Interesting Paragraphs by Dudley Marvin Canright

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Dec 27, 1870

Interesting Paragraphs.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

THOMAS K. BEECHER quaintly and truthfully remarks:

“Men will become so wonted to a lurid background to the gospel picture, that they can with difficulty conceive of a gospel or a grace of God, if by any chance the pit of hell should prove to have a bottom, or the fires thereof be quenched. The masses of men being selfish and inclined to tyrannize, readily accept a tyrannical, passionate, tormenting God; for such a God they would themselves be if they had a chance.”

M. D. Conway, who for several years has been minister of a Unitarian congregation in London, declares that he has ceased to countenance Christianity:

“Nothing is more certain than that what is called Christianity has ceased to be any standard of excellence whatever; instead of the danger, the fidelity, and sacrifices, it implied to the peasant preacher of Jerusalem and the Galilean fisherman, it means cushioned pews, fat livings, hard conservatism, persecutions. They who bear the heaviest cross are the so-called infidels.”—The Methodist.

IT PAYS.

The Methodist gives the following as the “hire” of the presiding elders in the State of New York. Saying nothing of the honor of the office, who would not like to be an elder? It pays well!

“The forty-five presiding elders are paid an average of $1244. Pastors receive: 62, $1000 each; 6, $1100; 40, $1200; 3, $1300; 5, $1400; 18, $1500; 5, $1600; 1, $1700; 13, $1800; 19, $2000; 2, $2300; 1, $2400; 9, $2500; 5, $3000; 1, $5000.”

AMERICAN SCIENCE.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science met at Troy, in this State, August 17, and continued in session one week. The number of members was fully as large as at any previous meeting.

Among papers read before the Association, one bore upon the theory of the antiquity of man. The advocates of extreme antiquity lay much stress on the evidences which they claim to have discovered of the association of human relics with the bones of extinct animals. Prof. Winchell described remains of the mastodon found in Michigan, in situations which seemed to indicate that they must have been deposited within five hundred years. This supposition, if sustained, would dispose of most of the arguments for asserting a length of human life much greater than that allowed in the scriptural account of the creation. Prof. Hall attempted to answer it, but seemed to so entangle himself as to destroy the force of his own argument.”—The Methodist, Sept. 3, 1870.

THE GROWTH OF EXTRAVAGANCE AT NEW YORK.

The Iowa State Register, says: “Never in the history of New York has anything been known like the present extravagance in dress, equipage, and entertainments.

“The popular daughter of an ex-Collector, married last week, was the fortunate recipient of gifts valued, at the lowest estimate, at $80,000. A country seat on the Hudson, thoroughly furnished; carriages and horses, a check for $10,000, a rivière of solitaire diamonds, and a coffee-pot of solid gold, for which the donors paid $2,000, were among the most expensive presents; while jewels, laces, and articles of vertu, are said to have poured in until there was room for no more.

“A point-lace veil and flounce, ranging from $500 to $1,500, have come to be regarded as quite indispensable accompaniments to the marriage ceremony and wedding ring. Importers look purchasers straight in the eyes, and without the faintest suspicion of a blush, ask $400 for a black silk costume that would scarcely attract more than a passing glance, for which $100 would be ample compensation.”

Almost daily we can see statements like the above in the papers, showing the pride, vanity, and folly, which are fast possessing the minds and hearts of this generation. The children of clergymen and bishops are frequently foremost in it. God, and the Bible, and the Judgment, are seldom thought of; much less feared. Surely, it is time for God to visit for these things.

FACTS ABOUT LONDON.

The Presbyterian, of Oct. 8, 1870, says: “The following facts will give an idea of the magnitude and condition of the city of London:

“London is five times more populous than New York, four times more populous than St. Petersburg, twice as populous as Constantinople; there are nearly two-thirds more people in it than in Paris, and one-fourth more population than in Pekin. It contains as many people as Scotland, twice as many as Denmark, and three times the number of Greece. Every eight minutes, night and day, one person dies; every five minutes, one is born. Eight hundred thousand have been added to its population since 1851. Only half a million of all this population attend public worship; and there are a million of absentees, who, if inclined to come, would require to have 800 new places of worship built for them. A hundred thousand people work on Sundays; there are 140,000 habitual gin drinkers; 100,000 intoxicated people taken every year off the streets; 100,000 fallen women; 100,000 professional gamblers; 20,000 children trained in crime; 30,000 thieves and receivers of stolen goods. There are 10,000 public houses and beer shops, frequented regularly by 500,000 persons. In every 860 of the population, one is insane.”

This does not look much like the millennium; especially when we remember that London has long enjoyed more gospel light and privileges than any other city. D. M. CANRIGHT.