State of Palestine.—The Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, quoting from the Morning Post, gives an idea of the state of things in Palestine at the present time. “The economic situation,” says the Morning Post’s correspondent, “is deplorable. The American Relief Fund is doing its utmost to cope with the distress, and in Jerusalem alone, 40,000 people have daily rations doled out to them by this fund. As it is impossible to export the oranges, they have rotted on the trees. The villages are deserted, as the manhood of the country has either been forced to join the army, or is at work on the military roads. Public executions are frequent.”
A Betrayer of a Sacred Trust.—The Lord’s Day, the quarterly organ of the Society for Promoting the Due Observance of the Lord’s Day, quotes a letter from the Bishop of Southwark, in which he makes an appeal to the National Sunday League for money to help concerts, held on the Lord’s Day at Southwark. The National Sunday League has been one of the most powerful instruments for breaking down Bible ideas of the Lord’s Day that has been at work for years. And it is nothing short of a scandal to see a bishop going hand-in-hand to ask help from its funds. Sabbath desecration, especially in the larger centres of population since the War began, seems to have gone forward by leaps and bounds. The necessities of the country were made a plea for working on the Lord’s day, and the wide-spread sorrow was to find alleviation in places of amusement, whose doors unfortunately, in many places, are thrown open on the Sabbath. One is ready to grow despondent as the dark clouds are thickening on the horizon, with as yet no break to herald the coming of a better day. Still, He that reigns on high is more mighty than all that can be against Him!
The Miracle of the Bible’s Preservation by the Jews.—The fact that the Jews exercised such scrupulous care
over the preservation of the Old Testament, is one of the most remarkable proofs of the over-ruling Providence of God. Dr. Saphir, in his Divine Unity of Scripture, states the argument very well. “There is no other nation,” he says, “on the face of the earth that could have been induced to preserve books which so pictured their unthankfulness, their constant apostacies, comparing them with the other nations of the world, and saying in effect, ‘You are worse than any other nation—less loyal to Me than the other nations are to the false gods.’ Where is the nation which would have preserved for centuries such a record, testifying against themselves?” The more this thought takes hold of the mind, the more will it feel that there is a miracle here, only explicable on the acceptance of the fact of divine intervention.
John Newton’s Autobiography.—Mr. Charles J. Thynne has recently issued a new edition of this excellent autobiography, under the title, Out of the Depths, which is to be had for 1/6 net. The story of John Newton’s life of sin and conversion to God, is one which magnifies the grace of the God of salvation. It is such books as these which ought to be put in the hands of the young. For though they may not be in a position to appreciate the marvellous leading of God’s Spirit, yet, as the record of a human life, full of incident, as it is in this case, and that of no ordinary kind, they are fitted to make a deep impression on the mind.
Mr. Asquith and the Pope.—Recently the Prime Minister paid a visit to the Pope. The visit was said to be one of only ten minutes, but its brevity does not change its character as another step in our national departure from the Protestant faith. The prophet Isaiah, says, “Woe unto them that go down to Egypt for help,” and this is a clear case for the woe to descend. We abjured the Pope of Rome for centuries, and now, in disloyalty to Christ, we are paying him court again, with a view to help British interests. May the Most High save us in this from our national guides!