Review and Herald, Vol. 31, No. 17. (4/7/1868)

Review and Herald

Apr 7, 1868

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Apr 7, 1868

THE OBJECT OF THE GOSPEL.

By Eld. N. Fuller

BY ELD. N. FULLER.

TEXT.— “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” John iii, 16.

This, as well as many other portions of divine truth, lead us upon disputed territory. One class of religionists tells us that God loved the world so well that he sent his Son to save all men irrespective of character; that they could do nothing to prevent their final salvation in the kingdom of God. I refer to those calling themselves Universalists.

Has God ever said this? If he has, I ask, Where? And a voice from the entire class calling themselves “Orthodox”—swelling so loud that all nations have heard—answers, Nowhere in the word of God; to which I respond, Amen. That voice is truth; because it agrees with the word of God.

The very commission that Christ gave his apostles is averse to this doctrine. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark xvi, 15, 16. This corresponds with the words of our text, “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” I might extend my remarks upon this point, and bring many texts to prove that such a doctrine is nowhere found in the word of God; but I leave it by asking two questions: 1. Has Christ ever changed the commission to which I have already referred? The answer is, “I am the Lord, I change not.” Mal. iii, 6. 2. Have the apostles anywhere changed this great commission? Let the chiefest of the apostles answer: “And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.” 2 Thess. ii, 11, 12.

This great error has been discovered by the class calling themselves orthodox, and it has frightened them; and no wonder. It is to be feared. Thousands would fain be rescued from this gulf of ruin when it is too late, and some of them cry for mercy even upon a dying bed.

The horse would be frightened if you should drive him where he could gaze into the dreadful chasm of Niagara; even if he saw it above the bridge, what would be the result? Would he stop to think that a more fearful gulf awaited him on the other side? No. Were it not for the iron railing and the strong posts that resist his strength, you must accompany him as he takes the dreadful leap, and fall breathless into the mad waters below.

Here let me say to my friends who hold the doctrine of the eternal conscious misery of the wicked, Stop and think. There is a gulf either side of the bridge; and while the former has engulfed its thousands in the whirlpool of security; and they have crossed the line of probation with their sins upon them, preparatory to hearing the sentence, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels,” Matt. xxv, 41, the latter has drowned its tens of thousands in the dark waters of infidelity—unbelief in the word of God—denying that the God of the Bible is a God of justice, believing such a God to be a cruel tyrant, having all vengeance, but no mercy.

I ask, then, as I appeal to my text, for what purpose did God send his Son? Did he so love the world that he gave his Son that all men should be saved whether they believed or not? No. “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Again, did he send his Son to die that whosoever believed should be saved from being tormented eternally in misery that cannot be described by language? No. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Who says this? Jesus Christ, the Son of the eternal God, who came to declare the will and purpose of the Father. John vii, 16. Who has said that the object of this gift was something else? Men. Whom shall we believe? Let Paul answer: “Let God be true, but every man a liar.” Rom. iii, 4.

But let me for a few moments inquire: If God had not given his Son a sacrifice for sin, what would have been the result of man's fall? I imagine him left, after he had fallen, to suffer the consequences of that fall.

What were to be the consequences of that fall? Were they to be tormented eternally? Did Jehovah know what would be the consequences of that transgression? Let him speak: “For in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Gen. ii, 17.

Then the consequence of sin in Adam's day was death. If not atoned for, would it not have been eternal? Where is the evidence that man would ever have been brought back from that death? Let theologians answer; they are silent. Echo answers, Where?

Was it a spiritual death? Then universal salvation is inevitable. To die spiritually would be to lose the favor of God by disobedience. That he lost the favor of God I do not deny; but is this what is meant by “death” in the above text? Then hear Paul tell the result: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.” 1 Cor. xv, 22.

If what was meant, Gen. ii, 17, was to lose the favor of God, then we may read 1 Cor. xv, 22. As all lost the favor of God through Adam, all shall be restored to this favor through Christ; and it must follow that all will be saved. But stop my Universalist friend; there is no such weapon as they propose to put into your hands, by which you could bring to nought all opposition to your theory.

But what is meant by “dying?” Let Gen. iii, 19, answer: “For out of it [the dust] wast thou taken, for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt thou return.”

Then, in consequence of Adam's transgression, all were to go to the dust. What does Paul say? 1 Cor. xv, 21: “For since by man came death [the man Adam], by man came also the resurrection of the dead” [the man Jesus Christ]. What is the subject matter of this chapter? A literal resurrection of the dead. See verse 12: “How say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?” See the conclusion, verse 18: If there be no resurrection, “then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.”

The seeds of mortality were sown by eating of the forbidden fruit, and without a resurrection through Christ, that death would have been eternal. Would it have been endless torment? It would not. But we learn from John v, 29, that there shall be a resurrection both of the just and of the unjust; “and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation.”

Christ saves those who are true believers in him, from death, through the merits of his blood, and by the power of his resurrection. Then, I inquire, What becomes of the rest? They must suffer the penalty for sin, which is death. Was it vicarious? Yes, he suffered in the sinner's stead.” He died, “the just for the unjust.” 1 Pet. iii, 18.

How did he suffer for sin? Did he go to hell eternally? Or was it the gnawings of a guilty conscience which some tell us will be the punishment of the unbeliever? Neither. It was death. Our text informs us the object God had in giving his Son was to save those who believe from perishing.

Perish. Let us look at the word to understand, if possible, its meaning. “From Lat. pereo supposed to

be compounded of per and eo, to go; literally, to depart wholly. 1. To die, to lose life in any manner, applied to animals. Men perish by disease, or decay; by the sword or by drowning, by hunger or famine.” Webster.

Can we better determine the meaning of the word than to examine the connection in which it is used? Verses 14, 15. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.” What became of those bitten by the fiery serpents in the wilderness? They died. “And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.” Num. xxi, 6.

Here we find the meaning to be literal death; perished by death. Now all who are bitten by sin must look to the Son of God raised upon the cross, or they must perish. I remarked that sin in Adam's day subjected the transgressor to death. How was it in David's day? “But the wicked shall perish, and the enemies of the Lord shall be as the fat of lambs; they shall consume; into smoke shall they consume away.” Ps. xxxvii, 20.

Let us inquire of Isaiah: “And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed.” Chap. i, 28. Ezekiel tells us, “The soul that sinneth it shall die.” Chap. xviii, 4, 20. Malachi says, “All the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall leave them neither root nor branch.” Chap. iv, 1. John the Baptist, speaking of the Son of God, says, “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” Matt. iii, 12. Paul says, “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Rom. vi, 23. In the Revelation it is described as the second death. “And death and hell (or the grave, hades) were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Rev. xx, 14, 15. Those only will be found written in the book of life who believe on the Son of God.

I know of but one text in the Bible that would favor the eternal conscious misery of the wicked, and that reads: “Ye shall not surely die.” Gen. iii, 4. These were the words of the Devil to Eve. The Lord had previously told her the consequence should be death. Gen. ii, 17. Satan said she should not die. Now suppose the endless-misery doctrine to be true; suppose Eve to be lost, and the Devil certainly will be; suppose them both cast into the hell of which we hear so much outside of the word of God, there to live eternally; the hot billows in which they must bathe to all eternity, roll and dash and sweep their victims here and there, until millions of years down in the ceaseless ages of eternity. Eve and the Devil chance to come where they can converse with each other. Eve says to him, Why did you deceive me in the Garden, and cause me to come to this awful place of torment? The Devil answers, How did I deceive you? Did I not tell you that you should not die? Are you dead? No, nor can you ever die. This theory would prove that the Devil told the truth, and that when the Lord said, “Thou shalt surely die,” it was not the truth.

The Saviour said the Devil was a “murderer from the beginning,” “a liar and the father of it.” John viii, 44. Whom shall we believe? The Father and Jesus Christ his Son, or a petted theory first introduced by the Devil? Let God be true; let false theories fall to the ground. Charge them back as falsehoods upon their author.

God pitied this poor, fallen race, and sent the Darling of Heaven to save them. Shall we perish when so much has been done for us? How can we see and hear those compassionate words of God, without having our hearts melted to tenderness, saying to us, “Why will ye die, O house of Israel?” This was addressed to the church of God. Was the church in danger of death then? God knew they were; are they not, now? Why will ye sin on and refuse mercy and peace? And my unconverted friends, Why will you perish? Why will you refuse the offers of mercy? Why will you ensure your own death? Are you resolved that the blessed Saviour shall have no glory in your salvation? Is it not enough in your eyes, that angels have sinned, and are reserved under chains of darkness until the Judgment of the great day? 2 Pet. ii, 4. Do you design that the Devil and those who will be damned shall be your company, when they come up on the breadth of the earth and compass the beloved city and perish by fire? Rev. xx, 9. Is death so happy a state that nothing but that will satisfy you? Is it not enough to die once? Are you determined to experience the awful pains of the second death? Oh! do not persist in your folly and perish, but turn and live.

When we contemplate the greatness of God's love to sinners, we are compelled to pause and exclaim with the admiring apostle, “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God.” 1 John iii, 1. Oh! the riches of divine grace! Oh! the depth of divine love! How vast, how gracious, and how adequate to the wants of perishing sinners, is the plan of salvation, which God hath devised to save a lost world. It manifests the wisdom, the justice, the power, but above all, the love of God. Amen.

HYMN

By Alice Cary

TILL I learned to love thy name, Lord, thy grace denying, I was lost in sin and shame, Dying, dying, dying!

Nothing could the world impart, Darkness held no morrow; In my soul and in my heart Sorrow, sorrow, sorrow!

All the blossoms came to blight, Noon was dull and dreary; Night and day, and day and night, Weary, weary, weary!

When I learned to love thy name, Peace beyond all measure Came, and in the stead of shame, Pleasure, pleasure, pleasure!

Winds may beat, and storms may fall, Thou, the meek and lowly, Reignest, and I sing through all Holy, holy, holy!

Life may henceforth never be Like a dismal story, Far beyond its bound I see Glory, glory, glory!—Alice Cary.

JUSTICE, MERCY, AND HUMILITY.

By C. A. Osgood

“He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” Micah vi, 8.

Mankind have, in all ages, been prone to take extreme views with regard to religion; with regard to those things which are necessary in order to secure the favor of God. The ancient Jews seemed to think that religion consisted only in outward ceremonies, such as the sacrifice of burnt offerings and slain beasts, and the observance of new moons and Sabbaths; while there were in their “houses the treasures of wickedness, and the scant measure, which was abominable;” while they did not “seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, or plead for the widow.” The Pharisees at the time of the first advent were very precise to perform the smallest things enjoined in the ceremonial law, and those things which had been taught them by the traditions of the fathers, while such mighty matters as “judgment, mercy, and the love of God,” they omitted entirely. And now in these last days, there is a class of professed worshipers of God, who regard religion as consisting mostly in prayer, veneration for God and sacred things, and in an observance of outward rites; with but very little regard for the interests of their fellow-men. Another class seem to be almost destitute of veneration for the Creator, and think gospel rites of little or no value, while at the same time they boast of their honesty and benevolence. Our text presents the true view of the subject. It tells us in a few words what is “the whole duty of man.” It describes true religion. To treat our fellow-men with justice and benevolence, and to exercise that humble spirit toward God which becomes us as feeble, dependent, ignorant and sinful creatures, and those for whom Christ died, is to possess that piety which God requires, and which is acceptable to him.

We have, then, before us for a few moments’ thought, three things. 1st, justice, 2nd, mercy, 3d, a humble walk with God. And first, let us consider what it is to “do justly.” The word “just” is defined to mean, “upright, honest, equitable;” justice, “the giving to every one his due.” “To do justly,” then, implies to deal honestly, equitably; “to give to every one his due.” In pursuing this subject, I remark, that justice demands that children should respect and obey their parents. This is what is due to them. It is just that those who have been nurtured, cared for, and instructed by parents in their helpless infancy and in childhood, should be honored and highly respected even till the close of their lives. Their comfort and happiness should be regarded by their children. The fifth commandment is just. It grows out of the fitness of things.

Again, justice requires that we should pay a proper regard to the reputation of others. To many, reputation is dearer than wealth. Every one of us feels sensibly when our reputation is assailed. Said our Lord, “Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them.” Do we wish men to refrain from injuring our reputation? Let us do nothing to injure theirs. Duty here extends not only to our own brethren who believe as we do, but to “men” everywhere. The practice of evil speaking is fearfully prevalent. Some practice it for the purpose of venting the spite which exists within them, wishing to do an injury to those they speak against. Others do this simply from the force of habit, being accustomed to express their thoughts freely, although they have no feeling of hatred against the person or persons who are the subjects of conversation. These are careless talkers; they may kindle a fire that will do great damage. Oh! let us take heed that we “speak evil of no man.” Again, if we would do justly, we must be truthful in all we say. To do as we would be done by, is to act in accordance with equity. We feel ourselves a desire to know what is truth. So others feel. When men undertake to give us information on any subject, we wish them to tell us the truth exactly. So when we undertake to impart information on any subject, we should tell the exact truth, without any addition or concealment. And especially when we are about to sell or exchange property we should describe the property just as it is. If the property be of an inferior kind, or if it have defects, these should not be concealed, but should be made known. Oftentimes the buyer has no means of finding out the quality of an article except from the statement of the seller. If we would be just, we must be faithful to fulfill our promises. In making engagements we should be careful not to promise to do those things which there is no reasonable prospect of our being able to perform. How many disappointments, and how much trouble and distress grow out of carelessness in this respect! We do not wish to be disappointed; then we should take care and not disappoint others. Their interests, their feelings, are as sacred as ours.

Justice requires that laborers should have a just regard for the interests of their employers. They should act, “not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but in singleness of heart fearing God.” Employers should not be unreasonable in their requirements, but should have a proper regard for the welfare of those who serve them, and they should be particular to render to them that which is just and equal. If they do not do this, the “cry of the laborers” will ascend up, and enter into the ears of the God of justice. In order to “do justly,” we must buy and sell and exchange property, and attend to all business transactions, on the great principle of “loving our neighbor as ourselves.” This is just; this is equal. The interest of every one of my neighbors is worth just as much as my interest. These interests ought to be respected. If the true principle of love to mankind is in our hearts, we shall respect and love those interests. If this love rules in our hearts, we shall not seek to take advantage of the necessities or ignorance of others in trading with them. We shall be willing to pay a just equivalent for what we buy; we shall desire no more for what we have to sell. When we exchange property, we shall seek to have the exchange just as profitable to our neighbor as to ourself. With such feelings we should never rejoice in view of great bargains made in enriching ourselves at the expense of those we have dealt with; of property acquired by paying only a part of its value, or of property sold at exorbitant prices. No! If even through mistake this should be the case, we should hasten to make these things right; “to do that which is just and equal.” And if this just respect for the welfare of our fellow-men ruled in our hearts, we would so direct our labors as to have only those things to sell which benefit mankind, instead of those which are worthless or worse than worthless in their effects upon individuals or mankind at large. Alas! how much of property (so called) that is produced and sold, tends mainly to increase pride and vanity, to promote drunkenness and immorality! How can a just man sell for a price that which is worthless, or worse than worthless!

Again, justice requires that men should pay their debts. All admit this to be true, and yet how slack

many persons, even those who profess to have the truth, are, in this respect! They have made fair promises, they have taken upon themselves obligations to pay, and yet they make no proper efforts to be in readiness to fulfill those obligations at the appointed time, if ever! Oh! how the cause of truth suffers from such neglects! And how are creditors wronged, and frequently distressed, in consequence of unfaithfulness on the part of those who are justly indebted to them! The just man is careful to pay all his debts, however small the amount owed may be, or however distant from him the person he owes. He feels just as much bound to pay promptly the publisher of a newspaper, as his nearest neighbor. And debts contracted many years ago, are no less debts, and we are under no less obligation to pay them because of our failures in the past.

Justice sternly demands that those who have defrauded or wronged others, whether designedly or through mistake should make restitution. When a man truly repents of his sins, he would, if he could, undo the wrongs which he has done. He is truly sorry. He shows his sorrow by making amends as far as he can. In cases of unjust dealing, he is bound to restore what he has taken away.

Now, my reader, in view of what justice demands of you, are you clear before God, so that if called to give up your account, you could do it with joy? Oh! are there not some dark records in God’s book against you?

Secondly. Mercy is that form of goodness which exhibits itself in pity and compassion toward the unfortunate. To be merciful is to imitate “our Father in Heaven,” who bestows blessings on the unthankful and evil, who is “ready to forgive” the repenting sinner, through the merits of Jesus, and who is “plenteous in mercy” to all that call upon him in truth. Jesus has taught us thus: “Love your enemies; do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and persecute you.” We are not only to be merciful in our acts, but to love mercy. It should be our delight to engage in works of benevolence. It should be our delight to help the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, instruct the ignorant, &c. We should do this, not for the sake of getting the name of being good and charitable, nor alone to secure the reward which God has promised in the future, but because we “love mercy;” love our fellow-men; love to lessen their sorrows, and increase their joys. Thousands there are, who gain the applause of men for their almsgiving, whose supposed benevolence is not approved of God, because their motives are selfish; because they do not love mercy. Their hearts are not in the work. They seek the praise of men. They get it. But “the Lord loves a cheerful giver.” These deeds of love to the needy go up before God for a memorial. What a chance there is for deeds of mercy in this world of sin and misery! And there is nothing better calculated to move our hearts and hands to these, than the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, “who, though he was rich, for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich.” The renewed heart needs no appeals to love of approbation, love of music, love of social enjoyment, or love of luxurious food, to urge it forward in this work. The love of God shed abroad in our hearts will make us rich in these good works.

Thirdly. Walking humbly with God. God is a being of infinite greatness, power, and goodness; man is but a speck in creation. Why, then, should man be proud? How very little is one man compared with that Being, before whom “all nations are counted as a drop in the bucket,” “as the small dust in the balance!” Man’s feeble strength is derived from the Almighty Creator. God is independent; man is ever dependent on him for everything. God ever lives; man is mortal. Man’s “feeble ray spreads scarce an inch around,” comparatively. “The eyes of the Lord are in every place;” all things are naked and open to his view. Man is a sinner; God is holy. Man continues long in sin; God bears long. God has provided a Saviour, and a way of salvation. In view of all these considerations, how wicked and foolish pride appears; how becoming is humility! “To walk humbly with God,” means to conduct ourselves before him with humility. By sin, man is lifted up with pride. He thinks more of himself than of his Creator. He would rather please himself, little as he is, than to obey the infinitely great and good Creator! God justly requires us to treat him as his infinite worth demands; “to humble ourselves under his mighty hand.” The sinner feeling and acting as the poor publican did, when he felt so unworthy that he “would not so much as lift up his eyes unto Heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner,” just begins to walk humbly with God. Discovering his real character in the light of God’s holy law, and finding his own righteousness to be but filthy rags, he trusts no more to his own supposed goodness, but humbly casts himself upon the mercy of God in Christ, and receives pardon, and “grace to help in time of need.”

“To walk humbly with God,” implies that we seek divine direction. “It is not with man that walketh to direct his steps.” So Saul of Tarsus, when Jesus spoke to him, cried out, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” And when informed about his duty, his pride being slain, he was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but obeyed. The humble man lives not to himself, but to Him who died for him. He casts aside his former prepossessions, together with the traditions of the fathers, and goes to the divine word to find out what is truth. He feels that the applause of men is as empty breath, compared with the approval of the great God. And he who walks humbly with God will act with becoming lowliness toward his fellow-men. He feels that it is by the grace of God he is what he is, that he has no occasion to boast, except in what God has done for him. And when he has labored most faithfully for the cause of God, and the welfare of mankind, he does not think himself worthy of praise for so doing, but is ready to say, I am an unprofitable servant, I have done no more than it was my duty to do. The truly humble person realizes that he is not his own, that he is not at liberty to mark out a course of life for himself, but in all his ways to acknowledge God. In fervent prayers, in grateful songs, he pours out his heart before the Lord. To be just toward all; to “love mercy;” “to walk humbly with God;” these are the things which God requires. To do these things will make us good; good Christians, good husbands, good wives, good parents, good children, good neighbors, good in all the walks of life, and continuing to do them, we may reasonably expect, by and by, to hear the glad words spoken to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

C. A. OSGOOD.

ROME IN THE FIELD.

The following, under the above head, from the Christian Intelligencer, is well worthy of notice. That Catholicism is to act an important part in the coming crisis has long been a part of our faith and teaching. The facts in this article are faithfully set forth; their tendency must be evident to every careful reader. This is only one of the dangers that threaten us; yet the professed watchmen on the walls of Zion, instead of sounding an alarm as the word of God directs them to, still in drowsy tones talk of “peace and safety,” under the modern terms of “the world’s conversion,” “the return of the Jews,” and a “good time coming.” Surely the spirit of slumber has fallen upon them. “Let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.” J. H. W.

There are those who believe that Rome has an evil eye on this country, and that our next great battle will be with her hosts, rapidly mustering on these shores. We would not be alarmists, but we would not have our countrymen ignorant of matters which most nearly and vitally concern our country’s welfare. If the policy of Rome is to rule or ruin, let us know it. If it be first ruin, and then to rule, let us know that.

We propose to go no farther back than the beginning of the war, and to let the facts we shall name speak for themselves. If they have no other lesson, they will, at least, show that Rome, during our terrible struggle for national existence, was true to her ancient history and traditions, as the enemy of civil liberty, and the friend of the oppressor the world over.

It will not be forgotten how generally and enthusiastically our adopted citizens, the Irish, enlisted in the army when the call first came for men to put down rebellion. In the early part of the war there were Irish battalions, and regiments, and brigades, but there were few, if any, at its close. The truth is, after the second year of the war, the Irish changed front, and suddenly became sympathizers with treason and rebellion. It was noticed that the girls in the kitchen began to roll their fierce gutturals against Mr. Lincoln, their brothers in the army began to curse the cause for which they fought, desertions were frequent, enlistments stopped, and the attitude of the Irish mind before Mr. Lincoln’s second election, was one of disloyalty and hostility to the government of the United States.

And these facts cannot be changed by the habit which these people have of boasting about fighting our battles, and saving our country. By actual examination of our muster-rolls, the simple truth appears to be that only eight per cent. of our grand army were of foreign birth, the balance—ninety-two per cent.—were native Americans, who returned, at length, worn and battle-scarred, to find their places on the farms, in the factories and elsewhere, filled by Irish, who had sought safety and profit at home, while our boys were courting danger and death in battle.

It may be interesting to know when this change came over the Irish mind. What dampened their ardor, what quenched the glow of their patriotic impulse? The coincidence is so complete, that the cause is doubtless the same.

It will be remembered that Bishop Hughes went abroad during the second year of the war, as was then supposed, by authority of our Government, to interest the Catholic sovereigns of Europe in our favor. Instead of this, however, the archbishop went direct to Rome, and straightway the Pope acknowledged the independence of the Confederate States. His insignificance gave him impunity, and purchased our silence. But the act had its influence. Biddy in the kitchen, Mike in the army, Patrick on the farm, Mac in the factory, fell to cursing Mr. Lincoln as a tyrant and butcher. Enlistments among the Irish stopped from that time, unless it was as bounty-jumpers, and deserters. They banded together to resist the draft, as in New York, where they rioted in blood for three long days, and only yielded to the overwhelming power of United States troops. The spirit that actuated these human fiends came from Rome, and to Rome herself must be awarded the sole honor of welcoming to the family of nations a Confederacy, whose first act was treason, and whose last was assassination. Indeed it was Rome that furnished the assassin and his conspirators against the greatest life of modern times. And that assassin struck, not against the life of a man, but against the life of the Republic; and if guilt lies in the intent, then is Rome guilty of the nation’s life.

With such a record, Rome vainly puts herself among the friends of our free institutions. She misjudged, we think, but she no doubt thought the time had arrived to destroy what had come of Puritanism. And for this she was willing to be the ally of a government whose corner stone was negro slavery. Are we still dreaming that Rome is changed, or that she had surrendered the hope of supplanting Protestant freedom on these shores? Would not every Fenian lodge in the country rally to the help of the South if there was a chance to restore the old negro-hating oligarchy to power?

It can hardly have escaped every observing man that the Irish mind is expectant and exultant in regard to this country. They do not conceal their belief that the Catholic church is to rise to the ascendant here, and that Protestantism is to do it reverence.

But a few weeks since, Father Hecker, one of the lights of the Catholic church in this country, said in a public lecture in New York, that his church numbered eleven millions of our people, or one third of our population; and that if the membership of his church increased for the next thirty years as it had for the thirty years past, in 1900 Rome would have the majority, and would be bound to take the country and rule it in the interest of the church. “And,” continued the reverend father, “I consider it my highest mission to educate our people up to this idea, that America is ours and belongs to the church.”

It is all of a pattern. Rome, during the war, sought to ruin us in order to rule us. She failed in the first, but she is no less tenaciously striving to accomplish the last.—Christian Intelligencer.

“THE RELIGION OF THE DAY.”

By H. Bonar

The religion of the day is an easy-minded religion, without conflict and wrestling, without self-denial and sacrifice; a religion which knows nothing of the pangs of repentance as its commencement, and nothing of the desperate struggle with the flesh and with the Devil, day by day, making us long for resurrection deliverance, for the binding of the adversary, and for the Lord’s return. It is a second-rate religion—a religion in which there is no largeness, no grandeur, no potency, no noble-mindedness, no elevation, no self-devotedness, no all-constraining love. It is a hollow religion, with a fair exterior, but an aching heart—a heart unsatisfied, a soul not at rest, a conscience not at peace with God; a religion marked, it may be, by activity and excitement, but betraying all the while the consciousness of a wound hidden and unhealed within, and hence unable to animate to lofty doings, or supply the strength needed for such doings. It is a feeble religion, lacking the sinews and bones of hardier times—very different from the indomitable, much-enduring, storm-braving religion, not merely of apostolic days, but even of the Reformation. It is an uncertain religion, that is to say, it is not rooted on certainty; it is not the outflowing of a soul assured of pardon, and rejoicing in the filial relationship between itself and God. Hence, there is no liberty of service, for the question of personal acceptance is still an unsettled thing; there is a working for pardon, but not from pardon. All this is bondage, heaviness, irksomeness. There is a speaking for God, but it is with a faltering tongue; there is a laboring for God, but it is with fettered hands; there is a moving in the way of his commandments, but it is with a heavy drag upon our limbs. Hence the inefficient, uninfluential character of our religion. It does not tell on others, for it has not yet fully told upon ourselves. It falls short of its mark, for the arm that drew the bow is paralyzed.—H. Bonar.

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