THE MINISTRATION AND CLEANSING OF THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY.
If the reader has seen no cause to disagree with us, in any of the positions thus far taken, he will see none, we trust, while this point is under investigation. We are not left to our own reasoning on this subject. Paul in his divine commentary on the typical system, has drawn the parallels between that and the more excellent ministry of the Melchisedec priesthood, to the satisfaction, it should be, of every one. We refer to the book of Hebrews. Let us notice his testimony.
1. The earthly sanctuary meets its antitype in the true tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man, of which, with its two holy places, it constituted a correct pattern or shadow. Chap. 8:2, 5; 9:8, 12, 23, 24.
2. The typical offerings meet their antitype in the great offering of Calvary. Chap. 7:27; 9:11-14, 26; 10:10, 12, 14.
3. The typical priesthood meets its antitype in the priesthood of our Lord. Chap. 4:14; 7:23, 24; 8:1, 2; 9:11, 24, 25.
4. As they had offerings to make, it is necessary that he also have somewhat to offer. Chap. 8:3.
5. The work of the priests in the earthly tabernacle meets it antitype in the ministry of our Lord in the sanctuary above. Chap. 8:5, 6.
We shall now show that Christ commences his ministry in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. It is necessary to keep this point in view to guard against the erroneous theories which some have been led to adopt, by either losing sight of or denying it. That Christ is our High Priest cannot be denied; that he has ascended to Heaven is also beyond dispute; and that he there ministers for his people, they cannot call in question. But what is their next position? They claim that there is in the antitype only a most holy place, and that is all Heaven; consequently our High Priest ministers in but one apartment.
They pretend to draw proof for this position from the manner in which the new covenant sanctuary is introduced; namely, “to anoint the most holy.” Dan. 9:24. But are they aware that in thus bringing up this text to support such a position, they have it by the blade, and not by the handle? For it directly refutes their assumption, and it is good testimony in favor of the point for which we argue.
1. Bear in mind, then, that the Levitical priesthood, before they began to minister in the earthly sanctuary, anointed the whole building, the most holy, as well as the holy. And after this was accomplished, what then? Did the ministration commence in the most holy? No: in the holy, in the first apartment. And this was the example and shadow of heavenly things.
2. We have already proved that the temple of God in Heaven consists of two holy places, or it cast a most inexplicable shadow upon earth. But who will explain the anomaly of there being two holy places in the heavenly sanctuary, and yet a ministry performed in only one.
3. The text, “This man after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever sat down on the right hand of God,” [Heb. 10:12,] has been urged as forbidding the idea of his ministering in two holy places. We answer, that so far as the idea of sitting is concerned, it would be equally proper to represent him as standing on the Father’s right hand. Act 7:55, 56. And then we reply further, that even when he is seen coming in the clouds of Heaven, he is said to be “sitting on the right hand of power.” Matt. 26:64; Mark 14:62. Then he can certainly be at the Father’s right hand in both the holy places. But Paul bears direct testimony on this point. He says that Christ is a minister of the sanctuary; and the word here rendered sanctuary is in the plural number, and signifies the holy places. It is by the Douay Bible rendered, “the holiess;” and by Macnight, “holy places.” We therefore justly conclude (1.) that our Lord can be a minister of the two holy places, and yet be at the Father’s right hand; and (2.) that he must minister in both the holy places or Paul’s testimony that he is a minister of the holies (plural) is not true; for a priest that should minister simply in one would not be a minister of the holy places.
4. Again: Heb. 9:8, and also 10:19, are by some urged to prove that Christ ministers only in the most holy place. These texts both speak of the holiest as though it were in the singular number; but we have already observed that the words thus rendered are not in the singular, but plural: not “hagia hagion,” holy of holies, as in chap. 9:3, but simply “hagion,” holies, plural, the same as is rendered sanctuary in chap. 8:2. Also the phrase in chap. 9:12, 25, rendered “into the holy place,” is the same as in verse 24 literally rendered into the holy places, (plural.) These texts therefore instead of sustaining what they are often quoted to prove, viz., that Christ has but one apartment in which to minister, furnish positive testimony to the reverse, by showing that there are holy places in the heavenly sanctuary, and that Jesus ministers in them both.
5. Three hundred and sixty-four days of that service which was performed unto the “example and shadow of heavenly things,” was accomplished in the first apartment, or holy place, and only one day out of the year, in the most holy. If therefore, Christ ministers only in the most holy place, the first, and by far the greater, part of the earthly ministration is without an antitype.
6. The ministration in the most holy at the end of the year, was only performed for the purpose of cleansing the sanctuary; and if in the antitype, Christ only ministers in the most holy place, it follows that he performs only the antitype of this service; consequently the cleansing of the sanctuary commenced at the ascension of our Lord. But the cleansing of the sanctuary, according to the type, must be preceded by a long ministration; and who will tell us, in this case, when it took place. Again: the 2300 days extend to the cleansing of the sanctuary, and with this view, they should have terminated in A. D. 31, at our Lord’s ascension. But, as we have already seen, they did not terminate till 1813 years this side of that event.
The priesthood of Christ is a superior priesthood in which the imperfections of the earthly priesthood find no analogy. We will notice this in a few of its particulars.
1. Christ is a priest after the order of Melchisedec, and not after the order of Aaron. Heb 5:6.
2. Perfection was not of the Levitical priesthood; for if it had been, says Paul, what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not after the order of Aaron. Chap. 7:11.
3. Those priests are many; because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death; but this man continueth ever and hath an unchangeable priesthood Verses 23, 24.
4. It was necessary for the priests of the house of Levi, to offer up sacrifices daily, embracing all the various offerings that were made by those who had transgressed. But all this Christ did by one act when he offered up himself. Chap. 9:25, 26, 28; 10:10, 12, 14.
5. The round of service in the earthly tabernacle was many times repeated; but the ministry of Christ is accomplished once for all. Heb. 9:11, 12, 24, 25; 10
6. All the blood which was offered in the former dispensation, was offered for past transgression only and made no provision for the future; while the merits’ of that blood which was shed on Calvary applied not to the past alone, but to the future also. Heb. 9:14, 15
7. As the blood of Christ is the only blood ministered in connection with the heavenly sanctuary, whether by actual presentation, or by virtue of its merits we need not inquire, the same blood must be ministered in both apartments.
8. As long as Christ fills the office of priest so long he is mediator between God and man.
The prophets John and Isaiah had each a view of our Lord’s position and ministry in the heavenly sanctuary. John saw a door opened in heaven. This must have been the door of the heavenly tabernacle; for it disclosed to John’s view the throne of God, which was in that temple. Rev. 4:1, 2; 16:17. That it was the door of the first apartment is evident from the objects which he there beheld; [Rev. 4:5; 8:3;] and the second apartment which contains the ark of the testament, or ten commandments, is not open till the sounding of the seventh angel. Rev. 11:19. Read also Isaiah’s description of the same place: Isa. 6:1-6. That he and John were both viewing the same place will appear from a comparison of the following Scriptures: Isa 6:1, with Rev. 4:2; Isa. 6:2, with Rev. 4:6-8; Isa. 6:3, with Rev. 4:8; Isa. 6:6, with Rev. 8:3; 9:13.
The Lord here carries forward his great work which he commenced with the act of bearing the sins of the world at his death, by pleading the cause of penitent sinners, through his blood shed in their behalf; and thus their sins are, by his mediation, transferred to the heavenly sanctuary. There is nothing strange or fanciful in this. Every one can easily understand it. Such was the service of the type, which was a shadow of heavenly things; and such, therefore, is the heavenly ministration itself. Thus are the sins of God’s people transferred to the sanctuary. But are they to remain there? No. They are to be removed, just as they were in the type, and the heavenly sanctuary is to be cleansed even as was the earthly. U. S.
O, sin
THE DAY OF THE LORD. NO. 2.
By R. F. Cottrell
THE last solemn warning to mankind, revealed beforehand in prophecy, Rev. 14:9–12, contains a threatening of wrath most terrible, even wrath “without mixture,” against those who disregard the merciful warning. In the first verse of the following chapter, the seven last plagues are introduced, with the declaration that “in them is filled up [or completed] the wrath of God.” These plagues then follow the last message, and are the fulfillment of the threatening contained in it; and, consequently, are all in the future, unless indeed the last warning, before the coming of the Son of man upon the “white cloud,” is in the past. This is conclusive proof that the view which supposes a portion of these plagues to be in the past, is erroneous.
That they are in the future is still more evident, from the fact that, the first vial of wrath takes effect upon those who had heard and disregarded the warning of the “third angel.” This warning threatens wrath upon those who “worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand.” In fulfillment of this threatening, when the first of the seven angels pours out his vial upon the earth, its effect is thus described: “There fell a noisome and grievous sore upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and upon them which worshiped his image.” Rev. 16:2. The prophetic record of the three messages and the wrath which follows in connection with the coming of the Son of man, and the harvest of the earth, evidently describes events which are to take place in regular consecutive order. The third and last message is immediately succeeded by the wrath which it threatens; and the first vial of that wrath is in fulfillment of the threatening upon those who reject the warning. Hence while probation lasts, these plagues are all in the future, and are properly and emphatically the “seven last plagues.” While Jesus pleads before the throne of mercy, probation continues and wrath without mixture cannot come. But with the close of this last message probation closes, and then the wrath denounced will surely follow.
If further proof upon this point were needed, it could be given; and those who have been instructed in the subject of the sanctuary—the “temple of God in Heaven”—would be prepared to appreciate it. The heavenly temple, like that on earth which was a pattern or representation of it, has its two apartments—the holy and the most holy. The “temple of the tabernacle of the testimony,” mentioned in Rev. 15:5, is the second apartment or most holy place; it is so called, because it contains the testimony of God, the ten commandments, within the “ark of the testimony,” which, in the “patterns of the things in the heavens,” the “figures of the true,” (Heb. 9:23, 24,) was located in the most holy place as its appropriate tabernacle. Ex. 25:16; 27:21; 31:18. At the end of the twenty-three hundred days, in 1844, this inner tabernacle was opened, when Jesus our High Priest entered to cleanse the sanctuary, that is, to perform the closing part of his ministry, or work of intercession before the throne of mercy. And those whose faith has followed him there, have “seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” Rev. 9:19. This discovery has led them to embrace all the commandments contained in that ark. This is the reason why so many are turning to the Sabbath of the fourth commandment—the seventh day. It is no happen-so, but it is in fulfillment of the word of God.
When the work of intercession is ended, the most holy tabernacle is again opened. “And after that I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in Heaven was opened; and the seven angels came out of the temple, having the seven plagues, clothed in pure and white linen, and having their breasts girded with golden girdles. And one of the four beasts gave unto the seven angels seven golden vials full of the wrath of God, who liveth forever and ever. And the temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power; and no man was able to enter into the temple, till the seven plagues of the seven angels were fulfilled.” Chap. 15:5–8.
This point of time reached, mercy no longer pleads. The intercessions of Jesus before the throne and his invitations to sinners to come and find pardon, have ceased. He that is filthy must remain filthy still. This temple is filled with smoke from the glory of God, and from his power. No one can enter there to plead for the sinner to be spared a little longer; but wrath without mixture ensues.
O, sinner! O, careless professor! now is the time to prepare for this most solemn and fearful event. Now a compassionate Saviour pleads the merits of his own blood before the mercy-seat. Now he invites you to come and wash in the fountain, so freely opened, and at such a cost! But abused mercy will ere long cease to plead. The time will soon come when that blood that has been slighted and trampled under foot will cease to atone for the guilty. And from that very place where infinite mercy and divine compassion now plead, and whence pardon may be obtained, the messengers of divine vengeance will proceed. The seven angels came out of the temple. Their clothing is pure and white, indicating that though their mission is that of the executors of unmixed wrath, yet the throne of God, from which they proceed is acquitted, the justice of God is unsustained. All his judgments are in righteousness. “Just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.”
When six of these vials have been poured out, the nations are gathered by the unclean spirits, and the kings of the earth are set in array for the battle of the great day of God the Almighty. They leave the battle which they have with each other, and go to fight with Him who comes from Heaven. Of these spirits it is said, “They are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.” The coming of the Lord is now at hand. In this connection he says, “Behold, I come as a thief.” His coming is doubtless in close connection with the pouring out of the seventh and last vial. Indeed, the hail from heaven which accompanies this vial, is doubtless that which the Lord has “reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war.” See Rev. 16:12–21; Job 38:22, 23.
A further description of this battle is given in Rev. 19:11–21. Here a mighty One is represented as coming from heaven upon a white horse, followed by the armies of Heaven upon white horses, “clothed in fine linen white and clean.” The white horses and clean raiment represent the fact, that “in righteousness he doth judge and make war.” This divine personage is so carefully described that we need not mistake him. He is called Faithful and True, The Word of God, King of kings and Lord of lords. His vesture has been dipped in blood, but upon his head are “many crowns.” All the kingdoms of the world are his. “And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations; and he shall rule them with a rod of iron; and he treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.” The beast and the kings of the earth and their armies are “gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.” The result is, the beast and false prophets are taken and cast into the lake of fire, the remnant are slain, and all the fowls are filled with their flesh.
Thus the enemies are slain, and will not be raised till a thousand years are completed. And thus the prophecy is fulfilled recorded in Ps. 2:7–9. The great day of the Lamb’s wrath will have come, and no one will be able to stand, but those who have previously made peace with the King “through the blood of the cross,” and whose names are written in the book of life. Thus opens the day of the Lord. R. F. COTTRELL.
QUARTERLY MEETINGS.
By Stephen N. Haskell
It is the practice of Seventh-day Adventists wherever there are organized companies to hold a church quarterly meeting on the first Sabbath in each quarter. The object is first, to have the names of each member read and a response from each, either in person or by letter; secondly, If there are alienations or differences they should here be settled; thirdly, The ordinances of the Lord's house should be attended to.
In connection with this quarterly meeting, either on the evening following, or on first-day, a business meeting should be held; also a tract and missionary quarterly meeting for each church. At this meeting the members should report the amount of work accomplished during the quarter; and such other business may be attended to as may necessarily come before the friends of the cause. Experiences should be related and a special effort made to infuse more of a missionary spirit in the heart of each member.
The district quarterly meeting should be held the second Sabbath and first-day in each quarter. At this meeting there should be a report of missionary labor from each company in the respective districts. These should be appointed at such places as will be for the best interests of the missionary work in the district, hence the director of each district is expected to attend this meeting. The president of the society will appoint the State quarterly meeting. The missionary work is increasing both in labor performed and members joining; the number of reports returned is increasing in proportion to the membership. This speaks well for our societies throughout the country.
California has always ranked among the first in the missionary department in the different phases of the work, and as other societies are increasing in different branches of this work, we look for this quarter's work to show the same increased interest here. There should be a spirit of enterprise on the part of all its officers especially in securing new recruits, and infusing more of a spirit of sacrificing labor. S. N. HASKELL.
ISABELLA CO., MICHIGAN.
By A. O. Burrill
ONE week ago yesterday I reached the tent, which is five miles from Mt. Pleasant, the county seat of Isabella county. Bro. Kellogg had the tent up, and notwithstanding the very violent storms the night before, quite a number attended the service. The meetings have since continued with a growing interest. Yesterday at the close of the second sermon eighteen came forward for prayers, about one-half of whom were heads of families. Four of these parents took a stand for the present truth for the first time. This morning we took up the matter of building a meeting-house, and in a short time $880 was pledged; this sum will be raised to about $1000. Steps were taken to organize a legal society. Four united with the church, three of whom received baptism.
May 30.
A. O. BURRILL.
The Missionary.
By S. N. Haskell
MEETINGS IN WESTERN OREGON.
WE left Milton, Monday, May 31, for Western Oregon. Thursday night sister White spoke to a crowded house at Beaverton; and in Portland, on the evening after the Sabbath, before the temperance society in the rooms of the Christian Association. On Sunday she spoke twice in the Methodist chapel.
There are about twenty keeping the Sabbath in Portland; these are scattered over the city, and owing to distracting influences in the past they have not held regular meetings. Most of them were out on Sunday evening, and were much encouraged. We have visited no place for a long time where the prospect appeared better for successful tent-meetings than in the city of Portland.
Wednesday evening, June 9, the camp-meeting commenced at Salem. It was held on Marion Square, which is in the heart of the city, situated on one of the principal thoroughfares. There was a general attendance of our brethren west of the mountains. Elders Jones and Raymond were present from Eastern Oregon. There were twenty-five tents on the ground. While there were many advantages in having the meeting in this place, there were also some disadvantages. There was not that opportunity for quiet retirement and secret devotion, that is so conducive to the spiritual interests of God’s people, at such a gathering.
There was quite an interest from those outside of our people, a goodly number attending through the day, and a large attendance each evening. Many seemed deeply interested. On Sunday the tent was crowded, both day and evening, by attentive audiences; while in the afternoon there was the most intense interest manifest to hear sister White, who spoke for two hours on the subject of Christian temperance.
On the Sabbath about seventy-five came forward for prayers, a number taking their stand for the first time to become fully identified with this people. The business meetings passed off harmoniously. The Conference was divided, Eld. Van Horn chosen president of the Conference and tract society west of the mountains, sister Van Horn secretary of the tract society, and Eld. Raymond president of the Sabbath-school and temperance associations. A strong desire was manifested on the part of some to learn more of the missionary work, and how they could best advance the Sabbath-school interests. But the meeting was so brief, holding over but one Sabbath and first-day, that it seemed impossible to do justice to all the different associations. We are thoroughly converted to the plan of holding our camp-meetings two weeks, if properly conducted, providing the brethren can remain the entire time. Our people need educating in the different branches of the work, and there is not sufficient opportunity to do this, and attend to the spiritual interest of the people, in the time ordinarily given to such meetings.
About fifty of the brethren signed the teetotal pledge, many of them becoming full members. Eld. Van Horn baptized three on Tuesday, while a number of others will be baptized at their homes. A strong desire was manifested for sister White to speak in the Methodist church on the subject of temperance; accordingly she remains another week before returning to California, and meetings are to continue in the tent to accommodate the outside interest. Our brethren left for their homes on Wednesday morning.
There was a general feeling of thankfulness on the part of our brethren toward the General Conference for the interest it had taken in furnishing them help at their camp-meetings, and a desire to profit thereby, as shown in the report of this Conference.
S. N. HASKELL.
CHICO, CAL.
By J. D. Rice; W. C. Grainger
HAVE given eighteen discourses up to date. Are now in the midst of the Sabbath question. A number are about deciding upon the truth who have been investigating since we were here before. Others are searching the Scriptures to see if these things are so.
Church fairs, concerts, and festivals are the order of the day, varied with worldly concerts, shows, etc. Nearly every evening has been occupied since our coming here. And as we are living in the time when men shall be "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God" (2 Tim. 3:4), these places have been well patronized, while our congregations have been much smaller than we expected. Yet we trust our labors will not be in vain. Pray for the work here.
J. D. RICE.
W. C. GRAINGER.
June 12, 1880.
SUMMARY OF MISSIONARY LABOR.
By M. L. Huntley
The summary of missionary labor for the quarter ending April 1, as given below, is the largest ever presented for one quarter. With the exception that it includes a report from Dakota in place of Quebec, a difference of fifty-four in membership, the summary of labor in America this quarter embraces reports from the same societies as that of last quarter, and exceeds it by 659 reports returned, 99 members added, 4,414 missionary visits, 751 letters written, 518 SIGNS taken in clubs, 2,324 subscribers obtained for periodicals, 560,061 pages of tracts and 22,753 periodicals distributed, also $3,295.48 received.
The last annual summary represented the labor of only 18 per cent. of S. D. Adventist church-members; the summary last quarter, 21 per cent.; this quarter, nearly 26 per cent. In the different Conferences the per cent. is about as follows: New England and Nebraska 40, Texas 39, Pennsylvania 35, California 34, Iowa 33, Ohio 31, Illinois 28, Dakota 26, Vermont 25, New York 24, Minnesota and Tennessee 22, Michigan 21, Wisconsin 17, Kentucky 15. Of the T. and M. membership, the average per cent. reporting is over 50. Another encouraging feature which shows progress in the right direction is the addition of new members,—661 within the last two quarters. And still another is the large number of missionary visits made. An increase of book sales and periodical business is also apparent, particularly in some States. Of the entire amount of money reported, $8,889.51 was received as follows: Memberships and donations, $2,376.15; book sales, $2,718.16; periodicals, $3,795.20. The remainder was received on the T. and M. fund and for periodicals, but the reports did not state how much for each. In New York the book sales amounted to $931.96, Pennsylvania $345.62, New England $308.36, Ohio $214.95.
REPORT FOR QUARTER ENDING APRIL 1, 1880.
*Number written in April.
†Number distributed in two quarters.
MILTON, OREGON.
By G. W. Colcord
LAST Sabbath I was with the church at this place. The Sabbath-school and social meeting were encouraging. Three were baptized. Yesterday we held a business meeting which remained in session three and one-half hours. The support of conference work was well considered, and every member present but one, and nearly all were at the meeting, signed the tithe-pledge. By words of cheer, and in plans adopted, the missionary work received a new impetus. A V. M. Society of twelve members was organized. With God's blessing this society may do efficient work. Others will doubtless soon unite with this body.
G. W. COLCORD.
ROCHESTER AND BLUE GRASS, INDIANA.
By S. H. Lane
May 1–6, labored at Rochester. We enjoyed some excellent meetings. The social meeting on Sabbath, was specially good. Some spoke for the first time. We gave an invitation for those who desired to be prayed for, and to make a start in the Christian life, to come forward. Four responded. First-day two were baptized, and four united with the church.
May 7–10, at Blue Grass. Bro. and Sr. Pugh of this place first heard the truth at Rochester, about six years ago, when Eld. Waggoner and the writer were there with the tent. About eighteen months ago they began to live out the truth; and through their influence some of their neighbors became deeply interested. Bro. and Sr. Weber, of Rochester, visited the neighborhood, and distributed reading matter. One year ago, the writer gave three discourses in this vicinity, and visited those interested. Some took a stand to obey. Eld. Bartlett was here last winter, and others embraced the truth. A short time since, Sr. Weber organized a Sabbath-school among them, and they began to hold Sabbath meetings. During our last meeting we baptized five, and celebrated the ordinances.
During the month of May, two new meeting-houses have been dedicated in this Conference. We thank the Lord for the advancement of the truth in this State. S. H. LANE.
"WHERE AM I GOING?"
ONE summer evening, as the sun was going down, a man was seen trying to make his way through the lanes and cross roads that led to his village home. His unsteady, swaggering way of walking showed that he had been drinking; and though he had lived in that village more than thirty years, he was now so drunk that it was impossible for him to find his way home.
Quite unable to tell where he was, at last he uttered a dreadful oath, and said to a person going by, "I've lost my way. Where am I going?"
The man thus addressed was an earnest Christian. He knew the poor drunkard very well and pitied him greatly. When he heard the inquiry, "Where am I going?" in a quiet, sad, solemn way he answered: "To ruin!"
The poor staggering man stared at him wildly for a moment, and then murmured with a groan, "That's so."
"Come with me," said the other kindly, "and I'll take you home."
The next day came. The effect of the drink had passed away, but those two little words, tenderly and lovingly spoken to him, did not pass away. "To ruin! to ruin!" he kept whispering to himself. "It's true, I'm going to ruin! Oh God, help me, save me."
Thus he was stopped on his way to ruin. By earnest prayer to God he sought the grace which made him a true Christian. His feet were established on the rock. It was a rock broad enough to reach that poor, miserable drunkard, and it lifted him up from his wretchedness, and made a useful happy man of him.—Children's Paper.
Temperance.
SAMPLE ROOMS.
SAMPLES of wine and samples of beer, Samples of all kinds of liquor sold here ; Samples of whisky, samples of gin, Samples of all kinds of "bitters"—step in. Samples of ale, and porter, and brandy, Samples as large as you please, and quite handy. Our samples are pure, and also you'll find Our customers always genteel and refined ; For gentlemen know when they've taken enough, And never partake of common stuff.
Besides these samples within, you know, There are samples without of what they can do ; Samples of headache, samples of gout, Samples of coats with the elbows out, Samples of boots without heels or toes, Samples of men with a broken nose, Samples of men in the gutter lying, Samples of men with delirium dying, Samples of men cursing and swearing, Samples of men all evil daring ; Samples of lonely, tired men, Who long in vain for their freedom again ; Samples of old men worn in the strife, Samples of young men tired of life, Samples of ruined hopes and lives, Samples of desolate homes and wives ; Samples of aching hearts grown cold With anguish and misery untold ; Samples of noble youth in disgrace, Who meet you with averted face ; Samples of hungry little ones, Starving to death in their dreary homes.
In fact, there is scarcely a woe on earth But our samples have nurtured or given them birth! Oh, all ye helpers to sorrow and crime, Who deal out death for a single dime, Know ye that the Lord, though he may delay, Has in reserve for the last great day The terrible "woe" of whose solemn weight No mortal can know, till the pearly gate Is closed, and all with one accord, Acknowledge the justice of their reward. —Selected.
THE RESPONSIBILITY OF ONE MAN.
Not long ago there was in a certain colliery an explosion by which four hundred miners were suddenly hurled amid shattered ruins into horrible death. It was caused by a single miner who had opened his safety-lamp to light his pipe. To that pipe of tobacco were sacrificed 400 precious lives of fathers, of husbands, and of sons; and, alas! on the bodies of not a few of those who perished in that fiery blast were found duplicate keys by which, hitherto with impunity, they had done the same. Alas! My brethren, the United States are such a mine; they are full of the explosive fire-damp of intemperance. In all societies it hangs dense around us in the perilous and pestilential air. Do not say that there is none of this flaming peril around you; that you may open your safety-lamp and no harm come of it. It may be so; it may not be so. You could not, you would not, do it if you were sure that there was danger; for that—as you see at once—would be a deadly selfishness and an atrocious crime. But you cannot be sure that there is not danger. Is the gain worth the risk? Is the transient and animal indulgence worth the permanent and eternal peril? No harm may come to you; but if harm comes to others who are reassured by your example, you, even you, will have helped to perpetuate a frightful curse, whose effects, in shattering blast, after shattering blast, shall be flapped in echoes of ruin and of misery, too late for penitence, amid generations yet unborn. The fatal and the fatallly common key of that safety-lamp is what is called, "moderate drinking." If in this particular struggle you would be patriots, if in this matter you would show your true love for your brother men—fling it away. Like the Nazarites of old, like the children of Jonadab the son of Rechab, drink neither wine nor strong drink, so long as by it you make weak or cause to stumble, or tempt into ruin and misery, the soul—the priceless soul—of a brother; the soul of your brother for whom Christ died.
—Christian at Work.
Physicians and Household Sanitation
An English physician wants to know how many medical men there are who understand the sanitary conditions of their own homes, or have adequately ascertained that those conditions are, as far as our knowledge at present goes, free from dangers to health.
THE COST OF LIQUOR.
It is well to keep the fearful facts of the waste caused by liquor constantly in mind and before the people who have not yet joined the prohibition ranks. A cotemporary states it in this way:—
The retail liquor bill of the United States is $750,000,000 the present year. The English Bureau of Statistics declares that every shilling spent for rum, another shilling is required to pay for the consequences. Add, then, $750,000,000 more to take care of the evil results, and we have the enormous aggregate of $1,500,000,000 nearly enough to liquidate the whole national debt.
According to the last census, the entire value of the furniture and apparel of the nation, including jewels, was less than $500,000,000 or $250,000,000 less than the liquor bill of a single year. There is something to show for the money spent for furniture and apparel, but nothing for the money spent for rum, except poorhouses, jails, penitentiaries, rags, misery, and death.
Just forty years ago, a State Temperance Convention of four hundred delegates, in Tennessee, adopted a petition to the Legislature in respect to licensing the sale of liquor, in which were the following pointed questions:—
"Is it right to give authority to sell insanity and deal out sure destruction? If it is right, why should any be forbidden to do it? If not right, why should any be permitted to do it? Why forbid all but 'men of sober life and conversation' to do this, if it be right? Why allow such to do it, if it be wrong? It may be too much to expect from human laws that they protect the morals of society from corruption; but is it too much to ask that they will not throw open the doors of temptation?"
The following persons are non-producers: Manufacturers of intoxicating liquors, 40,000; retail liquor dealers, including clerks, 510,000 drunkards, 600,000; paupers, 300,000; criminals, 200,000; insane and idiots, 20,000; police, 30,000. Total, 1,750,000.
Dr. Charles A Story, of Chicago, says: "The building of asylums, the furnishing medicine and comforts for 4,000 insane people, who die after three years of insanity, and at an average cost of $1,000 each per year, amounts to $12,000,000 a year; and at the same time for 8,000 lunatics who do not die, but are cured after three years' treatment in the asylum, $24,000,000, making a total of $36,000,000 as the triennial cost of insanity caused by drunkenness."
More than $50,000,000 worth of grain is wasted annually in the United States in the manufacture of intoxicating drinks, sufficient to support all the paupers in the country.
There are 65,000 churches, 84,000 ministers, with a church membership of 11,500,000 in the United States. To maintain them it costs less than $48,000,000. There are in our country 250,000 places where liquors are sold, requiring the services of 550,000 persons; selling $740,000,000 worth of liquors.
TEMPERANCE AT HOME AND ABROAD.
JOHN B. GOUGH gave a lecture on temperance, in Providence, R. I., March 24th, in the course of which he is reported to have said:—
“I have grave fears for the future of this country upon this question, if things keep on as they are. In England drunkenness has increased to a fearful extent among women, there being in London alone 16,867 females committed for drunkenness. Drunkenness in this country, in the last twenty-five years, has increased, and it is worse than it was thirty-six years ago. There are more ministers drinking, more women drinking than ever before. Twenty-five years ago you would never see a woman drinking on the cars, but now you can see it every day, and that, too, out of flasks. The cars in these days are made regular grog-shops. The famine in Ireland is drawing a great deal of money out of this country, but I tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that not one distillery fire has gone out while this famine has been going on. Over five thousand pounds sterling has passed across the bars of the city of Cork alone during this famine. During the famine of 1848, which was so terrible, over sixty-four million bushels of grain were distilled in Ireland alone. The drunkenness in England is mostly caused by beer, and yet they tell us that beer is a soporific, and needful to the body; but I hope the time will soon come when, by the help of God, we shall sweep such soporifics out of existence. When men tell me that I am exaggerating these things, I say to them, go and investigate for yourselves, and you will then find that they are not exaggerations, but stern realities. The worst drunkards are the educated and the refined, for they will brook no interference, and feel their position more keenly, because they were not born in the gutter, but have been dragged there by that curse, drink. . . . If I had a son, which I have not (and sometimes when I think of the thousand temptations he would be liable to fall into, I am glad I have not), I would take him into the lowest grog-shop in the city, where everything would be repugnant and repulsive, and thus give him a foretaste of what a life of dissipation would lead to. I would not carry him into the gilded palaces where clergymen by their bows acknowledge the custom as right. In the latter place, there is everything to attract, while in the former, everything about the place, the smell, the associations, are repugnant.”