Signs of the Times, Vol. 4, No. 40. (10/24/1878)

Signs of the Times

Oct 24, 1878

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Oct 24, 1878

General Articles.

By Ellen G. White

ASCENSION OF CHRIST.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

AFTER the meeting of Jesus with the brethren, at Galilee, the disciples returned to Jerusalem; and while the eleven were gathered together in the city Jesus met with them, and again led their minds out into the prophecies concerning himself. He deeply impressed upon their understanding the necessity of thoroughly studying the ancient prophecies regarding Messiah, and of comparing them with the facts of his life, death, and resurrection, in order to establish their fulfillment in himself. They were to diligently trace link after link of sacred truth revealed by the prophets, in types and figures representing the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. He lifted the vail from their understanding, concerning the typical system of the Jews, and they now saw clearly the meaning of the forms and symbols which were virtually abolished by the death of Christ.

The Saviour of the world, as a divine Conqueror, was about to ascend to his Father's throne. He selected the Mount of Olives as the scene of this last display of his glory. Accompanied by the eleven, he made his way to the mountain. The disciples were not aware that this was to be their last season with their Master. He employed the time in sacred converse with them, reiterating his former instructions. As they passed through the gates of Jerusalem, many wondering eyes looked upon the little company, led by one whom a few weeks before the priests and rulers had condemned and crucified.

They crossed the Kedron, and approached Gethsemane. Here Jesus paused, that his disciples might call to mind the lessons he had given them while on his way to the garden on the night of his great agony. He looked again upon the vine which he had then used as a symbol to represent the union of his church with himself and his Father; and he refreshed the memory of his followers by repeating the impressive truths which he had then illustrated to them. Reminders of the unrequited love of Jesus were all around him; even the disciples walking by his side, who were so dear to his heart, had, in the hour of his humiliation, when he most needed their sympathy and comfort, reproached and forsaken him.

Christ had sojourned in the world for thirty-three years; he had endured its scorn, insult, and mockery; he had been rejected and crucified. Now, when about to ascend to his throne of glory—as he reviews the ingratitude of the people he came to save—will he not withdraw his sympathy and love from them? Will not his affections be centered on that world where he is appreciated, and where sinless angels adore him, and wait to do his bidding? No; his promise to those loved ones whom he leaves on earth is "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." Before his conflict, he had prayed the Father that they might not be taken out of the world, but should be kept from the evil which is in the world.

At length the little company reached the Mount of Olives. This place had been peculiarly hallowed by the presence of Jesus while he bore the nature of man. It was consecrated by his prayers and tears. When he had ridden into Jerusalem, just prior to his trial, the steeps of Olivet had echoed the joyous shouts of the triumphant multitude. On its sloping descent was Bethany, where he had often found repose at the house of Lazarus. At the foot of the mount was the garden of Gethsemane, where he had agonized alone, and moistened the sod with his blood.

Jesus led the way across the summit, to the vicinity of Bethany. He then paused, and they all gathered about him. Beams of light seemed to radiate from his countenance, as he looked with deep love upon his disciples. He upbraided them not for their faults and failures; but words of unutterable tenderness were the last which fell upon their ears from the lips of their Lord. With hands outstretched in blessing them, and as if in assurance of his protecting care, he slowly ascended from among them, drawn heavenward by a power stronger than any earthly attraction. As he passed upward, the awestruck disciples looked with straining eyes for the last glimpse of his ascending Lord. A cloud of glory received him out of their sight, and at the same moment there floated down to their charmed senses the sweetest and most joyous music from the angel choir.

While their gaze was still riveted upward, voices addressed them which sounded like the music which had just charmed them. They turned, and saw two beings in the form of men; yet their heavenly character was immediately discerned by the disciples, whom they addressed in comforting accents, saying, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." These angels were of the company that had been waiting in a shining cloud to escort Jesus to his throne; and in sympathy and love for those whom the Saviour had left, they came to remove all uncertainty from their minds, and to give them the assurance that he would come to earth again.

All Heaven was waiting to welcome the Saviour to the celestial courts. As he ascended he led the way, and the multitude of captives whom he had raised from the dead at the time when he came forth from the tomb, followed him. The heavenly host, with songs of joy and triumph, escorted him upward. At the portals of the city of God an innumerable company of angels awaited his coming. As they approached the gates of the city, the angels who were escorting the Majesty of Heaven, in triumphant tones addressed the company at the portals: "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!"

The waiting angels at the gates of the city inquire in rapturous strains, "Who is this King of Glory?" The escorting angels joyously reply in songs of triumph, "The Lord, strong and mighty! the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O ye gates, even lift them up, ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall come in!" Again the waiting angels ask, "Who is this King of Glory?" and the escorting angels respond in melodious strains, "The Lord of hosts! He is the King of Glory!" Then the portals of the city of God are widely opened, and the heavenly train pass in amid a burst of angelic music. All the heavenly host surround their majestic Commander as he takes his position upon the throne of the Father.

With the deepest adoration and joy, the hosts of angels bow before him, while the glad shout rings through the courts of heaven: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing!" Songs of triumph mingle with music from angelic harps, till heaven seems to overflow with delightful harmony, and inconceivable joy and praise. The Son of God has triumphed over the prince of darkness, and conquered death and the grave. Heaven rings with voices in lofty strains proclaiming: "Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever!"

He is seated by the side of his Father on his throne. The Saviour presents the captives he has rescued from the bonds of death, at the price of his own life. His hands place immortal crowns upon their brows; for they are the representatives, and samples, of those who shall be redeemed, by the blood of Christ, from all nations, tongues, and people, and come forth from the dead, when he shall call the just from their graves at his second coming. Then they see the marks of Calvary in the glorified body of the Son of God. Their greatest joy will be found in the presence of Him who sitteth upon the throne; and the enraptured saints will exclaim, My Beloved is mine, and I am his! He is the chief among ten thousands, and altogether lovely!

The disciples returned to Jerusalem, not mourning, but full of joy. When last they looked upon their Lord, his countenance shone with heavenly brightness, and he smiled lovingly upon them. Those hands that had so often been stretched forth in the act of blessing the sick and the afflicted, and in rebuking demons—those hands which had been bruised by the cruel nails, were mercifully extended, as though in the disciples they embraced the whole world, and called down a blessing upon all the followers of Christ. Beams of light seemed to emanate from those dear hands and to fall upon the watching, waiting ones.

The most precious fact to the disciples in the ascension of Jesus was that he went from them into Heaven in the tangible form of their divine Teacher. The very same Jesus, who had walked, and talked, and prayed with them; who had broken bread with them; who had been with them in their boats on the lake; who had sought retirement with them in the groves; and who had that very day toiled with them up the steep ascent of Olivet,—had ascended to heaven in the form of humanity. And the heavenly messengers had assured them that the very same Jesus whom they had seen go up into heaven, should come again in like manner as he had ascended. This assurance has ever been, and will be till the close of time, the hope and joy of all true lovers of Christ.

The disciples not only saw the Lord ascend, but had the testimony of the angels that he had gone to occupy his Father's throne in heaven. The last remembrance that the disciples were to have of their Lord was as the sympathizing Friend, the glorified Redeemer. Moses vailed his face to hide the glory of the law which was reflected upon it, and the glory of Christ's ascension was veiled from human sight. The brightness of the heavenly escort, and the opening of the glorious gates of God to welcome him, were not to be discerned by mortal eyes.

Had the track of Christ to heaven been revealed to the disciples in all its inexpressible glory, they could not have endured the sight. Had they beheld the myriads of angels, and heard the bursts of triumph from the battlements of Heaven, as the everlasting doors were lifted up, the contrast between that glory and their own lives in a world of trial, would hardly have been able to again take up the burden of their earthly lives, prepared to execute with courage and faithfulness the commission given them by the Saviour. Even the Comforter, the Holy Ghost which was sent to them, would not have been properly appreciated, nor would it have strengthened their hearts sufficiently to bear reproach, contumely, imprisonment and death if need be.

Their senses were not to become so infatuated with the glories of Heaven that they would lose sight of the character of Christ on earth, which they were to copy in themselves. They were to keep distinctly before their minds the beauty and majesty of his life, the perfect harmony of all his attributes, and the mysterious union of the divine and human in his nature. It was better that the earthly acquaintance of the disciples with their Saviour should end in the solemn, quiet, and sublime manner in which it did. His visible ascent from the world was in harmony with the meekness and quiet of his life.

Only Believe.

By Mrs. L. D. A. Stuttle

ONLY believe, though the thick rising tempest Cover with darkness the light of the sun, Jesus will pilot you over in safety, Trustingly lean on the crucified One. Tarry no longer, to doubt and to grieve, Rest on his promise, rejoice and believe.

Oh! there is peace, there is joy in believing, Why should we doubt when the promise is sure, There will be joy in the glorious morning, Resting and peace, if we only endure. Murmur no more 'neath the chastening rod, Only believe in the promise of God.

Trembling spirit, o'er burdened with sorrow, Do not despond in the midst of thy grief, Go and unburden thy heart to the Master, Know that he hears, and will bring you relief. Walk in the path that thy Saviour has trod, Cheerfully rest on the promise of God.

Can we not trust Him, our kind elder Brother? Why should we grovel in doubt and despair? When the dark cloud of affliction may gather, Only believe, that he answereth prayer. Many a blessing our souls would receive, If from our hearts, we could only believe.

MRS. L. D. A. STUTTLE.

Prayer.

By J. M. G.

The Saviour tells us that "men ought always to pray, and not to faint." Luke 18:1. Says the apostle Paul, "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thess. 5:17. It is a fact, then, that men ought always to pray. This being so, the question next arises, How are we to pray? The apostle answers, "Lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting." 1 Tim. 2:8. The Saviour answers, "Whatsoever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them."

Prayer, then, must be offered in faith. We must not doubt. Not only this, but when we lift up our hands in prayer to God, they must be holy hands. Our thoughts must be holy; we must be holy. All iniquity must be rooted from the heart. Says the Psalmist, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Ps. 66:18. "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will our Father forgive your trespasses." Matt. 6:15. While the prayer of the righteous availeth much, we are told that the prayer of the unrighteous is an abomination in the sight of God. Faith and holiness, then, it is seen are the great and needful essentials with us, to insure an answer to our prayers. We want that holiness that leads to holy living, holy motives, and holy aspirations. We want that faith which confidently believes and grasps every promise set forth in the sacred and divine revelation of God.

Among the promises to Christians is the precious one that if they ask blessings in the name of Christ, they shall receive them. We are instructed that, if we, "being evil, know how to give good gifts unto our children," "much more shall our Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." Luke 11:13. The Holy Spirit is a gift we certainly must possess in order to be in favor with God. It is one that God is most willing to give. It is one we ought to desire. And is it not one of the first things we should pray for? By it we know we are the children of God. 1 John 4:13. And if children of God, "he that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" Rom. 8:32. God's children, then, need not lack for anything. They need only come trustingly in the name of the Saviour, and needed blessings will be granted.

"Without faith it is impossible to please God." Without holiness we cannot please God. Next, then, to the gift of the Holy Spirit, it seems, we should desire an increase of faith and holiness. To be holy, we must keep the commandments of God. If we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight, then we know that our petitions are heard. 1 John 3:22. If we transgress not the commandments of God, then we are free from sin, and our prayers unhindered. "He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John 2:4.

God forbid, then, that our fellowship with him and his Son, and our access to a throne of grace by prayer, should be hindered by a willful and knowing violation of the commandments of God. Prayer is the Christian's need and desire, prompted by holy thoughts and aspirations. Let us be instant and unceasing in our prayers until the time of our redemption.

J. M. G.

THE REJECTED ORDINANCE.

By W. H. Littlejohn

(Continued.)

IN the second place, we repudiate, as utterly untenable, the view that Christ was simply carrying out in what he did a practice of his time which was common on occasions such as the one in question, for the following conclusive reasons :—

a. Because it occurred at the wrong time.

The rite of hospitality was always attended to immediately after the guest had entered the house; since it was then that the circumstances of the case furnished the necessity for the ablution.

Feet-washing was purely utilitarian in its character, and owed its origin to the fact that the pedestrian in the dry and dusty East,—with his feet clad only with sandals, and his limbs below the knee frequently entirely bare,—as a matter of comfort to himself as well as respect to his host, universally resorted to the use of water almost immediately upon passing the threshold of the friend who was about to entertain him.

Had he delayed longer than this, not only would he have been unpresentable in his personal appearance, but he would also have been in danger of soiling the linen and the furniture with which his limbs might come in contact.

If, therefore, it can be shown that our Lord disregarded the important element of time in the transaction in which he figured so conspicuously on the evening of his betrayal, the inference will be legitimate, either that he was ignorant of the precise moment at which custom demanded that the rite should be administered, or else that what he did had no special reference to that usage of his time.

Turning now to the record, we read: “And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God, riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments, and took a towel and girded himself. After that he poureth water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.” John 13:2–5.

Here it is distinctly stated, first; that supper was ended, and, secondly; that he rose up from supper and commenced to wash the disciples’ feet.

As a consequence of this declaration, it is settled, beyond dispute, that the bathing of the feet did not occur for some time—perhaps several hours—subsequently to the entering of the disciples into the upper chamber where the passover supper was eaten.

This, however, as stated above, constituted a marked departure from a usage to which it is claimed he was seeking to conform.

Shall we conclude, therefore, that the variation occurred through ignorance on the part of our Lord as to what would have been proper under the circumstances?

We answer, No. This would impeach his intelligence respecting one of the commonest transactions of every-day life.

Not only so, it would show an utter disregard in point of time of the proprieties of the occasion.

If the washing of the feet needed to be attended to at all because of physical defilement, every consideration of taste, as well as comfort, demanded that it should have been done long before a sufficient amount of time had elapsed for the preparation of supper, so that the individuals themselves might have been ready to enter upon that meal in a condition of absolute cleanliness; since if there ever was a time when the persons of Jewish guests should have been scrupulously free from defilement of every sort, that time was when they were gathered around the table for the purpose of eating a meal. This was true of their hands, because it was their practice to dip all of them into a common dish, which was the receptacle of the food for the whole company. It was also true of the feet and limbs; because it was their habit to recline at meals on the same sofa or couch, so that the head of the one might rest on the breast of the other, the limbs of the two parties coming in direct contact with each other as well as with the material which covered the seat on which they reclined, and, therefore, in danger of soiling (unless scrupulously clean) both the garments of a friend at meat and the upholstery of the host.

With all of these facts and circumstances our Lord was well acquainted; and no doubt he was as desirous, to say the least, as the average man of his time that every consideration of neatness should be carried out.

What, then, we ask again, could have been his motive in delaying as he did the entering upon the work under consideration?

As we have seen, it could not have been through either ignorance or oversight.

Neither could it have been on account of indifference to physical uncleanness; for to suppose that this was the case up to the time of his rising from the table and taking the basin and towel, and that he was just at that moment seized with a sudden and inexplicable desire that all should be immediately purified by the use of water, would manifest an oversight or an unaccountable fickleness of purpose wholly incompatible with our ideas of his divine perception of the time when, and the place where, and the manner in which, everything in its due order should have been provided for.

What, then, we ask once more, was the purpose and object which he had in view while doing what he did? The answer is obvious.

It was something different from the mere desire to rid his disciples from bodily uncleanness through a resort to the rite of hospitality; since, had that been his purpose, he would have resorted to that rite in the earliest stage of the interview, instead of waiting until it was already too late to secure the principal objects for which it was employed on such occasions.

b. The language of Christ forbids the idea that this could be true. Said he to his disciples, “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.” Now there is no rational interpretation which can harmonize these words with the view that the Saviour was at the time only administering the usual rite of hospitality. For, if this were the case, every one of the twelve apostles was perfectly familiar with the transaction which was taking place before them, having witnessed it scores and scores of times, since it was something which every dusty and foot-sore pedestrian had experienced, whenever, weary with his labors, he entered the house of a man of his time.

If our opponents, therefore, are correct, the Lord was wrong in inferring that the apostles did not comprehend his movements, and intimating that it would be necessary that they should be explained to them thereafter.

c. What Christ did furnishes so marked a departure from the course pursued ordinarily in his age by those who were entertaining guests, that it becomes apparent that he was acting independently of their example, and, therefore, that his motives were different from theirs.

He in person took the basin and the towel, and, with his own hands, washed and wiped the feet of the disciples. In doing this he varied from the custom of his generation in just so far as he did the work himself. All that they did was to furnish to the individual water and the needed appliances, leaving him thereafter to perform the work of washing his own feet. This is manifest from the language of the Saviour in his conversation with the Pharisee at whose house he was stopping at the time at which the conversation in question took place. He said to him, “Simon, I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet; but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.” From this it appears that the Lord reproved the Pharisee, not for having failed to wash his feet, but for having neglected to furnish him the water with which to do it himself. It is clear, therefore, as to what the practice was. It is also clear that the Lord so far deviated from it at the time of the passover supper as to make his action incompatible with the notion that he was doing to the apostles only that which he expected the Pharisee to do to him. So radical was his departure from the customary practice, that it proves indubitably that he either designed to create an entirely new institution, or else to transform the old one so far as to make it subservient to the inculcation of entirely new ideas. It matters not which horn of this dilemma the objector may take; for either one of them will impale the theory that the Lord was simply acting the part of the host to his disciples, they, in the meantime, sustaining to him the relation of guests.

d. The deportment of Peter also furnishes conclusive evidence that the action of Christ was altogether unusual, and had never been witnessed in him before.

How could this have been true, however, if Christ was merely acting the customary part of host? This was the fourth passover that Jesus had attended. Is it not probable that in each of them he had sustained the same relation to the twelve that he did on that occasion? If this be so (our opponents being right), then custom would have demanded that he should do on the three previous occasions just what he did at that time. But this could not have been the case; else Peter had witnessed the same occurrence before, and would not have been so perfectly overwhelmed by the extravagance of the Lord’s humiliation. Why said he, “Thou shalt never wash my feet.” This proves that he had never done so formerly, and that it was a sight to which the apostles were wholly unaccustomed. If this be the case, however, as it certainly must be to explain Peter’s action, then it is evident that the Master there inaugurated something which they had never witnessed in him before, and for which their minds were wholly unprepared by anything in his life or the usage of their time. But concede this point, and we are again compelled to admit that the familiar rite of hospitality will not furnish a suitable explanation of the scene in that upper room where the Lord and his followers were assembled.

e. If the language of Peter is irreconcilable with the accepted view, the reply of Christ utterly demolishes it, once and forever.

Said he to the recalcitrant apostle whose extreme modesty and veneration forbade the thought that the maker of worlds should so far humble himself before him as to wash his feet, “If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.”

The scope of this declaration is simply overwhelming. According to the statement which it contains, the only alternative left to Peter was submission or separation from the household of Christ. Let him but have persisted in refusing to submit to the ordinance, and this refusal would have cost him the loss of eternal life. How

prodigious, therefore, the consequences which hung upon the decision which he there made. But will any one say that for a trifling cause the Saviour would have cast off this tried disciple, who had been so long a faithful companion in his labors and sufferings?

Would a simple refusal to submit to a rite of hospitality, which had in it no religious element, have been sufficient to call forth from the Lord such a terrible denunciation of punishment in case of a failure to comply?

Such a hypothesis is simply preposterous.

The washing of feet, as it was then practiced, from the stand-point of hospitality, was never compulsory, but always a matter of free choice. The individual might indulge in it or not, according to his inclination or the necessities of his condition.

So far as Peter was concerned, also, the occasion of his hesitation was not an unwillingness to submit to the purifying process, but it was a deep sense of his own unworthiness and of the exalted character of the Son of God. There was in his motives nothing which was unworthy of the man, but rather everything which should have commended him to favor. He, therefore, who would argue that the Master, when there was nothing at stake but the mere matter of the ablution of a portion of the person, in accordance with a usage of the times, would have insisted upon carrying his point, even at the cost of Peter’s salvation, does a gross injustice to the heart of Christ.

Let it be admitted, however, that the occasion was one on which a new Christian ordinance was in process of erection, and the whole affair takes the complexion of high religious duty, and justifies the action and the words of the Saviour. This is so, because Peter would have been found not simply setting at naught a conventional arrangement of little consequence, but absolutely and persistently refusing to perform a solemn religious duty.

f. The theory that the affair was wholly secular in its character is very unsatisfactory in another particular; i. e., it teaches that Christ sought to enforce a thing for which there was no earthly necessity. In other words, that he required Peter to submit to the washing of his feet, when, according to his own statement, they needed no cleansing whatever.

His declaration was: “He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit; and ye are clean, but not all. For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.” Manifestly these words imply that in the case of Peter there was no physical necessity for the application of water. This being the case, there was no good reason why the customary rite of hospitality should be administered to him; since that was designed to be employed only by persons whose feet had become soiled by travel, or otherwise, and needed to be cleansed. Christ said to him, distinctly, “Ye are clean.” His statement was of course true. And, being true, it furnishes positive proof that his object was not the purifying of the body according to the manner of his time, but must have been something entirely different. He emphatically sets forth in words the fact that even though the whole person were perfectly free from everything like external pollution,—having been washed, so that he was clean every whit,—still it would be required that he should submit to the washing of the feet. It mattered not if—as was perhaps true in the case of Peter—the individual had not passed out of the house subsequently to the taking of the bath, it was still required that he, though “clean every whit,” should submit to the ordinance in question. But this being so, there is no further need of debate. The subject is at once freed from all of its difficulties, and the evidence that Christ had in view a higher and nobler object than the mere carrying out of a social formula instituted solely for the purpose of physical cleanliness, is overwhelming to that extent that we cannot see how a candid person can longer doubt.

Pausing, therefore, for a moment in order to present in a brief summary the points made thus far, we will leave this branch of the subject. That summary will run as follows: The transaction which we have been contemplating was not identical with the ordinary custom of feet-washing as administered to guests in the lifetime of our Lord, as proved by the following decisive considerations:—

1. It occurred after supper; whereas, in order to make it appear to be one and the same with the rite in question, it would be necessary to prove that it was administered immediately upon entering the house, and before the eating of the meal of which the disciples partook in company with the Lord.

2. It was something with which the disciples were not familiar, as shown by the language of Christ; whereas every one of them had been acquainted with the ordinary rite of hospitality from childhood, having witnessed it again and again, and, doubtless, having themselves been refreshed by it times without number.

3. Christ himself washed the feet of his disciples; whereas, had he followed the practice of his time,—and the one which it is claimed he sought to imitate,—he would simply have provided them with water, and allowed them to do the balance of the work for themselves.

4. It was something which the Lord had never done to his followers before, as proved by the language of Peter; whereas, if it had been the habitual bathing of the feet as practiced by the contemporaries of Christ, the latter must have administered it to the disciples at least the three passovers which preceded the one which they were then celebrating, as in all of these passovers he doubtless sustained to them practically the same relation which he did on that night.

5. The refusal of Peter to allow the Lord to wash his feet would have cost him the loss of eternal life; whereas a refusal on his part to submit to the ordinary custom of feet-washing would have been followed by no punishment whatever, and would only have subjected him to the inconvenience attendant upon a condition of uncleanness as it regarded his lower limbs.

6. Christ emphatically declared that the washing which he administered was compulsory, even when the feet were entirely free from soil of any and every nature; whereas the sole and only object of furnishing the traveler with the appliances necessary for the washing of the feet was to enable him—from considerations of both health and comfort—to enjoy a condition of perfect freedom from bodily defilement, and, therefore, was never resorted to unless such defilement actually existed.

W. H. LITTLEJOHN.

(To be continued.)

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