Review and Herald, Vol. 17, No. 14. (2/19/1861)

Review and Herald

Feb 19, 1861

Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 19, 1861

MESSIAH A PROPHET LIKE UNTO MOSES.

By Frey

MOSES was preserved in infancy from the wrath of king Pharaoh, so was Christ from the wrath of Herod; Moses fled from his country, Christ fled into Egypt; Moses returned by the advice of an angel, so did Christ; Moses refused to be an heir to a king, Christ refused to be made a king; Moses was learned in all wisdom, Christ grew in wisdom and in stature; Moses contended with magicians and conquered them, Christ contended with devils and overthrew them all; Moses was a law-giver, a prophet, a worker of miracles, and a king;

Christ was all that in a superior degree (and priest after the order of Melchisedec); Moses brought darkness over all the land, Christ's death on the cross brought darkness over Judea, the darkness in Egypt was followed with the destruction of the first-born, Christ's darkness was followed by the destruction of the Jews by Titus Vespasian; Moses foretold the calamities of the Jews, Christ foretold the dreadful seige and ruin of Jerusalem; the spirit of Moses was put on the seventy elders, the Spirit of Christ was poured on the twelve apostles and the seventy disciples; Moses was victorious over kings and nations of the world, Christ has been victorious over kings and nations of the world by his glorious gospel; Moses conquered Amalek by holding up his hands, Christ conquers Satan and sinners by his intercession in heaven; Moses turned away the wrath of God from the provoking Israelites, Christ turns away the wrath of God from all the millions of his people by his death and by his prayers; Moses ratified a covenant between God and the Israelites by blood sprinkled on the people, Christ ratifies the covenant of grace by shedding his own blood [Acts xx, 28]; Moses instituted the passover, Christ instituted the Lord's supper; Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness to cure the stung Israelites, Christ was lifted up on the cross to cure our souls stung and poisoned with sin; the affection of Moses was repaid with ingratitude, we have all been ungrateful to Jesus Christ; Moses was ill-used by his own family, Christ's own near relations did not believe on him; Moses had a wicked and perverse people to deal with for forty years, Christ had a people of the most perverse and wicked dispositions; Moses was very meek above all men, Christ was infinitely meeker than Moses, and all the meekest men in the world; the people could not go into the land of Canaan till Moses was dead, and not a soul could ever be admitted to enter heaven but on the foundation of the death of Christ who hath opened the kingdom of heaven by his atoning blood, for all believers; Moses died on account of the people's rebellion, Christ died for the sins of his people; Moses went up to die on mount Nebo, Christ went up to die on mount Calvary; Moses died in the vigor of his age, Christ died in the flower and glory of his manhood; Moses was buried and no man saw his body, the unbelieving Jews did not deserve to see the body of Jesus Christ after his resurrection; Moses before his death promised another prophet, Christ before his death promised another comforter, even the eternal Spirit in all the glory of his mission and divine influence in the church to the end of the world.

In all the variety of his offices Jesus Christ was like unto Moses. Each was Saviour, Prophet, Priest, King and Mediator. Moses was Saviour, to deliver his people from Egypt bondage. The Messiah is called Jesus, for he saves his people from the bondage of sin. Moses was called of God and encouraged by the angel that appeared to him in the fiery bush; so was Christ called and appointed by God, introduced into the world by a host of angels, and encouraged by a voice from heaven saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Did Moses prove his mission

by miracles? so did Jesus Christ. Were the miracles of Moses superior to those of the magicians? Christ's miracles far exceeded those of Moses. The deliverance which Moses wrought was wonderful and unparalleled in the history of nations. Their first-born preserved from the sword of the destroyer by the blood of a lamb, the whole nation brought out of bondage in a single night, enriched with the spoils of their enemies without shedding blood or paying a ransom, Pharaoh's host drowned in the Red Sea, their armies conducted through a howling wilderness unto the borders of the land of promise! But however great and wonderful the work and success of Moses, it was only of a temporal nature, a mere type of the far greater and better work of redemption by the Lord Jesus Christ, accomplished not by the mere outstretched arm of Jehovah's power, but by his perfect obedience and inconceivable suffering even unto death, the ignominious and painful death of the cross. Christ has delivered his people from the tyranny of Satan, from the sword of divine justice; has spoiled principalities and powers, enriches his people with spiritual blessings in heavenly places, guides them safely through the wilderness, feeds them with manna from heaven and gives them the water of life, and will ultimately bring them to the heavenly Canaan, the glory of all lands.

Moses was a prophet, in many respects superior to all other prophets, but especially in his direct and immediate intercourse with God. Other prophets received divine communications through the medium of dreams and visions, but he received everything from the mouth of God. Num. xii, 6-8. The doctrines which Jesus Christ revealed, the precepts he taught, the miracles he wrought, and the life and example he exhibited, outshone Moses as the sun outshines all other luminaries, "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him." John i, 17, 18.

Moses often exercised the office of priest, although he did not belong to the house of Aaron. Jesus Christ is the high-priest of our profession, an high priest over the house of God, although of the tribe Judah. Not after the order of Aaron but after the order of Melchisedec, he has entered once the most holy place by his own blood and ever liveth to make intercessions for us.

Moses is called king of Jeshurun. Deut. xxxiii, 5. Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of Lords, the Prince of the kings of the earth.

Moses acted for Israel, as mediator, when they fought with Amalek, when they received the law, and when they made a calf at Horeb. Jesus intercedes in Heaven while his people are engaged in spiritual warfare. Moses acted the part of mediator at Horeb, when the anger of the Lord was kindled upon the people, and he threatened to cut them off. Moses prayed, saying: Now if thou wilt, forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written. Ex. xxxii, 30-32. Our blessed Jesus not merely offered himself to die in the place of the guilty, but actually laid down his life—a ransom for our souls, and is set forth a propitiation through

faith in his blood.

Moses acted as the mediator of a covenant, received the messages of God to his people, and brought back their answer to God, and ratified the covenant by blood sprinkled on the people. Ex. xix, 7-9. But Christ is the mediator of a better covenant, ratified by the shedding of his own blood. Acts xx, 28; Heb. vii, 22; viii, 6."—Frey.

WATCHING FOR THE MORNING.

"My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning."

I am watching for the morning; The night is long and dreary; I have waited for the dawning Till I am sad and weary; I am watching for the morning, When the sons of God shall show, All their beauteous adorning So dimly seen below.

I'm a stranger and sojourner, A pilgrim on the earth; A sick and lonely mourner, Few own my noble birth; But I'm watching for the morning; Oh, when will morning come— And I change the world's rude scorning For the fellowship of home?

They call me strange and gloomy, But oh! they little dream, Of the hopes that fill my bosom, For I am not what I seem— I am watching for the morning When He who for me died, In triumphant state returning, Shall take me to his side.

They often find me weeping When I cannot tell them why, For they know not the deep meaning Of my spirit's sympathy; I am watching for the morning Of a bright and glorious day That shall hush creation's groaning And wipe her tears away.

The earnest expectation Of all nature is abroad; Waiting the revelation Of the real sons of God; And I'm watching for the morning That shall set the captive free, And shall change the chains of bondage Into glorious liberty.

I will get me to the mountain Till the shadows flee away; I will ask of all the watchmen For the tokens of the day. I am watching for the morning, The night is almost gone; I hear the note of warning, I will hie me to my home.

THE MESSIAHSHIP OF CHRIST.

[The following extracts are from "The Messiahship of Jesus, a course of lectures by Joseph Samuel C. F. Frey, author of a Hebrew grammar, Hebrew Dictionary, Scripture Types, &c.," to his brethren the Jews. Published by the American Baptist Publication Society. A. C. HUDSON.]

THE TIME PREDICTED FOR THE ADVENT OF THE SHILOH OR MESSIAH.—It is evident that he was to come before the scepter ceased from Judah, or rather during the existence of the tribe of Judah, distinctly known by genealogy. The Hebrew word shewet, translated scepter, is not in use as a verb, and as a noun it signifies literally a rod or staff of any kind, but it is used figuratively for a scepter, the ensign of royal authority; a tribe, a branch of a family or nation; or the ensign of tribunal jurisdiction, exercised by the head of a tribe. It is evident that the word in this passage [Gen. xlix, 10] has no reference to royal authority, and should not be translated by the word scepter, but "the tribe of Judah," for (as Bishop Sherlock and others have justly observed) that it could not, with any sort of propriety be said, the scepter should not depart from Judah, when Judah had no scepter, nor was to have any for many generations afterwards; besides, the royal authority departed from Judah above five hundred years before the birth of Christ. The true and legitimate meaning, therefore, of the word shewet is the tribe or tribeship, the same as in verses 16 and 28 of this very chapter: "Dan shall judge his people as one of the tribes of Israel." "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel." The import of this part of the prediction, therefore, is plainly this, that the tribe of Judah should not be scattered and confounded as the rest of the tribes of Jacob would be, but should remain a distinct tribe, known by genealogy until the Messiah should come. Hence great care was taken by numbering this tribe more frequently, to preserve its genealogy. See 1 Sam. ii, 8. 2 Sam. ii, 4. 2 Chron. xii, 15.

The next sentence descriptive of the time of Messiah's advent, is thus expressed: "Nor a law-giver from between his feet," or "of his offspring." The word Mechokok, a law-giver, is variously translated. The radical meaning is, "to engrave." Hence are derived laws, statutes, kings, rulers, leaders, scribes and teachers. It cannot mean in this passage "a law-giver," for no tribe had a right to make any laws; for God himself was their Law-giver, and by his laws the king himself was to be governed; but each tribe had its prince or ruler, not to make laws, but like magistrates to judge the tribe by the laws of God; or as the three Targums and other Jewish writers expressed it, the scribes and teachers of the law.

From what has been said, it is evident that Shiloh, the Messiah was to appear while Judah was a distinct tribe, having its genealogies and its magistrates, lawyers, and expounders of God's laws.

Hence great care has been taken to keep up the genealogy of this tribe until the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. But it is an undeniable fact that the tribe of Judah as well as all the other tribes, has lost its genealogies for more than 1700 years; and therefore the Messiah must have come or the prediction is false. To assert the latter would be blasphemy; to deny the former, is unreasonable.

In a manuscript book written by a Mr. Barnet one of our nation, who lived and died a pious Christian, is the following judicious observation: "The word shewet here mentioned in Jacob's prophecy, and commonly translated scepter, meaning royal dominions, should, in my opinion, be

literally understood the tribe, as expressed in the 28th verse of this chapter: "These are the tribes." Judah was not to cease being a tribe (although ten were removed and carried away), distinguished and known by its genealogies as such, until Shiloh came; nor till then was the Law-giver to cease from between his feet, for the sanhedrim were still in Jerusalem when our Saviour came, and these genealogies subsisted only to prove him, in his human nature son of Abraham, son of Judah, and son of David. The tribe at his coming was to withdraw from Judah, and unto Shiloh were the nations to be gathered, and this prophecy was literally fulfilled, for the ten tribes were carried away captives, but Judah remained; and remained a tribe distinct from Levi and Benjamin in the days of Jesus, even to the destruction of the temple. Until the days of Jesus the genealogies of the tribe of Judah as a known distinct tribe, were preserved; and the Jews themselves allow that Jesus was of the tribe of Judah; but as soon as the Christian church was established, or the aggregation was to Shiloh, then fell down the partition wall between Jew and Gentile. He came for whom was ordered the distinction of tribes and genealogies, to mark his descent. For him they subsisted, and having finished their design and destination they exist no more.

Was the law-giver, ruler or magistrate not to cease until Shiloh came? This also was fulfilled. There were always up to the time of the last captivity rulers in Israel, either a king or governor, as there were unto the time of Christ under the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks and Romans, such as Gedaliah and Zerubbabel, and particularly the Sanhedrim, a court of judicature, the members of which chiefly consisted of the tribe of Judah; and the Nasi or prince of it was always of that tribe and which retained its power till the latter end of Herod's reign when Christ had come, but soon after it lost its power.

FOOLISH TALKING AND JESTING.

There are some Christians who seem to forget that God in his word has spoken of such things, and not with commendation. They seem not aware that God gives any attention to their foolish talking and jesting, even so much as to notice and know it.

It is for such heedless Christians that we have placed the words "foolish talking and jesting" at the head of this column, and offer a few suggestions upon the habit.

Those who form and indulge this habit are wont to think and say of it: "What's the harm? Fun is the zest of life; what would life be if we must live it all through with a long face?"

To all which we reply.

1. Life is too grave a matter to be wasted and spent in fun. It has too many solemn issues—too many momentous relations and bearings. Too much hangs upon the destiny of souls. We always have too much close and direct influence upon the weal or woe of souls. God has laid upon us all, too many and too great responsibilities to admit of levity of mind and frivolity of speech.

2. If it were not that persons, given to foolish talking, would abuse the small latitude which the remark might seem to allow them, we would say that pleasantry, such as is not "foolish," and a timely unbending of the mind after long and great tension, are sometimes admissible—good for health, and not bad for piety. But these indulgences should not be the warp and woof of one's life. They should be only occasional, and always under control. As there is no reason why conscience should always condemn them, so and much more is there no reason why they should not be subject strictly to the law of conscience.

3. Returning now to our reply to the question—What's the harm in foolish talking and jesting? We say—ask your ungodly friends what they think of such things in Christian people. Take pains to ascertain how it strikes them. See if in their view these foolish-talking Christians adorn the gospel of Christ. See if it does not strike them as incongruous, that out of the same mouth should come jests and folly one hour, and solemn prayer and praise the next. Take note whether these utterances of levity in Christians seem to give force to their exhortations to their friends to come to Christ. Does such talk increase the confidence of the ungodly in their piety and in their prayers?

Now these remarks of ours do not imply that the judgment of ungodly men upon their Christian neighbors is infallible; yet none of us are too wise to learn something from the impression our life and speech naturally make on our neighbors. The Scriptures hint to us more than once that our "speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt"—(i. e. wisdom) that it be sound speech that cannot be condemned, and that we "be without offense," "unblamable," "unreprovable." Let us not forget that if we are to be "lights in the world" to any good purpose, we must gain the confidence of men, so that they shall adventure themselves to walk by our light, having confidence that our leading is unto life and not unto death.

4. We reply again: Let us hear the word of the Lord in this matter. It is certainly a very significant fact that God has spoken to this point, and so distinctly as to give us his views beyond mistake. Thus, through Paul to the Christians at Ephesus, he says to us, "Be ye followers of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us;" but fornication, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not once be named among you, as becometh saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking nor jesting, which are not convenient; but rather" [let there be] "giving of thanks."

We have quoted more of this passage than belonged immediately to our subject, that you might see in what company Paul locates "foolish talking and jesting." They stand in the same cluster with "filthiness," "fornication and all uncleanness," as if they all belonged to the same family. Paul had seen them in close company. Heathenism

shows them associated in fact, as the out-workings of a mind low, sensual, and alien to the life of God in the soul. They are but too much in sympathy with each other, and are altogether uncongenial to whatsoever things are pure and holy.

But note again: The sacred word saith "Let these things not once be named among you, for so it becometh saints."

Here some reader, ready to justify a large range in the use of the tongue, may interpose that Paul only says of foolish talking and jesting that they are "not convenient;" whereas for themselves they find it so convenient that such talk flows from their tongue almost despite of themselves.

To such persons, let us say—we must take the word "convenient," when found in the Bible, in its old sense, and not in its new—as used by our translators two hundred years ago, and not in the very different sense put upon it in modern times. The old sense is, suitable, proper, becoming; not—that which comes easy to us. Paul meant to say that foolish talking and jesting do not correspond with our profession and our responsibilities as Christians—do not go well together [non conveniens, the Latins would have it, which is precisely the old sense of "not convenient"].

Note also what things Paul, in Rom. i, 28, 29, enumerates as "not convenient." "God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient, being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness," &c., a most emphatic comment on the significance of "not convenient."

And finally, as if specially to warn and rebuke those who boldly say, "our lips are our own; who is Lord over us? who has the right to control our words?" he gives us solemn intimations that he shall take note of them all in the final day: "But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned." Mat. xii, 36, 37.—

OUTWARDLY AND INWARDLY.

OUTWARDLY a man seemingly possesses much—houses and lands, the consideration of the community, the partial regard of friends, and these are all good; yet with all these how miserably poor he may really be, how destitute of any real claim to the veneration of the wise, the loving respect of the good.

And he is this, simply because he has forgotten the essential element of happiness, the only real claim a man can have to the confidence of his brethren, the existence within of an upright, generous and open nature, one that scorns a mean action, the faintest tinge of falsehood, or the remotest presence of deceit.

He may be rich, and there are multitudes who will permit his gold to gild his follies; he may be distinguished, and there are plenty to fawn and flatter for the privilege of shining in his reflected light; but they who dwell with him in the narrow circle of his home, know him as he is. Wife, child, servants, it may be, know more of him than all the world beside, since if he be vicious, mean, selfish, profane, he must show himself truly somewhere, and he cannot afford to lose the world's esteem. He dares the judgment of the fireside, which is only the echo of God's voice.

It is a mistake to suppose that the great battles of the world are fought with the implements of war, to the sound of martial music, upon broad fields, blackened with the tread of countless feet. There is many a fiercer strife in the breast of the lowly peasant in the wilderness of the mountains, where the din of battle never broke the appalling stillness; the contest of right with wrong, and only God to witness.

It is indeed far easier to grasp the sword and rush headlong into the affray, than to pluck one darling sin from the heart's recesses, to control one rebellious appetite, to check the storm of passion; yet these last are the richer prizes, and far worthier of noble exertion than the laurel wreath wet with human blood.

The Church, Slavery, and Caste.

By John G. Fee

In every land the popular religion is to that people the standard of right. As that religion is, so are the morals and statute laws of the land.

In our country the popular church is the exponent of the popular religion, and has immense power in forming public sentiment; and, through the public sentiment the church molds law.

Albert Barnes, recognizing this truth, said, "The Christian church, if right, would break the bonds of the slave in a year. Let the church speak, and right action will follow as certainly as the shining of the sun causes vernal beauty to spring into life."

To see that this is true, we need but look to the localities where a few church members have been true to the religion of Christianity. Let the mass of the church remain as now, criminally silent and indifferent, and slavery will be perpetuated, at least for a time. The people, without correct moral sentiment, will go on from one degree of vice to another, until at last, despising the church for her heartlessness, formality, and fashion, the masses will plunge into Atheism, violence, and bloodshed.

What is the voice of history? Macaulay, speaking of France, says: "The church was against humanity; and the ecclesiastics had hearts like ice; they were the apologists for injustice and wrong. Having charge of the sheep, they acted more like wolves than shepherds."

As a result, another has said: "Voltaire and his company plead eloquently for the poor and oppressed; and those infidel scoffers carried away the hearts of the people from the church, and caused them to hate it as an institution fostering gigantic wrong. The people rejected Christianity because it was misrepresented. The nation fled to atheism, and to violence, blasphemy, wrong and bloodshed, as a natural result of the influence of an unfaithful church."

What are the facts? Four millions of native-born Americans of "one blood" with ourselves, robbed of personal ownership, despoiled in the sacred rights of husband and wife, parents and child; yet most of the professed ministers of Him who came to open the prison doors, to preach deliverance to the captives, and to set at liberty them that are bruised, dispose of the claims of these millions by a "single paragraph" in their sermons, or in vague generalities in their prayers. Others directly enslave their fellow-men, or fellowship those that do so.

And in reference to the colored man in the free States, there are but few churches where he is treated as a brother. Most treat him as Pharisees did Gentiles in the time of Christ.

No wonder that New York has cast her recent vote against the colored man. Some years since a movement was made in the New York Legislature to extend to the colored man equal rights. It was replied, "It is useless for us to attempt to do so, for the churches will not."

The work of justice and reform must begin in the church. She is to be the light of the world.

It is just to say some churches bear a consistent testimony and practice for the right. May the number be speedily multiplied.—*John G. Fee.

CHRISTIAN INFLUENCE.

By Charles Wadsworth, D. D.

IN the life of a Christian lies the secret of all true Christian influence. It is the easiest thing in the world to talk about religion. But mere talk about religion is the poorest thing in the world. Every true Christian will, indeed, talk about his Saviour. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. And if the voice does not speak for Christ, sure you may be the soul is not filled with Christ. Nevertheless, here as elsewhere, the utterance of the lips is as nothing to the influence of the life. In the divine economy, all grand forces are comparatively gentle and silent. The shallow rill, that is dry on the mountain side half the year, brawls more noisily at times than yon mighty river. The boy's sparkling rocket makes a louder demonstration in the night air than all God's starry constellations. And yet, in the silence of their sublime manifestations, how eloquently do these great forces of the universe bear witness for God!

And so it is of moral forces. The gentle movement of "the man out of whom the devils were departed," amid his wondering countrymen, did more to convince them of Christ's saving power, than a thousand noisy utterances. And so it is with the convincing power of a Christian life. The converted man is left in this world a witness for Jesus, a living illustration of the power and blessedness of a religious life. He is to the theological truth of the Bible what practical experiments are to scientific truths in nature. As the chemist talks technically of elements in analysis and synthesis, and exhibits, in illustration, free gases and ponderous compounds; and as the botanist discourses scientifically of the structure of plants, and the functions of their parts, and shows you his meaning by producing the petals of a lily, or a spike of lavender, so it is with spiritual science in the hands of the great Teacher. In the Bible the graces of the Christian are described as in a written epistle—in Christian life they are illustrated as in a "living epistle."

And in this sense are we, mainly, witnesses for Christ. As the Gadarenes saw that the demoniac was restored, so must the world see that the sinner is converted. He must speak for Christ, as the flower and the star speak for God, in the beauty and glory of their physical manifestations. Without this abiding savor of a holy life, all else will prove but a mockery.—Charles Wadsworth, D. D.

Where the Devil Cannot Come He Will Send

“WHERE THE DEVIL CANNOT COME HE WILL SEND.”—A proverb of very serious import, which excellently sets out to us the penetrative character of temptations, and the certainty that they will follow and find men out in their strictest retreats. It rebukes the absurdity of supposing that by any outward arrangements, cloistered retirement, flights into the wilderness, sin can be kept at a distance. So far from this, temptations will inevitably overleap all these outward and

merely artificial barriers which may be raised up against them; for our great enemy is as formidable from a seeming distance as in close combat; where he cannot come he will send.

Look out for Humbugs.

SAYS an exchange : There is scarcely a family in the United States or British Provinces, whose post-office address is not recorded in from one to a dozen establishments in some of our large cities, and tempting, plausible circulars will be sent through the mails to them, offering all sorts of inducements to get their money.

Each scheme, no matter how tempting, is so much of the character of a hundred others that have gone before, that it is surprising how there can be found foolish persons enough to keep these humbugs alive.

One of the most wily schemes to be pushed this winter, is the offer of so-called gold articles, such as magnificent gold pencils, pens, etc. A few statistics obtained at one of the manufacturies of these articles, show that they are being turned out by the ten thousand. A "gold pen and magnificent case" are stamped out of some cheap metal, and then galvanized over with the thinnest possible film of gold. The whole is done so skillfully that the common observer will find it utterly impossible to distinguish between a bona fide article worth $3 to $6, and the bogus one costing 6 to 15 cents! The outside film of gold, though less than the two-hundred-thousandth part of an inch in thickness, is yet enough to cover up the inside base metal, and protect it from the usual acid test, while the filling of cheap metal prevents detecting the deception by the weight. We have seen a pen and case that cost 16 cents to manufacture, that was offered as a $3 premium or "gift," and no one but a practical goldsmith or jeweller could detect the deception. The same remark applies to various other gilded (not gold) articles.—Let it be remembered that the more splendid and plausible the scheme held out to the public, the greater is the concealed deception.

THE PULPIT NOT FREE.—

At the recent Unitarian convention in Massachusetts, Rev. Mr. Pierpont expressed his sentiments on the freedom of the pulpit with great boldness. No man who is a man (he said) can stand in a Unitarian pulpit and speak out his whole mind. If he attempts it, there will be found three men in his congregation who will use their efforts with success to unhorse him. One shall be a manufacturer or seller of intoxicating drink, and another a political trader, and the third interested in some way in cotton. He alluded to his own labors as a pioneer in the West; but maintained that there is everywhere a want of freedom on the part of the preachers. They cannot attack sin that now exists, but are only allowed to denounce the Scribes and Pharisees. He would thank anybody who could see how there can be a free pulpit to tell him of the way.

Buddhism and Catholicism.

THE Buddhist books maintain the existence of sixty-three small hells and one large one. At death the wicked are plunged into one of the smaller hells, but soon after death the sinner may be delivered through the prayers of the priests. If this is neglected, he passes into the large hell, and remains there forever. This is the common opinion, although some believe that after a time all will be saved by the goddess of mercy.

Denominational Book-Selling

DENOMINATIONAL BOOK-SELLING.—A contributor to the book fund of the Southern Methodist church complains through the St. Louis Christian Advocate, that their "book concern at Nashville has gone into a wholesale miscellaneous book trade," and that "the depositories in some of the States deal largely in fancy goods and sell novels." He asks "whether this is not a gross perversion of a sacred fund, raised exclusively for the dissemination of religious books and tracts."

Continue reading: THOUGHTS ON THE ADVENT