Article November 26, 1904 Issue

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The sessions of the Peace Congress in Boston leave the impression that there is a probability that, within a few years, there may begin in America and in Europe a reaction against war in all its phases, which may take the form of a passionate assertion of the rights of humanity and the principles of peace. Wars that are approved by the people always begin in a delirium of passionate excitement disguised under many names, as patriotism, moral enthusiasm, or humanitarian sympathy. The real impulse always is and must be a wave of emotion. Reason, as Professor James showed at the peace banquet, plays but a small part in the affairs of men and nations. No war, not even the most sacred, can begin or be carried on without arousing all the sensibilities of the people. Their sympathies, their hopes, their fears, their love of adventure, their joy of battle, the love of overcoming, and, above all, belief in the leadership and protection of the God of battles, make war possible, and have at times swept into the current of warlike enthusiasm the wisest and best of the nation's sons and daughters.—The Christian Register.

Five hundred and twenty years ago John Wyclif completed the great work of his life, the translation of the Word of God into the speech of the common people of England. He realized something of the greatness of the achievement, for he knew the power of that Word to overcome the spiritual tyranny then regnant in Christendom. But of the full splendor of the work he had accomplished he could have had only a faint conception. For he then gave to the common people the Magna Charta of their liberties, the one true foundation of religious and political freedom. It is as much so to-day as it was five centuries ago. The English Bible has been of more value to the English speaking people than common law, statutes, declarations of independence, and constitutions all combined. Take it away, destroy the people's faith in it, and political as well as religious liberty would soon begin to decline.—The Examiner.

Not till the overburdened shall be able to see that happiness, restfulness, and contentment lie not in conditions but in the desires of one's own heart, in the practice of that simplicity which is the central note in the teaching of Jesus and the beauty and strength of Christianity, will they find a new world in the midst of daily struggle. With these principles governing life, it is surprising to find how many things we do not want in order to be happy. Happiness does not depend on an earthly income but on a heavenly endowment. Let no one grow discontented over the little he may possess, but seek that which has real and permanent value.—The Standard.

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