Earlier text: One hundred and Six Important FactsThe Order of Events in the Judgment.
By John Nevins Andrews
WE have established the fact by many indubitable proofs that the investigation and decision of the cases of the righteous precede their resurrection in the likeness of Christ. In establishing the fact that the cases of the righteous are thus decided before the sounding of the trump of God, we do really establish the fact that the cases of the wicked are also virtually decided at the same time. For when we have shown that all who are to have immortality are accounted worthy of it before their resurrection, it necessarily follows that though the actions of the wicked are not examined in detail until the saints sit with Christ in the judgment during the 1000 years, yet the wicked are, by the decision in the case of the righteous, left, as worthless and noxious, to the resurrection of the unjust and to the devouring fire. The next event in the great day of God is the destruction of the living wicked by the seven last plagues. As these do not come until the wicked are accounted unworthy of the kingdom of God, their destruction comes as a part of the judgment work, and after the virtual decision of their cases. The fact is many times revealed in the Bible that before the final deliverance of the saints there comes a time of trouble such as never was. This is plainly marked as lying between the decision in the case of the righteous at the close of their probation, and the event of their deliverance. Thus, according to Daniel, the deliverance of the saints does not take place until the existence of a time of trouble such as never was. And this time of trouble comes in consequence of the close of our Lord's intercession and the assumption of his kingly office. Dan. 12:1. The wrath of God against sin is neither stayed nor mitigated after the Son of God ceases to plead for sinful man. The closing work of Christ's priesthood is in the second apartment of the heavenly sanctuary. This is opened under the sounding of the seventh trumpet. Rev. 11:19. It is after the temple is thus opened in heaven that the seven angels pour out the seven last plagues. Rev. 15:5-8. But these plagues fill up the wrath of God which is threatened by the third angel. Rev. 15:1, compared with 14:10. And the third angel gives the final message of mercy and warning to mankind before the Son of man sits upon the cloud. Rev. 14:6-14. So it is apparent that while Christ is finishing his work in the sanctuary, and while the third angel is giving the last message of mercy to man, the seven last plagues are withheld, though pending ready to be poured out. But when the work of probation is closed, and the intercession of Christ in heaven, and the voice of warning upon earth, are ended, then men drink the wine of God's wrath without any mixture, from the cup of his indignation. That which constitutes this wrath is the seven last plagues. They are by this term distinguished from those plagues inflicted under the six trumpets. Rev. 9:20, 21. They are represented as the wrath of God without mixture, i. e., they have no element of mercy mingled with them. They are poured out into the cup of God's indignation. This is an awful expression to indicate that men at that time fall into the hands of the living God. This fearful execution of God's judgment is witnessed before the deliverance of the saints; for not less than six of the plagues are poured out prior to the advent of Christ. Rev. 16:12-15. This same period of trouble is brought to view in Rev. 7, and located between the opening of the sixth and seventh seals. Before the four winds are loosed, the servants of God are sealed. The seal is placed upon them, that the destroying angel may not cut them down. Compare Eze. 9 with Rev. 7. This is a plain proof that the saints must continue upon the earth for a certain space after the time of trouble commences. The fact that all who are sealed at the commencement of this time of trouble, are afterward seen standing upon Mount Zion with the Lamb, is proof that their probation closes with the commencement of this scene of trouble. Compare Rev. 7:4; 14:1. In other words they are then accounted worthy to escape the things that are to come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36. The very time when they are thus accounted worthy to stand before the Saviour, is at the close of our Lord's priesthood; and the time of trouble itself comes when that priesthood is exchanged for his kingly office. Probation does therefore close before the entrance of the people of God upon this great time of trouble. One of those events immediately following the close of probation, and therefore constituting a feature of the time of trouble, is what the Bible calls "the hour of temptation." Thus we read:— Rev. 3:10, 11: "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, I come quickly; hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown."
The keeping of the word of Christ's patience especially pertains to the period of the third angel. Rev. 14:12. Those who keep this word are to be kept from the hour of temptation, while all others are to be taken captive by it. This shows that the saints are upon the earth during this period; and that when it commences, those who are unprepared are hopelessly lost. But this season of unrestrained temptation is also brought to view by Paul, when describing the state of things existing just before our Lord's return. Thus he says:— 2 Thess. 2:9-12: "Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
When God sends men strong delusion to believe a lie that they all might be damned, it must be after the righteous have accomplished their work of overcoming, and after the Saviour has ceased to plead. The only way that God sends this strong delusion is by withdrawing his Spirit when men have sinned away the day of grace; thus leaving them a prey to the unrestrained power of the devil. Now it is remarkable that the third angel brings to view this same period of Satan's mighty working. It is the work of the third angel to give warning of the things that are to come to pass upon the earth at the close of human probation. When he warns us against the worship of the image, and the reception of his mark, it is in direct reference to the fact that the two-horned beast is to make such an image and to require men to worship it on pain of death. Rev. 14:9-12; 13:11-16. And we do learn that this image is made in consequence of the miracles that are to be wrought. Compare Rev. 13:13, 14; 16:13. One of these miracles will be, the bringing down of fire from heaven. This lies before us in the time of trouble. It is no wonder that those who are not kept by the power of God should be deceived by this fearful delusion. It is at the close of the work of intercession that the Lord is represented as putting on the garments of vengeance for the destruction of his enemies. Isa. 59:16-18. And when the enemy (Satan) shall come in like a flood, in strong delusion, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him. Verse 19. It is also at the close of our Lord's priestly work that the prophecy of Amos meets its fulfillment: "Behold the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land; not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord; and they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it." Amos 8:11, 12.
The third woe comes by reason of the voice of the seventh angel. Rev. 8:13. The seven last plagues come under the seventh trumpet. Rev. 11:15-19; 15:5-8. The seven plagues which fill up the wrath of God do therefore constitute the third woe. The people of God will not be removed from the earth till after six of the plagues have been poured out. They must witness the fearful scenes of the time of trouble. But the seal of the living God will be their protection, so that though a thousand fall at their side and ten thousand at their right hand, it will not come nigh them. Ps. 91:1-10. The situation of the saints during the outpouring of the plagues will be like that of Israel during the plagues upon Egypt. These dreadful calamities which will come upon our earth before the people of God are taken from it, may be mentioned as the loosing of the four winds; the pouring out of the vials of God's wrath in pestilence, famine, and earthquake, and in the battle of the great day of God Almighty. It will be the hour of temptation for all the wicked world, when Satan shall exert his utmost power. To the wicked it will be the time of trouble such as never was; to the righteous it will be the time of Jacob's trouble, at which, in answer to their cry day and night, like the importunate widow, they will be delivered. Jer. 30:5-7; Gen. 32; Luke 18:7, 8. In view of this awful scene which must be witnessed by the people of God, Zephaniah calls upon all the meek of the earth to seek righteousness and meekness. And he adds, “It may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.” Zeph. 2:1-3. If they do their best in seeking God it is but barely possible that they will escape. And our Lord beseeches his people to watch and pray always, that they may be accounted worthy to escape the things coming on the earth, and to stand before the Son of man. Luke 21:36. If, therefore, this great time of trouble is to come upon our world after the close of Christ's intercession and before the deliverance of the saints, of what vast consequence is that final message of warning which reveals these great facts! Meetings in Missouri.
By George I. Butler
Our meetings here are largely attended, our audiences usually ranging from three hundred to eight hundred interested hearers. We were really crowded into speaking on the subject of the life and death question. So many came to ask us about it that we saw no other way but to take it up, and so far we see no abatement of the interest. Shall probably take up the Sabbath question by next Sunday. Quite a number have requested us "not to leave till we speak upon it," which of course pleases us. We stated in our bills on the start that we were "Seventh-day Adventists," and every report in the paper is headed, "The Seventh-day Adventists." So the people know of us. And we like this better than to have our name not known. That name is getting to be pretty well known to the world, and the impression it makes is not a bad one. Why should it not stand out everywhere? We have had a daily report three-fourths of a column long in the largest city daily, so far. We had a large temperance meeting in the tent Sunday afternoon, presided over by the two Methodist ministers of the place, and another is appointed for next Sunday afternoon. We talked a short time by the invitation of those conducting it. Pray for us. Sedalia, July 3. Geo. I. Butler. Switzerland and Illinois.
By Daniel T. Bourdeau
This morning I came to Orbe, a city of about three thousand inhabitants, situated between Lausanne and Neuchatel, to commence a series of meetings, having previously secured a hall and a boarding-place on reasonable terms. It is market day and I have improved the opportunity to advertise, first by advertising in the market place, in order to gain access to those from the country, and then from house to house. I have never seen a greater anxiety to read the hand-bills. I first went through Main street and got some to reading at different points, and gained the good-will of some of the children and youth. Then I went through a second and a third time, etc. Branching out on other streets, groups of from ten to twenty children, who had read or got their parents to reading, gathered around me asking for more for this one and that one, and helping me at every point, so that in less than three hours I had quite thoroughly advertised our meeting, and that with more than usual ease. Thank God for this good beginning. The first meeting will be held tomorrow evening. I expect Brother Andrews will be with me. My courage is good. I believe we shall see the salvation of God in Switzerland. We shall keep trying, and if they receive not our testimony in one city we shall go to another. But we expect to see souls converted to God. Encouraging news comes from the French brethren in Illinois. A France Frenchman of good abilities, who was favorable to our views when I left America, writes that he has fully united with the commandment-keepers of St. Anne; that Brother Paul Buzon, of St. Anne, is laboring with success nine miles north of Watseka (while supporting himself); that another brother in St. Anne, is encouraged by the conversion of three relatives, among whom is his mother-in-law aged seventy-three years, who had always been a Roman Catholic; that the French brethren and sisters generally are holding on and continue to have an interest in the work both at home and abroad. My P. O. address is still Morges, Vaud, Switzerland.
D. T. BOURDEAU.
Orbe, June 17, 1878. (Condensed from Review and Herald.)
WOODLAND AND CARIBOU.—Elder Goodrich reports having held meetings at Woodland, Sabbath and first-day, June 22 and 23. Brother Sawyer had given some lectures in this place on the prophecies, and Elder Mills baptized a number here last spring. Elder G. states: "We had freedom in speaking, and at the close of the evening meeting we requested all who believed the seventh day to be the Bible Sabbath to raise a hand. A goodly number of hands came up. Then we wished all who believed Sunday to be the right day to keep, and had a plain text to prove it, to raise a hand, but no one voted. Seven decided to keep the Lord's Sabbath, and we learn that one more has come out since we left. Our tent is now pitched in Caribou village, and we have given six discourses. A few are interested." GADSDEN AND ATTALA.—Elder A. O. Burrill writes July 1st: "About thirty are keeping the Sabbath at Gadsden, twenty-three of whom signed the covenant. We left G. one week ago. Last Sabbath we were with them and had a good Sabbath-school and meeting. One man came forty miles to see us and learn about the truth. He was here yesterday, and is to remain till he becomes more acquainted with the truth. We are having a good hearing at Attala. About two hundred and fifty were out yesterday. This is only five miles from Gadsden." NEWFANE.—Interesting meetings are being held in the tent at this place; and the attendance is large on an average. Elder S. B. Whitney writes, July 1: "Last evening the tent was crowded, and a hundred or more were seated outside on the fence and in carriages. Opposition discourses were given in both the churches in the morning on the immortality question, and all came to the tent in the evening to hear the other side. The Methodist minister came with his church, but the Baptist minister appointed a special praise-meeting in his church; but when the time came no one was seen to go to the church but the elder and his wife, and the sexton, and he came to the tent after ringing the bell. The Lord gives good freedom in advocating and defending the truth. To his name be all the praise." SABINSVILLE.—Brother T. M. Lane writes, July 1: "We have now been here two weeks. The interest is increasing. Fully three hundred were in attendance last evening. We are now speaking on the Sabbath question. Five have embraced the Sabbath, and we expect others will soon. We were challenged for a discussion by Elder Wilson, an Age-to-come Adventist. Question: Resolved that the Scriptures teach that probation continues after Christ's second coming. Brother Wilcox accepted the challenge. The discussion was held in the afternoon, in the tent. The truth gained a glorious victory. The discussion has helped us much, and we look for a good work to be done." CATARACT.—Eighteen meetings have been held in the tent at this place by Brethren Snow and Breed. Many of the people say they are convinced of the truth; and seven have decided to obey. NEW LONDON.—Elder Decker writes: "We have been here nearly two weeks. Have had an attendance of from one hundred and fifty to three hundred. The interest is good. Have spoken once on the law, and once on the Sabbath question. Two have decided to obey." THEY'LL be perfectly splendid, of course," said Kate Cox. "Connie Livingston is going to wear India mull, with puffs and quillings and lace, and Fan Ellis is to have pale blue silk; she knows what's good for a blonde, and Isa True white crape." "And what is Lou's?" asked Kate's audience. "Oh, mamma and she are not agreed yet. Lou wants silk and mamma says white is the only proper thing; she was a Holyokite, you know, and the law there was white and blue sashes." "Somewhat different style, though, I fancy, from the white of to-day, when your mamma graduated." "Just think of it, girls! Her dress was white Swiss muslin, full round waist, plain skirt and puffed sleeves, and her blue sash—she has it yet—is not as wide as my finger is long. How they must have looked!" "My mother says it was a great deal more sensible than the present way," remaked Cathie Floss. I never should dare to graduate now, for fear of being the dowdy of the class. All you hear the Seniors talk about is just dress, dress." "Oh, it's splendid, I think," said another. "Almost as good as one's first ball. I mean to make a sensation when my turn comes, and be got up regardless for once." "It will be her only hope," whispered Kate; "the sensation never'll come from the inside of her head. But it's stopped raining girls; let's go." And the merry group scattered down the stairs and homeward. Meanwhile, in the dressing-room adjoining, Chris sat on the floor listening to the lively chatter with a sudden dread numbing her heart. Her head had been so full of Mental Philosophy and Literature and Essays that she had forgotten she was to graduate in a dress, and now—silk and India mull! Poor Chris might as well expect a piece out of the blue sky as either of those. It had been such a happy life to study the dear books and feel that every day was bringing nearer the time when, as a teacher, she could help the patient, hard-working father and mother, and give the little ones a chance in the world. She had known they were poor and her classmates rich, but that had never troubled her sunny nature before. Everybody was good to Chris. Even the haughty Fan Ellis found it convenient to get her help over hard places, and as for Connie Livingston, whom Chris worshiped in a girl fashion, hadn't she many a sweet little note and kind word treasured away of hers? But this dress question. Connie in India mull with ruffles and lace was set entirely away. The little plain home in a poor street was reached at last, and Chris went in to find the busy mother with hands and lap full of mending and foot outstretched for baby to stand by. He crowed and shouted at sight of his sister, and Chris took him up and went to the window. "Mother," she said, after a while, "what am I going to wear to graduate in?" The mother sighed. She had thought of that a great deal. "I don't know, daughter," she said at last. "I did hope to get you a neat white, but times are so hard and father's wages are lowered and you have outgrown everything." "Yes," said Chris, "what can it be then?" "I don't see dear, how it can be anything more than light calico." "But the others are silk and mull and crape." "Yes, dear I know, and so does He who had not where to lay his head. Think it over in that way. You know, Chris, mother would if she could,"—and the voice trembled. "Yes, mother, never mind; It'll be all right I guess." But Chris sat the baby down and went up to her little room. She did not care much for supper, and the children wondered what made her so still. When she went up to bed, and Liz and Cora were sound asleep, the poor child sat down by the open window to think it out. But the great tears welled up, and finally the head sank on the window-seat and the aching heart said all the time, "It's very hard, very hard," and the tears rolled faster and faster. "When shall I go to look for my bonny calico, mother?" she asked in the morning. "Do you think you can be satisfied, Chris?" And such an anxious question as it was. The mother had lain awake too that night. "Of course I can, mother. It's me, not my dress, people must admire for once." "Here is the money, then. I have saved it as I could." Chris thought so when her pocket was weighed down with the nickels. But she realized, too, what the "savings" of her mother had been. Liz wanted to go, so her sister waited to comb the tangled hair and find the lost hat before starting out, throwing back kisses to Cora and baby. "I was afraid Chris would be broken-hearted quite," said the mother fondly; "but I do believe she's the best girl ever a mother had." And, meanwhile, up in a great block of stores Chris and Liz were turning over the many piles of prints, selecting first one and then another, until fairly bewildered with so many. "I think I'll have this," said Chris at last, choosing a white ground with a delicate sprig of black. "O Chris, take this. See, it's almost the same, but it's blue, and so pretty." "But I like this better dear." "Oh, no, this is so lovely." Now Liz was a girl of only eleven, and the black did seem the prettier; but Chris thought it did not matter so much as pleasing her sister. So Liz was gratified, the little bundle made up, and they went out. Just in front of the steps an old man was tottering along by the aid of an umbrella, and a careless newsboy brushed that from his hand as the girls came out of the glass doors. Chris sprang and picked it up and as she turned from handing it back, almost ran against an elegant lady who had just alighted from a carriage. "Good morning, Chris," said a young girl following the lady. "Good morning, Connie," answered Chris, blushing and stepping out of a party's way in time to hear Connie say:— "Mamma that's the girl I've told you about in our class." "A very sweet face," said Mrs. Livingston, and Chris blushed now in earnest. They were very busy days that followed. The dress got along but slowly, for lessons and baby must have the first places of course, but in that plain home the delicate print with its neatly-laid plaits, was the brightest thing that had come in for many a day, excepting the faces, and the children admired and thought it wonderful. It was almost examination-day, and Chris had stopped one night where she could have the quiet school room to go over the topics of that long Literature that was to be the final recitation of the Seniors, when she heard Fan Ellis' voice:— "I do wish some one would go over these topics with me. I never can recite unless I go over them once out loud. Wont some one hear me?" But the girls all had too much business of their own, and they realized what hearing Fan, the dunce of the class, would be. Chris saw her coming out of the dressing-room with tears on her cheeks. That touched her. "What is it, Fan? can I help you?" she asked from her corner. Fan turned. "Is that you, Chris? I want to go over my topics with some one, and the girls are all too busy. They have time enough for me when I have a treat." "O Chris, that's good! When?" "Now and here," was the reply. It was almost dark when the two girls left the school building, and the topics only two-thirds through then. "We'll finish to-morrow night," said Chris. "Thank you, Chris; I never studied so hard before, but you see my father is to be here, and he says if I do well he will give me a watch and chain, but if not I cannot have one for two years." "I hope you will," said Chris heartily; "and I guess you will, too." But she wondered about her own lesson until she found that helping to fix it in Fan's mind had been better for herself than any amount of study and so she was fully repaid. It was the night before graduating day, and Chris came home late to find the dress still unfinished. Baby had been sick all day and the mother looked pale and anxious. "Only one ruffle more for the overskirt, dear," but Chris knew that was three hours of hard work and it was already nearly nine o'clock. She went up to her little room a moment and then came back. "Let me try it all on, mother," she said then; "the children want to see it before they go to bed;" and after all had been duly admired, she said, "There is enough on it now, mother; and we'll hang it up till morning, when I'll come out like a queen, see if I don't." "But you wanted another ruffle, dear." "I did—but do not need it. You are tired, and it will do as it is. We'll have a good sleep, and I hope the baby will be all right in the morning. And the look of glad relief that came to the tired mother's face was ample reward for the girl's self-denial. But Chris was not to do all the good work of the world. While she was reading her essay that night to the professor, Connie Livingston called a secret session of Seniors in the dressing-room. Chris' eight classmates were on hand. "Girls," said Connie, "I've found out something splendid to do. Do you know Chris has got to graduate in a calico. Our sewing girl knows them, and she has seen it. She says it is just as sweet as a calico can be, but Chris felt dreadfully about it at first, of course, then she gave it all up. Now you all know Chris is just as good as she can be and has helped every one of us at some time." "That's so," said Fan Ellis, who had caught an approving smile from her father at the close of the long dreaded examination. "And she's got a splendid essay," continued Connie; "Miss Markham says so; and now let's each one engage one or two friends to throw her bouquets, so she'll be sure to have as many as anybody and be as happy as she deserves; will you agree?" The girls promised in Chorus. "And let's get her a fan," said one, "a pretty, plain white one. She'll be so pleased." So that was settled, and kept a surprise for Chris. It must be confessed that she made a very pretty picture at home, the trim black-kid boots, the neat dress with ruching at the throat and a pale rose-bud in place of jewels; but as she came to the great building and saw the crowds of gayly dressed ladies and elegant gentlemen going up the steps her heart sank a little, and she stole up the back stairs to the recitation-room where the class were to meet. They were all there when Chris opened the door, glorifying it, the girl thought for a moment, with the bright flash and glimmer of the trailing robes. "Here she is, girls!" exclaimed Connie, catching sight of the figure in the door. "How late you are, but come here, please, we have something sweet to tell you. Come, Fan." "Please accept this, Chris, from you classmates," said Fan gently. "We all wanted you to remember us," and the daintily-gloved hand laid the pretty box in Chris' ungloved one, and then they all eagerly watched the little blushing face with smiles and tears chasing over it as she unfolded her gift, and were more than thanked. Then Connie led her into the dressing-room. "I brought a flower on purpose for your golden locks, dear; let me put it in. There, that's lovely!" "You thought of me?" said Chris, lifting wondering eyes. "Why, of course, you pet! You have helped me to be a better girl, Chris, and I thank you for it always." Then they all went down together and took their seats on the platform, and as one after another came forward to that most dreaded ordeal, reading her essay and was thanked by thoughtful friends with bouquets and applause, Chris was so happy for each, and over her fan, and Connie's kiss, that her speaking face was fairly radiant; and when her name was called, the seventh on the list, she had no thought of fear, but her sweet, clear tones rendered the essay full of feeling. It was tender, and pathetic, and many hearts were touched by its simple words, but when it was finished, and Chris turned to go, there was a perfect storm of applause, led by Judge Livingston, and the bouquets came fast and thick. Chris sat down with her lap full, in a perfect maze, while every one of her classmates found occasion for the handkerchiefs they had provided only for ornaments. And so Chris learned that wearing love in the heart makes fair in all eyes the simplest dress.—Selected. PLEASURE is eagerly sought for by all, but more especially by the young. Webster defines pleasure to be, "The gratification of the senses or of mind; agreeable sensations or emotions; the excitement, relish, or happiness produced by the enjoyment or the expectation of good; opposed to pain. We receive pleasure from the indulgence of the appetite; from the view of a beautiful landscape; from the harmony of sounds; from the expectation of seeing an absent friend; from the prospect of gain or success of any kind. Pleasure, bodily and mental, carnal and spiritual, constitutes the whole of positive happiness, as pain constitutes the whole of misery." According to the definition, we may derive pleasure from various sources. We may feel pleasure by means that end in misery; or we may derive pleasure from that which is not pleasurable at the present moment. When the sensation of pleasure is caused by unlawful means, the pleasure is unlawful; if derived by means that are injurious to health, it is a violation of the laws of nature, and is therefore sinful.215 As God has made man capable of enjoying pleasure, he intends man to be happy; and as he created man capable of excitement, he intended man to be excited, and to receive pleasure from excitement. But he did not intend us to destroy our physical and mental powers by pleasurable excitement. There is a very close connection between the body and the mind; hence we may destroy the mind by excessive physical excitement, or we may destroy the body by excessive mental excitement; in either case a grievous sin is committed; hence the command to be temperate in all things. Some seek pleasure in drinking strong drink. By first contracting the appetite, they create a taste for strong drink. Then it gives pleasure to drink; but it is pleasure followed by pain, and regret, and the truly wise will shun the pleasure of the cup as a baleful enemy. Pleasure received from beholding a beautiful landscape is innocent, and therefore may be indulged. Pleasure derived from the harmony of sound is not only innocent, but it is profitable, elevating and purifying. A person could hardly become coarse, morose, or disagreeable under the pleasure derived from good sacred music. Pleasure is also derived from the expectation of future good. Then, that we may enjoy lasting pleasure, we should place before us the highest and most enduring good, and ever live in expectation of it. But what is that future good? Some suppose that it exists in large possessions of worldly goods; hence they direct all their energies to the acquisition of wealth, and they experience pleasure in the hope of success. But how many thousands fail, and their pleasure dies with their disappointed hopes; and even those who succeed learn by sad experience that
> "This world can never give
> The bliss for which we sigh." There is before us a fountain of future good that is higher, purer, and more enduring than aught that earth can give. That future good is laid up in heaven. Moth cannot corrupt it; thieves cannot break through and steal it; the unending ages of eternity cannot waste it. It is incorruptible, undefiled, and it fadeth not away. Reader, if you would enjoy real pleasure, live in full expectation of heavenly bliss; and that this expectation may be well grounded, hear the sayings of Christ, and do them. Thus you build upon a rock that cannot be moved. All your earthly friends may disappoint you, but Jesus will take you up. All your worldly prospects may fail, but heaven remains sure; mortal life itself may expire, but you shall enjoy eternal life, where all is pleasure forevermore. Thick green leaves from the soft brown earth,
Happy spring-time has called them forth ;
First faint promise of summer bloom
Breathes from the fragrant, sweet perfume,
Under the leaves. Lift them ! what marvelous beauty lies
Hidden beneath, from our thoughtless eyes !
May-flowers, rosy or purest white,
Lift their cups to the sudden light,
Under the leaves ! Are there no lives whose holy deeds—
Seen by no eye save His who reads
Motive and action—in silence grow
Into rare beauty, and bud and blow
Under the leaves ? Fair white flowers of faith and trust,
Springing from spirits bruised and crushed ;
Blossoms of love, rose tinted and bright,
Touched and painted with Heaven's own light,
Under the leaves. Full, fresh clusters of duty, borne,
Fairest of all in that shadow grown ;
Wondrous the fragrance, that sweet and rare
Comes from the flower-cups hidden there,
Under the leaves. Though unseen by our vision dim,
Bud and blossom are known to Him ;
Wait we content for His heavenly ray—
Wait till our Master, himself, one day
Lifteth the leaves. —Sel. But there is still another reason why flesh food cannot be considered as the best suited to supply the dietetic wants of man; viz., it is stimulating in its character. Now, since stimulation is a diseased process, always resulting from the effort of the system to expel from its domain some foreign and unusable material, flesh food must be injurious to just that degree that it is stimulating. Should it be denied that animal food is stimulating, we have only to notice its effects when freely used. We find all the attendant symptoms of stimulation, modified, of course; and we also find the same depression of energy following the augmentation of vital activity, which follows alcoholic stimulation, though less in degree. It is on account of this stimulant effect that those who use flesh food imagine that it imparts to them more strength than a simple vegetable diet. But we have another evidence of the stimulant character of meat which will doubtless be accepted even by those who are somewhat skeptical. We have already seen that all animal food contains a greater or less amount of foreign material—decomposed tissues and various other effete matters. This can be of no possible use in the system, and must be eliminated from it in some way. Here we have one of the conditions for the production of stimulation; and now let us observe if these substances do really produce that effect. A few years ago an article known as "Liebig's extract of meat" was introduced to the public, being highly recommended as a condensation of the nutritive constituents of beef. For a time it gained great reputation, but the crucial test of actual experiment revealed the fact that it was quite insufficient to sustain life, and really contained less nutriment than an equal quantity of beef. A more minute examination of the process of manufacture reveals the fact that this famous extract contains only the soluble portions of the meat. This, of course, excludes entirely the albuminous or nutrient portions. The article comprises, then, little else than the broken-down structures and decomposed tissues of the body which are necessarily soluble for the purpose of excretion. In accordance with this fact, Edward Smith, M. D., F. R. S., in his recent popular work entitled, "Foods," in speaking of the article under consideration, remarks that "it should be classed with such nervous stimulants as tea and coffee, which supply little or no nutriment. Since the article in question is derived wholly from meat, and that without undergoing any decomposition, there can be no escape from the conclusion that animal food is in a degree stimulating, and consequently is thus much injurious. No fact is better established, at the present day, than that stimulation is not increased strength, but merely increased activity incident upon the agitation and irritation of the vital powers. Indeed, it is fairly proved that stimulants always decrease the vital power and energy in the end. The apparent increase of muscular power which a flesh-eater feels, is, consequently, no more an argument in favor of flesh-eating than is a similar experience with the drunkard in favor of the habit of drinking whisky. It is sometimes objected that meat is not a pure stimulant, and that being nutritious, as well as stimulating, its effects must be wholly different from those which result from using such stimulants as alcohol, brandy, etc. This is partially true, but not in the light in which it is commonly presented. Meat cannot be considered as injurious to the system as pure stimulants; but it is equally injurious to the extent that it is stimulating. The stimulating and nutrient portions of flesh are two wholly distinct elements. That portion of the meat which is nutritious is not in the least stimulating. The stimulating portion is foreign, effete, poisonous matter, and is not in the slightest degree nutritious. The effect of eating meat is, physiologically, precisely the same as would be that of eating any kind of wholesome, nutritious food mixed with some poisonous, innutritious stimulant. RELIGIOUS NEWS AND NOTES.
—There are 3,381 Baptist lay preachers in England. —St. Paul's Cathedral, London, is to have a new $30,000 peal of bells. —The Southern Presbyterians raised last year $47,225 for foreign missions. —The English revisers of the New Testament are revising for the second time the Second Epistle to the Corinthians. —The English Sunday-school Union makes the following report; 4,253 schools, 103,669 teachers, and 951,063 scholars, of whom nearly 4,000 teachers and 12,104 scholars made profession during the past year. —It is stated that a copy of the famous Mazarine Bible is about to be sold at Hotel Droubt, Paris. This edition dates from the fifteenth century, is printed on parchment, only seven were ever made, and the copy discovered sold for $17,000. —The Old Catholic Synod has, by a vote of 75 to 22, declared in favor of marriage of the clergy. —The Congregationalists furnish in England accommodations in their churches for 1,014,413 people; the Baptists for 913,785; the Wesleyan Methodists for 1,702,724; the church of England for about 12,531,400. There are about three millions for whom no sittings are provided. —In the recent Diocesan Convention of the Protestant Episcopal church in Michigan, it was proposed that the clergy and laity of the diocese pledge themselves to do without tobacco three months in order to raise money to educate candidates for the ministry. The proposition was voted down, one of the lay delegates remarking he could not vote to deprive the ministers of any of their little comforts! —K. A. Burnell and his brother have closed their one hundred days of Christian work in India. They have traveled over two thousand miles, visited thirty-two towns, and averaged about three meetings per day. The daily union prayer-meetings of Madras, Allahabad, and Calcutta were direct and natural outgrowths of the services, and have promise of permanent good.