THE idea is entertained by many well-meaning persons that civilization and education are a cure for crime. Acting in harmony with this thought, they bewail the illiteracy of the people in some of the states who have not shown as much enthusiasm for education as they have in others. They also have much to say in regard to the large population of ignorant foreigners now in this country, who are believed to be ready, because of their ignorance, to commit any crime.
Now, we would not put ourselves in the attitude of one who opposes education. All must conclude that education is preferable to illiteracy and ignorance; but to say that education is a sure panacea and preventive of crime, is saying much more than facts will warrant. Rev. Samuel G. Smith, lecturer on sociology in the Minnesota state university, lately delivered a lecture before the prison congress in Milwaukee, in which he is reported as saying “that the greatest number of crimes were committed by the most advanced and morally the most progressive nations. In support of his statement he cited the fact that the East Indian is not so much addicted to crime as the Englishman, the reason being that the East Indian was one of an old nation, satisfied to go along his old way. He did not take to drink, and seek the paths which led from law and order.”
Upon this another writer says:—
Without going into statistics, it will probably be found that the statement is correct. While ignorance, poverty, and squalor are certainly well calculated to add to the number of criminal classes, no one can say that they produced those noted crimes which appall the world by daring or atrocity. The most noted criminals in our day have all been men who have had advantages of a good education and of all those blessings which a progressive age gives to every class of society. The greatest crimes against civilization are committed by men whose talents and opportunities would have enabled them to take their place among the respected members of their community. The most noted forgers, the most expert burglars, the criminals like Holmes, who make their living by cold-blooded murder, are always men of more than average mental training.
These statements may be verified by the observation and experience of every thoughtful person. There are certain crimes which are common to the ignorant and the educated, but in these the educated and the wealthy are much more liable to screen themselves from punishment and from the law than are the ignorant and the poor, so their crimes are never known to man. Then there are crimes which appertain almost solely to the educated, because their education bestows upon them an increased ability for evil. Education prevents some phases of crime, and promotes others, or, at least, makes them possible. Education alone will not keep any one from a low and depraved life. Mr. Moody is authority for the statement that in six months thirty graduates of two large universities in Europe were found in the work of one rescue mission in New York City.
The educated man can commit, and often does commit, all the crimes that an ignorant man does. He also does others that an ignorant man is unable to do; but many of the educated man’s crimes are not regarded as crimes by the people, and hence are not noted. The poor wretch who steals a loaf to satisfy his hunger, is arrested and punished, while the educated and wealthy sharper, who is a factor in some illegal combine, and who swindles millions of people, conciliates the church by gifts to the missionary and church extension fund, blinds the general public by donations to charitable institutions and public works, escapes the law, and thus covers, at least from human eyes, the fact that he is a criminal. Only the other day we read of a British soldier in England who had served twenty months in the Crimean War, and who was covered with honorable scars, being sent to the workhouse, and deprived of his pension, because he stole a penny pie, which he claimed he forgot to pay for! Such minor crimes are punished with great severity, but meanwhile vile men, who are guilty of robbery on a large scale, are exalted to high places in the land.
Education simply draws out, trains, and enlarges the natural powers of man. As far as that education reveals to a man his own natural depravity, and his need of a divine Saviour to preserve him from evil, it will be a preventive of crime. If that element is entirely left out, education simply glosses over human depravity so that it has a better appearance. That this is not so more than it is, is because that in all our colleges some attention, at least, is given to morals and religion.
This fact gives us the true solution to the question as to the best and only way to prevent crime. The general state of evil is only cured by religion. This is not all. A religion which only consists of rules and regulations for living, however good and perfect these rules may be, will not provide a remedy. The wickedest man can write out as perfect a rule as any one can. Makers of just laws are often known to be notorious law-breakers. They know the right, but they are not able, in and of themselves, to do what they know is right. What, then, is wanted but a religion that will not simply provide good rules, but one which will furnish to him who accepts them a divine power that will enable him to be and do what mortal power and determination alone can never accomplish.
This great need is perfectly met in the religion of Jesus Christ. The Christian religion is the only religion that furnishes a Saviour to the soul struggling in the thraldom of sin. The Christian’s Saviour—our Saviour,—was God, and is now God and man. As a man, he knows all our weaknesses, and as God, he has power to help. More than that, he gives to each of us who believe in him the measure of his perfect righteousness, wrought out when he was a man in the same situation as we.
Here in the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the all-sufficient remedy and preventive for sin and crime. If we see the law of sin in our members, working in us not what we would, but what we would not; if when we would do good evil is present, and if we cry out in distress of mind, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” we may also say, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Through the victory which is in Jesus Christ, the groans because of sin may be turned into peans of praise for the Deliverer.
Christ is the remedy for the prevention of sin and crime. He is the Fountain open for sin and uncleanness. He will save, and save to the uttermost, all who come to God by him. Education will not prevent crime; laws can only hold it in check; they can not eradicate the evil passions of man. But what education and law can not do, Jesus Christ can do. His work begins by giving to the believer a new heart and a new life. He is the true and only absolutely efficacious remedy for the evil heart, which, whether educated or ignorant, loves and chooses the paths of evil. Nations went into moral darkness and the extremes of degradation by refusing to know God (Rom. 1:21–24), and such nations can not be restored by education in those things of a worldly nature which exclude the knowledge of God. The hope of the world is in Jesus Christ alone. There is no other thing which any one can do so good for themselves and so beneficial to the world, to lessen crime and to improve our society, as to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
M. E. KELLOGG.
PHARISAICAL SABBATH OBSERVANCE.
By W. E. Cornell
WITHIN the past few years there has been a very noticeable disposition on the part of many all over our land, in profession at least, to return to the Puritanical idea of Sabbath-keeping. The spirit of it is so well illustrated by an incident that is going the rounds of the press that I give it here. As is well known, the Scotch, especially in their own land, are strict Sunday observers. A minister of one of the kirks of that country stated to an American clergyman that a short time before he had occasion to do some traveling, and found it necessary to Sunday at a little country inn. As the day was warm, and the room exceedingly close, he started to open a window. “What are ye about, mon?” inquired the landlady with some severity, entering the room just at that time. The minister meekly explained that he thought it would be more pleasant to have a little fresh air. “Eh, mon,” said the landlady with additional emphasis, “ye can hae no fresh air in this hoose on the Sawbeth; six days are enow for that, mon.”
Judging from the strenuous efforts of the self-appointed guardians of Sunday sacredness to stop the running of all excursion trains, street-cars and other public conveyances on Sunday, it would seem that they have no more consideration for the wage workers of our large cities who all the week are compelled to breathe the germ-laden air of illy-ventilated quarters than the old Scotch lady had for the comfort of her guests. The unfortunate thing in connection with this whole business is that through the agitation that is now everywhere being carried forward, public sentiment is being so crystallized that new laws are enacted and old ones revived to compel the people to submit to these Puritanical strictures. W. E. CORNELL.
Life Is an Arrow
By Henry Van Dyke
LIFE is an arrow—therefore
You must know
What mark to aim at, how
To use the bow—
Men draw it to the head
And let it go.
—Henry Van Dyke.
THE ARRIVAL OF THE KING.
By W. W. Prescott
The two events of the greatest importance in the history of this world are the first and second comings of Christ to this earth. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), in order that God in Christ might be “Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matt. 1:23). Christ will come the second time to receive us to himself, that we may be with him where he is, in the presence of God. John 14:3; 17:24. God is infinite in justice as well as mercy, and so at the cost of the life of his own dear Son he has made provision “that he might be just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.” Rom. 3:26. In harmony with this plan Christ came in the flesh, lived a life of righteousness in behalf of man and as man, became himself the true sacrifice for sin to which all the sacrifices of the typical system had pointed (Heb. 9:26), and ascended to heaven to be man’s “advocate with the Father” (1 John 2:1).
His promise when here on earth was, “I will come again” (John 14:3); and we may know from the Scriptures that he has given unmistakable signs, that those who desire to understand these things may know when his coming is “near, even at the doors” (Matt. 24:33). But in spite of his plainest warnings and instruction concerning his return to this earth, although he has set the history of the nations for a sign, and has put “signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars,” and has indicated in the clearest manner what would be the condition of society and of many of his professed followers in the time just preceding his second coming, yet many will reject all these evidences, and upon them “the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night.” 1 Thess. 5:2, 3.
We may learn an important lesson concerning these things by a study of the circumstances attending the first advent. Observe how minutely this event had been described in the prophecies. The Messiah was to be the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15); his mother was to be a virgin (Isa. 7:14; Matt. 1:23); he was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2); the definite time of his manifestation to the world had been fixed (Dan. 9:25); a messenger was to prepare the way for his coming (Isa. 40:3-5; John 1:22, 23); the nature of his work was set forth (Isa. 61:1, 2; Luke 4:16-21), his treatment, his death, and the manner of his death were all in the prophecy (Isaiah 53); even the price for which he was sold into the hands of his persecutors had been mentioned (Zech. 11:12); and his resurrection and ascension had been declared beforehand (compare Ps. 16:10; 110:1, with Acts 2:24-27, 32-35). But notwithstanding all this light, “He came to his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:11.
But Why Was He Rejected?
It is plain that the people of that day were looking for a Messiah, but it is also plain that they were looking for a temporal Messiah who should deliver them from the Roman yoke and exalt them again to their place among the nations. In the light of this ambition they read and interpreted all the prophecies, and deliberately shut their eyes to every statement of the Scripture which was not in harmony with their own desires. The true spirit of religion had been lost in a meaningless round of ceremonies, and the true meaning of the Scriptures had been lost in the multitude of their traditions, which had been exalted above the written word of God. So Christ himself said to them, “Ye do err, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power7of God.” Matt. 22:29. Their ideas of the character of God had become so distorted that when Jesus Christ, “the image of God,” appeared among them they did not recognize him. This was because they were not willing to open their hearts to the “wisdom of God;” “for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” I Cor. 2:8.
This Lesson Is for Us.
There are no less than ten independent lines of prophecy which deal with the second coming of Christ; besides the numerous scriptures which speak of special events or circumstances and conditions, all of which may be clearly understood. These prophecies cover the ground in the most minute way, and shed the plainest light upon the time, manner, and purpose of our Saviour’s return to this earth; and yet all this teaching is rejected by many who profess to believe the Bible, simply because they have theories of their own in the light of which they interpret all these plain teachings of the word. Such persons read the Bible, not to find out what God says, in order to govern their belief and conduct by it, but rather to find, if possible, some texts which will establish their theories. But this is not the way to receive light from God upon his word. The Saviour said, “If any man willeth to do his will, he shall know of the teaching” (John 7:17, R. V.), and this promise is for us to-day.
It is the concurrent fulfilment of all the prophecies relating to the last days which forces upon the mind of the honest seeker after truth the firm conviction that the end of all things of this world is at hand and that the King is near, “even at the doors.” It is not simply that one specification of the prophecy is met, but that all are met. If one specification were lacking, that fact would vitiate the whole; but the more closely the question is studied, the more clearly will it appear that “the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began,” are just upon us. “Our God shall come, and shall not keep silence.” “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” “Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand.” “The great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly.” “But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth?” “Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.”
Preparation for His Coming.
The only preparation to receive Christ with joy when he “shall come in his glory,” is to receive him now while he stands at the door of the heart knocking for admittance. God “hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom he hath ordained,” and a character in the likeness of Christ is the only one which will pass the searching test of that great day. Only those will be justified in that day who are day by day “being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
God does not require any preparation at our hands for which he has not made the fullest provision. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places inChrist.” “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him.” “Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.” This is a practical experience which will reveal itself in the daily life. True religion is for the home, for the family, for the neighborhood, in all the relations of the daily life. It is not a garment which is to be worn on the outside for one day in the week, but is a constant experience of the ordinary life. “Righteousness within is testified to by righteousness without. He who is righteous within is not hard-hearted and unsympathetic, but day by day he grows into the image of Christ, going on from strength to strength. He who is being sanctified by the truth will be self-controlled, and will follow in the footsteps of Christ until grace is lost in glory. The righteousness by which we are justified is imputed; the righteousness by which we are sanctified is imparted. The first is our title to heaven, the second is our fitness for heaven.”
HE "SHALL SO COME IN LIKE MANNER."
This is the preparation needed for “the arrival of the King.” God offers it freely to all through the grace which is in Christ Jesus. O that his love may draw all hearts to him! O that his goodness may lead all to repentance! O that all might be ready to hail his coming with joy! “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.”
W. W. PRESCOTT.
MORE REPRESENTATIVE PETITIONING.
By W. N. Glenn
Congressman Dalzell, of Pennsylvania, has presented a petition of the Christian Endeavor Union of that state, asking for the passage of a non-partisan labor commission bill; bills to secure arbitration in railroad strikes; to present the nullification of state antigambling laws, by adding penalties for gambling by mail or express, and for a Sabbath (Sunday) law for the District of Columbia. These petitions are said to represent 207,000 persons, that being the reputed Endeavor membership of Pennsylvania. It is safe to say, however, that not a tithe of them ever saw the petition. Such is the character of this representative petition business, adopted by the National Reformers. Such is the deceptive tactics being adopted to deceive congressmen and legislators generally with the idea that overwhelming majorities of people favor the National Reform movements. What right has any person or combination of persons to petition in the name of others? There is no denying the legitimate right of petition; but the abuse of the right is manifest when men assume to petition in the names of others.
The secular government was instituted for the protection of individual rights. Men may petition the government as individual citizens, for secular purposes, but no man has a right to petition in the name of another. No man has a right to ask as a Presbyterian, or as a Catholic, or as any other characteristic religionist, for legislation. Petitions coming before any secular legislative body should come from citizens, and be signed by individuals as such, and may properly represent only the signers. Religious bodies, as such, have no right to petition any secular body for legislation; although the members of that body as individuals have the right of such petition. If our Congress or Legislatures begin enacting laws on petitions because the petitioners are Methodists, or Baptists, or Christian Endeavorers, where will the matter end?
An indication of where it will end is given in the petition under consideration. This petition comes from Pennsylvania, yet it asks that Sabbath observance be enforced upon the people of the District of Columbia; and its signers assume that they ought to have their request granted because they are Christian Endeavorers. Could the end of such petitioning, if generally heeded by Congress, be more plainly indicated? Let us ask these petitioners a question: Suppose the leading Catholics of the District of Columbia, representing the entire church in the District, should petition Congress to pass a law compelling all the people of Pennsylvania to attend the confessional at stated times,—what would be thought of such a move? Congress has just as much right to pass such a law, if Catholics should ask it, as they have to pass a District of Columbia Sabbath law because the Christian Endeavorers petition for it. The District of Columbia Catholics have just as much right to ask for a Pennsylvania confessional law as the Pennsylvania Endeavorers have to ask for a District of Columbia Sabbath law; and Congress is under no more obligation in the one case than in the other. In fact, the members of Congress having taken an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, they are under the most solemn obligation to deny the requests of all such petitions.
Some will object to this parallel on the ground that a majority of professing Christians, and many others, believe in keeping Sunday; therefore all should be compelled to observe it. But the parallel case is strengthened by the fact that all professing Christians, and many others, believe it a duty to confess sin; and if Congress may enact how and when the people shall observe the Sabbath, it may with equal propriety enact how and when they shall confess their sins. And no believer in the word of God will dispute that the confession of sin is fully as essential as the keeping of the Sabbath. If Congress may impose one religious duty, it may with equal propriety impose all others. And if nominal Protestants continue to urge this Roman doctrine of enforcing religious dogma by state law in the United States, the time is not far distant when they will find measures growing upon their precedents far beyond their present anticipations. They ought to learn at least one lesson from the experiment of asking government aid to denominational schools.
W. N. Glenn.
HE LEADETH THEM OUT.
By Phebe A. Holder
A day of summer beauty,
The earth with sunshine bright,
Sweet flowers, glad insects humming,
Joy in the golden light,
Yet on my heart a shadow,
A gathering cloud of fear—
When came this precious promise
From unseen presence near:
“He leadeth them out.”
Going before, he leadeth
Unto fair pasture green;
By sweet, still waters flowing
Neath soft, blue skies serene,
Out of earth’s strife and tempest
Into a hallowed calm,
When his own peace is hovering,
And all the air is balm,
“He leadeth them out.”
O living hand still leading
Through all the unknown way,
Where darkness falls around me,
Dimming hope’s cheering ray!
How dear amid the darkness,
The prison hours of fear,
To know that thou art with me—
The Shepherd’s voice to hear,
“He leadeth them out.”
Out of all sorrow leadeth,
By tender, nail-pierced hand,
Giving me strength for weakness
In this oft-weary land,
Out of myself and evil
Into a larger place,
To dwell with him forever,
In glory see his face.
He leadeth me out.
—Phebe A. Holder, in Christian Herald.
CHRIST, THE SATISFIER.
CHRIST is able to answer all the heart’s perplexing questions. From him nothing is hid. Whatever the hard question is which one in faith brings to him, the solution is prompt. Our hardest questions are those which relate to God’s dealings with men. Why does he take away this child, that husband, this mother? Why does he permit the sweeping away of one’s fortune through the neglect or the dishonesty of others? Why are the innocent allowed to suffer for the sins of the guilty? Why does he not interfere for the oppressed, the weak, the helpless? These indeed are hard questions, and when bitterly and defiantly asked, receive no reply; but when filially put, get from him an answer that brings peace to the soul.—Pilgrim Teacher.
Hoarding Money Makes Beggars
HOARDING up money in a miserly way can never be done without making a beggar of the man who does it.—Ram’s Horn.
How Do We Know?
How do we know that Jesus Christ is the Saviour of the world? How do we know that he is our Saviour personally? What proof have we? Is it not from the Bible, the word of God? Do we not know all these things, because God has said so in his word? But if God does not mean what he says with reference to some of his precepts which men are trampling under foot, how do we know that he means what he says when he promises us forgiveness and salvation? Shall we hope in God's promise while we reject his precept? His life is in his word (John 6:63); shall we ask him for life in his promise that we may trample down his life in his precept? These, reader, are important questions.
THE BIBLE ALONE.
By J. N. Hallock, D.D.
The writer once listened to a lecture by the great astronomer, the late Richard A. Proctor, the celebrated author of “Other Worlds than Ours.” He told what great achievements had been obtained by science, so that the motions of the heavenly bodies were now reduced to a mathematical formula, and even the orbits of those most eccentric bodies, the comets, could be calculated to a certainty; but at the conclusion of his lecture he gave it as his solemn verdict that, notwithstanding all this arrangement, adaptation and perfect order, no human mind by searching could find out God. He was himself a devout Christian, but he was such only because of the revelation of the Bible. The revelation of the stars was unable and powerless to produce in his mind an absolute conviction even of a Supreme Architect.—J. N. Hallock, D.D.
It Takes Two to Make a Quarrel
“There's a pretty little proverb
From the sunny land of Spain;
But in northland, as in southland,
What it means is clear and plain;
Lock it up within your heart,
Never lose nor lend it:
It takes two to make a quarrel;
One can always end it.”
SOME RELIGIOUS STRAWS.
Sunday Laws.
The past week was an interesting one in religious circles in this part of southern California. A district meeting of the Y. P. S. C. E. was held in this city with a good attendance of delegates. Among other topics discussed were the prominent ones of “Christian Citizenship” and the desecration of the “American Sabbath.” Remedies were prescribed, especially for the latter institution, viz., more stringent laws and the putting of men in office who will see that these laws are enforced.
Condition of Religion and Society.
On Thanksgiving day a union service was held in the Presbyterian Church, which was listened to by a very large audience. An unusual interest was created by the fact that the speaker of the day, Rev. H. W. Lathe, Cong., had sent letters to about sixty of the citizens of Pasadena to assist in the preparation of his sermon, which had for its subject, “The True Welfare of Our City,” taking for his text Acts 21:39, “A citizen of no mean city.” The questions propounded were: (1) What part, if any, should Christian people take in the political affairs of the city? (2) What special evils threaten our young men, and what are the remedies? (3) What hindrances or deficiencies within the church prevent its highest usefulness in the community? (4) If you were able to secure two great benefits for Pasadena, what would they be?
The speaker stated that from the hearty responses received from these citizens he was convinced that a very vital, thoughtful, and resolute public spirit existed abroad in our city. All were agreed on the fact that the first obligation of the citizen was to secure good government. Every one says (many with great earnestness) that Christian citizens should take a leading part in the administration of public affairs. He quoted as follows from the letters:—
“Christians should govern the city.”
“Mix religion with politics.”
“Let ministers take the lead.”
“Put only righteous men in office.”
“Christians can control public affairs if they will.”
A number insist that Christian men should attend the primaries, and caucuses; others call attention to the necessity of carrying the Golden Rule, and a Christian spirit and conscience, into political activity, with prayer for guidance.
Among a list of dangers which threaten young men the following are named: Home influences neglected; too much amusement; low standards of morality; cardplaying; dancing; theaters; Theosophy; Spiritualism; materialism; profanity; bad pictures, especially indecent posters; tobacco, especially cigarettes; Sabbath-day desecration, especially bicycling; evil conversation; evil associates; the saloon and intoxicating drinks. Institutions were named which the writers would desire to see fostered.
Referring to the church, all the correspondence say that there is worldliness, timidity before evil, unreality, dissensions, indifference to the poor and strangers, lack of unity and of spirituality and of Christ-likeness and of consecration, uncharitableness, selfishness and hypocrisy, formality, too much dress and too little missionary work, not enough of faith, failure to bear witness, and the like.
Paul reproved the early church faithfully and tenderly for these very evils. One writer says wisely that we have too much organization, too little unorganized liberty; another, that there are too many religious spectators; another, too much greed; another, too expensive churches; another, neglect of church officials to attend the church; another, ignoring wage earners; another, a last generation conscience, which is afraid of contact with the world.
The speaker asked the question, Is there not much inconsistency in the lives of Christians? and questioned whether much could be accomplished by preaching a gospel of good works. For his part, he had given up exhorting unconsecrated Christians to lead good lives. We must get Christians consecrated before their lives can show consecration. So long as the church says, “I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing,” and knows not that she is “miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked,” there is no hope for her.
Referring to the “American Sabbath,” he mentioned what may be termed “pet desecrations.” Man needs the holy day to rest. He needs it to rest his body, soul, and spirit. The iron on our railroads needs it. The wheels on our bicycles and carriages need it, as well as the ledgers in our stores, and the tools on our ranch. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” When was that law ever abrogated? If it is not binding on us to-day, prove that any of the Ten Commandments are binding! It was a pity that any post office in the land should be open on the first day of the week, and a greater pity that Christian men should get their mail and fill their minds with secular business on the Lord’s day. Pasadena has been called the “Model City,” yet there was in his opinion room for improvement in this respect; he would have less traffic on our streets on Sunday and shut up the cigar stands.
In closing, the speaker suggested that we need a day of fasting and prayer—several days. We are not so fully as we should be a peculiar people, separate from the world. We are conspicuously exposed to the allurements of mammon, and we yield to the suction of the worldliness which whirls about us. He expressed the hope that if the great revival which was expected in this country the coming winter, which indicated a special outpouring of the Spirit, should come to this city, our streets would be filled with temperance and brotherly love, and on the bells of the horses would be written “holiness unto the Lord;” and the church of Christ, bought with his blood, his bride and his joy, would arise and shine with the glory of the Lord upon her.
THE TESTIMONY OF A W. C. T. U. STATE PRESIDENT.
By W. N. G.
AMONG the measures which the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union will urge before the Legislature of California, is a day-of-rest law. This is what Mrs. Sturdevant Peet, president of the State Union, has to say about it:—
“We wish to leave every one free to rest when convenient, but we want a law that will let the laborer have one day in seven to himself. By this a man working by the month can not be forced to labor those thirty days without rest days. These will be vouchsafed him by law. I do not think any confusion will result from such a law, as I once lived in a neighborhood where there was a large number of Seventh-day Adventists. Their factory bells and our church bells, and vice versa, would blend together very sweetly. While one part of the community worked the other prayed, and peace abode there.”
Whatever may be thought of the law by the advocates of an out-and-out Sunday law, it is clear that Mrs. Peet throws a damper over their arguments that ordinary labor is a “desecration” of Sunday, and that Sunday labor is a “disturbance” to Sunday worship. Where the factory bells and church bells “blend together very sweetly,” there can not be any just complaint of disturbance. In behalf of Seventh-day Adventists, we can say that they make no complaint of disturbance of their public worship on the Sabbath (Saturday), albeit that is the busiest business day of the week with other people. Nor do they ask for any Sabbath law but the law given by the “Lord of the Sabbath,” who “blessed” and “sanctified” it at the close of the creation. Furthermore, we never have heard of the civil laws being invoked for the enforcement of any religious rite or institution backed by an ordinance of God. It is because of the lack of a “thus saith the Lord,” that human law is deemed necessary in support of Sunday and other supererogative religious institutions. We are glad Mrs. Peet, in her capacity as head of the California W. C. T. U., has given this testimony to a condition which is plainly subversive of a current false theory.
W. N. G.
J. E. SCANLAN
By J. E. Scanlan
Parkhurstism.
In our neighboring city of the Angels (Los Angeles) Rev. Mr. Wilson has been endeavoring to prove that all are not angels of light, no more than himself. The method he used was the “Parkhurstian plan.” Accompanied by a theological student, he entered a saloon a few minutes before midnight, when the proprietor was closing, and managed by feigning sickness to remain five minutes after the legal time for closing, to drink beer and purchase whisky. They also entered another place, where they bought beer at one dollar a bottle, and induced some of the inmates, for a liberal sum of money, to give shameful exhibitions, which are supposed to be necessary, according to the “Parkhurstian plan,” for suppressing vice, and having for their leaders men calling themselves Christian (!) ministers.
The press of the city has strongly condemned this very questionable method of reform, and the Sunday Times aptly suggests that this class of immoral reformers should call themselves a “Committee on Immoral Practices of the Parkhurst Society.”
J. E. SCANLAN
Pasadena, Cal., Dec. 7, 1896.
BABYLON IS FALLEN.
By J. P. Henderson
FROM the Baptist Union of March 7 we learn that the Rev. William B. Hale, of Middleboro, Mass., kept a record from June 1, 1894, to June 1, 1895, of the doings of the various religious societies of the land, for the purpose of raising money; and adds “that nothing could be more disheartening than a review of these performances.”
Mr. Hale is credited as calling them “honorable kinds of thievery,” and is further quoted as saying that “it is a matter of common knowledge that churches have methods of raising money which are fraudulent, and nobody is horrified by the knowledge, because nobody to-day takes the churches any more seriously than they take themselves.” “It is indeed difficult for the imagination to connect these modern societies, occupied in giving suppers, and popular entertainments, with the church which once worshiped God in simplicity and seriousness, filled with heavenly aspirations.” “Modern religious methods do not find their pattern in the earlier churches.” “We are not informed that the church at Ephesus or Philippi ever advertised a clambake, a bazaar, or a strawberry sociable.” “We have no information that St. Paul was accustomed to give stereopticon lectures, Barnabas operating the lantern.” “It is not clearly established that St. Athanasius ever arranged a kirmess, a broom drill, or a pink tea.”
The above is a specimen of the lamentations that may be seen from time to time in the religious press of nearly all denominations, yet the rolling tide is onward, and these very writers and editors will usually pay their quarter and go to the show just the same.
One of the latest copyrighted fads for the churches’ financial harvest is “The Old Maids’ Convention,” described as a “side-splitting entertainment.” It was a short time since monopolized in this town by the Y. P. S. C. E. of the — Church. The pastor of this same church vacated his pulpit recently in favor of a lecturer on “Good Citizenship,” who strongly advocated the union of Church and State.
When the world steps in and the Spirit of God steps out, it is very natural that an appeal should be made to the “powers that be” for strength to enforce their dogmas. Babylon indeed is fallen. How precious the truth seems in the midst of these “perilous times.” J. P. HENDERSON.
Goodland, Ind.
Belief of Missionaries
In speaking in the Advance, of the Christian Alliance Missionaries, A. L. Frisbie, D.D., who preaches as a part of the Gospel ‘that the Lord is soon coming, says that “missionaries of all the boards, in greater or less numbers, hold it.” This is good; would that they also could see the message which God has given to his church to give to the world to prepare people for that coming. See Rev. 14:6-12.
