KEIEMMG THE E0OKTH
T is curious, is
it not?” said
Eleanor, rolling
up the long or
ange colored
strip of her af
ghan for the
church fair,
which was fin
ished, and pre
paring to begin
upon the blue—
“it is curious
how people have
gotten out of
the way of keep
ing' the Fourth.
They seem to
look upon it as
t tKona i^ars ami ni’PPV.
body who can tries to fly from the
city and hide in some remote country
place where there is not so much as
the sound of a firecracker to be heard.
People coddle themselves in. these
days, even in their patriotism:”
“Yea,” answered Jean McDermot, to
whom Eleanor h'ad spoken, “times
change and people change with them.
When I was a child, the Fourth of
July was the greatest day in the whole
year. We looked forward to It as if it
were Thanksgiving or Christmas,' and
for weeks beforehand all our plans and
arrangements were made keeping the
Fourth in view. Often we had family
parties on that day, and its coming
gave a sort of impulse to the whole
town. Early In the morning of the
Fourth we children would wake up
to see the town brilliantly decorated
with flags, gay scarfs of bunting
twined around the pillars of public
buildings, and evergreens forming
archways across the streets. At dawn
there would be the thunder of cannon
from the forts outside of town—for
you know my old home was not inland,
but on the coast, and we had a fort
anite near us, and another out on an
island near the harbor. We were fa
miliar in those days with soldiers and
martial music the year round, but
the Fourth of July brought a special
sir of jubilee with its coming. There
were first the soft muffled-thunder of
the distaut. guns, and then nearer the
steeples seemed fairly to rock in the
exultant sound of the booming guns;
and as for explosives of all kinds
which children could manage, there
was simply no end to the things and
the fun." >
"People didu t seem to mind noise so
much then,” said Kleanor. “Noise uses
np our vitality now. There is so much
more of it all the time, I suppose.”
“No. they didn’t mind it then. They
hadn’t the way of 'giving up to their
nerves so much. I often think that we
make more fuss about nerves than is
necessary. Grandmother was a very
old lady, but she used to be up on the
Fourth as soon as the youngest child
In the- house, and she took as much in
terest as any of us did in the eelebra-,
tion. You see it wasn’t all noise. By"
10 o’clock in the morning processions
would be forming all over town. The |
militia assembled in their armories
and came out on parade. The veterans
walked with them, and ii good many
citizetfs formed into line and marched
along behind the drums. The children
followed on behind—all the dlfTereut
Sunday-schools with their banners—
the little girls beautifully dressed in
white with wide sashes of red and
blue, and the boys in blue jackets with
brass buttons and white trousers—all
with little flags pinned on for badges.
It was simply a splendid sight to see.
and it was something to remember all
one's life to have marched in that
grand procession. The music would
go ahead. I never hear such music in
any other place or day. It was, the
most Inspiring ttpng, and some of the
tunes come back to me now. Some
times when I sit with my sewing or
my knitting I can hear those strains
again.” )
“Did you have the Declaration of
Independence read?”
“Always That was one of the most
Important parts of the ceremonial.
The children of my day were as
familiar with that document as the
children of the present are with the
dally papers. Somehow it was more
Important to us then than now, be
cause it was not so many years since
the country was born into freedom,
and I used to look at the bold signature
of John Hancock and fancy what cour
age It took for him to write it down
there at the top. and as we looked at
the other names and remembered—for
we were constantly told—that those
men took their lives in theif hands
MOUSE IN WHICH JEFFERSON WROTE THE DECLARATION
OF INDEPENDENCE.
when they signed the Declaration, they
seemed to me the most impressive
worthies in the world. We realized
what fame meant then, and what glory
was. We were educated into good
citizenship, and taught to love our
country.”
“Well,” said her friend, “one good
thing has happened now, and that is
that our young people are learning
that wealth and money-making are not
the only things in life. They are find
ing out that it is something to have a
country and that great men are willing
to die for it. That is one of the good
things that comes out of that evil
thing—war. It must have been very
tiresome, though, to hear the Declara
tion read so often. Dreadfully ted
ious!”
“No,- it never seemed so to us. I
think we had more patience than peo
ple have now, because we used to sit
In church and listen to long sermons
which we did not in the least under
stand, yet we did not complain. It
was part of our life, and the result
was that even when we did not quite
comprehend we learned self-control,
apd were happy in being part of an
assembly, all of whom were interested.
Gradually the grand words and
phrases sank Into our memories and
became part of our experience. After
the Declaration had been read we
would all arise and sing the ‘Star
speech, a free press, freedom to wor
ship God—these were the watchwords
of our young lives.”
The two ladies were silent for a time,
absorbed in reminiscences. There *5me
a knock at the door. To Miss Jean’s
“Come in” there entered a young.girl
in a bicycle costume—her cheeks were
glowing; her eyes were bright; ner
whole manner was alert and eager, as
is the wont of our girls.
“I’ve left my wheel outside, Aunt
Jean,” she said. “I’ve had a splendid
spin. I just ran in to tell you that we
are going to have an old-fashioned
Fourtfi of July this year In town; that
hone of the young people are going
away, and that everybody is to help
along. I knew you would be pleased,
because you have never felt that we
were living up to our privileges when
we fled from the small boy and his
ubiquitous torpedo and cracker. There
are to be magnificent fireworks in the
evening. The town council has voted a
generous sum for them, though I think
that the money should have gone to
our soldiers in camp, or should in some j
way be used to help the war along. ItJ
doesn’t seem right to burn up a loti®
money when there is so much use £JB
it in more practical directions.”
“There is something in that,” said
Aunt Eleanor, musing for a while;
“and yet au old-fashioned Fourth of
July must have fireworks in the even
ing. That’s one of the principal fea
tures.”
“Now, what I want to know from you,
Aunt Jean,” said the girl, “is what to
have as an ideal Fourth of July din
ner. We girls have planned to give a
treat to the neoule at the Soldiers’
THOMAS JEFFERSON,
Who Wrote the Declaration of Independence.
-1- ---:
Spangled Banner’ or ‘Ilail, Columbia,’
or perhaps the rollicking strain of
’Yankee Doodle’ would be sung with
a will, and then the orator of the day
would come forward. It might be the
Governor, or some great statesman,
or a favorite clergyman. Whoever he
was he would speak with an eloquent
voice, and our hearts would thrill as
we listened to him. lie would talk
about our country, and what we owed
it; he would dwell upou the great ex
tent of our territory, our mineral
wealth, our rivers, our harbors, the
broad acres we had, which God had
given us to be an asylum for all the
world. Very likely some child would
riae, and with kindling eyes and vibrat
ing voice repeat Mrs. Hemans’ poem;
The oreaking waves dashed high
On a stern and rock-bound coast,
And the woods beneath a stormy sky
Their giant branches tossed.
••Whatever else we neglected, the
children of my day were taught the
history of their own country, and as a
result learned to love it and cherish its
traditions, and the annual keeping of
the Fourth had uo small share in mak
ing us loyal and true, giving'us the
feeling that we must stand fo^ ‘our
native land, and love her and cherish
her beyond every other. We grew up
with the knowledge that God meant
that this country, the home of the free,
should be a pattern for all free peoples,
and should open its arms to take in the
| oppressed of all the globe. Free
lamb and green peas, tomato salad,
and you must linish off with cherry
pie. If you like, ice cream may fol
low the cherry pie, and last of all, of
Home, and we thought we would have
the same bill of fare for them that
grandpa used to have when he invited
his old comrades and neighbors in to
help him keep the Fourth.”
“You must have cream of asparagus
soup,” said Aunt Eleanor; “after that
yon may have bluefish, then spring
course, you will serve coffee. The
Fourth of July dinner is not a very
elaborate repast, but it is not one to be
despised, either. Just a nice dinner.”
“Jennie,” said Aunt Jean, “how are
you girls going to manage with so
many of the boys away, as they are,
this year?”
"That’s one reason,” said fcnnie,
“why we are doing our best hXkeep
everything • cheerful and gay. Were
is hardly a house in town from which
one or two of the young men haves
not gone to the war, and our hearts
are heavy enough without thinking
of w hat they must endure in camp, of
privation and hardship, and of what
may happen' to them in battle; but we
feel that they are giving themselves
for their country, and it would be very
mean and cowardly for us to sit down
and cry and not care about the flag
for w hich they are willing to brave so
much. It is Just now the fashion to be
patriotic, and we want to do all we
can to encourage that spirit. I confess
that I could spare some of the fusil
lade which the small boy will keep up
through the day, but I shall say noth
ing to spoil their pleasure.”
“How are the little Elderkin boys to
have any Fourth?” said Miss Jean.
“Their mother haslbeen taken to the
hospital: their father is at the war;
and that old Hannah, who takes care
of them. Is a perfect dragon. I think
I will invite them to spend the day
here, and you and I, Eleanor, can pro
vide them with all the ammunition
they want.”
“Aunt Jeau,” said Jennie, “you are
a perfect angel; but you would better
think twice before you have those wild
little Elderkius ranging over your flow
er-beds and kindling bonfires on your
grass-plot. I am afraid you will be,
sorry if you let them come.”
“No doubt,” said Miss jean, “they
will need a little supervision, bul Peter
Bennet takes care of my garden, and
I’m very certain he will not allow any
savage rushing across the flower-beds.
I would lifte for once to make some
body happy on the Fourth, as happy as
I used to be wheu I was a girl.”—Har
per's Bazar,
revolutionary powder house.
The oldest historic building in tfie
vicinity of Cambridge is the old Pow
der House (on the road leading from
Arlington to Winter Hill), built in
1703. General Gage sent an expedition
to seize the powder stored here, be
longing to the province, on the morning
of September 1,1774. This was almost
the first hostile act of the British. The
exasperating intelligence spread, and
several thousand men assembled on
Cambridge Common the next day.
This was the first occasion on which
I
THE OLD PpWDEB HOUSE.
the provincials edme together armed,
to oppose the King’s forces. It was at
this time that Lieutenant-General Oli
ver was compelled to resign (it was his
house referred to in the foregoing
which was used as a hospital after the
Battle of Bunker Hill). The Revolu
tion had now begun, and accident
alone prevented tbe opening battle and
bloodshed of the war being at Cam
bridge instead of Lexington.
Before it was used as a powder
house this old building was used as a
grist mill, and it ground for many an
old farmstead of Middlesex and Essex.
From homes sixty miles away the
farmers’ sons came to mill with their
corn. Being built of solid masonry,
the old mill is good for another century
yet.
An Old-Fashioned Fonrth of .July. .
These new-fangled notions are giving the
i boys
A queer kind of Fourth—one without any
noise;
With speeches and picnics no patience
• have 1, •
And I pine lor an old-fashioned fourth of
July.
Then we rose with the dawn, and the can
non came first—
We packed it with powder till ready to
burst—
And my! how the glass in the windows
' did fly
When it startled the echoes on Fourth of
July.
We hitched up old Dobbin, and all tum
bled in
The rooip.v old wagon—the fat and the
thin—
Even grandma was there, and as chipper
and spry
As any young maiden the Fourth of July. I
We went ■^Hi^iarbeciie—who cared for
shoi^MW
When theWR was a-flutter with banners
and timers; '
And if down' came the rain in the midst of
. it, why,
It was part of an old-fashioned Fourth of ,
f July.
The rockets and pin-wheels and fire-crack
At evenijflSui joined in the hullabaloo,
And ^^Eigton rode on his horse in the
A figJCTrflame on the Fourth of July.
The^ana marching out in their uniforms
gay jk
Struck up by the light of the bonfires to
“The Mt-Spangled Banner” and “Sweet
Hr and By/'
And scrawled a glorious Fourth of July.
—Mi nil a Irving, in Woman’s Home Com
panion. __
Freedom.
Here in the forest now,
As on that old July
When our fathers took the vow.
The bluebird, stained with eartn and sky,
Shouts from a blowing bough
In green aerial freedom, wild and high—
, now, as then, the bobolink,
in the uncertain brink
swaying maple, swings,
; his song out, link by golden link;
_f over the wood his proclamation
I rings,
A d^ng boast that would unkingdom
the wild birds sang on bough and
y^Bfay the Bell of Independence Hall
^^Eered upon the world the Word of
*God uttered when the worjd be
'rhS fay when Liberty began to be,
And mighty hopes were out on land and
tea.
But Freedom calls her conscripts now as
1 then:
It Ss an endless battle to be free.
A. the old dangers lessen from the skies
the centuries eternally,
AgKa^wf^n, will rise Thermopylae—
Again, again, a new Leonidas
Must-bold for God the imperilled Pass.
As thfjong ages run
New Lexington will rise on Lexington;
And tnany a valorous Warren fall
Upon|he imperilled wall.
MiAAs the conscript of an endless quest,
A Mhg divine adventure without rest—
1 war, a battle yet unwon
he shall climb beyond the burnt-out
^hard-earned freedom withers to a
bond:
tan forever is beyond—beyond!
‘ —Edwin Markham.
Fourth of July.
are happy, and faces are bright.
t has brought us a day of delight,
and flags afloat, wave in the air,
ts rrow young again, leaving their
Iks ..appily, gladly cry,
Jy jolly,”
burth of July!
ts of fireworks, purchased to see,
iTwhat a merry old Fourth it can be.
;ets and crackers are purchased with
care,
' s of fireworks have to be there,
varieties, ready laid by,
i be used, you know,
of July!
oo, has a hand laying away, i
will surely be needed that day,
and bandages, plaster and
jS • i
retty for holiday things,
'll be useful, all by and by,
and bandages—
July!
—Mary Mrent Whiteside.
. " M .. *
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
"THE UNIVERSAL IN RELIGION."
I -
the Rev. C. L. P»lmer Direct* Attention
to Certain Form* or Doctrine* Com
mon to All—Every System of Religion
Bat Dome Conception of God. *
I Kixor.'OV, N. Y. — In the Reformed
Church of the Comforter on Sunday morn
ing th* Rev. C. L. Palmer preached a
i scholarly discourse entitled ‘‘The Univer
sal in Religion.”
Tylor. in Primitive Culture, gays: He
: who only knows one religion can no more
1 understand that religion, thfcn he who only
' understands one language cm master that
language.” By which he m«ana, that one
cannot adequately appreciate any system
of faith and practice withoCt some knowl
edge of the history, doctrines and customs
of systems other than his ova, any more
j than one can master his native tongue
I without any knowledge of its cognates.
! It is undeniable that a study of the various
| systems discloses a religious substratum
and phenomena, of which no intelligent
' student is willing to be deprived.
The population of the world is estimated
St 1,302,000,000. Of this number 100,000,000
are pagan or heathen, which represent* the
very lowest grade of humanity. There are
1 supposed to be 175,000,000 Brahman*. The
, nominal and professed followers of Buddah
and Confucius arc estimated at 420,000,000.
Mohammedans number more than 200,000,
000. Christians, including Roman Cath
olic, Creek Church and Protestant, are
computed at 400,000,000. The whole of
Eastern Asia is occupied by the Buddhists,
India by the Brahmans, Africa, Australia
and the South Sea Islands by the pagan
tribes. Parts of Europe, Asia and Africa
by the Mohammedans, the largest part of
Europe and America by Christians.
The conservative classifications of the re
ligions of the world were suoh as these—
true and false religions, natural and super
natural, pagan and revealed, spiritual and
■superstitious. Such a classification is not
only confusing to the student of compara
tive-religions, but ia unjust, for every
system contains some truth. A better
classification is: 1. Tribal. 2. Ethnic.
3. Catholic. The tribal includes all sys
tems which have no ritual, priesthood,
creed, eaered writings, architecture or
music. The ethnic religions are confined
to one nation; such, for example, was the
religion of Egypt, which for a thousand
years was limited to its national borders.
The system of Assyria was confined to
Assyria; the religion of Greece was con
fined to the Hellenic race; that of Rome
to the Romans; of Confucius to China;
Brahmanism is confined to India, and the
faith of the Eddas was limited to the
Scandinavian or Teutonic races. The
Catholic systems, in spirit and method,
know no limit in either time or ter
ritory. They aspire to conquer the
world. Such were Moses, Zoroaster, Bud
dah, Mohammed and Jesus, flthnic relig
ions were evolved out of their own life.
Catholic systems were formulated, intro
duced and promulgated by an inspired
prophet. , ,
It in not my purpose iu iroce uie
of religion, the evolution or development,
or to compare the merits of each, but to
very briefly direct attention to certain
forms or doctrines common to all.
Such conception is either just or unjust,
true or false, right or wrong, though no
faith, even among the most degraded, is en
tirely destitute of some truth concerning
God. Christijnfity is the one system which
has an adequate disclosure of . the attri
butes of Jehovah, because Jesus became in
carnate the reveal the Father. "He that
hath seen Me hath seen the Father." And
even Christianity cannot condense in a
single definition a comprehensive descrip
tion of the Supreme Being, for the idea is
Bot simple but complex. The lowest con
ception of God is known as animism, which
is belief-in spiritual powers as opposed to
materialism. It is the unformulated no
tion of the most undeveloped tribes, and
has no place in the Christian system ex
cept as clarified and perfected in angel
ology and demonology. Polytheism is
found principally in the ethnic systems.
In Kgypt the divine elements were seen
dwelling in nature. The Greek deities
were not personifications, but persons, di
vine men and women. In the Vedic
Hymns of India the forces of nature are
spiritualized into objects of reverence and
love. The most marked form of pantheism
appears in the Hindu religion, which is
in its extreme development, that the uni
verse is God, and God is the universe.
Christian science savors of it. The doc
trine of the divine imminence may be so
forced as to eliminate the personality of
God. Ditheism is belief in two hostile
powers which was a tenet of Zoroastrian
ism. Triads appear in the ethnic and Cath
olic systems. The Christian doctrine of the
trinity is a necessary and natural concep
tion of God, and becomes /clear if it is
understood to represent Him as one in es
sence but three in form. Monotheism is
principally characteristic of the Catholic
systems, though traces are found in the
pagan and ethnic. Deeply imbedded in
every heart is the convit.ion of an Al
mighty personality, and that such person
ality is back of all forms and images, and
that the latter becomes efficacious because
of the power of God.
All possible theories about the origin of
the universe are reducible to four. 1.
That it had no beginning, but ha: always
existed either in its present or anotner
form. While the eternity of matter has
been advocated by some it has never be
come a popular belief, and it does not ap
peal to modern science. But among the
primitive tribes we presume, many think
of the handiwork of God .without com
mencement and culmination. 2. That it
came by a process of evolution. This the
ory had been modified in recent years by
Biblical scholars and philosophical think
ers, with the result of a most haarty ac
ceptance on the part of some thorough
studenas and devoted scientists. 3. An
other view is that it came by a process
of emanation. The difference between evo
lution and emanation seems to be, that the
former is a growth up to and including a
certain completeness, while the latter be
gan "with the dark abyss of infinite being,
and by means of a series of emanations or
fallings away from this inconceivable lirst
essence, gradually reached an intelligent
Creator and an intelligent creation." This
theory is Oriental in its origin, appearing
first m the cosmogony of the Hindus. 4.
Conservative Christian scholars are di
vided on this doctrine. Some hold that
God created, that is, actually made,
brought into existence, the material out
of which all things were formed. Others
hold that He simply cut, carved and fash
ioned the universe out of pre-existing ma
terial. It is difficult to say just what form
is acceptable to the majority of Christian
scholars. Evolution as we now understand
it is certainly accepted by men whose sin
cerity we cannot question and whose schol
arship commands universal admiration.
There is a spirit in man and the inspira
tion of the Almighty giveth it understand
ing. The lowest and most ignorant pagan,
and the most intelligent Christian is born
in possession of it. The practice of the
human family from the very first confirms
the statement, “that the spirit of man
goeth upward." All believe in a spirit
world and that access is had to it through
prayer. Men pray either because they ob
tain what they ask for, or because the act
is a blessing in itself. The Sioux Indians
pray—“Spirits of the dead, have mercy on
us." The Zulus of Africa pray- to their
ancestors—“People of our bouse, people of
our house; cattle. People of our house,
good luck and health.” A Delaware In
dian prayeds thns—“O Great Spirit above!
have mercy" on my children and my wife.
Let tnem not mourn for me.' Let me sue
coed in this enterprise, slay my enemy, re
turn in safety to my ’family and friends,
that we may rejoice together. Have pity
on me and protect my life.” The negro
on the gold coast prayed—"Rod give me
to-day rice and yams, give me slaves, riches
and wealth. Let me be brink and swift.”
The Karens of Burmali pray to the harvest
goddess thus—“Grandmother! thou guard
est ray field look out sharp for thieves.
If they come bind them with this rope.’'
Such are a few forms used by the childlike
races; the ethnic systems disclose a higher
and more enlightened conception of invo
cation. The Vedic hymns are filled with
adoring homage—Of which God now, of
which of the immortals, shall we invoke
the amiable name? la-t us invoke the ami
able name of Aditi. Agni, the god of tire,
is addressed as the Divine Monarch. In
China the worship of ancestors is con
stantly practiced. On an Assyrian tablet
are found these words: “May I never feci
the anger and wrath of God.’ The ancient
Mexicans addressed God, “The God by
whom we live, Thou omnipresent, Who
knoweth all out thoughts, and giveth all
gifts.” They baptized children with this
formula, “Let these holy drops wash away
the sin that it received before the founda
tion of the world, so that the child may be
new born.” In the Catholic religions we
discover an element less conspicuous than
in the others. It is pardon tor past sins,
reconciliation with God and growth in
grace. It would be interesting to trace
under this division the practice of sacrifice,
hymnology and other forms that enter into
worship, hut we pass on.
Inspiration implies that man must have
a capacity to be inspired, which makes it
a human faculty and therefore common
to all. Inspiration in its largest sense is
the sight of inward truth, a truth which is
seen within the mind. A thought will
come while one is walking, conversing,
reading or meditating. It is a kind of
inspiration. Poets have been inspired to
write poetry. Scientists have been in
spired to formulate the sciences, musicians
to compose music, Columbus to discover,
Newton and Edison to both discover and
invent. Inspiration differs in quantity
and quality, religious being the highest.
The Vedas and Zend Avesta are considered ,
inspired by their cult. The Mohammedans
believe the Koran is inspired of God and
therefore infallible, and Christians make
the same contentions for the Scriptures.
There is a low and crude form of inspira
tion among the undeveloped races, wnich
is not committed to writing. The ,Samoiedt
of Siberia have diviners who work them
selves into a frenzy before delivering ora
cles. The notion of inspiration appeared
in the insanity of the Pythian priestess
and the Greek diviners who fell into
trances. In the religion of Greece it ap
peared as an alien element. The wild
dances of the Bacchantes, the shrieks a'nd
self-lacerations of the Corybtantcs were
considered forms of inspiration. In the
Hindu religion it apjtears in the Yoga,
that is one who seeks God by withdrawing
from the things of sense. Painful posi
tiona are assumed, contortions of the limbs,
suppression of breath and other incred
ible mortifications. The Greenlander has
his prophets, who abandon the converse of
men and remain in fixed intensity of
thought until they hear and see the spirits.
Balaam was compelled to utter an invol
untary pro,.hecy, and tne priests of Baal
rut Liiuiiacms iym.ii minva. «uiiiiunna
our own country, at protracted meetings,
pien have the “jerks.” The Shakers dance,
.the Mohammedans whirl. These seem ab
surd to us, but they disclose this,'that all
mankind would ascertain the will ot' God.
From time immemorial the human race
has had some intimation of an endless
life. The most degraded savages and the
most enlightened philosophers share the
conviction that death does not end all.
The Hottentot and the Fiji Islander agree
with Plato and Aristotle. The Esquimaux
in the Arctic circle, the native of Siberia,
the Australians, the Patagonians believe
that the grave is the cradle of another
Iff". All the religions of antiquity believe
ija immortality, Egypt, China, India, Per
sia, Greece, Home, Mexico, Peru, the Tar
tar tribes of Central Asia, the negroes of
Central and Western Africa and the isl
ands of the Pacific, all contend that while
the body returns to dust, the spirit goes
to God, Who gave it. The North Amer
ican Indian believes in duplicate souls,
one remaining with the body, the other
departing during sleep. It has been
claimed by some that Buddhism is an ex
ception, but it is hot. The teaching of
Buddhism is to annihilate by the destruc
tion of desire. It is not claimed that this
is successful, but that the spirit becomes
incarnate in one form or another until it
rests in Nirvana. The transmigration of
souls was taught by the religion of Egypt,
hence they embalmed their dead. It is
found in Brahmanism, among the Greek
philosophers—Pythagoras, Empedocles and
Plato. By the Neo-Platouists, Jewish
Cabbala, Arab philosophers, by origin and
other church fathers. Also by the Gnos
tics, Maniehcans, Hruids and in more re
cent times by Fourier. Christianity be
lieves in eternal life, and that Jesus be
came flesh, not only to disclose God, but
to bring life and immortality to light.
Man is a moral being, because he has a
moral nature. He has a moral sentiment,
moral ideas and a moral power. The
moral sentiment is the sense of right and
wrong, which produces a feeling of duty
and obligation. Moral ideas consist in the
oorlain ants art* rurhf nt h<>ra
wrong. Moral power is the ability to do'
the right and not the wrong. Feeling,
thought and will cannot be climin
inated from any moral test. Even
the childlike races have some conception
of right and wrong, though often very
much below the Christian standard;
enough, however, to be classed among
those who are not without Cod. But
few, if any, have been discovered without
enough moral ability to say yes to the
right and no to the wrong. It is not de
nied that the moral standard is different
in each system, and that what may be
right in one may be wrong in another.
The temples of India and China encourage
vices which are too low to mention. The
underlying principle of Brahmanism is to
gratify every desire. The test of Chris
tianity is the type of life it produces. The
liberal, consistent, devoted business man,
father, brother, son, the position of
mother, sister, daughter, the Christian
home, school, hospital and the National
flag. They are the result of the code of
ethics—the Bible. One has only to read
any of the standard works on the life of
the nations in order to be convinced that
Christianity is capable of producing the
ideal life. That while every system con
tains some truth, Christianity is the truth.
The religious world is passing through a
great change. To just what we are com
ing no one is confident, though the indi
cations are that Christianity is destined
to encircle the globe.
1. Christianity is the one system that
is making civilization. We lament the in
difference and anathy on the part or Chris
tians, but it is not to be compared with *
the lethargy of heathenism.
2. Christianity is destined to spread,
because it has the Bible, church, Sabbath,
and has produced a type of civilization
that satisfies the enlightened mind and
renewed heart.
3. All the aggressive systems have the
inspiration of an inspired prophet. We
have the greatest of them all. Christ is
seeking the nations, -ml they arc seeking
Him.
4. Christianity not only contains all
the truth of all other systems, but much
not possessed by others.
Be not anxious about to-morrow. Do to
day's duty, tight to-day’s temptation and
do not weaken and distrust yourself by
looking forward to things which you can
not see and could not understand if you
saw them.—Charles Iuns-.ley.