very little else, and that while we now have a great array of them, we also have the greatest business activity in all lines ever before known, with workingmen employed everywhere, very few failures in any kind of business and prices for most every product of the country more satisfactory than for some previous years. although people have learned that prices are not always affected by legisla tion. Under these circumstances, it is not at all probable that the Republican party will be displaced at the coming election. The Idler. that master see fit to retire, as he hints, from active public life. After all is said and done, the happiest of us are bound to feel the lack of appreciation for the best there is in us. And the warmest praise of our dearest friends and closest relatives frequently leaves us disappointed and discouraged, not because it lacks warmth or sincerity, but because it is bestowed upon that in our lives which lies too near the surface, and so forces us to feel that our best efforts and our best motives are to them, and to the world, a sealed book. And then, if we are weak (which, being interpreted, means if we are human), we will pause for a discouraged moment and ask whether, after all, it is worth while to stand for the best and highest that has been given us to see. St. Martin. Note. In 1884 I made a tour of Europe. At Avignon I was much impressed by a painting which I saw in a private gallery at that place. It was of singular excellence, by some old but unknown artist. It was termed "The Temptation of St. Martin." The painter represented the saint in his cell, clothed in the garb of a monk, with his cowl thrown back, kneeling on one knee, his countenance ex pressing doubt and fear. In front of him, with upraised hand, stands a majestic figure of commanding but evil aspect, clothed in a scarA reddish light let robe and bare-footed. seems to emanate from the standing figure and lights up with its glow the face of the kneeling saint. A life of St. Martin of Tours placed me in possession of the incident depicted by the painter. This incident I have attempted to tell in the enclosed sonnet. Respectfully, J. W. Whalley. The Month In Politics The world is having a great deal to think about just now, and history is being made at a rapid rate. In America we have our approaching national campaign, the war in the Philippines, the Nicaragua canal bill, the Hay-Pauncefote treaty, the Puerto Rican tariff question, the Kentucky imbroglio, the Alaska boundary, the treaty with France and numerous commercial and economical questions. which are now under consideration and which must be settled this year. England has her war in South Africa, which has made every other subject for the time being of secondary importance. The fear of complications, however, has brought about the mobilization of a large fleet, and the futility of striking a successful blow against England is apparent to all Europe. France is, nevertheless, unusually outspoken in her hatred of England, and there are many who consider a war between the two nations as among the possibilities of the near future. The sentiment in France towards England is shared by unofficial Germany to such an extent that there is now a common bond between the nations that have been sworn enemies for the last thirty years. It has been rumored that England had arranged for a new triple alliance-between the United States, England and Germany. Lord Rosebery, however, threw considerable light on the subject in his statement in the House of Lords on Feb. ruary 15, viz.: That the British Government "made vigorous overtures to two great powers-Germany and the United States for an alliance, but these overtures were not received with such cor diality as to encourage the government to pursue them." A conflict between Russia and Japan, judging by present conditions, is only a question of time. Russia is anxious, however, to defer this until the completion "In the Palace of the King" is the title of a new novel by Marion Crawford which will be brought out by Macmillan later in the year. It is a "Love Story of Old Madrid," and will probably be dramatized at about the same time that the book appears. Longmans, Green & Company have in preparation a valuable work by Dr. James MacKinnon. It is to be called the "History of Edward III." and deals with the Hundred Years' War, showing the part that England played therein. * The first serious book on the war in South Africa makes its this appearance month, and is written by a man who has been there since before the trouble be gan. He is Mr. J. A. Hobson, South African correspondent of the Manchester Guardian. The reorganization of the house of Harper under the old name, but with no Harper therewith connected, seems almost tragic. Colonel Harvey, who is receiver for the bankrupt corporation, is to have entire management of the new organization. Of the six books crowned by the London Academy this year, Mr. William L. Alden seems not to have the highest opinion. He thinks that the books unhonored are the greatest, and one is led to wonder how the Academy could have so blundered. For. of course, Mr. Alden must know which is best. It seems too bad he was not consulted in the matter. * * * Ernest Seton-Thompson's story of the "Kangaroo Rat" is to come out in the Miss C.good's lectures upon the art of Northern Europe given at the Portland Library constitute the principal feature of the month in local art. The fact that the lecture-room is so closely packed each afternoon that there is not room for another chair goes to prove that the people of this city are not unappreciative. Durer, the German artist, is the subject of these lectures, though supplemented by other artists of that day and age, and embracing, in a general way, art in its many phases. Miss Osgood's attitude. toward her subject is one of the noblest. It is not "art for art's sake" with her, but art that helps and elevates and enlarges. THE MONTH. The picture is but the symbol of a beauty too perfect to be expressed save by suggestion. But of this more will be said at some future date. It is not likely that any one after listening to Miss Osgood will be forgetful of the fact that the Portland Art Association has the finest and most valuable collections of photographic reproductions of the best in art that is to be found this side of the Rockies. The Western public is deeply indebted to the class of art students who were instrumental in bringing this most excellent of teachers to the Coast. In Education There is a theory extant among teachers in the common schools that the behavior of the pupil is affected by the state of the weather, but, oddly enough, no satisfactory consensus of opinion can be obtained as to whether it is the sunshine or the rain that exercises a moral influence and stimulates youthful mentalitv. The Chicago school board seems to be always tossing on turbulent waters. Dr. Andrews failed to prove himself the tractable "servant of the board." Strange that they should have expected such a thing of Dr. Andrews. * An attendance of 100,000 children is reported in the public schools opened in Cuba by the United States Government. Rear Admiral Sampson has been offered and declined the Presidency of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sir William Magnay, author of "The Pride of Life," has written another book which reaches American readers through Appletons. It is called "The. ciress of the Season" and is "an incisive study of social and political life. in London at the preent day." Sooner or Later You must read what we have to say here, and sooner or later you must think about it, but What is the sense of putting it off, and tramping around in agony with a corn that makes life miserable? If you have a corn and nearly everybody has-you know what it means to suffer. We simply want to tell you how to secure relief. You can take advantage of it or not, but if you do what we recommend, we guarantee you will get relief-that the corn will be entirely removed, and a clean white skin left in its place. We have experimented a great many years to achieve this result. One thing will do it. We don't know of anything else that will. You are interested in knowing what will. It is 241 In Religious Thought— "The Christian Spirit," writes the editor of the Christian Science Journal, "is not exemplified alone through human sentiment, human sympathy and human love. There must be a Savior above the human.' * * * This question is one that is to be found in some form in nearly every book and periodical one picks up today. How many can answer it in the affirmative? "Is your trust in God honest and real, or merely theoretical? If the former, why are you not willing to make some practical demonstration of your faith?" Bishop Penick, formerly of the Protestant Episcopal Mission of Liberia, says in this month's Missionary Review: "The outlook of Africa is a church of God, for God and according to the wisdom of God, applied to the whole needs of man; nations and civilizations being His instruments, as well and surely as individuals, schools, boards, denominations or creeds." |