It is my own belief that the crisis is already passing. Our choice for the future is made. We have already lost our appetite for Imperialism, as we come to see what it means. A century of Republicanism. has given the common man common sense, and the tawdry glories of foreign dominion already cease to dazzle and deceive. But the responsibilities of our acts are upon us. Hawaii and Alaska are ours al

THE NEW YEAR.

BEHOLD the New Year beckons, like a flower
Hid in its roots among the untrodden hills;
God show thee how its sweetness every hour
Grows only as His breath thy spirit fills!
Behold, the New Year beckons, like a star,
A splendid mystery of the unfathomed skies;
God guide thee through His mystic spaces far,
Till all His stars as suns within thee rise!
-Lucy Larcom.

THE PRESENT CRISIS.

BY PRESIDENT D. S. JORDAN, LELAND STANFORD, JR., UNIVERSITY.

We give the following extracts from the vigorous and able article by President Jordan, published in The New World (quarterly magazine), for December, 1898.

THIS year 1898 makes one of the three world-crises in our history. Twice before have we stood at the parting of the ways. Twice before have wise counsels controlled our decision. The first crisis followed the war of the Revolution. Its question was this, What relation shall the weak, scattered colonies of varying tempers and various ambitions bear to one another? The answer was, the American Constitution, the federation of self-governing United States.

The second crisis came through the growth of slavery. The union of the States, we found, could not permanently endure half slave, half free." These were the words of Lincoln at Springfield, in 1858, the words that made Douglas senator from Illinois, that made Lincoln the first President of the re-United States. These are the words which, fifty years ago, drove the timid away in fear, that rallied the strong to brave deeds in face of a great crisis. And this was our decision: Slavery must die that the Union shall live.

The third crisis is on us to-day. It is not the conquest of Spain, not the disposition of the spoils of victory, which first concern us. It is the spirit that lies behind it. Shall our armies go where our institutions cannot ? Shall territorial expansion take the place of democratic Freedom? Shall our invasion of the Orient be merely an incident, an accident of a war of knight-errantry, temporary and exceptional? Or is it to mark a new policy, the reversion from America to Europe, from Democracy to Imperialism?

most unfortunate of all, the most of us see no clear way to justice toward the Philippines. The insistent duties of "Compulsory Imperialism" already clamor for our attention.

In the face of these tremendous problems, the nation should at least be serio is. It is not enough to swell our breasts over the glories of national expansion, roll up our eyes, and prate about the guiding finger of Providence, while the black swarm of our political vultures swoop down on our new possessions. To the end that we may understand the serious work of "Compulsory Imperialism," let us look briefly at a number of easy propositions or axioms of political science pertinent, each in its degree, to the topic before us.

Colonial expansion is not national growth. By the spirit of our Constitution our nation can expand only with the growth of freedom. It is composed not of land but of men. It is a self-governing United States. There is no objection to national expansion where honorably brought about. If there were any more space to be occupied by American citizens, who could take care of themselves, we would cheerfully overflow and fill it. But Colonial Aggrandizement is not national expansion; slaves are not men. Wherever degenerate, dependent, or alien races are within our borders to-day, they are not part of the United States. They constitute a social problem; a menace to peace and welfare. There is no solution of race problem or class problem until race or class can solve it for itself. Unless the negro can make a man of himself through the agencies of freedom, free schools; free religions, there can be no solutions of the race problem. Already Booker Washington warns us that this problem unsettled is a national danger greater than the attack of armies within or without. The race problems of the tropics are perennial and insoluble, for free institutions cannot exist where free men cannot live.

The chief real argument for the retention of the Philippines rests on the belief that if we do not take them, they will fall into worse hands. This may be true, but it is open to question. true, but it is open to question. It is easy to treat them as Spain has done; but none of the eloquent voices raised for annexation has yet suggested anything better. thing better. We must also recognize that the nerve and courage of Dewey and his associates seem. spent

to little avail if we cast away what we have won. To leave the Philippines, after all this, seems like patriotism under false pretenses. But nothing could have induced us to accept these islands, if offered for nothing, before the battle of Manila. If we take the Philippines, the business of bringing peace through war is scarce begun. The great majority of the Filipinos have never yet heard of Spain, much less of the United States. This is especially true of the Malay pirates of the Southern Islands, and the black imps of the unexplored interior, as capable of selfgovernment or of any other government as so many monkeys. It would not be an easy and humane task to bring these folks to the extermination which some of the annexationists placidly claim is the final doom of negritos, Kanakas, Malays, and all inferior races who get in anybody's way.

This, according to John Morley, is England's experience in bringing peace to suffering humanity in the tropics: "First, you push on into territories where you have no business to be, and where you had promised not to go; secondly, your intrusion provokes resentment, and, in these wild countries, resentment means resistance; thirdly, you instantly cry out that the people are rebellious and that their act is rebellion (this in spite of your own assurance that you have no intention of setting up a permanent sovereignty over them); fourthly, you send a force to stamp out the rebellion; and fifthly, having spread bloodshed, confusion, and anarchy, you declare, with hands uplifted to the heavens, that moral reasons force you to stay, for if you were to leave, this territory would be left in a condition which no civilized power could contemplate with equanimity or composure. These are the five stages in the Forward Rake's progress." It was of England in Chitral that Morley said this, not of America in Luzon. No wonder England now cheers us on. We are following her lead. We are giving to her methods the sanction of our respectability. Of all forms of flattery imitation is the most sincere.

There are many who say, "Take whatever we can get. Who is afraid? What is there for the strongest, richest, bravest, wisest nation on earth to fear?" But But it is not force we fear. Armies, navies, kings, and Kaisers, so long as we behave ourselves, can never harm our republic. It is bad government we fear, the dry rot of official mismanagement, corruption, and neglect, the decay which the Fates mete out "when the tumult and the shouting dies" to the nations that forget their ideals. To come to "our place among the nations" will be to show that democracy can give good government, government firm, dignified, economical, just. It does not mean to have everybody talking about us, to carry our flag into every sea, and to spread rank imbecility over a hundred scattered patches of island.

So far as the Philippines are concerned, the only righteous thing to do would be to recognize the independance of the Philippines under American protection, and to lend them our army and navy, and our wisest counselors, our Dewey and our Merritt, not our politicians, but our jurists, our teachers, with

foresters, electricians, manufacturers, mining experts and experts in the various industries. Then, after they have had a fair chance, and shown that they cannot care for themselves, we should turn them over quietly to the paternalism of peace-loving Holland or peace-compelling Great Britian. We should not get

our money back, but we should save our honor. The only sensible thing to do would be to pull out some dark night and escape from the great problem of the Orient as suddenly and as dramatically as we got into it.

As for trade, to take a weak nation by the throat is not a righteous way to win its trade. It is not true that "trade follows the flag." Trade flies through the open door. To open the door of the Orient is to open our own doors to Asia. To do this hurries us on toward the final "manifest destiny," the leveling of the nations. Where the barriers are all broken down, and the world becomes one vast commercial republic, there will be leveling down of government, character, ideals, as well as leveling up.

It is the duty of nations with ideals to struggle against "manifest destiny." In the Norse Mythology the Fenris-Wolf in the Twilight of the Gods shall at last devour them all. So at last, in the Twilight of the Nations, shall all of them succumb to "Manifest Destiny." The huge armaments of Europe, its invincible armies, its mighty navies, are but piled up as fagots for the burning which shall destroy dynasties and nations. Lowering of national character, of national ideals, of national pride, follows the path of 'glory."

For Friends' Intelligencer.

A NEW YEAR'S MEDITATION. Ar the threshold of the New Year many pause in retrospection and anticipation. This has been the custom doubtless ever since January began the year, for Janus, the heathen deity who gives name to the month is always represented with two faces, one looking forward and the other backward. The two faces have made the name of Janus synonymous with double-dealing, a reputation which he probably does not deserve, if looking both ways were his only fault.

However, it is not wise to linger regretfully over memories of the past or to dream away the present by glowing fancies for future days. To do either is to let golden opportunities for present happiness and usefulness slip by unheeded. The present is the only time which we shall ever know.

It is our privilege to choose what memories we shall bring with us out of the past into the present. We will do well to bar out thoughts of seeming losses and failure, and keep with us only sweet and happy recollections; such as will be a help and stimulus in the present.

"But," objects one, "these sad anniversary days, which mark the wrenching of my loved ones from me, are so insistent I cannot get away from them." But can you not turn them into days of thanksgiving for what has been yours; nay, the rather for what is yours now, if you will but realize that in the great Uni

versal Heart of Love in which we all are at home, there can be in reality no separations? All whom you have ever loved, live and love you still. To live is to love and to live forever is to love forever.

Leave your past in God's keeping, and believe that his hand was guiding you all the way, though you knew it not. Be assured, too, that his love will not fail you in all your coming days, and that you may have the guidance of All-wisdom, if this is the desire of your heart. This will leave to-day untrammeled and joyous.

Consider each day to be the beginning of a New Year and begin it with one lofty resolve which shall include all others. Let it be to walk worthy of your high calling as a child of Infinite Goodness, for you are made in His image and likeness, and your only true inheritance is from Him. In this sense of Divine sonship you have wholeness, holiness, joy, love, and peace. Walk consciously with your Heavenly Father in the midst. Then you will neither stumble nor cause any one to stumble over you. Bearing aloft the torch of Truth, you will exemplify your true calling as a light to the world.

H. L. M. NORTH CAROLINA YEARLY MEETING, (O.) 1898. (Conclusion.)

William C. Allen, of Philadelphia, a Friend well known here, (for sometime resident in Colorado), a member in connection with 4th and Arch Streets Yearly Meeting, and attended the "Orthodox" Yearly Meeting held in North Carolina, the present year, and made for his own use a diary of the proceedings. The report has since been printed, with his consent, in the British Friend, and as it seems of interest, and a matter of history, we reprint it, substantially in full. FIRST-DAY, Eighth month 14, 1898. The dear Friends here who run the official machinery of the yearly meeting sometimes express regret to me that my own yearly meeting does not allow "liberty" to those engaged in gospel work. I am ready to admit that in some respects we might do better, but observe that here there is no liberty except for a few evangelists, who all pull together, and work things so that no one else can possibly be heard during the meetings for worship. At both this morning's meetings it was as usual so worked that evangelists took charge of each meeting, sitting at the desk, giving out hymns, and following one another in the exercises so closely,

that not one moment intervened from one exercise to another. Then near the end of the meetings "testi

monies" were called for. Thus, once we were told

that what was wanted was "not exhortations, but say fifty testimonies in six or ten minutes." Where, in all this, is the grand democracy of worship whilst waiting on the Holy Spirit, as upheld by George Fox?

expected that Philadelphia would receive his scant courtesy next, but it did not. Possibly he saw me in front of him. Then he pleaded with all present to come to the "altar" and be saved.

I

Next, he called on all who were Christians and believed in Christ, to stand up. Most of the audience did so ; but I did not. This was accompanied by a stirring appeal to all sitters, the still hard-hearted, I presumably being one of them,—to give up to Christ. Then he commanded the audience to sit down. Soon those who wanted the Holy Spirit, were asked to arise; and again almost all did so. The excitement began to grow amidst groans, ejaculations, and alternate prayers and exclamations from Douglas and Wm. C. Hubbard and the other conductors of the meeting. meeting. A third time Douglas shouted the command to arise, to "all those who trusted Jesus." turned to a neighbor who had just risen and said, "I have often had to trust Jesus much more than some of these people, and yet I cannot rise." The man and his wife that time kept their seats. Meanwhile, loud cries and calls were made on God for the wretched, Christ-despising sinners who kept their seats. The tumult increased; and suddenly the shrieking of a woman rent the air. Douglas and the other evangelist Friends paused long enough to smile, and then prayed and clapped, and sang on with renewed energy. Loud cries to come to the altar and be saved were followed by a movement to the sinners' bench. Religious anarchy now reigned supreme. Some were on their knees, others fanned them. One old man exhorted in stentorian tones, whacking his foot down with regular beats to give emphasis to his words. When he had concluded, J. H. Douglas called across to him with a grimace, "I would like to have you at camp-meeting for a while." Whereupon the excited audience laughed heartily. Hymns were rapidly sung by many. The hysterical screams of women racked the nerves. Annie Edgerton rushed up and down the aisle wringing her uplifted hands, weeping and crying, "Oh God! Oh God!" and imploring help. Amidst the universal din and confusion, the voices of J. H. Douglas and his lieutenants were heard as they loudly shouted their "Alleluias" and "Amens." Occasionally, whilst praying or calling, Douglas would look narrowly at the victims of his personal magnetism, as if anxious to see that they did not entirely collapse from the dreadful strain. dently he is a master-hand at this modern Quaker method of winning souls.

Evi

When this meeting for worship concluded, and whilst it separated, a young man whose loud cries had been very noticeable, sat exhausted by the gallery of his young sympathizers would once in a while with three women fanning and consoling him. Two Finally, he arose pass their hands through his hair. and I overheard him ejaculate whilst being led away that he was "so glad he had got it now! I pray he may keep "it."

of the meeting if they did, they sat in silent sorrow, with bowed heads. Almost despoiled of the heritage of their fathers in their own (is it now their own?) meeting-house, I could not but pity them. But I will not moralize. For instance, at the beginning of the afternoon meeting for worship, Abram Fisher ignored the fact that William G. Hubbard and Anna Armitage were assigned to conduct the gathering, and began to speak. After a time those Friends with most annoyed countenances conferred with Albert Peel. The latter arose and requested A. Fisher to stop. He protested that he was in his own Yearly Meeting, and ought to have the liberty that Friends for two hundred years had had of relieving his mind. Whilst these brethren were arguing the question, Wm. G. Hubbard arose and commenced his discourse; whereupon the outmanœuvred conservative Friend took his seat, remarking "Well, I will submit." The two evangelists, Wm. G. Hubbard and Anna Armitage had no trouble after this episode. But Friend Hubbard whilst urging sinners forward cannot compete with his co-worker, J. H. Douglas, in throwing men and women into religious spasms. His address was excellent, although accompanied by the knowledge that it had been forced upon the meeting. Anna Armitage is a fine singer, far ahead of most others here in that line.

Second-day. I went into the 8.30 a. m. meeting for worship, which was conducted by Emma B. Malone, who with her husband, J. Walter Malone, control the Friends' Training School for ministers at Cleveland, Ohio. She is an adept at bringing people She is an adept at bringing people to the "altar." It is a great trick, so to speak, to get the "sanctified and saved" separated from the hardened and lost. Thus she skillfully had the congregation alternately standing, sitting, or kneeling, until in the midst of the singing and noise, some became bewildered and began to weep. She urged all needing salvation to come to the altar and kneel. About one dozen complied. Then ensued a composite scene similar to that narrated on a preceding page. She and her lieutenants rushed from one to another, and all were engaged at the same time in praying, exhorting, laughing, singing, ejaculating, and calling across to each other when some particularly hopeful

Where

candidate would announce himself or herself saved and happy. One "poor sinner" who sat alongside of me had a hard time giving in, but finally succumbed to the prayers of kneeling women by his side, who between their invocations would cheerfully whisper in his ear. Then Mary Moon Meredith called out that he had found the Saviour. upon Emma B. Malone cried across the room to him, "Did he believe?" With many sniffles and hysteri- | cal laughter, he replied he "thought he did." This occasioned much laughter, yet was sufficiently encouraging to extract another "Praise the Lord" from the gifted soul-winners. The meeting soon concluded, having been a most fruitful one.

This afternoon, in another meeting, when a Friend was speaking about one of the sweetest primary effects of real religion, quoting Scripture to prove his point, I observed one of the most prominent young

women who had been “ women who had been "saved" in the above-mentioned morning meeting, smiling sarcastically. Had she so soon forgotten the vows made when she had kneeled by Emma B. Malone? Was she an example of what some Friends tell me, that these conversions are seldom deep or permanent?

I am informed that last evening during a very active meeting (I was not there) two Friends of reliable character saw the Holy Spirit pass through the meeting in the form of a ball of fire. This has deeply impressed some who have heard of it.

First-day on the grounds was very interesting. Possibly several thousand people were present. Around under the trees were acres of men, women, and children, and hundreds of horses, carts, wagons, and carriages. Doubtless most of the young men for miles around, with their for miles around, with their "best girls" were on the spot.

This afternoon the Yearly Meeting concluded, in a spirit of praise and some tender remarks from many Friends. I personally have much to be thankful for, as universal courtesy and kindness have been accorded me. This is cause for gratitude when I reflect that some things of the little I have had to say have not been such as would be acceptable to all. In many conversations with zealous Friends thinking quite differently, I have endeavored to show the possibilities connected with connected with our old-fashioned conception of Christian faith and practice. I have found willing ears in unexpected quarters. I have also learned much from these Friends who in many points are so different from myself.

A Friend tells me that some time back little children five or six years old were brought to the altar under the gallery and made to kneel. They would be asked, "Does thee love Jesus?"-and when a little one would assent it would immediately be told, Get up and tell them so."

One

Point, or at Guilford College near where the Yearly Meeting is held, and pack all committees, and are always able to attend the annual gatherings. Poorer Friends who do not believe in such methods or in the paid pastorates which threaten them, cannot from lack of means travel the long distance to yearly meetings. The few who do get there deem themselves helpless, and are effectually talked down or silenced, as I have narrated above. After all, this journal has only recorded a few typical cases in the great mass of scenes, which had I not seen I would have deemed impossible to occur amongst those who bear the loving name of Friends. WM. C. ALLEN.

401 Chestnut street, Philadelphia.

THE BURDEN AND THE BACK.
Sunday School Times.

MEN are continually praying that the burden may be fitted to the back, and God is continually answering by fitting the back to the burden. We ask for deliverance, and he gives us strength. We pray to be kept from temptation, and he teaches us to overcome. We ask to be released from a heavy cross, and, as we carry it, it grows light because we are growing strong. Until old age lays hold upon us, hope of peace can never come with lessening cares; it must depend upon the power of overcoming. The outward circumstance is offset by an inward growth. In broadening the back, God diminishes the burden.

Even our Lord passed through this experience. The burden of the cross seemed too heavy to be borne. In Gethsemane he prayed that he might not sink under the weight. The weight was not lessened, but he was given strength to bear it. Something of this secret his disciples caught from him. When he made an unexpected and amazing draught upon their power to forgive, instead of crying out that it was a word too hard to be received, and asking him to change or soften it, they cried, "Lord, increase our faith!" They had begun to master the secret of obedience that makes for growth. Others who had called themselves disciples took offence at his hard sayings, and walked no more with him; but when he sadly turned to the Twelve, and asked, "Will ye also go away?" Peter responded, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."

There are two ways of looking at our burdens. To one man they seem merely intolerable; to another they are an invitation to faith and growth. The first thinks only of his ease or weakness. He estimates God's appointments by their weight, and rarely by their opportunity. The other reasons that, if God has sent the burden, he will not forget to broaden the back which has to bear it. He too has no desire to assume responsibilities which are not of God's appointment, but if the burden comes with the sure mark of God's sending, he is sure that with it will come the needful strength.

Here is an opportunity for the exercise of that childlike spirit which our Lord commended. The child looks forward with delighted anticipation to its growth and manhood. A little child will turn aside from his best-loved toys to try a man's work with

tools that a man uses. He expects to grow, and in his dreams counts himself already a man in strength and energy. He delights to feel in himself the making of a man. He who refuses or finds fault with burdens of God's sending, shows that he has neither faith in God nor in himself. He is like the child who says,

"This lesson is so hard that I can never learn it." But this is childishness. The teacher answers, "The lesson may seem hard, but many others at your age have mastered it, and so can you." Childishness accepts ignorance and weakness as a permanent condition; childlike faith is confident that growth will come, and pleased at the recognition which offers tasks to its ambition. Our present occupations, relatively to God's plans for our maturity, may be like children's games. Our idleness will surely hinder our development. Our self-content is only a form of distrust in our possible future selves.

To refuse burdens, therefore, may be like a child's refusing school. It is contempt of God's education. We have a right, indeed, to cross-examine every task and burden, and to discard all that fail to prove their claim upon us. We are to carry what God sends, But nothing for pride, nothing for the ungodly fashions and ambitions of the world, nothing for our darling sins. These weights and sins we are to lay aside, that we may run the race that is set before us. But it is the peculiarity of the Christian race that it is to be run with patience. It is not a spurt over a short course, where perhaps the runner falls exhausted

It is a continued

at the end of his fierce career. effort, hard indeed, and often long, but giving the runner opportunity to gain strength as he runs, and leaving him fresher and stronger at the goal than he was at the beginning. He is a wise man, therefore, who asks God to give him his own burdens, and no others, and who prays for growth and strength as the most restful possibilities of our burdened human life.

FIRST-DAY SCHOOL SCRIPTURE LESSONS,

1899.

FRIENDS' LESSONS IN OLD TESTAMENT. No. 2.-FIRST MONTH 8. HEBREW SCRIPTURES.

GOLDEN TEXT.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, And light unto my path.

—Psalm cxix., 105.

Scripture reading.-Psalm cxxi. THE Old Testament is not a single book, but a collection of books. It represented the time-sifted product of the mind of Hebrew people. The different books, written at times extending over a period of hundreds of years and at places widely separated, were finally collected together some two or three hundred years before the beginning of our era. The exact books which should be in the collection, however, remained in question until near the end of the first century, A. D. There are in the Bible many references to books that have been lost, as the "Books of Jasher" (Joshua x., 15) and the "History of Nathan the prophet" (ii., 9-29); and some books known to have been formerly included in the collection

: