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tries in Seville, which they occupied before Granada in the siege of 1492, there is a Latin inscription in letters eighteen inches long announcing to all that Isabella is the greater sovereign. This fact daily flaunted in the faces of his soldiers must have chastened Ferdinand and made him submissive. In a beautifully frescoed sacristy in the Carthusian monastery at Granada are preserved some very beautiful vestment cases, etc., inlaid with silver, ebony, tortoise-shell and pearl. A cross is painted on the wall so realistically that you feel certain that at least the nails are real. Many beautiful paintings are scattered through the buildings, amid many grewsome pictures of members of the Order that were martyred in England during the Reformation.

We left Granada with reluctance. It is a quaint old town which the introduction of gas, street-cars and large stores is fast modernizing. The gypsy is still here on his native heath; and all his subtlety and cajolery—the fantastic costumes of the men and the wild gracefulness of the young girls and childrenare employed to extract coin from the unwary traveler. One quickly learns in Spain the significance of "manana" (man ya na). It is the Spanish word for to-morrow, and expresses the national custom of never doing to-day what can be put off till to-morrow. The tourist soon finds it tripping from his tongue, and glibly promises alms "manana." But we are off for Seville-and in Seville there are no beggars.

The Message

By Helen Moriarty

Soul speaks to soul in myriad ways,
Few know its hidden speech;
A gleam from out the folding haze
Revealing each to each;

A sigh that breathes nor loud nor long

A glance across a waiting throng:

That moment lives. The space is brief
What time the heart is glad;

The pilgrim soul has known the grief
Of lonely hours, and sad,

And journeys on again, content
That glimpse of kindred soul was lent.

O eyes, that meet across the years-
That speak, and answer, there,
You have your secret tide of tears
That find you unaware!

A lonely moment, when the heart

In grief would rend its cords apart.

20

By TERESA B. O'HARE

T is only a few years ago that an unknown French preacher, living quietly and contentedly in the midst of his family and finding time to think a little in his tranquil round of duties and diversions, gathered the reflections of his leisure into a little book which he called "The Simple Life."

It did not create much stir in his native country, where the philosophy of unhurried and uncomplicated living was common enough, but having found its way in a translation to this country, it appealed to our strenuous President, was advertised by his impulsive praise, and rapidly became a fad.

Of all the paradoxes which enliven the American character, few have been more amusing than this sudden enthusiasm for simplicity which the cir culation of Pastor Wagner's book has created. We have taken up simplicity for the moment as strenuously as we have lent our energies to money-making, or to piling up those artificialities of life under which our original state has long been buried. Mr. Wagner has given us no new thought; he has not even invested old thoughts with a new grace of expression. He is somewhat commonplace, somewhat dull; to those who have heard his philosophy put so much more strikingly, so much more inspiringly, he is even somewhat tiresome. But he has attracted the attention of the superficial; for the nonce he has America, so to speak, by the ear, and he is gaining in this country the fame which his work has failed to win in his own.

We are all reading "The Simple Life," and somewhat renovating our conversation by discussing whether we shall abolish lace curtains and bric-a-brac, and whether it might not be just as well to cease to compete with a $10,000 income on a $1,000 salary. We begin to

wonder dimly whether there may not be enjoyments which are not "entertainments;" resources which are not dollars; anxieties which arise not because we have too little but because we want too much; compensations in relinquishments as well as in accumulations; whether, in short, we are not losing the joy of life by complicating the means for its attainment.

The reaction is a fad, of course, but it is a wholesome fad, and however little we may grant the originality of Pastor Wagner, or respect the depth of those who will hail his philosophy as a new revelation, we cannot but be glad of the accident which introduced into the merely superficial mind a doubt as to the wisdom and sufficiency of its purely material ambitions.

It is only an echo of greater voices. that breaks on the world at this day to preach the simple life, but since the echo has caught the ear which the greater voices have failed to reach, it is ungracious to be too critical of its quality.

And what is the simple life? It is the life which all philosophers have advocated, from Socrates to Thoreau-the life in which the development of the man counts for more than the acquisition of matter; in which there is leisure for thought; in which there are higher and less harassing ambitions than the effort for wealth or honor or power or any worldly advantage.

More than that, it is the life which all saints have lived and preached, from Anthony the Hermit, with his crust and cave in the desert, to Thomas a'Kempis, in whose "Imitation of Christ" there is the key to a simplicity of mind and heart and spirit such as Mr. Wagner has not dreamed of in his philosophy.

The simple life is, in fact, the imitation of Christ. In all the French preach

er's formularies there is none to compare with that for beauty and comprehensiveness. If the application of Christianity to every-day needs and problems. were as universal as its teaching, we should see the simple life exemplified in the lives of all professing Christians.

How could the man who believes be distressed by cares for to-morrow or cast down by the discouragements of to-day? How could the man who hopes sincerely be anything but tranquil amid all the vicissitudes of life? How could the man who loves and trusts, who goes forward to a higher destiny, whose heart is in things the world can neither give nor take away, be unduly taken up with material desires, be fretted with thwarted ambitions, or be absorbed in a sordid struggle for goods that are here to-day and gone to-morrow? A truly spiritual life must be a simple life.

The things of the spirit are the elemental things-the few gifts of time which the soul carries into eternity.

The man who lives the life of the spirit has no time for these complexities, strifes and ambitions which are, when all is said, but the desires of the flesh.

To get thus at the root of it, deeper than Mr. Wagner gets in all his soundings, is to discover that the simple life. is by no means an easy life. Existence has become too complex to be bearable.

It has become too hard to keep up with the procession. "Let us get back to simplicity." This is the cry of the modern-the cry which, because it seems to answer it, has made Pastor Wagner's book so popular. Let us get back to simplicity, by all means, but when we do, we shall find that we have not left our difficulties behind.

The simple life means the end of many comfortable self-deceptions.

Our complexities are burdens, but they are also disguises. How many modern men ever face their own selveshow many could bear to face them? A return to the simple life would reveal us

to each other as we are. It would strip from us, one by one, the friendly coverings with which an over-nice civilization has covered up its own demoralization. The simple life would induce selfknowledge-it is easier not to know.

The simple life would imply self-development; it is easier to develop externals. The simple life would reduce us to self-resources; it is easier to acquire them. It may be wondered, indeed, if the desire to escape from ourselves is not the real reason for the complexities in which we have become more and more engrossed.

The point of the inquiry is not how we shall return, but whether we dare return to simplicity. We are satisfied enough when we have no time to think, but how could we bear a season of reflection?

To go back to the simple life would be to go back to fundamental truths; are we ready to accept them? The guide. of the simple life is conscience; are we prepared to submit to the leadings of conscience? These are only a few of the questions which a casual consideration of the new tendency towards simplicity suggests. For Catholics there is but one answer, and this answer seems to take tangible form in that mysterious apotheosis of simplicity which is every year re-enacted in the coming of the King to the world as a helpless child to a stable at Bethlehem. There we have the beginning and the end of all the philosophy of the simple life. There we have the first and only real Preacher, who lived and loved and died, and still lives on, wounded by all the human passions of the years, and soothed and healed by faith and hope and tears. There we have the sweet lesson of glorious motherhood which has dignified and purified the world through all the ages. Oh awakening of Christianity! Oh mystery of love! Oh dawn of redemption! All whispering together,

"A little child shall teach thee."

II.

By JAMES 1. ENNIS, LL. B

A PERSON desiring to open a

bank account selects the bank

with which he wishes to do business, and is introduced to the cashier, who is generally the managing officer of the institution. That officer inquires as to the financial standing of the new depositor, the probable size of the balance which he thinks he will keep, the character of the deposits, and questions him particularly as to the nature of the prospective account. It would be well for the customer, at the time of opening the account, to make known his desire to borrow money if the nature of his business requires him at times to negotiate loans. It is always better, if possible, to arrange for accommodations when opening the account than to wait for the time when the money is sorely needed.

The preliminaries having been arranged, the cashier requires the customer to sign his name in either a signature book or, as is generally done now since the card system is almost universally used, on a signature card. The name, business, business address, telephone number, the name of the person introducing the customer, and the date, are written on the signature card. This card is then turned over to the paying teller, who files it for ready reference. If the new customer be an individual depositor, no more is needed than the signature card. If, however, the depositor be signing as a trustee, guardian, agent, executor, or receiver, he will be required by the cashier to file with the bank a copy of the authority under which he acts. This is characterized by many as "red-tape;" but since the bank must be able to guar

antee the endorsements of all its customers, and does in fact guarantee all endorsements which it forwards to other banks, it is necessary that it should be able to establish the right of its customers to endorse as agents for others.

In partnership accounts, the bank requires the signature of all those authorized to sign by the partnership agreement; nor will the bank honor the signature of a partner if his name be not on the signature card. In corporation accounts, the bank demands, in addition to the signatures on the card, an extract of the minutes of the meeting conferring the authority on certain officers to sign; or a copy of the by-laws covering the point, together with a letter signed by the president and the secretary, attested by the corporate seal, certifying as to whom the officers are. The necessity of notifying the bank as to any change in the list of those authorized to sign is obvious.

The customer having once adopted a style of signature must adhere strictly to it. Otherwise he may be embarrassed at some future time by having his checks dishonored on account of variation from his established signature. Some men pride themselves on the fact that they never write twice alike, but the poorest place to parade this accomplishment is on their bank checks. While it is true that bank tellers are experts on handwriting, still it is not the province of the bank customer to keep the teller "guessing." The only standard of comparison the teller has is the signature card. If the customer deviates too radically from this record in signing his checks, he has only himself to blame if they be dishonored. It is significant that the really substantial business men, men who sign their names many hundred times a week,

[graphic]

STAIRCASE AND ELEVATOR ENTRANCE TO A MODERN BANK BUILDING.

vary but slightly in their signatures. It is the ignorant man, generally, the one unaccustomed to banking methods, who affects the widely differing methods of signing. Such a one came into the bank in which he was a depositor, and in tones of wrath demanded to know the reason why one of his checks for a large amount had been dishonored and protested. Stamped across the check were the words, "Signature Not Correct." The teller informed him that the signature was not known. "What's that? Why I've had an account here for over a year, and it's time that my signature was known! What's the matter with the signature?" The teller produced the signature card. "Here," said he, "compare the two signatures yourself. On the card you sign 'C. D. Jones,' and on

the check, 'Charles Donald Jones,' with no two letters alike. The whole character of the signature is different. On the card you have written an easy running hand, while on the check you have written a stiff, angular backhand." Mr. Jones compared them and rather meekly and lamely answered, "They don't look alike, that's a fact, but I never write twice alike." "Well, you must adopt a characteristic signature if you wish your checks honored," replied the teller. Never again did Mr. Jones boast that he "never wrote twice alike." It is not caprice in the bank officers to insist on their customers adhering to but one form of signature. It is the dread of forgery. When a bank pays a forged check, no matter how cleverly the forgery may have been done, the bank alone

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