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A
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE ENTITLED
“POWER OF A GREAT IDEAL.”
The Rev. Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman Delivers
a Beautiful Sermon on the Comfortand
Helpfulness of Having an Ideal to
Anchor One to the Better Things of Life
NEw York City.—The Rev. Dr.J. Wil-
bur Chapman, who has recently resigned
the pastorate of the Fourth Presbyterian
Church in this city in order to devote him-
self to evangelistic work, has prepared the
following sermon for the press. It is enti-
tled “The Power of a Great Ideal,” and was
Popued from the text, “I have set the
rd always before me; because He is at
my right hand, I shall not be moved.”
Psalm 16: 8.
If you look at the top of this Psalm you
will read the Michtam of David. There
are differences of opinion as to the mean-
ing of this expression. Some have said
that it means victory, and this would seem
to be true, since there is a particular
Psalm bearing the same title, whose sub-
ject matter is on various themes, but all of
which end in triumph. Psalm 56, “Thou
hast delivered my soul from death;”
Psalm 57, “My heart is fixed. I will sing
and give praise;” Psalm 58, “There is a re-
ward for the righteous;’”’ Psalm 59, “God
is my defense and the God of my mercy;”’
Psalm 60, “Through God we shall do va-
liantly.”
There are others who say that the ex-
pression means golden, and so we might
infer from the margin, which means that
it is worthy of being written in letters of
gold, and may have been in some conspicu-
ous place in the temple. At any rate we
know that its truth is better than gold;
yea, than much fine gold. There are still
others. who declare that its meaning is
precious, and certain it is that it is a pre-
cious privilege to walk with Christ ever
before us.
“So on I go, not knowing,
I would not if I might,
T’d rather walk in the dark with God,
Than go alone in the light,
T’d rather walk by faith with Him,
han go alone by sight.”
Some teachers say that the meaning of
the expression is secret, and what follows
it is hidden truth. Certainly it is true
that the ‘secret of the Lord is with them
that fear Him,” and there is a secret place
of the Most High. The first is learned
when we walk with Him, the second is
reached at the end of the journey. But if
you put all these interpretations together
you have the golden Psalm of the precious
secret, which would seem to be a fitting
introduction to all that follows. This
Psalm is about Christ. We know it, be-
cause Peter said, ‘For David speaketh con-
cerning Him, I foresaw the Lord always
before my face; for He is on my right
hand, that I should not be moved.” Acts
2: 25. If David could have strength by
looking forward to Christ, what may I not
have as I look back at His history and life
in the power of His presence by the Holy
Spirit.
It is the instinct of a human soul to have
an ideal. Every child has. The boy longs
to be like his father. The girl has a desire
to resemble her mother. What a responsi-
bility rests upon each. Men and women
have whether they will acknowledge it or
not. They long to be like some one else.
The musician has his Mendelssohn, . the
oet his Shakespeare, the artist his Da
anei, the preacher his Spurgeon. David
knew this and so he said, “I have set the
Lord always before me; because He is at
my right hand, I shall not be moved.” To
imitate any one else in the world is to be-
come ridiculous, but it_is remarkable that
* people all over the world may seek to imi-
tate Christ and be the better for it. Let
it be noted that this is a definite expe-
rience or conclusion which David has
reached. TI insist upon the definition of it
because it is scriptural. Notice Romans 6:
13, “Neither yield y¢ your members as in-
struments of unrighteousness unto sin, but
yield yourselves unto God, as those that
are alive from the dead, and your members
as instruments of righteousness unto God.”
‘And also Romans ‘I beseech you,
therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacri-
fice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is
your reasonable service.” The tense of the
verbs in both verses indicate definite ac-
tion. It fs really putting one’s self over
into the keeping and control of Christ.
man has a threefold nature, spirit, soul
and body, and in this order. I Cor. 6: 20,
“For ye are bought with a price; therefore
glory God in your body and in your
spirit, which are God’s.” Romans 13: 1,
“Let every soul be subject to the higher
powers. For there is no power but of God:
the powers that be are ordained of God.”
Romans 12: 1, “I beseech you, therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye
present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reason-
able service.” All of which indicate that
He will fill the spirit, inspire the soul and
‘control the body if given the right to do it.
Then everything has become sacred in our
lives and living itself is a sacrament. I do
not much believe in the world’s division
of all things into sacred and secular, for
all things ought to be sacred to the child
of God, and all days ought to be holy, and
they would be did we but live in the spirit
of the text. Some people meet temptation
and fly to Him. It is infinitely better to
fly to Him and then meet trial in whatever
form it may come. There is great power
in the word “because’” in the text. This
is not just a flash of an experience, it is
the deliberate outcome of a long afd va-
ried retrospect, and will not in any true
sense be before our face until we set Him
there. It is first decision and then prac-
tice, and the text must become the habit of
our lives. It certainly was in the expe-
rience of David, for he said, “I have set
the Lord always before me.” There are
certain Old Testament characters which
furnish us an illustration of this text.
First, Abraham.” Christ said it, John 8:
56, “Your father, Abraham, rejoiced to see
my. day, and he saw it, and was glad.”
The Scribes and Pharisees about Him when
He spoke of Abraham answered with a
sneer, and the Jews said, John 8: §7,
“Then said the Jews unto Him. Thou art
not yet fifty years old, and hast Thou seen
Abraham?’ When the answer of our Mas-
ter was, John 8: 58, “Jesus said unto
them, Verily, Verily, I say unto you, be-
fore Abraham was, m.”’
There is somethin
words of the Jews,
years old.”
pathetie about these
Thou art not yet fifty
In fact, He was only about
thirty. His face must have been marked
with pain and suffering. How old is He.
do you ask? There are different ways of
answering. By the record He was thirty;
in looks He must have been a thousand:
according to His work He is ages old. The
inspiration of Abraham’s life was that the
Y.ord was ever before Him. Genesis 12: 1,
We deny ourselves for success in business,
apparently little caring: whether this busi-
ness will help or hinder us in spiritual de-
velopment. See the lesson in Lot's case.
Ie pitched his tent toward Sodom and
then moved into the city. His family be-
came identified with the life of the city,
and he a part of its government. In the
end of the story he has lost his power to
witness, all his property. his political po-
gition, his influence over men, over his own
family, and even with God. Abraham was
very different. God choose for him. Gene-
pis 13: 14-15,“ And the Lord said unto Abra-
ham, after that Lot was separated from
him, Lift up thine eyes and look from the
place where thou are northward, and
southward, and eastward, and westward.
For all the land which thou seest. to thee
will I give it, and to thy ed forever.”
How like this is to our own inheritance.
Ephesians 3: 17-19, “That Christ may dwell
in your hearts by faith; that ye being
rooted and grounded in love may be able
to comprehend with all saints what is the
breadth, and length. and depth. and
height; and to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, that ye might
be filled with all the fulness of God.” Lhe
story is told of a man who was confined in
a prison cell. Being an artist his paints
and brushes were given him, and on the
wall of the cell he painted the picture of
the cross with Christ on it. Over the cross
he painted the word love, at the top and
the bottom of the cross the words height
and depth, at the cross beams the words
length and breadth, and indeed, it is true
that no one ever quite appreciates what the
love of God is to him until he has this pic-
ture of the cross clearly in mind. :
Have you ever noticed the differences in
the ending of the lives of Abraham and
Lot? Lot’s story is written in Genesis 19.
It is an awful picture. His wife is taken
from him, his daughters are disgraced and
he is in despair, while with Abraham the
picture is exactly the opposite, and to my
mind is most beautiful. Genesis 25: 7-8,
“And these are the days of the years of
Abraham’s life which he lived, an hundred
three-score and fifteen years. Then Abra-
ham gave up the ghost and died in a good
old age, an old man, and full of years, and
was gathered to his people.”
econd. Moses was an illustration of
the text. In Hebrews 11: 27, “He endured
as seeing Him who is invisible. That ex-
plains the mystery of the burnin bush
and this vision of Christ explains how it
was that when [oe hope seemed to be
consumed and the dearest plan of your
life was burned as in the flre, you rejoiced.
David has learned the secret of happy liv-
ing when he says in the text, ‘I have set
the Lord always before me; because He is
at my right hand, I shall not be moved.”
This vision enabled oses to surmount
every difficulty. What did he care that
the mountains were on every side, certain
of the Egyptians behind him and the Red
Sea before him. e marched like a con-
queror until the water parted in advance
of him and dry shod he went over to the
other side. ut such pictures as these
have been realized in our day when men
have passed through Red Seas of difficulty
where other men of the world have gone
down in defeat and all ‘‘because they en-
dured as seeing Him who is invisible.”
Third, our Saviour is an illustration. He
always set God before Him. As He came
into the world He said, “Lo, I come to do
Thy will;”’ as He sat on the well curb of
Jacob’s well, “My meat is to do the will
of Him that sent Me;” as He bowed
in Gethsemane, “Not My will, but Thine
be done.” At the beginning of His minis-
try, in the midst of it and near to its close
He gave forth the same music. What a
life it was. !
“The Sieong man’s strength to toil for
rist,
The fervent preacher’s skill,
I sometimes wish, but better far,
To be just what God wills.
No service in itself is small,
None great though earth it fill,
But that is small that seeks its own,
That great which seeks God’s will.”
Fourth. Paul was certainly an illustra-
tion of the spirit of our text. He caught
that vision in the sky as he made his way
to Damascus and he never forgot it. He
said truthfully, “I was not disobedient un-
to the heavenly vision.” This made him
insensible to him surroundings. There is
really nothing more pathetic than his re-
numeration | bis trials. II Cor. 11: 24-27,
“Of the Jews five times received I forty
stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with
rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered
shipwreck, a night and a day I have been
in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils
of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils of
mine own countrymen, in perils by the
heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in
the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in
perils among false brethren; in weariness
and painfulness, in watchings often, in
hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in
cold and nakedness.” And yet here he
says, “I have learned with whatsoever
state IT am, therewith to be content. He
was with Paul to the very end. II Timothy
4: 7-8, “I have fought a good fight, I have
finished my course, I have kept the faith;
henceforth there is laid up for me a crown
of righteousness, which the Lord, the
righteous Judge, shall give me at that day,
and not to me only, but unto all them
algo that love His appearing.”
hat was the secret of his victorious
life, and that the secret of his triumphant
eath. i
If He is before me no path is too hard
for me to travel, since He walks in every
way in which He would have me go; nor
shall I ever walk in darkness, for “He is
the light of the world, and in Him is no
darkness at all,” nor shall T ever be moved.
Have you never noticed the differences
between the second and sixth verses in the
Sixty-second Psalm. ‘The second verse
reads, “He only is my rock and my salva-
tion; He is my defense; I shall not be
greatly moved.” And the sixth is the same
with the exception of one word. ‘He only
is my rock and salvation; He is my de-
fense; I shall not be moved.” That word is
“greatly.” There is deep meaning in the
omission of “greatly.” Confidence has
grown evidently. In the first, hope was
that the waiting heart should not be much
shaken, that the tottering fence should
not be quite thrown down; the second is
that it shall not be shaken at all.
IIT.
He is before me in all experiences,
whether of sorrow or of joy, but since men
are born unto trouble as the sparks fly up-
ward it is well to remember that He is be-
fore us in suffering. There never has been
a heart ache on the part of any of His fol-
lowers that the pain did not reach Him,
and He had fellowship with us in our suf-
ferings, as we are privileged to do in His.
He shall be with us even in death.
“Since Jesus is mine I'll not fear undress-
ng,
But gladly put off these garments of
clay,
To die x the Lord is a covenant blessing,
Since J esus to glory, thro’ death led the
way.”
V.
Tt is an awful thing for a life not to have
the helpful presence of God.
“Oh to have no hope in Jesus,
How dark this world would be.”
One of the ocean dangers that captains
fear almost more than anything else is the
danger of coming in contact with a ‘“‘dere-
lict,” as a ship abandoned at sea is called.
There are now supposed to be about thirty
of such vessels floating about at the will of
the currents in the Atlantic waters. They
are without pilot, have neither erew nor
rudder, are bound nowhere and carry no
cargo to any port. One of them, which
has a cargo of mahogany on board, and is
level with the water’s edge, has been drift-
ing about since March. 1801.
The perils of collision at sea have been
Yoo since the steamship companies
adopted what is known as the lane routes.
Now Ythe route a steamer follows after
leaving New York is fifty miles away from
the route taken by steamers bound west.
One steamer, therefore, is little likely to
meet another and come into collision with
her. But these abandoned ships, not being
under control, and carrying no lights, are a
continual source of danger. The Gulf
Stream carries them northward and then
eastward, and the captains of incoming
ships have warned the Government of
their whereabouts. One of them has been
cut in two and the two halves are drifting
in company.
There is scarcely any peril of the sea
which is so terrible to the mariner. No
sound will reveal their nearness, no tem-
perature of air or wave will make known
their approach. Though it carry no guns
a ‘““develict” is often a more deadly enemy
than a man-of-war.
The ship that steers for no port can only
have vue influence, and that is to be a
stumbling block in the way to send other
chips to the bottom of the ocean. God
help us that not one of us may become a
spiritual “derelict.” God pity that man
who has pushed God out of his life and
goes along in his journey to eternity, not
only having sorrow in his own soul, but
standing in the way of the progress of oth-
ers.
. Education and Ugliness.
Does the higher education tend to
lessen the physical beauty of women?
A certain physician has stirred up a
hornet’s nest about his head by declar-
ing that it does. He points to the fact
that many of the most advanced wom-
en have been the ugliest, and he fur-
ther argues that the women who dis-
tinguish themselves by their intellect
are seldom those of thegreatestbeauty.
Lace as a Garniture.
Lace as a garniture is still in favor,
but more in the form of beautiful half
yokes at the edge of the low neck, or
as oddly arranged insertions. If a
high bodice is desired one of the pret-
tiest paquin models of cream white
French batiste is filled out to the throat
with embroidered, unlined chiffon com-
pleted by a transparent collar of rich
lace matching the girdle and pointed
band of the elbow sleeves,
Simpler Type of Fur.
There is in the minds of one or two
leading furriers a rebellion against the
complex nature of the fur garments of
the last few seasons. They are taking
courage to declare against the chop-
ping up of costly skins into little bits
to patch on other costly skins, which
they assert would, like beauty, be bet-
ter “unadorned,” so that for the winter
we may expect a return to the simpler
type of fur garments, which is, of
course, by far the better.
Even the collarettes show the desire
for a bolder and freer treatment. Un-
doubtedly, the most chic kind of collar-
ette will be the long, straight, wide
stoles, with a liberality in the matter
of tails, while muffs promise to be very
big indeed, and of both the square and
oblong shape. Moleskin coats and
coats of caracul and of mink will, as
usual, be popular. Indeed, as far as
fur itself is concerned, we shall be
using all the old favorites.—New York
American.
Portrait. Idea in Jewelry.
Cameos, says the London Graphic,
are again coming into fashion, and
some beautiful things in that line have
been seen in a French bride's corbeille.
The most striking wedding present
given by the bridegroom was a cameo
bracelet, each cameo being a lifelike
profile of the bride’s brothers and sis-
ter.
This portrait idea is noticeable in
many different styles of the jeweler’s
art. Brooches, rings and other orna-
ments are given with ‘miniatures of
some valued relative or friend, show-
ing under a diamond or other pale,
clear, nrecious stone. ;
A very extraordinary freak of a well.
known lady is to have a bunch of
charms, all consisting of little effigies
of her dear ones. Some of the figures
are made of gold, others of silver, -oth-
ers of the new fashionable pewter and
copper. They are finely chased and
gemmed, and, being the work of a
high-class artist, are, needless to say,
an extremely costly fancy.
Woman Behind the Counter.
It is generally asserted or implied by
the amateur observer that unpleasant-
ness on the part of the sales girl is due
to the greater unpleasantness of the
woman on the other side of the coun-
ter. The Dry Goods Economist, how-
ever, a journal which ought to know
conditions in department stores, speak-
ing of a certain store said:
“This store, however, has one advan-
tage over most others that I know any-
thing about. Every employe in it seems
to be good natured. Why, it may be
asked, should there be any difference
in this respect between this store and
the average one? Is not human nature
about the same the world over? True.
“Nevertheless, there is a difference.
Why? Because the proprietor is not
only a merchant, but a gentleman, as
all, unfortunately, are not. He treats
his subordinates with marked courtesy
and geniality. As a consequence they
feel so kindly disposed toward him and
his business that such good will is re-
flected in their treatment of his cus-
tomers. And how great a factor this
has been in making reguiar customers
of casuals who can say?”
Training Hand and Eye.
We must never forget the intense in-
dividuality of children, writes: “Pater
Familias” in Good Housekeeping.
Within certain limits it should be fos-
tered and developed. But the more
deeply I go into this whole subject, the
older my own children become and the
wider my observation, the more radical
I become about elementary education.
Happy are the children who are
brought up in the country, especially
if their parents take an intelligent in-
terest in directing their development.
What is needed is the right combina-
tion of practice with theory, of book
study and doing, of hand work and
eye training with the usual educational
process.
Nature study, elementary art instruc-
tion and fundamental training of the
two hands. are essential to the best all-
around development. Many men have
of it. ‘They have had the power to
rise above the errors of their early ed-
ucation, the ability to slough off the
non-essentials of
achieved distinction in life in spite of |
tueir education, rather than by reason
the schools. and to |
utilize to the utinost such fragments of |
their education as could be usefully ap
plied in the struggles of life.
The Season’s Hats.
Colored "hats will be fashionable
again made of velvet to match the
suits, ‘6f the rough, shaggy beavers,
and also of cloth the same as the gown
A charming costume of a queer shade
of red in a shaggy material has a toque
to match with touches of darker velvet,
but no feathers or ornaments of any
kind, while a dark blue velvet costume
has an enchanting picture hat of dark
blue velvet with one long white ostrich
plume. The flat hats have not gone
out of fashion, and yet there are now
to be seen among the very new shapes
quite a number with high crown-—a
style that could easily have been pre-
dicted as a coming reaction from the
flat hats that have been worn fer so
long a time. A curious feature of the
new fashions in millinery is that there
is no omg distinctive style set aside for
any age. The law is that the hat'shall
be becoming and suitable for the indi-
vidual wearer, which is the reason
why this year’s fashions promise to be
so particularly attractive.
The broad, rather low hats will, on
the whole, hold their place in popular
favor for every day wear, at least dur-
ing the early part of the winter. The
rough felts are to be most popular for
outing or tailor-suit hats.—Harper’s Ba-
zar.
BR mI
The Woman in Authority.
The woman in authority should study
consideration of other people’s feelings.
The cemmon scold or the continual
fault-finder is perhaps the most disa-
greeable person in the world, not only
unhappy herself, but making others so.
Scolding, in one light, is really an ac-
complishment—that is, when used for
the proper correction of servants and
children. If you feel called upon to de-
liver a rebuke to a servant make it
clear to that offender that your dis-
pleasure is justified; never lose your
temper, but be calm and dignified, for
remember that your bearing has much
to do ‘with the respect that you are
held in by those under your authority.
Never lét a scolding degenerate into
nagging; for if you do you lose all
claim for respect from the delinquent,
and the person at fault becomes your
critic, and a very scornful one at that,
Let all ‘scoldings be gauged by the
error, but do nof make any one rebuke
long drawn out. Give each a hopeful
ending.
When properly administered a mer-
ited scolding quickly bears the fruit of
better behavior on the part of the of-
fending one. .
‘Many wives have spoiled the good
nature of their husbands by seizing
upon some fault, trivial, perhaps, and
constantly dwelling upon it.
‘Where home is made unhappy by a
great fault of the husband, if he is
worthy of loving and saving, he is
moreieffectively appealed to by tender-
ness than by denunciation or scorn.
¥
LEANINGS
=, FROM THe. ‘o=
Kimono-like sleeves are noted on fur
coats.
Shaded ostrich feathers
modish.
are very
White fox trims white broadtail ex-
quisitely.
I'lowered broadcloths are a wonder-
ful novelty.
Dresden-flowered louisine
the choice silks.
are among
Corduroy crepes are very rich and
drape gracefully,
Lace more and more is to figure as a
trimming for furs.
Silk kimonos for
with white albatross.
Changeable taffetas
for waists and dresses.
Moire soleil is a satin-barred plaid
suitable for shirt waists.
_Panhne-finish velvets look quite like
panne and at much less cost.
Draped strands of jet are effective as
a facing for a smart black turban.
Rich green and the various tan
shades make a modish combination.
Chenille worked in wheel-like affairs
faces the brim of one fascinating hat.
Lace weave stockings are to be the
thing in hosiery for house and evening
wear, £
winter are lined
are the vogue
Polka dots, like water markings and
of various sizes. adorn a new turquoise
moire.
Rich plaid ribbons with black velvev
edges are among the splendid new of-
ferings.
‘ * To .
Some clever evening stockings in
white lace effect are adorned with deli-
cate black pansies.
Many of the rich new silks are given
additional splendor in the shape of a
finish of panne-like lustre.
A stunning turban is composed of
shaded blue and green velvet foliage, a
few green roses being under the left
brim. 3
Jasper gray is a pure gray—that is, a
mixture of black and white without a
thread of any other color. It may be
light or dark.
it’s a Popular Delusion That
the Climate is Changing
By Willis L. Moore, Chief U. S. Weather Bureau.
RUTHFUL and intelligent men are wont to declare that they
know from personal recollection that the climate of their par-
ticular places of residence had changed since they were boys;
that they had reliable landmarks to show that the streams were
drying up; that the precipitation was growing less, and that the
S599 winters were becoming milder, notwithstanding the fact that
SIS carefully taken observations of temperature and rainfall for each
#$s$ | day for the previous hundred years at their place of residence
showed no alteration of climate. Of course, wide variations,
sometimes extending over periods of several years, had occurred; but a
deficit at one time was made up by an excess at another.
To be sure, changes must have taken place during geologic periods, but
these have been so slow that it is doubtful if man in his civilized state has
occupied the earth long enough to discover an appreciable quantity. Quite
accurate records of the opening of navigation in Europe and of the time of
vintages for 500 years show no change in the average data of the first
ten years as compared with the average of the last ten.
The date palm, the vine, and the, fig tree flourish as luxuriantly to-day in
Palestine as they did in the days of Moses. Dried plants have been taken
from the mummy cases of the Pharoahs exactly similar to those now
growing in the soil once trod by those ancient monarchs.
zZ & &
American Fire Fighters
Are the Best in the World
By Philip G. Hubert, Jr.
HEREVER the American goes in Europe, itis with a feeling of sat-
isfactionthathe finds, in the more important cities, the adaptation
of our ideas for fighting fire. Our steam fire-engines, our brass
poles that bring men down from the upper stories of their sta-
tion-houses, our hinged collars that snap around the horses”
necks at a touch, are everywhere. At every important interna«
tional exhibition of recent years, beginning even with that of
Paris in 1867, American fire-engines and ladder-trucks have
taken prizes. At the Paris Exposition of two years ago an
American fire-team from Kansas City, fourteen men under Chief George C.
Hale, carried off all the most important honors at the International Fire Con-
gress, at which were represented America, France, Portugal, Holland, Norway,
Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Turkey, England, Scotland,
Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, India, Austria, Mexico and Peru. Nearly 8000
firemen took part in the competitions. The first contest was made with steam
fire-engines, on the banks of the Seine. About 100 engines competed.
The test was made from cold water in the boiler. The average
time for foreign engines in getting a stream from the hose was from eight
to twelve minutes. Their streams reached about half way across the river.
In five minutes and thirty seconds the American engine threw a stream that
wet people on the" opposite bank, a distance of 310 feet. The size of the
stream was nearly double that thrown by the other engines.—From ‘“Fire-
Fighting To-day and To-morrow,” in Scribner’s.”
= La &
Tell Women the Truth.
By Helen Oldfield.
RINCIPALLY the cause of what is called woman’s unreason-
ableness is the direct result of her not being told the truth.
Half the time a woman does not know how she stands to face
a problem, because she cannot get a man to tell her the simple
facts in the case. He will say all sorts of soothing things to
her and mislead her with rosy hopes, and he will try to make
up by the fervor of his compliments for the lies he is telling
her, and so she goes blundering along, making all sorts of mis-
takes, that she might have been saved from if anybody had
had the courage to tell her the truth.
A curious example of this once came under my own observation. A man
died, leaving his widow without any means of support. His friends, in the most
delicate way in the world, provided for her, and began exerting themselves to
get some occupation for her by which she could support herself. Place after
place was offered, but she scornfully rejected every one.
“Did you ever hear of anything so unreasonable in your life,” cried the
men to each other, “not a penny in the world, actually living on charity, and
won't do a thing!” Finally in a gust of passion one of the men blurted out to
the woman the naked truth—that her husband had died absolutely bankrupt,
and that his friends had been providing for her. The woman was aghast. She
had never an idea of the real state of affairs, and the minute she knew the truth
she accepted the situation with a courage, a philosophy and a determination
to make the best of it that fairly astonished every one.
So far as business women are concerned, the chief enemy to their progress
is man’s fear of telling them the truth. A man who has a clerk who falls into
careless ways, or has some annoying fault, will talk to him plainly and give
him a chance to correct it before he dismisses him; but he will not give a girl
the same chance. He won't tell her the truth about her faults. He will make
an excuse about business being bad, and then turn her off rather than speak
the truth to her. How many times has that happened in our big cities! Girls
know.
Another thing—and I don’t know a more pathetic thing—is that the whole
world seems banded together to deceive women about the real facts of working
life.
Now there's plenty of work in the world for every industrious and intelli-
gent girl, but it’s nothing short of a crime to make her believe that there is
any get-rich-quick way to fortune; and I never read any of these romances
1bout picturesque modes of getting a living that fails to arouse in me a righteous
contempt for the authors of such stories.
V4
pg LZ
Mysticism is Increasing
in This Practical A
By Ralph M. McKenzie. &
HE hunger displayed by all classes of people for literature
of a mystical or esoteric character is beyond the belief of
any one not connected with the sale of books or period-
icals or not in touch with the work of public libraries
throughout the country. This includes fortune-telling by
cards, palmistry., astrology, the phenomena of hypnotism,
suggestive therapeutics, spivitism, mind reading, faith cure,
theosophy and everything connected with the divining ot
the future or the mystical or occult in mind, matter or
religion.
Many periodicals treating of
in many languages. and the circulations of some of them have increased
wonderfully. A curious phase of the subject is the fact that particular ar-
ticles in these periodicals attract wide attentien, and are often quoted and
these various subjects are published now
discussed in coteries which are not usually supposed to be interested in
matters beyond the domain of the five senses. Some of these magazines
in the Library of Congress are kept under lock and key, and only given
out for reading to known persons upon card, because the tempiation to
cut or mutilate certain select portions of the text seems to be too great for
those of less than ordinary will power.
Of course, there is much of this literature of distinct
such as relates to psychology in any direct or indirect way. A great deal
of it is ethical, and is of no value as moral instruction or teaching, A creat
deal of it is obscure, and some of it is almost as unsatistactory to the in-
{elligent reader as & chapter of Paracelsus or any of the old alchemists or
searchers after the elixir of life and the philosopher's stone. Even the
many volumes devoled to palmistry may be said to have a raison (etre out-
side of their more or less fabled value as a
value, especially
means of divining the future.
They serve, perhaps. to draw the attention of people to their hands and
to secure for them better care and more cleanliness.
The cause which more than all else has led to a great revival of interest
in this class of literature is, of course, the wonderful spread in the belief
in spiritism and the consequent deduction that the spirits must needs
linow something of the future of mortals and ean be depended upon in
some vague way to conunuinicate this knowledge to the material world.
Some look to the clairvoyant as the most reliable source of this supposed
spirit knowledge of the individual's future: others depend upon the reader
of cards, the reader of palms, or the reader of the stars. But it can all
be reduced to the one cause—the yearning of man for immortality and fer
knowledge of the future years of his present state. New York News.
ni
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