Review and Herald, Vol. 48, No. 8. (8/17/1876)

Review and Herald

Aug 17, 1876

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Aug 17, 1876

THE WATCH TOWER.

By Uriah Smith

The articles which we present in this department this week furnish matter for serious thought.

“Startling Facts” shows the debased character of that element that wields the governing power in this country. The prospect is not hopeful.

“Bankrupt Nations” reveals to what an alarming extent nations are being forced to resort to the repudiation of their just obligations. This betrays gross mismanagement somewhere, and shows the perplexity the nations are in, according to Luke 21: 25.

The article “Indebtedness of Europe” further shows, in the same direction, the load under which the leading governments of the world are staggering.

The “Appetite for Slander” sets forth to what a depth of degradation political, and even some ecclesiastical, parties have sunk.

“A Juvenile Suicide” treats upon a comparatively new phase of crime, and gives a most suggestive explanation of one of its causes, mainly the defective methods of education pursued in these days. One set of faculties or emotions is forced into an unnatural development, while others lie dormant for want of exercise; hence unbalanced minds, and finally these abnormal tragical manifestations. Parents and guardians may learn a useful lesson here.

“Catholic Influence in Minnesota” shows how ready Catholics are, when opportunity offers, to trample down the rights of others to maintain their own; and they boast that at no distant day this country will be in their power. It is easy to see what the result would be. And it would be so, had not God set bounds to their infamous career. The day of their destruction by Christ’s appearing is at hand. U. S.

BANKRUPT NATIONS.

The speech of Mr. Disraeli at the Lord Mayor’s festival discloses the alarm of the British people at the progress of repudiation. The Turkish national debt, amounting to £195,000,000, one-half of which that government proposes to repudiate, and the Egyptian debt, which is also large, are mainly held in England. The Turkish loans have been put on the market at various rates and are secured by general and special pledges of taxes. There has been for several years an annual deficit, averaging $30,000,000, which has been adroitly concealed in the government statements. In round numbers the public debt of Turkey is $1,000,000,000, and the decline in the value of Turkish securities has been very heavy. The debt of Egypt is of three classes: 1. The funded debt. 2. Floating debt. 3. Personal debt of the khedive. These aggregate $800,000,000, and the value of the bonds has also declined. These two calamities, happening almost simultaneously, have drawn attention to other circumstances where the English people have been lending their money to faithless borrowers. In the list of other governments in default are the following:—

Peru, £25,500,000 Argentine Confederation, 14,300,000 Bolivia, 1,700,000 Brazil, 23,500,000 Chili, 2,500,000 Costa Rica, 3,400,000 Paraguay, 3,000,000 Spanish, 161,000,000 Uruguay, 4,500,000 Venezuela, 5,500,000 Total, £244,900,000

Including Turkey and Egypt, the aggregate debt of the crippled States is in the neighborhood of $2,550,000,000, and the English people hold a very large proportion of these debts.—Sel.

A JUVENILE SUICIDE.

Those who read the newspapers know that suicides by very young persons are not infrequent. In this city, on Sunday night, a mere lad of sixteen years, William McDowell, shot himself. He was employed in a down-town banking-house; but the family refused to give even the reason which they conjectured for the deed. The Coroner's investigation may throw light upon it. The almost inevitable conclusion, in considering such cases, seems to be that they result from a morbid and probably congenital propensity. We can understand how an adult, worn out by misfortune, harassed by want, and with nothing but the gloomiest prospects, may shuffle off this mortal coil in a pseudo-philosophical way. It is difficult, however, to comprehend how an experience of only sixteen years can make life utterly distasteful; for it can hardly have been very tragical, and scarcely such as to preclude the prospect of relief and of a change of fortune. If we remember, too, how children of even seven or eight years have done the same deed of self-slaughter, we shall better comprehend that a natural propensity may have impelled the irresponsible youth to an act the nature of which was not fully comprehended.

The moral of such a tragedy is easily seen. It complicates the problem of education, and shows the necessity of specially allowing for individual temperaments. Many a boy has been ruined for life by a misunderstanding of his idiosyncrasies on the part of those to whom his culture was confided. If he has naturally a bad temper, or is continually desponding, or if there is an abnormal development of his imagination or of his curiosity, he may, whenever sufficiently and peculiarly excited, seek gratification or relief through a resource about which he does not stop to

reason. This may specially be the case with children of an epileptic diathesis. It is for parents carefully to watch their charges, and fully to comprehend, if possible, their peculiarities, adapting culture and discipline to each particular case.—N. Y. Tribune.

FASTING OF THE RIGHT SORT.

By Robert Herrick

“Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” Isa. 58: 6, 7.

Is this a fast—to keep The larder lean, And clean From fat of veals and sheep?

Is it to quit the dish Of flesh, yet still To fill The platter high with fish?

Is it to fast an hour,— Or ragged to go,— Or show A downcast look, and sour?

No; 'tis a fast to dole Thy sheaf of wheat, And meat, Unto the hungry soul.

It is to fast from strife, From old debate, And hate; To circumcise thy life.

To show a heart grief-rent; To starve thy sin, Not bin; And that's to keep a Lent.

—Robert Herrick.

STARTLING FACTS.

There are, by the last census, 33,991,142 native born citizens in this country, and 5,567,229 foreigners. Of these, 3,004,674 are Irish and Germans; and although only constituting about one-eleventh of the population, yet more than one-half of the entire liquor business of the country is in their hands. Of the 61,265 wine and liquor dealers in this country, 32,055 are Irish and Germans, the other 29,210 (1,423 less than one-half) are in the hands of Americans and foreigners of other nationalities. Careful observers will have noted the fact that it is the very lowest and most ignorant and depraved of these foreigners that are engaged in this nefarious business. There are noble men and women that come to us from Germany and Ireland, who are not in the liquor business, and are as much opposed to it as any American. But still the fact remains that a majority of liquor dealers are from those two countries.

It seems strange that such a small number of foreigners, joining with a still smaller number of our own people, can govern a country like ours with a rod of iron. But we must remember that many of them are lawless, and secure power by foul and underhand means. Not a few have served in our county jails and States' prisons, and others break the laws every day of their lives.

The Reform Club of Philadelphia have gathered some curious and startling facts in this connection. They give the nationality of those engaged in the liquor traffic in that city:—

Chinamen, 2; Jews, 2; Italians, 18; Spaniards, 140; Welsh, 160; Americans, 205; Africans, 265; French, 285; Scotch, 497; English, 568; Germans, 2,179; Irish, 3,041; nationality not known, 672; making a total of 8,034.

Of this number 3,696 are females: Americans, 1; Africans, 3; Spanish, 3; Welsh, 4; English, 10; Scotch, 10; French, 13; Germans, 1,104; Irish, 2,548.

Of the 8,034 places where liquor is sold, 3,782 are houses of ill fame, 2,460 of these being kept by females, and 1,322 by men.

Of the 8,034 liquor sellers, 2,004 have been in different State's prisons for longer or shorter terms; 1,646 in the county prisons; 1,769 in different station houses, making a total of 6,418; leaving a balance only of 1,616 who have been exempt from arrest.

If these statements are exact, as we believe they are, it is a dark picture; and yet these are the men who control politics, and dictate to statesmen and divide the spoils of office.

For every liquor dealer in this country on an average there is a death from rum; 61,265 dealers, 61,265 victims every year go down to drunkards' graves; so that the man who has been in the business ten years may be supposed to be guilty of ten murders.

And yet the Finance Board and United States Centennial Commission concede to them the right to carry on their nefarious traffic on the grounds of the great Exposition.—Sel.

APPETITE FOR SLANDER.

Our recollection of former Presidential contests furnishes no parallel to the present intense desire to blacken the character of public men, especially of candidates for the highest office.

Happy the man whose obscurity is his protection in this hunt for scandal! But it is a sad thing for the country and the times on which we are falling, that the public mind has become so debauched that it eagerly craves the grossest charges of wrong, and gloats over the smutching of reputations. If this were the result of revived public virtue, jealous of the rights and honor of the nation, we might regard it as a good sign, and rejoice in its development. But the eagerness with which these scandals are seized upon, and the evident desire to have them so, disclose a sentiment as corrupt as the scandals themselves would be if true.

And it is a curious fact that the political party papers are not content with vilifying candidates of the other party, but in their eagerness to destroy the particular man whom they regard as the conspicuous rival of their own favorite, they prey upon the character of leaders of their own party as freely as upon the candidates of the other.

All this is evident to the world, and needs no illustration. But it is to be deplored, while it shows that to be a candidate for public office in our day is quite as much as any man's reputation is worth.

We have seen something of the same spirit in the church. In ecclesiastical bodies,—not of one denomination only,—there is a spirit of suspicion of those in places of power and trust, an eagerness to impute wrong to those who have burdens to bear and great responsibilities. The charity that hopeth all things is the highest Christian virtue, and there is plenty of room for its exercise in the church as well as in the state.—Sel.

The Paper Currency of Europe

The paper currency of Europe amounted, about A. D. 1850, to $846,000,000 but has since increased to more than 1,000,000,000.

THE INDEBTEDNESS OF EUROPE.

The London News says: “It may not perhaps be without interest to show clearly the amount of indebtedness of the six great powers, Turkey, of course, being left out for obvious reasons. According to the latest returns, the liability is as follows: Great Britain, £775,000,000; Austria-Hungary, £362,000,000; Germany, £46,000,000; France, £930,000,000; Italy, £356,000,000; Russia, £380,000,000. There is thus a total debt of about twenty-eight hundred millions sterling, but this requires some qualification. Germany, for instance, has no real public debt, and the amount set down merely represents the expenditure on railways by the various States now merged in the empire; and included in the Russian total is also the amount under which she is guarantee for certain railways.”

“It is, however, not in the extent of the debt of a nation, but in its ability to meet the interest, etc., on it, that attention chiefly centers, and this can only be properly measured by considering the trade, population, etc., of the various countries. The total value of the imports and exports of Great Britain, roughly stated, are £590,000,000 annually, being about 76 per cent. of the debt; France, about 30 per cent. of her debt, or a little over £300,000,000; Russia, 29 per cent.; Austria-Hungary, 25 per cent.; Italy, 26 per cent.; but for Germany it is not possible to give the actual percentage in the absence of full statistics; but it stands very high. The amount of debt per head of population stands as follows: France, £25; Great Britain, £23½; Italy, £13; Austria, £10; Russia, £4; Germany, £1. In the above, Russia is credited with the whole of her subjects, both in Europe and Asia, and if the same rule was applied to the British Empire the average would be under £4 per head.”

THE COMMANDMENTS.—PART 1.

By A. C. Spicker

In Genesis, (Continued.)

THAT the whole moral law is not, in Genesis, formally stated in specific detail as from Mt. Sinai is not evidence that it was never enunciated and was not known to the antediluvians. The law of sacrifices is not recorded as afterward given from Mount Sinai, nor till long after sacrifices were offered, and it is positively certain it was known, as Cain and Abel offered sacrifices; “and Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl [a distinction utterly impossible for him to understand or to make except by positive instruction from God] and offered burnt-offerings on the altar. And the Lord smelled a sweet savor,” etc. Gen. 8: 20, 21.

If it be objected that these apparent manifestations of a knowledge of the precepts of the decalogue (substantially as given from Mt. Sinai—we are not arguing for precise words), were but intuitions—spontaneous inhering knowledge—in man, the answer is, So be it; for this fact, if a fact it is, would be the very strongest possible argument that these precepts were founded in nature, and that they are and must be as unchangeable and as perpetual as is the Author of nature himself. But in Gen. 9: 5, 6, we find a formal enunciation, substantially of the sixth command of the decalogue, “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed.” And from verses 21–27, we see clearly that Noah understood the fifth command of the decalogue, as he pronounces the penalty thereof against Canaan for dishonoring his father.

From chap. 12: 18, 19, it is plain that even Pharaoh of Egypt understood the prohibition of the seventh commandment; also, from chap. 20, we learn the same of Abimelech, king of Gerar, and, more, that God directly and definitely instructed Abimelech therein.

Here we may notice, as we pass along down this synoptical history, that it was a little more than two thousand years after the creation of man that (as recorded in Gen. 15) God formally commanded and directed Abraham to make offerings unto the Lord, which is the first record we have of this requirement. But this Abraham had done twice, at least, before (as had Cain, Abel, and Noah), building an altar unto the Lord. Notice, also, the 22d chapter, in which it is recorded that Abraham was instructed to make burnt offerings to God. These records reveal the fact beyond all doubt, and make it a moral certainty, that God’s children in all those early, ancient days, and from the very first, were carefully and thoroughly instructed, not only in the moral law of God, but also in whatever was essential to the rectitude of life, to the worship of God, for atonement for sin, and in essential faith.

We next notice “Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God,” “King of righteousness,” “King of peace,” “made like unto the Son of God,” etc. Gen. 14: 18; Heb. 6 and 7. How perfectly evident from even the little we are enabled to learn of this good man of God and of his office, to which Christ, as priest, is likened, is it that he was, like Noah, a preacher of righteousness—of the universal system of religion established by God upon the unchangeable principles of the decalogue, consisting of the same laws, doctrines, faith, promises, and hopes, that are later in the history more fully recorded, and, hence, a teacher of those holy precepts of the decalogue as the basis of their system of religion.

We now reach Gen. 26. So far, we have found, it is true, the formal, explicit enunciation, in the language of command by supreme authority, of but one of the ten commandments—the sixth; but here (chap. 26: 3–6) God says to Isaac, “And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.” It is beyond all doubt or controversy, hence, that to Abraham were taught the commandments, statutes and laws of God, which he kept. And this was also implied in chap. 18: 19, where the Lord said of Abraham, “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord.” What should Abraham command his children and his household, unless God had commanded him? What way of the Lord shall he teach, and how shall he teach it? How can he know God’s way that he may teach it, that they may keep it, unless God has revealed that way to him, or Abraham has been in some way taught it?

The question, “What way?” is answered in the same verse, “To do justice and judgment.” This is the way. But justice and judgment imply just laws and statutes, and administration according thereunto. Then the “keeping the way of the Lord” must have been the keeping of the commandments and statutes of God, most certainly, and these the Lord said he knew Abraham would “command [teach to and enjoin upon] his children and his household after him.” The terms “way of the Lord,” “way everlasting,” “way of truth,” “way of righteousness,” must mean the same as “way of thy commandments,” Ps. 119: 32; the same as “the way of thy statutes.” Verse 33.

But referring to Gen. 26: 3–5, we ask, What commandments did Abraham keep, if not the ten universal precepts, repeated from Mt. Sinai? What statutes, what laws, but these, and the municipal laws, and the law of sacrifices, and of circumcision—the ceremonial law—made necessary because of sin, and “added [as secondaries, to the moral law, as primary] because of transgression,” “as a schoolmaster,” to foreshadow the atonement and “bring us to Christ?” This then follows: They must have been proclaimed—taught—that Abraham might be able to keep them. It would have been unjust to enforce obedience to law in the absence of a knowledge of the law. So it may be safely said in respect to God’s wrath against the Antediluvians, which led him to destroy that wicked people; that destruction would seem to have been a great injustice, except on the admission that the moral law, including all duties, and directing all rectitude, had been taught them.

Passing on, it is noticed in chap. 31: 19, 30–35, that Laban, the Syrian, Jacob and Rachel, understood well the eighth commandment—“Thou shalt not steal”—and that Jacob regarded its violation as so sinful that he said, “With whomsoever thou findest thy gods [which Laban charged Jacob with having stolen], let him not live; before our brethren discern thou what is thine with me, and take it to thee.” For Jacob knew not that Rachel had stolen them. From this same narrative, we learn, also, that Rachel understood, definitely, the sin of her father Laban’s idolatry, in violation of the first and second commandments; so she stole away his idols.

From chap. 35: 1–5, it is not only evident that Jacob and his household knew that these commands had been violated, but it is equally certain that Jacob knew that they were unclean in the sight of God and unfit to come to the altar of God in true worship, while these strange gods were among them. The history makes it perfectly plain that in all those early days man was carefully instructed in the laws of moral rectitude; was commanded to worship God, and intelligently guided and directed in that worship, and properly instructed how to worship him; was forbidden to have any other gods before the Creator of the heavens and the earth, or to make or worship images.

In Gen. 38: 24–26, it is definitely written that Judah regarded adultery as a crime worthy of punishment by death, as in the case of Tamar’s trespass, where in return he confesses his own sin as greater than hers; while from chap. 39: 9–12, it is made positively certain that Joseph knew adultery to be forbidden, for he says to the wife of Potiphar, “How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?” Previously God had said to Abimelech that he had “held him from sinning against him,” in respect to Sarah.

In chap. 44, in the narrative of Joseph’s dealings with his brethren in respect to his silver cup found in Benjamin’s sack, the brethren say, “Behold, the money which we found in our sacks’ mouths, we brought again unto thee out of the land of Canaan; how, then, should we steal out of thy lord’s house silver or gold? With whomsoever of thy servants it be found, both let him die, and we also will be my lord’s bondmen.” Here is an emphatic indication of a knowledge of the eighth command of the decalogue. Besides, if we mistake not, this transaction quite distinctly indicates that these children of Israel understood very definitely that covetousness would be a sin. Certain it is that Jacob strove to not even appear to covet anything of Laban’s. Hence, though nothing definite is mentioned in Genesis in respect to the tenth commandment, yet, as above, so in several instances, there appears a desire to avoid not only the sin of covetousness, but even the appearance of it.

A. C. SPICKER.

WOE UNTO US!

By I. L. G.

When the prophet Jeremiah says, “Woe unto us, that we have sinned,” he but speaks the conviction of every intelligent mind. Although his words were in a measure personal, and limited to the people of God, yet every person, whether professor or non-professor, must acknowledge their truthfulness. Many hundreds of years have passed since they were spoken, yet have they lost none of their force. As we look about ourselves we see that wickedness and violence reign. Iniquity abounds. Selfishness, pride and folly control the mind. Crime, apostasy and ruin prevail to such an extent that the world has long since ceased to be surprised by any new development of evil. Intemperance floods the land, destroying the morals and licensing the passions. The majority of the youth are growing up the embodiment of evil, nourished and strengthened by the fostering hand of indulgent parents, until they seem the culmination of wickedness. The whole earth is corrupted beneath the baneful influence of sin. That which was prophesied many years ago is now fulfilled. “The earth is also defiled under the inhabitants thereof.” We see the fields wasted. The land mourneth. We hear the beasts of the field cry, for the rivers of water are dried up and the fire devoureth the pastures. “The showers have been withholden.” We see curse after curse resting upon the earth, and the hearts of men growing hardened and implacable to the truth. As the sad picture comes up before us we cry out in anguish, “Woe unto us, that we have sinned.”

Undoubtedly no one of the prophets was better prepared to speak of sin and its demoralizing effects than Jeremiah, his life being one of trial and persecution among the children of Israel. But he steadfastly maintained the cause of God against a rebellious people, faithfully advising and reproving. Being burdened on account of their backslidings, he gave utterance to the most plaintive and pathetic sentiments. In speaking of their calamities he says, “Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.” He here uses language similar to that used by our Saviour when weeping over the fated city, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”

It is said of the few remaining Jews who inhabit Jerusalem that in a small area near some huge and ancient stones in the base of the western wall of Moriah, they gather, especially on sacred days, to sit weeping and wailing on the ground, taking up the heart-breaking lamentations of Jeremiah. They are thus living witnesses of the truth of God’s word and the fulfillment of this prophecy uttered by Jeremiah: “Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee; know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God.”

He further adds: For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim; “our necks are under persecution; we labor, and have no rest.” “Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities.” Every cause has its effects, and if we were to search the divine record we could easily find the cause of so much misery and suffering.

When God gave his statutes to the people he said, “If ye shall despise my statutes, or if ye abhor my judgments, so that ye will not do all my commandments, but that ye break my covenant; I will do this unto you: I will even appoint over you terror, consumption, and the burning ague, that shall consume the eyes, and cause sorrow of heart; and ye shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it.”

Notwithstanding these denunciations, they were like those at the present time who cry peace and safety, and desire smooth things preached to them. They listened to the false prophets, and the true prophets were driven to the humiliating confession that they got their bread by the peril of their lives, “because of the sword of the wilderness.”

As we trace the sad record that sin has made from the fall of man to the present time, and realize, though but imperfectly, its degenerating influence upon our lives, we involuntarily exclaim, “Woe unto us!” Imagine what must have been the feelings of Adam as he looked down through the dim vista of years that was to succeed him, and saw the misery, sorrow, and ruin he had brought upon the race. How keenly must he have felt the sin of disobedience when he saw his devoted and righteous son dead, stricken down by the hand of a brother! Did he not cry out, “Woe unto us, that we have sinned?” And Cain, the relentless murderer, who answered the Lord in his cool audacity, after receiving his penalty cried out, “Mine iniquity is greater than can be forgiven.”

David, in brokenness of spirit and contrition of heart, pleads with God to have mercy, to wash him thoroughly from his iniquity; for his sin was ever before him. Sin is a tormentor, a constant reprover. It is a voluntary humiliation on our part. Every deviation from right-doing leaves its impress upon our characters. The penalty of sin is no less severe in a physical than in a moral sense. We are often made to feel that the iniquities of the fathers are visited through successive generations; and that weakness and imbecility have become an inheritance.

Our hearts inquire, Is this sad state of things always to continue? and we are glad to be assured from the word of God that it is not, that there is a land “where the inhabitants shall not say, I am sick! the people that dwell therein shall be forgiven their iniquities.”

“Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.”

I. L. G.

CATHOLIC INFLUENCE IN MINNESOTA.

We have received a communication from a correspondent which sets forth the conduct of the superintendent of public schools in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The population of the place is largely Catholic and the superintendent is himself a Roman Catholic. He has not only introduced into the public schools a Catholic reading-book; but provided that the children of Protestant parents shall be sent home on two afternoons of each week, and that then the children of Catholic parents shall be instructed by the priest in the Catholic catechism. The Protestants of the place have appealed to the school superintendent of the State for relief, and as yet without success. Other towns are mentioned, where, notwithstanding the prohibition of sectarian instruction in the public schools by the constitution of the State, similar practices are pursued.

Of course, all this is an outrage upon the rights of Protestants, and indeed, all parties but the Catholics, and should be denounced and resisted. And perhaps we do not overstate the case when we say that it is an indication of what Catholics would be very likely to do if they had the power, as they seem to have in St. Cloud. It is, however, no worse for Catholics to do this than it is for Protestants to do substantially the same thing in the public schools. The one lesson for both to learn is that the public schools, supported at the general expense, ought not to be made the instrument of religious and sectarian teaching, whether it be Catholic or Protestant. Such teaching in either form involves injustice.—Independent.

Ancient Skeletons of Large Size

The following interesting paragraph from the Michigan Tribune, of Aug. 10, in regard to the size of men in the distant past, will be of use to those who regard the subject of ethnology from a Bible stand-point:

“The Marshall Expounder of the 3d says: ‘Mr. C. A. Miller informs us that Fred. Sibley, in plowing up summer fallow last week in Clarence, uprooted an old basswood stump of large dimensions and uncovered three skeletons that must of necessity have been buried many years. The bones had the appearance of having been buried together, and many of them are gone. The skulls and portions of the larger bones were nearly entire, one apparently of very large size, the under jaw attached to it easily slipping over the face of a large person.’”

GIVING THANKS.

By Hannah E. Sawyer

In Eph. 5:20, we learn that we are to give “thanks always for all things unto God.” There are very few who can say they have attained unto the Christian character that fulfills this precept of the apostle’s.

Another like admonition is, “Pray without ceasing.” We long to attain to such a holy state that our hearts will be constantly filled with pure aspirations. The Creator bestows rich blessings upon his people, and sends holy angels to protect them from the evils and dangers which surround them; they are therefore under constant obligation to express gratitude to him as their benefactor. This is but reasonable. God intended that man should do this when he created him.

We cannot bow down upon the knees, or express our gratitude orally, every time we receive a good gift from the hands of God; for we are receiving such favors constantly. We do not think that “giving thanks always” requires that every time one receives a special benefit he should go through a devotional form. With a zeal in this direction a person could easily run into a pharisaical spirit. There are times, however, when it seems that open expressions of gratitude are required; and the one who enters into the spirit, as well as the form of open thanksgiving must consequently be benefited by it. This is necessary, that we may reflect the principles of true religion.

I have learned that in the eastern part of Siberia there are tribes, adherents to the Greek Church, who are quite formal in their religious ceremonies. When one of them receives a gift from the hand of a friend, or a special blessing through the favor of God, he stops and makes several crosses. This is an example of remarkable zeal, but Christians may have calm, meditative, and heartfelt gratitude beaming forth in every expression of daily life.

The influence we exert is not an unimportant matter. If we bear the cross daily, somebody will know it. The Christian is commanded to let his light shine. Do we not always find this true, that the exercise of the religious faculties is just as necessary as that of the arm or the hand? We tone up the physical system by exercise; we improve the moral by practice. At proper times, then, it would seem to be our duty to express thanks formally. We may express thankfulness in our very looks, and also in the simplest acts we perform for the benefit of our fellow-men.

Unless the spirit of “giving thanks” unto God enters into our very being, we are soon on the back-ground. Selfishness in some of its forms creeps in, and love is driven out.

If there is one soul on earth that needs pity more than others it is that one who forgets to render thanks unto God for his daily benefits. Language fails to describe the condition of a thankless soul. There are some who seem never to thank God. It is not in their power. They may occasionally use a form of words, but there is no hungering for a higher life in them.

Among those who never give thanks, and whom the word of God declares to have no promise of an inheritance with the children of light, are drunkards, gluttons, Sabbath-breakers, misers, etc. God is not in their thoughts, and it would be very unreasonable to expect such would ever give thanks.

The human mind is so constituted that the more the selfish faculties are exercised at the expense of the moral, the weaker the moral faculties become, until their action finally ceases. Giving thanks unto God continually, or having a disposition to do so, keeps us spiritually alive. This is the happy state of mind which the child of God must possess. He is lost without it.

“Oh, for a heart to thank my God! A heart from sin set free! That ‘prayeth alway’—ever would Assert this liberty.”

HANNAH E. SAWYER.

Religious Langour.

In a private letter from London occurs a mention of a sermon preached by Mr. Spurgeon, in which he expressed the belief that the reason preaching was not more effective, was because the truths were not sharply enough believed by the preachers. The effectiveness of Mr. Spurgeon’s preaching certainly suggests that a deep wrought conviction is a great element of power. The same remark applies to nearly all great preachers, to the old English divines, the reformers, and the great evangelists. “According to your faith, be it done unto you,” is a truth every minister should have engraven on his heart. And that faith is not enthusiasm or hopefulness or courage. It is the prostration of the soul upon the truth. It is a conviction pressed into the life by experience, passing through the whole being like the iron through the blood. It is the assimilation of God’s truth into mortal manhood. Then preaching will not be making a sermon. It will be the irresistible impulsion of faith. It will be the outgoing of the man in the doctrines that are his life. “I believe, therefore have I spoken.” Faith is the only good reason for religious speech.

But the relation between conviction and power applies not only to speech. Is the church often a powerless witness in the world? Is it often hard to draw the line between those who love God and those who love him not? We will find the reason in the lack of faith not only in God but in the truth we profess to believe. The difference between belief and faith is only this: by the former we hold the truth; by the latter it holds us. The former has no determining influence on the character; but faith in proportion as it is real, commands the entire life. The truths we hold are grand and awful enough to sweep every thought, affection and purpose before them. Holding them in a feeble faith, we are standing on the bank of a historic stream and seeing how finely and strongly its waters move at our feet. But when these truths pass into our being, we are like one who is caught in the central current of a great river, and borne smoothly on its way.

Why do we ask languidly in prayer for things over which our souls should be in agony? Because our conviction is only a sentiment. Why do we drift into world-conformity when we should shun the very appearance of evil? Because the Master’s call for separation comes feebly, muffled in hearts that feebly hold the truth. Why, instead of earnestly contending for the faith in daily conduct, is our Christian life more a parade than a battle? Because our faith in God is held more as an ornament than as a shield or a sword. Why is the world full of sneers at the church? Because they see no deep conviction, no intensity of life that burns in the words, shines in the conduct, and even marks and bends the countenance to its mighty behest.

Getting comfortably to Heaven is more to us than living valiantly on earth. Dr. Lyman Beecher used to say, “Eloquence is logic on fire.” A Christian life should be the Son of God on fire in a human heart. We believe glorious and dreadful things, so glorious, so dreadful, the world could not resist a life that would faithfully represent them. Let us hide the word of God in our hearts, till it melts into our experience, till it reappears in new forms in our prayers, our actions, the tenor of our lives, and then we will understand that the depth of our faith measures the breadth of our influence.—Interior.

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