A Story ,vith a Lesson for All of Us

a large sum, but much less thnn half our annual crime bill and only about one twenty-fifth of our automobile-purchase bill. Somebody ha made this computation : Out of every $100 ipcome $3.35 goes for schools, $3 for crime, $4.52 ior lifc-insmance premiums, $7.43 for building operation , $15.15 for passenger automobiles, and $1 for religious purposes.

How about Us?- We read this in the Bulletin of our church in Lawrence, Kansas: "One of the best governors of the Isle of Man was impeached for treason in the civil wars of England and sentenced to death. 'l'he king was prevailed upon to pardon him; but the letter of pardon fell into the hands o.f the governor's bitter enemy, who never delivered it. 'l'he governor was cxcculecl. - We hold in our hands the panlon of the world, which God wants us to deliver through the p1·eaching o.f the Gospel. Shall we hold it back and let poor sinners die? As Christians we have a tremendous 1·esponsibility. In the Gospel we hold the pardon of an sinners, but some do not know or this divine pardon because they have never heard of the great love of God. M:ay we realize the responsibility to ten others everywhere of the pardon which Christ offers all who hear the Gospel !"

Strange Occupations of Home Missionaries. In a report on Home Missions a superintendent writes that he found one missiona1·y also iunctioning as an undertaker, another as a real-estate agent, one as an insurance agent, still another as an orange-grower, one as an auto-repair expert, one as n rural letter-carrier, one as n dealer in honey, one as a salaried Chamber of Commerce secretary, another as a post-office clerk, another as a wholesale chicken-raiser (raising and selling them by the thousands), and last, but not least, as a pro:lessional magician !

Known by Their Fruits.-The Hindu Shastras have given us India; the Koran has given us A1·abia, Turkey, and North Airica; the doctrine of Buddha lfas given us Blll'ma, Tibet, and Siam; the teaching of Confucius has given us enfeebled and distracted China. The Bible bas given us Germany, Britain, aud the United States, nations which, though unhappily afflicted with nwnberless evils because the Bible is not yet allowed i-uU supremacy in the individual and social life, are in the van of human progress, enlightenment, and civilization. In five hundred years no really useful invention or valuable discovery has originated in any land outside the pale of external Chr.istendom. Neither pagan Asia nor heathen Africa, for twenty generations, has contributed a single idea from which the world is reaping comfort, enrichment, or uplifting impul e. This is not taking account of the spiritual blessings the Bible brings to the heart that reads its sacred pages and keeps it, blessings which far outweigh in importance and pricelessness the material blessings referred to above.

Picture of the Heathen World. -This is the sad picture of the heathen world painted by Bishop Foster: "Paint a starless sky; hang your picture with night; drape the mountains with long, farreaching vistas of dark"Dess; hang the curtains deep along every shore and landscape; darken all the past; let the future be draped in deeper and yet deeper night; fill the awful gloom with hungry, sad-faced men and sorrow-driven women and children. It is the heathen world- the people seen in the vision of the prophet, Is. 60, 2, who sit in the region and shadow of death, to whom no light has come, sitting there still through the long, long night, waiting and watching for the morning."

A Story with a Lesson for All of Us.

Two wealthy Christians were traveling around the world, and in Korea they saw a boy in a field pulling a plow, while an old man held the handles and guided the instrument. The visitors were rather amused and took a picture of the pair. They showed it to the resident missionary and asked him whether these two people· were poor. The missionary declared that they were very poor, but when the little Christian church was being built, they were very anxious to contribute their mite. They had no money, and so they sold their only ox and gaYe the money to the church and were glad that they ·were able to gi\1e their share. They did not feel like complaining, but rather thought they were very fortunate to have an ox to sell. This was the reason why these two did their own plowing.

The wealthy lawyer, when he reached home, went to his minister and said: ''I want to double my subscription to the Church, and please give me some plow-work to do. I have never known what sacrifice for the Church meant. A converted heathen taught me. I am asha~ed to say that I never yet have given to the Church that which has cost m~ anything." .

It is really a privilege .to give to .the cause in which we, with all our hearts, believe. ·Sacrifice becomes a joy when ,~e are ~xiou.s. to !?CC ii. beloved cause prosper. - Omuard.