QUESTION. The Seventh-day Sabbath observed by God’s people prior to the crucifixion of Christ, is still binding upon mankind. Affirmative, M. B. Cornell. Negative, T. M. Preble.
(Continued.)
Cornell. Opens his sixth speech by referring to the arguments on which the whole question in controversy hangs, and reminding the negative that they have not yet been answered, nor even noticed; such as the facts upon which the Sabbath’s institution is based, the reasons which enter into it, and the self-evident truth that if an institution is to be changed, the reasons on which it is based must be changed also. Denies the assertion of Eld. P. that redemption is finished. Question: Has Christ yet purified this kosmos by fire? No. And is not that a part of the work? And if the texts he quotes about our now having redemption, have their application in the present tense, are there not others who will want a like redemption in the future? So whatever view we may take of it, as applying to the world or to the people, the work is not yet complete. In reply to the question, where any other apostle but Paul held meetings on the Sabbath, he asks Eld. P. where any other apostle ever held meetings on the first day of the week; and calls upon him to find where it says that Paul met on the seventh-day Sabbath because of the Jews, as it is expressly stated in the case of the circumcision of Timothy and Titus. Refers to Eld. P.’s argument on the word hemeran, in Acts xx, “the first day, not the first night, of the week,” &c., and shows that hemeran there means a period of twenty-four hours, and not simply the interval from daylight to dark.
Preble. Is somewhat surprised at a few things in the last speech of the affirmative. Thought he had answered the argument about the sanctification of the Sabbath, &c. Eld. C. leaves out the word work, which I put in when speaking of redemption accomplished. I say it is purchased. The work is done. Redemption has not come, but the work is accomplished by Jesus Christ. My opponent declares that Christ has not yet accomplished the work of redemption. I hope he won’t deny the Bible. Reads again the text before referred to in Luke, Galatians and Peter: “Hath visited and redeemed his people,” &c. Says if the entering into rest in Heb. iv, was in the future, it would be different. Thinks Bro. C. will have to try again on that. Goes on with his argument to show that all is lost if not redeemed. Gives a long and sympathetic address in regard to our lost friends, and the importance we attach to their redemption; which, however good and true it might be in itself, had nothing particular to do with the question.
Proposes now to prove that the law has been changed, for which purpose he quotes 2 Cor. iii, 7, 8, as given in the Emphatic Diaglott. Argues that the old covenant must be perfected, made over. It is not annihilated any more than the world is annihilated. The old covenant is completed in the new covenant. Says he was not ashamed of the history he quoted last night. The object of this remark was to give the audience the impression that Bro. C. was not willing to state his authority for some quotations which he had made from the History of the Sabbath, by Bro. Andrews. He then launched forth into wholesale denunciations of that history, declaring it to be a garbled thing from beginning to end, wholly unreliable, and entitled to no confidence whatever. In proof of this he refers to an extract from Morer given on page 267, which he did not pretend to show was incorrectly quoted, but declared it garbled because a sentence or two was left out, as indicated in the extract itself by a succession of periods. Declares that he is going to thoroughly expose this history in this discussion. In this ingenious effort to change the issue from the question in hand, to the reliability of Bro. Andrews’ History of the Sabbath, he was completely foiled; and how well he succeeded in his attempts to bring it into discredit, will appear as we proceed.
Cornell. Proposes not to be led off into side issues, but to pursue the even tenor of his way, noticing the arguments of the negative, and then advancing with the subject, although many of his affirmative arguments, some even of his first speech, and those main points on which the whole question hang, had not yet been answered nor even been touched. Repeats some of them. Says further, There has been a failure to show how the first day of the week could be a memorial of creation. Calls for proof of it. The first day was a day of labor. The day on which God rested is the only day that can be a memorial of creation. An effort was made last evening to draw us off from the Scripture argument, to an investigation of the merits of the History of the Sabbath. I am not here to investigate that question. If Eld. P. wishes to do it, he can have the privilege of doing so with the author, at any proper time, either orally or in writing. The door is fully open for him if he wishes to take hold of it, and let it be so understood by all; the condition being, if it is in writing, that the correspondence shall be published in the leading paper on his side of the question, as fully as in the Review. But I have not gone to the History of the Sabbath for proof of my position, and am not called upon to defend it here. If it could be shown to be two-thirds false, it would not affect at all the validity of the Scripture argument. I apprehend my friend does not succeed very well with his Bible argument, and thinks he could do better attacking a man who has not the privilege of answering for himself. I have only introduced a quotation from Morer and Coleman to meet his quotations from the same authors. All that the negative had a right to do was to follow me in my arguments; and the chairman might justly have called him to order. His charges against the History of the Sabbath I pronounce to be false. It is but just however that I say a word in relation to his attempt against it. Bro. C. here showed the point the author of the History had in view, as the reader may also see by reading page 267 and its context. A number of testimonies are introduced showing that as late as the time of Chrysostom, A. D. 360, the pursuit of their usual worldly business on the first day of the week was not considered sinful in the church. Then comes the extract from Morer, which was the subject of Eld. P.’s attack, introduced with this remark, “Morer justifies this Sunday labor in the following terms:” And how does he justify it? He says that they did not work till after worship, and that then they might “with innocency enough resume” their labor, “because the length of time or the number of hours assigned for piety, was not then so well explained, as in after ages.” In the part of the extract omitted, as indicated, he assigns an additional reason; namely, that the state of the church was different from what it is now, and that many of the Christians serving heathen masters, were compelled to work, &c. But this in no wise affects the validity of the declaration just before, that the Christians might innocently enough resume their labor. Nor does it affect the declarations of the rest of the quotation, namely that the “sanctification of the Lord’s day proceeded but slowly,” and that it was “the work of time to bring it to perfection,” through the constitutions of the church, and the “decrees of emperors and other princes,” whereby the day at last “got a considerable figure in the world.” These were the points the author wished to bring before the reader, and omitted the other which in no wise affects them, because in a small work of 340 pages, the many quotations from different authors must be rigidly cut down for the want of space, to the very point it is desired to present. But it does not look much like garbling or dishonesty in an author to cite the reader to the volume from which he quotes, giving paragraph and section, and then indicating every omission which he has occasion to make. So much for this attack on the History. It was a bare-faced attempt at misrepresentation, but did not succeed.
Eld. C. refers again to Heb. iv, 10, and reminds the negative that in Bible use, the past and present tenses are frequently put for the future. See Ps. lxxx, 12–16; Isa. lxiv, 10, 11; ix, 6; Heb. xii, 22. &c. Argues that the entering into rest cannot refer to Christ, for he has not ceased from his work. His work as prophet, he accomplished while on earth. When he ascended he entered upon his work as priest, and is now carrying it forward; and he is hereafter to work as King.
Preble. Says he has never claimed that the institution has been changed. It cannot be changed, but the day can be. He accuses me of not answering his arguments. When he brings in such perversions, I do not intend to answer them. Refers to Heb. iv, 10, and says, Paul was a believer, but he had not entered into rest. Let us labor to enter in, &c. This makes folly of it. I am prepared to show up the History of the Sabbath, with its author, and the whole host of them. All the publications that emanate from Battle Creek, are based in perversion of Bible and ecclesiastical history. Attempts an answer of Eld. C.’s questions. To the question, Should we not keep the crucifixion day, if any, to commemorate redemption? says, Was it the real blood split upon the cross, that redeems men? Suppose Christ had continued in the tomb, would his death do any good? What is his question good for? Of course he had to shed his blood to counteract death; but when he rose he took the gates of death and the grave. To the next question, Do not the Mahometans, keeping Friday, keep, according to the seventh-part of time theory, the full extent of God’s requirements? Says, I should not have thought the brother would have asked such a question. I believe I shall not answer it. To the question, What law is violated by Sunday labor? the reply was made, that if the institution has now fallen upon the first day of the week, the Sabbath law is violated by not observing it. Here followed a repetition of remarks about the first commandment in the law, and the penalty of the law. Says that Eld. C. denied last evening that the law was ever written on the heart. Refers to Heb. viii, 10; x, 16, and claims a flat contradiction between Eld. C. and the apostle Paul.
(To be continued.)
Scoffers in High Places.
MR. SPURGEON, of London thus ventilates his skepticism in regard to the doctrine of the second Advent, and writes himself down among the scoffers of the last days:
“Mr. Spurgeon having had sent to him some tract purporting to be written by himself, which predicted the end of the world as likely to come next year, the Rev. gentleman, at a meeting held in his chapel last week, thus energetically repudiated the authorship attributed to him: “You will hear of me in Bedlam when you ever hear such rubbish as that from me. The Lord may come in 1866, and I shall be glad to see him; but I do not believe he will, and the reason why I do not believe he will, is because all these twopenny-halfpenny false prophets say he will. If they said that he would not come, I should begin to think he would; but, inasmuch as they are all crying out as one man that he will come in 1866 or 1867, I am inclined to think he will not arrive at any such time. It seems to me that there are a great many prophecies which must be fulfilled before the coming of Christ, which will not be fulfilled within the next twelve months; and I prefer to stand in the position of a man who knows neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man cometh—looking always for his appearing, but never interfering with those dates and figures which seem to me to be only proper amusement for young ladies who have nothing else to do, and who take to that instead of reading novels; and for certain divines who have exhausted their stock of knowledge about sound doctrine, and therefore try to gain a little ephemeral popularity by shuffling texts of Scripture as the Norway gipsies shuffled cards in days gone by.”
If Mr. S. is falsely accused of the authorship of a tract, he has certainly a right to correct the impression, and he may repudiate the foolish time-setting so common to Adventists who have erred from the faith;45but to make this the occasion of a general tirade against the doctrine, shows most clearly the unbelief that rankles in his heart. By so doing he places himself unmistakably in the catalogue of those of whom Peter speaks when he says, “There shall come in the last days scoffers, . . . saying, Where is the promise of his coming.” Mr. S. virtually asks this question by saying that we know nothing about it, and that there are at least many prophecies to be fulfilled first. He says he shall be glad to see the Lord coming. Time will soon test the sincerity of that assertion.
What Does It Mean?
Forty years ago, men were not rising up here and there, and professing to be Christ, either the very Christ of the New Testament, or his successor. The people of those comparatively sober times, would have been startled out of all sense of propriety by such a thing. But we have only reached the year of grace, 1866, and now those exhibitions are so common as scarcely to excite comment. What does it mean? Will those answer who do not believe we have reached the time when false prophets and false christs should appear as signs of the near advent of the Saviour?
Under the heading of "A New Socialistic Order," the Detroit Tribune gives the claims of another pretender, as follows:—
A man named Thomas Cook, living at Huntsville, Indiana, has established a new socialistic community at that place. It is styled "The Independent Order of Free and Independent Men and Women," and declares all its members independent and free of all external powers, such as human rulers and governors, so far as it is possible for human souls at present to be. There will be no priest, king, president, governor or other functionary, no master and slave, no husband and wife, no landlord and tenant. The children in a certain sense, will be given "the democratic power of choosing their own parents." With this preface no one will be surprised to learn that the principles of force and compulsion are discarded; that each member is guided and governed by the spirit of perfect love which gives an unbounded spirit of charity and forbearance, casts out doubting, emancipates the soul from all forms and conventionalities, and gives unrestrained freedom. Mr. Cook has begun the publication of a journal denominated the "True Union, or Scientific Socialist," supporting these principles, and proclaims himself as the second Christ, regularly succeeding Jesus of Nazareth.
The Gospel of the Kingdom.
By R. F. C.
Each announcement of good news connected with the great plan of salvation is a portion of the gospel. The gospel was preached to Abraham. It was the good news of the Messiah to come—the promise that in Abraham's seed all the families of the earth should be blessed. John the Baptist preached the good news that this promised One was about to be manifested to Israel. This was a part of the gospel scheme. Jesus preached the good news of the approach of the kingdom promised in prophecy, but his words, correctly understood, do not signify that it was an event immediately to take place.
In 1 Cor. xv, Paul tells us what the gospel was which he preached; but it was not the same thing announced to Abraham—the promise of a Messiah yet to be born; but it was a part of the same plan—the good news that Christ had already died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures.
There is yet another promised proclamation of the gospel to be made after the days of the apostles—the good news of the everlasting kingdom at hand—to be preached to the world as a witness or sign, and then the end will come. It is the everlasting good news, Rev. xiv, 6, because it is the last work of the gospel age, and introduces the everlasting kingdom and the immortal and eternal state. R. F. C.
Tobacco.
THE following excerpt is from the trenchant pen of the author of "Home Thrusts," D. F. Newton. It is right to the point, and every word true. It is selected for the benefit of certain Seventh-day Adventists, who will persist in defiling themselves, and grieving the church, with the effluvia of that disgusting narcotic—tobacco. O God, when will Israel become holy.
G. W. A.
What an evil! what a nuisance! what a plague! what a leprosy it is to have a smoking man or woman about the house or in the house. It's smoke in the morning, smoke at noon, smoke at night, smoke rising up, lying down, going out, coming in—it's smoke, smoke, all the time! Everything is smoked up. The kitchen is smoked up, the parlors, the bedrooms, the cellars, the garrets, the out-houses, the wardrobe—every particle of costume and furniture is more or less impregnated by this abominable Indian weed. God's pure air is poisoned and stenchified. Every family and every member in the family is compelled to inhale46the poisonous effluvia to gratify this accursed lust of the flesh. Tobacco penetrates every nook and corner. It's one of the most powerful, baneful, penetrating narcotics that ever visited God's earth. Then look at the most dingy, dumpish, stupid sottishness of the smoker, with his rotten, gummed-up pipe or cigar in his mouth, night and day, puffing his very soul out, regardless of consequences, to gratify an unnatural, depraved appetite, offending the whole community. Behold the man, his mouth, his lips, his teeth, his whole contour—his sallow, dumpish, baconized appearance! And oh! oh! what a breath, what a breath! Tell it not; write it not. Run! run for your life! Friend, smoking friend, have mercy, do. If you have no mercy on yourself, if you are determined to smoke your own life out, sear your conscience harder than the nether millstone, and go down to the grave a sot, do have pity on your neighbors. Paul said he would not even eat meat while the world stood, if it caused his brother to offend. Not so with tobacco smokers:
With impudence they oft presume
To vex all persons in the room,
Who can't endure tobacco fume,
And they must bear this wretched doom.
Do not excuse yourself by saying that some great and good men use tobacco. The great and good men who do so are in danger of sinking into very little and very wicked men before they die.
Tobacco and rum! What twin brothers; what mighty agents of Satan. What a large share of American people they are destroying. I love my children; and because I love them, I had rather bury them than see them defile themselves with rum or tobacco.
As Paul said to Timothy, so say I to you, "Keep thyself pure." Be clean in your person, and be clean in your heart. But, depend upon it, you can be neither if you use tobacco.
It costs more than education or religion, the army or navy. It costs England and America a sum sufficient to support 50,000 ministers with salaries of $1000 per year; or more than 100,000 missionaries. The students in one college pay more than six thousand dollars for cigars every year. It tends to idleness, poverty, strong drink, and the whole family of vices. It tends to debility, dyspepsia, palsy, cancers, insanity, delirium tremens, and sudden deaths. It weaves a winding sheet around 20,000 in our land every year.
Italy and the Papacy.
By Editor
GREAT interest now centers in the anti-Christian papal power, which has so long held its seat upon the seven hills of the would-be eternal city. France withdraws her troops from Rome, the present year; and when the French soldier leaves, it is conceded on all hands that the Pope must leave also. Where will he go? Report says to Jerusalem, "the glorious holy mountain between the seas," where a palace for him is now in process of erection. We believe that some such movement on the part of this power is to mark the commencement of the time of trouble such as never was, in the midst of which all they are to be delivered whose names are found written in the book. See Dan. xi, 45, xii, 1. Hence the interest with which we shall watch the progress of events in this direction. The following items show that the great drama is about to commence:
“ITALY.—Victor Emanuel, in a speech at the opening of Parliament, said, time and the force of events would solve the question pending between Italy and Papacy. Italy must remain faithful to the convention of November, which France would completely carry out within the appointed time. Henceforth it would be easy to wait.”
“The London Patriot, of Nov. 9th, in a leading editorial, alluding to the evacuation of Rome by the French troops, and the general condition of the Popedom, says: ‘The curtain is beginning to lift a little on the great event of the coming year. Great as are the domestic interests of England, France, Germany and America, the main interests of 1866 seem to gather around Rome. There lies the heart of the coming struggle, and the actors are already placing themselves for their several parts.’”
“Later from Rome.—Numerous encounters are reported between the pontifical gens de' armes and the brigands, the former displaying great energy.”
A Live Church.
By J. M. A.
THE Psalmist says, "Praise is comely;" and the Apostle admonishes that we should render "honor to whom honor" is due. Not ignoring such Scripture authority, I would beg leave to offer a word of commendation for the church at Monterey, Mich. Such tangible evidence of life and activity on the part of the church, as the brethren at Monterey have exhibited within a few weeks past, I deem worthy of record.
A few weeks ago, a letter of condolence and sympathy for Bro. and sister White and Bro. Loughborough, was received from that church, backed up with a remittance of sixty dollars to help defray their extra expenses while receiving treatment at Dansville. While this letter and the remittance served well the purpose designed, namely, to cheer and comfort the hearts of the afflicted, and to help make a suitable provision for temporal necessities during the hour of trial, it served also to show that the church at Monterey were alive, and in working order; and that they not only had hearts to feel, but wills to perform.
In due time we hear from Monterey again. The following business item from that church explains itself.
"In the Review for Nov. 14, is a call from the Secretary of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association, saying, 'The subscription list of the Review, between this and New Year's day, may be, and ought to be doubled. What say you?' Answer: We the undersigned agree to furnish the number of subscribers set against our respective names, either by persuading some friend, or sending the money to forward it to some chosen friends, before January, 1866. Monterey, Nov. 26, 1865."
The foregoing came to us signed by twenty-six persons, with the same number of names as new subscribers for the Review, at full price, with draft enclosed.
Here we have demonstrated to us what can be done when there is a will to do. Here we have an example of a church doing its duty. What this church has done, others might do. How glorious, indeed, would have been the result, had all of our churches, east and west, north and south, had the same mind and zeal in the matter of procuring subscribers for the Review, as the church in Monterey.
Brethren at Monterey, well done! Your zeal in the cause of God is commendable. Labor on. Your reward is certain.
Other churches are earnestly invited to follow the example here given. Although the first of January is past, there is still opportunity to labor for the Review.
The "call" is still extended. The Secretary will be pleased to make a note of progress made.
J. M. A.
Presumptuous Sins.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
ALL Sunday-keepers are ready to admit that they have no positive proof that the first day is a holy day, or that the seventh is not. All that is claimed is, that from the example of Christ and his apostles, the conclusion may be drawn that the first day of the week was kept as a holy day instead of the seventh. But no positive command or instruction to keep the first day is ever alleged. Nor do they pretend to point to the text which says that work may be done on the old seventh-day Sabbath. From certain alleged facts they suppose it to be true that the first, and not the seventh, day is now the Sabbath. In other words their position is just what Webster calls PRESUMPTION. Thus he says: "Presume, v. t., To suppose to be true without positive proof."
All can readily see that this is exactly the position occupied by those who have rejected the Sabbath and still hold to Sunday-keeping. Now turn to Num. xv, 30, and see the penalty for daring to do anything presumptuously, or without positive proof. "But the soul that doeth ought presumptuously, whether he be born in the land, or a stranger, the same reproacheth the Lord; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people." Let Sunday-keepers read this and beware. The next verse tells the reason why so severe a penalty is attached to presumptuous sins. "Because he hath despised the word of the Lord, and hath broken his commandments, that soul shall be utterly cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him." 1. He hath despised the word of God, i. e. does not heed what it says; and 2. as the consequence of this disregard of the word of God, he hath broken the commandment of the Lord. Sunday-keepers despise the word of God by neglecting the day which he has expressly appointed; then, without any positive proof they presume to keep a day of their own choosing. This is presumptuous sin and must receive its penalty.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
Report from Tuscola, Mich.
By I. D. Van Horn
TUESDAY, Dec. 12, Bro. Stringer of Lapeer took his team and carried me to Vassar, where I met with a warm reception by the friends of present truth. I spent the time till Sabbath, visiting from house to house, and we had during the time a few profitable seasons of prayer.
Sabbath morning we met at the place appointed for worship, and the Spirit of the Lord was with us as we spoke upon that glorious subject, the Resurrection, which is so clearly revealed in the Bible as the hope of the Christian. In the afternoon, as we gave a description of the City of God, the home of the saints during the thousand years, we felt to humble ourselves in meek submission to the will of God, and receive his blessing which was bountifully bestowed upon us. Such seasons as this are refreshing, and give us courage to continue to do our duty that the saints' rest may be ours to enjoy.
On first-day, we were obliged to hold our meetings in a private house, all public places being occupied by others. Nevertheless we had a free time, and, from all appearances, our meetings proved to be profitable to all. The brethren and sisters in this place manifested a lively interest in the things which they have heard, and we trust they have counted the cost and made up their minds to go through with the remnant to Mt. Zion.
Wednesday, Dec. 20, I came to Watrousville, and in the evening enjoyed a good prayer-meeting with a few of the brethren and sisters. Sabbath morning we met at the place of worship and the blessing of God rested upon us as we presented, for the consideration of the friends of truth, the necessity of organization. The afternoon was profitably spent in a Bible class. It was a pleasant sight to see fifty or more, all with Bibles in their hands, anxious to learn their duty from the word of God. Our meetings on first-day were well attended, and the light of truth opened before our minds clearer than ever, and we all felt to give God the glory.
We find the brethren and sisters in this county, who accepted the truth last summer, nearly all holding on with a firm determination to make sure work for the reward of the righteous. All things are in a better condition than we expected to find them. We have good reason to believe that the work here will not prove a failure, but that there will be some who will purify themselves by obedience to the truth, and thus prepare for their coming Lord that they may see the King in his beauty. May the Lord give them all strength to overcome the power of the enemy.
I. D. VAN HORN.
Swine's Flesh.
By Nelson N. Titus
BRO. WHITE: The following is taken from a work devoted to the nature and treatment of diseases of animals; but it contains some good ideas on the use of swine's flesh, which if you are pleased to publish, may be interesting to some one. The author is Nelson N. Titus. S. B. WHITNEY.
There is no one article of food that has caused more disease than pork. Dr. Nichols says that man partakes more or less of the qualities of the animal that he subsists upon; and says that "in eating pork we swallow the matter which was in process of elaboration, and was destined to become a part of the brain and nervous system of the hog; consequently we appropriate what would have been the cerebral organ of some swinish nature."
You may be sure that when matter has gone so far toward being converted into the proper essence of the hog, it is not easily turned out of its course. It seems much better to take the pure nutrition furnished us in healthy food, and do for ourselves the whole process of elaboration.
One thing is sure, when we feed on pork, we feel stupid, and partake of the sluggish stupidity of the swine.
Pork is not the food for high and pure natures, of noble purposes and earnest thought, of the highest art and profoundest science. Hog is not the aliment of intellectual developments; all men of striking intellectual development have been sparing of animal food, and more especially of pork. The hog may be a very respectable animal in his way, but he has no qualities that I am aware of, to induce me to eat the creature.
But this is not the worst feature of the case. The process of fatting a hog is a diseasing one; he is shut up in filthy pens and fed upon all the filth and refuse of the farm. A fatted hog seems to be the incarnation of laziness, gluttony and filth, and the scrofulous disease and utter depravity which these generate. A fatted hog, then, is the epitome of the evils of modern society. I think that Dr. Adam Clarke had the right view of the subject when he said, that were he to make a sacrifice to the Devil, he would offer him a fat hog stuffed with tobacco.
It is a fact well known to medical men that some hogs are a congeries of scrofulous tumors, and that a considerable portion of their lard is as much corruption as the matter of a tumor. They know all the disgusting and deathly facts of the pathology of the pork market—of ulcerated livers, diseased lungs, and the general corruption of hogs.
Scrofula—this term is derived from the Latin scrofa, a sow; because it is a disease to which swine are especially liable. So when we eat hog we eat scrofula or scrofula. But the hog advocates will say that they keep them for the profit, or as a matter of interest; but it has been ascertained by correct experiment that the corn required to make pork enough to support a man one hundred days, would if eaten in its pure, original, and far more healthy condition, afford him as much nutriment for four hundred and eighty days, to say nothing of time and trouble lost in feeding the animal. But, says one, the hog will eat that which no other animal will eat. I will admit that; and that is a good reason why we should not eat him. In fatting a hog, a certain number of bushels of good healthy corn and potatoes are converted into a mass of greasy, and in many cases, scrofulous pork, with great loss and trouble, while the flesh thus made does not contain one principle necessary to the human constitution which did not exist in a better form in the vegetable on which it fed. In short, it has been found by an accurate calculation that vegetable food is not only better, but five hundred per cent cheaper than the flesh of swine.
Some may think the author is a Jew, or that his prejudices against pork are unfounded; but it is a duty that I owe to the public as a medical man to raise a warning voice against the effect of hog-eating.
A Word of Admonition.
By E. Goodrich
It is a fact not so generally observed, nor as fully realized as it ought to be, that our religious impressions begin very early in life, even before the mind has become affected with sin. And the manner in which these first (and generally vivid) impressions are regarded and treated has much to do with our future religious history.
While recently reading the life, and noting various incidents in the labors of a certain colporteur, I was forcibly impressed with the idea gathered, viz., that the Spirit of God strives particularly with young persons—most from about thirteen to seventeen years of age. He gave several instances of persons, some of men and some of women, whose early life was marked by strong and continual religious convictions; but they resisted the strivings of the Spirit of God upon their hearts, some by attending social parties, some by frequenting the ball-room, others by seeking the card or gaming-table, and in various ways, and the consequence was, that the Holy Spirit ceased to strive with them and they were left in despair. And not only were they left without God and without hope in the world, but they died as they lived, wretched, without one ray of hope to47illume and cheer their pathway.
And one can but exclaim as he remarks such cases as these, Oh, what a solemn and awful warning is this to all young persons not to resist, but to encourage the strivings of God's Spirit. God has said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man, and we are frequently exhorted and admonished in the New Testament, not to resist or quench the Holy Spirit.
One instance enforcing the truth of the above, may serve to complete the lesson. On a certain occasion meeting for preaching having been appointed, the congregation was so large it was thought best to divide it, which was done, part remaining and part retiring a short distance to a nicely shaded cemetery. The minister preaching at the latter place, feeling and speaking as though standing between the living and dead, the occasion was made deeply solemn by the Spirit of God constraining men to repent. One old man whose silver locks told that his day was well nigh passed, who had always purposed to give his heart to Christ, but had never found the favorable time looked for, was so wrought upon by the Holy Ghost—by a sense of his need of Christ and powerful conviction of sin, that he trembled like an aspen leaf. He was urged to embrace the Saviour, but as ever, he said, Not now, not now. And the result was, that from that hour the Spirit ceased to strive with him, and in a few weeks he died, saying, Oh, I might have been saved then, but there is no hope for me now.
We have almost in every country, places of amusement and entertainment, where tragical scenes of sorrow, suffering, and blighted hopes are pictured; but there is no tragedy, either as a fact or a fiction, so filled with despair and horror as that which reads, Oh, he lived and died without God.
E. GOODRICH.
Light in Darkness
Selected for the Review.
Light in Darkness.
All things work together for good to them that love God. Rom. viii. 28.
How weary and how worthless this life at times appears!
What days of heavy musings, what hours of bitter tears!
How dark the storm-clouds gather along the wintry skies!
How desolate and cheerless the path before us lies!
And yet those days of dreariness are sent us from above;
They do not come in anger, but in faithfulness, and love;
They come to teach us lessons which bright ones could not yield,
And to leave us blest and thankful when their purpose is revealed.
They come to draw us nearer to our Father and our Lord,
More earnestly to seek his face, to listen to his word;
And to feel, if now around us a desert land we see,
Without the star of promise, what would its darkness be!
They come to lay us lowly, and humbled in the dust;
All self-deception swept away, all creature hope and trust;
Our helplessness, our vileness, our guiltiness to own,
And flee for hope and refuge, to Christ, and Christ alone.
They come to break the fetters which here detain us fast;
And force our long-reluctant hearts to rise to Heaven at last;
And brighten every prospect of that eternal home,
Where grief, and disappointment, and fear can never come.
Then turn not in despondency, poor, weary heart, away,
But meekly journey onward, through the dark and cloudy day;
Even now the bow of promise is above thee painted bright,
And soon a joyful morning shall dissipate the night.
Thy God hath not forgotten thee, and, when he sees it best,
Will lead thee into sunshine, will give thee bowers of rest;
And all thy pain and sorrow, when thy pilgrimage is o'er,
Shall end in heavenly blessedness, and joys forevermore!