Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 42. (11/6/1879)

Signs of the Times

Nov 6, 1879

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Nov 6, 1879

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

CHRISTIAN COURTESY.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

(Continued.)

IN order to perfect Christian character, the whole man must be moulded and fashioned after the standard of Heaven. Kindness and amiability are essential qualities in the child of God; but hollow-hearted courtesy, which is hypocrisy, so common among worldlings, is not the genuine grace of Christian politeness. Courtesy cannot take the place of a holy life; neither can the life be perfect in the absence of this fine filling up, which is like the delicate penciling in a picture. Those who open their hearts and homes to invite Jesus to abide with them, should keep the moral atmosphere unclouded by strife, bitterness, wrath, malice, or even an unkind word. Jesus will not abide in a home where are contention, envy, and bitterness.

True courtesy is a Bible virtue; and the Holy Scriptures give us marked examples of the exercise of this grace. Abraham was a man of God. When he pitched his tent, he at once erected his altar for sacrifice, and invited God to abide with him. Abraham was a courteous man. His life is not marred with the curse of selfishness, so hateful in any character, and so offensive in the sight of God. Witness his conduct when about to separate from Lot. Though Lot was his nephew, and much younger than himself, and the first choice of the land belonged to Abraham, courtesy led him to forego his right and permit Lot to select for himself that part of the country which seemed to him most desirable. Behold him as he welcomes the three travelers in the heat of the day and hastens to provide for their necessities. Again observe him as he engages in a business transaction with the sons of Heth, to purchase a burying place for Sarah. In his grief he does not forget to be courteous. He bows before them, although he is God's nobleman. Abraham knew what Christian politeness was, and what was due from man to his fellow-man.

The great apostle Paul was firm where duty and principle were at stake; but courtesy was a marked trait of his character, and this gave him access to the highest class of society. Paul never doubted the ability of God or his willingness to give him the grace he needed to live the life of a Christian. He exclaims: "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" His language is that of faith and hope, not of doubt and despair: "He loved me, and gave himself for me." "I know whom I have believed." He does not live under a cloud of doubt, groping his way in the mist and darkness of uncertainty, complaining of hardship and trials. A voice of gladness, strong with hope and courage, sounds all along the line down to our time. Paul had a healthful religious experience. The love of Christ was his grand theme, and the constraining power that governed him.

When in most discouraging circumstances, which would have had a depressing influence upon half-way Christians, he is firm of heart, full of courage and hope and cheer, exclaiming "Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, Rejoice." The same hope and cheerfulness is seen when he is upon the deck of the ship, the tempest beating about him, the ship going to pieces. He gives orders to the commander of the ship and preserves the lives of all on board. Although a prisoner, he is really the master of the ship, the freest and happiest man on board. When wrecked and driven to a barbarous island, he is the most self-possessed, the most helpful in saving his fellow-men from a watery grave. His hands brought the wood to kindle the fire for the benefit of the chilled, ship-wrecked passengers. When they saw the deadly viper fasten upon his hand, they were filled with terror, but Paul calmly shook it into the fire, knowing it could not harm him; for he implicitly trusted in God.

When before kings and dignitaries of the earth, who held his life in their hands, he quailed not; for he had given his life to God, and it was hid in Christ. He softened, by his courtesy, the hearts of these men in power, men of fierce temper, wicked and corrupt though they were in heart and life. He did not forget his position, or the importance of the occasion. He was zealous for the truth, bold in advocating Christ; but propriety of deportment, the grace of true politeness, marked all his conduct. When he stretched out his hand, as was his custom in speaking, the clanking chains caused him no shame nor embarrassment. He looked upon them as tokens of honor, and rejoiced that he could suffer for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Surrounded by philosophers, kings, and critics, he was God's ambassador. His reasoning was so clear and convincing that it made the profligate king tremble as Paul dwelt upon his experience, showing what had wrought the change in his religious views which aroused the malice of the Jews. He exalted Jesus Christ as the world's Redeemer. Grace, like an angel of mercy, makes his voice heard sweet and clear, repeating the story of the cross, the matchless love of Jesus.

But in Christ a greater example has been given us than that of either patriarch or apostle. Here we have genuine illustrated. This virtue ran parallel with his life, clothing it with a softened and refined beauty, and shedding its luster over every action. He bids the weary and oppressed to come and find rest and peace in bearing his yoke and lifting his burden. He invites them, "Learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls." His heart of sympathizing love longs to quiet restless, oppressed and suffering minds that can peace only in learning the lessons of his meekness and lowliness. Their fluctuating, changeful, mournful experience is anything but rest. It is labor, pain, and sorrow. To bear insult, reproach, and abuse without retaliating and without arraying themselves in opposition to those who would injure them, is the lesson he would teach them. He would have them lay off the yoke of pride, so galling to the neck, which is the meekness and gentleness of Christ.

What great condescension is here manifested by our Lord. No matter how poor and wretched the applicant, the relief he asked was always given. The Saviour uttered no word of reproach or censure, though he was constantly besieged and his hours of repose and retirement broken in upon. In the streets of the crowded city, in the groves, or by the lake-side, he was ever greeted by the complaints and requests of suffering humanity.

The leper was required to dwell apart from the habitations of men, and at the approach of any person he must utter the mournful cry, Unclean, unclean! lest the traveler approach near enough to be endangered by contagion. But as the leper discerns Jesus in the stranger, the Mighty Healer, that cry is hushed, and a most imploring prayer bursts from his lips, "If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean." Never was such an appeal made in vain. The answer comes back to him, "I will, be thou clean." Publicans and sinners throng about the blessed Saviour for one word of hope, for one touch of his finger to heal their various maladies. He had a kind word and look for every one. Though he was the Majesty of Heaven, he did not proclaim his exalted character, and claim the reverence which rightfully belonged to him. But he traversed the earth, weary, hungry, and often sad, because men did not feel their need of the blessings he came to give them.

This is the example of true courtesy which we all must copy if we would be indeed followers of Jesus. The Christian's character will surely correspond with the name. Those who have no care in regard to their words or actions, and thus bring unhappiness to all around them, must learn of Jesus to be meek and lowly of heart. Rough ways and coarse manners dishonor the Christian name and misrepresent Christ. Many will not be fitted to enter Heaven, because they do not see the importance of imitating the perfect Pattern. Some term roughness and careless ways and untidy dress humility and freedom from pride; but humility is disgusted with such companions, and will not be seen in their society.

(To be Continued.)

A Hymn That Has Been Tested.

A HYMN is an experiment. It is sent abroad over the world for a trial on the hearts of the people? Does it move them? Does it convert them? Does it sanctify them? Then it is a good hymn, whether written by Papist, Protestant or infidel—in long metre, short metre, or in no metre at all. The question to be put to a hymn, as well as to a man is, "What have you done? Have you given consolation to the soul in anguish? Have you fired the dying eye with hope?"

The real excellence of a hymn lies not in its paternity, nor its rhyme, nor its rhythm; but in its potency to bless the human heart, in its actual influence on the progress of the cause of the redeemed. It is, therefore, always rash to attempt to settle the destiny of a recent hymn. It may be formed upon the finest models; it may be lyrical; it may be faultless in its measure, smooth, harmonious, devotional; yet for want of some mysterious, indefinable quality, still be totally inadequate to touch the springs of sympathy in the soul. It takes a century at least, to test the real character of a hymn; and when we find one that has lived and shed its blessings through that period, cheering, comforting and refining; when we find a hymn which, in spite of the critic's eye, the people still persist in singing, and all the more when floods beat heavily, we may be certain that it has in the ring of genuine inspiration. Such a hymn is "Jesus lover of my soul," by Charles Wesley. It was probably suggested by the words in Wisdom 11:26, as the lines of St. Bernard, "Oh, amator and amplectende, Temet ipsum tunc ostende, In cruce salutifera," seem also to have been; though it is quite possible that the great storm which Mr. Wesley experienced at sea, after leaving Boston, in 1738, may have led to the composition of his admirable lyric. "I prayed," said he, in speaking of that terrific scene upon the deep, "for power to pray, continually repeating the name of Jesus, till I felt the virtue of it at last."

This hymn first appeared in a volume entitled, "Hymns and Sacred Poems," published in 1740, where it has one stanza more than is generally found in our manuals of hymnology, thus:—

"Wilt thou not regard my call? Wilt thou not regard my prayer? Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall; Lo! on thee I cast my care. Reach me out thy gracious hand! While I of thy strength receive, Hoping against hope, I stand, Dying, and, behold, I live!"

This Wesleyan hymn, so tender, so earnest, so evangelical, found its way from the Methodist into the Episcopal hymn book, and thence into all our best manuals of song. It has been translated into all the European tongues, and composers have vied with each other to prepare for it appropriate music. In England it is sung to "Hollingshire" and some other tunes; in America to a very simple tune called "Martyn," written in 1834, by the late Simeon Butler Marsh. A tune befitting it is yet to be composed.

Perhaps no hymn was ever written which so well expresses man's need of a Saviour and his entire reliance on his mercy for salvation. It is a trust hymn. In our helplessness it opens the soul for Christ to come into it, and to fill it with himself. It sees him only, it clings to him only, it loves him only. Its words are like "apples of gold in pictures of silver." They are the sweet expression of the confiding heart in its entire reliance on its Lord and Master.

The lines, "Cover my defenceless head With the shadow of thy wing," are as tenderly touching as anything ever sung.

Millions have been moved toward Jesus by this charming lyric. It has resounded through the great congregation, comforting the desolate; it has warmed the hearts of the weary in the place of social worship; it has delighted and sweetened the devotions of the domestic circle; it has cheered the traveler on his lonely way; it has sustained the sick man in the hour of final conflict. Mary E Van. Lennep, the devoted missionary, repeated this hymn, "her face all radiant with smiles," on her dying bed. "Do you want anything ?" said a pastor to a girl thirteen years of age, in her last moments. "Yes, sir," she replied, "sing with me, 'Jesus, lover of my soul.'"

So thousands in the last extremity have been solaced by these precious words. In a dreadful shipwreck, while the passengers were floating on whatever they could reach, a young man, clinging to a spar, sang in a clear, manly voice, "Jesus, lover of my soul, Let me to thy bosom fly," and as the last words sounded, sank beneath the wave, leaving a holy calmness in the hearts of those that gained the shore. "Blessed death song," says Dr. Cuyler; "if we could choose the manner of our departure, we would wish to die singing, "Other refuge have I none, Hangs my helpless soul on thee!"

Wesley and Toplady, who wrote "Rock of ages, cleft for me," were theological opponents, but they met together at the cross of Jesus, and their two great hymns now stand together in all our best manuals of sacred song, showing us that the love of Christ is mightier than denominational ramparts, and that while polemical discussions are soon forgotten, the grand heart-hymns, embalming Jesus as the only hope of glory, still ring on, consoling Christians of every creed, and advancing the Redeemer's kingdom. Whether Wesley's or Toplady's hymn is the better one I cannot say, unless I know the occassion for its use; but would rather ask, if Luther wrote the best judgment hymn; if Watts wrote the best heaven hymn; if Heber wrote the best mission hymn; if Toplady wrote the best Christ hymn, did not Wesley write the best death hymn? Does not its blessed ministry attest its excellence?

"FOR MY SAKE."

THREE little words, but full of tenderest meaning; Three little words the heart can scarcely hold; Three little words, but on their import dwelling, What wealth of love those syllables unfold!

"For My sake" cheer the suffering, help the needy. On earth this was My work,—I give it thee; If thou wouldst follow in thy Master's footsteps, Take up My cross, and come and learn of Me.

"For My sake" let the little ones be tended, All that I gave unto thee safely keep; I took them in My arms, received, and blessed them, Do now the same for Me, "Feed now My sheep."

"For My sake" let the harsh word die unuttered, That trembles on the swift, impetuous tongue! "For My sake" check the quick, rebellious feeling That rises when thy brother does thee wrong.

"For My sake" ever press with patience onward, Although the race be hard, the battle long; Within My Father's house are many mansions, There thou shalt rest and join the victor's song.

And if in coming days the world revile thee, If "for My sake" thou suffer pain and loss, Bear on, faint heart, thy Master went before thee. They only wear His crown who share His cross.

O thou, dear Lord, who walked on earth incarnate, Fain would we follow, but we fear to fall; Lo! at Thy feet we bend, Thy aid imploring, Our only plea that "For Thy sake" we call.

—National Baptist

BAD TEMPER.

Bad temper is a crime, and, like other crimes, is ordained in the course of nature to meet, sooner or later, its merited reward. Other vile passions may have some points of extenuation, the pleasure, for example, which may attend their indulgence, but ill-nature—that is, a fretful, fault-finding spirit, in its origin, action, and end, has no extenuating quality; and, in the application of the old principle, "with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again," will find a most pitiable end.

The Immortality of the Soul—History of the Doctrine.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

PLATO'S DOCTRINE OF THE SOUL ADOPTED BY THE ALEXANDRIAN SCHOOL.

THAT Plato's doctrine of the immortality of the soul was adopted by this New Platonic school as the corner-stone of its system, is plainly declared on all hands. It will be remembered, as we have shown, that "Plato refers to the head of the philosophy of nature his doctrine concerning the human soul." (Enfield's Hist. of Phil., p. 134.) This was the corner-stone of his system, wherein it differed from all other systems of philosophy.

The following testimonies are from that eminent historian, Mosheim, and show that Plato's doctrine of the soul was received by the Alexandrian school:—

"They assumed therefore the name of Eclectics. But although these philosophers were really the partisans of no sect, it appears from a variety of testimonies that they much preferred Plato, and embraced most of his dogmas concerning God, the human soul, and the universe." (Eccl. Hist. vol. i, cent. ii. part ii. chap. i. p. 59.)

"The grounds of this system lay in the peculiar sentiments entertained by this sect of philosophers and by their friends, respecting the soul, demons, matter, and the universe. And when these sentiments were embraced by the Christian philosophers, the necessary consequences of them must also be adopted." (Ibid., p. 70.)

These testimonies are plain and decisive. The consequences to Christian doctrine and practice we shall soon see. The same author, in another critical history, says, "Those who originated this species of philosophy took their leading principles from the system of Plato; considering almost everything which he advanced respecting the Deity, the soul, the world, and the demons as indisputable axioms." (Hist. of Christ. in the First Three Cent., vol. i. p. 38.)

"Every one who laid claim to the character of a wise man, was strictly enjoined by him [Ammonius Saccas] to assert the liberty of his divine and immortal part, by extricating it, as it were, from all connection with the body. . . . In fine, to shrink from no exertion that might tend to free the immortal spirit from all corporeal influence." (Ibid., pp. 357, 358.)

Again: "And that he might the more really procure for this part of his system an acceptance with the world, he endeavored, as far as possible, by means of strained interpretations, or rather perversions, to enlist on his side the tenets of the Christians respecting the Deity, the human soul, the world," etc. (Ibid., p. 362.) "The restoration or resurrection of the dead was so interpreted as to accommodate it to the tenets of the Grecian sages." (Ibid., p. 375, note.)

Another eminent author says of this school: "The philosophy of Plato, already united with that of Pythagoras, was made the basis of this new system. . . . Not satisfied with arriving at a formal and essential intuition of divine natures, they aspired after a sort of deification of the human mind." (Enfield's Hist. of Phil., p. 343.) Here our orthodox brethren may see the origin of their present doctrine that the soul is a part of God.

Ammonius probably died about A. D. 243. "The school of Ammonius was continued, and the Eclectic system completed, by the most celebrated of his disciples, Plotinus, the chief of the Alexandrian Platonists, from whom the school afterward took its name." (Hist. of Phil., p. 328.) He was born A. D. 204. On account of his great abilities, the school became very famous, and was successful in the accomplishment of its object, as we shall see. Plotinus implicitly received Plato's doctrine of the immortality of the soul. The following, from Enfield, will illustrate this: "It was another proof of the fanatical spirit of Plotinus that, though well skilled in the medical art, he had such a contempt for the body that he could never be prevailed upon to make use of any means to cure, . . . or alleviate his pain. He had learned from Pythagoras and Plato that the soul is sent into the body for the punishment of its former sins, and must, in this prison, pass through a severe servitude before it can be sufficiently purified to return to the divine fountain from which it flowed. . . . When he found his end approaching, he said to Eustochius, 'The divine principle within me is now hastening to unite itself with that divine Being which animates the universe;' herein expressing a leading principle of his philosophy, that the human soul is an emanation from the divine nature, and will return to the source whence it proceeded." (Ibid., p. 330.) This shows what a prominent place Plato's doctrine of the human soul held in this system.

Plotinus died A. D. 270. "The succession of the Platonic or Eclectic school in Alexandria terminated in Damascus, a native of Syria." (Ibid., p. 340.)

It would seem that very little penetration is needed to discern in this the original of the modern theological doctrine of the immortality of the soul, going to Heaven at death, etc. With this school, the resurrection of the body was either of little importance or denied entirely. This would naturally follow from their view of the impurity of matter. These facts I think sufficient to give a clear idea of the doctrines of this celebrated school concerning man, both soul and body.

GREAT POPULARITY OF THE ECLECTIC SCHOOL.

We will briefly notice how popular and extensive this school became. All agree that it acquired a wonderful degree of eminence, and soon extended itself over most of the Roman empire and eclipsed the glory of all other sects. To this effect writes Mosheim: "While the emperors and magistrates were striving to subvert the Christian commonwealth by means of laws and punishments, it was assailed with craft and subtilty, during this whole century, by the philosophers of the Ammonian school, who assumed the name of Platonists, extended their disciples over nearly all the Roman empire, and gradually obscured the glory of all other sects."

Again: "The school of Ammonius, the origin and dogmas of which have been already stated, gradually cast all others into the background. From Egypt it spread in a short time over nearly the whole Roman empire, and drew after it almost all persons inclined to attend to metaphysical studies. This prosperity of the sect was owing especially to Plotinus, the most distinguished disciple of Ammonius, a man of intellectual acumen, and formed by nature for abstruse investigation; for he taught first in Persia, and afterward at Rome and in Campania, to vast courses of youth; and embodied his precepts in various books." (Eccl. Hist., vol. i. p. 161; Com., vol. ii. p. 103.) Says Enfield: "The pernicious influence of the Eclectic system, both upon opinions and manners, through many succeeding ages, will be seen in the sequel." (Hist. of Phil., p. 349.)

Says Mosheim: "It is almost incredible what a number of pupils, in a short time, issued from the school of this man [Ammonius]. But among them no one is more celebrated than Porphyry, a Syrian, who spread over Sicily and many other countries the system of his master, enlarged with new discoveries and sedulously polished. At Alexandria, almost no other philosophy was publicly taught from the time of Ammonius down to the sixth century." (Eccl. Hist., vol. i. cent. iii. chap. i. pp. 161, 162.)

The first step which was taken toward the apostasy was attending the school and cultivating a taste for its philosophy. An eminent historian says: "Of these [changes] the most considerable and important are to be attributed to a taste for the cultivation of philosophy and human learning, which, during the preceding [first] century, if not altogether treated with neglect and contempt by the Christians, had at least been wisely kept under, and by no means permitted to blend itself with religion; but in the age of which we are now treating [the second century], burst forth on a sudden into a flame, and spread itself with the utmost rapidity throughout a considerable part of the church. This may be accounted for, in some measure, from its having been the practice of many Greek philosophers, who, in the course of this century, were induced to embrace Christianity, not only to retain their pristine denomination, garb, and mode of living, but also to persist in recommending the study of philosophy, and initiating youth therein. In proof of this, we may, adduce in particular that of Justin, the celebrated philosopher and martyr. The immediate nursery, and very cradle, as it were, of Christian philosophy, must, however, be placed in the celebrated seminary which long flourished at Alexandria under the denomination of the Catechetical School. For the persons who presided therein in the course of the age of which we are treating, namely, Pantaenus, Athenagoras, and Clement of Alexandria, not only engaged with ardor in the cultivation of philosophy themselves, but also exerted their influence in persuading those whom they were educating for the office of teachers in the church to their example in this respect, and make it their practice to associate philosophical principles with those of religion." (Mosheim's Hist. of First Three Cent., vol. i. cent. ii. sec. 25, p. 339.)

Dudley Marvin Canright.

(To be Continued.)

Not a Playhouse.

A CHURCH turned into a hall, where actors, with disfigured faces and strange apparel, play for the amusement of the crowd! Is this right? What says every enlightened conscience?

"The church in the world," says a recent writer, "is like a ship in the ocean. The ship is safe enough in the ocean so long as the ocean is not in the ship. The church is safe enough in the world so long as the world is not in the church."

This is evidently sound doctrine. The church is safe so long as she remains true to her mission, but is she safe when her doors are thrown wide open to give an entertainment which, from beginning to end, savors more of the theater and the ballroom than it does of any other place or institution? Every student of sacred history knows that one of the main reasons why the Church became so corrupt during the Dark Ages was that she lowered the standard of purity and invited the world to come in and assist her. Are we not in a measure in danger of the same catastrophe? Are we not by these theatrical entertainments, given in our churches, inviting the world to come in and lend us the aid of its unsanctified talents and wealth? It may be pleasing to the natural man to have an enthusiastic gathering in the church; it may call forth the loud applause of the multitude, and help materially to defray the current expenses; but can God's house be desecrated with impunity? Can it be made a theater instead of a Bethel, without our sooner or later reaping the consequences? — N. Y. Observer.

Slander and the Worthiest People

The worthiest people are the most injured by slander, as we usually find that to be the best fruit which the birds have been pecking at.

Religious Faith.

THOSE who object to the supernatural element involved in Christian faith forget that in religion the supernatural is really the natural. There never existed a religious system among men, acting upon them as a power to control their thoughts, and excite their hopes or fears, that did not professedly rest upon the supernatural basis. The scientist may not like this, and say that it is so only because the great mass of men are fools; but human nature, whether savage or civilized, says and has always said that it shall be so, whether the scientist likes it or not.

A revelation from God, with signs and seals of its reality, and different from and above the mere authority of unaided human reason, is, as the facts show, the normal condition precedent to the existence and power of religious faith.

A religious system that man can make and equally destroy, the world will not receive as authoritative.

The system must profess to be supernatural or it will not be accepted.

The supernatural in religion is a natural law of human feeling.

No fact is better proved by experience than this.

The great body of the people in this country, and in every other, who regard the Bible as the word of God, and Christ as the Saviour of men, could not, if put to the test, apologetically defend their own religion. They are not adequate to the intellectual task of answering objections, and do not understand the great question of Christian evidences. They are not scholars on this subject, and never will be. They do not, however, the less believe. Their subjective condition is one of faith, often very intense and controlling, as well as the source of untold joys, although their logical grasp of its reasons may be comparatively limited, certainly taking in vastly less than the whole field of thought. They assume that the faith in which they have been educated, the faith of their fathers, the prevalent and acknowledged religious faith of the country in which they live, is the true faith. This assumption, for all practical purposes, is to them sufficient. They do not dispute it. They read their Bibles true, and not false. The doctrine of Christ is true to them, and the doctrine of salvation true to them. There is for them a God, whether they can answer the objections of the atheist or not.—Independent.

The Strength of Silence.

THERE is a mighty power in silence, and silence is frequently an evidence of power. There are many men so weak that they cannot hold their tongues, or keep their mouths shut. The man who offends not in word is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body. He who can control his tongue can control his entire nature. Hence silence is a token of power, of reserved force. He who knows how to keep silence knows how to speak; and often his silence is more impressive than his speech. "Brilliant flashes of silence" is by no means a senseless expression. How often have we seen the babble of the foolish hushed by the silent glance of an earnest soul; how often a ribald jest or scurrilous word has died upon the lips, when an indignant silence was the only reply it could evoke. That man or that woman who can stand silent amid reproaches and accusations and sneers and scoffs, shows a degree of strength and power which falls not to the lot of every one.

We have the highest examples for our imitation in this respect. There was One who was set forth as the pattern of humanity, who "was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearer is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." Amid the babble and the scoffing, the perjury of lying witnesses and the jeers of mocking soldiers, the silent sufferer wore his thorny crown and bore his bitter cross, and triumphed over all the malice of his foes.

Does God call us to suffer silently? Let us bear the burden that he lays upon us. Are we surrounded with the confused noise of babbling voices? Let us remember "There is a time to be silent;" and let us so speak with well-chosen words, seasoned with grace, that both our speech and our silence shall be approved of God and precious in the sight of his people.—The Christian.

An Insane Soul.

A CERTAIN missionary, relating his trials over the popular doctrine of the immortality of the soul, thus wrote:—

"The illness of one of our members, a mother in Israel, brought the subject very solemnly before my mind. She had consumption, and was, to all appearance, in the very last stage of the disease, and I am satisfied a very large portion of her lung is excavated, yet she got well. At one time, during the progress of the disease, which lasted two years, she became quite insane, and had to be locked up, yet seldom did anything that was really sinful. But whenever she did do or say anything sinful the effect of the dread of it brought her instantly to sanity, and she would remain perfectly sane for from three-fourths of an hour to an hour, when she would become insane again. After her recovery she would relate this circumstance frequently.

"In view of this, I asked myself: Does the soul get insane? If it does, it can get insane after it leaves the body. Or does the soul leave the body when the brain is insane, and return to prevent the body from committing sin? We are usually told that the soul dislikes to be imprisoned in the body and would not return at all after being free. It appeared to me altogether an affection of the brain; and after all I could get no light about the existence of the soul as a separate entity."

Quickened Conscience in a Dog.

A correspondent of the London Spectator tells the following dog story: "A young fox-terrier about eight months old took a great fancy to a small brush, of Indian workmanship, lying on the drawing-room table. It had been punished more than once for jumping on the table and taking it. On one occasion the little dog was left alone in the room accidentally. On my return it jumped to greet me as usual, and I said: 'Have you been a good little dog while you have been left alone?' Immediately it slunk off into an adjoining room and brought back the little brush in its mouth from where it had hidden it. I was much struck with what appeared to me to be a remarkable instance of a dog possessing a conscience, and a few months afterward, finding it again alone in the room, I asked the same question, while patting it. At once I saw it had been up to some mischief, for with the same look of shame it walked slowly to one of the windows, where it lay down, with its nose pointing to a letter bitten and torn into shreds. On a third occasion, it showed me where it had strewn a number of little tickets about the floor, for doing which it had been reproved previously. I cannot account for these facts, except by supposing the dog must have a conscience."

Christian Patience and Eternal Hope

Baxter said, "I preach as if I never should preach again, and as a dying man to dying men."

The property of Christians is to bear the ills of time, and to hope for the good things of eternity.

Stablished

*'STABLISHED.'—'Father,' remarked a young man, 'try and go to meeting this evening. The sermon will be on the second coming of Christ.'

'No,' said the presbyterian deacon, 'I am 'stabled.'

The next day the deacon and son went to the timber for wood. After the load was on, the deacon ordered the horses to go, but they refused. He asked the boy what the trouble was. He answered,

'Father, they are 'stabled.'

Too many are like the deacon to ever go in at the door. Christians are not bigots.

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