What Have We Done Today? A Poem

What Have We Done Today?

We boast- of our work in future years; But what have we done today? We shall give our wealth to those in tears; But what did we give today? We shall buoy the heart and feed the poor; In vain will none knock at our door; Fond castles we build, as our great minds soar, But have we "made good" today?

Our harvest must be one of joy; Have we sown good seed today? Our life shall be without alloy: Have we lived that life today? We shall do so-and-so, in the "bye-and-bye;" We shall laud the truth from earth to sky. And shall press on and on to goals on high. But what have we done today?

Don't wait to smile 'till the clouds have passed. But give the smile today. Don't wait 'till the soul from earth has passed. But give your rose today. Though you hitch your wagon to a star; Your thoughts soar on to hopes afar; You make your life right where you are, Doing kindly deeds today. 0. F. Urse.-.-bacj RAYMOND, CANADA

Dryden on Salvation for the Dead

BY CLAUDE T. RARNES, M. S., P. R.

Many a dust-laden volume, with faded pages and peculiar type, contains, should we but try to find them, great truths, surprising philosophies and beauties of phraseology which need but an alteration of lettering to make them the expression of a loftier contemporary thought and culture. Indeed, I confess 'tis

a diversion never tiresome, to fish awhile with Walton, speculate for a time with Browne, take a mug with Addison at "Will's," or go on a lark with Fielding; in many respects their age immeasurably surpasses ours, for science and commerce have quite smothered our imagination. Truth is as old as the sun it must be, for scattered ; here and there in the writings of by-gone centuries, are nuggets of thought which prove that we are, after all, but an ordinary step in the ladder of infinity. Thus, it is indeed remarkable that John Dryden (1631-1700) should have ignored the credenda of his time and courageously thrust upon his compeers, in the form of a poem called Religio Laid, a staunch belief in the possibility of heathen salvation ; and, furthermore, that he should have argued concerning it with a clearness scarcely to have been expected without the illuminating influence of revelation. What he has said, therefore, certainly deserves to be recorded in the confirmatory literature of the subject. It illustrates and emphasizes the fact that the gospel is not new, but old, and that all down the ages there have been glimpses of it, saving truths to illu-

minate darkness of error and tradition. A logical interpretation of scripture, together with reflections on the perfection of divine justice, must convince one that it were monstrous indeed to condemn forever the heathen who never heard the name of Christ. In fact, various passages* of

*The argument unfolds itself in the following citations: Mark 16:16; John 3:5: Luke 23:39-43: Jolin 20:11-17; I Peter 3:18-20; John 5:25; Isaiah 24:22; 42:6-7;61:l; Job 33:27-30; I Cor. 15:29; Mai. 4:5-6; Phil. 2;9-ll; I Kings 7:23.