"HISTORY REPEATS ITSELF."
By G.
GOD complained of ancient Israel, in Isaiah's time, saying that their iniquities had separated them from God. He said of them, "None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth; they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity. . . . The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings; they have made them crooked paths; whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace." Isa. 59:4-8. Now Israel, when true to God, was a type of His true church in the latter times; but when in a backslidden condition, they were typical of the world's worst possible state. They were "worse than the heathen" of their own time, and therefore would fairly typify general conditions in the last days, when evil men "wax worse and worse." The result of the condition described by the prophet is stated in these words: "Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not enter." Verse 14. This charge would indicate that the general corruption had affected official circles as well as the common public. So we have a like condition to-day. It must of necessity be that the people's representatives will be like the people, and as the greater opportunity comes to them, they naturally fall into even lower degrees of excess. And in the downward trend of official rectitude nothing gives a greater impetus than the prevalent liquor habit. So it is not surprising that this "camel," laden with corrupt influences, gets not only its head, but a large portion of its body, into the tents of state.5Such is the complaint the world over, as far as the so-called "civilized" or "Christian" nations are concerned. We note the situation in one great capital—selecting it because it is the greatest, and not because it is the worst. In some respects it is the best, and therefore the illustration may not be deemed an exaggeration. A current press item says: "There are five unlicensed bars in the British House of Parliament—put there to keep the members from getting drunk at the outside resorts. The Kitchen Committee reports that an average of $233 was spent daily at these joints during the last session." Other governments may not be so careful to concentrate the indulgence of their parliaments, congresses, legislatures, etc.; but the conditions do not average any better. So we can safely take the current news of the day, and from it read a repetition of the prophet’s statement of old: "Judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity can not enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey; and the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no judgment."