Review and Herald, Vol. 24, No. 5. (6/28/1864)

Review and Herald

Jun 28, 1864

The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jun 28, 1864

The Vermont Annual Conference.

By Daniel T. Bourdeau

It is with pleasure and satisfaction that we pen down a few lines concerning this Conference, which has just closed. We are prepared to say that this was truly a good Conference. It commenced, progressed and closed under the sweet, uniting and soul-reviving influences of the Holy Spirit. There was quite a large concourse of brethren and sisters from different parts of Vermont and Canada East, who came with a mind to work for the Lord and engage in his worship. The business meetings were characterized with unanimity of feeling and action. The reports of ministers and churches evinced that the cause in Vermont is steadily arising.

While Bro Stone was giving a report of his labors he feelingly remarked that he had preached for forty years, that his faith had grown brighter and brighter, and that he had been more blessed in preaching during the past year than he had ever been before. He also remarked that he could see a growth in all the churches which he had visited.

Sabbath morning one hour was profitably spent in prayer and social meeting. Fervent prayers were offered, and several rich testimonies were given. The Holy Spirit was copiously poured on the people, who expressed their union with the body and their interest in the cause of present truth. Many rejoiced, and tears of gratitude were shed in view of the goodness of God toward his people. Some remarked that this was the best social meeting they had ever attended. Though we were sorry that Bro. Loughborough was not with us, yet we believed that we were remembered by him, and by those who are interested in the prosperity of the cause among us.

These exercises were followed by a practical discourse by Bro. Stone from 2 Pet. iii, 17. 18. In this discourse the speaker dwelt on some of the deceptive influences which have a tendency to lead the church away with the error of the wicked, and on the necessity of growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He closed up by showing the riches of grace and the preciousness of the blood of Christ. In the afternoon Bro. Hutchins gave an interesting and encouraging discourse on the subject of holiness.

Sunday morning Bro. Pierce spoke with freedom and clearness to a full house on the signs of the times, bringing out interesting facts and showing some of the peculiarities of spiritualism as delineated in the sure word of prophecy.

Truly the saints were instructed, and we have reason to believe that unbelievers were benefited. In the afternoon Bro. Hutchins gave the closing discourse on the nature of genuine hope, proving that he who has this hope purifies himself from sin which is the transgression of the law. 1 John iii, 3. This discourse was highly practical and left a good impression on the congregation.

This Conference was held in the new meeting-house which was none too large for the occasion.

D. T. BOURDEAU.

Second Annual Meeting of the Vermont State Conference.

PURSUANT to appointment by the Committee through the Review, the Vermont Conference held its second annual session at West Enosburgh, Vt. June 3d, 1864, at 9 o'clock A. M. Meeting opened with prayer by Bro. A. Stone.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and accepted.

The credentials of delegates were examined, and it was ascertained that the number of delegates present duly authorized was twelve, representing eleven churches.

The churches of Richford and Sutton C. E., Wolcott, Stowe, Sutton, Vernon, and Westbury and Eaton C. E., requested through their delegates an admission into the Conference, and after a careful investigation of their standing they were unanimously voted into the Conference.

The Jamaica church were not represented by delegate; but as they requested by letter to come under the watchcare of the Conference it was

Voted, that we have a watchcare over them till they have an opportunity to unite with the Conference.

On motion of Bro. A. C. Bourdeau it was

Voted, that all the brethren present who are in good standing in their respective churches be invited to take a part with us in our deliberations.

Adjourned to half past 1. P. M.

Afternoon session. Prayer by Bro. Hutchins. The Treasurer's report was called for and examined by the Executive Committee and accepted, showing the following result. Amount in treasury June 12, 1863, $112,85. Received during the year $460,43. Total $573,28. Expended $448,51. Funds on hand to balance $124,77.

The ministers belonging to the Conference were then invited to bring in written reports on their labors, receipts and expenses, and the following ministers responded: Stephen Pierce, A. Stone, A. S. Hutchins, A. C. Bourdeau and D. T. Bourdeau.

The next business of the Conference being the election of officers, Bro. Stephen Pierce was appointed President. Brn. A. Stone and D. T. Bourdeau the remaining members of the Executive Committee. D. T. Bourdeau Secretary, and Bro. A. C. Bourdeau Treasurer. Brn. J. Barrows, L. Bean, H. Bingham, and S. H. Peck were also chosen an Assistant Committee to settle with ministers.

Voted, That we extend an invitation to Bro. and Sr. White to visit the churches within the bounds of this Conference as the way may open before them.

The Conference here adjourned to Sunday morning at 9 o'clock.

Met according to adjournment; prayer by Bro. D. T. Bourdeau. On motion of Bro. Bingham it was

Voted, That Bro. Pierce read the report of the last General Conference and the report of the last Michigan Conference published in the Review just received. Bro. Pierce complied, whereupon it was

Voted, That in accordance with a recommendation of the General Conference we add two more members to the Assistant Committee elected last Friday to constitute an Assistant Committee of six. Brn. Reuben Loveland and J. J. Herrick were then added to said committee.

Voted, That at least three of the Assistant Committee sign their names to the ministers credentials.

On motion of Bro. Bingham the subject of renewing minister's credentials was considered, after which the credentials of the following ministers were renewed: S. Pierce, A. Stone, A. S. Hutchins, A. C. Bourdeau and D. T. Bourdeau.

The case of Bro. Evans was considered and the Conference

Voted, That Bro. Evans be left under the watchcare of the Executive Committee for them to encourage him to preach in his sphere, only as fast as he complies with the requirements of the last testimony given for his benefit.

Voted, That the minutes of this Conference together with the report of the last General Conference be published in pamphlet form for distribution in the churches, also that the doings of this Conference be published in the Review.

Adjourned to the call of the committee.

STEPHEN PIERCE, President. D. T. BOURDEAU, Secretary.

Our Conference.

By A. S. Hutchins

THE State Conference which has just closed in this place, was one of encouragement and comfort to all the dear saints assembled. Our meetings were characterized by harmony, Christian love, and an increasing union among preachers and people. The march of truth is onward.

As we looked upon the people of God gathered from Vermont and Canada East, for his worship, in the new Meeting-House for the first time, we could not but contrast the present pleasing prospect, with eight years ago this month, when we here first visited Bro. A. C. Bourdeau. We there found five keeping the Sabbath, with little light on the third message; but the seed sown just then springing up, has been bearing fruit, till under the faithful labors and good example of the brethren Bourdeau, we find a large and growing church, with a house of worship, 35x48. To the Lord belongeth all praise!

The necessity and practical bearing of organization, we can see more and more clearly. Bible order carries a blessing with it for all who receive it and walk agreeably thereunto. It is developing the different gifts and bringing the members of the body into their place. Men of years, good experience and sound judgment, are standing up as counselors, teachers, and preachers of the good word of life, whom God blesses more and more, with all his humble faithful people.

May the Lord help us all to seek for our place in the body, to find it and keep it; and ever feel to say, "Speak, Lord; for thy servant heareth." And let us all ever bear in mind, that, "before honor is humility."

A. S. HUTCHINS.

West Enosburgh, Vt., June 7. 1864.

Sweet Thoughts of Jesus.

THE following beautiful lines purport to be a copy of a Latin hymn of the fifteenth century.

O Jesus! thy sweet memory Can fill the heart with ecstasy; But passing all things sweet that be, Thy presence, Lord, to me.

What hopes, O Jesus thou canst render, To those who other hopes surrender! To those who seek thee, O how tender! But what to those who find!

With Mary, ere the morning break, Him at the sepulcher I seek,— Would hear him to my spirit speak, And see him with my heart.

Wherever I may chance to be, Thee first, my heart desires to see; How glad when I discover thee! How blest when I retain!

Beyond all treasure is thy grace! O when wilt thou thy steps retrace, And satisfy me with thy face, And make me wholly glad?

Then come, O come, thou perfect King, Of boundless glory, boundless spring; Arise, and fullest daylight bring, Jesus, expected long!

Shaking of the Powers of Heaven.

By John Norton Loughborough

THE question is often asked us, "Do you believe the present commotion among the nations is the shaking of the powers of heaven?" We invariably answer, No! This does not seem to be a natural construction of the language, but it would rather seem to have reference to some commotion in the heavens, while the struggle among nations would be the shaking of the powers of earth. We consider the present strife among the nations, the "waking up of the mighty men" and a preparation for the assembling of the kings of earth to the battle of Armageddon. Although this strife is noted in prophecy, it is not presented as the shaking of the powers of the heavens.

Christ in giving the signs, as recorded by Luke, says, "There shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations with perplexity." Chap. xxi, 25. Matthew tells us what these signs are; "The sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken." Matt. xxiv, 29. By comparing the testimony of the two evangelists, we see an event is placed between these signs and the actual shaking of the powers of heaven called the "distress of nations with perplexity." The difficulties springing up in this generation among the nations will bring on this predicted perplexity. The same distressed condition of the nations is presented in Jer. xxv. 32, 33.

The "shaking of the powers of heaven" seems to be something distinct from the commotion among the nations. But we now inquire, What is meant by the shaking of the powers of the heavens? and when will it take place? The first text we will examine as to what is meant by this expression is Heb. xii, where Paul, referring to the Lord's speaking from Mount Sinai, says; "See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spoke on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from Heaven; whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven." Verses 25, 26. It seems that this shaking was yet future when Paul wrote. This also shows that the shaking is to be accomplished by the Lord's speaking; for it is contrasted with his speaking from Mount Sinai. As the voice from Sinai was literal, so we should consider this will be literal that is contrasted with it.

Paul says that the Lord has "promised" to shake the heavens. There is a promise of that character in Haggai ii, "For thus saith the Lord of hosts; yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land, and I will shake all nations, and the desire of all nations shall come."

Verses 6, 7. Here we see the shaking of the heavens and the shaking of the nations are two events, and that all is to take place a little previous to the time that the "desire of all nations shall come." In verses 21, 22, the Lord says: "I will shake the heavens and the earth. And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms, and I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen, and I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them." Here we see a distinction is made between the shaking of the heavens and the distress among the nations.

There are several testimonies in Isaiah's prophecy which speak of this voice of God and shaking of the heavens and earth which we will present. In chapter ii, we read of events connected with the "day of the Lord." "And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he shall utterly abolish. And they shall go into the holes of the rocks and into the caves of the earth for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. In that day a man shall cast his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which they made each one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats; to go into the clefts of the rocks, and into the tops of the ragged rocks, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty, when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth." Verses 17-21.

This is at the same time as the shaking of the heavens and a consequence of that voice of God; therefore we quote it here. It also helps in fixing the chronology of that event, as it is to happen near the day of the Lord. In the 13th chapter we read, "Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate; and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light; the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. I will make a man more precious than fine gold, even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger." Verses 9-13.

Here again we see the shaking of the heavens, and it is to take place near the day of the Lord, and following the signs in the sun and moon, and stars. In chapter xxiv we read; "Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who fleeth from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit; and he that cometh up out of the midst of the pit, shall be taken in the snare, for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth do shake. The earth is utterly broken down, the earth is clean dissolved, the earth is moved exceedingly. The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again." Verses 17-20.

We consider that the "noise of fear," and the opening of the "windows of heaven" in this text, correspond with the "shaking of the heavens," and "the sign of the Son of man" of Matt. xxiv. And the fleeing of the people corresponds with the above scriptures and also with Rev. vi, 14-17: "And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bond man, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?"

In the midst of the confusion of that time, as mountains are cleft from their bases, and rocks from their summits are thrown in every direction by the "reeling to and fro" of the earth, how natural for men in their fright and dismay to call to these flying rocks, "Fall on us!" and for others, fleeing to the opening caverns and "tops of the ragged rocks" to escape the piercing gaze of Christ's glorious majesty, to cry, "Hide us" from his face! But all in vain. None but holy ones can escape in that fearful time. Reader, weigh well your ways, and prepare to stand.

In Isa. xiii, 13 we read; "The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war, he shall cry, yea, roar, he shall prevail against his enemies." And in verse 15 we learn the result of this: "I will make waste mountains and hills, and dry up all their herbs, and I will make the rivers islands, and I will dry up the pools."

Jeremiah in speaking of the confusion of the nations in the last days, also introduces the voice of God. Chapter xxv, 30, 31: "Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them, The Lord shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall give a shout as they that tread the grapes, [Rev. xiv, 19, 20.] against all the inhabitants of the earth. A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh he will give them that are wicked to the sword saith the Lord. This text refers to the same time as the others; for it is when a battle is to be fought in which none shall be left to lament, nor gather, nor bury. Verse 33. This can only be when all the wicked are slain, the saints taken up to Heaven, and none are left."

Ezekiel says; "For in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken, surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel, so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground. And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God; every man's sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his hands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hail stones, [Rev. xvi, 21.] fire, and brimstone." Chapter xxxviii, 19-22. This is said to be in the last days. Verse 16. And it is when the hail stones are to fall, which event is connected with the voice of God. See Rev. xvi, 17, 21.

Joel in his prophecy speaks of this event; "And the Lord shall utter his voice before his army; for his camp is very great; for he is strong that executeth his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it?" Chapter ii, 11. And again: "The Lord also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake; but the Lord will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel." Chapter iii, 16.

Amos speaks of this event also in his prophecy: "The Lord will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither." Chapter i, 2.

But the testimony of Rev. xvi, definitely locates this event, and shows it to be under the pouring out of the seventh plague. When the sixth vial is poured out, Christ says, "Behold I come as a thief." Then Christ's coming is very near when the seventh vial is poured out. This awfully solemn event is described by John as follows: "And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of Heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done. And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings, and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great . . . . And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven every stone about the weight of a talent; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, for the

plague thereof was exceeding great." Chapter xvi, 17, 18, 20, 21.

What awfully solemn grandeur to the righteous is in these scenes. That voice, "It is done!" proclaims their captivity turned, their deliverance come; and as the opening heavens reveal to them the Son of God, their rapturous shouts will be heard "This is our God, we have waited for him, he has come to save us." But to the wicked, in the midst of their blaspheming, as that voice opens the heavens and discovers to them the piercing gaze of the Son of God whom they have cursed, it is terrible. Every wall shaken to the ground, every hiding place destroyed, and then upon their shelterless heads is poured the hail stones of Jehovah's wrath. Oh may the Lord help us to prepare for these fast-approaching and solemn events.

J. N. Loughborough.

Ancient and Modern Gnostics.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

A SECT of so-called Christians, who are rapidly increasing, has lately made its appearance among us, claiming that the whole system of the Old Testament, including laws both moral and ceremonial, was abolished by Christ. They assert that Christ came expressly for this purpose; which being accomplished, he proceeded to give his followers an entirely “new code of laws,” every way superior to those of the Old Testament.

Not being able to find any such doctrine in the Bible I had concluded that said doctrine was purely a production of the last days. But from history, I find that such a doctrine in a little different costume was propagated as early as the fourth century. Thus Gibbon says: “While the orthodox church preserved a just medium between excessive veneration and improper contempt for the law of Moses, the various heretics deviated into equal, but opposite extremes of error and extravagance. From the acknowledged truth of the Jewish religion, the Ebionite concluded that it never could be abolished. From its supposed imperfections, the Gnostics as hastily inferred that it never was instituted by the wisdom of the Deity . . . They allowed that the religion of the Jews was somewhat less criminal than the idolatry of the Gentiles; but it was their fundamental belief that the Christ whom they adored as the first and brightest emanation of the Deity, appeared upon earth to rescue mankind from their various errors and to reveal a new system of truth and perfection.”

“In the system of the Gnostics, the Jehovah of Israel, the Creator of this lower world, was a rebellious, or at least an ignorant spirit. The Son of God descended upon earth to abolish his temple and his law.”

Here it will be observed, is the origin of that “law-abolished,” “commandments-done-away,” “schoolmaster-dead,” and “new-law-of-Christ” system, so popular at the present time.

Perhaps our modern Gnostics would not like to endorse all the doctrine of their ancient brethren. I think however, that the latter were the more consistent of the two; because only an imperfect law should be abolished; and an imperfect law can come only from an imperfect law-giver, therefore if the moral law of the Old Testament was abolished by Christ as imperfect, the giver of that law, the Jehovah of the Old Testament, must have been an imperfect being, and ought not to be worshiped by Christians who are commanded to be perfect. James i, 4. For these reasons, I say, that the ancient Gnostics were more reasonable than their modern brethren, because they carried out the principle to which this law-abolishing doctrine ultimately tends, which these do not.

May we not fear that the Gnostics of the present day will finally discard the God of that “old dead law” the same as those of the fourth century did? Already we hear them saying that when Christ came upon the stage, the Father stepped upon the background; that the gospel is both law and atonement; that Christ is both judge and mediator; hence the Father has even now become at least, a useless spectator in this play. One more step will dethrone him as a being not wise enough to give laws to the present generation of men.

Gibbon says that the Gnostics held that the worship of Jehovah was somewhat less criminal than the idolatry of the Gentiles. An orthodox minister told his congregation a short time since, that I was worse than an idolater because I observed the seventh-day Sabbath as commanded by the God of Israel!

Lord Jesus come quickly and rescue thy Father’s name and law from these blasphemous insults. Amen.

D. M. CANRIGHT.

Hadley, Mich.

NO LAW—NO SIN

By M. E. Cornell

Interesting Extracts. No. 1.

Bro. White: Being anxious to cast in my mite toward making the Review interesting, and feeling unqualified to write much more than my simple reports, I propose to furnish under the above heading a few numbers of good extracts, selected from various books and papers, but few if any of which have ever been published in the Review. If all the preaching brethren, will send their good selections to the Review, so that we may all have the benefit of them we should perform the double office of helping each other and the paper at the same time.

M. E. Cornell.

NO LAW—NO SIN.

In A. D. 1541, Luther wrote as follows: “He who pulls down the law, pulls down at the same time the whole frame-work of human polity and society. If the law be thrust out of the church, there will no longer be anything recognized as a sin in the world, since the gospel defines and punishes sin only by recurring to the law.” “I never rejected the law.”—Life of Luther, p. 217.

PERSONALITY OF GOD.

“That the Deity is in human form, was a part of every ancient faith until corrupted by the Greek Philosophy, of all mythology, of Tertullian, and perhaps other fathers of the church.”—History of Denominations, p. 440.

RESURRECTION OF THE BODY.

“The Sibylline Oracles, written some before, and some after A. D. 100, speak of those who were burnt by fire, that God will restore their ashes and bones, and form them again as they were before.”—Hedy on Resurrection, p. 140.

HOW ASTROLOGERS PROPHESY.

Luther remarks: “It is true that astrologers may predict the future, to the ungodly, and announce the death which awaits them, for the Devil knows the thoughts of the ungodly, and has them in his power.”—Life, p. 196.

NO DEATH.

D. W. Clark, who was lately ordained Bishop in the Methodist Church, has written a large work entitled, ‘Man all immortal,’ in which he declares that spirits of the dead can and do communicate to the living. He cites many authors to prove that this has been the faith of the church. Speaking of Death he says:

“We can join with the Poet in saying of our departed friends, ‘These are not dead.’ ‘Tis true, many of them are gone. Singly they came, singly they departed. When their work was done; they lay down to sleep. But never one hath died. Forms may change, but spirit is immortal.” “Death is the crown of life.”—pp. 108, 156.

FALSE PROPHETS.

The following is part of a list of predictions made at Chagrin Falls, Ohio, Sept. 20, 1860, by the spirits, and published by A. J. Davis. The reader will see that it must have come from the Father of Lies.

1. Next winter Congress will get into a fight. Blood will flow.

2. This Nation will be dead as a nation before the 4th of March, next.

3. We will have no more Presidents. The present one (Buchanan) will not serve his time out.

4. The Republican Candidate will get the popular vote, but will not be elected.

5. Canada will enter the new Republic in America.

6. Ohio will be the center of that republic and Cleveland the Capital.

FALSE CHRISTS.

The following resolution was passed in the Binghamton Convention N. Y. March 7th, 8th and 9th, 1862.

“Resolved. That true Spiritualism is the offspring of Progress, the friend of Science, and the real ‘Saviour of the world.’”—Banner of Light, March, 29, 1862.

SPIRITUALISM A DELUSION.

W. F. Jamieson, in discussion at Paw Paw, Michigan, confessed concerning Spiritualism, that “If it be a delusion, it is the most gigantic and terrible that ever has been known.”—Banner of Light, Feb. 7, 1863. Alas! it is even so. See “Strong Delusion.”—Paul.

Cheerfulness.

By Jos. Clarke

SORROW cannot long exist in the mind without more or less injury to the person indulging it. It is true Paul speaks of sorrowing after a godly sort, but we know that such sorrow is soon turned into joy.

One may well mourn over the evils and follies of the past, but even in this it is evil to dwell long upon such gloomy subjects; it injures the tone of the mind, and would finally sour the best temper in the world. Christ says, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Christ had an agency in the first formation of man, and he knew that a state of sorrow was not the normal state of the mind; and however necessary it may be for us to mourn; however unavoidable it may be, yet it will not do to continue such an exercise of the mind beyond bounds. It would produce finally disease and often insanity; and it tends, if long continued, to despair, murmuring, cowardice and irresolution.

Deep regrets and sorrow and grief are inseparable from the present state, as the long line of mourners follow the lovely and the true to the tomb; as the once virtuous yield to the siren voice of the seducer; or as the defenseless fall under the oppressor’s hand; or as we often see virtue trodden down in the streets, while vice is put in the place of honor, and surnamed virtue; as we find our props falling, and those we loved and venerated sinking down in the mire of vice and sin, or ranking themselves with the opposer of truth; as we see ourselves often falling in coming up to the standard of truth; or as we see the rising generation of youth associating itself with the minions of foul crime; as we see honesty falling not only in the streets but in high places; as we see the teacher making his school-room a theatre of unhallowed desire, and as we see the pulpit itself made a rostrum for the spiritualist and fornicator; a thousand thoughts like these would cause one (if very much given to mourning) to send up wails like Jeremiah, and, if it were possible, to turn the eye into a fountain of tears; one might well turn the hours of rest into groaning, and those of labor into weeping: but what would it avail? those for whom we agonize would be loudest in derision. Then let us be cheerful as possible; and though our hearts burst almost with agony, yet shall not the scorner see it. We will smile away each others tears, in hope of a future, when all tears shall be wiped away in that land where sorrow shall never come.

Like the practiced and good surgeon, who looks with equal coolness and cheerfulness upon death and life, so must those amid the terrific scenes of earth’s last struggles, learn to be unmoved and calm. Always with an encouraging smile for the sorrowing, and a strong arm for the weak, a stout heart to comfort the despairing, and a balm for the wounded. For this, one must be habitually cheerful. Sorrowful hours will come, but let them not be days of grief. Let our periods of mourning be short. Jos. CLARKE.

The New Jerusalem

ThE beauty, the grandeur, the bliss, the felicity of the "New Jerusalem," will infinitely transcend the highest conceptions of the most exalted intelligences.

Dreams cannot picture a world so fair, Sorrow and death may not enter there; Time doth not breathe on its fadeless bloom, Far beyond the clouds, and beyond the tomb, It is there, it is there, my child. —Mrs. Hemans.

Continue reading: BOTH SIDES OF THE SABBATH QUESTION