A “pithecanthropus erectus,” familiarly known as the “missing link,” has been found again in Iowa. The last finding of this much-sought animal was reported from the island of Java. Only a portion of the skull, a supposed tooth, and a supposed leg-bone, however, was found in Java, and the rest of the “link” was constructed by the discoverer. But this old burying-place of some tribe of flat-head Indians is solemnly pointed to as the mausoleum of the animal midway between the brute and the man. These men lived, according to the discoverer, 250,000 years ago, and of course only fragments of the skeletons were found. The “missing link” will always be missing, as it always has been; for the theories of men can not create what God did not suffer to exist, and they who pin their belief to such theories will find, when the Lifegiver comes, that they have been terribly mistaken. God’s Word is true, and He has told us the origin of man.
Despatches from South Africa bring news of a number of quite serious reverses to British arms. A detachment of Brabant’s Horse was surrounded by the Boers and lost 4 killed, 16 wounded, and 107 captured. General Clement’s force had a serious engagement with the Boers at Magliesberg, and were compelled to retire with considerable loss. Four companies of the Northumberland Fusiliers were captured by the Boers in this engagement, and the British were compelled to leave a part of their transport. The force of General De Wet succeeded in breaking thru the British lines and escaping. A company from Orange Free State have invaded Cape Colony at Aliwal North. A commando of the Boers is reported to have met complete defeat, with heavy loss, at the Orange River. This unexpected activity of the Boers is causing much uneasiness and no little dissatisfaction in England.
The American force in Peking has prohibited all looting in the section over which it has control, and General Chaffee’s vigorous protest to the German field marshal is reported to be bearing good results in this direction. The French Government has prohibited the landing of a quantity of loot at Marseilles, and this will be sent back to China. The representatives of the powers in China have not yet affixed their signatures to the joint demands which are to be made upon China, as England demands certain changes in the articles. It is believed that these changes will be concurred in. A noted French populist declares that the Chinese affair is an “inextricable mess,” which becomes more difficult as the powers go deeper into it; that it is a problem whose solution will not come for many years, and then without satisfaction to the parties involved.
The reckless carelessness for life and its value is again manifested thru the illness and death of a young cadet at West Point, who said that he was “hazed” several times at the academy, and that during the hazing a fiery fluid was poured down his throat that ruined both throat and stomach. This is called a Christian country, but surely no Christian would do such things as that. There is a sort of fluffy, frothy sentiment against such things, but in reality if there was a deep-seated conviction born of principle, holding men to the right, and the true, and the really noble, such things could not be of very frequent occurrence. This item may not seem like very much, but when taken with everything else that is transpiring, it means a great deal. It is something of an index of the spirit of the age.
The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations has agreed to recommend further amendments to the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty. One of these amendments declares that the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty supersedes the Clayton-Bulwer Treaty, and another cuts out that article which requires that the treaty should be submitted to other powers for their acceptance. On December 13 the Senate so amended the treaty as to permit of fortification by the United States. These amendments are very distasteful to the press of England, and several influential journals declare that England can not ratify the treaty in such a form. Others, while deprecating the amendments, still believe that the treaty will be ratified.
It is now reported that the sultan of Turkey has contracted for the building of a cruiser in America, the price of the cruiser to include the missionary indemnity. A despatch from Constantinople suggests that Russia is prompting the sultan to refuse to grant the necessary papers for an American consulate at Harput. The despatch states that it is an open secret that the Russians dislike foreign consuls in Asia Minor, especially the Americans, whom they suspect of aiding the American mission work in Armenia. It is claimed, on what is considered good authority, that Russia has established many mission stations throughout Asia Minor, some of which are virtual arsenals.
There was an enthusiastic demonstration in Berlin on December 16, when the emperor reviewed a contingent of the troops which have recently returned from China. The emperor informed the world on this occasion that where he put his soldiers no one should remove them.
Exports from the United States to Porto Rico, Hawaii, Cuba, and the Philippines show a marvelous growth during the last two years. The total to all these islands for 1897 was $17,000,000. During the year 1898 there was an increase of $2,000,000; but during the year 1899 this had grown to $41,000,000; and for the present year the exports to these islands will aggregate $50,000,000. This is a splendid showing for commerce; but when we realize the deplorable fact that the great proportion of this has been exports of spirituous liquors, carrying with them their blighting, brutalizing influences, the record is one for lamentation rather than exultation.
The Italia, a paper published in Rome, announces that, after conference with the archbishop of Manila, the pope declares his conviction that the United States should retain its hold on the Philippines. The pope considered that it would gravely imperil Christianity and civilization if the United States should abandon the government of the islands. This opinion will be very pleasing to the liquor interests of America, to the army contractors, and to all in whom the spirit of individual liberty has died out through the glamour of militarism and expansion.
The Pension Appropriation Bill, which passed the House on December 15, carries $145,145,230. The bill for the reduction of the war revenue passed the House on the same day. As significant of the importance of beer in the legislation of the nation, that item stands first and most prominent of the articles upon which the tax reduction is to be made. That the liquor interests of the country should have been first to receive consideration in this matter, can hardly be said to be a source of congratulation for the inhabitants of the country.
Although several hundred Chinese in Hawaii became citizens by naturalization before Hawaii was a republic, and were afterward made citizens of the republic, and although what is known as the “Enabling Act” provides that all persons who were citizens of the Hawaiian Republic are citizens of the United States, yet a recent ruling of the Treasury Department at Washington declares that “naturalized Chinese citizens of Hawaii do not by virtue of the Enabling Act acquire the rights of citizenship of the United States.”
The Japanese minister to England is credited with saying that the missionaries are responsible for the recent trouble in China. He does not doubt the sincerity and honest purpose of the missionaries; but he says that “zeal is almost the entire outfit” of some of them, and “zeal without tact produces trouble.” When He first sent out the twelve, Christ charged His missionaries to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” His charge is still in force. Tact and discretion should go hand in hand with energy and zeal.
The production of gold and silver for the year 1899 in the United States and Territories, as recently published by the Director of the Mint, is as follows: Gold, $71,053,400; silver, $32,858,700. The gold product was the greatest in the history of the country. In the amount of gold and silver produced, the State of Colorado takes the lead, her mines having turned out $25,852,600 in gold and $13,197,540 in silver. California stands second in the list, and Alaska third.
A report from the City of Mexico states that the ruins of the ancient temples of the Aztecs have been found under the city, and many golden idols and precious stones belonging to the treasures of Montezuma have been unearthed. The report also states that $200,000 have been appropriated by the Mexican Government for the purpose of carrying on the excavations in this long-lost city of ancient Mexico.
Both the insurgents and the government troops of Colombia lost heavily in the recent battle at Tumaco. The rebels were not dispersed, but have joined another body of insurgents, and are operating near Buena Ventura.10
(Worthy of Note—Continued from page 9.)
Hereafter it is said that the pope will keep most of his overplus of funds in the Bank of England. If kept in the Vatican, he fears continued robbery, such as has been going on in the past, and if deposited in Roman banks, the funds would be subject to Italian bank inspection; and there might come a time when these funds would be conveniently attached by the Italian Government.
Oriental advices state that the province of Kwangtung, China, is the scene of another revolution, whose purpose is the substitution of Chinese rulers for the present Manchu rulers, and the regeneration of China upon foreign lines. According to these advices 9 battles have been fought, in which the rebels have been uniformly victorious. They now have 30,000 armed men in the field.
The steamer Empress of India, which arrived at Vancouver, B. C., on December 12, brings news of a terrible typhoon which visited Hongkong, China. It was impossible to state the number of dead, which is placed by some as high as 4,000. A large number of ships and launches were driven ashore or sunk, and a great amount of property destroyed.
The question of a special coinage for the Philippine Islands is now receiving the attention of the administration. The plan is to purchase silver bullion at the present market value and coin it into silver dollars, which shall be worth fifty cents in gold, and have these take the place of the Mexican dollar, which is now in circulation in the islands.
On December 12 Adjutant-General Corbin argued before the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, upholding the continuance of the canteen. On the following day Archbishop Ireland and Bishop McGoldrick, of the Catholic Church, also appeared before the committee and upheld the canteen in the army.
An influential German newspaper, the National Zeitung, gives considerable space to a consideration of the United States as a world power. After pointing out the great progress of this country in the mercantile and political spheres, this paper declares that in both these respects the United States is arrayed against Europe.
The Marquise de Fontenoy declares that the influence of the present pope will be used to elect Cardinal Vives, a Spaniard, as his successor in the papal see. The Jesuits will labor to this end. Cardinal Vives is said to know more of the church in America than any other member of the sacred college save Satolli.
In Missouri, a girl eighteen years of age has been arrested for horse stealing. She fell into this criminal habit thru reading the dime-novel descriptions of notorious outlaws. This should be a warning to all parents to be on the sharp lookout to carefully supervise the reading of their children.
In view of the probable passage of the American ship subsidy bill, certain leaders of the English ship-building industry are planning to secure ship-building plants in the United States.
A serious financial crisis is threatened in Germany thru a decline in mortgage bonds.
Rev. Robert Jaffray, who has just returned from six years’ mission work in China, reports that he is in possession of information to the effect that Tibet is desirous of throwing off the yoke of China, and has invited both Russia and England to open up the country to the commerce of the world.
The Chicago Raw Food Society is planning to open raw-food restaurants in various cities of this country. The members of this society eat nothing that has been cooked, their theory being that cooking destroys the life cells of the food, thus decreasing its power of nutrition.
The German training-ship Gneisenau foundered at the entrance to the port of Malaga, Spain, where she was about to take refuge from the storm, on December 16. She carried 461 officers and cadets, the latter being in training for the navy. Of these 136 are reported lost.
By a vote in the French Chamber of Deputies on December 15, the manufacture or sale of the poisonous beverage known as absinthe is forbidden in France. The prohibition also applies to the sale in France of such American mixtures as gin fizz, cocktail, and sherry flip.
The largest gold fund in the world, $470,000,000, is owned by the United States. France comes next, with $442,000,000; Russia third, with $345,000,000; Austria-Hungary fourth, with $184,000,000; England fifth, with $162,000,000; and Germany sixth, with $120,000,000.
On December 14, Representative Newlands introduced an amendment to the War Revenue Bill, which he declared was for the purpose of compelling the trusts and large corporations to pay a share of the war revenue. It was lost by a vote of 90 to 119.
A plan is on foot in Minneapolis and St. Paul for the organization of a servant-girls’ union. The object of the union is the shortening of the hours of labor, the adjustment of wages, and the settlement of other questions connected with the servant-girl problem.
The shah of Persia, while visiting Paris recently, purchased a French automobile, and on returning to his country, made the trip from his landing-place in Persia to Teheran, the capital, on this steam-propelled vehicle, the first, no doubt, that ever entered that country.
Sixty-six of the company of Porto Rican natives who were being taken to Hawaii, sailed from San Francisco on December 14, the remainder fearing to embark lest they should become virtual slaves in the islands.
Steps have been taken by the War Department for the return of the volunteers now in the Philippines. According to the proposed plan, the first returning regiment will leave Manila on New Year’s day.
The one hundredth anniversary of the establishment of the seat of the Federal Government at Washington was celebrated in that city on December 12 with imposing ceremonies.
Not long since an army transport arrived in San Francisco with 54 army prisoners, 8 insane, and many dead. On the same day a 50,000-barrel cargo of beer left Vancouver for the Philippines.
The twentieth annual convention of the American Federation of Labor closed its session at Louisville, Ky., on December 15. Most of the old officers of the federation were re-elected.
Owing to the reported success of America in pressing the indemnity claims on the sultan, England is now pressing Turkey to pay similar claims put forward by British subjects.
The grand jury of Kennebec County, Maine, has returned indictments against every person in the county holding a United States “permit” to sell intoxicating liquors.
A remarkable record in shooting with heavy naval guns was recently made by the British battleship Terrible. The percentage of actual hits was 76.8.
Italy has declared her intention of keeping her troops in China until she “reaps the advantages of her participation in the action of the powers in China.”
A liquor license law has been adopted by the Taft Commission for the Philippine Islands. In the city of Manila, saloons are to be prohibited on certain streets.
France now claims the record for the fastest trains in the world, the Northern Railway of France having materially lowered its previous record for speed.
Two negroes were lynched at Rockport, Indiana, on December 16, and another on December 17, for the murder of a white barber whom they had robbed.
William J. Bryan has announced his intention of publishing a weekly newspaper at Lincoln, Nebraska, the title of which will be The Commoner.
The Taft Commission has passed an act authorizing the establishment of native police in the various cities of the Philippines.
A Chinese passenger boat was overturned near Hokau, China, on December 13, and 200 of the passengers were drowned.
Question Corner
1103. M. E. B. Our Lord’s Birth.— The reasons we have for believing that Jesus was not born December 25 are these: (1) At that season of the year the nights were cold, frequently with snow, and the sheep were folded; but when Jesus was born, the shepherds were with their flocks in the fields at night. Luke 2:8. (2) Jesus began His ministry when thirty years of age, about six months before He attended the first Passover. His ministry, according to prophecy and tradition, lasted three and one-half years, and He was slain at the Passover A.D. 31. His birth in that case would have been six months from the Paschal full moon, or in September or October.
1104. N. B. Forgiveness.— We are to forgive another whether he repents or not. “And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have aught against any; that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” Mark 11:25. “Blessed are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.” It is not for us, poor sinful mortals, needing God’s great forgiveness, to hold grudges or hard feelings against any. We are to hold the forgiveness continually, not to offer it unasked to any whom it will aggravate, but to respond freely if asked for; to have and to hold it whether asked for or not.
AN EARTHQUAKE EXPERIENCE.
By Geo. E. Hollister
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, tho the earth be removed, and tho the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; tho the waters thereof roar and be troubled, tho the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.” Ps. 46:1-3.
Thus can the righteous say now and continually, even when this old earth is trembling “at the presence of the Lord” and at “the glory of His power,” when He shall arise to shake terribly the earth. How different is, and will be, the experience of those who have no hope in God, is foreshadowed in the experience of one whose testimony is given below. While presenting the book “Coming King,” for the consideration of a gentleman in Mendocino County, Cal., this summer, I referred to the chapter on earthquakes. He exclaimed:—
“Earthquakes! Well, I tell you I have had some experience in earthquakes. Now, sir, I am a pretty old man. I was in the Civil War, waded thru human blood four inches deep at the battle of Vicksburg. I have been in California most of my life; have seen men shot, murdered, and hanged by the lawless and by officers of the law; have faced death in every conceivable way. But I never had such indescribable feelings as I did the night of April 14, 1897, during the earthquake that began at 10:45 that night, and continued occasionally for a year. During the first seven hours there were 185 distinct shocks, and do not think the ground quit moving for twenty-four hours.
“The first shock awoke the entire family, threw the clock off the mantle, and broke every dish in the house. The third shock was more severe than the first two. It threw every one of us upon the ground; we could not stand upon our feet. The cows bellowed with fear; the horses actually squealed in terror; and the dogs barked and howled, and ran to us as for protection. One of them left the ranch, and never could he again be induced to come back and remain. Two of the boys who were sleeping in a room with an eight-foot ceiling, said they could touch the ceiling as they were lifted by the shock.
“The ground was opened in many places, some of the fissures being three and a half feet wide. Even the mountains were torn in pieces; in one place a part of a mountain was moved out of its place, and a lake now occupies the site.
“One of the neighbors was so affected by the earthquake that he soon after died; and one of my daughters has never recovered from the shock to her nervous system. I am no coward, sir; but I would rather face death in any form than to pass through another such experience.”
GEO. E. HOLLISTER.
Religious Liberty
By G.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY is a live issue, and the more it is trampled underfoot the louder its blood cries from the ground. The most alarming spectacle now presented to the people of the United States is the manner in which the principle of liberty of conscience is being ignored by the very class of people who were wont to uphold it in former days. Prominent politicians were once its staunch defenders, but to-day they are too easily influenced by the fear of losing the support of a class whose heads are turned the other way. And Protestant clergymen who a few years ago stood firmly for freedom of conscience in all things, are to-day advocating measures that are hazardous to the liberties of the masses. Moreover, the people are being told by both clergymen and politicians that the country has outgrown the expediency of the fundamental principles thru which both civil and religious liberty were made possible in the younger days of the republic. The people are being dazzled by the glowing pictures of greatness that are held up before their eyes, and are being led to believe that a simple Protestant-republican government is too narrow to enfold the great possibilities that lie before the nation. “When Ephraim spake trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended in Baal, he died.” The departure from primitive principles, upon which the nation so greatly prospered in the past, must surely bring disaster to the happiness and prosperity of the people. It would be well for the people of the United States to remember the history of Israel, and the consequences when they sought greatness by other than legitimate means. G.
TO THE “LEFT-OUT” LITTLE SISTER.
By Adelaide Bee Cooper
DEAR little plain-faced sister, why are the corners of your mouth drawn down, and why is that worried wrinkle between your eyes? And your eyes themselves—soul windows—little sister, should always be clear and bright, and their curtains should never be swollen and red.
You are “discouraged,” you say; you wish—O, how you wish—that you were pretty and graceful, like Jeanne; or bright and winsome, like Lelia; or gifted and accomplished, like Katherine, who plays so well, who has a voice that all love to hear, and who can move a whole roomful to smiles or tears by her recitations. Then there is Marian, who is the pet and pride of the beautiful home where her friends love to go for the “good times” that do not come your way. And sometimes it seems as if life is very hard indeed; as if you were shut out from all that makes it pleasant and bright and happy and desirable, and shut in to much that is unlovely and disagreeable. Your own home is very plain, your clothes are perhaps poor and coarse, and the education you long for more than anything else is denied you.
So you look at these other girls whom you regard as more fortunate, in possessing good looks, dainty garments, beautiful homes, accomplishments, leisure, opportunity, “good times;” and because you can not read their hearts, and have not yet learned that every human soul must sooner or later be disciplined by pain, you allow yourself to become envious and bitter. “It is not fair!” you cry, again and again; and you allow the thought so large a place in your mind that it hinders your own soul growth, and makes you miserable and unhappy.
And in a world where one is so surrounded and pressed about with opportunities for bringing sunshine into darkened lives, unhappiness may become a positive sin.
“If Satan can not make you wicked, he will make you miserable,” was the word of a dear, wise-hearted friend, in whose busy life being selfishly “miserable” found no place. So long had her thoughts been high and sweet, for so many years had her strength been given to unselfish service for others, that her naturally plain face had become really beautiful in its expression of serenity and trust—a face one could not look upon without longing to possess the secret of its peace.
And let me tell you that it is not worth while to fret for greater gifts and larger opportunities while your own precious talent is folded so closely in a napkin of selfish desire, and buried deep in the soil of discontent.
O, you “haven’t any talent”? Ah, but you surely have one. Perhaps—who knows?—you may have two, or three, or even more, all hidden away and lost sight of in your longing for the good gifts of others. But you surely have one. Bring it out, then, and cultivate it. That is the first step on the road to happiness and the pleasant land of content—willingness to bring ourselves into harmony with our environment, and to do the work at hand.
Your talent, indeed, may be a very homely one—a gift for making a sweet, light loaf of bread, for setting neat stitches, for soothing a fretful child, for giving a homelike touch to a room—perhaps a large, many-sided talent of every-day usefulness that may make your value above rubies in the humble surroundings of your own home.
But you “don’t like that kind of talents”? You would rather sing, or play, or paint? Well, if you wish to sing, why not make your life a song—“a grand, sweet song”? You can if you will. Some one has expressed the thought that God writes the words of our lives, and leaves us to set them to music. We can make the song sad or sweet,—a wailing dirge or a hymn of joy,—according as we will. And, too, there is music in human hearts—music as exquisite, as filled with divine harmony, as any that ever swelled into beauty under the hand of a master musician—music that perhaps waits for the skilful, sympathetic touch that you alone can give. And what more beautiful pictures than happy smiles, the sunshine of happy hearts, on faces that were, but for your ministry, mournful and sad, pictures as much more precious than the most wonderful creation of an artist’s brain as a human soul is of more worth than canvas and pigments! Play and sing and paint, then, by all means; but do not fret because your opportunities for expression in these arts are not precisely those of your neighbor.
In cultivating your own special gift, do not neglect the distasteful duties that fall to your share. Bring to them a spirit of resolute, cheerful determination, and perhaps you will soon have two talents where now you have but one. There need be no limit to the increase, remember, if you will only become a “worker together;” for His power is limited only by our willingness to let Him work through us.
Amiability, good sense, cheerfulness, sympathy, sincerity,—there is no surplus of these beautiful graces in the markets of the world—nor likely to be. Yet they are all within your reach—your reach, little sister, and if you will seek for them, open your heart to them, they will bring joy to your soul, and to your face a beauty above and beyond mere feature symmetry. Strive for them, no matter if you fail a hundred times; and some day they will crown your life with a diadem more precious than any that is locked and double-locked in the Old World treasure vaults. No princess of the royal line need be more rich than you in these priceless jewels.
As for the education that you must give up for a term, a year, perhaps even longer, why be in despair over that? There is an education of the heart, little sister, beyond that of books; but that need not suffice. Every day opportunities knock at our door; and she who keeps her eyes open, her ambition and courage high, and her heart receptive, need not pass through life ignorant. The self-educated girl, no less than the self-made man, is likely to be more of a success than one who has received her education as she has her food—with no thought of its cost or of its adaptability to her needs. Read good books, improve your memory, and determine that, no matter how little you know, you will know that little just as well as it can possibly be known, and you will find your place waiting for you when the time comes. Not without shrewd business sense are the words of the great apostle, “This one thing I do.” She who can do one thing well, often takes precedence over her more showy sisters, who can do many things indifferently.
And the “good times” that you are shut away from or left out of by reason of your environment, your taxing duties, your slow tongue and plain face and poor clothes—do not grieve for them. It is hard for you to understand, now, why God does not give these things to you; it may seem as if, with so many good things in the world, there might be some for you.
There are some for you; and, sometime, never fear, yours will come to you. No sweet white clover blossom, common tho it be, can be so hidden that it will not be found by some thirsty, weary bee; no tiny stream, no matter how choked, and thwarted, and turned out of its chosen way, but makes a little strip of earth fairer, and offers its perpetual cup of cold water to bird and insect and shy woodland creatures innumerable.
Wait patiently, then, little sister, for the unfolding of God’s perfect plan for you, remembering that— “God’s plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold;
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart;
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold;” and be sure that in that plan there are “good times” for you—perhaps not just the kind you long for now, but those so much better that when they do come you will wonder that you ever sighed for the other.
But there are “good times” that you need not wait for—good times that you can enjoy even now. There are the other shut-outs, you know,—the girls who long with aching, envious hearts for the few good things that you enjoy—and despise. Share your pleasures, tho they are never so rare and poor, with these girls, and you will find your joy growing deeper and fuller with every experience. Enter into their lives, and pass on to them the determination and hope and high resolve that have inspired your own; and you will find, by and by, that life—your life, with its thwarted plans and blighted ambitions—is sweeter than you had thought.
Then, as the years pass, and the graces that are the fruit of a love-filled, unselfish heart crown your character, friends will come to you, and deepen and broaden your life, and make it rich, and sweet, and complete beyond the power of words to tell,—friends whose companionship11and sympathy and love will give you a faint glimpse of what the associations of heaven must be, since they are among the good gifts of the Father of that country. Then the wonder to you will be, not that you have so few friends, but that you have so many. With humility you will strive to meet their high ideal of you, and to be worthy of their confidence and love.
So begin now, little sister, with the unpleasant duty that calls you this moment; improve your one talent; neglect no opportunity, however poor, for self-culture; shed on others the light of sympathy and love—and heaven’s best and most precious gifts shall all be yours.
ADELAIDE BEE COOPER.
OVER THE HILL.
By M. C. Penniman
[M. C. Penniman, in Christian Work.]
“WHERE are you going, little maid,
On the road to the busy town,
With your eyes as blue as gentian flowers,
And your curly hair so brown?”
“I climb the long, long hill, kind sir,
To the town on the other side;
And there I busily work all day,
And return at the eventide.”
“And is it not a long, hard way
For so small a girl to go?”
“Yes, but the skies are bright above,
And I love the flowers so.”
“But the flowers can not always bloom,
Nor the sky be always bright;
Sometime the frost will nip the buds,
And soon it will be night.”
“O, yes; but then at night, you know,
The quiet stars do shine,
And I think they are the angels’ eyes,
That look down into mine!”
“But surely there are many nights
When the way is long and dim.”
“I know, but God’s behind the clouds,
And so I trust in Him.”
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE FATHER.
By Mrs. M. C. DuBois
THE Word of God gives this solemn charge: “Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.” Col. 3:21. “But bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” Eph. 6:4.
It is not a light thing to “train up a child in the way he should go.” Spasmodic efforts will not do it. God’s instructions to Israel in regard to parental duty were, “Ye shall teach them [My words] your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.” Deut. 11:19. And these things were to be taught to “thy sons and thy sons’ sons,” “precept upon precept, line upon line.” Deut. 4:9; Isa. 28:10.
Who is to do this teaching?—There should be a united effort on the part of both parents to teach the principles of truth and purity to the children. But perhaps the father has a greater influence in forming the character of his son than of his daughter, for the boy is usually with him more. Generally the boy takes his first object lesson from father. What papa does and says makes a deep impression on the little one. And so, unconsciously, by his daily life, he is molding the character and shaping the future of his boy. Then how great is the father’s responsibility, and how carefully he should walk and talk before his children!
Father, your boy will quickly catch the spirit you manifest. Gentle firmness should characterize your dealings with him. Do not scold and find fault with him from morning till night, nor reprove him before others. Remember you are not to provoke your child, lest he become discouraged. On the contrary, be patient with the lad, and seek to win and hold his confidence by being companionable.
Be just with your boy in money matters. If you can possibly do so, give him a weekly allowance, even tho it may be small. Teach him the value of money, and how to spend it wisely. Teach him also habits of industry. Useful employment will save him from many temptations.
Keep your word with your boy as sacredly as you would with a business man. Do not let him have cause to doubt your word on account of a broken promise. And let all your business transactions be strictly right before him. If you are “a little shaky,” his sharp eyes will see it, and a seed will be sown in that little heart that may bring forth a bitter harvest.
There are certain things he ought to know. When he reaches the proper age, talk with him about them. Tell him about himself, of the wonders of his body. Plant seeds of virtue in his heart by right examples and pure conversation. The boys should have the same careful teaching in virtue and purity as the girls. There should not be two standards in the family. Some seem to expect a higher standard of purity in the girl than in the boy. Why is this, unless it is that the father has allowed himself to tell impure stories in the hearing of his son, thus dropping into the unfolding mind a foul seed, which may bear fruit by and by? Would he recognize the sequel of those impure stories told so long ago? I think not.
Our children have a powerful enemy to contend with. Satan is reaching out after their souls, and will leave no means untried to accomplish their ruin. The times are perilous for them, and they need the tenderest care. Teach them to honor God, and in all they do to keep Him in mind. Fathers, set a godly example before your sons and daughters. Example is a most effective teacher.
Young hearts crave sociability, cheerfulness; if they do not find these at home, they will look for them elsewhere. Fathers, are you sociable with your children, or are you cold and reserved? Are you, as head of the family, doing all in your power to make home so attractive as to hold them within the home fold, or do you expect the mother to furnish all the home sunshine? I have often heard it said, “It matters little what the father is, if the mother is a woman of strength and willpower.” A mother’s influence is great; but this does not by any means lessen the responsibility of the father. God will hold every father responsible for the evil influence he exerts over his children.
