DARK SHADOWS.

There are two words in common use which aptly describe two classes of people who are in and of the world. On the one hand there are those who are full of hope for the future, who are looking for better and better times, who refuse to see the dark side of events and are called " Optimists." Then there are, on the other hand, those who see the dark side, who have nearly or quite lost hope, and who have the name of "Pessimists." These terms can belong only to those who are ignorant of what God has revealed in Scripture as to the future of the earth and of its inhabitants. To those who have learned what God has revealed, events which are taking place on the earth are parts of the great whole of that which is the purpose of God concerning this earth and its people-not the result of chance or blind force, or of man's wickedness alone.

And where there is real faith, even if it be not intelligent in prophetic truth, there will be the realization that all things are in the hands of an all wise and almighty God, who, while enduring patiently the full development of the evil in man, is shaping everything according to His wisdom and grace. So that faith alone can rest in the midst of all the darkness of the present day.

One of the facts of the present time, which is in perfect accord with prophecy, is the rapidly increasing power of the common people. We know that in the prophetic history of the Church in Revelation chaps. 2:and 3:, the last church has that most instructive name Laodicea, which means, the people's right. We know, too, that what characterizes the present above all else in the political world is that the people are more and more getting their rights. The great surprise in the last election in England was the growth of the power of the people. Russia is seeing the people rising to possess themselves of their rights as never before. The nation is being transformed. Here, the voice of the people has never been more powerful in the government than at present. It is rapidly getting more so in a large part of the world, and is a cause for rejoicing on the part of the people. Men like to feel that they can command what they consider their rights; they love power, chiefly to this end.

But at once there arises the question, What does belong to the people? How far shall this movement go? And at once dangers begin to loom up. The doctrines of Socialism propound many untried theories based upon a strange ignorance of human nature. Any system that does not take the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man into account is doomed to utter failure. There is much in the present outlook to encourage those who are seeking to obtain the rights of the people, but there is one dark cloud which is casting its shadows over the nations of the earth.

There is growing a form of popular power which darkens men's hopes of stable government. Anarchist is a word that makes kings and rulers shrink with fear. Anarchist means "against rule"-against government. He is not alone against that which is generally recognized as evil, but to him all rule and authority and government are evil, to be gotten rid of, and that by violence. Among the ignorant masses of continental Europe especially these awful doctrines are spreading. There, they are being sternly repressed, but among those who come to this country they are preached with unflagging earnestness. More dangerous are these by far in future possibilities for evil than the ignorant masses which come here under the power of Rome.

A hindrance to the progress of these doctrines is the general prosperity in this country. When "hard times" come, with discontent of the people, as they surely will, then will be the opportunity of these propagators of destruction ; and how great their capacity for harm ! Men of culture, of knowledge, of wealth, fear this propaganda of ruin :yet in great measure have themselves to blame for the rise of this class. No one could imagine that Anarchism could gain adherents among people who have faith in God, the fear of God, or His love in their hearts. But the work of that large class called "higher critics" has been to destroy these very things among all who have come under their influence. It is from Germany, the home of "higher criticism," that the worst forms of anarchistic teachings have sprung. The leaders of the modern attacks on Scripture have lived in Germany, and so also have the leaders of these destructionists. The awful horrors of the French Revolution were made possible by the destructive writings of Voltaire and his coadjutors. Those who destroy the faith of the masses in even the ordinary beliefs concerning God and eternal things, are doing work which will end in the ruin of society. The men who are busy destroying the faith of the masses in the Bible, are preparing the way for the spread of the doctrines of anarchy. If there is no divine revelation, then there is no means of telling right from wrong. "Might makes right" is one of the foundation principles of anarchy.

But men soon tire of anarchy with its horrors, and desire a ruler. So it was in France after the Revolution; so it will be in the future. And "the Beast" arises out of this period of anarchy. Now many of the evils of sin-which is revolt against God-are hidden. But the time is coming when sin will show itself in its most hideous form; when there will be exhibited to the intelligence of the universe the fruits of sin and rebellion against God in their worst phase. Now, in mercy, God is restraining sin-holding it back, that the members of the body of Christ may be gathered out. When that has been completed and removed from the earth, the restraint upon evil will also be removed, and it will be permitted to show itself without hindrance.

The present turning of the masses from the old belief in God and the Bible and Christian truth, is paving the way for this last outburst of evil. On the one hand the professing Church has become so full of evil itself that it is no longer a witness for Christ. On the other the current teachings of the most pronounced forms of unbelief in every conceivable way, are fast destroying in civilized nations the knowledge of Christian truth. Every form of error is taking its place, but more especially such forms as will pave the way for the brief time of anarchy, and the power of the Antichrist following. Thus, "higher critic" and anarchist alike are working toward the same end. Both seek to destroy what restrains the power of evil on the earth-both are laboring to establish man's will in place of God's rule. Morality, culture and refinements of civilization, hide the awful nature of sin; but the anarchist tears off the mask and makes its character known.

But the lawless mob is not the worst form of evil; it is the despot guiding the mob. Thus we can see how both the scholarly " critic," and the coarse, brutal, anarchist are really working together to the same end. Our comfort is that God is over all this, and that out of the coming " great tribulation" shall also come a "great multitude which no man could number, out of all nations and kindreds and tongues," which " have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."
J. W. Newton