“Yes, and here is a letter that was brought
up from the office for you, though I don’t
suppose you care to read it now !” exclaimed
Hatley. “ I’ll lay it down here on the table.”
Cradley could not restrain his impatience,
but reached out for it, and tore it open with
trembling hands.
What is that ? The writing appears blurred,
“Am able to pleasantly disappoint you; re
verses tided over ; am now on safe footing
again.” Can he believe his own eyesight?
"Leave me boys,” he mutters; "I am
afraid I need a little rest to restore my
nerves,’’ and alone,lying with his face turned
towards the wall, he gradually brings his
mind back to its ordinary state of equilibrium
from which it had wandered for now almost
a week.
Not such a bad feeling to celebrate Christ
mas with after all, to know that one is a foot
ball hero, and second, but by no means least,
to know that one has safely passed a senior
examination. At any rate, so thought Bob
Cradley, as he sat at the family board two
weeks later and called for a third piece of the
rapidly vanishing turkey. G. D.
OUR RELIGIOUS NATURE,
ALL men, wherever found, possess some
form of philosophy or religion ; this has
been true as far as we can judge, since the
founding of the human race. We find the
lowest races of men in posession of the lowest
ideal of religion, and the highest races be
lieving in the most perfect ideal of religion.
In all of the grades of belief presented, there
is found to be present certain underlying be
liefs, which depend for their existence upon
innate tendencies of the human mind, or per
haps better ; they but satisfy these same ten
dencies which exist. Certainly for these
inborn beliefs or inclinations to believing,
there is some primary cause. We are thus
led to seek from whence come these feelings
THE FREE LANCE.
of the existence of a Supreme Being—a Some
thing over-ruling all. Since it appears from
all that we can gather, that these same feel
ings existed within the first of our race, we
will undoubtedly have its origin within our
selves, if we but find its origin in the first of
our kind.
Man is so constituted, as to force himself
to seek the society of.men, and because of
this constitution, when man finds himself
alone, (which was the case with the first of
our race) an indescribable feeling of isolation
comes over him, and the desire for companion
ship shows itself a passion. This passion for
companionship brings him into such a state
of mind that he will seize upon anything
which in any way, indicates the existence of
a companion—some one with whom he may
commune, with whom he may come in con
tact, be he visible or invisible. He sees nature
in her varied creation about him, and believ
ing that all things have had a beginning, he
goes through creation to the Creator, whom
he deems to be of infinite power, since the
proof of the workings of an infinite mind are
found on all sides; he deems further, that
this same being is everywhere, as there is
evidence of his work everywhere, which evi
dence he gains simply by observing the starry
vault above him, and the planet beneath him,
In this manner he builds up a belief, which
perhaps is a frail one, but nevertheless, he is
ready to grasp it firmly, since here he finds
one with whom he can always commune; one
whose fellowship is perfect. With any evi
dence of such a comforting belief being true,
which is productive of naught but happiness;
could we suppose man to throw it aside ? No,
and he naturally would transmit it in teach
ings to his descendants, that they too would
always have a source of true fellowship. Such
an origin of religious investigation of early re
ligions shows to be entirely likely. In their
forms of worship we see them striving to
reach the Creator through those things which