Earlier text: A PERFECT HEARTCANDID UTTERANCES ON REVIVALS.
By James M. Buckley
[In the New York Christian Advocate of January 31, the editor, Dr. James M. Buckley, gives some “candid utterances on revivals” that we think so valuable that we give his article entire, with the exception of one paragraph, that we considered relevant only to his own constituents.] JUDGED by the effect of such utterances in the past, confident predictions of a general revival of religion, especially when it is asserted that it is certain to come within a few weeks or months, are obstacles in the way of their fulfilment. The “booming” of new towns, of any branch of business, or of general prosperity, may sometimes be effectual in promoting financial success, but are not so when there is no solid foundation for it. A spurious success follows, which is the harbinger of a speedy collapse. For many years such predictions have been made, and no marked revival has occurred. In 1892, when the panic struck the country, it was declared that “in hard times” revivals always occur. The reiteration of the prediction seemed to cause people to feel that a revival was going to come by the mystical force of “hard times.” But it came not. As “the times” grew more stringent, the prophets grew more numerous; but still it came not, tho the depression continued four years. Another impediment is the prophecy that no revival can come “under present conditions.” Croakers and cynics are always in the way of a revival. Every church has them. The true rule is to say nothing about the coming of a revival, but to be devoted entirely to preparing the King’s highway. The world can not be saved in masses. Epidemics of superficial excitement are freshets in a desert. Pastors and people should be busy in their own work in front of their own door. Men must be convicted and converted one by one. As the number of such increases a genuine awakening spreads. The attitude of a part of the secular press, the manner in which “revivals and revivalism” are spoken of in the cities and towns which they dominate, is a real obstruction to this form of religious work. Editorials that speak of religious emotion as belonging to “an undeveloped age,” that “such great revivals as occurred in the early part of the century can never be repeated,” are obstructive. So is the publication of a few peculiar remarks, exhortations, or ejaculations as types of movements which, on the whole, are as worthy of respect as those reported by the apostles. Some of the undenominational, semi-religious papers throw their whole influence against the chief means by which by far the largest part of the Protestant world exists. One of them recently said that the passage, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation,” would make many good people doubtful of this method of promoting it. The quotation must have been selected simply because of its words. He who uttered it said, “Go preach the Gospel to every creature.” He sent seventy, two by two, to every place where He Himself would go. There was nothing in His life or course that gives countenance to the theory of waiting until the people come. The kingdom of God as an inward spiritual experience “cometh not with observation,” but the spirit of the Gospel justifies the most extraordinary means compatible with reverence and reason to bring a knowledge of the Gospel to the people. “How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent?” The charge made against Christ by the formalists of His time was, “He stirreth up the people;” so He did, and only those who stir up the people to think and feel on truth, duty, opportunity, responsibility, and the future life can add in any considerable185number to the church “of those that are being saved.” While it still remains true that, with the larger part of its accessions from other churches, its pomp, its pride, and its wealth in the great cities, only one in twenty of the Protestant communicants of the country are within its denominational limits, some Episcopal bishops and clergymen lose no opportunity to disparage revivals. Among the churches that have been built up and maintained by revivals are the Methodist, the Baptist, and to a considerable extent the Presbyterian. The Congregational collection of churches is far from being homogeneous. There are fewer churches in that denomination which promote revivals than there were for the first twenty years following 1858. There are many at present that would scarcely know what to do should adults, with every appearance of deep religious feeling, begin to ask what they must do to be saved. Lest this should be thought incorrect and uncharitable, we have to say that it is the utterance of one of the most distinguished ministers of that body, confirmed by several others that heard it. Among the Baptists are not a few churches and ministers who take no special interest in such work, but, as members are added only on profession of faith and public immersion, the necessities of the situation tend to perpetuate the use of the means whereby such persons are made willing and able honestly to make such a profession. The Methodist Episcopal Church also has some ministers who, supported by some of the leading minds in their societies, act as tho they do not wish any religious movement which will attract public attention to the society as in any way reproducing the methods of the militant days of Methodism; and some printed and spoken discussions seem to show that a few are positively opposed to any method which would be in harmony with the apostolic exhortation, “Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.” Among these are some who are very enterprising in everything that does not relate to the conviction and conversion of sinners. It must be confessed that the extravagances of some evangelists and a few revival pastors account for such feelings in sincere and conscientious minds. When widespread genuine religious excitement exists, under the best circumstances, there will be occasional ebullitions, effervescences, and excrescences, which are only redeemed by the gravity and depth of the whole work. But some evangelists cultivate these and regard them as evidences of “power.” As well might the meaningless gyrations of St. Vitus’ dance be supposed evidences of muscular and nervous strength. The preoccupation of the churches and pastors by a great variety of enterprises, and the division of the year into social seasons, one of which is spent away from home, and the other absorbed in matters sometimes harmful, at other times harmless in themselves, but harmful by reason of preoccupying the time and exhausting the energies necessary to promote the primary work of the church, increase the difficulty of concentrating upon revival work. A variety of circumstances has greatly changed the spiritual character of a large part of the membership, so that some of the older members are like sailors that have not been to sea for thirty years, but are called upon suddenly to resume their forgotten functions; others have merely been cabin passengers from the beginning. Notwithstanding this and all the legitimate enterprises of the church, the necessity for raising money to pay debts, build churches, “hold our young people,” keep up to the times, endow colleges, hospitals, schools, and sustain missionary enterprises, a genuine revival can be had in any church where the pastor and a few members of intelligence and piety are thoroughly in accord in desiring it, and ready to work for it in ways both reasonable and spiritual. The pastor must give himself to prayer and to earnest, brotherly (not scolding) preaching to the church. He must suspend general courses of reading, exclude the daily paper, and be a man of one work in the study and in the pulpit. Those who desire a revival must give themselves to prayer, and if not to fasting from food, to fasting from things that distract their minds. Union meetings, in our judgment, are of doubtful utility. They enable the indolent pastor to shelter himself behind a large movement, and they prevent the devoted, earnest pastor from exhibiting spontaneously and authoritatively his earnestness. Often, if not usually, they lower the tone of the most earnest church in the combination toward the tone of the least earnest; and if there be a slight elevation of the lowest, the highest has been brought below the effective point, and the lowest has not reached it. In the foregoing suggestions we are as far from the spirit of criticism as is compatible with a survey of the situation. For a short time the writer was under the hallucination that God had called him to preach to the brain and the more intellectual part of the church. There came a time, however, when he discerned that no genuine power can be exerted without the symmetrical use of the whole mind and heart of man under an influence superior to himself. From that hour he found that no conceivable condition in civilized society can be so obstructive as to prevent a revival where the pastor desires it more than anything else, and where even a few are like minded, single in aim, and intelligent enough not to mistake animal excitement for profound religious conviction, sense of responsibility, and reverent dependence upon God. PROTECTED VICE AND CRIME.
By T.
A few days ago in New York City a district attorney had the courage and ability to cause a den of vice and crime to be invaded so suddenly that he caught its inmates at their evil work before they had any chance to hide. Seventy-five persons were arrested, and among the number was a local politician and several policemen. The place was within a block of one of the police station-houses, and the character of the establishment was well known to the police force, as is evidenced by the fact that several policemen were in there when the attorney made his arrests. Concerning the incident the New York World editorially says: “The fact stands clearly proved by this raid that criminal resorts are running openly in defiance of the law, which could at any time be closed if their proprietors and conductors did not have the benefit of police protection. But that fact has long been notorious.” Could a worse condition of things be imagined? Crime and vice is a regular money-making business. All our large cities are hot-beds of it. The police forces in these places are corrupted, and make large sums thru protecting criminals from the penalties of the law, instead of arresting them and bringing them to justice. The education along this line has continued until there are thousands of persons who say that this deplorable condition can not be helped, that we will have to get along the best we can with it, and just let it alone. A mayor of one of the foremost cities of the United States has recently advocated that it would be better for the city to license prostitution rather than leave it to the protection of the police and for the policemen to reap a private benefit or tax from it. It was argued by this mayor that it would be less corrupting to the police to have the city levy this tax, and then the public would derive a large revenue from it beside. Of course a city tax on vice would be on a parallel with the licensing of the liquor traffic. But one must confess to a most intense mental and moral shock at the thought of it. The principle of licensing the brothel and the saloon is just the same, but we suppose it seems-worse to think of licensing the former because we are not so used to it. But is it not queer that men and women will say that this condition of things cannot be gotten rid of, and that we must put up with all these vices and evils under the lawless protection of the police, and at the same time these very persons will tell us in eloquent terms that the world is getting better and better. The individual who is but half awake, who has but one eye partly open, ought to see and know better than to affirm that the condition of things in this world is improving. What will be the final and awful result of this tide of evil is a question that may stir the bravest soul. The Steel Trust and the Chinese Question
The way in which the latest giant aggregation of capital, known as the steel trust, is regarded in England is well shown in the following cablegram from London to the New York Tribune of March 3: “The mercantile community has been appalled by the magnitude of the American steel combination, headed by J. P. Morgan. The enormous mass of capital under single control has created an impression in the iron trade and general business circles that American competition is far more serious than German rivalry. The truth is perceived that immense masses of capital can not be concentrated in Germany as in the United States for cheapening all processes of production and distribution. The United States steel corporation is frankly described by financial journals like the Statist as the biggest industrial monopoly ever known, and as capable of making, at smallest cost, as much steel as all the steel manufacturers of Great Britain put together.” The settlement of the Chinese question drags on laboriously. Two more of the condemned Chinese officials have been decapitated; but the court has not returned to Peking, nor has the allied expedition gone in search of the Chinese rulers. Russia is proceeding in a positive way along independent lines. She demands of China the signing of a treaty which will Russianize Manchuria and the rest of North China. Some of the other powers are protesting to China against the signing of the treaty, and China has appealed to the representatives of the powers to assist her in resisting Russia’s demands. This matter is now the subject of diplomatic correspondence between the powers, and it is thought that possibly Russia may be induced to modify or withdraw her demands. All the American troops in China, with the exception of two companies, are soon to start for the Philippines. All fears of an extra session of Congress were abated on March 1, when the House concurred in the Senate amendments to the Army Bill, giving almost unlimited power to the President in the Philippines, and declaring to the Cubans what they must do before America would withdraw from the island. The passing of this bill and its signing by the President sets this country upon a course out of all harmony with the spirit of its Constitution and the traditions of its history, and utterly antagonistic to the noble aims of those whom we have delighted to honor as its founders. Swift, and seemingly uncontrollable, has been the tide which has turned the nation from its course and changed her character in the eyes of the other nations of the world. During the last half of the year 1900, while a policy of “restriction” was in vogue in the Philippines, the exports of malt liquors from the United States to those islands was at the rate of $883,452 worth a year, as against $563,950 during the preceding year, when the licensed American saloons were more numerous. A similar increase is noted in the amount of the exports in all other liquors except brandy. Thus the policy of so-called “restriction” is really a nourisher rather than a restricter of the liquor business in the islands. There has been a considerable reduction in the number of licensed saloons, but it is self-evident that the business of liquor-vending has been in no way interfered with. The Boers under command of General De Wet have again escaped from the forces which were trying to surround them. They have been driven out of Cape Colony, but the date of their capture seems to be still distant. A considerable number of stragglers, some camp equipage, horses, oxen, and guns have been picked up in the chase, and the Boers have captured 80 of General Kitchener’s scouts. Notwithstanding the persistent rumors of the surrender of both De Wet and Botha, these men are still in the field with their commandos, and the end of the war is not yet in sight. The final conference on the war revenue reduction bill was passed by both House and Senate on February 28. It reduces the war tax on some articles and repeals it on many others. There is much agitation in Germany just now over the matter of tariff between Germany and Russia, and the tariff question seems destined to lead to still greater complications. Germany fears the threat which Russia is holding out, that unless concessions are granted, Russia will retaliate both economically and politically. Even the conservative press sees trouble ahead, and deplores the present complications, which “are likely to split the whole entente of the powers.” A new explosive is being secretly tested at the Sandy Hook proving grounds, for which peculiarly destructive properties are claimed. Shells loaded with this composition do not explode until they have practically passed thru the steel plate against which they are fired. The principal force of the explosion would thus take place inside the ship against which the shell was directed, thus greatly increasing the death-dealing powers of the ordinary shell. The sultan of Turkey has ordered the mobilization of 50,000 troops on the Bulgarian frontier. This move is made in view of the activity of the revolutionary Bulgarian Committee in Macedonia, and is significant when considered in connection with the growing friendliness between Russia and Bulgaria. Many arrests of Bulgarians in Macedonia have already been made, and these are charged with abetting the revolutionary movement. The queen regent of Spain is experiencing much difficulty in securing another cabinet to take the place of the cabinet which recently resigned. The second person appointed by the queen regent to construct a cabinet has reported that he is unable to do so, and must decline to pursue the endeavor further. The government of Spain is at the present time in a precarious condition. Our loss of soldiers in the Philippines has now passed the 6,000 mark. Of the total number 721 have been killed, 452 have died of wounds and accidents, 2,230 have died of disease, and 2,599 have been incapacitated by wounds. It is probably not too much to say that 10,000 more have been permanently invalided. And for what?—New York World. A recent despatch from Bulgaria indicates that Russia has won over the Bulgarian cabinet, and that the closest relations are to be sustained between these two governments, which is but another indication of the all-prevailing diplomacy of Russia in accomplishing her aims. A procession consisting of 5,000 Cubans paraded the streets of Havana on the evening of March 2, and called upon Governor-General Wood. The paraders presented a monster petition directed to President McKinley, urging absolute independence for Cuba. George T. Rice, the Manila editor who made public accusations against the captain of the port of Manila, and refused to retract, and was in consequence ordered deported from the islands, arrived in San Francisco on the transport Pennsylvania, on March 2. On February 28 the crown claims of the Canadian Government in the Klondike were thrown open, to be staked and recorded by the people. A grand stampede was expected on that date for the claims hitherto held by the government. A despatch from Cape Town, South Africa, states that the bubonic plague is spreading there. The authorities are striving to check its advance by isolating all suspected cases or persons who have been exposed. The bill to prohibit the sale of intoxicants, firearms, and opium in certain islands of the Pacific Ocean was called up in the House on March 2, but failed to receive the necessary two-thirds vote, and was lost. The Russian minister of public instruction was shot and probably fatally wounded at St. Petersburg, on March 1, by a Nihilist student who had been selected by lot to kill the minister. Victor Ruthven, a reformed monk, who was lecturing against Catholicism at Shanklin, Isle of Wight, on March 4, was viciously attacked by a mob and compelled to flee for his life. Another testimony to the horrors of war is being presented in the reports of the terrible cruelties practised upon each other by the warring factions of Colombia, South America. There was a wild scene in the Austrian Reichsrath on February 27, and the session broke up in a disgraceful fight between the Szech and the pan-German parties. The transport Indiana arrived at San Francisco on February 27 with 463 sick and disabled soldiers, 7 insane, and the bodies of 8 men who had died on the voyage. Another great oil region has been tapped in Texas. The new oil field is situated near Beaumont, in the southeastern part of the State. Korea’s attempt to secure a loan of 5,000,000 yen by mortgaging her customs receipts has been effectually blocked by Russia. Thirty-six miners lost their lives in the burning of the Diamondville coal mine near Kemmerer, Wyoming, on February 26. Delegates from eighteen States met at Chicago on February 28 for the purpose of inaugurating a national anti-cigaret league. YOUNG WOMEN AND THE CIGARET.
By C. M. S.
WHILE the Baptist Union of England was discussing, in its recent session, the evil effects of the use of cigarets among boys, something of a sensation was created by the request of one of the delegates that the influence of ministers and others be exerted against the smoking of cigarets by girls and women. While there was no way of ascertaining the extent of this deplorable practise among women, those who introduced the subject declared they had seen companies of young women indulging in it, and that the habit was largely on the increase among young women in the business establishments of the larger towns. It has been known for several years that the practise among young women of smoking the seductive weed in this, its most subtle and poisonous form, was gaining ground in the United States and Europe, and now it seems that England is not behind in this respect. With the continual increase of vice of every sort, on every hand, and among all classes, surely the prospect before the world is a dark one—at least to that part of the world that is looking for a glorious, golden future for the race, and leaving Christ and His coming and kingdom out of the question. While this dark mantle of sin is folding itself over the earth, there is a most important work for the Christian homes of the world, and that is in the proper education of the thousands of children who are growing up and going out among the dangerous temptations of a world ripe for the sickle of God. Parents, are you doing all you can to fortify your children against the attacks of a foe who is busily planning their destruction while you are sleeping? C. M. S. A NEGLECTED DUTY.
By Florence Booth Miller
It was a beautiful morning in the month of May. The orchards were in blossom, with May-day wreaths upon every bough, while upon the grass the petals had fallen in little snowy drifts. The happy birds were caroling in the trees. Not a cloud darkened the blue of the sky, and all nature seemed to be rejoicing in the goodness of the great Creator. But amid all these peaceful surroundings, Mrs. Arnold had arisen after a night of sleeplessness with a heavy heart. Several months before she had been asked by a class of young ladies to become their teacher in the Sabbath-school. She was quite willing to do so, and, having a natural gift for teaching, she had been pronounced one of the most faithful teachers in the school. But her own heart was saddened because she knew that she had not done her duty and that the personal work with her class had been neglected. It had seemed so easy to teach on the Sabbath, but it seemed such a cross to go to the girls during the week and invite them to come to Christ. The week before one of the young ladies in her class had died very suddenly, and Mrs. Arnold was not sure that she was a Christian, or that any one had ever talked with her regarding the salvation of her soul. Yet she endeavored to comfort herself with the thought that if she had neglected her duty, why, of course her pastor had looked after her spiritual welfare, and knew all about her Christian experience. Then, too, her father and mother had been professors for years, and around the family altar they had no doubt given most earnest counsel to their daughter—so she must have been a Christian. Yet still Mrs. Arnold was not satisfied. There were other girls in her class for whom she felt a deep anxiety, yet she lacked the courage to talk with them. But now on this bright May morning something must be done to relieve her of this awful burden. So she decided she would go to her pastor, and have him tell her what he could of Minnie’s experience, and be assured that she had died a Christian. She felt that she could not wait until afternoon, so, hastily finishing her morning work, she went at once to her pastor’s home. After the morning greetings had been exchanged, Mrs. Arnold asked as calmly as possible, “Pastor, how long had Minnie Dayton been a Christian?” “Really,” he replied, “I am unable to answer your question.” “But surely you had talked with her about her soul and knew she was a Christian, even tho you do not know just how long she had made a profession?” “No, Mrs. Arnold, I must confess I never talked with Minnie upon that subject; I left it with her faithful Sabbath-school teacher, as I knew you had more time than I, and had no doubt attended to it months ago.” “O Brother Wilber,” she cried, while the tears rolled down her cheeks, “we have both neglected our duty, and I’m afraid Minnie died without a hope in God!” “Well, it’s too bad, Mrs. Arnold, but you would better call on her parents if you feel so condemned about it, and her mother will no doubt ease your mind by telling you all you desire to know.” “But,” persisted the weeping woman, “that will not atone for our neglect, and most bitterly do I reproach myself for my cowardice in not speaking personally to these young people. And, pastor, I had almost a sleepless night last night, but just once I slept for a short time, and I dreamed that I stood before a beautiful tree. It was tall, symmetrical, and covered with a profusion of rich green leaves, and greatly admired by all, yet there was no fruit upon its branches. As I stood there gazing upon its beauty, and regretting there was no fruit upon it, suddenly some one clothed in the purest white stood by my side, and said to me, ‘Mrs. Arnold, as you look upon this tree you are beholding a picture of your own life, a life as barren in the service of the Master as is this tree of fruit, and unless you shall soon begin to prove that you will be loyal to the trust committed to you, He will say, “Cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground.”’” “I tried to speak, but I was covered with confusion, and as the leaves of the tree began turning to a pale sickly color, I cried out in agony, and awoke. O pastor, God has warned us, and now may He give us so much of His Spirit that we shall take up our neglected duties!” Mr. Wilber was quite affected, and suggested to Mrs. Arnold that, together with Mrs. Wilber, they would walk to Mrs. Dayton’s and inquire about the religious experience of the daughter whom they had just laid away among the blossoms to await the dawn. They were cordially welcomed by the heartbroken parents, but almost as soon as they were seated, in a voice broken with emotion, Mrs. Dayton said: “We were expecting to call upon you this evening, pastor, also upon you, Mrs. Arnold, for we are so burdened about our daughter; she was of such a quiet disposition, you know, that we are not sure whether she was a Christian or not, and we wanted you to tell us of the conversations you have had with her; for she thought so much of both of you.” With deepest regret they had to tell the sorrowing parents that their duty had been neglected. “But,” said Mrs. Arnold, “we thought that around the family altar surely you would have said something to her, and so we felt a little better, and we came to ask you.” With a moan of agony Mrs. Dayton exclaimed: “O Minnie, my precious child, did you live with us for twenty years and think that no one cared for your soul? Her father and I never talked with her; we just rested quietly thinking you had done all the talking necessary.” Mr. Dayton, who had been sitting with his face buried in his hands, looked up and said, “Wife, had we not neglected our family altar years ago, we might have the assurance that our Minnie was safe, but now”—sobs choked further utterance, and all were weeping; but words were unnecessary; each one knew that his duty had been neglected, and feared that Minnie Dayton had gone down into a Christless grave. The pastor was the first to speak; “Let us pray,” he said solemnly, and upon their knees they pleaded with God to forgive their great neglect, and to impress upon them the great and solemn duty of watchfulness. After the prayers were ended, they sadly returned to their homes, but with the determination that henceforth they would try to realize more fully the worth of a soul. Mrs. Arnold was very serious. Her dream of the previous night was constantly before her, and she felt that she must begin to work at once. Wearily she prepared the noonday meal, but she could not taste of it. Of all the girls in her class there had been two whom she feared more than any others. One had been Minnie Dayton; the other was Alice Gray.11 Alice was an orphan, and Mrs. Arnold had hesitated to speak to her because naturally she seemed to be a haughty, reserved person, and one who was not a favorite among her associates. It had never occurred to her that the motherless girl might long for a kind word, and that she was the one to give her sympathy. But now she had firmly decided that in the future she would try, with God’s help, to be faithful, not in name only. That afternoon she was really too ill to attend to her household duties; but toward evening she felt better, and, arising from her bed, she took up her Bible, and, with a deep sigh, opened at random, when her eye fell upon this verse: “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.” Falling upon her knees, she cried in her distress, “O God, had I studied to show myself approved unto Thee, I should not now be a workman who is ashamed because of neglected duty.” Then she continued pleading with God to restore unto her the joy of His salvation, until she felt that she could take up the duties awaiting her. She had profited by the lesson she had received, but it had been an exceedingly bitter one. The following afternoon, as Mrs. Arnold was preparing to begin her personal work with her class, there came a gentle tap upon her door, and before she could answer it, in walked Alice Gray. “O Alice, I am so glad to see you!” exclaimed Mrs. Arnold. “I have been intending to come to see you for some time,” Alice replied, “but I thought I must come to-day, for I knew you would be feeling sad over Minnie’s death.” Her eyes filled with tears, and, as Mrs. Arnold invited her into her neat, cool parlor, she continued, “And, Mrs. Arnold, I almost wish I had been laid away last week instead of Minnie.” “Don’t say that, Alice,” replied Mrs. Arnold; “your work is not done yet; and let me tell you I was just getting ready to come to see you for the sole purpose of talking with you about accepting Christ.” To her astonishment, Alice replied, “O Mrs. Arnold, I’m so pleased to hear you say so; for I’ve thought so many times that no one cared for my soul; for I thought if they did, that some one would speak to me, and my heart has ached many, many times lately for a word of cheer and sympathy, and I have almost envied the other girls who had loving mothers to advise them, while I am left to face the world alone.” “Not alone, Alice,” answered Mrs. Arnold, her lips quivering, “while Jesus stands by.” And, putting her arms around the motherless girl’s neck, she went on: “I am anxious for your soul, my dear, and have been for a long time; but the sin of neglect has kept me from doing my duty; but I have suffered too, and the dear Lord has anointed my eyes with eyesalve, and I see it all now, and, so far as possible, I shall hasten to prove my faithfulness to Him by earnest personal work.” “Well,” said Alice, “I suppose I get discouraged sometimes, but I too have known of late that I was leaving undone that which I should have done long ago. The Lord has been striving with me to yield myself to Him, but I just made up my mind that unless you or Mr. Wilber asked me to become a Christian, I would not do it. I know that it is not the right spirit to manifest, but I just thought, ‘Who cares, anyhow?’ and I’d try to forget about it. But yesterday I got to thinking about Christ hanging on the cross for me, and I fancied I could see Him there on the hill of Calvary, and hear the mocking cries of the chief priests and elders, ‘If Thou be the Son of God come down from the cross; He saved others, Himself He can not save.’” “Then I seemed to hear one of His followers say: ‘Yes, He saved others, and in saving them He had to give up His own life. He might have saved Himself, but there would have been no redemption for man had He done so.’ Then I felt so guilty to think I had slighted His love so long, and the thought came to me that I must decide very soon whether I would accept Christ or not; and, Mrs. Arnold, I came here this afternoon hoping you would say something to me about my soul; for I do want to be a Christian.” “O Alice, can you forgive me for my great neglect?” said Mrs. Arnold. “I mourn my unfaithfulness, but now I do intend to be a workman that needeth not to be ashamed.” An earnest prayer followed, and the orphan girl gave her heart to God. After a few minutes spent in profitable conversation, Alice arose to go, but Mrs. Arnold said, “Now, Alice, stay with me this afternoon, and we will go to our prayer-meeting together.” She accepted the invitation, and during the afternoon Mrs. Arnold was led to wonder how she could have thought that Alice was unsocial; for she saw it was real kindness that was required to show the depth of her heart. In the prayer-meeting that evening many confessions of unfaithfulness were made, and the dear Lord added His blessing, and a few days later, when Mrs. Arnold related her experience concerning her neglected duty to her class, several were deeply affected and gave their hearts to God. From that time Mrs. Arnold was an earnest worker in the Master’s service. There was no work too humble, and many burdened hearts were cheered by her loving words of sympathy and encouragement. Shall this not be true also of each of us? There are weary, lonely ones all around us. Let us seek to point them to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. “Lost for want of a word,
A word that you might have spoken;
Who knows what eyes may be dim,
Or what hearts may be aching and broken!
Go, scatter beside all waters,
Nor sicken at hope deferred;
Let never a soul by thy dumbness,
Be lost for want of a word.” MRS. FLORENCE BOOTH MILLER.
Sidney, N. Y. AWAKE, O CHRISTIAN!
By Fred F. French
Awake, O Christian heart, awake,
And at the fount of mercy slake
Thy thirsting soul again!
The Lord has called for volunteers;
Why sleep ye ’mid the doubts and sneers
Of vain, unrighteous men? “Why will ye thus My patience mock?
I stand before thy door and knock;
Why heed ye not My cry?
The world stands on a mighty brink,
And souls cry out in vain, and sink
Beneath the waves to die. Arise, and stem the mighty tide
That hurls the world from side to side
On fear and discord’s wing.
Grasp thou the moments slipping past,
And nail thy colors to the mast,
“For Christ, our Lord and King.” Prepare thine armor for the fray,
For comes a hard and trying day
When love shall conquer all;
Hold up before thy Father’s eyes
Thy naked heart, nor then despise
The cross that makes thee whole. Thy soul, the image of thy God,
Must walk the path that Jesus trod,
To gather strength from sin;
For by the exercise of good
Where sin abounds, ye gather food
To feed the soul within. Go forth, and in the harvest reap
With deeds of friendship, true and deep,
And every moment seize;
Let not thy hand hang idly by,
“Nor love in word or tongue,” but try
Some bleeding heart to ease. The soul that loves without a flaw
Hath e’en fulfilled God’s moral law,
For on that hangeth all;
“But he whose heart with slander burns,
When from his neighbor’s face he turns,
Is stumbling for a fall.” For tho ye feed and clothe the poor,
Not thus alone shall ye secure
A mansion with the blest;
But love, that overlooketh harm,
That bears the lash of hatred’s arm,
With peace within its breast, Hath shown a love that is not known
Or felt by man who tries alone
With evil to compete.
But he who does his uttermost,
With guidance of the Holy Ghost,
Shall cast it at his feet. Apply unto your heart the test,—
Who feeleth not within his breast
A knowledge past all doubt,
That God has pardoned every sin
And come to dwell with thee, within,
Is staying still without. For when the Spirit comes to thee,
All fear, and doubt, and strife will be
A thing to thee unknown;
The voice of God, as Peter heard,
Or e’en the peace your soul has stirred,
Will claim you for His own. Skagway, Alaska. FRED F. FRENCH. IT IS BETTER.
By Nixon Waterman
[Nixon Waterman, in Good Cheer.] KEEP a smile on your lips; it is better
To joyfully, hopefully try
For the end you would gain than to fetter
Your life with a moan and a sigh
There are clouds in the firmament ever
The beauty of heaven to mar,
Yet night so profound there is never
But somewhere is shining a star. Keep a song in your heart; it will lighten
The duty you hold in your hand;
Its music will graciously brighten
The work your high purpose has planned.
Your notes to the lives that are saddened
May make them to hopefully yearn,
And earth shall be wondrously gladdened
By songs they shall sing in return. Keep a task in your hands; you must labor;
By toil is true happiness won;
For foe and for friend and for neighbor,
Rejoice, there is much to be done.
Endeavor, by crowning life's duty
With joy-giving song and with smile,
To make the world fuller of beauty
Because you were in it awhile. HIGH HEELS.
By Jas. H. Jackson
THE foolish practise of wearing high and small heels is cruelly ruinous to health, comfort, grace, and beauty. High heels not only break down the arch of the foot, upon which ease and grace of movement depend, but also destroy the beauty of the foot itself, by crowding it into the front of the shoe and producing the effect of continued walking down-hill. Hence come numerous deformities and derangements. In the case of girls who wear high heels there is positive alteration of muscular structure and function, accompanied not infrequently by inflammation, contraction, and partial paralysis of muscles of the leg.—Jas. H. Jackson, M. D. The High Calling of Wifehood and Motherhood
If fate has denied to any woman a home, a husband, and a baby, let her take up art, or medicine, or blacksmithing, as she chooses, and try sincerely to make the best out of her life that she can. But to claim that these are nobler occupations than her own craft, the high calling of wifehood and motherhood, is the most shallow and dangerous of cant.—Ladies' Home Journal.