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Signs of the Times, Vol. 7, No. 12.

THE LAST WORDS OF MOSES

Signs of the Times

Mar 24, 1881

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 24, 1881

THE LAST WORDS OF MOSES.

By Ellen G. White

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
IN all the dealings of God with his people there is, mingled with his love and mercy, a striking exactness and firmness of decision. This is clearly exemplified in the history of the Hebrew people. God had bestowed great blessings upon Israel. His loving-kindness toward them is thus touchingly portrayed by his own hand: "As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead them." And yet what swift and severe retribution was visited upon them for their transgressions. How, then, can sinners in any age hope to escape the wrath of God?
Again, more wonderful than his mercy toward Israel is the love which Christ has manifested in his infinite sacrifice to redeem a lost race. His earthly life was filled with deeds of divine tenderness and compassion. And yet Christ himself plainly declares, "Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled." While he tells us of the love of God, he also pictures the awful scenes of the Judgment and the retribution that shall be visited upon the wicked. In all the Bible, God is presented not only as a being of mercy and benevolence, but as a God of strict and impartial justice.
The great Ruler of nations had declared that Moses was not to lead the congregation of Israel into the goodly land, and all the earnest pleadings of God's servant could not secure a remission of his sentence. He knew that he must die. Yet he had not for a moment faltered in his interest and care for Israel. He had faithfully sought to prepare the congregation to enter upon the promised inheritance, and had repeated before them the law of God, and his wonderful dealings with them as a people. He would in every possible way guard them from transgression.
He now completed the work of writing all the laws, the statutes and judgments which God had given him, and all the regulations concerning the sacrificial system. The book containing these was placed in charge of the proper officers, and was for safe-keeping deposited in the side of the ark. An erring people often interpret God's requirements to suit their own desires; therefore the book of the law was to be sacredly preserved for future reference.
Moses was filled with fear that the people would depart from God, their only helper. In a most sublime and thrilling address he set before them the blessing which would be theirs, if they lived in obedience to God, and then declared the terrible curses that would rest upon them, should they depart from him. "And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a by-word among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee. "And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other, and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even wood and stone. And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind. And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life. In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see."
He closed with these solemn and impressive words: "I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live. That thou mayest love the Lord thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him; for he is thy life, and the length of thy days; that thou mayest dwell in the land which the Lord sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them."
At the divine command, Moses and Joshua now repaired to the tabernacle, while the pillar of cloud came and stood over the door. Here the people were solemnly given into Joshua's charge. The leadership of the man who had so long and so faithfully cared for Israel was now ended. Still Moses forgets himself in his interest for his people. In the presence of the assembled multitudes the great leader in the name of God, addressed to his successor these words of holy cheer: "Be strong and of a good courage; for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them; and I will be with thee." He then turned to the elders and officers of the people giving them a solemn charge to faithfully obey the instructions he had communicated to them from God.
Together Moses and Joshua stood at the door of the tabernacle, and the eyes of all the congregation were fixed upon them. The aged man, now doubly dear, must soon be taken from them; and they recall, with a new and deeper appreciation, his parental tenderness, his wise counsels, and his untiring labors. His successor was the man of God's choice, but he had far less experience. How could he bear alone the burdens which had rested so heavily even upon Moses? The people called to mind how often Moses had stood between them and God's vengeance for their sins. How often had his earnest pleadings turned aside the blow! They would gladly have kept him with them, but they knew that this was impossible. Their grief was heightened by remorse. They bitterly remembered that their own perverse course had provoked Moses to the sin for which he must die.
God designed to arouse the Israelites to see the sinfulness of their course. The removal of their beloved leader would be a far stronger rebuke than any which they could have received, had his life and mission been continued. Now the Lord would make them feel that they are not to make the life of their future leader as hard and trying as they have made that of Moses. God speaks to his people in blessings bestowed; and when these are not appreciated, he speaks to them in blessings removed, that they may be led to see their sins and return to him with all the heart.
That very day there came to Moses the command, "Get thee up . . . unto Mount Nebo, . . . and behold the land of Canaan, which I gave unto the children of Israel for a possession. And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people." Often had Moses left the camp of Israel, in obedience to the divine summons, to commune with God; but he was now to depart on a new and mysterious errand. He must go forth to resign his life into the hands of his Creator. Moses knew that he was to die alone; no earthly friend would be permitted to minister to him in his last hours.
He was not beyond temptation, and there was a mystery and awfulness about the scene before him, from which his heart shrank. He was in the full vigor of health, with all his powers in active exercise. Was some strange and fearful sickness to come upon him? Must his body lie unburied, a prey to the wild beasts and the fowls of the air? Was this to be the end of his life of toil and sacrifice? But the severest trial was his separation from the people of his care and love,—the people with whom his interest and his life had been identified for forty years. His heart was filled with anxiety for their future, and oppressed with forebodings of evil, as he remembered their constant tendency to depart from God. Never had his faith been more severely tried. But he had learned to trust in God, and he calmly submitted to the decree of infinite love and wisdom.
Moses did not entertain the opinion now cherished by most of the Christian world, that as soon as a good man dies, he enters the mansions of eternal bliss, in a land of which Canaan with all its attractions, was but a dim type. Had he believed this, he would not have pleaded so earnestly for permission to cross the Jordan and share the inheritance of his people.
Again the Spirit of God rested upon his servant, and in the most sublime and touching language he pronounced a blessing upon the tribes individually. He then closed with a general benediction, in which he set forth God's care for Israel, and the exalted position which they might occupy, if they would live in obedience to his law: "The eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms. And he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee, and shall say, Destroy them. Israel, then, shall dwell in safety alone. The fountain of Jacob shall be upon a land of corn and wine; also, his heavens shall drop down dew. Happy art thou, O Israel. Who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thy excellency! And thine enemies shall be found liars unto thee; and thou shalt tread upon their high places."

A PLACE OF BLESSING.

By Julia E. Lloyd

BY JULIA E. LLOYD.
In the meetings where prayers are offered, Apart from the worldly throng, There are blessed joys and communings, And the saints sing snatches of song. There stands one in Christ's stead among them, Declaring the riches of grace, That changes each loving beholder, To the image of Christ's glorious face.
Low-bowed in the Holiest Presence, Well knowing "the Father" attends, While asking, believing, receiving, On each the blest Spirit descends. They speak to each other, rejoicing In strength for the battle of life,— New struggles, new snares, and new dangers, But Christ's help in all the hard strife.
A weary one tells of her longing For the land of peace and of rest; And tears roll unbidden downward, As her hopes, one by one, are expressed. A mourner, with heart-strings all quivering, Her sobs for her loved one repressed, By faith sees the morning of waking, Her own made immortal and blest.
Does one sit in silence, dejected? No God, and no hope in his soul? Oh, Saviour! thou still dost look earthward, And bid him to now be made whole. In the world of the ransomed and angels, Our love and our joy all complete, Shall we think of the lesser glory, We found at the mercy-seat?

Christian Character Proves Christianity

By T. Monro Gibson

ONE truly Christian life will do more to prove the divine origin of Christianity than many lectures. Hence it is of much greater importance to develop Christian character than to exhibit Christian evidences.—T. Monro Gibson.

The One Voice Within

By Mrs. Charles

ONLY one arm is all-powerful, one heart ever loving, one ear ever open, only one eye never closed; and there are inner depths in our soul where only one voice can be heard.—Mrs. Charles.

IS SIN ETERNAL?

By J. N. Loughborough

BY J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, OF SOUTHAMPTON, ENGLAND.
This question we ask with reference to the results of sin. Sin did not always exist. Right existed before wrong. As there was a time when Adam and Eve were in their primeval innocence in Eden, before sin entered our world, so there must have been a time when, in all the creation of God, both that which is visible and that which is invisible was pure and sinless. For God's pleasure all things were created. Rev. 4:11. The sacred psalmist says: "For thou art not a God that hath pleasure in wickedness; neither shall evil dwell with thee." Ps. 5:4. In order then, that all might tend to the pleasure of God, all his created intelligences must, like man, have been "made upright." (Eccl. 7:29.) Their departure from that condition of uprightness into those ways displeasing to God is, in a great measure, owing to their invention of other ways than those of God's appointment.
It is not our purpose in this article to trace sin to its first origin, but to speak of it as we find it in our world. The first three chapters of the book of Genesis show us that sin entered into the world through the fall of Adam and Eve as they yielded to temptation. This agrees also with the words of St. Paul in Rom. 5:12-14.
Sin is in our world, and the import of our question is, Is it to exist eternally? We ask this question not supposing it to be answered by reason merely, but believing that the Bible as clearly reveals the finality of the impenitent as it does the fall, or the way of life and hope for the penitent through the blood of Christ.
Our readers are not unaware that this question is one which, at the present time, is eliciting much inquiry throughout this kingdom in general, and in Southampton in particular. Men in high positions in the religious world are setting forth theories vastly different from those incorporated into the Protestant creeds whether we speak of Conformist or Non-conformist.
The Lord Bishop of Winchester was fully aware of the agitation of the public mind on this, as well as other theological questions, when in the Diocesan Conference held in the Winchester Cathedral, Nov. 3, 1880, he made the following statement: "I think that neither churchmen nor dissenters as they fight can fully have brought home to their own thoughts and hearts the reality of that conflict which is already begun, but which will soon burst upon us in its fury, the conflict between faith in God and Christ and immortality, and the belief in nothing but material prosperity here and eternal sleep hereafter. The agnosticism which now makes common cause with the advancing columns of democracy is the scientific formulating of that principle which has ever guided the godless and the selfish, and is sure, therefore, to catch the suffrages of all who are too lazy to think or too worldly and sensual heartily to believe. Making the best of the present world and letting the next world take care of itself, is the old and common rule of life. It is now reduced to scientific principle, and is taught as the truest and the only wisdom."
In view of the conflict of truth and error he says: "If we are to withstand in the day of battle, and having done all to stand, we must cling closely to Scriptural and primitive truth."
The true doctrine of the Conformist, or Church of England, is plainly set forth in the Thirty-nine Articles. By "His Majesty's Declaration" every member of that church is prohibited from "putting his own sense or comment to the meaning of an article, but must take it in its literal and grammatical sense." The eighth article states, "The three creeds,—Nicene, and Athanasius' Creed, and that which is commonly called the Apostles' Creed,—ought thoroughly to be received and believed."
The creed of Saint Athanasius, is called in the prayer book, "This confession of our Christian faith." From the concluding words of the creed we should judge it was most firmly believed by them, as it says: "This is the Catholick Faith; which except a man believe faithfully he cannot be saved."
The Athanasian Creed says: "And they that have done good shall go into life everlasting; and they that have done evil into everlasting fire." That this has been understood by those using it to teach eternal misery to the wicked, and that this has been their faith, is confirmed by the comments and sayings of those who have held most tenaciously to the creed. As a sample, we quote
the words of the Right Reverend Geo. Horne, late Lord Bishop of Norwich, from his commentary on the Psalms. On Ps. 55:15, "Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell," he says, "The sudden destruction of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, who, for stirring up a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, 'went down alive into the pit,' seems here alluded to, as the grand representation of the manner in which the bottomless pit shall one day shut her mouth forever upon all the impenitent enemies of the King of Israel, and great High Priest of our profession."
And again in his comments on Ps. 75:8, "For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is full of mixture, and he poureth out of the same; but the dregs thereof all the wicked of the earth shall wring them out, and drink them," he says, "Calamity and sorrow, fear and trembling, infatuation and despair, the evils of the present life and of that which is to come, are the bitter ingredients which compose this most horrible cup of mixture. It is entirely in the hand and disposal of God, who, through every age has been pouring out, and administering of its contents, more or less, in proportion to the sins of men. But much of the strength and power of the liquor still remains behind, until the day of final vengeance. It will then be exhausted, even to the dregs by unrepenting rebels; when 'burning coals, fire, and brimstone,' and eternal 'tempest' shall be the portion of their cup.' Ps. 11:6."
As a statement of the views of the Non-conformists we may be allowed to quote the words of one of the prominent dissenting ministers, Rev. C. H. Spurgeon: "Our lost friends are lost forever; we recollect that there is no shadow of hope for them; when the iron gate of hell is once closed upon them, it shall never be unbarred again, to give them free exit; when once shut up within those walls of sweltering flame which girdle the fiery gulf there is no possibility of flight; we recollect that they have 'forever' stamped upon their chains, 'forever' carved in deep lines of despair upon their hearts. It is the hell of hell, that everything there lasts forever. Here, time wears away our griefs, and blunts the keen edge of our sorrow; but there time never mitigates the woe; hell grows more hellish, as eternity marches on with its mighty paces. The abyss becomes more dense and fiery—the sufferers grow more ghastly and wretched, as years, if there be such sad variety in that fixed state, roll their everlasting rounds. Here the sympathy of loving kindred, in the midst of sickness or suffering, can alleviate our pain; but there, the tortured ghosts are sport for fiends, and the mutual upbraidings and reproaches of fellow-sinners give fresh stings to torment too dread to be endured. Here, too, when Nature's last palliative shall fail, to die may be a happy release; a man can count the weary hours till death shall give him rest; but, oh! remember there is no death in hell; death, which is a monster on earth, would be an angel in hell. If death could go there, all the damned would fall down and worship him; every tongue would sing, and every heart would praise; each cavern then would echo with a shout of triumph till all was still, and silence brood where terrors reigned."—Spurgeon's Gems, pp. 160, 161.
In opposition to these established dogmas of the Conformist and Non-conformist we are now called upon by some ministers of the established church to accept a new and somewhat novel doctrine of a very different character. No less than three quite large volumes have been produced by three prominent church ministers and recommended as "treating of and, indeed, exhausting the subject." These works are called, "The restitution of all things," by the Rev. Andrew Jukes; "Salvator Mundi," by the Rev. Samuel Cox; and "Eternal Hope," by the Rev. Canon Farrar, and still later, here in Southampton, a series of eight discourses upon the subject have been delivered by the Rev. Basil Wilberforce, Canon of Winchester Cathedral, and Rector of St. Mary's church, Southampton.
In adopting the new theory the Canon does not avow himself a believer in the doctrines of Hosea Ballou. He does not indorse that theory of universal salvation which provides only for punishment in this life and leaves all at death with an equal chance for Heaven. The Canon has denominated this, his new theory, "Universal Hope." Not hope for the impenitent, but, if we understand him aright, a hope that those who die impenitent will, after the final Judgment, be made penitent by the punishment that shall be inflicted upon them. He claimed that "the dogma of everlasting torture beyond the grave was a libel upon the character of the Almighty, a doctrine prejudicial to Christianity, and a misrepresentation of the mind of the Holy Scripture." He further claims that "future punishment, though a tremendous discipline, is not endless." He also declares his belief that this punishment is "corrective and not vindictive." He says: "The old dogma, which consigned countless millions of souls, whom God made and Christ redeemed, to everlasting and irredeemable perdition is not revealed in the Bible, but the doctrine of the Bible on this point is that the duration of the sufferings of the wicked in hell shall be commensurate only with the burden of their willful sin, and that when they have paid the uttermost farthing, or, in other words, when the will is conquered, hell will have done its work, and its souls shall be admitted into the regions of the blessed."
That we have not mistaken the statement of the Canon's belief, will appear from a supposed case which he introduces in his eighth discourse, "It is thus with many a child of God taken into his father's arms in the sacrament of baptism. He grows up selfish, impure, prayerless. He sinks down and down till the power of truth and goodness has no influence on his wayward will. In his state of hardened impenitence, of darkened reason and conscience, there remaineth for him no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation. For him there can be no part in the first resurrection; no home in the Messianic kingdom which will be revealed at the second advent. In the sight of the angels of God he is a maniac, and to the mad-house he must go. For his own sake and for the sake of others he must he removed to another sphere of education, where, 'pulverized by the storms of judgment,' he may be taught to lay down his weapons of rebellion, and learn the lesson that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in Heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father."
With reference to the "everlasting fire" mentioned in the creed; the time was when religious teachers claimed that this was literal fire and brimstone, into which the wicked were to be cast after the Judgment. Of this they supposed they had sufficient evidence in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah alone. They read in the words of St. Jude, "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 7. Turning back to the record of God's judgment upon those cities, they read, "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." Gen. 19:24, 25. "And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord; and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace." Verses 27, 28. Putting these texts with the statement of St. John in Revelation, "And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them," Rev. 20:9, they thought they had a very clear proof of literal fire for the final punishment of the wicked.
After a time it became too plain an absurdity for thinking minds to claim that literal bodies were to be in literal fire and brimstone to all eternity, especially when considered that such a fire was hot enough to bring iron to a white heat in one minute. Bodies could not be consuming into literal smoke in such a fire to all eternity without a constant miracle. Again, said they, it is real fire and brimstone, but immortal, indestructible souls that are placed in it to be tormented. It has, however, been discovered in the onward march of thought that an indestructible soul could receive no harm in a literal destructive fire, so now the literal fire doctrine is removed back to the Dark Ages.
These fires are now explained as figures. As an illustration of this, I refer to the printed report of sermons in reply to Canon Wilberforce. The first one is the first of a series by Rev. H. O. Mackey of Portland chapel, Southampton. He said: "In reading through the published sermons which have recently appeared on the other side, I was struck with how large a proportion of them was occupied with a repudiation of the doctrine of physical torture as applied to lost souls. But the indignation with which the idea of everlasting fire wrapping the body, and the worm that never died, were regarded, had better be reserved for a real and not an imaginary foe. For he, and those who thought with him, equally denounced and hated the doctrine, which, however, he reminded them first found its power in the Middle Ages, when priest and monk used it as a means of extorting money from relatives so that the souls of the dead might be got out of purgatory."
That we did not mistake his meaning in the above is confirmed by his second and third discourse when he said, "The sufferings of the wicked were not physical, but mental and spiritual, since both heaven and hell were in the soul." Of the sinner he says, "All we ask is that he be left to himself—no flames to wrap the body—no worms to wear the physical frame, but the sinner left to himself, for sin to work its own punishment in the soul according to the text, God saying, 'He that is filthy, let him be filthy still.'"
The Rev. H. C. Lake of East street chapel, in the first of his sermons on the subject said, "The sermons of Canon Wilberforce represented the orthodox views in an unfair light. He said if the rector of St. Mary's had learnt what that view really was before he made an attack upon it, he would have saved himself much trouble. All granted that the sufferings of the wicked would be spiritual—such sufferings, indeed, as were the results of repentance made too late."
The Canon, in his sixth discourse, thus speaks of future punishment, "The action of the memory will be the test of personality—memory, full, free, unclouded memory—the flashing into the imprisoned soul of that intolerable light which makes all past present. If we but realized the keen torture that this will be we should hardly dare to sin. What fire is to the body, that memory is to the shrinking soul."
In the third of his discourses on the text, "Our God is a consuming fire," he said of the use of this terrifying emblem of fire, "while pregnant with warning, it is gloriously suggestive of the purifying remedial discipline of God. God is fire and God is love; therefore fire is love—the love that is only cruel to be kind."
It seems then that both Canon Wilberforce and his opponents are agreed that the future suffering of the wicked is only mental, and their disagreement is only with reference to the duration and final issue of that suffering. On the one hand it is contended that the suffering will never cease and will only tend to harden the sinner in his sin, and on the other hand it is contended that the suffering will finally soften the heart of the hardest sinners causing them to turn to Christ, and that then the sufferings of sinners, and in fact the career of sin will be ended, because all sinners will then be converted to Christ. If we admit this position of the Canon we shall have to denominate it salvation by fire. St. Paul speaks of some who shall be saved, "yet so as by fire," 1 Cor. 3:15. Let it be remembered, however, that those so saved are not hardened and impenitent sinners, but some of God's ministers, as Apollos, Cephas, and others. The "gold, silver, precious stones," mentioned by St. Paul, were built upon the foundation—Christ. The wood, hay, and stubble that some were placing on the foundation did not represent sins that were to be burned while the individual sinner should escape, but these combustible materials represent men and women brought onto the foundation by the minister. While they were professing to accept the religion of Christ there was in them a lack of thorough consecration to God. They were only partially converted, and in such a condition brought into the church of Christ. They were like wood, hay, and stubble placed on a good foundation. That some such material had been gathered into the church of Corinth we learn in chapters five and six of this same first epistle to the Corinthians. In the day of God, when the fire shall try every man's work, the minister who from the heart has himself obeyed God and yet has collected worthless material into the church, shall have his work tested of what sort it is. He may have had followers who would declare loudly for Apollos, or Cephas, and yet were vile, like some of these incestuous Corinthians. So much of this material collected by the minister will be a loss, for all such shall be burned.
We get a clear view of the final destiny of the ungodly in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. Our Saviour, St. Peter, and St. Jude, each refers to the sad fate of these cities of the plain in speaking of the punishment of sinners at the final Judgment; and not one of them call this fire mental anguish or repentance that came too late. No doubt they had anguish of the deepest type when they saw their lost condition, but that is the effect of the judgment brought upon them, and not the judgment itself. We read in the words of Christ, "But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Luke 17:29, 30. St. Jude says, "They are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire." Jude 7. The vengeance of fire is its power to burn all combustibles exposed to its action. The vengeance of eternal fire is undergoing a destruction by the action of a fire, not of human kindling which might be quenched, but a fire which fell from the Great Eternal, which no man can quench. St. Peter is still more explicit in his statement of the case. He says, "Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly." 2 Peter 2:6.
We shall endeavor to show in future articles how this sample will be met in the final punishment of the wicked.

BRING OUT THE ROPE.

THE Swiss guides are heroic men. Tremendous exploits of strength and courage are scenes which in old age they review. Mountain-climbers are dependent upon their skill and experience, but no matter what knowledge of Alpine safeguards or perils, they are not able to secure even the hope of safety to those who ask their help, except on one condition, and that is their willingness to be bound together in different passes.
The party sets out in union, with kindly intentions to be helpful to each other. They have a book-knowledge of the way, but every step is new to their feet, and they must trust their guide. For a while a common bond of personal welfare is enough; but see, the guide has halted, and waits for the company to listen. They hear his voice in that clear Alpine air, ringing in stirring tones: "Courage, gentlemen, there is danger here: we must tie the ropes around each man and protect each other!" It is a deceitful snow-bridge over an abysmal cleft in the blue ice! If one man ventures to walk across alone, he may drop between those frozen walls. Bring out the rope, and bind these adventurers so firmly that if a man falls, the strength and steadiness of his fellows may hold him securely! Woe betide the man who goes over the horrible glacier regions of Switzerland alone!
The experienced guides, who know the dangers of this life-journey, tell us that union is strength; that ties of mutual faith and common interest are not all we need; and they bring out the rope of true-hearted association to double the force of each man's weight. We have done it in faith, trusting in our Lord, because we know that there are dangerous passes in the narrow way to the heavenly heights.
A Christian association needs the strength of all the men and women it can link together. Give us the additional security of your influence, dear reader, and accept for yourself the safety of the bond which holds us.—Watchman.

NOT WILLING TO ADMIT IT.

"VERY few persons, even the most depraved," says the S. S. Times, "would be willing to admit, if the question were put to them, that they were permanent travelers on the road to ruin. They might acknowledge that their habits were bad and their moral purposes iniquitous; that they drank, or swore, or stole, or lied, or were ill-tempered, or idle, or impure,—or even admit that they were growing worse all the time. But they would nevertheless, if really compelled to consider the question, believe, or at any rate say that they believed, that somehow or other, at some time or other, things would take an upward turn. But just here lies one of the most fatal fallacies of sin. Things do not take a turn unless the individual makes them do so; and reform is quite sure to grow harder rather than easier, as the hours and days and years hurry on. 'So it will go on worsening and worsening.' 'There's no slipping up hill again, and no standing still, when once you've begun to slip down.' And yet the sole hope which many a man and woman has of escaping earthly woe and future penalty, is the hope of slipping up hill on some lucky day which a more propitious future shall bring. The sooner a soul finds out that deliberate sinning is not to be followed by accidental salvation, the sooner will it be ready to respond to the call of the Holy Spirit."

Ministers Need Conduct and Truth

Two things are to be particularly aimed at by every minister—good conduct and sound truth.

Promoting Piety Through Benevolence

Be indifferent to nothing which has any relation to the welfare of men. Be not afraid of diminishing your own happiness by seeking that of others. Devise liberal things, and let not avarice shut up your hand from giving to him that needeth, and so promote the cause of piety and humanity.

Private Prayer

By Hannah More

PRIVATE prayer is the golden pipe through which the Lord is graciously pleased to convey spiritual blessings to the soul. He knoweth all our wants, and, without our asking him, could supply all our wants in the best manner and at the best possible time. But he will be inquired of by the house of Israel, to do for them according to the exceeding great and precious promises he hath given.—Hannah More.

STAND FIRM.

At the battle of Waterloo a certain regiment sent word to the Duke of Wellington that they must soon yield. The Duke sent back word: "Stand firm."
"But we shall all perish."
"Stand firm," again said the Iron Duke.
"You'll find us there," then replied the officer, as he fiercely galloped away. And they stood firm; every man of that brigade fell fighting at his post.
Jesus, our great Captain, calls on us to stand firm, to do battle against Satan and all his hosts. Will the young soldiers of the cross prove less brave and true than earthly soldiers fighting for earthly glory?—S. S. Messenger.

KNOCKED HIS WITS OUT.

FRENCH papers report an incident which caused a most curious and interesting case of mental derangement. Victor X ——, a Parisian painter, was visiting one of his friends in Sceaux. Stepping out on the balcony of the second story of his friend's house, he bent so far over the balustrade that he lost his equilibrium and fell. The friends of the painter came running up, convinced that he had broken his neck, but he picked himself up and was externally uninjured. But it soon appeared that his brain had been affected, for on attempting to address his friends he could not think of their names. With terror he also found that he had forgotten the names of his wife and daughters. He still could remember single letters of their names, but could not recollect the entire word. The unfortunate man was put under medical treatment, but up to the present no amelioration of his condition has been affected.
Similar cases have repeatedly been observed. Dr. Solger, the well-known writer and linguist, who at the time of his death was Secretary of the Treasury, had the misfortune of falling from his horse while riding in the vicinity of Washington, and striking on a stone with his head, thereby sustaining a fracture of the skull. Now the curious phenomenon happened that Solger, who had married a French lady, and had always spoken only French and English with his wife and family, suddenly could speak no other language but German, his native tongue. Up to the time of his death, which happened soon after his fall, Dr. Solger could converse with his family only by means of an interpreter.
A workman was brought to a London hospital who had lived the greater part of his life in England, but came originally from Belgium. The man had received a blow on the head, and after the injury to his brain he could not speak a word of English, but conversed in Flemish, a language which he had not practiced since early childhood, and which he had almost entirely forgotten.
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