REASON AND RELIGION,

We have no sympathy with that rigid, purblind righteousness which clothes itself in an impenetrable conservatism which clings, with obstinate tenacity, to old beliefs which believes every innovation on the established order of things to be of the devil, and so shuts its ears against all discussion. We are not to be frightened from the discussion of any important subject by the cry that the devil is one of the chief debaters. We remember that our blessed Saviour was accused as a blasphemer and Sabbathbreaker by the religionists of his day. We remember that all true progress in science and religion has been pointed out by those who were deemed foolish or mad, and that the great benefactors of mankind have been greeted with calumny and contempt. Speech, discussion is the wind that is to winnow the chaff from the wheat; and error cannot be confined in darkness, and rendered innocuous, but it must be vanquished in open combat, under the broad daylight of heaven.

For ourself, we have no craving desire to get a sight into the spiritual world. If there is any spirit who wishes to communicate to us anything important or beneficial, we should be most happy to pay him respectful attention; but we regard the practice and precepts of Christ as not only a safe, but sufficient law of life, a law which, if obeyed, will bring blessing here, and added blessing hereafter.

We are not so ready to deify reason as some are. We have an idea that faith is not to be despised. Reason should be our guide in all matters which lie within its province; but religion has mysteries which the human mind cannot fathom. Reason and Religion never contradict each other; they run on in closest unity and most perfect harmony, until religion passes beyond the ken of reason, and there reason should merge into faith, even as the early light of morning melts into the splendors of broadening day.

WE speak of Columbus as the Great Discoverer, forgetful that all around us are discoverers greater than he. He widened the horizon of the world for the people of his day, and for those who have succeeded them; but the process of discovery has been continually going on, until now the clear eye of Science reaches to the centre of the earth, disclosing hidden treasures and mysteries, and successfully searches the far-off heavens, for stars and constellations unknown before.

Art has supplemented Nature with manifold wonders. Invention has reinforced the strength and increased the power of man, until the world of Columbus' time is but an infant beside its manly stature of to-day. Into this wider world every human being comes in perfect ignorance, and Life is but a Voyage of Discovery among its countless wonders.

Just watch the growing intellect of your child. The first blind gropings of mental activity are fol-· lowed by that busy baby-life which is satisfied by

nursery toys. Soon the increasing stature of the little one is fitted for outdoor recreations, and acquaintance with the ever increasing circle of companionship begins. What ardor and enthusiasm in the youthful discoverer now! How the larger thoughts, the new ideas, throng to the receptive mind! Every night shuts down upon a wider horizon; every morning beckons to new experiences and untrodden paths. Daily you can mark the mental growth, and gladly note the joy of new discovery — the enlarging life - the outreaching mind.

We are all but children of a larger growth, surrounded by outlying, undiscovered realms. Through these we grope from day to day. The farther our vision reaches, the more we see beyond, just as the sailor knows that, beyond the limit of the seeming horizon that shuts him in, the waters are rolling in wild waves, or sleeping idly in the sun. Every day increases our knowledge and ripens our experience. Gulfs of unexpected faithlessness or hate yawn before us, and new loves and friendships join the procession of our lives.

Every night we are moored for a few hours by the shores of Sleep, and with the break of every morn we sail again upon the trackless sea of Time, piloting our course as best we may towards the Wealth that gleams in the distance the Truth that shines serenely on the far horizon-the Beautiful, which allures us with uplifted brow, persuasive smile and beckoning hand. Voyagers and discoverers are

we all.

GOD never forgets anything. All his works, from the creation of a world to the tinting of a leaf, are finished-perfect.

Did you ever stand under a full-boughed, heavyfoliaged tree in summer-time, and pluck one of its myriad leaves and examine its delicate tracery, its coloring, the very perfection of its finished beauty, and then think of the countless number of such leaves, of the mighty forests whose luxuriant growth covers so much of the world, and reflect that among them all there is not a leaf unfinishedeach perfect in its form and color?

And did you ever pick a flower, either from cultured garden or by way-side walk, enjoy its odor and bless its beauty, and stop to think how all the wide earth blossoms with such fragrant beauty, and no flower of them all forgotten—the same careful hand filling each glowing heart with perfume and coloring every leaf with care?

When we think of this Omniscience, of this neverfailing care, we feel something of the attributes of that Power-unseen, yet ever present; untouched, yet always felt—who gives to the violet its color, to the rose its fragrance, who tints with beauty the tiniest leaf, and yet whose hand controls the planets in their courses, and whose fiat rules the countless worlds.

IT is a fine thing to be able to ripen without shriveling; to reach the calmness of age, and still keep the warm heart and ready sympathy of youth.

BLIGHT AND BLOOM.

Never, in the history of the world, has there been a time when the terrible blight of life, home, happiness and possessions has descended upon vast numbers of people in such sudden and swift destruction as recently in our own Northwest, and never has there been a time when heroic fortitude and sweet and gracious charity have bloomed with a beauty so inspiring and glorious as now. Paradise was lost anew in the awful maelstrom of flame; Paradise was regained again in a vision of the millions of treasure spontaneously poured into the lap of suffering want, and the tens of thousands of feet all over the civilized world hastening with swift emulation in the work of mercy and fraternal human love. One picture is as if hell had burst its bounds, and ran in unchecked riot for a time; the next as if pitying heaven had touched every heart with the divine impulse to relieve the suffering and repair the loss.

It is impossible for words to portray either the darkness of the disaster or the brightness of the relief. The most eloquent description can no more picture the concentrated horror of the destruction of Chicago than a child's exclamation of wonder at a single star can portray the dazzling splendors of the countless suns and systems which fill the unexplored and unimagined boundaries of the universe of God. Looking back now at those blackened wastes and colossal ruins, they seem even more