Review and Herald, Vol. 39, No. 3. (1/2/1872)

Review and Herald

Jan 2, 1872

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 2, 1872

Suggestions Relating to the Distribution of Tracts.

By W. H. Littlejohn

For the past few months the attention of our people has been largely directed to the subject of organized effort for the distribution of our publications.

It has now become manifest that the blessing of God has, in a good degree, attended the creation of tract societies for this purpose, as they now exist in many of our churches in different parts of the field.

It remains, therefore, that the system already adopted should be perfected, in order that it may prove of the greatest service possible under the circumstances. A reflecting mind will readily discover the fact that this can only be done while we continue to keep before us two objective points of action.

First, we must secure the circulation of our books, tracts, and periodicals, on a very large scale.

Secondly, when an interest has been awakened by these, it must be followed up until those who have a desire to investigate shall have had the full benefit of all the resources at our command.

So far as the first of these objects is concerned, it is obvious that it can be secured in one, and in but one, way. A people already numbering not far from fifteen thousand persons, with the advantages which we now possess for rapid and cheap publication, engaged in the advocacy of great, clear, and important truths, could, if suitably impressed with the magnitude and sacredness of the work in which we are employed, in process of time, flood the country with a mass of printed matter, which ultimately must stir the public mind to its profoundest depths.

This, however, with all the advantages which we now enjoy, or even with surroundings the most favorable possible, could not be a work of weeks or months. It will demand both time and labor to that extent that we shall find it difficult, if not impossible, to put forth the protracted and patient effort which it will demand.

It would be comparatively easy to awaken among us a momentary enthusiasm on this subject, and to produce brief and spasmodic action; but this will not answer our purpose. It will be necessary that we lay our plans with reference to the extent of the work to be accomplished, and the nature of those to be employed therein. We must have a system by which associated action can be secured, and at the same time rendered permanent.

That this may be done, it will be necessary that each organization should have within itself the elements of perpetual life. The meetings of the various societies must be sustained independent of outside aid; and in order that this be done successfully, the exercises on such occasions must be rendered both attractive and profitable. Not only so, they must also be of frequent occurrence. Perhaps, under ordinary circumstances, it would be well if all the members could be assembled for the purpose of reporting labor, and obtaining a fresh supply of publications, as often as once in each month.

But those who are acquainted with the operations of the human mind in such things, will readily see that these objects, except when the reports were of an unusually interesting character, would not insure the presence of any considerable portion of the members, for any great period of time.

But as these ends are indispensable, it will be necessary that some plan be devised by which they can be secured through the voluntary and interested action of those concerned. In order to accomplish this, we have, in this place, hit upon the following device, which we think will prove available:

The regular meetings of the Society are appointed to occur on a stated evening of each month. The brethren being assembled, we listen to the reports of the members respecting the work accomplished, and the results secured since the last gathering.

Then follows the reading of selections (generally short), by an individual appointed for this purpose, which have been chosen by the executive committee, from those articles which the different members have handed in, as in their judgment containing matters of interest and profit, and having a bearing upon the general subject of religion, and the present truth in particular.

Following the reading of such matters, comes the distribution of tracts for future use.

It will be observed that in this way we find enough to attend to, to occupy the evening fully; and there can be little question that, from the mass of reading material which comes under the notice of the members of a given church, enough can be found of the character desired to abundantly repay any individual member for the effort necessarily put forth in order to be present.

The opportunity, also, is an excellent one for the reading of much in our own publications, respecting which the minds of our people themselves should be refreshed, and by which those who may be attracted to the place, though unbelievers, might, in process of time, be almost imperceptibly, and yet really, indoctrinated with our views.

Nor is this all. Such an arrangement, if entered into in the various churches, and operated with discretion, would necessarily bring to the surface very many things which, when forwarded to the REVIEW Office by the readers of the different societies, might, if thought worthy, be introduced into our periodicals, and thus become of general use.

As it regards the second point, of course, nothing could be said which would fully meet the requirements of every case. The subject has, however, been brought to our attention from one standpoint, and we have endeavored to meet it in a manner which, I think, will commend itself to the good judgment of all.

Those of our works which can be generally circulated among the people, are necessarily small. Of course, a large portion of them are, from one point of view, lost altogether. There is also another portion of them which accomplish but a tittle of the good they might, if properly followed up.

You come in contact with an individual to whom, after a brief conversation, you venture to offer a tract. It is small, and relates to some feature of our peculiar faith which it illustrates, by Scripture reference and argument, in so clear and forcible a manner that the recipient is very favorably impressed. It is not, however, elaborate enough of itself to produce permanent conviction. He is now separated from the one who handed it to him, and apparently further light upon the subject is out of the question. On the backside of the tract, however, he discerns a list of our works. Here are some, more extended in their character, which treat upon the very point to which his attention has been called. There are also many others which he would like to read, had he them in his possession. But he has not, and the idea of sending to the publishing house is practically out of the question, with nine out of ten of those who find themselves in this predicament.

To meet this contingency, we proceed as follows: To the back of each tract we attach, by paste or gum-arabic, a slip containing the following words: “Persons desiring to read any of the publications in the accompanying list can obtain them for that purpose, without charge, by applying to any member of the Book and Tract Society of Seventh-day Adventists in Allegan.”

These slips, when published by the thousand, can be obtained at a trifling cost, and we expect that, more particularly in the region round about us, they will furnish material aid in getting our views before the people, since it will be a comparatively easy matter for persons who have an inclination to read, and have not the means with which to purchase, as well as those who, like the masses of men, are averse to the use of pen and ink, to secure what they deserve by simply making a request of individuals who have already, by printed statement, declared themselves to be willing to grant their petition.

Such are the suggestions which we offer, and we are convinced that, so far as the last is concerned, its utility is beyond question; and that the reading, if judiciously managed, in the use of short and well-selected extracts or articles, will furnish the very means necessary to make the frequent and stated meetings of our various societies seasons which will be characterized by features of interest such as will insure their continuance.

W. H. LITTLEJOHN.

Allegan, Mich., Dec. 13, 1871.

Manners and Morals.

Manners easily and rapidly mature into morals. As childhood advances to manhood, the transition from bad manners to bad morals is almost imperceptible. Vulgar and obscene forms of speech keep vulgar and obscene objects before the mind, engender impure images in the imagination, and make unlawful desires prurient. From the prevalent state of the mind, actions proceed, as water rises from a fountain. Hence, what was originally only a word or phrase, becomes a thought, is meretriciously embellished by the imagination, is inflamed into a vicious desire, gains strength and boldness by being always made welcome, until, at last, under some urgent temptation, it dares, for once, to put on the visible form of action; it is then ventured upon again and again, more frequently and less warily, until repetition forges the chain of habit, and then language, imagination, desire, and habit, bind their victim in the prison-house of sin. In this way profane language wears away the reverence for things sacred and holy; and a child who has been allowed to follow, and mock, and hoot, at an intemperate man in the streets, is far more likely to become intemperate himself than if he had been accustomed to regard him with pity, as a fallen brother, and with sacred abhorrence, as one self-brutified or demonized. So, on the other hand, purity and chasteness of language tend to preserve purity and chasteness of thought and of taste; they repel licentious imaginings; they delight in the unsullied and untainted, and all their tendencies and aptitudes are on the side of virtue.

Come.

By J. H. Ginley

THIS word is the first of a series of very comforting invitations and promises found interspersed throughout the word of God for the encouragement of his people. Among the many we will notice but a few:

1. Num. 10:29: “Come thou with us, and we will do thee good; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning Israel.”

2. Isa. 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

3. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. Isa. 55:1: “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

The word also admits of four divisions; namely, C, for consideration, O, for obedience, M, for mortality, and E, for eternity.

Consideration is the careful study of anything which engages our attention. Under this head the Bible is full of wise counsel and judicious instruction. In Deut. 4:39, 40, the word is first found in connection with this impressive injunction: “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord he is God in Heaven above; and upon the earth beneath; there is none else. Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth, which the Lord thy God giveth thee.”

Ps. 50:22: “Now consider this, ye that forget God, lest I tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver.” A consideration of our duty to God and to our fellow-men should demand our first attention, as none have a right to retire from doing good at all times and upon all occasions.

2. Obedience. Those who order their steps aright must do it through obedience. This is a most difficult habit to acquire, whether in youth, in middle life, or in old age. Many think their dignity is lost the moment they obey. Hear the word upon this point. Ex. 19:5, 6: “Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; for all the earth is mine. And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation.” 1 Sam. 15:19: “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken, than the fat of rams.” Rom. 5:19: “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” 2 Cor. 10:5, 6: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” Heb. 5:8, 9: “Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him.”

Now is the time for us to seek meekness and humility, and to learn lessons of wisdom by errors of the past, and by a life of obedience

in future, strive for the joys of an endless life.

3. Mortality. The work of the death-angel is seen everywhere. In many dwellings he has his implements furnished to his hand, and is indirectly invited to his fatal work by the unphysiological habits of the devotees of fashion. Thus disease is seen everywhere. The high and low, young and old, yield alike to it. The seeds of sickness are sown broadcast. Disease and decrepitude greet us on either hand. Disobedience is bringing its sure results.

Sickness arises from violations of nature’s laws, and can be lessened only by a compliance with the requirements of physiological laws. Thus an adult at each breath consumes a pint of air, and, allowing about eighteen inspirations per minute, two hogsheads in an hour. During eight hour’s sleep he thus consumes sixteen hogsheads of air. If compelled to breathe this air in a corrupted state (and it soon becomes corrupted in a close room), a depression of spirits will follow; and this, long continued, will tell fearfully upon the health of all who thus expose themselves.

4. Eternity. This division of the subject leads us to contemplate an unexplored region, and yet one whose reality we must all soon try. But faint and few are the rays which have yet reached us from that far-off and unseen region. It is a place “whose portals are pierced only by the eye of faith, and from whence no tidings are received save from the tongue of prophecy.” But of one thing we all are certain: that each will be assigned some place of life and happiness, or of darkness and death in the mysterious kingdom. Here the accounts of all will meet a final adjustment. Then shall the righteous enter upon their endless life-tour of exploring God’s handiwork. World upon world will unfold to the immortal vision of those who shall be accounted worthy to share its glories, and age after age will be spent in ascribing praise to the Father, and to the Son who has purchased them everlasting blessings by his own death and suffering.

Now the invitation is given to all, that they may secure this heavenly inheritance—a land of perpetual bloom and beauty. Who will obey? Who will relinquish their claims to the joys and fashions of earth, for a hope of Heaven? Let none say by word or action, “My Lord delayeth his coming.” The year 1871 has just drawn to a close. Those who are engaged in business have looked over their books of accounts and made preparations for a final adjustment at the end of the year. But how stands the accounts of Christ’s followers who have acted as agents, and otherwise, in his cause? Let us all look well to these accounts, that they be not too heavy against us. Let us maintain a clean record throughout the coming year.

Judgments and warnings have been faithfully given us at various times and in diverse manner; and if any of us come short of the goodly inheritance, it will be the fault of ourselves only.

J. H. GINLEY.

Battle Creek, Mich.

THE PRAYER AND THE LIFE.

Do I mean the prayers I offer—do I feel the words I say, When before our Heavenly Father I kneel down from day to day? When at morning and at evening I incline to seek his face, And my voice goes up in pleading to his glorious throne of grace?

When my voice goes up in pleading, does my heart go with it too? There are many things I ask him that his might and grace may do; Petition on petition goes up to meet his ear, Oh! are they such petitions as our Father loves to hear?

I tell him of my wants—my needs; but when I turn away, Do I think of what I ask for? Do I watch as well as pray? Do I strive against temptation? Do I seek like Christ to live? Do I use aright the blessings that so freely he doth give?

My prayers are with much speaking—yet when I leave the spot, How quickly are its memories fled—how soon those prayers forgot! Oh! if the thought that gave them birth, so lightly treasured be, How can I think God's mercy will remember them for me?

Yet one petition further, Lord, wilt thou not deign to hear? Oh! let thy Spirit breathe anew through all my daily prayer. Then help me, as I pray, to live, kept by thy grace divine— And the glory of the prayer and life, alike, O Lord! be thine.—Sel.

Swine’s Flesh

FORBIDDEN IN THE WORD OF GOD.

Among the unclean beasts in almost universal use as food in our time is the swine. We speak particularly of this because of its nature and very common and abundant use by Christians. These profess to receive the word of God as a rule of faith and practice, and yet that very word says of the swine, “It is unclean unto you. Ye shall not eat of their flesh, nor touch their dead carcass.” Deut. 14: 8. If it be said that this prohibition is Jewish, and, therefore, not binding upon Christians, then we reply:—

1. The distinction between the clean beasts and the unclean, recognized at the flood, long before the existence of a single Jew, was established upon the very character of God’s living creatures. This distinction received the sanction of law in the days of Moses; not, however, because God would have an arbitrary rule for the Jews for sixteen centuries, but because those things forbidden were of themselves unclean, and abominable for man to use as food.

2. The character of the swine is plainly given as the reason why the Hebrews should not eat of it, nor touch the dead carcass. “It is unclean unto you.” With this agree the words of the prophet, which class swine’s flesh with the broth of abominable things. If it be said that these words were given through Jewish prejudice, then we reply that it is the great God that speaks. He changes not and never speaks from prejudice. Hear him:

“I have spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts; a people that provoketh me to anger continually to my face; that sacrificeth in gardens, and burneth incense upon altars of brick; which remain among the graves, and lodge in the monuments, which eat swine’s flesh, and broth of abominable things is in their vessels.” Isa. 65: 2–4.

“For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire; for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh; and the slain of the Lord shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens, behind one tree in the midst [marginal reading, one after another] eating swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.” Chap. 66: 15–17.

The candid reader, after a careful examination of the chapters from which we have quoted, will entertain doubts as to their application to the Jewish age. In fact, it is evident that they apply to the present age, and that the last quotation, with its threatened judgment for sins, such as eating swine’s flesh, applies definitely to the close of the present age.

Dr. Adam Clarke once said that if he were to offer a burnt-offering to the devil, he should choose a pig stuffed with tobacco. And when invited to ask the blessing at the table, he used these words: “Lord, bless this bread, these vegetables and this fruit; and if thou canst bless under the gospel what thou didst curse under the law, bless this swine’s flesh.”

God said of the flesh of swine in the days of Moses: “It is unclean unto you.” What change can have taken place to make it clean, and a proper article of food for Christians? Has God changed his mind on the subject? Has man so changed that what was unclean as an article of food for the Hebrews has become clean to Christians? Or, has the change taken place in the nature of the pork? Has the change from the Jewish dispensation improved the nature of hogs? Did the death of the Son of God sanctify the swine? And does the freedom of the world-wide proclamation of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ give liberty to Christians to eat those things which were an abomination if eaten by the Hebrews?

“But, did not God make the swine?”

We reply, that he did; and that he also made dogs, cats, rats, mice, and toads; not, however, for Christians to eat.

“Then for what was the swine made?”

We may not fully understand why God made rats, lizards, hogs, and rattlesnakes. And we are very grateful that we are not obliged to eat all the brutes and reptiles for which we cannot definitely assign other uses. But swine’s grease is used extensively to lubricate carriage and railroad car wheels. And the swine’s nature and taste adapt him to the work of a scavenger, to gather up the filth, and thus prevent impurities in the atmosphere.

The swine delights in filth. He revels in it. He is happiest when nearly buried in it, or satisfying his vile taste with most horrible rottenness. If, by chance, he meets a fellow swine that has lain dead a week, until the carcass has become a blackened mass of putrefaction, he will delight his taste, fatten on carrion, and hold jubilee. He devours that with the keenest relish which is most in harmony with his gross nature.

And, more, the swine is an absorbent. Through his lungs, and the pores of his skin, he takes in miasma, as a sponge absorbs water. His taste and his smell are in harmony with the most abhorrent rottenness.

As a scavenger, the swine takes into his brute system, from the filth he eats, and from the corruptions he delights to breathe, until every particle of him contains the deadly infection. And then, Christian men and women, in their turn, do him the honor to become scavengers to the swine, in serving up the flesh of his abominable dead carcass as an article of food.

And how very careful and prudent these Christian people are not to waste any portion of the precious swine. They will use his heels, where issue the grossest secretions from his corrupted blood, and his snout, which never blushed or turned aside when coming in contact with the most disgusting corruptions, for souse. Some will recognize more of the delicious in a roasted pig’s tail than in a pint of ripe strawberries. And lest a precious scrap of the swine should be left, they even use his miserable intestines for sausage cases.

The terrible influence of swine-eating upon the human system is beyond description. The word scrofula, which represents a nearly universal disease in our day, the almost endless varieties of the taint of which may be named legion, comes from the Latin word scrofa, which signifies “a breeding sow,” the mother of abominations. And it may be a question whether the word, or the terrible disease signified by it, would have had existence, had man never eaten swine’s flesh.

The very character and disposition of the swine accords with his gross habits and diseased flesh. We do not say that the moral evil of swine-eating is proportionate to the physical; but we do say that the very close connection of physical and mental, of matter and mind, would lead one to conclude that the moral evil would run very nearly parallel with the physical ruin. At least, the character of the swine is illy complimented by the poor devils, as Christ was about to cast them out of the man from the tombs, who, seeking their affinity, “besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.”—Health Reformer.

Not Done Away.

We affirm, on the authority of the Sacred Scriptures, that the ordinance relative to eating the flesh of swine, Deut. 14:8, is not done away. We design to prove that the command, “Ye shall not eat of their flesh,” is as really binding upon Christians as the precept, “Thou shalt not steal.” This we shall make appear evident from a careful examination of the two kinds of law given in the books of Moses.

In the Pentateuch there is one kind of laws, properly termed moral, which relate to man's duty to God, to his fellows, and to himself. These grow out of existing relations between God and man, and man and his fellow-men. And these must continue so long as the relations exist. Of this class of moral precepts, the ten commandments are pre-eminent. They are the grand constitution of God's moral government of fallen man. And, in strict accordance with this constitution, the Old Testament abounds in moral teachings and minor precepts, inculcating justice, mercy, cleanliness, health, and the love of God. These cannot cease while God's moral government in this mortal state shall remain. Change of dispensation can no more affect these than it can change the character of God, or that of fallen men.

The books of Moses contain another kind of ordinances, which are simply shadowy ceremonies, given to serve a certain purpose, during a limited period of time. These were the shadows, or types, pertaining to the Jewish religious services, which find their substance, or antitype, in the good things of the Christian age.

“The law,” says Paul, “having a shadow of good things to come,” &c. Heb. 10:1. The apostle illustrates the subject with the familiar figure of a shadow, and the body which casts the shadow, as in the case of a monument, tree, or a building. The death of Christ, his priesthood, or ministry, and the good things he does for his people in this age, cast their shadows back into the Jewish age, as the monument before the rising sun casts its long shadow back to the west. The Jewish sacrifices, where blood was shed, were the shadow, the death of Christ the body that cast the shadow. The Jewish priesthood was the shadow, the priesthood of the Son of God in Heaven in this dispensation is the body that cast the shadow. And as we would follow down the shadow to the base of the monument, where the shadow must cease, so the Jews, in their services, followed down to the death, resurrection, and ascension, of Christ, where these shadowy ordinances ceased by limitation. This is expressed by the apostle in these words, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross.” “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy day, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days, which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” Col. 2:14–17.

The cessation of shadowy ordinances of the class of these mentioned, the apostle expresses by the terms, “blotting out,” and “nailing it to his cross.” And let the reader mark well this qualifying passage, “which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ.” This shows that shadowy ordinances only were done away at the crucifixion of Christ. These shadows having served the purpose for which they were designed, could exist no longer, being superseded by the body that cast them.

Now, we affirm, without fear of contradiction, that the ordinance forbidding the use of swine as food, does not belong to this class of ordinances. These were shadows of things to come. But the ordinance relative to swine's flesh is no more a shadow than the precept, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” The death of the Son of God, and the change of dispensation, could therefore no more abolish the precept forbidding the use of the swine as food, than it could change the precepts forbidding adultery and murder.

This is a question worthy of a candid and thorough discussion. We will give any of the swine-eating clergy a reasonable amount of space in this journal to sustain their practice in this respect, from the Bible. Candid and brief articles will be given in connection with a review. If our position upon the swine is incorrect, some one will confer a great favor in showing where we err. But if our position is correct, that the prohibition of swine's flesh is not a shadowy ordinance, and not done away, then it should be acknowledged, and obeyed, by at least all Bible Christians.—Health Reformer,

Adornments.

By Mary E. Guilford

In this degenerate age, the professed church and the world seem to vie with each other in trying to make the finest display. We see not only the gay, thoughtless worldling, whose only aim is to lead a life of dissipation and folly, but also the “professor” who has named the name of Christ, decked in all the gaudy tinsel of fashionable drapery.

The downward, destructive tendency of this “love of display” is plainly apparent to any reflective mind.

“But to the law and to the testimony.” What says the inspired word in regard to adornments? 1 Pet. 3: 3, 4, reads: “Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Outward adornments, which consist in broidered hair, and gold, and pearls, and costly array, are wholly inconsistent with the “hidden man of the heart,” “the meek and quiet spirit,” which God requires his people to adorn themselves with.

Let me here reiterate the language of another: “There is no possibility of evading the plain, literal construction of these inspired words. And, if inspired, they mean something.” Yes, reader, they mean that if we would be followers of Jesus, owned and accepted of him, we must discard the entire use of all ornaments worn for display, and seek earnestly those heavenly adornments which so well become the child of God. Nothing has a more direct tendency to

heathenism and degradation of mind and soul than this yielding one's self to the fashions and follies of life. Gradually the mind becomes absorbed in these things, until God is well-nigh forgotten, his word neglected, and spirituality dies out of the heart.

The times in which we live demand the most constant watchfulness and earnest effort on our part, to withdraw our minds and affections wholly from the vanities of life, that we be not led to drink in the spirit of the world. We shall need great firmness and decision of character, in order to maintain a Godly walk and holy conversation amid the corrupting influences of society in these last days.

The love of display is a fearfully increasing evil. Satan clothes it with various attractions, and beguiles thoughtless souls to regard it as harmless and innocent. Oh! that they might awaken from the delusive dream before it is too late! Its whole tendency is evil—only evil. It fosters pride in the human heart, which is an abomination in the sight of God. It diverts the mind from God and from the study of the Holy Scriptures, “which are able to make us wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” It takes means which should be put into the treasury of God to speed on the cause of truth; and, thereby, God is robbed—his name dishonored, and the progress of truth crippled. And this is not all; a fearful retribution awaits those who thus yield themselves captives to the tyrant fashion. The misused talents, the wasted hours, the dwarfing of God-given faculties of mind and soul, all, all will be brought into the account in that great day.

I hope none upon whom the light of truth is now shining will remain in ignorance of God's prohibition in regard to outward adornments, but carefully study his holy word to learn the mind of the Spirit, and strive to walk in the light. May God help us who profess the truth for these last days to so live it out before the world that we may be clear in the day of judgment, and stand accepted before God.

MARY E. GUILFORD.

Castalia, Ohio.

A Thankless Service.

A CORRESPONDENT of the Home Missionary from Northern Iowa, tells the following story which we hope may come to the notice of the “brother in the church,” for it is quite possible that his guilt is simply that of thoughtlessness, and that only a hint is wanted to put him on the track of doing the right thing:

Here is a man worth over $25,000. I have been to see him three times, over such a road! There are seventeen big, steep hills in two miles. He has had sickness and death in his family. It took me three-fourths of a day to attend the funeral. I broke the springs to my buggy in going. A few days after he sent for me to come and baptize his child, who was sick and was expected to die. I went; the doctor came while I was there, stayed a short time, and was paid twenty dollars for his trip. After he was gone, I asked this brother in the church to let me have some oats for my horse. He very coldly told me that he had not any to spare. At the same time he had not room enough for his grain; and a carpenter was at work putting up another building.

Correct Yourself First

WHATEVER you dislike in another, take care to correct in yourself.

Pretended Importance Reveals Insignificance

He who assumes airs of importance exhibits his credentials of insignificance.

Faithfulness.

By W. H. Blaisdell

We often see persons enter the service of the Lord whose abilities are very limited. Perhaps their educational privileges have been very poor, and they may have had but very little intercourse with society. Their command of language may be very small, inasmuch that they can hardly express their ideas or feelings, when they arise to confess their need of Christ, and ask an interest in the prayers of God’s people. Their prayers may be so broken that none but the humble follower of Jesus would be interested in hearing them.

But they engage heartily in the work of the Lord, and cheerfully enter the school of Christ, to be his disciples, and learn of him who was “meek and lowly of heart.” They meekly take the yoke of Christ upon them, and are faithful with the little ability which they possess.

They strive hard to gain an education which they have hitherto failed to obtain; wherever opportunity is presented, whether in the social interview, the prayer-meeting, or at the family altar, their broken testimonies and prayers may be heard. Whenever opportunity for doing good is offered, they are among the first to embrace it. They remember the servant who received one talent, and “went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money,” and are determined that in the day of reckoning, it shall not be thus said of them.

A few years pass away, and what a visible change in them! As we listen to their touching exhortations, while they relate with clearness and intelligence, their experience in God’s service, their trials and victories, their temptations and overcomings, their sorrows and joys, and hear their humble, earnest prayers poured forth in faith to their Creator, and feel their softening, melting, and subduing influence, we would hardly think it possible that this is the same person, to whose stammerings we listened but a few years before.

Others engage in the Christian warfare under much more favorable circumstances, and meet with much less success.

They may have obtained a much better education, and their privileges for social intercourse may have been much more extended. Judging from their present abilities, we might expect them to soon become very useful in the cause of Christ. But instead of being faithful with the talents they possess, their future record shows them to be, not a faithful, but an unfaithful servant.

They neglect to gain a Christian education; many duties are neglected, and but few performed; many privileges for confessing Christ are presented, and but few improved; many opportunities for doing good are offered, and but few embraced; and when a few years have passed, we are surprised that they show even less ability than at first; and we almost wonder that one whose prospects were so promising in the beginning, had made no more progress in the service of the Lord. But the secret of the difference in the result of these two cases lies in the fact that one had been faithful, and the other, unfaithful.

By one, we are reminded of the servant who was faithful over a few things, and is destined to be made “ruler over many things.” By the other, we are reminded of the servant of whom it is said, “From him shall be taken away even that which he hath.”

And how will it stand with us all, when our Lord returns to reckon with his servants? Whose record has thus far been such that they can confidently claim the “well done”?

Let us remember that every disciple of Christ is required to be faithful, and no one is exempt from responsibility. We are “bought with a price,” and we should give ourselves entirely to the Lord. No talent or ability which we possess, is our own. The one whose means for doing good are very limited, is required to be faithful. The one who possesses five talents, is required to be faithful also.

Some possess talents in money, some in bodily health, and some in mental capacity. Some have the special ability to exhort, some to pray, and some to sing, all of which are very much needed by the church, in these days of spiritual darkness, wickedness, and peril.

Let each one be faithful in all respects; and let the weak ones, and those of humble ability and means, wait not, thinking that they will do nothing, because they have not the means with which to do more, but remember that “he that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.”

May we strive to live in such a manner, that the word Faithful, may be stamped upon the record of our every-day lives.

“We learn that the Saviour is coming full soon, Is he coming for me and for you? Shall we hear from the Saviour the welcome well done? Will he say it? and will it be true? Then we’ve something to do; we have something to do, There is something for Christians to do; If we hear from the Saviour the welcome well done, We have certainly something to do.”

W. H. BLAISDELL.

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