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I THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS, SATURDAY, JUNE 22, 1)0T. Sermon preached by Her. Richard Orme IN THE HOUSE OF MY FRIENDS Fllnn at North Avenue Presbyterian church, “I WAS WOUNDED IN THE HOUSE OF MY FRIENDS.”—ZECH. 13:6. Jan « >»■ *■>« pnbii.hcd by .peci.i roquet. By REV.-RICHARD ORME FLINN, PASTOR NORTH AVENUE PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH L AST Saturday, after a week of planning and preparation along a chosen line, I was Impressed that the contemplated theme was not the one I should present on the mor row, and furthermore, to my dircom tlture I found, as I turned back to a number of texts which had Impressed me In the past, that not one of these kindled me or appealed to me as suited to the present. Finally, after again laying the matter before Him for whom I sought to apeak and asking His direc tion, I went to my library, and took from the shelf an old volume entitled "Jay's Morning and Evening Exercises." I turned to see what text he had chosen to comment upon for June 16 and as soon as I found It I warmed to It Immediately. The text was In Zerhnrlah 12:6. “What are these wounds In thine hands? Then he shall answer: These with which I wa* wounded In the house of my friends." It was the latter part of this verse that Dr. Jay considered, "1 whs wounded In the house of my friends." Now, I am very well aware that there Is a considerable difference among com mentators concerning the reference of these words, some denying and some affirming their application, to Christ. Though Dr. Jay recognises that their primary meaning was not Messianic, he treats them In relation to the Lord because of their pertinency and historic application. As I read I found him asking, Is there any reason for this lament on the part of the Master now? Do any of those who are His friends to day wound Him In their homes? And to this he answers, Yes, and In this They wonhd Him by neglect. 1. The world neglects Him—this, of course, we expect, but, ah! his friends neglect Him, too. Neglect Him In that they do not attend upon the means of grace that cost Him so much to give: neglect Him In that they cease the "assembling.of themselves together as the manner of some Is." though He Himself Invites them, designating both the place and the day. Yes, they wound Him by neglect, , I. They wound Him by selflshnesa. He was unselfish, utterly unselfish In Hit service for them—but they?—too often their own Interests, their own pleasures and plans are moro precious than His plensure or the prosperity of His cause, and because they will not sacrifice their means, their limes, their plans for Him, and they wound Him by their aolflshness. I, They wound Him by their distrust. This distrust Is manifest In that they do not consult Him shout their plnns, but leave Him out until their nffnlrs are all entangled and then entreat Ills help, and when He has helped He Is forgot ten again until He again must be made use of In a moment of need. They do not trust Him In that they do not try HIs way, commit themselves to His leadership and boldly expect Him to do for them what He has promised. Yes, they wound Him by distrust. 4. He la wounded because of Ills friends' timidity and cowardice. When HIs name la scorned they are silent, when they are ashamed of Him who was for them ashamed of nothing. When He who bore the scorning and the howling of the mob muat now bear the greater grief of silence on the part of those whoso loyalty should make them apeak—and thus He Is wounded t by their timidity. S. Ho Is wounded by tholr lack of Joyousness. Tho sorrowful countenance, melancholy look and mournful tone of those who claim to be HIs friends do not commend Him, and to the unknow, tng world HIs friendship seems tedious. He said, "My Joy I glvo unto you," but when they fall to receive HIs gift and are Joylsss, when their ltfo Is not ra diant and gladsome, when thero Is no wlnwmeness In them to awaken the wonderment of the world, such as He awoke when He walked among men. then by their lack of Joyousness He Is wounded by HIs friends. 6. He Is wounded because of Ills friends' unholy conduct: by. the Con trast of their life to HIs teaching; by their living epistles hellelng HIs writ ten epistles, so that the world Is con fused and believes what they see and hear rather '.San what He tells them. By their Inconsistency He Is wounded by HIs friends. This Is about ths thought of Dr. Jay, not In his own words, but in substance. Now, my beloved, I do not know how all this strikes you, hut as I read his words they cut me to the heart and I thought. Am I a friend of Jesus, and Is It possible that I am wounding Him? And then I fell to thinking about the houses of Christ’s friends. I thought my home Is one of these houses, I havs Invited Him to come there and abide, to be Its head, and I asked my self, Is there anything In my home that wounds my Friend? And then I thought this. HIs church, Is the house of Christ's friends, and I asked again. Is there anything In this church that wounds our Friend? And then I thought the places where HIs people labor are the houses of HIs friends, and I asked again. Is thero anything In our busi ness places that wounds Him? And once more I thought, our hearts are Chrlst’e abode, HIs temples. If Indeed we ure Hie, and I wondered If there was anything wo would allow—nay, was there anything I waa allowing to live In my heart—any ambition or any unholy love or passion that would wound Him? Ah! beloved, ns I meditated along the line which this Oodly man had suggest ed all further expectation of preaching a set sermon gave way to a desire that I might alt together with you at the Master's feet during the quiet of this service and have un honest, frank, heart-to-heart talk about the way we are treating Him, while He searches and shows iib If there Is anything, any. where, In our hearts or homes that to day Is wounding Him. As I reached this decision and yielded myself to the thought, a waking vision passed before, me, and I want to say very honestly that what 1 saw had ref erence to n<> single person, but was a great composite picture of tho Chris tian world ns I knew It; of the church ns I knew It, without reference to any Individual. The vision was on this wise: Jesus having been oft Invited, decided to romo to a home; He felt they must want Him very much, for so many times they had usked'for HIs preaenco and blessing, and so, at last, He de termines He will come and bo one with them. It was on a Sabbath morning very early. You remember when Ho rose It was on Die Sabbath morning very early, and so It was on a Sabbath morning very early that In acceptance uf their Invitation He enters their abode. The house la quiet, for the family retired late—very late—some of them early on Sabbath morning not long before He came, and ao they are resting now In heavy slumber, worn out by the weary week of work. As He waits, the eervnnts also being slow to assemble. He looks around. It 1s a house of culture, refinement marks till of Its appointments, evidently Intelli gence Is a characteristic of Its Inhabi tants. There are books appropriately bound upon the shelves. Upon tho ta bles are the current magaalnes; He opens one of these. I see a blush man tle the Master's face as I look, and I recognise It as one of those sheets given up to carnality, alas, too often found In Christian homes, whose Illustrations are such as that upon them Jesua, “who Is of purer eyes than to behold Iniquity," can not look. He turns from the magazines to the shelf. There, among other books, He finds volumes handsomely bound, wrIN ten by men who have scorned Him, re viled Him and ridiculed HIs cause: names that represent antagonism to the truth, and yet these are the chosen volumes In the house of HIs friends. Yes, and the children of these friends, whose minds will be Impressed by what they read, have access to these books, and thus He Is wounded. Taming front the library. He looks upon the walls. There He sees many pictures of many kinds, some of Him self and some—well, as I see Him look ing I find Him wondering, even as we have sometimes wondered, how It ever came to pass that a heart that wgs In touch with HIs and In full sympathy could ever have chosen that picture; and wondering again how a heart that was In touch with Ills and that was growing In grace and In the knowledge of Him could ever keep that picture, and then wondering likewise how a heart that was seeking to live up to the sublime standard of purity which He commanded could ever hope to at tain It If It kept or countenanced that picture. This Is not all He eees. On the table Is a pack of cardo and other Implementa of the easy-going life that so many of Hie children lead In this eosy-golng age when there are no per secutions to test them, and on the side board In the breakfast room, which He can see where He stands, are decan ters filled with liquors. Yea In the house of HIs friends—Just as they are In the houses of those who care not for Him. As He eees these things and consid ers what they mean, He wonders, since thev are kept. If thiy who keep them really cared and meant It when they asked for HIs presence and HIs bless ing. After a while tbe family assembles. It is the hour of breakfast. One after another they come In. He waits to hear them breathe the blessing be speaking their gratitude for the morn, Ing portion. It may bo that the thing* Ho has noticed that have hurt Him do not represent them—they were mere excrescences, accidents If you please, as the spirit of HIs friends now will shojv —and so He stands ready In order that at the giving of thanks and breaking of the bread He may reveal Himself to them as He did to the two at the meal who walked with Him to Em- maus. He waits,, but there Is no pause, no silence, no bowed heads, the are upturned, the meal begins, gifts are received, the Glvecls forgot ten, He receives no thanks, and Christ, the Invited guest. Is Ignored. Do you wonder then that He Is unrevealed and unknown, and that He Is wounded In the house of Ills friends? The meal Is over. The blessing has been dispensed with this morning, but surely this was because at tho close of the meal tho family, together with the servants, will gather at the altar, where the father will open the Hook and rend the lesson and commend them all to Cod. What a blessed time He will have with them. As they read He will take the pre- ulaus truths and reveal their Import to them. He will make them understand so that their hearts shall burn; yes, so that the llttl^ children and tho older onoa alike ahall catch a vision, a vision which shall last through life, and shall lure them from sin and lead them on lit virtue, when the parent'o voice Is stilled by death. But they do not thus assemble; Instead the father goes forth, not to search the Scripture, but to pore ever the Sabbath paper, nr.d the children too—they look for tho pictured page that Interests them, nnd Jesus and the Sabbath are forgotten and Ha Is wounded In the house of Ills friends. Hut surely all will not thus employ this sacred day. Some certainly will seek tho sanctuary. Yes, this Is true. REV. RICHARD ORME FLINN. These hurry off to make ready. He goes with them, leaving the others who care not for Him and are ao evidently cut'of touch with all He Is und repre sents. He goes with them that He may kneel beside them as they kneel to commit themselves to God Jn quiet, unhurried prayer before they go forth to teach or hear. Yes, He Is going to en- ten Into the closet with these, that as they speak He may answer, and as they ask He may help and so equip and enkindle them that they may be ready and ablaze even before the ser vice ahall begin. But no. He cannot do thle, they do not let Him. They do not take time for prayer, the time le spent Instead In dressing. In unnec essary toilet preparation that they may be seen of men. They stand before the mirror made of glass, but not be fore the mirror which shows the Inner man on which Qod looks, the mirror which Indicates alone where conduct needs correcting. Their Bible Is un opened, the communion Is omitted, and He Is wounded In tho house of HIs friends. Sad and grieved the Lord goes forth from thle home whore Ills friends abide, to the home where His friends are wont to worship. As He enters what does He see? I shrink when I begin to think what the Master sees, for I remember that He seeth not as you soe nor as I see, but He sees oil that Is passing In Ills people's hearts and minds. Surely In the sanctuary the worldliness which, alas, too often, fills the thought and mars the lives of HIs friends, will be put away. Here on the Sabbath at the hour of service, they will give themselves over to sol emn, heart-searching, and to humblo penitence, to seeking nfter Him, to con fesslon and to prayer. They will be early at the sanctuary that they may quiet themselves for tho service. But no, az the service begins but few nro present Tho others continue to nrrlve fiom time to time through all the car- lit r exercises. Presently there Is a pause—HIs friends are about to pre sent their gifts to Him. The Lord Is Interested In this. When on earth He feed to stand over against the treas ury to see how men east In their gifts; not because He needed their gold, but because the measure and the manner of their giving was a test and a token of their love, and He who knows the heart, and knows what He has given unto each of worldly goods. Is pleased or Is insulted by their manner here., Tell me, as He stands over against our treasury and watches, knowing what we keep and what we give. Is It- possi ble that we ever wound Him thus In this house of prayer? The sermon begins. HIs servant Is delivering HIs message. Are Ills friends Interested In what He thus would teach them? Their faces will not show, so He looks Into their hearts. What Is It that He eeea? A readiness, nay, eagerness, to hear, a hunger for the truth, a sweet sympathy with the her ald of the gospel which enables them to catch the Import of tho message, however poorly his faltering lips speak it, welcoming It andYipplylng It as from the Lord to them? Or can It be that He sees Indifference or mere tolerance, or even an unsympathetic Impatience —a spirit of criticism and contempt as though the message were merely man’s nnd the minister spake for himself? And as the Inattention grows,.when He searches to see what are these thoughts which to them are more appealing than these thoughts of God and heaven and doty. He finds one man busy with h|s business, planning for the morrow and the week; a woman with reverential demeanor scanning her neighbor's hat or frock, considering the harmony of colors and the suitableness of the pat terns as she designs the costume she will soon begin, and here another re membering yie last bit of scandal they have heard about the man or woman who sits beside them or before them. And then. If Ihe service Is at nil pro tracted even their faces show their discontent and eagerness to be gone. The service seems tedious and Intoler able. This place of prayer Is Irksome, even though for the most- part they will not enter It again for the entire week. The time consumed In this one assemblage seems a sacrifice too great and attention to the message too diffi cult. Need we ask If by such an atti tude aa this He Is wounded In the house of HIs friends? But Is It fair to test Hla people by their Inattention In the sanctuary? Perchance the service le a dull one. the minister having nothing new, but merely the old, old gospel of which they have grown tired, as they have heard It from his lips so oft. The real proof of their devotion Is obedience to HIs commands, to the command which He had given—that they should love one another, so that all men might know thorn as HIs friends. As He sees their heart, does He find this love? The charge has been made against HIs church that It has drifted so far afield from HIs vision and HIs plan that HIs people do not love one another with that Intimate personal love that makes their cheeks burn when one of their number falls or falls. It has been said that the church now Is more like a hotel than a home, having become merely a place where people gather for spiritual diet and rest, even as they gather at a hotel for these. Now, os He lpoks upon the church, does what He see refute or confirm this charge? Does He find HIs « living as a family of which He center and head and of which they are tho Integral parts, each one Intimately Interested with each and all the others, or are they, according to the charge, but a mere religious club, a congregation, people thrown together who have become somewhat acquainted and affiliated through association In a way like unto those who take suburban trains and know one another and have common Interests, and who occasionally co-operate to accomplish certain com mon purposes, but who are not one aa He le One with the Father? My be loved, you mtist answer whether or not In this case He Is wounded In the house of Hie friends. On the way home from the church, what does the Master hear? Do the parents talk over the service with the children, as did the parents In Scotland, of the saintly Patton (the great mis sionary to the New Hebrides), when coming from the ktrk to their cot, they discussed—mind you they did not dis sect, but discussed—the sermon, so that not only their sympathy with the min ister was manifest, but their sympathy with the truth he sought to teach, and so that, by taking the beet, by catching what he meant rather than what he said, and by Illustration, amplification and application, the message waa il lumined and Indelibly Impressed upon their own nnd their children’s hearts? Does He hear this or doe* He hear— nothing? That Is, nothing of the serv ice, or If It la discussed, nothing but criticism of the music, of the minister, tolerant If not unkind and disparaging, but enough, at any rate, to dissipate the Impression, prejudice the hearer and alienate the thoughtless and wound the Master—their Friend? Instead of going to the church house, suppose the Master had looked In on a Sabbath morning at the business houses of HIs friends. He would have found them there, many of them, open ing their mail, arranging their busi ness, and with them He would have found young men. Influenced by their employers' example to disregard God’s day, the day their mothers have taught them to observe, but which they now fear to keep lost they lose out and for feit their positions. As He finds these men thus employed on Hla holy day, so that HIs message la not heard or heeded. I wonder If the Master Is pleased, or If He Is wounded In the house of HIs friends. And then, when the Master looke over the ledger, when He considers the business method and - reckons up the reasons why certain policies are fol lowed Instead of others, and hears the argument that others do it and we will lose If we do It not, I wonder It the Master, who lost everything and who sacrificed all that He might be true to God, and whose associates were such brave, true men as that they gave up their business and their homes, and at last their lives, that they might keep faith with Him—I wonder whether to day In the homes of His friends, the business homes, our Master would be wounded? And then. If the Lord goea home to dinner with one of Hla friends from church, I wonder If He would feel quite comfortable there on the Sabbath day? Everything le elaborate. The servants are tired. They have tolled all the morning to make tho repast' ready. They have sacrificed their sabbath for the feast, and as the Master thinks on this I find Him wondering why we are wondering how it Is that our serv ing class seems to be growing more and more dissolute, less and less re ligious, showing more and more a spirit of worldliness and intemperance, and less and less such an Interest In spir itual affairs as the old uncles and aunties we knew as children showed, And I believe as He thinks of how HIs friends make their servants toll on thle day concerning which He taught thou s halt-do no unnecessary labor, tbou nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor even thy cattle, I fear that this feast does not delight Him, but rather Ho Is wounded In the house of HIs friends. And think of what He will hear aa He gathers with ths other Invited guesta at the table during this hour of feasting and festivity. Do we wonder He Is wounded as He listens to the light, the frivolous and the worldly conversation that fills the time? Cer tainly it Is not like the table talk In which Hie disciples used to engage when He met them In the homes of HIs friends of old. Tho afternoon comes and the family scatter, the young men to pay tholr so cial obligations, or to start their jour ney for which they are not willing to tako time from their business, but for which they must needs wait for the Lord's day; the young women to re ceive a gay and careless crowd- thi older ones to read—to read what? w« do not say—we feel almost that th« Master Is ashamed to look—but not ths Bible whatever else It Is, for this day which He hath given In which to h« come familiar with Hla bleseed hook Is not thus employed. Oh. of course It may be taken up listlessly, for a mo' ment, but the spirit of the book Is so out of harmony with the spirit of the hour that It la Boon set aside that other theme* may claim the attention Wt see the Master leaving the home. Ha Is not wanted here, why should Ha stay? Ho goes to a resort. Hie friends are going, why ahouldn’t He? He gw* that He may see why they go, and finds they are there that they may forget, that they may bo diverted, and yet He has given them this day In order that they may consider and meditate, that they may consecrate It to an earnest Becking after Him. As the evening falls He turns back again, sad-hearted, and seeks HIs sanc tuary. Surely after thle day of riot will come repentance and a seeking after God. He waits—a few Come In but the many are missing and the ab sence of Hla friends at this trystlng S lace, at this appointed hour, wounds !lm again. Standing on the church steps He sees the cars go post—crowd, ed—with HIs friends—going to places He cannot with them abide, going to these places past Ills well-nigh empty churches where He awaits them—end He Is wounded In the house of HIs friends. But le there no comfort for the Mas. ter? Are there nothing but wounds? Yes, He sees Into the hearts of many true love and faith and trust—yea, and grief. Grief for their own lack of lova, their lack of loyalty, their lack of pas sion, and grief that this lack In them- selvea prevents them from arousing the others whom they love and honor to a loyalty to Christ. My brethren, aa this vision passed before me, and I began to think about the little ones In our homes—the little ones who need so much to know Him and to love Him as their friend—I be gan to wonder what heritage this man ner of life we lead today will leave them. I have two precious boys In my horns who need to know Him, yes and to love Him, and I would have Him there that they might know Him so well and love Him so well that when they come to years when they must choose when I am gone, they may choose aright, as, attracted by this friend, they turn with scorn and contempt from the hellish al lurements which I know the world Is going to offer. May I hope that Hs will abide ae a friend In my home, and that they will know him? There were homes where He used to abide when He was here among men, and I asked myself, were Ho here to day la my home such a home as He would seek? But why ask this? Christ Is among men now. He Is among them more Intimately than when In the body, and He Is unchanged, the same rasters day, today and forever. What then at. traded Him attracts Him now. What wounded him then will wound Him now. Does my home attract Him as did that home In Bethany of old? Yes, more, does my heart attract him? Does yours? Can He moke therein HIs homo? Is there anything In my life of In your life that wounds the Master? Is there anything left oat of it that ths Master misses? Is there anything left In It that Is offensive to our friend? These were the thoughts that came to me In my waking vision, and I fell that I could do nothing bettor than Just to talk with you about them. Ths question has gripped me and may God grant that It may likewise grip you, for the question has helped mo and therefore I believe It will help you, and so I tell you. THE CRIME AGAINST THE CRIMINAL By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD, PASTOR UNIVERSALIST CHURCH I N the beautiful prayer given to the world by Jesua, which tins be come the common property of divided Christendom, there appears one petition with a qualifying clause, or, ft may be said, the Imposition of a .condition, for the assurance of fulllll- nitnt. And this petition 1* undoubt edly one of the moat vital of the entire prayer, for what aoul Is there whose secret Inner consciousness recognises not the continual need of forgive ness? As soon aa man had developed a trustworthy conscience, as soon ns Mother Eve'* fabled transgression hod given to tho rocs the knowledge of good and evil, man had arrived at the necessity for pafdon, und It Is a press ing need which shall never cease, this aide of spiritual perfection. "As We Forgive." And. though man's moral and tntel- •lutual growth, from infancy toward maturity, brings him In time to the aaving realization that forgiveness does not accomplish remission of pen Uly, lest that moral growth be there by seriously halted, yet. Inspired by tie purified and ennobled spiritual per ception. he craves genuine forgive ness the more* sincerely and strives more earnestly for Its attainment. When a man has been led to under stand that forgiveness Is merely on- bther name for the soul's realisation of that "peace of God which paaseth all understanding,” ha then know* that It Is a condition of the spiritual man which Is distinctly apart from any consideration of retributive justice. And then It Is that he begins to dis trust and reject as worse then use less theology's frantic efforts to es cape the penalty whose seed every sin sows for Inevitable reaping. Also It becomes true that the Individual who has learned the true nature of for gtvenees understands that Jrsus slm ply stated a spiritual fact, as certain and as demonstrable as any scientific fact, when He admonished HIs follow ers to hope for forgiveness only ns their hearts entertained the forgiving •pint. There Is a well known and uni versally recognized principle In phys ics that two separate bodies cannot occupy tbe same portion of apace at the same period of time, and the law is as certain In psychics as It Is In physics. The heart which Is em ployed with thoughts of Onger, hatred, malice, or schemes for revengo against any offender, real or hypothetical, Is absolutely unable to experience the In. expressible Joy of full forgiveness, for the heart reaolutely refuses to simul taneously entertain guests so very un like and so very Inharmonious It Is an absolute certainty that we cannot be forgiven until we have first for given. Society's Unforgiving 8piriL It seems not so extremely difficult for us to recognise this universal law of forgiveness, and to strive for [sure end happiness through our obedience, so tong as the field of Its application la Immediate and Individual. But, when the field of forgiveness brosdens Into the social conscience ns we have It represented In tho ethics of the ag gregation of Individuals which we call society, we find that actual forgiveness Increase! In difficulty of accomplish ment. Aa individuals we find ourselves able, without serious difficulty, to truly forgive the morel weakling, whose tm- mt dials exigency or whose unfortunate heredity and environment have con tributed to make ot him an offendor ngulnst our person* or our property. As Individuals, aggregated Rnd become society, though we may forgive and even entirely forgot tho offense, we sesin to be unable to ever fully forgive the offender, no mntter how complete may be his expiation. And we find that society's spirit of unforglveness Is particularly and grievously persist ent, whenever It has been found nee cssary to punish the offender by In enreeration Instead of by fine, end he t.ns consequently been labeled a crimi nal. The Crime Against ths .Criminal. It may hs that It is because the nor mal human heart holds liberty ae Its chief boon, thut wo are so very prone to hold ns forever accursed the mun or woman whoso liberty has, through transgression, been at some time, tem porarily fot felted to tho state. Or It may be that the cruel crime which so ciety pers'sts In committing against the criminal Is one of ths dliect results of un ugo-long and stubbornly tena cious theological error. Indeed thero ore many reasons to believe that till* may be the case. It must be true that our Ideas and belters concerning God, do, as a natural consequence, Intluence cur Individual deportment and our treatment cf our fellow men. History quite substantially proves the correct ness of this theory. A belief In a cruel and vindictive Ood makes cruel and vindictive men. Belief In a God whose punishments are conceived In a spirit ot wrath and In a desire for revenge, must make a race of men entertaining correspondingly distorted Ideas con cerning tho function and office of pun lahment. Likewise, a belief In a God whose cruel and vindictive punish ments are continued endlessly, must give to the long suffering world a so ciety whose punishment of offenders Is erroneously conceived, administered with hideous cruelty, and continued to that extent that defeats Its very ob ject Therefore, It Is certainly not un just Hint, along with the already suffi ciently large list of crimes against civ ilization, which may reasonably be urged to "the old-time religion,” we must also bold It responsible, to u very Urge extent, for the constantly repeat ed crimes against rrtmlnnls which semettmea make our much vaunted twentieth century civilisation seem like a hollow mockery, and Indicate that our bravest attempts at a science of penology are hardly more thnn an anachronism. But, tie the unhappy cause what It society does not forgive the criminal. No matter how genuine may be his re pentance, nor how abundantly practical may be the evidences of that repent ance which he may offer to the world, society never allows him to free him self entirely from the srara of hie sor row and hit humiliation, nnd, when ever opportunity conveniently offers, the old woufiris ere made to bleed afresh, and the old horror end agony of remorse once more flood hie chasten ed soul. Whatever may be the private theology of the Individuals who-com- poso It, society undoubtedly practices the doctrine of endless punishment In her treatment of the released convict. Unless he be a man of wealth and of powerful social Influence, the persistent persecutions of society make his return to cltlsenshtp and to social usefulness so exceedingly difficult a* to be the constant despair of the criminologist. He Is a social pariah. He is complete, ly ostracized. When the prison doors close behind him, he finds that nearly every other door, save that of the sa loon, the gaming house and the brothel. Is closed In front of him. Small won der that an large a percentage of re leased convicts soon find themselves again In the tolls of the law. Even a criminal muat eat and be clothed, and hare a place to rest hie wearied body at night. And when the avenues to REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD. honorable employment art closed to him, becuuse of the brutal prejudice of his fellow-men, he la offered his choice between virtuous starvation, without even the delectable morsel of human plaudit, or a return to the allur ing pursuit of "easy money," which lies along the well-remembered path way back to the Institution where wait long days of unrequited toll, the "lock step,” the "rule of silence," the broken spirit and the weakened body, the em bittered soul and the prison pallor. “And many there be who go in, there- Who Mad* the Criminal? In her eager zeal to properly and suf ficiently punish tho offender, society Is altogether too apt to forget that very generally she Is simply dealing with ono of her own natural products. Sta tistics abundantly declare that there Is a very close relation between poverty, Insanitary tenements and Inhospitable environment and crime. Long hours of exacting labor nt the minimum wage, unwholesome and Insufficient food, un inviting homes, meager education and lack of mental and spiritual stimulus are proven producers of crime In men und women whose ancestors, for sev eral generations, have come Into the world and passed through It thus con ditioned and environed. Also it seems more than likely that the extravagant and vulgar display of those who have acquired nothing in this world, save money, may tend to Induce crimes of jealousy, envy and covetousness among those who, being ■inverted In the fine technicalities or theoretical economics, lack the requi site patience to wait the slow processes of Inevitable Justice, and are filled with sullen rage at the spectacle of the shameful waste of the wealth for whose creation they had been so ill requited’. And so It is that society has bred for herself a criminal class ot men and women, who, being literally a curse to themselves by their very existence^ be come In turn a constant menace and problem to their creator. Punishment or Cure? It U scarcely worth while to call at tentlon to the errors which may seem to be apparent In the body politic with out offering suggestions for remedies. The weary sufferer Is not greatly helped by being Informed that hla mal ady la Incurable, nor Is he made better simply by being told that he Is ill. How may society cure herself of her unfor giving spirit toward the criminal, and how may she turn her energies from his destruction toward his reforma tion? This is a deeply religious ques tion, and It would therefore appear that It* answer muit begin with theology. Let us remedy our conceptions ot Qod, THE WHINING WOMAN • HHHMHMMMMHHIMMMIIItaHHMIMII “Put a whining woman in tho Garden of Eden and she’d have all the animals kicking and biting at each other in five minutes.” By DOROTHY DIX. W HAT Is the most aggravating thing In married life? Is It whining? It It Isn't, a lot ot married men who go to bed, and .get up, and live, to a running accompaniment of walls and groans from their wives, have missed their guess. "Ulve me a flirt, give me a red-head, ed tartar, give me a bargain chaser, give me a woman who doesn’t know whether an egg ought to boll two min utes or two hours, bring on your lec ture platform ladles, nr your Lucrrsla Gorgls who are handy with the poison bottle, but* good Lord, deliver me from the woman who whines," says the man who Is married to the woman who ts a real good. Industrious complalner. She Is the Unfit. There might be times when you could please a flirsj or the bad cook might make poou bread by accident, or the bargains run out, or the high tempered woman’s mood would be soft and melting, but seasons for her own. Heaven Itself won't please her If she has the luck to get there, and every effort on the part of the angels to cheer her up will be Just so much lost motion. "Oh. she's a good woman all right, my wife I*. There Is never a button missing on any of our clothes. The house Is as clean us a new pin. Meals are always on time. She does her duty by us to the whole extent of the law, but she does It with the expression of an Early Christian Martyr being let! to the stake, and the things that we hear about the sacrifices she makes for us make us wish that she'd Just eheerftllly neglect us for a change. "I'm rather a decent sort of man—a gentleman. In fact—and It gives me the most acute pain to even think of such a thing as Injuring a woman In any wav, and I assure, you, on my honor, thnf If I had had the remotest Idea that I was blighting a gifted young lady’s life and ruining her career by asking could have Induced me to commit such a crime. "Yet, that Is the monstrous deed that fny wife Is continually Informing me that I have been guilty of. If she hadn't married me—If she had only remained single, Instead of being the domestic slave that she now Is, tied down to grovelling pursuits by a home and fam ily, she would be soaring aloft In the blue empyrean of fame. "1 don't know how she dopes It out that if she hadn't married she could have grabbed off a million dollars, ond a laurel wreath, but she does, and the result is that she Is a Blighted Being, and she blames me for It, Mo and Fate. "It doesn’t cheer her up any to re mind her that she's got a swell home and mighty fine children. As for the children. It's all very well for me to enjov them, but I’m not a mother, as she Is, and don’t know a Mother’s Aw ful Responsibility. It Just makes her miserable to think that perhaps when tho boy grows up he may smoke, nnd then she sobs Into the baby’s pinafore because It breaks Iter heart to think that maybe the little one may some time marry u man who will be unkind to her. "Her leng stunt In woo, however, Is dissatisfaction. If I buy a 60-horse power automohile she doesn't get the slightest pleasure out of It, because the Browns have an 80-horse power. If she buys a silk dress phe’s perfectly miser able. because It Isn't a velvet one like Mrs. Jones'. If I give her a diamond ring she weeps because It Isn’t a stom acher like Mrs. Perkins’. "Nothing please* her. She enjoy enjoy anything. The echo of the quer ulous complaint Is never out of my ears, and spoils for me every good ot life. "Put a whining woman In the Oar- den of Eden, and she'd have all tbe nnlmnls kicking, and biting, and scratching at each other In five min utes. Marry a complaining woman and she'll turn matrimony Into a howl. Ing desert before you can say Jack Robinson, and that's the reason that I say that the whiner Is the most aggra vating thing In married life." Is this true, ladles? . Apples From Australis, From The New York Tribune. Americans who trace their lineage back to Adam and Eve and Inherit the tastes of their distinguished ancestors will be gratified to learn that a con signment of a thousand barrels of ap ples has Just been brought to New York from Australia. On the other side of the equator summer prevails when winter Is In the ascendancy here. Hence at the season when the domestic supply is at a minimum it Is possible to deliver 'In this country fruit which was hanging on the trees only a few weeks before. If the quality should be above criticism and the prices not ex orbitant a repetition of the venture would be welcomed. and we shall find that we have taken a decided step toward effective prison re form. If we can reach the point In out theological thinking where we can un derstand that Ood's punishments are never conceived and executed In wrath but always In love, that He never pun- (shea HIs children simply because they have sinned, but rather because they have become sinners, that HIs chas tisements are never administered te satisfy outraged Justice, hut always te effect a cure of the diseased moral na ture, then we shall be In a fair way te bring to the world that forglvenesi which Is only possible to those who have learned how to truly forgive. Fof then, and then only, will It be that society shall learn bow to truly forgive those "who have trespassed again*] her.” Then the keepers of our penal ntay, the shameful fact remuln* that the complalner hat got all times and her to marry me. nothing on earth nothing, ami she never lets anybody fcsslons. 33. The percentage of females employed In four branches of labor In France Is: Agriculture, 28; commerce. 35; do mestic purpose*, ??, and learned pro- instltutlons shall be trained erlmlnolo gtsta Instead of politicians, and thl scandals of our police etatione and out penitentiaries shall cease. Then w« shall demand that the punlahment ol all offenders shall be Inevitable, effec tive, humane and always directed en tirely toward the task of reforming the Individual, curing the dleeoio which made tbe punlahment necessary, and returning him to society. Inetead ol the miserable Inefficiency of the parol* system, after the prison sentence, wl shall Insist upon the parole, before thl more rigld*dieclpllne of the prison, nnc ■hall dlsTfover to our Joy and satisfac tion that in the great majority of In stances the prison sentence will not w required. We will punish men, not be cause they haVo committed crimes ana deserve punishment, but because they have become criminals and require m be converted Into citizens. W# shah recognise crime as a disease, ana oui penal Institutions shall become morsJ hospitals, instead of place* of torture and degradation. Believing that hh office Is remedial. Instead of mereij punitlVe, we shall demand of the police man that he bring to his work a stronl and disciplined mind, and a humani and cultured heart, rather than »» over-abundance of beef and brutality. Wa shall learn that we may hardiJ expect one criminal to cur* another oi hla moral defection, even though » should happen that the stronger of tni two be clothed In a blue coat with bra* buttons and on official badge. W * *h*“ learn that the elemental nowardlci which makes a bully of the roan wni finds himself vested with authority.'* one of the most deadly evils "in which society has to cope. And society, after all. Is nothing mori nor less than the aggregation of ina virtual* who make up a communitJ. or nation. Each one of these Individual possesses an ego with an Influence p portlonato to Its exercise. The ouesjj; of any needed public reform resolve* Itself, therefore. Into a very ond personal one. What are you do I about It? I suspect that If *5 . many of us would push as hard as scold, a great many of the P ,tl,ul ,_ b ,' ders of society, which make us unhap py, would soon ceass to b*.