Review and Herald, Vol. 51, No. 18. (5/2/1878)

Review and Herald

May 2, 1878

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 2, 1878

THE TERRIBLE FAMINE IN CHINA.*

By C. L. Gregory

[The following account of the famine in China, which I clip from the N. Y. Sun, may be of interest to the readers of the REVIEW. The frequency of famines and pestilences, of perils by sea and perils by land, should awaken all, especially those who have received the third angel’s message in the love of it, to the momentous fact that the end draweth nigh, aye, is even at the doors. C. L. Gregory.]

The dearth in China, which is perhaps the widest-spread and the most fearful scourge that has befallen humanity for the last two hundred years, began first in the autumn of 1875. Its immediate cause was the long absence of rain, but the phenomenon to which it was and still is primarily due is the gradual desiccation of the vast plains of Chihli and Shantung, a process which, commencing in the table-lands of Central Asia, has now reached the densely populated northern provinces of China. For the last two years I have been in constant communication with the famine-stricken districts, and the letters I have received from day to day can only be described as sickening. Fancy a tract of country larger than thirteen Switzerlands a prey to want that

it is well-nigh impossible to relieve. The people’s faces are black with hunger; they are dying by thousands upon thousands. Women and girls and boys are openly offered for sale to any chance wayfarer; when I left the country a respectable married woman could easily be bought for $6, and a little girl for $2. In cases, however, where it was found impossible to dispose of their children, parents have been known to kill them sooner than witness their prolonged sufferings, in many instances throwing themselves afterward down wells, or committing suicide by arsenic. Corpses lay rotting by the highway, and there was none to bury them.

As for food, the population subsisted for a long time on roots and grass; then they found some nourishment in willow-buds, and finally ate the thatches off their cottages. The bark of trees served them for several months, and last July I received specimens of the stuff to which the unhappy creatures had been by that time reduced. The most harmless kind was potato-stalks, tough, stringy fibers, which only the strongest teeth could reduce to pulp, and which entirely defied all my attempts at deglutition. The other description of “food”—I have seen it myself—was red slatestone. This substance, when rolled about the mouth and chewed, will eventually split into small splinters, which can be swallowed after practice. To such frightful extremities have the famine-stricken people in China been put.

The chief assistance which has hitherto been proffered has come from foreigners in the open ports, the missionaries, both Protestant and Catholic, acting as their almoners. Many wealthy Chinese have also given liberally; but the misery increases, and more help is urgently required. The sight of so much self-sacrificing labor by the missionaries throughout these troubles has filled the Chinamen with astonishment. It has opened their eyes entirely. It is well that their friendship and gratitude should be cemented by further deeds of mercy.—Frederick H. Balfour, in the Spectator.

THE PARIS COMMUNE IN AMERICA.

We shall not be accounted alarmists for quoting the following warning from the columns of the redoubtable champion of the Democratic party, the New York World:

“That the anniversary of the outbreak in Paris of the Commune, which startled the civilized world with its fruits of murder, sacrilege, incendiarism, rapine, cruelty, and cowardice,—which massacred priests, magistrates, and guardians of the public peace, and raised galley-slaves and thieves to absolute command over the fairest capital of modern times,—has come to be publicly feted in New York as Americans celebrate the birthday of Washington or the great day of our national independence, is a thing to give even this thoughtless capital pause.

“The French Communists who have fled hither across the sea have changed their sky but not their mind. They not only do not repent of deeds done abroad at which humanity shuddered, but they actually avow their desire and intention, if ever occasion serves them, to repeat those deeds in the land in which they have found an asylum; and while Americans who hold positions of responsibility and influence are lending these men countenance, the great body of the citizens of New York submit in apathetic indifference to a local despotism which, by its extravagance and its corruption, is daily manufacturing that raw material of public and private insolvency out of which Communism has in all ages and in all lands been developed.

“Citizen John Swinton and the native American idealists who think with him may believe—we hope they do believe—that when they assent to such doctrines as Citizen Megy (the commander of the firing party which massacred Archbishop Darboy and the other hostages) preaches and take part in his banquets they are not instigating a repetition here of the Commune of 1871, and are doing nothing to make such a repetition possible. But all history shows that it is precisely such men who by precisely such sympathy bring about outbreaks at which they stand aghast, which they are powerless to control, and of which they have not seldom been themselves the earliest victims. Citizen Megy takes the ground that the artisan’s condition is becoming intolerable in America, and that it is his duty and sacred privilege to mend it by revolution. He holds, precisely as hundreds of men in what are called the ‘better classes’ of society now do, that our ‘institutions’ are a failure; that corruption and tyranny cannot be overthrown by the ballot or the existing machinery of our politics. The overthrow and breaking-up of the whole existing fabric of society by force and the partition among those who have not of the goods of those who have,—these are the short and simple methods of reform which he contemplates.

“That there are people in every crowded community in this country prepared to listen to this gospel of hate and chaos, who can doubt when he recalls the scenes which disgraced Pittsburg less than a year ago? Now that we have drilled preachers proposing to repeat these scenes systematically and as means to an end, is it not worth while to think what the phenomenon means and what it demands? New Yorkers at least cannot close their eyes to this revelation. While we have among us the lighted firebrand in the shape of these flaming Communists, and the magazine of combustibles in the ‘suffering’ and therefore ‘dangerous’ classes, our abominable municipal misgovernment is steadily bringing the two together. The Roman plebs of which Macaulay sings were not condemned to greater sufferings than our laboring men and their families endure under the regime of Tammany, which crushes all decency and comfort out of their lives by the squalor in which it leaves them to live, and by its neglect of all sanitary conditions, fattens the soil of the Potter’s Field with their dead. The misgovernment of Tammany weighs most heavily upon the workingman. It is upon him that by natural law the greatest weight of the burdens of taxation must forever fall. The regime of Tammany in New York was intended by its authors in the time of Tweed to be a regime of oppression, injustice, and lawlessness. What it was intended to be it was and it is. It is identical in principle, though it bears another name, with the regimes which bred the Jacquerie, and the Reign of Terror, and Commune of Paris. The man who preaches the destruction of law and the man who corrupts the laws are fellows in one evil work. In the eye of reason John Kelly completes Edmond Megy and is an essential co-worker with him.”—The Christian Statesman.

THE SOCIALISTS.

WHAT THE POLICE HAVE TO SAY ON THE SUBJECT.

The police authorities anticipate trouble from the Communists this summer, and, if the information they claim to have is reliable, there would seem to be some ground for their fears. It is a well-known fact that the Communists of Chicago have a strong organization, one which embraces seven or eight thousand men. The Superintendent of Police says that the Communists are drilling in “circles” of twelve, so as to avoid exciting alarm, and that a great many of them have arms,—shot-guns, revolvers, Enfield rifles, Springfield rifles, etc., quite a number, who were soldiers, having the guns they had during the Rebellion. He has detectives among them, who attend their meetings and know all their plans, and, while they are peaceable and law-abiding now, they are liable to

BREAK LOOSE IN A MOMENT AND MAKE THINGS LIVELY.

He deplores the fact that the police force is without guns, saying it is impossible to protect the people in case of a riot unless every man has a repeating rifle. The Departments of Boston, New York, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Louisville,—in truth, in every large city,—are armed and drilled, while Chicago is the only large city in the country whose police force is at the mercy of a prepared mob. The men now have no encouragement to risk their lives, being poorly paid and badly cared for by the city; and, besides, there are less than 350 to look after 500,000 people. “The citizens of Chicago,” said he, yesterday afternoon, “do not realize the extent of the mine under their feet, or they would make preparations for the explosion when it comes.” The reporter told him of the subscription on the Board of Trade, and asked how the money could be most advantageously used. “In buying guns,” was the reply.

A day or two ago a Tribune reporter had a long talk with one of the leaders of the Socialists in this city. Said he, “There is trouble brewing.”

The reporter asked why, and he replied that times are not improving. “You will see something terrible in a short time; something that will open your eyes, and will compel you, as well as all wage-workers, to go with us.”

“Do you mean to say that you will attempt a revolution?”

“I mean to say, sir, that a hatred has been engendered between the capitalists and laboring classes, and the time is ripe for a change. The capitalists are divided against themselves, and that is what will help us. I hate to see it coming, but there are going to be terrible times. I am afraid we can get reform in no other way.”

“What do you mean?” asked the reporter.

“I mean, sir, that our rights are denied us at the ballot-box, and we propose to have them by force of arms;—have them we will.”

“Do you mean to say that there will be blood-shed?”

“I say that there will be a change within the next ninety days, and we will bring it about.”

“How?”

“By revolution. The mines are laid. We have the trains ready, and the firing will be begun all along the line at once. Capitalists will meet the laborer on the street, and the capitalists will be hanging from every lamp-post. The laboring men have been kept down long enough. What we want is a co-operative State, in which all rights of property shall be vested, and each man shall be recompensed according to his power of production. That is the object of the Socialistic party.”

This conversation took place in the presence of a well-known local contractor, whom the Socialistic leader was not acquainted with.

The leader who was interviewed also stated that the Socialist party was working now under the instructions of the National Executive Committee, whose headquarters are at Cincinnati. A circular issued to the different sections of the country, some four months ago, advised the various committees to organize companies in each city, town, and hamlet, where it was possible, throughout the United States. In this State, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, New York, California, and Massachusetts, this has been carried out to the letter. To every company is appointed a Captain by the Central Section, and the two Lieutenants are elected after the organization is effected. Every ten companies constitute a battalion, which is in command of a colonel, appointed by the Executive Committee. It is claimed that in New York City there are twenty battalions organized, having an enrolled membership of over 16,000 men, largely composed of Poles, Bohemians, Scandinavians, Germans, Frenchmen, and a few Irish, under the lead of the notorious Megy and Schwab.

In this city there are claimed to be enrolled upwards of 14,000 men. Of these, it has been stated that 10,000 belong to the military organization. In California the best organization exists. Pittsburg is the armory for the party. The guns and ammunition that they possess, it is claimed, are stored there, because the leaders hold “that the boys there know how to use them.”

It is still claimed that the riots of last summer were started prematurely, but this time there is to be no failure. The work is to commence in Chicago at a given signal, when simultaneously Schwab and Kearney and the other leaders will gather their hosts together, and the work of carnage and destruction commence.—Chicago Tribune.

THE LOVE OF GOD.

By Milman

I.

Love Thee!—O Thou, the world's eternal Sire! Whose palace is the vast Infinity: Time, space, height, depth, O God, are full of thee, And sun-eyed seraphs tremble and admire. Love thee!—but thou art girt with vengeful fire, And mountains quake, and banded nations flee; And terror shakes the wide, unfathomed sea, When the heavens rock with thy tempestuous ire. O thou!—too vast for thought to comprehend, That wast ere time,—shalt be when time is o'er; Ages and worlds begin—grow old—and end,— Systems and suns, thy changeless throne before, Commence and close their cycles:—lest I bend To earth my prostrate soul, and shudder and adore!

II.

Love Thee!—oh, clad in human lowliness,— In whom each heart its mortal kindred knows,— Our flesh, our form, our tears, our pains, our woes: A fellow-wanderer o'er earth's wilderness! Love thee!—whose every word but breathes to bless! Through thee, from long-sealed lips glad language flows; The blind their eyes, that laugh with light, unclose; And babes, which, thy garment's hem caress.

I see thee—doomed by bitterest pangs to die, Up the sad hill, with willing footsteps move, With scourge, and taunt, and wanton agony; While the cross nods, in hideous gloom, above, Through all—even there—be radiant Deity! Speechless I gaze, and my whole soul is love.

—Milman.

Famine in India.

Another disastrous famine is feared in South India. The weather was unfavorable last summer, seed was scarce, and oxen could not be procured to plow; consequently, less planting was done than usual. To add to the misfortunes of the sorely stricken natives, there were swarms of locusts and grasshoppers. The Rev. J. E. Clough writes of the Telugu Christians that they are nearly all in distress:—

“The number of people sick at the present time is beyond all precedent. As people in America and England judge of the needs of the sick, ‘there are not well ones enough to take care of the sick.’ Ague and fever, dysentery, dropsy, etc., are the prevailing diseases. We disburse all the quinine, etc., we can get; but this is only like adding a drop of water to the Bay of Bengal. The distress from want of food is still almost as great as it was in August. The price of grain has fallen but little. Many, very many, are too weak or too sick to work. Credit for the poor there is none. Hence, as government relief-camps at Ongole, Aloreki, and Pardoli have been injudiciously broken up, hundreds, yes, thousands go wandering about the country from place to place, begging, stealing, taking anything they can get their hands on, until too weak to go longer or until taken sick, when they crawl into some corner or into some hedge and die, their bodies too often being left unburied, food for crows, dogs, and jackals.”—The Independent.

THOUGHTS ON BAPTISM.

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

BY ELD. J. H. WAGGONER.

(Concluded.)

It is fitting that we notice an objection which is presented in the form of a query respecting

“A SAVING ORDINANCE.”

There may be those who have so often heard the question, “Is baptism a saving ordinance?” asked by those in whom they have confidence, that they have come to think it allowable and proper. For such we desire to exercise the largest charity; yet we must express our conviction that the question originated in a spirit of rebellion and self-will. Its evident intention is this: If it is saving, if we cannot possibly be saved without it, then we will observe it; but if we can be saved without it, then we will disregard it. Or, in other words, we know that the Lord commanded it, and it is our duty to obey; but if we can be saved some other way, we choose to disregard his commandment. If this is not what the question amounts to, we must confess we cannot understand the language. A heart thus disposed would ask, “Lord, what may I do?” and not, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”

It is not our province to inquire whether it is necessary to our salvation or not. We should look to duties and leave results with God. It is not the part of a faithful servant to ask, “Why am I required to do this?” It is enough to know that we are required to do it. James, the apostle of the Lord, gave a stern reproof to this spirit of caviling inquiry, in condemning those who assume to be judges of the law, rather than doers of it.

Our answer to the question is both Yes and No. Everything which the Lord requires is saving; yet no one duty has salvation in itself alone. If the question means this: Will baptism save me if I neglect other duties? then we answer, No; there is nothing in the Bible which is saving in this sense. Salvation was never made to rest on any such grounds. But if it means: Must I submit to everything which God commands in order to be saved? then we reply, Yes; there is no other way of salvation but conformity to the divine will. Man shall live “by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”

The spirit which prompts such a question is only a selfish one, and we aver that selfishness has no place in the gospel. The duty of the Christian is to follow Christ; and not a shade of selfishness was shown in all his life. He said he came not to do his own will; and if he, the Lord of life and glory, renounced his own will, is it too much for us to renounce ours? Can we indeed follow Christ and indulge our selfishness and self-will? If so, his example must pass for nothing.

If we can be saved in a way of our own choice, then did God reveal his will in vain, and Christ died in vain. We could follow our own ways and indulge our selfish feelings without the Bible and without the death of the Son of God. But the querist may say: “It was necessary for us that Christ should die, and open the way of salvation; but since he has died for us it is not necessary for us to be so strict in conforming to the rules laid down in the Scriptures. Before Christ died, in the dispensation of law, men were bound by the express terms of the revelation; but not so in this dispensation of grace, in which a larger liberty is allowed.” This statement is no mere supposition or “fancy sketch.” It has actually been urged, not on this subject alone, but on other subjects also. It is equivalent to saying that without the death of Christ obedience to the revealed will of God was necessary; but since he has died we may be saved without conforming to the rules he has laid down. But what is this but making “Christ the minister of sin?” whereas the Scriptures declare that he is the minister of righteousness. Have we yet to learn, in this our age, that he came to serve his Father’s will; to “save his people from their sins;” “to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”?

That antinomian position is so far from being true, that Jesus himself shows that sin would have been more excusable (if it be allowable to use the word in such a case), if he had not come into the world; “but now they have no cloak for their sin.” If God would suffer and bear with those times of ignorance, he does so no longer, “but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent,” or to turn from sin. Would that men would put aside their lawlessness and learn to submit to all the divine requirements. It is the self-same spirit which rejects the law of God and the ordinances of the gospel, for the gospel is the means appointed of Heaven to put away transgression and to bring sinful man to obedience to God. And it is the same spirit of submission to divine authority which leads to keeping the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. Rev. 14:12. Jesus said, “I and my Father are one,” and men are now to honor the Son even as they honor the Father,—neither more nor less. They who do not find the gospel the means of glorifying God the Father, have studied it in vain.

Reader, have you followed the Saviour in this ordinance of his own appointment, which he honored by his own example? Have you died to transgression and been buried with your dying Lord in baptism? If not, then we inquire, “Why tarriest thou?” Some say they tremble and hesitate, because it is a very solemn thing to obey this ordinance. True; but is it not a very solemn thing to disregard and neglect it? If we should tremble at the thought of obedience to the divine requirements, much more should we tremble at the thought of disobedience.

We invite the young. We believe in baptizing the children when they turn to Jesus, the children’s loving friend. As personified by Wisdom, he says, “Those that seek me early shall find me.” Prov. 8:17. This is a precious promise; but if you neglect it, you will soon grow beyond it. By and by we may hear him speaking thus: “He that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.” Prov. 29:1. Do not think it a hardship to serve the Lord; wisdom’s “ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.” Prov. 3:17. There is no peace found in sin. There is no sight more beautiful than to see young people give their hearts to God, and follow their Saviour in baptism. Angels in Heaven as well as saints on earth rejoice at the sight. Do not say you will wait till you get older, if you are old enough to sin, you are old enough to repent. And remember, too, you are always old enough to die. There is no time for delay. “You know not what a day may bring forth.” Many, very many, have deeply regretted that they put off the work of obeying God. But not one, no, not one of all the multitudes who have served God all their lives, was ever known to utter one word of regret that he early set out to follow his beloved Lord. Come now. “Now is the accepted time.”

We invite the middle-aged. How often do those in the prime of life say, When I get more settled in life, and old age comes on, then I will serve the Lord. Think what this means. Do you realize what an insult this is to your Creator? What a contempt of the claims of the Saviour? It means that you take pleasure in trampling on the law of the great God; though he is the author of every blessing you enjoy, and has a just right to the affection of your heart, and the service of your life, you choose to despise his authority and rob him of that which is justly his, as long as you can do it successfully, or can find pleasure in it. But when you have spent the strength of your manhood or womanhood; when you have insulted the love of God and defied his threatenings as long as you can, then, when your energies are failing, and your power to work in his cause is gone, you will come to him and offer him the privilege of taking you, a moral wreck, to save you from the consequences of your unutterable folly and wickedness. Do you not wonder that God, the infinitely just God, spares you to pursue such a course? Is it not surprising grace that he ever saves an aged sinner? Are you sure that you will live to carry out your plans; that you will not be cut off in your obstinacy? Is the dear Son of God, who died to open a way of salvation to you, and now pleads his precious blood in your behalf—is he less worthy of your best efforts, of the strength of your manhood, than Satan, who is ever seeking to ensnare you and to lead you on to ruin? Young man, young woman, what are you doing? Whither are you going? Reflect. Stop! your next step may take you beyond the bounds of mercy. Turn now from sin; die, yes, die to the transgressions of God’s holy commandments, be buried with your precious Saviour, and rise to live unto God; to enjoy peace—his peace—a peace that passeth all understanding, even in this life, and eternal life and glory in his kingdom. Think of this joy and glory. And can you have it? Yes, you may; but do not delay, for the future has no certainties for you.

We invite the aged. What excuse can the aged offer for persisting in disobeying God? What hope of this life—what joy of earth—can stand between them and their duty to the Saviour? They will answer that it is hard to repent of a whole life of sin; hard to overcome habits of life so long settled; hard to change the whole current of thought, of feeling, and of action, when all have been so long established. They say: “If I were only young, how easy it would be to give my heart to God. If my sins were not so many, if my heart had not grown so hard in the years of my trifling and folly. O that I had repented in my youth! But now I fear it is too late.” Let the youth listen to this and take warning. Too late! it is too late for you to linger, to trifle on the verge of eternity. Too late to waste any more precious time; you have none to spare. Jesus yet calls. Cast yourself on him now, and prove the depth of his love. It may indeed be too late to-morrow. His mercy has followed you all your life. It lingers for you still. You cannot afford to add to the ingratitude of your past life by spurning the last call of mercy.

“Let youth in its freshness and bloom, come! Let man in the pride of his noon, come! Let age on the verge of the tomb, come!”

“And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”

STRONG DRINK IS RAGING.

A well-dressed stranger walked into one of the saloons at Woodstock the other day, leading a little boy by the hand, and called for a drink of whisky. The little fellow burst into tears, and begged his father not to drink, and the saloon keeper, to his credit be it said, refused him, whereupon the man jumped behind the bar, and seized a bottle of the article in question. The barkeeper attempted to take the bottle from him, during which the liquor was spilled and the stranger ejected. A man of family, who was present, was so struck by the conduct of the boy that he left the saloon, and made an oath that he would never drink another drop! What a scene for an artist’s pencil! A wonderful battle in which a little boy conquers the barkeeper and the man of family present, but cannot prevail over his own beloved but besotted father!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

By Roswell F. Cottrell

The world is unsettled. The Eastern Question is only settled for a time. The question of war or peace among the nations is unsettled; they talk of peace, but still prepare for war. No one can tell at what moment the “general war” so long anticipated—the “religious war” so much talked of—will come. The world is in suspense and agitation. None know the sequel but God, and those who learn it from his word of promise.

The religious world also is unsettled. Theological landmarks, which have been so long accepted as settled boundaries, are being disturbed by new surveys. Old creeds are being called in question; and new departures are the order of the day. Many minds seem restless, and are in a chaotic and plastic state, ready to take some new form. What does it mean? and what will be the result?

God’s providence is still over the world. He permits this state of things; for he has a design to accomplish in connection with his present work in the world. His present work is the closing up of man’s state of probation. He has a present truth for his people; and in his long-suffering he desires that all the true-hearted may have a chance to hear and obey it. Therefore he permits strong delusions to come, stirs up leading minds to revolt from long-cherished dogmas, rendering the confusion of Babylon still more confused, that those who will have the truth may be aroused to search for it in his word. “For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you.” 1 Cor. 11:19.

It is no marvel that the appalling, God-dishonoring doctrine of eternal torture for the condemned should be called up for condemnation. The wonder is that a doctrine so revolting to moral sensibility, so unreconcilable with the attributes of a God of justice, love, and mercy, and withal so contradictory to the Holy Scriptures, should have had so long and so general a sway over the human mind.

Many of the advocates of eternal conscious misery for the lost have felt the need of modifying the doctrine. They have not been able to see the reasonableness of eternal anguish in such a hell as the Bible describes,—a lake of fire; and therefore they have taken the ground that this language is figurative. But this does not help them out of the difficulty; for we may ask, as I heard one of this class ask, “If a lake of fire burning with brimstone is merely a figure of the torment of the damned, what must the reality be?”

Some have tamed the eternal torment down to the upbraidings of a guilty conscience, making immortal sin its own eternal punishment. To a veteran sinner with seared conscience this sort of punishment seems exceedingly mild. In this life that sort of punishment decreases with the increase of guilt, the first crime giving the conscience the greatest pain; but by repeated and increasing crimes the mind becomes so hardened that the most enormous sins give it no pain.

But what will be the result of this rebellious raid against this venerable dogma of the popular creed? It will have a different effect upon different minds. It is well to observe that the leading minds in this movement do not appeal to the Scriptures to disprove the doctrine and show what the truth really is. They discard and denounce the doctrine for its unreasonableness. They cannot reconcile it with their

sense of justice and their views of the character of God. All right so far. But can they not see, that since they do not tell the people what the Bible does plainly teach with reference to future punishment, the mass of unthinking, sinful men will take it as a denial of the Bible, and the abolition of its hell? We hear it said, “Beecher has gone back on hell;” and this doubtless is a pleasing thought to many a lover of sin. It is easy to see that the result with thousands will be Universalism and spiritualistic infidelity. As long as the fundamental doctrine of spiritualism is held,—that the spirit is immortal and has a real conscious, active existence out of the body,—what can the denial of “eternal damnation” result in but universal restoration?

They reject endless torment for its unreasonableness, independent of the Bible, and then their reason tells them that, in order for God to be just, there must be probation after death, an idea that corresponds well with the “progression” which spiritualists talk of. Therefore it is quite evident that a large class will reject the Bible and embrace spiritualism, the last great deception of Satan.

There are those who reverence the word of God. This agitation of the waters will cause them to go to that word to learn its teachings on this question. They will there learn that “eternal damnation” is an irrevocable condemnation to death, “the second death,” a death from which there is no resurrection; that “the wages of sin is death,” and that death means death, not eternal life in misery; that “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” and that all who close their probation out of Christ have no eternal life.

God’s justice will be vindicated in the death of the incorrigible. Sin and sinners will be destroyed; and all remaining in this universe will unite in ascriptions of praise to God. Rev. 5:13. All will concur in the justice of the sentence; and after it is executed all will rejoice and praise God for a clean universe. “Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the Lord, O my soul. Praise ye the Lord.” Ps. 104:35.

To make it possible that God might be just and forgive sins, our sins were laid upon his own beloved Son, who suffered the penalty due to us for our sins, which is death. He has since been an intercessor in behalf of all that come to God by him, a priest to make atonement for their sins. But his intercessions will soon cease, and he will come, to give to every one according as his works shall be. There is no probation for the guilty after that. The fiat will then have gone forth: “He that is unjust let him be unjust still; and he that is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:11, 12.

God will overrule this commotion and confusion of merely human opinions to the furtherance of his truth and the salvation of souls. Among the fables which have supplanted the truth, according to the prediction of the apostle, 2 Tim. 4:2; that of the natural immortality of the human soul is not the least. Satan has been permitted to bring in spiritualism to sustain this fable in defiance of the Bible. At the same time, God is causing the truth on this subject to be proclaimed far and wide. This confusion among the hosts of errorists will be the means of bringing back many souls to the truth of his word, and will cause them to seek for and obtain “glory, and honor, and immortality” through Jesus Christ, through whom only this “gift of God” can come.

R. F. COTTRELL.

Pope Re-establishes Roman Hierarchy in Scotland

THE pope completed the re-establishment of the Roman hierarchy in Scotland by Apostolic Letters promulgated on the 4th of March.

OUR FATHER KNOWETH.

“Your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.” Luke 12:30.

Therefore, our Heavenly Father, We will not fear to pray For the little needs and longings, That fill our every day; And when we dare not whisper A want that lieth dim, We say, “Our Father knoweth,” And leave it all to him.

For his great love has compassed Our nature, and our need We know not; but he knoweth, And he will bless indeed. Therefore, O Heavenly Father, Give what is best to me, And take the wants unanswered As offerings made to thee. —Selected.

THAT FIFTY DAYS.

By Smith Sharp

I have always been in the habit of pressing our no-law friends to tell me what law governed the world between the cross and Pentecost, and I find them very loth to talk about it. A few days ago one of them who had heard me speak on the law, came over a mile, through the rain, to have a private talk with me, so as to set me right on that subject. He argued in the strongest terms that all law passed away at the cross, and the new law came in at Pentecost.

Said I, “Paul says sin is not imputed where there is no law, and where no law is there is no transgression. Now please to tell me what law governed the world between the cross and Pentecost?”

He tried several times to evade the question, but finding I was determined to have an answer, he said, “Sir, I believe God is able to hold the world for fifty days in such restraint that no sin will be committed.”

I thought it required an intimation from the word of God to make me believe there was a period of nearly two months during which time not one of the teeming millions of our earth sinned in thought, word or deed; and he thought it more blessed to believe without seeing or hearing.

SMITH SHARP.

“WHAT IS THAT TO THEE?”

By M. Wood

THESE words were spoken in a conference which our Lord held with Peter. Why Peter was moved to make the inquiry which called out this reply we are not informed. Whether his question arose from mere curiosity or from rivalry and jealousy, does not appear from the record. But it is plain that our Lord was displeased; for he checked Peter with the rebuking reply, “What is that to thee?” Attend to your own duty, Peter; mind those things that properly concern you; fulfill the part which I have allotted to you; “follow thou me.”

The instruction we derive from this reply to Peter is that all prying inquiries into the state, circumstances, and character of others, by meddlers and fault-finders, are reprehensible and improper. That idle curiosity, that inquisitive and meddling spirit so frequently manifested even among the professed followers of Christ, is detrimental to the church, and brings leanness to the soul. It interrupts the order and breaks the peace of society. In this world we are linked together by many ties. We are bound by duty and prompted by interest to give mutual assistance and to perform friendly offices for one another. But these friendly offices are performed to most advantage when we avoid interfering unnecessarily in the concerns of our neighbor. Every man has his own part to act, has his own interest to consult, has affairs of his own to manage. In the performance of all these duties he may not come up to his neighbor’s ideas of promptness and precision. Still it is no concern of neighbor B.’s if neighbor A. makes mistakes. Let the blame rest where it belongs; neighbor B. has no right to criticise.

The apostolic rule is, “That ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business;” and, indeed, this is the great rule for the preservation of harmony and order. But so it is that in every age a set of men have existed, who, driven by an unhappy activity of spirit oftener perhaps than by any settled design of doing ill, or any motive of ambition or interest, love to meddle with those things which do not concern them, to inquire into the affairs of others, and from the imperfect information which they collect, to form hasty conclusions concerning their neighbor’s circumstances and character. These are they who in Scripture are characterized as tatlers, and busybodies in other men’s matters; and from these we are commanded to turn away, for, as the apostle says, their tongue is set on fire of hell. It is an unruly member, speaking forth what the heart contains, and from it arise envy and jealousy. It foments ill-nature, pride, and self-righteousness. It propagates misunderstanding and discord. All these evils would be prevented, if men and women would oftener take home to their hearts the reproof which our Lord administered to Peter,—“What is that to thee?” M. Wood.

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