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T HE K I N G ’S B U S I N E S S His request was refused. The col onel was very troubled; he cared for his men, and was w illing to pay for the supplies ou t of his own pocket. “How can I get these th in g s?” .he said. “ I must have proper food for my sick men.” “ J u st ask for them , colonel,” said th e surgeon in. charge of th e Red Cross headquarters. “ Oh,” said Roose velt, his face breaking into a smile, “th a t is th e way, is it? ” “Then I do ask for them .” And he got them at once. Often th e colonel’s m istake has been repeated in connection w ith the m atter of salvation. People seem to expect to receive it in exchange for something th a t they can offer. One brings an earn est p rayer; a second brings a vow or prom ise to tu rn over a new leaf; a th ird brings an inwardly-made resolu tion to live a b etter and pu rer life; a fou rth th ink s th a t before he can receive salvation he m ust produce some evi-, dence Of his sincerity in the shape "of an improvement in his conduct; a fifth imagines th a t he can obtain it by adher ence to an orthodox creed and conform ity to certain religious observances. Now th e tru th is th a t God’s salvation can only be had as a free gift. Why should th ere be any difficulty in un derstanding this? The words of Scrip tu re are very plain.' “ I will give unto ljiim th a t is a th irst of th e fountain of thè W ater of Life freely.” (Rev. 2 1 :6 ). “The gift of GOd is eternal life th rough Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom. 6 :2 3 ). P ride rebels ag ain st such term s. It would ra th e r pay, however small the price. But .God is too g rea t to sell His blessing, nor could any man m erit salvation- in th e sm a lle st, degree, how ever long he might; try. God is p repar ed to m eet th e sinner with, His hands full of th e rich est blessings, if only the sin n e r’ will come w ith empty hands to receive it as a free gift. W ill you?
SPIRITUALISTS CHALLENGED It is in teresting to note th a t, though backed by such men as Sir A rth u r Con an Doyle and Sir Oliver Lodge, the claims to Spiritualism are challenged by modern magicians of th e o rder of Mask- elyne and Cook, the famous en tertain ers. The facts emerge in a newspaper statem en t to the effect th a t th e Chair man and Secretary of the Occult Com m ittee of the Magic Circle— an associa tion of practical conjurers in England— have expressed a w illingness to examine th e phenomena of Spiritualism . The Comm ittee sets itself to investigate all claims to sup ern atu ral powers, in order to th e exposure of fraud and th e demon stratio n of tru th -1—and it includes among its members physicians, lawyers, and others. It would appear, however, th a t th e exponents of th e phenomena classed as Spiritists, h esitate to accept th e challenge. To Whom it may Concern: In March, 1919, when my sister-in- law, who died a few weeks later, was tak ing Christian Science treatm en ts, a nurse from a local hospital, told me in my home, th e following incident: ' “ I was made special nurse on th e case of a local Christian Science P ractition er, who died of the influenza du ring the epidemic. Six hours before he died he said to me: “ ‘I am a C hristian Science P racti tion er. I have made my living as a P rac tition er for th e last eigh t years, and I w an t to tell you it is ‘th e bunk .” I owe it to Christian Science I am here. I sat on my front' porch reading ‘Science & H ealth ’ w ith a tem p eratu re of 104, which caused my relapse.’ ” (Signed) Mrs. C. E. Name and address a t th is office. OVERDOSE OF EDDYISM ■Los Angeles, California, September 4th, 1919.
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