THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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stand th a t it may become more difficult th a n ever to obtain money for mission ary enterprises, b u t th a t th e work un d ertaken should be continued— and continued a t its full force— seems to be of capital necessity, and I for one hope th a t th e re may be no slackening or recession of any sort. I wish th a t I had tim e to w rite you as fully as this g reat subject demands, b u t I have put my whole though t into these few sent ences, and I hope you will feel a t lib erty to use th is expression of opinion in any way th a t you th ink best.” RUSKIN ON PEACE “As peace is established-—th e arts decline. They reach an unparalleled pitch of costliness, b u t lose th e ir life, enlist themselves a t la st on the side of luxury and various corruption, and among wholly tranqu il nations w ither u tte rly away. The common notion th a t peace and th e v irtu es of civil life flour ish together, I found wholly untenable. Peace and the vices of civil life flourish together. We ta lk of peace and learn ing, and of peace and plenty, and of peace and civilization; b u t I found th a t those were no t th e words which the Muse of H istory coupled together, th a t on her lips th e words were— peace and sensuality, peace and selfishness, peace and corruption, peace and death. I found, in brief, th a t all g reat na tions learned th e ir tru th of word and streng th of though t in w ar; th a t they were nourished in w ar and wasted by peace; ta u g h t by w ar and deceived by peace; train ed by w ar and betrayed by peace— in a word, th a t they were born in w ar and expired in peace.” (John Ruskin— The Crown of Wild Olive; W ar.)
RESTORING GARDEN OF EDEN F o r many years th e reputed site of th e garden of Eden in th e T igris and E uph rates valleys has been neglected because of th e uncertain ty and th e lack of security under th e m isgovernment of th e T u rk s; n atu ra lly th e inh ab itan ts did no t carp to labor a t th e production of crops only to have th e Turkish tax- g atherers come along and seize all the fru its of th e ir labors a t h arv est time. F o r th e benefit of th e people living th ere and to supply the m ilitary forces the B ritish Mesopotam ian expedition of late has been laboring successfully to restp re th e productivity of th e soil. W ith th e help of local laborers and others imported from India 100 canals th a t have lain for centuries in disuse, the rem ains of an elaborate ancient ir rigation system, have been opened, and pu t into a serviceable condition. It is hoped th a t a vast scheme of irrig ation planned for the region can be carried out ultim ately, The work already done, it is expected, will resu lt in a larg er crop production th is year th a n has been known in th is supposed cradle of th e hum an race since it was under th e ru le of ancient kings men tioned in "Old T estam ent chronicles.— Pathfinder. WILSON BELIEVES IN MISSIONS In response to the following question addressed to P residen t W ilson by a m issionary on furlough in Am erica. “Do you agree w ith me th a t if missions have justified th e ir existence, th is is a tim e when they should no t only be m aintained in spite of the war, but urged on because of th e w a r? ” th e P residen t sent th is reply: . “ I entirely agree w ith you in regard to m issionary work. I th in k it would be a real m isfortune, a m isfortune of lasting consequence, if th e m issionary program for th e world should be in te r rupted. There are many calls for money, of course, and I can quite under-
Be sure th a t if you abandon your self to God you will never be abandoned by 'Him.
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