And the praise of their Maker, their chiefest delight,. In that beautiful home of the
saved. Rev. 7 :9. From loftiest mountain, or verdure-clad plain,. I hear the sweet ...
7: BIBLE ECHO
Paul before Felix.
INTERNATIONAL • * LESSONS * e LESSON FOR SABBATH, JUNE 15, 1901. WEARYING GOD. Mal. 2 : =17, R.V. But ye are turned aside out of the way ; ye have caused many to stumble in the law ; ye, have corrupted the covenant of Levi, 9 saith the Lord of hosts. Therefore have I also made you contemptible and, base before all the people, according as ye have not kept My ways, but have had respect of persons in the law. Have we not all one Father? hath not one God created us? 10 why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, profaning the covenant of our fathers? And this again ye do : ye cover the altar of the Lord with 13 tears, with weeping, and with sighing, insomuch that He regardeth not the offering any more, neither receiveth it with good will 14 at your hand. Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord bath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth. against whom thou hast dealt treacherously, though she is thy companion, 15 and the wife of thy covenant. And did he not make one, although He had the residue of the Spirit? And wherefore one? He sought a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth. For l bate put16 ting away, saith the Lord, the God of Israel, and him that covereth his garment with violence, saith the Lord of hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously. Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, 17 Wherein have we wearied Him? In that ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and He delighteth in them ; or where is the God of judgment? LESSON ANALYSIS. 8
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unto a Son of man, clothed' with'a garment down to the foot, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle. And His head and 14 His hair were white as white wool, white as snow ; and His eyes 15 were as a flame of fire ; and His feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace and His voice as the voice of 16 many waters. And He had in His right hand seven stars : and out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword: and His 17 countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as one dead. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Fear not ; I am the First and the Last, and 18 the Living one ; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive for ever19 more, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Write therefore the things which thou sawest, and the things which are, and the things which shall come to pass hereafter ; the mystery of the 20 seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches : and the seven candlesticks are seven churches.
GOLDEN TEXT: " Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever." lieb. 13 : 8. LESSON ANALYSIS.
John in exile. 2. In the Spirit on the Lord's day. 3. Writing to the seven churches. 4. Description of Christ. 5. Alive for evermore. Note s. John, the beloved disciple, was known to the early church by the expressive name—Epistethios—" the leaner upon the breast." He was closely associated with Christ in His work in Palestine, and when' banished to Patmos Christ was still his companion. 2. Patmos is a small island in the }Egean Sea. It is situated twenty-four miles from the coast of Asia Minor, and it is fifteen miles in circumference. John was banished to this island by the Emperor Domitian, who reigned from A.D. 81 to g6. No doubt the Roman thought that John would thus be put out of the way, and prevented from proclaiming the gospel; but, instead,'he was only granted the calm and quiet that enabled him to receive a. A message to the priests. 2. Walking with the Lord in peace and equity. the message from Jesus Christ for His people in all following 3. Stumbling at the Law. ages. 4. Dealing treacherously against the covenant. 3- John here speaks of himself as " your brother in tribula5. Words that weary God. tion." To the people of God this has been a world of Note I. " 0 Priests." This chapter is especially addressed to priests; but because of this no one need give it away. God tribulation. Christ said, " In the world ye shall have tribuladesigns that His people—all of them—should be priests unto tion." But the time is at hand when the world's turn will the world. "And He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests come. The last and great tribulation will fall only upon the unto His God and Father." Rev. 1 : 6, R. V. " But ye„are an elect race, a royal priesthood, . . . that ye may show forth the wicked. "At that time Thy people shall be delivered." Dan. excellences of Him who called you out of darkness into His I2: I. 4.. The " Lord's day" is the day that the Lord has claimed marvellous light." I Peter 2 : 9, R. V. And this was God's design with Israel of old. " And'ye shall be unto Me a kingdom as His own. We read, " If thou turn away thy foot from the of priests." Ex. 19 : 6. All God's children should be priests to Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My Holy day." Isa. 58 : 13. the world, ministering the grace and knowledge of God to the "But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God." needy. And the world has a right to expect this of them. 2. " Abomination is committed." The Lord counts Him- Ex. 20 : 8-1o. Therefore the " seventh day" is the " Lord's self as husband to His people. See Jeremiah 3, especially verse day." Christ is '° Lord, of the Sabbath," so the Sabbath is His 14; Rom. 7 : 4. He takes poor humanity in their vileness, gives day. Mark 2 : 28. As its Lord and Master He must them His own royal name, and His glorious robes of righteousness. When those who have been thus honoured depart from protect and defend it. In all His work Christ never mentioned Him and unite with another, they are as truly committing the first day of the week. No sacred title is ever given to it in adultery as ,a woman who leaves her own lawful husband to the Book of God, it, is therefore preposterous to claim it as the become the wife of another. When the Church unites with the Lord's day ; the Lord, has only one holy day ; He has not State, she is profaning. God's holiness and committing abomina- changed, and therefore the seventh day is still His holy day, tion. and the day on which He revealed Himself to the Seer on Patmos. LESSON FOR SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 1901. 5. The description here given of Jesus Christ is sublime in JESUS APPEARS TO JOHN. its every detail.—His head and His hair white as snow, His eyes as a flame of fire, His feet like polished brass, His voice R.V. Rev. like the sound of many waters, and His countenance like the sun I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation 9 in its strength. Truly, this is the Son of God. and kingdom and patience Which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 6. By way .of assurance, Christ presents Himself as the Liv10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a ing One that was dead, but is now alive for evermore. In His trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in a great voice, as of a resurrection Christ took the keys of the grave. The Greek word 11 book, and send it to the seven churches ; unto Ephesus, and unto here used is Hades, meaning the " unseen." It is the place of Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, 12 and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see The dead. Rev. go.: 13 (margin, the grave). Christ has now charge of this prison, and when the time comes He will waken the voice which spake with me. And having turned I saw seven 13 golden candlesticks ; and in the midst of the candlesticks one like • His people, and they, too, shall live for-evermore.
•
VOL.
i6, No.
23
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, June 3, Row.
THE HOME OF THE SAVED. THERE'S a beautiful haven, a home of delight, Where sorrows neer enter, nor shadows of night, But all things are perfect, resplendent in light, In that beautiful home of the saved. Rev. 21: 23. There's a beautiful river by faith I see, Whose sweet, crystal waters flow boundless and free, 'Neath the evergreen boughs of that life-giving tree, In that beautiful home of the saved. Rev. 22 : 1. There are beautiful mansions awaiting us there, The great Master Builder has gone to prepare. In the grandeur of earth there is naught to compare With that beautiful home of the saved. John 14 :3. The redeemed of the Lord in their garments of white Shall join in glad anthems with angels of light, And the praise of their Maker, their chiefest delight, In that beautiful home of the saved. Rev. 7 :9. From loftiest mountain, or verdure-clad plain, I hear the sweet echoes repeat the refrain; For this blood-purchased land will forever remain The beautiful home of the saved. Isa. 66:22. —Mrs. E. R. Lewis.
WHAT HAS
IT DONE FOR YOU?
AFTER a noted sceptic had concluded one of his infidel lectures in a village in the north of England, he challenged those present to discussion. Who should accept the challenge but an old, bent woman, in most antiquated attire, who went up to the lecturer and said:— " Sir, I have a question to put to you." " Well, my good woman, what is it ? " " Ten years ago," she said, " I was left a widow, with eight children utterly unprovided for, and nothing to call my own but this Bible. By its direction, and looking to God for strength, I have been enabled to feed myself and family. I am now tottering to the grave; but I am perfectly happy, because I look forward to a life of immortality with Jesus in heaven. That's what my religion has done for me. What has your way of thinking done for you ? "
ONE PENNY
" Well, my good lady," rejoined the lecturer, " I don't want to disturb your comfort ; but—" " Oh ! that's not the question," interposed the woman ; " keep to the point, sir. What has your way of thinking done for you? " The infidel endeavoured to shirk the matter again ; the feeling of the meeting gave vent to uproarious applause, and the sceptic had to go away discomfited by an old woman. Let us change the picture. The mother of Hume, the infidel philosopher, was once a professor of Christianity. Dazzled by the genius of her son, she apostatised from her early faith, and followed him into the mazes of scepticism. Years passed, and she drew near the gates of death, and from her dying bed she wrote the following pathetic letter :— MY DEAR SON :—My health has failed me. I am in a deep decline. I cannot long survive. My philosophy affords me no comfort in my distress. I am left without the hope and consolations of religion, and my mind is sinking into a state of despair. You can afford me some substitute for the loss of the hopes of religion. I pray you hasten home to console me, or, at least, write to me the consolations that philosophy affords at the dying hour.
Such are the straits into which infidelity leads its votaries. To them death is at best but a leap in the dark, and they shrink with fear lest it be a leap into " the blackness of darkness for ever and ever." Said the learned and courted infidel, Voltaire:— In man, there is more wretchedness than in all animals put together. He loves life, and yet he knows that he must die. If he enjoys a transient good, he suffers various evils, and is at last devoured by worms. This knowledge is his fatal prerogative; other animals have it not. The bulk of mankind are nothing more than a crowd of wretches equally criminal and unfortunate, and the globe contains carcases rather than men. I tremble at the review of this dreadful picture, to find that it contains a complaint against Providence itself, and I wish I had never been born. This is the best that infidelity can do for man. Listen now to the words of a dying Christian. Said the godly Hallyburton:— I shall shortly get a very different sight of God from what I have ever had, and shall be meet to praise Him forever. What a wonder that I enjoy such composure under all my bodily pains,
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and in view of death itself! What a mercy that, having the use my reason, I can declare His goodness to my soul! I bless His name, I have found Him, and die rejoicing in Him. Blessed be God that eves' I was born.—Bible Standard.
of
SUFFICIENT FOR THE DAY. LET not the heart a future grievance borrow, Nor o'er our path one faintest shadow lay ; Let not the clouds which may arise to-morrow Obscure the fairer sunshine of to-day. To-day is ours—the past has passel forever, Its joys and griefs alike are ours no more; The future lies beyond Time's silent river, A dim and distant and untrodden shore. As to the day, its burden or its sorrow, So is our strength, by Love all-wise decreed : Beyond the trust which looketh to the morrow Not ours the striving, nor is ours the need. He knoweth best—the sowing and the reaping— Who left the power of will unfettered, free ; The great, kind God, who holds within His keeping Each day and hour through all eternity. —Selected.
WHY PROCRASTINATE? And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered; Go thy way for this time ; when I have a convenient season I will call for thee. Acts 24 : 24, 25.
To UNDERSTAND the answer given by Antonius Felix, Roman procurator in Judea, to Paul, the apostle of Christ, it is necessary to understand his position, and thus to see what a rebuke Paul's preaching must have been to him ! He was procurator ; that is to say, he represented the Roman Emperor; was viceroy, had charge of all the imperial revenues, and it was his duty to collect them. Above all, judgment of life and death was retained by the procurator. There was no one above him except the Emperor, who was not likely to interfere with his procurators, providing they paid sufficient revenue into his chests, and did not plunge their province into war. Felix, a pagan, therefore concluded that he was supreme; that he could do just what he chose, and that he would not have an account to render to anyone. Paul's teaching of judgment to come must have shaken his complacency greatly; and an unpleasant doubt must have entered his soul. From profane history we learn that Drusilla, referred to as his wife, was the daughter of Herod Agrippa I., who reigned over the Jews from 37 to 44 A.D., was not his wife at all, but the wife of Azizus, King of Emesa. Felix had enticed her away from her husband. History alludes to Felix as a profligate and cruel man. The prospect of his being called to account for his actions was consequently anything but pleasing to him. Paul preached to Felix three things, just as true to us as they were to him. Righteousness. There are two kinds of Christian righteousness: the one without us, which we have by imputation—the righteousness of Christ imputed to as; the other in us, which consists of faith, hope, charity, and other Christian virtues. It is evident
JuNa 3, 1901
that Felix possessed neither of these two kinds of righteousness. Temperance. This word is not taken in its specifical meaning ; that is to say, it does not merely allude to the principle and practice of moderation in the use of strong or distilled liquors, but it means self-restraint —self-restraint in the conduct of one's life, the suppression of any tendency to passionate action, calmness, patience ; self-restraint in the indulgence of any natural affection or appetency, and moderation in the pursuit of a gratification or in the exercise of a feeling. God declares there is no law against such. Gal. 5 : 23. Do you think it likely that a man of Felix's character was given to the practice of self-restraint ? No ! Yet the judgment to come demanded all this. Paul showed him how foolish he was to believe that he could commit the most extravagant excesses with impunity. Paul must have greatly impressed Felix with the veracity of his statements, for the Bible says, " Felix trembled." How characteristic his answer, however. It shows that Felix did not wholly doubt Paul's teaching ; that the apostle had brought him up to a point where it was necessary to make a decision, and that Felix shunned the point. " Procrastination is the thief of time." There is no record of Felix ever having a " convenient season," and if he trembled at Paul's sketch of the judgment, what will be his conduct when he has to face the judgment itself ? This passage has many lessons for the Christian— lessons that we would do well to take to heart. Do I possess the righteousness of Christ ? Do I practise self-restraint in all things ? Need I fear the judgment ? To those who have not yet acknowledged Christ as their Lord and Master, the attitude of Felix is an exact picture of their position. Is not his answer theirs ? How often have we heard it ?—" Later on, not just now." It is like the grocer who, to attract custom, put a notice in his window,—" One pound of tea given to each customer to-morrow." To-morrow never came, for every day had its to-morrow. Some are afraid that Christianity will spoil their business. Others are afraid of man; others again do not want to sacrifice the habits of their life. There are things which they think they cannot now do without—such as alcohol and tobacco, etc. By doing this they make God a liar, for He says, " Behold, now is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of salvation." Reader, which is it to be—" In a more convenient season" or NOW ? God grant that it be now. E.C.C.
A WORKER'S DREAM. I SAT down in an arm-chair, wearied with my work. The church wore an aspect of thrift and prosperity. As for myself, I was joyous in my work. The whole community was more or less moved with the prevailing excitement as the work went on. I soon lost myself in a sort of half-forgetfulness. A stranger entered the room, without any preliminary " tap " or " Come in." The stranger came toward me, and extending his hand, said, " How is your zeal? " I was quite well pleased with my zeal, and doubted not that the
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stranger would be when he should know its proportions. A pound of tobacco contains three hundred and eighty Instantly I put my hand into my bosom, brought it grains of this deadly poison ; and one-tenth of a grain forth, and presented it to him for inspection. He will kill a dog in three minutes. There is, therefore, took it, and placing it in his scale, weighed it carefully. enough nicotin in a pound of tobacco to kill thirty"One hundred pounds! " I heard him say. I could eight hundred dogs. A single cigar contains enough scarcely suppress an audible note of satisfaction ; but poison to kill two hundred men, if taken at once. I caught his earnest look as he noted down the weight ; Tobacco, when first taken into the system, has a and I saw that he had drawn no conclusion, but was stimulating effect, but soon becomes a depressant. It intent on further investigation. acts especially on the medulla and pneumogastric He broke the mass to atoms, put it in the crucible, nerve, causing relaxation and paralysis of the involunand put the crucible into the fire. When the mass tary muscular system. Some of the results are depreswas thoroughly fused, he took it out, and set it down sion over the heart, nausea, vertigo, death-like pallor, to cool. At the touch of the hammer, it fell apart. It coldness, perspiration, nervous tremor, and debility. was tested and weighed, the stranger making minute The effect of smoking tobacco is even more deleternotes as the process went on. When he had finished, ious than chewing, because one of the quickest ways he presented the notes to me, with a look of mingled to get a substance into the system is by inhalation ; sorrow and compassion, as he left the room. I opened and not only is the nicotin taken in this way, but also the " notes," and read :— phosphureted hydrogen, carbon dioxide, and prussic acid. ANALYSIS OF THE ZEAL OF A CANDIDATE FOR A From the time that nicotin enters the system until CROWN OF GLORY. it is eliminated, it is in contact with the blood, changBigotry 12 parts. • •: ing the character of the red blood corpuscles, making Personal ambition 25 ,, the fluid more watery, and lowering the vitality of the Love of praise ... 23 nervous system. The gate is open to all kinds of disPride of talent ... 18 eases. And yet, in the face of all these facts, men say, Love of authority 15 $) " There is so much comfort in a good old smoke," or, Love to God 9) 4 " I get so lonesome without my tobacco." Love to man 3 How can intelligent man, made, in the image of When I looked at, the figures, my heart sank. At God, adopt as his friend and companion this tyrant first I thought to dispute the correctness of the which is driving mankind almost en masse into saloons record. Suddenly it became a mirror, and I saw my and gambling-dens, which associates with all evil and heart reflected in it. The record was true. I cried sin, which creates an almost irresistible desire for out, " Lord, save me! " Kneeling down at my chair, strong drink, and thus drives the entering wedge of with the paper in my hand, I besought God, with evil into a once happy home ? Love and reason leave many tears, to save me from myself. With a cry of their high place of honour, while selfishness and want anguish I awoke. I was in great distress. I did not take the throne. It is like tearing asunder the very find rest, nor did I pause, till the refining fire came fibres of a woman's heart to see her loved companion down and went through my heart, searching, probing, resort to the saloon. Thousands of homes now broken melting, burning, filling all its chambers with light, up would doubtless be undivided to-day had tobacco and hallowing my whole heart to God. been thrown out before it led its victim to the use of That light and that love are in my soul to-day; and other narcotics, which bind him to the stake of diswhen the toils and tears of my pilgrimage are ended, honour and sacrifice him to the god of lust. I expect to kneel at the feet of the divine Alchemist, THOS. J. EVANS, M. D. and praise Him for the revelations of that day, which showed me where I stood, and turned my feet into a better way.—Review and Herald. AN amusing tale is told in, a Glasgow paper. The Japanese, as generally known, are mainly vegetarians, their diet consisting for the most part of rice and a few other simple vegetables. While they are a healthy TOBACCO. and happy people, they are under-sized, compared with the meat-eaters of Europe and America, and itTHE use of tobacco, now almost universal, was was seriously recommended a few years ago, by adviunknown to the civilised world previous to the dis- sors of the Emperor, that he should encourage his covery of America, though the barbarians had evi- subjects to adopt a diet of flesh, with a view to dently used it for centuries, as pipes are found in the increasing the average Japanese stature. An Amerimost ancient burying-grounds. can, who was visiting in Japan, tells of a Jinrikshaw The deadly nature of this plant is seen by its man with whom he became acquainted, who, able to action on the animal creation. It contains a substance trot forty miles a day without fatigue, was vexed called nicotin, which is the poisonous principle. With because of his small size, and had begun to eat meat.. the one exception of prussic acid, it causes death He asked his American friend one day, in the best quicker than any other known substance, taking about English that he could command, how long a time three minutes to produce its full effect. Physicians, would be required, on an animal diet, to make the botanists, and chemists all pronounce it one of the Japanese a larger race. " I should say a hundred most deadly poisons. years at least," replied the American. The "rickNicotin is a heavy, oily substance, which can be shaw" man went back to his rice. Wise man !—The extracted from the dried leaf by steeping it in water. Vegetarian. P)
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JoNE 3, Igor
(hildreo's Department James very often did some work for Mr. Blair in his private office, and on this occasion Mr. Blair had SOMETIMES before the mercy seat received a sovereign- from a gentleman which, while We pause and linger waiting there, making out a receipt, he placed on his desk, afterwards Some obstacle our spirits meet, ' accompanying the gentleman to the door, leaving And breathe a hesitating prayer. James alone in the room. In a short while Mr. Blair Some darling wish we love and prize returned, and busily engaged himself looking over his Leans earthward to its human birth ; And as we face the glowing skies accounts, and attending to many matters of business, We dare not hold, the dross of earth. such as settling up his own private accounts with Fain would we keep the cherished plan other firms close by, despatching the office boy, Joe, to Almost akin to deeds of love; pay his small bills, with instructions to wait for But all the finest works of man Are flaws beside the gems above. receipts, and come straight back. James worked diligently all morning, and at noon Then help us, Lord, whene'er we pause, Almost afraid to view the light, Mr. Blair informed him that he would be away for a few To learn the love in all Thy laws hours in the afternoon, and that he could help in And sacrifice our all for right.—Selected. some other part of the store during that time. About five o'clock Mr. Blair returned, and went straight to his private office. In a short time after he- sent for James, who immediately presented himself. " James," JAMES'S TRIAL. said Mr. Blair, " I left a sovereign on my desk in the morning, do you know anything about it ? " Two boys walked side by side with their arms " No, sir," said James, " I never saw it." linked tightly. Their names were James Brown and " Did you not see me get a sovereign from Mr. Henry Ferguson. On the face of one there was a Douglas, which I gave him a receipt for, placing the pained look, on that of the other a look of honest coin on my desk while I did so ? " sympathy. They were fast friends, and had every " No, sir, I was busily engaged writing, and did not confidence in each other. notice what he gave you." "Oh, Henry," said James, "the thought nearly kills " Boy, you lie. How dare you stand there and lie me to think that Mr. Blair doubts my honesty ; and if to me. There has been no one in this room to-day I have to leave my situation, as he says I must, unless excepting you since I received it, and now it is noI confess that I took the money, I think that I will where to be seen." lose heart altogether, for unless I can keep up with the James trembled all over, turning white, as he rent, my mother and I will be turned out of our home ; said— and yet, even for that, I cannot tell a lie, for I never " Indeed, sir, I know nothing about it. I assure took the money. Oh, Henry, you know I never took you earnestly, I never took it." the money." " James," said Mr. Blair, " it is a bad thing to " I do not doubt you, James, please trust my steal, but don't make matters worse by lying. Come, word." now, own up, and I will say nothing more about it." " I know that appearances are against me, I being " Indeed, sir, I cannot, for I know nothing of it," -the only one in the room that day excepting Mr. Blair said James. himself, but where it could have got to I don't know." " You will have to leave my employ unless you are " Well, James, cheer up, tell the Lord all about it, truthful. I cannot have a boy here who will steal and and ask Him to make things straight for you, and then lie about it. Now you may retire, I will give you leave the matter in His hands, and in the end it will till to-morrow to think about it." all come out right." James withdrew, and just then the clock struck the " It is very kind of you to help me so much, closing hour. When the two boys parted at the Henry.; it is good to feel that some one trusts me." corner, James went quickly home with a bursting The two boys by this time had reached the corner heart. At the door he met his mother, who was of the street where they must part to go to their always on the lookout for his return. The mother's respective homes. They were both in the employ of eye was not slow in discerning that something unusual Mr. Blair, who was a grocer in a large way, and did a had happened to her boy, even before he clasped her flourishing business. Henry had been there two years, round the neck, and, bursting into tears, exclaimed, .and James close on one. " Oh, mother ! " She gently drew him in, quietly THE HESITATING PRAYER.
, Igor
UNE 3
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closing the door behind them, and then said, " Now, known that Martin Luther was born there. The James, tell mother all about it." James, between his date of his birth was Nov. 10, 1483. This was over sobs, told her all that had passed between his employer four hundred years ago. The very house in which " James," said his he was born is still standing, though it is now used and himself that afternoon. mother, "this is a trial that has been permitted to as a school for orphans. The church, where, with come upon you, but it does not come without the Lord his parents, he used to worship God, is standing knowing it. Now, my precious boy, let us both kneel also. He was named Martin, because the day on down and place it all before Him, seeking for His which he was born was called in the Romish Church guidance in this matter." Then both mother and son St. Martin's Day. Luther spent his last days in the knelt in prayer, and earnestly offered up their petitions. place where he was born, and the pulpit in which Afterwards she quietly placed the evening meal before he preached his last sermon is shown to travellers, him, of which he partook sparingly. She soothed and so is the house in which he died. Luther's parents were poor. They were miners. him by her quiet sympathy and her firm trust in God, Shortly after his birth they moved from Eisleben to exhorting him to be of good courage. On the morrow he bade his mother good-bye, giv- Mansfield. His father made up his mind to give his son Martin a good ing her a loving embrace education. But the poor as he departed to spend boy had a pretty hard his last day in the store, time in getting it. The where he had spent many teachers of that day were happy hours in his work. very severe. They believed It was about ten o'clock that beating boys was the when Mr. Blair arrived, best way to make them and as he passed James in learn. Poor Martin had the entry, he tapped him fifteen whippings in a gently on the head, saysingle day's session at one ing, "Come with me, my of his schools. I wonder boy." James followed him he ever learned anything into his room, and stood at this rate. 'The boys of quietly before him. Mr. that day used to help to Blair looked kindly at pay the expense of their him, and said, " James, I schooling by going around am heartily sorry that I at Christmas holidays accused you so unjustly singing Christmas carols, yesterday, and this mornfor which the people gave ing I ask your forgiveness. them money. This is The money-which I what Luther did in his thought you had taken, I school-boy days.—Selected. gave to Joe, and sent him with it to pay several small accounts, the receipts of WHAT IS HEAVEN which I found in my LIKE? pocket-book on my way here this morning, which NOT long ago the writer brought it to my rememasked a class of small brance. My boy, I am boys in Sunday-school deeply sorry for the pain what was their idea of I must have caused you, Luther Singing in the Street. heaven. It was curious and again I ask your pardon." James was too much overcome to speak for a to note how their replies were influenced by their A ragged little moment or two, and when he could speak, he said, own circumstances in this life. " Oh, sir, you don't know how thankful I am to hear urchin, who had been born and brought up in a you say that you still believe me honest. Mother will squalid city street, said it was " tall grass and green be so glad. She said it would all come out right if I trees." One from the richer quarter of a large town said it was like a big broad avenue with tall houses on would only trust in God, and so it has." each side. A sweet-voiced choir-boy was of the AGNES BELL. opinion that people would sing a good deal in heaven. The last member of the class, a quiet, thoughtful boy, though one of the smallest in the class, answered just THE BIRTH AND BOYHOOD OF LUTHER. as the bell was ringing for the close of school hours. " A place where—where—you're never sorry."—Selected. THE great Reformer, Luther, was born in a small town called Eisleben. It is situated in that part of WHY sbouldst thou fill to-day with sorrow Germany known as Saxony. Like Nazareth, where About to-morrow, My heart'? Jesus was brought up, it had never been distinOne watches all, with care most true ; guished for any great event before. But now it will Doubt not that He will give thee, too, Thy part. always be honour enough for that town to have it
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THE OUTLOOK MARTYR MISSIONARIES. SOME of the islands in the South Seas are yet the habitations of cruelty. Through the missionary operations of the past century most of them have been professedly Christianised, but in some of them cannibalism is still existant. Late reports from New Guinea tell of a massacre in which thirteen—two missionaries and their helpers—were killed and eaten by the natives near Aird River on that island. The two missionaries,. Chalmers and Tomkins, were out on a missionary expedition round the coast when the apparently peaceable demonstrations of the natives enticed them to the shore. Here, however, the natives surrounded them, and destroying their boat took the men prisoners. They were soon after murdered. Christian heroism and devotion are bOth evident in the conduct of the missionaries. A telegram from Thursday. Island, dated May 9, gives the following details :— Altogether, about ten villages were concerned in the massacre of the missionaries. One of the New Guinea natives, who was captured during the fighting which occurred when the Merrie England's launch reached the scene, states that Messrs. Chalmers and Tomkins were enticed ashore on 7th ult. Mr. Chalmers was first taken by the natives towards the village, Mr. Tomkins evidently being left untouched. Mr. Chalmers noticing this, spoke to Mr. Tomkins, telling him that he feared outrage, and that he (Tomkins) being free, should, if possible, get away. Mr. Tomkins refused to leave Mr. Chalmers, and shortly afterwards the natives clubbed Mr. Chalmers in the presence of Mr. Tomkins, the remainder of the party cutting off his head and dividing the flesh amongst themselves. Mr. Tomkins was killed next day, and his flesh was distributed amongst the adjoining villages. On the same day all the natives who were with the missionaries were killed, all together.
A GIGANTIC SHIP. WHEN the prophet wrote of " many running to and fro," it seemed utterly improbable, if not altogether impossible, that any vessel capable of carrying over 3,000 people should ever sail the deep. Such, however, is the case, as the following interesting description of the largest vessel now afloat will show. This description is given by the Age correspondent in London, in a cablegram of April 5 :— The maximum of safety and -comfort was the prime object
aimed at in the building of the colossal steamer Celtic, which was launched at Belfast yesterday. Speed is to be a minor consideration. The White Star Company has practically given up racing across the Atlantic against bounty fed German liners, burning 700 tons of coal a day. Though not designed for record breaking, the Celtic is a remarkable vessel in many ways. She is 700 feet long, her beam is 75 feet, and her depth 49 feet. She
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is 20,880 tons gross, and 13,650 tons net, and her displacement at a load draught of 36 feet 6 inches will be 37,70o tons. How these dimensions compare with those of other well known liners is shown in the tabulated statement below, but it may be noted, incidentally, that her displacement is 10,300 tons more than that of the Great Eastern, and more than double that of the heaviest war-ship afloat. Gross tonnage is used in the table, and the lengths are over all. Length. Breadth. Depth. Tons. Ft. In. Ft. In. Ft.. In. Great Eastern 691 0 82 8 ••• 48 18,915. 488 0 ••• 45 2 •• • 33 7 Britannic ... 5,004. City of Rome ... 600 o —. 52 3 —. 37 0 ,8,144Alaska ... 6,40o. 520 0 .— 5o o .— 38 0 Etruria ... 52o 0 ._ 57 3 —. 38 2 7,718. Paris ... 560 0 ... 63 2 ... 39 2 10,500. Teutonic ... 582 0 ... 57 8 39 2 9,984. Fiirst Bismarck 520 0 .— 57 6 8,874. 38 0 La Touraine 510 . 0 ._ 56 0 6 9,20o. 34 Campania ... 62o o .•• 65 0 1,4319. 43 0 Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse 66 0 648 o 43 0 ••• 12,950Oceanic ... 705. 6 —. • 68 0 49 0 17,274. 4 —. 15,500. 67 0 Deutschland 68o o 75 0 49 o 2o,880. Celtic ... 700 0 Viewed alongside the gigantic hull of the Celtic, Britain's biggest battleships or armoured cruisers would look insignificant. The Celtic is 300 feet longer than the newer class of battleship, while she can give cruisers of the Drake type a good Zoo feet. She is built on the cellular double bottom principle, and the depth of the inner vertical keel is practically the same as in the Oceanic, with the necessary increase to secure rigidity under the engines. Steam will be supplied by eight double ended boilers. . The accommodation for passengers, when completed, will be above the standard set even by the existing intermediate vessels of the fleet. The desire to anticipate the voyagers' wants is strikingly illustrated in the Celtic, for in the first grade of accommodation there are for the first time single berthed rooms, and in the third class an improved arrangement of the open berths. There are quarters for altogether 2,859 passengers and a crew of 335. The number of first class passengers provided for is 347. The dining saloon is on the upper deck, and is the full width of the ship. Aft on the upper and bridge decks there are quarters for 16o second class passengers. The dining saloon for this grade is like that for the first class situated on the upper deck. Third class passengers to the number of 2,352 are provided for on the upper, middle, and lower decks in state rooms and in open berths.
THE UNHOLY DEAD. IT seems almost incredible that people will let their prejudices reach even into the grave, but from the following' statement it is, evident that some do this thing. The Bible speaks of the grave as a place where all are equal ; where the wicked cease from troubling, where the weary rest, and where the servant is free from his master. Job 3 : 17-19. In some of the graveyards in Cuba the graves are rented, and when the time expires, if the rent is not paid up ,the remains of the dead are taken
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out and cast into the great heap of nameless bones that crowd one corner of the cemetery ; but there is surely no reason why anything of this kind should be done in a professing Christian country. However, we give this paragraph that the reader may see :— It is many years since the un-Christian custom of burying suicides at four cross roads with a stake driven through the body was in vogue, but there still seems to be some extraordinary and altogether contemptible feeling existing in certain parts with regard to the disposal of a suicidel,remains. Dr. Greswell yesterday read a letter to the Health Board which had been received from the Krambruk Cemetery Trust which clearly proves this. A man committed suicide somewhere in the district, and the body, after some delay, was buried in the Birregurra Church of England cemetery by some charitable persons. The church authorities, however, were so horrified at the idea of the poor self-slain body resting in " consecrated ground" that they had it exhumed directly they learnt the fact! In their letter to the board, the Krambruk cemetery trustees naively remark, " Some said it would not do to bury him with decent people ! " Evidently there must be something wrong with the grand old aphorism that " in death all men are equal," or else there must be something wrong with the " church authorities" of Birregurra. Although no information was afforded as to the ultimate disposition of the body, the board diplomatically informed its correspondents that the future interment of suicides was a matter entirely to be left in their own hands.—Age, May 16.
"RELIGIOUS FEDERATION." IN a recent number of the BIBLE ECHO reference was made to a proposal set forth by Dr. Parker of England, advocating the union of Baptist and Congregational interests. Later developments show an increasing demand in the line of religious -federation. At the monthly meeting of the Presbytery of Sydney, Dr. Clouston moved the following resolution to be brought before the general assembly of Australia :— Whereas there are many Protestant churches working in Australia for the advancement of the kingdom of Christ, and whereas they are preaching practically the same gospel, and the theological differences which have hitherto separated them have ceased to have a living interest, and they now differ from each other mainly on matters of church government and forms of worship, which none of them regard as essential of the faith, and whereas of late years there has been a marked advance in the friendly relations of many of these churches, as that interchange of pulpit services have become frequent, to the mutual satisfaction and profit of the congregations concerned, and whereas in the country districts especially,, the pastoral work of the ministry could be more effectively overtaken if parishes were more compact, and of less extent ; and whereas it would be an immense gain to the Christian Church if a united front could be presented in this land to the forces of sin and unbelief, it is therefore humbly overtured by the Presbytery of Sydney to the venerable the General Assembly of Australia to take these premises into consideration, and appoint an influential committee to devise a scheme for the federation of as many as possible of the Protestant churches of Australia with power to confer with the representatives of other churches, so as to promote closer fellowship and organised co-operation, with a view to the ultimate formation of one grand church of Australia
We read in the Book of God about the " general assembly and church of the first-born," but we fear very much that the "grand church of Australia" would differ very materially from the church of the firstborn. Christ is the Lord and Master of the General Assembly whose names are written in heaven. Human prejudice, pride of place, and national variations do not count with the household of Jesus Christ,
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but these things stand prominent in all earthly organisations. One of the principal objects aimed at in the work of religious federation is the enforcement of what is known as the " Christian Sunday." The Sydney Morning Herald of May 1st reports the Hon. Wm. Robson, M. L. C., in a speech on the consummation of Methodist union as saying :— The resources of intelligence, statesmanship, spiritual power, and financial power of the combined bodies were such that they would be able to solve the difficulties as they were presented. Passing events pointed to a great confederation of the Protestant churches. Such a unity was desirable; In fact it was needed to combat the bad influences at work. He was sure that the sanctity of the Sabbath was threatened, and they would need all the forces of the powers at their command to resist the encroachment upon institutions that were as sacred to them -as their very lives.
By the " sanctity of the Sabbath " is here meant the observance of Sunday. Of course Sunday is not the Sabbath, but if it were its-sacredness could not in any way be impaired. When Jesus Christ walked upon the earth men trampled upon the Man of Nazareth, and yet He was the " holy of the Lord." His holiness was in no way lessened by human abuse. So with the Sabbath, it is the holy of the Lord—" My holy day "—and no human disregard can in any way lessen that holiness. The God of heaven is well able to protect the Sabbath. Human combinations have no need to interfere. Yet human combinations will organise and unite to protect the interests and establishment of Sunday. But this is in order that finally no man may be allowed to buy or sell save he who carries the mark of that great religious combination. See Rev. 13 : 15-18. This is what the prophets have said would come, and now we can see it coming. A REVISED supplementary estimate for the Civil Services and Revenue departments has been issued, says the Times of 18th March. The only new item it contains is a sum of £35,500 to meet the expenses of the late Queen's funeral. The details are as follow : The Lord Chamberlain : Apartments for Royal guests, funeral furnishing, mourning allowances for servants, etc., £2,900. The Lord Steward : Entertainment of Royal and foreign guests, £8,500. The Master of the Horse : Hire of carriages, railway and steamer expenses, extra servants, etc., £4,300. War Office : Travelling expenses, food and accommodation for troops, EI5,000. First Commissioner of Works : Fitting up St. George's Chapel, erection of stands, repair of damage to parks, £3,500. Foreign Office : Entertainment of foreign envoys, £800. Sundry expenses, including expenses of the Earl Marshall's staff, Dean and Chapter of Windsor, special police, etc.,
£500. NEAR the close of his great career, that man of God, Charles G. Finney, wrote, " 0, if I had strength of body to go through the churches again, instead of preaching to convert sinners, I would preach to bring up the churches to the gospel standard of holy living; for the worldliness of the churches and of the professed people of God is the great barrier to the progress of the cross with its salvation." That is true; and there is more worldliness in the churches to-day than when Mr. Finney wrote those words.
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SEAL OF THE LIVING GOD.—No. 8. THE GREAT APOSTASY. IN his crusade against the government of heaven Satan has planned to present a counterfeit for every truth of God. In this work he has not always introduced foreign and absolutely objectionable features. It has often been done by affecting some change that has turned the " truth of God" into a. lie. In His prohibitory command to Adam God said, " In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." Then in his deception Satan used almost the same words, but changed the truth into a lie by throwing in the little negative thus : " Ye shall not surely die." In this way the destroyer has created many counterfeits and brought in many delusions. These have frequently been accepted as from God, until in after years men have learned to regard them as holy things. In selecting a counterfeit deity for man to worship, Satan could not present himself, but there was one object that seemed to possess the attributes of life and power with the accompaniment of the glory that is supposed to surround Deity. To this object—the sun —Satan directed the attention, of man, and through the marvels displayed in its power, and the brightness of its glory, he led the man to forget the Creator for Baal. In this way the " god of light and time" became the deity of an apostate world. Sun-worship has been The universal worship of all apostasy. In its varied and degrading forms it has served as the essential element in all heathenism, both ancient and modern. Under many names—Ra, Osiris, Baal, Shamas, Moloch, Tamnus, Baal-peor, Ormuz, Apollo, Bacchus, Adonis, Hercules—the different nations have, through all historic time, worshipped this deity of the Orient sky. The oldest temples found in Egypt, at Ur of the Chaldees, where men began, first to worship after the deluge, are sun temples. Under whatever name or form the sun was worshipped, there was always a female divinity associated with it. The ancients observed that the sun in cooperation with the earth and the atmosphere, which gave rain, caused all manner of verdure to spring forth
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and bear its proper, fruit. The sun, therefore, came to be regarded as the male deity, while the moon, earth, atmosphere, or some other object represented the female. The powers of the sun were thus regarded as employed in the work of reproduction, and sun-worship therefore became nothing more nor less than the worship of the reproductive power in man and nature. Sensuality in its lowest and most revolting forms became a part of this worship, and the temples dedicated to this god were but shrines of prostitution. This form of religion had all the advantage in its appeal to man's lower nature. It was therefore readily accepted by the nations, and its temples and symbols have been known in every land. It is this form of religion that Satan has brought in to compete with the worship of Jehovah. Sometimes the sun was worshipped by throwing a kiss, as mentioned in Job 31 : 26-28. Human sacrifices were offered in its horrible ritual. Jer. 19 : 5. Its licentious character is seen in the fact that the children of Israel were dancing naked round the " golden ca'..!'"—the bull being one of its chief deities. Ex. 32 : 6, 25. In following this form of worship, the Hebrews were led away from all the commandments of God. 2 Kings 17: 15-17. Satan desired to hide the Creator by making man think that human life possessed creative power, and that this he inherited from the great male divinity—the sun-god. Hence it is that the figure of a " male" became the symbol of sun-worship. Eze. 16 : /7, margin. In the crucifixion, Christ, the Son of God, died upon the symbol of Satan's religion—the cross, which was only a disguised form of the " image of a male." Think of it ! Christ died on the symbol of the shameful thing, as an offender against the sun-god. In this great apostasy Satan has ever been leading the race away from God. Through Jezebel, the daughter of the 'sun-priest of Zidon, sun-worship was introduced into ancient Israel. s Kings 16 : 31-33. Later on, through a spiritual Jezebel, it was brought into the church of God (Rev. 2 : 2o), and it has turned away the hearts of men from the commandments of Jehovah in the Christian age just as it did in the days of Ahab's apostasy. We read in Eze. 8: 16 of the men who, with their backs, toward the law of God and their faces toward the East, worshipped the sun. The law of God and sun-worship are directly opposed to each other. One represents the religion of Jehovah, and the other is the religion of Satan. God regards sun-worship as the very climax of false religions. It is, in fact, the parent of all idolatry and apostasy. For this reason, and because of the abominable wickedness and sensuality that its ceremonial demanded, God speaks of it as the greatest " abomi-
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nation." Eze. 8 : 15. It is also described as " that shameful thing." Jer. ii : 13. All forms of false religion hold relationship to sun-worship. They are its offspring, and carry its spirit and its nature with them. The " god of light" has been made to the human race a veritable god of darkness. Through it Satan has challenged Jehovah in His capacity as Creator, and in his rebellion against the authority of heaven he has stood behind the voluptuous enchantments of this, his master-device. The principle of worship planted in the human mind by the Creator has been used by the enemy in this great work of apostasy. Man will worship, and if subject to the influence of God's Holy Spirit, he will worship the Creator of heaven and earth. But Satan has betrayed him, and pointing to the renewed vegetation and the wealth of harvest that follows the sun's summer course, he has said to man, " Behold thy god, he is the creator," and man has worshipped-worshipped madly before the Sol invictus, the alloonquering deity of Rome, and the " god of this 'world." But the call has gone forth,—" worship Him that made heaven and earth, the sea, and the fountains of water," and there is life for the man who knows no other God. THE UPLIFTED CHRIST. THREE times in the gospel of John does Christ speak of being "lifted up." In this expression He signified to His followers the form of death by which He should die. The first passage reads :— As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
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When ye have lifted up the Son of man then shall ye know that I am He. John 8 : 23.
In the crucifixion nature proclaimed her Lord. The earth did quake and the rocks rent in demonstrating to humanity that He was the Son of God. Matt. 27 : 51. The sun hid its face, and darkness veiled the heavens. Luke 2344, 45. The heathen centurion gave in his testimony saying, " Truly this was the Son of God." Matt. 27 : 54. The veil of the temple was rent in twain, and even the graves were opened in that demonstration. Matt. 27 : 52. The evidence set forth in that was so complete that all the people " beholding the things which were done smote upon their breasts " in acknowledgment of the fact that Christ was He— the Son of God. Luke 23 : 48. The third passage where Christ speaks about being lifted up is found in John 12 : 32— And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me.
The word " men " is here supplied by our translators. This drawing attraction of this uplifting takes in a wider range than the human family, every intelligent being in the universe of God was interested in the lifting up of Christ. It was that demonstration of His unselfish devotion to a ruined race that won the admiration of all worlds, and the confidence of all celestial powers. That dying Christ became the centre round which the affection of God's unfallen universe was entwined. Therefore it is written :— God hath also highly exalted Him, and given Him a name that is above every name : that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow! of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth. Phil. 2 : to.
Yes, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ touches every being in the universe of God. It means either life or The serpent was lifted up in the wilderness that death to every created intelligence. God invites the wounded people of Israel might find healing. humanity to look at Jesus Christ as the great Physician, They had been bitten by a serpent, yet in God's hand the Healer of every soul-malady. It is for this purpose that object of death became an object of life. Num. that He was " lifted up." Jehovah would also have 21 : 8. So Christ was made in the " likeness of sinful man regard the demonstration of Christ's divinity in flesh "—the flesh that brings death—but Christ, in that that uplifting, and last of all He would have men know that through the cross Christ became the centre likeness, brought life. Rom. 8 : 3. When Christ walked the earth He was the great of attraction to all the astonished universe of God. Reader, have you beheld the uplifted Christ ? If Physician. His hand and His voice brought healing to all the sick and weary that sought His power. you have looked at Him truly self will die, for it canHis fame went through the land of Palestine; the not endure that revelation. The soul must take on the sick thronged His steps and He " healed them all." character of that which it contemplates habitually, for But when He was " lifted up " it was not only for the it is by beholding that we become changed. The land of Palestine ; the world was called upon to behold the child of God is to run the whole Christian race with —" Look unto ME, and be ye saved, all the ends of the eyes turned away from self, "looking unto Jesus, the earth." Isa. 45 : 22. By looking at the forbidden author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that fruit man was brought within the power of death, but was set before Him, endured the cross." Heb. 12 : 2. by looking at the " uplifted Christ " man is brought God would have humanity read in the revelations of Calvary Christ's love and the Father's love for a perishwithin reach of life. The next passage that refers to the lifting up of ing world. The manifestation of that love has touched all the universe of God. Christ brings to view the work of demonstration :— must the Son of man be lifted up : that whosoever believeth in lm should not perish, but have eternal life. John 3: 14.
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FROM SHADOW TO SUNSHINE. I LEARN as the years roll onward, And leave the past behind, That much I have counted sorrow • But proves that our God is kind; That many a flower I longed for Had a hidden thorn of pain ; And many a ragged by-path Led to fields of ripened grain. The clouds but cover the sunshine; They cannot banish the sun ; And the earth shines out the brighter When the weary rain is done. We must stand in the deepest shadow To see the clearest light ; And often from wrong's own darkness Comes the very strength of right. The sweetest rest is at even, After a wearisome day, When the heavy burden of labour Has been borne from our hearts away. And those who have never known sorrow, Cannot find the infinite peace That falls on the troubled spirit When it sees at last release. So the heart from the hardest trial Gains the purest joy of all, And from lips that have tasr ed sadness The sweetest songs will fall. For as peace comes after suffering, And love is reward for pain, So atter earth is heaven— And out of our loss the gain. —Agnes L. Pratt.
THE DANGEROUS DIET. THE movement toward a reform in diet is a most commendable one, and it is a pleasure to note the fact that the movement is growing in strength and influence. Vegetarian restaurants are increasing in our large cities, and vegetarian societies are increasing in membership. With the multiplication of diseases in all the animal kingdom, and the liability of their transmission to the human body by eating the diseased food, this growing influence in favour o,f the no-meat diet is positively refreshing. Like all good things, it is occasionally injured in the fold of its friends by those who do not know how to temper zeal with knowledge. The extremist is bound to get into trouble, no matter with what good movement he may associate himself. The recent death of a college student who had practically starved himself on a very meagre diet, has been made much of by certain newspapers unfriendly to the rational diet, and these have taken occasion to show the necessity for an unstinted meat diet where, intellectual activity is required. As a matter of fact, there is a class of literature being produced at the present time which
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does require a strong meat diet with liquor and tobacco adjuncts; but it is a meat-liquor-tobacco literature, as unwholesome to the mind as the diet is to the body; and the flagging imagination is whipped up to its sensational task by these health and mind-destroying stimulants. Good, plain, wholesome food is not relished by the one who continually flavours his food with hot spices or tobacco sauce ; and good, wholesome, elevating reading is insipid to the mind fed on a literature which such a diet begets. The blood of a human being loaded with the impurities contained in the meat he has eaten, cannot generate the highest, purest thoughts in the brain to which it is sent. If we saturate the system with intoxicants, the brain registers the fact at once. Inhale coal gas, and the head " swims." The influence of the epicurean diet is not so rapid or noticeable, but it is none the less certain. Poisoned blood cannot make a healthy brain ; an unhealthy brain cannot produce the purest and most elevating thoughts. The alcoholic stomach does not crave pure water, the tobacco, liquor, and meat-poisoned brain does not crave solid, serious, helpful literature. The food of Eden was a pure food with no suggestion of flesh of any kind ; and the food of Eden restored will be as pure as that of the Eden lost. Nowhere in the Bible is there a hint that man shall live upon the flesh of other creatures when sin has been purged from the universe of God. Flesh-eating is one of the results of sin. It will not be found when sin is no more; and they who are wise, who are seeking to put away sinful tendencies, will not cling to this sin-breeding child of sin. On the other hand, we are told something of what will be the food of man when redemption is complete. First and most important, they shall " eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God." Rev. 2 : 7. " They shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof ; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them." Amos 9 : 14. " They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, saith the Lord." Isa. 65 : 25. Flesh shall not feed upon flesh there, nor life be taken to sustain other life ; but all will be peace and joy and satisfaction. For the good of His people there, God will feed them upon the fruits of the earth. If such a diet is good for man when sin has run its course, it certainly is good for man when suffering from the effects of sin. There never was a time in the history of the world when we needed purer food than right now; and there never was a time when much of the food eaten by man in general was more impure than it is now. He who would have health now cannot afford to load down his system through the food he eats, with the impurities and diseases of other creatures. C. M. SNOW. THE life of a hard-working mother was described recently by a bright boy with whom one of our reporters entered into conversation. He said : " My mother gets me up, makes the fire, and sends me off; then she gets my father up, gets the other children their breakfast, and sends
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them to school, and then she and the baby have their breakfast." " How old is the baby ? " asked the reporter. "Oh ! she is 'most two, but she can talk and walk as well as any of us." " Are you well paid ? " " I get sixteen shillings a week, and my father gets fourteen shillings a day." " How much does your mother get ? " With a bewildered look the boy said : " Mother ! why, she don't work for anybody." " I thought you said she worked for all of you." " Ah, yes—for us she does, but there isn't any money in it." As the boy grows older he will find that very many of the world's best workers toil without any prospect of making money by their labours, and very often they do not win the gratitude of those who benefit by their exertions.— White Ribbon Signal.
03) 365 "
and was immediately followed by Ruthie's, " Me go, too." Taking no apparent notice of his remark, the mother said " Fred, did you ever hear of a sand-garden in the house ? I read of one a few days ago, and if you like, you and Ruthie may make one." Of course the boy was all attention, and full of questions, while the mother spread upon the floor several large newspapers, and then, going to the kitchen, closely followed by the children, she brought in two basins of sand and some wooden toothpicks, with some bits of coloured paper. Placing the basins on the floor, she showed them how they could stick the toothpicks in the sand for trees, and bits of coloured papers for flowers. All thought of going outdoors was forgotten as the little ones, with an occasional hand from mama and much assistance to Ruthie from Fred, arranged and rearranged their trees and flowers. An hour passed before the sand-garden began to pall ; then Fred ran to the window, and was evidently meditating an outdoor excursion when his mother asked, " Fred, where are those stones you gathered yesterday ? " " They are in the shed. Do you want them ? " ONE MOTHER'S WAY. " Yes ; I've been thinking of a nice game you might play with them." " MAY we go to the river, mama? Ed Taylor says he Fred ran to get the stones, while mama removed the found some lovely stones down there yesterday, and we sand-garden, and easily gathered up that which was want to get some. Please let us go, mama." I looked up anxiously, wondering how the mother spilled on the papers. She then sent Fred to the kitchen would meet the request of four-year old Fred and his little for the clothes-pin bag, which he presently came dragging sister,—a request even more loudly spoken in their features into the room. "Now," said mama, sitting down on the floor, "I want than in words. I had reached my friend's Idaho home from the East you to make a ranch, and teach Ruthie how to make one. only the day before ; and one of my first impressions, as I You see you can make the fence of the clothes-pins, laying took in her immediate surroundings, was the danger to them down end to end, and using one for a gate; then her children which lay in the swift, treacherous Snake play that the little stones are cows and horses, and put River, which ran its weird course not far from the house. them in the fields." It took but .a few moments, and the mother resumed I had not mentioned the subject; but the child's question served to emphasise my thought, and I eagerly her work, while the children busied themselves in making awaited her answer. It was but a moment, and there was fields and driving cattle till dinner-time, after which the no suggestion of annoyance in the face or voice, as she bright sunshine permitted the renewal of canal digging in the back yard. said, in her animated way : Going out to watch them, I was struck with the fact " I have been wondering how it would be to make a little river of your own in the back yard. I will give you that although they helped themselves freely from a barrel of each a stout iron spoon, and you can dig a big ditch instead water by the side of the house, their clothes were not of a well, as you generally do. Then you may dip water wet nor soiled, and remarked upon it to their mother. "That, I think," she said, "is largely the result of my from the barrel out there to fill it, and have a canal something like the one we saw when we went driving with Mr. teaching. From the first, Fred has had a passion for playing in the water; and I knew I must indulge him as Clark last week." "Oh," exclaimed Fred, "that will be fun. Where are far as possible, if I would keep him from the river during the spoons ? We'll dig a big one, won't we, Ruthie ? " his toddling years. As soon as he could sit at the table in And full of enthusiasm they set about their work, where his high chair, I often gave him a spoon with two tin cups I found them half an hour later, deep in mysteries of and a little water, which he could pour from one to the head-gates, brakes, and other features peculiar to an other ; but I made him understand that if he got his dress wet, it was to be taken away. Of course, I was irrigated country. The larger river had been quite forgotten in their obliged to take it away from him occasionally; but he absorbing interest in the smaller. The children had suf- soon began to exercise care, and now he seldom has an fered no sense of restriction ; there had been not a trace of accident while playing with water ; and it has been the antagonism between the mother and her little ones ; and same with Ruthie. They often play with sand and water, when, toward evening, she suggested that we all take a making mud pies the whole afternoon, without soiling walk to the river, and gave the children a basket in which their clothes or hands, something that I am prompt to to gather stones, there was a manifest happiness which commend them for. They really pride themselves on their evidently found its highest expression in the mother's care in this direction. Of course I always provide them with spoons and cups, so that they may have no excuse for presence. The next morning proved cold and sunless, and I putting, their hands into the water."—South African journal heard my friend say to her husband, unnoticed by the of Health. children : " I wish you would bring in a pan of that dry sand from the back yard. It won't do for the children to "'Tis sweet to think when morning lights the skies, And to the daily task from sleep we rise, go out in the cold wind, and I must plan to entertain them That when the tender light of breaking morn, indoors." God's love to us on angel's wings is borne : Not long after breakfast Fred announced his intention To think that wheresoe'er the footstep strays, of going out to see the canal of his digging the day before, He gives His angels charge o'er all our ways."
366 (4)
THE BIBLE ECHO
JUNE 3, Igor
News and Notes. Our army costs L*6,300,000 to pay, and X'6,goo,000 to feed per annum. There are said to be gg bull-rings in Spain, and these bring an annual rental of L1,3 to. More men have died and are buried in the Isthmus of Panama, along the line of the proposed canal, than on any equal amount of territory in the world. 1. We send out no papers that have not been ordered : if persons The income tax in India is levied on all incomes of L'33 and receive the BIBLE ECHO without ordering, it is sent them by some upwards, and then only one man in 700 comes within scope of friend, and they will not be called upon to pay. 2. .When you send money to the Office to apply on your subscrip- the tax. This gives some idea of the poverty of India. tion to the BIBLE Ecuo, notice the date on the wrapper of your paper, The death-rate of the world is 67, and the birth-rate 7o a and see that it is correctly changed. minute, and this seemingly light percentage of gain is sufficient 3. All matter appearing in the BIBLE Ecuo without credit may to give a net increase in population each year of 1,200,000. generally be understood as coming from the Editor. A- We hear sometimes of subscribers not getting their papers. In Victoria there are now i6,000 aged and infirm people We shall take pleasure in promptly rectifying all such mistakes if you drawing pensions, and the average pension is 8/- per week. will call our attention to them. This represents an expenditure of '12,000 for every two. weeks, or about £335,000 per annum. All books advertised in this paper can be obtained from the Echo Publishing Co., Ltd., Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, or from oar The Salisbury Government has adopted the " Habitual agents given below. Drunkard's Bill" which provides for the prohibition of liquor to habitual drunkards; the establishment of a "black list" of PRICE, payable in advance: those twice convicted of offences under the Inebriates' Act, to For the year, post free .. 6/6 whom the sale of liquor shall henceforth be forbidden, and For six months, post free .. 3/6 making it a punishable offence to be drunk while in charge of a For three months, post free 1/9 child in a public place. Two copies to one address in Victoria, each .. .. 4/6 Four copies to one address in the other States except QueensThe motion of censure on which the Rosebery Government land, each .. 4/6 was turned out of office in 1895 was based on the neglect of To other countries in the Postal Union .. .. 8/6 the War Office, during Mr. Henry Campbell Bannerman's term SINGLE COPIES, postage extra .. .. 1d. of office as secretary for War, in allowing the normal supply of All orders sent direct to the publishers or their agents, either for 142,000,000 of small arms ammunition to fall to 93,000,000. The Salisbury Ministry raised the stock to 170,000,000 rounds, single subscriptions or for clubs, must be accompanied by cash. but this, owing to the war pressure in South Africa, is almost Instructions for Ordering. exhausted, although the public and private ammunition factories 1. Send P. 0. Money Order, Postal Note, or Bank Draft. If out- have made tremendous efforts to keep up the supply. side of Victoria, please add exchange. PERSONAL. An important Conference meeting was 2. If notes, gold, or silver is sent, register the letter. 3. Orders and Drafts should be made payable to THE BIBLE ECHO. conducted by Pastor G. B. Starr in the North Fitzroy Church Postage Stamps.—Please do not send postage stamps, as they on Sunday, May 19. are liable to stick together, and are useless in this condition. A Monday evening class for physical cultiire has been started by the North Fitzroy Church School Committee, with Foreign Money.—Do not send any. ReceipeL No formal receipt is sent unless by special request. The Mr. H. J. Ellis as instructor. • address label on your paper will indicate the time to which your subThe paragraph reporting the exhumation of a body, as found scription is paid. In case of non-receipt of papers, or any other in our " Outlook" this week, has since been denied. We hope irregularity, please notify us immediately. for the sake of Christianity that the denial is true. Expiration of Subscription.—All papers are discontinued at A bright little paper, printed in the Fijian language, and the expiration of the time paid for. Notification will be sent before date of expiration, thus enabling you to renew in ample time to secure bearing the name Rarama, has come to our table. It is printed unbroken files. Please be prompt, as we cannot always furnish back and published by J. E. Fulton of Suva Vou, Fiji. It takes for numbers. its motto the text, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a Change of Address.—When ordering change of address, please light unto my path." We trust that this paper may indeed be a give both the old and the new address. tight bearer to those seeking the way of the Lord. Important.—Use a separate sheet for ECHO orders, and other papers, separate for books, tracts, etc., and if you address the Editor, .Pt •4 Obituary 0)1 aPt use a separate sheet. All can be sent in one envelope, and the money Broome. Died, March 27, Igor, at Hamilton, N. S. W., all sent in one order, but write each kind of business on a separate sheet. In this way each order can be handed to the proper clerk, and Mrs. Francis Broome, wife of George Broome, aged sixty years filled at once. and five months. She was born at Willsbridge, Gloucestershire, England, but for thirty-nine years had lived in Australia. Two ADDRESS. years before her death she attended the Hamilton (Newcastle) Bible Echo, North Fitzroy, Victoria, Australia. camp-meeting, and the subsequent tent meetings conducted by OUR GENERAL AGENTS. Pastors Starr, Lacey, and the writer. She gladly received the Victorian, Tract Society, Oxford Chambers, 473-481 Bourke St., message, was baptised, and united with the church, and ever after rejoiced in the fresh light that had come to her, and in the hope of Melbourne. the soon-coming Saviour. Through this means the Bible,she said, N.S.W. Tract Society, 25 Sloane St., Summer Hill, N.S.W. had become a new book to her, and she had found that which satisQueensland Tract Society, The Arcade, Edward St., Brisbane, Q'land. fied the longings of her soul. Though a great sufferer for the last ten months of her life, no word of complaint escaped her lips. Her South Australian Tract Society, Hughes St., North Unley. one great desire was to see all her family rejoicing in the faith West Australian Tract Society, 263 Newcastle St., TIT. Perth. she had learned to love. She quietly fell asleep in Jesus, with Tasmanian Tract Society, Green St., Invermay, Tasmania, the bright assurance of coming up in the first resurrection, when New Zealand Tract Society, 37 Taranaki St., Wellington. Christ, the Life-giver, shall come to gather the elect and make 'up His jewels. She leaves a husband, two sons and two International Tract Society, 44a Free School St., Calcutta, India. International Tract Society, 28A Boeland St., Cape Town, South Africa. daughters to mourn her loss. Words of comfort were spoken by the writer to a large circle of friends at the grave-side, from International Tract Society, 59 Paternoster Row, London. Rev. r4.: 13. W. A. COLCORD.
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. . . "A THING OF BEAUTY IS A JOY FOR EVER." . . . ALL the following Bibles are bound in leather, morocco, or levant, with flaps, red under gilt, round corners, references, and maps. For further description, see each Bible. Please order by number. DIAMOND (very small print)— A353yd (41 x2z x 2 inches). Pocket edition, no references, very thin, India paper, silk sewed, Superior binding 6/PEARL (small print)— ipiydj (5} x 4 x r inches) 3/6 RUBY (medium print)— r7iydj x 41 x 1 inches) .. 4/6 RALD (good print)1761ydj—(7 x 5 x 1 inches) .. 6/At761iyz (7 x 5 x 4 inches) .. 8/6 Ar763yd (7 x 5 x inches). Thin, India paper, silk sewed. A Gem. 12/6 A176gyd (7 x 5 x 4 inches). Thin, India paper, silk sewed. Superior binding .. 20/A1769wd (7 X 5 x 4 inches). India paper, silk sewed. Bes t levant 25/MINION (very good print)— I5xydj (8 x 5} x i inches). Scripture Dictionary 6/6 153yd (8 x 5 x i inches). Silk sewed 12/6 Aot3yd (8 x 51 x i inches). Silk sewed. India paper. Complete helps 20/11155yz (8x5; x 4 inches). India paper 17/6 A153yd (8 x 52 x 4 inches). Very thin, India paper, silk A159yd (Same as the preceding one, with better binding). These two are very flexible, and of special value .. 20/BREWER (very good print)— This is the new Oxford, Two Version Edition, having the references down the centre of the page, and the readings of the Revised Version in the margin. It is a beautiful line, of special value to students. A75yz (8 x 51 x I inches). India paper .. 17/6 A73}yd (8 x 512 x i inches). India paper 22/6 A79yd (8 x 5} x i inches). India paper 30/-
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36 8
(16)
THE BIBLE ECHO
ALL who are hid with Christ in God will be delivered in the day of trouble. Have you found this hiding place ? WHAT we possess may be regarded as wealth so long as we own it. When it begins to own us, it becomes the measure of our poverty. SHOW me a loving husband, a worthy wife, and good children, and no pair of horses that ever flew along the road could take me in a year where I could see a more pleasing sight. Home is the grandest of all institutions.—Sj5urgeon. IN the Court of King's Bench yesterday (May 13) a ruling decision was given in one of the cases arising out of the beer poisoning epidemic cases in England three months ago. A publican was sued for damages by the relatives of a man whose death had been caused by arsenicated beer, sold to him by defendant. The publican pleaded that the brewer of the beer was responsible, but the court ruled that the publican, as the supplier of the beer, must bear the responsibility. THE God of our fathers wants this generation to " see greater things" and do " greater works," says one, than any former generations have known. But " He will be enquired of for this thing." He will have wholly consecrated human agents through whom He can do His mighty works. He will have a separated, sanctified, Spirit-filled, zealous, obedient people in whom He can move upon the world that lieth in the wicked one. The awful responsibility and the magnificent opportunity is theirs. What will they do ?— Vanguard. " A THRILLING adventure is reported from a village near Suza, Italy, where an eagle picked up a child five years old, the son of a farmer named Ghezzi, and flew away with it. The father, a noted shot, seized his gun and went to look for the eagle's nest, which he found in the cleft of a very high rock. After considerable difficulty he was lowered by a rope to the opening of the cleft, where, to his horror, he found the eagle in the act of, attacking the child. A terrible combat ensued between the farmer and the eagle. Eventually Ghezzi killed the bird and rescued his child badly hurt but alive." HEAVIER than the entire population of Liverpool are the 165,000,000 copies of the Scriptures distributed during the nineteenth ,century by the British and Foreign Bible Society. They weighed about 30,700
Vol. 16, No. 23
tons. To transport this mountain of Bibles a train sixteen miles long, drawn by 150 locomotives, would be necessary. The area of the printed pages would furnish standing room for twice as many persons as are now living throughout the world. If all these Bibles were made into a single volume, the bookwould be 202 feet high (as high as the London monument), 140 feet wide and 41 feet thick; each page would weigh 6o tons, and to turn one of them over would take the strength of 1,200 men or 4o horses. Further, the Bibles would make 1971 columns each as high as Mount Everest (29,000 feet). These statistics are from The Sunday Strand. Boy Drunkards. The following paragraph from the Age of May 16, presents a sad, yet all too frequent picture of city life. It is surely time for parents to look at the gravity of the situation, and to make stronger efforts for the rescue of the boys who are being ruined in this way. The paragraph reads thus:— Severe but thoroughly well justified Comments on the heedless manner in which some conscienceless publicans serve mere boys with intoxicating liquors were made in the Criminal Court yesterday in connection with the trial of three youths who were charged with stealing spirits and money from an hotel at FootsCray. The landlord admitted that he had served accused and two or three others with drinks of varied potency ranging from lemonade "straight" to rum and cloves "neat." Some of them had as many as five drinks, and they were soon reduced to a state of inebriety. It was while in this condition that they committed the offence complained of. Mr. Justice Hood said that publicans had a duty to the individual as well as to the community, and they had no right to serve juveniles with liquor in the way disclosed in this case. The jury, taking the cue from the judge's remarks, added a rider to their verdict expressing strong disapproval of the conduct of the landlord of the hotel in question. His Honor said he agreed with their comment, and he hoped the licensing inspector would take notice of the remarks which the evidence had called forth.
A New Comet. In the latter part of April, a new visitor to our solar system, in the shape of a comet moving eastward appeared, in the western sky. Mr. Baracchi, the Victorian Government Astronomer, gives the following particulars concerning it :— The first brilliant comet of the new century, which has been such a conspicuous object in our western sky in early evenings since the beginning of this month, is now gradually decreasing in brightness, and will soon become invisible to the naked eye. . . . Its perihelion passage, or nearest approach to the sun, occurred on April 25, on which date its distance from the sun was 23,000,000 of miles, and its distance from the earth 85,000,000 of miles. It made its nearest approach to our planet on May 6, (the day on which the royal visitors landed), when it reached its minimum distance of 84,000,000 miles from us. On that date it presented its most brilliant and striking appearance for Melbourne observers, with its triple tail stretching out to a great distance, the longest, or left hand, fainter streamer being about 20 degrees, corresponding to about 20,000,000 miles in length. The comet is at present receding at the rate of 2,000,000 miles a day from the sun, and 3,000,000 miles a day from the earth, moving in an orbit, inclined to the plane of the ecliptic at an angle of 49 degrees, with a retrograde motion, namely, in a direction contrary to that in which the earth moves in its orbit around the sun. On May 16 its distance from us will be 1130:00,000 miles, and it will have become 14 times fainter than it was at the time of its greatest splendour. . . . Although it will become invisible to the naked eye in the course of a few days, it will be possible to 'follow it with the telescope for a considerable time. • ' Printed and published by the Ecno PUBLISHING COMPANY, LTD., 14, z6, and a Best Street, North Fitzroy, and registered as a newspaper in Victoria.
