esting "Autobiography and Memoirs." He was a pillar of strength in championing the Church of Scotland, and considered by Mr. Gladstone the greatest orator in the House of Lords. He heartily supported the cause of the North in the American Civil War. As Foreign Minister at the time of the Indian Mutiny, he carried the appointment personally to Sir Colin Campbell, Lord Clyde, to the command in India. He found him at home in a small house at Knightbridge, told him of his appointment, and asked him how soon he would be ready to go. His reply was instantaneous: "To-morrow afternoon." His description of Sir Colin is most interesting. "He was short in stature, but the head was of the same character as his father's, and also the curly grey hair, giving a general aspect not unlike a West Highland bull. Lines of power coursed across his brow, and ridged it up into a deeply corrugated surface. With a gentle manner, there was a fiery expression lurking in his eyes, whilst his whole aspect and demeanor

were soldierly in character. He had a square and massive figure, giving one the impression of a man capable of great physical endurance. The whole aspect of the man inspired confidence. He seemed the very type of a soldier, by profession, and by the experience and education of a life of service."

George Douglas's son, who as Marquis of Lorn married Queen Victoria's daughter, the Princess Louise, was GovernorGeneral of Canada, and also of some repute as an author. I met him once in Canada, and another time in London, at a reception in the residence of Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., Canadian High Commissioner. He died May 2, 1914, without issue, and was succeeded by the son of his brother (Lord Archibald), Niall Campbell, who thus became 10th Duke of Argyll. He is at present in France with the 8th Battalion of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, of which he is Honorary Colonel.

The beginning of American golf is usually set down as November 18, 1888, when John Reid, the "Father of American Golf," joined with six other enterprising and enthusiastic gentlemen and formed the St. Andrews Golf Club. The real start was somewhat earlier, says the New York Times. Robert Lockhart returned from his annual trip to Scotland in the fall of 1882 and happened to meet John Reid on the street in Yonkers. He informed him that he had brought from Scotland some implements for playing golf, and invited him to come to his residence and try the game in the back yard.

These two men constructed an impromptu six-hole course in a pasture belonging to H. 0. Tallmadge, another resident of Yonkers. Tallmadge was invited to join the circle of players for three reasons-he was a good fellow, he became an enthusiast about the game, and he owned the golf course. The number of golfers at this time was perhaps half a dozen, and there were only fourteen or fifteen sticks in the country, all owned and used by this group. These sticks had rings of different color painted on them to distinguish the clubs of one player from those of another, and also to tell the clubs apart, for the players of those days were not so familiar with the variations between the putter and the driver as the present

generation. The golf clubs of the old days were fearful and wonderful things, and four sticks were a good load for any caddie.

About 1888, the players had become too numerous for the pasture links, and a new six-hole course was laid out on the east bank of the Hudson River, where now some Yonkers manufacturing plant is running full blast. It was here that the famous "Apple Tree Gang" came into existence. The players derived this name from the fact that their clubhouse at this course was a verdant apple tree; its limbs were the clothes racks, its leaves were awnings, and its fruit provided the refreshment for the wearied players. Here were held the first tournaments, and here, to quote the secretary of the new-born St. Andrews Golf Club, J. B. Urham, in the "second round Messrs. Reid and Upham won by one and one-half holes, and Mr. John Reid beat Robert Lockhart, four and one-half to two and one-half." The John Reid Gold Medal was played for in 1889 and won by P. C. Myers. No player was forced to wear a high hat, but "Prince Alberts" were usually worn at tournaments. In 1894, the game became so popular and the membership of the St. Andrews Golf Club so large that another change was made, and a course was laid out in the picturesque Sawmill River Valley, east of Yonkers, at a

place called Grey Oaks. Many famous matches were played here, but the everincreasing interest in the game forced the St. Andrews players to move to the present location at Mount Hope, where an eighteenhole course was laid out that has remained almost unchanged to this day.

The roster of the club members reads like "Who's Who in America." Andrew Carnegie has the same advantage at St. Andrews that Francis Ouimet enjoys at Brookline. Both have cottages at the edge of the course, but the Laird of Skibo says his cottage must be of the wrong kind, as he cannot get the distance that Ouimet obtains. Edwin Gould owns the first four holes at Ardsley, but prefers to play his golf at St. Andrews. Certainly no one is better qualified to deliver a treatise on "The Psychology of Short Putts" than Nicholas Murray Butler. If a new hole is desired, there is Alfred Craven, Chief Engineer for the Public Service Commission, to lay it out, and Major John F. O'Rourke to construct it. If a loan must be floated to purchase a new rocking chair for the porch, George F. Baker, A. Barton Hepburn, Otto H. Kahn, Isaac Seligman, and Mortimer L. Schiff may be trusted to see that the movement is financially sound. Charles M. Schwab passes as an expert on steel-faced clubs, and John F. Stivers, former Chief Engineer of the Panama Canal, is invariably consulted before a new ditch is dug to trap a poor drive.

St. Andrews is not a country club, it is a golf club, and one of the oldest rules bars ladies out. The comfort of the members and the welfare of the course are remarkably well looked after.

A Tribute to Scottish Soldiers

We quote the following observations from an article by an officer of the 5th Camerons.

When any regiment has finished its spell in the trenches it goes into reserve or rest billets in the villages and farms at varying distances behind the firing line, and it is worth calling attention to one or two extremely noticeable and significant facts, immediately observable, with regard to Highlanders when billeted upon the French people. These things, entirely unlooked for, struck the writer as particularly remarkable and significant, owing to the persistency with which the farmers, shopkeepers, and villagers of all kinds, and behind every part of the firing line, insisted that they were so. Firstly, the esteem in which the Scottish name is held above the English; and secondly, the adaptability of the Scottish soldier to the ways of the country, and his most remarkable ability for picking up the language, its accent and idiomatic expressions.

With regard to the first point, it is a subject which has been instilled into the writer absolutely incessantly ever since he first

arrived at the port of debarkation. "Ah! ce sont les Eccossais! Ah! que c'est heureux! nous aimons toujours les Ecossais," etc., etc.; or, as the farmers' wives so often say to the soldiers who have less French than others, and who come round to buy milk, coffee, and eggs-"Anglais non bon, Ecossais tres bon." This most intense and enthusiastic attitude in favor of the Scottish soldier, and more particularly for the Highlander in his kilt, has been brought home to the writer on countless occasions. Billeted once at the house of some well-to-do French people in Armentieres, the lady of the house discoursed upon the fact of how the people of France appreciated the Scottish, how that the Scottish officers were always so "gentil," how they said "Bon-jour" every morning, and were so quiet and considerate in their ways, whereas "certain other allies" were nearly always arrogant and thoughtless, and would enter a house, monopolize the rooms and furniture, make themselves at home, and utterly disregard the owners of the house altogether. The same thing has been said over and over again by the peasant farmers-how that never once has a Scottish regiment destroyed their orchards, spoiled the furniture and woodwork of their farms, stolen eggs or chickens, or refused to pay its debts.

"Libre Belgique," the daringly published Brussels newspaper, the home of which the Germans, despite their most strenuous efforts, have failed to unearth, has now reached its fifty-third number. Searches for its editors and staff take place every day, but no single capture has been made.

Vladivostok reports growing congestion of war supplies landing for shipment to the Russian battle front. Four hundred and fifty locomotives, 20,000 steel cars, and great quantities of barbed wire, cotton and rails have been purchased, only a small percentage of which have been landed for lack of pier facilities.

The expense of the Swiss mobilization up to the end of February amounted to about $90.000.000, including extraordinary expenditures, according to an announcement made March 14, to the National Council by M. Motta, head of the Department of Finance.

The Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament adopted, March 14, without division, a war loan bill for 125,000,000 gulden ($50,000,000). This and the above dispatch in a single day indicate in part only the huge cost of the great war to the neutral nations.

Reports are current that Brazil will seize the forty-two German ships interned in that country, as a means of affording shipping relief. The neutrality of the government is reaffirmed.

Biblical Biographies

JOHN THE BAPTIST

BY REV. ANDREW BURROWS, D. d. No celebrated men are so deserving of the attention of Christians as those whose lives and characters shine forth brightly in the pages of Holy Scripture; and among this class there is none to be placed side by side with John the Baptist for consistency of profession, for steadfastness of faith, for loyalty to the interests of Christ's Kingdom, for rectitude of conduct, and for nobility of character, as can be seen in his preaching and conversation and conduct.

There are three great outstanding facts in the history and life of John the Baptist, which tend to exhibit his character in a clear. convincing and instructive light; these are: (1) His Birth, (2) His Ministry, and (3) His Martyrdom. These may be regarded as comprising his whole life, which was very brief, as seen in the fact that he was only six months older than Jesus, and ended his life long before the death of Jesus. How short was John's life, and yet how marvellous the events that transpired in connection with it!

The evangelist (Luke 1:15-17) records John's character as described by the Angel -he was to be sanctified to the Lord, like the prophet Jeremiah, from the womb; he was to be most abstemtious in life, like the Nazarite, and filled with the Holy Ghost. As to his Birth, we are told that he was the child of godly parents, his father being a priest in the Lord's house and service, and his mother a godly woman, the cousin of the mother of Jesus. Seeing this to be the char acter of John's parents, we might reasonably expect a good and obedient child, and a God-fearing and God-serving man. His very name, John, was given him by God before he was born, so that he was one of the six to whom God had given names before birth, which are the following: Ishmael Gen. 16:11); Isaac (Gen. 17:19); Josiah (I Kings 13:2); Cyrus (Isa. 44:28); with John and Jesus.

The Bible presents to us numerous excellent characters, all of whom are worthy of our admiration and imitation; but none higher or holier than that of John the Baptist. The testimony of Jesus concerning him was remarkable: "Among those that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist." He was one of those of whom the world was not worthy. In the testimony of Jesus we have included John's holy character and effectual ministry, and a special allusion to him as the forerunner of Jesus Christ; so that from all this we can learn how none was greater than John-he was greater than any of the prophets who preceded him, and yet, in respect to the glory of the New Testament dispensation, and the glory of Christ, Himself, any of his faithful servants was greater. Again, as to his Ministry. From the mode of John's living such a sequestered life, one of separation and isolation from friends and

foes, we may reasonably infer what the character of his preaching would be. From the sacred narrative we learn that he spent his life in the deserts of Judea till the time of "his shewing unto Israel," and also of the manner and matter of his preaching. His text was: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand," and his hearers he boldly addressed in the strange words, "a generation of vipers." Repentance of sins was his theme until that memorable day, when he saw Jesus walking, and he cried: "Behold the Lamb of God." John had been waiting some thirty years, and now that the Messiah had actually appeared, he could truthfully say, "He must increase, but I must decrease."

The evangelist Luke (chap. II) informs us of the fact that the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus began with John's preaching; he was that renowned Herald foretold by the prophets (Isaiah and Malachi), who was to prepare the way before the Christ; and from the state of things in Jerusalem, combined with the character of its rulers and ecclesiastics, there was much need of John's appearance among them and preaching to them.

It must be remembered that John's call to the holy office of the ministry was direct from heaven, so Luke tells us in his Gospel (3:2), "The word of the Lord came to John, son of Zacharias, in the wilderness." He had the divine, inward and effectual call to engage in the work of the ministry-this is what is needed by all ministers of the gospel in order that their ministry may be rich in blessing to the hearers of the gospel. As to John's ministerial character, he was to be "great in the sight of the Lord" (Luke 8:15). His greatness was not to be of the world, but in the sight of the Lord, thus teaching us that they are great who do and attempt great things for God; this greatness is not confined to any special class, but is within the reach of all who have the desire to become great in the sight of heaven.

John's ministry was noted for the four following things: (1) Its faithfulness; (2) Its boldness; (3) Its fearlessness; (4) Its usefulness. His ministry was terminated by the diabolical act of King Herod, in not only confining him in prison, but beheading him.

And the last outstanding fact of John's history was his Martyrdom. The events leading up to John's sad and tragic end we have recorded by Matthew (Chap. 14). The cause arose from John's faithfulness in reproving sin in high places, in conjunction with the rash, mad promise, made under the wicked influence of sensual excitement, by King Herod to a young girl, on account of her graceful and pleasing performance before the king and his royal guests. This same damsel who asked for the head of John the Baptist to be given her, if history be true, some years afterwards was crossing a frozen river, when the ice separated, and she sank to the neck, when two pieces of ice severed her head from her body. How true is God's word: "Be sure your sin will find you out."

Prayer for the Day

Most gracious God, it has pleased Thee to spare us to this hour of public worship and communion. Thy mercy has been round about us through the week and Thou hast led us to the altar of sacrifice. May we place upon the altar the offering which is acceptable to Thee. May we not give our money and refuse ourselves. May we not bring the homage of the lips and withhold the devotion of the heart. May we not meck Thee in our worship. May we be inspired by Thy Spirit to bring all that is within us to praise Thy holy name. Quicken every power in our souls. Awake our dull discernments. Mercifully give us an appetite for the things of the Spirit. May we hunger for the bread of life. As we receive Thy grace may we consecrate ourselves to Thy service. As we confess ourselves to be Thy disciples wilt Thou send us forth as the apostles of Thy love. May we give again to others the love which Thou dost give to us. As Thou didst find us may we go in quest of our brother. As we feed upon the fruits of Thy sufferings may we too carry our cross in the labors of Thy kingdom. Refresh all who are faint and depressed. Give Thy secret joy to all who are traveling along ways of sorrow. May the children of the night catch some gleams of the eternal morn. May all who bear the burden of pain and of bodily infirmity find some wonderful compensation in the special intimacy of their Lord. Let Thy holy grace unite us in common blessing. May old and young alike drink of the river of Thy pleasures and may the joy of the Lord be our strength. Amen.

The Throne and the Lamb

"I saw a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations. before

the throne and before the Lamb." The first step to a vital racial union is that we shall stand before the throne,-American, English, French and German, all standing before the throne. I grant you with all my heart that we need an evangelical revival, but with all my heart I am fully convinced that the evangelical revival will tarry until we have heard the searching tones of the moral law pealing from the great white throne. I am hoping and praying that the one mighty result of this war will be a return to the preaching of immensely more exacting moral standards, standards that will search us to the innermost fibres of our being. We need to hear the moral virilities of the ten commandments. We need to hear the piercing moral indictments of the prophets. We need to gaze upon the uncompromising whiteness of the demands of Christ. And we need so to hear these things, and so to see them, that everywhere men and women will cry out as they did in the days of old, "What must we do to be saved," . multitude of all nations and kindreds and neoples and tongues, standing before the throne." That is the first step to racial

"I saw a

union. It is Sinai that drives us to Calvary. It is the holy law that drives us to the holy grace. It is the weight of the commandments that impels us to the succor of the Gospel. It is the throne which brings us to the Lamb. The reason why the Gospel goes a-begging is that we have shut our eyes to the throne, and we are altogether unconscious of our spiritual need. Unveil the throne, and the need will be uncovered, and we shall cry out for the Lamb. The majority of people feel no urgent need for Christ. He is a sort of comfortable presence to think about at times; but as the Lamb of God Who is to wash us clean with His own blood, they have no need of such a Saviour! But when the throne reveals us to ourselves we cry for the Lamb. We need someone who can wash a foul life clean, even though it is to be done with His own blood. Yes, we shall have some use for Christ Jesus when the throne has sent its terrific beams into our souls, and made us dreadfully uneasy, and when our puny little stage-lights have all paled out, and we have begun to feel very lonely and disquieted in our Father's beautiful words. Then shall we cry, "O Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on me? O Lamb of God, I come!" (Extract from Dr. Jowett's sermon, March 12, 1916.)

The Bread of Life

Jesus Christ claims to be the bread of life. His life will feed my life. His Spirit will feed my spirit, nourishing it, sustaining it, possessing it with the marvelous energies of His own communicated strength. If Jesus Christ is my bread, it is His gracious purpose to feed me by imparting to me the force of His own life. I know that we are here on the borderland of impenetrable mysteries, and I will not be presumptuous and claim to see what has not been revealed. I will step with great reverence, but also with sacred hope. What I know is this, and of this I may be confident, that the mighty Christ has promised to be my bread, and that He will feed my life with His own life. It is one life feeding another life. Everything in Jesus feeds everything in us. Faculty is fed by faculty, each imparting to the other its own strength. We are strengthened by the grace which is in the Lord Jesus. We are nourished on His blood. Everything in Him is for everything in us. "We are made complete in Him." All our hungers have their satisfactions in His bread. If the promise does not mean this, what can it mean? Take all the coronal capacities in your soul. Review them. There is hope, and there is veneration, and there is conscientiousness, and there is benevolence, and there is joy, and there are many others. The Lord Jesus Christ is the bread for all of them! He will feed your hope with His own visions. He will feed your conscientiousness with His own holiness. He will feed your benevolence with His own good

ness. He will feed your joy with His own pleasure. "My joy shall be in you"; "the joy of the Lord shall be your strength." Yes, the fullness of the Lord Jesus is the complement of all our emptiness. He is the food for all our cravings. His Spirit is the resource for our spirit. "I am the bread of life." (Extract from Dr. Jowett's sermon, Sunday, March 19, 1916.)

A Padre With the Bagpipes

BY L. MACLEAN WATT

When I went out to France I took my bagpipes with me, and now and again in a camp "Sing song," I found a Scotsman or two willing to perform upon them. The most skilful I met in this way was a young corporal in the Cameron Highlanders, who not only filled in an evening with several masterpieces of pipe music, to the deligh, of the hut, but left the bagpipes in such order that they seemed just tingling of themselves to play. As I was going back by tram to Havre I carried them under my arm. When I boarded the car I was the only passenger, and the conductor came through to the front platform, begging me for a tune. I did not mind, although I felt it was very late, so I screwed up, not anticipating what was to happen. The driver stopped at once, and he and the conductor, with their heads to the side, gave a nodding accompaniment to the strain. In a moment all the earth seemed to have got out of bed-men, women and children, young and old, rushed out into the dark, from houses, shops and cafes. Some, with their chests sticking out, marched to and fro; others joined hands and footed it most grotesquely, while others boarded the car, listened to the drones, and discussed the Scottish nation. When the conductor and the driver suddenly remembered their duty, and started off on their journey again, many remained as passengers, and were carried along with us. When we arrived at a junction, we found another car waiting to get on to our line. Our officials very obligingly stopped, in order that the others might share the benefit of the Scottish music. The passengers leaned out, shaking hands with one another, the wildest gabble going on all the while, to the accompaniment of the "79th's Farewell to Gibraltar!" The 79th's were not willingly allowed to get away; but just as we were on the move again, two Scottish soldiers managed to fight their way to the front of the crowd, one of them shouting, "Hey!-what's your regiment? Whaur do ye belang tae?"

His comrade, observing my clerical collar, remonstrated: "Jock, dinna say that! De ye no' see that he's a minister?”

"Hach!" replied the other, "I dinna care. Scotland forever!"

And then the cars suddenly awoke to a sense of duty, and passed upon their way.

The 79th were much hampered all the while in their progress by a tipsy French soldier, who insisted on shaking hands with me in the middle of the tune, and was extremely eager to exchange caps with me.

In fact, it is the most difficult thing in the world to get your bagpipes tuned in France,. the people are so urgent for "la musique de la guerre." In Rouen I tried to tune mine in my room. I endeavored to do this quietly-remembering a friend of mine at home, whose son is an invalid. In order to avoid disturbing him when he practices his bagpipes, he plays them in his stocking feet! In two minutes, however, my room was filled with people, who put their ears to my drones and poked the bag to see where the music came from. They are not good judges-in fact, I do not think they know anything about it, for they seemed quite pleased with my piping.

The bagpipes were a wonderful medium of communication. For instance, I had been searching for one man amongst many others, who had been missing for some weeks, and I had come to the conclusion that he either was not alive, or had been sent out of the country, or perhaps there was another alternative which I did not like to think of. I was suddenly sent some fifty miles further up the line, and was due to speak to the men the evening I arrived. "Bring your bagpipes," said the message. "There are some Scotsmen here." So in the earlier part of the evening I played the two or three tunes I know; and then, later on, when the men had gathered, I had my service. At the close of the meeting, a man stepped forward whom I had married four years ago, in my manse, and he told me of one or two others in whom I was interested. As I was leaving, two young lads came up and said that there was a large shed quite near, where there were some Scotsmen. Wouldn't I come down and play a tune to them? And I might have a chance of saying something to them. I said I was tired, and would come back the next evening. "But, sir," pleaded one of the boys. "you said to-night that now was the time." Caught thus on the hook of my own words, I set off with them. It was a great, dark shed, and there was no sign of anybody about, so I went right in, screwed up my pipes, and began. In a moment I was surrounded by men, eight or nine deep, and when I finished, there, at the end of my drones, was the very man I had been hunting for!

At another place, at the British Advance Base, I had just finished speaking in a tent, when some officers came in, and asked me to come across the railway lines, and speak to several hundred men who were living in horse-boxes. The officers' mess was in a horse-box, and the humour of the soldiers had chalked on the side of it the sign, "Hotel Cecil." We went out to the lines, and I screwed up my bagpipes. In two minutes the men were out and about me, and I was able to interest them.

SCOTCHMEN IN THE TRENCHES

"We're going off to the front to-night, sir, and we thought we'd like to have the sacrament before we go."

The men began to gather together, and sat down there as reverently as though the dim,