p. 136 | Review and Herald, Vol. 38, No. 17. (10/10/1871)

Cling to the Mighty One.

By M. E. Williams

“Fear thou the Lord, and thou shalt then Have nothing else to fear; Make thou his service thy delight, He’ll make thy wants his care.”

“If God is for us, he is more than all they that can be against us.” Though dangers surround us on every hand, no harm can befall us without his permission. And though Satan and all his host combine against us, yet he in whom we trust is mightier far; and if we keep hold of his all-powerful arm, he will protect and keep us.

At a time when I was greatly discouraged, and almost in despair, I dreamed that I was sinking in deep, dark waters, whose waves washed over me. As far as my eye could reach, I could not see even a straw to cling to. I thought I must certainly perish, when close at my side there appeared a hand which I quickly grasped, and looking up, I saw a powerful arm, which seemed to be reached down from Heaven. With both hands I clung fast to that strong arm, and felt that I was safe.

Surely, thought I, as I awoke, If I cling fast to the arm of the Lord, it will be well with me; for his arm bringeth salvation; and I was encouraged to struggle on. Strong temptations come between us and God at times; and how often, instead of resisting them, we yield to them and bring upon ourselves darkness and anguish of spirit. But when we cry out, Lord, save or I perish, how quickly is his hand reached down for our aid. His loving-kindness changeth not. ’Tis sweet to trust in the God of the universe, to feel that we are safe because we dwell under the shadow of the Almighty.

If we will only cling fast to his arm, he will bring us safely over the rough seas, and through the fires, till we reach the home above. M. E. WILLIAMS.

Millgrove, N. Y.

Beloved of the Lord.

By Cathrine Lindsay

THERE is no joy like that which springs from knowing that we are beloved of the Lord. I sometimes try to comprehend the ecstasy that must have thrilled the heart of Daniel, when after three long weeks of mourning, fasting, and prayer, for wisdom to know and understand the vision, he heard the salutation of the angel, “O Daniel, a man greatly beloved!” Not only was wisdom and understanding granted, but he received the divine assurance that he was highly esteemed at the court of Heaven, greatly beloved by the divine Ruler of the universe. Let us think for a moment what a privilege it is to be thus honored. Men scheme and strive for years to win the favor of some poor mortal ruler of our earthly kingdom, and feel highly exalted to be the praised and petted favorites of an earthly court. But few are willing like Daniel to spend weeks praying and fasting to win favor of God and gain a place in the courts of Heaven.

So prone are mortals to look at the things that are seen and to be dazzled by the gilded splendor of earthly greatness, that they lose sight of the heavenly inheritance. But if like Daniel they had enjoyed but a foretaste of the divine favor, how vain and insipid would the flattery of a poor worm of earth seem, though swaying a kingly scepter, and ruling the leading kingdom of this world.

No doubt Daniel felt all this when he returned to fill his place in the Persian court. What was high earthly position? what was the favor and good will of even a Cyrus to one greatly esteemed at the court of Heaven? Was not Daniel in the lion’s den as much a prince as when the third ruler in the kingdom?

And if we turn to the Lord as he did with fasting and prayer, and put away our sins by righteousness, and our iniquities by turning to the Lord, our mind will become so impressed with the glory and beauty of the heavenly inheritance that the glitter of the wealth and fashions of earth will have no power to draw us aside from the narrow way; for when compared with the city of God, how worthless and vain does all beneath the sun appear!

May the Lord in mercy grant that each and every one of us who have tasted the good word of the Lord and felt the power of a world to come, may seek like Daniel for wisdom to comprehend divine things, and like him receive the assurance that we are beloved of the Lord.

CATHRINE LINDSAY.

Hygeian Home, Florence, N. J.

Good Nature at Home.

No trait of character is more valuable in a wife than the possession of a sweet temper. Home can never be made happy without it. It is like the flowers that spring up in our pathway, reviving and cheering us. Let a man go home at night, wearied and worn out by the toils of the day, and how soothing is a word dictated by a sweet disposition! It is sunshine shining on his heart. He is happy, and the cares of life are forgotten. A sweet temper has a soothing influence over the mind of the whole family. When it is found in the wife and mother, you find kindness and love predominating over the natural feelings of a bad heart. Smiles, kind words and looks, characterize the children, and peace and love have their dwelling there. Study, then, to acquire and retain a sweet temper.

The Grand and Noble Man Should Be Simple

THE more grand and noble a man is in his actions, the more simple he ought to be in his conversation and manners.

A Spasm of Virtue.

The public mind is just now undergoing a violent spasmodic action in favor of certain aspects of common morality. The chain of circumstances which has led to the present earnest, excited state of public feeling is very remarkable.

First in order came the New York riot of the 12th of July, which opened the eyes of the people to the insolent assumptions of our Roman Catholic population, while its prompt and effectual suppression braced the public sentiment against the rising tide of popish influences as nothing for many years has been able to do.

Then came the Westfield disaster, with its two hundred killed and scalded victims, followed by the railway accident near Boston and the explosion in Mobile bay, which together added nearly one hundred killed to the list of the dead. These catastrophes threw a ghastly light upon the rapacity of corporations which imperil daily the lives of travelers to avoid the expense which would assure their safety.

Meanwhile the corruptions suddenly unearthed in the municipal government of New York startled the whole country. From the revelations made, it appeared that at least ten millions of dollars had been paid away in payment of bills fraudulent in amount, and that the debt of the city had been increased more than sixty-three millions of dollars without the knowledge of the public, since the time when the present mayor entered on his office. Abuses almost as flagrant were discovered in the Quarantine management and in the city jail, the officials in both having employed their station as a means of extortion and plunder of which hitherto there has been no general knowledge, and for which the victims had no redress. Abuses in the School Board were found to have reduced the average number of pupils in attendance during 1869, more than three hundred below what it was the previous year, although at the same rate of increase, as had been shown for several years previous, and with the largely increased accommodations, the average attendance ought to have been, at least six thousand greater than before. These revelations have led to such an uprising of popular indignation as New York has not witnessed since the war, and to vigorous and determined measures of correction and redress.

The effect of these disclosures has been increased by the discovery of the embezzlement of funds of the State of Pennsylvania, a Republican administration in this instance being guilty.

While the public mind is exercised by these facts, suddenly the customary cloak of concealment is torn off from another class of evils that fester beneath the fair surface of society, more dangerous than any already mentioned and more difficult of correction. The body of a fair young woman is discovered packed in a trunk at a railway depot in New York, and checked to Chicago. By a series of steps which read like a chapter of romance, the body was identified and the guilt of the murder fastened on a known abortionist, while in the neighboring city the young man who had caused her ruin, shoots himself when he reads the developments in the morning papers. Swiftly after this horrible tale comes the report of another, and then a third, victim to these hellish arts, and the arrest of the disreputable practitioner brings to light evidence of the ample and lucrative business which the impurity and selfishness of society had been bringing to their doors.

It is no blind chance which has placed these fearful disclosures of two months in such startling conjunction. God has designs of deep and gracious wisdom in thus compelling the attention of the people of this land to the alarming evils that are working in our political and social life. It may be the means of quickening the moral sense of the Christian community and arousing them to a united, determined, and overwhelming movement for political and social purity. But we have little hope indeed for such immediately favorable result. The pending movement for political reform in New York will undoubtedly be temporarily successful, but it has not the element of a thorough and permanent reformation. It is, we fear, a spasm, violent but transient, and in itself no symptom of cure. In all the discussions which it has provoked on the platform, in the papers, and even in the pulpit, hardly a word has been said of the responsibility of the city and its government to God. The prophets of the hour can see no higher than the responsibility of the officials to the tax-payers. That which is the one truth of the history of Babylon and Nineveh, of Tyre and Sidon, of Rome and of Paris, that cities are judged and punished or rewarded by the God of Heaven, seems to occur to few minds in our great metropolis, or elsewhere. The only thing which can save us is a movement of deep and genuine repentance toward God, and firm and steadfast determination to purify our private, social, and political life, according to the standard of his revealed will.—Christian Statesman.

News and Miscellany.

“Can ye not discern the signs of the times?”

Queen Victoria a Spiritualist.

WHATEVER may be the truth in regard to the report that Queen Victoria intends to abdicate the throne of England, it is known that she has been laboring for some years past under at least one phase of mental infirmity. She has a firm conviction that Prince Albert is always present with her, and that she can hold communication with him. Her private rooms are arranged as they were when he was alive. His chair is placed opposite to her own in the library, and the books which he delighted to read to her are arranged lovingly, in order, upon the table. In some of her moods she will converse with him for an hour together, conducting her share of the conversation aloud and with the vigor and interest of old times. He had taught her by his example, the success of his business enterprises—especially by his management of the Duchy of Cornwall—to superintend as much as possible all her private affairs herself; to reduce all unnecessary expenditures, and to forbid extravagance. Hence, the greatest simplicity is observed at the Queen’s table, and she imagines that her husband looks on well pleased. At times, when she is more than ordinarily impressed with a sense of his presence, the poor, fond woman will order a knife and fork to be placed on the dinner-table for him, and cause the attendants to place every course before the empty chair as if the master still occupied it. Every morning a pair of boots are cleaned and set down against the door of the chamber which he once occupied; and at breakfast, when in Scotland, she will often sit a long time in silence, waiting for the prince. The Queen’s strong belief in the communion of the living with the spirits of the dead she received, no doubt, from Prince Albert himself, who was a sort of theosophist—a something between Jacob Behmen, the mystic, and J. G. Fichte, the philosopher of transcendentalism. Whatever may be thought of it as a theory of philosophical or religious belief by sober, common sense people, it is to Victoria a source of great consolation, and she often talks with the prince concerning the state of the soul after death. She has been gradually withdrawing from public life for some years past, and lives in a world of her own. Her harp and her easel are both neglected, and she neither sings, plays, nor paints, except at rare intervals, when she will sweep her harp-strings for a few moments in memory of some sweet German air that her husband loved to sing or to hear sung.

Appointments and Quarterly Meeting Notices

Appointments.

And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is at hand

EMMETT, Mich., at the school-house near Bro. Luke’s, Sabbath, Oct. 14. Probably baptism will be administered. J. BYINGTON.

CHESANING, Mich., Sabbath and Sunday, Oct. 14, 15; Tuscola, Sabbath and Sunday, Oct. 21, 22; Vassar, Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 24, 25; Watrousville, Sabbath and Sunday, Oct. 28, 29; Lapeer, Sabbath and Sunday, Nov. 4, 5. I. D. VAN HORN.

WATERLOO, Grant Co., commencing Thursday evening, Oct. 19, and continuing every evening till the 30th. The 28th and 29th will be the quarterly meeting. Victory, Vernon Co., Wis., Nov. 2–6, which will be a quarterly meeting also. Liberty Pole, Vernon Co., Wis., Nov. 9–20. The 18th and 19th will be the quarterly meeting. Kickapoo Center, Nov. 23–27, which will be the quarterly meeting. We hope that there will be a general rally at all the above meetings, as it will be the last visit we shall be able to give that field of labor for some time. I. SANBORN. D. DOWNER.

BRIGHTON, Iowa, Sabbath and Sunday, Oct. 21 and 22. I desire a general attendance of the brethren and sisters of the surrounding churches, and hope our friends will make a special effort to be prepared to pay up all arrearages on our periodicals at this meeting. GEO. I. BUTLER.

THE next quarterly meeting in the New England Conference will be held in New Ipswich, N. H., the 28th and 29th of October. As this is the annual meeting of the New England Tract Society, and as the subject of procuring homes for the homeless, such as widows and orphans, will be considered, we trust it will be a meeting of interest to every lover of present truth. S. N. HASKELL.

No PREVENTING Providence, we will meet with the churches in Iowa as follows: With the district comprising the churches of Brighton, Pilot Grove, Washington, Richland and Sigourney; at Brighton, Oct. 28 and 29; with the churches of Monroe, Sandyville, and Knoxville at Sandyville, Nov. 4 and 5; with the churches of Woodburn, Peru, Adel and Afton, near Woodburn, Nov. 11 and 12. J. T. MITCHELL, HENRY NICOLA.

So. Lancaster, Mass

By Stephen N. Haskell

Notice.

Will those brethren who have paid me money within the last two months, to be credited on the Health Institute or Publishing Association, please examine their receipts in this week's REVIEW, and if there be any mistakes, please notify me at once!

S. N. Haskell.

So. Lancaster, Mass

English Bibles.

WE have on hand a good supply of English Bibles which we offer, post paid, at the following prices:

Diamond, Marg. Ref., Morocco, Gilt, $1.50 Pearl, " " " ", 2.25 Nonpareil, Ref. after verse, " ", 2.75 " Marg. Ref., Circuit, 3.25 Minion, Ref. after verse, Morocco, 3.00 " Marg. Ref., Circuit, 4.25

The Review and Herald.

TERMS:

If paid in advance, ... $2.00 a year.

If not paid in three months, ... $2.50 a year.

When ordered by others for the poor, ... $1.50 a year.

When ordered by friends, for their friends on trial, $1.50 year.

Address REVIEW & HERALD, BATTLE CREEK, MICH.

Response to Liberal Propositions.

By James White

Our several State Conferences have, by unanimous vote, assumed the responsibility of the payment of all debts to this Office for the REVIEW AND HERALD, the Health Reformer, and the Youth’s Instructor. This will be regarded by all as very liberal, and showing a general interest in the cause.

But the plan upon which our publishing work is conducted, makes such action on the part of our people simply appear reciprocal, rather than in the light of disinterested benevolence. If our publishing was carried on by one man, or by a firm, who should realize profits from it, any action on the part of our Conferences to be responsible for the payment of our periodicals would be regarded as misplaced benevolence. But the entire property of the Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association belongs to our people, and not to one man, or any set of men. And those who labor at our publishing house, from the little girl who folds papers to the editors, receive moderate wages. No one connected with the work has received, during the past three years, more than twelve dollars per week. And as prices in general come down, the wages of those connected with the publishing work will also come down.

We have asked the brethren in the several States to take an interest in our periodicals in the following particulars:—

To see that they do not go to unworthy persons who neglect to pay for them.
To see that the worthy poor do receive them, and to take a general interest in a much wider circulation of them.
To see that those who are able to pay for them, do pay for them, or in case they do not pay, have them discontinued.
That each Conference become responsible for the payment of all sums due from subscribers within the limits of the Conference, the Association deducting one-fourth on all periodicals sent to the worthy poor, and on all sums due from unworthy persons, who may refuse to pay.

The Association proposes in turn to furnish to the President of each Conference, with proper restrictions, full lists of subscribers for our three periodicals, from time to time, as it may be necessary, and leave it to his judgment, and that of those associated with him in office, who, and how many, should have our periodicals free. It will be left to them to decide, and not the Trustees of the Publishing Association, what names shall be retained upon our lists, and what shall be stricken off. All appeals and requests that our periodicals may be sent free, or at part price, may be referred to the presidents of the several Conferences for their decision. It is, therefore, left to each Conference through its officers to say how many copies of our publications it will pay for, the Association deducting one fourth.

In behalf of the Trustees of the S. D. A. Publishing Association, we express sincere and grateful thanks to the several State Conferences for their liberal resolutions touching this important subject, and would here also express ardent desire that the united action of the people of all our Conferences, and the managers of our publishing interests, may very soon place all our periodicals on the strict and prompt pay-in-advance plan.

JAMES WHITE. Pres’t S. D. A. P. A.

To Correspondents.

By Editor

We learn that the mail car bound east from Chicago, on the 6th inst., was destroyed by fire. If any of our correspondents sent us letters which would be due on that train, they will understand why they have not come to hand.

European Socialism and Working-Class Discontent

Bismarck’s assertion that the social problem troubles him more than the political situation, shows that the upheaving and revolutionary movements among the laboring classes of Europe are exciting the attention of every keen observer. M. D. Conway writes from London, that socialism is at present the most prominent feature of European experiences. The laboring classes are tired of monopolizing the toil and hardship of life, while others have more than is required even for their luxury. Angry workmen are continually meeting and discussing the overthrow of society as it is now constituted, and the repudiation of Christianity. Both systems are in Europe identified in their minds with the oppression and misery they endure. Says Mr. Conway:

“I have again and again heard Christianity denounced amid vehement plaudits as one of the despots whose throne is to be overthrown. The reason is not far to seek. Every tyrant and every monarch of Europe is at the same time the official head of a Christian church. Political offenders have been for ages imprisoned or shot in the name of Christ. Now the mass of the people do not care at all what Christianity may have been in ancient times, they look only for what it means to-day. To them it means the monarchs who feast while their subjects starve, the bishops with fat livings, the intriguing priests; and this being the only Christianity accessible to them, they hate it. I believe there is not one Radical in Europe who will consent to be called a Christian.”

Brigham Young Arrested and the Decline of Mormonism

THE arrest of Brigham Young without resistance, it is to be hoped, indicates the near approach of the end of polygamy and Mormonism in Utah. He was arrested for adultery. It is reported that he will be rearrested for being accessory to a murder. If convicted under either indictment, the Mormon prophet will be confined in prison for a term of years. This result will, almost necessarily, break up the Mormon establishment. And this result is probable, if the proof can be had, as the late ruling of Judge McKean will exclude Mormons from the jury. As to any rebellion, or armed resistance on the part of the Mormon, the General in command at Salt Lake City is taking ample precautions, by strengthening the regular army garrison, while the United States authorities have already disarmed the Mormon militia, and can rely upon the assistance of several thousand hardy miners who have gone into the silver mines from California, Nevada, and other States and Territories, and who most cordially hate the Mormons. Such an event as this arrest, a few years ago, would have been impossible, and the attempt would have produced an instant rebellion. It is, therefore, a conspicuous mark of progress, showing the declining power of Mormonism in Utah.

It now seems probable that the final settlement of the vexed problem of Mormonism and polygamy in Utah will constitute another of the great triumphs of President Grant’s administration, and that it will be accomplished without a resort to military force, by the peaceful agency of the civil law.—Det. Post.

The Persian Famine.

LONDON, Oct. 3.—Mr. Savil Dickinson writes from Teheran, giving an account of the condition of affairs in the famine-stricken provinces of Schorassan. He says that during the month of July, 8,000 persons perished in the city of Meschid, and that 40,000 of the inhabitants had been carried off into slavery by the Afghans, who had taken advantage of the general disorganization to make incursions for plunder. Bakers demanded such exorbitant prices for bread that the authorities had to intervene, and a number of the extortioners have been executed. Mr. Dickinson says the country is disturbed by an insurrection. The pestilence still rages, and its horrors are increased by destructive inundation. Yet, notwithstanding the fearful situation of the country and people, the Persian government has refused to avail itself of the aid proffered by the governments of Great Britain and Russia.

Opium-Eating Among Brooklyn's Residents and Beyond

OPIUM-EATING is not confined to the “Heathen Chinese.” One of the Brooklyn papers says that there are individuals in that city who consume from $75 to $100 worth of this drug per year. A country physician says if he could have the exclusive sale of the opium consumed in the town where he resides, he could make a fortune without charging exorbitant prices. The habit of opium-eating is easier to conceal than that of liquor drinking, but is equally, if not more, destructive to both body and mind.

Business Department.

Not Slothful in Business. Rom. 12:11.

Business Notes.

John Wakeling: Spirit of Prophecy Vol. 2 not ready yet.

RECEIPTS

For Review and Herald.

Annexed to each receipt in the following list, is the Volume and Number of the REVIEW & HERALD TO which the money receipted pays—which should correspond with the Numbers on the Posters. If money to the paper is not in due time acknowledged, immediate notice of the omission should then be given.

$2.00 EACH. W W Putnam 40-1, Mrs C M Tenny 40-17, Mahala Jackson 40-19, Sophia Matthews 39-1, C Scovull 40-17, J Wakeling 40-5, Mrs G Osterhout 40-18, Thomas Paton 40-1, P B Peterson 42-1, Eld G I Butler 40-9, H Beardsley 40-16, Alfred Hobbs 40-16, H Stimpson 40-14, Thomas Hibban 40-14, Thos Nettleingham 40-14, George Foreman 40-14, M Beardsley 40-14, John Trotman 40-18, N Ward 39-2, Mrs M Shook 40-10, P M Shumway 40-14, Mrs W Chipman 40-16, J L Grew 40-11, David Burdick 40-24, Warren Sanborn 41-1, J H Morrison 39-19, Mrs A Grimes 41-1, M N Cross 40-17, F T Wales 39-8, R S Tyler 40-10, Leonard Ross 40-14, S Osburn 39-11, A L Hussey 39-4, S E Southerland 39-1, J W Snyder 40-17, George Barrows 40-20, S Harriman 40-13.

$1.50 EACH. A N Dybarge 40-16, Wm Axford 40-17, Al Colburn 40-17, B B French 40-17, Julia Briggs 40-17, Betsey Johnson 40-17, Sallie McCorkle 40-17, Mrs A M Clarke 40-17, S Emmerson 40-17.

$1.00 EACH. Marion Covert 39-16, Mrs A P Covey 39-17, Hester Ferguson 39-11, A J Nelson 40-10, R C Ashley 39-6, Mrs George Berry 39-16, E B Carpenter 39-14.

Miscellaneous.

T A Hulet $5.00 41-1, Mattie Tenny 25c 38-19, H A Mead 64c 38-17, M Gould 3.50 40-14, E A Stone 50c 40-17, M A Streeter 4.00 39-1.

Shares in Publishing Association.

George Brooks and wife $10.00, Nathan Anise 10.00, C L Sweet 10.00, Elisha Holly 10.00, Emma F Farnsworth 10.00, L & C P A Wardell 20.00, A J Richmond 10.00, R F Cottrell 10.00, Mrs R F Cottrell 10.00, T P 10.00, Sands H Lane 10.00, Ann P Seaward 10.00, A W Cummings 10.00, J Claxton 10.00, Mrs Jane Claxton 10.00, L Bean 10.00, E A Stone 10.00, J B Goodrich 10.00, A B Atwood 10.00, Thomas Greer 50.00, Mrs Ann Reed 10.00.

Donations to S. D. A. P. Association.

Henry Martin $5.00, Mary Ann Gould 1.00, Hattie Haskell 1.00, Mary Haskell 1.00, J Kellogg 5.00, L & C P A Wardell 5.00, D Webster 5.00.

Shares in the Health Institute.

Ellen Searls $25.00, Mary E Haskell 25.00, L & C P A Wardell 25.00, R F Cottrell 75.00, Asa Lockwood 25.00, Thomas Greer 25.00, Mrs Ann Reed 25.00.

Donations to Health Institute.

Hattie Haskell $1.00, Mary Haskell 1.00, E Heald 1.00, D Webster 5.00, M Chapman 1.00, Ann M Johnson 10.00.

Cash Received on Account.

S N Haskell $105.00, John Matteson 12.93, Geo I Butler 5.00, J E Titus 2.00.

Books Sent by Mail.

M P Allen $4.00, Mrs C F Hurlburt 2.95, C E Shepard 50c, M A Clark 1.25, H S Richardson 10c, J Sutherland 1.00, E W Boynton 4.00, E A Prescott 50c, Hattie Champer 3.00.

Books Sent by Express.

Mrs Orrin Gillett, Parma, Mich., $4.00.

Books Sent by Freight.

Sands H Lane, Gosport, Owen Co., Ind., $12.84.

General Conference Fund.

New England Conference $550.00, Church at Greenville 25.00.

Michigan Conference Fund.

Church at Greenville $50.00.

Book Fund---$10,000 Wanted.

Amount received heretofore.—$3955.90.

Five dollars each.—R. F. Cottrell, A. L. Guilford.

Miscellaneous.—Eunice P. Osgood $1.00, Betsey M. Osgood 1.00, Henry S. Priest 1.00, Widow Locke 2.00, Peter Bates 1.10, “Gratitude” 1.00, M. M. Osgood (thank-offering) 2.00.