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Review and Herald, Vol. 83, No. 34.

Abide With Us, O Lord!

Review and Herald

Aug 23, 1906

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Aug 23, 1906

Abide With Us, O Lord!

IN fiery chariots of the west ascending, The day hath passed in triumph, Lord, to Thee! Its fallen mantle glows with twilight blending On the far shadowy spaces of the sea. It is toward evening. Oft at noontide roaming, Our hearts have met with Thee in sweet accord; Now in the peace and leisure of the gloaming Abide with us, O Lord!
The ocean like a dreamless child is sleeping, Hushed in the hollow of Thy mighty hand; One star a-tremble in the west is keeping Lone watch on all night's silent border-land. Enter, dear Lord, our loaf is yet unbroken, Our water shall be wine by Thee outpoured; We yearn to hear Thy “Peace be with you” spoken; Abide with us, O Lord!
Low murmurs through the seaward boughs are wafted, A breath of roses steals along the shore; More calm, more sweet, Thy loving words engrafted In our responsive hearts for evermore. Yet more we crave: O, tarry in our leisure! And to the longing of our souls afford Thy love and joy in overflowing measure. Abide with us, O Lord!
It is toward evening. Soon from out the shadows A deeper shadow on our brows must fall. So soon across the dim familiar meadows The hour will come when we must leave them all. Ah! leave us not within the grave's dark portal; Scatter death's terrors with Thy mighty Word; Bid us come forth, and glorified, immortal, Abide with Thee, O Lord.
—Selected.

Our Publishing Work

By Editor

The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those that published it. Psalm 68:11.
See last paragraph on this page for instructions where to order.
ORDERS for Liberty are coming in very rapidly. The great majority of these orders are for liberal quantities. One order received from the Colorado Tract Society was for 1,000 copies of the second number.
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THE September number of Life and Health is now ready to be mailed. The front cover cut on this number of the journal represents a boy eating a large slice of watermelon, with the timely warning, “The melon-cholera days are come, the saddest of the year.” The contents of the entire number will be very profitable to all. The following represents some of the topics considered in this number: CHILDREN AND THEIR CARE; Dwelling especially upon the common disorders of children, and giving treatment for these diseases. These articles will be invaluable to mothers. VEGETARIANISM—ITS RELATION TO HEALTH; In the treatment of this subject, the writer gives an account of what he has seen of how cattle are raised for beef. In connection with the recent exposures of the slaughter-house methods, this article will prove to be both interesting and profitable. DIVINE HEALING; Continuing the discussion of the principles on which God heals the diseases of his children. THE MEAT QUESTION; Quotations from other publications on this and other important topics. CULINARY SUGGESTIONS; Telling a number of ways in which shortcake may be made attractive, healthful, and economical. A number of very valuable suggestions are given, including methods of utilizing “left-overs.” THE BRINGING UP OF CHILDREN; Valuable information for all parents. DISPLACEMENT CAUSED BY CONSTRICTION OF THE WAIST; Written by an experienced teacher of hygienic dressmaking, and contains some of the reasons why the prevailing style of dress is harmful. The September number contains very instructive editorials devoted largely to pure food legislation and the new pure food laws. Very encouraging reports are given from mission fields, and “Questions and Answers” will be especially helpful. NEWS NOTES; Made up of information in connection with the health topics of the various countries. No doubt the September number of Life and Health will be appreciated more than any we have heretofore issued. The July and August numbers were very successful. Some agents sold as high as 2,000 copies of these numbers. The usual prices for Life and Health prevail,—regular subscription price, 50 cents a year; twenty-five or more copies, one order, to one address, 2½ cents a copy.
THE Youth’s Instructor is always filled with interesting and profitable reading. It costs only 75 cents a year—only one and one-half cents a week.
ALTHOUGH 1,000 extra copies were printed of the August number of Life and Health, by the fifteenth of the month the edition was entirely exhausted. Agents everywhere report excellent success with this number. The September number is even better than the August number.
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THE second number of Liberty will help the public to recognize the fallacy of the claim that Sunday laws are essential to good government. It sets forth the evils of all religious legislation, and emphasizes the true principles of religious liberty, upon which the government of the United States was founded. It ought to be in every American home. Who will help the publishers put it there?
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ONE aged worker in New York, with his two sons, celebrated his seventy-sixth birthday, July 25, soliciting for “Heralds of the Morning” and “Coming King.” He took orders amounting to $10 on his birthday, and during the week the amount of his total orders was $50.50. One of his sons secured $110.25 worth of orders for the same week. The son’s best day in the week was twenty-four orders for gilt “Coming King,” taken in ten hours’ time. All may not be able to succeed like these experienced workers, but it is remarkable to hear how those just beginning are being prospered in the work. These experiences should be taken by every believer as an evidence that God is in this work, and that he is sending his angels to co-operate with every trusting, humble one who will go forth to the people with a burden to reach perishing souls with this warning message before probation’s hour shall close.
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Union with Christ

By Editor

Editorial

It is our privilege to realize the divine presence with us at all times. Jesus desires to be a present Saviour. The promise, “Lo, I am with you alway,” is still in force. It is wilful sin, the refusal to walk with the Lord, which deprives us of these blessings. “Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us.”

Union with Christ

In this time when the forces of evil are asserting themselves so strongly on every hand, men feel the need of greater power in order to cope with them, and they are seeking to secure this power by making combinations with one another. In doing this they are preparing for defeat rather than for victory. While the visible actors in the conflict are men representing one set of principles arrayed against men who represent other principles, yet the real controversy is between Christ and Satan. In this long-standing controversy God has never been glorified by a show of numbers or by religio-political combinations. The great commission made no provision for obtaining any other power than that which comes from union with Christ. “Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” The disciples of Jesus who were sent out to conquer the Roman world with the gospel under what would appear outwardly to be the most adverse conditions, were promised power only through the gift of the Holy Spirit is come upon you: and ye shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” In this power of the Spirit these despised Galileans, alone and single-handed, in the face of the governmental power of mighty Rome, went forth to meet the evils of their time with the gospel message. Unseen messengers from the heavenly courts were their companions in labor, and their success was wholly of God. The strongholds of heathenism were entered, and Christian churches were established in many places. But the disciples did not seek to reform the ills of society by an appeal to, or alliance with, the civil power. They relied upon the power of the gospel in the hearts of individuals. So it should be now. The antidote for the perils of these last days will not be found in federation. The forms of a false religion may be enforced by such combinations, but the interests of the kingdom of God are not advanced in this way. Union with Christ is the essential thing. “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help.”

Federation Among Catholics

OUR special correspondent has furnished the readers of the REVIEW with an interesting report of the meeting of the American Federation of Catholic Societies at Buffalo, N. Y., which deals quite fully with this movement as he saw and heard its representatives in session. Some thoughts concerning the significance of this movement in connection with two others, the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America and the international Peace Congresses, are presented in another article in this department. In this article we shall call attention more particularly to the real work of this comparatively new organization among Catholics. In order that we may do this with justice and fairness we shall quote largely from official and Catholic publications.
A statement of the aims and purposes of the American Federation of Catholic Societies has been issued, bearing the approval of the two leading promoters of the movement, Archbishop Messmer, of Wisconsin, and Bishop McFaul, of New Jersey. In this statement the object of this “grand organization” is declared to be, “to promote and defend Catholic interests and Catholic citizenship.” As more fully stated in the constitution, the objects are “the cementing of the bonds of fraternal union among the Catholic laity and the Catholic societies of the United States; the fostering and protecting of Catholic interests and works of religion, piety, education, and charity; the study of conditions in our social life; the dissemination of the truth; and the encouragement of the spread of Catholic literature, and the circulation of the Catholic press.” In the opening sermon at Buffalo Bishop Canevin declared “the principal objects of our organization and labors” to be “(1) The Christian education of youth; (2) the sanctity and perpetuity of Christian marriage as the basis of the family, and the preservative of the morality and happiness of the home; (3) to correct error and expose falsehood and injustice, whether in misrepresentation of history, doctrine, or principles of morality; (4) to oppose and root out the great social and political evils which confront and menace us—socialism, anarchy, perversion of marriage, divorce, dishonesty in business, corruption in politics and offices of public trust, the lawlessness of wealth and the law-defeating power of money, the evasion of justice and wide-spread disregard for law.” The real spirit and meaning of these somewhat formal and general expressions can best be determined as we note how they have been translated into action during the brief existence of the organization.
From the opening sermon preached at the meeting of the federation in 1904 we make the following extract:—
The solution of the school question is the burning question of the hour for American Catholics, who are unjustly compelled to support the public and parochial schools, and even buy free books for the public school children, a practise that exists in many cities, among them my own city of Toledo. This double taxation is weighing heavily on our poor Catholic people, who are not blessed, as a class, with an overabundance of this world’s goods. If the two million Catholic voters in the United States can not relieve themselves of this unjust burden, they are no good and deserve to be robbed. This is not politics; it is business. The united strength of the Catholics in America can remedy this injustice. Will they unite?
At the same convention the following resolution bearing upon this question was adopted:—
First, Let no public moneys be paid for religious instruction in any school; second, let the educational per capita tax be disbursed for results in purely secularstudies only, in our Catholic schools, our teachers receiving their salaries as other teachers receive theirs; third, to ascertain these results, let our schools be submitted to State or city examinations. Thus will the great principle of our government, “No public moneys for sectarian purposes,” be preserved intact.
It thus appears that when the federation mentions “the Christian education of youth” among its objects, it means to include a division of the public money for the benefit of Catholic schools, and “the two million Catholic voters in the United States” are called upon to relieve themselves of “this double taxation.” It is declared that “this is not politics; it is business,” but how are “the two million Catholic voters” to secure their demands unless they combine “business” with politics?
In the same convention of 1904 one of the speakers said:—
There is one resolution, I think, that it would be well for us to adopt in this convention, and it has reference to the observance of the Lord’s day. We know perfectly well that there is given in many parts of our country a considerable license—a freedom and an unbridled license—regarding the observance of the Lord’s day. Now, any country that will ignore the proper observance of the Lord’s day, the Lord will turn his back upon that country, and that country will suffer, and that country will become miserable. . . . The commandment of God is before us, and that commandment, the third [according to the change made by the papacy], says to us—the Lord said to us: ‘Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day.’ . . . So, on account of this great laxity, on account of this forgetfulness of the Sabbath day, on account of the lack of legislation and civic legislation regarding the observance of this day, I think that, assembled in convention, the Catholic societies of the different parts of the United States, true Christians—I think it would become us very properly in our series of resolutions to have one resolution which would call the attention of our civic authorities to the proper observance of this day.
In harmony with this suggestion a resolution on ‘Sunday observance’ was adopted in which it was affirmed that ‘while it is right that Sunday should be a day of rest from labor and of legitimate recreation, it is imperative that it should be recognized also as the day prescribed for special service of God.’ From the discussion of this resolution it appears that the word ‘Sabbath’ was used in the original draft to which objection was made by one speaker, as follows:—
We all know that the law regarding the seventh day has been shifted from Saturday to Sunday in one way, but, on the other hand, whenever you use the word ‘Sabbath’ in our modern English language, you are meeting the ‘Methodist sabbath’ and the ‘American sabbath.’ This is not the Catholic Sunday. The observance of the Sabbath has been ordered by the church in the name of God; therefore, instead of ‘Sabbath,’ let us put there ‘Sunday,’ that we may have nothing to explain, and may not join the camp of the modern Pharisee.
The federation therefore calls upon the civil authorities to guard by law the interests, not of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment (the true Sabbath needs no such support), but of ‘the Catholic Sunday,’ in view of the fact that the observance of this day ‘has been ordered by the church in the name of God.’ This frank admission that the Catholic Church substituted Sunday for the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, and this open demand that the civil authority should regulate the observance of ‘the Catholic Sunday,’ indicate plainly what we may expect if Catholics should ever control the legislation of this country. The prophecies will be fulfilled.
As showing what the federation has accomplished, according to the estimate of its promoters, we quote the following summary from the official statement to which we have already referred:—
The creation of a Catholic public opinion in the United States; the repeal of the obnoxious marriage law in Cuba; betterment of conditions in Philippine Islands; appointment of Catholics on the Indian and Philippine Commissions; permission granted for the celebration of holy mass in the navy-yards and public institutions, including prisons and reform schools; appointment of Catholic army chaplains; assisting Catholic Indian schools; assisting Catholic negro missions; introduction of Catholic books in public libraries; friendly relations between societies, especially of different nationalities; a move toward stricter divorce laws; revision of histories and books of reference prejudicial to the Catholic Church; restoration by the government of rations to Catholic Indian scholars; the defeat of the Bard amendment affecting the rights of Catholic Indians; final acceptance of the Father Marquette statue by our government; consideration shown to our Catholic Filipino students. In Ohio the State federation prevented the State from interfering in Catholic orphanages and institutions. County support is also being given to Catholic hospitals in many localities. The federation in New Jersey killed a legislative bill which would have made the parochial schools of the State taxable. Several detrimental measures to Catholics have been killed by the Illinois State federation. The Jefferson County (Kentucky) federation and the Catholic societies of Missouri defeated a measure to furnish free text-books in the public schools. Many others could be mentioned, but space will not permit.
From what we have here presented it will be easy to see that the American Federation of Catholic Societies is already doing some very effective work in the interests of the Roman Catholic Church. We have no doubt that its influence will be felt in greater measure in the near future. While it disclaims any purpose to enter politics, yet it is clear that it proposes to bring to bear upon the government all the influence at its command to secure aid and comfort for the Catholic Church. Whether this is called politics or business makes little difference. The result is the same in either case.
We have given considerable space to this subject in this issue of the REVIEW because we feel that the believers in this message ought to have an intelligent understanding of the nature and scope of this movement. With characteristic discernment the leaders of the Catholic Church perceive that the opportune time has come for them to inaugurate a more open and more aggressive campaign for the furtherance of Catholic interests in America. The steps now being taken by both Protestants and Catholics will lead rapidly on to such religio-political combinations as will result in the restriction of religious freedom by oppressive enactments, and finally to persecution for conscience’ sake. The present situation and the outlook ought certainly to stir to earnest activity in proclaiming the truth all those who discern the signs of the times. The prophecies are being rapidly fulfilled. Events are shaping for the final conflict. There is a call now for a forward movement on the part of those to whom God has committed the special truth for this generation. In humble reliance upon the power of divine truth let us meet all these combinations of organized influence with the message of preparation for the coming of the Lord. ‘They that be with us are more than they that be with them.’

The Voice of the Earthquake

By W. A. S.

As God's judgments increase in the earth, many will learn righteousness. Coming so soon after the terrible San Francisco calamity, the pronounced earthquake in Wales and England the other day has set many on this side to thinking that there is some special meaning in the increasing frequency of these visitations.
Spending a Sabbath with the Southampton company, I learned of an interesting experience. A lady in that city has been buying the Present Truth, and sending it on to a daughter in India, a governess in the family of a lady of title. This daughter and her mistress passed through the earthquake that visited the northern part of India some time ago. They had some remarkable experiences of deliverance, and the daughter wrote that for the first time in her life she saw her mistress on her knees seeking God.
They both began to study the Present Truth in earnest, to get a new experience, and another friend, also a titled lady, joined them in it. Since then this young woman has returned to England with the family employing her, and she writes her mother that now they meanto study the Sabbath question, to see what the truth is about that.
As these judgments come in the earth, many an honest heart will turn to our literature, to learn what these things mean. And this incident shows how our literature is being passed about the world in ways we little know of. W. A. S.
London.

Three Striking Movements

By C. M. S.

THREE most notable movements are attracting the attention of Christendom at the present time. Combined, they are broad as the world in their scope, and in their ultimate purpose they will bring the world under one ruling influence.
These movements are:—
  1. The Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America.
  2. The American Federation of Catholic Societies.
  3. The great international Peace Congresses.
It is the purpose of the peace advocates that the two peace congresses shall unite in one, and it is confidently predicted that The Hague will be the capital of the world, from which place will go forth laws which will rule the nations, cause wars to cease, usher in universal peace, and turn the implements of war into the tools of peaceful toil.
The other two movements, while carried on now by different bodies of people, have a very similar object in view, and each has signified its willingness to work with the other along certain lines. Just how and when the two bodies will take common hold upon certain undertakings we can not foretell. That they will yet do so is evident both from the language used by their leaders and from the very nature and aims of the two organizations.
The purpose of these three movements is entirely outside the jurisdiction of true Christian endeavor. While Jesus Christ brings peace into the hearts of those who accept him, he has foretold no reign of peace in this world till after he himself shall have come in all the glory of the Father, with his holy angels, breaking the nations of earth in pieces as with “a rod of iron,” “taking vengeance on them that know not God,” destroying the wicked “with the brightness of his coming,” and establishing his own kingdom in his own way upon an earth cleansed by fire from all the defilements of sin.
The peace congresses of the two hemispheres are leading the multitude to believe that a time is fast approaching when “the nations shall learn war no more,” when peace will be universal, utterly ignoring the fact that that statement is not a prophecy of God, but a declaration of the people only. These developments show that when the time arrives that the real “peace-and-safety” cry is given, it will seem a very tangible thing to those who give it. Christendom will be united for avowed Christian purposes, and will be bringing about civic and moral reforms; for it is the purpose of the organizers of these American religious federations to bring about the federation of their people throughout the world. The nations will agree to submit their differences to the permanent court of arbitration.
When the great confederation of the nations for peace purposes has been brought about; when that great confederacy of Catholics and Protestants for moral reform and civic righteousness has been brought about; when they have, by the decree of Rev. 13:15, disposed of that troublesome company which refuses to worship that power and receive its mark—then, with all their troubles apparently at an end, the real cry of “peace and safety” will be given. But “when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, . . . and they shall not escape.”
Looking upon these confederating influences, working zealously toward a definite end, we hear the Word of God pronouncing the final dissolution of that work, and admonishing the people, in these words:—
“Associate yourselves, O ye people, and ye shall be broken in pieces; and give ear, all ye of far countries: gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces; gird yourselves, and ye shall be broken in pieces. Take counsel together, and it shall come to naught; speak the word, and it shall not stand: for God is with us.
“For the Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand, and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying, Say ye not, A confederacy, to all them to whom this people shall say, A confederacy; neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid.” Isa. 8:9-12.
The first verse of this scripture brings to view a confederating work that was not to be confined to two or three nations, but would spread to the “far countries.” That is what is being done to-day by the two confederacies already referred to. The Federal Council of Churches is reaching out to other lands; the Federation of Catholic Societies is also reaching across the seas. At the same time the great focusing peace-congress movement is growing in power and influence among the nations. But no matter how strongly they may “associate” themselves together, God declares that these associations, or confederacies, shall be broken in pieces. They will take counsel together, but it shall finally “come to naught;” and his positive counsel to his own people is that they “should not walk in the way of this people.”
In the same connection the prophet warns the child of God to “sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.” It is not a strange thing that there should come in this immediate connection these words: “Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples” (verse 16), nor that this other admonition should be recorded for that time: “And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God?” Spiritualism is one of the three designated powers that will form the great triad of apostasy, and all are to be linked together against the law of God, especially the seal of that law, the Sabbath commandment.
One feature of this federation movement that marks it as essentially unchristian is seen in what those bodies propose to do. The published purpose of the Federation of Catholic Societies is this: “To promote and defend Catholic interests and Catholic citizenship.” They have secured the repeal of laws which did not favor them, and have secured the passage of others that do. To further their purposes, they have secured the appointment of Catholics to official positions at home and abroad. They propose to enter as a religious organization into the civic struggles of the country. They declare it to be their purpose to promote a “Catholic public opinion in this country,” because “public opinion in America is the power behind the throne.” That means that it is their purpose to be that power.
One of the published purposes of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America is “to secure a larger combined influence for the churches of Christ in all matters affecting the moral and social conditions of the people, so as to promote the application of the law of Christ in every relation of human life.” In other words, men are to be compelled by law to conform to the principles of Christianity as interpreted by the combined churches of the country. Doing that was what kept Rome busy during the Dark Ages, and made the Inquisition a necessity.
Jesus Christ repudiated emphatically any such purpose as that expressed in the documents of those two organizations. He did not tamper with earthly thrones. He made no attempt to have oppressive laws abolished. He submitted to them even to the death, without retaliation or complaint of rights denied or infringed. He did not encourage his followers to constitute themselves a “power behind the throne.” Before his death, Jesus Christ was denied every natural right of man; but in spite of it all, neverdo we see him seeking any sort of combination to bring influence to bear upon rulers to conserve his rights, nor has he ever given such commission to his followers of any age. To teach, to baptize, to heal the sick, to encourage the disheartened, and to strengthen the weak — these are the legitimate occupations of the ambassador of Jesus Christ.
To enter into confederacies to “reform society” and bring about “civic righteousness;” to seek “to secure larger combined influence for the churches of Christ” in the temporal affairs of men; to seek so to mold public sentiment as to make the church a “power behind the throne;” to seek “to promote and defend Catholic interests and Catholic citizenship,” or Protestant interests and Protestant citizenship — these and all similar movements are out of harmony with, and diametrically opposed to, the fundamental principles of the religion of Jesus Christ. And what shall we say when such purposes are accomplished by “religious” laws that trample upon the rights of conscience, and make the most sincere religious belief and practise a crime?
Again and again would the disciples of Jesus have put him forward in the politics of this world, but he as often rebuked the attempt by word or act. One of his last declarations before his crucifixion was: “My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.”
These combinations for political purposes have developed what is known as the “Christian lobby” at the capital for the purpose of securing just such ends as these confederacies are organized to accomplish. The mother of two of Jesus’ followers came to him at one time “lobbying” for official positions for her sons in his kingdom. He declared to her, “Ye know not what ye ask.” Matt. 20: 21, 22. The young men even declared themselves able to drink the cup he was to drink of, in their selfish eagerness for the position. The other ten “were moved with indignation” against the two, for they all had political aspirations. Jesus then set before them the political methods of the world, and declared, “It shall not be so among you.”
Surely God is not in such movements, nor is the cause of vital Christianity in any sense advanced thereby. These movements were pointed out years ago. Now they are fairly launched, and they are moving toward that long-predicted culmination with a rapidity and a precision that are cause for wonderment. The revelator, in foreshowing the work of that power which should afflict the remnant people of God till the end, says of it: “And there was given to him authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.” Rev. 13: 7, 8. That means a universal spiritual dominion. It can be brought about only by such a combination of forces as these to which we have herein made reference. Do we not see in these things the fulfilment of this scripture? —
“And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”
“The Lord . . . instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people.”
C. M. S.

Who Will Be First?

By I. H. EVANS

THE call for the One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollar Fund for the work in the South and for finishing the work in Washington has been heard by nearly all of the readers of this article.
The reasons for making this call have been stated, and are generally known.
It looks like a great sum of money when thought of from the standpoint of the sum total, but when we divide one hundred and fifty thousand dollars into fifty thousand separate sums, it drops from one hundred and fifty thousand to three dollars.
Now three dollars does not look like a great sum of money, yet that is the amount that each Seventh-day Adventist in the United States must give on an average to complete the One Hundred and Fifty Thousand Dollar Fund. The present generation has never seen times more prosperous than now. Money is more plentiful, crops are more abundant, labor is in greater demand, than at any time in our memory. Shall not the cause of God reap a portion of this great, almost universal prosperity? It was never more easy for our people to give to the cause we all love than now. If every Seventh-day Adventist in the United States will give three dollars before Dec. 31, 1906, we can raise the last dollar of this sum before the new year.
We need not spend thousands of dollars in gathering this sum. Each individual is to be a committee to see that he pays his share. Each church, led by the officers of the church, can see that the church raises its share. Each conference can see that it pays its proportion at the rate of three dollars a member. Each union conference will then turn in its whole quota, and the amount will be raised.
Never has such a large sum of money been raised by such a simple plan as the one proposed. It saves labor, postage, traveling expense, and worry. It distributes the burden, and gives each Seventh-day Adventist a part in the work. Those who can not give three dollars should give what they can, and then let those who are able to give more, make up that which the others can not contribute.
Why should not this sum be rapidly closed up? The time to give is now. We do not need to wait for any one. Why should not each individual be the first to raise his proportion of this sum? Then why should not each church endeavor to be the first church in its conference to make up the sum? Each conference can then emulate the others, and we all can endeavor to be first in completing this good work.
What church in any conference will lead in this great plan? What conference will be the first to say, “We have raised our share and finished the work”? Shall not this great work be speedily finished? I. H. EVANS.

A Deserved Rebuke

By W. A. S.

JUST now the religious education controversy is at white heat in Great Britain. The government has tried to satisfy all parties demanding religious teaching in public schools, and, naturally enough, their bill pleases none of the great religious parties. Anglicans, Catholics, and non-conformists are holding meetings to denounce the bill for going too far here and not far enough there.
At a meeting of non-conformist opponents of the measure, Lord Stanley, of Alderley, a veteran educationalist and a member of the Church of England, gave the following well-phrased rebuke to the non-conformists: —
I think that your fault is that you have not had the courage to be true to your own principles.
I suppose every one of you has been at some time on a Liberation Society platform. The cardinal principle of that society is that the state has no call, or duty, or right, or competence to meddle with religious teaching. (Cheers.)
Yet you are not unwilling to take advantage of a state permission to teach that form of Bible teaching, or fundamental Christianity, whichever you call it, which satisfies you at the public expense, while if somebody goes beyond that, you call it an intolerable levying of taxes against your conscience.
The general attitude on the question bears witness to the terrible decay of religion. It is assumed that the state must teach religion if the general body of children are to receive any religious teaching at all. In the Nineteenth Century Review, Rev. E. H. Rycroft protests that the Sunday-schools can not give this instruction. He writes the average Sunday-school down as a failure, and says: “Quite three fourths of the children present in every Sunday-school are there because the parents do not want them at home.”
London. W. A. S.
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