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Signs of the Times, Vol. 5, No. 46.

General Articles

Signs of the Times

Dec 4, 1879

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Dec 4, 1879

General Articles.

By Mrs. E. G. White

THE GREAT CONTROVERSY

BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS ANGELS AND SATAN AND HIS ANGELS.

CHAPTER XIV.

Jacob's Second Visit to Bethel
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
JACOB made his home in Shechem, and having purchased a piece of land he erected his tent, and close beside it his altar, and dedicated them to God. The sons of Jacob were not all governed by religious principle. Their inhuman treatment of the Shechemites was offensive to God. Their father was kept in ignorance of their purpose until the work of cruelty was accomplished; and when he learned what had been done he severely rebuked them for their treacherous, revengeful course. Simeon and Levi attempted to defend themselves by urging that they had thus avenged the wrong done to their sister. But Jacob assured them that nothing could justify their conduct; for the sin of one man they had caused the innocent inhabitants of a whole city to suffer. These people had placed confidence in them, and thus had been shamefully betrayed. The God of Israel had been dishonored. Jacob felt deeply humiliated; he knew that deception and cruelty had been practiced, and he felt that he would now be hated and despised by the inhabitants of the country around them.
He saw, too, that treachery and cruelty was growing upon his sons, and that they were forgetting God, and allowing infidelity to come into their hearts. He knew that there was cause for self-condemnation in this matter, and he began to reflect upon his own conduct in allowing his beloved Rachel to conceal her father's gods which she had stolen, when he should have destroyed at once everything which would lead to infidelity.
There were false gods in the camp of Israel, and he had not used prompt means to destroy them; and idolatrous worship was more or less practiced by his household. He knew that God should deal with them, in the present instance, according to their crime, he would permit the surrounding nations to take vengeance upon them.
While Jacob was thus bowed down with trouble, the Lord had compassion upon him, and directed him to leave his place and move southward to Bethel. At the mention of this name the patriarch is reminded not only of his vision of the angels, ascending and descending, and of God above them speaking to him words of comfort, but also of the vow which he had made there, that if God would keep and bless him, the Lord should be his God. And he reflects thus: Have I been as faithful to my promise as God has been to me? He saw and felt the necessity of being more thorough and decided in his family, to put away everything that savored of idolatry. He determined to cleanse the camp, that his company might go to this sacred spot free from defilement. He therefore stands up and addresses them: "Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments; and let us arise and go up to Bethel, and I will make an altar unto God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went."
He then, with trembling voice and quivering lip, related to them his perplexity; when but a youth he left his father's tent, a lonely traveler, afraid of his life, with no earthly friend to comfort or encourage. Passing Hebron and Moriah, he came, in the evening of the second day, to Bethel, the spot made sacred by the sacrifices and prayers of Abraham. He felt heart-sick and friendless in his solitude, and lay down to sleep. It was here that God gave him that encouraging dream of the heavenly ladder which reached from earth to Heaven. Angels of God were ascending and descending upon this ladder of shining brightness, and the Lord himself stood above it, and spoke to him these encouraging words: "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee I give it, and to thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth; and in thee and thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. And, behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land."
On awaking from this dream, Jacob felt that the spot was peopled with angels, and that God was looking with tender love and compassion upon him, and he there set up a memorial signifying that he would ever remember the loving-kindness of God.
As Jacob thus reviewed the goodness and mercy of God, his own heart was subdued and humbled; and he had taken the most effectual way to reach the hearts of his children, and lead them to reverence the God of Heaven when they arrived at Bethel. Not in the least did any of his family hesitate to obey his commands. All that were with him delivered up their idols, and also their earrings, and he buried them under an oak near Shechem. The patriarch felt that humiliation before God was more in keeping with their position than was the wearing of gold and silver ornaments.
Jacob had now done his duty in cleansing his household from idolatry, and he set out with them on his journey to Bethel. For the sake of his servant Jacob, who had no part in the cruelty practiced on the Shechemites, the Lord caused fear to fall upon the inhabitants of the land, that they did not arise to avenge the deed done to Shechem. The travelers moved on their way unmolested, and came to Bethel. Here Jacob, in obedience to the divine command, immediately erected an altar, upon which he performed the vow made when on his journey from Canaan to Mesopotamia. Of all the substance that had been placed with him in trust, he rendered an offering to God, although it took from him quite a large share of his possessions. The self-denial and beneficence here manifested, rebukes the self-indulgence of many professed Christians, and the meager offerings which they bring to God. Many put into the Lord's treasury a sum less than the price of their cigars, and far less than the cost of the ornaments that adorn their persons and their houses, and the hurtful luxuries upon their tables. Eternity will reveal the narrowness and selfishness of these minds. What will their feelings when Christ shall reveal to them the value of souls, and the infinite importance of their salvation?
The Lord accepted the offering of Jacob, and met with and blesssd him, and renewed his covenant with him. As a lasting memorial of this additional token of divine favor, Jacob again erected a pillar of stone, which he consecrated in the usual manner.
Jacob's heart yearned to visit his early home once more, and look again upon his aged father's face. With his family, he journeyed toward Hebron. Before they had proceeded far on the way, Rachel gave birth to Benjamin. She had only a moment's space of life in which to name him, when she died, calling him Benoni, the son of my sorrow. But Jacob named him Benjamin, the son of my right hand, and my strength. Rachel was buried where she died, and above her grave was placed a stone monument to perpetuate her memory.
Rebecca, his mother, was at Bethel, Deborah, his mother's nurse, also died, and was there buried with expressions of great sorrow, for she had been an honored member of his father's family. The meeting of Jacob with his father was a joyful one to both father and son. Isaac was very old, blind, and dependent; but he lived some years after the return of his son.
At the death-bed of their father, the two brothers, Jacob and Esau, met and united their grief. Once Esau had looked forward to this event as a time when he would be revenged upon Jacob for stealing from him his father's blessing; but his feelings had greatly changed. Jacob was now wealthy, and he returned to Esau the blessing of possession so recklessly sold for a mess of pottage. Therefore the two brothers, no longer separated by enmity, jealousy, and hatred, parted from each other because of their possessions. Jacob also knew that their religious faith was so unlike it would be better for them to live apart. Jacob's character was greatly modified and refined by the blessing received from the angel in that night of terrible conflict, and ever after he was reverenced by all who knew him. His trials had not been in vain.

Quality of Roman Catholic Education.

In a recent issue we gave a condensed statistical statement concerning the Roman Catholic educational institutions in our country, taking the facts as given by Dr. Dorchester in Zion’s Herald. In a later article in the same journal Dr. Dorchester has carefully compared the character of Roman Catholic education with that given by Protestant and non-sectarian colleges. An examination of the catalogues of ten Roman Catholic colleges, five of them Jesuit colleges in which the course of study is most full and thorough, had led the writer to such conclusions as the following:—
1. The standard of admission is inferior. Many books in Latin and Greek, such as Virgil, Sallust, Cicero’s Orations, Xenophon’s Anabasis, and Homer, which are required for admission to nearly all our Protestant and non-sectarian colleges, are found in the first and second years of the collegiate course of the very best of the Roman Catholic institutions. So also a large part of the mathematics required for admission in the former colleges, both in Algebra and Geometry, are in the first and second years of the regular course of the latter. In most of the Roman Catholic colleges the difference in requirements for admission is still greater. In some of them, Latin and Greek are not commenced till the Freshman year, and even written and mental Arithmetic are in the collegiate course.
2. “The courses of study are not as broad as in the non-Catholic colleges. Less attention is devoted to natural sciences, mental and moral philosophy, political economy, etc. And the elective system of studies has been only sparingly adopted. Nor do they furnish as ample or as valuable facilities for pursuing such inquiries. With the larger departments of modern investigation, the Church of Rome has had less sympathy, preferring to confine herself to an old routine.”
3. The undue prominence given to the study of the Latin language, usually throughout the entire four years’ course. The catalogue of the Jesuit institution known as St. John’s College, at Fordham, N. Y., just out of New York City, states that the philosophical lectures of the last year on Ethics and Civil Society, etc., were given in Latin, and that the students are required to speak Latin, and defend their theses every week in that language. Such defense is often public before the Faculty.
The discipline of all these Catholic institutions is most rigid. Other colleges might learn something from their example without adopting such extreme measures as the following: “No books, other than text-books and works of reference recommended by the professors, may be held by the students, unless by permission of the President. Students are not allowed to receive newspapers, except for the reading-room, which is under the direction of the President. Letters received and sent away by the students are subject to the supervision of the college authorities. No private pocket money is allowed in the hands of the students, but must be deposited with the treasurer.” The constant aim in the government of these institutions is to promote the growth of the Roman Catholic faith. Though by very difficult measures, yet by something like the same constancy of aim and effort, should the officers and teachers of all our Protestant and non-sectarian institutions of learning seek to surround the student, both in and out of the recitation room, with genuine Christian influences.
In reference to the support of these Roman Catholic institutions by Protestant parents Dr. Dorchester says: “They have been supposed by many American parents, particularly in wealthy and aristocratic circles, to afford advantages for education superior to our non-Catholic schools of like grade; and many daughters have been sent thither for instruction. Academic departments connected with convents have also been patronized for such supposed advantages, and daughters of Protestant parents have thus been lured into the Roman Catholic Church. Close inquiry in regard to the education imparted in these institutions leads to the conclusion that instruction in the fine arts, in the languages, and in the sciences, is far inferior in all elements of true culture to that imparted by non-Catholic schools. They pander to the vanity of wealthy and aristocratic patrons, and aim to make their daughters showy rather than truly cultivated. The whole system is superficial in its plan and execution. Those who come forth well educated become such not by any superior advantages furnished by Roman Catholic schools, but by reason of natural ability or personal application.”
The careful discipline in Catholic institutions has in many instances led nominally Protestants to place their daughters under their care. Their pronounced religious character has been preferred to the loose and uncertain moral and religious tone of some other institutions. If we, as Protestants, have any lesson to learn from these Catholic colleges and seminaries, it is to pervade our institutions of learning, through and through, with the spirit of the true religion of Jesus Christ.—Christian Statesman.

WHATSOEVER.

By Margaret J. Preston

ONE day in stress of need, I prayed, "Dear Father, thou hast bid me bring All wants to thee; so, unafraid, I ask thee for this little thing, Round which my hopes so keenly cling. And yet, remembering what thou art, So dread, so wondrous, so divine. I marvel that I have the heart To tell thee of this wish of mine!
"Thy heavens are strewn with worlds on worlds, Thy star-dust powders reachless space; System on system round thee whirls, Who sittest in the central place Of Being; while before thy face The universe hangs like a bead Of dew, upon whose arc is shown, With but reflected flash indeed, Godhood's magnificence alone!
"And when I think—our world's but one Small world amid the countless band, That in its daily course doth run Its golden circuit through thy hand, And that its peopled myriads stand Always before thee, even as I, Sad suppliants in their misery dumb, Waiting for every hour's supply,— I wonder that I dare to come!
"I could not come, but for thy word That says I may, in reverent fear, Approach, and through thy grace be heard; Therefore, to-day, I venture near And bring the suit, to me so dear; Remembering what thy Christ hath said, And reading it with faith aright, That every hair upon my head Bears its own number in his sight.
"The thing I ask thee for,—how small, How trivial must it seem to thee! Yet, Lord, thou knowest, who knowest all, It is no little thing to me, So weak, so human as I be! Therefore I make my prayer to-day, And as a father pitieth, then, Grant me this little thing, I pray, Through the one sacred Name. Amen!"
I had my wish: the little thing, So needful to my heart's content, Was given to my petitioning, And comforted, I onward went With tranquil soul, wherein were blent Trust and thanksgiving: for I know Now, as I had not known before, The whatsoever's meaning: so I cavil not nor question more!
—Margaret J. Preston.

The Value of Honest Work

PEOPLE may tell you of your being unfit for some peculiar occupation in life; but heed them not; whatsoever honest employment you follow with conscientious perseverance and assiduity will be found fit for you, and will be to you both a support and comfort.

The Immortality of the Soul — History of the Doctrine.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

(Continued.)

EVIL EFFECTS OF THE PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY — HERMITS.

AS SOON AS Plato’s doctrine of the soul’s immortality was accepted by the church, its baleful fruits began to appear in the wildest forms of fanaticism. The body was held in the greatest contempt, and everything was done to weaken and emaciate it, that the immortal spirit, the spark of divinity within, might be exalted. A great crop of hermits, monks, anchorites, and the like, was the first evil resulting from this teaching. Says the historian: “This new species of philosophy . . . produced that gloomy set of men called mystics; whose system, if divested of its Pla-tonic notions respecting the origan and nature of the soul, will be a lifeless and senseless corpse.” It laid a foundation, too, for that indolent mode of life which was afterward adopted by many, and particularly by numerous tribes of monks.” (Mosh. Eccl. Hist., vol. i. cent. ii. part ii p. 115.)
Enfield, in his “History of Philosophy,” shows the same thing at some length. He says: “Another principal cause of the cor-ruption of the Christian doctrine of morality was, that it was very early tinctured with the enthusiastic spirit of the Alexandrian philosophy. . . . This corruption chiefly dis-covered itself in a peculiar species of fanat-icism, consisting in a certain mystical notion of perfection which originated from a princi-ple common to Platonists, Orientalists, and Gnostics: that the soul of man is imprisoned and debased in its corporeal habitation, and in proportion as it becomes disengaged from the incumbrance, and purged from the dregs of matter, it is prepared for its return to the divine nature.” (Page 453.)
Then he relates how this led them to retire into deserts and afflict their bodies, in order to purify the soul. “For it is well known,” again writes Mosheim, “that the true and genuine mystics adopted, as the very basis and ground-work of their discipline, those principles respecting the Deity, the world, the soul, and the nature of man, which the Christians had borrowed from the Egyptian and modern Platonic philosophy, and were accustomed from this century downward to communicate merely to a select number of auditors. . . . Upon the introduction of the Egyptian and Platonic philosophy, this simple mode of life was reduced to the form of an art, and interwoven with such maxims respect-ing the Deity, the human soul, and the nature of man, as were thought most consonant to reason. . . . Hither, also, may we refer the origin of monks, hermits, and cenobites, whose rules and institutions are uniformly grounded upon the principle of delivering THE IMMORTAL SPIRIT from the oppression under which it groans in being connected with the body, and of purifying it from the corruptions of sense, and of rendering it fit to be admitted into the presence of the Deity in the realms of ever-lasting light and life.” (Com., vol. i. cent. ii. sec. 35, pp. 380, 381.)
Again, when Christians adopted “the phil-osophical doctrines respecting the nature of the soul, and of bodies, when Ascetics adopted the belief that every endeavor was to be used to set free the divine spark that lay impris-oned within the body, . . . it was but natural for them to renounce the society of men, and devote themselves to a life of seclusion and solitude.” (Mosheim's Com., vol. i. p. 388.)
Hence, he says, originated monasteries, ab-beys, hermits, and anchorites. Can any one fail to see here from whence the Christians obtained the doctrine of an immortal spirit in man? The monks and hermits spoken of, were the most wild, fanatical, and miserable set of men that have ever disgraced humanity. They left the society of men; went into the mountains and deserts; lived on grass like beasts; stood on the tops of pillars for years; emaciated their bodies in all possible ways, by hunger, thirst, nakedness, and filthiness. They wore their clothes till they literally rot-ted off, and acted like wild beasts.
Milman, in his history of Christianity, says: “Human invention was exhausted in self-inflicted torments. The Indian faquir was rivaled in the variety of distorted postures and of agonizing exercises. Some lived in clefts and caves; some in huts into which the light of day could not penetrate; some hung huge weights to their arms, necks, or loins; some confined themselves in cages; some, on the tops of mountains, exposed to the sun and weather. The most celebrated hermit, at length, for life condemned himself to stand in a fiery climate, on the narrow top of a pillar.” P. 426.
For further description of these miserable fanatics, see Gibbon, Bower, or any history of the church. All this was done to weaken and wear out the sinful body and free the im-mortal soul within!

CELIBACY.

The celibacy of the Romish priests, which has been such a scandal to Christianity, also grew out of the same idea. The most lewd and shameful practices sprang from this fa-natical heathen notion that the immortal soul was everything and the material body noth-ing.
Of the celibacy, of the priests, which grew out of this idea, the historian says: “And this many of the clergy, especially in Africa, endeavored to accomplish with the least vio-lence to their inclinations; for they received into their houses, and even to their beds, some of those females who had vowed perpetual chastity, affirming, however, most solemnly, that they had no criminal intercourse with them.” “Such connections were considered as a marriage of souls without the marriage of bodies.” (Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. vol. i. part ii. chap. ii. p. 93, and note 2).
Such was the fruit which naturally grew out of this Platonic doctrine of the pure, im-mortal spirit within the prison of a corrupt material body. All this was but a repetition of what the same doctrine had previously produced among the pagans. Porphyry as-sures us that the “ancient Pythagoreans were distinguished for their attachment to this mode of life.” (Mosheim's Eccl. Hist., p. 100, note 2.) Indeed, large numbers of the heathen Platonists had retired into deserts and soli-tary places, and there lived just as these her-mits did after them. The latter only copied the former.

WORSHIP OF SAINTS AND RELICS.

Another appalling evil which immediately sprung from the belief in the doctrine that death is only the freeing of the real man, the immortal soul, from its prison; that the saints after the death of the body are more active and powerful than they were before; and that they have great access to Heaven and to the presence of God, was the worship of saints and their relics. Bower says that Ter-tullian was the first who spoke of praying for the dead. Says the historian: “The Roman Catholic ceremony of beatification and canon-ization of saints, offering them incense and prayers thereafter, means exactly what was meant by the ancient apotheosis; namely, that while the multitudes of the dead abide below, in the intermediate state, these favored souls have been advanced into Heaven. The papal functionaries borrowed this rite, with most of its details, from their immediate pa-gan predecessors.” (Alger, Doctrine of Future Life, part v. cent 1. p. 471.)
These martyrs, hermits, and noted saints, who had gained a great reputation for sanctity by their austere lives, were supposed to go directly to Heaven and have great influence with the Lord. As these were their own relatives, special friends and brethren, it was a natural thought that they would intercede with God for their friends on earth, who were still in the flesh. What more reasonable than that a sainted mother should plead for her children who were still exposed to peril, or that a faithful pastor should pray for his beloved flock now left on earth without his aid? Hence offerings at the tombs of these dead saints began to be made. Immediately mir-acles were said to be wrought in answer to these, and this encouraged the pious thought. Next, churches were built in honor of these saints, and dedicated to them. Here their bones were sacredly deposited and rich offer-ings made to them, which went to the clergy. Now miracles and answers to these petitions became frequent.
The great question was settled; the dead were alive, and had power with God. It was better to pray to these than directly to God himself, or even to Christ, as they were more like us, and would sympathize with us more readily. Hence patron saints rapidly multi-plied, till every town and almost every house-hold had its special saint to whom all prayers were offered. God and Christ were left out, and the Virgin Mary, St. Peter, and a host of dead men, took their places. Images to these saints were erected everywhere, and their votaries bowed before them in supplica-tion. Behold paganism re-established through the devil's lie of the soul's immortality!

PURGATORY INTRODUCED.

Another of the most baneful doctrines of the Roman church with which the world was ever cursed, grew directly out of the Platonic theory of the soul's immortality; viz., the popish doctrine of purgatory. The case is thus stated by Dr. Knapp in his excellent book on “Christian Theology:” “The foun-dation for the doctrine of purgatory is found even in the second and third centuries. Its origin may be traced back to the Pythagorean or Platonic philosophy. Souls, according to Plato, are a part of the divine nature, which, however, are confined in the body as in a prison. Now, even after the soul of man is disembodied, there still cleaves to it much sin and impurity acquired from its contact with the body; and this impurity is regarded by Plato as a natural sickness. It cannot, there-fore, immediately on leaving the body, return again to its original source. With some the disorder is incurable, and these are the lost, who go at once to Tartarus; with others it is curable, and these are purged and purified in Hades. . . . This, with many other Platonic doctrines and fables, was early transferred to Christianity.” (Sec. 150, p. 526.)
The cunning priests soon saw in this an opportunity to benefit themselves. So they diligently inculcated it as an undoubted fact, supported by the word of God, that while a few of the most holy went directly to Heaven at death, the large majority of Christians had to pass through purgatory, in order to be cleansed from sins committed since conversion or baptism. But their sufferings there could be shortened and greatly lessened by the pray-ers of saints on earth and in Heaven, espe-cially by masses and prayers of the priest. But for every mass, so much money must be paid; for every prayer of the priest, so much more. If it was the case of a very wicked person, it would take a great deal of praying, and hence a great deal of money. But if only money enough were given, the hardest case could be freed from purgatory. Spe-cially had the pope power to let them out; hence the notorious plan of indulgences. For such and such considerations the pope would pardon out offenders of different kinds.
Hence came the poor and the rich with their money, to buy their suffering friends out of purgatory! What untold millions have flowed into the popish coffers through this pagan lie! It was this wicked imposition on the credulity of the people that stirred the soul of Luther, and started the Reformation. The Catholic Tetzel came along with his in-dulgences from the pope, which he was selling at a rapid rate. For money he pardoned all sorts of sins, and relieved many souls from purgatory. He said that the moment the money touched the bottom of the box, the soul was let out of purgatory. The business becoming a little dull, he feigned to have heard terrible cries and groans one night near a graveyard. On inquiry he found that they came from a poor soul in purgatory, whose friends on earth were neglecting to buy it out. As soon as he told this to the people, large numbers more came with their money for their dead friends. (Hist. of the Reformation by D'Aubigne, vol. 1., pp. 260, 261.)
What was the foundation of all these ter-rible deceptions? It was the assumption that the dead are not really dead; that the soul can live separate from the body, and is im-mortal. Had they believed the Lord, that the dead are asleep and know nothing, (Eccl. 9 : 5, 6,) it would have shielded them from all this delusion.
(To be Continued.) D. M. C.

Sodom and Gomorrah.

The Nile is a sacred river, and the Tiber is famous, but the most sacred and most famous river in the world is the Jordan. From the bginning to its end, it has that mystical character which befits such lofty pretensions; its life is the most vivid and complete, and its death the most sudden and mysterious that can be imagined.
It is torrential, and it leaves the flanks of Herman and the many fountains of its tributaries with an eager precipitation, as if it bore a mission. From its greatest height, some hundred feet above the sea level, it leaps downward till it disappears in the Dead Sea, some thirteen hundred feet below it. It hides itself among oleander, tamarisk and willow, and many an unfamiliar oriental tree, as if wishing to keep from profane eyes the secret of its errand. It does not stop long to overflow its banks and fertilize its valley; for it has a purpose too mystical to waste itself even upon acts of beneficence. It is only willing to become a living barrier between the desert tribes and the favored nation which loved it. No boat lives on its bosom. No fishermen dwell by its margin; but it moves one headlong column of sacred waters from its cradle of snow and cloud, high in the heaven, till it dies in a fatal lake marked by the finger of God, and forever a subject for man's curiosity and reverence.
It would seem a thing apart and not to be confounded with vulgar waters, which lose their personality in the bosom of the mighty sea, but exhaling to heaven like some holy messenger who perished in the fulfillment of his duty. Its birth and its death alike separate it from its sister rivers of earth, and only the voiceless mounds of perished and nameless cities, tribes stationary as if bidden to halt by some supreme destiny of the past, or the awed and questioning stranger from the many Christian lands whose baptism drew its authority from the first laving of its waters, are seen upon its banks.
And then we wandered through many whispering reeds, through a kind of jungle where sterility and the river had seemingly fought for the mastery, and which showed traces of both; a tangle of bushes as it were fighting their way up, and great spaces of barrenness which summer would scorch to lifelessness.
And at last the Dead Sea. Though we know that it is of volcanic origin, and fed by mines of salt, the imagination now, as ever, is content to see in it a thing accursed. There was a fresh breeze, and a reluctant lift and heavy tumble of its tiny breakers made them unlike other waves, but rather like those of Dante's infernal sea. There was a breath heavy with doom in the air, and we were fortunate it was not more stifling. Was it the breath of those lost or tortured there? And beneath that saline sheet did we not see, as in the picture of Delacroix, the agonizing and twisted figures of the condemned?
We did not bathe in the Dead Sea. Others have done so, and report of its buoyancy the same tales that are told of our own Salt Lake. There is a whimsical coincidence in the geographical relation of the Dead Sea and the home of the earlier prophets, and Brigham Young's personal continuation of the old dispensation, with a private Dead Sea of his own in his immediate neighborhood. The poorest swimmer keeps his head above water, and persons have said to me that their legs seem to fly up from under them. All speak of its waters as refreshing after the great heat of the tropical valley. Birds are said never to fly over it, which is the merest superstition, for they are really often seen to do so. This lake certainly has a brand upon it, as of divine vengeance. The waters are heavy with sin, the shores around blasted, and the very site of destroyed cities upon its banks unknown. And here are still seen the apples of Sodom, smooth and pretty to the eye and touch, of a pale yellow, like a small orange, but within as Josephus says, still retaining the ashes of Sodom in living perpetuity of the divine punishment. They are like little oranges to the eye and touch, but when pressed are like oak-apples, and explode like these, a puff of air, leaving the shell hollow, with only a slender pouch holding fine filaments like silk, which the Arabs use as matches for their guns.

Always the Same

By Editor

The following from Massachusetts shows the unblushing boldness of the "mother church" in her efforts to carry out her iniquitous schemes in the United States.
Rev. Father Scully is pastor of the Catholic church at Cambridgeport, Mass. He has established a parochial school, and demands that all Catholics send their children to it. There are twelve or thirteen hundred children in attendance on the school. A number of parents, however, refuse to send their children to it, believing in the common school system. They allege that the quality of instruction in the parochial school is far below that given in the common schools, and object to the burden of expense which its maintenance imposes on them. Against these the full force of Father Scully's wrath is directed. He teaches his adherents to shun those parents and children, and treat them as Protestants, and absolutely refuses to administer to them the sacraments. They have, therefore, been driven to seek the consolations of their religion in other parishes and from other priests. To this Father Scully now announces that he will put a stop. Claiming that he and his assistant have absolute control of the spiritual welfare of all Catholics in his parish, and that he and Father Mundy alone, to use his own words, "can forgive their sins and send them to heaven," he will attempt, by the authority of the Archbishop, to force them to return to his Church and to support his school. At present he calls them "incipient apostates." Archbishop Williams said recently to a committee of complainants, "Father Scully knows his duty."

Liberal Giving Versus Hoarding

The liberal man who eats and bestows is better than the pious man who fasts and hoards.—Persian.

This Life and the Life to Come.

Bishop Hooper was martyred in 1555. When he came to die, one said to him, “O, sir, consider that life is sweet and death is bitter.” To which he replied, “Life to come is more sweet; and death to come more bitter.” And so he went quietly to the stake.
The way to save our life forever, if we are indeed the Christ’s disciples, is to lose it here, if need be, for his sake. “He that loseth his life shall find it.” If we are self-considering, and will spare ourselves at the Master’s cost, we do so to our eternal cost. Let us look on ourselves as beasts of slaughter, and suffer patiently the injuries of the wicked.
Continue reading: Modern Spiritualism