p. 6 | Review and Herald, Vol. 82, No. 43. (10/26/1905)

Review and Herald

Oct 26, 1905

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Oct 26, 1905

The Seed and the Sowers

By Editor

“He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.”

ANY publication mentioned on this page may be ordered through your conference tract society or from any of our publishing houses or their branch offices. See last paragraph on this page for addresses of our publishing houses.

CHRIST does not drive, but draws men unto him. The only compulsion which he uses is the constraint of love.—“Mount of Blessing,” page 182.

WHAT are you doing that others may have a chance to know of this power that draws men away from the evils of this world toward the eternal riches of God? Start in to-day,—take a pound of “Signs of the Times Leaflets,” and let your neighbors hear the “glad tidings.”

“MY GARDEN NEIGHBORS” continues to grow in favor. It makes an excellent addition to any one’s library. When you pick up the book, you will at once become so interested that you will want to finish it before laying it down. The stories told make one more considerate of the whole animal creation. The price of this book is $1.

WHAT are you doing to provide proper reading for the younger members of your family during the long winter evenings? The Youth’s Instructor contains the best reading-matter you can secure for them. A long list of most interesting articles is announced for publication during the next few months. Your children will enjoy it, and so will your neighbors’ children. Subscription price, 75 cents a year. Address Youth’s Instructor, Washington, D. C.

FREQUENT orders received for sets of the “Fireside Free Circulating Library” call to mind the fact that this manner of circulating literature at small expense can fill an important part in the present campaign. Five sets of the Library, costing $1, will furnish sufficient envelopes to distribute to twenty-five persons for five weeks, and these can be distributed several times without additional expense. These envelopes are arranged to arouse the least prejudice. The “Circulating Library” sells for 25 cents a set, or five sets for $1, post-paid.

THE tract “Celestial Railroad,” is now ready for delivery, and is issued as No. 44 of “Words of Truth Series.” It contains 32 large pages. Its author was Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American writer of considerable prominence, and it appeared first in the U. S. Magazine, of May, 1843. Under the figure of riding on a train, instead of walking in a path, it follows quite closely the style and story of Bunyan, and is really an up-to-date “Pilgrim’s Progress.” It was doubtless intended as an irony against the worldly, lifeless, and pharisaic religion of modern times. As such, it is a severe rebuke and a solemn warning. In the present edition several changes and additions have been made to better adapt it to latter-day conditions. It ought to quicken religious thought, arouse those who are asleep spiritually, and by its unique style of calling attention to the deplorably fallen condition of the religious world, deter as many as possible from being deceived and lost. Price, 2 cents each, $1.60 a hundred.

EVERY true disciple is born into the kingdom of God as a missionary. No sooner does he come to know the Saviour, than he desires to make others acquainted with him. The saving and sanctifying truth can not be shut up in his heart.—“Ministry of Healing,” page 102.

FOR home study, there is no book better than the “Seer of Patmos.” The one book of the Bible upon which the modern theologians have the least to say, should be the book with which Seventh-day Adventists are the most familiar. A complete set of questions on each chapter appears in the back of the book, making it very convenient for family study. The price, $1, is within the reach of all.

A BETTER title could not have been found for Mrs. E. G. White’s latest book than “Ministry of Healing.” The book carries out its title all the way through. Woven in with the suggestions on right living are some excellent thoughts on the Christian life and how to keep the spiritual being healthy. These thoughts are all practical, and are of the kind that help us every day. Why not order a copy of this book to-day? Price, $1.50; 15 cents extra for postage.

FROM far-off New Zealand comes this encouraging testimonial for the Sabbath School Worker: “The Worker is a real blessing to me. Its words of encouragement and practical instruction to workers make it an indispensable help in this branch of the work. We are doing all we can to extend its circulation in this field, for we feel that it should be in every Seventh-day Adventist home.” Are you doing all you can to help in the circulation of this most valuable aid to the Sabbath-school? Surely you can not afford to miss the benefits of this paper, when the price is only 35 cents a year for single copies, and 25 cents in clubs.

WE frequently receive requests from canvassing agents and the people at large for Bibles to sell. To such we have replied in the past that we handle only imported Bibles, which, on account of excellent quality and added customs, we have not been able to furnish at a large discount. But we are glad now to announce that we have just negotiated for the purchase of a large edition of foreign Bibles, on which we can make better discounts than usual, and we would be pleased to correspond with those who desire to sell an excellent Bible at reasonable rates. These Bibles are printed on fine India paper, and have the same large type as our “Quart in a Pint” Bibles, and of the same convenient sizes. We have a limited number of neat leather-bound prospectuses, and to each person who can use one to advantage we will send it free.

ORDERS for any publication mentioned on this page may be sent to any conference tract society or to any of the following: Review and Herald Publishing Association, Washington, D. C., and Battle Creek, Mich.; Pacific Press Publishing Company, Mountain View, Cal., also Portland, Ore., and Kansas City, Mo.; Southern Publishing Association, Nashville, Tenn., and Fort Worth, Tex.

Editorial

By Editor

Tainted Adventism

A WRITER who belongs to a small denomination of Sunday-keeping Adventists refers to “adventism tainted with Jewish Sabbatarianism,” evidently intending by this expression to describe the belief of the Seventh-day Adventists. Much depends upon the point of view. In the estimation of the scribes and Pharisees the teaching of Jesus was “tainted” with many heresies, but there was power enough in his “tainted” teaching to win its way against all the opposition of the Roman empire. There seems to be a vital force in this tainted adventism which makes it a more aggressive movement than the adventism which clings to papal tradition. Sabbath reform is an integral part of the genuine advent movement in this last generation.

Sabbath Blessings

THOSE who live in harmony with God and his plan for the human family are surely in the way of receiving blessings which are not bestowed upon those who ignore the revealed will of God. This is true in a marked way concerning the observance of the Sabbath. The Lord has said, “Blessed is the man . . . that keepeth the Sabbath from profaning it,” and this promised blessing will surely be given. Through the spirit of prophecy we have this testimony borne: “All heaven was represented to me as beholding and watching upon the Sabbath those who acknowledge the claims of the fourth commandment and are observing the Sabbath. Angels were marking their interest in, and high regard for, this divine institution. Those who sanctified the Lord God in their hearts by a strictly devotional frame of mind, and who sought to improve the sacred hours in keeping the Sabbath to the best of their ability, and to honor God by calling the Sabbath a delight,—these the angels were specially blessing with light and health, and special strength was given them.” In calling the people to the observance of the Sabbath of the Lord we are calling them to the enjoyment of special blessings.

Spiritualistic Tendencies

THERE is an unmistakable trend toward spiritualism which shows itself in various ways. The habit of spiritualizing even the plain and literal statements of the Scriptures prepares the way for the beautifully worded and generally vague teaching of that mysticism which is the stepping-stone to spiritualism. There is also a tendency to adopt the vocabulary of occultism, and to clothe the thoughts in language which has a spiritualistic flavor about it. The reflex influence of these forms of expression is felt upon the modes of thinking, and stimulates spiritualistic ideas. There is something attractive in the beautiful language and the flattering sentiments of these pretended apostles of light, but this is nothing new. “He who could appear clothed with the brightness of the heavenly seraphs before Christ in the wilderness of temptation, comes to men in the most attractive manner, as an angel of light. He appeals to the reason by the presentation of elevating themes, he delights the fancy with enrapturing scenes, and he enlists the affections by his eloquent portrayals of love and charity.” Having thus secured control of the mind, the deceiver quickly leads on to sentiments which exalt humanity to the place of divinity, and which finally make God altogether such a one as ourselves. He who begins by copying the beautiful language of spiritualistic writers is quite likely to end by adopting their sentiments. This is a time of peril, when the effort will be made to deceive the very elect. Our safety will be found in carefully avoiding even the appearance of the evil thing. “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, . . . keep yourselves in the love of God.”

The Decay of Integrity

The unprecedented accumulation of wealth in the control of a few men is a sign of the last days, and the methods employed in the financial world testify to that decline of moral character which fulfils the prophecies concerning the condition of things just before the coming of the Lord. The first of the eighteen specifications in the indictment against the professed Christian world in the last days when “perilous times shall come,” is that, “men shall be lovers of their own selves,” and this spirit of selfishness leads to the utter disregard of moral principles in the race for wealth.

During the past year the attention of the public has been called to some of the ways of “frenzied finance,” but the force of the revelations has been somewhat broken, from the fact that they were largely in the nature of State’s evidence, the informer being one of the principals in the transactions whose wickedness he was exposing. More recently, however, there have been carefully conducted investigations into the methods of managing the three largest insurance companies in this country, and the revelations made have greatly stirred the public mind. The betrayal of the trust reposed in some men who have enjoyed the confidence of the people as being “captains of industry” has caused both surprise and astonishment, and has awakened a feeling of suspicion as to the trustworthiness of financiers in general.

The following paragraph from the Independent (New York) is a dispassionate statement of the feeling of many who have followed the course of these revelations:—

There have been other times when the public has been profoundly shocked by revelations of the untrustworthiness of men of high repute, to whom great private and public responsibilities were committed. There was great humiliation and distress of mind when the scandals connected with the building of the Union Pacific Railroad impeached the good name of men prominent in the national Congress. The Star Route frauds dragged more than one high name down to ruin and disgrace. The great bank malfeasances at Fall River, at Philadelphia, and elsewhere, and such failures as that of Grant and Ward, shook the confidence of thousands of plain folk in the integrity of men supposed to be above suspicion, and left everybody asking, Whom, then, can we trust? But all these instances were trifling in comparison with the rottenness that has been broughtto light in the past two or three years. Making every allowance for prejudice and exaggeration, the facts that have been made public in the writings of Miss Tarbell, of Mr. Lawson, and of Lincoln Steffens are shown by recent disclosures to be but the fringe of the terrible truth that even yet is probably not more than half known.

Confidence is an essential factor in the business world. The loss of confidence means a crippling of industrial and commercial development,—a stagnation in the business world. When the present tendency toward socialism is encouraged and intensified by a loss of public confidence in those who control the wealth of the country, the way is all prepared for a time of trouble.

We have no assurance that better times are coming. There has been a general slump in the public conscience, and the only thing that can lift men to a higher plane of conduct, the power of God as revealed in the gospel, has been set aside in favor of a merely human philosophy. In the olden time when men “did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient,” and the same thing is evidently being repeated before our eyes.

The purpose in calling attention to these things is that we may realize more fully the need of preaching “the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Those who will heed this message may escape “the corruption that is in the world through lust.” Divine power is required to keep any of us in these perilous times.

Why Assyria Succeeded

VARIOUS reasons have been assigned for the success of Japan in the recent war with Russia. Due credit has been given to the simple dietary of the Japanese, and the high standard of their morality, as indicated by some of their maxims, has been favorably mentioned. And yet wise men have been surprised and astonished at the series of unbroken victories gained by this new world power over one of the great nations of to-day.

We are confident that the true reason for this remarkable bit of modern history is found in Daniel’s announcement to Nebuchadnezzar that “the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.” There is a God in heaven who directs in the affairs of men, and he uses even heathen nations as the instruments with which to accomplish his will.

Some inquiring people of the olden time might have asked why Assyria succeeded in a certain campaign against Jerusalem, and the prophet Isaiah states the reason clearly: “Ho Assyrian, the rod of mine anger, the staff in whose hand is mine indignation! I will send him against a profane nation, and against the people of my wrath will I give him a charge, to take the spoil, and to take the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. Howbeit he meaneth not so, neither does his heart think so; but it is in his heart to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few.” The success of Assyria did not demonstrate that it was a model nation, neither did it prove that the Assyrians were a religious people. On the contrary, the Lord said through the prophet: “Wherefore it shall come to pass, that, when the Lord hath performed his whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks.” Assyria was an instrument in God’s hand to accomplish his own purpose. So is Japan. This is the reason for Japan’s success.

_A Legacy of Service_

By W. A. S.

THE following story of a Chinese convert and his wife is told in China’s Millions:—

They had a son, also a Christian, who, when but twenty-two years old, went into rapid consumption. Before his death he said to his friend, “I wish I had had more time to do God’s work.” This remark was told to his parents, and they felt that as God had left them strength and health, they must do what their son was unable for. They rented a little house in a village seven miles away, and then gave yearly the produce of eleven acres of their rice fields to support a preacher for this village. They have done this for the past eleven years.

It is a noble sentiment that leads a relative or a friend to endeavor to do double service to keep up the work of one who has fallen. Many a parent in the story of missions has sent some other young person into service to take the place of some child of his own, laid away in death.

And for every worker who dies in service there must somewhere be those whom the Lord calls to fill up the ranks. The fallen worker leaves a precious legacy to his brethren. Recently one of the pioneers of French missions on the Zambesi, François Willard, laid down his life. In his last will and testament he inserted this clause:—

On the threshold of eternity and in the presence of my God, I solemnly bequeath to the Evangelical Church of France, my native land, the care of the work of the Lord in Barotseland; and in his holy name I adjure them never to abandon it—and thus to despise and renounce the rich harvest that is to be expected as the fruition of seed sown in suffering and tears.

In these last days we are the heirs of all the centuries of Christian service. The work at which patriarchs and prophets, apostles and reformers, missionaries and pioneers have wrought comes now to our hands for finishing. This legacy of the ages lays upon this generation of believers a responsibility that can be discharged only by the solemn and businesslike consecration of life and means and all to service. W. A. S.

South American Growth

By W. A. S.

THE cause of this third angel’s message touches a great portion of the world. Thus it comes about that events in almost any part of the earth have now a very direct interest for us, and a bearing upon our work. The United States consular reports have lately been dealing with South American progress. The Washington Times quotes the following from a report of Argentina’s growing prosperity:—

Where years ago there were but few industries, to-day mills are buzzing in every section of the country, and in addition, the ports leading from the country are registering a tonnage which demonstrates beyond a doubt that Argentina means business. The four million people and more accredited to the country are beginning to see the advantages at their door. Miles and miles of railroad are being added to the facilities already at hand, and the South American republic is commanding attention from the greatest countries in the world.

Argentina has an area of more than a million square miles, with a climate much like that of the United States, and it is possible for its people to engage in many of the industries which have

given to America a conspicuous place in the commercial world.

This means more to us than an interesting item of news. It means that the cause we love in Argentina will share to some extent in the prosperity of the country. In fact, we already learn of larger tithes and offerings among the believers there. The Argentina, or River Plate, Conference is pressing along the way toward self-support. They have a tremendous field with only a handful of believers, but with a training-school preparing the youth for service, and new companies being raised up, Argentina is sure to become a vigorous factor in evangelizing other parts of South America. W. A. S.

“Come”

By L. A. S.

HAVE you heard the invitation? Continuously, day after day, without ceasing, there is sounding in the ears of men the most important, the most gracious invitation that could be given them. Its source is the throne of God. But the myriads to whom it is addressed, absorbed in the things of the world, hear it not, but rush heedlessly on, all save a few to whom the kingdom of God and his righteousness have become matters of first importance. It is summed up in the one little word, “Come.” “The Spirit and the bride say, Come.”

Come to the feast which God has prepared. Come to an eternal inheritance of life, joy, peace. Come where death is not known, and sorrow and sighing flee away. Come to the tree of life and the river of life, that are in the midst of the paradise of God. The ears of the multitude are attuned only to catch the jarring tumult of earthly stress and strife. We who hear the gracious invitation are to take it up and repeat it. “Let him that heareth say, Come.” “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come.” “Come ye, buy, and eat.” “The Spirit and the bride say, Come.” “Come; for all things are now ready.”

“He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear.” L. A. S.

The Weightier Matters

By L. A. S.

THE Pharisees carefully paid tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, but omitted the weightier matters of the law,—judgment, mercy, and faith. Matt. 23: 23. They were ruled by a harsh, critical spirit, which led them to judge and condemn, and even to persecute those who did not agree with them and walk according to their traditions. To be careless of the interests of their fellow men and to manifest toward them this hard, unsympathetic, unmerciful spirit, was deemed by them a light thing; but it was not light. It was in violation of the weightier matters of the law.

To the Pharisees, the weightier matters had become those which required a display of form and ceremony. The works upon which they prided themselves were the things to which they attached chief importance. To show an unselfish interest in the welfare of others was not an essential thing in their system of religion, and the absence of such a feeling from their hearts was not to them a matter of consequence. But though they realized it not, these things which determined the character of the spirit which they displayed, were the weightier matters. What in their view were non-essentials were the real essentials of the law. Mercy and justice were greater than all their works.

The weightier matters of the law have not changed. No works that men can accomplish are of so much consequence as is the spirit of kindness, sympathy, and unselfish interest in the welfare of others,—the spirit that attracts and wins people, in contrast with that which repels. In this spirit is contained the weightier matters of the law.

God sees not as man sees, and his standards are not those which men have set up. A meek and quiet spirit may pass unnoticed by the world, but it is “in the sight of God of great price.” This is more than could be said of the greatest works that men have ever undertaken, or of the greatest riches that men have accumulated.

The weightiest matters in God’s sight are not always those which make the greatest show among men. They are not always those which set forth the letter of the law. The letter is of no use without the spirit, and the spirit of the law is love. Love is the weightier matter of the law. The greatest thing is charity.

“If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” L. A. S.

Christianity and the Trusts

By L. A. S.

“The Church as a Trust” is the subject of an article in a recent issue of the Independent, by Austin Bierbower, LL. D. Mr. Bierbower attempts to show that the Christian church was the first great trust or monopoly formed in the world, and that it set the example and furnished the model for all subsequent monopolies. The Christian church, he says, “claimed in time to own and distribute all the benefits of Christ’s religion.” “It claimed to represent the only valid religion in the world, and tried to crush out all competitors. It had the sole means of salvation, and out of its pale was no hope.” “It claimed, in short, to have a monopoly of Christianity, and with it a monopoly of all religion. No other was genuine.” These and other like statements are offered in support of the claim that the Christian church was the mother of those organizations which are doing so much at this time to destroy industrial liberty.

It is true that the trust system has been set up in religion, and a vast organization thoroughly monopolistic in character has for centuries been known as the Christian church. But the true Christian church is governed by principles exactly the opposite of those upon which the modern monopoly or trust is based.

The Christian church does indeed claim to have a monopoly of the true religion, since there can be only one true religion, and the Christian religion is either the one and only means of salvation, or it is a delusion. It is only as a monopoly of the truth which is unto salvation that the Christian religion is able to confer benefits upon mankind.

But the basic principle of Christianity is not that of a monopoly at all. The purpose of Christianity is to impart a gift to mankind; the purpose of the trust is not to give to others, but to get from others. The purpose of a monopoly is to enrich itself at the expense of others, employing coercion to this end. Christianity, on the other hand, is rich to start with, but aims not to increase its wealth, but to make others rich by imparting its wealth to them.

Jesus Christ, its fountainhead, was rich, but became poor in order that men might receive “unsearchable riches.” To his followers he says, “Freely ye have received, freely give.” They give not what they have received from men, but from heaven, through the channel opened by the sacrifice on the cross. The best gift of heaven was bestowed upon mankind; and through the Christian church men are to be made partakers of this gift.

But Christianity has been perverted by some, and organizations have come up which, while professing to minister salvation to men, have sought to enrich themselves at the expense of their adherents. This is the principle of the trust,—the principle of selfishness. They have employed coercion, just as the trust uses coercion to secure a monopoly. The chief organization of this kind is the papacy, which for centuries employed the arm of the civil power to coerce men according to her will. All coercion in religion tends to the formation of a religious trust, and of necessity such trusts are anti-Christian, since coercion has no place in the Christian system, being the opposite of faith, which means freedom of the will.

An example of the survival of the coercive system in religion is furnished by the present-day Sunday law. All such laws work toward the formation of a monopoly in religion, and that religion will be necessarily anti-Christian. It is to such religious monopolistic systems that atheists point in deriding Christianity, and such systems which give potency to their efforts to discredit the Christian church.

L. A. S.

Buddhism in Germany

By W. A. S.

A BERLIN dispatch to the Toronto Star reports striking developments in the German religious thought:—

In a leading article which is attracting considerable attention here the Vossische Zeitung dwells on the continuous spread of Buddhism in Germany, not as a definite or organized creed or church, but as a potent influence, beginning to permeate large sections of the population. The leading Liberal journal draws attention to the decay of interest throughout the country in missionary and Bible societies, and to the decrease of the incomes of these societies, as one of the surest evidences of this. Men nowadays, says the article, are more than ever interested in the religious problem, more than ever religious, but it is religion no longer militant, but marked by that toleration which is more characteristic of Buddhism than of Christianity.

The Vossische Zeitung reminds its readers that not long ago the Grand Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt gave a commission to the eminent sculptor, Professor Habich, to erect a huge statue of the Buddha in syenite under the trees of his garden at Wolfgarten. This act was not a mere satisfaction of some æsthetic impulse, but significant of the profound alteration of public sentiment in matters of faith and dogma.

The spirit of Oriental mysticism is leavening the world. Christendom is being “replenished from the East” according to the prophecy of Isa. 2: 6. Satan’s gospel of preparation is preparing the way for his last delusions as surely as the true gospel is preparing the way for Christ’s coming in power and glory. W. A. S.

My Visit to the European Field

By Arthur G. Daniells

England and Wales

A UNION meeting of the North and South England Conferences and the Welsh Mission was held at Birmingham, England, August 4-14. This was the largest gathering of Seventh-day Adventists ever convened in Great Britain. Nearly every member of the executive committees and boards of the organizations and institutions of the territory represented was in attendance. Nearly all the ministers and Bible workers were present, and there was a good delegation of the churches in all parts of both conferences and the Welsh Mission field.

It had been five years since I had first attended a general meeting in that field, and three years since I was there last. The change that had taken place was very apparent. It could be felt as well as seen. There was not only a much larger attendance than at the previous meetings referred to, but there were so many new faces that it seemed like another congregation. This change can be understood when it is known that the membership has nearly doubled in the last three years. There was present a much larger and stronger staff of laborers than I have seen before in that field. And there was a strength, a force, a solidity that could be felt. The people seemed to have their bearings. They acted like people who know that they have a mission in the world. They attended to the affairs of the conferences they represented as if they were a part of the movement. And they coupled with the business proceedings of the meetings a whole-hearted spirituality that was truly uplifting.

A meeting for all the ministers and Bible workers was conducted every morning. The Lord blessed us as we prayed together and studied how to so labor that we might see larger results in soul-winning. At the same hour a meeting was held for canvassers and periodical workers. As there are so many of our people in that field engaged in that work, and as they are having such cheering success, this was a large and enthusiastic meeting. These canvassers, and Present Truth and Good Health workers, not only reported steady success, but gave a testimony of a good personal experience, and of many signal victories and blessings in their work.

The business proceedings of both conferences and the mission field passed off very harmoniously. Elder W. H. Meredith gave a most encouraging report of the work in Wales. He had a large delegation from that mission field, whose love and zeal for this cause did us all good. There are now two hundred Sabbath-keepers in Wales, and they are beginning to think about organizing a Welsh conference. This will surely be done in the near future, if the blessing of God continues with them.

One encouraging feature about the work in all the European fields is the fact that nearly all the ministers and workers are devoting practically all their time to evangelistic work in new fields. They are constantly pressing on into communities and cities where the message has never been preached. Wherever they go, they find honest souls ready to hear the message they have to give. This was illustrated by the union meeting, of which this is a report. It was held in a part of the large city of Birmingham, where no meetings had ever been held by our people.

During the meeting our brethren and sisters visited hundreds of families with our literature, and invited them to the services. There was a good attendance, and a splendid interest was developed. This was followed with a tent effort and missionary work. The last report that has come to me states that twelve or fifteen had begun to keep the Sabbath.

Elder L. R. Conradi attended this meeting, and labored untiringly for the welfare of the cause in that field. Elder W. S. Hyatt, who was returning to South Africa, spent a few days at the meeting. Elder J. W. Westphal was with us one day. Brother Guy Dall, secretary of the General European Conference, was present. All these brethren received a hearty welcome. The American laborers now located in Great Britain are nearly all in good health, and seem to be enjoying their work. A number of consecrated English brethren and sisters are developing into efficient laborers. It will not be long until the work in this entire field will be self-supporting, and the conferences will be pushing out into foreign parts of Great Britain. In fact, this late conference voted to take steps at the earliest opportunity to open a mission in British East Africa. As a preparation for this step, it was voted to devote the Sabbath-school offerings to this mission. Thus the movement is already begun. May it be as greatly blessed of God as other missions in Africa operated by the Christian churches of Great Britain.

A. G. DANIELLS.

Church and State Union

THE Rev. A. S. Crapsey, Episcopal clergyman of Rochester, N. Y., advocates a union of church and state as a remedy for the present inefficiency of the churches. He is quoted as saying that “the remedy for the present ineffectiveness of the churches is in their becoming scientific, democratic, and socialistic, conditions which will result in a reuniting of church and state in a distinctly modern sense.” Whether in a modern or the old-time sense, a union of church and state means a union of the church with the world, which means death to the church’s spiritual efficiency. The church has already become too much like the world; there is a vast amount of worldliness in the church. The union that needs to be sought after by the church is union with her divine head, Jesus Christ. “He is the head of the body, the church.” It is small wonder that the body is inefficient when it has lost its head. Union with Christ would make the church scientific, democratic, and socialistic in the sense that Christ was such, and the sense that will most truly promote her efficiency as a soul-saving institution in the world.

Note and Comment

The following item from the Atlantic Union Gleaner shows how active in some parts of the country are the forces which are behind the movement for Sunday legislation. That movement is not dying out by any means:—

In two months, ending September 30, no less than two hundred and sixty-four arrests for Sunday-law violations were made in seven counties in the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, an average of more than four arrests a day. Three of the number arrested were Seventh-day Adventists. The counties in which arrests occurred are Bradford, Dauphin, Delaware, Lackawanna, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and Snyder. Lackawanna County alone reported two hundred and twenty-nine arrests.

Abolishing the Sale of Indulgences

THE Roman correspondent of the Boston Transcript affirms that Pope Pius has decided to take a step which is calculated to make no small stir in the Catholic world. The pope has gained a reputation as a reformer, and to his other reforms is now to be added that of abolishing the sale of indulgences, a custom which dates back in the church beyond the time of the Reformation. It was the monk Tetzel's sale of indulgences, it will be remembered, that stirred Luther to raise aloft the banner of salvation by faith in the Word of God. If such a reform had been instituted a few centuries earlier, its fruits would have been vastly greater than they can be to-day.

Continue reading: MRS. E. G. WHITE