Review and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 6. (2/7/1907)

Review and Herald

Feb 7, 1907

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Feb 7, 1907

A Hymn of Trust

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;

Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof.

There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.

The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Come, behold the works of the Lord, what desolations He hath made in the earth.

He maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth; He breaketh the bow, and cutteth the spear in sunder; He burneth the chariot in the fire.

Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

Our Publishing Work

By Editor

The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalm 68:11.

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Do you suppose that birds can think, and that they reason? Do you suppose that they plan things and play mischievous pranks? Do you suppose that they can learn to love people? Would you like to know what lessons can be learned from the frog? Would you like to learn a lesson from the weeds that grow almost everywhere? Would you like to know some of the habits of the birds? Would you like to read some very interesting and true stories of some birds and other creatures that once lived in a certain man's garden? If so, you should order “My Garden Neighbors,” by L. A. Reed. You can get it through this Office, or by ordering from your tract society. It is a book of many illustrations, and contains 256 pages. Price, $1.

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The February number of Life and Health is said to be the best number published. The following table of contents will help to give some idea of its value: How to Overcome Constipation; Normal Life; Jesus the Healer; The Anti-Alcoholic Movement among Students and Practitioners; Paralyze Your Leucocytes? A Deadly Fallacy; The Venereal Peril; Unclean Newspapers; Smallpox and Vaccination; A Time for Study and a Time for Sleep; The “New” Dietary; Reading in Bed; The Earthquake Cure; Some Uses of Cottonseed Oil; Health Principles in Australia; A Hydropathic Institute, Adelaide, Australia; Rome, Italy; From a Doctor's Note-Book; Unfermented Dough Breads; The Bright Side (poem); Reading and Association of Our Children; The Decadence of Family Life; When Girls Go Wrong; Child Training; A Reformer among Charlatans; Some Enemies of Reform; Two Reasons for the Use of Alcohol Examined; Let the Children Sleep; “The Swing of the Pendulum;” News Notes, etc. Subscription price for one year, 50 cents; single copy, 5 cents; twenty-five copies to one address, 2½ cents a copy, or $2.50 a hundred. A liberal commission is allowed agents on yearly subscriptions. Correspondence solicited.

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WE have been pleased to note the large number of requests received from the general public within the last few weeks for agencies for our books, which has verified, in the work of our colporteurs, the scripture, “My word . . . shall not return unto me void, . . . it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” It is very evident that the people are reading our books and becoming interested in them. One lady has taken quite a number of orders for “Coming King” without having asked permission from any one, and wishes to know where she may obtain the books. May the seeds thus sown by our faithful workers bear much fruit.

THE set of Signs of the Times leaflets is composed of sixteen different 2-page tracts, embracing the following subjects: The Sure Word of Prophecy, Prophetic History of the World, Second Coming of Christ, The Signs of Our Times, The Sanctuary, The 2300 Days, The Law of God, The Sabbath of the Bible, The First Day in the Bible, Who Changed the Sabbath? The Great Threefold Message, The Seal of God and the Mark of the Beast, Church and State, Life and Immortality, The Great Judgment-Day, The Home of the Saved, etc. You can get one pound (eighteen of each leaflet) for 50 cents, or 100 of any single leaflet for 15 cents. No less than 100 of any single tract will be sold.

NOTE the scope of the following four Religious Liberty tracts: Principles Too Little Understood, a short, practical, impressive discussion of the fundamental principles of personal, national, and religious liberty. R. L. No. 1; eight pages; price, 38 cents a hundred. Sunday Laws: Their Origin, Nature, and Object, a terse consideration of the enforcement of such laws. R. L. No. 2; eight pages; price, 38 cents a hundred. The Logic of Sabbath Legislation, exposing the evils of Sabbath legislation, and revealing the true meaning of all Sunday laws. R. L. No. 3; eight pages; price, 38 cents a hundred. The Civil Sabbath, refuting the arguments in favor of enforced rest for public benefit, and revealing the principles of true Sabbath observance. R. L. No. 4; twelve pages; price, 55 cents a hundred. One hundred of each kind sent post-paid for $1.65.

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“The World-Rest One Day in Seven”

The demand for Sunday laws is now being based upon a so-called social foundation, the catch phrase being “the world-rest one day in seven.” The argument is illustrated by the following extracts from one of the leading religious papers:—

To-day we are concerned not for the Hebrew Sabbath, but for the world-rest one day in seven, which by the influence and usage of the Christian church is kept by most of us on the first day of the week, and which, in memory of our Lord’s rising again, we call his day. We have ceased, with the abandonment of direct alliance between church and state, to feel that we have any right to compel men to worship, but we have a vital interest in securing them the opportunity of rest, on which at last the invitation to worship must largely depend. We recognize that private practise, except in so far as it prevents the cessation of labor and the quiet which is essential to the free and undisturbed enjoyment of rest and worship, does not fall within the view of our lawmakers. . . .

There is not now—there never really was—room in our American social life for the authority of a Sabbath law dictated by any church. But the rest-day law which is built upon the general conviction of the validity of the Sabbatic principle of rest one day in seven—a law which insists upon the widest possible cessation of labor, and which leaves the individual free to worship undisturbed—rests upon the broadest social foundation. . . .

We welcome, then, with peculiar pleasure, the action of France in enacting a law forbidding Sunday labor. That is the first step; that clears the way. In a country like France, where Puritanism was never supreme, and organized Christianity has ceased to be the controlling factor in the government, the popular conviction of the necessity of the world sabbath for the laboring man, opens a door of hope for religious progress, though it does not close it upon selfish self-indulgence in mere Sunday pleasure. . . .

It [the question of Sunday laws] is a question of social efficiency and personal opportunity. We have a right to claim the world-sabbath of one day’s rest in seven, but not the Hebrew Sabbath or the Christian Lord’s day from our lawmakers. But we have the further right to claim that freedom shall be left for all who choose to keep the Hebrew Sabbath or the Christian Lord’s day to do so without disturbance—it is our good fortune under God’s ordering that common consent of Christendom dictates that the rest day shall be the first day of the week. . . .

The first, though not the final interest of Christians is in securing the enactment of laws for the world-rest one day in seven which shall so commend themselves to the good sense and sober judgment of all the moral and industrial classes of the community that they will have the strong support of public opinion behind them for their enforcement.

Let us give a little study to the statements made in these paragraphs. The demand for Sunday laws upon a religious basis is apparently abandoned, and the plea is made for a “world-sabbath of one day’s rest in seven” purely upon a “social foundation.” But it is perfectly plain that those who see so clearly “the necessity of the world-sabbath for the laboring man” have no other intention than that this “world-sabbath” shall be the first day of the week. While professedly acknowledging that the church has no right to dictate a Sabbath law, there is the well-defined purpose to secure, under cover of a so-called “world-rest of one day in seven,” the enactment of laws which shall enforce the observance of that day “which by the influence and usage of the Christian church” has been exalted into a “sabbath.” It is declared that “we have a right to claim the world-sabbath of one day’s rest in seven, but not the Hebrew Sabbath or the Christian Lord’s day, from our lawmakers,” and this “right” is professedly based upon “the necessity of the world-sabbath for the laboring man,” as if the only purpose was to prevent employers from enforcing continuous toil upon the laboring man; but in every case where such legislation has been sought, the only thing which would satisfy these self-appointed guardians of the laboring man has been a law requiring rest upon Sunday. They have never been willing to accept a law which gave to the workers “one day in seven,” unless that day was Sunday. This demonstrates that the catch phrase “the world-rest one day in seven” is not a sincere expression of the real purpose of those who use it. This is further shown by the assertion that the “common consent of Christendom dictates that the rest day shall be the first day of the week.”

It matters not how great the effort may be to conceal it, the real purpose of demanding legislation in behalf of the laboring man is to secure the recognition of Sunday as a religious day. The talk about “one day in seven” is but a thin veneer which does not conceal the Sunday idea underneath it. Behind all these movements is a master mind seeking to work out his purpose to set aside the law of God, and to bring the true Sabbath—the seventh day of the week—into contempt. But the commandment remains unchanged: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. . . . The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”

Corporate Salvation

By C. M. S.

The spirit of the present day is the spirit of unionism, combination, consolidation, trusts; and we find that it is a spirit that is not content to dominate worldly affairs alone. It has crept into the pulpit of the church, till the theme of corporate salvation—the salvation of society en masse—has taken the place formerly occupied by the theme of individual salvation and individual accountability to God—as if society were an entity; as if society had a soul to be saved or lost.

Society is defined as a community of individuals; it is defined as companionship; or as a class of individuals who hold themselves above the ordinary work-a-day people; and it is also in a vague sense, the influence emanating from a community; but it is not in itself a reasoning, thinking, responsible being, a being that can keep or break laws of

its own power or volition. We can not hang, electrocute, or imprison society for the sins of society about which we hear so much. The individual members of the race are held individually responsible for the sins which they commit. “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.” This is not spoken of society; for it has no soul. We can not in any way make it read: “The society that sinneth, it shall die.” Whatever sins God holds responsible for the sin; whatever is held responsible for the sins is the thing that dies; and the thing that is to die for its sin is the thing that needs salvation, and must have it or be lost.

The Lord himself declares (Deut. 24:16), “The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin.” This teaches the individual accountability of man to God. If God would not hold a man's family responsible for his sins, he certainly will not hold the community at large responsible. Man can not put upon society the blame for his own wickedness, nor look to the salvation of society for his own individual salvation from the results of his own individual sins.

Salvation is a personal work, the result of a personal reconciliation between man and his Maker. There is no such thing as corporate godliness or corporate salvation. Christ, through the things which he suffered, became a perfect Saviour, that he might “succor them that are tempted.” We are tempted as individuals, not as society. He nowhere tells us that he came into this world to succor and save society. The blessedness of the real facts of the gospel are lost sight of in the idea of society salvation. It is true that Christ died for the world; but that can only be said because he died for every individual in the world. He died for you; he died for me. He will save you; he will save me; he will save every individual that will surrender to him, and accept of his salvation. Christ loves us personally; he died for us personally; he will save us personally, and in no other way. There was no sacrifice made for society; there are no mansions in heaven prepared for society; the names of the redeemed recorded in heaven are not the names of societies; and the saints who “possess the kingdom” possess it as saints, not as societies.

Let us take the teachings of Christ for what they mean, and realize in our individual hearts the blessedness of his individual salvation. Then will our testimonies have power, and our lives will be living witnesses of a true, living Christian experience; and while multitudes are following after the deceptive teachings of these days, such lives and such testimonies will stand out as guideposts for the benighted wayfarer, and as lights shining in a dark place “until the day dawn.”

C. M. S.

Hold Fast

By Editor

Editorial

Hold Fast

“Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.” “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens; Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.” “Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.”

The Service of God and of Mammon

By George I. Butler

“Ye can not serve God and Mammon.” Luke 16: 13. Mammon is defined to mean, “Riches; wealth; the god of riches; riches, personified.”—Webster.

“No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye can not serve God and Mammon.” Riches is defined as, “An abundance of land, goods; money, or other property; wealth; opulence; affluence.”—Webster. “Riches do not consist in having mere gold and silver, but in having more in proportion than our neighbors.”—Locke. It is hoped that these definitions will illuminate the meaning of these scriptures somewhat.

The Saviour declares very positively that we can not serve God and Mammon. We can serve God, and we can serve Mammon; but we can not serve both at the same time. To do so would be as difficult a feat as to ride two horses going in opposite directions. We often hear of famous acrobats doing wonders on the trapeze, or riding two horses at once. But we never heard of one riding two horses going in opposite directions. It is an impossibility. So the Saviour declares regarding the service of God and Mammon at the same time.

What is it to serve God?—It is to love him with all the heart and strength and obey his requirements. What is it to serve Mammon?—It is to love riches and the good things of this world more than we do God. It is covetousness, which the Bible calls idolatry. Col. 3: 5 and Eph. 5: 3-5. Why is loving the world called “idolatry”?—Because the riches and comforts of this world take the place God claims the right to possess in our hearts. He has a right to that place in the hearts of all created intelligences. When the heart is occupied by these other worldly things, we are serving Satan, the god of this world. This is why riches are so very dangerous. Multitudes will be lost because of this great evil. The world has run riot after these worldly things till God has no place in their hearts. Millions of professed Christians are making this mistake, and many Seventh-day Adventists are making this same mistake. The fact that they belong to this people while loving their earthly possessions more than they do God, makes this kind of idolatry no better, but rather the worse. They profess better things. They claim to be looking for the Lord to come. Hence their excuses are the more inexcusable.

In this very connection the Lord tells us how to make such a use of our means as will result in our salvation: “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends by means of the Mammon of unrighteousness; that, when it shall fail, they may receive you into the eternal tabernacles. He that is faithful in a very little is faithful also in much: and he that is unrighteous in a very little is unrighteous also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another’s, who will give you that which is your own?” Luke 16: 9-12. The passage immediately following is the text before quoted: “No servant can serve two masters,” etc. Let us carefully consider this language. What is “the unrighteous mammon”?—It is, as we have seen, “riches,” “money,” this world’s treasures, generally used in unrighteous ways,—to cheat, defraud, oppress,—till the heart is corrupted by it. Wealth is very rarely used in a way that God can approve. Countless multitudes will go down to the second death

because they have let riches deceive them to their eternal ruin. By means of this, Satan, the god of this world, deceives poor souls to their ruin. The apostle declares that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (A. R. V., a great improvement over the text in the old version). Hence we see why the Lord calls it “the unrighteous mammon.”

One great lesson taught by this parable is that this life is simply a probation; that is, God gives all a little period in this human life to determine what use we will make of life. And, dear friends, we all are showing by our daily conduct just how we value this precious boon of life. Multitudes throw their lives away on frivolous, butterfly pleasures, living merely for the passing moment, giving no consideration to the final outcome. Others rush into money making, bury themselves in cares and perplexities to amass a great amount of earthly treasures. These nearly always consider this treasure their own, and feel that God has no claims upon them. They stop not to consider that all the cattle upon a thousand hills are God’s. That all the gold and silver are his creation; that their own power to get riches, their eyes, their ears, their minds, are all God’s property. How little consideration do they give the lesson of this parable—that all this means in their possession is loaned them of God, that, by a proper use of it, it may be placed in “bags which wax not old,” and thus transferred to the better land, where they may enjoy it through all eternity. The pearly portals are awaiting their entrance if they make such a use of this mammon as will show that they regard it as a loan from God. Then God will say to them, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” and the glorious gift, a free gift from God, eternal in its nature, will be bestowed.

So the unrighteous mammon will become a great helper to the eternal reward. This is the important lesson of the parable. The covetous Pharisees derided Christ for making these statements. Then the parable of the rich man and Lazarus was spoken for their special benefit. The two extremes were selected—Dives and Lazarus. The rich man had everything he could desire. The poor man was an afflicted beggar, receiving only the crumbs from the rich man’s table, like the waiting curs. Both died. The poor man was honored, the rich man punished. In his suffering he is represented as pleading for a relief for his sufferings. Note the reply of Father Abraham: “Remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things.” Now the process is reversed, and the rich man’s punishment comes for using his wealth for merely his own comfort. What a lesson is this! Multitudes are imitating Dives, yea, many Seventh-day Adventists. Dear wealthy brother, have you stopped to consider this lesson? Wealth brings great responsibility. There must be a recognition of the Giver. We must use our wealth as Christ used his. God’s special cause is to-day the thing in which all heaven is interested.

A solemn call is made for $150,000 to help where help is greatly needed. It is necessary in order that the cause of God shall be built up. Destitute fields are in great need. The cause is being hindered because of the lack of means. Upon whom does the responsibility belong for this hindrance of the cause?—Surely upon those who have means in their hands and will not use it to make the cause prosper. The Lord has declared that the money hoarded that was needed by his cause will burn the flesh of its possessor like fire in the great day. My wealthy brother, your only safety is to use your means to help the needy and the cause of God for this time.

GEO. I. BUTLER.

He Had His Own Way

By W. A. S.

THE Washington papers recently published the report of the death of Moses Hull, in California, stating that Washington spiritualistic circles regarded him as one of the foremost advocates of old-time spiritualism. Those familiar with the history of earlier days will remember that he was formerly a Seventh-day Adventist minister. Of his experiences, the spirit of prophecy, in a Testimony given in 1862, while he was still with us, said:—

He has felt that he was too much restrained, that he could not act out his nature. While the power of the truth, in all its force, influenced him, he was comparatively safe; but break the force and power of truth upon the mind, and there is no restraint, the natural propensities take the lead, and there is no stopping place. He has become tired of the conflict, and has for some time wished that he could more freely act himself, and has felt hurt at the reproofs of his brethren. He was presented to me as standing upon the brink of an awful gulf, ready to leap. If he takes the leap, it will be final.

Though at the time acknowledging the truthfulness of the counsels given him, he later broke away from his brethren and from the advent movement. The sad departure proved indeed final. According to the newspaper reports he was an advocate of the errors of spiritualism and an opponent of Bible truth to the very last. It is a sad thing for any man to become independent of the counsels of the Lord and of his brethren.

W. A. S.

Associated Action

By A. G. Daniells

Organization—No. 2

A Brief Account of Its History in the Development of the Cause of the Third Angel’s Message

When the ministers who had taken a leading part in proclaiming the first angel’s message saw the confusion into which the believers were thrown by the disappointment of 1844, and when they saw contention, division, and scattering following the confusion, they made earnest efforts to hold the people together until harmony and union could be established. To this end William Miller published an “Address to the Brethren,” in which he pointed out some of the dangers that threatened the cause with which they were connected. He said:—

The cause we advocate calls upon all men to read the Word of God, and to reason, judge, compare, and digest for themselves. This is certainly right, and is the privilege of all rational members of the community. Yet this very liberty may become a stumbling-block to many, and without charity, be the means of scattering, dividing, and causing contention among brethren. . . . Our present difficulties arise more from the multiplicity of masters and leaders among us (some of whom are governed by carnal motives) than from any want of light.—“Life of Miller,” pages 350, 351.

These statements, made by this thoughtful, judicious leader of the movement within six months after the disappointment, reveal some of the causes of the disintegration that so quickly set in. Alarmed by the situation, the leaders called a conference to “consult together respecting the condition and wants of the brethren in the several sections of the country; that we may be better enabled to act in concert, and with more efficiency in the proclamation of gospel truths.” The conference convened at Albany, N. Y., April 29, 1845. Sixty-one ministers and delegates were present. A committee of twelve, of which William Miller was chairman, was appointed to prepare recommendations for the action of the conference. The committee prefaced its report with the following statement:—

In view of the many conflicting opinions, unscriptural views, leading to unseemly practices, and the sad divisions which have been thereby caused by some professing to be Adventists, we deem it incumbent on us to declare to the world our belief that the Scriptures teach, among others, the following important truths.—“Life of Miller,” page 344.

After giving a synopsis of the fundamental doctrines which they held, they offered the following recommendation regarding organization:—

Associated Action

We are induced, from present circumstances affecting our spiritual interests, to present, for your consideration, a few ideas touching associated action.

Order is heaven’s first law. All things emanating from God are constituted on principles of perfect order. The New Testament rules for the government of the church we regard as binding on the whole brotherhood of Christ. No circumstances can justify us in departing from the usages established by Christ and his apostles.

We regard any congregation of believers, who habitually assemble for the worship of God and the due observance of gospel ordinances, as a church of Christ. As such, it is an independent body, accountable only to the great Head of the church. To all such we recommend a careful examination of the Scriptures, and the adoption of such principles of association and order as are in accordance therewith, that they may enjoy the advantages of that church relation which Christ has instituted.—Ibid., page 349.

This recommendation was unanimously adopted. And this, it appears, was the first step taken by William Miller and his associates toward anything approaching permanent organization. It was taken immediately following the disappointment, and within a very short time after it had been declared by a prominent leader that they should take care never to “organize another church.”

This action is a plain, open acknowledgment that their former position regarding organization could not be safely maintained after the disappointment. It was a course which they saw was absolutely necessary in order to avert the utter disintegration that threatened them.

It is not difficult at this time to give a consistent explanation of the change that then took place. The first angel’s message was a warning to the whole world, including the existing churches. It was committed to the churches to proclaim. Pious men in those churches accepted

the message, and gave their lives to its proclamation. Thus the movement under the first angel’s message began in the churches, and for a time was carried forward by them. Under these circumstances there seemed to be no demand for any organization outside of the established churches.

But a regrettable change took place in the churches. The majority of both the preachers and the members turned against the message. They refused to allow it to be proclaimed in their houses of worship, and manifested such hostility toward those who received it as to make it almost impossible for them to hold to the message and remain in their churches.

This change took place when the first message was nearing its culmination in 1844. This called for the proclamation of the second angel’s message, announcing the fall of Babylon. The message was then given with an emphasis that called out nearly the whole body of believers in the first message. This separation was immediately followed by the disappointment.

The situation thus created called for organization. The leaders recognized this, and endeavored to provide what was needed. But they failed on two fundamental points. First, they failed to discover the Scriptural explanation of the disappointment, and the work to be done following it. Second, they failed to obtain anything like an adequate understanding of the organization that would be required to secure the co-operation necessary to carry forward the comprehensive, world-wide movement that was to follow the disappointment. They looked through a glass darkly. Like the blind man, whose eyes the Master was opening, they saw “men as trees walking.” Their proposal was less than a half-way measure, and it failed.

A. G. DANIELLS.

The World's Crisis Hour

The Christian and Missionary Alliance, in its issue of January 5, in speaking of national occurrences during 1906, correctly chronicles the following:—

The year just closed has been one of profound and even dramatic interest in the work. A European conference of great importance was held at Algeciras, and settled many delicate and difficult questions in European diplomacy. France has been passing through a grave crisis in her relation with Rome and in her domestic policy. Great Britain has experienced and is still undergoing what might almost be called a revolution. Russia has not yet emerged from her deeper and longer revolution. Sweden and Norway have passed through vital changes. Spain has had her chapter of romance, and the United States has been shaken by physical earthquakes and social upheavals unparalleled in her history, while South America has had a not less stirring and eventful year. The new year is opening with intense activity in all the forces of human life and interest, and the wheels of providence are swiftly turning, and the old earth is hastening to her crisis hour.

And from the unerring prophetic portions of the Word of God, it may be truthfully added, it is plainly pointed out that this “crisis hour” to which the old earth by the wheels of providence is so “swiftly turning,” is its end, ushered in by the appearing of the Lord Jesus, according to his promise, with power and great glory in the clouds of heaven. For this great event the nations of earth are being prepared. Shall he find faith in the hearts of his professed followers when he comes? is a question for every believer to consider seriously.

Note and Comment

By Editor

THE cause of Sunday observance in France is said to be making a singularly rapid advance. Notwithstanding considerable opposition the reports indicate that more places of business are being closed in Paris. The Missionary Review remarks, “As just now there is a strenuous movement to separate church and state, the law must be enacted and enforced on the ground of absolute need of such a day of rest.” We may logically infer, then, that the editor of the Missionary Review understands that if the Sunday law was enacted and enforced on any other ground than that of the absolute need of rest, such law would constitute a union of church and state. And it would. We are glad that the editor of that religious journal sees the matter in its true light upon this point. Some of the advocates of Sunday-law enforcement, seeing the logic of the situation, are advocating a compulsory civil rest day, which shall always be Sunday. By thus compelling all to rest on a certain day because they need rest, they expect to accomplish their real purpose of compelling a universal recognition of the sacredness of the day—compulsory acknowledgment of the imaginary sacredness of a human institution. They attempt to purloin the blessing of Jehovah from the true Sabbath, and place it with their own hands upon the first day of the week—as if the blessing of God and the establishment of divine institutions were things that could be manipulated by human hands.

Protestant Bigotry

In an editorial with the title “Protestant Bigotry” the New World (Catholic) gives vent to its feelings concerning Protestantism in very plain language. The editor says:—

Protestants taken individually are often excellent people, kind neighbors, just in commercial transactions, and loyal friends. But the entire Protestant system is leavened through and through with hatred of the Catholic Church, its ministers, its doctrines, and its practises. Protestantism, as the very name indicates, is nothing but a protest or denial of Catholicism. It has no definite principles of its own. It is like a quicksand, and the only unity that holds it together is an ineradicable hatred of the Catholic Church, its doctrine, ministers, and worship. Therefore the only sound policy for Catholics to follow in all circumstances is, while abhorring the Protestant heresy, to treat their Protestant neighbors with the fullest measure of justice and charity, but to rely boldly and uncompromisingly upon themselves, never to cringe, fawn, or crouch for their civic rights at the feet of those who sit in the masonic seats of the mighty, as Lazarus begged the crumbs that fell from the table of Dives.

From the Catholic standpoint all Protestants are heretics, and the world knows how good Catholics deal with heretics when they are not held in check by the civil authorities. If the spirit of Protestantism was the same now as in the sixteenth century, there would be no disposition to yield the vantage-ground which has been won at such cost, and to restore Catholicism to its old place of power. But the prophecy will be fulfilled, and apostate Protestantism will bear its fruit.

What Do the Nation’s Signs Mean?

In a recent speech by Justice David J. Brewer, of the United States Supreme Court, on “The Larger and Higher Life of the Nation,” occurred these words:—

The United States is the marvel of the ages; it is the giant of the centuries. Not merely in its population, but by its wealth, culture, and achievements this country has astonished the whole world.

Those responsible for all the greatness of this country must answer further questions before our value to the world can be determined. The real question is: Which way is the country looking? What are the ideals and the inspiration of this nation? Is this republic seeking only material development, ostentation, and parade, or is it striving for the higher life, which shall benefit both the nation and the people?

We are building up a big navy; we are now the fourth naval power. In all our cities we vie in ostentation. We buy libraries by the cubic yard and galleries by the job lot. We want to have the biggest and finest yachts, the most gorgeous private castles. What does all this signify?

The signs of the times are so plainly written that all who are at all conversant with conditions in the nation, are led to inquire what they mean. While many, like Justice Brewer in the latter part of his speech, are inclined to take as hopeful a view of these things as possible, to us who “know these things before,” they speak of the soon coming of our Saviour. While rejoicing in this hope ourselves, it is a good time to answer from the Bible and other good literature, so readily procured, the question arising in many minds, “What does all this signify?”

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