FRIGHTENING the little ones into good behavior by telling them lies is the worst possible means of attaining the end sought. One day I looked out of my window and was quite surprised at seeing my neighbor's little child—a mere baby girl—lying flat on her face, and nervously wriggling her small body as far under the floor of the front piazza as possible. I wondered what the child was doing; evidently she was trying her best to hide from sight. She made no sound or outcry,—only shrunk her tiny body into as small a compass as possible, way back—back under the floor. When I found out what was the trouble, I was almost indignant; to say the least, I was sad. The child's mother told me when I asked about it. It was nothing whatever, she assured me. Baby had only seen old Uncle B— coming down the street, and she had taught her that the innocent old man would catch and carry her away, or cut her ears off. She did this to make baby quiet and good (?) and go to sleep. And that poor little deceived and frightened creature had bravely refrained from screaming, and only thinking of the horror of being dragged away from her home and her mama, had hidden herself as best she could, with wildly beating heart and bounding pulse. All this misery caused by a foolish lie told by an unwise mother! Now, how can she expect this child to be truthful in after years. O, I hope every mother will remember that it does not pay to attempt to frighten goodness into little children.
"Johnnie, unless you mind me this minute, I'll shake the life out of you!"
"That's what you said a little while ago, mama, but you didn't do it; and if you had, why, mama, you'd been a murderer!"
O, what a senseless way of securing obedience! Threats of some unreasonable, horrible punishment,—which threats, of course, are never carried out, and never intended to be—telling lies and frightening into goodness? O, what a pity, what a pity that there are mothers who need to be warned against doing these things!
I believe the great secret of teaching a child to be truthful is simply to educate his conscience.
"I well remember the first and I trust the only lie I ever told," said a lady the other day. "I was but three years old, and had done some little mischief, which of course I denied. How was I punished?—My dear mother talked kindly to me, and carefully explained what it meant to tell a lie. She seemed so sad as we knelt down to ask the good Lord to forgive her little girl for telling a falsehood. The impression which this youthful experience made upon me will never fade away."
Nor do I think children should be taught to discriminate between different kinds of lies, by calling this a "white lie," and that a "black lie." They are all black! a lie is a lie, and I care not how little or innocent appearing it may be, it is an offense unto God—the Author of truth. Indeed, a falsehood is especially aggravating to Him. And yet I fear that some of us who consider ourselves patterns of truthfulness could not stand before the all-seeing eye of Him "who desireth truth in the inward parts."
O, ye mothers and fathers, would you ask, then, for a good recipe for teaching your boys and girls to be truthful? Here it is: Never tell a lie yourself.
"Well, well!" protests Mrs. Sensitive, "don't talk like that to me; I never lie!" And yet to-day when Mrs. Sensitive's little boy came in from his play, and asked for a piece of ginger bread, instead of explaining to him that it was not good for his stomach to eat between meals, she only said, "It's all gone, Willie; there isn't any more," when she knew there was a large piece in the pantry; she knew it then, and Willie found it out at dinner-time. Well, if that's the way you are bringing up your boy, Mrs. Sensitive, I would not give much for his moral worth in a few years.
Then there is another specious kind of lying; viz., telling part of the truth.
A good many years ago there were a couple of very pious, worthy (?) church members. They were adepts at this particular kind of lying. They sold some property, and wanted to give just enough of it to the church, to insure a general belief that they were simply robbing themselves for the good of others. Adepts in deceit and cunning, they wanted to pose as patterns of godliness. But they didn't turn out very well, did they?—No; and all the Ananiases and Sapphiras in the world or in the church to-day, are not going to turn out any better in the end than they did. For in that day, when every maker and every lover of a lie shall perish, it will be said to them, "Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God."
L. D. AVERY-STUTTLE.
"LET US QUARREL TO-MORROW."
By N. H. Junior
My wife is one of the sweetest little women in the whole world, and I am not considered peculiarly cranky, but sometimes differences would arise, beginning with the most trivial things, which, however, being duly nursed, became of monumental proportions, and often threatened the peace of the family. Of course, I was commonly the one to blame; in fact, as I look back on it now, I am sure I was always to blame, for I should have had the wisdom to give way to the non-essentials, and by a little restraint and gentle talk win my little wife over to my way of thinking. But, instead of that, I feared I should sacrifice my dignity (!) as head of the family, by yielding. So sometimes I went to business without my good-by kiss, and two people were miserable all day.
But my little wife had an inspiration (most women have when things come to the breaking point), and the next time our argument was drifting near the danger line, she turned aside the collision by this womanly suggestion, "Howard, dear, let's quarrel to-morrow!" This was a proposal for an armistice. What husband could refuse? "All right," I said, "we will put it off till to-morrow," and we laughed and talked of other things. But to-morrow did not come. Indeed, to-morrow never comes; it's always a day ahead; and if we can only keep our quarrels until then, there will be no more heart-broken little wives at home, and fewer blue husbands at the store or office.
"Let's quarrel to-morrow!"—N. H. Junior.
Millennial Text-Book
MILLENNIAL TEXT-BOOK.—Every known reference, over 500 arranged according to events, adapted for instant reference or profound Bible study; result of 12 years' search. Mailed for 10 one-cent stamps, or a dime. Eugene A. Brown, Phoenix, Ariz.
SOLOMON'S GREAT WEALTH.
SOLOMON was not only the wisest but the richest man the world has ever seen, says the Tattler, tho, like the czar, who alone can be compared to him in wealth to-day, he had to keep all his relatives. He is said to have owned a fortune of £800,000,000, and David, his father, left half as much for the building of the Temple. Croesus, whose name is even a synonym for vast wealth, possessed £400,000,000, and Lucullus, famous for his dinners and his manuscripts, £120,000,000. Alexander the Great made his wars pay, for he brought back £160,000,000 from Persia. As a general rule it was unsafe to be very rich in classical times.
THE SECRET PLACE.
By Church Herald
"THE secret place of the Most High." The secret place is a place of purity. A place of safety. A place of rest. A place of quietness. A dwelling place. A fixed abode. A place of divine sweetness and tenderness. A healthy place. A place of plenty. There is an abundance of the bread of heaven, Gospel meat, and a golden goblet of Pentecostal wine from Bible grapes. A place of spiritual strength. A place of divine protection. A place of triumphant faith. A super-victorious place. A sacred place where one communes with God alone. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Ps. 91:1. Are you living there now?
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THE HARDEST KNOT.
By Roy Farrell Greene
[Roy Farrell Greene, in Success.]
"My boy," said Uncle Hiram, "don't for pity sake, look glum,
An' don't set tight your lips as if they speechless were an' dumb,
When some hard task's before you, for, tho laboring like a Turk,
The happiest fellow's he who sings or whistles at his work.
A lesson from the buzz-saw learn, that rings with honest glee
While into lumber it converts the trunk of stoutest tree,
That hums a low-toned melody when easiest 's its lot,
An' always sings the loudest when it strikes the hardest knot.
"To make of every task a joy you'll find's an art worth while;
The hardest problems of the world are solved by those who smile!
Abe Lincoln when affairs of state perplexed him deigned to chaff,
Well knowing fogs would lift before the sunshine of a laugh!
He joked when those about him stood in wo and gloom profound,
Yet 'twas his laughter-wrinkled brow that fame undying crowned!
He smiled, or likely chuckled, through each problem's softest spot,
But shook with hearty laughter when he struck the hardest knot.
"An' so," said Uncle Hiram, "be it lowly task or great
You're called t' do, remember you're an architect of Fate,
An' the future generations are dependin' on your skill,
Your 'I know how to do it in the right way, an I will!'
But start t' sing or whistle, lad, ere you the task commence,—
The work will seem lots harder if your lips are set and tense!
The ringin' buzz-saw keep in mind, that varies not a jot,
But always sings the loudest when it strikes the hardest knot."
Two Classes of People
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OPEN DOORS IN INDIA.
By J. L. SHAW
THERE are a multitude of evidences pointing to the present as the great hour of opportunity in India. The Great Leader in mission movements has unbarred doors which were once tightly closed against the Gospel. Now they are open wide for the Christian worker.
A little more than a hundred years ago when the fire of missions began to burn in the bones of Carey, the English world scorned his purpose of carrying the Gospel to the heathen. When suggesting his ideas to a company of ministers at North Hampton, Dr. Rylands said: "Young man, sit down; when God pleases to convert the heathen He will do it without your help or mine." And later when he and Thomas had paid their transportation on an English boat bound for Calcutta, the East India Company finding out their motives refused to let them go. Having promised the natives of India not to interfere with their religion, the East India Company would not permit missionaries to land in India, should they find passage.
How Great Is the Change
a hundred years have made. The doors have unbarred and are now open. Under British rule not only are missionaries allowed entrance, but their lives and property are protected and missionaries can go to any part of that great land many times with less fear than in their own land. Lady missionaries go alone from one village to another over the plains of India, and often into the rugged hills of the Himalayas, many miles from their fellow workers, living among these needy people months at a time without seeing a European face. He who gave the commission, "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel," is standing guard in this great Gibraltar of heathenism while His servants work.
The peace, order, and quiet now prevailing in India will go down in history as one of the remarkable facts in the record of nations. It hardly seems possible, tho it is true, that 300,000,000 people are governed by a small island of 40,000,000 people 7,000 miles away, with only a few thousand widely scattered representatives in the field. Is there not in this condition of affairs in India an over-ruling providence, and can we not see the hand of God upon the open door in that great land?
The God-Given Longing.
And yet this is only one of many evidences of an open door in India. The unsatisfied condition of the people, the reaching after something better, is an evidence. Prejudice against Christianity is lessening. The shackles of Hinduism are weakening slowly, yet surely, and the restrictive tenants of Hinduism can not forever stand against the invasion of Western civilization. In this period of transition lies the golden hour of opportunity. And what an opportunity and work it is, and only a beginning has been made. We have, as it were, skirted the coast, and discovered a few bays and inlets, but that is all. There are, on an average, only one missionary to every one hundred thousand people in India. At the same rate there would be about 800 Christian workers in the whole United States.
HINDU LADIES.
Of the Boys and Girls
not one in a thousand know anything about Jesus Christ. Many have never heard His name. There are so many of these boys and girls that if they joined hand in hand they would make a ring around the world. These children and young people wish to learn, and many of them are glad to attend Christian schools and study the Bible. Not a few accept Christ. At our school at Simaultala, recently five who had been studying the Bible for some time accepted Christ, and were baptized. These schools present a favorable opportunity of teaching the Bible, and again and again are our workers compelled to turn a deaf ear to villagers who ask for a school in their village.13Our purpose in establishing a school in the mountains of India is for the reason that it gives an easy access to the people and affords a splendid opportunity of teaching the people the truths of the Bible.
Where schools are made boarding schools, and the pupils are taken from their heathen environments, and placed under Christian influences, still more can be accomplished. There are many opportunities for opening such schools; and by connecting industries with them, pupils can earn at least sufficient to furnish their food. We hope to see such schools established in the mountains.
Industrial Schools.
It is really necessary to connect industries with mission schools so that pupils may learn some means of making a living. Those who abandon Hinduism and become Christians are ostracised by friends and relatives and become outcasts. A Hindu father regards his son who becomes a Christian as nothing better than a pariah. By Hindu law the son loses all claim to any portion of his father's inheritance. He may not enter his father's house to eat with him again. Even his shadow falling upon his father's food would contaminate it.
We believe these industrial Bible schools afford a grand opportunity for Christian effort. There is an eagerness on the part of Indians to learn, and they will study and study hard. For hard unflagging "cram," the Hindu student stands unrivalled. He will fasten his joy-joy or top-knot of hair to a peg in the wall or to the back of the chair, so as to awaken should he fall asleep. They are loathe to leave their books.
Our Opportunity.
Could the readers of the SIGNS OF THE TIMES see the people of India in their want and need, their willingness to learn and study the Bible, they would be convinced that the Gospel has open doors of opportunity in India. They are our Aryan brothers, and we are only higher in the scale of intelligence by virtue of the Gospel of Christ which has come to us and our fathers.
There was a time when our forefathers were wild untutored heathen in northern Europe. In the goodness of God He sent His Word and found them and revealed unto them His Son. For this we owe an everlasting debt of thanks. How can we better show our gratitude for the favor shown toward than to send the light of truth to our Aryan friends across the sea. In this lies their hope of release from the shackles of Hinduism. In the name of Jesus, and in behalf of these, who as sheep have wandered from their shepherd, let us press into the doors of opportunity now open in India.
Boulder, Colo.
J. L. SHAW.
ENDEAVOR CONSECRATION HYMN.
By J. N. Davidson
(Tune: Suwannee River.)
WHERE I may serve Thee best, O Master,
Keep me or send;
Life's days are passing fast and faster,
Soon labor here must end.
Joy is it, blessed Lord, to serve Thee
Where Thou dost call;
Mountain or plain or forest please me;
Things either great or small.
CHORUS:
Turn my life from self and sadness
Choose the paths for me;
Thy service, Lord, is joy and gladness;
Happy my walk with Thee.
In brightest sunshine call to serve Thee;
Call Thou in storm;
Bid me to homes of those who need Thee,
Of known or unknown form;
Call Thou to cities' busy thronging,
Or desert lone;
Send me, with peace, to strife and wronging,
Or to the sad heart's moan.
CHORUS.
Blessed the loving hand that saved me,—
Hand pierced and torn.
Blessed the tender heart that owned me,
Sinner condemned, forlorn.
Thy loving-kindness, it hath won me,
Love all Thine own;
And, Master, when in joy I meet Thee
Let me not come alone!
CHORUS.
—J. N. Davidson.
OUR WORK AND WORKERS.
By Editor
APRIL 21, nine members were added to the church at Kansas City, Kansas, four by baptism.
THE South Dakota camp-meeting is appointed for June 7-17, at Woonsocket. The business men of the place are giving financial help.
A CIRCULAR from the General Conference office announces forty-five general camp-meetings for this season in the United States and Canada. Some of these are already in the past.
THE baptism of six candidates at Avinger, Texas, is reported by Brother E. B. Hopkins in the Union Record. He also notes some accessions to the church at Cusseta at a subsequent meeting.
OF the sanitarium at Wichita, Kansas, the Worker says that in order to accommodate the many arrivals, more furniture and furnishings are procured and more workers are arriving each week to help care for the patients.
IN the Welcome Visitor, Brother R. G. Patterson reports the baptism of four candidates at Toledo, Ohio, in the month of April. He also notes that of eleven funerals he has been called to attend, only one has been of our own people.
IN Eastern Tidings we note the baptism of seven natives at Moulmein, Burma. One woman, who had been a Buddhist and an inveterate user of tobacco, said, on coming out of the water, "No more cigars." And she is keeping her vow.
IN the Workers' Bulletin, Brother J. H. Kraft reports the organization of a church of thirteen members at Lucas, Iowa, April 22. The ordinance of baptism was administered just before the organization. After the close of the service another man made application for membership.
IT has been believed and stated that none of our people lost their lives by the California earthquake; but we have been informed of one fatality. A sister W. D. Brown, of Dana, Shasta County, Cal., had been visiting a daughter in Ventura County, and was returning home by way of Santa Rosa, where she was killed in a hotel.
OUR fellow editors—of the Review, Watchman, Youth's Instructor, and conference papers—have been lavish of space and sympathetic of expression in referring to our losses and our "Special" issues. We appreciate this kindly feeling and most valuable service. May their liberality redound to their greater prosperity in both temporal and spiritual blessing. We shall not soon forget it.
WE have received a very neat calendar of Keene (Texas) Academy, the thirteenth annual announcement. It contains thirty-two pages, with handsome illustrations of buildings and premises, together with such information as patrons or friends may desire. In forwarding the calendar, Principal C. B. Hughes says, "Our enrolment is larger than last year, and the outlook is very encouraging." May it continue to be so.
WRITING from Chester, Ark., of a tour in that state and Texas, Brother H. Clay Griffin notes the baptism of five pupils of the church school at Black Rock, Ark., which is taught by Sister Jessie McConnell. Later he went to Ava for a few days, where he baptized eight candidates. Besides these, two others were added to the church. In connection with Brother U. Bender, he is now conducting tent-meetings at Chester.
REPORTING the work about Karmatar, India, to Eastern Tidings, Sister Della Burroway says:
"We are thankful to have visiting us a sister (Mrs. De Rosario) who has just accepted the truth. She has formerly been in Zenana work under the C. M. S. As she reads and speaks both Bengali and Hindi her services are greatly appreciated where there is such a large field for work. She very often speaks to the people, thus assisting and encouraging our girls."
THE May number of Life and Health is fully up to the standard of excellence set by former numbers of this valuable magazine. Prominent in its contents are articles on "Divine Healing," "Experience Not Always Reliable," and "The Woes of the Sensitive." The usual departments are well sustained. If you are not a subscriber, now is a good time to commence. Price, 50 cents a year. Address, Review and Herald Publishing Co., Takoma Park, Washington, D. C.
IN sending a five-dollar donation to the Pacific Press relief fund, Sister Margaret Barrett, of Stillwater, Okla., tells of a hailstorm in that vicinity, May 4, which knocked half of the fruit off the trees.
At Stillwater hail as large as a teacup fell, killing hogs and breaking through the roofs of houses. Sister Barrett is seventy-five years old, lives twelve miles from the church at Perry, to which she belongs, and is therefore the lone representative of the faith in her neighborhood. She says, "I take pleasure in sending what I can," and adds the further testimony:
"I take great pleasure in reading your good paper; it is a great help to me, and a great blessing to any one who reads and obeys. I rejoice in keeping the Sabbath of the Lord. I am so glad that I had my eyes opened to the truth. I hope the earthquake will be for good, and that the people will see how weak and helpless they are without a Saviour."
ALL SETTLED.
A MAN once came to D. L. Moody with a long list of theological questions. Mr. Moody said he would answer if the man would do one thing. "What is that?" he asked. "Well, you go and give yourself to the Lord and become a Christian; then come to me with your questions and I will answer them." The man went away, and in a few days came back and told Moody that he had done as he told him, and that they were the happiest family in the city. "Well," said Moody, "where are your questions?" "O, I have none now; they are all answered; it is all plain now."—Selected.
WANTED FOR MISSIONARY WORK.
By Editor
(Always prepay postage.)
A LARGE supply of clean copies of SIGNS, Watchman, Instructor, Little Friend, Bible Training School, Liberty, Life and Health, and Life Boat. Address, G. H. A. Beermann, Green Lake, Wash.
ANY of our denominational publications. Address, C. W. Cutter, Box 323, Hot Springs, Ark.
UNTIL further notice, late, clean copies of the SIGNS, Watchman, and tracts. Address, Mrs. A. L. Squires, Hildebran, N. C.
ANY of our denominational literature, clean copies. Address, John R. Reid, 1311 North 10th Street, Tacoma, Wash.
ANY of our publications in English or Spanish. Address, John K. Lane, Corpus Christi, Texas.
ANNUAL MEETING NOTICE.
THE ninth annual meeting of the California Medical Missionary and Benevolent Association, for the purpose of electing four or more members of the Board of Directors, and transacting any other business that may properly come before the meeting, will be held at Sanitarium, Napa Co., Cal., on Wednesday, June 20, 1906, at 12 o'clock M.
E. E. Parlin, Secretary, L. M. Bowen, President.
California is a Big State
Santa Clara Valley is a big valley. Mountain View is a small town, but it's growing. The Bank of Mountain View is a prosperous bank, and is growing also. To make more business we must have more people. If we get more people we are bound to do more business. Now, you will let us tell you about Mountain View, you will want to come. If you come we get your banking business because we do it right. We think the idea is a good one. Let us give you some facts about Mountain View. Address,
Bank of Mountain View
Mountain View, Santa Clara County, California
GRAND CANYON
OF ARIZONA
"A whole chaotic underworld. Most sublime scene on earth. A mile deep, 13 miles wide, 217 miles long, and painted like a flower."
The great round world has nothing like it. A railroad to the rim. Excellent hotels: El Tovar, Bright Angel, and Grand View. Passengers going via Santa Fe may stop over at Williams for side trip to the Canyon. Round trip fare $6.50. Ask for pamphlet, "Titan of Chasms."
FRED W. PRINCE, city ticket agent,
649 MARKET ST., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL.
