Lk.
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The First Step
to ; ' > ...
Being Somebody
Doing Someth mg
’ • Helping Someone
Getting Somewhere
THE THREE PAINTERS.
Once* upon a time th^re was a
.black-haired queen who was hard to
. please. She had jewels and'gown
and many other lovely things, but
she was always finding fault with
.them. (
Among hetr possessions were three
beautiful glossy rugs that had come
from the East!. One was a turquoise
blue with a pale-green vine trailing
over it; another was rose-colored
*rith a star pattern of lavender in the
centre; the third was .tinted like
ivorir, and through its soft fabric
ran a thread of gold.
One day the queen complained that
,.the rugs looked dingy. She fretted
. oyer the matter for a while, and then
v She began to sulk. As she 'sat frown
... ing on hef throne she noticed a little
page down on the terrace painting a
. (hirdThouse.• As she washed him the
jjird-house turned slowly from gray
to cheery red. . ■ * ' '
,i{ “} have it!’’ she cried suddenly to
her( ladies in waiting. “See that all
the. painters in the kingdom are sum
moned”
The herald found that there- were
pnly three painters in the'city .. The
drst came in a velvet robe;; he held
his he&ud high and stroked his beard
-At’ hie listened to the queen.
■ - <*‘rou are: to paint my blue fug,”
'Ktid her Majesty, i. “It must be as
lively whdh you finish it as^ it was
’"•Whan1 'it first came from the loom. I
dtontTcare texw you do it; and I shall
never ask. If you succeed in the
task—a thousand golden coins for
' you; if you fail—to prison you go
' three yekrs ahda day." - -
■" 1 The painter Went away proudly dnd
‘feat dp thinking most of the bight.
' “*N6* ordinary • paint wil do for this
ipieCfe Of work,’ he said. “I must hit
’‘ttn*Something ne*w.” The nexfcmorn
’ iiig be rose with the dun and Went
Wit iii ' the meadoW and gathered
; Many bluebells: He' prebsed the blos^
. corns in k mortar and collected the?
juice; with the juice he mixed SQme
afHHfs^WoSt’ costly blUepainfc. Then
he found a pale-green vine* as defli
!^te’ ks a'spider web to sefrve for the
li^een.‘r“ •
r*’*’ lie p&ure*rthe liquid ipto a golden
,‘$&1 and ijocdfc it tb the palace . ICneel
‘ftifc’ beside'the torquoisd-blue rug. he
’ dfflpM h%’ hinsh intb the paint with
’IP tiodrish!,ehd; Set to work.
’■""’Sht witdn he had finished his task
‘tfifr fttg was as stiff as wet tuftte of
itfdish' grass. The queten Would have
'none Of it, and he was thrown iuto
- jSkson fof three years and a day.
) ’ ’The second painter was confident
that he should succeed, for his brush
es wore softer than his rival's brush
es. He gazed at the rug of rose and
lavender and nodded wisely.
' At midnight he was bending ovefc
k hfazler of red-hot coals; In the pan
'over the brazier lay a costly ame
thyst. When the fire died away at
ldst thdre Were five lavender-colored
drops in.the pan.
At dawn he went out and picked
two dozen dcep-plnk roses, and from
them distilled a dear pink syrup. He
,PUt the syrup into a silver pail and
„jtho lavender drops into a crystal vial,
i ^n4 then, choosing his finest brush,
*he.set for the palace. r
... But he was no more successful than
Ahe, first palntefr. After the rug had
■dried It was hideous, and so the,
■ queen’s guards throw, him Into prison
• for'three years and a d^. . ■ ,
to read and write, and she spent her
time playing in the woods.
When the third painter was sent
for he wondered what the summons
could mean. He went and stood with
bo,wed head before the angry queen
and gazed upon the gold and ivory
rug and wl^ed with all hie heart that
he might find a way to restore its
beauty. He was poor, but with a
thousand golden coins he should be
able to send little -Ardeta to school
and to buy dresses and shoes for herj
and perhaps a little gold ring.
“Oh, if I can. only color the rug to
suit the queetai!” the' poor painter"
thought.
But as he trugged home thinking,
thinking, he became discouraged
and alarmed. "What if I should fail?”
he said to himself.
Ardefn begged to know what the
trouble was. He told her, and far
into the night the two studied the
puzzling question.
, The next morning the painter wait
ed until the sun was high in the
heavens and he dared not wait any
longer. Then he set out sadly with
en empty pail swinging from his arm.
But Arden same running from the
kitchen and asked him to wait a mo
ment.
Presently she came hurrying down
the path with a pailful of something
hot and steaming under one arm and
a stiff brush under the; other. “Here,
father,” she said, “take these, and be
■sure you use them with might and
main on the queen’s dingy rug.”
The man wondered what she had
put into, the pail, but he took it and
the brush and truggegd away to the
palaee.
The queen, stamped her foot when
she saw him. “Is every painter in
my kingdom stupid?” she cried.
“There is the third rug. Go to work
and ruin it, ,and then I shall have
three half-wits in the royal prison.”
She flung out Of the room in a tem
per., _ .
The painter’s heart sank, but he
knelt beside the dingy rug and dipped
his brush into the steaming liquid.
When he rose from his knee*', lo! i
the rug was the color of ivory once
more—clear, creamy ivory with
threads of pure, gold shining through
it. , !
When the queen, came in haughti
ly to see what the third painter had
done, she could scarcelj( believe .her
. eytete. ‘‘Send for the gqlden coins,” she
said to her servants. « u
Then she asked the painter whether
there" was anything else that he wish
ed. • “It it please Your Majesty,” the
man. saifl eagerly, “I wish that the
other two painters may be released
from prison.”
His request was granted, and then,
with his pail and his pockets full of
golden coins, he hurried home to
Arden, who was overjoyed when he
saw his good' fortune.
^he queeln had not asked him the
secret of his success, and he was so
simple of heart that he did not think
to tell her. But for.years to corns,
whenever Arden would look at her
father and say, “Soap and water!”
the little hut rang with theSr laugh
ter.—Clara Peterson in Youth’® Com
panion.
FACTS UPON FACTS
A PERSONAL DEVIL.
By 3. A. Chambers*—Cannon Ball
The) Acts and the Epistles testify
to the . existence of a personal devil
all that the high critics may say to
the contrary .notwithstanding which
we here submit for your considera
tion. Vfr
Acts 13 and 10: "O full of all sub
tility and all mlachief, thou child of
the devil.” Paul in refbuking Blymae
atyee him as a child “of tile devil;”
How could the devil beget a child if
he did not exist in person?
concord hath Christ with BeOiair
Belial means the devil. ;
Bphe, 4 and 27. “^either give
Paul ad_
vises that the devil be kept Out ah*
uo bttoi
devil to be^c(Hidetoned11and^hurted out
of heaven/ The courts of heaven are
not mock courts to try imaginary of
fenders. There was si real offender,
condemned for a real offence' by the
judgment of a real judge. That of
fender was the devil, h& offence was
the result of pride; the Judge was
God. Still the high critics say, ‘‘there
is no devil.” Just a bad influence in
the world i Sure, but who is exerting
this influence? Certainly not God.
It IS the devil.
2 Tim. 2 and 26: “That they may
recover themselves out Of the snare
of the devil, who are taken captive
by him at his will.”
Here the devil is accused of laying
snares to entrap people that he might
lead them “captives . at his will.”
The “will” of the devil is that we
go contrary to God’s will; for be is
an irreconcilable foe of God and has
Bet up his system in the world to
antagonize God’s plan to save the.
world. Satan solicits all the aid. he
can get to help him to operate bis
destructive methods. He has finally
succeeded in wlnnig learned mein in
a way that is Hardly observable
whom he has set Up as high critics
to deceive the world by throwing it
off its guard as vto. his existence and
personality.
James 4 and 7. “Resist the devil
and he will flee from you.” James
would not adise the resistence of an
imaginary foe, but a real foe. James
tells what the “devil” will do when
resisted. “He will flee from you.”
The advice of James clearly indicates
that it requires an effort on our part
to put this foe to flight- How could
the devil “flee” if he wex;e not real?
I Peter 5 and 8: “Be sober, her
vigilant; because your adversary ^be
devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about.
seeking whom he may devour.”'
Here Peter warns us to “be vigi
lant” or watchful, looking out for the
devilv for he is “walking about Seek
ing whom life may devouit” Looking
for those whom ^e may induce1 to
engage with .him in. his> work of de
struction while God advertises Dor
those whp Witt engage with Him hi
the work of construction. The devil
.is :*>t still.'He covers the land and
plows the'1*surging seas in quest for
those “whom he may devour.” Stitt
Jhe high critics say there is no dev
I John 3 and 8: “He that commit
' teth Sin is "of the devil; 'for the devil
sinneth from the beginning. For
this purpose the Son of God was man
ifested, that be -might destroy the
works of the devil." Here is a plaid
and positive declaration of the ex
istence of a personal devil and that
Christ came to * destroy what thd
devil had - dope. *
Christ did not< come to engage in’
a sham battle with ah imaginary per
son? but ^ith a formidable, irrecon
cilable, ubiquitous foe whose works
had to be destroyed or the world
would have been plunged into denser
darkness ofmoral and spiritual night'
through whose blackness light never
could have penetrated
Tenth verse: “In this the children
of God are. manifest, and the children
of the dielvil. The phrase “of the
devil," show^ the relation between
the devil and his offspring; “devil is
the principal word of this phrase
which shows-him as truly in etxistepce
ad the phrase “of Godv shows Hina
to be ip existence.
The two phrases show the re
lation between the two spirits and
their children that each has begot
ten. % Both lave children in the
world that bear their likeness. If
the One does not exist ip. person
then the other does not exist in per
son .
I Cor. 10 and 20. “But I » say,
that the' things" which the Gentiles
sacrifice, they sacrifice unto devils,
and not to God: and' I would not that
ye should have fellowship with the
devih* 90 pure, Was Paul that there
was a devil he advises that we have
nothing to 40 with him. t
I Tim.' 4 and 1: “Now the Spirit
speake*th expressly that to the latter
times some shall depart from the
faith, giving heed to seduenig spirits
Planted in Childhood
■will
Bear Fruit in,Manhood
in
BITTER LIVES
HAPPIER HOMES
NOBLER CITIZENS
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON.
Vl '■ s” ■ ' . ■ ’ ^ '
Edited Bj Dr. J. Francis Lee.
REHOBOAM TO N EH EMI AH RE
VIEW.
1. Gplden Text: Righteousness ex
alteth a nation; buta|n is a reproach
to any people. Prov. 14:34.
Among jthe idlers of Israel and Ju
dah, there were some wise and some
very foolish kings. The wise, kings
did' much to advance Judah and Is
rael; but the unwise kings did much
to destroy these nations. Asa, Joash,
Hezekiah and Josiah were the wise
.kings of Judah. Very little can be
said of the good and wise kings of
Israel; fdr with the exception of Jehu,
there was not much good seen in the
liveig of the kings- of Israeli. '
Now Rehoboam was th# first
king over the divided king
dom and Hezekiah was the twelfth
king of the kingdom of Judah. Jero
boam was /first king of Israel in the
divided kingdom and Hosea was the
last king. In one hundred and fifty
years 1©** than the life of the king
odm of Judah, Israel had twenty-six
kings, and had seven kings more
than' Judah. Remember that jMtah
stood one hundred and fifty ^ans
longer than Israel, and yet had seTdn
kings'less than Israel. This ie indic
ative of the state of anarchy which
existed in the nation of Israel. And
while Judah had her faults, she had
a larger zeal for God, and did much
to maintain herself and to perpetu
ate the. life of Israel through her
prophets.
Lesion I. , Thie! Kingdom Rent
Asund*p, Give subject of the lesson.
JVlemory yerae. Golden Test. Who
was the last king of the united king
dom?. Give first two kings of the two
parts of Ihe sundered kingdom. GiVe
the names of the, divided kingdoms.
Lesson II. Elijah and the Strug
gle With Baal, Give subject of the
lesson. Give characters of the lesson.
Under what king of Israel does the
lesson occur? Who ia Ahab? Of what
country was Jezebel? Of what reli
gion? What was her influence upon
Israel? „ -
Lesson III. Elisha: "Teacher and
Statesman. Give' the subject of Ihe
lesson. Give tinjie, place. Golden
Text. From kingdom did Elisha
come? What do we know about EM
sha? What educational institution
does Elisha at least fostdr? What
great man did Elisha-heal?v
Lesson IV. Am^s and Hosea Plead
ing for Righteousness. Or Easter
Lesson, Risen Christ. Give topical
outlines. What Is the time?, What is
the placet? From which of the two
kindoms doe8 Amos come? What is
the burden of his message? Read
Amos, 5 .
Lesson V. The Assyrian Exile of
Israel.
Give subject of the lesson. Give
memory verse. Give time, place,
leading thought. Into whSt country,
does Jsraet, the northern kingdom,
go into captivity? What king led
them into Assyria? Tfclathpfleser.
See II Kings 16:10. What national
sin was the bottom of Israel’s cap
tivity?
VI. Jeho^e
bat is the s*
whose reign did he prophesy? wa8
he a prerexilic, exilic, or post eiiiie
prophet? fell the part Isaiah played
in tlie Assyrian crisis.
Lesson VIII Jeremiah and the
Babylonian Crisis. Give the subject
of the lesson. What are the topical
outlines. .Give the history of Je>re
1 miah? What was the attitude of the
priests, prophets, princes, people to
ward Jeremiah? Of what did they ac
cuse him?
Lesson IX. fh® Babylonian Exile
of Judah. Give subject of the lefeson.
Give topical outlines. How long did *
Judah exist after the fall of Israel?
What king destroyed Judah? What
was Judah's national sin? Give, a de
scription of the fall of Judah.
Lesson X. Ezekiel Encourages the
Exlles. Give subject Of the lekaon.
Give leading thought. Who is Eze
kiel? Where was he born? Was he
not therefore an exilic prophet?
Where didi he prophesy? On the bank J
of what Mver? What was the burden
of big message?
Lesson XI. The Return and Re
building of the Temple. Give the sub
ject of the lesson. Give topical out
lines- Give leading thought. Under
whose influence We're the exiles in
duced to return? What ruler encour
aged Ezra? After their return what 1
gre&t task do they undertake? What
prophet encouraged them? See Ezra
C:14. What was the effect upon the
people*? * .. j
Lesson XII. Reforms Under Ezra
and Nehemiah. Give the subject of
the lesson Goldeta text. Topical out
lines. Leading thought. Who was \
Nehemiah? Where was he born?
What position did he hold? What
sacrifices did hei make for his people?
What reforms did he and Ezra insti
tute?
THE WEEK'S EDITORIAL: WHITE J
PRESS —NEGRO PROGRESS FOR i
; THE YEAR.
(From tile Indianapolis Star, of June
-4.) ' x '
The National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People, with
headquarters in New York, is an or
ganization whose purpose is in a le
gal and orderly tvay to secure mem
bers of the colored race the protec
tion of law when discrimination is ,1
threatened' or accomplished and by
the promotion of good citizenship to
secure interracial harmony, its An
nual Report, a summary of which was
recently published, shows activity
along various lines and that consid
erable progress has been made in
securing peaceful adjustment of |
wrongs.
Though the Dyer Anti-Lynching
Bill has* not yet been made a law,
the; fight made in Congress and the
publicity given ,to the lynching evil
have made their influence through
the realization by the public that it
Is not the lives of Negroes alone that
are concerned, but the honor of
America and the brutalizing effect '
of the crime on the white race.
Known lynchings decreased in 1923
to twenty-eight , from sixty-one
1922. - ■ . -I
Among the forward steps noted is
the action of the unanimous vote of /
the Harvard board of overseers that
in the administration of rules for ad
mission Harvard/college maintain its
traditional policy of freedom from
discrimination on grounds of race
or religion. This was in opposition to
President Lowell’s policy of . exclu
sion. One curious episode was ithat
of the establishment of a* government
hospital at Tuskegee, Ala., forlthe
care of* Ntegro veterans. It waslnot
at first proposed to place it at wpS'
kegee, and the authorities there yd
not Want it, but opposition to it vias
so great in white communities that An j
government request 300 acres we*> j
set apart for its use on land of thl
institution, Dr. Moton, hOad of Tusl
kegeet, first stipulating that at least al J
part of the staff of physicians and*)!
nurses should be Negroes. 1
It is by systematic, orderly methods |
of securing justice to the race that a
reforms will be brought about in the/
surest way, and the Association, which l
to large and evidently wisely man
aged is proceeding on a propel A