Earlier text: MAN AT CREATION“Nothing to do,” said a Christian! one who has seen the exceeding sinfulness of sin, felt himself condemned by the holy law of God, and fleeing to Jesus for help, has found in him the “one able to save.” “Nothing to do;” and this from the lip of a professed follower of him who through all his earthly life “went about doing good,” and at last gave himself as a ransom for the sins of the world; from one who hopes at last to join the ransomed in the glad cry, “Worthy the Lamb that was slain!” Saved by the suffering and death of Jesus, and yet “nothing to do” for him. “Nothing to do;” and the world, which God so loved that he gave his only begotten Son to save it still lies in wickedness; and the cries of the oppressed and downtrodden, the sighing of earth’s needy and sorrowing ones, go up from all its wide extent to Heaven. “Nothing to do” for the Master, whose command to all his disciples is, “Go work to-day in my vineyard.” No cross or bitter trial to be meekly borne; no suffering to be patiently endured because sent by a Father’s hand; no tear to wipe from the eye of suffering; no wandering soul to lead gently to the fold of the Good Shepherd; not “a cup of cold water” even to give to a weary disciple in his name, for his sake and from love to him. “Nothing to do” in the great work of the world’s evangelization; no part in fulfilling the Saviour’s last command to “preach the gospel to every creature;” no influence to use for the conversion of individual souls; no earnest, agonizing prayers; no effort to bring this lost and ruined world to Jesus; no ignorant souls to instruct in the truths of God’s word; not even one of Christ’s lambs to feed; no loving word to speak for Jesus—“nothing to do” for him. We cannot conceive, that Christ should rescue a soul from the thralldom of sin, wash and sanctify it in his own precious blood, and yet give it “nothing to do” for him, in return for his unspeakable love! The Christian may have but one talent entrusted to him, but it is given him to be used in the Master’s service, and not to be “hidden in the earth.” Whether the talents given to each one be few or many, the command is the same: “Occupy till I come.”—Irish Evangelist. I ask one little boon
Of the new year:
May I through all its days
Carry some cheer
To those who sit in gloom,
Weeping for loss:
To hearts that slowly break
Under a cross. I who have left my dead,
With none to care;
I who have wept alone,
Facing despair,—
Would gladly sweeten lives,
And make them dear—
This little boon I ask
Of the new year. They best can serve the Lord
His errands run,
Who call no love their own,
Under the sun.
Let me bear help to want,
And hope to fear:
I ask no other boon
Of the new year. —From the Aldine for January. 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 overestimate our own ability. A railroad could never be run if every man was allowed to choose his own position. The brakemen 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 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. You can hire strangers to fill a genteel situation; but if a lingering disease preys upon you, it is love alone that can perform with cheerfulness the unpleasant service that your circumstances require. We manifest most affection for Jesus when we perform for him the most menial, least honorable, service in our power. Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, a distinguished professor in the medical department of Harvard University, has expressed the serious conviction that the world would be infinitely better off if all the drugs in it were cast into the sea. If this celebrated poet and physician is correct in his conclusion, and we cannot doubt that he is, France must be a happy country; for an exchange informs us that in that favored country there are cities of 15,000 inhabitants which have not a single physician, while others of a population of 20,000 have but one. The city of Roubaix contains 76,000 persons, who are drugged by only eight doctors. Fortunate indeed must such a people be, unless the place of physicians is supplied by ignorant quacks and charlatans. We have no enmity against the physician, per se, nor even against his drugs, provided that they are wisely employed; but we most heartily deplore the terrible waste of life which we yearly witness as the result of employing in the treatment of disease articles which could be only appropriately used in destroying vermin and superannuated dogs. We are almost persuaded to believe that if the hypothesis of Dr. Holmes could be realized, the fact that the great majority of chronic diseases would cease to exist except in the pages of medical history. The Power of Singleness of Love for Jesus
By Cuyler
THERE is prodigious power in singleness of love for Jesus—in the doing “just one thing,” and that is to live solely for the Master. A man of very moderate talents and endowments becomes a leading mind as soon as Christ gets complete hold of him. I can point to more than one plain, modest, moderately-educated Christian, who has attained to a great propelling power in the church, simply from the momentum of his godliness. He follows Jesus so heartily, so projectively, that he carries others along with him by his sheer momentum. And that is not brain power, or purse power mainly, but heart-power.—Cuyler. One good man advised a newly-married couple never to be angry both at once. There was wisdom in the suggestion; for when one scatters fire it is quite time the other should start after water. A colored man related his plan for avoiding family jars as follows:— “I telled Betty when we was wed, dat if she saw me getting angry like, she must go to the bucket and fill her mouth wid water; and if I saw her getting out of herself, I’d go to the bucket and fill my mouth wid water. So we never had any quarrels; for one can’t quarrel alone, and another can’t quarrel wid you when his mouth’s full of water.” “We never had any quarrels.” How many married people can say that? And yet most quarrels proceed from an ungoverned tongue. Of the ten commands which God gave, two are directed against the offenses of the tongue; one in the first table, and one in the second. So it appears that an ungoverned tongue wars against God’s glory and against man’s peace. Bridling the tongue is a duty for all, and of him who neglects it, it is said, “That man’s religion is vain.” And if there is no other way to do it, it is better to fill the mouth with water than to open it and give free scope to a tongue which “is a fire,” and which “setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell.”—Selected. A LADY once writing a letter to a young naval officer who was almost a stranger, thought, “Shall I close this as anybody would? or shall I say a word for my Master?” and lifting up her heart for a moment, she wrote, telling him that his constant change of scene and place was an apt illustration of the words, “Here we have no continuing city,” and asked if he could say, “I seek one to come.” In trembling she folded it and sent it off. Back came the answer: “Thank you so much for those kind words. My parents are dead. I am an orphan, and no one has spoken like that to me since my mother died, long years ago.” The arrow, shot at a venture, hit home, and the young man shortly after rejoiced in the fullness of the blessing of the gospel of peace. Christians, how often do we close a letter “as anybody would,” when we might say a word for Jesus.—Sel. Dr. Talmage has something to say on the question of praying:— “We are confident that one reason for the long prayers with which we are sometimes afflicted in religious meetings is an incapacity to wind up. After the brother has been praying about long enough you see that he is trying to find “Amen.” He does not want to come too suddenly upon it, so he gradually makes that way; but he is like a Brooklyn ferry-boat aiming for the wharf when there is a good deal of ice in the river, and he backs in and out, in and out, at last reaching it with a blundering stroke. Many of the brethren in their prayers take one-third of the time to get started and another third to stop. Why not with your first sentence plunge into what you most want and stop when you get through without any circumgyrations? Men keep on after they ought to stop, because they do not know how to let down brakes. We have a recommendation to make. If any isolated “Amen” would sound abrupt at the time you want to close, do as the psalmist did when the prayers of David the son of Jesse were ended, exclaiming, “Amen and Amen!” Idle Hours and the Ruin of Persons
THE ruin of some persons dates from some idle hour. Occupation is an armor to the soul. Sunday Lord’s Day, Papal.
By Uriah Smith
1. THE whole theological world are assiduously taught that the first day of the week has been called the Lord’s day, and unanimously observed as the Sabbath by Christians ever since the days of Christ. This claim is not sustained by either the Bible or history. Rev. 1:10, is the only scripture that is brought forward to prove that the term “Lord’s day” had become the familiar title of the first day of the week in the days of the apostles. There are a number of objections to such an application of this scripture:— First. John does not say that it was the first day of the week which he here calls the Lord’s day, nor does he make the least statement from which such a conclusion can be inferred. That point has to be wholly assumed. Secondly. As we look back of the time of John’s vision on Patmos, into the history of Sunday with Christ and the apostles, we find no intimation that they regarded it as the Lord’s day; for Christ never took the day into his lips, and the apostles speak of it only eight times, and uniformly call it the first day of the week. Thirdly. John wrote his Gospel two years after his Revelation (see Thoughts on Revelation, p. 28); and in his Gospel he twice speaks of the first day of the week, and calls it, not Lord’s day, as he would have done if it had come to be the general name for that day when his Revelation was given, but simply “first day of the week.” Fourthly. The seventh day of the week is in the most express manner called God’s holy day. It is the one day of the seven which he has reserved to himself. And the Son of man, through whom the worlds were made, John 1:3; Heb. 1:2, and who was consequently associated with his Father in the institution of the Sabbath at the beginning, expressly styles himself the Lord of the Sabbath day. Mark 2:28. Therefore we say that the Lord’s day of Rev. 1:10, is the seventh day of the week, not the first. No ecclesiastical writer previous to A. D. 194 gives the title of Lord’s day to the first day of the week. The so-called epistle of Barnabas is spurious. The letter of Pliny to Trajan speaks of a stated day, but does not specify which day of the week it was. The epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians is itself a forgery; and the passage which is made to speak of Sunday as the Lord’s day has been interpolated into that forgery. Justin Martyr, A. D. 140, does not use the term Lord’s day, as is so often asserted. Clement of Alexandria, A. D. 194, uses the term ambiguously, perhaps referring to the first day of the week. Victor, bishop of Rome, A. D. 196, attempted to honor the day by an effort to have Easter uniformly celebrated on that day. Tertullian, A. D. 200, furnishes the first evidence of abstinence from labor on that day. In A. D. 321, Constantine made a law in behalf of the “venerable day of the sun,” which was the first Sunday law. But this was a pagan edict, Constantine not yet having become even nominally Christian. At his so-called conversion, two years later, in A. D. 323, this law for Sunday as a heathen festival, being unrepealed, was made use of by Sylvester, bishop of Rome, now reckoned in the line of popes, to enforce Sunday observance as a Christian institution. These are the indubitable facts of history, authenticated by a reference to the original authorities in the History of the Sabbath, by J. N. Andrews, to which the reader is particularly referred. 2. An objection. The papacy was not fully established till A. D. 538, more than two hundred years after Constantine’s law. How, then, can Sunday be called an institution of popery, and the change be attributed to the little horn, according to the prophecy of Daniel, which is a symbol of the papal power? Let it be remembered that Sunday, as a subject of prophecy, is Sunday as a Christian institution. The question, then, is, What power or influence established this observance in the Christian church? Not Constantine; for his legislation referred to it as a heathen festival; although he furnished a means which was shrewdly manipulated by pope Sylvester in enforcing it among Christians. But it was brought in by the working of that influence which finally resulted in the establishment of the papacy. The papacy existed in embryo long before Constantine’s time. The mystery of iniquity worked even in Paul’s day, 2 Thess. 2:7, waiting only the removal of the restraining influence of paganism, to reveal, in its full strength, the papacy before the world. The root of this monstrous system of evil runs back far into the centuries before its open development, like the tree which sends its tap-root far down into the earth beyond the sight of the observer. Through that root the Sunday has found its way into the professed church of Christ; and on that tree it appears as one of the most characteristic fruits. As an institution, Sunday is both pagan and papal; as a rival of the Sabbath of the Lord, it is wholly papal. Gravity and Sobriety.
By Jos. Clarke
“THAT the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in the faith, in charity, in patience.” Titus 2: 2. We delight in consistency and beauty. We like to see everything in its place. Order is the first law of Heaven. And, as in a picture, or in genuine landscape, we love a proper grouping of objects, so in individual character, we wish to see virtues in good company. As in a cluster of ripe grapes, we love to see only grapes, so in the Christian character we want to see no vices marring the fair picture. In the buffoon we excuse lightness, for it is his business, and we expect it from him, and avert our eyes, and shun his company; but in the good man, whether young or old, we look for sobriety. In the old, lightness is inexcusable and disgusting; and in the Christian, be he young or old, a spirit of levity is at direct enmity with the work of God; and the more elevated the person in mind, in piety, or position, the more injurious is this vicious propensity. The writer of this has had a long warfare with this sin, this foe to grace; and it is his encouraging experience that a cheerful state of mind when properly kept in bounds, and restrained from an outburst of levity and folly, may conduce to advancement in the Christian life, and instead of expending itself in the devil’s seething kettle of levity, it may be like a reservoir of lively thought on useful topics, and thus tend to the happiness of himself and others; while giving way to levity only leaves one despondent, and forsaken, and gloomy, until the spirits have time to recover. “Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.” Titus 2: 6. But we should not be discouraged, if we find this a hard sin to get rid of, but persevere in opposing it. Lay it aside. What makes it harder to resist is that so many laugh at the silly jest. But I hope you will not laugh again at the jester; for if you even smile at his folly, you become a partaker in his sin, and help to rivet the habit upon him. As Jesus wept for sinners, so we should weep when we see any one sinning against God, and especially our brethren. Therefore if there is ever a time to look down sin and frown it out of the sinner, it is when a good man jests. Be you ever so much tempted, do not even smile. This will be a severe rebuke, and will do more to convict him, probably, than many words. If you laugh at the jest, you may spare rebuke, for you would but stultify yourself. The Religious Amendment.
By Uriah Smith
The following from the Index, we copy from the Christian Statesman of Jan. 2, 1875. We do not indorse its statements as applied to real Christianity, but it probably expresses the view which will be taken of this matter by the churches generally, and so may be regarded as an indication of the course that will be pursued by them. While the political religionist can see in present movements the prelude of a mighty revolution, we believe it to be the same that students of prophecy have for years been led by the word of God to expect. The Index says:— “Nothing could be more apparent, to one who intelligently followed the argument from its own premises, than that this movement expresses at once the moral and the political necessities of Christianity in this country. It is not a question of words, but rather a question of the vital interests of great institutions. Christianity must either relinquish its present hold on the government,—its Sunday laws, its blasphemy laws, its thanksgivings and fasts, its chaplaincies, its Bible in schools, and so forth,—or else it must secure the necessary condition of retaining all these things by inserting some guarantee of their perpetuity in the National Constitution. Looking simply at the small present dimensions of the movement,—at the fewness of its devoted workers, the paucity of attendants at the late convention, and the indifference of the public at large,—one is justified in dismissing it from consideration as of immediate importance. But, whoever is qualified to detect great movements in their germs, and to perceive that instituted Christianity is in vast peril from the constant inroads of rapidly spreading disbelief of dogmatic Christianity,—whoever is able to discern the certainty that the claims of Christianity to mold political action in its own interest, must sooner or later be submitted for adjudication to the supreme law of the land, by which they are not even verbally recognized,—will not fall into the superficiality of inferring the future fortunes of this movement, either from the mediæval character of its pretensions or the present insignificance of its success. It may possibly be that the Christian churches do not really care for their own existence, and are prepared to surrender it without a struggle; but we do not so read history. So soon as they come to comprehend fully the fact that their legal ‘Sabbath,’ their Bible in schools, and all their present legal privileges, must one by one slip away inevitably from their grasp, unless they defend them in the only possible way by grounding them on Constitutional guarantees, it seems to us an irresistible conclusion from history and experience that they will arouse themselves to protect these possessions as infinitely important. If they do not, they have achieved a degree of moral rottenness, cowardice, and hypocrisy which we are very slow to attribute to them. These champions of a Christianized Constitution are to-day the POLITICAL BRAIN of the Christian church. Conceding their premises, which are simply those of the universal Evangelical communion, it is impossible to deny their conclusions. It is these premises that we dispute—not the logicalness of the conclusions themselves; and although we hold that the same premises, if further carried out, must lead to the Roman Catholic position expressed by the Vatican decrees, we none the less admit the necessity of traveling that road from the starting-point, if it is once fairly entered upon. Hence we are as strongly convinced as ever that the Christian Amendment movement contains the germ of a demand that must sooner or later be heard asserted with perilous emphasis, by the body of orthodox Christian churches.” Keeping Young People in Sabbath School
“How can we keep the young people in Sabbath-school when they feel themselves no longer children?” was the question in a Sabbath-school convention. “By building a wall of old folks between them and the door, so high that they can’t climb over,” was the pertinent answer from a sensible delegate. When fathers and mothers love the Bible school and share its exercises, their children will not at any age think they have outgrown its advantages. Conscientiousness.
By Wm. C. Gage
ONE of the most noticeable sins of the present age is a lack of conscientiousness; indeed, a class who are to flourish in the last days are characterized by the prophet as “having their consciences seared with a hot iron.” The reason why the truths of the third angel’s message do not control the masses who hear them is not because they are not sufficiently conclusive, but because the people are not sufficiently conscientious to obey what they feel and acknowledge to be the truth. A sister who, together with her excellent husband, now rejoices in present truth, was formerly a member of the orthodox church. Her pastor visited her with the hope of dissuading her husband and herself from leaving the church. He told her that she had been led into this belief by reason of her extreme conscientiousness. She told him that on first hearing on the Sabbath question in the tent, her desires were aroused to hear more, and be convinced as to the truth of the subject. To this he replied, “That was just the time when you should have left off going to the tent!” Is it any wonder that the flock do not hear and follow the voice of the Chief Shepherd when the under shepherds thus lead them? The time to stifle conscientious convictions, according to this pastor, is when they are first aroused, and before conscience can assert her rights and take the lead. In other words, the child of truth must be strangled at its birth, so that error may continue to triumph over it. Extreme conscientiousness is a jewel, alas! too rare in this degenerate age; but it leads its possessor to obey the truth even though it be unpopular, and hence is an inconvenient appendage to a popular, world-loving Christianity. The remedy for it is well set forth by the minister’s advice to his flock to stay away from the place where conscience becomes aroused. Nothing is so effectual in searing the conscience as a disregard of its earliest monitions, and the enemy of all righteousness knows this full well. Hence his efforts are always directed toward keeping the people from hearing enough to thoroughly awaken conscience, realizing that when once aroused it is more dangerous to the interests of his kingdom than when quietly slumbering. I thank God that there is still a remnant who have kept their consciences tender, notwithstanding the error and darkness by which they are surrounded, and when the truth finds them, they gladly respond to its claims and receive its benefits. The Trial of Faith.
By Roswell F. Cottrell
THAT we may know our motives and the strength of our faith, it is well to have something to test it. We might be deceived in respect to our love to God, his cause, and those for whom Christ died, had we nothing to test the strength of our love. Hence the trial is necessary; and if properly received and endured, will prove a precious benefit. Hence the utterance of the apostle: “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold.” 1 Pet. 1:7. And James says, “Blessed is the man who sustains trial; for, becoming an approved person, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them who love him.” Jas. 1:12. Campbell. He further says, “Let no one who is tempted say, Certainly I am tempted by God: for God is incapable of being tempted by evil things, and he tempts no one.” He tempts no one to do evil; but he tries the sincerity of our faith and love; not merely because he has a right to do so, but for our good—that we may know ourselves and not be deceived, and consequently ruined. That which is intended only for our good, should certainly be received, not only with composure, but, thanksgiving. Hence he says, “Count it all joy, when ye fall into divers trials.” We are liable to deceive ourselves. We may think we are laboring for the cause of God and from a love of souls, while we labor for self, working for wages. If this is the case, a work of sacrifice—a work in which there is no hope of remuneration till the resurrection of the just—will do us good, since it will decide the question, whether we would “shut the doors” of the house of God, or “kindle a fire” upon his altar for nought. We should welcome all that the providence of God permits, knowing that trials rightly borne will work for the glory of God and our own salvation. God is testing his people in various ways. Who will prove true? He is giving us the opportunity to learn whether we are covetous, proud, and selfish or not; and if we find, when brought to the test, that we are self-lovers, or money-lovers, he graciously gives us the opportunity to correct and overcome these faults. And all have an opportunity now to prove whether we have love enough for those for whom Christ died to put forth self-sacrificing efforts for their salvation. Those who do this will be permitted to see the fruit of their efforts, as the reward of their toil, and thus enter into the joy of their Lord; provided they endure to the end in patient continuance in well-doing. Sermons Compared to Guns
By Baron Stone
Sermons are like guns. Some are large, others are small; some are long, others are short; some are new, others old; some are bright, others rusty; some are loaded, others empty; some are owned, others borrowed. Some are air-guns, some pop-guns, some of every size, from the pocket-pistol to the Paixhan gun. Some are charged only with powder, and make a great noise and smoke. Some send only small shot, that irritate rather than kill. Some carry heavy metal, that does execution. Some discharge chain shot, mowing down whole platoons. Some are wide-mouthed mortars, throwing only bomb shells. Some are duelling pistols, used only in controversy—vile things. Some go off half bent. Some flash in the pan. Some make a terrible fizz, the charge all escaping at the priming-hole. Some shoot too high, some too low, some sideways, and a few directly at the mark. Some aim at nothing, and hit it. Some scatter prodigiously. Some kick their owner over. Some are unerring; others always hit the wrong object. Some have too much wadding, and vice versa. Some are alarm guns; others are complimentary guns, used only for salutes on special occasions. Some are in a series, constituting a battery; others on swivels, made to turn in any direction. Some are useful, some useless, some dangerous. Some amuse, some frighten, some exasperate, some explode, some gain the victory. Very much depends upon the manner in which they are made and managed. [PERHAPS no one knows more of spiritualism than “Brick Pomeroy,” For him it wrecked a pleasant home, and drove from his door one of the lovliest of women, and a charming daughter. It hurled him from a high position, and robbed him of his wealth. His experience is similar to that of hundreds of others, and the following is his present opinion, which more than one aching heart will fully indorse.] “We have studied the phenomena of spiritualism for years. Have given it much of time, and weeks of thought. Have mixed with mediums, sat in circles, listened to wonderful things, seen strange sights and startling experiences, but do not know that we are one whit better, braver, and more honest, than before entering upon the investigation. “The lessons learned in the lap of the good woman who taught us of the Bible, have stood us better in all the battles of life, and conflict with corruption, than has all the knowledge yet obtained through spiritualism. The Bible tells us to be pure, upright, virtuous, and united in faith with those who are workers for immortality, and upright walkers on the road of life. Spiritualism leads to free love, adultery, and infidelity. It is in and of itself a puzzle—an enigma—a mass of disintegrated rubbish—very much of the order of nightmare, as eliminated by those of its mountebanks who stand at the head of the spiritualistic society of the United States. The truth and beauty there is in it is so wrapped up in free love, free lust, froth, and nastiness, that he who believes that cleanliness is next to godliness cannot touch the unclean thing and be in communion with its chief officers.” “Spiritualism claims several millions of followers in this country, and yet is not strong enough to elect a virtuous or responsible person at the head of its organization. It has no churches, no colleges other than houses of prostitution, where its Halls and Woodhulls can study for its ministry. It has no direct line of policy, but is broken, twisted, fragmentary, and at war against itself in all its teachings. It is a junkshop instead of a temple. Its high priestess is a female, who is mother, mistress, and maw-worm combined; who opposes marriage and is an adulteress. One of its recognized captains is Moses Hull, who left a decent family after he became a spiritualist, to practice and to preach adultery as a religion. Another of its leaders, and the brightest of its stink-wicks, is a woman, who lived in a quiet home in a pleasant village of Bradford Co., Pa., as the happy wife of a promising lawyer, till she became a spiritualist, drove her husband to suicide in a city of Northern Mich., and then became a spiritual lamp-carrier, under the name of Laura Cuppy Smith. “We could fill an entire page of this paper, fine type, with names of nasty men and women who have gone through the door of spiritualism into the filth of free love and loaferishness; who are open and avowed adulterers, boasting their lives as in accordance with the tenets of spiritualism.” “That person, who follows the direction of spirits speaking through mediums, will be fooled four times out of five. Spiritualism is not truthful, therefore it is not the thing for us to follow, though others may do as they please. Spiritualism is a loafer. Science is a gentleman. Religion is the child of God, teaching purity. Let us judge spiritualism by the ‘flowers’ its vine has brought forth—by its free love advocates and lusty orators—and see where it belongs.” NEARLY all the older States have on their statute-books some severely strict laws about the due observance of Sunday, which are enforced only in exceptional cases, and usually do injustice then. In a recent case in Massachusetts, a poor mechanic of Boston brought suit against that city for damages suffered by falling from the approach to a bridge into the water. The bridge had been swung open on a dark night, and left open. The lamps on the approach were not lit, and no barrier was put up. It was so clearly a case of gross negligence that the city had to seek some other defense than that of due care. The mechanic was walking, when he fell, to see a man who had promised him work, and he was walking on a Sunday evening. The City Attorney raked out of the statute-book of the State an old act which forbade such a use of the day, and the plaintiff was non-suited, on the ground that the law would not grant redress for an injury incurred while its sufferer was breaking the law. There are other cases of equal injustice. Thus, in Connecticut, contracts made on Sunday are void, and money paid on that day for goods which are not subsequently delivered cannot be recovered. We are glad to note the fact that the courts are beginning to interpret these rigid statutes, the relics of a mode of thought and life which finds few followers now, with a wise liberality. The Supreme Court of New York has held that the statute of that State which forbids any person to “expose to sale” anything except meats, milk, and fish on Sunday, and makes the exception end at at 9 A. M., is intended merely to stop public sales, and does not invalidate any private contract, made in a quiet and orderly way. So a note given or dated on Sunday is good. The Kentucky Court of Appeals has recently rendered a decision which displays the acme of art in getting around the Kentucky law which forbids contracts. The decision lays down the following rules: In general, contracts made in contravention of an express statute are void. This is not, however, exactly the case with those made on Sunday. The latter are illegal only in the element of time. When they are purged of this they become valid. Purgation takes place when they are subsequently affirmed, by word or deed. If one party has paid or done anything under the contract, and the instrument is not affirmed, he may demand restitution or compensation. Then, if the second party refuses such restitution or compensation, he is to be considered as having affirmed the contract! This is very neat. It makes cheating under the pretense of observing Sunday an impossibility. Now that a court of large jurisdiction has taken this liberal view of a law that should be obsolete, it is reasonable to suppose that its views will obtain also in other States.—Chicago Tribune. Street Corner Debates.
By Wm. Covert
Does the Bible justify those contentions that we often witness on the street corners, in stores, and at public gatherings? It seems that many persons think it to be their duty, as defenders of Bible truths, to be arguing with their contentious neighbors upon points of difference. Is this right? While we are admonished to study the Scriptures, and be always ready to give an answer to those who will ask us concerning our hope, we are to give our reasons in meekness, and fear. If we will observe those directions we shall be saved from many a bitter word and thought. Paul exhorts Timothy to study to show himself a workman approved unto God, one who need not to be ashamed, and one that can rightly divide the word of truth. This is an accomplishment to which we should all labor to attain. Yet Paul would add a word of caution concerning the mode of presenting this truth, which is as necessary for us to observe as the other; and that is to shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness. Are not many at least of these street corner debates, profane and vain babblings? True, it is our duty to warn our neighbors; but how shall we conduct ourselves under our peculiar circumstances? The great work of warning our fellow-mortals is resting down upon us, while scoffers are multiplying in the land. They mock at God’s watchmen, and circulate a great many false stories about them. What shall the watchmen do? attack them on the corners? What saith the answer of God to his watchmen when they are reproved (argued with, margin)? See Hab. 2: 1-3. Write the vision. Make it plain upon tables. Make it so plain that all may see at a glance that the prophetic visions tell exactly where we are in this world’s history. That we are now past all the prophetic periods, in the tarrying time, waiting for Jesus to appear. Scoffers care very little about arguing the question farther when they read over those unanswerable illustrations of the visions of Daniel and John. Brother or sister, if your mind is burdened, and you think you must warn your neighbors, procure the charts, with the visions written upon them; then call in your neighbors, and explain the prophecies to them. Give the change of the Sabbath, together with the Sabbath reform in prophecy. Those illustrations on the chart contain it all. Your friends that want to learn would be convinced, and you would have discharged your duty, and doubtless God would bless the effort. An article found among the unpublished papers of the late Dr. J. A. Alexander, on “Circumlocution in Prayer,” closes with the following “practical suggestions to young men who are forming their habits” in respect to prayer. They are equally applicable to all who pray in public, and especially to those who pray in Sabbath-school. - Let your prayers be composed of thanksgiving, praise, confession, and petition, without any argument or exhortation addressed to those who are supposed to be praying with you.
- Adopt no fixed forms of expression, except such as you obtain from Scripture.
- Express your desires in the briefest, simplest form without circumlocution.
- Avoid the use of compound terms in place of the imperative mood.
- Hallow God’s name by avoiding its unnecessary repetition.
- Adopt the simple devotional phrases of Scripture; but avoid the free use of its figures, and all quaint and doubtful application of its terms to foreign subjects.
- Pray to God, and not to men.