p. 165 | Review and Herald, Vol. 51, No. 21. (5/23/1878)

PENNSYLVANIA SABBATARIANS.

By Editor

Daniel C. Waldo, who is a Seventh-day Baptist living in one of the counties of Pennsylvania, having been prosecuted under the law of 1794 and fined for working on Sunday, recently addressed a memorial to the legislature of the State, asking that the law might be so modified that Sabbatarians who keep Saturday as holy time might be exempt from the penalty against those who do not thus keep Saturday, and yet work on the first day of the week. Senator Jones made the petition the occasion for introducing a bill which provided as follows:— “That every inhabitant of this commonwealth who observes the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, and actually abstains from worldly employment and business on that day (works of necessity and charity excepted), shall be exempted from answering to any process in law or equity, either as defendant, witness, or juror, likewise from executing on said day the duties of any post or office to which he may be appointed or commissioned, except when the interest of the commonwealth may absolutely require it, or from performing any other secular duty which the laws of this commonwealth may enjoin upon other citizens who do not observe the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath; and all such persons who observe the seventh day shall be exempt from the penalties imposed by the Act of April twenty-second, Anno Domini, one thousand seven hundred and ninety-four, for performing worldly employment or business on the Lord’s Day, commonly called Sunday. Provided always that this shall not extend to grant any liberty of opening shops or stores on the first day of the week, nor to the working at the smith’s business, nor any mechanical trade in any compact place.”

The next section provided that, if any person is prosecuted for working on Sunday, as above permitted, the fact, if alleged and shown, that he keeps the seventh day of the week as the Sabbath, and habitually abstains from his usual occupation or business on that day, shall be a bar to any further prosecution, and secure his discharge, if arrested. The senate rejected the bill by a vote of 14 yeas to 30 nays.

The object of this bill was to relieve Sabbatarians in Pennsylvania, whether Seventh-day Baptists, Jews, or Seventh-day Adventists, all of whom keep Saturday as holy time, from the penalties for working on Sunday imposed by the law of 1794, with the qualifications contained in the proviso. These people, as the law now is, are compelled to have two rest-days in every seven, the one enforced by religious considerations and the other by a civil enactment as unjust and oppressive; and we think they are right. Sabbatarians, being so largely in the minority as compared with the whole body of the people, cannot, of course, expect that the State will adopt their sacred day as the day of general secular rest, or that it will appoint two such rest-days; yet they have a right to be relieved from the penalty for working on Sunday, provided that the work and the circumstances be not such as to disturb the general quietude of the day, and thereby prove a serious annoyance to those who observe it as their sacred day. The State has nothing to do with the Sabbath except as a day of rest; and it selects the first day of the week for this purpose because the great body of the people who religiously observe any day observe this day. This doctrine has been repeatedly affirmed by American courts in interpreting and applying Sunday laws, as they are called.

New York State has a Sunday law of secular rest. But it expressly provides that those who keep “the last day of the week as holy time, and do not labor or work upon that day,” shall be exempted from the operation of the statute against labor on the first day of the week, with the qualification that “their labor shall not disturb other persons in their observance of the first day of the week as holy time.” There is a further provision that those who keep Saturday “as the Sabbath of rest from labor” shall not on that day “be subject to perform military duty or jury duty in a justice’s court,” or have any process from such court in a civil suit served upon them or made returnable thereon. Similar legislation is found in the Revised Statutes of New Jersey and in the General Statutes of Rhode Island. In two of the manufacturing villages of the latter State about half the people are Seventh-day Baptists, and they work on Sunday and rest on Saturday, under the express sanction of the law.

In some fifteen of the States, though chiefly in Rhode Island, New York, and New Jersey, seventh-day people are to be found, with whom the observance of Saturday is deemed a religious duty; and it is but just and right that the civil enactment of secular rest on the first day of the week should not apply to them, with the qualification that forms a part of the law of New York State, as above referred to. Sabbatarians should be content with this exemption, since it is all that the State can grant in consistency with the prevalent usages of the people; but to this exemption they are entitled. They are entitled to their conscience as to the sacred day, though, being so largely in the minority, they cannot ask the State to make their day the rest-day. Yet, Saturday being their rest-day, because it is their sacred day, then plainly they ought not to be coerced to rest also on the first day of the week, because the majority of the people observe this day, provided they do not disturb others in their observance of the day. Such coercion is simply oppressive. Whether the bill of Senator Jones was in the best form or not we do not decide; yet the thing at which he aimed is right.—N. Y. Independent.

SABBATH-SCHOOL WORK.

[Our Sabbath-school in Dallas, Texas, is increasing in interest and numbers, and we trust a good work is being done. Our subjects are all brought out upon the black-board in diagram-form, and are thus made much more interesting. The following essay on the subject of Patience was read before our Sabbath-school, and will, we trust, be read with interest by the readers of the Review. E. G. Rust.]

Our life here is full of troubles and perplexities. We need to have patience, that we may not fall out by the way. It seems to me that we can draw a great many lessons on this virtue from our Sabbath-school lessons for the past few months. The Hebrews were in the land of Egypt for many years, under cruel taskmasters. As the years rolled by, it must have seemed to them that the time for their release would never come. As they groaned under their heavy burdens, hope must have died within them, their faith must have grown small, and no doubt many cast away their confidence in God. When Moses had grown to manhood, many believed that now their deliverance was nigh; but forty years more of cruel bondage must be borne before they were to be delivered from their servitude. How the faith of God's people must have been tried during those long, weary years. Yet all this time their God, in whom they trusted, had seen the afflictions of his people, had heard their cries and knew their sorrows, and in his own good time he fulfilled his promises to them, and brought them forth from the land of their enemies.

Even when the promised land seemed just before them, the people had great need of patience. In the narrative of that long desert journey how the patience of the faithful few shines out. One cannot read the history of Moses without admiring his grand, noble qualities, as he led the murmuring multitude, cared for their wants, and interceded for them when they had sinned against their God. Well may the children of Israel weep and mourn for their chief thirty days in the plains of Moab; for earth has never since seen such a leader. “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord saw face to face.” Deut. 34:10.

‘There are lessons for us in these Scripture narratives—lessons of patience, that we may endure unto the end. “Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples, and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come.” 1 Cor. 10:11. Many of us have waited long for our Master's coming to deliver us from this world of sin and sorrow; but the time has been longer than we first thought it would be, and some begin to mingle with the world, and enjoy the things of this life.

Some of us have known this good way only two short years. When we first heard of our Saviour's soon coming, our hearts burned within us for joy at the glad tidings; any sacrifice seemed too small, and the time before us too short to make ready for his advent. As the time passes on, we meet with misfortunes or Satan comes in with temptations, and we are ready to murmur at our hard lot, and we grow careless and indifferent. Let us awake from our slumber and return to our first love. Let us have patience unto the coming of the Lord. “For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” Heb. 10:37. “Though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.” Hab. 2:3. A. H. King.

Health as the Foundation of Talent and Energy

It is no exaggeration to say that health is a large ingredient in what the world calls talent. A man without it may be a giant in intellect, but his deeds will be the deeds of a dwarf. On the contrary, let him have a quick circulation, a good digestion, the bulk, thews, and sinews of a man, and he will set failure at defiance. A man has good reason to think himself well off in the lottery of life if he draws the prize of a healthy stomach without a mind, rather than the prize of a fine intellect with a crazy stomach. But, of the two, a weak mind in a herculean frame is better than a giant mind with a crazy constitution. A pound of energy with an ounce of talent will achieve greater results than a pound of talent with an ounce of energy.—Home Journal.

Turkey's Turbulent Decades Since Sultan Abdul-Assiz

Since the suicide of Sultan Abdul-Assiz, in 1876, Turkey has had two sultans, five ministries, forty cabinet ministers, one Constitution, one Parliament, one war, lost three-fourths of its provinces, and been forced into bankruptcy.

Russian Newspaper Calls for Holy Land Province

The Contemporary News, a Russian newspaper, says: “the hour is come to complete the crusades by delivering the holy places forever. A free Christian and international province must be made from Jerusalem to the banks of the Jordan, and independent and international institutions must be given to it.”

THE DARK DAY OF MAY 19, 1780.

A correspondent writes: “A statement is made in ‘Facts for the Times’ which I have not been able to find. It is Noah Webster’s statement respecting the dark day, said to be taken from his dictionary of the edition of 1869. Learned men tell me that there is no such edition, and deny that the sun was darkened in 1780. Where will I find the statement?”

We would say to our correspondent that the “learned” men of whom he speaks are not so learned as they might be in regard to Webster’s dictionary and the dark day. We have lying upon our table the edition of 1869 from which the quotation in “Facts for the Times” is taken. On page 1556 he has this notice of the dark day:—

“Dark Day, The. May 19, 1780;—so called on account of a remarkable darkness on that day extending over all New England. In some places persons could not see to read common print in the open air for several hours together. Birds sang their evening song, disappeared, and became silent; fowls went to roost; cattle sought the barn-yard; and candles were lighted in the houses. The obscuration began about ten o’clock in the morning, and continued till the middle of the next night, but with different degrees of duration in different places. For several days previous, the wind had been variable, but chiefly from the south-west, and the north-east. The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is not known.”

Since this occurrence, so striking a fulfillment of Matt. 24 : 29; Rev. 6 : 12, and other scriptures, has been urged as a sign of the near coming of Christ, there are found plenty of persons who are ready to “go back” on Noah Webster, and claim that there was nothing unusual or unnatural in that day, that it was all in accordance with natural law, and was no sign of anything. Those who lived at the time, and had as good a chance, at least, to mark all its strange features and unnatural manifestations, as people of the present time, were filled with awe at the occurrence, and for years, so long as the memory of it lasted, were unable to explain it; but their degenerate sons, the wondrous wise generation of the present, living nearly a hundred years from the occurrence, and having never seen anything of the kind, can see through it just as easy as they can tell why two and two make four.

Thus a correspondent of the Inter-Ocean from Vermont, asks,—

“Will you give the causes (and proof) of the ‘dark day’ in 1780, the 19th of May, I believe. An ‘Advent preacher’ has been preaching in this neighborhood, and alluded to it as a sign of the destruction of the world.”

And the reply is given thus:—

“The dark day of 1780 was produced by entirely natural causes, and was about as much a sign of the destruction of the world as of the advent of the potato-beetle. The darkness, said Dr. Samuel Tenney, of Exeter, N. H., was preceded by common clouds. Between these common clouds and the earth intervened another stratum of great thickness. As the stratum advanced the darkness commenced and increased with its progress. The uncommon thickness of this stratum was occasioned by two strong currents of wind from the southward and westward, condensing the vapors and drawing them in a northwest direction. The density of this strata was owing to the vapor and smoke it contained. These so-called dark days have not been uncommon, being known in 366 B. C.; 295 B. C.; 252 A. D.; 746, 775, 1732, 1762, 1780, 1783, 1807, 1816. The one was as prophetic as any other and no more so.”

It would have been a little more to the satisfaction to any one who wishes to know the reasons of his faith, if the writer of the reply had stated where he found his evidence for all his assertions. And we would like a little light on such points as this: From what came that “stratum of great thickness”? Of what was it composed? How was it formed? This fellow’s explanation reads something like this: It was dark because there was great darkness. He simply states the fact in another form, and calls that an explanation. His statement needs explaining as really as the first. “The uncommon thickness of the stratum was caused by two strong currents of wind,” &c. How did those winds chance to come just then, and just when there were vapors to condense? And what caused the vapors? Then how could currents from the west and south draw the vapors in a north-west direction? Common philosophy would assign them, under such circumstances, a north-east direction. Our friend must be careful or he will make the dark day to be a greater phenomenon than we have ever claimed.

But, further, we would ask how, according to the reply above given, the words of our Lord can ever be fulfilled. He says that the sun shall be darkened; and he means the literal sun; for he speaks of men and things on the earth in contrast with it; Luke 21 : 25; and he says that when it is thus darkened it is a sign of the end; for when we see these things come to pass, he tells us that we are to know that he is near, even at the doors. But according to the foregoing writer, there never can be any sign of this nature. He declares there never has been in the past; and suppose such a phenomenon should occur again; would it be a sign? Not in his eyes; for the hypothesis of vapors, winds, natural laws, and common occurrences, would instantly fly to his scoffing lips. But something of this kind is to constitute a sign; for the Lord himself has declared it; and we would like to ask the objector how a darkening of the sun should differ from that of 1780, to answer to the prophecy and constitute a sign?

But, it is urged, there have been many such events, hence it can be no sign; and seven dark days are mentioned by our writer before 1780, and three since, for which, however, he forgot to give his authority. But how does it happen that nobody has seemed to pay any attention to these days, or make any account of them? and why is it that all fix upon May 19, 1780, as the only one worthy of special note, giving it by way of distinction, the title of The Dark Day? The answer is obvious. It occupies a pre-eminent position in this respect. It towers up far above all others as the one alone remarkable and note-worthy for its awful phenomena.

But we are not left to decide the matter from this evidence alone; for our Lord has not only told us that such an event should occur as a sign of his coming, but he has told us also when it should occur. “Immediately after the tribulation of those days,” says Matthew. Mark is more definite and says, “In those days after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened,” &c. Mark 13 : 24. The “days” are the days of papal supremacy, the 1260 years from 538 to 1798; the tribulation is the oppression of Christians by the Catholic power till restrained by the work of the Reformation. The tribulation may be said to have ceased in the early part of the 18th century. The “days” ended within two years of its close. Thus by the fixed terms of the prophecy we are shut up to a period less than a hundred years in length, and ending in 1798, in which to look for that darkening of the sun which was to be a sign of the Lord’s soon coming.

Again, the darkening of the sun was to be the second great event to take place under the sixth seal. Rev. 6:12. The first and the one which marked the opening of that seal, was a great earthquake, shown to be, by comparison with the preceding seals, the great earthquake of Lisbon, Nov. 1, 1755. Between this point and the end of the papal period in 1798, the sun was to be darkened as a sign of the end. Here we are shut up to a period of time only forty-three years in length in which to look for that darkening of the sun which was the subject of the prediction. Now it matters not if our opponents should claim seven thousand dark days instead of seven, as notable as the one of 1780, it would not affect the prediction or the sign in the least degree. We care not how many nor what kind of dark days there may have been in other ages, we look for one which was to take place in that brief specified period as the predicted sign.

We fix our eyes upon that time, and what do we behold? We find not only the darkening of the sun, as foretold, but we find a dark day so much more notable than all others, that it is set forth by way of pre-eminence as “the dark day,” while in general history all others are passed by in silence.

From one point it is very strange that people can overlook considerations of this nature which are so decisive upon this question. From another, it is not. What a man doesn’t want to see he can very easily keep from seeing. But the lack both of inclination and ability we apprehend is accounted for by the prophet Daniel, when he says that “the wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand.”

TO CORRESPONDENTS.

How do you harmonize Lev. 6:16, 26, which says the sacrifice shall be eaten in the holy place, with Num. 18:10, which says that it shall be eaten in the most holy place? E. H.

Ans. Bishop Horsley says that verse 10 of Num. 18 should be translated, “Among the most holy things thou shalt eat it.” This we find in Barrett’s Synopsis of Criticism on that text. And Mr. Barrett adds: “The precept refers to a distinction between ‘most holy’ and ‘holy’ things. The ‘most holy’ were to be eaten by the males of Aaron’s family only; the ‘holy’ by any of his family, male or female, who were clean.” Nothing was ever eaten in the most holy place of the sanctuary.

Please harmonize Acts 9:7, and Acts 22:9. E. H.

Ans. The word rendered “heard” in those texts is a word which also means “to understand, to know.” The text which says they “heard” the voice, means that they were conscious of a sound through their sense of hearing. But the text which says they “heard not” the voice, means that they did not understand the words that were spoken.

If Easter was recognized as a particular day, as in Acts 12:4, why not now? E. J.

Ans. The word there rendered Easter means simply the passover, and reference is made to it simply as a festival observed by the Jews. Dr. Clarke’s note on this passage will be instructive. He says:—

“Perhaps there never was a more unhappy, not to say absurd, translation, than that in our text. But before I come to explain the word, it is necessary to observe that our term called Easter is not exactly the same with the Jewish passover. This festival is always held on the fourteenth day of the first vernal full moon; but the Easter of the Christians never till the next Sabbath [by this term of course Dr. C. means Sunday] after said full moon; and to avoid all conformity with the Jews in this matter, if the fourteenth day of the first vernal full moon happen on a Sabbath, then the festival of Easter is deferred till the Sabbath following. The first vernal moon is that whose fourteenth day is either on the day of the vernal equinox, or the next fourteenth day after it. The vernal equinox, according to a decree of the council of Nice, is fixed to the 21st of March, and therefore the first vernal moon is that whose fourteenth day falls upon the 21st of March, or the first fourteenth day after. . . . The term Easter, inserted here by our translators, they borrowed from the ancient Anglo-Saxon service books, or from the versions of the Gospels, which always translates the τὸ πάσχα of the Greek by this term.”

Dr. Clarke then gives various names from the Saxon which he says “are different modes of spelling the name of the goddess Easter, whose festival was celebrated by our pagan forefathers on the month of April; hence that month, in the Saxon calendar, is called Easter month. Every view we can take of this subject shows the gross impropriety of retaining a name every way exceptionable, and palpably absurd.”

What is the explanation of 1 Pet. 4:6? A. M. O.

Ans. We consider that the dead mentioned are the same as the “dead” in the previous verse: “Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.” They are those who are literally dead. The gospel was preached to them, not while they were dead, but before they died, while they were living. And they are to be judged just like living men just before Christ comes. This is accomplished in the investigative Judgment of the cleansing of the sanctuary. This being past, those who are found righteous will live according to God in the Spirit, quickened or made immortal by the Holy Spirit. Rom. 8:11.

How is the genealogy of Christ as given in Matt. 1, to be reconciled with the account given in Luke 3? A. M. O.

Ans. The Jews never allowed the name of a woman in their genealogical tables. Hence, when a line of descendants ended with a woman, they did not put in the name of that woman, but the name of her husband, who was only the son-in-law of the woman’s father. Luke reckons according to this custom, and puts into his table two persons who were only sons-in-law of the persons named as their fathers; whereas Matthew confines his table to those who were sons strictly speaking. Thus Joseph is called by Luke the son of Heli, because he having no sons, his daughter Mary married Joseph, and the name of Joseph therefore stands as the son of Heli, whereas he was in reality only his son-in-law, but really the son of Jacob. Again, Luke places Salathiel as the son of Neri, and Matthew makes him the son of Jechonias. He was the real son of Jechonias, but the son-in-law of Neri, having married a daughter of Neri. Their son was Zorobabel, a name which appears in both tables. From Abraham to David the tables of Matthew and Luke agree. From David Matthew comes down through the line of Solomon, and Luke through the line of Nathan, both of them sons of David. These lines meet in Zorobabel, a son of Salathiel of the line of Solomon, who married a daughter of Neri, of the line of Nathan. From Zorobabel Matthew comes down through the line of Abiud, his son, and Luke through the line of Rhesa, another son. These two lines again meet in Christ, the reputed son of Joseph of the line of Abiud, who had married Mary, a daughter of Heli, of the line of Rhesa. Thus Luke gives us the genealogy through the line of Mary, and Matthew that through the line of Joseph. These lines meet in Zorobabel and David. From this point the tables agree back to Abraham, with whom Matthew stops, while Luke goes all the way back to Adam. There is really no more discrepancy between the accounts of Matthew and Luke, than there would be between the letters of a person who should give to a friend his pedigree on his father’s side, and

to another his pedigree on his mother’s side. And if the two lines should meet in some celebrated person of past generations, as they do twice in the case of Christ, he would have double proof that he was the descendant of that individual. See Dr. Clarke, and the Religious Encyclopedia.

LEADERSHIP

By James White

It is very well known to most of the readers of the REVIEW that some five years since a mistaken view was taken of this question, insomuch that the position was taken that one man was to be recognized as the visible leader of Seventh-day Adventists, as Moses was the visible leader of the Hebrews; and what made this a very painful subject to us was the fact that the position was taken that we should be recognized as that leader.

The position of Moses was a very laborious and trying one, and good counsel suggested that a large number should be appointed to assist him in his work. We have but one leader, which is Christ, and the entire brotherhood of the ministry, while they should counsel with each other out of due respect for the judgment of each other, should, nevertheless, look to our great Leader as their unerring guide.

Our long experience in the general, successful management of matters pertaining to the cause gave our people confidence in us, and has had a tendency to lead them to look to us and lean upon our judgment too much. This experience we gained by anxious study and earnest prayer. Our brethren can obtain it in the same way. They should have looked to God more and gained individual experience. For the wrong, God has in wisdom removed us from them for a time, and we fear that the removal will be final unless they learn to look to God for themselves. We do not object to counseling with our brethren, if it can be taken as simply the opinion of one who is frail and liable to err, but when it comes to this that brethren demand of us our opinion, and add that they shall do just what we say, we shall withhold our opinion.

We now expect to be present at our General Conference, when and where we shall hope that these suggestions may be carried out.

A servant of the church and a counselor with the brethren, JAMES WHITE.

INFINITE SIN.

Bro. R. Thompson writes us that he has lately heard a Presbyterian minister speak from Job 22: 5, “Is not thy wickedness great? and thine iniquities infinite?” and argue from it eternal misery, on the ground that “infinite sin” demands infinite punishment.

Turning to the passage, we find that the words are from Eliphaz the Temanite, and are only one of a series of false charges which he made against Job. For instance, he says to Job in the next verse, “For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for naught, and stripped the naked of their clothing. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry.” Verse 9: “Thou hast sent widows away empty,” &c. These things Eliphaz urges to sustain his charge that Job’s iniquity was infinite.

But to show how unjust and cruel such accusations were, we read in chapter 29: 12-17, what course Job did actually take. He says: “I delivered the poor. . . . The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me; and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I was eyes to the blind, and feet was I to the lame. I was a father to the poor; and the cause which I knew not, I searched out. And I brake the jaws of the wicked, and plucked the spoil out of his teeth.”

Therefore we conclude that Job’s wickedness was not great, nor his iniquities infinite.

For Eliphaz to charge Job thus, under these circumstances, was wicked; and for a Presbyterian minister, or any other minister, to indorse the charge, and then try to prove from it eternal misery, is foolish.

PATENT RIGHTS.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

It is astonishing that some of our brethren will still go into patent rights, after all that has been said on the subject. Do not these brethren know that the Lord has expressly warned us against dealing in patent rights? The testimonies have spoken on this point emphatically, time after time. Warning after warning has been given through the REVIEW, that our people should let these things alone. Our preachers everywhere advise our people to keep out of them. And yet every year there are hundreds of dollars lost from our ranks through dabbling in patent rights. I know of brethren who have lost from $500 to $2500 on this forbidden ground. After it was too late, they have said to me, “If I had only heeded the testimonies, and let the miserable things alone, how much better it would have been for me!”

Probably next year some others will have the same experience. The enemy makes them think that this particular patent right is an exception to the rule. It is not like any others. It is the very best in the world, a sure success. Large gains with little outlays and small risks are confidently expected. It is but a few days ago that a brother told me that he had lost nearly a thousand dollars by investing in a patent right which he thought would be a sure success. Said he, “Oh, if this could only have gone into the cause.” Yes; that ought to have been thought of before. I have just learned of another brother who has lost all he had in the world, even his home, by going into patent rights. He is one of our old brethren too, one who ought to have known better, but probably thought that the Lord would make an exception for him. How many more want to try it and get their fingers burnt?

D. M. Canright.

DENMARK

By John G. Matteson

ALSTRUP.—During the past two weeks we have tried to labor as hard as possible for the progress of the truth, both in Tylstrup and in Alstrup. At the first place especially, we have met much opposition; but the friends have been strengthened in the faith. Evil-minded persons have mobbed together, and in several ways tried to hinder our efforts. I wrote to the district judge asking for the assistance of the police, and he immediately complied with the request. The authorities have now protected us in our lawful efforts, and this has helped much toward securing peace for us, for which we are very thankful.

Our meetings have been well attended, and the truth is spreading more and more. Nineteen dear souls have been buried with Christ in baptism. They live in the vicinity of Alstrup and Tylstrup. Yesterday we held a temperance meeting in the meeting-house. Mr. Guldbrandsen, from Vejle, of the society of Friends, assisted us very much at this meeting. Besides, there were representatives from Aalborg, Tylstrup, Stenum, and Saltum, as well as from Alstrup and vicinity. There were about one hundred and fifty persons present. Denmark suffers much from the vice of intemperance, and the temperance cause has very few defenders. In Norway and Sweden, however, where the government aids this cause, it makes good progress. We have made a small beginning here, and we will, by the grace of God, try to labor on.

April 29.—We have held only three meetings this week. The weather is pleasant, and the soil is ready for the seed, so that it is a very busy time. I have written, and made some family visits. We receive letters both from Norway and different places in Denmark, urging us to come and preach the word. Many despise the truth, and labor against it as much as possible, but others receive it with joy, and long for more light.

We have had baptism again. A brother and sister in the Lord were buried with Christ in baptism. The Lord has blessed the preaching of the word, and we feel encouraged. Sabbath afternoon we met to organize a church. Twelve brethren and sisters covenanted together to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Besides these, there are two others who have been baptized, but were unable to be present. These will hereafter unite with us. After the organization we celebrated the ordinances of the Lord’s house, and enjoyed much of the blessing of God.

There are also eight or ten others who keep the Sabbath and will meet with the church for worship. Many others are convinced of the truth and are friendly to us. We hope and pray that they may sometime obey the truth to the salvation of their souls. We leave them now for a time, for the purpose of laboring on the islands. John G. Matteson.

QUESTION ANSWERED.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

Ques. “Can a church receive or disfellowship a member when there is no ordained officer present? If not, how can a church that has no ordained officer do any business at quarterly meeting? A.”

Ans. First, there is much to be done at the church quarterly meeting besides receiving or expelling members, or celebrating the ordinances. Any church can read their list, examine their members, write to absent ones, &c.; and all other business pertaining to a quarterly meeting can be done without an ordained officer.

Second, I know of no reason why persons cannot be received into the church in the absence of an ordained officer. If their cases are clear, and there is no objection, the church may vote them in as well without an officer as with. And just so with regard to expelling members. If the case is clear, and all the church united, they can be expelled as well without an officer as with one. Difficult cases should always be referred to a competent minister.

D. M. Canright.

UNION AND SYSTEM.

By R. F. Cottrell

In union is strength. This saying has been often repeated, and it is still true as ever. Christ prayed that his disciples might be one, as he and the Father are one. Numerous are the exhortations of the apostles to unity. Here is one of them: “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no division among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” Who can express a more perfect unity? For this state of unity we should devoutly and zealously labor. “Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”

We believe from prophecy and apostolic teaching, that the church, long torn by apostasy and factions, will come again to unity of faith and practice, so that all that remain alive to be translated without death at the coming of the Lord, will be found united in these long downtrodden truths: “The commandments of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Are we going in that direction and nearing that point? In order to attain to this position, there must be a yielding. “Submitting yourselves to one another in the fear of God.” Independent and unyielding spirits will never come into that unity.

Unity of faith will lead to unity of action. To the laborer, the business man, or the student, system is of great utility. Especially where many act together, system is absolutely necessary to give success. A system has been devised to work for the spread of the truth among men,—a system for raising means, and for tract and missionary work,—so that all can work in harmony, and thus doing produce the greatest amount of good.

All should be united to support and carry out this system. All should work, and all should report for mutual encouragement; and especially should all the officers support the system by doing business correctly according to the system. Let all the business be done in the proper manner and through the proper channel.

The importance of unity and system cannot be overestimated. What could the greatest army do where these were lacking, and every man directed his own movements and fought upon his own hook? How could manufacturing be carried on, or any work be successfully done, where many hands are employed, unless each man knew his place and the part that he should do?

Should not the children of light be as wise as the children of the world? Should we not use in the work of the Lord as much reason, skill, and energy as we do in the things of this world? But are we doing it? If not, where are our heart’s affections and our treasure? Angels weigh our thoughts. Shall we not weigh them?

There is a great work to be done in warning the world, and the time is short. Every time we repeat this, it is still shorter. How can we do the work assigned us, but by unity and system? If any can devise a better system, let us hear from them. If not, let all unite in carrying out the one we have. And let us work while the day lasts.

We have reason to rejoice for what God is doing by his providence and Spirit. The way is open for all to work. The harvest is ready to be gathered; but where are the reapers? Let all determine to do in this best of causes. Those who do to the utmost of their ability will not regret it. “He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal.” The laborer will not fail of a reward in the kingdom of Heaven. R. F. COTTRELL.

PAY WHAT YOU OWE.

By R. F. Cottrell

An honest man will try to pay all his debts. But greatly as I ever desired to pay my debts, I never could make one dollar pay two debts of one dollar each.

Those who call the first day of the week the Sabbath of the New Testament, and teach men so, are indebted to the people to give from that record their authority for so doing. This a goodly number have recently attempted to do. They tell us that in the Greek of the New Testament the first day of the week is called the Sabbath; and quote as proof those Greek phrases which our translators have rendered “the first day of the week.” Now if they are right in rendering these phrases “the Sabbath,” of course our translators were wrong in rendering them “the first day of the week;” and consequently the first day of the week is not mentioned as such in all the New Testament. Where, then, is the proof that these expressions apply to the first day? since in every other place, fifty-nine in all, the term, the Sabbath, applies invariably to the seventh day.

Take Acts 20:7, the stronghold for the first day, since it records the only religious meeting held on that day, and translate the Greek as these persons do, and there is nothing in the text to prove that that meeting occurred on the first day; it would be simply the Sabbath, a term which in every other instance in the Acts undoubtedly means the seventh day. Why not here? They cannot make a single use of mia ton Sabbaton mean both the Sabbath and the first day of the week. It is like attempting to pay two debts of a dollar each with a single dollar. They are still in debt.

R. F. COTTRELL.

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