Review and Herald, Vol. 45, No. 3. (1/15/1875)

Review and Herald

Jan 15, 1875

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 15, 1875

MAN AT CREATION

By Joseph Harvey Waggoner

THE LAW OF GOD.—NO. 1.

BY J. H. WAGGONER.

MAN AT CREATION.

Were the history of the creation of the world written out as fully as modern histories are written, it would furnish a volume of absorbing interest. But it would, doubtless, have less of the grandeur and sublimity which attaches to the brief account given in Genesis. While the superficial reader gathers comparatively little from the brief record in Genesis 1 and 2, the careful, the studious, and above all the reverent, reader is awe-struck with the majesty of the events passing before his view. The style is so simple that a child is interested in the recital; yet it seems as if eternity were needed to so unfold our powers that we may be able to comprehend the facts set forth. The world was made to be inhabited; Isa. 45:18; and to man was given the dominion of the earth. He was formed in the image of his Maker; he was designed to be the crowning glory of the glorious work. And in considering this, man has almost exhausted the vocabulary to describe his own dignity and importance.

But the word of God, whether in brief or particular, is always truthful. With all his powers for good, for high and noble purposes, man soon fell from his state of innocence and happiness. The record of his creation is very soon followed by the record of his sin. Turning his back on his privileges, his happy home, and his Creator and Benefactor, he suffered himself to be led by his worst enemy. He refused the favor of Heaven, the society of angels, and sacrificed life itself, without any assurance of any benefit. A sigh of regret escapes us at the thought. But the story is repeated every day, and even, to some extent, in our own lives. Here we leave the history of events to examine the principles involved in man's rebellion, and to consider how we stand related to those principles.

Though the record in Genesis is very brief, giving us but little idea of man's knowledge of the will of God, or of God's revelation to man at that time, there are certain declarations elsewhere made which are confessedly, of universal application, whenever and wherever obligation and responsibility exist. These apply to man in his first state as certainly as they apply to us at this time. Thus an inspired writer has said, “Sin is the transgression of the law.” Therefore where sin existed, law existed; and in harmony with this necessary conclusion another inspired one has said, “Where no law is there is no transgression,” and, “Sin is not imputed when there is no law.”

Some have contended that the law was not necessary for man in his unfallen condition, but was first made known after he became a sinner. But, according to the texts quoted from John and Paul, that cannot be true. Had the law not existed, man could not have been a transgressor; and whatever his actions might have been, there could have been no imputation of sin had there been no law. So far as the existence of law is concerned, man, at his creation, sustained the same relation to the government of God which we do now. Men, and among them some who are reputed to be wise, have speculated over the supposed ignorance of man in his primeval state, before he had the sad experience of sin. That he was ignorant they conclude solely from the fact that he was without life's experience. But experience is not always necessary to knowledge; nor is it the best means of knowledge in matters of wrong, where guilt must attend the experience. A revelation from God concerning the nature and result of sin is far better than experience; and this revelation man received. Unfortunately for the race he was not content with this, but ventured on a forbidden path, and to his sorrow proved what he could not trust, that the word of God is truth.

As there can be no transgression where there is no law, even so also in the absence of law there can be no obedience. Hence, had not God revealed his law to man he could not have developed a character, either bad or good.

The silence of the first chapter of Genesis in regard to God's making known the several precepts of his law to man, has been taken as evidence that they were not then made known. But this conclusion is altogether unreasonable. That God held converse with man is a revealed truth; though, in the very brief record of Genesis we have but little said concerning that truth. But in revelations afterward given we learn all that is necessary to instruct us on the subject. Cain exhibited a consciousness of guilt, and God dealt with him as with a guilty person. This is all in harmony with the application of Paul's declarations concerning sin and the law, in his letter to the Romans; but not in harmony with the idea that the law which forbids murder had not then been revealed. Abel presented an offering to the Lord which looked to redemption in the plan of the gospel. But, assuming that the gospel plan had not then been revealed to man, his offering is only a mystery.

We find that offerings to the Lord were common in the early history of mankind. Only one, that of Abraham as recorded in Gen. 15, was by divine direction given in the history. But we have an account of his building an altar to the Lord several years before this.

God is no respecter of persons. It is true that he had respect to Abel and to his offering rather than to Cain and to his offering; but it was because Abel offered his by faith. Heb. 11:4. Cain was also told that he should be accepted if he did well; and if not, sin was at his door. It is true that of that generation Enoch only was translated; but he walked with God as the others did not. True that to Noah was revealed the coming of the flood and the means of escape; but the reason is found in the declaration of the Lord that only Noah was “found righteous in this generation.” Abraham also was called to an eminent place, as the father of the faithful; but he was “the friend of God,” and God said he knew him, that he could command his works. So it was and so it ever will be. “In every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him.”

KNOWLEDGE OF GOD’S LAW.

A law, to be of force, or to be enforced on just grounds, must be given by proper authority, and the author, and his right to govern, must be known to the individuals amenable thereto. The fact that men, in the patriarchal age, were treated as sinners, is sufficient evidence that they had a knowledge of God as Law-giver and Governor, and that they so far understood the claims of his law as to incur guilt in its violation. But the main point of inquiry is this: Was the law of God known by the patriarchs the same that was afterward proclaimed to Israel? This we answer in the affirmative, and shall endeavor to maintain the affirmation by Scripture evidences.

That the law of ten commandments have ever been considered the moral law, and pre-eminently the law of God, is by no means accidental. It alone was spoken by the voice of God in the hearing of all the people. It alone was written by the finger of God on the tables of stone. It alone was placed in the ark beneath the mercy-seat, upon which the priest sprinkled the blood of the sin offering, thus showing that their sins were violations of that law, and that their violations of that law must be blotted out in order that they might be accepted with God. The objection that the present wording of the ten commandments is not suited to the condition of an unfallen or sinless race does not present any real difficulty, as it is not the present wording on which we insist. But we do insist that the ten commandments contain substantially all moral obligation, covering, as they certainly do, all moral relations. And we claim that all of these, substantially, were known to the patriarchs and to those living in that age. Though we have no direct declaration that they were given to the people in that age, we have direct evidence of their knowledge of them, and of their being held responsible as sinners for their violation of them. We will briefly notice them in order.

1. When God spake from Sinai, he first commanded, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” This commandment not only forbids the holding of gods in preference to him, but also having them before him or in his presence: this would exclude the worship of false gods from all parts of the universe, all parts being present, or “naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.” In considering this commandment, we can appreciate the remark of the psalmist, “Thy commandment is exceeding broad.” Ps. 119:96. As every individual is continually a transgressor who does not love God with all his heart, and has not chosen him as his chief good, every object of his pursuit is an idol preferred to God, whom he has rejected.

When Abraham’s servant came to the house of Laban, he said, Come in, thou blessed of the Lord. Gen. 24:31. Afterward, when Jacob had served his appointed time for his wives, and desired to return to his own country, Laban requested him to remain because he had learned by experience that the Lord had blessed him for Jacob’s sake. Chap. 30:27. Notwithstanding this acknowledgment of the true God, and that blessings proceeded from him, we find that he transgressed the first of God’s commandments, and had other gods. When Jacob fled from Laban, he pursued him, but God appeared to Laban, and warned him not to touch Jacob; yet immediately after God had thus manifested himself to him, he accused Jacob of having stolen his gods. Jacob denied the charge, and said, with whomsoever thou findest the gods let him not live. Chap. 31:24, 29, 30, 32. When the two sons of Jacob had slain the Shechemites, Jacob was told to go to Bethel and build an altar unto God, who appeared unto him. And Jacob said to his household, and to all that were with him, “Put away the strange gods that are among you and be clean . . . and I will make an altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress.” Chap. 35:1–4. Here it is not only evident that the first commandment was broken, but they understood that they were unclean in the sight of God, and not fit to approach the altar of God, while the strange gods were

2. Idolatry is manifested in various ways, and the gods anciently worshiped were of various kinds; while some worshiped the sun and the host of heaven (Deut. 4:19; 17:3), others made to themselves images “fashioned with a graving tool.” Ex. 32:4; Isa. 40:19, 20. Against this latter practice the second commandment was given: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image . . . thou shalt not bow down thyself to them nor serve them.” The gods that Laban had were of this kind: “And Laban went to shear his sheep, and Rachel had stolen the images that were her father’s.” Gen. 31:19, 34, 35. The gods also that Jacob required his household to put away, were “among them, and in their hands.” Chap. 35:1–5.

3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. No mention is made of this commandment or its transgression in the book of Genesis.

We will further notice this in connection with the fourth commandment, which we pass for the present.

5. Honor thy father and thy mother. There is no express mention of this precept in the book of Genesis. Ham was cursed for dishonoring his father. Gen. 9:21–25. Here we may properly apply the rule quoted from Paul, found in Rom. 5:13.

6. Thou shalt not kill. Whatever excuses may have been framed for others on the ground of ignorance, Cain has been universally considered a murderer. God dealt with him as a transgressor of a known law; and an inspired writer has declared that he was “of the wicked one, and his works were evil.” 1 John 3:12. Lamech transgressed the same commandment, and judged himself more guilty than Cain. Gen. 4:8–11, 23, 24. God made known to Noah his disapprobation of this sin. Chap. 9:5, 6. Beyond this it might be urged that the principle of self-preservation would lead to human enactments, as safeguards for human life, and that mere regard for such laws, deterred from the commission of this crime; but this reasoning will not hold good in the case of the Hebrew midwives, recorded in Ex. 1:16, 17. Here the command was to kill all the male children; but the midwives would not obey this human law; for “they feared God, and did not as the king of Egypt commanded them.” Then they must have known that the law of man was contrary to the law of God. Though we have no formal giving of the law recorded in the history of Genesis, we have, as above, the most positive evidence that it was given and well known before it was spoken on Sinai.

7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Numerous passages in the book of Genesis show that this was known to be sinful by mankind in general. When Abraham denied his wife, and she was taken by the king of Gerar, the Lord suffered him not to touch her, and Abimelech said he had taken her in the integrity of his heart and innocency of his hands; and plead that Abraham had told him she was his sister; showing that he knew before that it would have been sinful to have taken another man’s wife; and he said to Abraham, “Thou hast brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin.” Gen. 20:5–9; 12:12, 13, 18, 19; 26:6–10. When Judah was made acquainted with the trespass of Tamar in this respect, he said, “Bring her forth and let her be burnt.” Chap. 38:24. In the absence of any revelation on this subject, it truly might be regarded as a singular fact that Judah had the same idea of the desert of this crime that the Lord revealed to Moses more than two centuries afterwards. See Lev. 21:9. Abimelech, king of Gerar, also took the wife of Isaac, supposing her to be his sister, and afterward said to Isaac, “One of the people might lightly have lain with thy wife, and thou shouldest have brought guiltiness upon us.” Chap. 26:9, 10. Positive testimony is afforded on this point by the case of Joseph. Refusing to comply with the immodest request of his mistress, he said, “How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Chap. 39:7–9.

8. Thou shalt not steal. By reference to

Gen. 30:33, it will be seen that Jacob and Laban understood the matter of this commandment. Laban reproved Jacob for stealing his gods. Chap. 31:19, 30.

Now Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them, and gave sentence that whosoever the gods were found with should not live. Verse 32; see also verse 39. When Joseph’s messenger accused his brethren of having stolen his silver cup, they declared their honesty in that they had brought again the money which they had found in their sacks’ mouths, and said, “How then should we steal out of our lord’s house silver or gold?” They made the same decision in this case that their father had made before them, namely: “With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die and we also will be my lord’s bondsmen.” Chap. 44:4–9.

9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Nothing positive can be found in the book of Genesis relative to this particular commandment, but Joseph was wickedly imprisoned because his mistress bore false witness against him. Gen. 39:7–20.

10. Thou shalt not covet. The transgression of this commandment is also rather implied than plainly brought to view; but the fact that the transgression of the tenth must precede the violation of the eighth, and that the eighth was known and its violation considered worthy of death, is sufficient evidence on this point for the present, as we intend to offer proof that the whole ten were known and observed before the days of Moses.

“BEAR YE ONE ANOTHER'S BURDENS.”

Do the burdens of life fall heavy? Is thy spirit sorely tried? Does it seem that along thy pathway Nothing but evils betide?

Is thy heart all broken and weary, Nearing the verge of despair, Feeling that thy troubles surely Are more than thy strength can bear?

Then turn from thyself to another, And if, perchance, thou shalt see A weak, fainting sister or brother, With a heavier cross than thee,

Then give them thy cheering assistance, Make them feel that they're not alone, And thou'lt find, in sharing another's, Thy burden has lighter grown.

If we look on the world around us, We'll find that all have a share In its cares, its sorrows, and trials— That all have a cross to bear.

And oft we may lighten their burdens With our sympathy and love; We may throw a gleam through the darkness, And raise their spirits above

The clouds and the fears that surround them, The griefs that oppress them so, And learn that in sharing another's, Our burdens will lighter grow.

—Sel.

A Warning Voice.

By Cotton Mather

BY DR. COTTON MATHER, A. D. 1700.

He was the most learned minister of his day in New England. He preached at the North Church in Boston. He was born 1663, lived sixty-five years, and died in 1728—the same year in which Dr. Whitby, the originator of the common theory of the world's conversion, died. Dr. Mather's “publications amount to 382, some of them being of huge dimensions.” The following extracts are from his Latin preface to a work called “Student and Preacher, Directions for a Candidate for the Ministry,” addressed to all such in Great Britain and New England. See The Voice of the Church, p. 255.

O YE souls, too much longing after and cleaving to the earth, and savoring only earthly things, awake at last. Awake ye, and, being roused now by the seventh trumpet of God, arise to the work of God, and the day; and attend to the voice of one crying in the wilderness. Hear these things, all nations; all ye inhabitants of the globe, hearken; for the Lord God has spoken to every people; he calls the whole earth.

Verily, our God shall come, and shall not keep silence; a fire shall consume before him, and there shall be a very stormy tempest round about him. The Ruler of the world returning to us, will send forerunners, who shall show his approach and the speediness of his coming. And before the very great and very greatly to be dreaded day of the Lord come, he will send Elias, or men endued with his spirit and power, who, with a loud voice, shall show themselves sons of thunder concerning the Lord hastening to us.

It behoveth any servant of God who would be named a vigilant, and not a drowsy, servant, to perform this office of Elias. And were the power granted to any Elias, of uttering through a mighty trumpet a voice that might be heard throughout all the regions of the whole globe, he would surely with this alarm summon us from our lethargy.

The second advent of the Lord Christ, which must be expected for the destruction of Antichrist, and perdition of that fourth empire, which he will abolish at his own illustrious coming, is next and immediately to be expected.

But it is not to be wondered at if there be very few who would believe such a preacher, and if a complaint should accompany the clangor and labor of the trumpeters. Lord, who believeth our report?

For when the Lord shall come, he will find the world almost void of true and lively faith (especially of faith in his coming); and when he shall descend with his heavenly banners and angels, what else will he find, almost, but the whole church as it were a dead carcass, miserably putrefied with the spirit and manners and endearments of this world?

We are now in midnight darkness, wherein the church sleeping is to be roused at each ear with that outcry, than which nothing is more seasonable, “The Bridegroom cometh!” But that clamor, the Bridegroom cometh, repeated even a thousand times for the waking of but one soul among ten thousand, will effect hardly anything. The cry is made scarcely otherwise than as in the ears of the dead, after the most vehement repetitions of the same thing.

When I should wish to stir up my brethren, who are in a deep sleep, with these messages and admonitions, to shake off this soft and indeed lethargic and deadly slumber, I know that I shall appear to my friends a vain dreamer, a sort of Lot, and that they will treat me as one in jest or sport, and as a man in the falling sickness, seized with I know not what enthusiasm; and that sleep may hold them in still more pleasing fetters, they will make use of, as it were, sleepy medicines, a diversity of commentaries on certain prophecies as not yet fulfilled.

But this word of God is in my mind like burning fire shut up in my bones; nor can I any longer forbear, but must again and again denounce this doom to the earth, sufficiently prepared for the fire, and a sorceress condemned to the flames.

Yes; though some Nero should command me to be burned in the flames, I will not cease to preach and foretell, with an earnest voice, the dissolution, renewal and purification of the world by fire.

But O, ye sinners in Zion! let horror come upon you. O, ye hypocrites! let trembling seize you. Who of you shall be able, or who shall dare, to dwell in the burnings of that fire, in which God, the Judge and the Avenger, will purge indeed this our earth, and introduce that new earth?

In that day, how terrible! how dreadful! according to the divine oracles, which are never to be called in question, the heavens shall pass away with a noise, the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are done on it, shall be burnt up. O, how terrible will be that great day of the Lord, of which not only predictions in the books inspired by God do everywhere sound and resound, but the rumor also hath penetrated to the pagans and troubled the Stoics themselves; that there should be a time, when the sea, the earth, and the palace of heaven, seized by the flames, should burn, and the globe's prodigious mass be in strong convulsions!

Very many indeed own that when the Roman beast, which now deceives and enslaves the nations, shall be slain, the body of that beast is to be delivered to the burning of fire, and therewith to be destroyed. But they augur that this fire will be altogether metaphorical, and rave of painted fires only—a wonder if not feigned also. A most vain surmise this! What! and even the second coming of the Lord will become, by-and-by, metaphorical also, and must be resolved and vanish away into I know not what mystical dispensations! Away with such dotings of drivellers!

Noah of old, the preacher of righteousness, warned the wicked of his age of that deluge, concerning which, with what great commiseration could the venerable patriarch answer the unbelieving scorners! “Miserable men! know that not any metaphorical waters shall overwhelm you! At length, and presently, ye shall feel literal waters—fatal to you. Yet a little while, and your groans shall be heard from the waters that must be literally understood and inflicted.” Nor will it be otherwise in these our last days. Good God, for what times hast thou reserved us!

Scoffers they are, who think that all things are forever to continue as they were from the beginning of the creation, and fancy that they can lurk under their metaphors, and hide themselves in the obscurities of figures from the sight of him who sitteth on the throne.

There are very many good men, to be numbered, not indeed with scoffers, but yet with sleepers, and such as lull others to sleep, who, by improper and excessive allegorizing, darken and injure the truth. And I could wish most humbly to advise, or request, and solicit these dear, beloved brethren in Christ, that, being taught by second thoughts, they would persist no further in bringing with their charms the spirit of slumber on those sitting weary on the grass. Would that some Nepos indeed might arise, to confute these allegorists, before the event does it for them!

But the event will perform this! Yea, a deluge of fire will do it. That day of the Lord is near, and hastening apace—a day of fury, a day of anguish, a day of devastation, and the greatest devastation too; a day of the sounding of the trumpet. All this earth will be consumed in the fire of his zeal; for he is about to make a speedy conclusion with all the inhabitants of this earth.

All things being now accomplished that were to precede the destruction of Antichrist, and the thousand two hundred and sixty days being finished that were to be allowed that adversary, the end is at hand; lo! it is near; that period is nearly present; yea, and the age is already begun in which the most importunate prophet will perceive the Redeemer granting his request, and shall arrive in his turn at those things for which blessed is he that waiteth. That term of days is almost present, and not to be deferred. The delay of the end is neither to be sought nor wished for any longer in the prayers of the church.

No; but come, Lord Jesus, come quickly! Why delayeth thy chariot its return? Why linger the driving of the chariots?

Although forewarned by these prophecies, and other of the like kind, in the divine code of both Testaments, truly we are little forearmed, but rather buried in a profound sleep; and therefore that day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. The church is shortly to be gathered.

Universal Suffocation.

By John Harvey Kellogg

In the summer season, and during the whole year, in tropical climates, fresh air is always in constant requisition, on account of the oppressive heat. The life-giving oxygen is freely invited to diffuse its invigorating influence through every human habitation, and every device is employed to facilitate the dissemination of pure air. But when winter approaches, it seems to be forgotten that the demand of the system for oxygen is even greater in this season of the year than in any other. The houses are carefully banked up with straw and dirt lest a few stray inches of untainted air should enter through the cracks in the floor or some loosely fitting joint. The outside windows are nailed fast, and the door casings are padded with felt, to prevent the entrance of a solitary whiff of fresh, unpoisoned air. Within the dwelling, thus securely barricaded, air-tight stoves are kept at a temperature only a little below the point of fusion, and the inmates dodge furtively in and out in order to maintain the maximum degree of heat by preventing the ingress of any of heaven’s pure, cold air.

When a person enters such a hot-house as the one described, and the description is applicable to ninety-nine one-hundredths of all American dwellings, after spending an hour in the open air, the sense of suffocation is very painful for some minutes. He notices the great contrast between such air and that which he has just been inhaling, and at once suffers from respiring it; but after remaining for some time in the vitiated atmosphere, his lungs learn to tolerate it, and he no longer observes the character of the air he breathes, although he continues to suffer its constitutional effects, notwithstanding the obtuseness of his senses.

Let us notice the difference between such air and that which is found out of doors.

‘In the first place, it is largely contaminated with that deadly gas, carbonic acid; or, technically, carbon dioxide. We call this gas deadly, because it is doubtless productive of more mortality than any other single gaseous body. In out-of-door air, this gas exists in very minute quantities, not more than .04 of one per cent, or .4 of one part in 1000 parts of air. Small as this quantity is, if it becomes increased to .6, according to some of our most eminent medical authorities, it will impair the health of those who breathe the air containing it. In nearly all dwelling houses, at this season of the year, the proportion of carbonic acid is usually from 1.2 to 4.0 parts per 1000, or from two to six times as much as can be breathed without serious injury.

Again, the lungs are constantly throwing off in the expired air certain organic matters of a very poisonous character, even in health. In disease, these impurities are enormously increased, adding further poison to the surrounding air in the shape of disease germs, and the products of putrefactive changes. The nature of these poisons, and their effects, are closely analogous to those which give rise to typhoid fever, if they are not quite identical with the latter.

Lastly, by superheating, air which is otherwise healthy may become a source of disease. If the air is moist as well as elevated in temperature, it will have a debilitating influence, relaxing the capillary vessels of the skin and lungs, and making those who breathe it liable to colds and pneumonias upon exposure to even slight changes of temperature. If it is dry, as it is most likely to be, it becomes a source of irritation to the mucous surfaces of the air passages and the eyes, and thus leads to serious affections of these organs.

Many people who enjoy good health in warm weather, complain of poor circulation, congestion of the head, and similar difficulties in the winter. Such persons are very likely to keep themselves shut up in close rooms, which are kept at a very high temperature. They constantly draw closer and closer to the fire, but their chilliness increases, notwithstanding. This is one of the most common results of confinement in hot, unventilated rooms.

We need scarcely say that the remedy for all of these evils is ventilation. There seems to prevail at present as great a fear of cold air as there once was of cold water; both are alike harmless and promotive of health when properly used. But whether warm or cool, pure air is absolutely essential. How to secure it is the problem. When log houses and huge fire-places were fashionable, there was no necessity for any attention being directed especially to the ventilation of dwellings, for the blazing fire on the open hearth, communicating with a capacious chimney, was a most efficient means for removing the foul products of combustion and respiration, while an abundant supply of fresh air was sucked in through the loose walls of those primitive edifices; but the unwholesome refinements of our modern civilization have rendered this a puzzling question. Some eminent physicists recommend that the outlet for air should be at the bottom of a room, in imitation of the old-fashioned fire-place, the inlet being near the ceiling, while others recommend exactly the opposite plan. Probably either plan is useful under the circumstances adapted to it. In ordinary dwellings, ventilation can usually be secured only by means of doors and windows. By a little care, unpleasant draughts can be avoided. If necessary, a piece of coarse muslin or wire gauze may be placed before the opening in the window to break the current which pours in. Generally, windows should be opened on several sides of the room, to insure circulation.

Every person requires a breathing space of at least 800 cubic feet. More would be better. To keep this pure, 3000 cubic feet of air must pass through it every hour; or, in other words, the whole air in the room must be changed about four times an hour. To effect this, the area of inlet should ordinarily be about twenty-four square inches for each occupant of a room. The same space should be allowed for the escape of the air.

We solicit the aid of every true philanthropist in endeavoring to uproot this almost universal practice of gradual suffocation. Carbonic acid may do very well as a means for killing hydrophobic dogs; but its use in the wholesale destruction of human beings is quite unnecessary so long as war and pestilences exist. — J. H. K. in Health Reformer.

Heavenly Wisdom.

By E. O. Hammond

How much we need this precious grace as we pass through this world which lies in wickedness. The Christian’s pathway is a rugged one; but it is nevertheless a pathway lit up with beams of heavenly light. Said Jesus, “Ye are the light of the world.” God causes the glorious light of his countenance to shine upon his people, and they in return reflect that light upon those around them. In our weakened and degenerate state we need much help from God, that we may know how to act our part on all occasions—that we may know how to put to silence the ignorance of foolish men who falsely accuse those who are willing to come out and be separate from the world by faithful obedience to the requirements of God.

Again, our Lord has said, “Ye are the salt of the earth.” Salt is valuable for its preserving qualities. God would not have destroyed Sodom if there had been ten righteous men found there. The reason why God’s terrible judgments threatened upon the world are stayed for a time is because there are a few honest souls here and there who will yet hear and obey the truth. We need wisdom from Heaven that we may know how to reach them with the truth. The apostle James points us to the source from which we may receive the help we need. He says, “If any man lack wisdom let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not.” But this is a conditional promise. Our importunate cries may go up to Heaven until the day of doom, without availing us anything unless we comply with the conditions, which are found in Prov. 2: “If thou seekest her as silver and searchest for her as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.”

The Lord has given us great light through his word and his testimonies, and here is where we should search to find out his will concerning us. If we do this, at the same time lifting up our voices to him for the aid of his Holy Spirit in understanding his truth, we shall surely receive the wisdom we so much need. Had the disciples obeyed the injunction of the Saviour and faithfully searched the Scriptures, which testified so plainly of his life and character, his sufferings and death, perhaps he never would have had occasion to say to them, “O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” Let us be careful that our feet be not taken in the snares of Satan by our carelessly neglecting to read and re-read what God in his great kindness has spoken to us.

E. O. Hammond.

Look Well to Your Motives

Look well to your motives.

What Is a True Lady?

By A Woman's Rights Girl of Thirteen

BY A WOMAN'S RIGHTS GIRL OF THIRTEEN.

The basis of a true lady’s character is principle, and the key note to it will be—Be natural. She will act herself, and be independent of her male relatives, and earn her own living, if need be. She will not color her hair or face—neither will she paint, pad, nor powder. For she will know that the Lord knew how to finish his work; and for that reason, neither will she lace herself to death.

She will not wear a breast-pin that costs a hundred dollars, and then snarl at her seamstress for asking “fifty cents too much” for making that “Irish poplin or French silk.” Nor upon any consideration will she meddle with another woman’s business, but strictly attend to her own. A true lady will dispense with dead people’s hair, and content herself with her own.

She is not one of those exaggerating women who say, “My shoes are a mile too long,” or, if anything unusual occurs, exclaims: “Oh, horrors!” “Ain’t it awful!” “That’s dreadful!” She will not be a woman that will run between two other women, telling what they have said about each other; nor will she repeat anything bad she may hear about another, for it may be false, and hurt her reputation and feelings, and cause the teller to have an enemy.

Nor will she put her whole mind to trying to dress better than another. She will not pet poodle dogs, with little children in the nursery needing her attention. Neither will she turn the poor and needy from her door; but will do all in her power to relieve their necessities. A true lady will not spend half her time reading “Dime Novels,” “The Chimney Corner,” or any such trash; but will use that time, visiting or tending the poor, sick and needy, and use the “dimes” that would go for such reading to help mitigate their sufferings. A true lady keeps herself neat, and does what she can to make her home neat and comfortable.—Sel.

The Religious Amendment Argument.

This being a Christian nation, we have a right to acknowledge God in the Constitution; because, as things are now, this is not a Christian nation, and needs such recognition to make it one.

This having always been a Christian nation, we have a right to keep it such; and, therefore, we need this amendment, since hitherto, without it, we have only been a heathen nation.

In other words, we need to make this a Christian nation because we are already such; on the ground that if we do not make it such we are not a Christian nation.

Because the people are substantially all Christians we have a right and have need to make the Constitution Christian, to check our powerful element of unbelievers.

We mean to interfere with no man's rights, but only to get certain rights now belonging to all restricted to Christians.

This religious amendment is to have no practical effect, its object being to check infidelity.

It is to interfere with no man's rights, but only to make the unbeliever concede to Christians the right to rule in their interest, and to give up like claims for himself.

It is meant to have no practical effect; and, therefore, will be of great use to us.

We want to recognize God, and Christianity as our national duty to Deity; but intend to give no effect to such recognition—pleasing God by judicially voting ourselves pious and doing nothing more.

We shall leave all religions in equality before the law, and make Christianity the adopted religion of the nation.

Christianity, being justice, requires us to put down infidelity by taking advantage of our numbers to secure rights which we do not allow to others.

Justice to Christians is one thing and to infidels another.

We being a Christian people, the Jewish and unbelieving portion of our people are not of right part of the people.

And so, having no rights which we, as Christians, are bound to respect, we must adopt this amendment in our interest.

Passing this act will not make any to be Christians who are not Christians, but it is needed to make this a more Christian nation.

The people are not to be made more Christian by it; but, since the nation cannot be Christian unless the people are, it is meant to make the nation Christian without affecting the people.

That is, the object of this amendment is to make the nation Christian without making the people Christians.

By putting God in the Constitution he will be recognized by nobody else than those who already recognize him; and, therefore, we need the amendment for a fuller recognition of him.

If we say we believe in God and Christ in the Constitution, it is true of those believing in him and a lie as to the rest; and, as the first class already recognize him, we want this amendment as a recognition by the latter class, so that our whole people shall recognize him.

Whether we have an acknowledgment of God in the Constitution or not, we are a Christian nation; and, therefore, it is this recognition of God that is to make us a Christian nation.—N. Y. Independent.

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