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Review and Herald, Vol. 84, No. 51.

THE GIFT HE SEEKS

Review and Herald

Dec 19, 1907

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 19, 1907

THE GIFT HE SEEKS

By C. M. Snow

C. M. Snow
What can we, Lord, to Thee accepted bring— Thou who hast all, and over all art King ? What gift or service can we render now While we so needy at Thine altar bow ? Thou who didst purchase all, for all didst die, Can we bring aught Thy need to satisfy ? So far the wandering and so dark the sin, Canst Thou, O thorn-crowned Saviour, bid us enter in ?
We chose the path that led from Thee away, We wandered into darkness from Thy day; Where pleasure led, we sped with flying feet, And in her palaces found tarrying sweet; Yea, all that pandered to our joy, our pride, We garnered there, nor aught ourselves denied; And canst Thou still Thine invitation give, Our record cleanse, and bid us come to Thee and live ?
“My child,” He saith, “how canst thou doubting stand?” The pardon ’s written in that pierced hand. The blood that flowed on Calvary’s cross of wood Between man’s sins and judgment long has stood; And Heaven waits that gift to sanctify Which made Christ willing for thy sins to die. O child of earth, He craves this heart of thine, And for it gives thee life, and joy, and love divine.
Takoma Park, D. C.

Colds: Their Cause, Prevention, and Cure

THIS is the time of year when the majority of people are subject to colds. It is quite common to meet people suffering with a prolonged attack of this common malady. They do not seem to realize the fact that a cold can, and should, be immediately cured. Some think they must have the doctor, and others give entirely up to a cold, and are thereby incapacitated for business.
We offer the readers of the REVIEW a neat little booklet of sixty-two pages, that will tell them what to do and what not to do in preventing or breaking up a cold. It also outlines the principal causes of colds, and gives valuable instruction regarding their treatment. This little work, although it costs only 25 cents in money, is very valuable to every individual. Its services and general benefits can not be estimated by a money valuation.
Bound in white leatherette, neatly stamped; price, 25 cents, post-paid.

Publishers' Page

Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Association

Pamphlet Edition of Early Writings

By Editor

WHILE some of our young people are following the readings of the Missionary Volunteer Reading Course published in the Instructor, we presume there are many who are not studying these lessons at all. The study at this time of such a book as “Early Writings” is most opportune, and our people ought to encourage thorough work on the part of the youth in every family.
Why would it not be well for every Seventh-day Adventist, old and young, to give this important book a careful perusal just now? It is a good second advent text-book for all to study.
The new edition, consecutively paged (the previous editions were made up from two pamphlets, each paged separately), with excellent Scriptural and General Index, has been on sale for several months. Now we are printing an edition on thinner paper, bound in pamphlet style, for 35 cents. This pamphlet edition is ready to mail.
Ten thousand copies of “Early Writings” ought to be sold and read during the present winter. Our love and appreciation for the precious volumes of the spirit of prophecy should be more and more manifest in these closing days of earth’s history, when the instruction these books contain is so much needed.
Orders for “Early Writings” should be sent through the usual channels of supply. The prices are as follows:— Regular edition, full cloth . . . . . . $ .75 Flexible leather . . . . . . . . . . 1.25 Thin edition, pamphlet . . . . . . . .35

The Lover's Love: or, John 3: 16

WE recommend to our young people that thrilling treatise on that priceless scripture, John 3: 16, entitled “The Lover’s Love.” This work possesses rare merit and essential human interest. It sparkles with divine truth, and glows with lofty thought, reasoning with moving tenderness, exalting Christ, glorifying God, cheering saints, and winning the hearts of sinners. All young people should have the benefits of this book. In neat cloth binding, 176 pages; price, 75 cents.

Sketches of Bible Child Life

How many of our readers know of that excellent child's book, “Sketches of Bible Child Life,” a biography of the principal children mentioned in the Bible, written especially for young people?
The greatest responsibility of parents is the training of their children, and there is nothing they can do for them that will help them more than to provide for them the inspired stories of the lives of the children recorded in the Scriptures. These biographies are a part of the Word that is a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path. “Sketches of Bible Child Life” presents, in simple narrative, Bible child life in a manner that charms and molds the lives of children. It is one of the best books published for children. It contains 144 pages, with 22 full-page illustrations and neat cover design, and sells for only 50 cents, post-paid.

Making Home Happy

If any of our readers are casting about for a good book to present to a child or young person for a holiday gift, we would recommend “Making Home Happy.” It is an excellent book, telling how an unhappy home was made happy. It is a bright and cheery volume for both old and young.
The home lies at the basis of all society. This little work pictures before the readers in consecutive narrative the relations that should exist and the lines of influence that should be guarded and cultivated in every home. As an evidence of its popular appreciation, we refer to the 80,000 copies that have been sold with but very little effort on the part of the publishers. The book commends itself. It contains 206 pages, nicely illustrated; paper cover, 25 cents; cloth binding, 50 cents.

My Garden Neighbors

THOSE parents who are looking for a good book especially adapted to the needs of boys, would do well to consider “My Garden Neighbors.” This is a book of exceedingly interesting nature stories. It tells of certain birds, animals, and other creatures which made their home in the author’s garden. It is intended first of all to reveal some of the wonderful, interesting things that are happening daily at our very doors, and to cultivate a closer observation of, and a greater love for, the things of nature. It is especially helpful to boys and girls who reside in cities and towns, who have never had the benefits of the association of birds and animals. The book is filled with moral lessons. No boy or girl can read it without being greatly benefited. It contains 256 pages, nicely illustrated with fifty or more drawings, several of which are colored plates. Bound in new attractive cloth cover design; price, $1, post-paid.

The House We Live In: or, The Making of the Body

THIS valuable little work, written especially for the study of the youth, sets forth in an interesting and instructive manner all the wonders, uses, and functions of the human body in all its various parts. The plan of the book is conversational,—a mother talking with her children, and teaching them very practical lessons on the care of the body from common, every-day objects with which the children are familiar. It is a book for home reading, and will be of great assistance to mothers in teaching their children how to care for themselves physically, and to avoid the evil effects of narcotics and stimulants. It will be worth many times its cost in all families where there are children. The work contains 218 pages, with nearly 150 illustrations; bound in cloth; price, $1.

Our Little Folks’ Bible Nature

To those parents who are looking for a book that is eminently adapted to the needs of children who have not yet learned to obtain thoughts through reading, we would recommend “Our Little Folks’ Bible Nature,” by Ella King Sanders. It is a new child’s book of simple graded lessons in Bible nature, beginning with the subject of light, and continuing with the study of creation in the order of the Scriptures. It therefore has an advantage over other books, in that it follows closely inspiration in presenting to the mind the facts in connection with the creation of the world. It is a beginners’ book, of the sentence-method order, carefully graded. Each subject is thoroughly illustrated with new drawings made especially for the book, and with thirteen colored plates. It contains 144 pages, and is beautifully bound in board and cloth covers; prices respectively, 25 and 50 cents.

Here and Hereafter

A FALSE view of the nature of man opens the way for every system of heathenism in the world, and many errors in the Christian world spring out of a lack of a true knowledge of this question. The terrible doctrine of eternal conscious misery for the lost, the seductive errors of a future probation after death, restoration, universalism, spiritualism, all go down before the great truth that the dead in their graves know not anything, and that God is not unrighteous in dealing with those who refuse his great offer of life.
No fact is more important for the world to know than that which this work is set to advocate, that eternal life is to be had only through Christ.
“Here and Hereafter” is not a man-made conception of this great subject, but it is written in harmony with the teachings of the Scriptures; in fact, it is an association of Scriptural facts bearing directly upon this important subject.
Bound in cloth, with appropriate cover design in jet and gold, containing 357 pages; price, $1, post-paid.
Order of any conference tract society, or of Review and Herald Publishing Association, Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C.

Love and Fear

“LOVE suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not its own, is not provoked, taketh not account of evil; rejoiceth not in unrighteousness, but rejoiceth with the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” “And we know and have believed the love which God hath in us. God is love; and he that abideth in love abideth in God, and God abideth in him. Herein is love made perfect with us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as he is, even so are we in this world. There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath punishment; and he that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

The Supreme Test

THE resurrection of the dead always has been, and still is, the hope of those who believe on Christ as their life. This was really the test of the genuineness of the claim that Jesus was the Messiah, and it was therefore the test of true Christianity. The religious leaders were “sore troubled” because the disciples “proclaimed in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” Jesus had declared himself to be “the resurrection, and the life,” and his own resurrection was unanswerable testimony to the truthfulness of his assertion. Upon this fact is based the following masterly argument: “Now if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised: and if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain, your faith also is vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised: and if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.”
Before the Sanhedrin the apostle Paul declared: “Touching the hope and resurrection of the dead I am called in question;” and to the Jews whom he addressed in Rome after his arrival in that city as a prisoner, he said: “Because of the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain.” This hope is based upon the great fact that Christ has “abolished death, and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
The ability to conquer death distinguishes Christ from the founders of all false religions, and the hope of the resurrection furnished by Christianity is the overwhelming proof of its superiority to all false religions and to all the modern philosophy which so-called advanced thinkers are seeking to substitute for the original gospel of Christ. That pantheistic teaching which attempts to establish by physical demonstrations the union of God and humanity apart from the work of the great Mediator who veiled his divinity with humanity in order to make possible this union through faith in him, is a poor substitute for the mystery of godliness through which comes the hope of the resurrection. Christian Science, with all its failures to demonstrate its ability to conquer death, supplies no sufficient reason for abandoning old-fashioned Christianity in its favor. All the “isms” which flourish in these last days are an utter failure when the supreme test of the resurrection—victory over death—is applied. Human philosophy can not bridge the grave. The New Theology can not give newness of life. “As the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself,” and any teaching which does not rest the hope of eternal life upon personal faith in the Son will prove to be a delusion and a disappointment. “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life.”

The Isolated Ones

By W. A. S.

At a time when special services are being held, as at this week-of-prayer season, it may be that the lone members of the flock, separated from those of like precious faith, feel most deeply their isolation.
They may be assured that they are not forgotten by those who enjoy the privileges of church association and fellowship. Wherever companies of believers gather, there is remembrance also of the isolated ones. We pray that their single lights may be kept glowing brightly in the places where, most of all, light is needed—where there are no other representatives of the message.
Best of all, the Lord himself, the great Shepherd of the sheep, does not forget the lone and scattered members of the flock. The Lord is mindful of the one, as well as of the many.
“Of them which thou gavest me have I lost none”—not one. John 18:9.
With ninety and nine in the fold, the Good Shepherd, “if he lose one,” will go after that one which is lost, “until he find it.” Luke 15:4.
Abraham was isolated among the idolaters of Chaldea, and the Lord says,“I called him alone, and blessed him.” Isa. 51:2.
To those tempted to feel themselves overlooked in the multitude, the Lord says: “Lift up your eyes on high, and behold who hath created these things, that bringeth out their host by number: he calleth them all by names by the greatness of his might, for that he is strong in power; not one faileth”—not one. Isa. 40:26.
The Lord cares for every one of his children, and desires every one to know it and to have the blessedness of the assurance. He who knows what it is to be alone and to feel forsaken, will never leave nor forsake the one who is cut off from human fellowship and sympathy in the things of God. The promise grows but the more precious as the end hastens on: “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” By that law of divine compensation—the greater the need the greater measure of grace and comfort—the isolated ones can sing with deeper appreciation than any others,—
“Lonely?—No, not lonely While Jesus standeth by; His presence always cheers me; I know that he is nigh. Friendless?—No, not friendless, For Jesus is my Friend; I change, but he remaineth, The same unto the end.”
W. A. S.

Editorial

By Editor

CHRIST is all and in all to the believer. “We live only in him. He takes our sins and gives us his righteousness. He takes our weakness and unites it, like a branch grafted upon a tree, to his own glorious fulness of strength. Our emptiness he attaches to his divine completeness. Our lives feed upon him, and we are in every sense dependent upon him. We have nothing, and we are nothing, which we do not receive from him.”

The End of All Things

The end. The end of sin. The end of the great controversy between Christ and Satan. The end of the devil and all his works. The end of the kingdom of this world, and the setting up of the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ. It is for this that we may look when this gospel of the kingdom shall have been preached “in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations.” Every effort put forth to help proclaim this last gospel message to the world will hasten the coming of the end.

The Voice of the People

By C. M. S.

The Motto on the Coin
WE have waited to hear the nation express itself on the question of the motto on the new coin, desiring to collect representative utterances and present them to our readers connectedly, that they might see what is the attitude of the people upon the subject. There is a fundamental principle involved in the matter which goes much deeper than most of those who have spoken are able to realize.
The President’s order that the legend, “In God We Trust,” should be left off the new ten-dollar gold piece, has provoked no end of comment throughout the country. By some his act is vigorously denounced. These are they who are laboring so zealously to put the name of God in the Constitution, and to place all Christian laws, rules, and usages of this government on an undeniable legal basis in our fundamental law—they who are seeking to prove to the world by the placard process that “this is a Christian nation.” On the other hand many of the public prints are supporting the President’s position. In the year 1865 Congress authorized the placing the words, “In God We Trust,” upon our coins as has been without legal warrant, though it has not been forbidden. The President, therefore, had two valid reasons for his course: first, that he had no authority in law for ordering those words placed upon the coins; and second, that he considered their use inimical to the interests of religion. He says:—
My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good, but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously near to sacrilege. A beautiful and solemn sentence, such as the one in question, should be treated and uttered only with that fine reverence which necessarily implies a certain exaltation of spirit. Any use which tends to cheapen it, and above all, any use which tends to secure its being treated in a spirit of levity, is, from every standpoint, profoundly to be regretted.
The President signifies his willingness to have the motto replaced, provided Congress shall direct him so to do, but he closes his statement to the public thus:—
I very earnestly trust that the religious sentiment of the country, the spirit of reverence in the country, will prevent any such action’s being taken.
Concerning this matter the New York Evening Post says:—
That a good thing may be perverted is no good reason for giving up a good thing. The removal of the motto from the coins is not, in our judgment, a matter to get excited about; but it betrays again the President’s habit of acting hastily without due foresight of the consequences.
But the President’s reasons for his act, as set forth in his published statement, indicate that he has not acted hastily, but after deliberation and from conviction.
Some of the religious journals that have spoken editorially upon the subject feel that the omission of the motto indicates a decline of religion in the nation, a decline which will be instantly remedied by having the offensive coins called in, and recoined with the motto on them. We might remark, in passing, that a religion which goes up or down with the coining of our money is not worth much, even for a national religion. The following from the Home Herald, of Chicago, is characteristic of these editorial utterances:—
The fact that the national motto, “In God We Trust,” has been omitted from the designs of the new ten- and twenty-dollar gold pieces recently adopted by the federal authorities, has justly and properly raised a storm of protest, both secular and religious, all over the country. People who never thought much about the words on the coins, now that they are to be removed, feel that they are losing something tangible, something which is of value to them. “Consulting art is well,” says the Philadelphia Ledger, “consulting fitness is better;” consulting the deeply founded convictions of a nation is best.”
The symbol was not an empty, superfluous lettering on a piece of metal. It was notice that the United States of America believed in a Supreme Being and desired to give the widest expression to the national faith.
The omission in the new designs is a sign of the decline of religious feeling which seems to be the accepted thing in the present administration, and is a mistake, to speak mildly, that may be called wanton. It is irreverence, for it is irreverent to flout the reverential attitude of the republic.
And yet, one of the President’s reasons for omitting the motto was because its presence on the coins had proved to be an incentive to irreverence. The people “feel that they are losing something tangible,” declares the above editorial. So feels the inhabitant of Tibet when his prayer-wheel has been blown down by the wind which he expected to turn the wheel and make it say prayers for him. He puts it up again, and when he sees the wind turning it with his printed prayer attached to it, he feels better again. What better does a government do when it compels saint and sinner alike to pass along its religious declarations whenever they transact business?
In the Philadelphia Public Ledger, of November 19, a correspondent, terror-stricken over the omission of the motto from the coin, says:—
I was astounded to learn that Mr. Roosevelt had ordered the motto, “In God We Trust,” to be left off of our government coins. Let us beware lest the nation depart from God. There is a people among us who refuse to vote at our elections because the living God is not mentioned in our Constitution. How shall they grieve if the clear acknowledgment of him is swept out of all the things that represent the nation.
This writer is evidently of the National Reform belief, and feels that unless the Constitution acknowledges God by name, and proclaims his name with every coin minted, it is dishonoring him, and his wrath is hanging over it. Because of this separation of church and state, because the nation does not declare its allegiance to Jesus Christ, such men refuse to vote. And all this in the very face of the declaration of Jesus Christ that his kingdom is not of this world! It is far from being an evidence of departure from God that the church and state are kept separate. It is in harmony with his own teaching upon that question.
Rev. Z. H. Copp, of Washington, D. C., in a sermon on November 11, declared it to be “a libel on the work of God and the history of our country to omit the words, ‘In God We Trust,’ from the coin of the realm.” The United Presbyterian, of November 21, condemns the President severely for “his act of desecration of our coinage,” and adds that his reasoning would justify the removalof the Sabbath laws from the statute-books of every State in the Union. This is true; and yet it argues nothing against the soundness of the President’s position. The “Sabbath laws” on our State statute-books and the religious mottoes on our coins are equally out of place. The Episcopal Convention recently passed a resolution declaring that “the highest interests of our country demand the preservation of all those customs that have stood for the recognition of God in the life of the people.” The inference from such a resolution is that taking that motto off our coins takes God out of the life of the people. It can not be true; for true religion is not a farce. Any religion that can be put off or put on as easily as mottoes can be put on or off a coin is not worthy of serious consideration.
In opposition to such arguments as those quoted or referred to above we quote the following from the New York Independent of November 21:—
The name of God in its Constitution does not make a nation Christian. The name of God on a coin does not in the least sanctify the pocket that holds it or the mint or state that stamps it. It is the people, nothing else than the numbers and the controlling spirit of the people, that makes a nation Christian.
The teaching of religion is no business of the state. . . . We further knew that it was the business of the church to foster Christianity, not of the nation, which must comprise many who are not Christians, but who have equal rights with those who are. . . . Most of our people believe in God, and a great many of them “trust” in him. But we will trust him no less if we omit the golden inscription. The omission may make it a little clearer to our minds that words and forms and visible show are no part of religion.
In a succeeding issue of the same journal the editor, reverting to the same topic, says:—
It is not the business of the nation to proselyte; that is the business of the church. We resent the idea of the secular power trying to control the religious opinions or acts of the citizens. In the nation all citizens have equal rights, and we are not afraid to let Christianity have its fair show and no more, and then let the best win. As to the children, if the failure of the state to make Christians of them leaves them to grow up without belief, then the blame is on the church which fails to do its duty.
The Christian Register, speaking editorially upon the same topic, says:—
For many years individuals and societies have been earnestly working to get a recognition of God and Christianity into the Constitution of the United States. When they succeeded in getting “In God We Trust” stamped upon our coins, they believed a great victory had been achieved for religion. We have never agreed with these good people, because no one can be made religious by compulsion, and the effort to force God into the thoughts of men has, so far as our own experience goes, never succeeded. We remember no case in which the man of the street has ever referred to this inscription without some jocular expression of contempt. It does not increase reverence or make men believe more mightily in God to see his name stamped upon coins which, in the case of the silver dollar, were notoriously not worth their face value. “In God we trust for the other fifty cents” was an expression heard on all sides when the scheme went into effect. Men can not be made religious by act of Congress.
A correspondent of the Washington (D. C.) Herald, after citing a few facts which indicate anything but national trust in God, says:—
It seems to one who looks dispassionately at the matter, that if we must have a motto on our newly minted eagle, we should replace the old one by one more expressive of the fact that hypocrisy and greed shine as chief among American virtues, and stamp the coin, “In Gold We Trust.”
If all men would realize that it is individual trust in God, and that alone, that counts, we would not see the prevailing hysteria over the removal of the motto from our coinage. God looks upon the heart, not upon the coin. He saves individuals; he destroys nations when he comes to save individuals. We might put that motto on every coin we mint, upon all the postage-stamps and greenbacks we print, upon all stocks and bonds, checks, notes, deeds, mortgages, and liquor licenses, hang it over the door of every dwelling, school, store, factory, railway station, saloon, and brothel, set it up at every cross-road, and paint it on every ship and railway train, stamp it on every sales slip and print it on the front page of every newspaper and magazine in the land, and it would count not a feather’s weight in the scales of the great Judge. Clean hearts, character, life—these only count.
C. M. S.

The Everlasting Covenant

THE following question was submitted to the Signs of the Times by one of its correspondents:—
What is God’s everlasting covenant? Is it “Obey and live”? If not, what is it?
The reply is brief but clear, and we think all our readers will read it with interest. We therefore quote it in full:—
God’s everlasting covenant is that relationship between the believer and Himself in Jesus Christ, by which the believer is saved. If we understand “Obey and live” aright, it is comprehended in that expression. We would prefer to put it, “Believe and live,” for the man who will truly believe will be the man who will truly obey. Originally man stood in the very current and fulness of God’s life; he took himself out of that current; faith brings him again into that same current of life. The term “obey” is sometimes used in the case of believing, or rather, yielding to the command to believe, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Obedience would be yielding to that injunction. Obey and believe are used synonymously in John 3:36, A. R. V. It is a great deal better to express it in the other way, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, or faith in God through Christ. “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” That is a great eternal truth, true before man fell, true during his fallen condition, true throughout all eternity; for that in which we have faith is that which molds and shapes and revives and purifies. The finite then is ever looking to the Infinite, the imperfect to the Perfect, the child to the all-wise Father. Therefore there is constant growth in grace, in knowledge, in fulness, in development. That everlasting covenant is the new covenant, not new because its teachings first existed, but new because confirmed by the death of Christ, later than other covenants were confirmed. The last Sabbath-school quarterly covers the ground of the covenant, and if the term “Obey and live” were understood in the light of the other teachings of the pamphlet, there would be no trouble over the expression.

Excluding Their Friends

By C. M. S.

UNDER the above heading the Northwestern Christian Advocate deprecates editorially the fact that the Federation of Labor of La Crosse, Wis., refuses longer to receive “fraternal delegates” from the Pastors’ Union of the same place. There are other organizations belonging to the Federation of Labor of that city, such as the Brewery Workers’ Union, the Beer Bottlers’ Union, and the Bartenders’ Union. These object to the ministerial delegates because the ministerial delegates, if true to the gospel calling, must object to the business by which the members of those unions obtain their living. As the minister has no business save to represent the cause of Christ, wherever he may be, he must oppose the business of the members of those organizations, and oppose every move the members of those organizations make to increase their profits. The liquor men know that as well as do the ministers, and their action was to be expected—it was only logical. “Fraternal delegates” means brotherly delegates; and to “exchange fraternal delegates” indicates a harmony of interests, a brotherly interest in each other’s calling. But the Christian minister is to represent Christ, and that is a calling which is opposed by every interest of brewers’, bottlers’, and bartenders’ unions. The two can not mix any more than water and oil. They are as opposite as light and darkness. No minister who truly represents Christ can accept an appointment as “fraternal delegate” to any such organization. No true soldier fraternizes with the enemies of his country in time of battle; and so long as the great battle between righteousness and sin is on in this world, no true minister of the gospel can rightly fraternizewith the organized forces of the liquor traffic, which thrives on ruin, desolation, and destruction.
It is indeed strange that it should have been necessary for such an organization to teach a pastors’ union its place. But the journal above referred to feels that the Federation of Labor has done an unwise and an unjust thing, as the following extract from the editorial will show:—
Two years ago this fall an arrangement was entered into between the trades and labor council of La Crosse and the Pastors’ Union, an organization of more than twenty years’ standing, to exchange fraternal delegates, and Rev. J. W. Irish was elected to represent the Pastors’ Union. All was well, and the ministers marched last year in the Labor day parade. Then another ministerial delegate was elected, and shortly afterward the ministers headed a movement for the enforcement of law, simply demanding the enforcement of laws in relation to stalls and wine rooms frequented by women, sale of intoxicating liquors to minors, public gambling, slot machines, assignation houses, street walking, and public solicitation by lewd persons, closing of saloons at the ordinance hour, and the sale of liquor in connection with public dances. They did not even demand the closing of the saloons on Sunday, all of them being wide open on that day.
This is pitiable. It means, “We did only a few of the things that we ought to have done; and the fact that we did so little ought to have softened the hearts of the liquor men and the union men toward us to such an extent that they would have continued to receive our ‘fraternal delegates.’ We might have taken a strong, consistent stand against the whole liquor business, as we had a right to do, and as our Master expected us to do; but we did not do it, hoping by this omission to have our ‘fraternal delegates’ received.”
This is the inference we are compelled to draw from the editorial above quoted. The fraternal delegate idea originated in the effort of church-and-state reformers to swing the labor unions over to their side of the Sunday-enforcement campaign. This led to the curious action of the Pastors’ Union in marching in a Labor day parade as a part of the union movement, and has ended in the embarrassing action of the Federation of Labor above referred to; all of which should teach all professed ministers of Christ that they are not called upon to yoke up with the powers of evil in order to do good, and when they seek recognition in the organizations of this world in order to obtain their help to enforce religious observances by law, they are outside their sphere. The gospel calling is too sacred to be put to such uses, and is large enough in its legitimate field to occupy all the time and talent and attention of its most powerful and most eloquent exponents.
C. M. S.

Note and Comment

The Liquor Dealers’ Resolutions

THE growth of the temperance sentiment throughout the country and the rapid increase of “dry” territory are causing the liquor manufacturers and wholesale dealers much uneasiness, and there is constant effort on their part to make their business appear respectable and to cast discredit upon prohibition. They denounce the latter as a breeder of intemperance and hypocrisy. It is very evident, however, that the smallness of their sales of liquor in prohibition territory is a much more cogent reason for their opposition to it than any solicitude on their part for the cause of temperance. At the first annual meeting of the New York State Liquor Dealers’ Association held in New York City recently, a resolution was unanimously adopted in which it was declared that the “legitimate manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages is an honorable and reputable trade, and that the great majority of men engaged in it are honorable and patriotic American citizens.” They further resolved that it was unfair to the federal government derives “a substantial portion of its revenue from those engaged in the business.” The holding of such meetings, called for the purpose of devising means for counteracting the temperance movement, indicates plainly that the liquor business is being hurt in a vital spot by the spread of the prohibition movement.

A Word for “Our Truth” Number of the “Instructor”

By A. G. Daniells

By this time the most of our young people must have seen “Our Truth” number of the Youth’s Instructor, bearing date of December 3. The special mission of this special number of this young people’s magazine is to proclaim in a simple, clear, and forceful manner some of the fundamental truths of the Bible for this time.
The plan of salvation is made clear by an explanation of the sanctuary and its service. The Sabbath, the coming of the Lord, and other important truths are presented in a manner to interest the young.
This is an excellent number of the Instructor. All our young people ought to read it with care, and then make a most earnest effort to place it in the hands of the young people not of our faith. The large and deeply impressive cover design, and the many illustrations accompanying the articles, help to make the number bright and attractive.
Through the kindness of my thoughtful mother, I became a reader of the Instructor forty-two years ago, when only seven years of age. I have had it ever since. It has been a great blessing to me. As an instructor of the young it has constantly grown better as it has grown older. Our young people ought to give “Our Truth” number a large circulation.
A. G. DANIELLS.

Theological Infidelity

At a meeting of the Congregational National Council held at Cleveland, Ohio, the professor of homiletics in the Congregational Theological School was appointed to deliver an address. He did so, and of that address the Advance says:—
A more bold and bald declaration of infidelity was perhaps never before made in the presence of a religious body in this country than that which he gave to the National Council. He declared teaching that the Bible is the inspired word of God is a harmful superstition, and said there could be no atonement, and there was no need of any.
He can show more scorn in a minute for the faith that has transformed and transfigured the lives of millions of men than the most sarcastic politician can show for the opposite party in a whole campaign. He has just about all the late Colonel Ingersoll's willingness to pitch into the beliefs and doctrines of the Christian religion, without the colonel's fairness to stand on the outside while he does it.
Is it a matter of astonishment that, under the instruction of such professors, expounders of unbelief go out to fill the pulpits of the country? or that under the preaching of ministers thus prepared unbelief is filling the pews of the churches?

Persecutions There and Here

THERE is something that savors very much of the early days of Christianity in the recent experiences of some native Christians in Liberia. The report reads:—
Bishop I. B. Scott has succeeded in pacifying the people at Grand Cess, Liberia, and the persecution of our Christians there has been stopped. Our membership at this place has gone up from about fifty to five hundred in the past two years. The persecutors had smoked some Christians in closed cabins, tying them over fires in which cayenne pepper had been thrown.
These native expedients for preventing the spread of the gospel in that country are in the same class with those adopted during the Dark Ages to stamp out heresy and the reading of the Word of God. They bear evidence of having been inspired by the same power. There is also a marked resemblance between all these demonstrations of intolerance and the teachings and laws of our own land that make obedience to the whole law of God a punishable offense.
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