Earlier text: MAKE IT RIGHTANOTHER "CRAZY SUPPER."
By Editor
OUR readers will no doubt remember the comments that appeared in these columns last year concerning a "crazy supper" that was given by the ladies of the M. E. Church in Sullivan, Ill. We did not hear how the supper was conducted, but know that if it was according to the programme which we saw, it must have been a crazy affair. And now we have an account of another "crazy supper," which our readers will all agree was rightly named. It is from the Harper (Kansas) Daily Sentinel, of February 1:— "The ladies of the Methodist Church gave a crazy supper in the Forrey Block last evening; it was a grand and peculiar freak indeed, and was well attended by the people. Old ladies were dressed as young girls, and young ladies as quite old women, with spectacles. No one could help laughing when sitting down to the table; pickles were served on currycombs, sugar in butter-dishes; served meat in silver cake-baskets, coffee in vases; water was brought in in coal-buckets, and the old-fashioned wooden pail served for a coal-bucket; high-heeled suspenders and long-waisted umbrellas were served cold. "When a hungry denizen called for a stewed breast of a chicken, the waiter brought him pickled pigs' feet; an order for cake brought a fine slice of head cheese. A live rooster was chained to a dish in the middle of one of the tables, but there was not a man in the house brave enough to carve him; the pepper boxes were filled with flour, and the salt-cellars with sugar; oysters roasted, stuffed with cranberry sauce, was the grandest delicacy of the evening. It was a crazy supper indeed, and was something new in Harper. The ladies deserve great credit for the ingenuity displayed in getting it up. The receipts of the evening amounted to $41.50." Just think of it! The above nonsense, which would have been disgraceful if indulged in by children, was carried on by grown people, and in the name of Christ! Well might it be called "crazy," for lunatics from bedlam could not have acted with less sense. And the worst of it all is that those who do such things think that they are aiding the cause of Christ. That shows that a sense of sacred things must be well-nigh extinct among them. The friend who sent us the above item, also told of a church entertainment recently given in another town, in which the parable of the ten virgins was acted out, amid much applause, the minister, clothed in grand apparel, with a crown upon his head, representing the bridegroom, and ten young women covered with sheets, representing the virgins. When the five foolish virgins came back with oil in their lamps, and found the door shut, and were sent away by the bridegroom, there was great cheering. What may we expect next? We are glad to know that there are thousands of church-members who would scorn such worse than childish folly. There are thousands of non-professors who would not so caricature sacred things. But the fact that the members of an entire congregation can do such things and receive no rebuke from the church at large, exhibits a state of things that is deplorable in the extreme. What can such a church hope to do for the world? Set a Watch Before My Mouth
"SET a watch, O Lord, before my mouth." RENO, NEVADA.
By E. A. Briggs
AFTER spending several weeks in visiting different companies of commandment-keepers in the more remote parts of Nevada, I came to Reno and began meetings the 3d ult. at this place. Our services in the new meeting-house are well attended, and scores admit that we have the truth in regard to our various doctrines. As usual, however, few are willing to take up the cross of living out unpopular truth; yet eleven names have been added to the covenant, and to-day I baptized five persons who have recently accepted the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. The faithful work done by two of our Bible-readers in this place for several months past, has done much to bring about the favorable issue of these meetings. May God help those who have undertaken to keep his commandments, to hold fast. For says the Lord, "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." My address will hereafter be, Hawthorne, Nevada. E. A. BRIGGS. March 11, 1888. ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONS IN CONGO.
But what has become of this church, with all its resources and power? Where are the results of this spiritual conquest that cost so much, and of which Rome had boasted in such unmeasured terms of exultation? To answer these questions impartially, the friends of Rome must acknowledge that they constructed a spiritual edifice in the heart of this pagan empire that could not stand in its own strength; the moment the hand which reared and for a time upheld it, was taken away, it fell to pieces. Nay, more, to acknowledge the whole truth, not only has this great spiritual edifice crumbled to the dust, but it has left the unfortunate inhabitants of that country in as deep ignorance and superstition, and perhaps in greater poverty and degradation, than they would have been if Roman Catholicism had never been proclaimed among them. One thing at least may be affirmed without the fear of contradiction, that in point of industry, intelligence, and outward comfort, the people of Congo, at the present day, cannot compare with thousands and millions of other natives along the coast of Africa, whose forefathers never heard even the name of the Christian religion. But how is all this to be accounted for? Has Romanism too little spirituality to bear transplanting to a pagan soil? Or is the African race incapable of being Christianized or raised to any considerable degree of civilization? These are questions in which others besides Roman Catholics are interested. The friends of Protestant missions may well despair of the evangelization of the world, if their labors are to be as protracted and to be attended with as few permanent good results. Whatever blame may be attached to the unhealthiness of climate, there is one fact of an opposite character, which cannot be thrown aside by those who bring the argument forward. It is, that the number of foreigners who have continued to reside on the borders of Congo, notwithstanding the withdrawal of the missionaries, even up to the present day, is much greater than the number of missionaries that were employed there at any one time. And it may be said in relation to this, if the church of Congo could not live after having been nursed for two hundred years there was no probability that it ever would.186One of the real causes, as we believe which contributed to the extinction of the Roman Catholic religion in Congo, was the countenance which it always extended to the foreign slave-trade. In the earlier stages of this traffic, its victims were procured in wholesale numbers by war and violence; villages were surprised and the entire population seized and sold into slavery by their more powerful neighbors. But this system, in the very nature of the case, could not last long; and it soon gave place to another, which, though not attended with the same outward violence and bloodshed, has nevertheless proved more injurious to the country, in the course of time, than the one it supplanted. The writer has more than once known a company of men, on the mere suspicion of witchcraft, to seize upon one of their own number, sell him to a slave-dealer, and divide the proceeds among themselves, when it was not only obvious to others, but acknowledged by themselves, that there was a strong probability that they would all within a short period be disposed of in the same way. And yet such is the insensibility engendered by this cruel traffic, that men can acknowledge and think of such a liability without emotion. He has known two friends (professedly so at least) to come to a slave factory, on a mere pleasure excursion, and while one was secretly negotiating for the sale of his companion, the intended victim has had the adroitness to escape with the money and leave the other to atone for his duplicity by a life of foreign servitude. It must be seen at once, that where such deeds of injustice are perpetrated with impunity, there can be no order, no morality, and no sound religion whatever. And yet these or similar deeds of villainy must have passed under the notice of the missionaries of Congo almost every day of their lives; and as the whole nation was included in the pale of the Catholic Church, these deeds were perpetrated by those over whom they claimed to exercise spiritual jurisdiction; and we have often wondered what kind of morality they must have inculcated, or what system of church discipline they must have enforced, to allow such enormities. But the missionaries are chargeable with more than the mere toleration of these things. They participated in this traffic themselves; and if not from the same motives of avarice which influenced the mass of the people around them, they at least gave the full force of their example to countenance all the enormities which are inseparably connected with it. By an arrangement with the civil authorities, all persons convicted of celebrating the rites of the ancient religion, were delivered up to the missionaries, and by them sold to the first slave vessel which entered the river, and the proceeds were distributed to the poor. The number of individuals thus convicted was very considerable; so that vessels engaged in transporting slaves to Brazil, could always depend upon the missionaries to give them material aid in making up their complement of slaves. The missionaries, too, seemed to have no scruples in occasionally presenting a few of their domestic slaves to such captains or supercargoes as had done them favors. Father Merolla mentions that he had once given a slave to a Portuguese captain in consideration of a flask of wine that he had given him to celebrate the sacrament. Indeed, the missionaries seem to have felt that there was no serious harm in consigning any number of the inhabitants of the country to foreign servitude, provided only that they were baptized and were not permitted to fall into the hands of heretics. Towards the close of the seventeenth century, Cardinal Cibo, on the part of the sacred college, wrote to the missionaries, complaining that the "pernicious and abominable abuse of selling slaves was still continued," and exhorted them to use their influence to put it down. The missionaries assembled to consider this letter, but concluded that the advice was impracticable, inasmuch as the people of Congo had little or no trade, except in slaves and ivory. They resolved, however, to do all they could to prevent them from selling slaves to the heretics, by whom were meant the Dutch and English, but more particularly the latter. This one-sided morality did more harm than good. The people had too little discernment to see any essential difference in the case; and as the English always gave better prices, and furnished them with guns and ammunition, which the Portuguese from motives of policy would not, they always preferred the English trade. The attempt on the part of the missionaries to enforce this resolution, brought them on several occasions in conflict with the authority of the count of Sogno, and more than once they had nearly secured their own expulsion from the country. They ultimately succeeded, however, in securing to the Portuguese traders a sort of monopoly of the trade, and much the greatest proportion of slaves shipped from Congo were taken to Brazil; so that if any praise is due for keeping them out of the hands of heretics, the missionaries are entitled to the whole; but in the same proportion are they responsible for the ruin of that country, to whose welfare they had consecrated their lives.—Bibliotheca Sacra. The Missionary.
By A. G. Daniells
SINCE reporting last, we have had good meetings, though not as largely attended as they were before we introduced the Sabbath question. The most of the people in this part of the city are connected with stores, and the cross frightens them, for they know they will be obliged to give up their situations. There have also been counter attractions of late. During the last two weeks there have been three evangelists at work in the largest churches in the city. The theme of one is "How to be happy." The way has greatly changed since Pilgrim set out from the City of Destruction for the Celestial City. It is now described as very easy, and filled with pleasure. This of course suits the masses. But there are a few who want truth; they want to walk in the right path, notwithstanding the trials and crosses. Such have been attending the tent services. Thirteen have signed the covenant, and a few others will do so as soon as they can get out of business. One young man who has been employed in the Government railway office, and has the second best position in the place, sent in his resignation one week ago. It will be three weeks longer before he can get away, as he is required to give a month's notice. Another young man, a school-master, kept last Sabbath. He was told that he would be in danger of losing his place if he joined us, but that did not deter him from doing so. He is with us, heart and soul. Others are trembling in the balance. They dread to give up their business, fearing they cannot get other employment. As an expression of their interest in the meetings, those who have attended have contributed $101.20 in cash to aid us in the work. From this we feel that the Lord is surely working on their hearts. We have sold about $50 worth of publications. We feel that we should soon close meetings here, so that we can get in another series before the winter sets in. We still desire to be remembered by those who pray. A. G. DANIELLS.
Auckland, Feb. 27, 1888. CORVALLIS, OREGON.
By H. W. Reed
I LABORED in Corvallis fifty-five days, preaching fifty-six times. The meetings were held in a private house, as a public place could not be obtained. A prominent citizen gave as his opinion that the reason of the refusal of all public places of meeting, was a "combined scheme on the part of the churches not to allow me a general hearing." Our room would seat only about twenty comfortably, and yet, out of so small an attendance, eight signed the covenant, and one or two others are keeping the Sabbath. I obtained four subscriptions for our papers, and sold several dollars' worth of books. The church has a membership of five, and I pray that those whose hearts have lately been made glad by the truth, may be faithful and soon be added to this small organization. I am of good courage in the Lord. May I have the prayers of God's people while I labor for the spread of present truth. LESSON 14.—SABBATH, APRIL 7. 1. WHAT was the character of Abraham?
"Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Gen. 26:5. 2. Were his early associations favorable to the formation of such a character? "And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nahor; and they served other gods." Josh. 24:2. 3. For what reason was Abraham counted righteous? "For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Rom. 4:3. 4. What will true faith do?
"For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love." Gal. 5:6. "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world; and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4. 5. What did the Lord do to test Abraham's faith? "And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." Gen. 22:1, 2. "And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt-offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him." Verse 3. 7. How long did they travel before they came to the place? "Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off." Verse 4. 8. What did Isaac say to his father as they were going together to the place of sacrifice? "And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father; and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and wood; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offering?" Verse 7. 9. What was Abraham's reply?
"And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt-offering; so they went both of them together." Verse 8. 10. When they came to the place what did Abraham do? "And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood." Verse 9. 11. How far did he proceed toward slaying Isaac? "And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son." Verse 10. 12. How was he prevented from completing the sacrifice? "And the Angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham; and he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou anything unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, from me." Verses 11, 12. 13. What did the angel of the Lord say was now proved? Verse 12. 14. How were Abraham's words, that God would provide himself a lamb, fulfilled? "And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and beheld behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt-offering in the stead of his son." Verse 13. 15. What promise did the Lord make because Abraham had done this? "And the Angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son, that in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice." Verses 15-18. 16. What made this a peculiarly strange test of Abraham's faith?—Isaac was Abraham's only son (Gen. 22:2); there was no earthly hope that he could ever have another; and more than all, God had promised that his numerous seed should come through Isaac. Heb. 11:17, 18. 17. What did Abraham believe that God was able to do? "Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." Heb. 11:19. 18. What did this act prove concerning Abraham's faith? "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?" James 2:21, 22. 19. What wonderful title did Abraham thus gain? "And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness; and he was called the Friend of God." Verse 23. 20. Who may share this blessing?
"So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham." Gal. 3:9. THE relation of faith and works is fully illustrated in the case of Abraham. First came the promise of God that his seed should be as the stars of heaven. Abraham had no child at that time, but "he believed in the Lord; and he counted it [his belief] to him for righteousness." Thus Abraham professed faith in God. Afterwards came the command: "Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt-offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of." This command Abraham obeyed to the letter; he did offer his son upon the altar, believing that God was able to fulfill his promise, by raising him from the dead. Thus his faith was shown to be perfect. So the apostle James, in showing how faith and works go together, says: "Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect? And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness." James 2:21-23.187 THE question that troubles many people is, How can it be true that "a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Rom. 3:28), and also that "by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." James 2:24. This question is answered in the case of Abraham, as cited above. In the first instance he was justified by simple faith, without any works. Works could not have entered into that justification. Afterwards when he offered Isaac, he was justified by works; but, let it never be forgotten, that work was the outcome of his faith; it was the evidence of perfected faith. If it had not been for Abraham's faith, he never would have performed that work. "Faith wrought with his works." That is, faith made use of works, to show that it was not dead, but was in active existence. So faith is necessarily first. There cannot be works that will justify, without underlying faith. A man is justified by works, and not by faith only, simply because "faith without works is dead;" and so if he has "faith only," unaccompanied by works, it is not real faith at all. Yet whatever good works are manifested in a man's life, must be the result of faith; and thus it is true that "the just shall live by faith." NOTES ON THE INTERNATIONAL LESSON.
By G. C. TENNEY
WE have first in these verses the scathing denunciation of the hypocritical iniquity of the Pharisees, pronounced by our Saviour. We cannot suppose that he was led to this by any feelings of personal injury, but he had in all his intercourse with them beheld the specious air of self-righteousness with which they scrupulously performed the outward ceremonies, and upon which they built their inordinate religious pride. Beneath this thin covering there was a brood of Satanic evils which filled the pure soul of Jesus with almost unutterable horror as he saw with divine intuition their inmost thoughts. THERE are some events of interest intervening between the giving of the parable of the marriage feast, which formed the basis of the last lesson, and the time when these words were uttered. All occurred in the same day and upon the same occasion in the temple. His enemies, the priests and Pharisees, were determined to accomplish his ruin; but to do so they must have some accusation to present either to the Roman authorities or to the people. Therefore they tempted him, first, to declare against the payment of tribute to Caesar. The Sadducees then tried to entangle him in his teaching concerning the resurrection. And a lawyer or scribe of the Pharisees endeavored to induce him to make some expression of sedition or heresy by asking him as to what he considered the greatest and most binding religious principle, hoping, no doubt, that he would tell them that to believe in himself was the first great requirement. Many of his professed disciples and teachers have fallen into that snare in these days. But Jesus did not. WHEN they had sufficiently demonstrated their fixed purpose not to see and repent of their wrongs, but to pursue their wicked course to the bitter end, Jesus faithfully did all that remained for him to do, he pointed out in no uncertain words the exact truth of their cases, and left the knowledge with them. Their pride, their supercilious hypocrisy and self-righteousness, cruelty, oppression, avarice, and blood-thirsty hatred toward those who reproved them, were set forth in truth. The words do not call for much comment. With the circumstances and the scene before our minds we need but little else beside the thrilling sentences which pour with fiery vehemence upon their corrupted and sin-polluted consciences, to give us a thrilling sense of the sublimity of the occasion. Jesus appeared in the humble character of a Galilean, with lowly and unlearned associates, all of whom bore marks of travel and of privations. The common people trembled between hope and fear. They had learned to love their new-found Friend and Teacher, and they dreaded the domineering wrath of their rulers, whose words they heard with servile fear. They trembled for the fearless temerity with which the corrupt hearts of the scribes and Pharisees were exposed as they thought of the vengeance that would follow. The Pharisees had gathered in great numbers, and their cruel hatred gleamed from their eyes as they cowed momentarily before these just rebukes. By these bold words the power of the priests, Pharisees, and scribes was measurably broken, and a flood of light was shed upon their dark practices. The disciples were confirmed in their faith, so that afterwards they all said with Peter, "Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee." Matt. 26:35. The Jews were confused by their defeat, and maddened by the reproofs they had received; and at once proceeded to lay deeper and more effectual plans for the destruction of Jesus. The Master had borne his faithful testimony, and a sense of the dreadful condition and fate of the people came up before him. He also thought of the deep ingratitude shown by those whom he had come to bless and to save. JERUSALEM, with her thousands of people, her sacred associations and places, was still the object of his tender love. Having pronounced her future judgment, after she should have filled up the cup of cruelty, his heart yearned after those rebellious children with all the affection of a divine parent: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." And turning away with his disciples, he left their temple forever. THE words of the Saviour may seem bitter as we read them casually: "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" But they no longer appear so when we look at the obstinate blindness and wickedness of that people, and see in the sufferings of Calvary the fulfillment of their deliberate purposes. But then the picture is not complete unless we consider the innocence of the victim of their malicious anger, his meekness under suffering, and his unchanging love and solicitude for all, even his enemies. It is a terrible thing to sin against self-sacrificing love. A wayward child has some apparent excuse when he can complain of the injustice of his father, or the cruelty of his mother. But he who does violence to the just requirements of those who have guarded his welfare with constant care, and bestowed upon him only loving words and deeds of kindness, greatly deepens his guilt. It was the infinite love of God and a compassionate Saviour which they ruthlessly trampled under feet, and over whose apparent downfall they rejoiced with demoniacal joy. LET us not give all these cutting rebukes to the Jews. They were written for our admonition. Hypocrisy is a heinous sin in the sight of the holy God. Sanctimonious appearances, ostentatious offerings, and apparent strictness in forms may all be presented to the world, while God, looking into the heart, discerns a brood of vipers. Human nature is unchanged for the better, and we should pray as one of old prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." ANOTHER pertinent thought is the importance of perceiving the truth which pertains to us and to our times. The Pharisees garnished the tombs of the martyrs their fathers had slain. Looking back they could now see that those martyrs were the true servants of God, but could not see or know the things which belonged to their own peace. And the same bitter spirit of prejudice led them to reject the truth that would have saved them, and kill the messengers of truth. They said, "We know that God spake unto Moses; as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is." John 9:29. It is much easier to believe and realize truth for other people and to judge their short-sightedness than it is to apply the truth of God to our own cases. IN the exercise of his will man approaches the Omnipotent. He can successfully oppose his will to all the measures of divine grace. He can resist the Spirit of God, slight his pleadings, abuse his love, reject his offers, and despise his promises. He can say, "I will not," to God's will, and maintain it. He need not plead an excuse nor render a reason for his sin. He may reject Christ simply because he chooses to, and the infinite power of God cannot move him from his obstinate rebellion. He only can unbar the impenetrable doors of his heart to the compassion of a Saviour's love. But if continually repelled that love finally withdraws its presence and its light. And in the fearful fate of the proud Pharisees, the obdurate sinner may read a faint premonition of his own unhappy doom. When the heart's door opens to the love of Jesus, pride, egotism, and sin flee like the shadows of night before the beams of the sun, and we see the Redeemer, not as the disturber of our carnal repose, but as a being of inexpressible loveliness and beauty. G. C. TENNEY. A MORE EXCELLENT WAY.
By Rebecca P. Reed
It all came about through Johnny's dropping the syrup-pitcher at breakfast. The table-cloth was spick and span clean, and his mother had risen with a miserable neuralgic headache, and Johnny wasn't as careful as she would have been, of course, when in his hurry he tipped the pitcher, which in its fall overturned a very full tumbler. And so, in another half-minute, there was an island of syrup set in a small pond of ice-water! All the circumstances which I have enumerated were too much for ordinary maternal patience. "Johnny, you are a naughty, careless boy! You can have no syrup on your cakes this morning!" Johnny's eyes opened in astonishment. "Why, mamma, I didn't mean to do it." "But you are always doing things with such a rush. You make other people a great deal of trouble and labor, and then you say, 'I didn't mean to!'" A cloud of a very gloomy character had suddenly fallen over the group at the pleasant breakfast table. Just here, in the confusion consequent upon the accident, Kate, the twelve-year-old sister, who sat opposite Johnny, struck her napkin ring sharply against the salt-box standing by her plate, thereby overturning the dainty little china device. This incident being of so trivial a nature, nobody made comment, until the rebellious and tearful Johnny exclaimed: "Kate has been careless, too, mamma, and you haven't blamed her a bit. Sha'n't she go without syrup, too?" "It isn't anything to tip over a salt-box," remonstrated the little girl. "What a silly thing to mention, Johnny!" added the mother. But somehow, almost before the remark had left her lips, her conscience had disputed its truth. "Johnny," she said suddenly, "will you excuse me for speaking as I did? It was because the clean table-cloth was soiled, and the spilling made such confusion and so much work, that I was discouraged. But it was an accident, and not my little boy's fault. You did not mean to do damage, any more than Kate when she hit the salt-box. You can see that yours was a much more trying accident, and it was hard to be pleasant over it; but I see that I was in the wrong, because I was really blaming you because there was syrup in the pitcher, and not for being careless in tipping it, as I said. Kate's salt-cellar didn't have any syrup in it, you see, only salt, which did no damage." The picture before her was chaotic, but Mrs. Way succeeded in smiling brightly into Johnny's eyes, and added: "I am sick this morning. I didn't sleep well last night. You know how I dislike a soiled table-cloth—so, on the whole, won't you try to excuse me?" Such a queer expression as Johnny's face wore, but smiles carried the day very speedily. "Now, children," interposed their father, "since mamma has been so very polite, and has apologized so beautifully, don't you think189a small boy and girl, not very far away, ought to be very careful as to their manners at table, and run no risks of tipping pitchers and tumblers and salt-cellars, and making ugly spots on clean table-cloths?" "Yes, sir," said Johnny, with great emphasis. That morning, as the children were on their way to school, Kate said in a thoughtful way, with a tender accent in her voice: "I think mamma is just the sweetest mother in all the world. She is always sorry when she does wrong, just as much as she wants us to be." To which somewhat confused grammar of his sister, Johnny responded with earnest loyalty, "Yes, and she owns up right out loud, too, I tell you!"—Rebecca P. Reed, in Congregationalist. MAKE THE BEST OF YOURSELF.
THE preacher's voice was clear and intense. A young woman sat listening to whom life seemed a burden. As those words, "Make the best of yourself," flashed forth, she felt as though they were hurled at her. She make the best of herself! How could she? The rest of the sermon was unheard. It was as if a diamond had been thrown into her lap. That was all she needed. I said the sermon was unheard, yet there did enter into her consciousness another flashing sentence: "Every man has the right to make the best of himself." Had you been looking at the young woman, you would have seen a new and strange expression come into her face, just such a change as might come into the face of a dying man, if he should suddenly find the fabulous elixir of life. She leaned her head forward on the back of the pew before her and sat very still, but from her heart went up a cry, "Lord, help me to make the best of myself. Lord, I will make the best of myself, with thy help." At last came the benediction, and she rose up. Then as the congregation poured out, she followed with the crowd. Near the door stood an old, decrepit woman, in worn and shabby garments. Her hands were wrinkled and large-jointed. She was a shy, half-frightened woman, who had strayed into this large church and now stood back, half awed by its grandeur and the immense mass of people. Gail Bruce liked dainty people and dainty things of all kinds, and she shrunk with a horror from anything that was uncomely. But as her eye fell upon the old woman, she suddenly sent up a prayer, "Lord, help me to make the most of myself in all the humanities, in love, and in tenderness. And, Lord, bless that old woman." When Gail reached her, she stretched out her own well-gloved hand and touched the old woman's arm with a tenderness that thrilled her frame; then slipping her hand in hers, she said,— "We are glad to see you here, and hope you will come again." The old lady looked up with a pleased smile, and said it was a "fine church and she liked the minister." When Gail passed out, there was on her face a reflex gladness. Seeing it, several people unconsciously held out their hands to her, who, as a rule, only bowed. She went home, and, kneeling, said, "Help me to help others. Help me to do some kind deed every day. Help me to grow like Christ, so that I may be my best. Amen." That was the beginning of a great change in Gail Bruce. Every morning she took up the day with the prayer, "Lord, help me this day to do something for others! Help me this day to make someone happier! Help me this day to make the best of myself." Many a gentle answer she returned when her nervous temperament would have prompted a quick word. One little thing she tried to do especially—that was to carry a bright and cheery face; to give a pleasant word whenever she could. This was hard for her to do at first, for she possessed by inheritance an inclination to morbidness and melancholy. But she shook it off as best she could, and gave her "Good morning" or "Good evening" with a hearty grace and a pleasant countenance, even though the necessary effort cost her no little self-denial. But continued perseverance in little kindnesses wrought effectually upon her nature; and the change at every degree contributed to the answer of her prayer. And the effects of this change were not only visible in her own increased happiness, which was very great, so that life itself seemed a new thing, but they were also seen and felt in all around her. Harry, her twelve-year-old brother, suddenly ceased to "tease her life out of her" as he felt the warmth of her loving interest for him, and said to her after a long struggle with himself:— "Gail, I'm sorry I opened your letters and tied knots in your thread, and have done so many bad things; I begin to feel like trying to make a man of myself." And right there were all the old scores settled, and vows of eternal friendship mentally made. "Ask God to help you to make the best of yourself," were her parting words. And the heart which all these years had found so much time to fret over disappointments and personal grievances, was now filled with impulses of kindness, and led willing feet and hands to the lowly homes where shadows were lying, bringing sunbeams of mercy and hopefulness. She filled her place in the church. And, having taken up her neglected music, she soon relieved the Sabbath-school organist, who was sickly and overburdened, and the sweet tones of music as they swelled up from a heart full of love and gratitude went forth to cheer and gladden whoever they reached. Thus led and assisted by the grace and Spirit of the Master, almost imperceptibly her prayer was answered, and she learned to make the best of herself in the quiet way of common and every-day life.—Selected. The Home Circle.
By Joel Swartz
LIFE'S pilgrim looks from peak to peak,
Across a hazy vale of years,
In whose soft light he loves to seek
Each desert step or fount of tears. Each obvious cliff or stream or hill,
Which marks the intervening way,
Though distant, seems familiar still,
But fairer in the grand survey. Thus do the long receding years,
Contracting into months and days,
Throw o'er life's rugged toils and tears
A softening and a golden haze. 'Tis but the large events we see
Which turned our feet, as round a slope,
Down thro' some vale of agony,
Or up some sun-lit cliff of hope. Thanks for the hazy, golden hue,
Which rounds the angles of the past,
And from the whole presents a view
So mellow and so sweet at last. Thus may the charity of friends,
Broad as the bending heavens above,
Drop where each pilgrim's journey ends
The softening mantle of its love.
—Joel Swartz, D. D., in N. Y. Observer.