Earlier text: Forty AnswersPut the Little Ones Happy to Bed.
AND I think it no small service if you can kiss them into good dreams, and placid, restful sleep. A little child’s heart is a wonderful instrument; from it comes harmonies the tenderest and wisest mother cannot always understand. How can we hope to do so? For to them is often revealed “wisdom too high for us,” and to which we cannot attain. Who suffers as a little child suffers? What hours of torturing agony in the dark nursery! It is no use to forbid ghost or fairy tales; there is no need; every child finds them in his own “thick-coming fancies.” They were always there, types of which the archetypes are in us and eternal. Solitude and darkness are torments to little children; at least before you commit them to it, let them feel that you are within call of their foolish cry; and whisper between the kisses of your “good-night” assurance of God’s love and watchfulness. Up the dim avenue, through the hot, poisoned air, heavy with the sickly fragrance of oleanders, there passed my door one summer evening two brothers, the elder scarcely ten years old. For a moment they stopped and spoke to me, and I noticed the weary looks and the flushed faces of the children, and a fear that was a presentiment crossed my mind and saddened my heart. “Where have you been, boys?” I said, “your mother is anxious and angry. Do you not know that the fever is raging and that the night air is full of death?” “We were trying to catch some trout for mother, but something was the matter, the fish would not bite, and Willie’s head ached so badly I had to carry him most of the way home.” The little speaker was so weary or sick that he caught at the railing for support. I opened the gate, and, lifting the younger child, walked the few yards necessary to see them safely home. It was nearly dark, so there was some excuse for the mother not noticing in the shaded piazza what I had seen at the garden gate. She met them with reproofs for their delay, and contempt for want of success, and then hurried them into the dining-room, saying: “Eat as quickly as you can and then go to bed.” I waited half an hour, but the boys did not appear. “Where are the children?” I asked. “Oh! they are gone to bed, they were too tired to eat.” “Perhaps they were sick,” I suggested. “Willie had a flushed face, and the fever is raging to-day.” “Oh, no! They are natives, and are thoroughly acclimated. John has been through three epidemics, and I fancy Willie had as much yellow fever as ever he will have, nearly two years ago.” I never saw the little fellow again. They were both buried in one grave the next day. No one knew they were sick until they were insensible, and almost in their last moments they muttered in delirious stupor of the “fish they could not catch for mother’s breakfast.” And for the poor, wretched mother there came nevermore in this world a moment in which she could soothe their wounded little hearts, or say one atoning word for her last thoughtless sneer at their want of skill. Say “good night” to your little ones as if you were saying “good-bye.” It is bad enough to bear when grief alone fills the place of your absent ones; but when remorse sits in the empty chair, and your last memory of the dear little face is that of a wronged and sorrowful child, it is a haunting reproach which you may hardly hope in this world to dismiss.—N. Y. Argus. Vanity and Ambition Stripped from Mankind
TAKE away from mankind their vanity and their ambition, and there would be but few claiming to be heroes or patriots. Will There Be a Religious War in Europe?
THE complications in the politics of Europe are becoming very grave. France, burning to avenge her humiliation, seeks for the aid of the church. The church has been humbled with her by the destruction of the temporal power of the papacy. It is natural for the two to join hands, and they have joined hands already. The pilgrimages of Frenchmen to sacred shrines have a political as well as a religious meaning; Rome and France are inseparably connected in their devotions. But the France thus bound to Rome is France with a republic destroyed and a monarchy restored. The religious revival means a political reaction. Already French pilgrims have appealed to the pope to direct them in the path traced by the Syllabus. France seems inclined to turn her back on her history since 1830, and to assume under a Bourbon monarch the championship of the church. The taking of such a position by France implies the taking of a position equally grave by Italy. The pope and the Italian king are irreconcilable. Assured by the moral support of the faithful, and by the abundant contributions poured into his treasury, Pius becomes daily more defiant. Excommunication of the king and his ministry follows upon excommunication. In every brief or allocution, the pope pours out the story of his griefs. He studies to keep up the irritation between the government and himself, and succeeds. There cannot forever be two hostile powers in the same city. If these cannot be reconciled, one of them must go; that is inevitable. Nor is Germany all this time asleep. Her position is one of watchfulness. The conflict now going on between the empire and the church grows continually more bitter. Bishops defy the law, and are mulcted by the courts; priestly seminaries are closing, but still the church will not yield. The claim of the old Catholics to the possession of church benefices must soon come up for adjudication. The parties grapple each other ever more closely, and soon the struggle must be one of life or death. Does all this mean war? If France should be so insane as to restore the Bourbon monarchy, there is no telling what may come. One thing is certain, that if the church stirs up war that it may recover its lost prestige, it will itself meet a speedy doom. Having then declared its undying hostility to the age, it must take the consequences.—Methodist. Profanity: A Voluntary Sin Without Excuse
PROFANE swearing has always seemed to be a most voluntary sin. Most erring people when they do wrong count upon some good to be derived from their conduct, but for profanity there is no excuse. Sin Provokes God's Afflictions Upon Humanity
SIN provokes God to do what otherwise he would not. “He doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men.” THE MONEYLESS MAN
By Our Fireside Friend
Is there no secret place on the face of the earth, Where charity dwelleth, where virtue hath birth? Where bosoms in mercy and kindness will heave, And the poor and the wretched shall ask and receive? Is there no place on earth where a knock from the poor Will bring a kind angel to open the door? Ah! search the wide world wherever you can, There is no open door for the moneyless man! Go look at your hall where the chandeliers' light Drives off with its splendor the darkness of night; Where the rich, hanging velvet, in shadowy fold, Sweeps gracefully down with its trimming of gold, And the mirrors of silver take up and renew In long lightened vistas the 'wildering view; Go there in your patches, and find, if you can, A welcoming smile for a moneyless man. Go look in yon church of the cloud-reaching spire, Which gives back to the sun his same look of red fire; Where the arches and columns are gorgeous within, And the walls seem as pure as a soul without sin; Go down the long aisles—see the rich and the great, In the pomp and the pride of their worldly estate; Walk down in your patches, and find, if you can, Who opens a pew to a moneyless man! Go look to yon judge in his dark, flowing gown, With the scales wherein law weigheth quietly down, Where he frowns on the weak and smiles on the strong, And punishes right, while he justifies wrong; Where jurors their lips on the Bible have laid, To render a verdict they've already made; Go there in the court-room and find, if you can, Any law for the cause of a moneyless man! Go look in the banks, where mammon has told His hundreds and thousands of silver and gold, Where, safe from the hands of the starving and poor, Lies pile upon pile of the glittering ore, Walk up to the counter—ah, there you may stay Till your limbs grow old and your hairs turn gray— And you'll find at the bank not one of the clan With money to lend to a moneyless man! Then go to yon hovel—no raven has fed The wife who has suffered so long for her bread— Kneel down by her pallet, and kiss the death frost From the lips of the angel your poverty lost— Then turn from your agony upward to God, And bless while it smites you, the chastening rod— And you'll find, at the end of our life's little span, There's a welcome above for the moneyless man! The Chinese have one good-natured trait. They reverence aged people, and show them the utmost kindness and attention. Old age is rather neglected in our country, and scenes like the following are not very common:— One cold winter morning, when the sleet froze as it fell, rendering the walking dangerous even to the young and strong, my attention was drawn toward a man whose age and infirmity made it almost impossible for him to get along. We were both walking in the same direction, but he was on the opposite side of the street. I watched him with anxiety, fearing every moment that he would miss his footing. Presently a beautiful young girl, richly and fashionably dressed, came down the street. Just as she was about to pass the old man, he slipped and would have fallen if she had not stretched forth her hand to save him. She stopped a few moments to talk with him, then, taking his arm, turned out of her way and led him home. What a contrast they presented—the young girl, in her elegant attire, and the aged man, in his worn-out garments! It was a beautiful picture, an eloquent sermon upon the respect which the young owe to the aged. I afterward found that the old gentleman had once held a high position, but through no fault of his own had lost his property, and was then very poor and almost blind. How he must have prized the kind attention of the young girl, now that he was forsaken by the friends of his more prosperous days. Perhaps we all need to be reminded of the Bible injunction, “Thou shalt rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man.” We accept your profession to be “looking for light,” but say, without hesitation, that you have marked out a course which, if followed, must lead into the deepest darkness and most fatal error. 1. Your position on conversion supposes that a person is converted to a complete knowledge of duty, which is inconsistent with Scripture and with fact. The Scriptures speak of young converts as “new-born babes,” who may grow by the use of the “sincere milk of the word.” The theory of a knowledge of right by “abstract principles” without “direct enforcement” by “tangible precept” is infidel in its tendency, since it actually ignores the word of God as the rule of life. Fortunately for us, God has not left us to our own blindness, or to walk according to our own ways; but he has given us a revelation of his holy will, and made us responsible if we neglect it. To suppose that we can fully know our duty without a knowledge of the law of God, or understand “the moral requirements of God” without any knowledge of the Scriptures, is to set aside revelation altogether. We know that in this age of infidel tendencies the tide is in that direction, but that professed Christians should plead for it is as astonishing as it is deplorable. 2. Christ promised that the Spirit of truth should guide believers “into all truth,” and in his prayer to his Father, he said, “Thy word is truth.” Now we are exhorted not to believe every spirit, “but try the spirits whether they are of God.” God’s word is truth; and his Spirit will guide into the truth. Of course any spirit which guides contrary to God’s word is not the Spirit of God. This is an infallible test. When an individual excuses himself from obeying any duty laid down in the word, because he has the Spirit for his guide, we know at once “what manner of spirit” he is of. As the Spirit is given to guide into truth, whoever rejects or neglects any duty enjoined by the word of truth, grieves the Spirit; and if he persists in this course, the Spirit will leave him altogether. 3. The fourth commandment is a moral law; it is based upon, and grows out of, a relation as old as the heavens and the earth; and which will continue as long as the relation of Creator and created exists. It is a recognition of the power and authority of the Creator, and of his right to regulate our worship. When he established the cycle of seven days to the week, he blessed and set apart to his own service, the seventh day; thus distinguishing it from the other days which were given to man for his use. Hence, the seventh day is a holy day, and the Lord’s day, “the holy of the Lord.” Some have lost sight of the blessing which God put upon the seventh day, and look upon it as a day simply set apart as were other days. But this is a holy day in a sense which other days are not; and this fact is well expressed in Ex. 35:2; (literally) “the seventh day shall be to you holiness.” It is the Lord’s, and we have no moral right to disregard his prohibition and to appropriate it to our own use. On this, your question leads to a most singular conclusion. You ask, if the commandment is moral, “is not the morality of the commandment fulfilled in giving God one day in seven, without any reference to a particular day?” To this, a pertinent reply is contained in the question, “Who hath required this at your hands?” The commandment says the seventh day is blessed and consecrated, and requires us to keep it holy; and this obligation you think may be fulfilled by appropriating that day to your own use, and “giving God” a day in its stead which he never blessed, which he never sanctified, never claimed as his own, and never required any one to keep! You would be shocked if any should apply such reasoning to any other commandment. Would you admit that, if the eighth commandment is moral, we can fulfil its morality by taking our neighbor’s goods without his knowledge? Or, if it is a moral duty to pay our lawful debts, we can discharge that obligation by giving our creditor counterfeit coin, and reserving the genuine for our own use? And this illustration is exactly to the point. As a Sabbath, the Sunday is a counterfeit. The seventh day alone is genuine; and its genuineness is attested by the well-known and acknowledged fact that Jehovah’s signature is upon it, set there by his own hand. Your third question is but a carrying out of the error of the second. Admitted that a commandment may be kept in letter while it is not kept in spirit, we must deny the converse, that it may be kept in spirit while it is not kept in the letter. You may keep the letter of the third commandment by never mentioning the name of the Lord; but you cannot keep the spirit of it without loving and reverencing his name. Would you claim that you can keep the spirit of it while breaking it in letter, that is, openly using the name of Jehovah in a profane manner; or that you can keep the spirit of the sixth commandment while taking your neighbor’s life; or, of the eighth while taking his property? We know you would not. Why, then, make this distinction against the fourth commandment, and use it as you would not use any of the others? Have you carefully examined the motive which has led you to your conclusions? The seventh precept of God’s law may be kept in letter by abstaining from the overt act of adultery; but the Saviour asserts that it is really broken, that is, in its spirit, by impure desire. Of course it cannot be kept in spirit while its letter is violated, and this shows us what is meant by serving in newness of spirit. It certainly is not to break the law of God in letter, which cannot be done without sin, but it is to keep the law in the letter and something more; not with a mere nominal, formal observance, but with an obedience of faith in God,—the obedience of a heart which loves God, and has an earnest zeal toward him. We have accepted your profession of a desire for light, and have spoken plainly, as we think the occasion requires, and we ask you to accept the assurance that this is written in kindness, and with an earnest prayer that the Spirit of God may guide you into all truth, which you will find in the word of God. And we hope you may be so successful in seeking the light that you may yet say with an inspired servant of God, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.” J. H. W. The Camp-Meeting at Pontiac, Ill.
By Geo. I. Butler
This meeting commenced Thursday night, Oct. 25, and broke up the following Tuesday morning. It was considerably smaller than any other camp-meeting we have attended this year, not excepting even Missouri and Kansas. Had the brethren made one-half the effort to get out to this meeting that the brethren there did last spring to get to the meeting at Centerville, Kansas, we should have had a very different representation. I felt as though it was a disgrace to our cause to have no more of our people together. We had only five tents up besides the large preaching tent and mine; and these, with one exception, were very inferior. Brn. R. F. Andrews and T. M. Steward had just been holding a tent-meeting in Pontiac, and our camp-meeting was designed to close up the work there for the present. These brethren of course had been telling the people all about this great work, this closing message of mercy, this great reform in the last days, to prepare a people for Christ’s coming. They had informed them they were representing the Illinois Conference of our people, and that there was to be a general gathering of our people there, coming from all parts of the State, &c. The meeting was located in the edge of the town, easy of access to all. What an impression must have been made upon the minds of the people to see a forlorn looking company of four or five tents, stuck up on the edge of the prairie, as a representation of this work, when the Conference list shows that 285 Sabbath-keepers were living in the State, as members of churches, while more still were scattered here and there in its limits. I judge from fifty to seventy-five were present out of this number. Sunday, the day that the crowd was expected, was very rainy, so that there were none present all day excepting those actually camping on the ground, and a very few living near. I confess I was very grateful, for I thought the impressions which the people would get that this was a representation of our people in this State would do more injury than all the preaching they would hear would do good. As they did not come out, perhaps they knew little about it. And who was to blame for this? Those especially who stayed away. Had the brethren of Illinois shown as much of a spirit to sacrifice as many of our people in other Conferences, there would have been at least twenty tents there; good, respectable tents. The people of Illinois are not poor. It is one of the richest States in the Union. Its inhabitants are everywhere known as a go-ahead people, second in this respect to no other State. No doubt their go-ahead-ativeness takes too much of a worldly turn. There are many well-to-do Sabbath-keepers there, who should have been present, with family and church tents, and saved us the mortification of such an appearance to the citizens of Pontiac. But probably they could not get time to come. It would have cost them some money, and possibly their sorghum, or cattle, or something else, would not have been so well attended to. If our people choose to have camp-meetings at all the expense which they cost, they should attend them. If they don’t want to be to the trouble of doing this, let them say so, and they shall not be troubled. As it is, when those who have to go from State to State, riding night and day, and holding thirty meetings every week for some two or three months together, appoint meetings at the especial request of the officers of the Conference, as in this case, they hope to see the people present. The call by the President of that Conference was a very earnest one, as all who read it can certify, and his mortification and that of others who attended was very great. But the brethren did not heed it. These lines are designed for those who stayed away, who should have been there. There is no reason why the brethren of Illinois cannot have camp-meetings as well as others if they only think so, and are willing to make sacrifices. They are in the same latitude, and follow the same pursuits, as the people of Iowa, Indiana, and Ohio. Their State is filled with railroads, and they are fully as well off pecuniarily, in proportion to numbers. They will find when they make the sacrifice that God will bless them. The cause has not been making the progress in this State that it has in some others, and I think the cause is not hard to discern. The brethren need to wake up. When they take hold with an earnest spirit of sacrifice, God will bless them. Three hundred Sabbath-keepers in one State can support a camp-meeting. As it was, in spite of all these things, we had an excellent meeting. The weather was the warmest, although it was so late in the season, of any meeting since the eastern camp-meetings commenced. I could not learn that there was any suffering from cold on the ground. Those who did attend, after the unpleasant and discouraging commencement wore off, seemed ready to take hold. We felt it duty to talk plain in reference to existing evils in the State, and to stir up the minds of the people to the necessity of action and sacrifice, yet it was well received and accepted, and many seemed greatly cheered. When the wants of the cause were presented, Sunday morning, there was a general taking hold. Two thousand dollars were pledged on the school, not in very large sums, but the pledging was general; I think, for the size of the company present, there was about as much liberality manifested as in any camp-meeting we have attended. The brethren of Illinois have already subscribed between $2,500 and $3,000, quite a sum being pledged at the meeting by those living in this State. While there are exceptions, as in every State, there seemed to be a general desire to do their part in the cause. The pecuniary affairs of the Conference seem to be slowly getting into a better condition. They have now paid off all their delinquencies on our periodicals, and have quite a fund pledged to start on, in the Tract and Missionary Society. Those who have come into the cause within the last two or three years seem to be more ready to take hold of the burdens of the work than the older ones. Before the meeting closed there seemed to be a good spirit present indeed, and, as far as I could learn, all were very glad they had come to the meeting. The Conference passed a resolution to have a camp-meeting next year, all present voting for it with enthusiasm, showing by this that they thought themselves well paid for their labor. The people went home feeling well, and greatly encouraged. This is as it should be, and we felt very sorry more were not here to share in the same feeling. Nine were baptized by Bro. Andrews in Vermillion river, Tuesday morning, before the people scattered to their homes. This was the first meeting I have attended in Illinois for fifteen years. I see no reason why the cause may not prosper in this State, if there is a taking hold generally among the brethren. I believe the Lord blesses us just in proportion as we make his cause first and uppermost. Nothing can save us from drifting down the current, as all the denominations around us are doing, unless we make special efforts to keep awake and unglue our hands from the world. Our excellent theories will only make our damnation more certain, unless there is excellent practice with them. Great light and terrible ruin always go together, unless practice keeps pace with our light. Here is the rock we as a people shall surely split on if we are not the most earnest people on the earth. Our profession requires it. When we tell the people that this is God’s message of warning for the last days we must act accordingly or we shall simply be hypocritical. Our profession and practice must go together. Oh! that these things might burn into the hearts of our people everywhere. May God wake us up. May the contemplation of the solemn message to the Laodiceans arouse us before it shall be too late. How can we sleep on in such a time as this? The only reason we can, is because Satan’s influence is all around us, and we are in a dozy, sleepy condition from that cause. We hope all will ponder the words of instruction they have heard, and especially the light which God is giving us in the Testimony to the Church, just issued. Martinsville, Ill., Oct. 2, 1873. Present Wants of the Cause.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
Those who have been waiting for an opportunity to use their means judiciously for the benefit of the cause of truth, cannot fail to see that the time is fully come when it can be invested to good advantage. We have come to an important point in the history of the last message, a point that will test the sincerity of those who profess to love it, and show what is their real faith in the work of the Lord. For our good, and not because he is needy, the Lord has laid on us the duty to labor for the advancement of his cause and the salvation of our fellow-men. Our faith and love must be tested, not because God does not know what is in our hearts, but because he wants us to discover what is there, so that we may put away our wrongs that we may be saved. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And while we fancy that we have faith and love, and are willing to do and suffer in the cause of human salvation, the trial of our faith, love, and liberality may bring to light the fact that we are unbelieving, selfish, and covetous. Now we have the opportunity to prove ourselves whether we are in the faith, and test our love and liberality. And let me say to any who may look upon the suggestions of Bro. White, or Bro. Butler, in regard to what is necessary to be done for the advancement of the work, as a selfish dunning for means, that such are too141far from faith in God and confidence in his work to enjoy the approval of God and insure their final salvation. I write thus, my brother, my sister, for your good, and out of a sincere desire for your conversion and salvation. The tenth of the increase is not all that is needed now. We have been robbing God in tithes and offerings. Besides our tithes, liberal offerings are due; and, with all, we shall not cancel our past indebtedness. Some have so much on their hands, in the shape of wild and unprofitable lands, that to pay tithes on it all, according to the supposed value, would, with their actual income, be really embarrassing. They would not be able to meet it and their current expenses. The remedy for this is, to put these lands on sale at figures that will insure a sale, and not their retention, put the avails into the cause in the shape of offerings, and then pay t. B. on what remains. There must be a waking up to a sense of duty and the demands of the times, or we shall be lost. While I speak to others, I speak to myself. I have been far behind my duty in encouraging a spirit of labor and sacrifice. By the help of God, I mean to amend. The fields are white; but where are the reapers? Let us take hold of the work, each one in his own sphere, and God will reward our efforts. If we will walk out by faith, he will help us. Do you believe it, brother? do I believe it? Our actions will tell. We do not want to be deceived. God is giving us a chance to prove ourselves. Let us improve it while we may. The Lord's work will move forward. It will not fail. We may share in it. But if we do not move, others will take the crown. There are crowns enough for all the victors. All may so run as to obtain. Let us so run as to gain the prize and lay hold on eternal life. It is no time to look back. Remember Lot's wife. Let go the world, and lay up treasure in Heaven. The believing heart which is truly in sympathy with the work of the Lord will rejoice and take new courage at these calls for an enlargement of the work and renewed consecration and greater faithfulness in labor in every department of the great work. Such will be cheered with the prospect of soon seeing the work accomplished, and will be in earnest to renew their zeal. Their faith will not falter at the greatness of the work; but will say, It will be done; for it is God's work; he has promised, and he will fulfill. Let me do what I can; let me share in the work; but God will do the work, and all the glory shall be his. The Spirit and the Truth.
By A Reader
“WILL you please answer through the Review the following questions:— “1. It is admitted by your people that the law, in the Christian dispensation, is written in the heart of the believer. This must be done at conversion, and by the Spirit of God. See 2 Cor. 3. Why is it that, to find the law complete, you must go to the 20th of Exodus? Would not one who is truly converted to God know his duty if he had never seen an Old Testament? Would not the principles of the moral requirements of God be made known to the convert if he had never seen a copy of the Scriptures?” “2. Is the fourth commandment a moral law? If so, is not the morality of that commandment fulfilled in giving God one day in seven without any reference to a particular day?” “3. Would not this fulfill Rom. 7: 6, ‘that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter’?” “Yours, seeking for light, Camp-Meeting in Martinsville, Ill.
By George I. Butler
THIS meeting, held in the southern part of the State, was not expected to be a large one. Brn. G. W. Colcord and C. H. Bliss, and some others, had labored in this section of the State considerably for a year or two past, and some fifty had embraced the Sabbath. These, and a few scattering ones who have been longer acquainted with our views, constituted our meeting. But this meeting was nearly as large, so far as our own people were concerned, as the northern meeting, and the outside attendance far greater, though that was expected to be the main one in the State, as the Conference was appointed in connection with it. Those young in the cause in Illinois seem to have far more zeal than the older hands. This is a bad sign for them, and it looks as if others were coming up to take their crowns, because of their unfaithfulness and lack of zeal. In the progress of the meeting there was no striking circumstances to narrate. Our efforts were designed to advance the work among those who were young in the faith, and to teach them the importance of the great principles of practical religion, and the importance of learning to sacrifice for God and humanity. Our efforts were well received, and many confessed to being greatly encouraged and enlightened in the work of God. The brethren who had labored in their midst were also encouraged. We think they have wrought a good work in that section of the State, and trust they will follow it up till it shall be well established. There is a great field all around them. They need a new tent for that section, and a general interest seemed to be felt to have the work go forward. There will be no difficulty in getting the new tent by next season. The brethren are putting up a new meeting-house a few rods from the camp-ground, which is quite a burden. So we made no effort for raising funds for the school at this meeting. The weather was very comfortable. On the whole, we were glad that this meeting was appointed, and trust real good was done. Decatur, Ill., Oct. 6, 1873. Sabbath or Sunday—Which?
By James White
St. Louis, October 2, 1873. THE preachers of this city, Catholics included, were invited, by a public call, to meet for the purpose of taking steps to secure a better observance of the Sabbath. After adopting a “Doctrinal Basis,” in which they declared that salvation is by faith alone, they were brought up standing by Rev. Dr. Leftwich, who suggested that it might be well to ascertain, before proceeding farther, what changes were made in the New Testament in reference to the observance of the Sabbath. This resulted in an adjournment, and I believe they have not met since. The Sunday following, the Democrat contained the following article from “A Student”:— PUBLIC OPINION.—THE SABBATH DAY.
To the Editor of the Democrat: Will you make room in the columns of your paper for a few lines concerning the association of ministers of the gospel for the purpose of securing a better observance of the Sabbath in St. Louis? In my opinion, the adoption of the “Doctrinal Basis” will necessarily exclude more than half of the “professors of religion” in St. Louis from a participation in this good work. The “decalogue” is the only law in the Bible for keeping the Sabbath day “holy.” The Sabbath of that law was, as all know, the seventh, and not the first, day of the week, which would be our Saturday, and not our Sunday. If Christianity abrogated Judaism, what authority have we for keeping the “Sabbath day” holy unless the New Testament—the law of Christianity—contains some command to that effect? But if Christianity did not abrogate Judaism, and if that command in the decalogue is still binding upon us, we must admit: First, That we totally disregard that command, for who pretends to keep Saturday, the seventh day of the week, as God commanded it to be kept? or, secondly, That God made a mistake when he appointed the Sabbath on the seventh instead of the first day of the week; or, thirdly, We must show some authority for daring to tamper with God’s law when we changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day of the week, from Saturday to Sunday; or, fourthly, That some of us have had our consciences very unnecessarily troubled for the so-called much-preached-against “desecration of the Sabbath.” Will some one engaged in this praiseworthy movement be kind enough to remove the difficulty above suggested? These comments are not made in a spirit of levity, but in earnestness and sincerity, by one who truly sympathizes with any undertaking to purify the moral atmosphere of the “future great city,” but who finds a “stumbling-block” in the “manner and form” in which the desired results are sought to be accomplished. It is hoped this difficulty will be removed through the columns of this paper; for this is a matter of public interest, and many others beside the writer are earnestly desiring more light. The above interesting article we copy from The Christian, a Disciple paper published in Illinois, to which paper it was sent by a correspondent from whose remarks we take the following extract:— “We are commanded not to neglect the assembling of ourselves together upon the first day of the week; but is that the Sabbath, or even a Sabbath, or day of rest? and if so, are we commanded to keep it holy?” This, from a denomination professing to be far in advance of their neighbors in Scripture light and knowledge, is worthy of record. If that correspondent will look closely, he will find the commandment of which he speaks in the same chapter with the commandment to baptize our infant children. They both emanated from the same source, and rest on the same authority. And the editor of that paper, not to be outdone, gives another item of modern Scripture doctrine in the following words:— “—Saviour, who rose from the dead on the first day of the week, and consecrated it as his own.” The act of consecration, or the evidence of any such act of consecration, may be found in the same chapter with the two commandments spoken of above. But, notwithstanding the regret which must be felt that so much blindness and religious bigotry exist as is manifested in the above extracts, we rejoice that such items are being published to the world, as they show that the spirit of inquiry is abroad upon the Sabbath question, and the light is spreading by every means; and whether of good-will or of “contention,” still we rejoice that the light is spreading on this test-question of the age. The Memory.
By Jos. Clarke
“Yet did not the chief butler remember Joseph, but forget him.” Gen. 40:23. Very treacherous indeed is the memory, and only by cultivation and care is it kept in proper condition for the pursuits of life; and with all our care, helps are needed—journals, ledgers, memorandum books, notes, and receipts. But chiefly is the memory at fault in retaining the favors we daily receive from God and man, and, most of all, it fails in retaining the word of God and the holy influences of his Spirit. Man, in his first estate, no doubt, was perfect; the natural sciences were a second nature to him, and his memory never hesitated or faltered; but sin brought in a gradual change, and we are brought very low in the scale of mind, for the memory has failed, and with it all the mental powers. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” says the Law-giver. Well, he knew that men were forgetful, and that in the last days, Satan would weave his subtlest web from the ingenious devices of apostate Christianity, to evade this most important institution. To forget God is the first impulse of fallen human nature; and to ignore his Sabbath, is the surest means of doing this. Satan has made the papal church the author of a rival Sabbath, and her apostate daughters are sealing their doom by working in the same direction. Great pains and labor have been taken by men of God to write out the word of God; for they well knew the weakness of the memory. Says Peter, “Moreover, I will endeavor that ye may be able, after my decease, to have these things always in remembrance.” 2 Pet. 1:15. Also see chap. 3:1, and Jude 5. One of the important offices of the Comforter (Holy Spirit) is to quicken the memory of such as accept its influences. “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” Some particular denominations of Christians are helping this forgetfulness by claiming the obsoleteness of the Old Testament, and thus causing that document to be almost wholly neglected. To such an extent is this carried by them that the New Testament loses all its force, and multitudes receive baptism who are as ignorant of the plan of salvation as the Hindoos, and are as surely deceived. Christ, on his way to Emmaus, enlightened the minds of his fellow-travelers by a reference to the testimony of the ancient prophets, and refreshing their minds by the testimony of the Old Testament, which they had in a measure forgotten. But here are a people who would almost consign the Old Testament to oblivion. All will allow that there is a tendency in our nature to forget God and our obligations to him. Who that has any knowledge of his own heart has not mourned over this tendency of his nature? Let us consider what the psalmist says in chapter 50: 22, 23. Please turn to the chapter and read. Jos. Clarke.