Review and Herald, Vol. 89, No. 1. (1/4/1912)

Review and Herald

Jan 4, 1912

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 4, 1912

Christian Ambition

“That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death; if by any means I may attain unto the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect: but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself yet to have laid hold: but one thing I do, forgetting the things which are behind, and stretching forward to the things which are before, I press on toward the goal unto the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”

Phil. 3:10-14, A. R. V.

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SOME FEATURES

Frontispiece—“Cathedral Spires,” Yosemite Valley, Cal.

The Benediction of the Snow, by George Wharton James. (6 illustrations.) “It falls upon the just and the unjust, the beautiful and the ugly.” Article written especially for this magazine.

What Is True Success? by F. W. Fitzpatrick. A great personal question. What notable dying people have said. A valuable analysis.

How Two Mothers Cared for Their Babies; Why One Succeeded and the Other Failed, by Lauretta Kress, M. D., of the Loma Linda (Cal.) Sanitarium staff. (5 illustrations.) The third and final article.

Health Work in Milwaukee, by Carl D. Thompson, city clerk. (7 illustrations.) What a socialist city government is doing to solve the problems of public health, wages, and the abolition of slums.

The Significance of Feeble-Mindedness, by Henry H. Goddard, M. D. (Chart showing feeble-minded family tree.) A leading cause of crime, prostitution, and pauperism. How to prevent these terrible conditions.

Paper-Bag Cookery (illustrated), by Geo. E. Cornforth, chef New-England Sanitarium. A revolution in modern cookery fully explained.

Questions and Answers. A new department of great value.

Chicago Vice Commission’s Report Barred From the Mails.

Experiences of a Nurse in Uruguay.

Total Abstinence as a Business Proposition.

Report of Minneapolis Vice Commission.

Drink and Higher Education.

The Brewers’ Show in Chicago, and 63 other articles.

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Israel's New-Year

By WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

WORTHIE HARRIS HOLDEN

At New-year by the mount of blessing stand God's chosen, listening to the great amen That seems a cadence from some anthem grand Invoking heaven's peace, good will to men.

From Ebal's mount the awful word alone, So let him be accursed, sounds o'er the plain; They build an altar, for each tribe a stone, Then haste to join Gerizim's grand refrain.

On this blest mount stands Judah as a king, And Levi in his faithful ministry, And Joseph's sons who bear the signet ring Of double blessing for his charity.

Whoe'er Jehovah's altar will uprear And answer in Gerizim's great amen, For him each day rich jewels will appear,— Beatitudes for New-year's diadem.

Portland, Oregon.

That Tract “Elihu on the Sabbath”

By John Norton Loughborough

J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH

The reading of the tract “Elihu on the Sabbath” has probably led hundreds to the observance of the Lord’s Sabbath. I have heard it several times stated in the mention of this tract, “Author unknown.” I presume those who said it did not know the author, but if they will read the following, copied from the second page of the REVIEW of April 1, 1880, from the pen of our esteemed Brother Roswell F. Cottrell, they will learn the origin of the tract:—

“A Visit to Brother Elihu”

“I took a little pains recently to visit the brother who wrote the tract ‘Elihu on the Sabbath,’ which has been so extensively published within the last twenty-five years. He was ninety years of age in January last, and is still able to walk about quite nimbly. His article over the signature of Elihu was written a little this side of 1830, published in the organ of the Seventh-day Baptists, and then printed in tract form. One of these tracts was found in a house in Connecticut, and came into the hands of Brother White. From that time, numerous editions have been published in the English and other languages. Little did he think when he penned that article what the effect would be. He did not know that the little ball which he set in motion would roll on till the end of time, and tell in the judgment in the cases of so many.

“This may show us the importance of sowing the right kind of seed at all times. Though past the time of active labor, he is still speaking, as I said to him, not only in his own tongue, but in the German and other languages.

“He has some peculiar views that have become stereotyped with him, in which he does not agree with Seventh-day Baptists, nor with Seventh-day Adventists. He does not, and probably will not at his advanced age, recognize the fulfilment of the third angel’s message. He has come down to the present from former generations, and may be of the class to whom the Lord says, ‘I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.’ Rev. 2: 24, 25. He used to take pleasure in the explication of those portions of Scripture which are figurative; such as Solomon’s Song. Some twenty-five years ago he suggested to me that ‘the company of two armies’ (chapter 6: 13) was Seventh-day Baptists and Seventh-day Adventists. His address is Benj. Clarke, Alden, Erie Co., N. Y.”

So this tells its own story of the origin of the tract “Elihu on the Sabbath.”

Lodi, Cal.

Paul Before Nero

By Ellen G. White

MRS. E. G. WHITE

When Paul was summoned to appear before the emperor Nero for trial, it was with the near prospect of certain death. The serious nature of the crime charged against him, and the prevailing animosity toward Christians, left little ground for hope of a favorable issue.

Among the Greeks and Romans it was customary to allow an accused person the privilege of employing an advocate to plead in his behalf before courts of justice. By force of argument, by impassioned eloquence, or by entreaties, prayers, and tears, such an advocate often secured a decision in favor of the prisoner; or failing in this, succeeded in mitigating the severity of the sentence. But when Paul was summoned before Nero, no man ventured to act as his counsel or advocate; no friend was at hand even to preserve a record of the charges brought against him, or of the arguments that he urged in his own defense. Among the Christians at Rome, there was not one who came forward to stand by him in that trying hour.

The only reliable record of the occasion is given by Paul himself, in his second letter to Timothy. “At my first answer,” the apostle wrote, “no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me: that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.”

Paul before Nero—how striking the contrast! The haughty monarch before whom the man of God was to answer for his faith, had reached the height of earthly power, authority, and wealth as well as the lowest depths of crime and iniquity. In power and greatness he stood unrivaled. There were none to question his authority, none to resist his will. Kings laid their crowns at his feet. Powerful armies marched at his command, and the ensigns of his navies betokened victory. His statue was set up in the halls of justice, and the decrees of senators and the decisions of judges were but the echo of his will. Millions bowed in obedience to his mandates. The name of Nero made the world tremble. To incur his displeasure was to lose property, liberty, life; and his frown was more to be dreaded than a pestilence.

Without money, without friends, without counsel, the aged prisoner stood before Nero, the countenance of the emperor bearing the shameful record of the passions that raged within; the face of the accused telling of a heart at peace with God. Paul’s experience had been one of poverty, self-denial, and suffering. Notwithstanding constant misrepresentation, reproach, and abuse, by which his enemies had endeavored to intimidate him, he had fearlessly held aloft the standard of the cross. Like his Master, he had been a homeless wanderer, and like him, he had lived to bless humanity. How could Nero, a capricious, passionate, licentious tyrant, understand or appreciate the character and motives of this son of God?

The vast hall was thronged by an eager, restless crowd, that surged and pressed to the front to see and hear all that should take place. The high and the low were there, the rich and the poor, the learned and the ignorant, the proud and the humble, all alike destitute of a true knowledge of the way of life and salvation.

The Jews brought against Paul the old charges of sedition and heresy, and both Jews and Romans accused him of instigating the burning of the city. While these accusations were urged against him, Paul preserved an unbroken serenity. The people and the judges looked at him in surprise. They had been present at many trials, and had looked upon many a criminal; but never had they seen a man wear a look of such holy calmness as did the prisoner before them. The keen eyes of the judges, accustomed to read the countenances of prisoners, searched Paul’s face in vain for some evidence of guilt. When he was permitted to speak in his own behalf, all listened with eager interest.

Once more Paul has an opportunity to uplift before a wondering multitude the banner of the cross. As he gazes upon the throng before him,—Jews, Greeks, Romans, with strangers from many lands,—his soul is stirred with an intense desire for their salvation. He loses sight of the occasion, of the perils surrounding him, of the terrible fate that seems so near. He sees only Jesus, the intercessor, pleading before God in behalf of sinful men. With more than human eloquence and power, Paul presents the truths of the gospel. He points his hearers to the sacrifice made for the fallen race. He declares that an infinite price has been paid for man’s redemption. Provision has been made for him to share the throne of God. By angel messengers, earth is connected with heaven, and all the deeds of men, whether good or evil, are open to the eye of Infinite Justice.

Thus pleads the advocate of truth. Faithful among the faithless, loyal among the disloyal, he stands as God’s representative, and his voice is as a voice from heaven. There is no fear, no sadness, no discouragement in word or look. Strong in a consciousness of innocence, clothed in the panoply of truth, he rejoices

that he is a son of God. His words are as a shout of victory above the roar of battle. He declares the cause to which he has devoted his life, to be the only cause that can never fail. Though he may perish, the gospel will not perish. God lives, and his truth will triumph.

Many who that day looked upon him, “saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.”

Never before had that company listened to words like these. They struck a chord that vibrated in the hearts of even the most hardened. Truth, clear and convincing, overthrew error. Light shone into the minds of many who afterward gladly followed its rays. The truths spoken on this occasion were destined to shake nations, and to live through all time, influencing the hearts of men when the lips that had uttered them should be silent in a martyr’s grave.

Never before had Nero heard the truth as he heard it on this occasion. Never before had the enormous guilt of his own life been so revealed to him. The light of heaven pierced the sin-polluted chambers of his soul, and he trembled with terror at the thought of a tribunal before which he, the ruler of the world, would finally be arraigned, and his deeds receive their just award. He feared the apostle’s God, and he dared not pass sentence upon Paul, against whom no accusation had been sustained. A sense of awe restrained for a time his blood-thirsty spirit.

For a moment, heaven was opened to the guilty and hardened Nero, and its peace and purity seemed desirable. That moment the invitation of mercy was extended even to him. But only for a moment was the thought of pardon welcomed. Then the command was issued that Paul be taken back to his dungeon; and as the door closed upon the messenger of God, the door of repentance closed forever against the emperor of Rome. No ray of light from heaven was ever again to penetrate the darkness that enveloped him. Soon he was to suffer the retributive judgments of God.

Not long after this Nero sailed on his infamous expedition to Greece, where he disgraced himself and his kingdom by contemptible and debasing frivolity. Returning to Rome with great pomp, he surrounded himself with his courtiers, and engaged in scenes of revolting debauchery. In the midst of this revelry, a voice of tumult in the streets was heard. A messenger, despatched to learn the cause, returned with the appalling news that Galba, at the head of an army, was marching rapidly upon Rome, that insurrection had already broken out in the city, and that the streets were filled with an enraged mob, which, threatening death to the emperor and all his supporters, was rapidly approaching the palace.

In this time of peril, Nero had not, like the faithful Paul, a powerful and compassionate God on whom to rely. Fearful of the suffering and possible torture he might be compelled to endure at the hands of the mob, the wretched tyrant

thought to end his life by his own hand; but at the critical moment his courage failed. Completely unmanned, he fled ignominiously from the city, and sought shelter at a country-seat a few miles distant; but to no avail. His hiding-place was soon discovered, and as the pursuing horsemen drew near, he summoned a slave to his aid, and inflicted on himself a mortal wound. Thus perished the tyrant Nero, at the early age of thirty-two.

The Martyrdom of Paul

During Paul’s final trial before Nero, the emperor had been so strongly impressed with the force of the apostle’s words, that he deferred the decision of the case, neither acquitting nor condemning the accused servant of God. But the emperor’s malice against Paul soon returned. Exasperated by his inability to check the spread of the Christian religion, even in the imperial household, he determined that as soon as a plausible pretext could be found, the apostle should be put to death. Not long afterward Nero pronounced the decision that condemned Paul to a martyr’s death. Inasmuch as a Roman citizen could not be subjected to torture, the apostle was sentenced to be beheaded.

Paul was taken in a private manner to the place of execution. His persecutors, alarmed at the extent of his influence, feared that converts might be won to Christianity by the scenes of his death; therefore few spectators were allowed to be present. But even the hardened soldiers who attended him, listened to his words, and with amazement saw him cheerful and even joyous in the prospect of death. To some who witnessed his martyrdom, his spirit of forgiveness toward his murderers and his unwavering confidence in Christ till the last, proved a savor of life unto life. More than one accepted the Saviour whom Paul preached, and erelong fearlessly sealed their faith with their blood.

Until his latest hour the life of Paul testified to the truth of his words to the Corinthians: “God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.” His sufficiency was not in himself, but in the presence and agency of the divine Spirit that filled his soul, and brought every thought into subjection to the will of Christ. The prophet declares, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” The heaven-born peace expressed on Paul’s countenance won many a soul to the gospel.

Paul carried with him throughout his life the atmosphere of heaven. All who associated with him felt the influence of his union with Christ. The fact that his own life exemplified the truth he proclaimed, gave convincing power to his preaching. Here lies the power of the truth. The unstudied, unconscious influence of a holy life is the most convincing sermon that can be given in favor of Christianity. Argument, even when unanswerable, may provoke only opposition; but a godly example has a power that it is impossible wholly to resist.

The apostle lost sight of his own approaching sufferings in his solicitude for those whom he was about to leave to cope with prejudice, hatred, and persecution. The few Christians who accompanied him to the place of execution, he endeavored to strengthen and encourage by repeating the promises given for those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. He assured them that nothing would fail of all that the Lord had spoken concerning his tried and faithful children. For a little season they might be in heaviness through manifold temptation; they might be destitute of earthly comfort; but they could encourage their hearts with the assurance of God’s faithfulness, saying, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him.” Soon the night of trial and suffering would come to an end, and then would dawn the glad morning of peace and perfect day.

The apostle was looking into the great beyond, not with uncertainty or dread, but with joyous hope and longing expectation. As he stands at the place of martyrdom, he sees not the sword of the executioner or the earth so soon to receive his blood; he looks up through the calm blue heaven of that summer day to the throne of the Eternal.

This man of faith beholds the ladder presented in Jacob’s vision, representing Christ, who has connected earth with heaven, and finite man with the infinite God. His faith is strengthened as he calls to mind how patriarchs and prophets have relied upon the One who is his support and consolation, and for whom he is giving his life. From these holy men who from century to century have borne testimony for their faith, he hears the assurance that God is true. His fellow apostles who, to preach the gospel of Christ, went forth to meet religious bigotry and heathen superstition, persecution, and contempt; who counted not their lives dear unto themselves that they might bear aloft the light of the cross amid the dark mazes of infidelity,—these he hears witnessing to Jesus as the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. From the rack, the stake, the dungeon, from dens and caves of the earth, there falls upon his ear the martyrs’ shout of triumph. He hears the witness of steadfast souls, who, though destitute, afflicted, tormented, yet bear fearless, solemn testimony for the faith, declaring, “I know whom I have

believed.”

These, yielding up their lives for the faith, declare to the world that he in whom they have trusted is able to save to the uttermost.

Ransomed by the sacrifice of Christ, washed from sin in his blood, and clothed in his righteousness, Paul has the witness in himself that his soul is precious in the sight of his Redeemer. His life is hid with Christ in God, and he is persuaded that he who has conquered death is able to keep that which is committed to his trust. His mind grasps the Saviour’s promise, “I will raise him up at the last day.” His thoughts and hopes are centered in the second coming of his Lord, and as the sword of the executioner descends, and the shadows of death gather about the martyr, his latest thought springs forward, as will his earliest in the great awakening, to meet the Lifegiver, who shall welcome him to the joy of the blest.

Well-nigh a score of centuries have passed since Paul the aged poured out his blood as a witness for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. No faithful hand recorded for the generations to come the last scenes in the life of this holy man; but Inspiration has preserved for us his dying testimony. Like a trumpet peal his voice has rung out through all the ages since, nerving with his own courage thousands of witnesses for Christ, and wakening in thousands of sorrow-stricken hearts the echo of his own triumphant joy: “I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”

We Must Come Down

By L. A. HANSEN

L. A. HANSEN

THE three disciples who accompanied the Lord up into the high mountain, apart from the rest of the world, were given a view of the kingdom of heaven that was unusual. They said, “It is good for us to be here,” and they wanted to build tabernacles. Doubtless they would have been more than glad to remain there forever. But they had to come down.

When they reached the foot of the mountain and came to the multitude, they found sick and demon-possessed souls, as always. Suffering and sorrow were still everywhere, and these called for relief. The transfiguration view of God’s triumphant kingdom had not put an end to earth’s needs. There was still work to be done, and Christ and his disciples had to come down from the mount to where it was to do it.

Sometimes we have occasions of special spiritual blessings, an unusual uplift,—a camp-meeting season perhaps, or a week of prayer experience. We find ourselves on a higher plane than the ordinary one, in a realm above our common existence. Our vision is broadened, and we have views of greater spiritual scope. We feel it is good to be there. We are loath to think of coming down. The thought of what awaits us at the foot of the mount,—the daily grind of things; the ordinary, routine, material duties; the association of unpleasant and disagreeable folk; the conflict with demon powers,—all these and more occur to us with unwelcome contemplation.

But there is work to be done. There are souls to save. We have a message to give. We are still in the world, though not of it; and until the Lord calls us home, we must relate ourselves to it as his disciples. The high mount experience is not to unfit us for earthly service, but is to give us a better preparation for doing our part in the work. We do not need to lose the blessing we have gained, and we will not if we use it to bless others. None can rob us of the assurance we have had of the things of God, of what we have seen and heard; but we must share them with others. Thus will they be constantly fresh to us, and be continually and forever ours.

The good week of prayer we have recently enjoyed should make us better prepared than ever for the duties awaiting us. As we have seen the progress of God’s truth and had a view of its ultimate triumph, we should be encouraged to greater activity in aiding it forward. The higher plane of living brought to our attention should now be ever before us. The consecration called for should be constant. In practise we shall find application of all this as we relate ourselves willingly to the various calls for service that come to us through the year. We may be asked to bear duties in home and church work that seem heavy. Calls to engage in missionary effort will come, and pressing and urgent demands for missionary means. Our blessing of spiritual uplift has been a preparation for these very things. Use of it accordingly will bring us to another good season to receive still more blessing, and fitness for yet more service.

Takoma Park, D. C.

Your Sword Before Christ’s Hand

A FRENCH officer, whose ship had been captured by Nelson, was brought on board the latter’s flag-ship. He walked up to the great admiral and offered him his hand. “No,” said Nelson; “your sword first, if you please.” There are people to-day who would take Christ’s hand. They say, “Jesus is such a noble character; we are enamored of him; we will be friends of his.” Nay, nay, not so fast. Your sword first; give up your rebellious will; confess your guilt; then Christ will take your hand with a grip that he will never relinquish. You can not have him as a friend until you own him as your Saviour.—Selected.

Knowing What Is Worthwhile

WITH many persons, their greatest fault is their inability to estimate values. The best wisdom is to know what is worth while and what is not.—Frank Crane.

Editorial

By Editor

Light Ahead

In response to the inquiry, “Watchman, what of the night?” as recorded by the prophet Isaiah, the watchman responded, “The morning cometh.” While darkness surrounded him, he recognized in the distance the omens of breaking day. In the great moral darkness which covers this earth and fills the world at the present time, we can see the signs of the dawning of the day of light and eternal gladness. The year just closed brought its full measure of these indications.

While perhaps no one event stands out with startling significance, the combined testimony of many events, the aggravated conditions existing in the political, social, commercial, and religious worlds, the combines and combinations, associations and federations, having for their objective purpose the creation of the very conditions pointed out in the prophetic Word,—all these speak in unmistakable language of the times upon which we have entered, and of the surety of our hope in the soon coming of the Lord. In considering evidences of the Lord’s soon coming we do not need to base our faith upon the fulfilment of one sign. We can appeal to a multitude.

In Christian experience we hope that the closing year has been one of great victory to our readers. Where this has been the case, let us thank God. Wherein failures have been made, let us make the wrongs right through sincere repentance, confessing and putting away sin, and let us rise above the pall of defeat for the year to come. We can not afford to take time and energy from the living present to waste in useless regretting. We must forget the things that are past, and press forward toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Learning lessons from the mistakes of 1911, let us eliminate from our lives during the year to come the principles which have led to our downfall.

In thus learning, by God’s grace we may rise triumphant over our weaknesses.

God still lives. He is our mighty helper. He is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Let us place our hands in his, and fearlessly enter the new year whose portals open before us. He will be our stronghold. Through his grace we may make it the very best year in all our experience.

“Come, let us anew our journey pursue, Roll round with the year, And never stand still till the Master appear. His adorable will let us gladly fulfil, And our talents improve By the patience of hope and the labor of love.”

“Our life as a dream, our time as a stream, Glides swiftly away, And the fugitive moment refuses to stay. The arrow is flown, the moment is gone; The millennial year Rushes on to our view, and eternity’s here.”

“O, that each in the day of his coming may say, ‘I have fought my way through; I have finished the work thou didst give me to do.’ O, that each from his Lord may receive the glad word, ‘Well and faithfully done! Enter into my joy, and sit down on my throne.’”

F. M. W.

A Significant Letter

By W. W. P.

In a recent autograph letter to Archbishop Falconio, then apostolic delegate in Washington, Pope Pius X expressed his views concerning the question, now so widely agitated, of securing peace among the nations of the world by means of arbitration treaties. This letter was directly presented to President Taft, so that it took on all the force of diplomatic correspondence and became in effect an official communication from the Pope of Rome to the people of the United States. The positions taken and the self-asserted authority emphasized in this letter are, therefore, of more than ordinary interest.

In a contribution to America (Oct. 7, 1911) a Roman Catholic writer expounds and interprets this letter from the Pope, and in order to avoid misrepresenting the meaning given to it we quote from his communication:—

The successor of St. Peter, as vicar on earth of the God and Prince of Peace, is the divinely appointed teacher, not only of the faith, but also of morals, teaching mankind both to believe and to do all our Lord has commanded. Wherefore, his approbation and support of the peace movement, besides being desirable on account of the influence he can wield in its favor, carry also the weight of his authority in the strict sense of the term; so that if he be ignored, there can be no hope of success. Neither conferences, nor tribunals, nor agreements, nor laws, can bring about what is the prerogative of the Prince of Peace, unless his vicar not only cooperates, but actually directs the work. . . .

When, in the third place, the Pope points out that he has been deprived of his proper functions in the peace movement, he is not making, as it were, a polite apology for not taking a more active part. He is complaining of the violence done him, which deprives the movement of an essential element of any success. Hence, every one zealous for peace should consider what can be done to set right this tremendous violation of universal order, the enduring impediment to the liberty of action of Christ’s vicar. The chief agent in the crime which renews itself daily was the Italian government, but nearly all nations are more or less accomplices; and it is the interest of every nation desirous of peace to end it. A few years ago the czar proposed a congress on disarmament, and among the first invited to it was the Roman pontiff. The Italian government, making of its crime a pretext, protested against his sharing in the discussion, because he was not a civil prince. It carried its point, and the congress came to nothing. That same government has been celebrating the jubilee of its first proclamation to the world of its intention to rob the Pope of his own city; and had appointed September 25, the forty-first anniversary almost to the day of its entrance into Rome, for the opening of an international peace congress. Even had the government invited him, the Pope, who declares peace to consist in order, could not countenance a peace congress bound up with the most grievous breach of order this age has seen. But the congress will not meet. Whether it be on account of the troubled state of Europe, which may at any moment involve in war the nations who were to have taken part in it, as many believe, or whether it be on account of the cholera, as the government pretends, it has perished before its birth. There can be no peace without an unshackled Pope as its guardian.

From this summary of the Pope’s letter, it is evident that the present head of the Roman Catholic Church abates nothing from the assumptions made by his predecessors in office, and that he still claims spiritual jurisdiction over the entire world. His approval of the peace movement is needed not simply because of his influence, but because of his authority. The work will be a failure unless he directs it.

But more significant than any other assertion is the claim that “every one zealous for peace” is under obligation to seek to restore to the Pope his temporal dominion as the first step toward peace, and the climax is reached when it is asserted that “nearly all nations are more or less accomplices” in the “crime” of depriving the Pope of his temporal rule. What is this other than a semiofficial notice from the Papacy to the President of the United States, that as head of this nation and a professed promoter of peace among the nations, it is his first duty to clear himself and the nation which he represents from complicity

in the “crime” of the Italian government in establishing a united Italy and in bringing to an end the government of the papal states? What is this other than a demand upon the nations of the world that they should reopen the case of the king of Italy versus the Pope and restore the head of the church to his former place as a temporal prince?

The very fact that the Pope of Rome deemed it expedient or necessary to send such a letter as this to his official representative in the United States, who no doubt followed instructions in presenting it to the President of the United States, demonstrates beyond a shadow of doubt that the head of the Roman Church feels assured of his power in this country, and is beginning to assert his authority in public affairs in a way which would have been most emphatically resented before the Roman Church became such an influential factor in the politics of the country.

The history which has been made in so many countries in the past is being repeated in America. First, the apparent submission to, and acceptance of, the principles of liberty; second, the use of this liberty to build up a power antagonistic to these very principles; third, the assertion of an external authority, worded most cautiously at first but with increasing emphasis, ending with the assumption of full right to control in both the spiritual and the temporal domain.

Certain it is that what the Roman Catholic Church has done for other countries, it is now attempting to do for America.

W. W. P.

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