The Montgomery advertiser. [volume] (Montgomery, Ala.) 1885-1982, 1909-07-11
nv wrr.IsAM r. ELLIS.

Gre koopin8 IN oyo ubon
welt In Africa. partly becuse OF inter-
est In him, and partly. II must be con-
fessed. because Of the innate human
love Of adventure. No matter now
routine or commonplace our lives. we
feel an instructive sympathy with
those who roam and who undergo
strange experiences. Travel lectures
and books have been a staple OF ntera-
ture since ever the art of writing was
discovered.
The twenty-five million members OF
the worlds Sunday Schools are lind
| ing the present course Of lessons OF
unusual interest because these MARIA
| tives Of Paurs Journeys are as lively
as . newspaper and as full OF human
| interest
Now we find Paul landed In Europe.
This IN the most distant and periious
| flight he had thus far made. Indeed.
DR.. James Stalker declares that 'fnis
| journey was not only the greatest no
| achieved, but perhaps the most momeh-
| tous recorded In the annals OF the
human race. In It's issues 1t TAR out
rivaled the expedition Of Alexander
the Great when he carried the arms
and civilization OF Greece into the
heart OF Asia, or that of Caesar when
he landed on the shores OF Britain. or
even the voyage OF Columbus when
| he discovered . new world: Dr.
| stalker goes on to point out that nad
| Paul gone in another direction instead
of to Europe, missionaries from india
and Japan might have been coming
to England at the present day TO Ten
| the story OF -the cross. But Provioence
| conferred on Europe q blessed priorf-
| ty, ana the fate of our continent was
decided when Paul crossed the Aegean
Sea-"
A Contrast I'm womanhood.
The scene Of the particular episode
assigned for present study Is Philippi,
| the chief city OF Macedonia Pau
was ON his way with Lydia, the devout
woman who was his first convert In
| Europe, to the place of prayer. Re-
| ligious associations are not necessarily
deiiverance from temptation. Tne
worst of influences may accompany
one Of the Best of places. A hysteri-
cal fortune-teller. demon-possessed.
followed Paul and his friends CRYING
out that they were the servants OF the
Most High. DR.. Lyman Abbott says
| that the young woman was q mixture
| of fraud, clairvoyance. Insanity. ana
| the DEVIL" She was. in that long line
| of succession, which has continued the
present day of persons who, BY one
| influence or another, undertake to
exercise the arts of magic. Curiousiy
enough, these evil spirits Of divination
are even linked with religions. re-
call picking up In q Port said book
store a little volume on magic, wnicn
in all seriousness purported 70 reveal
| the secrets of the black art, ana on
every page the names OF the great
teachers Of religion were invoked as
masters.
AS PauI's first convert In Europe
had been a woman, representing the
lofty estate to which wonanhood was
called by the new Gospel OF Jesus, SO
this sooth- saying maiden may stand as
a figure of the plight OF womanhood
under a heather diapepsation. sne
was held in slavery by men VINO were
making profit out of her misfortune.
Her misery and degradation were
| symbol Of the designation OF her sex.
| even as Lydia's noble character repre-
sented the transfiguration which the
Gospel effects In the character OF
womanhood.
High professions from Low Motives.
The crooked know the straight. None
| are no sensible of virtue as those VINO
| lack IL. Well does Jesus say. The
| devils believe and tremble." The tes-
| umony Of this poor girl to the real mis-
sion of Paul and his friends is signi-
| fcant of the fact that evil Is alert TO
perceiya the power OF good. Perhaps
| that is why "the wicked nee when no
man pursueth." Paul was not one OF
those who would receive honor from
the enemy; he would not build cnurch
| out of saloon keepers subscriptions
| nor be battered into silence by the COM
pliments Of the wicked rich. He want
| ed not the testimony of this demon
possessed girl. So he commanded the
| spirit to come out of the girl, ana
| thus freed her from her thralldom.
His interest was always deep In the
human side. He cared for persons.
On the contrary, the girls masters
| seemed not TO be Interested in the girl
for herself but only in the money
which her art brought to them. Ap-
parently she was SO profitable that a
syndicate had been formed to own and
manage her. AS soon as the flow OF
gain stopped there was an uproar. The
constituencies Of money. as witnessed
in Wall Street. is no new attribute.
| There always have been persons IN
j whom the money nerve has been quick
/ ar than the nerve OF conscience.
| In this Philppian episode we may
see, without stretching the figure. an
| analogy of the tumultuous activity OF
| certain special interests at washington
| in the matter of the tariff. Vested IN
terests are pulling for high tarin or
for a low tariff, not for the country's
| sake. but for their own private profit.
/
the highest sentiments Of patriotism
to cloak their meanest motives. even
| as these Philippian capitalists display
ed remarkable access Of zeal for the
| Roman divinities when Paul had
smashed their industry So also at
Ephesus the silversmiths set the mob
| to crying, Great is Diana of the Ephe-
slams" SO did Nero turn the wrath OF
| the mob upon the Christians to divert
attention from himself. 1t is well al
ways to be skeptical of an alliRator's
| motives Paul perceived this in his
| own case, and was careful to receive
no profit for his preaching. He main
| tanned himself by tent-making, because
| he would not bring reproach upon the
Gospel.
| Beaten, NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
What do you do when in trouble!
| Do you simply collapse? Do you whim-
per and whine and pour your grievance
| into the ears of all who listen? DO
| you bitterly rail against fate. your
| fellow-men and God? Or do you smile
and sing when troubles pile the thick
est? That last is the apostolic way
Beaten. with rods, stretched in excru-
ciating stocks. dumped into the low
est dungeon Of the Philippian prison.
because of the mob's false accusation
paul and Silas yet made melodious the
| midnight hours by their songs They
had within themselves springs of ex-
haustless Joy. That Is the spirit OF
faith which the world cannot touch
NwNDR