MAKING IT PLAIN.

It is, without doubt, true that the ordinary teaching of the pulpit, and even the current theological phraseology of the pew, makes faith to the honest inquirer a difficult and incomprehensible act. The young minister who said that he should be embarrassed with the question, if put to him by one of his congregation, "What shall I do to be saved?" was remarkable mainly because of the frankness of his confession. There is with us too much of general theological definition and conventional phrase. Simplicity in statement and evidence of reality in Christian experience will make faith to the seeker after the Christian life easy. Saving faith is this no more, no less-a personal trust in a personal Christ. Let pulpit and pew teach this great fact lucidly, and much of the prevalent lucidly, and much of the prevalent confusion on the subject will vanish.

THE WHOLE BIBLE.

Mr. Ruskin says most men read the Bible as the monks believe that hedgehogs eat grapes-namely, by rolling over on them under the vines and eating those that stick to their quills. Certainly, many persons only appropriate from the rich stores of the Word of God the few truths that appeal to their own experience or that fit in with their pet theories.

Much of the narrowness of religious experience is due to this method of Bible reading and study. It is doubtless true that religious experience interprets the Bible, it is equally true that the Bible interprets religious experience and enlarges it, and that one of the most valuable "means of grace" is found in bringing our thoughts and hearts into di

rect contact with the thoughts of God and the experiences of good men, even though our souls do not at once respond to them. If the Christian life is to become deep and high, Christians must cease measuring the Bible by their religious experiences, and must begin to measure their religious experience by the lofty experience of God's chosen men recorded in His Word, and by Scriptural motives and ideals. The popularisation of the systematic study of the Bible, which searches the Book for its

thoughts, not for evidence to corroborate one's own ideas, is a movement of much spiritual promise.

MEN OF COURAGE.

From time to time there stand forth men to whom the Spirit whisparty watchwords of the time-servers pers, "Leave the shallows, drop the who fear to touch the mainsprings of national evil, launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a draught.” In America, a Lloyd Garrison listens to the voice and makes his country ring again while he demands that every man who holds a slave shall show his bill of sale from God Almighty or be condemned as a stealer. In England, our own abolitionists eschewed all political party, refused all office, dignity, or emolument, left the shallows, launched out into the deep, and carried their reforms. It was the voice that sounded by the Sea of Galilee that inspired Father Matthew in his work of reform in Ireland, that sent forth a Shaftesbury to fight the battle of the oppressed, one and all left the shallows, no party in the country could claim them as its own, and it is only thus that great reforms are made.

For one great reform more needed and more vigorous in determination at this moment than any other, the deep resolve to minimise the mischief brought by England's liquor traffic, my earnest prayer is, "From shallowness and superficiality, from identification with crafty party politicians who will use it as a stepping stone to power, Good Lord deliver us."Canon Wilberforce.

DISCOVERIES IN EGYPT. Five years ago an Egyptian peasant woman was seeking nitrates, to fertilize her garden, among the ruins called Tel-el-Amarna. In prying into the tomb she found some clay tablets covered with curious characters. Calling her neighbor to assist in the search they brought to light about three hundred tablets of various sizes. They took the treasure to Cairo, and sold it for what they considered to be a good price, but for less than one of the tablets would now bring in Europe. Ultimately Berlin got about two hundred of them, the British Museum eighty-two, and the rest went to the Museum at Gizeh. The tablets have been translated. They are the official documents of the Egyptian Foreign Office during the 18th dynasty. The whole history of the courtship of Amenophis III., of Thi, the Methanien princess, is given in detail. It was Thi who introduced the worship of the Solar Disc into Egypt, and it was in the tomb erected in honor of the Solar Disc that the tablets were discovered. The tablets incidentally give us a clear insight into the manner of life, habits, and thought and the foreign relations of the Egyptians. They show how Egypt was losing its hold in Phoenicia and Palestine. There are many references to the power of the Canaanites and the increasing strength of

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the Hittites, indicating the gradual formation of the powerful confederation of tribes which a century and a half later formed the foes of conquering lsrael. In fact, the entire collection is full of the greatest interest, and must be regarded as the most important contribution to ancient history that has been made for many years.

DEFINITIONS OF LIFE.

Aristotle distinguished it from the vital principle, for life means selfnourishment, self-development, and self-decay; hence is not the vital principle.

Kant defined it to be an internal principle of action, that every part is at once a means and an end, each part of the living body having the cause of existence in the whole organism; whereas in non-living bodies, each part has its cause in itself.

J. Muller says the harmonious action of the essential parts of the individual subsist only by the influence of a force which is extended to all parts of the body, and does not depend on any single part; this force must exist before the parts, which are in fact formed by it during the developement of the embryo.

Beale calls it a peculiar force temporarily associated with matter, which is capable of controlling and directing both matter and force.

Schelling, a principle of individualism, a cycle of successive changes, determined and fixed by this internal principle.

Bichat, the source of the functions which resist death.

Dugé, the special activity of organized beings.

Bechard, the sum of phenomena proper to organized beings.

La Mark, the state of things which permit organic movements, and that

the movements which constitute active life, result from a stimulus which excites them.

De Blainville, life is the twofold internal movement of composition and decomposition-at once general and continuous. How plain and simple-Religious Bits.

THE PALESTINE RAILWAY.

It is officially reported that considerable progress is being made with the Akka-Damascus Railway, the route of which has now been definitely decided upon. Beginning at the great fortress of Acre, the railway will run down the plain of Acre parallel with the sea, throwing out a branch to Haifa, at the northern foot of Mount Carmel, and thence to and across the plain of Esdraelon, passing through Nazareth and near the valley of Jezreel, skirting the slope of the hills, to the river Jordan, which will be crossed within sight of Beths hean. The Jordan here offers exceptional facilities for the erection of the railway bridge, consisting of two spans. The two banks of the river are conveniently formed of solid rock, and in the centre of the stream is a large block of similar rock, from which each span of the bridge will be thrown. From the Jordan the railway will ascend, and pass along the crests that close the eastern shores of the Sea of Galilee. It is this ascent that presents the only difficult portion of the line. An easy gradient thence will carry the line to Damascus. The construction of the line is expected to lead to important archæological discoveries.

"I have in my house a small handkerchief not worth three cents to you, but you could not buy it from me. A woman brought it, and said to my wife, 'I am very poor; I would give him a thousand pounds if I had it, but I brought this. I married with the fairest prospects before me; but my husband took to drinking and everything went. The pianoforte my mother gave me and everything was sold, until at last I found myself in a miserable room. My husband lay drunk in a corner, and my child that was lying on my knee was restless; I sang, "The light of other days has faded," and wet my handkerchief through with tears. My husband,' said she to my wife, 'met yours." He spoke a few words and gave a grasp of the hand, and now for six years my husband has been to me all that a husband can be to a wife, and we are getting our household goods together again. I have brought your husband the very handkerchief I wet through that night with my tears, and I want him, when he is speaking, to remember he has wiped away those tear from me, I trust in God, for ever.' These are the trophies that make men glad."

A HEALTHY SOul stands united with the just and the true as the magnet he stands to all beholders like a transarranges itself with the pole; so that parent object between them and the sun, and whoso journeys towards the sun, journeys towards that per

son.

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PERSONAL AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTES.

THE WELSH PRESBYTERIAN'S GENERAL ASSEMBLY. The general assembly of the Welsh Presbyterians of America was held at Utica, N. Y., August, 23-27.

The following delegates were in attendance from the various state associations: New York and Vermont, Revs. Edward Roberts, Middle Granville; John W. Morris, Poultney; Robert Williams, Rome; Richard Davies, Steuben; William E. Jones; Middle Granville. Pennsylvania, Rev. John T. Morris, Bellevue; Hugh Davies, Wilkesbarre, and Robt T. Williams, Slatington; William R. Williams, Hyde Park; and David J. Evans, Bangor. Ohio, Revs. John Hughes Griffiths, M. A., Cincinnati; T. C. Davies, Pittsburgh, and William R. Evans, Oak Hill; Lot Davies, Jackson; and Owen Jones, Pittsburgh. Wisconsin, Revs. H. M. Pughe, D. D., Bangor; Daniel Thomas, Wild Rose; J. R. Jones, Columbus; William ap Jones, Cambria; and John D. Jones, Wild Rose. Minnesota, Rev. Joseph Roberts and John H. Parry, Minneapolis; and Rev. Thomas Miles, Nebraska. The following ministers were also present: Revs. T. T. Evans, Holland Patent; W. D. Williams, Deerfield; E. C. Evans, M. A., Remsen; H. P. Howells, D. D., Columbus, John Hammond. M. A., Bangor; John R. Evans, Cattaraugus; James Thomas, Newburgh, O.; and Thomas H. Griffiths, Long Island. There were also present from England and Wales, Revs. Griffith Ellis, M. A., and Abraham Roberts, Liverpool; John Pryce Davies, M.A., Chester; and Owen Evans, Colwyn Bay.

The first meeting of the assembly was, held in the evening, when Rev. T. C. Davies, the moderator, preached a thoughtful discourse from the text Psalm cxxxviii :2 "Thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.' Afterward. T. Solomon Griffiths, in a few appropriate words welcomed all the delegates present.

Public services were held each evening and throughout the Sabbath in Moriah and Bethesda churches, at which all the ministers from a distance preached excellent

subjects before the assembly were the customary matters relating to mission work, temperance, the encroachment of the Eng. lish language, and the Cyfaill, for which, in future, Mr. T. Solomon Griffiths has been appointed general agent. Rev. Joseph Roberts and Mr. T. S. Griffiths were appointed to attend the meeting of the Presbyterian Alliance at Toronto. No business of special importance was transacted except to recommend to the churches the support of Mr. Jones as missionary in India,

THOMAS R. MORGANS, ESQ., Alliance, O., is the Republican candidate for Member of Congress for his district. We trust he will be elected by a large majority. Mr. Morgan is a public-spirited citizen, and has done good and faithful service, both to his party and to the district in general; and personally is a man of excellent qualities and worthy of the support of all true Republicans, and of all Cambro-American friends in general.

ANOTHER prominent Cambro-American in business in Wilkesbarre is George A. Edwards, who is a native of Cardiff, Wales, where he was born in 1846. He came to Wilkesbarre in 1881, and ever since he has been one of its most industrious citizens. He founded the Eagle Iron Works in 1882, and it is now an important industry. Although Mr. Edwards has filled no public office, he is a very busy public man, having his hands full of social duties. He is an able platform speaker and wields the pen with equal ability. In business, in the church, and in philanthropic enterprises he is a very active citizen. The Cambro-American Society, an important organization amongst the Welsh residents, owes its pres. ent position to Mr. Edward's zeal and interest in his nationality.

THE REV. Owen Jones, M. A., formerly of Newtown Montgomeroshire, has accepted a call to the pastorate of the Welsh Church at Oakland, California.

A NUMBER of the friends of Dr. and Mrs. Prees, of Cambria, Wis., gave the doctor a surprise party recently, it being the fifteenth anniversary of their wedding. of their wedding. A delightful evening was spent and thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Many friends will be glad to learn that Miss Gwennie Thomas, daughter of Mr. William M. Thomas, Wilkesbarre, Pa., has graduated with honors June 29th, 1892, in the Literary Scientific course in the Wyoming Seminery, Kingston, Pa., and is pursuing a further course of study at Bloomsburg Normal College, where also her brother, Mr. Richard Thomas, is pursuing a course of study with a view to teaching. Another brother, Mr. Thomas Thomas has completed his education at Lehigh University and is now engaged as surveyor and Mining Engineer under the Lehigh and Wilkesbarre Coal Company.

Among the Welsh-Americans successful in business in Wilkesbarre we are glad to mention the firm of Evans & Company, which is engaged in the boot and shoe business. The firm has an elegant store and a large son of patronage. Mr. Evans is a Mrs. D. M. Jones, of Wilkesbarre, and a native of Goginan, Cardiganshire, but has been in America for many years.

most terrible explosion was fore a heard. The day shift comprised 150 men, most of whom have perished.

Church salaries

Practical expression has at length been given to the long-felt desire for a closer alliance between English and Welsh Presbyterianism in Wales. The Home Mission Committee of the English has agreed to pay the of two missionaries in Wales for one year, one to work in Glamorgan and the other in Monmouth, where there is is a large English-speaking population of the mining class inadequately provided with Church ordinances. We understand, also, that the larger question of union between Churches in England and Wales will be seriously discussed at their next meetings by the Home Mission Committee of the English Synod, and the Church Extension and Mission Work Committee of the Welsh Assembly.

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