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{ 1 UNBELIEF TRIED BY THE TEST OF SCIENCE By REV. JAMES W. LEE, : 5' 1 PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH - THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN. SATURDAY. JANUARY 13. INK Tl1f rr.it in at Grace* * ni on* of ■ in th* objective existence of J*!? u In included between the yeiri *2*100 B. C. Not 1h my two hundred *r I he history of * people were ftr ... many «r*«t men produced, t 're »»re .tsteemen such u Mints- L, Leonids*. Themlstoelra, Aristides, r^nnn Kpamlnooda* Phoclon snd I'hllneophor* such as l*y- 7*uor*«. H.vcrstes. Hippocrates. Eu- JJSf pistn snd Aristotle; artist* such 2app»I*s. Phidias and Praxiteles: tuterian* such as Herodotus. Thuct- Xenophon. and orators such ..■chines, and Demosthenes. ' rut. brilliant period In the history of i nought wss Inspired and dl- 5i"Uf bv the philosophy developed by £L rii ir,; risto and Aristotle. Those In 5f, r days who held to the theory that ill knowledge IS but a subjective proc. *?, in the mind, and that nothing can Z known except the modlllcatlons or the self, were the sophists, nerc the forerunners of Roacel- unj. and of Hume end of Spencer, Ini sti other teachers of sgnostlclsm. Xf, sophists held that there was noth- Ins good or bad by nature, but only bv statue. They did not bellsve In th* f.utside reality of general terms or Socrates, Plato and Aristotle accepted the validity of universal tsrms as objectively real. They believed In th. existence of an outsr, world that corresponded tn their' Ideas of It, and Ib.v hslteved the outer world embodied h. Ideas Of the Creator'* mind. The only difference between Plato -jnd Art-tot la—was—that—tha former f.«nd Ides* In the outelde order, while .a. ipttir found what he called ra- i.nca ..r forms. Practically there wa* no difference between them. They both believed In the reality of out- ovi.tonie nnd that it waa know- **pia,.i held that God la the living. In- telllslhle. perfect Being In Whom tire ,11 the Idese which take form In the material world. Ho' It Is who possesses motion In repose, who poseeaeee au- gu» and sacred Intelligence, which the suplllst denies. ■in tlod's name." eaye Plato, "shall to. readily persuaded that He who Is ahsolulely, haa neither motion nor *•*»» iiniUBiii, Hint lie inert, that he it without august and sacred Intelligence? Shall we tell men J5H Intelligence, bul haa not Ilfs? Bhall we tell them that he has had both, hut not personality? Shall tv* 1st them tell ue that he le personal Intslllgent. living, but Inert?" All this would be absurd. According to Plato the world does not proceed from a blind, spontaneous cause producing without consciousness, but It proceeds from a God who create* with knowl edge and with divine reason. Plato taught that the world and all that Is In It was mad* In the liken*** of Ideas- That we cen know the world beceuee It la the expression of Intelligence. That the Idea* which proceed front the mind of God Into the world are euch a* we find In all things end ue* to build our science. The phl'naopher differed from the sophist according to Plato, In that he proceeded from the thing* In which God expressed His thought to God Himself, while the - sophist moves toward mer* nothingness. The sophist just as Roscelllnus did, and Hume did. and Bpencer did, pursues non-being and takes refug* In Its shadows. Plato taka* crested things, as his starting point, just as one would take the writings of Homer as a start ing point to study the mind of the poet. The world lo Pinto was a vest library. In which God had written Hie thought. God was to be perceived, as St. Paul said, through the thing* He had made. % It le perhape In the mind at some one to eay-that we ere- going back a long dletence through the renlurlre to fln'La..pbllni"'Phl,- haul* for our thought It I* one of the most remarkable fncts In the whole history of the human mind that we have exactly In our day come round to the posltluh held by Hoc rater, Plato and Aristotle In our procedure of dealing with the world In the realm of aclence. The philosophic position of the scientist* of the present day le as naive and primitive and unsophisti cated as that of the great Greek phi losophers. Th* scientist believes the na ture he Investigates Is an ohjectlve fart, and that what he learns about It by observation and experiment It not u mere (tale nf hie own consciousness. fact. He does not make himself rldic uloue like tb* eollpelst, P. H. Bradley, who says In "Appearance and Reali ty" that "I cannot transcend experience, nnd experience must be my experience. From this It follow* that nothing be yond myself exists, for what Is ex perience Is Its Iths seifs) state*.' After the death of Plato, toward the close of 100 B. C., Epicurus and hla empirical, sensational , . _ rStne prominent. In hla esteem the areckt. led by the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, had been living m th< Clouds; tie called them back to Uu earth. They had been living under an Infinite sky; he proposed to limit their vision by Ihe actual horison that bounded Greece. He taught there waa nothing but matter. The soul wee only a -delicate and extremely mobile sub stance. consisting of ths minutest round stoma. The universe waa not tho product of the divine mind; It wa* only an aggregate of blind stoma, drift. Ing through Infinite space, and declin ing aomewhat from their, course through an accidental causa, pushing and shoving one another until the homogeneous onea got together. This cheap philosophy, having no Brfrrstr* alive In arrest It, a* he had that nf the '(ophltt*. hitd tremendous Influ ence. It soon passed from the heads Into the lives of Ihe people. Under the Inspiration of teachers like Pinto the Oreeks accomplished In two hun dred years a turn of axquItU* work that has made them the wonder'nf all ages. Under the leadership of ekeptlce Ilk* Epicurus they became paupers In capacity and spirit. Despising the world for hleh Ideate. DR. J. W. LEE. they found turned It Into a wilderness of beauty. Turning from belief In high Ideals anil transcendental truth, they lost It and left It a wilderness of desolation standing on the Acropolis today one may the the Bnul of Greece as It lived In Ihe Athenian people from 100 to 100 B. C. It le embodied In th* Parthe non, and the Erecthenum and In the Temple of Theseus. There Is no bet ter place under the sun to study the results on life and chnrarter of belief In the reality and Intelligibility of God then th* Athenian Acropolis. There one may contemplate belief In the most -perfect sxnreralnn of hcnulv nnd truth Ihe human mind hae ever made of It self, and there one aeee the resultp of unbelief In sixty generations of Impo tent Greeks. The Epicurean philoso phy was given to the Romans by Lu cretius In his celebrated poem on "The Nature nf Things." The people who hnd subjugated and civilised tho world found the Idea* of Lucretius an axcuee for giving themaelvea up tn the sensual enjoyment of the world. After th* •tenth nf the Emperor Augustus he was succeeded by Tiberius In the year 14 A. D. was never lower than In ihe year 3S A. D. Tiberius, one of the nbleet men who ever occupied u throne, was ihe world's undisputed master. He had abandoned the lupiial snd was living on the Island or Capri. near Naples. Having exhausted ettry delight capa ble of exciting his eirsual nerves, he wa* offering a largo reward to anyone who could Invent a new pleasure for Itlm. Bejanus, t|io favorite at the emperor, waa In charge of aff tlrs at Rome. He had poisoned Drustts, the son at hla - master, and was echymlng la rut out of the wny other m-ieher* <jf <Re Im perial family. Pontius Pilate waa gov ernor of Judes. Herod Antipaa, tlte murderer of John the Baptist, wss gov ernor of Galilee Seneca, tho most celebrated writer of the time, was thlr- ly-two year* old. He was the moralist of Ihe period, and most eloquent wheir describing the easiest method of com mitting suicide. Philo Judaeus, the Alexandrian Jew. was forty-eight years old. snd was trying to reconcile the word* of the Pentateuch with the phil osophy oYreligion He had learned from the Greek*. It wa* a time of Universal, decadence, the extent of which may be measure,I In some decree by the distance between Livy, the noble his torian of the preceding eg*, nnd Vale rius Moxlntus. ihe rhetorics! chronicler of the time of Tiberius. The world was oold snd hard nnd cruel. There wss not sn orphan nsytum under the sun. Tenderness snd sympathy had seem ingly died out of the human heart. It the mldolght of the — The power and luxury tn thtlr city by the Tiber. They hui converted th* wreckage of all nations Into splendid marble temples, palaces, baths, master-pieces of art for the liv ing nnd Into magnificent mausoleum,;, along the Applun tray, fur the dead. The streams nf commerce from sit quarter* of the globe flowed to this seething center of corruption, snd were there need to turn the wheel work of the most complicated and mightiest en ginery of wlckodness ever seen on this earth before or elttee. Life became a burden 'and sickening disappointment. out of disgust at having been born. "On that hard pagan world disgust . And secret loathing fell; Deep weariness snd sated lust Made human life s hell." In thut very time, snd In Ihe bounds of thut very empire, s young Jew de livered a short sermon on* Bebbsth day from a long text In the eynegogu* st Nazareth which created s sensation among hie humble neighbor! and kins folk In the slxty-flyat chapter of Isaiah lie found s sketch of (he divine program. One tn after retire would rise up to complete. The speaker declared that the prophet was referring to Him self when raven hundred year* before he wrote: “The Spirit of the Lord Is upon me. It,.cause He anointed me to preach good tidings to the poor: lie hath sent me lo proclaim release tn tha esptlora ' _ __ _ ' And recovering of sight to the blind. To rat aniberty them that are bruised. Tu preclaim the acceptable year of-the Lord." To apply this language to Hlmaelf, wen to assume that th* Almighty, through HI* Inspired seer, singled Him out from all the millions of the earth, to build « new kingdom and people it With new men. Reader* of th* New Testament are so faifilliar with the re corded fact that they sre In danger at missing the . amazing _aspects ut_ll» When by e process of mental detach- ment we strive to I ravel back throw ' 1177 yeara to Nusareth In order to tool straight at It. In |ts primitive reality, we are overwhelmed In wonder at one who could stand up snd ray, the hour nod come to birth when the forelook- Inga of t he greatest of the prophets had materialized themsslvsa In His own nbaeure life. He I* there bock nf all the history which has bran made elnce the time of Tiberius Caesar. ■ He Is there without family prestige, without wealth or ofUclal distinction: without a school or a system of philosophy, Ithnut authority from the rulers In ■to excite th* Imagination or win tha both*** of th* people. He l> there In a little Syrian town off the highway of travel, where th* doings of the simple Inhabitants were not of sufficient con sequence to be ever Heard of tn Ti berias, nine mile* awny. There was no Naur Testament, no apostle's creed, no Christian church. He la there beck of all th* Ilfs, liter- . ature, art, science, theology, education and political progrtu which maks up Ihe civilisation known today. He I* there in a small synagogue surrounded by the common people, offering Him self ** Ihe sermon which <c p,Minded the text He had read. He did nut attempt to explain th* process by which lie had come. In His thought, to Identify Illmeelf with th* words of Isaiah. He waa ths sermon oa thal day. not built of words, but pulsating with life. Curiosity was excited, but He rebuked.lt by what He did not tty, ' Indignation was stirred by what Ha did say, but He did ZWt allay U. Her* ts'ts man claiming to have a mission, from the cor* and heart nf things. How can w* account for hla Illimitable self- confidence? He had no expaflenoo, ■ He had never traveled. He had never measured wits with th* thinker* nr- crossed sword* with the captains. Wa* He unbalanced, or wa* He the only* sene men on earthT The wonder of Bltn Increases when the Items of th*. program He said He had com* to fill out are considered. He waa to klsddeG' the poor, heal th* broken-hearted, re lease the prisoners, bring In a naw day. and brain the Issue nf a naw edition at ' humanity. When th* heart of mail. wss breaking because of hla lawle ness, or aching because of his despair, here la one brimming with Ilf* ana' overflowing with optimism sufficient to set the whole world singing with de light. Here In th* midst nf an empire, falling to pieces. Is a man, up In tho rustic hills, giving to hi* neighbor* an outline of one He Is to bultd that shalL stand forevsr. Ha Is to begin Hta work at the bottom with ths very dreg*, and off-acouring of society, and us* them us so much splendid raw material out of .which to build His new and beautiful order of life. T HERE Is a familiar process In ms,hematic* known ss cancella. lion. All Ihe factors of a prob lem are set down against each other and rnncelsd ouL When everything Is ranee led that will ranoel, the remaining terms are the true answer to the prop- Ofltlnn. There Is * principal like that In the methods of scientific Investigation. It 1- railed the process of elimination. A’,I possible theories are exposed to test sn,l the Impossible ones discarded, and then ths theory that has best stood th* test t, taken at probably the true [.theory it was by this method that Kepler cam* lo the discovery of th* I Jaw of planetary motion. He took tixhtren the-rle. and tried them In th* -1—k at Hie starry universe All felled until but one, th* eighteenth, remain ed—When he put that Into the lock the gates of Truth, abut for millen niums. flew open and exclaimed In rap- awe. "Oh. pod, I am thinking Thy thoughts after Th**." Peter sweeps th* field clear. Only Christ remain*. "Lord, to whom shall »<• g„'.' Our "Id Leader le dead, and If we ,„uld g,> to John the Baptist hr would say again. 'Behold the Lamb "I i»o,|, whose shoe latchets I am not worthy to unloose.' .“hall we go to Moses? He woutd tend us back to Thee. And to th* prophets; they would point ue to Thee Shall we go to the scribes and phar- i-ee«? We have been too long with Tux and havo heard too often tha truth about them, that they are blind leaders of the blind. '“hall w* go to Ihe world? It will d"e!\e us. and mock our hungry souls “oh bread that periaheth. Shall we *••-In? It will destroy us nnd bring bou rnes* and death.” I -at he sweepa the field nnd Christ "«ly remains. That heart study of r :.native religion pute eome of the r--l; element Into Peter's character. Th. -!ime mood Is upqn him when he Teams at the temple later and declare* "There i, none other name under heav er clv,n among men whereby they name of may be saved except Jesue." Chrlet to these men Is the all essen tial one. They have left all to follow Him, and they will not now leave Him to follow a nothing, a delusion, i despair. They have tasted of the llv Ing bread. The Dernier ReserL So these words have become historic. They have com* to stand guard at th* very gateway, of Christianity. They sweep the mlet from the chasm'of Im man need end disclose the block depth* for those who go away from Chrtat. It Is Christ or nothing. Chrlet Is the last resort. Tt le tht* about th* gospel that of fends many people. Christianity would be more popular If It waa less exacting on this one point. If It said, "There are many nomas glren among men whereby they may be saved.” If It agreed that one religion I* a* good a* another; that Christ I* Just an Im provement on Buddha and Confucius— that there are several goad foundation* for men to .lay .In"(end of Ju*t the one that le laid In jesu* Christ. IhiTRlgW- eous. But It doe* not and wttl not ray Therefore, eome ore greatly of fended. More then In any other age there Is a dislike of th* Imperative mood In religion. Men do not like to he shut up tn an alternative of necessi ty. Tell a man that he muat be horn again, anil he straightens himself at once against vou. It la John B. Gough that tells of a woman, a good Christian, by the way. who when the ship waa In a fearful atnrm at sea, went to the captain and said; “Captain, la there any real danger?" "Danger, madam!" the captain re plied. "I should ray there Is. Th* truth It there'* nothing left now but to put our truet In Providence." "My goodness!" ahe said, "has It .omc to that?" Th* Soul's Dasparata Chance. The kingdom ef God la Ilk* an Invert, cd pyramid. At the top It la "an abundant" entrance and at Ihe bottom a desperate alternative. Human so ciety In the primary and lowor orders of its life la not exacting, but It nar rows as w* rite to its higher circles Mocletv there become* more exclusive. But the kingdom reverses this order snd leys Its sternest conditions at the very threshold of Ita entrance, "Btratt la the way and narrow the gate, and few there be that go In thereat." This was raid not nf heaven, but of the kingdom of God now at hand. Not only for tha rich man. but for the proud man, th* self-willed man, It la easier for a camel to go through the eye of n needle. It le a desperate Is sue that confronts every one of ue. It le life at close gripe. It I* the soul shut In to' a stern necessity. Until a man realises the serious real ity of that fact he la not neaV tha king dom. Mr. Campbetr Morgan. In dedi cating hla recent book, "Th* Crises of the Christ," to hla father and mother, says that so did they train him from Infancy, "that when th* necessity came for my personal choosing ao did I recognize the claims of IBs love that without 1 revulsion and h*rdiy kB*wtW|r when I yielded to Him my altaglanre. Admit the exception, you aay. Ah, hut mark, "necessity coma." A man may take a desperate chance with per. fact yielding and without revulsion, hut tt was a desperate ohanc* Juat the •am*. Whnt 1 aay la that we are thut up tn one chance of salvation from sin. And there le no aalvutlon for ue so long ns we are unconvinced that It ta the only chance. When President Gar field waa carried wounded tn Long Branch the doctors made their exami nation and held their consultation. The president said. "Tell mo candidly, doc tor, what are the chances?" The phy sician faithfully replied, “There Is one chance In ten for your recovery." 'Then," exclaimed Garfield, "I will take that chance." Toplady'e greet hymn has signalled the match of thousands Into God's kingdom and will signal thousands more. It Is true to the Bible, to the conscience, in experience and to the very reason of things. "OTHER REFUGE HAVE I NONE. HANGS MY HELPLESS BOUL ON THEE.” If Net Chrlat, Whet Now, th* burden 1* on any man who has n soul to save and who I* about turning away from seeking or serving Christ further to consider this question. DR. JOHN E. WHITE. If not Chrlet, who?" There la a com mon sense of men that a man should think before he abandon* one enter prise In a necessary business whether he has another plan better to fall hark A man should look before he leaps. It Is never wlae to resign, pick up both feet nt once, until you have another place In view. Don't give up the house you nr* In, even though it may not he exactly what you want, unless you have another aa good, nr better, at jour command. This 1s good acnee on ihe level of the secular, and la It not good sens* on tho higher level of th* sacred? If not Christ, who? If you can find another Jeeua—fend the Infidels have a book called "The World'* Hlxteen Crucified Bavlors," who can do ns much for you as this one can; if you ran get one whoes charac ter Is a* noble, whose love la aa self- denying, and whose words are th* words of eternal Ills, who ran heal nnd save and satisfy in the great perma nent needs of your life; If you ran find one or have found one who hae ao emp tied himself for you, who. equal with God In dignity and power, haa so made hlmaelf of no-reputation a*, to take upon him th* form of a servant end wee made Into th* likeness of man. and who, being found In fashion as a man. humble* himself alllt further and becomes obedient unto death, even the the death of Jh* cross; If you ran find somew here, end thle la n big world and ML .of geniuses and heroes, another who wore such a thorn iroen as Hla, agonized In a bloody sweat Ilk* Hit and groaned upon a ernes like Hie. amt all for Just a soul like yours; If you can find nno whoa* life hae wrought the mtrnrle nf such a civilisation us t whloh history- calls Christian civ ilization, whose life and death have lifted forward humanity aa has Ills, whose blood atones for the sins of Ihe nice, who has gone Into tho grave and lifted off prison chains of dealli and nut of death's dark domain has brought faith to light, life and Immortality, and w ho has ascended to the right hand of God to elt aa an acceptable mediator between God and man; If you can find another than ll« who haa the power and uuthortty to give you a erown of eternal glory for your head, an eternal song of deliverance for your tips, a [>a!m of vtrtory for your hands, a royal none of many mansions for your ever lasting habitation nnd who will wipe all iear* from your eye*, then all I have to aay Is, "Go after him." The steamship company does not Interdict the man who chooses to swim from New York to Liverpool. But I submit that they would have the right to in quire of the men who declined all steamboats, what kind of craft he hn« tv. Ho I submit this question: "If not Chrlet. who?" Henry Drummond said: "Time does not change men. Death does not change men. Christ does. Wherefore put on Chrlet." Thnt I* logic on the posltlva eld* of thla question. Peter but the alternatlva tide with squat ■Ogle when he eaye: "Lord, to whom shall we go away?" If Chrlat ta not the Savior, there le none. "The Good le Enemy to th* Beat.” 1 do, not pretend tn ray that there ta no good in other religion*, and Gauta ma and Confuclv* and Mahomet and Socrates and Plato have Hot virtue In them, lint I do auert that exactly where their virtue ends th* shut's real need begins. "My cable la aa good at your*.*' "Yes, hut tt doesn't come within ten fathoms nf th* bottom," raid tha other sailor. Wa want a faith that will drop the Anchor of hope both sure and steadfast to the depths of our need. A mnn-onre fell Into a very deep ell. A friend came along, saw hi* leeture ea walk ing with hla syra open. "It you ever get out.” he said, "remember what I have fold you." That ta Confucianism. Another friend Chanced by end he called to the man, "Climb up, my friend, and give me your hand and I'll inin you 'but." TI»T'Wtnr-Bufidlilitui. Then came another, who, seeing the man's peril, was moved with great compassion nnd he went down Into the well and took the fainting, wounded man In hla anna from Ihe Very bottom of the deep well and climbed with hla burden to the top. end then said to him, "Watch, leet ye fall Into tempta tion." "Abide In me nml I will abide In you." That was Christianity, and that Was a deathless friendship. If nut Chrlet—Who? The Difficulties of Disbelief. At any rete.I hold that (hose who seek for tho reason of thing* end as sume to b* particularly thoughtful on religious aubjrct*. and who turn awtiy from tho gospel of Christ because ihey find In It what the Apostle Paul calls 'the mystery of the gospel." should onsldrr honestly two things. First, whether there ere not more tllfilcolMes In doubt than flit re are tn faith, more and greater dilemmas of the mind tn negation than there ere In belief. Really. It requires more credulity to be an Infidel than tt requires faith to be a Christian. Napoleon one* said to Marshal Duroo, an avowed Infidel: 'There are some who are capable of. believing everything but the Bible." Second. Whether this being the ess* you are acting on the plane of ordlnur’ Intelligence, leaving Christ for a creed that uteris Its own hopeltsenefes. Let It be understood there ta no log- leal standing ground between them. "He that Is not for me ta against zne>" There ta no half-way ground wide enough for a soul to eland on. Athe ism border* right alongside.of Chris tianity. If there Is n God nnd vnu believe It. thore le nothing about Oirillt “ incredible, nothing that Juetinea a mo ment's doubt. "All things are possible with God." The Chrlat and all His claims, Hls Atrtntty, lnc*rt»atl( reeurreetton. and th* whole , the gnttpel or* not at i "Ye believe In God. btllev* also In I Tou are either much further from , Christ than you Imagine or you are much nearer. I think you are much ' nearer. Ah, to think of It. that a man should be standing for a space, and It osnTjeTor only A lltUi apses, at IM— portals of the kingdom, and then go away, away, away tn the dismal region of Godleaeneaa forever. Tbl* la w hat you aay you cannot un derstand, that there Is a line to cross, • going over and Into Christ and eter nal Ilf* for you'a feet and a necessity., But there le aurh a line. Have you ' examined your thermometer recently i in this changeable weather of ounf j Then do *o when you go home. And / mark that wonderful, that mysterious ; point in th* thermometer called 13 da- , grrea Fahrenheit. What does It stand for? It stand* for the fact, th* slant I unalterable law that a hair'* breadth 1 above that line tee become* suddenly water and a hair’s breadth below It water becomes Ice. Do you believe that and not thla? over the line by us unseen that crosses every path a man leaves Athe ism nnd Qndleasnrra behind and cornea Into that marveloue relation which changes everything for him, eternally. ■me over the line. It le only A step, h stop between yoU and Jesus." I THE UNTAMED MEMBER By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD. PASTOR UNIVERSALIST CHURCH >»••••••••••••••• »4 itt*a**a*t*«tattttaetfetaettaatetaaeattteattatattattti W HAT an unhappy and trouble some member of society Is the Individual with the loose and IrrezpinslM# tongue! How much of “orld'a tear* and heartache, how » of tha world'* hatred and malic* murder, how much of th# world'* “ft.ling regret and remorse are ‘"• I hy the ceaseless, eenteless wit*. «!r.c Of thla little tmruiy member, so “"it .sited by th* apostle “the un- ••med and unruly member, full of deadly poison." T • priceless friendship of a lifetime -< .,0,-red by a single hn|jy word; thr a .0 name, dearer to the poesessor »"n life itself, It snatched away by a utterance perhaps even un- T ' ! ‘M with malice; the light end har- !c."nt of heaven In a happy home are img-d to the gloom and dltcord of by the earns tongue endowed to ' N i ''l, **lng* Instead of curate, y ; under the anoalla declared the "cue lo be "a fire, a world of Inlqul- >' "on It defileth the whole body and '"*'!i on fire the course of nature; ,M I* »et on fire of hell!". • v "*lk or station In life, no voca- u profession Is exempt from th* n <sr. 0 f hasty and unthinking te>- h N " walk or station In life, no pro- ' -. n or vacation aeeme able In liaeif. ^ : M back tho tongue from It* work '• •'ruction. The lie spoken In the '"‘“I l* no tnore deadly In Ita final ' •e-iuencee than the slander boldly form from the pulpit. The most "»N« and trusted man tn public *e ,s no more tmihuna from th* deadly attack of careless or malicious speech Ihon 1s the moat prolific promoter of Iniquity. The Individual whose very though)* are often and whose motives bear with safety the soul's most searching scru tiny escapes no more easily ihe malic* tipped, tongue winged shaft of Ihe tra- dueer than doe* hi* unhappy brother (contested libelling match between two ‘ Incensed and outraged citizens In a public meeting nf her legislative body When we have advanced that rar along the pathway nf true civilisation It will hr no longer posalble for anv would-hr reformer In well-meant hut misguided teal to publicly slander a group of re spectable rltlsene and honorable public hoec past la a panorama of evil ufficlals under the eancllty and pro memorise nnd who#* future Intention* are dark with the shadow of crime It may b* true enough that "hard worde break no 'bone#." but certainly thev have ihe power to break hearte. ami tn destroy hope and honor ana h *ArthoTl*te speech and the creation and Intelligent uee nf langusge are popularly euppoaed to he unmistakable Indications of progress In enlighten ment and civilisation, yat It Is certain that the civilisation of some men and women would be more evident and more acceptable to their fellow cltlstni were they occasionally providentially •trlcken with precautionary dumhneaa an p*rhapa group of civilised beings under the »V» of God are *p given to Indiscriminate rv»'«“ n «" ,n ,h « “*• nf the tongue as tha American people. It it a falling due probably to an In ordinate desire to exercise our much b,mated "freedom of speech. W# need lo learn, among other things, that liberty l* not license and that freedom, misconceived and abused, degenerate* into anarchy. We aball have reachedi a true conception of th* meaning of lib erty and of the function* of govern ment when we ehall demand that men shall he held a* accountable for their word* as for their deed*. hen that happy time romei It will be Impossible - ' v ’ to be called upon to en- tectlon nf * religion* Institution. Insult Is .in Insult whether It emanate from a pulpit or from a saloon, ami tta hurt and sting are no less poignant when It Is sal veil by the promise of an apology any more than a dose of castor oil is rendered more palatable by the prospect of a caramel which may follow It. Many of the men and a omen whose assumed function Is to point the way to . better living have .apparently con ceived the notion that reformation fol lows In the wake of abuse and thnt mm are made mure responsive to the claims of duty by misjudging their In tentions nnd maligning their motives. The veriest tyro In kindergarten work-know* full well that the growth of the soul Is fostered by. encourage ment and always retarded by* .rebuke and condemnation and that obedience i to the higher Instincts Is Heculvri by the evident confidence «m the part of the teacher In that result. "Men are only boyn grown tall, and hearta don’t change much, after all.” Perhaps If we would eg press our con fidence. by word and, deed, In the In tegrity and the*.good Intentions of those whom we select -lo create shd to main tain our governments Instead of bring so ready to accuse them In advance of dishonesty and malfeasance, their serv ice of righteousness might be more REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD. fnr a areat city to be called upon to en- ice or righteousness might be more dure the humiliating spectacle of a well spontaneous and universal. Why nut try It? When we reflect how ready the American people are to vilify and slander and misjudge those who are elevated to placed of trust and of re- *pon*tblllty, how then* men stand con stantly In Jeopardy of lor ing “that which makes them p*n»r Indeed,” through the careless wagging of the tongue of the fanatic or the demagogue, [lioivst men, men who hold their repu- |lat|ons as anything of worth*, can ever b* found Willing to accept public of- : tl« So long an the pulpit, the press, tho curbstone orator, and the saloon Joafer keep up their unholy chorus of nhuso and Insult, so long may we expect thnt In the main we shall have |H>l|tlr|an* inetend of stnti smei) to make and ex ecute for us .rui- hiws. Why do we vln thus grievously nml continuously with our lips? Why do we continue t*» >i>ejik words of bit terness and unklmlnesH nnd untruth to nnd nf our neighbor.'adding nothing to the sum total of the world's liapplnesn anil taking away from our own pence of mind? One who came to teach to men the true way dT life Is reported to have de clared that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth apeaketh.” and wa know that this Is true because the truth In our own souls responds to Its appeal. * What than? Shall we con clude that the words of bitterness nnd hatred and malic* nnd suspicion whl N OltDKR to do snrlbltig well you must leant to crnirmtrtte your thoughts snd energies. You cannot do good work If tour attention is mile# sway. If your thoughts are all bent on whst yon did last night or el|tcet to do tonight Think of whst you are doing while you nrc doing It. I^t te'tr mind nnd hands travel together % .... You may be merely washing dishes, or dwal (Mnwokn alike u» Wu< speaker swrcpthg the floor, hut If yon want to d< and to the hearer are but faithful pies of tho heart's storehouse of evil and unhappy thoughts? The con clusion la humiliating, hut Inevitable. It seems t*» be Impossible, to ^ct ef fectually u watch uiNin the tongue In the unguarded moment It Is HltmMt certain to apenk the thought* which have their home In the heart. 8L Paul must have had th* same* disappointing experience which awaits every man who tries to civilise the tongue* while i he'heart la filled with anarchy, and that experience yielded this priceless, ounsel; "Finally, brethren, whatso- 1 rousedi ,... lesson of ronrentratlon Is one of the hardest of alt lc#»>!>s to learn; the mind is nn unruly thing and u«t always subject to ri»tnrtd. |ln\i< you ever talked to any one when your intention wn* wandering all civet the nlnre, when you found It next to lm|M>s*h ble to concentrate your mind on what wsa being said t» you? It la not a comfortable sensation, and you are .always miserably luIlilw *** * * eonartoua that the person talking to you Is tho wonder grows upon us that really ever things are true, whatsoever things aware of your lack of attention. are Ipmest, whatsoever things are Just, whatsoever things nre pur%», whatso ever things nre lovely, whatsoever things me of good report; If there be any virtue, nnd If there be nnv praise, think on these things.” The heart that Is persistently and hopefully search ing for hnne.ly In the world will not nnd the mlalnterpretation of his nelfh- bor'H Intentions «uch an easy task; the mind which dwell* (qttlently upon the thlnx* thut are of food report will be obi,. t« tell the world thst there Is more of k*hhI than nf evil In all men. "Cre ate In u* s clean heart, O God! and re new u rlRht spirit within us.” LEARN CONCENTRATION, • SAYS BEATRICE FAIRFAX I It properly you musl keep your attention nu your work. You may be s school girl, studying your lessons; you won't get any good from them unless you put your mind ou them. in the room but the volca of th# talking to you. 1 know s young man who wrltsa Na matter how much disturbance Is gulag tm In the room, b# writes serenely ea. sot In the least disturbed by tb* noise. That Is Imm'siiso he can concentrate hi# satlr# at tention on the thing h# Is doing. \ou must remember, girts, that rear via- ployer do## not #lone pay you Jtor yoar lime; he pava you for your attention #d4 ydoriotnw t» jimr m—— you alwaya feel that you,hav# abao- l^v earned It? 1H> you slwsyi do your •a busy every re you thought aud hay# you i rosy \ tslona long enough to cal aide of thing#. While* others nr*- plodding steadlh