Chinese Exclusion Bill Contested
difficulty will be reached in the near future.
The passage of the Chinese exclusion bill, which is now before Congress, is being warmly contested by the enemies of the bill, while its friends are giving it the strongest possible support. The Pacific Coast delegation is working strenuously for exclusion, but powerful influences are at work in Washington against it. The Chinese consul-general at San Francisco and the Chinese minister at Washington are both doing all they can in opposition.
Plots Against the Manchu Dynasty
Enemies of the present Manchu dynasty in China are showing much activity in their efforts to overthrow the present rulers. Several attempts have been made to take the life of the empress-dowager, and the government, through the application of the most terrible tortures, has discovered other plots which were about to be carried out. The conspirators seem well organized, and their plans included the capture of the Chinese forts.
Army Contractors’ Profits Investigated
HEATED discussions have taken place in the British Parliament during the week over the army expenditures. It was shown that the army contractors have made enormous profits, especially in supplying the army with horses. The government reluctantly agreed to an investigation of the charges brought against the army officers in connection with the alleged fraudulent dealings of the contractors.
Chicago University Abandons Co-Education
Co-EDUCATION is to be practically abandoned by the University of Chicago, which has long been the leading exponent of this form of education in the United States. A separate college building, yet within the college campus, is to be erected, and here the young women of the institution will be segregated. Pledges and cash aggregating $1,500,000 have been secured to carry out this project.
Latin American Fears of U.S. Expansion
Already there is being agitated in Latin-America the idea of a combination against the United States, whose power they fear. The advocates of this idea are apprehensive that the United States may, under the pretext of bestowing the blessings of peace upon the Latin countries, impose its rule upon them by force. These fears are the result of America's course since the Spanish war.
China’s Dowager-Empress Apologizes to Legations
On February 1 the ladies and children of the foreign legations at Peking were received in audience by the dowager-empress. She is reported to have apologized in tears for the attacks on the legations during the siege of the Boxers. The dowager-empress is reported to have promised that China would now abandon her policy of isolation and adopt the best features of Western life.
Prince Henry’s Imperial Train
PRINCE HENRY of Prussia, brother of Emperor William, who will soon visit the United States, will make a tour of the eastern part of the country in a veritable palace on wheels, which is now being fitted up for him at the expense of the government. This special “imperial” train will be the most elaborate in construction and furnishings of any train ever put upon the railroad track.
Formosa Insurrection to Be Suppressed
The Japanese governor-general of Formosa is now preparing to subdue the insurgents with a strong hand. It is claimed that conciliatory measures have proved futile, and that the only hope of bringing quiet there, is by inaugurating the harshest war.
Castro Defies France
PRESIDENT CASTRO of Venezuela has again bid defiance to France in refusing a French citizen permission to land in that country, despite the protests of France's representative there.
Tariff Concessions for Cuban Planters
REPORTS from Washington indicate that strong pressure is being brought to bear by the President and others in behalf of concessions to the Cuban sugar and tobacco planters. The sentiment in Congress now seems to be in favor of some reduction of the tariff in favor of the Cubans, notwithstanding the strong opposition of the American beet-sugar men.
Russian Expedition in Tibet
A RUSSIAN exploring party which has been in the wilds of Thibet since July, 1899, has returned to civilization, and reports having found many hitherto unknown peoples in that country, some of whom were warlike, and opposed the progress of the expedition with firearms. The curios collected by the expedition required fifty camels for their transportation.
A New Airborne Warship
J. F. CAMERON, of Brooklyn, claims to have perfected a war-ship which will navigate the air, and be able to defend the coast against hostile fleets. This new destroyer will weigh 20 tons, carry a crew of 8 men, and drop explosives at will. The inventor has applied for space at the St. Louis Exposition, in which to demonstrate the workings of his invention.
Explosion at Hondo Mines
A TERRIBLE explosion occurred at the Hondo mines, at Coahuila, Mexico, on Feb. 1st, in which eighty-four men are known to have lost their lives. About forty others are still in the wrecked mine, and it is believed that many or most of these have also perished. It is supposed that the explosion was caused by coal dust igniting from a miner's lamp.
Ancient Peruvian Cities Predate Incas
Dr. Max Uhl, of the University of California, who has been investigating the ancient ruins of Peru, reports having found many ruins of ancient cities long antedating the history of the Incas. The buildings were strongly constructed, and give evidence of a considerable degree of civilization on the part of this previously unknown people.
Pacific Cable Bill Favorably Reported
On January 28 the House Committee on Commerce decided to report favorably a bill for government construction of a cable from California to Hawaii and the Philippines, the cable to be of American manufacture providing the cost is not excessive, and the entire cost of the cable and connections to be not over $10,000,000.
Kern County Oil Pipeline to Point Richmond
DESPAIRING of obtaining reasonable rates on the railway for their oil, the oil men of Kern County, Cal., have completed arrangements for laying a pipe line to Point Richmond, on San Francisco Bay, a distance of nearly 300 miles. Fifteen pumping stations will furnish the power to force the crude oil through the eight-inch pipe.
Miss Stone Ransom Delayed
A DESPATCH from Constantinople states that altho arrangements have been made with the captors of Miss Stone, the brigands declare it is impossible to take the ransom money safely away at the present time, and so the Americans are returning to Constantinople to make other arrangements.
Three Powers Protest Russia’s China Treaty
ENGLAND, Japan, and the United States have protested to China against the signing of the treaty with Russia, by the terms of which Russia was to obtain exclusive mining and other privileges in China. This protest has delayed the signing of the treaty.
Search for the British Warship Condor
NOTHING has yet been learned of the fate of the British war-ship Condor, for which search is now being made by other vessels. One of her boats has been found on the coast of British Columbia, seeming to indicate that the vessel foundered in the storm.
Britain to Return Boxer Indemnity Surplus
It is announced that Great Britain has decided to abide by the policy of the United States, and return so much of the Boxer indemnity money as exceeds the actual damages done to her citizens and the cost of the expeditionary forces.
Philippine Affairs Stir Senate
A VERITABLE storm was raised in the Senate on January 28 when matters concerning the Philippines were under discussion. At times the excitement ran high, and personal encounters between senators seemed imminent.
Boxers Invade Western Korea
A REPORT from western Korea states that a company of 2,000 Chinese Boxers has invaded Korea and plundered several villages, the inhabitants of which have fled. The government is asking for military assistance.
Reduction of War Revenue Tax
The House Committee on Ways and Means has ordered a favorable report on the bill for the reduction of the war revenue tax. The proposed reduction will amount to $77,000,000 a year.
Roosevelt Investigates Sampson-Schley Controversy
PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT is now making an investigation into the Sampson-Schley controversy on his own behalf, personally interviewing the officers who took part in the battle of Santiago.
Pan-American Peace Congress Adjourns
The Pan-American peace congress which has been in session at Mexico City, adjourned on January 31. The complete report of what it has accomplished has not yet been given to the public.
Department of Commerce and Labor Created
not yet been given to the public.
On January 28 the Senate passed the Nelson bill, creating the Department of Commerce and Labor. The secretary of this department will be a member of the President's cabinet.
Expedition to Abyssinia
W. F. WHITEHOUSE, of Newport, R. I., and Lord Hindlip, of London, have started on an expedition to Abyssinia, to explore the unknown regions of that country.
British Boer War Expenditures
The total expenditures by the British Government during the year just closed for carrying on the Boer war have amounted to $464,500,000.
Railway Construction in the Kongo Free State
Boer war have amounted to $404,500,000.
A COMPANY has been organized in Brussels for the purpose of constructing 868 miles of railway in the Kongo Free State, Africa.
WATER AGAINST STONES.
By Frederick Griggs
What a nuisance these cobble-stones are; who cares for them? Of what use can they possibly be to any one? How many a farmer wishes they were all taken off his land,—gray cobble-stones, black cobble-stones, big cobble-stones, and small ones—all sizes, shapes, and colors. It is hard to tell just when a stone is too large to be called a cobble-stone, or when it is too small—so small that it is called a pebble. The larger loose stones are called boulders. They were called so by people before geologists gave them other names. They were called this name because they were loose, and could be bowled around over the ground, so that they become rounded like balls. These boulders range in size from that of a bushel basket to mammoth rocks weighing many thousands of tons. I have seen fields covered so thickly with cobble-stones and boulders that I could not see how it could be cultivated or hardly used for grazing lands.
Now all these stones came from somewhere. They did not grow right where they are on the top of the ground. It is the journeys which these stones have taken that have given them their rounded bodies. It is because of this rounded shape that cobble-stones are so named; they have had so many hard knocks as they have traveled around the world. So it often happens with young men and women who break away from the parent rock and wander around. They often get some very hard knocks by the blows which the world can give.
There are often many different kinds of rocks in a field. In any country where rocks are to be found on the ground, there are ledges of rock under the ground and often near the top. It sometimes happens, however, that these ledges are even two hundred miles away from the boulders that were broken off from the ledge. Generally these ledges are of one kind of rock. They can, in some cases, be traced for many miles through the country. Now, nearly all of these boulders came from these ledges. They have wandered from them all the way from one to two hundred miles. For instance, there is a large copper region south of Lake Superior. Boulders from this copper ore are found as far away from this region as southern Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. There is no probable source from which these boulders could have come other than the copper regions near Lake Superior.
Many other illustrations similar to this could be mentioned. It certainly must have taken some mighty force to have thus caused these boulders to be carried so far away; and such a force it was, being none other than that of the great flood of waters which the Lord permitted to come upon the earth in the destruction of sin.
“The entire surface of the earth was changed at the flood. As the waters began to subside, the hills and mountains were surrounded by a vast turbid sea. Everywhere were strewn the dead bodies of men and beasts. The Lord would not permit these to remain to decompose and pollute the air; therefore He made of the earth a vast burial-ground. A violent wind which was caused to blow for the purpose of drying up the waters, moved them with great force, in some instances even carrying away the tops of the mountains, and heaping up trees, rocks, and earth above the bodies of the dead. By the same means the silver and gold, the choice wood and precious stones, which had enriched and adorned the world before the flood, and which the inhabitants had idolized, were concealed from the sight and search of men, the violent action of the waters piling earth and rocks upon these treasures, and in some cases even forming mountains above them. God saw that the more He enriched and prospered sinful men, the more they would corrupt their ways before Him. The treasures that should have led them to glorify the bountiful Giver had been worshiped, while God had been dishonored and despised.
“The earth presented an appearance of confusion and desolation impossible to describe. The mountains, once so beautiful in their perfect symmetry, had become broken and irregular. Stones, ledges, and ragged rocks were now scattered upon the surface of the earth. In many places, hills and mountains had disappeared, leaving no trace of where they once stood; and plains had given place to mountain ranges. These changes were more marked in some places than in others. Where once had been earth's richest treasures of gold and silver and precious stones, were seen the heaviest marks of the curse. And upon countries that were not inhabited, and those where there had been the least crime, the curse rested more lightly.”
But this mighty scattering of these great fragments of rock is only one part of the work which has been wrought to bring these stones, Old Hard Head and his fellows, into their present home and into the bodily shape in which we now find them. The changes made in the earth's surface by this display of God's power account for the general position of all boulders and smaller stones. While God was in the whirlwind, He has ever since been in the quieter workings of nature by which these loose stones have not only been moved about, but have had their form changed as well. This calmer work has also largely been accomplished by the action of water—the rains of the centuries. The old saying that “a continual dropping wears away stone” is a very true one.
Walk with me down this slope to yon little brook, singing all its way to the river. You see that all the slope is strewn with stones, all more or less angular. We will now walk down the stream, examining closely the stones which lie in it. As we walk along, we see that they are growing smaller and rounder. As we approach the mouth of the brook where it enters into the river, we find that these stones are becoming but small pebbles, and are rapidly passing into gravel and sand. If we examine some of the grains of sand under a microscope, we shall find that they are of the same material—for they are but little stones—as were the boulders away back up the stream. If the boulders were of red sandstone, we shall find the particles of sand to be of the same color.
Does the fact that the stones are lying near the mouth of the stream make them smaller? How did they get down in this way? If we watch the stream on a fine day—on such a one as that on which we took our stroll along its course—we shall have rather hard work to find the answers to our questions; for the water is low, and the current is feeble. We can not tell much about the working power of a stream by what it does when but little water is passing over its course. So we will take another walk beside it after a heavy rain, and when it is in flood. We can not see the stones now, but by listening very attentively we can hear them knocking and grinding one against another. As they do this, their rough places are worn off, and the parts of the stone which are thus worn off become the sand which we find down the stream. They smooth and polish not only themselves, but the rocks over which they pass as well.
Summer and winter, with their heat, and cold, and sunshine, and tempest, make similar changes in the rocks which are not in a stream, and which do not have the variety of interesting experiences and rapid changes which the rocks rolling down the stream do. But the changes, while very much slower, are none the less certain. As shown in a previous article, stones do something else than wear away; they grow as well, not as trees grow, but they grow nevertheless. It is true that when the Lord spoke the world into existence by the breath of His mouth, the greater portion of the stones which we see were created. However, the Lord has continued to carry on this work of making stones just as He has continued to make trees.
