This work was begun nearly five years ago. Since then, the whole face of American history has changed. We have had the Spanish-American War, and the opening-up of our new possessions. In this period of time Gladstone, Li Hung Chang, and Queen Victoria have died; there has also occurred the assassination of the Empress of Austria and of President McKinley. There has been the Chinese persecution, the destruction of Galveston by storm and of Martinique by volcanic action. Wireless telegraphy has be

     _The Son of God goes forth to war,            A kingly crown to gain:      His blood-red banner streams afar:            Who follows in His train?      Who best can drink his cup of woe,            Triumphant over pain;      Who patient bears his cross below,            He follows in His train!      They met the tyrant's brandished steel,            The lions gory mane;      They bowed their necks the death to feel:            Who follows in their train?      They climbed the steep ascent o

      I heard the voice of Jesus say        Come unto Me and rest;      Lay down, thou weary one, lay down        Thy head upon My breast.      I came to Jesus as I was,        Weary and worn and sad;      I found in Him a resting-place,        And He has made me glad.       I heard the voice of Jesus say        Behold I freely give      The living water; thirsty one,        Stoop down and drink, and live.      I came to Jesus, and I drank        Of that life-giving stream;      My thirst was qu

The subject that is being carefully considered by many thinking men and women to-day is this: the place and prospects of the Christian Church. All about us we hear the cry that the Church is declining, and may eventually pass away; that it does not gain new members in proportion to its need, nor hold the attention and allegiance of those already enrolled. Are these things true? If so, how may better things be brought to pass? To share in the civilization that has come from nineteen hundred years

By the question, Why join the Church?—I do not mean alone, Why add my name to a church-roll? I mean, Why give myself, my powers, my education, my love, my loyalty, to advance the progress of the Church? There is nothing we resent more than a waste of ourselves. To attract our service, there must be in the Church an inner vitality, a moving and spiritual fire. 1. The Church embodies the spiritual dreams of the world. Man does not live by bread alone; he lives by imagination, and by religious powe

     _Jesus shall reign where'er the sun      Doth his successive journeys run;      His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,      Till moons shall wax and wane no more.      People and realms of every tongue      Dwell on His love with sweetest song;      And infant voices shall proclaim      Their early blessings on His Name.      Blessings abound where'er He reigns;      The prisoner leaps to lose his chains,      The weary find eternal rest,      And all the sons of want are blest.      Let

1. The primary rule is over conscience. The man who sways a conscience sways a human life. The man who sways a nation's conscience controls that nation's life. To rule conscience, a man must himself be unprejudiced and well informed. He must strive, not to keep up an unhealthy excitement which shall make conscience introspective and morbid, but to preserve a sane moral outlook, to encourage freedom of thought and judgment, and to develop a normal conscience which reacts promptly against wrong. C

It is said that a minister is greatly handicapped to-day in all his efforts for two reasons: First, that the times are spiritually lethargic, that men are so engrossed by material aims, indifference, or sin that a pastor can get no hold upon their hearts. Second, that he is bound hand and foot by conditions existing in the organization and personnel of his church, and hence is not free to act. What would we think of an electrician who would complain that a storm had cast down his network of wire

     _Our Father in Heaven,        Creator of all,      O source of all wisdom,        On Thee we would call!      Thou only canst teach us,        And show us our need,      And give to Thy children        True knowledge indeed.      But vain our instruction,        And blind we must be,      Unless with our learning        Be knowledge of Thee.      Then pour forth Thy Spirit        And open our eyes,      And fill with the knowledge        That only makes wise.      From pride and presumption

     _Lo, my soul, look forth abroad        And mark the busy stir:      Wouldst thou say, in pride and scorn,        Our God is not in her!      Nay, the bonds, the wares, the coin,—        These, in truth, are passing things;      Other treasures thrill the life        Of earth's great merchant kings!      We, they say, would wake the power        In mountain and in mine;      And transport, from sea to sea,        The cedar, oak, and pine:      Build the bridge, and plant the town,        Ent

     Jesus, Thou hast bought us        Not with gold or gem,      But with Thine own life-blood,        For Thy diadem.      With Thy blessing filling        Each who comes to Thee,      Thou hast made us willing,        Thou hast made us free.           By Thy grand redemption,             By Thy grace divine,          We are on the Lord's side;             Saviour, we are Thine!      Not for weight of glory,        Not for crown or palm,      Enter we the army,        Raise the warrior psalm;

WILLIAM MORRIS says: " It is right and necessary that all men should have work to do which shall be worth doing, and be of itself pleasant to do: and which should be done under such conditions as would make it neither over-wearisome, nor over-anxious. " This theorem cannot be upheld in its entirety, though there is a deep truth beneath it. There are many things, such as the collecting of garbage, the washing of the dead poor, the cleaning of cesspools, the butchery of cattle for the market, and

Good workers are trained in the home, the school, the shop, the wider world. Every home is an industrial establishment. In it go on the industrial processes of cooking, cleaning, sewing, washing; the care of silver, glass, linen, and household stores; the activities of buying food and clothing; the moral responsibilities of teaching and training servants and children. If any healthy member of the home is excused from at least some form of active work, he will inevitably be a shirker when he grow