THE Presbyterian Synod of the Pacific met recently at Napa, Cal. One of the Secretaries of the Presbyterian Board of Home Missions attended the meeting, and in the Christian Statesman of Nov. 1 we find extracts from his report. The following will be of special interest to our readers:—
The other great topic discussed by the members of Synod at Napa, was the Christian Sabbath. It was stated on the floor, and papers were read to corroborate the statement, that the enemies of the Sabbath in California had cast down the gauntlet, so that nothing was left Christians but to take it up. The note of alarm was sounded. The Synod was called upon to stand like a wall of adamant against the incoming flood of worldliness and infidelity. All pledged to it their time, their influence, and their sacred honor. It was said that efforts would be made by the coming Legislatures511of other Pacific States to abolish their Sabbath laws. Some thought that the opposers of the Sabbath would hardly be bold enough to attempt that. But time has shown us that the Governor of California, who was educated at the expense of the Government to uphold our institutions, recommended in his inaugural address, last December, the abolition of the Sunday laws of California, and the Legislature carried out his recommendation. The German Jews and the worldly citizens of that great State have succeeded, for a time at least, in removing one of the most glorious bulwarks not only of our religion, but of our civil liberty. The war is now going on there between the friends and the enemies of the Sabbath.
This war is not likely to be confined to California. The bugle notes of the enemy have been heard and re-echoed by the people of Nevada, Arizona, and Idaho. Not only the Sierra Nevada, but the Rocky Mountains, are beginning to ring with the clash of arms. The struggle will go on, and the question is, Who will gain the day? Is the church of Christ awake? Are the friends of order and morality willing to take sides with her and concentrate their forces before the strongholds of the foe? The enemy is in earnest; shall the friends be only half awake? Let us realize our danger, measure the strength of the opposing forces, and prepare for the fight.
We in the East can form no conception of the number and power of the enemies with whom our church in the far West has to contend. She needs the ablest reinforcements we can send there. She needs our sympathy and prayers, as well as our men and means. The fight is ours, and the victory will be ours as well as theirs when the enemy is routed. It only needs a visit to that part of the country to rouse our zeal in Home Missions. There the home work and the foreign work overlap each other. Heathenism and unbelief, like great tides, meet on the Pacific Coast. Where are the men ready to enlist in the glorious war?
It seems strange that the advocates of Sunday Law and the Religious Amendment to the Constitution can not state their case without using deception. Notice a few of the statements in the above.
1. "The enemies of the Sabbath in California had cast down the gauntlet, so that nothing was left Christians but to take it up." This is not true. It was the so-called Home Protection Association which pushed the question into politics, by declaring that they would not vote for any candidate who would not pledge himself to vote for the enforcement of the Sunday Law; and that if neither of the parties would give such a pledge they would nominate an independent ticket. The Democratic Convention met the menace with a platform which promised the repeal of the Sunday Law, not to interfere with it, however, as a legal holiday. The Republican party were deceived into the belief that with an indorsement of the Sunday Law they could have an easy victory, and so with "faint praise" they indorsed it. The result was an unexpectedly large Democratic majority, and the repeal of the Sunday Law. The Home Protectionists and their allies are directly responsible for the defeat of the Republican party at the last election in this State, and the repeal of the Sunday Law.
2. Can an intelligent man write that Governor Stoneman was educated at the public expense to uphold the Sunday Law (for he means that), and not blush? Has the Military Academy anything to do with religious education or religious institutions? Every sensible person knows that it has not. The "glorious bulwarks of our religion," nor of anybody's religion, are not a part of military education at West Point.
3. "German Jews and the worldly citizens" have succeeded "in removing one of the most glorious bulwarks of our religion." (1) Many of the best citizens of the State voted for the repeal of a law which was oppressively unjust, acknowledged to be inefficient and useless even by the fast friends of the Sunday, and which the decision of a bare majority of the Supreme Court could not make a majority of the voters of the State believe was not discriminating and unconstitutional. (2) We shall not undertake to decide whether the deception is with the writer of the second sentence quoted above, or with the ministers of California. He says of the State law that it was "one of the most glorious bulwarks of our religion." We can name some of the most eminent ministers of this State who preached, during the campaign, that the controversy was not at all of a religious nature, and that the Sunday Law was not a religious law at all; that it was purely a "sanitary measure," a mere "police regulation." As such, nobody could reasonably object to it on religious grounds! The Sunday, or so-called "Christian Sabbath," is a deception in itself, and there seems to be an unavoidable tendency to deception in advocating it.
We are not at all disappointed that the "clash of arms" is heard on this subject. We have been looking for it for the last thirty years. As a question of religion it should be kept out of politics. But its advocates are determined to make it a political question, and the result will be disastrous to both religious and civil liberty. For the consequences they will be responsible.
As far as Sunday in California is concerned, we can testify, and we have read the statement in various California papers, that the day is as quiet, and is observed as well as it ever was when the law was in force. By their own impolitic action they have lost the law, but they have lost nothing of the respect paid to Sunday. By the repeal of the law nobody's rights have been infringed upon, as every religionist is permitted to observe it as strictly as he sees fit! Is not that enough? Oh, no; they are fretted because they cannot compel others to observe it who do not believe in it. Poor Haman; he had an abundance of treasures and honors, yet he could not eat his bread because Mordecai the Jew sat at the king's gate! His mantle was a wide one, and covers many professed Christians in this age.
Our Lord's Last Passover.
By Ellet Joseph Waggoner
THERE is nothing in the life of our Lord that is unimportant; no act that should not be studied most carefully and reverently. But of all the recorded events of his earthly ministry, those immediately connected with his death must be of the greatest interest. Everything centers around this point; it is that upon which all our hope depends. It is not strange, therefore, that the order of the events connected with the last supper should be (as has been the case) the subject of much careful study. It is true that some deprecate any special effort to locate different events in our Lord's life, thinking that it tends to divert the mind from the moral truths intended to be conveyed; but to us it seems highly proper. Indeed, such study appears to be very necessary if we would realize the full import of all that he did.
It will be admitted that Christ was very careful in regard to the fitness of things. We cannot conceive of his doing anything out of place. Many scenes in his life that appear abrupt, and for which no reason can be given when considered by themselves, are fully explained when we consider the circumstances under which they took place. Of course there are many incidents in the life of Christ which cannot be assigned to any particular time or place. They are complete in themselves. But we think that those events in the life of our Lord which stand closely related to any other event, may be properly located by a careful study of the different accounts given by the four evangelists. And as such study makes the narrative seem more real to us, and brings us to a clearer understanding of our Lord's life, the important truths which he taught must thereby certainly make a deeper impression upon us.
It is not because there has not been much discussion on the subject that it is taken up here. The various conflicting theories have been treated at great length; so great that the average reader often becomes confused before he arrives at the author's conclusion. And in the books on this subject we find, as we think, a mixture of truth and error. We shall endeavor as much as possible to simplify the evidence in the account, and so present it that all may take their Bibles and trace the matter for themselves.
Matthew and Mark give almost precisely the same account of the events of the passover night. They note the sitting down to supper, the designation of the one who would betray Jesus, and the Lord's supper. Both follow the same order. It is quite certain, therefore, that while they have omitted many things, they have given those events which they did relate in their proper order. Luke does not follow the same order, but he mentions one point which the others omit—the strife among the disciples. John says nothing about the Lord's supper, but he gives a minute account of the feet washing, which is not mentioned by any of the others. A comparison of the four accounts will show that John's is the most complete in its details, and we shall therefore use that as a basis. Separating it into its parts we have the following table:—
2. Jesus rises and washes the disciples' feet. Verses 4-11.
3. He takes his garments again and sits down. Verse 12.
4. He explains his act and bids them follow his example. Verses 12-17.
5. He says that one sitting at the table with him would betray him. Verse 18.
6. He tells how the traitor may be known. Verses 23-26.
7. He gives the sop to Judas. Verse 26.
8. Judas immediately goes out. Verse 30.
Before going further we must harmonize an apparent discrepancy in John's narrative. In verses 2 and 4 we read: "And supper being ended. . . . he riseth from supper," and then follows the account of the feet washing. Thus the idea generally obtains that the passover supper was entirely finished before the feet washing was performed. But in verses 12, 23-30, we again find them at supper. The question now arises, What relation, in point of time, does the feet washing sustain to the passover supper? We reply, It took place at the beginning of the supper, and offer the following proof: The original for, "And supper being ended," is, kai deipnon genomenon, which may be translated, "And supper being ready." The Revised Version renders it, "And during supper." Greenfield's Lexicon has it, "During supper." Robinson's Lexicon, on the verb alone, says: "(f) of any occasion, e. g. a repast, to be prepared, made ready, John 13:2." The Emphatic Diaglott: "While supper was preparing." Speaker's Commentary: "During supper." Clarke's Commentary: "While supper was preparing." Campbell: "While they were at supper." Barnes says on this text: "This translation expresses too much. The original means, while they were at supper; and that this is the meaning is clear from the fact that we find them still eating after this. The Arabic and Persic translations give it this meaning." Other good authorities give this meaning also. It may then be considered as settled that John's account is consistent with itself, and that the feet washing took place during, or near the beginning of, the meal. If supper were ready, and they were already sitting down when this event occurred, it would be perfectly consistent to say that it happened during supper.512
We will now consider a circumstance mentioned only by Luke—the strife among the disciples. It is recorded in Luke 22:24, after the account of the supper and the pointing out of the traitor. But there is very strong evidence to show that Luke's account is not chronological. And here we would remark that although Luke is very minute in his description of many things, he seems to have in general made no attempt to follow the order of events. His account of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is a case in point.
We first notice that the language of Luke 22:27 is similar to that of John 13:16. Christ's reproof and instruction in Luke 22:25-27, are evidently the same as his remarks in connection with the ordinance of feet washing. It is most natural to conclude that this humiliating ordinance was given immediately in connection with the strife of the disciples as to who should be accounted the greatest. It is impossible to think for a moment that any such strife could have taken place after that lesson on humility. But we have seen that the feet washing took place at the beginning of the supper. Then the strife (Luke 22:24) must have preceded the supper, and is recorded by Luke out of its proper place.
Again, concerning what would the disciples be most likely to contend at that time? we answer, They would naturally contend as to who should have the precedence at table. Among the ancients the distinctions in age or rank were clearly defined, and at table the oldest or most honorable had certain seats assigned them. An instance of this is found in Gen. 43:33. Among all people, even at the present time, there is a difference, in point of precedence, in the seats at the table, and table etiquette is very clearly defined and strictly observed. The same point is brought out in Matt. 23:6; Mark 12:38, 39; Luke 14:7-11, where Christ reproved those who chose the chief places. There is certainly nothing else concerning which they could strive for the precedence on this occasion. And this strife furnished an occasion for Christ to give them the most impressive lesson on humility. But this again shows that the ordinance of feet washing took place at the beginning of the meal.
Some may object, and say that their strife was as to who should be greatest in the kingdom of Heaven, and that it did not refer to their place at the table. But the disciples still looked for a temporal kingdom, which they thought Christ was soon to set up; and they would naturally expect that their rank in the kingdom would be determined by the position they occupied previous to its being set up. With this view their place at table was to them a matter of great importance.
That we may keep the subject clear in our minds, we will now state in their order the events that occurred up to the present point of investigation. 1. Supper being ready, Jesus sat down. He was the host, and of course took the first place. 2. A strife arose among the disciples as to who should have the place of honor, that being, doubtless, the one nearest to Jesus. 3. To rebuke this unseemly strife, he rose from supper and proceeded to wash their feet, teaching them by precept and example that humility was the only ground of preferment in his kingdom. 4. Having completed this ceremony, he resumed his garments and sat down again to supper.
E. J. W.
(To be Continued.)
Giving Way.
By Editor
UNDER the names of "religious development," "modern thought," "advanced science," etc., a change is taking place in the religious world, the significance and strength of which are, perhaps, hardly apparent to the casual observer. One after another of those who have been, and are still, regarded as responsible leaders and guides in the religious world, are making concessions to the demands of so-called science, which are a virtual surrender of the whole scheme of revelation and redemption. This, we are told, has been the cry at every new astronomical or geological discovery, and yet theology has adjusted itself to the new scientific theories and been none the worse for it in the end.
Granting all this, does it follow that there never can be demands made in the name of science which, if granted, would undermine the very foundations of the Christian system? Or shall we make concessions in this direction, till we can go as far as Henry Ward Beecher goes, when he says that there are no infidels; that what is called infidelity is only another form of Christian belief. Only a step more is required to meet the extreme claim of Spiritualists, that there is no sin, and that all evil is only "undeveloped good."
We had always supposed that Christianity did possess some fundamental principles; that among these was a belief in the authenticity and credibility of the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, a recognition of the fact that man by sin has fallen and must depend upon a Redeemer for his future well-being, and that Christ has provided the requisite atonement for all who will accept of it. But a claim is now put forth in the name of science, which confessedly antagonizes and destroys these great principles. Evolution affirms that man exists not by special creation, but by development from lower animal forms. If this is so, the record in Genesis is untrue; there has been no fall; the Bible is a fable, and Jesus Christ was an impostor. This issue bears no comparison whatever to any that has ever been raised on the subject of astronomy or even of geology. There can be no adjustment here. It must be either total denial or unconditional surrender; and the present outlook shows the religious world leaning rather to the surrender than to the denial.
H. W. Beecher avows himself an evolutionist; and among his first utterances thereafter, he speaks of the fall of man as recorded in Genesis as a "fabulous disaster." If that is fabulous, the entire Scripture record is fable; for it all proceeds upon that hypothesis; and the whole plan of redemption is an idle dream; for it is provided to remedy that evil.
When men in high positions stand ready to accept theories, the result of which is acknowledged to be such as above stated, it is time for the friends of truth and righteousness to be alarmed.
And now another name appears, no less than that of Dr. McCosh of Princeton, in the list of those who indorse the theory of evolution. The Elmira Sunday Telegram, of recent date, says:—
"The gradual adjustment which is taking place between Christianity and the theories of evolution is one of the most interesting features of modern religious development. An able pamphlet on this subject recently published by Dr. McCosh, of Princeton, shows the present aspect of mutations. Dr. McCosh is a Christian thinker of acknowledged power. He does not, like Henry Ward Beecher, leap at a bound into the hypothesis of evolution, but goes into it slowly, step by step, proving such advance to his own satisfaction. His attitude is that of one who would reject evolution if he conscientiously could, but who finds it up to a certain point irresistible."
The very fact that these men are persons of acknowledged mental strength and power, is what will give them great influence to lead the masses in a wrong direction if they are wrong. This is more fully stated in the following paragraph:—
"Theology took its stand on the special creation of man. It would not admit his descent through evolution from lower animal forms. But recently it has shown signs of yielding upon this point. The Dean of Westminster said at Darwin's funeral that the doctrines of evolution were not hostile to Christianity. Henry Ward Beecher proclaims himself as a believer in evolution, and now the careful Dr. McCosh, by strict logic, cautiously reaches virtually the same point. What these big men boldly declare the smaller ones will soon begin to see."
It is a sad fact that the masses allow the men who are esteemed great to do all their theological thinking and formulate their creed for them. We expect the result will be as here stated, and that smaller men and much of the rank and file of the religious world will follow the lead of these men.
What is involved in still retaining these men in their ecclesiastical positions is set forth in another paragraph from the same article:—
"The church will not fall, but it must be underpinned with new foundations and supported with new buttresses. For, see how much Henry Ward Beecher has discarded—how much Heber Newton has abandoned; and yet, they remain as ministers of the gospel and exponents of Christianity. The churches that retain them thereby recognize that neither the doctrine of the atonement nor the inspiration of Scripture is essential."
No one can say that this is not a just conclusion in regard to their belief in the atonement and inspiration, but what would the churches have thought of such doctrines twenty or even ten years ago? Again we quote:—
"If man sprang from simpler animal forms, rising by successive steps above his ancestry to his present high position, then there was no 'fall of man,' and this, Dr. McCosh would admit, must undermine the doctrine of the atonement. Henry Ward Beecher boldly takes this ground. He abandons the atonement as inconsistent with evolution."
The rapidity with which this change is to be effected, according to the expectation of its friends, may be gathered from this paragraph:—
"But the fact that some eminent divines have openly accepted evolution and all its consequences, and still not only maintain their Christian faith, but preach it with renewed power, shows that others may do so, and that the change may come more swiftly than most people now suppose."
We think our friends are warranted in expecting this religious revolution in the short time they indicate: for the barriers of faith seem to be everywhere giving way. That men who have been set as defenders of the citadel of Christian truth should manifest such a readiness to receive doctrines so utterly subversive of all that evangelicism has held so essential and so dear, seems almost unaccountable. It is phenomenal. We think, however, that there is one ground of explanation; namely, that that being who is the great impersonation of darkness and error, is working with demonic energy, and taking men captive at his will. No one can deliberately and blindly place himself on his ground without falling under his power. As already remarked, it is but a step further to the baldest claims of Spiritualism; and we look for the result of this movement to be the engulfing of the major part of the religious world virtually by the Spiritual philosophy, through which will be manifested great power. And then will come the fulfillment of Rev. 18:1-4.
Thus in whatever direction we look, whether to the physical, the political, or the religious world, we stand on the threshold of an epochal crisis.—U. S., in Boston and Herald.
A TOUCHING incident occurred at Philadelphia last week. Two men were convicted of burglary. One was named Wm. Baker, aged 25, and married. Before sentence was passed, his mother came into court and desired to make restitution for her son's share in the theft. She had come from Baltimore and brought her savings for that purpose. She produced a leather hand-bag and took out the desired sum, leaving only enough to take her home. The Judge refused to receive the money, but finally ordered the clerk to lock it up in the safe, so he said some one in the crowd would probably rob her of it. The mother said: "I didn't hope to save my boy from prison. I only pay this money because I want to do what is right."
The Missionary.
By S. N. Haskell
The Waldenses in Exile.
AFTER the great massacre we have described, which took place in 1655, there was a comparative rest for this people for about thirty years. After some changes in the Government it was finally decided, in about 1686, to exterminate them. The substance of the edict which was then issued, was forbidding them to have any religious meetings, under penalty of death and the confiscation of all their goods. All their houses of worship were to be razed to the ground; all their pastors and school-masters were to quit the valleys within fifteen days, or embrace Romanism, under the pain of death and the confiscation of goods. All the children of Protestant parents must be trained up as Roman Catholics, and should, within a week after their birth, be brought to the curé of the parish, and admitted to the Roman Catholic Church under pain on the part of the mother of being publicly whipped with rods, and on the part of the father of laboring five years in the galleys.
This monstrous edict sounded to the Vaudois people a death-note. To carry out this edict there was an army of nearly 20,000 men raised, and entered the valleys. The day was appointed for the attack. Having but a short time in which to prepare, the Waldenses resorted to their strongholds, to fit themselves to resist the best they could. To mention the persecutions that came upon them, and the victories which at times they gained, would be simply to repeat much that has been written: Oftentimes God would fight for them, and in some battles there would be hundreds of French killed, and only a few of the Waldenses. This massacre extended to all their valleys, and was similar in its horrors to the great butchery of 1655. Upwards of 3,000 perished; and the remainder, said to be between 12,000 and 15,000 more, were consigned to the various gaols and fortresses of Piedmont. What gave their enemies great advantage over them were the intrigues they planned. Notwithstanding this, from time to time God blessed them when they fought in him.
But by the deceptions practiced, the plots laid by their enemies, the Waldenses were too often overcome. At one time in particular, when the French found them in their strongholds, and it seemed impossible to conquer them unless they could be allured from their position, deputies were sent to their companies in the various valleys, who represented to them that their brethren in other localities had surrendered, and were not engaged in fighting any more, but that an alliance had been formed. They also stated to them that if they would submit, as their brethren had, that all their ancient liberties would be granted them. This proved to be successful in leading them to surrender, thinking it would bring them liberty; consequently there was a general surrender. But it was a base artifice, which succeeded in bringing this innocent people into the hands of their cruel persecutors. The mistake was a fatal one, and their sufferings can never be told. The recording angel has written it all.
Now, for the first time in the history of these famous valleys they became empty of this people. That lamp burned no longer in this portion of the country. No smoke is seen rising from cottage, and no psalm is heard ascending from dwelling or sanctuary. No herdsman is seen leading his flock; no Sabbath bell to lead these people over the winding paths upon the mountains; but the valleys are deserted by the people whom God had so richly blest in times past. Wylie says: "We know not if ever before an entire nation were in prison at once. Yet now it was so. All the Waldensian race that remained from the sword of their executioners were immured in the dungeons of Piedmont! The pastor and his flock, the father and his family, the patriarch and the stripling, had passed in, in one great procession, and exchanged their grand rock-walled valleys, their tree-embowered homes, and their sunlit peaks, for the filth, the choking air, and the Tartarean walls of an Italian gaol. And how were they treated in prison? As the African slave was treated on the middle-passage. They had neither food nor clothing. Bread was dealt out to them that was fetid. Putrid water was given513them to drink. They were exposed to the sun by day, and the cold at night."
There were at this time, it is said, 14,000 healthy men and women who entered these prisons; but while in there they suffered such inhuman treatment that disease broke out in these horrible places, and when the prisons were opened, 3,000 skeletons only crawled out. Henri Arnaud describes it as follows: "When they entered these dungeons they counted 14,000 healthy mountaineers; but when at the intercession of the Swiss deputies, their prisons were opened, 3,000 skeletons only crawled out." It was simply a repetition of the barbarity of 1655. They appealed to the other nations who interested themselves in their behalf, and when the prison doors were opened they were a set of poor captives, emaciated with sickness, weakened by hunger, shivering from insufficient clothing, simply commanded to rise up and cross the snowy mountains. One hundred and fifty of them, it is said, died on the first day's march. At night they halted at the foot of Mount Cenis. In the mountain they besought the officer in charge to permit them, for the sake of their sick and aged, and in view of a terrible tempest that was then arising, to remain where they were.
But no mercy was shown them. There was no alternative. It was to leave their native land in the midst of a terrible winter, and travel through the storms, or have their lives taken. Strewed all along the track there lay unburied corpses of these poor exiles. The dead child could be seen locked in the arms of its mother. The aged lying by the side of rocks. Their journey continued for three weeks. In small parties they crossed the Alps, one after another, and it was not until the end of February, 1687, that the last band of these emigrants reached the hospitable gates of Geneva. But the plight that they were in, language cannot describe. Some had their tongues so swollen that they could not speak: Others had their arms bitten by frost, and were unable to stretch out their hands to receive the charity that was offered to them by sympathizing friends. But what was the end of their life, was the beginning of their liberty. The city of Calvin received them most hospitably. The people tried to outdo one another in caring for this stricken company. They felt that it was doing for the Saviour in the person of his saints.
Tennessee Camp-Meeting.
By A. O. Burrill; M. B. Miller
THIS meeting was held according to appointment, Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, at Leach, Carroll Co., which is in Western Tennessee. We did not reach the ground until Thursday morning, as we had to travel twelve miles by wagon after leaving the railroad. Bro. Fulton had spoken the evening before to the brethren who had been faithful to gather and make everything ready. All remained until the close of the meeting without the least urging. From the first, the attendance from without was good. This is where the truth has met with such determined opposition. We went to the very spot where the tent was burned, and where Bro. Fulton stood by a large tree and spoke to the hundred who came with a volunteer guard of twelve more men armed with loaded muskets.
The following is one of several copies of notices which were put up, and will speak for itself as to the spirit of persecution which was raised. From what we could gather, it came from professors. It reads as follows:—
NOTICE.
“We wish the people of Carroll County to understand that if they allow any more preaching from the Adventists in any of their houses or meeting-houses or school-houses, we will positively burn them up, if fire will burn them; and if he dont take his crowd and leave the country we will cut his head off and steak it at the forkes of the road. We mean what we say.” (Spelling as we find it.)
This called forth an abundance of friends, who were ready to take their guns and guard him as he spoke the truth. They immediately built a good log church, and contributed liberally for a new tent, under which we had the privilege of speaking all through the camp-meeting. We doubt if there would now be a church building there had it not been for the burning of the tent. This was one of the times when the wrath of Satan is made to praise God.
There are now about one hundred keeping the Sabbath as the result of this tent-meeting. A church of thirty members was organized, and we judge that there is real moral worth among them. There are many more to unite with them, so that this church will probably compose more than one-half of the numerical strength of this Conference.
All the preaching, except two or three sermons, was practical, and calculated to make the hearers realize the urgent need of genuine repentance, putting off the old man and becoming new creatures in Christ. We found it very hard to impress their minds with the importance of this; but as we sought God by confession and humility of soul the Lord came in to soften hard hearts, and penitent ones came flocking forward to the anxious seat. When we see men and women inquiring like men on the day of Pentecost, What shall we do to be saved? we feel that the Spirit of God is doing a genuine work. Twelve were baptized by Eld. Fulton on Tuesday.
Bro. Fulton was elected President of the Conference and of the T. and M. Society.
Steps were taken to immediately start a school in the new church building, to be under the auspices of the Conference, and where the good old Bible will be taught as one of the studies. From what we could learn, the steps toward a school here were hailed with much pleasure, and it will be patronized by many children whose parents do not keep the Sabbath. Thus the truth moves onward here. From this summer’s experience in Tennessee, we see that earnest, faithful labor will gather men and women into the harvest.
We enjoyed the stay very much, and pray God to greatly bless this Conference.
A. O. BURRILL.
M. B. MILLER.
Temperance.
Moderate Drinking.
Permit me to illustrate my views of moderate drinking, by relating substantially a thrilling scene which occurred in a neighboring town in a neighboring State, while the people were gathered together to discuss the merits of the license question, and decide informally whether neighbors should any longer be permitted to destroy each other by vending alcoholic poisons.
The town had suffered greatly from the sale and use of intoxicating liquors. The leading influences were opposed to total abstinence. At the meeting, the clergyman, a deacon, and the physician, were present, and were all in favor of continuing the custom of license—all in favor of permitting a few men of high moral character to sell alcohol—for they all agreed that alcohol in moderation, when used as a beverage, was a good creature of God; and that to restrict the sale or moderate use, was an unjust interference with human liberty, and a reflection upon the benevolence of the Almighty. They all united in the belief that in the use of alcohol as a beverage, excess alone was to be avoided.
The feeling appeared to be all one way, when a single teetotaler, who was present by accident, but who had been a former resident of the town, begged leave to differ from the speakers who had preceded him. He entered into a history of the village from its earliest settlement; he called the attention of the assembly to the desolation moderate drinking had brought upon families and individuals; he pointed to the poor-house, the prison-house, and the grave-yard, for its numerous victims; he urged the people by every consideration of mercy, to let down the flood-gates, and prevent, as far as possible, the continued desolation of families by the moderate use of alcohol.
But all would not do. The arguments of the clergyman, the deacon, and the physician, backed by station, learning, and influence, were too much for the single teetotaler. No one arose to continue the discussion or support him, and the President of the meeting was about to put the question, when all at once there arose from one corner of the room a miserable female. She was thinly clad, and her appearance indicated the utmost wretchedness, and that her mortal career was almost closed. After a moment of silence, and all eyes being fixed upon her, she stretched her attenuated body to its utmost height, then her long arms to their greatest length, and raising her voice to a shrill pitch, she called upon all to look upon her.
"Yes!" she said, "look upon me, and then hear me. All that the last speaker has said relative to moderate drinking, as being the father of drunkenness, is true. All practice, all experience, declare its truth. All drinking of alcoholic poison as a beverage, in health, is excess. Look upon me. You all know me, or once did. You all know that I was once the mistress of the best farm in this town. You all know, too, I once had one of the best—the most devoted of husbands. You all know I had five noble-hearted, industrious boys. Where are they now? Doctor, where are they now? You all know. You all know they all lie in a row, side by side, in yonder churchyard; all—every one of them—filling the drunkard's grave! They were all taught that moderate drinking was safe—excess alone ought to be avoided; and they never acknowledged excess. They quoted you, and you, and you, as authority," pointing with her shred of a finger to the priest, deacon, and doctor. "They thought themselves safe under such teachers. But I saw the gradual change coming over my family and prospects, with dismay and horror; I felt we were all to be overwhelmed in one common ruin; I tried to ward off the blow; I tried to break the spell—the delusive spell, in which the idea of the benefits of moderate drinking had involved my husband and sons; I begged, I prayed, but the odds were greatly against me.
"The priest said the poison that was destroying my husband and boys was a good creature of God; the deacon, who sits under the pulpit there, and took our farm to pay his rum bills, sold them the poison; the physician said that a little was good, and excess ought to be avoided. My poor husband and my dear boys fell into the snare, and one after another was conveyed to the dishonored grave of the drunkard. Now look at me again—you probably see me for the last time—my sand is almost run. I have dragged my exhausted frame from my present abode—your poor-house—to warn you all—to warn you, deacon—to warn you, false teacher of God's word"—and with her arms high-flung, and her tall form stretched to its utmost, and her voice raised to an unearthly pitch, she exclaimed, "I shall soon stand before the judgment-seat of God—I shall meet you there, ye false guides, and be a swift witness against you all."
The miserable female vanished, a dead silence pervaded the assembly. The priest, deacon, and physician, hung their heads. The President of the meeting put the question: "Shall we have any more licenses to sell alcoholic poisons, to be drank as a beverage?" The response was unanimous—No! Friends of humanity everywhere, what would have been your verdict had you been there?—Selected.
Causes of Crime and Suffering
The chaplain of the Auburn State Prison says: “There are in the United States 44 prisons, with an average of 1,000 prisoners, making 44,000 criminals, with an average of ten relatives afflicted by each; making 440,000 who suffer from this source. The long line of sorrow could be traced to one of three causes, viz., idleness, licentiousness, and intemperance.”