e heard the words, he might have said, "It's
a falsehood," but that man's vision was restricted by the narrow walls
of his stateroom. Had the mother and daughter, sitting in the cabin,
with their arms about each other, wondering why they had been allowed
to sail on the Catalonia and leave their loved ones behind, heard it,
they might have said, "The man is beside himself," but they could not
see beyond the cabin. Had the lonely traveler who stood near the
hatchway given it a thought he might have said, "It's a lie," but he
could not see through the clouds of smoke at which he stared silently.
But the vision of the watch swept the horizon, and there was no
obstruction in the ship's path. He knew that each revolution of the
Catalonia's machinery pushed the ship on her way to Queenstown. He had
a right to say it.

I somehow seem to hear the sound of the goings in the tops of the trees
and have evidence that God is coming to his church with blessing. It
is true there is in some quarters indifference, in many places
worldliness, but I can see no insurmountable barrier in the way of the
progress of the Kingdom of God.

AN OBSCURED VISION

(Preached at the opening of the Winona Lake Bible Conference.)

TEXT: "_Where there is no vision, the people perish._"--Proverbs 29:18.

It is not altogether an easy matter to secure a text for such an
occasion as this; not because the texts are so few in number but rather
because they are so many, for one has only to turn over the pages of
the Bible in the most casual way to find them facing him at every
reading.

Feeling the need of advice for such a time as this, I asked a number of
my friends who knew me intimately and knew the occasion which was
before me to suggest what in their minds would be an appropriate
Scripture, and in their suggestions I have had the most singular
indication of the leading of Providence.

One said, "Use Hosea 5:4, where God in speaking concerning his people
Israel says, 'They will not frame their doings,'" which means that his
people would not set before themselves the way in which they were
going; or it might mean that they would not set up a plan for their
lives which would be according to his will and which he might bring on
to completion.

Another said, "Use Genesis 26:18," where we are told that Isaac digged
again the wells of his father Abraham. This is a suggestive incident
and has in it a message for to-day, for if there is one thi