A New York Judge has refused to
Jeclde between two songs in rag time.
This is a sort of task that might have
made Solomon himself take fright at
the heightt of his judicial career.
In the fact that judgement has just
been given in an English Chancery
case involving the property of a tes
tator who died in 1838, admirers of
Dickens will find a curious corrobative
detail.
There are more daily newspapers in
Costa Rica than in any other Central
American republic. The natives of the
other Central American countries rely
almost exclusively on weekly and
monthly publications.
investigation by the state veten*
narian showed that the high death rate
among horses in Maryland is due to
cerebro-spinal meningitis. The disease
is the result of poor food, bad drain
age and generally unsanitary environ
ment.
The Philadelphia Times notes as
one of the "queer things" that law
officers are at work in that city looking
for children togo to school under the
Compulsory Education act, when there
Is not room enough for the children
who try to get into the schools of their
own volition.
Knowledge and the higer education
are worth acquiring for their own
sake. If every college graduate in the
land for a hundred years died without
accumulating property, or even died
poor in this world's goods it would
not constitute an argument against
college education. As a matter of fact,
however, any training that disciplines,
broadens and enriches the mind, as
university or college training does,
must supply a better equipment for
grappling readily and successfully
with the problem of existence, whether
in the learned professions or in depart
ment of commercial endeavor. It is
not the primary function of a college
to show a man how to make money,
remarks the Chicago Record-Herald.
In the history of medicine a great
deal of space must be given to the dis
appointments of the most sanguine
hopes. At frequent intervals a posi
tive cure for some incurable malady is
announced, and for a time the exalted
hopes and confident expectations pro
duce a happy effect on patients. In a
great majority of cases, however, the
benefits soon disappear, and the cure is
consigned to the limbo of the useless.
In the light of experience it would be
foolish to base large hopes on the
power of the shrub "tua-tua" to cure
leprosy. Experiments with its effects
have been few, and, although favor
able, they warrant only the conclusion
that the shrub should be given a more
extended trial among the lepers at Ta
hiti and elsewhere, states the Philadel
phia Record.
The New York Commercial Adver
tiser remarks that it seems as if en
terprising Australia were to be the first
country of size which will grant women
equal rights with men in property and
franchise. Premier Barton of the com
monwealth government recently dis
tributed prizes at the Metnodist ladies'
college in Melbourne, and in the course
of his speech said that one cf his col
leagues had prepared a bill which
would be presented at the present ses
sion of parliament which would put
women on the same footing as men,
and that, moreover, the bill would have
the support of the government. In
New Zealand and South Australia
women already enjoy the franchise,
and it has worked so well, said Mr.
Barton, that its extension to tne whole
of Australia is regarded as one of the
most important measures that is to be
carried through this year.
A writer in the Forum says that pun
ishment for crime has much to do with
making criminals. This statement
seems paradoxical, but it is an indis
putable fact. Hundreds may be saved
from a life of crime by the proper ad
ministration of the criminal laws. II
used to be thought that severity of
punishment was the wise course, in
deed the only method to prevent
crime. Fear, no doubt, deters many;
but it is not fear that must be chiefly
relied upon to save men from crime.
Crime existed when men were drawn
and quartered, and when death was the
penalty not only for murder but for
many minor offences. It existed when
the death penalty was inflicted in pub
lic places, and when the plucking out
of an eye, the cutting off of the hand,
and various other kinds of torture were
common punishments. No man was
ever made better by being putin the
stocks. Severity is useful only In cases
In which reformation is hopeless, and
in which absolute removal from all
social intercourse is therefore neces
r.arv.
Portugal Is the most Illiterate conn
try in Europe; 67> percent of its popu
lation cannot write. In Italy the pro
portion of illiterates is 53 percent, in
Russia 36, In Spain 9, in Britain 3 1-2.
Two of the late T. S. Cooper's paint
ings have just been sold in London for
51,500 each. As he lived ninety nine
years and painted for over seventy
years, this is not a case where price
is made high by scarcety of porduct.
The Mobile (Ala.) Register advises
the legislature of Misissippi to accept
Mrs. Davis's offer and buy Beauvoir,
Jefferson Davis's late home. The
house and grounds have, it is said,
been neglected and illkept, only a
custodian residing upon the premises
and gathering what fees he can" from
chance visitors.
A German professor has announces
that "the higher education" has had a
bad effect upon German women. He
asserts that gilrs deteriorate in wo
manly qualities, when they devote
themselves wholly to study, and ad
vises that all should be trained to
domestic duties before being allowed
togo to college.
The present population of Siberia is
about 8,000,000. Asuming that its re
sources are equal to those of Russia in
Europe, Siberia is capable of sustain
ing a population of 80,000,000. It is
believed that Siberia could produce
10,000,000 tons of wheat annually, 5,-
000,000 tons of which could be avail
able for exportation.
The suffrage laws of Italy are very
liberal, and being based upon educa
tional qualifications, have proved an
incentive to learning. All men above
the age of twenty-one, who can read
write, all who pay $4 a year in taxes
or S3O a year for rent for habitation or
SIOO a year rent for farms, or any one
of these can vote, and anybody can go
to parliment who is thirty years old
except priests and officials of the gov
ernment.
Some woman has calculated that 20,-
000,000 mince pies placed on top of
one another will make a monument of
indigestion 315 miles high. What an
absurd thing to do with pie! If the
monument were built it would not be
three minutes before the base would
be undermined by boys who would
bring the fabric crushing to the earth,
thus distributing stomach aches and
plenty to 315 miles of the pie belt.
Glorious dream! Useless calcula
tion!
A Prohibition journal claims that
fully 30,000,000 of the inhabitants of
the United States, or more than one
third of the entire population, are now
living upder prohibition, either by
State law or local option. Forty-one
states of the forty-five are included in
the numeration, either in whole or in
part. Even Kentucky, in spite of its
undeserved notoriety, has 90 out of its
119 counties under prohibition's sway.
The four excepted states are Idaho,
Nebraska, Utah and Wyoming.
Complete reports of the customs for
last year indicate that there was an
extraordinary importation of diamonds
and precious stones at the port of New
York. The importations for 1901 of
diamonds and other precious stones,
all uncut, amounted to $ti,702,056.05 in
value. The year's importations of the
same kinds of stoue, but cut, were
valued at $18,160,511,02. Thus the
total value of the cut and uncut stones
was $24,862,567.07. Many other dia
monds and stones came by express
packages, so that it is estimated that
the total recorded imports amounted
to $27,000,000, not counting those
which were smuggled. This seems to
be pretty good evidence that the Amer
ican people had considerable money
to spend in luxuries last year.
German Influence in Asia Minor,
which has grown greater from year to
year, will become predominant when
the railway to Bagdad and the Persian
Gulf shall have been built under the
concession just granted by the sultan
to a German company. Sooner or later
the rotten fabric of Ottoman power
mutt crumble, and when the time shall
come for a division of the Turkish
spoil a steel roadway from Berlin to
the utmost frontiers of the sultan's
empire will be of incalculable advan
tage to its German possessors. Mean
while the German commercial conquest
of Turkey in Europe and Asia goes on
apace, and the German consul and mer
chant may at no distant time be fol
lowed by the German artisan and hus
bandman. It is eastward that the star
of German empire takes its way, and
the repopulation and resurrection from
its ashes of the one-time garden spot
of the world and cradle of civilization
would be a task worthy the ambition of
a great nation, reflects the PMladel
thia Record.
S SENOR VALENTINO, i
Twelve o'clock midnight. From far
across the country comes a dull, hol
low, reverberating boom —the signal
gun of the Spanish forces. Slowly,
almost painfully, the Cuban patriot
flung back his light blanket, gazed up
ward for a moment at the burning
mass of stars in the heavens, then fell
back again to dream of bloody charges
made by the gray dragoons of Spain,
and of their repulse by the Eturdy
Cuban macheteers.
"Surely not again, Senor Captain?
One must be cool to think so lightly
of a task like ourc."
"Vive Cuba Libre! You are right,
Pedro —we must be up and away."
This time the young Cuban sprung
to his feet and shooK himself as thougn
that was a punishment for his momen
tary forgetfullness. As the two
men stand side by side in the soft
mellow ligt of the moon it is easy to
see that they are not of the lower
caste or guajiros. a party that com
prises a large division of the patriot
army, but of the Cuban planter, a gen
tleman of the highest degree.
Both are armed with small arms
alone, though meir appearance indi
cates that they have seen military ser
vice.
"Now is the ume to read our gen
eral's instructions, Pedro; the senor
lays great stress upon our actions to
night, and knows that at this very
hour we are moving toward the forces
of the enemy to accomplish a purpose,
the penalty of which, if we are caught,
is instant death."
As the speaker ceased he drew a
sealed package from beneath the folds
of his sash.
"Inferno!" he continued a moment
later; "the general is terse and sends
us out to do much against great odds.
The spy, he says, is a guarded prison
erin the Spanish camp, but his where
abouts he knows not; and yet we are
to liberate him at the risks of our
own lives, and when we have accom
plished this receive any reward we
may ask for."
"Carramba! Valentino, the terms
are good. Two or three hundred dob
loons will satisfy me; let us hasten."
"In sooth you speak right, the job is
a profitable one, but the night is ili
omened. What care we for gold when
the liberty of Cuba is at stake?"
"Do you forget, senor, that Spanish
metal will purchase the American
steel with which the Cuban patriots
will win their freedom?"
"No. Pedro; but does not the gen
eral turn over all of his spare gold to
the filbustering expeditions?"
"Ah, one forgets in his eagerness to
aid his country. Greater though will
be the fever scourge, Valentino, than
all the steel and forces of Cuba.
Gloria! Who can defeat us when God
is on our side?"
"But this spy, Pedro—why should
our leader take more than common
place interest in him, when first he
broached the subject to me he wept
like a child, and implored me in the
name of Heaven to save him. Pedro,
there is a mystery here."
"I doubt it not, senor; and did he
not mention a name?"
"Ah, not once; nor did I question
him, he was so wrought with grief."
"See! The lights of the Spanish
camp, Valentino; we will halt here;
the moon is disappearing, the stars
are falling, and it will soon be dark."
"A fortune for a hundred brave
macheteers now! Yon camp would
not look so quiet and peaceful, Pedro,
were my wish gratified."
"There, at last Palo hill has hidden
the tell tale orb! Take one more look
Valentino, before we leave on our des
perate game of chance."
The two men gazed for a moment
eastward toward the insurgent coun
try, and then to the westward at the
twinkling lights a mile or so off on the
plains.
"Will they be there —the horses?"
whispered the one who had likened
their task to a game of chance.
"He is a true Cuban, and will not
fail us in the hour of need; if he does,
God pity the spy and us."
"Pardon me, senor, small need to
wory now; it all hangs by a thread
anyway, even the rebellion. The death
of Marti weakened our end somewhat,
but the dreaded fever combined with
the patriots should yet more than
match the home tyrant."
"If one of ub shduld fall tonight,
Pedro, and be left behind with a piece
of lead in his heart, remember the
duty of a comrade and friend and send
the tidings to the fallen one's home."
"Condanacoin! Senor, do not
talk so despondently, for God's sake.
It is growing dark and the chills creep
up my back like slimy reptiles. If any
one dies tonight, it will be me, mark
It, Valentino."
"Ugh!" shudered the other. "We
are both growing superstitious."
"Aye, superstitious, but not coward
ly. Never, as far back as the Cesped
es can trace their pedigree, has there
been found a coward, and now "
"Hist, Pedro!
Valentino had suddenly thrown him
self upon one knee and raised his
hrtnd as a sign of warning. He listen
ed attentively for full a minute, then
cautiously approached his companion.
"A sentinel," he explained in a
whisper. "I have a plan; to overpow
er this guard and force him to betray
the position of the confined spy."
"Good, here are the chips—once,
twice, ah, three times I go."
Pedro crept away and disappeared
!n the gloom.
With taxed nerves the waiting Val
entiDo crouched upon the earth with
his stiletto barred, ready at the least
call to lend his comrade asistance.
Slowly, almost with the tardiness of
hours, the minutes passed by.
"It is accomplished," Valentino mut
tered, as a low whistle was borne to
his ears.
Stretching his limbs to give them
their former strength and suppleness,
the insurgent hurried off in the di
rection of the sound. He had not ad
vanced far before he discovered Pedro
bending over the prostrate form of
the sentinel.
"Have you killed him, senor?" he
asked.
"No, the fellow is only scared and
has already given us the desired in
formation. The one we are in search
of is confined in a tent just outside the
general's headquarters up on the hill
yonder where you see the three red
lights; help me bind and gag him,
senor."
It took but a moment to make the
prisoner secure, and the two were on
their way again. The general's tent
was less than a quarter of a mile dis
tant, but the greatest precaution was
necessary in dodging the sentinels.
"There, at last I believe we are
safely inside the lines, senor."
"Not yet, Pedro."
"Arto!" (halt) cried a low firm voice
of command.
Both came to a dead stop, but ttio
quick witted Valentino was equal to
the emergency. The carabinero who
had so suddenly changed the tide of
events stood with his gun at his shoul
der a dozen feet to the right.
"We are friends, senor."
"Give the countersign."
"That we cannot do; but we must
see the general tonight, as we have
important information. Here is a per
mit that has passed us thus far —see
for yourself, that it is not a fraud,"
and the Cuban held out the letter.
Taken off his guard by the apparent
frankness of the man before him, the
unsuspecting carabinero allowed the
but of his rifle to fall to the ground,
and stretched forth his hand for the
paper.
There was a bright flash of steel as
it passed through the air.
"The night has its victim," muttered
Valentino as he wiped off and sheath
ed his blade." 'Tis some poor
mother's son, hardly beyond the limits
of boyhood yet, and still it had to be
done."
"And a masterly stroke that did it —
right to the heart, senor, without a
doubt."
"Come."
The captain could say no more;
tears were in his eyes and he wished
that the hellish work was undone. He
could hardly suppress a sob as he
thought of the aged mother on the
other side of the sea, waiting and
praying for a son that would never re
turn. Oh, the anguish of that mo
ment!
Suddenly he halted, for ahead of
him, not a dozen rods, was the tent
for which he was searching. Pedro
remained a few steps behind to guard
against surprise, and alone the brave
rebel captain crept up to the canvas
flap.
There was a light inside; he peered
in—there upon a bundle of blankets,
with hands and feet securely bound
lay—not a man, but the form of a
beautiful girl.
For a moment he could hardly be
lieve his eyes. Was she the spy?
"Ah!"
Like a flash of lightening the truth
dawned over him; he had solved the
mystery.
"Senorita?" he called softly.
There was a stir among the blank
ets, and a pale sweet face, with soft
black curls clinging about it like a
veil, was raised from its hard pillow.
"A friend to aid you; one who has
your wellfare at heart."
The girl raised herself still higher,
but not a sound escaped her lips. It
was not necessary, the soft eyes alone
told the story.
Swiftly Valentino crossed to the pal
let —swiftly he severed the cords that
bound her tender limbs —and swiftly
he caught her lovely form in his arms
and dashed into the open air.
It was all over iu a minute, for the
Cuban had thrown caution to the
winds; his only thought—his only pur
pose was to convey his precious
charge to a place of safety. Alas!
that his haste was to prove so fatal.
"Arto! Who goes there?"
The sharp rattle of a carbine rang
out on the still night air, and the camp
was awake.
"Courage, senorita, we will pass
them yet. Pedro. Ho, Pedro!"
"Here, senor. Hasten, the horses
are in the hollow just beyond the hill."
It was a race for life, and the pa
triots won. Hardly were they mount
ed and off before a dozen or more
carabineros rushed into the hollow.
"Caballo! Caballo!" they cried aud
discharged their weapons.
"Can you hold your seat, senorita?"
the captain asked as he rode up be
side her.
"With ease,' she answered bravely,
smiling bravely through the gloom.
"They are on horses and in pursuit,
senor."
"I fear we are lost," interupted Pe
dro.
"Why so, comrade?"
"Because, 1 —I —Valentino, the girl's
horse is dying!"
The captain lurched in his saddle as
though struck by a blow. For the
first time he noticed the spasmodic
leaps of the maiden's steed, and the
gradual lagging of its pace.
Still on they sped; five —ten —fifteen
minutes, and then they began to enter
the hills. The wounded horse was
last losing strength, but still the noble
animal plungeJ on till its heart burst;
and with an agonizing groan it stum
bled and fel dead.
In a moment Valentino had the girl
on his own mount, and was dashing
away in pursuit of Pedro.
"Courage, senorita," he murmered
softly, and pressed her closer to his
breast, nestling her face among her
beautiful waving curls.
P i-n ggg!
That fatal bullet zipped close to the
captain's head, and was instantly Al
lowed by a heavy fall.
"Great God, in Heaven, comarada,
are you hurt?"
No answer.
"Dead!"
That one solemn word was uttered
with a pathos that boded ill for the
perpetrators of the deed.
"Oh, ye tramplers of human rights,
may your bone decay in every hidden
swamp and recess of Cuba, and may
the power of despotic Spain sink be
neath the billows of the sea, carrying
with it every vistage of the accursed
nation. Dios. Oh, Pedro, my com
rade —my friend."
The carabineros were clos& upon the
fugitives now, and with a last look
at his beloved comrade the captain
struck his spurs deep in his horse's
flank and sped eastward.
"Courage, senorita, courage," he
whispered over and over again. "Yet
there remains one other final resort
if all others fail. I will save you—
have you faith in me?"
And in answer the girl would lift
her face and say,—
"Faith unbounded. You are a Cu
ban patriot."
Never before had the young Cuban
been placed ia»such a critical position.
If it had not been for his beautiful
charge, he would have turned back
and died bravely, fighting over the
body of his slain comrade. But this
girl with the lovely waving hair and
the glorious eyes, had cast a spell over
him which was not easily thrown off;
she was more than life to him now.
"Oh, my God, they are gaining on
us, senor! See! They level their
pieces—they fire!"
"Inferno! The horse is struck —he
is down! Cling to me senorita."
The quarry was run to earth; Valen
tino's last resolve was shattered; he
could not now forfeit his own life for
that of his companion. But blood
should flow as free as water in that
dark, gloomy pass before he would al
low himself to be taken captive.
What was that?
A terrific explosion, a stream of
Quivering flame shooting out from that
impenetrable mass of darkness, and
the foremost dragoon tumbles from
his horse, as lifeless as the weather
beaten rocks about hin?
Cr-r-a-a-ack!
'Viva Cuba Libre!"
And they are saved.
* * • •
The next day the insurgent band
carried the general's daughter and her
brave rescurer in triumpii back to the
rebel camp; and with his darling—the
doomed spy clasped close to his
breast, the old man implored God to
pour forth the blessings of heaven
upon the heads of the two heroes both
living and dead.
And Valentino, at the head of his
macheteers, led them onto victory
and freedom, while in a peaceful villa
back in the hills a beautiful girl, a spy,
waited and watched for him, her loved
one to return. —Waverly Magizine.
QUAINT AND CURIOUS.
A fly will survive long immersion
in water and will sustain the odors
of sulphur and other disinfectants
without apparent injury. Only tur
pentine, chloroform and ammonia can
get the better of a fly.
The uniform of the postman of Nor
way i' 3 dark green in color, though it
is said many of the men want it
changed to blue. The facings of the
coat are of silver braid, ahd there is
a small cockade of the Norwegian
colors on the band round the cap.
Some months before the outbreak
of the war in South Africa a consign
ment of twenty thousand tumblers
was sent to Cape Town. They were
engraved with the motto of the South
African Republic, and meant for
drinking the health of the burghers
in when they took Cape Town.
A Russian nobleman of immense
wealth has hit upon a curious method
of ceiling decoration. Every ceiling
in his mansion contains a fresco deal
ing with an episode in the career of
his ancestors, and the wnole forms
what is, perhaps, a unique example of
irnner-roof ornamentation. Nearly
$•100,000 has been expended upon this
extraordinary work.
The soldier in the German army is
now taught how to put together a
novel form of military boat. The ma
terials consist simply of sixteen lances
in ordinary use and an outer cover of
strong sail cloth supplied with loops,
through which the weapons are
placed. A handful of soldiers cannot
only put it together in a very few min
utes, but are able to pull it to pieces
at a moment's notice.
Reproductions of the ancient "Cor
onation Spoon" in the regalia of Eng
land are being sold in London. Itß
•exact age is not known, but it ante
dates the reign of Charles 11. The
handle, which was o'iginally decorat
ed with enamel that litis been worn
away, has four pearls set in the broad
est part. The spoon is about seven
inches long and is used to receive
the anointing oil when it is nourert
fiom the ampulla.
GOD'S MESSAGE TO MAN
PREGNANT THOUGHTS FROM THE
WORLD'S GREATEST PROPHETS.
Poem: He Understands—A True Christian
Should Kxerclse Self-Control Until lis
Has Gained a Mastery—One li Hindered
by Brooding Over Hla Discomfort.
Our censors guard us roundabout,
And hedge us with their dusty creeds;
They cry us wrong in hope or doubt,
And howl like ban dogs at our deeds.
They wail our knotted skein of life,
And flout us tor our clumsy hands,
Because with tangles it is rife : —
But all the time God understands.
Our censors measure 6tep and stride
With mathematic rod and rule,
And when we wander to one si<le,
Straightway they cry aloud, "Thou fool!" 1
And book and bell and candle bring
To curse the one who halting stands.
But, ah! the footsteps wandering—
He understands—He understands.
Our censors weigh our every word,
And sift its sound for sign of sin,
And whispered dreams that are unheard
Against the screen of fate they pin.
With harpy smile they search out brain
To bind our thoughts with braken bands,
But hope shall struggle not in vain,
And all the time God understands.
He understands our little fears,
Our little doubts and little woes;
And in the shadow of the years
He'sees the soul. He knows—He knows;
He scans us, not as censors do—
To mark the blindly searching hands—
But all our good He brings to view.
He understands—He understands.
—Josh Wink, in the Baltimore American.
Self-Poise.
_ It is possible to conduct oneself in Chris
tian fashion in the midst of aggravating and
unnecessary annoyances. If one may not
rain away or extricate himself from his try
ing connections, he must surely endeavor,
for his own peace of mind, and for exam
ple's sake, to exercise self-control till he
shall gain a certain mastery. Dishonesty,
inefficiency, profanity, ugliness of temper,
rudeness and discourtesy in others are ob
ject lessons with no uncertain emphasis as
to one's duty to avoid similar confusion in
conduct and speech. While they are dis
couraging and irritating, it is good to re
fleet that one's best life is hindered by
brooding over his discomfort, if he is pow
erless to remedy matters. His own best at
tention to the work that falls to him will
yield a glad satisfaction, and his practice
of blindness and deafness will help toward
patience and forbearance. Wrongdoing is
always wrong, and injures many besides
the wrong-doer. One may believe this thor
oughly, even while he exerts himself to
self-control that he may not be oppressed
and borne down. If one may not be hap
pily placed, even though his duty holds
him, one'R better nature is severely tried,
but a determined direction of one's
thought from the fiction of what is unlove
ly and untrue will help to a serenity that is
juite necessary if one would suppress his
impulse to fremient and harsh condemna
tion, and hold himself in check because of
the Christian ideal he is striving to reach.
Prayer, patience, persistence are helps to
this end.—Universaiist Leader.
God's Meicy,
Let us learn that there are times in our
brief lives when, like our great high priest,
tve are sore amazed and very heavy by rea
lon of strange and startling changes in our
(ircumstanees. Sometimes unexpected agon
ies come into our own hearts when, though
sur work appears to be acceptable and suc
cessful. the worker is ignored and forgot
ten. This is what tests tis. Not so much
the wilderness solitude, or the greater pow-
Sr of another, or the specially successful
tvork of another, but rather dismissal from
lervice just when we feel most equal to the
ivork, to be limited in opportunity, to feel
i seeming neglect and realize an apparent
iefeat. Then it is that we need supremely
to know Him with whom we have to do.
To know that He delighteth in mercy, and
that it is His good oleasure to give us the
kingdom, and though circumstances would
seem to indicate that we are forgotten, or
that our case is unimportant, to be assured
R'ithin ourselves of His love, His mercy
ind His care. —Rev. E. Duckworth.
The Spiritual Kept to the Front.
"The theory that men may be won to
the spiritual life by ministering to their
physical necessities, or by providing for
them amusements and social opportunities.
Is not to be entirely discarded," says the
Watchman (Baptist) of Boston. "But to
day, as in the times of our Lord, the eyes
that are largely fastened upon 'the loaves
ind fishes' are not apt to discern the heav
snly vision. The chief spiritual value ofi
this ministry is that it serves as a model
for manifesting human sympathy and for
interpreting the divine love. Sometimes,
is in the case of the desperately miserable,
it is the only avenue through which they
;an be reached. The vast majority of peo''
pie, however, can be most directly and ef
fectively reached by the clear and loving
presentation of the gospel. No man eve?
Nad a harder field that Dr. Edward Hud
son in New York City. But the distin
guishing feature and the secret of his sue*
cess, is that he has always kept the spirit*
nal aspects of his work primary."
Our Companions.
Every man is born into a vast workshop
full of materials and tools. His business
in life is to select the material upon which
and the tools with which he shall work,
and then, out of his own imagination, he
fashions his world, and, as the product of
what he thinks and does and feels, that
world passes out of the realm of imagina
tion into reality and becomes his world.
So every man creates his companionship
Recording to his thought. If his thought
is fine and generous and high, ho is the
best company and the most inspiring; if it
is mean and low and vile, no matter what
deserts surround him, he is in base and
rile and ignoble fellowship; it is a mutter
of character. Companionship docs not de
pend upon accident, but upon selection.
Every man makes his own friends, and it is
this fact which gives the profounder truth
to the old proverb, "A man is known by
the company he keeps."—Outlook.
Obedient to God.
Oh. that we could take that simple vie\f
of things as to feel that the one thing
which lies before us is to please God!
What gain is it to please the world, to
please the great, nay, even to please those
whom we love, compared with this? What
gain is it to be applauded, admired,
courted, followed compared with this
one aim of not being disobedient to the
heavenly vision? —J. H. Newman.
Factors of a Christian Li(«.
It ought not to surprise us that pride is
perhaps the greatest sin and weakness of
our Christian life to-day. I know we are
told that even holiness makes its possessors
proud. Well, the holiness that makes a
man proud is the holiness of the devil, and
not the holiness of God the Holy Ghost.
No man is entirely sanctified in whom
there is the slightest welcome or the slight
est place given to the smallest measure ox
pride. It is no wonder, therefore, that
when Augustine was asked what were the
three most important things in the Chris
tian life, he said: "The first is humility;
the second is humility: the third is hu
mility!"—The Rev. Charles Inwood.