A REVIEW OF SUNDAY LEGISLATION IN CENTURY NINETEEN. NO. 5.
BY PROF. P. T. MAGAN.
[Last week the writer of this series of papers examined the decision of the Supreme Court of February 29, 1892, by which, in principle, the government was committed to the principles of Roman Catholicism. The character of Ferdinand and Isabella, of Spain, whose commission to Columbus was cited by the court, was considered, especially in connection with the Inquisition. He also referred to Rome's present power in this government. He then proceeds to quote from Archbishop Corrigan, speaking in Chicago in 1893, that the Inquisition was, historically, the religion of this country. The quotation follows.—EDITOR.]
MOTIVES OF THE SPANISH MONARCHS.
Now the second page would be where Columbus appears before Ferdinand and Isabella. Ferdinand understood perfectly well what gain and renown would accrue to himself from the discovery of new lands, and also what riches would be poured into Spain. Yet, with these temporal motives working so powerfully upon his mind, he continued to count the cost, and he hesitated and dallied. Then Columbus went to Isabella. Her instincts of piety at once jumped to the conclusions that if there were souls there to be enlightened with the light of the faith, she would do all in her power, even to parting with the most precious things in her possession, that those souls should be brought to the kingdom of Christ.
Now turn to the third page—to the sailing of Columbus from Palos. It is a fact not without significance that after Columbus sailed to this country under the sovereignty of Ferdinand and Isabella, he immediately flew to the winds the flag of the Inquisition. And America was discovered under protection of the holy office. Is there not something in this fact? How often have we been told, not only that the church is opposed to the onward progress of science, but that had Columbus dared to maintain the spherity of the globe before the Inquisition, he would have been put into a dark dungeon, there to consume the remaining years of his life. But, instead of that, we find this severest tribunal of the church not only not putting him in prison, but sending him off on his voyage of discovery.117That institution had for its main object the protection and defense of the holy faith. Therefore, I believe, because they also wish to say so, they sent forth Columbus on his voyage of difficulty and of peril under their own white banner, the white flag of the holy Inquisition.
I do not give the words of the archbishop to strengthen any argument, but merely to show that the sentiments in the decision were what Rome has been watching for, and that they suit her.
Well, since this is the religion of the American people, they ought to know something about it, that they may not be established in the faith; for Rome intends that all heretics in America shall be established in the papal faith, and that too, if by no gentler means, by the Inquisition. If not, why does she make so much of the fact that Isabella “jumped to the conclusions” that “there were souls there [in America] to be enlightened with the light of the [Catholic] faith”? If not why is it “a fact, NOT WITHOUT SIGNIFICANCE, that Columbus from the Santa Maria flew to the winds the flag of the Inquisition”? If not why is it a “fact not without significance” that “America was discovered under protection of the holy office”? Again Archbishop Corrigan says:—
That institution [the Inquisition] had for its main object the protection and defense of the holy faith.
Now everyone knows that in the past America has been to a great degree a land of heretics, in the eyes of Rome. Everyone knows that the principles of liberty, religious and civil, imbedded in the governmental structure of the United States, are diametrically opposed to the intolerant principles which form the foundation of the Romish fabric. The truth of these statements is clearly evinced by the charge given to the Roman Catholic dignitaries, at the close of the Baltimore congress, held four years ago,—to bring America to the Catholic Church. This shows that in the past Rome has looked at this country as the lost sheep—and so does this, uttered last summer in Chicago:—
There is the Catholic world and the non-Catholic world. Between them has rolled the ocean of prejudice—a dark ocean. Hearts that ought to have come nearer to each other, hearts that God made like each other, eyes that if they only looked into each other and through them down into the hearts, would have brought them together. It is the mission of the Catholic congress to bring these two worlds nearer—to make men understand each other more fully; and this mission you have to act out, first of all by appreciating the great truth that the non-Catholic world is not opposed to the Catholic world at all, but to something which it thinks is the Catholic world. [Loud applause.] The very doctrines on which this animosity is formed are doctrines that we reject as emphatically, as constantly, as indignantly, as the non-Catholic world could reject them.
Exactly; it was the mission of the Catholic congress to bring the non-Catholic people of America nearer to the Catholic; and if craft, intrigue, and persuasion will not accomplish this end, then what?—The Inquisition, of course. I mean it—that when Rome sees her chance she will use the holy office again to bring all heretics in America to her fold. She herself avows that it is her right to be intolerant, and that ghastliest den of human iniquity, that impious encroachment upon the prerogatives of God, that human tribunal before which were arraigned the consciences of men,—the Inquisition,—is naught but systematic tolerance armed with despotic power. Here is her claim to intolerance as her right, from her own lips:—
The church proclaims and maintains truths as certain as the mathematical ones. She teaches and defends truths with as much intolerance as the science of mathematics defends hers. And what more logical? The Catholic Church alone, in the midst of so many sects, avers a possession of absolute truth, out of which there cannot be true Christianity; she alone has a right to be, SHE ALONE MUST BE INTOLERANT. She alone WILL [future tense] and must say, as she has said through all ages, in her councils, “If any one saith or believeth contrary to what I teach, which is truth, LET HIM BE ANATHEMA.”
At the same time our Lord, intrusting her with the deposit of truth, has also left in her his spirit of charity and patience. Intolerant as regards the doctrine, the church has mercy for the people, and never has she had recourse to lawful measures of rigor, but after all manner of kindness and persuasion have failed.
But was not the commission of Satolli, the papal ablegate, to the Catholic congress in Chicago this summer, “Go forward, in one hand bearing the book of Christian truth, and in the other the Constitution of the United States”? True, but how much does that mean? Let us see.
Paul wrote to the Thessalonians: “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thess. 2:13. The Holy Scriptures are powerful to work in men, when taken into the heart as the infallible word of God. The Scriptures possess divine authority, because they are the expression of the infallible mind of God. But the papal doctrine is entirely different from this. According to Rome, the Scriptures derive “ALL their divine authority from the infallible teaching of the church.” Here is the statement in her own words:—
But I merely assert that the Scriptures themselves, deriving all their divine authority from the infallible teaching of the church, etc.
From this it is clear that the Bible in Satolli’s mind is the Bible as interpreted by the Catholic Church. Those acquainted with her history know what that means, and this paper shall show what it means when we give the sketch of the Holy Inquisition, which is a papal interpretation of Scripture put into practice.
Again, by a parity of reasoning it might be shown that the “Constitution of the United States in the other hand” is the Constitution as interpreted by the papal power, in the light of recent legislative action and judicial decision.
I have now shown that the United States Supreme Court has committed the American nation to Roman Catholic principles. Rome knows it, and she intends to enforce her dogmas upon the American people by means of the Inquisition if necessary.
Further, the keeping of Sunday as a day of religious rest is a papal dogma. Here is her word for it:—
Q.—Have you any other way of proving that the church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A.—Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her,—she could not have substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority.
Moreover, it is a papal dogma necessary to salvation, and here is her word for that:—
The keeping holy the Sunday is a thing ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO SALVATION; and yet this is nowhere put down in the Bible; on the contrary, the Bible says, Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy [Ex. 20:8], which is Saturday, and not Sunday; THEREFORE THE BIBLE DOES NOT CONTAIN ALL THINGS NECESSARY TO SALVATION, AND, CONSEQUENTLY, CANNOT BE A SUFFICIENT RULE OF FAITH.
Yet once more, Rome intends to do all in her power to make the American people keep Sunday after her notion of how it should be kept. And here is her word for that:—
We have no sympathy with any effort to secularize the Sunday. We urge upon our fellow-citizens to join in every effort to preserve that day as sacred, in accordance with the precepts and traditions of the church. [Cheers.]
Here are a few of the ways in which Sunday is to be kept sacred, “in accordance with the precepts and traditions of the Church”:—
1. At a council held at Illiberis (now Elne) in Gaul, in 305 (1 Labbe 973), it was decreed that anyone remaining in a city (“Civitas,” see Du Cange, Gloss. Med. et Inf. Lat. s. v.) three Sundays without attending church should be arrested.
2. In 469, under Leo and Anthemius, it was enacted . . . that the Lord’s day be had in honor, and there be no executions of criminals, nor summons, nor holding to bail; that the constable should be still, the lawyer silent, trials be suspended, the crier’s voice not heard, litigants should cease from their controversies, and have an interval of agreement, and that enemies should not fear to meet each other, but feelings of regret and sacrifice should pervade their spirits, so that they should talk over their differences and arrange them; and that no one should abuse the leisure of the day and waste his time in obscene delights, nor attend the theater, or the circus, or the wild beast shows; . . . and that anyone . . . attending a show, or any constable violating this law under pretext of public or private business, should lose his office and property.—Code Justinian, III, 12, 11.
3. In 585, at the Council of Matisco (now Macon), in Gaul, “because Christians were rashly scorning the day, and pursuing their business as on others,” the priests were instructed to admonish them of this matter; and the laity were warned to “watch the day;” the day was declared to be perpetually one of rest; if a pleader should violate this canon, he was to lose his case; if a peasant or a slave, he was to be well lashed; if a priest or a monk, to be excluded six months from intercourse with his fellows; and it is enjoined that the preceding night is to be spent, not in sleep but prayer.—5 Labbe, 981, 1.
4. In 1050, at the council of Couaco, in Spain, it was decreed that Christians should go to church Saturday evening and Sunday morning, and should do no servile labor, nor travel, except to church or a funeral, or to visit the sick, or on public business, or in case of an assault by the Saracens.—9 Labbe, 1065, 6.
5. In 1473, “following in the footsteps of our predecessors,” it was decreed by the council of Toletum (now Toledo) that there should be abstinence from servile labor, and farm and trade work, and cultivation of the fields, unless there was urgent necessity, or an evidently pious purpose, AND THEN ONLY WITH THE PRIEST’S LICENSE. This applied to the faithful. Unbelievers were prohibited only from publicly attending to their business, punishment to be by the proper officers, and, if violation occurred through negligence, to be severe; if through deliberation, to be no less than excommunication.—11 Labbe, 1452.
The above needs no comment. So much for this “historical” citation of the Supreme Court. I have shown what it has accomplished, and what it means to the American nation,—Roman Catholicism, enforced by the Inquisition. In the next issue of the SIGNS I will give a sketch of the principles and workings of the Inquisition, so that the American people, upon whom it is surely to be visited, may know it when it does appear, and be prepared to resist it with their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
THE "DEATHLESS SPARK."
By Eliza H. Morton
BY ELIZA H. MORTON.
WE live for what?—"To lift humanity," Some say, "to help our fellow-men," and how? To give them broader views of life, to ease Their pain, to teach them truth and love, to take Their feet from paths of sin, and thus to give That which we have within. And what have we?— "A deathless spark at center of the soul." And whence that spark?—Ah, let us think! Without the words of Holy Writ no man Can tell. We read that long and long ago, When man by disobedience lost all, The Father kind so loved the world, So yearned to save from sin, that he in one Great gift poured out all heaven for us,—the life Of his dear Son, and this by promise sure Long ere it was fulfilled. The gospel note Proclaimed that enmity should be between The serpent and the woman's seed—and this The deathless spark that lives within the soul. The One who hung upon the cross draws all Men unto him. What tho' they seem to give No heed to that dear voice? It calls and draws The same; and all the good we find in man To-day is but the flashing of that spark.
We try to lift humanity,—and how? Perchance by reflex action from that spark, Thinking that we ourselves have this great power. We may succeed in helping men, but not In full, and not to that extent we might If we would let the spark spring up a flame Within the heart, and shed its glory bright O'er all our words and ways. Aye, this would be The Christ life in its beauty grand, and men Would recognize its power. Those who in self Put all their trust can lead those whom they seek To help to nothing higher than a god Of clay, to nothing nobler than the things Of earth, unless, perchance, the spark within Should flash and touch a fellow spark, and thus Enkindle without help a blaze. And what About the spark? Will it remain for aye Within the heart?—Ah, no, the time will come When it will be removed, if cherished not! But God is merciful and kind and good, And long he waits in tender love, and long He pleads. He draws each soul unto his own With gentleness; and seeks to fan the spark That smolders low, and thus to give it life.
O ye who trust in vain philosophy, Beware! The wisdom of the wise is naught But foolishness. In vain ye seek to make Yourself more noble and more wise. Your dreams Of progress are the dreams that come not true. Apart from God how weak is man! In him How strong! In him we best can serve the world.
The Development of Church Members
Dr. Cuyler well says: "Next to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, what our churches most need is the development of all its members. While pastors are overworked, a large proportion of the people are underworked. In every church hive there is a lamentable lot of drones. In seasons of revival every member is alive and busy; but what we call a revival ought to be the normal condition of every church."
"WALK IN THE SPIRIT."
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
"If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain-glory, provoking one another, envying one another." Many are deceiving their own souls, because, while they assent to the truth, they fail to become sanctified through the truth. To have a right religious experience it is essential not only to have an intelligent idea as to what is the theory of truth, but the heart and mind must be trained, and the habits must be in harmony with the expressed will of God. The word, the requirements of God, must be studied; for if we weave into our experience incorrect principles, we shall cherish false ideas as to what constitutes a Christian, and shall not be found obeying the voice of God. We cannot spiritually discern the character of God, or accept of Jesus Christ by faith, unless our life and character are marked by purity, by the casting down of imaginations, and of every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and by bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
It is sin that has dragged down and degraded the faculties of the soul; but through faith in Jesus Christ as our Redeemer, we may be restored to holiness and truth. All who would learn of Christ must be emptied of human wisdom. The soul must be cleansed from all vanity and pride, and vacated by all that has held it in prepossession, and Christ must be enthroned in the heart. The constant strife in the soul that results from selfishness and self-sufficiency must be rebuked, and humility and meekness must take the place of our natural self-esteem. I am pained beyond measure when I see men and women professing the name of Christ, and yet manifesting not the Spirit of Christ; for I know that they are dwelling in fatal delusion. Many are satisfied with a mere semblance of religion, and they have no experimental knowledge of the virtues of Christ, no vital connection with Jesus. They listen to the most searching presentation of truth, but make no application of the truth to their own souls, because they are clothed with a garment of self-righteousness. Every salutary impression is warded off with the thought that they are Christians, and that the close, searching appeals are not meant for them. The most solemn message from the great Teacher through his delegated servants is lost upon them, because they do not see the need of any such warning or appeal. They have not come to the point of realizing that they are sick and in need of a physician. Christ said, "They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick."
Solemn conviction of sin will lead individuals to tremble at the word of God, and surrender their ways, their ideas, and their will to God. I tremble when I see so many who feel perfectly contented. They will admit that they have little experience in religious things, and when given an opportunity to gain an experience, they do not advance, because they do not feel their need, and so the matter ends where it began; for they do not seek divine enlightenment with true contrition of soul.
It is only at the altar of God that we kindle the taper with holy fire. It is only the divine light that will reveal the littleness, the incompetence of human ability, and give clear, distinct views of the perfection and purity of Jesus Christ. It is only as we behold Jesus that we desire to become like him. It is only as we view his righteousness that we hunger and thirst to possess it. It is only as we ask in earnest prayer, in humility and simplicity, as a little child asks an earthly parent for some good thing, that God will grant unto us our heart's desire. Such prayer is heard and answered. The Lord is more willing to give the Holy Spirit to them that earnestly desire it, than are earthly parents to give good gifts to their children. Christ has promised the Holy Spirit to guide us unto all truth and righteousness and holiness. The Holy Spirit is not given by measure to those who earnestly seek for it, who by faith stand upon the promises of God. They plead the pledged word of God, saying, "Thou hast said it. I take thee at thy word."
The Comforter is given that he may take of the things of Christ and show them unto us, that he may present in their rich assurance the words that fell from his lips, and convey them with living power to the soul who is obedient, who is emptied of self. It is then that the soul receives the image and superscription of the divine. Then Jesus Christ is formed within the hope of glory.
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Those who are called to be shepherds of the flock of God are called to be laborers together with God. The Lord Jesus is the great Worker, and he prayed to his Father that his followers might be sanctified through the truth. If we are doers of the word of God, we shall understand that we cannot retain any sinful habit, or indulge in any crooked or guileful way. His truth, his word, must be brought with divine power into our human hearts, and we must purify our hearts by obeying the truth. We must renounce all the hidden things of dishonesty, all craftiness and Satanic wiles. We must be where we shall be enabled to discern the snares of him who lieth in wait to deceive. Sin must be sensed in its true, hateful character, and expelled from the soul. All who preach the word in verity and truth can afford to be fair in its presentation. We are not to be deceitful in any way. Not handling the word of God deceitfully, we are to let the cross of Christ stand in prominence in all our teaching. We are not to hide the gospel, or cover the cross of Christ with ornamental roses, and thus make the preaching of it of no effect. Let no one shun the cross of self-denial. Make the instruction plain as to what it means to be a Christian. "If any man will come after me," said Jesus, "let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." "He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." Food is the substance of which we partake, that our bodies may be strengthened and built up. In like manner we are to feed upon that which will build up our spiritual nature. Jesus said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing; the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life." Our bodies are composed of that upon which we feed; so our spiritual life will be composed of that upon which we feed. If we feed on Christ, by thinking of him, by obeying his words, we are built up in him, and grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth unto the full stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. "Receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."
As God works in us to will, we are to co-operate with God, manifesting a determination like that of Daniel to do the will of God, working in harmony with the divine Agent. Then we shall have rest in God. Teachers of the word of God are not to keep back any part of the counsel of God, lest the people shall be ignorant of their duty, and not understand what is the will of God concerning them, and stumble and fall into perdition. But while the teacher of truth should be faithful in presenting the gospel, let him never pour out a mass of matter which the people cannot comprehend because it is new to them and hard to understand. Take one point at a time, and make that one point plain, speaking slowly and in a distinct voice. Speak in such a way that the people shall see what is the relation of that one point to other truths of vital importance. Every man who becomes a teacher must also become a learner, and daily sit at the feet of Jesus. It is impossible for anyone to rightly divide the word of truth, unless he earnestly seeks wisdom from on high that he may understand what is taught in the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit must attend the word spoken to the heart. It will be difficult to create prejudice in the hearts of those who are seeking for truth as for hidden treasure, if the speaker will hide himself in Christ; for he will then reveal Christ, not himself.
"And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ; till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." But though God has set these different laborers in the church, there is to be no neglect on the part of one in the performance of duty. Let no one neglect to give faithful and plain instruction upon tithing. Let there be instruction as to giving to119the Lord that which he claims as his own; for the commendation of the Lord will not rest upon a people who rob him in tithes and offerings. There will be need of often setting before the people their duty in this matter, that they may render unto God his own. Let the one who first presents the truth be faithful in presenting this duty, and let him also who follows up the interest, make plain the requirement of God on tithing, that the people may see that in all points the laborers are teaching the same truth, and are of one mind in urging them to yield obedience to all the requirements of God.
But let laborers have discretion, and not give strong meat to those who are as babes, but feed them with the sincere milk of the word. In no case mingle your own spirit and ideas with the truth, and cover up the precepts of God by traditions or suppositions. Let the people have the truth as it is in Jesus, and do not mingle it with concoctions of your own devising, for your presentation of the truth will taste so strongly of self that it will disgust the hearers. Be able to say with Paul: "I have kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have showed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house to house, testifying both to the Jews, and to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. . . . I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." There is most earnest work to be done in order that you may so search the Scriptures that you may be able to declare unto those with whom you meet the whole counsel of God.
LET HIM SHARE ALL.
Filled with anxiety,
And pressed with heavy care,
I brought my load to God
For him to bear.
Tenderly he lifted
The care that did annoy;
Instead of mourning, gave
The oil of joy.
But lo! the joy just given
Began to fade away—
Like Jonah's gourd, a thing
Of but a day.
So to the Lord I went,
And asked the reason why
This joy he had given
So soon should die.
Then, answering, he said,
"Thou broughtest me thy care,
But didst not bring the joy
For me to share."
With tears of penitence,
"Forgive," I cried.
"Henceforth both cares and joys
We will divide."
—London Christian.
The Last Acts in the Drama
By George E. Price
HISTORY. NO. 4.
THE LAST ACTS IN THE DRAMA.
MIGHTY was the work that was performed when the Son of Man appeared. Thousands upon thousands, tired of their own ways, eagerly accepted the free gift of God's everlasting love. Salvation from sin, the gift of eternal life, and even deliverance from the all-pervading tyranny of Rome, were given to all who were simply willing to accept them. For nearly a century it went with a power that compelled attention from scoffing atheists, from deluded pagans, or from bigoted and prejudiced Jews. Never before since the fall of man was the world so thoroughly renovated by the gospel of salvation, and never before were there so many taken out of the nations as a people for his name.
But as this work was carried on in a different way from any before, so Satan had new plans to counteract its influence—and yet not new in principle, although such in outward appearance. In Rev. 2:14, 15 these evils are spoken of as the "doctrine of Balaam," and again as the "doctrine of the Nicolaitanes." "The name of Balaam, according to the best etymology, signifies destroyer of the people, and Nicolaos is no more than a Grecizing of his name."—Sir S. Arthur Blackwood, K. C. B., in London Christian. Balaam is said to have taught Balak to "cast a stumbling-block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication." That is, although he could not curse the people, so that they might be overcome in open warfare, yet, in his love
for the "wages of unrighteousness," he taught Balak how the same thing might be accomplished in another way. The daughters of Moab were fair, and if Israel could be induced to unite with them in worship and in life, that Rock which followed them as their defense would be compelled to forsake them, and then this great multitude would no longer be feared. And when we read the result, let us have in mind that sturdy Christianity, which neither a Nero nor a Galerius with all their fiendish tortures could subdue; let us see this same Christianity fascinated, captured, and emasculated by the pagan Constantine. The Moabitish women invited Israel to the sacrifices of their gods, "and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself to Baal-peor,"—the Roman Priapus,—and they "mingled among the heathen, and learned their works. And they served their idols."
Does not this tell the whole story of the great apostasy? The world was absorbed into the church, the church mixed with the world, and for nearly two millenniums the civilized world, though nominally Christian, has been little better than baptized paganism.
The Roman world had, in the Augustan Age, reached the highest stage of mental development and worldly prosperity to which man apart from God is able to attain. And what was it?—A marble palace, a thousand slaves and mistresses, "rolling streams of gold," and a subjected world. O glorious Rome, proud in thy self-sufficiency, dost think thou hast no need of the help of the lowly Nazarene? Dost think thy Horace, thy Catullus, have a clearer, a nobler harp than those celestial beings who are delighted to have the opportunity at his humble birth to chant, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men"? Thou didst at first despise this noble song, and afterwards corrupt its melody, and as a consequence we see the barbarians of the North sweeping down upon thy luxurious villas and pleasure gardens, and blotting from the earth a civilization that has corrupted the only means that Heaven possessed in order to its purification.
And now the world lay dead for ages. A thousand years of darkness overspread the globe, and scarcely a ray of light pierced its black, pestilent pall. The Lord in mercy had not blotted out the world; he had a people in training who were yet to bring forth his word from the rubbish of centuries, and study it and proclaim it once more. But for the present, throughout the political world—
"Storm bowled
To storm, and lightning, forked lightning, crossed,
And thunder answered thunder, muttering sound
Of sullen wrath."
Famine and pestilence, dread sisters in the work of death, stalked hand in hand over Europe. Ignorance and superstition fettered the minds of men, and delivered them over, helpless and hopeless, to the dominion of Rome—that personification of evil. Man almost grew familiar with his woe. And the very beasts of the field were so accustomed to continual plunder and devastation that, when the village larum bell was rung, as sign of the enemy's approach, they would hurry home for protection, "without any guide, by this accustomed misery."—Des Serres.
Behold the results of the rejection and perversion of the gospel of God! Behold the last reprieve that a merciful God will grant a rebellious world! One more opportunity of unparalleled grace, one more day of glorious, dazzling light, and the world will have reached its aphelion, with no ability to return, and must be blotted out. The former destructions came as the results of a national condemnation; this last will come at the close of probation for a world.
It was just remarked that the Augustan Age was the highest stage of man's development apart from God. We now approach a period when man attains his highest possible development with the aid of religion but without its sanctifying power. By this we mean that the modern world has all the advantages of Christianity in its reflex influence, while at the same time denying the power of that religion in its life—denying it by neglecting it. Man's progress in the present age over the civilization of Rome, socially, mentally, and politically, is all due to the reflex influence of Christianity that shines out from the literature and the holy lives that are the heritage of the present day. How many orphanages had Rome? How many asylums or hospitals? How many in the whole range of philanthropic work? And it is equally potent that politically Christianity was the first to proclaim the liberty of the individual conscience, and that it has emancipated the world, as far as that is possible with sin still reigning—a world still beneath the curse. We are now fast approaching the mountain top of light, but what if, when we reach that height, we still despise God's law, and trample on those who hold its holy precepts dear? Would it not be fitting that this culmination of sin should meet with final retribution?
And, oh, to be living at such a period! Truly, is not this our age the grandest hour of all the great day of time? What period so grand as the sunset? what hour so provocative of solemn thought? Should we not look over the day's work and learn every possible lesson that may guide us during the few minutes of daylight that remain? For, although the sun gleams brightly over the western hills, and with a refulgence far exceeding its brightest noonday gleams, yet we are assured that it will not dip below the horizon but amid the most dreadful storm of all the weary centuries. But, thank God, we have a boat that will outride the blast, and we have only to be willing to occupy a berth in its humble cabin, to be carried safely through into the haven of rest.
But let us listen to the distant mutterings of the storm that come across the waters, and see if the world has ever experienced its rage before. Yes, 'tis the same that burst upon the heads of the disciples, the same that Nero raised to drown the cries of an infuriated populace, the same that Satan has employed in all ages to blot from the earth the few who serve faithfully the Lord their God. O persecution; what a space does thy name occupy in the bloody records of the past! How countless are thy victims! How dreadful thy work! How contrary to the pure spirit of the gospel of love!
But the last great struggle of the ages is indeed upon us, and its record will soon be placed with that of all previous ones upon the great books above. We need heavenly wisdom to discern aright the signs of the times, that we may come off victors in the conflict; and among the best preparations for the coming day is, with prayerful dependence upon God, and an intimate and ever-increasing120knowledge of his word—in the words of another—to "read history, and keep your ear close to the telephone of events."