To the believer in the Bible there can be no question after the reading of the fourth commandment and the origin of the institution of the Sabbath in Gen. 2:1–3. The Creator rested on the seventh day of the septenary cycle. He blessed the seventh day; He sanctified, or set it apart unto Himself; and this He did because that in it He had rested. He commands men to keep holy the day, the seventh, which He made holy. See Ex. 20:8–11.
But one asks, “What difference can there be between twenty-four hours of time at the beginning of a week and twenty-four hours of time at its close?” To human sight, to the eyes of the flesh, there is no difference. But God condemns those “who put no difference between the holy and profane,” who “have hid their eyes from My Sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.” Eze. 22:26.
“But what makes the difference between the two?”—It is God’s special presence. It was the presence of God which made the ground holy where Moses and Joshua were. Ex. 3:5; Joshua 5:15. It was the presence of God which made Mt. Sinai holy ground. Ex. 19:12. There was nothing in the physical appearance of Jesus which made Him seem to the natural eye different from other men; but the presence of God within Him made Him the Holy One. God’s presence sanctifies; His Word hallows and blesses.
So His special presence in the last day of the septenary cycle makes that day holy time. Man may not see it. Moses did not see that the ground was holy. Neither did Joshua. But they accepted it by faith. So with the Sabbath day. To the blind, unbelieving heart the time goes on as in all other days. But faith knows that God has blessed and hallowed that day as it comes to all His children, and what He blesses is blessed, and becomes a blessing to all who will by faith so receive it. See Num. 23:20; Gen. 12:3.
“But may we know the seventh day?” Why not? Is it possible that God has given us commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy, that He has pronounced blessings upon those who obey and curses upon those who do not, and yet we may know nothing about the day? No one who loves God or who regards His Word can so impeach His justice. In justice the day, the particular day, must be made clear. Has God done this? Let us see.
1. There could be no question in the beginning. God talked with man face to face, and gave him the Sabbath. He named the days of the week so that man could not forget the Sabbath. They were called First-day to the Sabbath, Second-day to the Sabbath, Third-day to the Sabbath, Fourth-day to the Sabbath, Fifth-day to the Sabbath, Sabbath-eve (Preparation day), Sabbath. As long as man retained the divine nomenclature, he could never forget the Sabbath.
2. But we may suppose, tho it is not at all probable, that man lost the Sabbath during the first two and one-half millennia of the earth’s history. Is the Sabbath thereby lost to the earth?—Nay, not at all. When Israel came from Egypt, God tested His people upon the Sabbath, pointing out the specific day by a threefold weekly miracle for forty years, and enforcing it by a command spoken by His own voice from Sinai. See Exodus 16, and 20:8–11. Therefore, one thousand five hundred years before Christ, men knew the Sabbath of the Lord.
3. The faithful Jews kept it from that time on. When Jesus was upon the earth He kept the day. Luke 4:16, 31. And when He died, His disciples, following the same custom, “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56. The next day was “the first day of the week.” Luke 24:1. The Sabbath was, therefore, the seventh day of the week when Jesus was upon the earth. It is so still. There has been no change since. The Jews, scattered to all parts of the world, have carried with them the true day. Sabbath-keeping Christians have existed from Christ’s death to the present, observing the seventh day. And the pagan Sunday, the first day of the week, has for centuries, in garbs of various character, demanded recognition.
“But,” we are told again, “men can not keep the Sabbath synchronously, that is, the exact hours at the same time all over the world, because the world is round.” True, but does not God know this? Did He not know it in the beginning, when he created man and made for him the Sabbath, and commanded him to keep it? “The Sabbath was made for man.” “God that made the world and all things therein . . . hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” Mark 2:27; Acts 17:24–26. Listen: The Lord has never asked any man to keep the Sabbath in two places at once; He asks him simply to keep it as it comes to him.
Do men ever have any trouble in knowing when the first day comes? If they had simple faith in the Word, in the example of Christ, could they have any difficulty over the true Sabbath?
THE CREED TROUBLE.
MAN-MADE creeds give the churches a great deal of trouble, and are the cause of many heresy trials. Yet those churches that depend upon them do not know how to exist without them. They deem it essential to church existence to have some formal statement of belief to which all must subscribe, as a nucleus of promulgated doctrine. In late years the Presbyterians have had more creed trouble than any other denomination, and more ecclesiastical discussion on account of theological disagreement. Yet the effort to formulate a new creed causes even more dissension than the dissatisfaction with the old.
The Presbyterian says:—
"The more the new creed is discussed, the more the difficulties in its way multiply. It means so many changes, and the harmonizing of so many conflicting views, that it seems neither wise nor politic to commit our church to its preparation, especially when we are in the midst of agitation, and when so much work is to be done by our ministers and members at home and abroad."
Then Professor Putnam, of Princeton, says in the Evangelist:—
"It is rapidly ceasing to be a question of expediency and becoming the imperative duty of the church to provide herself and give to the world an entirely new statement of her faith. Under our present terms of subscription I have, personally, no trouble whatever with our confession as it is. It is only when I come to its use with others that I find my difficulty, and if a creed is not for use, I can not conceive its right to exist."
Sure enough, what is its use, if it can not be used to draw men to Christ? And for this purpose the Lord has given us His Word. When Christ, on the last night of His earthly ministry before His offering, reported His work to His Father, He said, "I have given them Thy Word." When Paul gave charge to Timothy regarding the work of the Gospel, he said: "I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom; preach the Word." The commission of the Master is, "Preach the Gospel to every creature." No wonder men find difficulty in trying to work for the salvation of others with human creeds. There is no greater hindrance to Gospel work than the Babel of creeds.
G.
THE Sahara Desert is not a barren waste, as is popularly supposed. Not long ago there were 9,000,000 sheep, 2,000,000 goats, and 260,000 camels in the Algerian Sahara alone; and the oases furnish a million and a half of date palms.9
WHILE Chinese officials continue to declare that all the ministers in Peking are safe with the exception of the German minister, little credence is placed in the declaration. Chinese runners who have reached coast cities, bring details of the massacre of all foreigners in Peking. The Chinese minister at Washington proposes to deliver the United States Minister safely into the hands of the Americans; and Li Hung Chang declares that, tho the ministers are now safe, an advance of the foreigners on Peking would be their death-knell. The powers have severally demanded communication with the Chinese capital, and this the Chinese officials propose to comply with. In the meantime all the nations interested are preparing for the descent on China. In view of the Chinese invasion of Russian territory and their attack on the town of Blagovestchenk, Russia has declared a state of war along her Chinese border, and is hurrying troops into this region. Her Siberian railroad is now closed to all but military travel and military freight. Fighting is now in progress along the border, and the Russians are advancing southward into China. France will soon have 13,000 troops in the field, and the forces of Germany, England, Japan, the United States, and Italy continue to go forward. According to the present plans of the powers, there will be in China by the first of September 123,170 soldiers of all nationalities, with 211 cannon and 36 machine guns.
The Chinese have developed unexpected strength in all directions. Along the northern border, where little opposition was looked for, an army of 120,000 is reported to have intrenched itself so as to command the Amoor River, preventing the transportation of 78,000 Russian soldiers.
The first Boxer proclamation has made its appearance in Shanghai. It declares that the war god, Kwan, desires the blood of foreigners and threatens ten plagues if the Boxer tenets are not followed and spread. The governors of Hunan, Hupeh, and Honan are reported to have openly joined the anti-foreign movement, and are marching with their armies to Peking. Russian re-enforcements are being pushed into Manchuria, and a Russian descent upon Peking from that quarter is expected. German reports seem to indicate that the Germans may join the Russians in this movement on account of the large German interests in that region. A commander for the international forces in China has not yet been decided upon, and more or less friction is reported between the different interests there. It is not expected that the advance of the allies upon Peking can begin before the middle of August or the first of September. The allies are now in complete possession of the city of Tien-tsin, the last of the Chinese defenders having fled.
An appeal, purporting to come from the emperor of China, has been made to both France and the United States to intervene between China and the powers. Both the republics have signified their willingness to mediate on certain conditions, but the conditions demanded by France are impossible for China to meet at present.
IT is a patriotic duty to place before the public a list of the entries in the presidential race of 1900, so far as it is now made up. There is every disposition manifested in the United States to afford the voter a wide range of choice, as the list amply proves. The candidates thus far named, with their parties, are:—
Republican, William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.
Democratic, William J. Bryan and A. E. Stevenson.
Populist, William J. Bryan and Charles A. Towne.
Silver Republican, William J. Bryan and A. E. Stevenson.
Prohibition, John G. Wooley, of Illinois, and H. B. Metcalf, of Rhode Island.
Populist (middle-of-the-road), Wharton Barker, of Pennsylvania, and Ignatius Donnelly, of Minnesota.
United Christian, Rev. F. E. Clark, of Massachusetts, and Rev. Charles M. Sheldon, of Kansas.
Socialist Labor, Job Harriman, of California, and Max S. Hayes, of Ohio.
Social Democrat, Eugene V. Debs, of Indiana, and Job Harriman, of California.
De Leon Socialist, J. F. Malony, of Massachusetts, and Valentine Remmill, of Pennsylvania.
It is too early to say that the list is now complete. On almost any street-car men can be heard saying that there is no candidate up whom they want to vote for. There are two more possible entries, from the Gold Democrats and the Anti-Imperialistic Gold Standard Republicans.—Springfield Republican.
MRS. HETTY GREEN, worth $60,000,000, gives as the principal cause of her success, "I do everything with all my mind." This rule, applied in the right way, will secure an heirship in the kingdom of Christ—worth more than all this world. It is a good rule when the aim is right; but when perverted, it is sure to bring disaster in the end. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee." Isa. 26:3.
SERIOUS conditions exist on the Fraser River in British Columbia, where several thousand fishermen have struck, and are determined to prevent the Japanese fishermen from continuing at work. Both sides are armed, and 500 white fishermen, with the moral support of 3,500 whites and Indians, are virtually holding up 3,000 Japanese at the points of their rifles.
OAKLAND, July 22.—The Rev. H. W. Fraser, formerly a missionary in Tien-tsin, delivered an address in East Oakland to-night in which he laid the blame for the present trouble jointly in the foreign commercial invasion, with its railroads, desecrating the graves of the Chinamen's ancestors; the missionaries themselves and the diplomats of foreign governments, for their dilatory methods. Of the missionaries he says: "In my judgment it would be much better for the missionaries never to appeal to the Yamens for the protection of the law. If such a thing is necessary, it is better for them to withdraw, or to take the consequences, as their Master did. So far as I know, no American missionary has ever made any appeal on his own behalf for protection. They try to protect their converts, and no Yamen dares to do this fully, for those converts are guilty, in their fellow-countrymen's eyes, of the infamous crime of deserting the worship of their ancestors. The third cause leading to the present conditions in China is the laxity of the diplomats. For ten years past missionaries have been writing to their several ministers, giving them facts concerning the conditions existing among the lower masses which were pregnant of evil, and yet our ministers would receive the communications and refer them to the Tsung Li Yamen."—S. F. Examiner.
THE increased cost of coal in Great Britain has caused a general rise in the price of transportation on the railroads of Scotland. The increasing cost of extricating coal from the British mines is beginning to make itself felt in all the industrial and commercial operations of the kingdom. In certain parts of the United States the flow of natural gas has so far diminished that manufactories dependent upon it have been compelled to move to other localities. All this goes to show that the earth is waxing old, its natural resources are failing. Its mountain forests are being consumed to build up large cities, and the unshaded mountain snows send down their floods to scourge the plains; its coal supply is being depleted to heat cities and drive the ships and cars to transport our freight; beds of guano are scraped bare to stimulate the waning powers of the soil. It is difficult to picture the condition of men on the earth if the world were to stand for a few more centuries. Sin has girdled the earth, and every branch of its fertility is withering. The earth, like the race upon it, is waiting for the redemption of the purchased possession.
Famine in America among Americans.—It is not known to all, but we have mentioned it once before, that seven thousand Indians of the Pima and Papago tribes, of Arizona, are in great need of help. They depend on the Gila River for water, having used it for centuries to irrigate their lands. They are peaceable, well-advanced in civilization, one thousand of them having abandoned savage customs and are members of Christian churches; and in all wars of this government with the Apaches have been the friends and allies of the United States. But "Christian" white men have cut off their supply of water, and their lands have become a desert. The government has preliminary surveys in hand for water relief, but surveys will not feed the destitute. It is said that $40,000 is needed to keep them from extreme suffering during the year. The government in April appropriated $20,000, but made no provision for its disbursement, and that is tied up. And these few wards of this great, rich nation are starving.
"ZEAL" is a new monthly magazine, the official organ of the Young People's Temperance Federation of America, published in Chicago. It is original and novel. The fold is similar to that used by railroad folders, and is printed in colors. Dr. Wallace R. Struble, national vice-president of the federation, is editor in chief. Miss Lucy Page Gaston, superintendent of the Anti-Cigaret League, is an associate editor. The society is a federation of all young people's societies, irrespective of creed. Price, $1.00 per year; or, single copy, 10 cents. Christian Press, Chicago. Will this magazine steer clear of Church-and-State union?
THE Paris Exposition is said to be quite disappointing in many ways, especially to those who paid enormous prices for concessions. But the greatest disappointment of all comes on the city at large, because it was expected that all the crowned heads of Europe, with immense retinues, would visit the city sometime during the exposition, and spend large sums of money. It is now said that none of them is expected, save the king of Sweden. The Shah of Persia is to be there, but he is not a very welcome guest at European courts—at least has not been in the past, on account of his "manners."
THE New Voice tells us that both of the great conventions were drunken orgies. For instance, it tells us that the Tammany people took with them for liquid supplies of the trip, the following: a dozen cases Scotch whisky; ditto assorted brandies; ditto American Rye whisky; ditto Moselle and Rhine wines; 10,000 bottles of beer; 500 bottles of ale; 1,000 quart bottles champagne; 1,000 pint bottles champagne. And the writer tells that, "as a matter of fact, I saw fewer drunken men wearing 'Tammany' badge than of almost any other aggregation." But what must the others have been?
DURING the first eleven days of July the amount of Alaska and Klondike gold received at the U. S. assay office at Seattle amounted to $4,400,000.
INDIANS who have been hunting for the Hudson Bay Company far up on the east coast of the bay bring back to civilization a story which seems to indicate that they have found the wreckage of Andree's balloon, and the bodies of the occupants. Officials of the Hudson Bay Company have sent out a party guided by these same Indians to find and bring back evidence to establish the identity of the party. The Indians being regular visitors at the various posts of the company, their story is not doubted.
THE forces of Lord Roberts and the Boers are reported to be in close contact not far from Pretoria, and the report of a decisive battle is looked for at any time. Several small engagements have taken place during the week, which show that the Boers are still very active altho scattered and decreased in numbers. President Kruger is with the force that is now opposing Lord Roberts, and is doing all in his power to keep his forces intact and in fighting mood.
THE foreign consuls in the city of Panama, Colombia, forbade either the rebels or the government troops engaging in battle within the city, threatening to call upon the foreign war ships in the harbor if their wishes were not complied with. Both sides thereupon agreed to fight outside the city; and the reports now state that the rebels have been successful and are in possession of the city of Panama, and have also captured Colon.
BRIGADIER-GENERAL A. R. CHAFFEE, who recently sailed for China, is to be notified, on his arrival at Nagasaki, that he has been promoted to the rank of Major-General. This step was taken in order that America's standing in affairs in the Orient should be on an equality with that of the other nations now involved in this great international quarrel.
THE English relief column into the Ashanti country in Africa has entered Coomassie and relieved the garrison, after severe fighting. The commander of the expedition describes his entrance into Coomassie as presenting a scene of horror and desolation, burned houses and putrid bodies being visible on all sides.
THE London Times' Lourenzo Marquez correspondent says, under date of July 7: "A general movement of Boer settlers into Gazaland, Portuguese territory, seems to be in contemplation. Already large herds of cattle have been driven across the border. The Portuguese welcome the movement."
THROUGHOUT Germany a house-to-house search is going on to secure evidence against the Polish leaders on the charge of high treason, especially as to whether they contribute to the so-called national treasury. This is owing to general instructions from the Leipsic Imperial Court.
THE outlook for next year's crop in India seems, on the whole, rather encouraging. In most of the provinces the rainfall has been sufficient to insure good returns from the seed planted; but until the crops are grown and harvested, the same distressed conditions must continue.
THE total cost of the Spanish war and its consequences up to the present time is placed at $14,000,000, which includes the $20,000,000 paid for the Philippines and the increased expenditures for shipbuilding and fortifications over those of the years immediately preceding.
ON July 19 the State Department made public the text of a reciprocity treaty between Italy and the United States, by the provisions of which many articles produced in the two countries are to be admitted into either country free of duty or the duties thereon reduced.
AN unusually oppressive rise in temperature is reported from many parts of the world, and in the large cities the hospitals are kept busy attending to the victims of heat prostration. The large sun spots are held by some to be the cause of the excessive heat.
REPORTS from Cape Nome state that smallpox is epidemic there, and that about 100 cases had been reported at the time of the sailing of the last steamer. Claim jumping is rife, and the consequent murders many.
THERE is no imperialism so terribly cruel, which holds its victims in such absolute power, as does the imperialism of alcohol. And it looks as tho the country were hopelessly in its power.
A LONDON report of July 18 states that fully 50,000 persons were in attendance at the meeting of the world's convention of Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor.
KOGORO TAKAHIRA, the newly-appointed minister plenipotentiary from Japan to the United States, arrived in San Francisco on July 23, on his way to Washington.
THE Korean Government continues to send troops to the frontier, a collision with intruding Chinese having already occurred.
THE governor of Shantung declares that the whole empire will rise if the powers intend the partition of China.
TEN YEARS AGO AND TO-DAY.
By G. B. Thompson
[THE wise man says, "Ponder the path of thy feet." It is well to take account of our on-goings if we would learn our true condition, and as respects the drift of our present civilization, we feel that to the Springfield Republican of June 26, we owe a debt in giving us two photographs of ten years ago and the present. The Republican says:—]
To see how fast we are moving, it is necessary sometimes to cast a short backward glance. One grows so quickly accustomed to daily news of war that it is easy to forget how new a thing it is in our time. To-day it seems hardly believable that only a few years ago the world was at peace, and peace-lovers were not without excuse for believing that a brighter, sweeter era was at hand than any this blood-soaked planet had ever known. War seemed a remote possibility; peace seemed the normal and natural thing. To see how far we have moved from that tranquil time, it is only necessary to turn back to a newspaper of, say 10 years ago, and compare it with one of to-day.
The Contrast Is Overwhelming, Appalling.
The Republican of Wednesday, June 25, 1890, was not so large as the paper of the present day, but it gave in compact form the news that was of most import. Much space was given to college commencements, several columns were devoted to the speeches of George M. Stearns and Attorney-General Waterman on the West-End Street Railroad case. From Washington came the news that Wyoming was soon to be admitted as a State. There was but one paragraph of military news, to the effect that appropriations for navy-yard improvements and for extra tools at the Boston navy-yard had been struck out by the committee of Congress! Tranquil domestic news was not lacking, and peace prevailed, even in the brief announcement that the men on the Canadian fishery protection cruisers were to be armed with batons, instead of cutlasses. The sugar trust was already making trouble, and Quay was pulling the strings for the Pennsylvania convention. A new record for baseball throwing was made, and John L. Sullivan was fined $500, no doubt very properly. The only item of old-world news which was sufficiently important to be given a place in a crowded paper, ten years ago yesterday, was a four-line paragraph to the effect that Mme. Sarah Bernhardt had accidentally taken an overdose of chloral. Nor did any of the editorials mention any foreign topic, except the action of Newfoundland in regard to the purchase of bait. How dull and disappointing such a day's news would be to the reader of to-day, whose appetite is whetted with daily horrors from all quarters of the world!
To complete the contrast it is only necessary to analyze the contents of yesterday's Republican. The principal news page was given up almost exclusively to war—to four different wars. We read of "North China ablaze," of Minister Wu's opinions on the war, of the supposed safety of our people in Pekin, of the rise of the Boxers in Canton, of the rumored killing of a missionary, of the shipping of vast stores of ammunition to China, of the departure of marines from Washington, of the part of England and the United States in the war, and that of Germany and Russia, of the sailing of the 6th cavalry, of the killing of four Americans in an ambuscade, of the sailing of the cruiser Brooklyn, of the transfer of the headquarters of the Asiatic squadron, of the plans of the war department, of our ex-minister's views on the war, of the rescue of a missionary, of the sailing of a Russian cruiser, and the augmentation of the Indian army bound for China, of pressure brought to bear on Turkey, of England's war with the Ashantis, of General Buller's progress in South Africa, and the raids of the Boers, of the departure of Boer envoys, of the war with a mob in St. Louis, of General MacArthur's dealings with the Filipinos, and the movements of American garrisons in the island of Samoa. There is barely room in this appalling record of bloodshed for a brief statement to the effect that some 19,000,000 people are starving to death in India. There is much peaceful news, too, baccalaureate sermons, sermons from local pulpits, the happenings of the day—but the dominant note is war, one sensation topping another.
Whatever views one may have as to the justice or necessity of any particular war, it must be agreed that the effect of living in a constant war atmosphere is not likely to be conducive to peace. It kindles the passion for fighting, and it makes war, instead of peace, seem the natural and normal thing. This effect has been vastly intensified by the multiplication of newspapers and the use of telegraphy, which plunges us all daily into the midst of every war going on. . . . A morbid appetite for horrors is developed, not unakin to that found in the amphitheaters of the Romans, and a day without a battle, a massacre, or an ambuscade at the very least, is disappointing. It is not hard to awaken the
Primitive Passion for Blood;
the difficulty is in quelling it. . . . The contrast between the two snap-shots of the world in 1890 and 1900 throws a strong light on the pace at which the world has been moving. The view ten years ago showed a placid, smiling river; now we see the boiling rapids of a torrent
Plunging Toward What Abyss No One Knows.
War has followed war with swift succession, the scene shifting from Greece to Cuba, from Cuba to the Soudan, from the Soudan to the Philippines, from the Philippines to South Africa, from there to China. What the next stroke will be, who shall say? . . .
Yet the chief cause for disquietude among thoughtful men, who love the arts of peace, and look on war as wicked and hateful, is not that its baleful conflagrations are breaking out in so many places, but that so many reputable men should be found to pour oil on the flames, teaching the young that courage and manhood and honor decay unless they periodically go out and shoot each other, that it is the duty of strong races to crush the life out of weak and backward nations and reduce all civilizations to one type. What more efficient ally could the cold, selfish greed of commercialism find? What force could so aggravate the craving for war which the world's daily butcher's bill creates? It is easy to talk lightly of "pessimism;" are the millions of people who ten years ago hoped that the reign of peace had begun exactly satisfied with the situation since imperialism has got into the saddle?
The record of ten years ago was dull and humdrum, but the world was moving steadily forward toward the ideal of the wise men of all ages. Can as much be said for the record of to-day?
IS IT ARMAGEDDON?
THE Boston Sunday Herald of July 1, 1900, says:—
"We are now possibly upon the eve of the greatest war the world has ever seen. It will be a war between giants, fought out to a finish. It will be replete with horrors, it will wipe out nations, and it will be short, bloody and decisive. So says Hudson Maxim, the well-known inventor of death-dealing machinery."
This is a sad picture to look at, yet no other conclusion can be reached by those who read unbiased the events now taking place in the earth. Look at the enormous standing armies of continental Europe. Behold every nation straining every nerve to increase their already gigantic navy. New and improved engines of death are called for everywhere, and the man who invents a machine by which human beings, made in the image of God, can be slaughtered faster than ever before, will find a ready market. The nations are watching each other with jealous eyes, and are secretly mining their harbors as never before, fearing a hostile invasion. They are gathering their transports, preparing at a moment's notice to land an army on foreign soil. The feeling exists that they must strike now or never.
Affairs in the "far East" have taken such a turn that no man can accurately foretell the outcome. Is it to be a universal conflict? What a dreadful scene will present itself when the flower of manhood of all nations, armed with the latest improved death-dealing weapons, meet on the field of conflict.
But these things are speaking in thunder tones that the end of all things earthly hastens on apace, and that soon the heavens will be rolled back like a scroll and the Son of God will come to reap the harvest of the earth. "The nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged." Rev. 11:18. The next thing in order, dear reader, is the wrath of God in the seven last plagues! Are you prepared for this?
The present warlike attitude of the nations is not confined to what are termed the "Christian nations," but the "Gentile" or heathen nations are waking up their mighty men of war and sending them forth into the conflict. How accurately has the prophet Joel described the scene:—
"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your prunninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat; for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about. Put ye in the sickle; for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the fats overflow; for their wickedness is great. Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision; for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision." Joel 3:9-14.
Men may cry, Peace and safety, but there is no peace until the Prince of Peace shall come and destroy all the kingdoms of the earth and establish His own everlasting kingdom. Reader, are you an heir to the future, eternal kingdom?
Rome, N. Y.
G. B. THOMPSON.
EVOLUTION OF THE CIGARET SMOKER.
By David Starr Jordan
ALL forms of nerve stimulus are of the nature of a trick on the nervous system. The pleasurable or satisfying feeling that they may cause is a deception, and each deception renders the future actions of the nervous system less trustworthy. In proportion as this happens, the nervous system becomes degenerate or "wears out." The pleasure derived from the use of stimulants is therefore only a semblance of pleasure and is obtained by the destruction of those structures on which the feelings of pleasure and pain depend. In adult life this injury may leave no great traces. In youth any injury to the nervous system causes a permanent deterioration.
There is, as we know, a false notion of manliness current among boys—a notion that manhood lies in the vices and dissipations of a man, rather than in the development of a man's strength. By carrying out this idea, in11one way or another, the development of true manhood is often rendered impossible.
As a college teacher, my experience with boys who have formed the cigaret habit is somewhat limited. It, however, confirms me in the opinion that such boys are like wormy apples; they drop long before harvest-time. Very few of them ever advance far beyond the first year. They rarely make failures in after-life, because they do not have any after life. The boy who begins cigaret smoking before his fifteenth year, never enters the life of the world.
When the other boys are taking hold of the world's work he is concerned with the sexton and the undertaker.
There is one grim argument to be made for the use of cigarets by boys. It helps in the survival of the fittest. The manly boy does not take to such things. He has life in him, plays football, does anything but deaden himself with narcotics.
The cigaret boy does none of these things. He becomes ill when work is laid upon him. His friends are solicitous because he studies so hard and looks so pale. He is withdrawn from school, and after a few years of life with shattered nerves he passes away, leaving the place he might have filled to the "deep-lunged children of the fatherland."
But all vice is corrosive and spreads from the rotten to the sound. Every year men whose lives are worth saving are wrecked through foolish notions of manliness caught from youthful associates. It is bad morals and bad economics to permit this waste. No community can afford to "throw good life after bad" in the way tolerated in San Francisco.—David Starr Jordan, president of Stanford University.