Dr. D. E. Maxson has a sermon in the Sabbath Recorder of April 3, which closes with the following forcible words:
“Men and brethren, fathers and mothers, the storm is gathering, that will sweep with fiery surges on, on through the vast eternities. Are you in the ark? Are your children all in the ark? “Come thou, and all thy house into the ark.” Parents, are you going to leave any one of your children out in the storm to drift onto the rocks? God has set you as light-houses on the reefs along the dangerous shores. Are your lights burning as brightly as they ought out in the darkness, so that your sons and your daughters can see them so clearly as to be certain where the dangerous places are? Are your lives so much above the world, and its dangerous rocks and alluring currents, that your children will not have to rise up in judgment against you? or are you in the current with them, drifting, drifting on towards the rocks and the ruin? Have you, parents, a bright light up over the rock of Sabbath-breaking? Oh, it is a dangerous rock. Only the ark of God can ride safely by it. Are you, and all your family safe in that ark? Are your man-servants and maid-servants, your cattle, and the stranger that is within your gates, all in? For all these, you, parents, are responsible. Have you, fathers, mothers, bright lights out over the dreadful Charybdis of intemperance, down whose awful maelstrom so many are being drawn by our licensed rum-shops and unlicensed grogeries? Do you, men and women of God, realize into what a dense fog of gathering iniquity your light must shine, if our beautiful city be saved from becoming a very Sodom, under the rule of rum into which its citizens have recently voted it? On a stormy coast a father kept a light-house; his son had been away on the sea three years. It was a dark
night, the storm was howling on the sea, the keeper fell asleep, and let the light go out. The morning came, and the fragments of a wrecked vessel were drifting up along the beach; dead bodies too came up. The frightened watchman went down from the watch-tower to gather up the dead seamen, and the first he found was his own son, so near home, but lost by his father’s negligence. Fathers, mothers, don’t let your lights go out. Your children may perish in the darkness. More than your minister, more than your Sabbath-school superintendent and teacher, are you responsible for the salvation of your children. God has made it so in the fundamental constitution of society. Come into the ark, thou and all thy household. The storm is coming. Sooner than you think the winds will be blowing, the waves will be beating. Come into Christ, the ark of safety. All ye tempted and tried ones, come into the ark; there is room enough for all. Who shall be left out when God shuts the door? Who?”
Work For God.
By Earnest Christian
THE highest favor that can be conferred upon a mortal, is to be permitted to work for God. The dignity of the calling does not depend upon the work done, but upon the exalted character of him for whom it is performed. The Queen of Sheba regarded the servants of Solomon as objects of envy. His fame was great throughout the world, and his servants shared in his renown.
If those who serve an earthly monarch derive luster from his power, much more are those exalted who do the bidding of the King of kings. They are the favored ones of earth. They are akin to angels. These do the will of God in heaven; the saints do it in the more difficult place—on earth. Their reward is great. It will be bestowed, not according to the nature of the work, but according to the fidelity with which it is done.
God will give employment to every one who will consent to do his will. But we cannot choose our work. God does that. We are very apt to over-estimate our own ability. A railroad could never be run if every man was allowed to choose his own position. The breakmen would all want to be conductors; the conductors, directors; the firemen, engineers; and the engineers, superintendents. There is always confusion in the cause of God when the disciples insist upon choosing their places. Diotrephes is never satisfied unless he can have the pre-eminence. His motto is, "Rule or ruin;" and where he rules he is almost sure to ruin. The foot is a very useful member of the body; but place it where the eye should be and it becomes a deformity and a nuisance. He who is sulky and fault-finding unless he can be a class-leader, is not fit for a class-leader. He who backslides because a license is not given him, stands more in need of saving grace than of a license.
If we really desire to serve God, we shall take our work as his providence opens it before us. We shall not grumble at his allotments. We shall not keep everything in confusion by insisting upon our having our own preferences gratified. Some persons, who really appear to want to be good, can never be, for any length of time, contented anywhere. Things do not go as they wish. The wills of others come in conflict with their own. Unexpected difficulties arise. Faith and perseverance might overcome them; but they take it for granted that they are out of order, and they seek a change.
Let God give you your work. If it is taking care of children, nurse them for Him and he will give you your wages. If it is serving others, do it, not with eye-service, as men pleasers; but do it heartily as unto the Lord. Whatever your work is, do it well; and do it for God. This is the main point. The nature of the work is a matter of inferior importance. It is the disposition that God looks at, far more than the service done. We manifest most affection for Jesus when we perform for him the most menial, least honorable, service in our power.—Earnest Christian.
CALLING THE ANGELS IN.
By Mary J. Preston
WE mean to do it. Some day, some day,
We mean to slacken this fevered rush
That is wearing our very souls away,
And grant to our goaded hearts a hush
That is holy enough to let them hear
The footsteps of angels drawing near.
We mean to do it. Oh, never doubt,
When the burden of daytime broil is o'er,
We'll sit and muse, while the stars come out,
As the patriarch sat at the open door
Of his tent, with a heavenward gazing eye,
To watch for the angels passing by.
We see them afar at high noontide,
When fiercely the world's hot flashings beat;
Yet never have bidden them turn aside,
And tarry awhile in converse sweet;
Nor prayed them to hallow the cheer we spread,
To drink of our wine and break our bread.
We promised our hearts that when the stress
Of the life-work reaches the longed-for close,
When the weight that we groan with hinders less,
We'll loosen our thoughts to such repose
As banishes care's disturbing din,
And then—we'll call the angels in.
The day that we dreamed of comes at length,
When tired of every mocking quest,
And broken in spirit and shorn of strength,
We drop, indeed, at the door of rest,
And wait and watch as the day wanes on;
But the angels we meant to call are gone.
—Mary J. Preston.
Preaching That Pleases.
A London pastor, who was accustomed to preach sermons of an ultra-Calvanistic sort, was surprised by a visitor handing him a considerable sum, on two or three occasions, because he had been so gratified by his pulpit ministrations. On inquiry, he found the man's domestic life was in open violation of morality; and the preacher came to the conclusion that sermons that comforted such a man, were not such as he ought to preach, and after two or three others of a different order, he saw no more either of his appreciative hearer or his gifts.
It is sometimes gratifying to a preacher to know that his sermons are approved by unconverted hearers. It is well for him to endeavor to discover what there may be in them which renders them acceptable. Probably, in many cases it would be found that they lack in the presentation of truths which men need to hear. Herod for a time heard John "gladly." So long as the Baptist was proclaiming the coming of the Messiah his preaching did not annoy that voluptuary. It was when he began to deal out warning and denunciation on specific sins that Herod committed him to prison. So, there are men who visit our churches and listen to many sermons which not only do not offend them, but which they really enjoy. Discourses on notable events in patriarchal history, the miracles of Jesus, or the labors of Paul, are welcome to them, but were some favorite sin to be attacked it would be far different. Let revenge, covetousness, dishonesty, or untruthfulness be laid bare in all their turpitude, and, though they may be more politic in their behavior than Herod, they will nevertheless feel as much chagrin as he did under John's preaching.
To preach the gospel in such a way as to irritate the ungodly, has been thought by some ministers an evidence of their "faithfulness," and many are the anecdotes of conversions which have followed when anger has given way to reason. It is possible for animosity to be awakened by the unwise handling of the truth, rather than by the truth itself. The concern of a preacher should be to present the "whole counsel of God," and it may be that, oftentimes, if a man would carefully study the reception given to his sermons by unconverted men, he might discover much that would be helpful to his real usefulness.
—Baptist Weekly.
Little Sins.
By J. S. Miller
THERE are a few stereotyped expressions which I have noticed that nearly all opposers of reform use when arguments fail. The following are some of them: "If I ever get to Heaven it will never be asked what day I kept." "If I never do anything worse than working on Saturday I guess I shall be saved." "I do not believe that chewing or smoking a little tobacco will shut me out of the kingdom." "I do not believe the Lord cares about my drinking a cup of tea." And so each one finds an excuse for whatever sin he may choose to commit because it is in his own estimation a very little one. It is true, no questions will be raised about the day we kept or failed to keep, or any other sin we have committed or overcome; not, however, because such sins are of no consequence, but because all investigations with regard to our fitness for Heaven will be in the past, and the fact that we are there will show that we have stood the test.
I have often wondered why people who talk sensibly enough on other subjects can thus talk without reason in matters of duty to God. And the only conclusion I can arrive at is, that it is because "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." Jer. 17:9. Such persons do not seem to understand that God will accept nothing short of perfect obedience. They do not realize that with God there are no small sins. The wages of sin, however small, is death. If one sinner deserves that infliction of more pain than another, it will be meted out to him, either in the act of dying or previous to that event. But one event will happen to sinners of every grade—they will all lose eternal life.
If we will but for a moment look at the principles on which the government of God is based, I think we cannot fail to see that this must be so. God's law is a golden chain which binds him to his subjects and his subjects to him. Now any farmer or mechanic will tell you that a chain is useless if one link is broken. It is of no use whatever since its binding power is gone. "The law of the Lord is perfect," and when perfectly obeyed it binds us so securely to our heavenly father that "neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor thing to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus." Rom. 8:39. I think that all can see that if God can excuse the little (?) sins of Sabbath-breaking in one, of intemperance in another, of profanity in another, and so on, then Universalism is correct and all men may be saved irrespective of character. But who would care to see all the sins we witness here carried into the eternal world with no hope of a better state of things? Would it not be better to quit guessing that we shall come out all right and to keep on in transgression? Would it not be better to confess and forsake our sins, seek pardon through Christ, and in future strive to render perfect obedience to God's perfect law?
J. S. MILLER.
Mooseup, Conn., March, 1879.
An Interesting Question Settled.
From our earliest acquaintance with the controversy on the subject of baptism, we have heard it persistently denied that three thousand converts could have been baptized on the day of Pentecost. It is usual to say, they could not have been baptized by immersion. We do not use this form of expression, because, according to both usage and the lexicons, baptism and immersion are identical,—the first is but an anglicized form of a Greek word of which the second is a translation. We see no more propriety in saying, baptized by immersion, than in saying, baptized by baptism, or immersed by immersion.
A question on this subject was recently sent to us, and noticed in our issue of March 27th; and we have expected the same question would be raised and answered till the end of time. But now comes to notice facts of occurrence which settle this vexed question, and must end the controversy.
The following we copy from the New York Independent. We have always given the Independent credit for an unusual amount of candor, and the closing remarks show that it is determined to be worthy of the credit:—
“There has been most marvelous and glorious religious work going on for two years in connection with the Baptist Mission among the Telugus of Ongole, India, and vicinity. In a single day, as the reports published sometime ago recorded, there were 2,222 baptized. The Rev J. H. Gunning, of Titusville, Pa., read the story in The National Baptist, and his zealous heart was stirred up thereby to write to the old and faithful Missionary Clough, at Ongole, to ask him: ‘How many men does it take to baptize 2,222 persons in one day?’ That is an important question, though we confess it had not occurred to us, on reading and publishing the account of the great ingathering. The letter reached Brother Clough; but he was so busy converting the heathen that he could not find time to answer it. But he passed it over to one of his associates, who took pains to answer it. As the question is of such vast importance, we think it our duty to give the facts in full, as given to Mr. Gunning.
“‘With reference to your question: “How many men does it take to baptize 2,222 persons in one day?” I should say that depends on several things; but in the present case the simple reply is “Six.” But, lest this be too laconic, I will enlarge a little. Bear in mind that the baptistery was admirably situated for expeditious work. It was at the ford of a river, with a sort of basin on either side; and no time was lost in coming or going, as the water was sufficiently deep close up to the road. Remember, too, that the examinations and all other necessary preparatory work had been previously attended to. The people were arranged in groups according to their villages. Only two preachers baptized at one time; when those were tired, two others took their places; these, in turn, were relieved by the other two; and so on. The baptizing commenced at about 5 A. M. and continued till 10. It was resumed at 2 P. M. and completed at 6. It will thus be seen that the baptism of 2,222 converts occupied two preachers 9 hours, or about 30 seconds for each candidate. If the six preachers had all been employed at the same time, the 2,222 converts would have been baptized in just three hours!
“‘That the time occupied was ample to do it “decently and in order” is proven by an actual experiment made on the 30th of June, in Ongole. On that day Brother Clough baptized 212 converts. As he entered the baptistery, he handed Mrs. Clough his watch, at which she looked, and marked that he began baptizing at 6:17, and as the last candidate rose from the water it was precisely 7:38. The average time will be seen to be 23 seconds; but no effort was made at haste.’
“From the above, it is clear that three thousand persons could very easily have been baptized by immersion by the twelve disciples in one day, if they were in good practice and had command of sufficient water for the purpose. And it should further be remembered that there is no reason why fifty other disciples should not have helped in the baptizing, if they could be allowed to occupy the pools for the purpose.”
We advise every reader to save this article for reference. We are extremely well pleased that this question is at last most positively and satisfactorily settled.
Exodus of the Negroes.
By Editor
WE have referred to the exodus of the negroes from the Southern States, and, from the accounts, expected that it would assume proportions which would give prominence among the events of the day. The planters or landowners in some of those States are becoming thoroughly alarmed for the result. There is a prospect that a large proportion of the land will not be planted this year. In some districts harsh means have been resorted to in order to prevent the wholesale emigration of farm hands, but still they go. They find some way to leave the country in which they find neither friendship nor profit.
Perhaps the most important consideration in this matter is, that there is likely to be so large diminution of the population of some of those States that it will reduce their representation in Congress, and thereby affect the destiny of our country. It has already been claimed that their representation ought to be reduced, even if the negroes do not leave, as they are so largely denied the right of a free ballot, that they are only nominally represented.
This exodus must necessarily be attended with great suffering; but they are used to privations, and they are firmly convinced that in no case can they fare worse than they are faring in their old homes in the South.
In connection with this, new and unexpected questions arise. The "Chinese problem" may find a strange solution here, or it may become more difficult of solution. Whatever may be the result, the Southern planters are looking to the Chinamen as the possible aid which they must find somewhere in this emergency. The immigration of intelligent laborers from the North has not been encouraged in the South. Their feelings and traditions are opposed to laborers who are to stand upon an equality with, what has been, "the ruling class." Had they encouraged Northern cultivators to settle in their midst, the condition of the blacks might have been ameliorated by the introduction of better systems of tillage. But then, everything would have depended on the treatment which the negroes received. Patient and enduring as they have been, these qualities have been strained to the utmost, and they are now willing to risk any uncertainty rather than to suffer longer the certainty which they have endured.
We find the Chronicle of April 14, an extract from a letter from Louisiana to a gentleman in San Francisco, with some interesting facts and remarks. It says:—
"A well known citizen of this city is in receipt of several letters from the South upon the exodus of the negroes. One of these communications, dated Madison Parish, Louisiana, March 29, says:—
'Yesterday a mass meeting of planters was held in this town, to take into consideration the best mode of replacing in some manner the colored labor that has recently left here for Kansas, Indiana, and Ohio. After some discussion it was deemed advisable to put ourselves in communication with the Chinese Six Companies of San Francisco, in order to ascertain if they could not supply our needs with an importation of coolie laborers. It was also decided requisite to request you, sir, to act as our authorized agent in the matter and give the above-named Companies a full description of the soil, the climate etc., of our section of the country, its resources, etc., as well as the qualifications necessary to the kind of work which will be required of the Chinese in the event of their coming here. About 1500 negroes have lately left these parts, and it will require 1000 Chinese to replace them. Any assistance you may be able to render us will be duly appreciated.'"
"Immediately upon the receipt of this letter the gentleman to whom it was addressed called upon the authorized agent of the Chinese Six Companies in this city, and in the course of a short consultation received the following information:—
'At present it is impossible to obtain the number of Chinese laborers you require for field work upon the plantations of Louisiana, for the following reasons: The Chinese Six Companies have not the requisite authority over their people, as they do not bring them here nor make contracts to let their labor to white men or corporations. The Chinese Six Companies are simply benevolent societies and nothing more. The high rates paid the Chinese for their labor in California, namely, from $20 to $40 per month, which the ruling prices for skilled labor, precludes the idea of emigration to the South. Cheap labor is also scarce here, and the only manner by which the Southern planters can obtain the class of laborers they desire is to get an agent to Hongkong and there hire and contract for a sufficient number of Chinese to justify them in chartering a ship direct from New Orleans. If the Chinamen thus hired are well and kindly treated they will quickly inform their friends here and in China of the fact, and advise them likewise to come on to the South. In Hongkong contracts can be made with the Chinese for a term of from three to five years at wages from $8 to $10 per month. Such contracts they will faithfully keep, if reciprocated in kind. This class of labor is entirely free, and many go and come with as much freedom and as far as any European emigrant to the United States. The Chinese are the best laborers in the shop, field, or house, they are kindly disposed toward their employers, sober and honest; but the demand for them by far exceeds the supply, as there is not one single idle Chinaman in the State of California.'"
"In an interview with a Chronicle reporter, the agent for the Southern planters stated that he has informed them of the result of his conference with the representatives of the Chinese Six Companies, and that he believes that the suggestion made relative to the sending to Hongkong and chartering a ship will very shortly be acted upon; and further, that the planters of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and Georgia are becoming greatly alarmed at the rapid exodus of the negroes, saying that in many portions of these States no negroes can be had to plant crops for the coming year, and they are anxious to test the efficacy of the Chinese as auxiliaries in the cultivation of rice, sugar, tobacco, and cotton. In the probable event of their so doing, California will be enabled to rid herself of some thousands of her surplus coolie population. Heretofore, however, the colored hands have been deemed the only labor that could successfully plant, cultivate and pick cotton in the more than tropical climate of the South. One of the cardinal reasons why the negroes have become dissatisfied and are leaving their masters in large numbers is, that they have in very many instances been most unfairly dealt with."
Sunday Not the True Seventh day.
By John Nevins Andrews
"They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord saith: and the Lord hath not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word." Eze. 13:6.
The chapter from which this text is taken, is a prophetic reference to the last days of human probation. Thus verse 5 brings to view the work necessary to be done in order that the people of God may stand in the battle in the day of the Lord; which battle occurs under the sixth vial. Rev. 16:12-16; Jer. 25: 30-33. And when God denounces his judgments upon those who refuse to do the work committed to their trust, but who do, instead thereof, a work of their own devising, he declares that the great hailstones shall fall upon them in his fierce anger. Verses 10-14. This is to be fulfilled under the seventh vial. Rev. 16:17-21. This chapter consists principally of an awful denunciation of wrath upon unfaithful teachers. The hedge by which God designs to protect his people in the battle of the great day, having gaps made therein, these teachers should have gone up into these breaches and made them up. Instead of doing this, they build up a wall to suit themselves, which God says shall be broken down by this fall of the great hailstones. The prophet brings to view the same hedge and the gaps made therein in chapter 22:30. Thus he says:—
"And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found none."
But from verse 26 it appears that these gaps have been made in the hedge by false teachers doing away the law of God; and in particular by their act of hiding their eyes from his Sabbath. And when God sought for one man among them to make up the gap, he found none. Instead thereof, these persons build up a wall to suit themselves; and God says of their wall that it shall be broken down by the plague of the great hailstones. How this shall be, is sufficiently explained by Isaiah when he predicts the same great storm of hail:—
Isa. 28:17: "Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place."
The Man of Sin has thought to change the Sabbath of the fourth commandment. And the Protestant church, separating itself from the church of Rome 350 years ago, brought away with it the Sunday of "Pope and Pagan," instead of the Sabbath of the great Creator. Thus has a breach been made in the hedge which God has placed about his people. But as we approach the battle of the great day of God Almighty, the third angel (Rev. 14) is sent forth for the purpose of restoring the precepts of God's law which Antichrist has broken down. And it is indeed very remarkable that when attention is called to this breach in the hedge, the teachers of the present day are determined to build up a wall of their own, rather than to repair the hedge which God himself has set up.125When their attention is called to the fact that they are trampling the rest-day of the Lord beneath their feet, the most frequent answer to this is, that the Creator has put away the day which he hallowed in Eden, and that he has chosen in its place the day on which he raised his Son from the dead. But as the Scriptures do not make any such statement, it is not difficult to expose the weakness of this assertion. This, however, does not end the matter. The same persons take another position, and next assert that no one can tell what day is the true seventh day.
When, however, this position is wrested from them, they next plant themselves on the ground that any day of the seven will answer, as God requires not the seventh day, but the seventh part of time. As this ground is untenable, when they are driven from it they next maintain that the seventh day is a Jewish institution, and that we are at liberty to observe or disregard it, just as we ourselves elect. And they endeavor to strengthen this position by asserting that if we observe the Sabbath we shall fall from grace. When the untruthfulness of this doctrine has been shown, and the self-contradictory nature of the argument in its behalf has been made apparent, then it is that these persons suddenly discover that the seventh day which God hallowed in Eden is of perpetual obligation, and binding upon all men everywhere; but that this same seventh day comes on the first day of the week, or Sunday.
Perhaps the most elaborate effort that has ever been made to establish and defend this last position is that of Rev. Peter Akers, D. D., President of M'Kendree College. Certainly no persons have so fully "made others to hope that they would confirm the word," as has Dr. Akers in his earnest effort to prove that Sunday is the veritable seventh day, hallowed by God in Eden. This, Dr. A. has endeavored to maintain in a work of 411 pages, published in 1855, entitled, "Introduction to Biblical Chronology." He uses much learning to sustain his theory. A smaller work by Rev. E. Q. Fuller, entitled, "The Two Sabbaths," in which the theory of Dr. Akers is given in a simpler form and with much greater clearness, has also been published by the same house which issued Akers' Chronology, the Methodist Book Concern of Cincinnati. More than one hundred years since, David Jennings, D. D., in his "Jewish Antiquities," endeavored to prove the same position respecting Sunday as the day of the Creator's rest, though he sustained his point by a theory which clashes with that of Dr. Akers. The theory of Dr. Akers as stated by himself, and even more distinctly by Mr. Fuller, is as follows:—
The seventh day sanctified in Eden was that day which we call Sunday. The observance of Sunday has therefore been sacredly binding upon all men from creation to the present time, with the exception of the Jewish people, who were exempted from its obligation from the day that they departed out of Egypt till the day that Christ was crucified. This exemption was effected by setting the Sabbatic institution back one day when they left Egypt; so that whereas the original Sabbath came upon the sixteenth day of Abib, the month in which they left Egypt, it was at that point of time set back to the day next preceding; and that day, the seventh day of the week as reckoned by Adam, but the sixth day of the week as reckoned by God, was thenceforward observed as the Sabbath; while Sunday, the true Sabbath, and the real seventh day as reckoned by God, though the first day of the week as men kept the reckoning, was never after regarded as the Sabbath, until, at the crucifixion of Christ, the Jewish Sabbath was abrogated, and the first day of the week at the resurrection of Christ resumed its rightful place as the Sabbath of the Lord.
This theory of Dr. Akers' rests upon the following propositions:—
1. Time is reckoned from Adam's first day; for all the days of the creation week which preceded that day belong not to time but to eternity.
2. The seventh day from creation on which God rested was Adam's first day of existence.
3. Hence it was that Adam began his week with the last day of the Creator's week.
4. And thus the Sabbath of the Lord came upon the first day of the week to Adam and his posterity as they reckoned the week.
5. But God gave to Israel a new Sabbath the very day that he led them out of Egypt. For whereas the next day after that event was the regular weekly Sabbath from creation. God ordained that Israel should keep the day of their flight as their Sabbath day that week, and that same day of the week ever afterward till the crucifixion.
6. During the period from the departure out of Egypt to the crucifixion, there were, therefore, two conflicting Sabbath laws; one binding upon the Gentiles, and requiring them to keep the very day of God's rest, which they did in their heathen Sunday; the other requiring the Jews to keep that day of the week on which they left Egypt, which was the day before the true Sabbath of the Lord.
7. But when Christ died, the Jewish Sabbath was abolished, leaving in full force the original Sabbath of the Lord which had ever been observed by the Gentiles.
8. And thus Sunday, though called first day of the week, is that very seventh day on which God rested, and is now binding upon all mankind as the Sabbath of the Lord.
This chain of propositions presents Dr Akers' theory as modified by Rev. E. Q. Fuller in his "Two Sabbaths." In some minor points Mr. F. and Dr. A. differ. Thus Mr. F. makes God's seventh day to be Adam's first day of the week. But Dr. A. teaches that Adam reckoned God's rest day as the seventh day of the week. Yet both assert that God's seventh day was Sunday, and that it was the first day of Adam's life.
J. N. A.
(To be Continued.)
The Death of Sister Canright.
By Uriah Smith
This sad though not unexpected event occurred at the close of the Sabbath, March 29.
Sister C., the worthy daughter of her godly parents, Samuel T. and Jane Cranson, was born in Lansing, Mich., Aug. 18, 1847, and was aged at her decease, 31 years, 7 months, and 11 days. She was baptized by Bro. White, with other young people in Battle Creek, at the early age of 11 years, in 1858. Uniting in marriage with Eld. D. M. Canright, April 11, 1867, she traveled with him almost constantly to the time of her last sickness, and she thus formed numerous personal acquaintances from Maine to California. About a year and a half ago, at the tent-meeting at Danvers, Mass., an attack of hemorrhage of the lungs gave indications that pulmonary consumption had marked her for its victim. The disease from that time made steady progress, till death closed the scene.
Sabbath, March 15, at her request a few special friends met in her room and united in the celebration of the Lord's supper, as she desired once more to partake of the emblems of the broken body and shed blood of her dying Lord. This was a very precious season to her and to all engaged in it. Sustained by the Christian's blessed hope, she bore her sufferings with fortitude and patience, calmly made arrangements for the close, and longed for the hour of release.
The funeral was held in the tabernacle, March 31, at 3 P. M., a large congregation attending. Brief remarks were made from 1 Cor. 13:10. Bro. Canright, with his two little ones, will have the sympathy of his many friends, in this bereavement.
The following appropriate lines were composed by Sister Mary Martin, a few moments after Sister C. had fallen peacefully asleep in Christ:—
Sweet be thy sleep, child of patient endurance;
Blessed the rest that so nobly is earned.
Bright is the home that awaiteth thy coming,
Beside the "still waters," for which thou hast yearned.
Pain ne'er can enter the country immortal;
Happiness never be mixed with alloy;
No wave-beat of grief can break over that portal;
Cometh at last the rich "fullness of joy."
U. S.