Earlier text: Swing for Physical and Spiritual HealthAs WE enter upon the study of the book of Revelation, we know of nothing more appropriate as an introduction than the following extract from the first-page article in the REVIEW AND HERALD, No. 15, 1888:— “Make it a point when you have a moment’s leisure, to store your mind with Scripture truth, and especially with what is brought to view in the Revelation, because some of us are to be the very actors who will be on the stage in the last days when these things are revealed; and as you make a persistent effort to understand, the angels of God will enlighten your mind.” Blessed promise that the angels will enlighten our minds, if we make persistent efforts to understand. Let us all enter upon the study of Revelation with a determination to prepare to stand in the battle of the great day. DAILY READING FOR OCTOBER 14-20.
Sunday, “Thoughts on Revelation,” Verses 1-3
Monday, “ “ “ “ 4-8
Tuesday, “ “ “ “ Verse 9
Wednesday, “ “ “ “ 10
Thursday, “ “ “ “ Verses 11-20
Friday, article on Reading Circle Study in the REVIEW AND HERALD of Oct. 2, 1900. QUESTIONS ON FIRST CHAPTER OF REVELATION.
1. How many are mentioned as being instrumental in giving the book of Revelation to the church? Who are they? 3. Upon whom is a special blessing pronounced? V. 3. 4. How many join in sending a message of grace and peace to us? V. 4. 5. Give six features in the character of Christ mentioned in verses 5, 6. 6. How many and what are the facts stated in regard to Christ’s coming? V. 7. 7. What is the significance of the expression “Alpha and Omega”? 8. Why was John banished to the Isle of Patmos? V. 9. 9. Give Scriptural proof showing which day of the week is the Lord’s day. 10. What is meant by the seven churches, and what do they include? 11. Where was Christ seen? V. 13. What do the candlesticks represent? V. 20. 12. Describe the personal appearance of Christ. Vs. 13-16. 13. What is the significance of the seven stars in his right hand? V. 20; Mal. 2:7. 14. Give the different forms of expression which Christ uses to show his power. Vs. 17, 18. 16. What was John commanded to write? V. 19. 17. What symbols are explained in verse 20? THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE.
We have shown that the sixth of the seven trumpet angels ceased to sound Aug. 11, 1840; and that then, as says the Scripture, “The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.” Rev. 11:14. The third woe and the seventh trumpet are identical. When “the seventh angel sounded,” said the prophet, “there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.” And now is the time. The prophet also said, “The nations were angry.” This we have seen fulfilled in the nations since 1844, even to the present hour—the nations that are now in the distress and perplexity of the China entanglement. The prophet further said: “Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy [“corrupt,” margin] the earth. And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Rev. 11:18, 19. Now we wish it to be clearly seen, and it may be, that the events here named are identical with those of Rev. 14:6–20—the threefold message—and 16:1–21—the consequences of rejecting that threefold message; that the events of Rev. 14:6–20 and 16:1–21 are but an explanation in full of those mentioned in Rev. 11:18, 19. To make this plain, we shall here bring together the statements of Rev. 11:18, 19, and the corresponding ones of chapters 14 and 16. 1. “And thy wrath is come.” Rev. 11:18. The third angel says, “If any man worship the beast and his image, . . . the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God.” 14:9, 10. And in the seven last plagues is filled up the wrath of God. 15:1, 6–8; 16. 2. “The time of the dead, that they should be judged.” Rev. 11:18. “I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, . . . saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” 14:6, 7. 3. “That thou shouldest give reward unto thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear thy name, small and great.” Rev. 11:18. This time of reward is at the coming of Christ; for he says: “Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” 22:12. Again he said: “Thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.” Luke 14:14. But his coming follows immediately the Third Angel’s Message; for, says the prophet, “I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.” “And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” Rev. 14:14, 16. “This harvest is the end of the world.” Matt. 13:39. 4. “And shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.” Rev. 11:18. “Another angel came out of the temple which is in heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another angel came out from the altar, which had power over fire; and cried with a loud cry to him that had the sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her grapes are fully ripe. And the angel thrust in his sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great wine press of the wrath of God.” Rev. 14:17–19. Here are shown two reapings. One is by the Son of God, reaping the harvest of the earth, gathering the wheat into the garner of God. The other is to gather together those who are to be cast into the wine press of the wrath of God. The former are the fruits of the true Vine, Christ Jesus. For he says: “I am the true Vine.” “I am the Vine, ye are the branches.” This is the Vine of heaven; for Christ, the true Vine, came down from heaven to do his Father’s will; and of this Vine the “Father is the Husbandman.” All who abide in Christ, the true Vine, will be gathered by the angels into the kingdom of God, when he comes on the white cloud to reap the harvest of the earth. The others are called the clusters of the vine of the earth. Those have no connection with the heavenly Vine, but are of the earth, earthy. And when the clusters of this vine are gathered, it is only to be cast into the wine press of the wrath of God. This same result is shown by John the Baptist under another figure: “He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear; he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matt. 3:11, 12. 5. “And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” Rev. 11:19. Why is this called the ark of his testament?—Because within it is his testimony, as there was in the earthly temple, which was a pattern of the heavenly. “In the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.” Ex. 25:21. But what was the testimony, or testament, that was put in the ark? “He gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon Mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.” Ex. 31:18. “And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.” 32:16. These tables Moses broke when he came down from the mount and found the people given up to idolatry. Then said the Lord to Moses: “Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first: and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou breakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.” Then, said Moses: “I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me.” Deut. 10:1–5. This ark was called the ark of the testimony, or testament, because in it were the tables of the testimony which God gave to Moses, and that testimony was the ten commandments. It is this alone that gave it the title of the ark of the testimony. Now we have shown that this sanctuary, or temple, on the earth was only a pattern, or figure, of the sanctuary, or temple, in heaven. Therefore, that testimony, which gave to the ark of the earthly sanctuary the title of the ark of the testament, must be identical with the testimony that gives to the ark in heaven the title of the ark of his testament; that is, the ten commandments. Now this temple of God in heaven is opened at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. There is shown the heavenly ark of his testament; and connected directly with this stands Rev. 14:12,—the Third Angel’s Message,—saying, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God.” 6. “And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.” Rev. 11:19. This is identical with the record of the events of the seventh plague. For, says the Scripture, “The seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. . . . And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great.” Rev. 16:17–21. But the seven last plagues comprise the wrath of God. This wrath is poured upon those who worship the Beast and his Image, upon those who refuse to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. And the Third Angel’s Message is to warn men against that worship, that they may escape this wrath; and it calls them especially to “keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” These things show that these three messages of Revelation 14, and the wrath which is foretold by the third of these, and the coming of the Lord, which follows the third, represent events referred to as concurrent when the seventh angel shall sound. It is therefore absolutely certain that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the Third Angel’s Message of Revelation 14 is due to the world. Here we must refer again to Rev. 10:7, where the angel declares with an oath that “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.” We have shown that the mystery of God is the gospel, and that the gospel is the power of God unto salvation, and that therefore in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound, the power of God for the salvation of man will be finished in those who believe, and in behalf of those who will not believe. Note especially that this is in the days when the seventh angel begins to sound. From the texts presented in former articles, as well as those already given in this, it is plain that the events connected with the Third Angel’s Message end with the end of the world. Therefore, the Third Angel’s Message is the means by which God makes his last effort for the salvation of men; and by which he perfects forever all who shall meet him in peace when he comes in glory. Eph. 4:13; 5:25–27; Col. 1:27. Thus it becomes of the utmost importance to the children of men to know when the Third Angel’s message is due to the world. In our article of September 18, in discussing the subject of the mystery of God and its finishing, we cited the sanctuary and its services of the Levitical law, and showed that they were typical of the heavenly sanctuary, and the work of Christ in his priesthood. We showed that the services ended with the cleansing of the sanctuary, and that Christ’s priestly service ends at the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, and we showed that this cleansing began in 1844. Therefore this last service of the gospel, the finishing of which is identical with the finishing of the mystery of God, began in 1844. Again: we showed that the cleansing of the sanctuary was really a work of judgment. It was so understood by those who performed the service; and it was so intended to be understood by the Lord, who established the service. This is made certain by the fact that whosoever was not a partaker of the services that day was cut off without mercy when the services closed. He had no further chance. His probation was gone. This was but typical of the work of Christ once for all, and the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary must be likewise a work of judgment. This answers exactly to the words which describe the scenes of the seventh trumpet when it begins to sound, that then was come “the time of the dead, that they should be judged.” And as we have seen, this cleansing of the sanctuary, this work of judgment, this “time of the dead, that they should be judged,” began in 1844.649But this time of the dead, that they should be judged, is the same time referred to in Rev. 14:6, 7, in that message which carries still the everlasting gospel to them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, yet saying with a loud voice to all, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come.” Paul preached this same gospel, but not that the hour of his judgment was come, but simply a judgment to come. Acts 24:25; 17:31. But when the time comes when the seventh angel shall begin to sound, then it is declared, in accordance with the same gospel, the hour of his judgment is come. But this, as we have shown, is identical with the cleansing of the heavenly sanctuary, which began in 1844. Therefore it is certain that the seventh angel began to sound in 1844. That this “hour” of judgment is not the great day of Judgment, which comes at the end of the world, but is a time that precedes the end of the world, answering to the time of the cleansing of the sanctuary, is shown by the fact that two other messages follow this one before the coming of the Lord and the end of the world. But these two do follow this one, and the third of these is the Third Angel’s Message, which warns all men against the worship of the Beast and his Image, and against receiving his mark, under the dreadful penalty of having to drink the wine of the wrath of God; and which at the same time calls all to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. This wine of the wrath of God is the seven last plagues, with the last of which come the lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail, which come at the sounding of the seventh trumpet. These commandments are the testimony of God, which was brought forth prominently when the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament. All these things are but the events that occur in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he begins to sound. And as we have found that this seventh angel began to sound in 1844, then it was, and onward, that the Third Angel’s Message is due to the world. When this message is finished, the mystery of God will have been finished. When this message closes, the work of the gospel will be closed. And when the seven last plagues, which are pronounced by this message against those who worship the Beast and his Image, shall be poured out upon them who have the mark of the Beast, and upon them who worship his Image,—with the pouring out of the last of these comes the end of the world. Therefore, now is the time when there is danger of being drawn into the worship of the Beast and his Image. The people now living are the ones who are concerned in this. The people now living are they who will be called upon to make an image to the Beast, and to worship the Beast and his Image. These are also the people who will be warned by the message of God against all those things, under penalty of suffering the seven last plagues, and will be called to the keeping of the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus because “the hour of his judgment is come.” Now is the “hour.” “Get ready, get ready, get ready.” A SERMON OF THIRTEEN WORDS.
By Uriah Smith
The first impression from this statement would be that this must be a very short sermon; and so it is, if we look only at the bulk and number of the words. But there are other and better standards by which to measure sermons. If we take into consideration the sentiments of these words, we find them as wide-sweeping as the universe; their results have no limit; their theme no understanding can fathom, and no study explain. This sermon consists of John's words concerning Jesus, when he saw him coming unto him. “Behold,” he said to those crowding around him, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29. “What,” asks one writer, “is the most characteristic account of Christianity, by which its supporters may demand that its pretensions shall be tried? The evangelist supplies us with a sufficient answer, first, in John 1:29: ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world;’ and, secondly, in John 20:31: ‘But these things are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.’ Christianity is a system that aims at the remission of sin, through faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God, as a preparation for the life of eternity. It is a method devised by the divine wisdom, and carried out through a supreme sacrifice, to bring all men back unto the moral standard of exalted purity, brightened by a heavenly hope, though its progress is retarded by the operation of a great antagonistic force that struggles to retain men under the bondage of its sensual power. “When Christianity was first proclaimed, the world was well-nigh lost in sin. The noblest cultivation, and the most perfect art, and a skill in law and government which has never been surpassed, were unhappily found to be compatible with a baseness of moral degradation, the very language of which, by God's mercy, has now become obsolete and unknown. Now the gospel revelation rests upon the principle that the removal of the weight and stain of moral evil was the first requisite to the restoration to a higher life, and that no cure could be found for the deeply seated mischief, except through the renewed contact of God himself with human nature, God himself condescending to assume that nature with the express purpose of winning the world to purity and holiness. Christ came, not only to take up man's nature, and to show forth the noblest example of its capacity, but more than this, by a still more marvelous condescension, he came to die for our sins, that thus the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself without spot to God, might purge our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. This is the concise summary of the whole matter. And the Christian argument must always remain weak and defective, if it ever swerves aside from preaching its most important practical results, the remission of sin through faith in Christ. We must not rest satisfied, then, with the negative position that the power of sin has been destroyed. It was the further object of the work of Christ that a higher life might be created through faith in his name. We must pass on from the removal of the hindrances by which man was fettered, to recognize the large capabilities that were infused through the regenerate life.”—Archdeacon Hannah. When John exclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God,” the image of the Holy One, suffering for his people, and bearing their sins (Isaiah 53), stood before his soul. The intuition to which he gave utterance was simultaneous with the appearance, upon his eyes, of Christ's person, so gentle, so calm, and so meek. If salvation for our race is through atoning blood, then these are, of all possible words, the most fitting to set forth a Saviour slain. If life for the saved comes through the death of their Saviour, he can have no fitter description than this: “The Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” “That taketh up, and taketh away.” The word signifies both, as does the corresponding Hebrew word. Applied to sin, it means to be chargeable with the guilt of it, and to bear it away. In the Levitical victims, both ideas met, as they do in Christ, the people's guilt being viewed as transferred to these victims, avenged in their death, and borne away by them. John wishes to point out Jesus as the Messiah. He designates him as “the Lamb of God.” The most obvious reference is to the prophetic announcement of Isa. 53:7. We have there the servant of God, the Messiah, compared to a lamb brought to the slaughter; and it is said of him that he hath borne our griefs, was wounded for our transgressions; he bears the sin of many; so that here, and here only, we have the connection between the lamb and the bearing away of sin; that is, by expiation, by the offering of himself. With eyes enlightened by the Holy Spirit, John beholds the Lamb, which God himself had prepared (Heb. 10:5), and given to be a sin-offering.—Besser. “There are only two places,” says Luther, “where sin can be; either it is with thee, to lie upon thy neck, or it lies on Christ, the Lamb of God. If it lies on thy shoulders, thou art lost. But if it rests on Christ, thou art quit of it, and art saved.” This was John's first public, official testimony to Christ, and it is noticeable that it contains no reference whatever to that position and office of Jesus in which the mass of the Jewish people might have been willing, perhaps, to recognize him; that is, as a delivering king, a triumphant monarch, restoring to power and independence the Jewish race; but he confined his testimony to those two attributes of Christ's person and works—as a “lamb” and an “offering for sin”—which the Jews so resolutely rejected. There is no mention there of Jesus as the Messiah, the Prince, or the King of Israel. The record that John bears is that he is the Son of God, and the Lamb of God, that taketh away sin. In these two declarations,—“This is the Son of God,” and, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,”—we have the gospel of the kingdom, in a form as distinct, as short, and compendious as it is anywhere else to be found. Thus does John place his hand upon the world's great trouble and sorrow—sin. He reveals that which can alone bring deliverance, namely, the taking away of sin; and he names the only agent by which this can be done,—the Lamb of God. The words, “Behold the Lamb of God,” are words of power. Spurgeon relates that, in 1857, just before he was to preach in the Crystal Palace, in London, he went to decide where the platform should be placed. To test the acoustic properties of the building, he cried out in a loud voice, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” In one of the galleries, a workman, who knew nothing of what was going on, heard the words; and they came like a message from heaven to his soul. He put down his tools, went home, and there, after a season of spiritual struggling, found peace in turning to Christ. Years afterward, he told this story to one who visited him on his deathbed. John, in this message, indulged in no vehement, sensational appeals, nor angry rebukes, but made a simple, earnest, plain declaration of God's truth. It is the truth that makes the only lasting impression that can be made. It is related of Wesley, that, preaching on one occasion to an audience of courtiers and noblemen, he used the “generation-of-vipers” text, and hurled denunciations right and left upon those worldlings in high places. The courtiers were, of course, very much displeased, and one of them angrily remarked to Mr. Wesley, in passing out: “This sermon should have been preached at Newgate.” “No,” said the fearless Reformer, “my text there would have been, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the10world.’” To those who felt their need of Christ, and were ready humbly to receive him, Mr. Wesley would have given a text of hope and comfort. But to those who felt so whole in their own self-righteousness, he would apply such texts as would lay bare their groundless pretensions. A young telegraph operator was anxious about his soul, and after a sleepless night went to his duties in the morning. While restless and absorbed in the thought of his being a sinner, he suddenly heard the click of his instrument, and with astonishment and emotion, spelled out this message: “From . . . , Windermere, to . . . , Warkworth. ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,’ ‘in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin.’” This was sent in answer to a message from a young man who also was seeking peace. It became a double blessing, showing to both operator and receiver the way of salvation. By the words of John, our Lord is placed in the very focus of that view which should attract the attention and study of all mankind. It is strange that all eyes are not turned to him, revealed as he is, as the sole source of help from the inevitable ruin to which the world is doomed by sin. But so great is the deadening power of sin that the mere revelation of the fact that a way of salvation has been provided is not enough to arouse the souls of men. Blind eyes must be startled by a vivid light, and dull ears pierced by a thrilling cry to behold and seize the opportunity of escape from death. Therefore that marvelous forerunner of Christ, John the Baptist, was sent forth from God, to make the wilderness echo with the call to repentance. He came thus to prepare the way of the Lord; and when Christ appeared among men, John raised his appeal to all whose eyes might look upon him, and to all who might learn of him: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” By all the prophets his advent had long been foretold; but then he had appeared that men might behold him for themselves. Subsequent teachers in the divine school of truth have repeated and re-echoed the same call. “Looking unto Jesus,” exclaims the apostle Paul; and he enjoins upon us to “consider” him, lest we be weary, and faint in our minds. And our Lord himself invites us, in still stronger terms, to behold him as “the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life.” John 3:36. The supreme denunciation of punishment is decreed against the sinner who treads underfoot the Son of God (Heb. 10:29), while to the overcomer it is affirmed that he shall sit with him upon his throne. Rev. 3:21. U. S. The Dangers of the College Cane Rush
The colleges and universities are now in the time of their annual opening. Incident to this opening, one of the practices of the students is the “rush,” usually “the cane rush.” Following is a description of one that occurred at Rutgers College, September 21, as reported in the New York Times of the 23d:— Fritz Wittig, a member of the freshman class of Rutgers College, was injured in a cane rush here last night, and it is thought that he will not recover. The rush was one of the old-fashioned kind, a cane being given to about forty members of the freshman class, who placed it on the ground and formed a ring around it, guarding it with their bodies. An equal number of sophomores charged in two V-shaped wedges to secure it.
The rush continued for fifteen minutes, at the end of which time a count of hands showed that the sophomores had won. When the sophomores were dragged from the heap of struggling students by the upper classmen, several freshmen were taken from the pile unconscious. All of them, however, revived quickly, with the exception of young Wittig. He was carried to the chapter house of the Delta Upsilon fraternity, and medical aid was summoned. Drs. Williamson and Smith worked all night and all day on the young man, but failed to restore consciousness. They found that he had suffered a concussion of the brain, and held out small hope for his recovery. He was still unconscious this evening. When a college allows such practices as that, what can that college do in the way of instruction to counteract the evil principles of which such practices are but the manifestation? How far are such practices removed from barbarism, not to say savagery? Another serious fault in the present-day education is discussed under the foregoing heading, by the New York Times (Saturday Review) as follows:— Some college professors have suddenly discovered that many, if, indeed, not most, of the young men who go up for examinations can not write down the answers to the questions in simple English. These young men, say the professors, appear to be unacquainted with a sufficient number of English words to enable them to write what they desire to say. These professors are inclined to lay the blame on the primary schools, and to accuse them of neglecting to teach English as it ought to be taught. The blame should be laid primarily on the colleges themselves. That young persons, as a rule, have no vocabulary, and no knowledge of the proper methods of forming sentences, is something which can not escape the general observer, and the inference that they are not properly taught at school is natural, and not erroneous. But the requirements for admission to all the colleges are such that, instead of devoting time to the study of diction and prose composition, the schools are compelled to put their pupils through elementary courses in English literature. There is altogether too much reading of Dryden’s “Palamon and Arcite,” Milton’s “L’Allegro,” and Burke on “Conciliation,” and not half enough instruction in the use and abuse of words. In earlier days pupils had purity, propriety, and precision hammered into them till they were forced to choose their words when they wrote, and formed a habit of doing so when they talked. In those same days there was a custom of making pupils study spelling and definition. The knowledge of words thus gained can not be replaced. And the exercise of writing compositions, followed by careful criticism of each pupil’s work, is of inestimable value. There are schools ranking in the first class which have entirely dropped this part of the training of pupils. If the colleges would lay more stress in their requirements for entrance examinations in English on knowledge of the language and the use of it, than on acquaintance with its literature, there would be less complaint about the inability of candidates for matriculation to write the answers to the questions. Let every Seventh-day Adventist school and college see to it that every child and student therein shall be thoroughly taught in the proper use of correct and simple English. And for this purpose nothing can equal the right use of the old-fashioned spelling-book.