administration of law. We must be sure that the people have good intentions.

Now the peace of the future depends very much upon President Harding and we must pray for him, work with him and his great influence should be used to bring about peace upon the earth, friendships, solid good will.

may

We are now desirous of organizing a new society that shall preserve all that has been done and unite all nations in one common association for the purpose of peace. That is the work of this nation and on this Memorial Day when we are thinking of those who have died for the country. We should pray heartily that the government of our nation have a good will towards all nations of the earth, that it may entertain no hatred of any nation, entertain no prejudices, may have no disposition to be jealous of any nation but that it may be high and noble in its purposes, honest in its hearts, to be a friend of every nation on the face of this earth. Then shall we have the peace we are talking about now. Then shall we accomplish what the Lord came to accomplish. He said to all people there shall come a time when there shall be peace on earth with good will toward men. Let us drop our animosities, let us drop our hatred, let us get rid of our unfair competition, let us go in as a nation into the coming year with a determination that the principles taught

by Jesus Himself shall be wrought out into the asso

Now they

ciation of nations, very soon to come. have a "league of nations" in which Germany is to be shut out. We cannot have any league of nations that shall bring about peace until all nations, without exception, come into it and with good will towards each other shall support its parliament and execute its decrees.

BENEDICTION

Oh Lord grant unto us that we may have peace in our homes, the peace that cometh from loving, good will among all people in that home and we pray Thee that in school, in business, in public affairs, in the Church we may have that peace which cometh from the loving determination to sink one's self in help of his fellowmen; and we pray for the peace among the nations which shall arise from the determination of all people to be fraternal, trustful, forgiving and faithful in all things towards each other, and we pray that this coming of Christ, of peace with good will toward men, may be promoted on the morrow's Decoration Day,-may it have its influence upon our nation and our nation upon the nations of the earth and may we feel that we have been drawn nearer to the peace that shall be permanent, to that peace of God which passeth all understanding. We ask it in Christ's Name. Amen.

IX

Sure to Blunder

(ISAIAH XL:31)

'S this valley above the snake line?" That ques

Is

tion sounds queer to any one who does not know the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts. Have you gloried in the myriad shades of living green, the fascinating, inviting glens and dear, lover-like nooks? Well! well! You have something yet to see. I think there are many gorgeous landscapes yet unseen by the oldest boy. But the Berkshires, so famous among poets, artists and novelists, are so accessible! But I began to speak about the snake line. It is not an imaginary line, although no one could stick a pin into the strange boundary. It is about twelve hundred feet above the level of the sea. All above that line on the mountain tops is a forbidden territory to poisonous snakes. For some strange reason even the professors of natural history do not explain why those wriggly, sneaking, hissing, crawling, assassinating serpents are forbidden to go farther up the hills of God. They can curl in the leaves and watch for a deadly strike, when under beds of

colored lilies down on the plain, or they can peak out of their holes in the earth and leap forth at foxes, dogs, horses, cows or men who innocently come near. But they must stay below the line. Boys, girls and preachers can go out safely into thickets, climb cliffs and feel their way through dark forests of pine or cedar, if they only are careful to keep above the snake boundary. But down nearer the sea level, death lurks under the blueberry bushes, and the rattlesnakes bite the barefooted boy seeking blackberries by the highway. A very rich family from Newport placed their cottage in a lovely but low valley near the Hampshire Highlands of the Berkshire range, and one day a girl visitor was so bitten that the poison left her a cripple, and it was a hard task to save her life. Poor thing! Her father had millions, but she visited friends who lived below the snake line. Those who live on the mountain tops are not in such danger because the God of nature says to the fanged assassin, "Keep down in the low lands and hide in the swamps, or die." So when the serpents used to be more plenty and their bites less curable by antidotes, the first inquiry by a new settler was always, "Is the land above the snake line?" If the hill or valley where he wished to place his home was below the snake border it could not be sold to any wise one for a home. Dwellers down there used to get up in the morning and find long creatures coiled under

their beds, and children have been found playing with poisonous serpents on the front veranda or on the barn floor. It is not a pleasant thing to think about or to talk about, so we will come at our gospel by another route. You have seen an eagle's nest, perhaps, in a museum or zoölogical garden, or in a picture, and the birds who build them are strong, hardy, wise birds. They always make their majestic homes above the snake line, and they consider it to be their business, too, to make the valleys safer below the strange boundary.

There was a deep valley near an old homestead in the Berkshire, and I knew a boy once who used to watch the eagles while he was going after the cows, evening after evening. The old father eagle would fly down the valley and light on an old broken tree, and watch and watch for his enemy, the poisonous rattler. If he caught a glimpse of the speckled serpent down by the brook or in the tall grass, he would patiently sit there and wait with his great wings half spread, ready for a fatal swoop down on the snake. Sometimes when the watch lasted several days the old gray mother eagle would take the father's place while he went off fishing or foraging elsewhere to support their little family up among the rocks. But one or the other was sure to be on hand when the serpent became careless and risked a bath in the sunshine. The boy reported often week