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August 16, 1911] THE
This does not seem appropriate for little ones
from homes crowned with God's blessing and
loving parents.
There are hymns written in moments of rapture,
and hymns from hearts burdened with anguish,
which even Christians cannot at all times
sing with sincerity. Let none, either in song or
in speech, say to God what cannot be said sincerely.
"They that worship Ilim, must worship
Him in spirit and in truth."?American Messenger.
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OLD SCHOOL COURTESY.
i remember to have met in my girlhood a
family with whom old-school courtesy was so
perfect, that a fine flavor of ceremony distinguished
the intercourse of all its members.
They were uniformly polite to one another, invariably
decorous and constantly on guard lest
by any accident they might trespass the rules of
a flawless courtliness. "What a strain it must
be to live with the W's," a school-mate of mine
exclaimed after we had spent a day together in
their hospitable home. "I felt," she added,
"while I was there as if I were walking through
a minuet with John Hancock and Dorothy Q."
Possibly my friends, the W's, carried too far
this determination to be always and wholly
polite, and possibly now and then their demeanor
may have seemed a trifle self-conscious and a
little stiff, but if they erred it was in the right
direction. Most of us go to the opposite point
and keep our good manners for outside friends,
while we are as rude as we please to the people
at home. We do not hesitate in the least to say
to Aunt Maria, who comes down in the morning
with her hair hastily arranged, "Dear me!
you look like a positive fright with your hair
drawn back in that way." If the dressmaker
has sent home a frock for little Lucy, and it is
a bit too short or a bit too long, we hasten to indicate
the defect to the child's mother or the
child herself. If one of the family has made a
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puuiic appearance 01 any sort, we are silent as to
any compliments overheard, but we do not for
get to mention unkind criticisms. In short, the
great majority -are over-candid in the home
circle. We mention flaws, faults and foibles,
we are brusque and uncharitable, we make the
awkward girl and the bashful boy ill at ease by
comparing them with others who have gained a
finer manner in society, and as to the table, the
realism of our complaints there touches the
superlative of ill-breeding.
Everybody knows that the test beyond all
others of the gentleman or the lady is the behavior
of each at the table. Good table manners
must be learned when the baby sits in the high
chair, and the lessons must be carried on through
childhood until they are automatic. There are
people who are never embarrassed by any number
of forks and spoons, who know just what to
do and how to do it, who eat their soup with
silence and grace, and drink hot tea from a
scalding cup without a protesting muscle, and
still permit themselves to find fault if the meat
is tough, over-done or under-done, if the bill of
fare does not please them, if the salad dressing
is not to their taste, and the dessert something
for which they do not care. Children should
be taught that to be unduly candid in the line of
fault-finding is as much a sin as to tell an untruth.
In the matter of truth telling, the discrimination
must be made, that where no principle
is involved, and only selfish ill-will served,
silence is preferable to telling a disagreeable
truth. I am not defending a lie or pleading for
evasion or prevarication. Deceit is not to be
defended, but misplaced candor may be as
wicked in its way as deceit itself.?Western Recorder.
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PRESBY TEB1AN OP THE 8 <
FITNESS FOR THE MINISTRY.
A young man seeking to enter the ministry of
the United Free Church of Scotland, writes that
he fears that he has a natural unfitness in a
weak voice. Dr. Baird Smith replies as follows in
the British Weekly:
You ought to consult a medical man, an expert
in this department; and should he discover something
incurably amiss, let this determine your
course. There are two requisites for a preacher.
First, he must have a message, and, second, he
must be able to deliver it. And the latter is absolutely
essential. Be it ever so good, a message
which is ill delivered is unavailing. I do not
mean that a preacher must be an orator. By no
ineans. It is an interesting fact that not a few
of the most moving speakers have been conspicuously
deficient in natural endowments. You re*1.
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iunuuci me ciassiii instance oi uemosinenes. And
Dr. Chalmers, that prince of preachers, not only
was uncouth in appearance and gesture, but
spoke with a broad Fifeshire accent. He preached
once in London on behalf of the Hibernian
Society to a vast assemblage, including Canning
and other distinguished personages; and it is reported
that the future Prime Minister was at
first somewhat scandalized by the preacher's
manner ot pronunciation, but presently he was
mastered, and the closing passage on the Irish
character moved him to tears. "The tartan," he
exclaimed, in the enthusiasm of his admiration,
"beats us all!" It may be that Chalmers would
have been a finer preacher had he lacked tb?*se
eccentricities, but I doubt it; for sometimes it
is the case that a preacher's peculiarities, though
at the first hearing offensive, are on closer acquaintance
not merely forgotten, but 'actually
transfigure, and. even constitute not the least of
his attractions.
Eloquence is distinct from oratory, and that
may be present in its highest power where this
is wholly lacking. The essentials of effective
speaking are (1) that it be audible, and (2) that
it be natural, without affectation or absurdity or
offensiveness. Indeed, since delivery is the servant
of the message, should never obtrude itself
in the way either of charm or of distastefulness.
It should be absolutely unnoticeable. A
preacher has missed the highest success if his
hearers remark upon his manner either in praise
or in blame. It is said that when Cicero spoke,
the Romans exclaimed:4 4 He speaks like a god!''
but when Demosthenes spoke, the Athenians
cried: 4 4 Let us march against Philip!'' Here lies
the distinction between oratory and eloquence.
And thus the question for you to determine is
whether you are affected by a permanent disability
which would make you either inaudible or unpleasant
to listen to. If this unhappily be your
case, you must abandon all thought of entering
the ministry. It were impiety to consecrate to the
service of God powers which you do not possess,
and folly to persist in a course which must inevitably
end in disappointment and humiliation.
Think what it would mean to go through the
eight years' curriculum only to find at the close
that no congregation would call you. A "stickit
minister" is a pathetic object. His training not
merely does not fit him, but positively unfits him
for any secular occupation, and he is too old to
enter upon a new training. Failure in the ministry
is irretrievable. It means a ruined life. Consider
this. You are still at the determining stage.
I put it thus strongly because the issues are so
serious; but I hope it may prove that there is
nothing to prevent your achieving your sacred
ambition. There is no earthly employment comparable
to the holy ministry, no life so rich and
glad and satisfying. If one's heart be in it, it is
a continual rapture, and its very difficulties are
golden opportunities. Do not lightly turn aside
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from it. And prepare yourself for it with sedulous
devotion. Perhaps this misgiving of yours is
simply the Lord's way of awakening you to the
importance of a preparation which, I fear, is
too much neglected?the study of elocution, the
discipline of that faculty of speech which may
be used to such wonderful effect.
A BEAUTIFUL INCIDENT.
A man blind from his birth, a man of much
intellectual vigor and with many engaging social
qualities, found a woman who appreciating
his worth, was willing to cast in her lot. with him
and become his wife. Several bright beautiful
children became theirs, who tenderly and equally
loved both their parents.
An eminent French surgeon, while in this
country, called upon them, and examining the
blind man with much interest and care, said to
him:
"Your blindness is wholly artificial; your
eyes are naturally good, and could I have operated
upon them twenty years ago, I think I
could have given you sight. It is barely possible
that I can do it now, though it will cause
you much pain."
'' I can bear that,'' was the reply; " so you but
enable me to see."
The surgeon operated upon him, and was
gradually successful; first there were faint glimmerings
of light, then more distinct vision. The
blind father was handed a rose; he had smelt one
before but had never seen one; then he looked
upon the face of his wife, who had been so true
and faithful to him; and then his children were
brought, whom he had so often fondled, and
whose charming prattle had so frequently fallen
upon his ears
He then exclaimed: "Ob, why have I seen all
of these before inquiring for the man by whose
skill I have been enabled to behold them! Show
me the doctor." And when he was pointed out
to him, he embraced him with tears of gratitude
Mid ioy.
So, when we reach heaven, and with unclouded
e; ts look upon its glories, ws shall not be content
with a view of these. No, we shall say,
"Where is Christ? He to whom I am indebted
for what heaven is; show me Him, that with all
my soul I may adore and praise Him through
endless ages."?Christian at Work.
DENIED, YET ANSWERED.
When Augustine, in his home at Carthage,
resolved to visit Home, his mother wished either
to prevent him from going, or to go with him. He
would listen to neither proposal, and resorted to
a trick to carry out his plan. One evening he
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rr urn, lu ilie oetuMuure, una ins motner ionowed.
There were two chapels dedicated to the memory
of the martyr Cyprian, and he pressed her
to spend one evening in the church of the martyr
while he went on board a ship, there to say farewell.
"While she was there in tears, praying and
wrestling with God to prevent the voyage, Augustine
sailed for Italy, and his deceived mother
next morning found herself alone. In quiet resignation
she returned to the city and continued
to pray for the salvation of her son. Though
meaning well, yet she erred in her prayers, for
tne journey of Augustine was the means of his
salvation. The denial of the prayer was, in fact,
the answering of it. Instead of the husk, God
granted rather the substance of her petition in
the conversion of her son. "Therefore," said he,
"0 God, thou hast regard to the aim and essence
of her desires, and didst not do what she then
prayed for, that thou mightest do for me what
she continually implored."