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Review and Herald, Vol. 28, No. 15.

A Few Thoughts on the Covenants

Review and Herald

Sep 11, 1866

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 11, 1866

A Few Thoughts on the Covenants.

By L. D. Santee

The chief error with which we have to contend here in the West is Antinomianism. Our opponents who advocate the abolition of the law, contend that the ten commandments are a part of the old covenant; that they ceased at the cross; and that the new covenant was to be made not according to the covenant made with the children of Israel, when the Lord took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. Jer. xxxi, 32. I shall try to present a few thoughts showing that the arguments referred to are at variance with the general tenor of the Scriptures. We do not believe that the ten commandments are the old covenant, for this reason: The first covenant was faulty. Heb. viii, 7. The law of the Lord is perfect. Psa. xix, 7. The first covenant decayeth, waxeth old, and is ready to vanish away. Heb. viii, 13. But heaven and earth must pass before one tittle of the law fails. Luke xvi, 17. Isa. li, 6.
But, says the objector, the old covenant was made with the children of Israel, in the day that the Lord took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; and this, surely is the ten commandments. See 1 Kings viii, 21. But was there not another covenant made with them in the day that he took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt? Certainly there was. For proof see Jer. vii, 22, 23. “For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices.” He next tells what he did command them. But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice and I will be your God and ye shall be my people, and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you that it may be well unto you. Here direct reference is made to the covenant brought to view in Ex. xix, 5–9. And this, we think, is unmistakably the old covenant. God here makes an agreement or covenant with the children of Israel, that if they will obey his voice and keep his covenant they shall be a treasure to him above all people; and they agreed to do all that the Lord had spoken, thereby signifying their willingness to fulfill their part of the covenant. But they transgressed the covenant. They obeyed not the voice of the Lord neither walked in his law. Jer. xxxii, 23.
The first covenant was faulty in that it could not take away sin. The children of Israel had violated the terms of the first covenant which God made with them through Moses, and also God's covenant which he commanded them forever and spoke with his own voice. Deut. v, 24. This they promised to keep in their assent to the first covenant. Therefore a law was added because of transgression. A typical system was instituted pointing to Christ, that the penitent sinner might receive pardon by expressing faith in Christ the coming Messiah.
But it may be asked how the new covenant is better than the old. Simply because it was established upon better promises. Heb. viii, 6. The old covenant could not take away sin; but in making the new, God adds this promise: I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Heb. viii, 12.
The ten commandments are God's covenant. Deut. iv, 13. They are the conditions both of the old and new covenants. And this fact will explain the allusion to them in 1 Kings viii, 21. In the old covenant Israel were required to keep God's covenant or law. Ex. xix, 5. In the new covenant God's law is to be written upon their hearts. Heb. viii, 10. How beautifully appropriate is the language of the apostle, “For if our hearts condemn us God is greater than our hearts and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” 1 John iii, 20, 21. Who will dare to desecrate the Sabbath if the law of God is imprinted upon the tablets of his heart? and if the words “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God, in it thou shalt not do any work,” are written in his thoughts?
In Deut. iv, 13, we read, And he declared unto you his covenant which he commanded you to perform even ten commandments. In this text there are two points worthy of notice: First, that God calls the ten commandments his covenant, and second, that it is a covenant commanded. We wish these facts borne in mind. We shall refer to them again. Will the reader now turn with me to Psa. cv, 8, 9, 10: “He hath remembered his covenant forever, the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. Which covenant he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac, and confirmed the same unto Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant.” What covenant is here spoken of? God calls it his covenant, and also the word which he commanded. Verse 8. Deut. iv, 13, clearly shows that it is the ten commandments. Verse 9 states that he made the covenant with Abraham. This agrees perfectly with Gen. xxvi, 5, where God declares to Isaac that Abraham kept his commandments. It will be seen that in verse 8 God tells what he has remembered. In verse 9 he adds, “and his oath unto Isaac.” He has remembered that also. Our Antinomian friends contend that the covenant here spoken of is the promise to Abraham. But by reading carefully, the following fact will be apparent: The same covenant that is remembered forever, that is commanded to a thousand generations, that is made with Abraham, is confirmed to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant. It is absurd to say that the promise to Abraham was confirmed to Jacob for a law; for what were the requirements of that promise? What were its prohibitions? How could Jacob obey that promise as he would have to do if it was confirmed to him for a law? When God had confirmed the covenant to Israel for an everlasting covenant, he said, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance. He brought them into the land of Canaan that they might keep his covenant. Verse 45. It was confirmed to Israel at mount Sinai, and how natural that the covenant that David declares perfect, Psa. xix, 7, and that is a holy covenant, Dan. xi, 30, should be everlasting.
But if we should admit all that our opponents claim, what would they gain? Simply nothing. They are not content to leave the human family entirely without law, and so tell us that whatever is brought into the New Testament is binding on us. That being the case, it is not difficult to find the Sabbath in the Christian dispensation. After the crucifixion, the holy women rested on the Sabbath-day according to the commandment. Luke xxiii, 56. Those who had received the teachings of Christ had yet to learn that the Sabbath commandment was abrogated. Christ taught the perpetuity of the Sabbath. Mark ii, 27, 28. What hope can those have who trample under foot the commandments of God? who reject the testimony of Jesus, and the teachings of the apostles? May the Lord have mercy upon them, and may his Holy Spirit plead with them to repent before he that is unjust must so remain.
But to return. When the ark of the covenant is spoken of, the ark containing the ten commandments is always meant. 1 Kings viii, 6, 9. John, when receiving the Revelation, looked forward with prophetic vision to the closing of probation, and the destruction of the wicked. He looked into the most holy apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and declared that there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament [covenant]. Rev. xi, 19. The ark of the covenant was beneath the mercy-seat in the most holy place of the earthly sanctuary. Ex. xxvi, 34. The earthly sanctuary was a true pattern of the heavenly. Heb. ix, 23. This we consider positive proof that the ark containing the ten commandments occupies a place under the mercy-seat in the holiest of all in the heavenly sanctuary. In Heb. viii, 4 and 5, we learn that priests offered gifts or sacrifices according to the example and shadow of heavenly things; and by reading carefully the duties of the priests under the old covenant, we may understand the work of our great High Priest who is consecrated forevermore. He offers his own blood as an atonement for the sins of his people; for their violation of the law contained in the ark.
I will refer to but one more scripture. Psa. lxxxix, 27. “Also I will make him, my first born, higher than the kings of the earth.” This, all will understand to be Christ. Verse 28. “My mercy will I keep for him forevermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.” Verse 30. “If his children [Christians] forsake my law and walk not in my judgments, if they break my statutes and keep not my commandments, then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.” Verse 34. “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.”
If by these few thoughts on the covenants, any one shall be led to see that God's covenant is still in force, my object is attained. L. D. SANTEE. Gridley, Ill.

Fear Not.

By M. E. Guilford

Child of God, oppressed and weary, Tho' the way be dark and dreary, While you linger 'mid the gloom Of earth's fast approaching doom, When God's vengeance will be hurled On a sinful, guilty world, Fear not; press on, God in power, Will defend you in that hour.
Tho' the road be rough and long, Pressing through the giddy throng, Scorned by friends, by foes reviled, Oft by Satan's arts beguiled, Struggling 'gainst the world's cold pride, Who thy hopes fain would deride, Fear not; press on, Christ is near, Soon his voice thy heart will cheer.
Fear not, then, though storm and strife On every side assail thy life; Jesus, our king, is at the helm, He will the wily foe o'erwhelm, He'll rescue all who God obey, Who keep the strait and narrow way; Ere long in glory bright he'll come, And take them to their deathless home.
M. E. GUILFORD.
St. Charles, Mich.

Sunday Keeping.

By E. BOOTH

Do not some who profess to keep the commandments of God—the whole law—by observing the Sabbath, break them by observing with equal sacredness the first-day of the week? Can we regard Sunday as a regular holy-day and keep the commandments perfect? “Six days shalt thou labor and do all thy work; but the seventh-day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God.”
God wrote nothing amiss when he deigned to inscribe for man his law with his own finger. Every word is essential in the law, “it is perfect converting the soul,” “and in keeping of them there is great reward.” Psa. xix.
The power of habit is very strong; and those who have been accustomed to regard Sunday as the Sabbath up to an advanced age, certainly will experience a strange feeling in discarding this papal imposture for the true Sabbath. But with all this strangeness, strength of habit and prevailing unpopularity, if Sabbath-keepers have not the love of the truth established deep enough within their hearts to keep the fourth commandment, free from traditional jurisdiction, and a sufficient quantity of moral courage to face error and unpopularity with a firm will and steady purpose, I fear they have not sufficient strength of character to stand the final test of God’s people, or to hold fast that faith, without which no man shall see the Lord.
God may have blessed his people in Sunday keeping, but not for it during the days of “Gentile ignorance.” Now the times of restitution and refreshing are at hand, and he commandeth his law to be known. In the fulness of time Christ died for the ungodly and the “time of reformation” was ushered in. All God designed at that time to make known to man was declared. Pharisaical tradition was sternly reproved, evils were condemned, but the law and the Sabbath needed no re-enacting. When the days of degeneracy came, making void the law; when the son of perdition exalted himself above all that is called God, trampling the truth to the ground and persecuting the faith; when the long night of darkness enshrouded the world till it was replete with abomination, making desolate the “heritage of Jacob,” the fulness of time was come. Dan. viii, 12. These things were to be, but deliverance came. God’s hand was in the work. He raised up a Luther, a Melancthon, a Zwingle, with their contemporaries, to carry out his grand designs.
They were godlike, holy men. They had a host of errors to combat, and if God did not enlighten them upon his broken law they could not see the breach. They lived out all the perfection of holiness they in the providence of God could attain to, and were blessed. We are not slow to acknowledge the work of God in all religious movements, and know he is at work now.
The labors of the Wesleys, the zeal of Lady Huntingdon and all her friends, the devoted Clark and Fletcher, all were instruments of a higher power in establishing the great ecclesiastical revolution of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. And God still blessed them in Sunday keeping, though not for it. The time of his truth was not wholly revealed and he suffered it to be. Every work must have its appointed time; for as God has spoken through his holy prophets, so must it be fulfilled.
The time for his law and sanctuary to be revealed, at last came. Dan. viii, 14. Rev. xiv, 12. In the last days truth must be known. With what force the poet declares,
“Truth crushed to earth will rise again; The eternal years of God are hers.”
Yes, God’s truth is eternal. It cannot be crushed out by mortal man. The “breach” will be restored, the “gaps” built up, and commandment-keepers alone will inherit the “everlasting possessions.” Isa. lviii, 12. Rev. xxii, 14. Commandment-keepers were not mentioned during the apostasy, they are not mentioned in the “times of Reformation,” nowhere but in the “last days” have they a place in sacred history as God’s people. Rev. xii, 17.
The fulness of time is come when “truth” is to plant her foot upon the earth. Each epoch has received its truth and this is present truth with us. Shall we heed it? or shall the power of fatal apostasy mark us for its own. Rev. xiii, 16. We cannot serve two masters. God will have the whole heart or none. He will not accept that service which unites truth with error, the love of this world’s applause with the true merits of Jesus, or carnal mindedness with the commandments. 1 Jno. v, 2–3. His jewels must be genuine. Therefore “establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.” E. BOOTH.

Overcomers and Their Reward.

By Sarah E. Lindsley.

Who of us cannot say that we sincerely desire to overcome? An exceeding great reward is held out to overcomers. We think, talk, and pray, much about it. We feel that it is a great work, a work which must be speedily performed or it will be too late.
But what is it to overcome? To subdue, conquer, or become victorious. See Webster. Next arises the question, What must we overcome? We are told to overcome evil. Our hearts are by a fallen nature “deceitful and desperately wicked.” Yet we are exhorted, yea commanded, to be perfect and holy. Jesus is our perfect pattern,—we can do nothing without him. He entreats us in persuasive words to learn of him, for he is meek and lowly in heart; and he can be touched with the feelings of our infirmities, for he was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. Do we ask how we shall overcome? If we study carefully the word of God, which is as a lamp to our feet, and a light to our path, we shall find instruction. Yet, for all this, how often have we found ourselves doing those things which we would not. In spite of our best resolutions, how often when we would do good, evil is present with us. And when at evening we review the events of the day, how often we are stung with self-reproach and remorse, as we remember the careless and trifling words, or the impatient and hasty words, or perchance the murmuring and complaining words, which have escaped our lips. Alas! we have been overcome! Our hearts condemn us, and our confidence toward God is diminished; and with sighs and bitter tears we exclaim, oh, how shall I ever overcome?
This has been my experience, and I doubt not that of others. But the Lord is merciful, slow to anger and of great kindness, not willing that any should perish. To the little remnant who are preparing for translation, he condescends to give through the gifts of the Spirit, and the leaders in the church, special light on the great work of overcoming. Shall we suffer our hearts to rise up against it, because it crosses a perverted appetite and makes us peculiar? or shall we not rather accept it thankfully, and hail it as a beacon preparing the way for our deliverance? Oh, yes! I mean by the help of the Lord to faithfully walk in the light, and make it a matter of principle and of conscience to obey the physical, as well as the moral, laws of God. Blessed be his holy name for the light that shines upon our pathway. God is faithful! His arm is not shortened that it cannot save, nor his ear heavy that it cannot hear. Who ever trusted in him and was confounded? No one. Mark that deeply bereaved sister who has been so suddenly deprived of those dear ones who seemed necessary to her own existence. She is sustained. She has testimony for the Lord, and has a stronger hold on the immortal inheritance. She feels that she has a great interest in the resurrection morn, and that is not far distant.
Whatever be our lot, whether lonely, persecuted, afflicted, or bereaved, if we are patient and submissive, casting not away our confidence in God, grace will be given to enable us to bear the trial, so long as it will be for our good, and deliverance will be ours at last. We have the sweet promise that “our light affliction which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” And this is the overcomer’s reward.
Our heavenly Father hath chosen us in the furnace of affliction; and when he can see reflected in us his own lovely image, then we shall have overcome. I fully believe that God is leading this people on to certain victory. Let me share in their sorrows and at last be partaker with them in their joys when Jesus comes, and I ask no more. Oh, let us take courage! Our Captain has gone before. He saith, “In the world ye shall have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” And he will help us also. And to him that overcometh he will grant to sit down with him in his throne.
SARAH E. LINDSLEY.
Mexico, N. Y.

Watch.

By Emily L. Canright

ABRAHAM set an example worthy of the imitation of every Christian. It was night, and God called him forth to count the stars, telling him that so should his seed be. And Abraham believed God, and he counted it unto him for righteousness. And God said unto him, “I am the Lord which brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.” And he said, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it? And God said unto him, Take me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon. And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another; but the birds divided he not.” “And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away.”
A little further on we read, “When the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp passed between these pieces;” and we know that the sacrifice was accepted.
It is a plain story briefly told; but like all stories from the same source, it contains a great and good moral. Christian, do you see the application? God has told us, that, if we obey him in all his requirements, we shall be greatly rewarded; and in order to seal to us that reward, he calls upon us for a full and perfect sacrifice. Every one who earnestly desires an inheritance with the children of God, willingly complies thus far, and lays all upon the altar. But it must be faithfully guarded; for there are fowls—Satan, the allurements of the world, and the evil propensities of our own carnal hearts—that are hovering near, ready to pounce upon and destroy it. Ah! here too many fail of obtaining the prize. Growing weary of the arduous task of watching, they fold their hands quietly, and rest while the ravenous vultures are constantly engaged in picking at, and carrying off, particles of the sacrifice. Piece after piece is taken. Less and less grows the accumulated mass, until by and by when God is ready to receive it, the sacrifice is gone. The day is far spent, the sun is fast setting in the west, and the night shadows will soon gather around us. What we do must be done quickly; for we have only a little time to work. Let us each guard well our own individual sacrifice, keeping all these fowls away, and waiting patiently for God to receive it. Watching until the Bridegroom cometh, that we may then receive our everlasting inheritance.
EMILY L. CANRIGHT.
Coldwater, Mich.

Re-Conversion of Charles Hemans

RE-CONVERSION OF CHARLES HEMANS.—Mr. Charles J. Hemans, son of the celebrated Mrs. Hemans, joined the Church of Rome some twelve years ago, but has lately returned—or become a “revert,” as it is now called. He has spent ten years in Rome itself, devoting himself to the careful study of the antiquities of the Christian church in and about that city, especially the catacombs, supposing that this would strengthen and confirm his faith in modern Romanism; but the result has been just the opposite.

An Interesting Letter.

By A. C. BOURDEAU

BRO. WHITE: While attending the French School at the Grand Ligne Mission Institute, in Canada East, fifteen years ago, I became acquainted with Mr. I. R. Lamoureux, a French Baptist, who was a student in the Institution at that time. After I left school I did not see Mr. L., till about one year ago, when he came and spent a few days at my house in West Enosburg, Vt. During his stay with us, he attended several of our meetings, and heard our views for the first time. I have recently received the following letter from him, which shows the impressions he received during his visit with us, and how his mind is being exercised in regard to our position. A. C. BOURDEAU.
I. R. Lamoureux to his friend A. C. Bourdeau.
DEAR FRIEND:
I ought to have written to you long ago; and I meant to do it many, many a time. But since I left you I have been so unsettled both in body and in mind, that I have neglected my best friend. I crave your pardon for this long neglect; whilst I should certainly have said, at least, a few words of acknowledgment and thanks for your hearty welcome, and all the attention and kindness you showed me during my stay with you! Nevertheless I can say that I was very sensitive to all those tokens of brotherly love and Christian charity, and assure you of my gratitude and good feeling for you all. Whatever may be the difference of our views in certain respects, I entertain the highest regard for your moral character, and the fullest confidence in the sincerity of your religious profession.
I do not wish to flatter you by any means; but I must say that I found among you more practical and living religion than in all other denominations put together. Most Christians, so-called, can hardly be known in daily life, from people of the world. Their ways and conversation do not differ materially from those of the world. But with you, religion seems to be the main topic of conversation, and you speak of the promises of God as something real, and that will soon be accomplished. Moreover, your manners and habits are certainly a beautiful example of reason, temperance, and simplicity, to this present, perverse, and foolish generation. I say this because I was struck with the vast difference between you and other denominations.
I have a sort of idea, or feeling, that when the Lord cometh, I would feel safer with you than with any other sect, if I may use that word. For you long after his coming with such eagerness and assurance. You talk of the dear Redeemer and his kingdom as no fictitious things; while other Christians (except the Adventists), speak of them almost as fables. How cold, how cheerless, their sermons are! The second advent of Christ seems to them far off still, and how few seem to realize it! Christ is coming to deliver his children, and finally to renovate this earth which is now polluted with sin. What sweet consolation such an idea is calculated to afford to every true and sincere believer! And still Christians remain cold, indifferent, as though they were quite unconcerned with that great event! Is that religion? Is that the way we should accept the word of God? Oh, no, no, no!
I must confess that I am myself too cold, and not engaged directly enough in the great cause. Still I can say that religion is something sweet to my heart, and that now, in my present circumstances, it is my best and only consolation. The subject of religion has greatly occupied my mind since I left you. I have read with interest several of the works you gave me on the Sabbath, and although I am not fully convinced, I agree with you on several points. That a day of rest is necessary to our moral and physical economy, I am fully convinced. All the question lies with me now, whether we should strictly observe a particular day, and that day the seventh still.
The question whether the church of Rome had any right to substitute the first day for the seventh is too contemptible to have any weight in my mind. The fact that the keeping of Sunday was a Romish institution would be a sufficient reason for me to abandon altogether its observance. I have such an abhorrence of anything that is Romish, such a contempt for the “mother of harlots,” that as soon as I am fully convinced that Sunday keeping is one of her laws, I shall forsake it altogether as a day of sacred repose.
But I want more light on the subject, and I mean to study it too. I am, you know, of a studious turn of mind, and I want to be fully convinced before admitting anything. I should like very much to have the pleasure of remaining some time with you, in order to examine further your views, and study those great questions pertaining to the everlasting kingdom. I sincerely wish to have an opportunity of seeing you again.
Will you be so kind as to write to me about your family. Where is Daniel? What is he doing, etc.? My best regards to you and yours; also to your parents and sister. I. R. LAMOUREUX.

Manners of the Mother Mould the Child.

THERE is no disputing this fact; it shines in the face of every little child. The coarse, bawling, scolding woman will have her coarse, vicious, bawling, fighting children. She who cries on every occasion “I’ll box your ears—I’ll slap your jaws—I’ll break your neck,” is known as thoroughly through her children as if her unwomanly manners were openly displayed in the public streets.
These remarks were suggested by the conversation in an omnibus—that great institution for the students of men and manners—between a friend and a schoolmaster. Our teacher was caustic, mirthful and sharp. His wit flashed like the polished edge of a diamond, and kept the ‘bus’ in a ‘roar.’
The entire community of insiders—and whoever is intimate with these conveyances can form a pretty good idea of our numbers, inclusive of the “one more” so well known to the fraternity—turned their heads, eyes and ears one way, and finally our teacher said:
I can always tell the mother by the boy. The urchin who draws back, with doubled fist and lunges at his playmate if he looks at him askance, has a very questionable mother. She may feed him and clothe him, cram him with sweetmeats, coax him with promises, but if she gets mad she fights.
She will pull him by the jacket; she will give him a knock in the back; she will drag him by the hair; she will call him all sorts of wicked names, while passion plays over her red face in lambent flames that curl and writhe out at the corners of her eyes.
And we never see the courteous little fellow with smooth locks and gentle manners—in whom delicacy does not detract from courage or manliness—but we say that boy’s mother is a true lady. Her words and ways are soft, loving and quiet. If she reproves, her language is “my son”—not “you little wretch—you plague of my life—you torment—you scamp!”
She hovers before him a pillar of light before the wandering Israelites, and her beams are reflected in his face. To him the word mother is synonymous with every thing pure, sweet and beautiful. Is he an artist? In after life that which with holy radiance shines on his canvas, will be the mother’s face. Whoever flits across his path with sunny smiles and soft, low voice, will bring “mother’s image” freshly to his heart. “She is like my mother,” will be the highest meed of his praise. Not even when the hair turns silver and the eye grows dim, will the majesty of that life and presence desert him.”
“But the ruffian mother—alas, that there are such—will form the ruffian character of the man. He in turn will become a merciless tyrant, with a tongue sharper than a two-edged sword, and remembering the brawling and cuffing, seek some meek, gentle victim for the sacrifice, and make her his wife, with the condition that he shall be master. And the master he is for a few sad years, when he wears a widower’s weed till he finds victim ‘number two.’
We wonder not that there are so many awkward, ungainly men in society—they have been trained by women who knew not nor cared for the holy nature of their trust. They have been made bitter to the heart’s core, and that bitterness will find lodgment somewhere. Strike the infant in anger, and he will, if he cannot reach you, vent his passion by beating the door, the chair, or any inanimate thing within reach. Strike him repeatedly, and by the time he wears shoes he will have become a bully, with hands that double for fight as naturally as if especial pains had been taken to teach him the art of boxing.
Mothers, remember that your manners mould the child. Who will not say that mothers ought to be thoroughly educated, whether our sons are or not?

Equality or Trouble.

By L. D. S.

[Bro. WHITE: The following I clip from the Maine State Press, thinking perhaps that it may be of interest to the readers of the Review. L. D. S.]
We find in the oration of Rev. Alonzo H. Quint, at New Bedford, the truth forcibly expressed of the great principle which must and will prevail in the great struggle now entered upon, to restore to their old domination in political power the traitors who sought to crush out our nationality:
Our flag, when it rustles in the wind, sweet music, says nothing about race, nothing about color, nothing about property. It never complained because an Irishman bore it with the gallantry of that fiery race, nor because a sturdy German kept step to its march. It never blushed because a black man carried it at Wagner. The ring of our muskets was never sullen because a black man fired one. Our bullets never stopped to ask who bit off the cartridge. Our bayonets never lost their temper because a black man obeyed the “charge!” Our nationality, like the fire of our guns, means perfect equality before the law, and the ballot is the bullet.
To this great principle we must come. Before the clear light of truth all differences must be swept away. There are to be yet, in the eye of the law, no black men, no white men, but only men; not freedmen, but freemen. Unless this is done it needs no prophet to see that trouble is yet to come.

Slang Phrases.

By E. G. Burt

The other morning while reading our morning lesson, I was led to dwell upon and ponder over the words in 1 Pet. i, 18: “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers.” We often hear good, and well-meaning brethren catch up the vain and vulgar by-words and slang phrases which roll from the tongues of the children of this world, and which emanate from the lowest of sources, and use them in their writings and conversation. The following may be mentioned as a few of the most common: “I’ll bet,” “in a horn,” “over the left,” “played out,” “that’s what’s the matter,” “be blowed,” &c., &c. Is not this the vain conversation received by tradition from the fathers? These by-words are taught by the fathers, and learned by the children. If we were to get into conversation with a horse-jockey or sporting man of any kind, we should expect to hear more or less of this kind of language; but in the true Christian, and those, too, enlightened by the blazing light of “present truth,” we do look for such idle words to be laid aside.
It seems as though they are all wrong, and especially when coming from those who are looked to for an example. We have been redeemed from all such vain conversation. Then let us no more turn back to such things which are not convenient. These are a few of the thoughts that suggest themselves to the writer on this text. Much more might be said, and much more scripture produced against this manner of using the tongue. Reformers only desire to know the truth, to obey.
E. G. BURT.
Winfield, Mich.

Love Begets Love

Love begets love. ’Tis a flame that communicates itself. They that have much forgiven them, much done for them, much laid out for them, and much laid up for them, will love much.

This Life Is a Middle State

This life is a middle state; we must soon go higher or lower, where we must spend upon the treasure we here lay up whether of wrath or glory.

The Napoleon Bubble.

By Editor

It is well known that there are some who, making mince-meat of the prophecies generally, are strenuously endeavoring to set up Napoleon III, as the great fulfillment of many of the ancient prophetic records, the Antichrist, the eighth head of the beast, the dictator of nations, the destined monarch of the world, the all in all of political objects now before mankind. It is apparent that all these illusions must vanish into thin air, whenever he ceases to have a controlling influence in European affairs. His prestige as the “destined monarch of the world,” is gone so soon as he meets with a power which dictates to him, instead of being dictated by him. And it seems that even now such an event has occurred. According to the following article which we clip from the Independent, he made a demand of Prussia, which was snubbed with an immediate and emphatic No; and in this unexpected emergency, he found himself not in a position to enforce his claims. The event is caricatured in Harper’s Weekly more forcibly than it can be described in words. Count Bismark, the Prussian prime minister, and Napoleon, are represented as on the precipitous bank of a river, fishing. Bismark has a pole of goodly dimensions, and a line of suitable length, with which he has procured a noble string of fish. Napoleon appears not only fishless, but with less than half a line, which will not anywhere near reach the water. Napoleon hereupon says to Bismark, “My line will not reach the river; give me some of yours.” Bismark immediately replies, “Not a bit of it!” “Ah! well, then,” responds Napoleon, “keep it yourself,” and pockets the refusal, and goes without his fish with whatever grace he can. Haven’t those who have written so much about Napoleon, all the while meant Bismark? Who knows?
But to the article, a careful perusal of which we commend to the aforesaid Napoleontites in general, and “Rev. Mr. Baxter” in particular. Under the heading of “New Europe,” the Independent says:
The spoiled children of this world are used to have all they ask for; and Napoleon III, that minion of fortune, has been so spoiled that, when he asked of Prussia a frontier on the Rhine, there were those who thought that through either war or peace, he was sure to get it. It has proved otherwise. The demand was carried to Berlin, and, without receiving the grace of respectful delay and consideration, was answered in a day with a prompt, decided, and emphatic negative; meaning not only that the Prussians would not voluntarily yield a foot of German soil, but would resist encroachment with all of the gigantic power they have lately manifested. With this baffled attempt at territorial extortion, the new lines created by the war are defined; and we are enabled to re-draw the European maps of last year, now a century or more out of date. For the war of a fortnight, did the work of an age. Italy is extended from the Alps to the Apennines. The boundaries of Prussia are enlarged so as to give it a compact roundity between the Rhine, the Main, the Baltic, and Poland. Austria loses Venetia, and such claims as she had to Holstein. The king of Hanover, and some of the minor magnates of Northern Germany, surrender their dominions to Prussia. There is to be for the moment a confederation of Southern German States, patronized by Bavaria; but presently to be absorbed by the union at the north, and made Prussian. Such are the geographical re-arrangements that may be regarded as already settled.
But it is in politics that the most radical change has been made. At the helm of European affairs is a new pilot; one without nobility of race or noteworthy antecedents, and who, when Louis Napoleon was planning his canvass for the presidency of the new French Republic, had just emerged from the obscurity of a small landholder and farmer, and tried his unpracticed hand at the internal politics of Prussia. Bismark, in a score of years, has placed Prussia at the van of the first-class powers; has accomplished for Italy what Napoleon III undertook, but failed to do; has expelled Austria from the German Empire, and destroyed her importance in continental politics; has established the supremacy of his government in a military point of view; added vast areas and much-needed seaports to the Prussian territory; and checked the territorial greed of the French. In thus elevating and benefiting his country, the new statesman has raised himself; so that hereafter, he, rather than the French emperor, must be considered the arbiter of European public law. This is the most conspicuous result of the war; and all-important, because it involves all others. It is Prussia who shall henceforth rule in the councils of the Great Powers. England indeed has abdicated all authority on the continent; Austria is prostrate; Italy feeble; Russia not fairly recovered from the consequences of the Crimean war and emancipation; and France deprived of the prestige left it by the war of 1859. In the novelty of these conditions, political forecast is set at naught; and we have to watch the course of events with much the same unenlightened interest as that of the astronomer, across whose object-glass a new and mighty planet has floated. For an explanation of the phenomena, we must wait upon time.
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