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THE LIFE STORY OF HENRY CLAY TRUM

BULL. By Philip E. Howard. S. S.
Times Co., Philadelphia.

This 500 pp. octavo is a noble piece of biography, which a great Greek philosopher called "philosophy, teaching by examples." The Sunday-school missionary, army chaplain, Bible teacher, editor and author, of whom this is the record, was an extraordinary man. He had a versatile genius and touched almost every department of a literary life and a religious activity, and adorned all that he touched. His great life monument is the Sunday School Times, but his books are a permanent addition to Christian literature. The principles on which he lived and by which he was guided belong to the moral sublime. There are three classes of people whom we specially urge to read this book: preachers and teachers, for the secrets of effective work with pen and tongue missionaries and Christian workers for the insight given here as to winning souls; and young people, as to the way to build up a noble character and useful life. We could fill pages

with extracts.

THE SACRED TENTH; OR STUDIES IN TITHE

GIVING, ANCIENT AND MODERN. By
Henry Lansdell, D.D., S.P.C.K. 1906.
Two vols.

One of the most significant signs of the times is that such a man as Dr. Henry Lansdell, F.R.G.S., Chaplain of Morden College, Blackheath, has spent years in painstaking preparation of two large octavo volumes, of studies, in Tithe-giving, ancient and modern, and that this exhaustive work is published by the Society for the promotion of Christian knowledge.

These volumes, of about 400 pp. each, are very learned and scholarly. The reader may not accord with the author in all his conclusions and positions, but we are thankful for such a careful and laborious presentation of

a subject about which few really have any adequate notions. It is a prevalent idea that the Jews gave a tenth, but it is not understood that this tithe was the minimum, not the maximum, of Hebrew gifts to the Lord's purposes; nor do most people know that in Israelitish history we trace “three tithes: (a) The Levitical Tithe, levied for the upkeep of the Levitical ministry throughout the land; (b) The Festival Tithe, to be employed in the due celebration of the stated feasts, and for the maintenance of the Temple worship; (c) The Poor's Tithe, to be paid once in every three years. These tithes would amount to a proportionate sum of 4s. 8d. in the £. If offerings and occasional dues be added, we easily reach one-fourth of the whole income, that is, 5s. in every £1 as the Lord's portion." It is evident that both our Lord and His Apostles contemplated the exercise of a very large benevolence, and of a far-reaching charity within the Church.

Dr.

Lansdell reminds us that those benefactions with which our Lord ex

pressed His deliberate approval went far beyond the "tithe," as when Zaccheus gave the half of his goods; the widow of Zarephath gave practically all that she had; and the widow who cast into the treasury two mites gave actually all her living.

We have long held that Christian beneficence needs reconstruction from the very base up; and if these noble volumes may but lead to some such result, it will be an occasion for great thanksgiving. We can but wish that, for the sake of those whose means cannot command these ample volumes, an abbreviated edition might be ultimately prepared, that might be spread abroad as a cheap campaign document. Meanwhile we can safely wish that every pastor and prominent church member might have a copy of this monumental work on giving.

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A GENERAL VIEW OF AGANA, THE CAPITAL OF GUAM, TAKEN FROM THE OLD FORT

of the World

VOL. XXIX. No. 7 Old Series

1

JULY, 1906

VOL. XIX.
New Series

481

No. 7

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

INSPIRING MAXIMS FOR HEROIC LIVES

"MY FOUR PRINCIPLES OF LIFE ARE: 1. ENTIRE Self-forgetFULNESS; 2. THE ABSENCE OF PRETENSION; 3. REFUSAL TO ACCEPT, AS A MOTIVE, THE WORLD'S PRAISE OR DISAPPROVAL; 4. TO FOLLOW, IN ALL THINGS, THE WILL of God."

So said Gen. Charles George Gordon, the martyr of Khartum, and we lift these mottoes as a banner to inspire heroic obedience in the disciples of Christ.

Observe how much ground they cover. The first sinks self out of sight; the second renounces pride for the spirit of humility; the third turns a deaf ear to the voices of worldly praise or blame; and the last explains and includes all the rest, for it absorbs all attention in the will of God, in the habit of implicit, immediate, cheerful obedience.

Mrs. Charles, in her charming pen portrait of this remarkable hero, shows how these four laws of life interpret his character and career. He became so indifferent to the poor prizes of this world that he did not even try to renounce them: he simply scorned them as valueless. He disliked decorations, cared nothing for money, hated to be lionized, and

fled from human praise. He did not think of himself: shrank from no risk, grasped at no prize, and was always under orders. Life was to him not a playground, but a battlefield; service not a human distinction, but a Divine vocation; death not an exit, but an entrance; and all events ruled not by chance of Fate, but by choice of God. He resented no injury except to others, and sought no glory except for God. War was to him not an end, but a means to peace. He exposed himself to the hottest fire, and exemplified the courage he commended. He was as prompt to do the simplest duty on the lowest level as to plant the "ever victorious banner" on the heights. Because he practised the presence of God, praise was a robbery of God, at once an "impertinence" and a "blasphemy"; and he tore out the sheets from a manuscript narrative of the Tai-ping rebellion, because he was lauded in them. Time was precious, and inaction terrible because it was waste. He impressed others as having no self, so fully did he follow his Master. Having once for all given. himself to God, he had no right to keep back anything. A gold medal, given him by the Empress of China,

and specially engraved, suddenly disappeared; and, years after, it was found that he had erased the inscription and sent it anonymously for the relief of famine sufferers at Manchester! In Egypt he declined a proffer of fifty thousand dollars a year, because it would be wrung from the starving people he was sent to govern, and accepted only a bare living. He used the present chance instead of dreaming of a chance which may never come. Let him speak for himself:

"Hoist your flag and abide by it. Roll your burden on Him. He will make straight your mistakes." "Here am I, a lump of clay. Thou art the Potter. Mold me as Thou in Thy wisdom wilt. Never mind my cries. Cut off or prolong my life. So be it."

With such glimpses of the man we can understand his iron endurance, unflinching courage, sublime self-abnegation, contempt of human honor and reward, and patient fidelity to duty. We can understand the white. handkerchief on his tent which was the simple signal that he was alone with God, and the devotion to the Word of God which left no time for other books. He might have saved himself from the fatal spear at Khartum, but he could not save others; and so, the only Englishman left, "alone with God and duty, a universal sentinel, he kept watch over his ramparts, and prayed for the help that never came."

Missionary workers abroad, and missionary helpers at home! Let Gordon, being dead, yet speak, and remind us that "the grandest heritage a hero can leave his race, is to have been a hero!"

ECHOES OF THE WELSH REVIVAL

One of the Signs of the Times is the manifest blessing accompanying the mere narration of what has been going on in Wales. going on in Wales. For example, Rev. Joseph Smale, of Los Angeles, returning from a recent visit, simply rehearsed to his own people, in the First Baptist Church, what he had seen and heard. The church was crowded, and as he told the simple story, some two hundred people, amid the sound of sobs and inarticulate prayers, pressed forward, to the front, confessing sin, seeking to right wrongs, and heal dissensions, and get right both with God and man. This morning meeting was prolonged into the afternoon and almost joined hands with the night meeting. For sixteen weeks the work went on, every afternoon and evening, as well as during the whole Lord's day, no two meetings being alike, and scenes, unrivalled in that church, came to be common and attracted attention all over the city and state. One marked effect was the prostration of caste barriers. High and low, fashionable and outcast, white and black forgot their differences in the unity of the Spirit. And as such freedom of the Spirit was not relished by some, an independent New Testament Church is the outcome, meeting in Burbank Hall. Meetings, five hours long, are spent in continuous prayer. No such visitation of God accompanied the work of Dr. Chapman and his score of evangelists and singers, as this simple recital by Pastor Smale of what he saw in Wales. Street meetings are held, followed by services in the hall, homes are visited, and places of employment. The new Church already sends out two missionaries to China,

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