Earlier text: THE POOL OF SILOAMMODERN SPIRITISM.—No 5.
By W. A. Colcord
Taught from Many Pulpits.
THE extent to which Modern Spiritism has spread during the last fifty years is indeed marvelous. Wherever we go, we find it. Into whatever city or town or neighborhood we enter, we meet with persons or learn of families who have had something to do with it. They have had their circles, or sittings, or have attended them somewhere. They have heard the rappings, and know of answers and communications received through them. They have seen tables moved about by some strong, invisible yet irresistible force. Some have become alarmed, and abandoned the proceedings. Through the nature of the answers received to certain pertinent questions which they or others have asked as to the origin and nature of the forces or intelligences at work, or by some irregularity, unholy influence, or uncovering of the cloven foot, they have come to the conclusion that it emanates from no good source; that it is, in fact, of the devil. But many—and their number is legion—have not made this discovery. They are still ignorant of its true character. They know not, indeed, but that it is all true. They are quite ready to believe that Spiritism has made a great discovery; that the spirits with which it has to do are in very deed the spirits of the dead, and that through Spiritism the fact has been established that communion with the dead is a thing quite possible. And why is this so? Why have the people of all lands and of almost every shade of religious belief been so ready to take up with this doctrine? There is but one answer. They have never been taught anything to the contrary. In fact, they have heard from the pulpits of the land that which in essence is the same thing. Had they been taught by their religious teachers the truth as to what God says concerning the nature of man, the state of the dead, the necessity of the resurrection, and the importance of Christ’s second coming, they would not have been so easily deceived by the manifestations and teachings of this modern delusion. Had they heard from the pulpits the texts repeated and emphasized that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord;” that death is an “enemy;” that “the dead know not anything, . . . neither have they any more a portion forever in anything that is done under the sun;” that when man dies “in that very day his thoughts perish;” that death is a “sleep,” and that “if the dead rise not, . . . then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished;” that the soul is not immortal, but that “God only hath immortality,” and that we are to “seek for glory and honor and immortality,”—had they heard these scriptures reiterated, emphasized, and dwelt upon, they would have been prepared to meet the sophistries and teachings of Spiritism, and to denounce them, as they are in fact, a delusion, a lie, and a snare. But the sad fact is, they have heard no such teaching. They have, in fact, heard the very opposite doctrines taught. At death-beds, by grave-sides, and on funeral occasions, they have been told that the dead are not dead, but that they are alive and now in heaven; that they behold the sorrows and the weeping of those who mourn their loss; and that, in their spirit form, they will return to comfort these mourning ones. As all know, this has been the popular teaching in the past; and, altho the Bible, which teaches no such doctrine, is in everybody’s hand, it is by no means uncommon to hear the same ideas presented at the present time. Popular error has been clung to by a popular ministry most tenaciously. The following extract from a sermon preached by one of the most noted ministers of the day, and published in the New York Christian Herald, of July 8, 1882, illustrates what we have here stated:— What are our departed Christian friends, who in this world had their joy in the healing art, doing now?—Busy at their old business. No sickness in heaven, but plenty of sickness on earth; plenty of wounds in the different parts of God’s domain to be healed and to be medicated. You can not understand why that patient got well after all the skilful doctors had said he must die. Perhaps Abercrombie touched him,—Abercrombie, who after many years’ doctoring the bodies and souls of people in Scotland, went up to God in 1844. Perhaps Abercrombie touched him. I should not wonder if my old friend, Dr. John Brown, who died last month in Edinburgh,—John Brown, the author of “Rab and His Friends,”—John Brown, who was as humble a Christian as he was skilful a physician and world-renowned author,—I should not wonder if he had been back again to see some of his old patients. What are our departed Christian friends doing in heaven, those who on earth found their chief joy in the Gospel ministry?—They are visiting their old congregations. Most of those old ministers have their people around them already. When I get to heaven,—as by the grace of God I am destined to go to that place,—I will come back and see you all. Yes, I will come to see all the people to whom I have ministered in the Gospel, and to the millions of souls to whom, through the kingdom of the printing-press, I am permitted to preach every week in this and in other lands,—I will visit them all; I give them fair notice. But what are our departed Christian friends, who, in all departments of usefulness, were busy, finding their chief joy in doing good,—what are they doing now?—Going right on with their work. John Howard visiting dungeons; the dead women of Northern and Southern battlefields still abroad looking for the wounded; George Peabody still watching the poor; Thomas Clarkson still looking after the enslaved,—all of those who did good on earth are busier than before. With such teachings as this from the pulpits of the popular churches of the day, it is little wonder that the great masses of the people have been unable to detect anything seriously wrong in the teachings of Spiritism; little wonder that many in the churches have been deceived and ensnared by it. When we consider that from the pulpits themselves the people have been taught the essential doctrines of Spiritism,—that the soul is immortal; that the dead are not dead; and that they can and do return and communicate with their friends on earth,—it is no marvel that the popular churches of to-day are honey-combed with Spiritism, and filled with thousands who, though not avowedly and openly known as Spiritists, are nevertheless veritable believers in it. Much, therefore, of the sad results of Spiritism will rest upon the ministers of this age; for they have trampled the truth of God’s Word under their feet, and in its place preferred and taught fables. Holding and teaching such doctrines as they do, they can not successfully resist the encroachments of Spiritism. They have nothing wherewith to shield their flocks from its baleful influences. They have themselves prepared them to receive it in its fulness. This is a sad, melancholy, and awful fact. The dangers of meddling with Spiritism or having anything to do with it, will be the subject of our next article. W. A. COLCORD. [The next article in this series is “Danger of Meddling with Spiritism.”] SIN NOT.
By R. S. Candlish
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.” I John 2:1. I. LET this be your aim, to “sin not.” Let it be deliberately set before you as your fixed and settled purpose that you are not to sin, not merely that you are to sin as little as you can, but that you are not to sin at all. 2. But not only would I have you make this your aim: I would have your aim accomplished and realized. And therefore I write these things unto you, that ye sin not. We must assume it to be possible not to sin when we walk in the open fellowship of God. We are brought into a position in relation to God in which holiness is no longer a desperate negative strife, but a blessed positive achievement. 3. Why, then, it may be asked, is provision made for our sinning6still after all? “If any man”—any of us—“sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.” Thus our Lord Jesus Christ cheers us on; He assures us that He is near us if we should stumble. There is the Intercessor ever pleading for us: “If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father.”—R. S. Candlish. THAT CONVENIENT SEASON.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
WHEN Paul was before Felix, reasoning of “righteousness, ‘temperance, and judgment to come,’ strong conviction seized the Roman governor, so that he trembled; but he was not willing to yield to it, so he said to the apostle, “Go thy way ‘for this time; when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.” Acts 24 : 25. From what we know of the character of Felix, it is quite likely that he had no intention of ever accepting Christ, and that his talk about “a convenient season” was only an excuse to Paul, and a means of throwing off conviction. But it is a fact that there are very many who say the same thing, who really think that at some time or other they will serve the Lord, and who by the plea of a convenient season delude themselves into believing that they are at present doing as well as can be expected of them. One man says, “If I could get away from these associates, I ‘would reform.” The youth thinks, “When I get a little older, ‘temptations will not be so strong, and then I can serve the Lord;” while the old man thinks, “If I were younger, it would be easy to be ‘a Christian, but now I am too old to change.” Another says, “If my ‘circumstances were different, I would keep the Sabbath.” “As soon ‘as I get out of debt,” or, “As soon as I can get out of this business, ‘I will begin keeping all the commandments.” And thus people deceive themselves, and continue in sin. They deceive themselves often into thinking that they are as good as they need be. For if it were true that they absolutely can not at present serve the Lord, then of course it can not be required of them. But the very statement of the case shows its fallacy; for there is no time when one ought not to serve the Lord. “Thou shalt love the ‘Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind.” Luke 10 : 27. This leaves no moment of one’s existence when he is free not to serve the Lord; for if one does not serve God all the time, he is not serving Him with all his strength. It certainly is not serving God with all our strength, when we devote the most and best of it to self and the devil, before we begin to obey the Lord. Sin is sin, no matter when or why it is committed. “Sin is the ‘transgression of the law.” 1 John 3 : 4. To do anything contrary to God’s will, therefore, is sin. “To him that knoweth to do good, ‘and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4 : 17. Now when a person says that he intends to serve the Lord, or to begin some duty, at some other time, he shows that he knows that he ought to do it; and therefore by not doing it he convicts himself of sin. And yet by pleading inconvenience and unfavorable circumstances, he makes himself believe that his sin is not really sin. He assumes great virtue to himself by thinking of what he would do if he were in the proper circumstances. Because he thinks he would if he could, he takes to himself the credit of the deed, and thus often goes along contentedly, and never finds the “convenient season” for which he is looking. So well satisfied does he become that he is doing the best he can, that no time ever seems to him convenient for changing his course. Suppose now that the “convenient season” has come, or that the change in circumstances or associates has been effected, and that the person has changed his manner of life as he proposed to do; is he really any better than he was before? What think you?—Certainly not; it is not he that has changed; it is only the circumstances. The conditions have changed; he remains the same as before. Since he began to serve the Lord (as he thinks) only when the conditions became favorable, it is evident that when the conditions become unfavorable again, he will leave off. Does the man really accept Christ, when he professes to serve Him only at a more convenient season?—Not by any means. He really dishonors Christ, bearing false witness against Him. Christ is a perfect Saviour. “He is able to save them to the uttermost who ‘come unto God by Him.” All power in heaven and in earth is in His hands. He is the Head of all principality and power. He has power over all flesh. John 17 : 2. He has spoiled principalities and powers, and made a show of them openly, exhibiting them in triumph by His cross. Col. 2 : 15. Even the bars and gates of death He has burst asunder, and “all the power of the enemy” was nothing to Him. Now what does the man say who pleads that his circumstances or temptations are such that he can not now serve the Lord?—Why, he virtually charges Christ with lack of power to save him in his present condition. He limits the power of God. He does not accept Christ as a full and perfect Saviour, able to save one from the lowest depths, and to pluck a brand from the fire, or a soul from the jaws of the lion. But he who does not take Christ as a perfect and all-powerful Saviour, does not really accept Him at all; for Christ is nothing but perfection. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of ‘salvation.” 2 Cor. 6 : 2. Jesus is “mighty to save.” He says, “Look unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.” Isa. 45 : 22. “Him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.” John 6 : 37. “Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, ‘and I will give you rest.” Matt 11 : 28. “I said not unto the seed ‘of Jacob, Seek ye Me in vain; I the Lord speak righteousness, I ‘declare things that are right.” Isa. 45 : 19. The Lord does not deceive anybody. He does not call all to Him to find present salvation, and then say to some, “I didn’t mean you; your case is too ‘difficult; I shall have to wait till a more convenient season.” No; He can save all, and He can save now. Then turn to Him now. Why not have rest? See; you do not have rest now; for you admit that the conditions are too hard for you. Well, suppose your more convenient season came, what then?—Why, those supposedly more favorable circumstances would be all that you could endure, if not more, so that even if you kept on with your profession, you would never know enjoyment and peace in the service of God. It would be a hard service to you, which shows that it would not be real service; for His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. But if you accept Him now, when everything seems to be the hardest and most unfavorable, you will find immediate rest. Then when the more favorable circumstances come, if there be any such, you can have so much the more ease in His service. So in Christ you will always find green pastures and still waters; a table will be spread for you in the presence of your enemies, and you can eat without fear. Being delivered out of the hand of your enemies, and from the hand of all that hate you, you can serve the Lord without fear, in holiness and righteousness all the days of your life. Luke 1 : 74, 75. What is the assurance for this?—The One who is made unto us “wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,” is “the power of God.” 1 Cor. 1 : 24, 30. He in whose life we have redemption, is the One in whom all things were created, and in whom all things hold together. Col. 1 : 14–17. “Ah Lord God! behold, ‘Thou hast made the heaven and the earth by Thy great power and ‘stretched-out arm, and there is nothing too hard for Thee.” Jer. 32 : 17. Then commit the keeping of your soul to Him in well-doing as unto a faithful Creator, and do it now. E. J. WAGGONER. THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.
By J. H. Jowett
“I am the Light.” Then, how very easily entreated He must be! The light needs no coercion—no persuasion to come near to us. We need not shout to the light; the light only seeks an opening, and on getting it, will immediately enter in. The good Lord only waits for an open mind and heart. “If any man open the door, I will come in.” “I am the Light.” Then how difficult it is to drive Him away! If we wish to shut the light out of our rooms, we must not only close the windows and doors, but we must seal up every keyhole and every chink and crevice, or some urgent ray will pierce its way in. The gracious, long-suffering Lord is not easily driven away. He thrusts Himself in upon us wherever there is the smallest opening. “If ye ‘have faith as a grain of mustard seed’—even through that small opening He will come in and work wonders.” “I am the Light.” Then how impartial He must be! The light falls upon the rich man’s orchids, and also blesses the poor man’s box of mignonette. It floods the majestic cathedral; it fills the humble chapel on the lonely moor; it steals through the chinks of a gypsy’s tent. “I am the Light.” Jesus blesses the widow with two mites, and also Zaccheus, “chief among the publicans, and rich.” He makes a friend of Peter, an unlearned fisherman, and of Nicodemus, “a ruler of the Jews.” There is no respect of persons with God. “Truly, the light is sweet.” “Awake! and Christ shall give thee light.” “Come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord.” —Rev. J. H. Jowett, M. A. Originally sin sprang from envy. Satan cultivated envy until it brought forth sin. He was envious of Christ, who was a Counselor with God. He fostered the spirit of envy until it became open rebellion. From that day to this envy has been doing its deadly work. The most malignant form of envy is that which is directed against the righteous; for, like that of Satan, it is in reality against Christ. Cain was envious of Abel’s acceptance with God, “because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.” This envy was nurtured until it became murder. So the rulers of the Jews persecuted Christ even unto death because of their envy. This was so illy concealed that even the Roman governor, to whom they appealed for a death-warrant, discerned the cause of their action. Pilate “knew that for envy they had delivered Him.” The Sunday-school lesson in this paper is on a subject that illustrates the cruelty of envy, namely, “Joseph Sold into Egypt.” Stephen says, “The patriarchs, moved with envy, sold Joseph into Egypt; but God was with him.” The deed was murderous in that it was the purpose of Joseph’s brothers to forever put him out of their way. They sold him instead of killing him, because they thought selling him into Egyptian slavery would answer the same purpose, and that thereby they might claim innocency of his blood. But the murder was already in the heart, having been the first suggestion on the occasion mentioned. Jacob “loved Joseph more than all his children.” Of the twelve sons of Jacob, Joseph was the eleventh, but he was the oldest son by his favorite wife, Rachel, the one wife whom he really loved. Jacob’s partiality for Joseph was so marked that it provoked a spirit of envy in his older brothers, who were naturally retaliative. This spirit had been manifested toward the people of Shalem, or Shechem, soon after the arrival of Jacob and his caravan from Padan-aram. See Genesis 37. Various circumstances added fuel to the flame of envy. Joseph sometimes went with his brothers to help in caring for the sheep and cattle, and their wickedness so shocked him that he would report their doings to his father. Again, his father gave him a magnificent coat, which gave him an air of distinction among his brothers. But the climax came when Joseph was given prophetic dreams that augured his pre-eminence over not only his brothers, but over his parents also. He first dreamed a dream and told it to his brothers. He said, “Behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and, lo, my sheaf arose, and also stood upright; and, behold, your sheaves stood round about, and made obeisance to my sheaf.” To this his brothers replied, “Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us?” And they hated him yet the more on account of this dream. The spirit of envy and selfish jealousy always resents the spirit of prophecy. It has been so from the beginning, for “the testimony of Jesus Christ is the Spirit of prophecy.” Rev. 19:10. Then Joseph dreamed again, and told the dream to his brothers and also to his father. He said, “I have dreamed a dream more; and, behold, the sun and the moon and the eleven stars made obeisance to me.” His father said, “What is this dream that thou hast dreamed? Shall I and thy mother and thy brethren indeed come to bow down ourselves to thee to the earth?” To this the record adds, “And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.” After this, Jacob’s sons went away to Shechem to find pasturage for their stock. When they had been away some time, he sent Joseph to inquire after their welfare. “Go, I pray thee,” he said, “see whether it be well with thy brethren, and well with the flocks; and bring me word again.” Joseph went alone on the journey of about fifty-five miles, to Shechem, where he was told that his brothers had gone to Dothan, some fifteen miles farther on. Already weary with travel, he hastened on. Coming in sight of the camp which he had so patiently and faithfully sought, his envious brothers recognized him in the distance. Immediately the spirit of Cain arose in their hearts and asserted itself in their words. “And when they saw him afar off, even before he came near unto them, they conspired against him to slay him.” They said one to another, “Behold, this dreamer cometh. Come now therefore, and let us slay him, and cast him into some pit, and we will say, Some evil beast hath devoured him; and we shall see what will become of his dreams.” But Reuben advised that they do not kill him, but put him into a pit alive and let him die. The others agreed to this proposition, altho it was really a more cruel suggestion. But Reuben designed to secretly release him and let him go home. So when Joseph came up, they took from him his coat of many colors, and cast him into a deep pit. Then they coolly sat down to eat, regardless of the hunger and fatigue of their young brother who had journeyed so far to bring them good cheer from home. While they were eating, they saw in the distance an approaching caravan. Recognizing it to be a company of Ishmaelite merchants on the way to Egypt, Judah proposed selling Joseph. This proposition was made on the plea that there was no profit in killing him, and concealing his blood. Envy can sometimes play in the role of virtue. Judah would ease his guilty conscience by the specious plea, “Let not our hand be upon him; for he is our brother and our flesh.” So he would reason that it was really an act of leniency to sell one whom they had marked for death. This was the irony of jealousy, the hypocrisy of envy. Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of silver, and envy was gratified at least to the extent that the hated one was thought to be forever disposed of. Joseph was a type of Christ; those who should have admired his good qualities, and heeded the spirit of prophecy bestowed upon him, conspired to put him out of their way. He was the victim of the envy of those whose destiny was in his hand. “Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?” G. The Christian Advocate, in speaking of the difficulties thrown in the way of Gospel progress by the legalized saloon, says that it is apparent that the kingdom of God can not triumph (in the earth, of course) as long as the business which ruins the bodies and souls of men continues. According to this, the most important work of the church just now is to influence the State to take steps to make all soul-destroying vices illegal, and afterward resume its work of soul-saving. If the kingdom of God can not triumph until the business of wickedness in the world is stopped by legal enactment, then it must be the business of the church to make politics its one work until that one object has been accomplished. While we would be the last to plead for or support in any way the licensing of vice of any kind for any portion of the week, we can not admit for a moment that the business of the church now or at any time is in the arena of politics; nor admit the truth of that other statement that the kingdom of God can not triumph while the business of wickedness continues. The kingdom of God will triumph or the Book of God is not true, nor the promise of Christ to His followers possible of fulfilment. Hear His declaration:— “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” Rev. 2:7. “He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.” Rev. 3:5. “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name of My God,” etc. Rev. 3:12. “To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne.” Rev. 3:21. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things.” Rev. 21:7. Christ’s followers are to overcome, to conquer, and the earth, sin-soaked as it is, is the place where their battles are fought and won. The battle is not one-sided—both parties are on the field. Those who win, who overcome, do so in spite of the wickedness that is all about them; because the Gospel, whose ministers they are, “is the power of God unto salvation.” Rom. 1:16. The ministers of God are not to look for a reign of legal righteousness to usher in the consummation of their work. Those who do so will be found unprepared for that consummation when it comes; for the testimony of the Lord is against the existence of such a condition of things in the earth while His work is drawing to a close. He declares through Paul that “evil men and seducers ‘shall wax worse and worse, deceiving and being ‘deceived.” 2 Tim. 3:13. A reading of the chapter will show that Paul is telling conditions that would prevail in the last days; but notwithstanding the discouraging conditions, “he that endureth to the end ‘shall be saved.” Matt. 10:22. Altho Paul saw that wickedness would increase till the end, he never for a moment lost hope that the kingdom of God would triumph; for he says:— “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day; and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing.” 2 Tim. 4:7, 8. Through the smoke of the long battle Paul saw the glittering crown of the victors, and he who has the faith of Paul will look through the few remaining days of the conflict and see what he saw. There is no provision for waiting till the State shall come to our aid, and make all wickedness illegal. The success of the kingdom of God does not hang on the tangled thread of political success; and if we have learned the teachings of Immanuel, we will not look for it nor slacken our labors in anticipation of it. God’s call now to all who profess His name is, “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like ‘men, be strong.” I Cor. 16:13. We know that wickedness will augment its forces and its work; we know that no moral regeneration can be produced in the hearts of the people by law; but we also know that out of a world of wickedness the church of God shall come forth “without spot or ‘wrinkle or any such thing;” that out of the whirlpool of destruction that is raging in the earth the people of the Most High shall come off “more ‘than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Rom. 8:37. He who is looking for the conversion of the world, and considers that the triumph of God’s kingdom, is forced to conclude that as long as there is wickedness in the world the kingdom of God can not triumph; for wickedness is the work of unconverted men. But God does not authorize the hope that the world will be converted. More than that, He teaches that it will not be. “Many shall be purified, and ‘made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do ‘wickedly; and none of the wicked shall under-‘stand.” Dan. 12:10. “Then shall that wicked be ‘revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the ‘spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the ‘brightness of His coming.” 2 Thess. 2:8. This certainly shows that there will be wickedness in the earth at the time of Christ’s coming; that the great multitude, instead of turning to God and giving Him glory, will utterly reject Him, and be smitten by His glory when He comes. Listen also to this testimony of Inspiration:— “And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of His power.” 2 Thess. 1:7-9. Peace will one day reign upon the earth, and all who dwell in it will be righteous; but it will not be through the enactment of human laws. It will not be until God has cleansed the earth by the destruction of those who persist in working wickedness; until He “shall send forth His angels, and they shall ‘gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, ‘and them which do iniquity; and shall cast them ‘into a furnace of fire.” Matt. 13:41, 42. Then will peace reign, in the person of the Prince of peace, and the history of sin will be finished. “Whatsoever is born of God overcometh [conquereth] the ‘world; and this is the victory that overcometh the ‘world, even our faith.” I John 5:4. Have we been “born of God”? Then let us have faith—faith in God and the triumph of His kingdom, no matter how terrible the wickedness we may see in the earth to-day, or how great the numbers of them that know not God. THE LAND QUESTION IN CUBA.
By W. A. Candler
(W. A. Candler, D.D., Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church South, in the Independent.) “Every revolution is at bottom a bread riot.” This famous saying is but another way of stating that while men will patiently endure many ills, they will fight before they will starve. “All that ‘a man hath will he give for his life;’ and when he is forced to choose between perilous strife in the field and certain death by starvation in the hovel, he will take the former. These reflections are applicable to the case of Cuba. At bottom the Cuban question is, and has been, an economic issue. Other elements, of course, have entered into the problem collaterally, and they have affected the main issue more or less influentially But these collateral conditions alone would never have produced a revolution. A prime factor in the case is the land question. From the standpoint of the landowner, Cuba is bankrupt. The figures, as given by the census of January, 1900, are as follows: Total value of real estate in Cuba, $323,641,895.70; total incumbrance on real estate, $247,915,496.12. This leaves unincumbered valuation to the landholders of only $75,726,399.58, which is so small a part of the face valuation of the property that it really amounts to scarcely more than an equitable interest. The real owners of Cuban real estate are the holders of the mortgages which rest upon it. Who hold these mortgages? The census does not indicate the holders of $207,627,192.83; but the remainder of $40,288,303.29 is set down under the head of “Censos.” But in the volume published by the War Department at Washington, and from which the foregoing figures are taken, is nowhere explained the meaning of the word “Censos.” An intelligent American who has resided in Cuba for several years, and who has ample opportunity for obtaining accurate information, writes me in response to my inquiry the following explanation of the term:— “Censos” are grants which were given by the Spanish Crown to various religious orders or communities; to the bishop for the bishopric, and sometimes to private individuals. These grants consisted of thousands of acres, the holders of them allowing people to occupy the lands for a yearly tribute. In the event the occupant sold the land, the purchaser bought it subject to the “censo.” These “censos” in some cases could be redeemed; in other cases they could not be redeemed. Thus a man might own a home with a “censo” on it worth $5,000. This “censo” (generally 5 per cent. per annum) had to be paid forever, if not redeemed. The same rule applied to rural properties, where $500 for a caballeria of land (33 1-3 acres) was and is an average “censo.” The grower of cane or tobacco must pay this quit-rent annually or be dispossessed of his property. In addition to the “censos” was another class of ecclesiastical claims, called “capellanias,” which were obligations made by private persons to the church, or to some order or school of the church, for certain religious benefits. These were held in the same way as the “censos”—namely, the church drew a yearly income (generally of 5 per cent.) from certain estates upon which these “capellanias” rested, and the heirs or assigns of these estates were bound to pay these “capellanias,” as they were enforceable by law. They were given for masses for the repose of the original grantor’s soul, or sometimes for the education of a male descendant of any generation who should enter the priesthood. It does not appear from the census published by the War Department whether the “capellanias” are included in the “censos” or not. I know that the Cuban man of the law who runs down a land title for a purchaser is very careful to look out for both “censos” and “capellanias;” and in certifying to the fact that the property is free from any “gravamen” (if it is) he mentions both. In the latter part of last February I visited Cuba, and while there read in one of the daily papers of Havana the following statements which show how the people feel about these ecclesiastical claims:— During the last few days many petitions have been received at the palace asking that the taxes which the Catholic Church has against different properties be remitted or canceled. In each case the petitioners tell a heart-rending story of their needy condition, and they claim that it is next to impossible for them to pay. They ask General Wood to intercede or to abolish the claim for taxes which the church holds. Each of the petitions is referred to the bishop. All these conditions doubtless shed light on the antipathy of the Filipinos to the friars. The same state of things existed in all the Spanish dependencies. The regeneration of Mexico politically began with correcting ecclesiastical encroachments upon the landed interests of the country. The return of prosperity to Cuba, Porto Rico, and the Philippine Islands will be impossible until the lands are liberated from intolerable burdens. The ground is the foundation of the entire economic structure in these islands, and that foundation can not continue to rest on a species of feudalism without peril to the whole system. Hungry people will fight, and no fine-spun argument appeases hunger. It is not proposed in this paper to suggest remedies, but to reveal conditions, and it is beyond dispute that the conditions revealed can not long continue with safety. What the government of the United States can do, or ought to do, I shall not undertake to say. But occasionally one sees a suggestion9thrown out, which leads me to say there is one thing our government ought not to do. I refer to the suggestion that under the treaty of Paris our government is pledged to the guarantee of these ecclesiastical claims. It may presently be proposed that we should pay them. That I conceive is none of our business. General Wood “referred them to ‘the bishop.’ Very well. That is where they belong. Let the bishop collect his own debts, if they are founded in justice. But one thing may be said without impropriety. The Catholic Church must relax its hold on the land, or lose, even more than it has lost already, its hold on the people of Cuba. This is too clear for argument. When a Cuban legislature takes up the land question, and that question will arise in the first sitting, we may expect some very radical legislation. Captains-general have extended the collection of mortgages and quit rents. That postpones, but does not escape, the day of judgment. That day can not be even postponed much longer. Revising tariff schedules in this country will not remedy the trouble. Sugar-planters and tobacco-raisers can not under any sort of tariff pay these heavy fixed charges on their lands, and still make a living.