It is probable that no one portion of Scripture has stood more in the way of people in general when the doctrine of the sleep of the dead is first brought to their notice than the account of Dives and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-31. This is deemed a clear, minutely circumstantial, and decisive proof of man's conscious existence in death: The righteous during the state of death being happy in the bliss of Heaven; the wicked tormented in the flames of hell. Yet even to the common theory of conscious existence in death, this text presents very serious difficulties.
If Lazarus was in Heaven, and Dives in hades, how could they converse together? Is hades in the third Heaven somewhere in the sight of the New Jerusalem? Oh! no; hades or sheol, the place of the dead, is IN THE EARTH BENEATH. Though it is rendered grave thirty-one times, it is not the word usually so rendered in the Old Testament; for it embraces the interior of the earth as the region of the dead and the place of every grave. Eze. 32:18-32. All the passages which speak of the location of sheol, or hades, represent it as beneath. It is always in the interior of the earth; sometimes it is in the nether parts of the earth. Num. 16:30, 33; Ps. 141:7; Isa. 5:14; 14:9-20; Eze. 31:15-18; 32:18-32. Referring to the fire now burning in the heart of the earth, which shall at the last day swallow up the earth in its fiery gulf, Moses represents the Almighty as saying, "For a fire is kindled in mine anger, and shall burn into the lowest sheol, and shall consume the earth with her increase, and set on fire the foundation of the mountains." Deut. 32:22. Jonah went down into sheol when, in the belly of the whale, he descended into the depths of the mighty waters, where none but dead men had ever been. Jonah 1:2. Korah and his company went into sheol alive; that is, the earth swallowed them up while yet alive. Num. 16.
The righteous do not praise God in sheol. Thus David testifies: "In death there is no remembrance of thee; in sheol who shall give thee thanks?" Ps. 6:5. And Hezekiah, when delivered from death in answer to prayer, expresses the same great truth: "I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of sheol; I am deprived of the residue of my years. . . . . Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; but thou hast in love to my SOUL delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. For sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth." Isa. 38:10-19; Ps. 115:17; 146:1-4.
The wicked in sheol are silent in death. Thus David prays: "Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in sheol." Ps. 31:17. See also 1 Sam. 2:9; Ps. 115:17, last clause.
Sheol is a place of silence, secrecy, sleep, rest, darkness, corruption, and worms. "So man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. Oh! that thou woulst hide me in sheol, that thou woulst keep me secret until thy wrath be past, that thou woulst appoint me a set time and remember me. If a man die, shall he live again? At the days of my appointed time will I wait till my change come. Thou shalt call, and I will answer thee: thou wilt have a desire to the work of thine hands." Job 14:12-15. "If I wait, sheol is mine house: I have made my bed in the darkness. I have said to corruption, Thou art my father; to the worm, Thou art my mother and my sister. And where is now my hope? As for my hope, who shall see it? They shall go down to the bars of sheol, when our rest together is in the dust." Job 17:13-16; 4:11-19; Ps. 88:10-12.
There is no knowledge in sheol. Thus writes the wise man, the Spirit of inspiration bearing testimony through him: "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in sheol, whither thou goest." Eccl. 9:4-6, 10.
Such are the great facts concerning sheol, or hades, as revealed to us in the books of "Moses and the prophets." Yet we have several cases in these same writings in which the dead in sheol, in the nether parts of the earth, converse together, and are comforted or taunted by each other, or in which they weep bitterly, refusing comfort.
The case of the king of Babylon is a noted instance of this. When he is overthrown, and goes down to sheol, the DEAD (for sheol has no others in its dark abode) are stirred up to meet him. The kings that have been conquered and destroyed by the king of Babylon in the days of his prosperity, now rise up from their thrones in that dark abode, and mock him with feigned obeisance as in life they had rendered real homage. Now they taunt him, saying, "Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like unto us?" Those that see him shall narrowly look upon him, saying, "Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did shake kingdoms?" Isa. 14:9-20.
Pharaoh and his army, slaughtered in battle with the king of Babylon, are set forth in this same manner. The slain upon the field of battle being buried indiscriminately, and friend and foe cast down together into pits, into the "nether parts of the earth," into sheol, "the strong among the mighty shall speak to him out of the midst of sheol." And this sheol, in the nether parts of the earth, full of the dead, is contrasted with "the land of the living." These slaughtered soldiers went down to sheol with their weapons of war, and their swords they "laid under their heads." Pharaoh, lying among them, and seeing the multitude of his enemies that were slain, is "comforted" at the sight. See this remarkable prophecy, Eze. 32:17-32; 31:15-18.
Perhaps the case of Rachel is even more remarkable than these. Long ages after her decease and entrance into sheol, a dreadful slaughter of her posterity takes place. Upon this, Rachel breaks forth into lamentation and bitter weeping, and refuses to be comforted, because her children are not. Then the Lord says to her, "Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears; for thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord." Jer. 31:15-17; Matt. 2:17, 18; Gen. 35:18-20.
That Rachel did literally weep and shed bitter tears at the murder of her children nearly two thousand years after her entrance into sheol, no one will assert. Nor will it be maintained that the slaughtered Egyptians and Chaldeans lying in sheol with their swords under their heads were able to converse together in the nether parts of the earth; and that one was literally "comforted," or the other literally "ashamed." Equally difficult is it to believe that the kings who had been overthrown by the king of Babylon were literally seated on thrones in sheol, deep in the earth, and that when he was cast down to sheol they arose from their thrones and mocked him, declaring that he was now become weak as they. Please compare the following texts on the king of Babylon: Jer. 51:39, 57; Dan. 5:1-4, 30; Isa. 14:4-30.
Taking our leave of "Moses and the prophets," whose testimony on this subject has the direct indorsement of our Lord, let us now return to the case of Dives and Lazarus. Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus lived in the deepest poverty; too helpless to walk, or even to stand, he was laid at the rich man's gate; he had no other food than the crumbs, perhaps grudgingly bestowed, from the table of the rich man; and no other nurses than the dogs which licked his sores. In process of time, death comes to his relief; but his burial is not mentioned, though that of the rich man, who died soon after, is distinctly named. It is likely that the dead beggar, covered with sores, was disposed of with as little trouble as possible; in the sight of man, he had the burial of a dog; but this poor man, forsaken of all earthly friends, and apparently unnoticed of Heaven, had, unseen to mortal eye, such a burial as the wealth of the whole world could not command. The angels of God took part as his bearers to that quiet resting-place from which, by-and-by, when hades gives up the righteous dead, at the sound of the last trumpet, they shall take him up through the air, to meet his triumphant Redeemer. Till that time, we leave him asleep in Jesus, resting in hope, with Abraham, the father of the faithful, and all the ancient worthies who have not yet received the promises. Heb. 11:8-16, 39, 40.
The rich man lived in luxury, faring sumptuously every day. To the eye of all beholders, his lot was to be envied, and that of the beggar to be despised. But he dies also, and of him it is recorded that he was buried. All that wealth could purchase, all that pride could exhibit of earthly pomp and grandeur, were, no doubt, displayed at his funeral. But there were no angels of God to participate in it. He had lived for himself, neglecting the great preparation for the future. He goes down to hades a lost man, there to wait until the resurrection to damnation. As the Douay Bible reads, "he was buried in hell," i. e., in hades, or sheol. There he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. Then, as though calling to mind the littleness of the favors he had bestowed on Lazarus, he asks a favor at the hands of the despised beggar—the smallest indeed that he could ask—that Lazarus should dip the tip of his finger in water and cool his tongue. This being denied, he asks that Lazarus may be sent to warn his brethren. And this also was refused, because they had Moses and the prophets, whose testimony was sufficient.
This scene transpires in hades, or sheol, which, as we have seen, is in the nether parts of the earth. The place is one of darkness and silence, where there is neither wisdom nor knowledge. It is the place of the dead, and those who are therein are called "the congregation of the dead," Prov. 21:16. In the utter darkness of hades, how can men see each other? "In the land of forgetfulness," how can they remember the events of their past lives? In a place where there is no knowledge, how could Dives know Abraham, whom he had never seen? Where there is no work, nor device, how could he devise a plan to warn his wicked brethren? And in hades, where there is no wisdom, how could Abraham give such wise answers? In hades, where the wicked are silent in death, how could Dives converse? As the righteous cannot praise God in hades, and do not even remember his name, how does it happen that they can so well understand and converse on everything else?
J. N. A.
(Concluded next week.)
Looking to Christ Who Died
It is said that when Cyrus had conquered Armenia, he said to Tigranes, the conquered king's son, "What would you do to save your wife from slavery?" He replied, "I would willingly lay down my life to save her from such a fate." Upon this Cyrus released and restored them to power. After Cyrus was gone, one praised his beauty, another his clemency, another his valor; when Tigranes, turning to his wife, asked what she thought of Cyrus. "Indeed," said she, "I did not observe him." "What then were you looking at?" he asked in surprise. She answered, "At him who offered to lay down his life for me." How many for whom Christ died look first at any other object, in preference to him who gave his life for them. What ingratitude! How base and degraded is man to neglect his Saviour!
Christian Work Requires Practical Duty
THERE are some who are waiting for some great impulse to come and compel them to do Christian work. They confound a service of love with one of feeling. Mere duty is hard and repulsive to them. They do not know that performance of duty is the basis of a service of love. They forget that we are to "endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ,' that we may please Him who has called us to be soldiers." There are many things, consulting his own feelings, a good soldier would rather not do, but love for his country compels him to do his duty bravely. There is no room in this world of sin and stern reality for those who vainly strive for the romance of Christian work. There is the loud call for prompt action in practical duty; and if we are not in the line of such work, we are but cumberers of the ground.—Y. M. C. A. Bulletin.
SCALING DOWN.
It is sometimes the case that merchants are obliged to reduce the valuation of their stock, in order to keep on a par with the present market value. Prices sometimes change from fluctuations in trade, or goods depreciate in value. Paper currency is sometimes exchanged for gold, and a re-adjustment of prices on the basis of existing currency becomes necessary. Some persons yield with great reluctance to such necessity. A man, for instance, has a stock of goods invoiced at ten thousand dollars, but he cannot sell them, no one will buy; his customers are all leaving and purchasing elsewhere, and at length his clerk or manager tells him, "You cannot do business in this way. What you need to do is to scale down these goods, and reduce your prices from fifty to sixty per cent.; and then you can do business." A man would naturally hesitate to take such a step. His goods were worth ten thousand dollars years ago, and he is loth to admit that they are not worth as much now. But one thing he becomes certain of, they will not sell at present prices; and so, after trying every other means, he accepts the situation, reduces prices on all his goods till he can sell them, and taking his reduced capital, purchases new stock, and endeavors to transact business upon a cash basis.
There are churches in this world which are laboring under a similar difficulty. They carry too much dead stock. Everything is rated far above its market value. Fictitious prices are the rule. The church has, perhaps, five hundred enrolled members, of whom, it may be, not one in ten is an active, faithful Christian; many know that they are unconverted; others do not know whether they are converted or not, and their most intimate friends share in their uncertainty in this respect.
A church in this condition, in order to work effectually, may need to be scaled down. Gideon's army of thirty-two thousand was too large; his host of ten thousand was too large; it was only when the whole had been reduced to three hundred men, that the Lord gave them command to go forth to battle, and crowned them with victory.
The church at Laodicea had their estimate of their real value. They were, first, "rich;" second, "increased in goods;" third, they had "need of nothing." This was Laodicea's inventory of her church property. But the "faithful and true Witness" had a book in which it was set down differently. In His estimation they were, first, "lukewarm;" second, "wretched;" third, "miserable;" fourth, "poor;" fifth, "blind;" sixth, "naked." This was their rating in the Lord's book of account. Now it was evidently impossible for them to transact business with or for the Lord on such a fictitious basis. They were either overvalued by themselves or undervalued by the Lord. Their stock was rated so high that there was no chance for dividends. The only course open to them was to come down to the divine valuation, acknowledge their poverty, blindness, and nakedness, and then buy of the Lord gold well tried in the fire, that they might be rich, white raiment, that they might be clothed, and to anoint their eyes with eye-salve, that they might see. If they were willing to do this, they could once more take their position with a reduced capital, and do business on a solid basis.
There are churches to-day that need to undergo this kind of purgation. The vine may stretch its branches hither and thither, but how long is it since it has been pruned? How many of the branches are dead, and fit only to be cut off and gathered for the flames? There are men who, on the church books are in good and regular standing, but on the Lord's book, perhaps, are hypocrites, guilty of secret iniquity and open transgression. There are men who, in the church inventory, are rated as ministers of the gospel, when in fact, they are time-servers, mere worldlings, who have intruded themselves into the sacred calling of the ministry for a piece of bread. There are sermons preached, which, in the sight of men, are eloquent and finished productions, but in the sight of God are empty, void, and vain, and are utterly lacking in honesty, sincerity, and truth. There are experiences related which are thirty and forty years old, out of date, dead, musty and mouldy as the bread in the sacks of the Gibeonites of old; and yet they suppose that all these old, worn-out experiences are really marketable goods. There are prayers offered which were out of date long ago, last year's prayers, prayers for the year before last, prayers that have been sent forth a hundred times, and never brought back even an olive leaf for an answer; prayers that are as dry as dust, and that bring no blessing to those that offer them. If these prayers were scaled down until there was nothing left of them but, "God be merciful to me a sinner," there might be some answer.
If we are to do business in the Lord's market, we must do it on the basis of actual values. The publican's short petition has more value than the Pharisee's boastful oration. When we come down to the actual condition of things, the actual facts in the case, we shall find the Lord ready to hear and answer and succor us. But no deception avails with him, no over-valuation is allowable; we must be rated at what we are worth, without hypocrisy, deception, or disguise, and must serve the Lord in simplicity and godly sincerity, with reverence and godly fear.—The Armory.
CHRISTIANITY ESSENTIALLY MISSIONARY.
THE apostle of the Gentiles, said: "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth." The goal of its missionary ambition and hope is, that it goes forth to save. Not that it simply aspires to save, but it does save. To this result, as well as to this intent, it is the wisdom of God and the power of God.
Many Christians doubtless interest themselves in missions sentimentally, not seeming to understand that they are bound to be missionaries if they would be in full sympathy with their Lord, build up a well developed Christian character, and have an unclouded title to the Christian name.
Some there are, we do know, who urge objections, saying the missionary character does not belong to Christianity as such, but only to certain types of Christianity, and to Christians of peculiar constitutions.
Thousands of private Christians show no missionary spirit whatever. The same is true of many whole churches. We affirm here and now—modestly, though positively—that Christianity is inherently, essentially, necessarily, a missionary religion. We do so for the following reasons:—
Christianity recognizes the authority of its ascended Lord, who not merely authorizes, but commands, his disciples to go and preach.
Christianity possesses the spirit of the Lord Jesus, and hence it must be a missionary religion. Christ said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God!" He was obedient to the last intent of a command. A church filled with his Spirit, would not want his parting charge only as a sanction, not as a summons, to an unanticipated work. Perfect, loving devotion, can but seek to save like its Lord.
Christianity is endued with power from on high, hence it is essentially missionary. So it was with the early church. It waited in Jerusalem for this power, and it came.
The Christianity of the Bible believes that the mission of Christ to the world was really a needful one, and that this, his "commission" to the church, was a sequel to his personal work; hence, it is a missionary Christianity. We conclude the paper in the words of Dr. Aiken:—
"Is the world a lost world? If not, you need not preach the gospel to every creature; but your Lord made a mistake, to say the least, in coming to save it. He was needlessly alarmed, or his church needs to be more alarmed about the state and prospect of the world; that is the alternative.
"May other names be preached as efficaciously as his, or other instrumentalities be employed as efficaciously as preaching? Then he was in error when he enjoined 'that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. Perhaps the impulsive Peter had jumped to wrong conclusions, and after all was not 'filled with the Holy Ghost,' when he said to Annas, Caiaphas, and the rest, 'Neither is there salvation in any other.' Then the great missionary work that began at Pentecost has not only been a great superfluity and waste, but a great libel on human nature. And must not the Lord fairly be held responsible for this folly and wrong in the conduct of his servants?
"If, then, in so many ways, Christianity is shown to be, not accidentally, but inherently and essentially, a missionary religion, what of the church that is not a missionary church, and the Christian that is not a missionary Christian? Is not so much wanting to a clear, full title to the Christian name? And if the defect be examined, it is found to touch the disciple's loyalty to the Lord's authority, his sympathy with the Lord's spirit, his appreciation of his Lord's gifts, his regard for the obligations of trust, his solicitude for his Lord's glory, his conception of the nature and necessity of his Lord's work. Surely the title of that disciple needs strengthening."—London Christian.
MY WORK.
I COULD not do the work the reapers did,
Or bind the golden sheaves that thickly fell;
But I could follow by my Master's side,
And watch the marred face I loved so well.
Right in my path lay many a ripened ear,
Which I would stop and gather joyfully—
I did not know the Master placed them there—
"Handfuls of purpose" that he left for me.
I could not cast the heavy fisher net;
I had not strength or wisdom for the task;
So on the sun-lit sands, with spray-drops wet,
I sat, and earnest prayers rose thick and fast.
I pleaded for the Master's blessing where
My brethren toiled upon the wide world sea;
Or ever that I knew his smile so fair
Came shedding all its radiancy on me.
I could not join the glorious soldier band,
I never heard the ringing battle-cry;
The work allotted by the Master's hand
Kept me at home, while others went to die.
And yet, when victory crowned the struggle long,
And spoils were homeward brought both rich and rare,
He let me help to chant the triumph song,
And bade me in the gold and jewels share.
O Master dear, the tiniest work for thee
Finds recompense beyond our highest thought;
And feeble hands that work but tremblingly,
The richest colors in the fabric wrought.
We are content to take what thou shalt give,
To work or suffer as thy choice shall be;
Forsaking what thy wisdom bids us leave,
Glad in the thought that we are pleasing thee!
—Selected.
NORWAY AND SWEDEN.
By J. G. Matteson
We are laboring to build up the interest in Christiana, as well as to get our printing work in a good condition. We are losing Sabbath-keepers by the strong tide of emigration, but new ones are stepping into their places. The outside interest is improving. Between three and four hundred persons have attended the meetings on Sundays, and about one hundred and twenty on the Sabbath. Several keep the Sabbath and meet with us who have not yet been baptized.
I have purchased a cylinder press that can print a sheet 20x35, as well as smaller forms. It will turn out one thousand impressions in an hour. It cost $590. It has been used some; otherwise it would cost much more. We shall receive instructions and practice in using it six weeks before it is moved. We sold our home in America, and put the money thus obtained into this press, hoping that there will be work for it unto the end. We do not ask the mission some time to take this off from our hands, but beg the privilege of using it for the spread of the truth. To this the General Conference Committee have agreed.
In Sweden Bro. Rosqvist is laboring, and others besides him. In Grythytted, seven have been added to the church, and the outside interest is good. But the authorities have called Bro. R. before a church council, and we expect that they will stop his public work in that vicinity. We are waiting to hear the result.
May the Lord abundantly bless his own work and truth everywhere. J. G. MATTESON. Christiana, Norway, May 16.
GLEANINGS.
CONNECTICUT, Norfolk.—May 10, Eld. D. A. Robinson visited this church, the members of which, according to his report, “live in six towns and two States, and are consequently much scattered. I spent several days with that company, remaining over two Sabbaths. Our meetings were excellent. Eleven were baptized, and thirteen united with the church. Last Sabbath the ordinances were celebrated, it being the first time that several of the church had ever participated. The season was a most precious one.”
Temperance.
WRONG TO SELL TOBACCO.
The following resolutions by a store-keeper on selling tobacco are worth quoting as an example for others:—
1. I will not sell tobacco, because I consider the habit of using it degrading, selfish, sensual, indolent, and injurious, and feel it to be my duty to do all I can by example and precept to put an end to a practice pernicious and detestible.
2. Because smoking has been the means of ruining thousands of young men with bright prospects, who have received excellent and religious educations; but who, to imitate the fop, have, during a walk after the hours of business, taken the cigar or the pipe; the mouth has become dry, the tongue parched, and to allay which, they have resorted to the saloon; the glass has been called for, and emptied; another glass is taken, and thus the novice becomes a habitual smoker and drinker, and in time falls a prey to intemperance with its inevitable consequences—loss of character, health, property, body, and soul.
3. Because I believe it to be wrong to encourage a custom which necessarily occasions a sinful waste of property, when so many distressed families, benevolent societies, and the cause of the Redeemer, require pecuniary assistance, and are dying for it.
4. Because I believe that much valuable time is squandered upon the pipe by professing Christians, and even by ministers, which might and ought to be devoted to the distribution of tracts, the instruction of the young, visiting the sick, and doing good.
5. Because it is a well-ascertained fact that a large proportion of those who have been reclaimed from intemperance, and have returned to their former habits, have attributed their downfall to the continuance of the practice of smoking. The temperance cause cannot advance while tobacco hedges up its way.
6. Because experience has proved to me that I could not effectually induce the smoker to abandon his habit while I continue to sell, the usual reply being, “If it is wrong to buy, it is wrong to sell.”
7. Because I feel assured that though it may be a loss to me in a pecuniary view, still I shall be more than recompensed for the sacrifice made, by an inward satisfaction of having acted conscientiously, and with a sincere desire to promote the welfare of my fellow-men. A Christian woman says, “I and my husband have brought up eight children, and, as you say tobacco is injurious, if we give up the sale of it, I know that God will provide something else for us to sell instead of it. We will sell no more.”
“Set a mark,” said God to the man with the writer’s ink-horn by his side, “upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst of Jerusalem;” and will not he, the righteous God, observe those who forego the gains from tobacco for conscience sake? He will observe; yes, and observe, too, the callous venders of the pernicious drug which mars the visage, demoralizes the soul, and exchanges health and happiness for sickness and domestic sorrow. Let all who derive gain from selling tobacco, remember that theirs is a course in opposition to the command, “Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Tobacco tends to destroy both body and soul.—Christian Statesman.
BENEFITS OF VEGETABLE DIET.
By Editor
Not long ago we received a pamphlet advocating a vegetable diet as a cure for alcoholism. We beg the pardon of the author for having mislaid his tract; but we have a strong belief that the only cure for alcoholism is to refrain from the use of alcohol. We would not, however, disparage vegetarianism; it is one of the coming reforms. Should civilization succeed—and it has not succeeded—we shall make an end of wars, famines and pestilences; and then we shall want room on the earth for the people who now perish in these barbaric calamities. With a vegetable diet, twice as many people can subsist from the same soil as from a mixed diet; and there is very little doubt that people can live happily on vegetable food.
We have met with some sensible suggestions on this subject in the London Spectator. It points out that great progress has been made by the vegetarians. “Not so very long ago, vegetarians were regarded as a kind of gentle monomaniacs, whose one objectionable characteristic was the illogical advocacy of an inoffensive crochet. Now, under the mask of enlightened dietetics, their tenets are preached far and wide by the high priests of science, and the cultured classes, without knowing it, are gradually being imbued with doctrines of the vegetable-feeders. How long the fashion will last, or how far the process of conversion will go, cannot as yet be very well estimated.” Physicians are increasing who say that flesh is not necessary to nutrition, and is often unwholesome.—Methodist.
Reports from the Churches
MICHIGAN, Arcadia.—Eld. A. O. Burrill, May 16, reports his meeting with this church as follows:—"I spent Sabbath and first-day at Arcadia, with Bro. Kellogg. We organized a church of sixteen members, nearly all of whom were the fruits of his labor. Our meetings were good; the preaching was nearly all practical. An elder was ordained."
NEW YORK, Clark's Corners.—Edgar Russell, who commenced labor in this place April 4, reports that five Sabbath meetings have been held, and that eleven are now keeping the Sabbath.
WEST VIRGINIA, Jerry's Run.—"The organization of this church," as reported by Bro. Isaac Staats, "was completed May 22, by Eld. J. R. S. Mowrey. An elder and deacons were chosen. Two more signed the covenant. This church numbers sixteen members; others are keeping the Sabbath, and will unite with us when the way seems more clear to them. All are firm in the faith, and encouraged to diligence in the service of the Lord. Several wish to receive baptism who were not ready at this time."
NORTH CAROLINA, Soda Hill.—Sabbath and Sunday, May 14 and 15, Bro. L. P. Hodges visited the Dutch Creek settlement. He says: "Found all firm in present truth. Preached four times. Baptized nine on the Sabbath, all Lutherans. Others will be baptized as soon as their health will admit. I organized a church of eleven members on Sunday. It is known as the Bethel church. Others will unite with them at their next meeting the second Sabbath and Sunday in July next."
PRAYER, AND TOBACCO RAISING.
JOHN COLLINGSWORTH was a member of the South Carolina Conference. He is said to have been in some respects a remarkable man—pre-eminently so as a man of prayer. His faith, at times, seemed well nigh almighty. There is a story told of him which should not be allowed to pass into oblivion. On one occasion he was passing through Virginia and seeing so much land given up to tobacco growing, he became greatly stirred in spirit. In a sermon which he preached, after denouncing in unmeasured terms the wickedness, he offered an earnest prayer to God, in which he besought him to convince the people of their great error in spending their time, means, and toil in the cultivation of so noxious a weed. He prayed the Lord to manifest his disapproval of their course by destroying the crops, then in a most flourishing state, if nothing else would convince them. During that same afternoon a violent hail-storm passed through that section of the country, blasting the prospects of the Virginians for a bountiful crop. The fields were literally torn up, and the tobacco utterly destroyed.
An old, ungodly planter, who had been a great sufferer, hearing of the Methodist preacher's prayer, resolved to follow and chastise him for the evil done. Overtaking him, full of wrath, he inquired, "Are you, sir, the Methodist preacher who prayed the Lord to destroy my crop of tobacco?" The preacher replied, my name is Collingsworth: I preached yesterday in the neighborhood, and prayed the Lord to show his disapproval of raising tobacco."
"Well sir, you are just the man I am after. I am ruined for this season, and I have come to take my revenge on you, sir!' and at the same time brandishing a frightful-looking wagon whip, with which the whipping was to be done.
The minister commenced slowly to dismount, coolly addressing the planter as he did so: "Well, if I must be whipped for it, I suppose I must submit, but take care that before you have done, I do not pray the Lord to overtake you with something worse than overtook your crop." That thought had never entered the planter's mind. Wishing to get as far away from such a man's prayers as possible, he put spurs to his horse and galloped off with all possible speed. Would that more such prayers might be offered in these times for the destruction of the vile weed.—Advocate of Christian Holiness.
Effects of Tea on the Skin
EFFECTS OF TEA ON THE SKIN.—If you place a few drops of strong tea upon a piece of iron, a knife blade for instance, the tannate of iron is formed, which is black. If you mix tea with iron filings, or pulverized iron, you can make a fair article of ink. It you mix it with fresh human blood, it forms with the iron of the blood, the tannate of iron. Take human skin and let it soak for a time in strong tea, and it will become leather. Now, when we remember that the liquids which enter the stomach are rapidly absorbed by the venous absorbents of the stomach, and enter into the system by the skin, lungs, and kidneys, it is probable that a drink so common as tea, and so abundantly used, will have some effect. Can it be possible that tannin, introduced with so much liquid-producing respiration, will have no effect upon the skin? Look at the tea-drinkers of Russia, the Chinese, and the old women of America, who have so long continued the habit of drinking strong tea. Are they not dark colored and leather-skinned?—Selected.
Drink to Make Me Work
"I drink to make me work," said a young man. To which an old man replied: "That's right; thee drink and it will make thee work! Hearken to me a moment, and I'll tell thee something that may do thee good. I was once a prosperous farmer. I had a good loving wife, and two as fine lads as ever the sun shone on. We had a comfortable home, and drank ale to make us work. Those two lads I have laid in drunkard's graves. My wife died broken-hearted, and she now lies by her two sons. I am seventy-two years of age. Had it not been for drink, I might now have been an independent gentleman; but I used to drink to make me work, and mark, it makes me work now. At seventy-two years of age I am obliged to work for my daily bread. Drink! Drink! and it will make you work."—Ex.
Benefits of Prohibition in Edwards County
The people of Edwards county, Illinois, decided twenty-five years ago that no intoxicating liquors should be sold in that county, and since that time they have sent but one person to the penitentiary, and he committed a crime while drunk with whisky procured in an adjoining county; they support but two or three paupers, and their jail is empty most of the time. Their taxes are thirty-two per cent. lower than the adjoining counties, and their terms of court occupy but three days in the year, while their tax rolls show that they return more property than any other county in the State of equal population.
Drunkenness Caused by Medicinal Beer
A Justice holding court in London, has had a young lady, recently a public school teacher in the vicinity of that city, come to him begging to be committed to the Sherburne woman's prison for a year, lest she be taken on the street and go through station-house and court for the drunkenness which has grown irresistible from beer taken medicinally.
NICOTINE POISONING.
A rather unusual case of poisoning by nicotine has occurred lately in a Paris suburb. The victim, a man in the prime of life, had been cleaning his pipe with a clasp knife; with this he accidentally cut one of his fingers subsequently, but as the wound was of a trivial nature he paid no heed to it. Five or six hours later, however, the cut finger grew painful and became much swollen; the inflammation rapidly spread to the arm and shoulder, the patient suffering such intense pain that he was obliged to betake himself to bed. Medical assistance was called, and the ordinary remedies proved ineffectual. The sick man, questioned as to the manner in which he cut himself, explained the use to which his pocket knife had been applied, adding that he had omitted to wipe it after cleaning the pipe. The case was now understood, and the patient's state becoming alarming he was conveyed to the hospital. There the doctors decided amputation of the arm to be the only hope of saving the patient's life, and this was immediately done.