Signs of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 9. (2/28/1884)

Signs of the Times

Feb 28, 1884

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 28, 1884

General Articles.

By Mrs. E. G. White

The Creation Sabbath.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

WHEN God created the earth and placed man upon it, he divided time into seven periods. Six he gave to man for his own use, to employ in secular business; one he reserved for himself. Having rested on the seventh day, he blessed and sanctified it. Henceforth, the seventh day was to be regarded as the Lord's rest-day, and to be sacredly observed as the memorial of his creative work. It was not the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth day that was sanctified, or set apart to a holy use, neither was it a seventh part of time and no day in particular; but it was the seventh day, the day upon which God had rested. We are every day to think of God and live as in his sight; but when the six days' work is done, we are to "remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,"—to cease from labor and devote the day exclusively to meditation and worship.

When the law was given at Sinai, the Sabbath was placed in the midst of moral precepts, in the very bosom of the decalogue. But the Sabbath institution was not then made known for the first time. The fourth commandment places its origin at creation. The Creator's rest-day was hallowed by Adam in holy Eden, and by men of God throughout the patriarchal ages. During Israel's long bondage in Egypt, under taskmasters that knew not God, they could not stop the Sabbath; therefore the Lord brought them out where they could remember his holy day.

Before they came to Sinai, they understood the Sabbath to be obligatory upon them. After the giving of the manna, the people, of their own accord, gathered a double quantity on the sixth day in preparation for the Sabbath. And Moses, upon being consulted by the rulers, declared, "This is that which the Lord hath said, To-morrow is the rest of the holy Sabbath unto the Lord." On the seventh day he bade them eat that which they had provided. "For," said he, "to-day is a Sabbath unto the Lord; to-day ye shall not find it in the field. Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day, which is the Sabbath, in it there shall be none." When some of the people went out on the seventh day to gather, they found no manna. Then the Lord said unto Moses, "How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws? See, for that the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."

A threefold miracle was wrought in honor of the Sabbath, even before the law was given on Sinai. A double quantity of manna fell on the sixth day, none upon the Sabbath, and the portion needed for the Sabbath was preserved sweet and pure, when if any were kept over at any other time, it became unfit for food. Here is conclusive evidence that the Sabbath was instituted at creation, when the foundations of the earth were laid, when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy. And its sacredness remains unchanged, and will so remain even to the close of time. From the creation, every precept of the divine law has been obligatory on man, and has been observed by those who fear the Lord. The doctrine that God's law has been abolished is one of Satan's devices to compass the ruin of the race.

The prophet Isaiah, looking forward to the gospel dispensation, sets forth in the most impressive manner the obligation of the Sabbath, and the blessings attending its observance: "Thus saith the Lord, Keep ye judgment, and do justice; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed. Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that layeth hold on it; that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil. Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the Lord, speak, saying, The Lord hath utterly separated me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree. For thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant, even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and of daughters. I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off."

Under the Mosaic law, strangers and eunuchs were excluded from the full enjoyment of the privileges granted to Israel. But the prophet declares that a time is coming when these restrictions will cease. The holy oracles were especially committed to the Jews; not to be an Israelite was not to belong to the favored people of God. The Jews had come more and more to regard themselves as superior by divine right to every other people upon the earth; yet they had not been careful to maintain their separate and holy character by rendering obedience to all the commandments of God. Now the prophet declares that the stranger who will love and obey God shall enjoy the privileges that have belonged exclusively to the chosen people. Hitherto, circumcision and a strict observance of the ceremonial law had been the conditions upon which Gentiles could be admitted to the congregation of Israel; but these distinctions were to be abolished by the gospel. "Every one that keepeth the Sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold of my covenant, even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called a house of prayer for all people. The Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him."

Again, after rebuking the selfishness, violence, and oppression of Israel, and exhorting them to works of righteousness and mercy, he declares: "And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places; thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable, and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words, then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

The first part of the chapter brings to view a people who apparently delight in the service of God; they seek him daily, "as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God." Yet their lives are not right before the Lord; for he commands his prophet, "Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." He declares that if they will return unto the Lord with all the heart, they shall be called repairers of the breach, the restorers of paths to dwell in. Then he distinctly shows them what this breach is. "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath,"—for they had been trampling it under their feet as a thing despised,—"then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

This prophecy reaches down the centuries to the time when the man of sin attempted to make void one of the precepts of God's law, to trample under foot the original Sabbath of Jehovah, and in its stead exalt one of his own creation. And when the Christian world set aside God's holy Sabbath, and in its place accept a common working day, unsanctioned by a single "Thus saith the Lord," they are encouraging infidelity, and virtually acknowledging the supremacy of that power

by whose authority alone the change has been effected. The rejection of the Sabbath has led to the rejection of the whole law, and thousands of professed Christians now boldly declare it void.

The law of ten commandments, which has been so lightly disregarded, is the foundation of many generations; and no man or body of men has been authorized to set aside, or vary in the slightest particular, one of the ten precepts of Jehovah. God spoke this law from Sinai in awful grandeur, in the hearing of all Israel, and he wrote it with his own fingers upon tables of stone, not for his chosen people only, but for all men, to the close of time. Christ himself declares that while the heavens and the earth remain, not one jot or tittle shall pass from this holy law.

There were two institutions founded in Eden that were not lost in the fall,—the Sabbath and the marriage relation. These were carried by man beyond the gates of paradise. He who loves and observes the Sabbath, and maintains the purity of the marriage institution, thereby proves himself the friend of man and the friend of God. He who by precept or example lessens the obligation of these sacred institutions is the enemy of both God and man, and is using his influence and his God-given talents to bring in a state of confusion and moral corruption.

Christ’s Coming and Reward

“Behold I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12.

"I HAVE CALLED THEE BY THY NAME."—ISA. 43:1.

By The (London) Christian

Not as a speck revolving through limitless realms of space; Not as an atom lying in some dim and darksome place; But as myself He knows me, and will keep me throughout this year— My Guide when I grope in darkness, my Strength when I faint with fear.

Not as a pebble in ocean, tossed chancewise up by the tide, One moment bathed in sunlight, then a toy in its darkening pride; No prey to a world's caprices, but undimmed amid its night, Girt round by the calm and blessing of perfect and Infinite Light.

Not as a something somewhere, hurrying on through life, With sometimes a cry heard faintly as it wearily sinks in the strife. Though at times I have almost thought it, and fancied my God was afar, He has risen above my darkness, and lighted my night with his star.

As myself and not as another, knowing my voice so well; Yea; knowing my inmost wishes and the thoughts that I could not tell; So holy, I bow before him; so good that to none but him, I could tell my deepest longings, and the doubts that are strange and dim.

From the rainbow throne of glory I see him bend to me; I know that the God of ages is working gloriously; And I hear the great Creator, whose angels are a flame, Say to a child of Adam, "I have called thee by thy name."

Organic Religion.

By Editor

THE fathers who framed the Constitution of the United States, wisely dissevered it, and the Government created by it, from all organic connection with the religion of the people. They contented themselves with simply declaring that "Congress shall make no laws respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" and that "no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States." The melancholy history of the past had instructed them, as it ought to instruct all, that the absolute severance of the State from all organic connection with religion, is the only ground of safety to the civil and religious liberty of the people. Though not atheists, they had the wisdom to frame a government whose fundamental law left religion to the inalienable rights of the individual conscience, and made all religious proscription or persecution constitutionally impossible.

The resolutions of the late Pittsburg Convention proceed upon a very different theory in the construction of civil government. We ask the attention of our readers to the fourth one of the series: "Resolved, That, in order to maintain and give permanency to the Christian features which have marked this nation from its origin, it is necessary to give them authoritative sanction in our organic law." This more than surprises us. Do the members of this convention really mean what they say? Does Judge Strong, of Pennsylvania, design to place himself on this ground? Or was the resolution hastily adopted, without due reflection? If we understand the import of their words, these gentlemen propose that Christianity shall be authoritatively incorporated into the "organic law" of this country; and this is just the principle of all the religious despotisms which have cursed mankind and corrupted religion in centuries past. It is in kind the very doctrine adopted by the pope of Rome and all his cardinals. These "Christian features," referred to by the convention, are simply the religious beliefs and practices of that portion of the American people known as Christians. They can be nothing else. They certainly are not the "features" of infidels or Jews. Now, observe that these beliefs and practices are, according to the theory of the convention, to be maintained and made permanent. In what way? Not by preaching Christianity as Christ and the apostles did; not by the circulation of tracts, and the distribution of the Bible among the people; not by the influence of holy lives and individual conversions to the truth; but by giving "them authoritative sanction in our organic law." This means, if it means anything, that Christianity, as somebody understands it, is to be incorporated into the structure of the National Government and become an integral part of the Constitution. An "authoritative sanction in our organic law" can mean nothing less.

Now, we take the liberty of saying, that no such method as the one proposed is at all necessary, "to maintain and give permanency to the Christian features which have marked this nation from its origin." Ever since the organization of this Government, now nearly one hundred years ago, Christianity has lived and prospered in this country without any "authoritative sanction in our organic law;" and we see no reason for supposing that it cannot continue to do so for all time. It asks no such service at the hands of the State; and, moreover, the history of all such experiments shows that the State cannot extend the service without doing more harm than good. We hence believe that in this respect the framers of the Constitution were much wiser than the members of the recent Pittsburg Convention. The thing is just right as it is—right for the Government, right for religion, and right for the free and untrammeled exercise of human liberty; and, as we have no doubt, the large majority of the American people are of the opinion that it is best to keep it right. We are in favor of reforms; but not those that go backward, and lead toward the despotisms of the dark ages. The doctrine of these gentlemen is impracticable in this country, and wholly undesired, even if it were practicable, and we hence advise them to apply their efforts and resources to some more legitimate object. The proposition itself, upon its very face, supplies its own answer when presented to the American mind. We are opposed to the whole idea from beginning to end, in every possible form and stage of its application.—N. Y. Independent, 1870.

Testimonies Concerning the Law.

IN a note on page 171, "History of the Bible," Dr. Kitto says: "Though the ten commandments were given to the Jews particularly, yet the things contained in them are such as all mankind, from the beginning, were bound to observe; and therefore, under the Mosaic dispensation, they, and the tables on which they were engraven, and the ark in which they were put, were distinguished from the rest of God's ordinances by a peculiar regard, as containing the covenant of the Lord. And though the Mosaic dispensation be now at an end, yet, concerning these moral precepts of it, our Saviour declares that 'one jot or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law till all be fulfilled."

Bishop Hopkins, on the "Ten Commandments," published by the American Tract Society, pp. 19, 29, says: "Far be it from any Christian to indulge himself in any licentiousness, from such a corrupt and rotten notion of the law's abrogation; for so far is it from being abolished by the coming of Christ, that he expressly tells us he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Matt. 5:17. There is no duty required, nor sin forbidden, by God, but it falls under one at least of these ten words."

A book on "Entire Holiness," by John W. Wallace, recommended by Methodist Conferences, on pp. 43, 45, says: "This law which we understand to be still in force, and by which it may be presumed God governs all rational and intelligent beings, is embraced in the moral code delivered on Mount Sinai. This is the moral law, the law that admits of no repeal, and needs no amendment; nor does it require any modifications in its application to any and all the unnumbered hosts that stretch along the line of moral agents."

The Methodist Discipline says: "No Christian, whatsoever, is free from the obedience of the commandments which are called moral."

Alexander Campbell says: "It is a poor apology for this expurgation of the decalogue, that it is so done in the Douay Bible; what myriads, then, through this fraud, must have lived and died in the belief that the second commandment was no part of God's law. It is clearly proved that the pastors of the church have struck out one of God's ten words! which not only in the Old Testament, but in all revelation, are the most emphatically regarded as the synopsis of all religion and morality."—Debate with Purcell, p. 214.

The Genesee Evangelist says: "No reform can be successful and complete, which is not founded on the great fundamental principles contained in the ten commandments."

David E. Thomas (Baptist) says: "The duties of the decalogue did not originate when the law was given on Sinai. The obligations always existed. They grow out of the very nature and relations of man. Every command given relates either to moral beings or things of a moral nature already existing. No new moral obligations were then originated. Remember the Sabbath day, implies its previous existence. This is no new enactment, but the observance of an old one. The Sabbath was made for man. Both his physical and moral nature absolutely require it. Christ came to explain, magnify, and fulfill the law. It becomes the Christian's rule of life, and is established by faith. Saints are made free from its curse. It is to be the rule of the Judgment day."—Christian Manual, pp. 231, 369.

The "Encyclopedia of Biblical Literature," recommended by twenty-six Doctors of Divinity and six Doctors of Laws, on the fourth commandment, says: "It is unnecessary to dwell on the fact that its position in the midst of the moral law distinctly points to its perpetual and universal obligation."

Mr. Spurgeon says: "The law of God is a divine law, holy, heavenly, and perfect. Those who find fault with the law, or in the least degree depreciate it, do not understand its design. There is not a command too many, there is not one too few; but it is so incomparable that its perfection is a proof of its divinity. No human lawgiver could have given forth such a law as that which we find in the decalogue."—Sermons, p. 280.

Dr. Cummings, of England, says: "The law of the ten commandments is in its nature unchangeable and permanent. It was ordained by the Supreme Lawgiver as the infallible rule of life, to all men in every age of the world; in all places, under all circumstances, in every nation and generation of men on the earth. Not one jot or tittle of it was ever abolished, or diminished, or altered in the least degree, by the change of dispensation from Jewish to Christian."—Signs of the Times, pp. 23, 39.

H. H. Dobney (Baptist minister), of England, says: "The excellency of the law is seen in its very nature. Generally, we mean by the law, that which is commonly called the moral law, presented to us in the shape of distinct commandments ten in number, prescribing to each one of us concerning God in the first place, and then concerning our deportment to all our fellow-creatures. These are illustrated, and their extensive bearing is shown by many other precepts which are scattered through the Scriptures."—Future Punishment, pp. 42, 43.

Reject Both Moral Evils

"If I am between two moral evils," wrote a distinguished man, "I will not have either. There is small choice in rotten apples. I am to reject both. A man is not to lie to avoid the necessity of stealing; nor break the Sabbath lest he should not be able to pay his debts. Never choose to do wrong."

Disguises of Covetousness.

By Rev. John Harris

IN the instance of a person who has attained to competence, covetousness often seeks to escape detection under the name of contentment. He fancies that he is completely vindicated from the charge of cupidity, by saying, "I am quite content with what I have." But so also was that minion of wealth whom our Lord introduces with the solemn warning, "Take heed, and beware of covetousness." His contentment is only covetousness reposing self-complacently from its toils, resting on its well-filled bags, and saying, "Soul, take thine ease." Let an agent of charity approach him with outstretched and imploring hand, and, as if touched by Ithuriel's spear, he will forthwith start into his proper character, and demonstrate that his contentment depends on his keeping his property entire; at least, that he is not content to give.

And another, not only most confidently acquits himself of all suspicion of selfishness, but even appropriates the credit of being benevolent, on the ground of his natural sensibility. A spectacle of suffering harrows up his soul; and therefore "he passes by on the other side." An object of destitution afflicts his too delicate sympathies; and, therefore, he closes his door against it, saying, "Depart in peace, be thou warmed and filled;" and leaves it in its destitution to perish. And thus, by belonging to the school of Rousseau or of Sterne, he gives himself the credit of belonging to the school of Christ; by paying the tax of a sigh to wretchedness, he escapes the levy of a heavier tribute, and even purchases a character for the tenderest susceptibility. But sensibility is not benevolence; by wasting itself on trifles, it may render us slaves to selfishness, and unfit us for everything but self-commiseration.

Covetousness will sometimes indulge itself under the pretense of preparing to retire from the cares and turmoil of active life. The propriety of an early retirement from business must depend, of course, on circumstances. But how often does the covetousness which wears this mask retain her slave in her service even to hoary hairs, putting him off from time to time with delusive promises of approaching emancipation. Or else, he retires to spend, in slothful and selfish privacy, that which he had accumulated by years of parsimony. Or else, by mingling readily in scenes of gaiety and amusement, he shows that his worldly aversion related, not to the world of pleasure, but only to the world of business. Instead of fixing his abode where his pecuniary resources and Christian activity might have rendered him an extensive blessing, he consults only his own gratification, establishes himself at a distance, it may be, from "the place of the altar," and, in a regular round of habitual indulgence, lives and dies an unfaithful steward, a sober sensualist, a curse rather than a blessing.

Sometimes covetousness is heard enlarging complacently on the necessity, and even piety, of providing for children. And here, be it remembered, we are not considering what parental duty may dictate on this subject, but only what covetousness often does under its borrowed name. Many a parent gratifies his love for money, while pretending to love his children. The facility, too, with which he quotes certain passages of Scripture to defend the course he is pursuing, shows how acceptable to his numerous class an argument would be in favor of hoarding, since these few perverted sentences, which only seem to sanction it, are his favorite and most familiar texts. Of these, his chosen stronghold, perhaps, is the declaration of the apostle: "He that provides not for his own, and especially for those of his own house, hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." The sacred writer, in giving directions relative to the maintenance of widows, distinguishes between such as the church should relieve, and such as should be supported by their own relatives. And concerning the latter he makes the statement in question. Whence it follows, first, that the provision contemplated by the apostle is not a laying up beforehand for future contingencies, but a present supply of present necessities, a simple maintenance of needy relatives from day to day. And, secondly, that, instead of countenancing parents in the accumulation of great fortunes for their children, he is speaking of the maintenance which children, if able, should afford to their aged and destitute parents. With the subject of providing for families, therefore, the text in question has nothing to do. Rightly interpreted, we see that it enjoins, not accumulating, but giving. How humiliating is the only explanation which can be given of the general perversion of this scripture, and of the pertinacity with which that perversion is retained.

Let the Christian parent compare the merits of a useful education, and a qualification for business or a profession, with the merits of that state of so-called independence in which he is toiling to place his family; and let him call in the aid of Scripture and of prayer that he may conduct the comparison aright, and we will not fear for the result. Let him look around his neighborhood, and institute a comparison, if he can, between the apparent character and happiness of the six nearest individuals who have been left dependent, under God, on their own exertions for respectability and support, and the six who have been left independent of personal exertion, indeed, but pitifully dependent on wealth alone for happiness, and let him say which state is preferable for virtue and enjoyment.

Let him say what is to be thought of the consistency of a Christian parent who, with our Lord's representation of the danger of riches ringing in his ears, goes on scheming and laboring to leave his children rich in the element of destruction, toiling to place them in a condition in which, he admits, it is all but impossible that they should be saved. Let him ask himself whether such an one be not acting over again, on a smaller scale, the part of the tempter, when he brought the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them to the Saviour's feet? Let him remember, not only that he is to leave his children behind him in a world where wealth is thought to be everything, but that he is to meet them again in a world where it will be nothing—where it will be remembered only in relation to the purposes to which it has been applied.—Mammon, by Rev. John Harris.

Signs of the End.

THE apostle Paul says that in the last days men shall grow worse and worse. See 2 Tim. 3. Now when we speak of the advent of the Lord we are told that that sign is not being fulfilled, for the world is fast growing better. Is this so? What is the testimony of observing men on this subject?

Mr Moody said, in a recent sermon at the Tabernacle: "You say the world is growing better. What a thrill of horror the Parkman murder sent through society! Now a hundred Parkmans might be murdered in a week and it would produce no excitement."

Henry Ward Beecher speaks in the following scathing terms: "All the frame-work of society seems to be dissolving. On every side we find men false to the most important trusts. Even the judges on the bench are bought and sold like meat in the shambles. One must go into court with a long purse to obtain justice. The judiciary of New York stinks like Sodom and Gomorrah. Men say they hardly know a court in which to trust a case. It is no longer an honor to sit on the bench; for if the judge be an upright man, his character will be contaminated by the great majority of his associates."

The Philadelphia Times says: "Honesty has fled from the world, and sincerity has fallen asleep. Piety has hidden herself, and justice cannot find the way. The helper is not at home, and charity lies sick. Benevolence is under arrest, and faith is nearly extinguished. The virtues go a-begging, and truth has long since been buried. Credit is turned lazy, and conscience is pinned to the wall."

The North America says: "From the terrible evidences of human depravity which develop themselves from day to day, we begin to think that our cities are rapidly descending to the level of Sodom and Gomorrah."

Says the Scientific American: "It is admitted by all parties that crimes of the most outrageous and unprecedented character abound throughout the country and probably throughout the world, to a degree wholly unparalleled."

And every day Nihilistic, Socialistic, and Atheistic manifestations become more startling. Surely, if predicted increase of crime is to be taken as a sign of the advent near, we have already reached a state of things that warrants the immediate expectation of our Lord's personal appearing.—Sel.

Advent Thoughts.

By The Churchman

How will it startle and confound the wicked and the unbelieving to see one in the form of man sitting upon the throne of Judgment, armed with the power of the almighty God! to discover too late that He whom they have rejected and despised has power to pronounce the dreadful sentence of everlasting exclusion from the divine presence! And how will it fill the righteous with confidence and joy to see, for their Judge, him who loved them and gave himself for them; who, in the days of his flesh was in all points tempted like themselves; who in all their affliction, was afflicted, sympathizing with all their sorrows, putting their tears into his bottle, noting all their trials in his book, feeding them with his body, refreshing them with his blood, that going through the vale of misery they might use it for a well, till he should come to present them faultless before the throne, washed and purified, and clothed in the white robes, the fine linen of the saints.

And "when shall these things be?" and what the signs of the coming of the Son of man? When men are least prepared, putting off the evil day, scoffing most freely at those who deem it near, saying most confidently, "Peace and safety," rejoicing in material progress, utterly regardless of spiritual decay.

"Even thus amid thy pride and luxury, O earth, shall that last coming burst on thee— That secret coming of the Son of man."

Have not God's judgments always taken men by surprise? Not because warning was not given, but because it was not taken. It was so in the days of Noah; it was so in the days of Lot. It will be so in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed. Suppose this day were the very advent day—would it find us ready?—ready as the wise virgins? ready as the good and faithful servant? ready as the diligent steward? Would it find us with our hearts habitually fixed on the thought of his coming—our affections set on the hope of his kingdom? Or would we that he delay his coming, because we are not prepared to meet him?—The Churchman.

Preparing Daily for the Good World

An old colored lady in the South, in an experience meeting, is reported to have said: "Whenever I'se going on a journey I always begin to pack my trunk a long way ahead, and I packs a little every day. Den I'se sure dat when de whistle blow I'll be ready. An' just so I tries to do a little every day to get ready for de good world, so dat when Gabriel blows de big trumpet I may have my trunk ready to git right on de train."

Swimming in Sin, Sinking in Sorrow

THOSE who swim in sin will sink in sorrow.

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