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16. Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them.

17. And when they saw him, they worshipped him : but some doubted.

18. And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

19. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

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Seeds and

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that all the strength and beauty of an oak was enclosed in the acorn? Who would imagine that the radiance and fragrance of the rose could develop from the seed of the rose, or the brilliance of a tulip from a bulb? How could a seed under ground, if it had consciousness, obtain any faintest idea of what the springtime world is above ground; or from its own form, mouldering into dust, what its nature, and surroundings, and work would be when it grew into the air and sunlight? Or suppose some inhabitant of another world should visit this world in winter, and looking at the seeds and bulbs in the seed store, or the bare trees in the fields, should be told what they were to become in spring. How could you make known the fact if he hesitated to believe? You would take him to a greenhouse and let him see specimens, the actual results of seeds planted. Now Jesus raised from the dead is a specimen, a fact, which proves what may be true of men.

HINTS FROM NATURE.-The caterpillar changed to a butterfly; the charcoal and the diamond; the silver cup from the silver ore.

THE WATCH AND ITS CASE.-The case represents the body, the works the soul. The works can be taken from the old case, and put into a new one, and go on just the same as before. It is really the same watch.

PICTURE.-The Ascension, Doré, Pacchiarotto, Luca della Robbia, Correggio, Perugino, John La Farge (in the Church of the Ascension, New York).

19. GO AND TEACH ALL NATIONS.-The late Duke of Wellington once met a young clergyman, who being aware of his Grace's former

20. Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Our Marching
Orders.

residence in the East, and of his familiarity with the ignorance and obstinacy of the Hindoos in support of their false religion, gravely proposed the following question: "Does not your Grace think it almost useless and extravagant to preach the gospel to the Hindoos?" The duke immediately rejoined, "That is not your business. Your business is to obey your marching orders,- Preach the gospel to every creature.'”

NECESSITY OF SPREADING THE GOSPEL.—(1) Real light always shines, and the brighter the light, the farther it shines. (2) Flowing, moving water is pure. Stagnant water becomes impure. (3) The spinning top stands; stop its spinning, and it falls.

CHRISTIANITY A MISSIONARY RELIGION." The very soul of our religion is missionary, progressive, world embracing it would cease to exist if it ceased to be missionary, if it disregarded the parting words of its Founder, 'Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations,' etc. The spirit of truth is the life-spring of all religion; and where it exists, it must manifest itself, it must plead, it must persuade, it must convince and convert. There may be times when silence is gold, and speech silver; but there are times also when silence is death, and speech is life,-the very life of Pentecost. Look at the religions in which the missionary spirit has been at work, and compare them with those in which any attempt to convince others by argument, to save souls, to bear witness to the truth, is treated with pity or scorn. The former are alive; the latter are dying or dead."-Max Müller.

CHARTS of the progress of Christianity can be found in Dorchester's "Religious Progress," and in Arthur Pierson's "Acts of the Holy Spirit."

PICTURE.-Doré's "Triumph of Christianity."

THE WORLD FOR CHRIST.-" At Wisconsin, I saw on the wall of the convention a sentence which thrilled my soul, Wisconsin for

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Christ.' That was the motto of these young people. The next day I was in Iowa, and I saw the motto, Iowa for Christ.' The next day I was at Missouri, and I saw the same words, Missouri for Christ.' Two or three days afterward I was in the province of Ontario, and there again the motto was, 'Ontario for Christ.' One of these days the great chorus of the voices of the young people will arise, and it will be Our Country for Christ;' both countries for Christ on both sides of the line; America, America for Christ! and I think, as we listen and strain our ears, we shall hear an answering voice coming back from across the water from the young people in dear old mother England, we shall catch the tone of their voices, and hear them cry out, England, England for Christ!' and I think we shall hear the young people in the other lands engaged in the same work in missionary lands, in China, Japan, Australia, all the world over, we shall hear them cry out, 'Our country, our country for Christ!' and it will not be long before voices from all over the world shall arise from this great chorus and throng of young people, 'THE WORLD FOR CHRIST.'"

—Rev. F. E. Clark, D.D., in his London address, May, 1891.

THE MEASURE OF MISSIONARY SPIRIT.-In The Outlook for July 3, 1897, there was a capital article on this subject by Mr. F. W. Hewes, from which the following diagrams and condensed explanations have been taken, by permission. The full explanations can be found in The Outlook.

"While it is not true that 'money is the measure of all things,' it is undoubtedly true that people contribute money to aid any undertaking just as they sympathize with the object of the undertaking. In this sense, then, money contributed for the support of missions is a measure of the missionary spirit of the population or of any particular denomination.

"Some months ago The Outlook asked the writer to ascertain, if practicable, whether the present generation is contributing as liberally to missionary work as past generations. The inquiry embraces in all fourteen active missionary denominations and the American Tract Society."

DIAGRAM I-ANNUAL CONTRIBUTIONS FOR MISSIONS.-The explanations are shown in the "Study No. 1." The setbacks in contributions are seen to be on account of financial depressions and the civil war.

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DIAGRAM II-TEN-YEAR RECORDS.-"While the annual record portrays the history of the chief financial struggles and triumphs, the general history of progress is better learned by the study of averages. Study No. 2' begins thirty years earlier than No. 1, with the 1820 period (1815-1824), in which the aggregate contribution averaged $40,600 per year, as noted with the 1820 dot at the lower left-hand corner of the diagram. That was in the infancy of the existing Protestant missionary organizations. The increase, period by period, is best read from the diagram itself.

"The chief lesson is that, in spite of the marked irregularities shown by the annual record, the ten-year averages show a steady and remarkable progress, culminating in the 1890 period with an annual average increase over the 1880 period of more than six million dollars, in spite of its two panic years, 1893 and 1894; or, starting with the Civil War period (1860), a total increase in thirty years of almost 460 per cent. This is marvelous progress."

DIAGRAM III-PER CAPITA RECORDS.-"An increased total, however large, does not prove increased liberality, for the population making the contribution may have increased just as rapidly, Hence the next step is to analyze this remarkable history by comparing the contribution with the population, as in 'Study No. 3.'

"The increased contribution for each person, starting at the Civil War period (1860) is, of course not as great as that of absolute contribution, but makes a record of over 180 per cent., and emphatically proves an astonishing increase of liberality as measured by population.

"To better understand what this means, it must be recalled that this 'each man, woman, and child' includes over fifteen million children under ten years of age, and more than six million persons over ten years of age unable to write. It also includes all the helpless, the idle, the criminals, the insane, and the inmates of hospitals, asylums, and poorhouses; all the foreign population and Indians; all the Roman Catholics, and all who attend no church. Very few of this vast multitude ever contribute at all. Were all these noncontributors excluded, and only the probable contributors included, how the contribution per capita would be multiplied, and what a record it would be! For it must be remembered that the contribution to missions, as such, is only a small part of the contribution to the support of the Gospel in its many manifestations."

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