Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 17, 1884
General Articles.
By Mrs. E. G. White
The Sabbath Reformation under Nehemiah.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
UNDER the labors of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people of Judah had in the most solemn and public manner, pledged themselves to render obedience to the law of God. But when the influence of these teachers was for a time withdrawn, there were many who departed from the Lord. During the absence of Nehemiah from Jerusalem, idolaters not only gained a foot-hold in the city, but contaminated by their presence the very precincts of the temple. Certain families of Israel, having intermarried with the family of Tobiah the Ammonite, had brought about a friendship between this man, one of Judah's most bitter and determined enemies, and Eliashib the high priest. As a result of this unhallowed alliance, Tobiah had been permitted to occupy a commodious apartment connected with the temple, which had been devoted to the storing of various offerings brought for the service of God.
Thus not only was the temple of the Lord profaned, but his people were constantly exposed to the corrupting influence of this agent of Satan. Because of their cruelty and treachery toward Israel, the Ammonites and Moabites had by the word of the Lord been forever excluded from the congregation. And yet, in defiance of this solemn interdict, the high priest himself casts out the consecrated oblations from the chamber of God's house, to make a place for the most violent and treacherous of a proscribed people. Greater contempt for God could not have been manifested than was expressed in this favor conferred on this enemy of God and his truth.
When Nehemiah learned of this bold profanation, he promptly exercised his authority to expel the intruder. "It grieved me sore; therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber. Then I commanded, and they cleansed the chambers; and thither brought I again the vessels of the house of God, with the meat-offering and the frankincense."
Not only had the temple been profaned, but the offerings had been misapplied. This tended to discourage the liberality of the people. They lost their zeal and fervor in the cause of God, and were reluctant to pay their tithes. The treasuries of the Lord's house were but poorly supplied; and the singers and others employed in the temple service not receiving a sufficient support, many left the work of God to labor elsewhere for the maintenance of their families. Nehemiah promptly corrected these abuses. He gathered together those who had forsaken the service of the house of God, and caused the tithes and offerings to be restored. Faithful men were appointed to take charge of the means raised, confidence was restored, and all Judah brought their tithes to the treasuries of the Lord.
Another result of intercourse with idolaters was disregard of the Sabbath. Heathen merchants and traders from the surrounding country had been intent upon leading the children of Israel to engage in traffic upon the Sabbath. While there were some who would not be induced to sacrifice principle, and transgress the commandment of God, others were more easily influenced, and joined with the heathen in their endeavor to overcome the scruples of their more conscientious countrymen; and the idolaters boasted of the success that had attended their efforts. Many dared openly to violate the Sabbath. While some engaged in traffic with the heathen, others were treading in wine-presses, and others bringing in sheaves upon the Sabbath day.
Had the rulers exerted their influence and exercised their authority, this state of things might have been prevented; but their desire to advance their own secular interest led them to favor the ungodly. It is mingling our interest with the interest of unbelievers that leads to apostasy and the ruin of the soul.
Nehemiah rebuked them for their shameful neglect of duty, which was largely responsible for the fast-spreading apostasy. "What evil thing is this that ye do, and profane the Sabbath day?" he sternly demanded. "Did not your fathers thus, and did not our God bring all this evil upon us, and upon this city? yet ye bring more wrath upon Israel by profaning the Sabbath." He gave command that "when it began to be dark before the Sabbath," the city gates should be shut, and that they should not be opened till the Sabbath was past; and, having more confidence in his own servants than in those the magistrates of Jerusalem might appoint, he stationed them at the gate to see that his orders were enforced.
The merchants were not disposed to abandon their purpose; and several times they lodged without the gates of the city, hoping to find opportunity for traffic, either with citizens or country people. Upon being informed of this, Nehemiah warned them that they would be punished if they continued this practice. He also directed the Levites to guard the gates, knowing that on account of their higher position they would command greater respect than the common people; while from their close connection with the service of God, it was reasonable to expect that they would be more zealous in enforcing obedience to his law.
By the observance of the Sabbath the Israelites were to be distinguished from all other nations as the worshippers of the true God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth. The Sabbath was the divinely-appointed memorial of the Creator's work, and the day upon which it was to be celebrated was not left indefinite. It was not any day which men might choose and no day in particular, but the very day in which the Creator rested, that was sanctified and hallowed. On this day God would come very near to his obedient, commandment-loving people.
God places a very high estimate upon his law. Moses and Joshua commanded that it be read publicly at stated periods, that all the people might be familiar with its precepts, and reduce them to practice. If they did this, they had the exalted privilege of being counted as sons and daughters of the Most High, and might confide in him as dear children. In Nehemiah's day, the adversary of souls, working through the children of disobedience, and taking advantage of the unfaithfulness of men in holy office, was fast lulling the nation to forgetfulness of God's law, the very sin which had provoked his wrath against their fathers; and for a time it seemed that all the care, labor, and expense involved in rebuilding the defenses of Jerusalem would be lost.
David prayed, "It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law." This prayer is no less pertinent at the present time. The world has gone astray from God, and its lawless state should strike terror to the heart, and lead all who are loyal to the great King to work for a reformation. The papal power has thought to change the law of God by substituting a spurious Sabbath for that of Jehovah; and all through the religious world the false Sabbath is revered, while the true one is trampled beneath unholy feet. But will the Lord degrade his law to meet the standard of finite man? Will he accept a day possessing no sanctity, in the place of his own Sabbath, which he has hallowed and blessed? No; it is on the law of God that the last great struggle of the controversy between Christ and his angels and Satan and his angels will come, and it will be decisive for all the world. This is the hour of temptation to God's people; but Daniel saw them delivered out of it, every one whose name is written in the Lamb's book of life.
Men in responsible positions will not only ignore and despise the Sabbath themselves, but from the sacred desk, will urge upon the people the observance of the first day of the week, pleading tradition and custom in behalf of this man-made institution. They will point to calamities on land and sea—to the storms of wind, the floods, the earthquakes, the destruction by fire—as judgments indicating God's displeasure because Sunday is not sacredly observed. These calamities will increase more and more, one disaster will follow close upon the heels of another;34and those who make void the law of God will point to the few who are keeping the Sabbath of the fourth commandment as the ones who are bringing wrath upon the world. This falsehood is Satan's device that he may ensnare the unwary.
We need Nehemiahs in 1884, who shall arouse the people to see how far from God they are because of the transgression of his law. Nehemiah was a reformer, a great man raised up for an important time. As he came in contact with evil and every kind of opposition, fresh courage and zeal were aroused. His energy and determination inspired the people of Jerusalem; and strength and courage took the place of feebleness and discouragement. His holy purpose, his high hope, his cheerful consecration to the work, were contagious. The people caught the enthusiasm of their leader, and in his sphere each man became a Nehemiah, and helped to make stronger the hand and heart of his neighbor. Here is a lesson for ministers of the present day. If they are listless, inactive, destitute of godly zeal, what can be expected of the people to whom they minister?
Man's personal accountability to God should command careful attention. The law can never pardon. Its province is not to save the transgressor, but to convict him. It is far-reaching, and all we do bears the stamp of its approval or condemnation. Men professing godliness often regard the secret sins of the soul very lightly; but it is the secret motives of the heart that determine the true character, and God will bring them into judgment. The dangers resulting from disobeying God and seeking the friendship of the world have not lessened with the lapse of time. There is earnest work to be done; and the faithful watchman, who is actuated by love to God and a desire to save sinners, will reap the reward of his labors; but the unfaithful watchman, whose influence tends to union with the world, will cause the ruin of many souls.
TAKE UP THY CROSS!
By Laura C. Nourse
BY LAURA C. NOURSE.
TAKE up thy cross! It matters not
What shape that cross may be;
'Tis Jesus speaks; his voice is plain,
"Come thou and follow me"!
Take up thy cross! The way I lead
Is full of thorns and tears;
And though thou canst not pierce the gloom,
Still come, despite thy fears.
Take up thy cross! Thro' toil and tears
Behold the portals fair;
My love shall guide thy devious way,
Thy peace be all my care.
Take up thy cross! Tho' dark the night,
The morning fair shall dawn,
And thou shalt see my hand outstretched
To bring thee safely home.
Take up thy cross! The crown is near,
The darkness almost passed,—
A harbor reached,—thy bark safe moored,—
'Twas Christ before the mast!
Manlius, N. Y.
The Signs of the Times.
By Editor
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, FOR THE S. D. A. MISSIONARY SOCIETY. (For Terms, etc., See Last Page.)
Entered at the Post-Office in Oakland.
Inside View of Spiritualism.
DANGERS OF MEDIUMSHIP.
(Continued.)
IN Dr. Randolph's work the danger and deception of mediumship are stated in the following terms:—
"Those ill-meaning ones who live just beyond the threshold, often obtain their ends by subtly infusing a semi-sense of volitional power into the minds of their intended victims; so that at last they come to believe themselves to be self-acting, when in fact they are the merest shuttlecocks, banded about between the battledoors of knavish devils on one side, and devilish knaves upon the other; and, between the two, the poor wretches are nearly heart-reft and destroyed."—Dealings with the Dead, pages 108-9.
If the mediums do not feel flattered by the description of their position they must bear in mind that we are only giving the testimony of the very highest spiritualistic authorities. A note by the publisher of the above work, on the same point, page 108, says:—
"Good spirits do not break the sphere. They approach the crown of the head and infuse thoughts, else blend themselves with the subject, but never by destroying either consciousness or will. Evil spirits attack the lower brain, the amative organs, the lower passions, and force the spheres of their victims."
So, then, Prof. Brittan's plea for Davis and the mediums is only a plea for malignant obsessions! Look at the following from a work by Hudson Tuttle, a very popular author:—
"Reader, have you ever entered the respectable saloon? Have you ever watched the stupid stare of the inebriate when the eye grew less and less lustrous, slowly closing, the muscles relaxing, and the victim of appetite sinking over on the floor in beastly drunkenness? Oh, how dense the fumes of mingled tobacco and alcohol! Oh, what misery confined in those walls! If you have witnessed such scenes, then we need describe no further. If you have not, then you had better not hear the tale of woe. Imagine to yourselves a bar room with all its sots, and their number multiplied indefinitely, while conscience-seared and bloated fiends stand behind the bar, from whence they deal out death and damnation; and the picture is complete! One has just arrived from earth. He is yet uninitiated in the mysteries and miseries of those which, like hungry lions, await him. He died while intoxicated—was frozen while lying in the gutter, and consequently is attracted toward this society. He possessed a good intellect, but it was shattered beyond repair by his debauches."
" 'Ye ar' a fresh one, ain't ye?' coarsely queried a sot, just then particularly communicative."
" 'Why, yes, I have just died, as they call it, and 'tain't so bad a change after all; only I suppose there'll be dry times here for want of something stimulant.'"
" 'Not so dry; lots of that all the time, and jolly times too.'"
" 'Drink! can you drink, then?'"
" 'Yes, we just can, and feel as nice as we please. But all can't, not unless they find one on earth just like 'em. You go to earth, and mix with your chums, and when you find one whose thoughts you can read, he's your man. Form a connection with him, and when he gets to feeling good, you'll feel so too. There, do you understand me? I always tell all fresh ones the glorious news, for how they would suffer if it wasn't for this blessed thing.'"
" 'I'll try it, no mistake.'"
" 'Here's a covey,' spoke an ulcerous-looking being; 'he's of our stripe. Tim, did you hear what an infernal scrape I got into last night? No, you didn't. Well, I went to our friend Fred; he didn't want to drink when I found him, his dimes looked so extremely large. Well, I destroyed that feeling, and made him think he was dry. He drank, and drank, more than I wanted him to, until I was so drunk that I could not break my connection with him, or control his mind. He undertook to go home; fell into the snow, and came near freezing to death. I suffered awfully, ten times as much as when I died.' Reader, we draw the curtain over scenes like these, such as are daily occurring in this society."—Life in the Spheres, pages 35-37.
Thus daily are poor deluded mediums made to believe they want to drink, etc., and their aversion (if they have any) to crime and lewdness is destroyed by fiends whose presence and influence are courted by thousands. This is Spiritualism! But we have further testimony. Dr. Randolph says again:—
"The bodies and souls of mediums may be and are attacked, the remnant of will destroyed or lulled, the moral sense stupified, and the entire being subjugated by spectral harpies and human ghouls, who wander on either bank of existence."—Dealings with the Dead, pages 107-8.
Dr. Gridley received from his special spirit friend, Bryant, the following revelation. Joshua is represented as the spirit of a strong, but brutish man whom he had known in life:—
"On one occasion, while Joshua was possessing the medium, it appeared evident that the love of rum in the former was by no means impaired by his transfer to the world of spirits. To test this I asked him if he would have a glass of brandy. The inviting, even bewitching, manner with which he reached forth and waved his hand invitingly toward me, with the sweet-loving motion of his lips, surprised me beyond measure; and I replied, perhaps rudely, that if he came here for brandy, he would get nothing but water. His countenance instantly exhibited the most fierce and terrible anger. He grated his teeth furiously, doubled his fist, and made a most desperate blow at the pit of my stomach, and exclaimed, 'Damn you!' I now inquired, 'Friend Bryant, is it possible that a man who loves rum in this world carries that love with him into the next?' 'Yes, it is certainly true.' 'But there can be nothing there by which to gratify it,' I said, inquiringly. 'No, not in ours; but you must not forget that our world, especially with low, wicked spirits, is not far from yours.' 'But you do not mean to say that such an appetite in a disembodied spirit can be gratified?' 'Spirits who have left the rudimental body can gratify a drunken appetite ten times as easy as those in that body.' 'But how can that be?' I asked in wonder. 'Joshua can enter the body of any drunken brute in human form, and partake of the exhilarating influence of his cups with the greatest ease imaginable.' He stated too that spirits were guilty of licentious acts, and that quarreling and licentiousness were as inseparable in their world as in ours."—Astounding Facts, pages 26, 27.
In our work we quoted largely from Spiritualist authors, and brought out undisputed facts in the lives of mediums and lecturers to prove the licentious tendencies of Spiritualism, and the licentious practices obtaining among Spiritualists. The Banner of Light affected to disclaim affiliation with free-loveism. But it is but a feint, for it has helped on the tendency in that direction. A work by Dr. Child was published at that office, entitled, "Christ and the People." The following extracts will show the nature of its teachings:—
"The present laws of marriage, that now give birth to regrets and sorrows unnumbered, to prostitution, with its long train of curses and agonies, will be abandoned for a holier, purer, diviner revelation that will erolong be given to the people." Page 27.
"A religion more spiritual will be discovered and acknowledged— . . . a religion without written laws, without commandments, without creeds—a religion too sacred to be spoken, too pure to be defiled, too generous to be judged, resting upon no uncertain outside standard of rectitude, upon no dogma of another, no purity of earthly life, no glory of earthly perfection—a religion that every soul possesses by natural endowment, not one more than another."
"This religion is simply desire. . . . "
"With every one, desire is spontaneous and sincere, pure and holy; no matter what the desire is, whether it be called good or bad, it is the natural, God-given religion of the soul." Pages 28, 29.
He occupies a chapter in deriding justice; he scoffs at holiness, and exalts sin, as the following brief extracts show:—
"Ere long, man will come to see that all sin is for his spiritual good. . . . To see that holiness lays up treasures on earth. . . . Sin destroys earthly treasures, and causes them to be laid up in Heaven." Pages 32, 33.
"There is no criminal act that is not an experience of usefulness. The tracks of vice and crime are only the tracks of human progress. . . . There has been no deed in the catalogue of crime that has not been a valuable experience to the inner being of the man who committed it." Page 137.
"Man has yet to learn and yet to admit that all sins which are committed are innocent, for all are in the inevitable rulings of God." Page 175.
"He who wars with sin leaves nothing lovely in his tracks." Page 191.
Such are the doctrines of the book. What could be worse, or more demoralizing in its tendency? It was not only published by the Banner of Light office, but that paper gave it the following strong indorsement:—
"This book should find its way to every family. . . . Its liberality reaches the very shores of infinity. It is born of Spiritualism, and reaches for the manhood of Christ. It is the most fearless presentation of the folly of the present moral and religious systems of the land of any book yet written. It is free from fault-finding; but its truthful descriptions of self-conceived goodness everywhere, in morals and religion, are withering. Through sacrifice and sin it shows the open gate of Heaven for every human being."
Thus we have furnished a sufficient justification of our charge that Spiritualism holds an open door to immorality and licentiousness. If the reader wishes further testimony, he will find a hundred-fold more in our book, to which we have referred, and all in the language of their own authors. One says that "the moral looseness of thousands" is owing to spirit control. Most of the evidences speak of tobacco-chewing and dram-drinking, but will apply just as well to adultery. Read the following from Dr. Randolph:—
"Generals who attack a fort do so at the most pregnable points. So with a certain class of spirits. They enjoy forbidden things through mortal proxies, as by sympathy. A, a spirit, was on earth a drunkard; if he can get control of B, a medium, and can induce B to imbibe, he can partake sympathetically of the exhilaration. As it is with stimulants, so it is with amativeness, only that ten persons can be made to err in the last direction where not over two could be in the former."—The Unveiling, page 47.
(To be concluded.) EDITOR.
The Perils of Prayer.
A GREAT deal is said of the privilege and the advantages of prayer, while very little is said of the responsibility and the perils of prayer. Yet every privilege is sure to impose a corresponding responsibility; and every responsibility has its accompanying perils. He who would exercise the privilege of prayer, should know that that privilege, like every other, brings perils with its responsibility.
Christian believers are accustomed to quote with hearty satisfaction the Bible injunctions and encouragements to prayer, and to comfort themselves with the Bible record of delightful answers to prayer. "Call unto me and I will answer thee;" "All things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer believing, ye shall receive;" "Continue in prayer;" "Pray without ceasing;" "Come boldly unto the throne of grace;" "The prayer of faith shall save the sick;" such texts as these are often in the mouths of those who love the word of God; and the wonderful answers to prayer vouchsafed to Abraham, and to Moses, and to Elijah, and to Elisha, and to Daniel, and to Cornelius, and to Paul, are taken to heart by them as they turn to God in prayer. But believers are not so ready to note and heed the various warnings on the subject of prayer. "Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter anything before God; for God is in heaven and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few;" "We know not what to pray for as we ought;" "Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts;"—to these texts, they ascribe less importance in considering the duties which grow out of the privilege of prayer. Nor are they quick to appreciate the lesson of the inspired declaration concerning the praying Israelites who asked amiss, that they might consume it upon their lusts: "God . . . gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul." Yet it is quite as important to recognize the perils of lustful and unholy prayers, as it is to realize the true privilege of right-minded and reverently trustful prayers.
In all the causes of gratitude which flood our souls when we look back over the way in which God has led us, up to the present day, hardly anything stands out more prominently than God's love in refusing to grant to us many of the prayers which we offered to him. And just so long as God's wisdom is superior to our wisdom, there is need of our relying on his love to deny us our petitions, when to grant them would prove our ruin, or would sorely harm us, and there is reason for our trembling in view of the perils which accompany the privilege and responsibilities of prayer.
Yet, in spite of the warnings of Scripture, and of the lessons of experience, there are Christian men and women on every side wondering why God does not always answer prayer, as they understand him to have promised to do; and, every now and then, some professed believer is heard to say, that his or her faith in God is shaken by the failure of earnest and combined prayer, in some specified instance, to avail for the object of its offering. From the way in which such persons speak of prayer to God, as based on the promises of God, it would almost seem that they look upon God as the servant of man, pledged to a prompt and uniform obedience at man's summons and request; and that their doubt is as to God's trustworthiness and fidelity as their servant in the promises. Certainly these questioners misconceive the relation of the disciple to the Master, the servant to the Lord, the child to the father, the ignorant one to the All-wise; and through this misconception they misread and misapply God's promises concerning prayer.
God's promises of answer to prayer are not unconditioned and absolute. The most sweeping of them are limited to the trustful servant of God, or faith-filled disciple of the Lord Jesus; or to those who would become such. No servant of God can really believe that God is pledged to grant a prayer for that which is in itself sinful, or for that which is inevitably improper or harmful. In those things concerning which God's will is already made known, prayer may be offered without qualification; but in those things where God's will is not yet clear, or where the petitioner cannot yet know what is best, all things considered, the prayer of true faith must be conditioned on God's will, on God's knowledge, on God's love; and every prayer thus conditioned is sure to be answered. For example, a faith-filled prayer for strength to resist temptation, or for wisdom as to one's personal duty, needs no qualification. God's will on these points is already declared, and his promise of help is absolute to every child of his. But, where one wants money, or health, or human affection, or an easy time in life,—has wants in this line for himself or for others,—he cannot know that it is best that it should be granted, and he has no right to ask for it unqualifiedly. He ought, indeed, in such a case, to rejoice that he can leave with God the decision as to granting the desire of his heart; and to refrain from any cry for it except as God may see it to be best for him and for those dear to him.
When we kneel in prayer, we have reason to consider well lest we pray amiss; lest our choice be of those things which are for our personal gratification, to consume upon our lusts, or according to our own poor judgment for those who are dear to us; and with all the confession of our present longings and desires, there should be ever a sub-tone of entreaty to God, not to give us our request if it would send leanness into our souls. Only in such a sense of the privileges and the perils of prayer is there true wisdom, and is there true faith, in meeting the responsibilities of prayer.—S. S. Times.
A Scene of Human Degradation.
MRS. SCOTT-STEVENSON, in her "On Summer Seas," gives the following account of a Russian pilgrimage to the shrine of St. Nicholas, at Bari, in Italy:—
"They were all dressed in a kind of uniform, the men in gray, barefooted, with staves slung over their shoulders, on which were tied bundles of clothes and a pair of boots; the women wore blue serge skirts, grey jackets, and red handkerchiefs round their heads, and like the men, carried bundles, with a water-bottle and tin mug, on their backs. They were all slowly crawling up the steps with bleeding knees and torn, travel-stained garments, muttering prayers and endless litanies as they toiled upward. On entering the church we saw a shocking sight, so painful that I hesitate to describe it. Four pilgrims were on their knees, with their heads bent down to the ground in the most unnatural attitude, their eyes shut, and the swollen veins standing out like cords from their crimson foreheads. A man walked by the side of each, holding the end of a handkerchief, while the wretched penitent held the other, and was thus guided along the pavement. For a few seconds we did not realize what was taking place, but as they crawled onward we noticed four marks like a dark ribbon behind them, and it dawned on us that they were actually licking the floor! And such a floor! Thousands of only half-civilized human beings had been in the church since day-break, as the tainted atmosphere but too plainly showed. For over eighty yards these wretched creatures kept their tongues on the rough pavement, over every pollution that came in their way. We were chained to our seats by horror and disgust, and in spite of ourselves stayed till they at last reached the altar steps and were permitted to rise. Their faces haunt me still; the small, cunning eyes turning stealthily toward us, and as hastily turned away; the half-shamed faces; half-ferocious look; the coarse, dirt-smeared features;
the matted heads of hair, and the lolling, lacerated tongues bleeding over their chins. And these were fellow-creatures, these benighted wretches, looking like scared wild beasts! What religion can that be which permits such a frightful exhibition, such a loathsome scene of human degradation!"
Overflowing.
"I do like to hear Mr. Smith speak in prayer-meeting. He does not speak as if it were a cross, but as if he could not help it. He seems to have in his heart such a well-spring of happiness that the water will bubble up and run over. He can no more keep it in than the fountain the water."
"Yes, and that is the kind of talking that does the work. I doubt if it ever does any good to say, 'It is very crossing for me to speak for Jesus, but I feel that I must.'"
"No," the impenitent man says, "that person has not much religion, or, if he has, it does him no good, makes him no happier than I am. When I am a Christian I want to be one who can speak from a full heart, because I love to speak, and I can't help it."
I remember once hearing a minister say, "I feel sure we are to have a revival, because some of my people pray as if they could not help it." And he was right.
If we would see our friends and neighbors attracted to the Saviour, we must get our hearts so full of his love that we may speak of him and pray to him freely, overflowingly, because we cannot help it.—Sel.
A Lost Locomotive.
By Boston Transcript
A LOCOMOTIVE ran through a broken bridge on the Kansas Pacific Railway, across Kiowa Creek, several years ago, sinking into the mud at the bottom, and has never since been heard from, though repeated efforts have been made by digging and boring to recover so valuable a piece of property. The bottom is quicksand, but even quicksands have limits, and it seems very singular that the longest boring-rod has failed to find any trace of the sunken engine.
By-and-by the silent mysterious operation may drain the quicksand and harden it into rock, and then, long after the Kansas Pacific Road has been forgotten, and the Kiowa Creek has vanished from the map, some future scientist will discover a curious piece of mechanism, undoubtedly the work of human hands, lying under so many hundred feet of sandstone, and will use the fact as a basis for calculating how many millions of years old the human race must be.—Boston Transcript.
A Convict's Answer.
WHEN the notorious James Robinson, or “Jack Sheppard,” as he is known to the detectives, was sentenced at Philadelphia to three years in the Eastern penitentiary, he was advised by the Judge to try to lead a better life, which lay entirely with himself. “Yes,” answered he, “I worked three years in your State Prison, and I know as much about shoe-making as I do about watches. They taught me in your prison to be dishonest. My principal work was to paste leather and pasteboard together to make a thick sole to impose upon the public. The man having the contract was a Christian, a member of the church, and at the time I called his attention to the pasteboard business, he was foreman of the grand jury. They send me to the State Prison to make me honest, and that is the way they do it.—Sel.
The Secret Sin of Avarice
The limbs become so tired that one forsakes the prayer-meeting; the purse-strings grow so tight that one neglects his pledged contributions. And after awhile, the secret sin of avarice conceals itself in the man's heart.