Earlier text: Constantine and the Sunday Law: Pagan OriginsCYRUS, having taken prisoners Tigranes and his queen, inquired of the conquered monarch what he would give as a ransom for his wife. “Give?” replied the Armenian king, “I will give all that I have in the world and my life besides!” Cyrus was so impressed with his heroic devotion to his queen that he freely gave to both of them life and liberty. Conjugal love and gratitude outweighed all other feelings. So noble was Tigranes in his wife’s sight that she forgot, as it were, the Persian king before whom she knelt. So the believer, enamoured of Him who is altogether lovely, his Saviour, his ransom, his all, feels that none is worthy a moment’s comparison with him. Like the disciples on the mount, he sees no man save Jesus only.—Sel. Deliverance from the Sea.
A WRITER in the London Times recently says: “A Norwegian paper is relating a tale of an almost miraculous preservation. The captain of the schooner Amazon, of Stavanger, recently arrived at Bergen with a cargo of salt, reports that in passing the British Channel he had the opportunity of saving a British lad of fifteen under very peculiar circumstances. The Amazon was about twelve geographical miles from the British shore, when the captain thought he observed through his telescope something floating on the water. He altered his course so as to get nearer, and soon discovered that it was a small boat, in which a lad was lying, fast asleep. The shouting from the schooner did not awake him, but when a small log was thrown over into the boat he awoke with a sudden start; an end of a line was thrown to him, and he was just able to fasten it when he swooned, and had to be carried on board the vessel. In the boat nothing was found but a pair of oars and a Bible. The lad, when brought back to life and strength by the tender care shown to him, gave the following account: He was sitting on the shore reading his Bible, when some of his companions came down to him and teased him with the manner in which he spent his leisure time. To escape from their banter he got into a boat, and kept on reading, when suddenly he discovered, to his great dismay, that his persecutors had cut the line and left his frail boat to the power of the quick-running ebb. He tried to use the oars, but struggled in vain against wind and water, and, as a dense fog set in, he lost sight of land. After several hours of alternate struggle and powerless despair, he fell asleep, and sleep remained, in fact, his only comfort against hunger, cold, and the deep pangs of his isolation, during the three days and two nights which he had spent in his frail boat, when he was at last seen and saved.” Verily, the Lord has a care for them that love him, and delivers such as hope in his mercy. The tongue is the glory of the human frame. Ps. 16:9; 30:12; Acts 2:26. It can be put to the choicest and holiest uses. It speaks the glory of the most high God. It utters his lofty praise. It tells of all his righteous acts and wondrous works. It proclaims the story of his love. It unfolds the wondrous tale of Christ’s sacrifice for sins. It declares the fullness of his redemption. It shouts the glad tidings of peace from the mountain tops. It proclaims pardon to the dying, and life to the dead. It confesses before men Him by whom we hope to be confessed before the Father and his angelic hosts. It shall finally lift on high the song of triumph, victory, and peace, when redemption is accomplished and toils and conflicts are forever past. Such an instrument as this is of vast importance, and no wonder that Satan seeks to control it and pervert its action. How fearfully does he do this, until the tongue which should be touched as with a coal from the altar of the Most High, becomes a devastating flame, which setteth on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire of hell. How many sins come from a misgoverned tongue! Without its agency there would be no quarrels, no slanders, no falsehoods, no blasphemies, no flatteries, no evil speakings, no foolish speeches, no bitter, sinful, taunting, sneering, idle words; and none of the evil consequences that attend them. Words have broken hearts, blighted hopes, desolated homes, overturned nations, seduced the unwary, deluded the simple, led astray the wayward, stumbled the weak, discouraged the tempted, debased the virtuous, beguiled the intemperate, ruined prospects, blackened reputations, wrecked health—yea, they have destroyed life itself. No wonder that the psalmist said, “I will take heed to my ways, that I SIN NOT WITH MY TONGUE; I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me.” Ps. 39:1. Words once spoken cannot be recalled. Often words which do incalculable damage to others are spoken carelessly, or upon false information. No man can fully know the mischief wrought by the tongue. How many has it cast down! how many afflicted! how many destroyed! We speak of words as light, and cheap, and vain, and empty. But speech is our most spiritual act; it most fully shows our true character. By our words God reckons all our character. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” “By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned.” “For every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of Judgment.” Oh, these sins of the tongue! How they shall bow the soul in the awful Judgment day. “In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin;” and what multitudes of words are poured out on every hand from hour to hour! Let us pause. Let us pray, “Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips!” Let us take heed that we sin not with the tongue, remembering that “if any man offend not in WORD, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.” And let our cry be that of the psalmist, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my Redeemer.” Ps. 19:14.—The Christian. Forbidden Ground.
By Nettie Smith
WHEN the Lord placed our first parents in the beautiful garden of Eden, they were to have free access to every spot in it except one. There was one spot of forbidden ground, and they lingered near this forbidden spot just long enough to be beguiled into sin, and leave their offspring an inheritance of woe. Since the way into paradise has been closed, the avenues to sin have multiplied, until all around us we find forbidden ground. Everywhere temptations are presented, and at times we are led to cry out, Is there no one to aid us in striving to shun these forbidden paths? Jesus came down to this dark world “to seek and to save that which was lost.” As we go back to Calvary, and, sitting beneath the shadow of the cross, hear that cry of agony, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” do we believe that he bore this grief for us? Do we realize that our sins cost the life of the dear Saviour who never was guilty of sin? Do we show by our daily conversation and intercourse that we have faith in the blood of Jesus? Are we willing to give up our friends, society, fashion, all for Jesus? Are we willing to climb Peter’s ladder of perfection until we shall have reached the top, and are fitted to reign with Christ? Jesus says, “Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” In Isa. 43: 2, we read this comforting passage: “When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” Precious promises! Now that Jesus has gone to Heaven we are not left alone. Still he is pleading in our behalf, for he knows our frame and pities us. We may go to him for strength to shun temptation, and he will hear our cry if we ask in humility; and when the Saviour comes to gather his saints together, we may be among those that go to dwell in Eden restored, nevermore to tread on forbidden ground. Girard, Ill., Aug. 14, 1875. Things that Endure.
By Celia Burleigh
DID you ever think what it must be to be shut away from all the activities which are so much to you—to give up the work that you love, the plans that you have laid, the pleasures that you enjoy—to be shut up with pain and weariness, left alone with yourself? Sooner or later this experience comes to most of us. We find ourselves with nothing to interpose between us and our own soul. It is a great thing to have friends about one at such a time, but a still greater to be at peace with one's self. As we sit in that solitude, unable to work, unable to read, unable to converse with friends, how fortunate are we if memory brings us the record of days well spent, good deeds done, kind words spoken. Then, indeed, may the sick-room be the vestibule of Heaven, its stillness freighted with the peace of God. In one of the families where I visited recently, was an old man, blind and deaf, and almost helpless. Passing through the room where he sat, looking into the still face, I tried to picture to myself the world in which he lived. Does he live over again, thought I, his far-away childhood? Does his mother's face shine in upon the darkness in which he sits? Do his youthful days come back to him, and were they innocent, unselfish, such as it gives him pleasure to recall? Was he a good husband and father, and a useful member of society? Did the poor find in him a helper—the wronged and oppressed a friend? Then is the darkness in which he sits only apparent, not real. All the past befriends him and makes populous his solitude. He has laid up a store of the things that endure; they serve him in the winter of age; they procure for him divine compensations and abundant entrance into life. We are not half particular enough about the motives and acts that we admit into our lives. We are particular about the people we invite to our houses and admit into our families; how is it that we are so careless about the thoughts that come and go in the secret chambers of the soul? We can get rid of the unwelcome guests, we can make a little space between ourselves and the disagreeable member of the family; but how shall we rid ourselves of the stain left by an impure thought, of the effect of a hate that had in it the spirit of murder, from the memory of the unkindness that wrung another's heart, the indifference that failed to sympathize with another's distress? Have you ever stood by the grave of one dear to you, and been compelled to remember, how much happier you might have made that life which has now passed beyond your reach? Has the hasty or unkind word come back to you, and repeated itself over and over again till you would gladly have given a year of your own life to recall it, and make it as if it had never been? Let us remember that those who are now the living may soon be the dead, and beware of adding to the things done that ought not to have been done, the things undone that ought to have been done.—CELIA BURLEIGH, in Christian Union. He who every morning plans the transactions of the day, and follows out that plan, carries a thread which will guide him through the most busy life; the orderly arrangement of his time is like a ray of light, which darts itself through all his affairs. But where no plan is laid—where the disposal of time is surrendered merely to the chance of incidents—all things lie huddled in one chaos, which admits neither of distribution nor review. The first requisite for introducing order in the management of time is to be impressed with a just sense of its value. Let us consider well how much depends upon it, and how fast it flies away. The bulk of men are in nothing more capricious and inconsistent than in their appreciation of time. When they think of it as the measure of their continuance on earth, they highly prize it, and with the greatest anxiety seek to lengthen it out; but when they view it in separate parcels, they appear to hold it in contempt, and squander it with inconsiderate profusion, at the same time complaining that “life is short.” Among those who are so careless of time, we cannot expect to find order much observed in its distribution; and, by such fatal neglect, how many materials for severe and lasting regret are they laying up in store for themselves! The time which is suffered to pass away in the midst of confusion, bitter repentance seeks in vain to recall. What was omitted to be done at the proper moment, arises to be the torment of some future season. Manhood is disgraced by a neglect of youth. Old age, oppressed by cares that belong to a former period, labors under a burden not its own. At the close of life the dying man beholds with anguish that his days are finishing, when his preparation for eternity has hardly commenced. Such are the effects of a disorderly waste of time.—Phrenological Journal for October. The Vermont Camp-Meeting,
By Dudley Marvin Canright
AS REPORTED IN THE BURLINGTON DAILY FREE PRESS AND TIMES. The following report of our camp-meeting was written out by Bro. Chas. Stone and published in the Free Press. They were not only willing to do this, but were glad to get it as matter of interest for the paper. I am deeply impressed that we ought to avail ourselves of these opportunities much more than we do. Of all means, this is the best to reach the great masses. Almost every paper will publish more or less for us if properly presented. Some one should be selected at each camp-meeting to fully report the meetings. Articles intelligently written would be willingly printed in most of the county papers if offered by our brethren. One brother simply copied article after article from our tracts and they were published by his county paper. Let all our friends everywhere wake up to these opportunities. The sermon on Friday evening was given by Eld. D. M. Canright, upon the subject of the Advent. He spoke of the extreme views of two classes; one of which has set the time for the coming of Christ and the end of the world at several different times; the other believes that we can tell nothing about it, whether Christ will come to-day or a thousand years hence. The speaker took the ground that, although “no man knoweth the day nor the hour,” yet we may know when the event is near. His position he very ably proved from the words of Christ in Matt. 24: 33: “So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.” He then proceeded to give some of the signs of the last days. Referring to Dan. 12: 4, “Many shall run to and fro; and knowledge shall be increased,” he spoke of the many wonderful inventions of the nineteenth century. Why is this so? Are the men of this age naturally more wise than they were years ago? No. The hand of God is in it. The present facilities for traveling were contrasted with those of former days, and the speaker maintained that this was a wise provision of the Almighty for the carrying of the last message of mercy to the inhabitants of all the earth. He showed that the fact that the gospel has been preached in every part of the globe was a fulfillment of Matt. 24: 14, and a sign of the end of the world. He referred to the age of the world which the best chronologers place at about six thousand years, and the general belief that a great change will take place at the end of the six thousand years, which he claims will be, not the conversion of the world, but the second advent. As another mark of the end of the world, there shall be an unnatural condition of the elements. He read Rev. 11: 19, and called the attention of the audience to the terrible storms, floods, winds, earthquakes, and tidal waves, that have become of late so startling and frequent. The moral condition of the world was taken as another proof, reasoning from Matt. 24: 37. The world was very wicked in the days of Noah, see Gen. 6: 5. He showed by quotations from several of the leading newspapers that the press is alarmed at the terrible contagion of crime at the present day. The political aspect of the world, the preparations for war (see Joel 3: 9; Rev. 11: 18), &c., he claimed were just what the Lord said they would be in the last days. The meeting was held under the large canvas tent, which was well filled. The best of attention was given by the audience, and good order has prevailed from the first.69 Saturday morning a sermon was preached by Eld. James White upon the Advent. The speaker claimed that the angel of Rev. 10 represents a great message to go to the whole world. This is represented by his standing with one foot upon the land and one upon the sea. The angel “cried with a loud voice as when a lion roareth,” verse 3, showing the earnestness with which the message is to go. The little book which the angel held in his hand represents the book of Daniel. In proof of this, he showed that the book of Daniel which gives a history of the world in advance was to be sealed up till the time of the end (Dan. 12: 4), when knowledge should be increased. What kind of knowledge? Answer: That which pertains to the end. The angel has been talking about the end. As a second proof, the angel lifts his hand and swears that time shall be no longer. Then this little book which the angel holds open is one that contains time, prophetic time, and can be no other than the book of Daniel which contains the great prophetic periods—that book which was to be sealed until the time of the end. That this is prophetic time of which the angel speaks he clearly proved, showing the inconsistency of the idea that the angel refers to the end of the world, the end of days and nights, of literal time, when he swears that time shall be no longer. Those that entertain the latter idea say that this refers to the coming of Christ and the resurrection; but at that very time John speaks of another thousand years. Rev. 20: 4. The time evidently is prophetic time, and the speaker claimed that that time ended in 1844. The angel of Rev. 14: 6 represents a message that was to be preached, proclaiming the hour of God’s judgment at hand. This message has been given in the present century. The angel of verse 8 is another message relative to all corrupted Christianity upon which the speaker had not time to comment. In the 9th verse, and onward, another message follows, containing the most terrible warning within the lids of the Bible against those who worship the beast and his image, and who receive his mark. The 12th verse reads, “Here is the patience of the saints.” This applies to the present time, the time when we are waiting in suspense, in expectation of the coming of Christ. “Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.” Verse 12. Right down in the last days, then, will be a people that will keep the commandments of God just as they read, the fourth not excepted. Such a people the Seventh-day Adventists profess to be. This does not refer to the blind Jews, for the last words of the verse add that they have also the faith of Jesus. The speaker said that he thanked God that he was connected with a people that have a whole Bible, one that embraces the law of God and the gospel of Jesus Christ. He spoke of the disappointment of the Adventist people in 1844, and showed how clearly this was marked out in Rev. 10: 9, 10, 11, by the little book that the angel told John to eat. This was not a literal book, of course; but the sweet taste of it represents the joy with which the news of the Advent was received in 1844, and the bitter taste which followed represents the terrible disappointment which fell upon the people when the time passed. In the 11th verse the angel said, “Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.” This work the Seventh-day Adventists have been doing for the last twenty-five years. Upon this point he spoke of the providence of God in the success of the printing establishments. About twenty-five years ago the first issue of their paper was carried to the post-office in a small carpet bag. Now the issue of periodicals from their Office at Battle Creek, Michigan, in one week recently amounted to three hundred bushels, or nearly two tons weight. They are printing largely in French, German, Swedish and Danish, besides the English. Eld. D. M. Canright addressed the congregation from Rev. 4: 11. In this chapter John describes what he saw in Heaven. In the verses preceding the text, the holy beings in Heaven are represented as worshiping God; and they exclaim, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” The great idea that the speaker wished to convey was that everything was made for God’s pleasure. We are all made for his pleasure; and if any man lives his lifetime seeking his own pleasure only, regardless of glorifying God, he will find, when he comes to settle his account, that he has made a terrible mistake. The first object of the gospel, even, is the pleasure and glory of God. This is put first all through the Scriptures. In the ten commandments duty to God is put first. In the Lord’s prayer the name of God is hallowed first. “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven,” is put before “give us this day our daily bread.” The speaker maintained that we are not our own (1 Cor. 6: 19); that the air we breathe, the food we eat, the clothes we wear, all belong to God; that the talents we have, whether they be for preaching, teaching, or making money, are given by God, and that for them we are all accountable. The man who has a talent for making money is just as accountable for the use he makes of his talent as is the man qualified to preach. He quoted Deut. 8: 18. He said that many in the church would not do anything because they could not hope to be great men; but God has a place for every one. Men with small talents have been so blessed in the exercise of them that they have become very gifted. The reward will correspond to the service rendered. The speaker referred to the life and great labors of the great apostle Paul, and said that doubtless thousands will be saved through them. Unquestionably Paul’s reward will be unspeakably glorious. Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. All who are saved will owe it to him; and when the Saviour shall look upon the host of the redeemed, what inexpressible joy will fill his heart! “Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” The speaker said that the joy of the Lord will consist in beholding the fruits of his labors. After the sermon, Mrs. E. G. White gave a powerful exhortation, following which invitations were given to backsliders; those who did not enjoy all that light and freedom which they desired, and all such as wished to start for the first time, to come forward. Prayer was offered, and the blessing of God rested down with such power that many were melted to tears. The attendance was good, quite a number being present from the village, from Burlington, and other places. Mrs. White spoke to a large congregation from the following words: “And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry; and seeing a fig-tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find anything thereon; and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves;” &c. Mark 11: 12, 13. Drawing a beautiful picture of the appearance of the temple as the rays of the setting sun shed their soft light upon the city, Mrs. White described the ride of Christ into Jerusalem. She then spoke some time upon the sorrow of Christ as he wept over Jerusalem. “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.” Luke 19: 42. He had come to his own people and they had rejected him. The very people whom he left the courts of Heaven to save would not receive him. The Jews, with their religious forms and great professions of holiness, the speaker compared to the boasting fig-tree covered with its green foliage which had the appearance of a fruitful tree, but was barren, having nothing but leaves; and the Gentiles, who claimed no religious virtues, she likened to those trees which had put forth no leaves, which made no pretensions to fruitfulness. She urged that the words of Christ as he was descending the mount of Olives, “If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace,” etc.—were uttered with reference not only to the inhabitants of Jerusalem before him, but to the people of all succeeding time. There is a truth for every age, and it belongs to the peace of every people to know the truth that belongs to its day. She spoke at some length upon the light that has shone out upon the heavenly sanctuary. Way down in the last days, in the time of the Judgment, John saw the temple of God open in Heaven, “and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament.” Rev. 11: 19. This is what especially called attention to the law of God, his testament, which we find in his temple in Heaven. The Jews held up the Old Testament and cried out, “The Father, the law, away with Christ!” while the popular religionists of the present day, equally blind, exclaim, “Christ, the love of Christ, Jesus only, away with the law!” The speaker claimed that the law and gospel should go hand in hand, and that John saw that this should be the case with a people down here in the last days. “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev. 14: 12. The Seventh-day Adventists claim to be this people. They take the whole Bible, law and gospel. The speaker exhorted all to receive the truth; to know the things that are for their peace, even in this day; to be in earnest, so that when the Master comes they may be found bearing good fruit, and not leaves alone. SUNDAY MORNING—SERMON BY ELDER JAMES WHITE.
“But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts; and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” 1 Pet. 3: 15. The text suggests preparation of the heart. We should sanctify, or set apart, the Lord God in our hearts as the object of our worship and supreme love. It also suggests preparation of the mind by study. We should especially study the sacred Scriptures in order to be ready ever to give a reason for our faith and hope, whether in the pulpit, by the fireside, or when we meet inquiring friends by the way. The speaker proposed to answer the question, “Why are we Seventh-day Adventists?” He said he thought it even wrong to differ with others without good reasons for differing. He stated that it was not from national caste, or from denominational mold that we believe as we do; for we are gathered from nearly all the nations, and from all the denominations, and from the outside world. The speaker called attention to the double name—Seventh-day Adventists—and stated that an Adventist was not necessarily a time-setter. The periods of the prophecy of Daniel have terminated. Wm. Miller’s mistake was not in the time, but in the event to occur at the close of the two thousand and three hundredth prophetic day of that book. The cleansing of the sanctuary at the end of those days was not the second coming of Christ and the burning day, as supposed by Mr. Miller; but the closing work of the ministry of Christ in the heavenly sanctuary. He stated that the word referred to the heavenly sanctuary, which was to be cleansed by the blood of Christ, as the earthly sanctuary was cleansed by the blood of goats. After speaking a few moments upon the personal coming of Christ, and the events connected with it, the speaker called especial attention to Matt. 24: 23-27, which he affirmed set forth the false views of the Second Advent, in contrast with the true. He said that Christ in that prophetic chapter carries the mind down past the destruction of Jerusalem, past the persecutions of Pagan Rome, and the period of papal dominion which ended in 1798, and that in the 23d verse he says, “Then [the speaker placed emphasis on the word then] if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there, believe it not.” In the 26th verse Christ says, “If they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert, go not forth.” The speaker thought this was met in Mormonism which takes its converts to Salt Lake City, to the desert, where they claim they have Christ. He quoted the rest of the verse: “Behold he is in the secret chamber; believe it not.” He referred to the quite extensive belief that Christ comes at death—at the sick bed, in the sick chamber, at death. He showed the folly of placing the second coming of Christ at death. There can be but one second coming of Christ. He called attention to the manner of Christ’s coming with all his holy angels, and quoted Matt. 24: 27, and several other scriptures. He showed the folly of that mystical interpretation of the Scriptures which is so prevalent, which allows one to give just such a meaning to the words of the Bible as will suit the wishes of the individual. He proceeded to tell “why we keep the seventh day.” His first reason was, “Because we take the Bible just as it reads.” He presented a chart containing the ten commandments. He presumed no one would object to any of them except the fourth. He noticed the argument that the ten commandments were abolished at the cross and nine of them re-enacted by the apostles. He called for the new copy, but said it could not be found. He said that the second commandment could not be found in any form in the New Testament; that only three of the ten can be found word for word in the New Testament. He claimed that the law of God is still binding, just as it reads; and for that reason we keep the seventh day. He said there is not a single text in the whole Bible for the observance of Sunday. There was a large attendance, and, notwithstanding an unfortunate scare at the prospect of a shower, which did not come during the sermon, the audience, after retiring to the large canvas tent, listened with great interest and close attention. Elder Canright spoke upon the Sabbath question. “What does the New Testament say upon the Sabbath?” The speaker would notice first the foundation of the Sabbath. Sabbath means rest. The Sabbath originated at the creation. God worked six days and rested on the seventh. The seventh day is the Lord’s rest-day, and cannot be changed any more than the birthday of Washington. The Sabbath, then, is not a changeable institution. The speaker said that it is supposed by many that a change of the Sabbath is found in the New Testament. He stated that if God did design to have a change in the Sabbath, he would have said so plainly; that every ordinance which was binding in the Old Testament, but abolished in the gospel dispensation, is plainly said to have been done away in the New Testament; that no such statement was ever seen in relation to the Sabbath. He said that the first day of the week is mentioned in the New Testament only eight times, that it is never called the Sabbath, never called the Lord’s day, was never blessed nor sanctified. It is mentioned in the last chapter of Matthew, of Mark, of Luke, and the next to the last chapter of John. These books were written by apostles and disciples from 10 to 63 years after the crucifixion. He spoke of Christ’s appearing to the disciples as recorded in Mark 16: 14, and he showed that the disciples were not celebrating the resurrection by keeping the first day of the week, for they did not believe that Christ had arisen. Christ upbraided them for their unbelief. He stated that only one religious meeting upon the first day of the week is recorded in the New Testament. According to John 20: 26, after eight days from that first day of the week when Christ appeared unto them, the disciples were within, that is, at home, and Christ appeared unto them again. This is claimed by some as a religious meeting held upon the first day of the week; but by a moment’s count it will be seen that “after eight days” places the latter gathering at least as late as Monday evening. He mentioned the fact that ministers sometimes state that every meeting of Christ with his disciples after his resurrection was upon the first day of the week. He referred the audience to the time when Christ appeared to them when they were fishing. Christ didn’t tell them that it was wrong to fish on Sunday, but told them where to drop their net. The speaker didn’t know whether it was upon the first day of the week or not—if not, it is plain that Christ did appear to the disciples on other days; if it was, then the disciples fished upon Sunday, and Christ sanctioned it. The meeting mentioned in Acts 20: 7, is simply an evening meeting held at that time because Paul was to leave them on the morrow. It was not called the Sabbath, nor the Lord’s day, nor a sacred day; but simply the first day of the week. The speaker claimed that the Lord’s day mentioned in Rev. 1: 10, refers to the seventh day, that being the only day the Lord ever claimed. See Ex. 20: 10; Isa. 58: 13. He then took up some of the direct testimony for the Sabbath. He showed that it was Christ’s custom to observe it; that Christ recognized the existence of the Sabbath as late as the year A.D. 70, when Jerusalem was destroyed; for he told his disciples to pray that their flight on that occasion should not occur on the Sabbath. Matt. 24: 20; that the apostle, speaking by the inspired pen of Luke in the year A.D. 60, recognized, as the Sabbath, the same day on which the Jews had the synagogue open. Acts 13: 14. The afternoon rain had ceased, and a large number of the people of the town were present to hear with the most respectful attention. “The Spread of Crime.”
By S. B. Whitney
NOTWITHSTANDING the saying of “peace and safety” which is heard so often from the pulpit and religious press, the conviction will press itself upon the public mind that matters in this respect are growing worse instead of better. The alarming extent to which crimes of every hue and kind are being carried, forbids the attempt to itemize; for it cannot be told which are predominant. An article with the above heading in the Boston Journal of May 25, a portion of which we give below, is very much to the point:— “A New York paper expresses the deliberate opinion that the criminal class in that city is not sufficiently under the terror of the law, that the deterrent forces of the government are not as powerful as they should be and can be made, and that the whole subject demands the careful, conscientious consideration of all right-minded citizens. Exactly the same state of things, whether worse in degree or not, exists in Boston. The administration of the law has not been enforced here with that vigor, persistency, firm judgment, and practical skill, which are demanded by the welfare of the community. The criminal classes ought to have been made to feel that they were under a surveillance which it was no use for them to try to evade or escape, and that detection meant inevitably conviction and condign punishment; that no soft-heartedness on the part of magistrates, nor appeals of money-bought eloquence or of kindred’s tears, would suffice to smother the decrees of justice. We have all, doubtless, fallen short of our duty in this respect, and have done our part in lowering the tone of public sentiment, so that crime has come to seem not so dreadful a thing as it really is; that is, it has taken a new lease of impunity and of fearful vitality among us. The good name which Boston once had among the cities of the Union seems really in danger of giving place to a reputation for crimes peculiarly strange and heinous.” “And one of the worst features of the case is, that these developments are not confined to what is generally regarded as the criminal class. They break out where they are least anticipated, among the outwardly respectable, in the walks of those who are apparently not tempted above others, within the very precincts of our churches. It seems quite analogous to the spread of disease in epidemics, according to the modern theory, which attributes the process to the floating of minute spores, or germs of the malady, through the air, and which attach themselves, bringing sickness and death to the constitutions that are in a condition to harbor them. So the tainting essence of crime seems to be spread abroad in the community at times with a truly epidemic energy and fatality. Minds previously supposed to be ordinarily sound break out suddenly with astounding viciousness, and no one knows whom to trust next.” The following taken from the Utica Morning Herald, of July 10, also speaks for itself, and shows a most deplorable state of things:— “Testimony taken before the special Assembly Committee, whose summer task is to look after the causes of crime in New York, goes to strengthen the charge that the metropolitan police are the protectors of rogues rather than of honest people. The detective’s story is followed by other tales in confirmation. These witnesses testify to what has been openly charged for a long time by the newspapers. They prove a condition of things which honest citizens cannot contemplate with complacency. The raising of the committee was not regarded with favor. It has thus far done a good deal to demonstrate the utility of official inquiry. It will receive all the credit it deserves, if it fixes the responsibility for the disorder and immunity of crime for which the metropolis is distinguished. The developments made point to as deep-dyed villainy among the ministers of order as among the recognized law-breakers.” When will men learn what these things indicate? It seems almost as though outraged humanity might justly lift up the voice, and with the souls under the altar cry, “How long?” and yet men are lulled to sleep in the cradle of carnal security only to be awakened to a sense of what these things portend by the fearful scenes of the day of God. Now and then one rouses up to rub his eyes when some dastardly act is perpetrated against his own person, property, or friends, but stupor soon overcomes him, and he sleeps on. Let us who do see these things “not sleep as do others,” but let us “watch and be sober.” S. B. WHITNEY.