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n THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN. fiArmnAv, JrSK a. i** GROWING A SOUL "GROW IN GRACE"-II PETER, iii:l8 : =PASTOR=s SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH In small .pace here are two great life word*—"grace" and "grow." Placed in their relation they make an epitome ■ ’f iho contribution of Chrlatlanlty to the philosophy of character. They are the working worda of the moat Impor tanc problem of hitman life. What la the greateat bualneaa of a raan'e life? Tor the narrow apace of th - world what la the greateat work a man can put hlmeelf to? I think the text tuiiwera that very old human out itlon. The great bualneaa of man In titla world la to grow a eoul—to m ow In grace. Jeaua Christ, It eeeme to me. placed thla fact beyond challenge whan He . aald, "What ahall It profit a man If he r lose hla own eoul and gain the whole ‘ world, or what will a man give In ex- 1 change for hie soul?" Socrates In hla apology aald: '1 do nothing but go about persuading you all. old and y young alike, not to take thought for your persona or your properties, but that and chiefly to care about the greateat Improvement of the eoul." It la a aad commentary upon tha moral backwardness of our age that a pagan philosopher who lived before i 'hrlet bed come to leach all that he ixueht on thla subject, should have tenlined the value of growing a soul so much more than we do. Let me repeal It. The great business of a man In thla v ->r!d, In America, In Atlanta, la to grow a soul, or aa the text phrases It, to grow In grace! Do you believe that? ■ In-nter than building railroads or writing books or ruling a nation la to v• >w a great soul. When you start • mu In the morning, will you dare to look at your taw office, your store, your bank, your bualneaa. and aay: •The Improvement of my soul la a i.ia tier of more Importance than this?" It ts tha truth. If it ware not true this world would not be lit to live In r tr an hour. If anything Itaa than Hits la tha supreme Ideal of life. If the paltering concerns, the Inanities of *o- 11. ty and the vanities of secular am bition are the roal things to live for satisfactions for the senses, then universe and Its order are below the wisdom and the character of a Crea tor who Is worthy of worship. I saw h picture In Brussels which represents God aa about to begin the creative act.. The Almighty arm la outstretched t > create the world, when an angel lays a restraining Anger upon the Cre ator's arm. "If about to make such n m..rid," the canvas seems to say, "stay Thine hand." But we know better then that. Socrates knew better. Christ left no standing room within Intelligence for the men who doesn't know that Sod's highest thought for man was about his soul. The Planting. What la meant by growing a soul? What does the apostle mean py grow ing In grace? It le profitable sometimes to throw aalde theological definitions and get fresher terms for (ruth. The word "grace" le the greatest word In the Bible. It le found In the New Testament one hundred and twenty-nine times. It meant so es sentially all that comes from Sod to man that It was employed to repre sent many Ideas relating to Ood'a deal ing with human life. Whatever was good was of grate. Every gift of sod was a grace given. Every con trary aril was defined as not of grace. The Kingdom of Sod waa condi tioned upon grace. WUh most of these meanings we have nothing to do In the text. The common definition of trace, for Instance, le In the formula, ’The free and unmerited favor of Sod to the unworthy." Plainly, we cannot grow In that grace. We cannot grow In the favor of Sod. No Increase Is possible In Sod's grace toward us. Sod will love ue no better because we are tetter. Another Idea of grace le met with In Christian teaching—the conception of grace as a elate or condition of those who are saved. But that Is not "grace" as the text means II. We cannot grow lntu grace, Into the state of salvation. To grow In grace Implies that the eoul has already been rooted In grace. To tha man who Is willing to realise business It Is most Important not to stumble at this point. Srowlng In grace la not salvation by character, though certainly It la trus that there la no salvation without character. I would say to the man who brings me a rare flower he means to grow, "First, plant It, sir." 1 would aay to the man who wants to make the most of his eoul, "Firs!, get It planted In the right eoll.” To this end Christ gave Ills great teaching about the vine and the branches. '' Christianity places a miracle at the basin of the soul's growth. It would be no better than any other philosophy of life If It did not. Men are striving to Improve their aoule In all landa and under all religions/ There la no quar rel with them on thla account. You have discovered already that I have no heart for quarreling with Rocimtes. Paganism had Its saints But the dif ference liotween Paganism and Chrle- tlanlty, between Socrates and Christ, In tha growing of souls, Is a difference wall Illustrated by what we see In na ture. It la the difference between a rock and a flower. The rock may be a diamond, but K cannot grow. It lacks the life principle. Paganism le the- religion of spiritual tailoring. It dresses the soul up and then shows off Us clothes. There Is nothing wonderful about It at all. Christ came saying something that Socrates did not dream of, “I am the life." “I came that they might have life.” “Ye must be born again." He put life In I he eoul, gave It a new vitality, and rooted It In Himself and then He said, “Abide In Me and grow and bring forth." Take a rock In one hand and a fruited vine In the other. There le a world of difference between them at the vital point. One Is life less, the other has life. A young lady cams to me, much disturbed, to ask If 1 agreed that tha morally upright and clean non-believer waa to be placed In the aame category with the vicious and Immoral man. It both were In the aame sense unsaved sinners before God. Have you not questioned and doubted at that point? I told her. Tea, they are In the same state be fore God, though not In the earns con dition and degree." One of them Is beautiful like the diamond, the other rough and lusterless like charcoal, but both are carbon, both In the last true analysis black and dead etuff. Neith er has the eternal life In Him. In the White heat of eternity those who are clothed In lovely robes of virtue, but know nothing of the Imparted life which comes to the broken and sur rendered heart, though they chine among men as paragons, will be melted down to the level of their real spiritual fact. I have aald the most Important thing that can be said about growing a soul. To grow In graca Is not possible except you are rooted In grace. A college president once said that over every laboratory, aclenco hall and lecture room should be written these words for those who were there for self-improve ment: “Ye must be born again. 1 ' The Deed Line of Progress Now let ue look at the text with the emphasis placed upon the other word, the word written In the Imperative mood, the word "grow." Here Is where to many people fall. REV. OR. JOHN E. WHITE. cording to the legend. "Quo Vadls, that Peter waa In Rome and turned to flee from the fires of persecution. A; [ he fled across the Campagna the le I ge.nd says he met Christ with His face toward the city. "Lo, on the darkness broke a wander. . Ing ray. 1 A vision flashed along the Applan ■ way; Divinely on the pagan knight It shone, A mournful face, a figure hurrying on: Though haggard and dishevelled, frail and worn, A King of David’s Uncage crowned with thorn. 'Lord, whither farestr Peter wonder. Ing cried. To Rome,' raid Christ, To be recrucl- fled.' Into the night the vision ebbed like breath. And Peter turned and ruahed on Rome and death." ✓ They believe In grace. In salvation by grace, but they do not put much em- phasli on growing In grace. A little girl wra tenderly asked why aha had fallen off the bed. Between her sobs she replied, T reckon I went to sleep too close to the edge when I got In." That la the trouble In the church. So many people hare made* their peace with God and gone to sleep.. It would lit the moral facta of tha case If we would put beds at the door of tbe bap tistry In our churches. The man who raid, “Grow In grace," le the man of all (he apostles who could ray It. Oscar Wilde, the disgraced English writer, gave the world as he came out of prleon hie lost contribution to liter ature. The book wa* entitled "Do Pro- fundle.” He wrote It from the depths of dishonor and shame. It Is a literary curiosity. So far as we know, the words of our text are the lost words from the pen of the Apoetle Peter. He wrote It as the warning and the en treaty of hie life against backsliding. He wrote from the depths of sorrowful memory. Poeslbly he wrote from the "•In of the last Impendlng'trlal of his th. For It woe about this time, ac- Whether the legenil be true or falee, these lost worda of Pater's epistle are warm with sympathetic understanding with all hard-pressed and tempted souls. “Beware,'’ he rays. "Beware, lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked one, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow In grace and In the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” Thol was to. say to every man like himself subject to weakness, that the safety of the soul from the overthrow of eln le to be found only In growing: that to escape failure In - the faith one must make progress continually. Experience, Peter's, mine, yours, proves the truth of It. It Is the plain, common sense of life, he well as of Christian experience. The moving, progressing, growing. Increasing force thrusts failure from the path. Roll, a coin across the floor; so long os It goes forward It remains upright. Throw a ball Into the air; so long ae It persists In Its upward progress It conquers the downward pull of gravi tation. In the experience of the eoul there threatens ever to come an hour when the forces that Influence us are balanced equality. That Is the critical hour. From such an hour the history of every backsliding begins. T6 refer to backsliders Is simply to mark the fact that Christians have ceased to grow In grace. No one can estimate the extent of the check which the cause of Christ suffers on account of backsliding. But the terrible thing about It Is not In what the churches and the cause of the kingdom suffers. the but the appalling decay of soul falling away of Christian character, the leprous spots of spiritual disease, the drooping and dying of love In thu heart, the moral rotting of soul fibers, the burdensome accumulation of brok- • n \, w „ an*! f. , iriit*‘‘l ('hi I J t inn h-m-ir. the mglfrarani ■ ■ .in I -• ;il- ‘I !>v -■'-.li-iiin Ho . at a don't make flies like carpenters make things, taking 'em and putting 'em together. He Just says, 'Let there be flies nnd there Is flics."' B ut n „, so with the development of a soul, it grows. It grows by laws of solrltn a disregard of faith growth. God never made a a pivukcu un i -*ai*-u ay solemn rite, nt fint or.,.- „ rnnt . . . ** ni n y all of which the world point* Us taunt- ; **.. , gr * at »*ouls submitted to the Ins sneer, “See these Christians!" co #afu on * of growth. Christ thrust This Is the sorrow and the tragedy of His hand Into the heart of truth and the Church. Let the backslider look drew forth a Illy, "Consider th* mi*, at hlmflelf. He ought to look at him- bow they _ w Tl ,«r„ I * * ,* self and realize what he repre.-em-. " .l o\ " not ' ne, "”' r The Comtosss de (VstlsUana. uhn d ? tbey *P |n ,yet Solomon, la all his Cl IV, was not arrayed like one „r The Comtesae de Csstlglione, who died In Paris two years ago, was one of tbe most renowned beauties of the regime of Louis Napoleon, during the second empire. When her beauty be gan to vanish her anguish of mind was intense. She possessed a full length portrait of herself MftMaf by a mas ter which represented her In the day of hfr glory. One day It was noticed that the picture had disappeared from the walls of her drawing room. The comtesae had fretted over the fact that every day she was growing uglier, growing more and more unlike the ex quisite creature on the canvas, and In a lit of rage she had one day furiously attacked the picture and with her scis sors had cut it into ribbons. How strongs It I* that one should regret gray hairs and fading beauty of the body and care so little that the soul Is uglier day by day. Let the backslider look at himself. Let every man look at the backslider. That Is the fate of those who do not grow In grace. They decline Into spiritual dis grace. The dead line In the ministry of which we hear much Is the line at which a preacher ceases to study and aspire. The pathos of the old preacher whom nobody wants to hear Is ever before my eyes. It Is a sad fate. But there Is something In reality sadder far. It Is the dead line of the soul. There Is a place at which the Christian life halts, energies relapse, enthusiasm abates, the sense of duty subsides, the soul ceases to grow. Old men In the church are often backsliders without realising It. Consider the Lilies. | There is myttery. but no necromancy about growing a soul. Two young boys sitting In tfis sun. One of them caught a fly In his hand. “Look at him! Look at his legs. Ain't he funny? How does God make flies?” "Why,” said the ruminant philosopher In reply. these.” The Interesting thing about the Illy Is "how it grows." It |. not by trying to grow', but by abiding i n the conditions of growth. Sooner than her sisters of the garden the Illy droop If torn from the conditions of its growth. We can none of us Increa/n our statue by striving. We can grow and we will grow In grace If we will n U rt" 1V ,7. ln .* he rl * ht r * ,tt,l °n with God. It Is important then for Christians to watch, Int they lose the right relation. "Abide In me" Is Christ s practical word here. It meam Prayer, it means love, it means ser- vice. There are so many Imperfect at- tschmenta. to Christ, so much partial allegiance and consequently so much stunted life In the church. Souls do not grow If they will not abide. But Christ’ 1 Kr ° W if th * y WlH nblde ,n There are no known limits to the soul’s capacity for growth. "It doth not yet appfar what we shall be." Who can estimate the realms of victory and achievement that Ue out before us If we will give oqr souls a chance. We can annihilate the power of our lower desires. We can come at last to the place of freedom In which the soul holds the body in subjection. Then we are ready for the day, fully readv when the soul shall ware doctors and’ nurses aside and fling the body back upon the death couch and leap forth beyond the circle of loved ones and be at last freed. "Build thee more stately mansions, oh, my soul! As the swift seasons roll; leave thy law vaulted past. Let each new temple nobler than the lost, shut thee from heaven, With a dome more vast, till thou at length art free, Leaving thine outworn shell by life's unresting sea.” SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON JESUS AND THE CHILDREN By DR. GEORGE A. BEATTIE. Jstua and the children! Matt. II: 1-14, Golden text: Jt Is not |hs will of your Father which Is In heaven that •>tic of these little ones should perish. Mall. II: 14. The Inrldent In this lesson occurred In the latter part of our Savior's min ■•try. Though the disciples had beei w 1th Him for two and one-half years they had not yet caught the eplrlt of the Master. They had nnt ae yet been transfig ured. Pride and setflrhneaa, and am bition had not been eliminated. They thought that Christ was going to es tablish an earthly kingdom, and In ■ ise He did they expected to have prominent positions In It. The mat ter was discussed among themselves as to who should be the greatest. Christ wUI reprove them with an Object Lesion. It was in this way tbs most of his teachings were given. At one time It Is a bird, at another a flower. Again a man going out to s »w, and again one of the temple lights. On thla occasion It was a little child. Ws learn there wars a great many children In the crowds that flocked to Jesus. Many of them, no doubt, taken by the mothers because they could not leave them at home. If the mothers went they had lo lake Ihs children, on one occnalon. and It might have been one of many, the mothers desired to take their children to Jesus that Us might lay Ills hands upon their mile heads and Mess them. The dis ciples forbade them, and then Jeaua uttered those memorable word*. "Suf fer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such Is the kingdom of heaven.” Jetut a Lover of Children. W# have every reason to believe that ths children, whose Intuition for read ing character Is much greater than wo aro wont to credit them with, wore by His countenance anil manner and gentleness drawn lo Jesus. The children ran to Him and trot from Him. And now In this house at Caper naum, It might have been Peter's, lie «ill take a child for his text, and . preach a sermon to His disciples. It would be one they never could forget, for every child a-ould remind them of It Would that It might have the um« .•feet on all of us. He would teach them how to be grraL and tbe way to enter the kingdom. So railing a little child. He placed him In the midst, and said: “Except ye he converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter Into the kingdom of heaven." The Greek word Is nowhere else translated "converted." It means to turn. Turn, right about face, from your ambitious, self-seeking spirit, or ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven H iinUii belnga. I know there aro some who deny the doctrine of natural depravity, and oth ers who Indignantly combat It. Point ing us to a sweet, beautiful. Innocent child that kneels at Its mother's knee to lisp Its evening prayer, or as 11 en twines Its dimpled arm* around that mother's neck and lings Itself (o sleep on her bosom, they ray, who can fancy - such a creature ss that as being en mity against God? Yet who could fancy that the time woafll aver come when that little child would drive Bor rows, sharper than any arrows. Into that mother's bleeding heart; that th* time would ever come, when th* moth er would wish her child had died, when she hung la tears over the little life that seemed trembling In the balance? And yet that happens. And many an other thing happens that fancy would never point. In the springtime there are seed* In every furrow BO minute the keenest eye of bird cannot detect them, that only await the summer’s sunshine and shower lo develop Int* a rank growth of weeds! Ho In the heart of every child, no matter how sweet and beau- m mill stone wer» hung about their neck, and then cast Into the sea. Christ knew that If His church would be established on earth, the children must not be neglected. A church that has no Sunday school or other means for training and holding the children will soon become extinct. The Old Farmer and the 8heep. An old farmer who had great suc cess In raising sheep was once asked what was the secret of his success, and he replied; "I take care of the lambs." The statistics of all the churches will show that the great ma jority of those who are member* of th* church today, were brought It while they were young. Dr. Alsxan der, of Princeton, said near the close of his life: “It I had my life to live over again, I would pay more attention llfuL and Innocent it may seem, are to the children." And that Is the seeds of sin that unless eliminated by grace, may develop Into crime and eln. Ho held up the little child, not as a model of sinlessness or Innocence, but of faith and humility. A self-seeking, ambitious spirit does not produce greatness, but It dwindles and dwarf* Into littleness. Men who might have been great, become mere pigmies. They might have been a blessing lo th* race, but with all Ihslr affections, aspirations and actions cen tered on self, they go down to their graves, "unwept, unhonored and un sung." Suppose you are forgetful of self, mindful of others, considerate of their feelings, ever ready to speak a loving word, nr do a kindly deed, your pres ence will carry sunshine wherever you go, that th* would woQld not exchange for the datsle of a hero. Goodness and greatneu are synony mous. He Is greateat who renders the most service. Better to go through the world like a single sunbeam, dispelling darkness, or a drop of water allaying thirst mill giving refreshment, than like a sponge, absorbing everything and giving nothing In return. "He that would he greatest among you, let him be your servant." This was t’hrlsl's motto for Ills own life. He condescended to gird Hlmeelf and wash His disciples' feet. There I* ifothlng menial, when the service Is rendered for others. He that humbletli himself shall be exalted. Christ's Car* for th* Children. In the treatment of children He gives a promise to those that receive them, saying that He will regard It the same though done to Himself, and n warning to those who would be n ■tumbling block In their way; for the latter It would be belter tor them If a reflection of every paator. After an absence of twenty years, I ones returned to a city ebureh of which I had been pastor. I found one whom I left a pupil In th* Infant Clara now teaching It. The choir waa com posed of children who had been gath ered In, and many of the officers of the church twenty years before were pupils In the Sunday school. Many of ■ny Sunday school boys are preaching the goepel today In thla and foreign lands. You never know what poral- bllltea and potentialities are wrapped up In the child. Whet be shall be largely depends upon ths Impression mads while the heart Is tender and receptive. Churches Toe Conservative. Churches are too conservative about receiving children Into membership. As soon as a child can comprehend and accept the plan of salvation, re gardless or age. It Is old enough to mako a public profession of fallh. Sta tistics show that those who corns In early are moat apt to remain steadfast and faithful, and make the most active and useful members. Whits Jesus has been saying. "Let the little children coma unto Me," the parents, like tbe disciples did, have forbade them. A little girl only eight years old once came before tha motion of a church, making application for mem bership. The mother thought she was ton young, perhaps did not billy un derstand the step she was taking, and came with her. After all the examl nation questions had been sstlsfac. torlly answered, she wanted to ask her child when she first tovsd Jesus, and tooktng up Into her face, she re lied. “Why, mamma, I learned lo Jesus Just as I learned to love pltei love you." From her earliest childhood the A Petition By ELLA WHEELER WILCOX. (Copyright, 190$, by American-Journal-Examlner.) LORD, give the mothers of tha world Mora love to do their part: That love which reachea not alone The children made by brlth their own, But every childish heart. Wake In their souls true motherhood Which alma at universal good. Lord, give the teachers of tha world More love, and let them see How baser metals In their store May be transformed to precious ore By love's strange alchemy. And let them dally seek to find The childish HEART beneath the mind. Lord, give the preachers ot the world More love to warm the word They speak for tender souls to hear; Too long old dogmas based on (ear The human race has heard. Inspire Thy ministers to feed Their flocks upon a loving creed. I/ord, give the Christians ot the world More love for dally use; And show them simple ways to prove They do not keep tbe Rule of Love For homilies abstruse. But live each day Thy golden law As If Thou dwelt on earth aad saw. mother 1 had held up Jesus before the child, and she had fallen In love with Him. From that day to this she has been an earnest, active worker In the church. For the soul winner, no Held prom ises so much as work among tbs chil dren. The great object of every teach er In the Sunday school should be to lead the child to Christ. Ths seed sown may lay dormant for years, and then ripen Into fruition. The Shipwrecked Child. Some years ago a California miner was shipwrecked In eight of land. He had put on a life-preserver and was buckling hit belt of gold dust- about him, when a little girl-cams up, and looking up Into hts face, said: "Please, can you rave .mo?" There was a mo nism's hesitation and a struggle In his mind. He felt be could not save the child and his bog of gold, his savings for years, and which ha expected to carry to his Eastern home. He quickly unbuckled his belt and flung It out Into th* waves, and then stooping down told ths little girt to put her arms about his neck, and then struck out for the shore, but Just before he reached It a huge wave tore hie precious burden from him, and cast him senseless on the rocks. He was rescued by some who hdd reached the shore, and when he came to consciousness tbe first ob ject h* raw was the beautiful child he had saved. A similar experience may be our*. When ws dess our eyee In death and open them In glory some of the dear children we have tried lo rave may be the first to meet us and great us on the heavenly shore. What the Savior meant by the hand or foot causing ue to stumble Is, that It Is better to have sternal life here, to b* a trus Christian, and enter Into heaven without enjoying th* things that caused us to sin, than to enjoy them hers and then bo lost. Hell Firs. Literally, "the Gehenna of Are.” Ge henna waa a valley south of Jeruea- lem, a former scene of Moloch wor ship. and later a place where garbage of the city wa* burned with perpetual Ursa. We are not to understand from this and similar passages that Christ intended to teach that there Is a literal hell Are, where the eoul* of the lost are burned. He use* It only as a type or symbol of the sufferings they w ill .en dure. It would be as reasonable to suppose that the streets ot heaven are literally paved with gold, and the gates are massive pearls, as to suppose that hell will be a lake of fire and brim stone. This waa the conception of the artist who painted scenes of the Judg- ment day on the walls of one of the churches at Rome. In which devils are represented as pitching the aoula of the lost over Into euch a lake. Heaven la represented as a place of everlast ing holiness and happiness, and hell as a place of everlasting misery. Each will go. by spiritual gravitation, as It were, to hie own place—the place for which he le fitted, where hie cot Ions will be most congenial, and he can be the happiest. So w* can write over the gates of hell, ae over the gatee of heaven: God Is love; God la merciful. . . . But the condition of each will be eternal. Once raved, raved forever. Once lost, lost forever. Dents'* Inferno. Dante had Scriptural authority for writing over the gate* of hi* Inferno; “Let him who enters here leave all hope behind." .. . How much Christ thinks of us and how anxious He Is to rave us He Illus trates by ths Shepherd who leaves the ninety and nine to go out and find the one that is lost. He I* not willing that any should perish, but that all should come unto Him and have everlasting life. None will be excluded from heaven rave those who exclude themselves. All who find th* gates of heaven closed against them will find that th* bolts and bar* are all on the outside, and that they have been forged and driven by their own hand*. He I* able and willing lo rave unto the utlermoet all who com* to Him. ARE YOU GOING AWAY? If so, have The GeorgUn mailed to you. Mailed to city subscribers while away from home for the summer months at the regular rate of ten cents g week—no charge tor mailing. Bent to any address In the United State* or Canada. Foreign postage extra. THE RELIGIOUS WORK DONE AMONG FEDERAL PRISONERS Mere Isolation from all the world will accomplish nothing In 1 the reform ation of those who have become crimi nals.” That la the text from which the of ficials of the United States penitenti ary, near Atlanta, preach. They are attempting to do much In their rela tions with tha wayward and the un fortunate who have become their charges. They have accomplished— Well, there Is no standard of meas urement of the spiritual and moral good done a roan, so nothing but gen eralities can be raid as to what they have accomplished. The prayer masting congregation ot th* Central Presbyterian Church Is one of the most active In religious work and religious thought In the city ot Atlanta. Recently It requested C. C. McCIsughry, who Is deputy warden at the federal prison, to give a talk on the religious work dona at that Insti tution. HI* address, which created so much favorable comment, was as fol lows: I have been asked by your commit tee to tell you something of the re ligious work which Is being attempted out at the United States penitentiary, where I am employed. 1 do not ray what la being accom plished, for I would not In any way Induce you to believe that we are boastful In a matter concerning which It was said so many hundred years ago, "So then neither Is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the Increase." Every Sunday morning at * o'clock their religious freedom had been pre served—on Impression which Satan puts Into the hearts of people outside of prison* sometimes. Why not coll It by Its right name, lrreglllous freedom, for it Is the same Impression and spirit that forbids the reading and study of God’s word In the public schools of so- called Christian communities, and largely through political sophistry and manipulation, preserves to a certain element In some of our lerge cities the right—If w* must so call It—of com ing home late from some concert gar den on Sunday night with wife and children redolent with beer and steeped In that spirit of anarchy which de mands license for liberty and which makes easy for many the pathway to crime? So, while the seed Is scattered from our prison pulpit much of It falls upon ground which Is hard and stony because of the resistance which Satan puts Into the hearts of these earthly mortals. The Reason Why. Some of my colleagues in prison management In other Institutions disa gree with me on this matter of com pulsory ch'apel atendance, claiming that It does no good to force a man to hear religious services; but who can tell when a hymn, or a prayer, or some passage from the Scriptures may not awaken In the heart memories and fsellngs long forgotten and bring life to the hope some mother had away back In the dim put? I look Into my ■art and know that one sung away back yonder In my hood, ha* a far more potent effect upon me than many a splendid voluntary I have since heard. And I know, too, that from a certain college chapel, . .. . . - . . when. alto, attendance was compul- the gong In the corridor between the sory, there come to mo today th* sa lvo at cell houses rings, and some roomy chapel. Then follows a service In which, with prayer and sermon and hymn, It 1* en deavored to sow the seed of God'a truth In the heart* of those who as semble there. "The Book"—as our Covenanting Scotch forefathers loved to call It In the days of their testify- naa almost saia -to tne listening ana attentive throng”—and, perhaps. I ought to ray so j et, for the men do give fair attention and apparently listen well, but It must be remembered that these *00 men and their keepers alt quiet under a compelling discipline. Attendance I* Compulsory. Attendance upon this service le com pulsory. It It were optional It' le prob able that a large number ot these men would choose to remain In their little S by 9 cells, nursing evil or Idle thoughts under th* Impression that cred echoes of psalms, and prayer-hal lowed memories of the closed eyes and earnest faces of gny-halred saints long gathered to thslr fathers, which I would not b* without today. Anyhow I know that the Increase Is In God's hands, and that our duty Is with the seed-corn and not with the harvest. *■ Th* Sunday School. Now, after the regular chapel serv ice come* our Sabbath school. At tendance upon this service Is not com pulsory, and as the 500 march out from the chapel at 10 o'clock, on the way back to their cells, about 1*0—or about ISO when our total prison population was 6*0—fall out of the two line* ot moving men, and, marching around by the outer aisles, return to the front of the chapel where they mass for tho opening hymn with which the Sabbath school service begins. After this hymn the men form Into eight classes,-In cluding one Catholic class—ana ' ss many gentlemen from your city greet &eir§e§ "The heavena declare Hie righteousness and all the peo ple sec His glory.”—Psalms 97:6. ' When from beneath the cloud appears Rain drops falling as many tears. Could not this be our Fhther weeping O'er sinner* (till in bondage sleeping? When lightnings flash behind the cloud, And thunder rolls to very loud. Could not this be our Savior speaking To let na know Hla heart la breaking? When wind* from cut to west do blow And clouda are tinged with radiant glow, Conld not thla be oar Father’* love, - To anger we rile tinners drove? Then Inter on, when nil la calmed. That all be raved and none be damned. I’m sure, thus saith the Spirit's voice, "Reflect, repent, believe, rejoice.” A. M. STEAD. Sunday, June 17, 1906. them and begin the study of the les son from quarterlies which are pro vided through the generosity of some good 1 friends. While your Uncle Sam provides us with a-chaplaln and with coplea of the Bible, he goes no farther, for he wants to be strictly non-secta rian In order to be popular with all hi* children. Now, while.we are getting a larger feentage of growing grain In thla itherlng than In the preaching ser vice I have before described, these 110 men do not all represent wheat, as yet, for, strange as It may seem, some nt the worst "tares" we have come to the Sabbath school. But In' the fact that they voluntarily como there Is hope, for who can tell In what clod or under what stone the myetery ot germination may not take place? Your beloved pastor visited last year the bedside of a .prisoner who was serving hi* fourth term In prison, against whose name there were writ ten former charges of robbery and murder Rnd over whose head yet hung charges unanswered: whose early con duct in the prison had been a bold de fiance of everything religious or right, and yet who was, at the time of tha visit, firmly reliant on .Christ’s atone- mtnt. and whose last words to me be fore he died, contained hla hope that wo might meet "Over There," and the earnest request that I would not neg lect to pray every night This from a man who had once gloried In being a Western tough ot the cowboy pattern, and who hsd once replied. In answer to an announcement of services to be held In the prison chapel, "I may be In hell before that time." The shattered wreck of his earthly life lies In the soil nf Louisiana, hut his soul has escaped the fate which once It challenged. Ray of Hops In Many Facts. As I sit each Bunday and watch closely the work of these classes In our Sabbath school I see many earnest faces and I believe that many are on the road to that poace which the Great Teacher left with us. The closest at tention Is given by nearly all to His representatives, who give with glad ness a portion of their precious rest day to this service, and I ’ray precious rest day' advisedly, for these teachers are not ktd-gloved Christians, people of wealth and leisure. All but one are, I believe, Christians who work hard with their hands and brains during the six labor days; salesmen, machinists, pat* tern-makers, and so on. Through the efforts of some of our friend* we have obtained. In addition to the quarterlies, copies of various religious papers and magaxlne*. which are distributed to the pupils of the Sab- bath school each Sunday, and tr* eagerly received. Letters from som# of our teachers to the editors of some of th* Christian publications, describ ing our needs and the work, have brought donations ot papers. “Red Letter” Testaments. Another recent Innovation, to whies a gentleman sitting near me was * large contributor, was the purchase of a number of "Red Letter" Testament* In which Christ's words stand out la figurative and veritable letters of flame, and burn their way Into the attention and, we hope. Into the hearts of maw of the men. With these men the us* of these books was an experiment. Observation had led us to bellev* that the ordinary men who wa* at flr« not religiously Inclined wa* apt«» oi*» the black-letter Bible without sped" aim and with Indifferent attention, H he opened It at jdl, and what was need ed was something that would catch »>• eye and turn his attention quickly J® what was most essential for him t» grasp. If you have never opened on" of thee* “Red Leter" Testament'. J"® Christians who carry well-thumbM Oxford Bibles, Just buy yourselves c. p lee and try the experiment on your selvae, and see If you do not a new fascination In th* sacred wrHjj* Then Imagine how, If the New Test* ment was an unexplored and unknown volume to you. these flashes of lit” would brighten the path to you.sna lead you on. "What did He ms • -Why did Ho say that?" “J' ba ‘ the disciples or others raldT * “ » be the natural order and aaqusnc* . the questions which would Sri** a lead you Into the context. Requests for Testaments. Now, wa did not give these Te*'»* ments out ss boys give yon hand-ttw on the streets. The teacher*—ev'P* Continued on Oppoeito Pago