coarse, yellow straw, is cone-shaped with a bamboo frame fastened in the top to support it on the head, while it is tied under the chin with a rope as large as your little finger. It will hold about three pecks, and completely hides the face of the wearer when properly placed on his head. In addition to this, the gentleman has a piece of sackcloth about eighteen inches wide fastened on two sticks which he carries out in front of his face when he walks on the streets. The meaning of all this is that the man is a great sinner, is in some way responsible for the death' of his parent, and therefore is not fit to be seen by any one. He has also sinned against heaven, and must, therefore not look up to heaven. How different is all this with those of us who know God's love, and in the very midst of our deepest sorrow can still look up and know that our Father still loves us!
Just here I cannot refrain from an exhortation to all Christians who may chance to read this. Look at these poor heathen in their blindness, and see how they are bound by the law of custom, and see how they are compelled to wear this hideous mourning outfit. Then in all candor see what difference there is between this and the iron law of fashion that expects every woman to dress in black and hide her face behind a mass of black crape because a loved one has passed on to the home beyond. Why should men and women who believe in Christ and his redeeming power don these hideous trappings of hopeless heathenism, while at the same time they profess to believe that their loved ones are at rest with the Lord? The time
