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Many good and strong things were said in be half of missions During the Session of the Southern Baptist Convention. Subscribe to and read the Christian Index, if you would keep informed. ESTABLISHED 1821. She Christian index Published Every Thursday at 57 South Brea Street, Atlanta, Ga. J. c. McMichael, proprietor. Organ of the Baptist Denomination in Georgia. Subscription Pbicb : Onocopy. one year $ 2.00 One copy, six months 1.00 Obiti .' vies.—One hundred words free of charge. For each extra word, one Cent per Word, cash with cony. To Corhrsi'ondknth.—Do not use abrevla tions; be extra careful In writingproper names; write with ink, on one side or paper; Do not write copy intended for the editor anti busi ness items on same sheet. Leave off personal ities ; condense. Business.—Write all names, and post offices distinctly. In ordering a change give the old as well as the new address. The dateof labor indicates the time your subscription expires. If you do not wish It continued, order it stop ped a week before. Wo consider each sub scriber permanent, until he orders his paper uiscontinued. When you order it stopped pay up to date. Remittances by chock preferred; or regis tered letter, money order, postal note. The “Catholic World,” for January, says that “the convent school at Naza areth, Ky., has trained the most brilliant and famous women of the South,” and adduces in proof the names of “Mary Anderson, Mrs. Jefferson Davis, Sarah Knox Taylor, and Mary Gwendoline Caldwell.” Sic! It is said that since the accession of Queen Victoria to the throne, sixty-five Statues have been raised to her honor in different parts of the Empire. But the fibllowness of such things is adequately attested by the fact (which ever may the fact be) that any of these statues stand or do uot stand on the soil of Ire land. The absurdity of the childish Sunday school hymns more or less the fashion now-a-days, was illustrated, not long since, by appeal to the case of a man in the Bible class, weighing two hundred pounds but ringing out lustily, “Bless Thy little latnb to-night,” and that, too, at three o’clock in the afternoon! Well, well; there was clearly something wrong in that ease, eitlier with the hymn or with the man. Exquisite flowers in a bouquet were shown to a gentleman, the other day, only to draw from him the remark, “I do not like flowers, they are so much used for funerals.” And we heard a lady say that there are flowers from whose odor she recoils, because it brings up the thnughts of the coffin, the corpse, The knell, the shroud the mattock and the grave, The deep damp vault, the darkness and the worm.” Wo do not share these feelings our selves, but we can see that there is oc casion for them. The use of flowers in the burial of the dead lias grown to be excessive. Moderation in that respect would be wise. As we have more than once said, op ■ ‘1)0.11,00 to immersion nrty grow from a root ot’negligence as to the use of water fn one’s personal habits and a consequent aversion to that use in one’s personal feelings. Traces of that negligence thrust themselves on our notice in most unexpected quarters. For instance: the “Letters of a French Governess to her Friends in Paris” contain the statement, by a New York lady, that while “there are bath-tubs in Western houses, these bath-tubs are rarely used.” Why, then, should not immersion as the one only baptismal rite be regarded from the side of the unused bath-tubs with something of distaste? Both men and women do sometimes by their ridicule of “dip ping,” “plunging,” and the like, betray the secrets of their private life, and pro claim thamselves, if judged by any xndard of thorough cleanliness, un belted. Dui Arkansas writer in one of the re gions periodicals pronounces it “a com ... >i.- occurrence, in his observation, for a parishioner who has done some work for his pastor to evade a settlement with him, to go to the treasurer and have a credit entered on his subscrip tion to double the amount he would have charged any other man.” This sounds barely credible; but if it is true, it is a case of the faults of the ministry as a class avenging themselves on the individual minister as belonging to the class. The class lowers the terms and conditions of membership, and thus makes it the easier for the rogue to get into the church. The class is negligent and lax in the administration of discip line, and thus makes it harder to get the rogue out of the church. Why, then, partly for the exposure and partly for the punishment of this double fault iness, should not the rogue be suffered to count every member of the class whom ho finds in the church his own special target for whatever arrows of fraud he may have opportunity to let fly? To say the least, this would boa righteous permission on tho part of a corrective providence. In the volume ot letters recently pub lished illustrating the family life of the German poet Heine, there occurs tins reference to the woman whom he char acterized as “tho sweetest squanderer who ever tortured ami made her hus band happy:”—My wife is restored, and, thank God, scolds away in tho full pos session of health.” This would have sounded more appropriate if said by Heine himself; for Heine was a Jew, and deKay alleges that “oven in the most favorable circumstances, tho Jews are the greatest 'grumblers on earth; nothing pleases them, or If something should, their keen wit secs some advan tage iu pretending they arc dissatisfied.” Ho argues then as tho chief and probably tho only reason why certain American hotels of fasliionablo resort have at tempted to exclude Jews from tho num ber of their patrons. These things may or may not bo true, but ono thing Is certain: if tho children of Israel ever had a pre-emptive right to grumbling, scolding moods and ways, Gentile inva sions of their patent have been almost as numerous as the Gentiles themselves. Tho scolder and grumbler is a world wide nuisance, mostly a sinner, and al ways a fool. There! wo’ve said it right out: grumble and scold if you will! Tho Marquis of Queensbury has pre pared a series of lectures, Jin which he advocates a plurality of wives. In urg ing this “reform,” he holds himself to be only a hundred years or so in advance of its adoption by the modern civilized world, andnffccts a willingness to under go the martyrdom of his convictions *ow for tho sake of “the good time com ing-” But tlio Marquis is the author of fustian 3 niicr. a “Code for Conduct of Prize-Fights;’ and, it may be, that ho is aiming to put marital relations on a footing which shall require some such Code for the continuous adjustment of house-hold affairs, —leaving for production at the proper crisis for that purpose a duly modified copy of the Code, which may serve as a wreath of posthumous but im mortal renown| for his brow! It would seem that “tho force of folly could not further go” than with the Marquis; but who shall say that some unwomanly champion of woman’s rights may not rise up to tell us that tho long oppressed and disfranchised sex will, within the next hundred years, illustrate her legit imatejsovereignty over the race by main taining a plurality of husbands? For our part wo account all such prognosti cations masculine or feminine, the fruit age of what is unethecal, irreligious and atheistic in the age, and are very sure that mankind can never be suffi ciently dehumanized to invest them with the slightest likelihood. For the Index. IN CHINA AGAIN. Since your arrival in Hong Kong, December 30th, many Chinese scones have passed under review. Hong Kong is itself a lovely island, now belonging to Great Brittain. English enterprise has made it quite a bright spot on the coast of China. Canton, where our South China Mission has its headquarters, is eighty miles from Hong Kong, and is scarce ly inland reminding one somewhat of New Orleans. What a mass of people here—a million and a half! What a river population—a hundred and fifty thousand living in boats, and probably not one night in the year sleeping on land. Many a whole family carries on the whole of family life on a boat not fifteen feet long and yet constantly use their home for transferring passengers or goods from place to place along or across the river. The trade in this city is enormous. The whole city presents a busy scene. One wonders how so much can be done in such narrow streets and yet everybody is hard at work. Many beautiful things are produced here. And as you walk their streets their stores furnish almost as many temp tations to loiter and to purchase as do our own streets in America. Several denominations are success fully doing mission work here, and hereabouts. Our Baptist mission, while not quite fjrst, either in the number of the missionaries or of the converts, is on a solid basis, being worked by men and women of fine common sense, broad, sympathetic spirits, and genuine, earnest piety. They have gathered about them a multitude of intelligent and devout native Christian men and women. There are several preachers whose faces and lives proclaim them to be men of God. During these three weeks I have been with the brethren here in their regular Sunday services, in their week-day preaching to the heathen in the chapels, in their street preach ing, in their school work, in their class-work, in their country itinerating, in their book-selling, in their work by the way-side, and 1 am prepared to say there are no busier people in Georgia than they are. God has called them to this work here, and we trust that through them he will introduce the gospel to these people. I may mention specially, Dr. Graves’ literary work. Undoubtedly Dr. G. is well up in Chinese, and is prepared for useful work in that line, He has already accomplished a large work in that direction, and now his heart and hands are full of Bible translation. He is one of a com mittee for that work and he has now finished his part of the New Testa ment and is starting on the Old Tes tament. When the work is done, the Bible will bo given to China in a much purer form than heretofore. Ono never understands a city till, ho knows its environment. Tho pleasure of a trip eighty miles west was greatly enhanced by the delight ful companionship of Brethren E. Z. Simmons and G. W. Greono. Tho mountains and tho gorges and the marble peaks were all interesting objects of nature. Then tho rivers on whose bosoms tho trip was made woro sparkling with boauty. But tho greatest; pleasure by far, was the mooting of earnest native Christians at Shin Hing. The pastor speaks very good English, having spent some years in America. Ho is a strong man who has made his way up from a very low position in life- He has translated Gospel Hymns and many of Moody’s sermons into Chi nese. He is an enthusiastic follower of the Saviour and it was a joy to meet him. There is sore need of a mission ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY. MARCH 2,1893. station being established at Shin Hing. The brethren here are pray ing for it and are ready to under take it as soon as they have a doctor. That city is an important commercial town, of a hundred and sixty thou sand. It was a great surprise to me to have such cold weather here within the tropics. While on our trip we had snow and sleet and ice. And having no fires and very open houses, suitable for their long summers, we suffered considerably from the cold. But I was assured by the “oldest in habitant,’’that it had been just sixty years since it had snowed before. Time and skill would fail me to tell of all that presses upon one’s atten tion here. I will close by saying that wo are in good health and are de lighted to be again in China. Be loved Shantung calls and we must go. We sail to-morrow. Our address is Chefoo, China, via. San Francisco. C. W. Pruitt. Canton, China, Jan. 23, 1893. HE THAT OVERGOMETH SHALL NOT BE HURT OF THE SEOOND DEATH.” REV 2 ; 11- BY S. G. HILT.YKR. We have, in the text above given the promise which was sent, by our Saviour to the church at Smyrna. It may be well to notice that all the promises sent to the several churches of Asia, are of universal application. Though given separ ately to each church, the subject of every promise is “he that overcom eth ; ” which is a general term, and includes every saint, wherever found, who wins the victory. Hence we all have an interest in these promises to day, just as truly as to the churches to which they were first sent. In the promise now before us, we find that he that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death. Tho question naturally arises : what is meant by the “second death ? ” It certainly denotes, in the book of Re velation, the final doom of the un godly. See ch\: 14:10, &20 : 14.) But vGat is that doom? There lire onlylwo answers to this question which I think it worth while to no tice. One is the view commonly held by the orthodox churches, viz, that the final doom of the sinner is a con dition of endless punishment. An other vie w,held by many,is,that the fi nal doom of the wicked is total anni hilation. I do not know that there is any organized body of Christians that have adopted this view as a part of their creed. But among all denominations are found people who hold this opinion. Some of them are people of intelligence and cul ture. Let us therefore treat this no tion with all fairness, without charg ing those who hold it, with any im proper motive whatever. It may be urged, in its favor, that, for anything we know to the contrary, the utter extinction of the wicked, at tho last day, would as effectually vindicate the divine sovereignty against the transgressor, and also present to all intelligent creatures as strong a motive to obedience and submission to the divine will, as could be ac complished by a condition of end less punishment. The hypothesis is plausible, but it is beset with many very serious difficulties. Let us no tice some of these. If the final doom of the lost is an nihilation, we find no room for any discrimination between different de grees of wickedness. It is an in stinctive judgment of our moral na ture, that penalties for the violation of law, should vary with the num ber and magnitudes of tho offenses. And this judgment tho Bible decis ively confirms. It teaches uh that men shall be judged according to their works. Hence we learn that some will be beaten with few stripes while others will be beaten with many stripes. And Josus tolls us that it will bo more tolerable for some people at tho day of judgment than for others. But how can these differences be made, if all tho lost are annihilated ? This would reduce all the lasses of offenders to one common level, and a dreadful level too. Annihilation, just think of it I Tho foolish virgins, who failed to mako adequate prepar ations to meet the Bride-groom, must suffer, at last the penitentuary of perpetual imprisonment, rather than subject them to capital punishment of annihilation. Tho analogies of human governments clearly sustain this thought. But there is oue more difficulty against this doctrine. It is not sup ported by scripture And remem ber, we are discussing a subject, con cerning which, w-Jcnow absolutely nothing except what wo learn from the Bible. We have no ground whatever for any opinion about a future state or a coming judgment, outside of the Bible. Let us then listen to its teachings. The final doom of the sinner is expressed, in Scripture by various terms. It is called a destruction, a perishing, a ruin, a death, and, in tho text before us, it is called a second death. But those terms do not, nec essarily, nor oven ordinarily, express the idea of absolute annihilation. They are used to denote a change of more or less calamitous; if you please dreadful and awful, but not suecessa rily a state of annihilation. The word “annihilate” is not found in tho whole Bible. Nor do I remember a single passage, which rightly interpreted, was designed to express the idea by other terms. But tlt:ro are other words which are used to describe the final doom of the sinner, that posi tively exclude the idea'of annihila tion. It is said: “It is appointed unto men once to die, and after death the judgment” There tho language is very concise. Tho word “judgment’’ not only includes the trial, but also the verdict, and its execution. Then it is obvious that the word “death” cannot mean annihilation, for then there would bo no room for the sub sequent judgment and its sequences. Paul does not mention the “second death” but he may have had it in his mind, as the final sequence of the judgment, so far as the wicked are concerned. The death which he does mention, we have just now seen, cannot mean annihilation. It merely denotes that change of condition which one experiences in passing from this life beyond the grave. This is the first death; —the. pnly death rightc&'fts IWer ex periepctu. < wi.>eT. &Ac ond death.” What evidence have wo that the second death is any more a total extinction of being, than the first ? The word does not necessari ly express it, and the idea of total extinction is excluded by the plain teachings of many parallel passages- Jesus often speaks of the worm that never dies, as ono source of suffering to the lost. Now the immortality of the worm, implies the perpetuity of the torture which it inflicts. Again, Jesus speaks of a fire which shall never be quenched as another mode of anguish to tho lost. If tho fire be unquenchable then its victims must abide unconsumed amidst its endless burning. I see no other way to ex plain these figures. But Jesus says, at last, dropping all metaphors, and using plain literal terms, “Tho wick ed shall go away into everlasting punishment.” In the light of the foregoing views we are compelled to fall back upon the orthodox view of the case; viz. that the “second death,” —the final doom of tho wicked, —is a condition of endless punishment. It only remains to notice briefly the promise: “He that overcomes shall not be hurt of the second death.” This promise, though expressed in different terms, is in substance, equivolcnt to the ono addressed to the church at Ephesus. The central thought, in both, is, that tho heritage of tho saint is eternal life. But what is eternal life?. It means more than eternal existence. Devils and all of mankind, who shall be lost, will have that. But their doom, as already shown, is a condition of endless suf fering. From all this the saint is effectually redeemed. He shall never bo hurt by tho second death. For him, there shall bo no more sin, no more weeping, and no more death. But ho shall be, not only delivered from the possibility of evil, but his condition shall boa state of endless felicity. This is the inheritance, in conceptiblo, undefiled, and that fad cth not away, reserved in Heaven for you, who are kept by tho power of God, through faith, ready to be revealed in the last time. (Seo Ist,- Petor, 1:8,-5 versos.) 73 Wheat, St Atlanta, Ga. Dr. M. D. Jeffries has resigned tho charge of tho East Church. Louis ville, Ky., and begins work at the Second Church, Knoxville, Tenn March Ist For tho Index. FASTING. BY J. J. TAYLOR, D. D. Among the heathen, abstinence from food was a prevalent form self-affliction. The Egyptians re quired that all who sought initiation into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris should prepare themselves by fasting. The Greeks made the third day of the Eleusinian celebration a day of fasting, and those who consulted cer tain oracles were required to abstain for twenty-four hours. The Siamese proclaim a fast in connection with some of their devotions, and dedi cate especially the seasons of the now and of the full moon to that observance. Mohammedans fast till the going down of the sun every day of their ninth month. False religions give a large place to fasting, and as sign to it great merit. The Bible recognizes fasting as proper under certain conditions. Moses and Elijah, as well as other prominent characters of the olden times, fastsd on occasion. Jesus al lowed it as an institution of the times. He deprecated the manner in which Pharisees observed the stated fasts, and thundered against the hypocrisies which the custom en gendered. He himself came eating and drinking, but he did not con demn John and the disciples of John for “fasting oft.” Once in his life Jesus entered into a mighty conflict with Satan in the wilderness, “and in those days he did oat nothing.” He was sustained by Divine power. He no where in timates that he expects his followers to imitate him in this. The celebrated Dr. Tanner under took to fast forty days, and “eat noth ing,” and he was pretty generally considered a crank. The simple mat ter of eschewing beef and mutton and pork and feasting on fish and eggs and oysters and fruits and vege tables from all lands and seas can be called an imitation of our Lord’s fast only by using language to mean what it-does not mean. Early Christian writers declared fsat fasting wwf a Jewish* ou’tom which was not acceptable to God. For five hundred years after Christ the matter was left, where the New Testament leaves it, with tho individ. ual conscience. Even so late as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it is said, the royal edict for fasting, was in tended to encourage tho fisheries rather than to promote religion. As spirituality declined, fasting began to bo considered meritorious 1 In the sixth century a council de creed that neglect of the appointed fasts should be punished with tho loss of the teeth. Later, excommu nication was not considered too severe for greedy saints who ate flesh on the wrong day. Fasts multiplied. The spring fast, (German, lenz, spring, lent,) which began with forty hours, grew to forty days. Then were add ed, by degrees, quarterly fasts monthly fasts, weekly fasts and many special fasts, until the faithful could get only a few square meals a month) It is written: “Moat commendeth us not to God: for neither if we eat are we the better, neither if we eat not are we the worse. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink.” Re ligion should not be taken with a wry face, like a bitter medicine; it is joy and peace in the Holy Ghost, ami is suited to all seasons. Shall we never fast? That will regulate itself. When the bride groom is taken away, you will fast. When you wrestle with forces that are too strong, and put the strength of body and soul, day and night, into the conflict to arrest threatened dis aster, you will not relish your food. When hearts that are all tho world to you are bounding with fever or dragging their fitful pulsations through the chill of death, you will turn your face to the wall; and when tho fight is over and silence reigns, you will cast, yourself by the dead and weep and pray as the prophet prayed in pain, but not like him can you break the sleep or bring tho soul to tho clay again. Thon shall ye fast. Mobile, Alabama. The First Baptist church, Jersey ville, 111., recently closed a mooting with 78 additions, 63 by baptism. Rov. J. J. Porter, is pastor Rov. J. N. Hall of Kentucky, assisted in tho meeting. Tho membership is overdoo. Tho pastor’s salary has been increas ed toi 2,000 and a pastor’s home,cost ing $5,000 is furnished him. THE FIRST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS- The church and the Christian have human lives to work upon from five to seventy years of age. Where shall the emphasis of work be plac ed? Is all the life equally open to religious imperssions, can the church work with as mucheffectivenoss upon the man of fifty as upon the young er manhood of fifteen? The oppor tunity of the church, the call for the most hopeful labor, the reaping of the golden harvest is the opening years of the life time. If there were a spiritual multiplication table, it would be something like this, —one year before twenty-five is equal to five years after twenty-five for ef fectiveness. Is Christian life out of harmony with large mindedness,with the matu res! powers of the mind, is it adapt ed only to the child mind that takes things upon trust, not basing choice upon the ripest powers of reasoning. The Christian life is reason itself. Christ is the truth itself. With the advancing powers of the understand ing there ought to be the placing of the entire man under the control of Christ. Two currents are at work in the man’s mind. Intellectually there is the growing sense of the ex istence of God. There is , a clearer apprehension of the foundations of the Christian faith. There is no pe ril to our age that any theoretical atheism will get hold of it. In Cana da in the census of 1880 only about five thousand enrolled themselves a mong the out and out deniers of the existence of God. Gladstone says that in his public service of fifty years he has met only four men in high public station who denied the reality of the Christian faith. While the intellectual light grows clearer, there is a deadening of the spiritual sensibilities 1 The cares of the world, the deceitfulness of riches, the en tangling alliances of life crowd in upon the soul, and Jesus Christ and his concerns are crowded out. Jes us, in tho quietness and uneventful ness of his age, saw how the currents of t!.\ world will carry a man away froiil the right decisions and the righ i'life. icn fold more is this true in the. whirl and excitement of this age when life is more intense. Dr. Williams, of Baltimore, in an ad dress given at Saratoga in 1885 gave tho following figures showing tho periods of life at which one thous and persons, admitted to his church by baptism, came into the new life in Christ: Under 15 years of age 247; be tween 15 and 25 415; between 25 and 36 223; between 35 and 45 102- between 45 and 55 9; between 55 and 65 4. These figures are iu themselves eloquence and effectiveness. They are arguments, carry demonstrata tion with them. These are the re sults, not of one year, but of forty years working. They are the out come not of a onesided ministry, but of a ministry aiming to reach all classes. 662 were baptized under 25. Only 13 were won to Christ between 45 and 65. Is this table the result of a happening,of a chance, or are there back of this table and underlying it- great and alterable laws. This table comes with a tre mendious force to all workers among young people. Every Sunday-chool teacher might fittingly have it before his eyes, written on the table of hie heart. The time for reaching the mind, for moulding it, for giving it the impress for Christ and the fu ture life is in the opening years. It is the supremo duty, it is the eplend ed privilege of the church to prompt the heart for Christ. There is grad ually coming into the mind a harden ing process. It is not fatalism, it is the operation of groat and fixed laws. There are laws for the winds that blow in such seeming recklessness. There are laws in the structure of the intellectual process. They work with the precision of cog wheels. There are laws according to which the Holy Spirit, Works. In Minnea polis four years ago a census was ta ken in a large assemblage to loam the periods of life at which they came into. Christ. This was tho re sult. Under 20 years of ago 600; be tween 20 and 25 100; between 25 and 80 38; between 80 and 40 21; between 40 and 50 1; between 50 and 60, 1. Out of 701 persons seven hundred booame Christians before they were twenty-live. Is there in this tabla *iur Brother Minister, Working Layman, Zealous Sister We are striving to make 'iVlio Index the best of its kind. Help us by securing • new subscriber. VOL. 70—NO. 9. earnest appeal to the men who are beyond twentyfive and are not yet Christians? Is there in this table any earnest appeal to pastors and teachers? Does it show with a great transparent po werthat the early years are the plastic, forming years of all the life time? Is this table the re sult of a hapening, a chance, or is there in it the revelation of a great law in accordance with which we must work if we would do the best service in enabling men to get hold of Christ and Christ to get hold of men. In Newark, N. J., at an after meeting two years ago this census was taken of the time at which those preset had become Christion. Under the age of 20, 250; between 20 and 30, 103; between 30 and 40, 56; between 40 and 50, 19; between 50 and 60 1. Men talk of a ministeral Dead Line of fifty, after which there is dulness of intellect and comparative uselessness in the life. In the pres ence of these three lists, we may in all seriousness, ask whether there is a moral Dead Line at fifty. How does it happen that after fifty there is st»ch a barren harvest. Is the min istry ineffective for getting hold of men, is the religion of Christ fitted far women and young people, is religion a thing of tho emotions and unfitted for the stronger reasoning powers of clear headed men? Re ligion is manly and reasonable. Christ waa not effminate but manly No better book for earnest young men can be found than Thomas Hughes book, “Manliness of Christ” There is a law of the hardening pro cess going on in each man’s heart. These tables are marvellously alike. The Insurance Companies have their tables of mortality. There is an average duration of human life. Out of one thousand men such a number will attain to the age of fifty> and another definite number to the age of sixty. These tables, taking the country over, taking year by yeai r , they can lean upon insuring men. It is not a haphazard business that Insurance Companies are en gaged in. There Is a law of aver ‘ ages of which they feel sure. It is not unfitting for the churches to say,- The time for doing our best work is in the first twenty five years of the life. The emphasis of concern and prayer and labor must be for the young. McLaren of England recent ly uttered these words. They are the outgrowth of forty years of the most effective work that England has seen. And so I lay it on your hearts, dear young friends. I have but little hope of the old people. I do not despair of any, God forbid! but the fact remains that the most of the men that have done anything for God and the world worth doinsr have been under the influence of Christian principle in their early days. And from fifteen to one and twenty is the period in which you get the set which in all likelihood you will retain through eternity. These words are eloquent because they are true. Eternity, as a rule, lies close along side of the twenty five year old line. Is it not a great risk to receive the child Christian into the Church membership? Spur geon answers this question. I have more confidence in the spiritual life of the children that I have received into this Church than I have in the spiritual condition of the adults thus received. I will go even farther than that and say that I have usually found a clearer knowledge of the gospel and a warmer love to Christ in the child convert than in the man converts. I will oven astonish you still more by saying that I have some times met with a deeper spiritual ex perience in children of ten or twelve than I have in certain persons of fifty or sixty. Capacity for believ ing lies more in the child than iu the man. We grow less, rather than more capable of faith. Religion is not childishness but childlikenoss- In the child-years there should be the appeal to receive the Christ-life. Getting one child for Christ may seem for to-day a small and insignifi cant thing. But the child will soon be the man, and that may mean a tremendous force for Christ and his cause. Pray for them early, got hold of them early, keep hold of them tenderly, cultivate them upward con stantly. The opportunity of the church is tho work among the young and for tho young. Tho duty of tho church lies close along side tho op portunity. O. P. Eachss Hightstown, N. J.