p. 53 | Review and Herald, Vol. 6, No. 7. (9/26/1854)

Pilgrimage of Rev. Justin Edwards, D. D., on THE SABBATH QUESTION.

BEFORE us is the "Sabbath Manual by Rev. Justin Edwards, D. D., published by the American Tract Society."

Mr. Edwards, a learned and popular man, was considered by the American Tract Society a suitable person to prepare a standard work setting forth the claims of the (so-called) Christian Sabbath. In this work we may expect to find all the strength of argument that can be produced in favor of the observance of the first day of the week as the Sabbath for Christians.

But our object at this time is not so much to show the unsoundness of the arguments presented to prove that the first day of the week is the authorized Sabbath for Christians; but we wish to notice the winding pilgrimage of this Doctor of Divinity to his final arrival to the conclusion that all Christians should observe the first day of the week as a day of rest and worship. He undoubtedly starts right, so far as his work treats upon the time when the Sabbath was instituted. He says:—

"The first great institution established in paradise for the human race, was that of marriage. This lays the foundation for families, and for social relations among men. The second great institution established also in paradise for the race, was that of the Sabbath. This was designed to regulate families; to point out the period for labor and the period for rest, for the public worship of God, and of special devotion to spiritual and eternal concerns. So important was this arrangement to the glory of God and to the welfare of men, that with reference to it God regulated his own conduct in the creation of the world. He wrought six days—himself. He then came out in the face of creation, and rested one day. God thus gave to this arrangement of six days for labor and one for rest, the sanction of his high and holy example. This was the proportion which would, in all ages, be suited to the nature of men, adapted to their capacities, and essential to the supply of their wants. With reference to it, time itself was to be divided, not into days, or months, or years, merely, or into any periods measured by the revolutions of the earth or the heavenly bodies, but into weeks—periods of seven days; six for labor, and one for rest and special devotion to spiritual things. This division of time, measured by the conduct and will of God, and by the capacities and wants of men, was, among those who should know and do his will, to be as permanent and as universal as though it were measured by the revolutions of the earth or the heavenly bodies. It was to be, in all ages and all countries, a sign of the covenant between God and his people."—pp. 8, 9.

"The reason which God gave on the tables of stone for keeping the Sabbath, was not a Jewish reason. It was one which applies alike to all men. 'For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that in them is.' But he did not make them for Jews merely, or for any particular people. He made them for us, and for all men. As a memorial of that fact, he set apart the Sabbath, kept it, sanctified and blessed it, for the benefit of all."—pp. 15, 16.

"Some contend that the Sabbath was made for the Jews only. But this is in opposition to the testimony of the Infallible Witness, the Lord of the Sabbath. His decision is, [Mark, ii, 27,] 'The Sabbath was made for man.' Man, as used in this connection, and in other places in the Bible, does not mean Jews only; it means the human family; as when it is said, 'Man that is born of a woman is of few days and full of trouble. He cometh forth as a flower, and is cut down.' It does not mean Jews only; it means the human race. When it is said, 'Man lieth down, and riseth not again till the heavens be no more,' does it mean Jews only? No. It means man, to whom it is appointed once to die. And the Sabbath was made for man—that man to whom it is appointed once to die, and after that the judgment."—pp. 87, 88.

Here Mr. Edwards takes the true position: one of vital importance to the perpetuity of the Bible Sabbath; for, if the Sabbath was made for man, at creation, it is neither Jewish nor Christian, but "the Sabbath [Rest] of the Lord thy God."

There is another point of the greatest importance to the right view of this subject: it is the distinction between the two kinds of laws, and the two kinds of Sabbaths. This distinction the Doctor has set forth in a clear and beautiful manner, in the following words:—

"Under the Jewish dispensation were incorporated two kinds of laws. One was founded on obligations growing out of the nature of men, and their relations to God and one another; obligations binding before they were written, and which will continue to be binding upon all who shall know them, to the end of time. Such are the laws which were written by the finger of God on the tables of stone, and are called moral laws. The other kind, called ceremonial laws, related to various outward observances, which were not obligatory till they were commanded, and then were binding only on the Jews till the death of Christ. "There were also two kinds of Sabbaths, or days of rest. One was a day of weekly rest; and the command to keep it holy was placed by the Law-giver in the midst of the moral laws. It was called, by way of eminence, 'THE SABBATH.' The commandment to keep the other sabbaths was placed by the Lawgiver among the ceremonial laws because it was like them, as the command to keep the weekly Sabbath was like the laws with which it was associated. One class were fundamental, permanent, universal moral laws; the other class were local, temporary ceremonial laws. One had their origin in the nature and relations of man; the other in the peculiar circumstances in which, for a time, a peculiar people were placed. One would be binding in all ages, upon all who should know them; and the other would be binding only upon the Jews till the death of the Messiah."—pp. 133, 134.

That the Jews were required to observe the seventh day of the week, and did observe that day, is evident. Ex. xx, 8–11; Gen. ii, 2, 3; Ex. xvi, 22–30. That Adam, Abel, Enoch, Lot, Abraham and Moses kept the last day of the week, Mr. Edwards does not express the least doubt. And now to remove the weekly Sabbath (made for the entire race, reaching from creation forward through all time) from the seventh day, (which God exalted when he hallowed it in the beginning,) down to the first day of the week, (which he never hallowed,) is no small task. To do this the Doctor is obliged to come down two very difficult descents; first, make it appear that the fourth commandment does not require the observance of "the seventh day," but a seventh day; (that is, one day in seven, but no one day in particular,) second, that the first day of the week, (the definite day of Christ’s resurrection,) is that indefinite day!! Mark well his steps. He says:—

"The primary and essential idea in the numbers 'six' and 'seven,' as used in the command, is that of proportion. It marks the number of days to be devoted to secular concerns, compared with those to be devoted to rest and spiritual duties. 'Six days shalt thou labor;' and the next day, which of course, reckoning from the first working day, is 'the seventh,' thou shalt rest and not do any work. Men who call their first working day the second day of the week, and who, on the seventh day from that, keep the Christian Sabbath, do as really comply with the spirit and the letter of the fourth commandment, as men did who of old kept the Jewish Sabbath."—p. 91.

With Mr. Edwards’s definition of the word Sabbath, which all agree is correct, let us compare the above with the language of the fourth commandment. In page 88 he says that "The word SABBATH means rest"

"Remember the Sabbath-day [Rest-day] to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work; but the seventh day is the Sabbath [Rest] of the Lord thy God; in it thou shalt not do any work, . . . for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that in them is, and rested on the seventh day; wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath-day [the Rest-day] and hallowed it." Ex. xx, 8–11.

On what day did God rest. The seventh. What day did he hallow. The seventh. What day, then, is the Sabbath, or Rest, of the Lord thy God? The seventh day, the very day on which the Lord thy God rested. What are we commanded to remember?

The day. What are we required to keep holy? The day. In what are we forbidden to work? In the day. None can fail to see that the Author of the fourth commandment requires the observance of the definite day of the week on which he rested, and which he sanctified; and not a day. Some indefinite day, left to man’s choice, would be quite another thing. Man may choose a day for rest and worship, but, at the most, it is only his sabbath or rest; but the seventh day is the Sabbath, or Rest, of the Lord thy God; for on that day the Lord God rested.

The Sabbatical institution does not consist in man’s setting apart either of the seven days of the week he chooses to a holy use; but it is based upon the fact that God blessed the seventh day after he had rested upon it. And the fourth commandment enjoins the weekly celebration of Jehovah’s Rest-day.

God did not make the seventh day holy by resting upon it, but his blessing he bestowed upon the day after he had rested upon it. "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it; because that in it he had rested." Gen. ii, 3. If, then, the great God did not make a day holy by resting upon it, how preposterous for feeble man to talk of making one of the six common days of labor holy by resting and worshiping on that day! God has never left to man the work of making Sabbaths, or making days holy; but he requires of the race the weekly celebration of that day which he made holy at the close of the first week of time.

But we must leave this point for the present, to follow the Doctor still further on his pilgrimage. After asserting that the fourth commandment does not require the observance of any one particular day of the week, he then takes the position that it is the duty of Christians to keep the first day of the week, the definite day on which Christ arose from the dead!! He says:—

"Ever since He who had power to lay down his life, showed that he had power to take it again, by bursting the bands of death, and rising triumphant, making captivity captive, his disciples have assembled on the day of his resurrection to worship and adore."—p. 100.

"Have they done right in this? And are men now doing right in keeping the day of the resurrection of the Saviour, and the finishing of his atoning work for their salvation, as the Christian Sabbath."—p. 101.

"The resurrection of the Redeemer, the assembling of his disciples, the manifestations of himself to them the approval which he bestows upon them, the commission which he gives them, the Holy Ghost which he imparts to them—all give to this day, in the view of his disciples, a grand peculiarity, and strongly mark it for their future guidance."—p. 105.

"In observing the first day of the week for religious worship, they followed no cunningly devised fable, but the known will of their Lord; and that practice has been continued in the Christian world from that day to this. So general was it, even before the death of the apostles, and under their direction, that the day, by way of convenience, was called THE LORD’S DAY; that is, the day especially devoted to his worship." "As the supper which commemorated his death was called 'the Lord’s supper,' so the day of his resurrection, on which they met for his worship, was called 'the Lord’s day.' And so universal was the habit of observing it, that it was, without explanation, evidently understood at that time throughout the Christian world. "Here the apostle John says, 'I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.' What day that was, all Christians knew. It was the day of his resurrection, when they assembled to worship their Lord."—pp. 112, 113.

The Doctor has now come down the second descent, and is seen with the Sabbath established, (if assertions will answer in the place of Bible testimony) on the definite first day of the week. But we shall do well to notice that most of the statements contained in the above extracts are deceptive, and positively untrue. The Doctor assumes very many things which he should prove by plain scripture testimony; but, as he has no such testimony at his command, he uses the words "evidently," and "doubtless," to establish fundamental points in his theory, and passes on. Such words from a Doctor of Divinity have much more weight with many narrow-souled sectarians than the word of God. Such can see no flaw in his arguments.

But let us now look back and take a view of the route Mr. Edwards has come. In getting from the seventh day of the week, the old beaten path which he acknowledges had been trodden from Adam to Christ, more than 4000 years, he takes the position that God has never required the observance of any one day of the week, but only one day in seven. And then in framing his theology to suit the custom of the age, he takes the ground that God requires the observance of the definite first day of the week. How unfortunate for these men who take upon themselves the task of showing a change in the Sabbath that God has never revealed such a change, and that they are left to take so rugged and exceeding crooked route in getting from the seventh day of the week to the first. Or, rather, how unfortunate for them that, instead of cheerfully submitting to the claims of the fourth commandment, in their zeal to maintain an institution of Papacy they mangle the word of God, and expose their own folly. This may be considered strong language; but let us see if the nature of the case will not justify it. What is Mr. Edwards' real position? Summed up in few words it is this:—

The fourth commandment does not enjoin the observance of the seventh day of the week. It requires the observance of one day in seven, but no day in particular. And the Sabbath has been changed to the first day of the week.

But, what has the Sabbath been changed from? Why, from one day in seven, but no particular day!!! And what is the Sabbath changed to? It has been changed, according to the learned Mr. Edwards, to one day in seven, and no day in particular!!! But this amounts to no change at all. And what is still more wonderful, Mr. Edwards makes this no day in particular, which the Sabbath has been changed to, to be the definite first day of the week!!

So that the Sabbath has been changed from one day in seven and no day in particular, to another day in seven and no day in particular; and that no day in particular is the identical first day of the week!!

(To be Continued.)

WHO CHANGED THE LAWS OF THE MOST HIGH?

By Roswell F. Cottrell

IN Dan. vii. 20-25, is a prophecy of a blasphemous power that should arise upon earth, a most distinguished enemy of the Most High. That God's people might not be seduced by him, the works which he was to perform are pointed out; viz., He shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws.

It is evident that the laws spoken of are the laws of the Most High; for his whole work is to oppose God. The changing of human laws would not be noted as a distinguishing characteristic of the man of sin. No; his distinguishing acts are against God and his saints, his times and his laws.

By thus forewarning us that the man of sin would think to change the laws of God, to my mind, the Lord pledges himself that he will never change them; for, supposing that He knew that he would change his own laws at the beginning of the gospel dispensation, some 500 years before the rise of the little horn, the declaration that this horn should think to change them, would leave honest souls to be deceived, and to attribute God's own work to the enemy. He does not deceive his children; but he gave this as a sign by which we might distinguish that wicked power. Therefore we are safe in saying that the Most High stands pledged that he will not change the laws in question; so that when the prophecy is fulfilled, all can say, without fear, and with the utmost assurance, "An enemy hath done this."

If none have taught a change in the laws of God, from the days of Daniel to the present time, we must conclude that this prophecy is not yet fulfilled; but a power did arise more than 1200 years ago that fulfilled the main points in the prophecy. The great words against God have been spoken, the saints have been worn out for many centuries, and there can be no reasonable doubt that the Papacy is the little horn.

That the Papacy fulfilled this prediction is admitted. That the law of God has been changed, in some way, is also admitted; whether it is done by abolishing the whole, and re-enacting a part, or by changing a few words of one commandment, the change is admitted. But as absurd and astonishing as it may appear, it is claimed that Jesus Christ made the change 500 years before the Papacy was developed; thus making Christ fulfill the work of Antichrist! And while the Papal church claims that she made the change by her own authority, Protestants deny this claim, and stamp this distinguishing mark of the blasphemous little horn, upon our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! Which is the most blasphemous assertion? It would seem that the days of Papal blasphemy are past, and that Protestants can now speak words which are too great for Papists to utter.

Do we know that the little horn power has arisen? Yes. How? Because, among other things, it should think to change times and laws; and it is commonly reported that the law of God has been changed. But how do you know that Christ did not make the change? Because that work was assigned to the little horn, and was a foretold sign by which to distinguish that power when it should arise. Now suppose that Daniel had lived till the first advent, and had seen Jesus attempting to change the existing moral code of the Most High; who could condemn him, had he said, This is indeed the little horn!

But our blessed Lord did no such work. He came not to subvert his Father's law but to ratify it.

R. F. COTTRELL.

God's Purpose in Creating Man.

By John Byington

I WAS conversing with a man a few days since, who sometimes expresses doubts as to the truth of the Bible, on the subject of spirit manifestations. I remarked to him that I thought it was the work of the Devil. He said he did not believe that the Devil was stronger than God himself. Spiritualism was producing a much greater influence all through the land than any religious excitement; he did not believe the Devil could control the majority here, and they suffer with him for ever, which would be the same as serving him for ever. If this was the final destiny of man, God, who could but foresee all things, could neither be wise nor good in creating him. I then said to him, We will reason together of this matter. God was infinitely holy and happy and it would be benevolent and good in him to make a being capable of enjoying this blessedness. This goodness was manifest in creating man in his own image, capable of knowing and holding communion with his God. But being a created, dependent being, it was reasonable that he should be under the government of his Maker; therefore he gave him his law which embraced all his will concerning him. Law given to a being possessing liberty and intelligence, implies power to obey or disobey. To his existence therefore is attached probation; and this implies a day of settling accounts, or a day of judgment.

As law is of no force or avail without penalty, therefore the all-wise Governor of man has said that the effects of transgression shall be death: "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." By the overflowing of his goodness, God has manifested his mercy in giving his Son to pay this debt; therefore the Son of God dies upon the cross. Having become the property of Christ by the purchase of his blood, we must hear him. He points us to the law to learn our duty, and has taught us to look to him for grace to do it. This presents our Saviour as our atoning High Priest; for through his blood we have pardon and become reconciled to God. The world being under the curse, or feeling the effects of transgression, there is a necessity of bringing in another order and better state of things; therefore we have not only the resurrection of Christ, but also his ascension to the heavenly Sanctuary, where now he makes intercession for us. He being the first fruits from the grave, the next in the order of events, is to bring all that sleep in Jesus, from the tomb, that they may have immortality and eternal blessedness. As temporal death is not the penalty for individual transgression, and the effects of sin and amount of individual guilt cannot be fully seen in this life, therefore the unrighteous must have a resurrection.

Now they can see the effects of all their ungodly deeds, and their trampling under foot the blood of the Son of God. The glories of Paradise they have lost; and the second death is now before them. With the Devil still deceiving them, they would, with their hatred to God and his people, compass the camp of the saints and the beloved city. But they see their efforts vain: utter despair and anguish takes hold on them: they now begin to feel the pains of the second death—no hope beyond this! Now they know what is meant by the worm that dieth not, and the fire that shall not be quenched. Their last hope perishes; for fire from God out of heaven devours them. The Devil, and all that serve him, death and hell, are cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. The Devil and all his works have an entire destruction. The curse is now removed from the earth, and God has a clean universe and a race of intelligent beings forever to praise and glorify him; which he would not have had, had he not have made man. The power of liberty which man possessed has been employed in obedience to the divine command; and now he knows what is contained in the precious promise, "Blessed are they that do his commandments." They have right to the tree of life and enter in through the gates into the city. Therefore it cannot be said that it is not wise and good for God to make man, though many walk the road to death. May we choose life.

JOHN BYINGTON.

AN EXTRACT.

By Mrs. A. C. Babcock

MR. WHITE:—Feeling a deep interest in the Advent movement, I take the liberty to send you an extract of a letter which I recently addressed to a foreign missionary Friend, to whom I freely expressed my views of the Advent people. If you think my views are correct, and such as would be profitable to the readers of your paper, they are at your disposal.

MRS. A. C. BABCOCK.

DEAR FRIEND:—I would that I could tell you what I have recently heard of the word of God, which

I have often read, but never understood in its true light, aye, and felt its power: I think it would do you good. I firmly believe that the Sabbath-keeping Adventists are the people of God: a people that God has raised up in these latter days to prepare the world for its final doom. They are, as a people, selected from the haunts of poverty; and as the apostles were called from their fishing-nets or other employments, so many of these leave their secular avocations and go forth boldly and fearlessly in the defense of truth. They are unlearned; that is, untaught, in our institutions of learning; but they present the truths of the Bible in a clearer, more systematical, beautiful and perfect light, than any other people that I ever heard. They flee to no Doctors of Divinity, they consult no ancient Fathers, to sustain their positions or support their sentiments; but simply read the Bible in its plain, obvious, and much of it in its literal sense, comparing scripture with scripture, and using one parable or prophetic writing to explain another. In reading it thus, it becomes a perfect lamp, to guide us through this erring world.

It is truly astonishing how the Bible has been mystified, spiritualized and perverted! Passages which had always looked dark, and which I never expected to understand, now seem as familiar as the alphabet.

They clear away the mists of error and Papacy, and present the pearl of truth, in its true beauty and dignity. How precious the volume of inspiration thus appears! When rightly understood, it answers its very purport of being a revelation from God, a transcript of the divine will. I thought I loved the Bible before I heard them preach; but I now prize it as I never prized it before.

I fancied that I loved and honored the Sabbath commandment, (having been taught from a child that the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord,) but in hearing it preached under the sound of the third angel's message, which they testify is the last message of mercy to this sinful world, I discovered a lustre and glory encircling this truth, that I never saw before. They manifest a zeal which I trust is according to knowledge in their self-sacrificing and untiring efforts to win souls to Christ. Through their exertions, how speedily is the truth cutting its mighty way through the earth, ringing in the ears, and reverberating through the hearts and nerves of the multitudes, who are obeying the institutions of Papacy, and rejecting the fourth commandment.

Fearful indeed will be the doom of that people who still persist in a sinful course, after a full conviction of their disobedience. Says Paul, [Heb. x, 26, 27,] "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Heavily will the wrath of an avenging God fall on those who knew the truth, and would not obey it.

Harmless and inoffensive as this people are, I have wondered at the opposition which they constantly meet. Like the people of God in ancient time, they are scorned, despised, ridiculed and hated, not only by the world, but by almost every other denomination of professed Christians. They bear insult and opposition with all patience and meekness, sustained by the cheering hope that the Saviour in whom they trust, will soon appear in the clouds of heaven, to deliver them from earth's trials, and conduct them through the gates into the great City of God—the New Jerusalem.

You weep over the idolatrous customs and practices of an heathen nation; but I feel that we have greater reason to mourn over the condition of gospel-wise and gospel-hardened sinners; for how much more tolerable will their judgment be, than those who sin against light and truth. Could you see the condition of this people as I now view it, methinks you would join me in the wail of grief, over this sinful, this hypocritical, this oppressive, though boasted Republican Nation. But the day of retribution is hastening on. The cries of the oppressed are entering into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and he will speedily avenge their wrongs. A. C. B.

Milton, Rock Co., Wis., Sept. 15th, 1854.

Tent Meeting at Saline, Mich.

By Merritt E. Cornell, John N. Loughborough

THIS meeting though commenced under very unfavorable circumstances, closed triumphantly. We pitched our tent on sixth-day, and in the P. M., a sudden gale arose and the wind blew with such violence as to tear down the tent, breaking the center pole and several hooks and ropes, in consequence of which we were obliged to meet on the Sabbath in the village school-house. After the Sabbath was past we re-pitched our tent and held meetings in it on First-day and each evening through the week, and over the following Sabbath and First-day. The interest continued to increase from the beginning. We sold $18.00 worth of books during the meeting. Many acknowledged our positions correct, and some said they must keep the Sabbath. The amount of good accomplished at this meeting remains to be seen hereafter? In this place as in every other where we have held meetings this season with the tent, the testimony has produced a general searching of the Scriptures; but as it was anciently, although many believe yet but few will confess the truth, because of the cross! Brn. Edmonds and Moore, residing one four and the other about five miles from the village, were the only ones to bear the burden of the meeting. They dismissed their business and were untiring in their efforts to get the light before their neighbors and friends. We hope they may yet see much fruit as the result of their labors of love even though it should not be until "after many days."

M. E. CORNELL, J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH.

SELECTIONS.

A Soul Forsaken of God.

If the soul be forsaken of God—if the Holy Spirit, by whose power alone the heart can be renewed, take his departure—how utterly hopeless is his condition! It stands as a monument of Divine wrath, to whom the Lord says, as he did of the accursed fig-tree, "Let no fruit grow thereon forever." Already its doom is fixed beyond change, and its everlasting ruin as certain as though it were shut up in the prison of despair. What! is there no efficacy in the blood of Jesus? Ah! his atoning sacrifice has been rejected. Is there no power in the grace of God? That grace has been despised. Is there no love in the heart of God? His love and patience have been so long slighted and abused, that the very heart which once melted with pity is now insensible to the sinner's guilty state. Will no cries for mercy reach his ear? Ah! time was when he said, "I love them who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me;" but now he is regardless of the sinner's prayer, and though from the borders of the grave he lift his agonizing cry to heaven, the Lord replies, "Because I called, and ye refused; I stretched out mine arm, and no man regarded; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early but they shall not find me."

Dear reader, what an affecting appeal does this subject make to your heart, urging you to immediate repentance! I might enforce this obligation by a consideration of approaching death. But suppose God should spare your life for many years, is there not danger that you may grieve away the Holy Spirit, and exhaust the forbearance and patience of God? Reflect how long he has been calling you by the awful threatenings of his law, and the mild accents of the gospel. You have grown up amid the privileges of a Christian land, and truth has been addressed to you in every variety of form. God has showered upon you many blessings, that your gratitude might be awakened and his goodness lead you to repentance; and occasionally perhaps, he has afflicted you, that in the experience of earth's vanity you might seek heaven's bliss. He has visited you by his Spirit. You have heard the Holy Spirit knocking at the door of your heart. At the grave of a friend, on a sick-bed, or under an impressive discourse, you have felt his secret influence, and have been almost

persuaded to be a christian. And yet, after all, you remain impenitent and far from God. Oh! would it be surprising if even a long suffering and compassionate God should be wearied and provoked to anger by such treatment, and should leave you in total obduracy? Then your case would be desperate, and nothing could produce sincere repentance. At the prospect of death you might be alarmed, and wringing your hands in anguish, you might cry for mercy; but such fear would be only the forebodings of eternal death and God will have forgotten to be gracious. You might be overwhelmed with alarm and terror, but, like Esau, who sold his birthright, find no place for repentance, though you sought it carefully with tears.

Be cautious, lest, by the too oft repeated rejection of the proffers of love, your heart become callous and indifferent under the most melting exhibitions of truth; lest the blessed Spirit of God, offended at the ungrateful requital returned at your hands, should go away forever, and your life be continued only to glorify the power and justice of an insulted and incensed God, by adding sin unto sin, and treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath.

SPIRIT-RAPISM, alias PAGANISM.

By Ad. Herald

To define the terms at the head of this article, we mean by "Spirit-rapism" the religious belief of those who profess to receive revelations from departed spirits, accompanied by audible sounds, moving of furniture &c., which is called by its advocates, Spiritualism. As this last term does not specify anything that is peculiar to that form of religious belief, we adopt as more expressive that at the head of this article. Nor by "Paganism" do we mean anything contemptuous, or different from the refined mythology of intellectual Greece and Rome.

We do not propose to go into any labored comparison of these two systems at the present time; but simply to express our convictions, from all we have been able to learn of them, that the two are essentially identical—both in the objects of their worship, and the tenets of their faith.

In the early history of the Church, Paganism was the great antagonism of Christianity, as infidelity has been of later years; but now, strange as it may seem, that which Christianity met and defeated, is being propagated as Christianity by multitudes of its advocates. And those who have become convinced of the doctrine of a future state, by the phenomena of spirit-rapism, have been proclaimed as converts to Christianity by it—such a result being hailed as evidence of its divine origin.

A belief in a future state, is however no peculiarity of Christianity,—it being alike believed by Christians and Pagans.

The Egyptians represented the soul as brought, after death, into the presence of its judge, attended by accusing and approving spirits. The Greek mythology, which was likewise adopted by their imitators in everything, the Romans, carried the soul across the river Styx, in the boat of Charon, to the bar of three righteous judges, under whose award it passed to an appropriate abode, according to its works on earth,—those

"Who suffered wounds In fighting for their country's cause; and priests Who kept their souls unspotted whilst their lives Endured; and pious bards who warbled strains In honor to Apollo: those who polished Life by invented arts; and such as made Their memories dear to others by the deeds Of goodness," were admitted to "The realms of joy, Delightful haunts of never-fading green, The blessed seats in groves of happiness, Where ether more diffusive, robes the fields In purple glory."

Here they gave themselves up to the more rational pleasures of our nature, following at the same time, such paths to happiness, and such occupations, as had been dear to them in life. But the wicked were cast down into hell,—a place inhabited by care, sorrow, disease, want, fear, hunger, toil, &c., and in which

"An hundred tongues, An hundred mouths, and speech by iron lungs Inspired, could not enumerate the names Of all their punishments."

The Scandinavians taught that the brave were to revel forever in the halls of Valhalla, and drink mead offered them by maidens, from the skulls of their enemies. Some of the Pagan Arabs said that of the blood near the brain a bird was formed, which once in a century visited the sepulchre, and others believed a resurrection. The first natives of this continent seen by the Spaniards, taught that the souls of good men went to a pleasant valley, where all kinds of fruit were abundant; and that the dead walked abroad in the night and feasted with the living.

Charlevoix says, that the Indians paid a great regard to dreams, as embracing an intercourse with spirits. They imagined a paradise in the west, a land where nature glowed with an internal sunset.—The Mexicans supposed three places for the departed: the house of sun, for such as fell in battle, or died captives, and women who perished in childhood; the place of the god of water for the drowned, for children, and for those who died of dropsy, tumors, and similar diseases, or of accidental wounds; and the place of darkness, in the center of the earth. The Patagonians, in mentioning the dead, call them those who are with God, and out of the world. The Tongo people suppose the souls of their dead to be in a delightful island of shadows. The Yucatanese represent the abode of the good as a pleasant land of plenty, under the shade of a mighty tree. The Chickasaws believe that the souls of red men walked up and down near the place where they died, or were laid; and said they often heard cries and noises where prisoners had been burned. The Indians of Cumania supposed echo to be the voice of the departed. It is a common belief of the Indians of America, that the spirits of the slain haunted their tribe till they were avenged.

To convince an infidel merely of a future existence, is to do very little towards making a Christian of him. Christianity is the way of salvation effected by the death and resurrection of Christ, faith in him.

THE AGED PILGRIM.

By A. R. S.

I MET an aged pilgrim on the way, Who bowed beneath the heavy weight of years; But yet on whose frail tenement of clay, Were lightly traced their cares and toils and fears.

Think not life's common ills did not befall; For light and shade its varied textures show: Think not that he, unlike the lot of all, Could drain its cup, unmixed with dregs of woe.

With righteous thoughts and deeds each day was rife, That paved with peace the rugged path he trod, In humble mien, apart from scenes of strife— The way that leads to glory and to God.

Desires, above his needs, were all denied. His will, subdued, to Heaven's decrees resigned; Nor wished for more than this—to be supplied With what a gracious Providence designed.

In faith his prayers ascended to the throne, That blessings, as were best, he might receive; And filled with gratitude for mercies shown, His thanks like incense rose, at morn and eve.

The glow of feelings true, his visage wore, Which only overflow the soul sincere. To Want gave freely of his ample store, To Sorrow's voice, the sympathetic tear.

His words, with meaning fraught, were just and kind, That cheered the listening ear, in accents mild. Of knowledge pure, of lofty aim in mind, In heart as meek and lowly as a child.

He sought not for applause, or earth's renown, Nor yet to bask in pleasure's smiling ray; But still, undaunted, dared the world's cold frown, For joy it could not give nor take away.

This honor most he craved: his name enrolled On the immortal list, inscribed above, With prophets, martyrs, holy men of old, Who to their Master proved their deathless love.

The Hope and Truth that burned within his breast, Sweet consolation to his spirits bring; Though weary here, there yet remains a rest, Though now a captive, soon he'll be a king.

This lesson, deep, experience had taught, I deemed of priceless worth, if understood: For wisdom it contained, for bliss it brought,— Content with life, and living to do good. A. R. S.

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