SABBATH, Sept. 24, as appropriate to the present time, we took for our text, Ps. 119:126—"It is time for thee, Lord, to work; for they have made void thy law."
After reading the proclamations, one of President Arthur, and two of Governor Perkins, and speaking of the calamity for which our nation and even the whole civilized world is in mourning, we remarked on the spirit of lawlessness in the world. Nihilism is not confined to Russia, socialism to Germany, nor communism to France. We are weekly importing the most dangerous classes as immigrants from the Old Country, who come here to talk openly what they did by stealth in their native lands. And they do not seek to destroy Emperors, Kings, or Presidents. Their object is to destroy nations, to subvert all law and order. The spirit of reverence is departing from the fireside, from the school, and even from the church. The law of God is set aside as authority, and even ministers preach that it is abolished, against the positive statement of Paul to the Romans, that the law is not made void by faith.
Romans 3, 6, and 7, and Galatians 3 were noticed to show how people try to prove their exemption from the claims of the law; and, that deliverance is from the curse or condemnation, but not from the obligation of law. Also Jer. 7:8-11, to show how God regards those who claim deliverance from the law so as to have a right to violate its precepts. Whether such teachers realize, and are ready to confess the tendency of their teachings or not, the effect is apparent. Destroy the sanctity of the law of God in the minds of the people, and you open the door for recklessness, for riot, and ruin. Destroy respect for authority in the minds of the young, and you start them in the way of irreverence, selfishness, and immorality.
Isa. 58 and 59 were noticed as applicable to the present, and the immediate future. Justice, equity, and truth are ignored. The righteousness and the ordinance of God are forsaken. Criminal court proceedings are nearly a farce, and the extensive spread of the vagaries of Spiritualism are sapping the foundation of the social structure. But the Lord has promised: "When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him." The standard for the last days—before the advent of our Lord—is found in the third angel's message of Rev. 14; it is, "The commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." It is a returning to the "old paths—the good way," and to "walk therein."
With illustrations of the effects of seeking to be free from just restraint, in the family, in the church, and in the State, we made our appeal to our hearers. But we sorrow not as having no hope; we are looking for a kingdom, to the head of which every knee shall bow, and in which rebellion and bloodshed cannot exist. Insubordination and lawlessness will soon be forever quelled by "the Governor among the nations."
The audience was larger than usual, and a good feeling prevailed. We trust the result may prove good to all who were present.
AS WE HAVE OPPORTUNITY.
By Editor
THIS is the direction of the apostle: "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all." We must, therefore, watch our opportunities, knowing that they may increase, and that our responsibilities increase accordingly. Whenever we have a definite precept for a duty we must conform strictly to the terms of the precept. Where there is no special commandment we must make our lives conform to principles. A single principle may cover many actions; but we must also remember that no principle is to be so construed as to render null any precept plainly given. Here is where many err: they ignore principles entirely, and depend solely on precepts, or else they deprecate precepts as subversive of Christian liberty and measure only by principles.
We remember an anecdote illustrating the position of the former class. A man refused to sign a temperance pledge because he could find no commandment for it in the Bible. "Show me a text in the Bible," said he to his neighbor who urged him to sign, "saying that we ought to sign a temperance pledge, and I will do it." The spirit of obedience was strong in him—but it was obedience to his own ideas. It chanced that the two were mowing in a field wherein was an unused well, slightly covered, and concealed by the tall grass. Into this the stickler for precept fell, and called loudly for his companion to help him out. "I am not clear about the duty," said his neighbor; "show me a text in the Bible that says I ought to help a man out of a well and I will do it."
Under these circumstances the man in the well could quote plenty of scriptures to prove that we ought to assist one another in every time of need, as we have opportunity.
An objection against our work, similar to that noticed above, has lately come to our notice. "The Bible says, 'Preach the gospel;' it does not say, Print it in a paper!"
Now such people, at least as far as their own consciousness goes, are honest in their convictions; and as there is no hope that they will all fall into wells, which would be the shortest and quickest method to convert them, we will try to help them by stating a few facts.
1. The word rendered "preach," in Mark 16:15, is kerusso, and is defined by Robinson in his Greek Lexicon of the New Testament: "To proclaim, to announce publicly, to publish." Greenfield says: "To publish, proclaim, announce openly and publicly." With this agree all the Lexicons. The interlinear rendering of the word in the Diaglott is "publish." This commandment may be fulfilled by making known the gospel in any manner whatever. It may be obeyed by a mute person, who cannot speak a word. A preacher may continue to proclaim the gospel after he has lost the power of speech; and he may preach more efficiently without speaking than by speaking, by a judicious use of the appropriate means.
2. It is pertinent to inquire: How do these persons know that the Saviour commanded his disciples to preach the gospel? They read it in the New Testament. But how is it that they are enabled to read it there? It is because some of the disciples, instead of orally preaching these truths, wrote them; others copied what they wrote; and others still printed what they found written. Thus we now enjoy the privilege of reading for ourselves the truths of the gospel, because somebody has wisely pursued the very course these friends are so ready to condemn. They are very much in the case of the man who declared his independence of the sun because he had eyes with which to see. They are sure it is wrong to preach the gospel by means of printing, because they have its blessed truths printed for their own use.
Let the Saviour's words be fulfilled by every one, to the best of his ability, and as he has opportunity. Our Tract and Missionary Societies are doing most effective service in publishing the good news to all the world. At their own fireside, by sending out our periodicals and other publications, they may be the means of publishing "this gospel of the kingdom" in distant parts of the world, to those whom they could never reach as public speakers. We would exhort them—"Be not weary in well doing." It is a noble work; it is a worthy calling. If we slack our efforts, the emissaries of Satan will not slack theirs. They will make use of every possible means to scatter error, darkness, and death. The printing-press is used as their efficient instrument to carry out their plans for evil. Shall the "children of the kingdom" be less wise than they, and neglect this means of spreading the glorious truth of our Lord's coming? May these words of the apostle ever rest upon our minds—"As we have opportunity."
ARE THE WICKED DEAD NOW BEING PUNISHED?
By John Nevins Andrews
THIS is a question of awful solemnity, and should not be treated as a matter of speculation and idle curiosity. By far the greater part of mankind live in neglect of the great duties of religion, if not in open contempt of its most solemn commands. Such has ever been the fact with our fallen race. This vast throng of sinful men for long ages have been pouring through the gates of death, and its dark portals hide them from our further view. What is the condition of this innumerable multitude of impenitent dead? Where are they? and what now is their real state?
To this question, two answers are returned: 1. They are now suffering the torments of the damned. This is the answer of all the so-called orthodox creeds. 2. They are now sleeping in the dust of the earth, awaiting the resurrection to damnation. This answer is believed by many candid Bible students to be the harmonious teaching of the Scriptures on this subject. Which of these two answers is the true and proper one?
1. There is no statement in the Bible relating to the wicked dead in general, where they are in any way represented as a state or place of torment. Nor is there any instance in the Bible where men are threatened that they shall, if wicked, enter an abode of misery at death. Even the warning of Jesus in Matt. 10:28, which is thought to contain the strongest proof of the soul's immortality that can be found in all the Bible, says not one word concerning the suffering of the soul in hades, the place of the dead, but relates wholly to what shall be inflicted upon "both soul and body in gehenna," (the Greek word here rendered hell), the place of punishment for the resurrected wicked.
2. There being no general statement in the Bible representing the wicked dead as now in torment, and no instance in which the living wicked are threatened with consignment to the furnace of fire till after the Judgment, we now search out the particular cases which may be thought to teach such fact. There are just two of these cases which may be cited to prove that some of the wicked dead are now in torment; and from these, if at all, the torment of the wicked dead in general must be deduced. These cases are the Sodomites, "set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire," Jude 7; and the rich man lifting up his eyes in torment, Luke 16:19-31. These are the only cases that can be cited from the Scriptures in proof that the wicked dead are now undergoing the punishment of their sins.
3. The case of the Sodomites first claims our attention. The text reads thus: "Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire," Jude 7. The present tense is used throughout the verse. It occurs twice in speaking of the sin of Sodom, and twice with reference to its punishment. This text does not teach that the men of Sodom are now engaged in the sinful acts referred to; why should it be understood to teach that they are now receiving their retribution? Does the apostle mean to say that the Sodomites are now in the flames of eternal fire? The clause, "suffering the vengeance of eternal fire," is modified by the words, "set forth for an example," which immediately precede it. In fact, the real meaning of the apostle in what he says of the sufferings of the Sodomites can only be determined by giving this phrase, "set forth for an example," its proper bearing. To be "set forth an example" in the Scriptures set forth in the very act of suffering the vengeance of fire from Heaven. If the first of these views be correct, then the Sodomites are indeed now in torment. But that view is not correct; for the very place where Sodom was burned, is now covered by the Dead Sea. That the second view is correct, is manifest from Gen. 19:24-28: "Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of Heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. But his [Lot's] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. And Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the Lord. And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace."
Here the Sodomites are set forth for an example in the very act of suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Are they to this day in that fire? Peter bears testimony, and it is the more valuable in this case because the chapter containing it is almost an exact parallel to the epistle of Jude. Thus he says: "Turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah INTO ASHES, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly." 2 Pet. 2:6. Peter thus shows that the fire did its proper office upon the men of Sodom, and that they were not in his day alive in its flames. Their case is an example of what God will do to all the wicked after the resurrection to damnation, when fire shall descend out of heaven upon them, and the whole earth become a lake of fire. Rev. 20; 2 Pet. 3; Mal. 4.
The testimony of Jeremiah, which represents the punishment of Sodom as comparatively brief, must complete this evidence: "For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her." Lam. 4:6.
The language of Jude concerning the Sodomites has, therefore, no relation to their condition in death, and cannot be made to furnish evidence that the wicked dead are now in a state of torment. There remains, therefore, the case of a single individual—the rich man—out of which to deduce the doctrine that the wicked dead are now in the lake of fire. This is certainly a fact worthy of note.
The testimony of the Bible shows that the wicked dead are asleep in sheol, where they await the resurrection to damnation. The following texts show that the resurrection and judgment of the wicked take place before they are punished; a doctrine in the highest degree reasonable, and sustained by many plain testimonies.
1. "The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to RESERVE the unjust unto the day of Judgment to be punished." 2 Pet. 2:9. The day of Judgment must arrive before the retribution of the ungodly.
2. "The heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly men." 2 Pet. 3:7. The perdition of ungodly men comes at the Judgment.
"The wicked is RESERVED to the day of destruction; they shall be brought forth to the day of wrath." Job 21:30. The next scripture will explain this.
4. "Marvel not at this; for the hour is coming in the which all that are in their graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth: they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." John 5:28, 29.
5. The wicked are first raised and judged, then afterward cast into the lake of fire. Rev. 20:11-15.
6. Vengeance is taken upon all the ungodly together when the Lord comes with his saints. Jude 14, 15.
8. The burning day is the time when the wicked meet their fate. Mal. 4; Ps. 21:9.
9. The wrath of God waits till the day of wrath. Rom. 2:5-9.
10. Tribulation to the ungodly comes in connection with the advent of the Saviour. 2 Thess. 1.
11. The wicked dead are not punished till after the seventh trumpet. Rev. 11:15, 18.
12. The Judge says, "Depart from me, ye cursed," and then, for the first time, the ungodly enter the furnace of fire. Matt. 25:41. J. N. A.
Preach the Word
"PREACH the word; . . . for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; . . . And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
MISSIONARY SPIRIT.
By S. N. Haskell
BY ELDER S. N. HASKELL.
WEBSTER defines a missionary as "one who is sent upon a mission;" but this does not cover the idea of the term as it is used when applied to the work of God. A more full definition would be, "One sent upon a mission to save souls." It is not, therefore, necessary to go into a far country to be a true missionary; but wherever there are souls to save, there men and women should manifest the true missionary spirit. It should commence in our own hearts; and the fruits of it will be seen in our lives; and its influence will be felt in our own families and neighborhoods.
Love is the motive from which the action springs. Love is an active principle and cannot live without works. Its life consists in performing acts of disinterested benevolence. The soil in which it grows is not the natural heart; but love is a heavenly plant, and flourishes only in a heart renewed by the grace of God. It never becomes weary in doing good to others; for it "suffers long and is kind." Christ was the great exemplar of this principle. And as we are possessed of his Spirit, just in that proportion the work will be for the up-building of the cause for which he shed his blood.
To be successful requires true wisdom. "He that winneth souls is wise." The apostle reasoned that he had run in vain unless success attended his labors. He exhorts the Philippians to "do all things without murmurings and disputings," "holding forth the word of life," that he might rejoice in the day of Christ that he had not "run in vain, neither labored in vain." Phil. 2:14-16. The consequences are too serious to enter upon the work of the Lord in a reckless manner. Eternal results rest upon present moves. If a selfish motive prompts the act, even if it be to give all our goods to feed the poor, God does not accept it.
A heart that is drawn out after souls for whom Christ died, and that is free from selfish interests, is pleasing to God. It will feel the misery of others, and cannot rest at the sight of suffering. Christ was rich, but he became poor that we might become rich. To bear the burdens of others, to alleviate the sufferings without having in view a reward in this life, is an important part of the Christian religion. "When thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, and thou shalt be blessed." Here is the reason: "For they cannot recompense thee." Now comes the time when the reward is given: "But thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just."
The world calls a man a shrewd calculator who can make every move count in bringing him returns in this life, either in money, honor, or friends, anything that will gratify a selfish heart. But God said to the man who had amassed a competency, and then arranged matters for many days of ease in this life, "Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee." Had he been rich toward God by works of a purely disinterested character, it would have been said to him, at last, as well as to others: "Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. . . . . . Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me." To the other class it is said: "Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me."
The precious blood of the Son of God, which was shed for the salvation of mankind, tells the worth of the soul. And he who, for the sake of sordid gain, will neglect laboring for the salvation of others, and that will let worldly interests come in between him and such labor, deceives himself if he thinks he is possessed of the Christian religion. Christ left riches, honor, and glory, and took upon himself poverty in the extreme. He had not where to lay his head. Yea, we did esteem him smitten of God and afflicted. He was despised by men, yet he went about imparting life to the dead, health to the sick, and joy to the sorrowing. This was the missionary spirit as exemplified in the life of the Son of God. And if we have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of his. Disinterested acts of benevolence will alone secure success. Selfishness will not. It cannot save a single soul. A stream can rise no higher than its fountain. If the motive be selfishness, the fruit will be of the same nature. If the motive be purely unselfish, like that principle that brought Christ from heaven, it will bring forth fruit unto eternal life. There is no failure in this matter. What we sow, we shall also reap. If we sow unto the flesh, we shall of the flesh reap corruption. If we sow unto the Spirit, we shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. This is the true missionary Spirit that will bring souls to Christ.
The heart must first be changed, and become gentle, easy to be entreated, full of good fruits, without partiality or hypocrisy. It is God who gives this work success, and, therefore, it must be by the aid of his Spirit that the act is performed.
Then God's Spirit will affect hearts. When it is fully realized that God alone gives the increase and the spirit of disinterested affection is the Spirit of Christ, it will be considered a privilege to sacrifice for the advancement of the work of God, and with the apostle we can exclaim: "Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong."
FROM THE FIELD.
IOWA, Fontanelle, Adair Co.—We have taken down our tent to-day. We came here July 5, and have given fifty-five discourses. Sold $12.00 worth of books, and received $15.00 in donations. Fourteen have signed the covenant. We hope for some others. Bro. Hollenbeck has been with us the past two weeks, and has rendered efficient help. We pitch our tent six miles west for future labor.
Keota, Keokuk Co., Sept. 6.—Closed our meetings Sunday evening, Sept. 4, after over ten weeks of constant labor. Sixteen have signed the covenant. We organized a Sabbath-school of about thirty members, and think the number will increase.
A tract society of ten members was also organized, and we hope for good results as the people are earnest workers. They are instructed in all the branches of the work, as well as in all the points of our faith. Seven copies of the Review, ten of the Instructor, and eleven of the SIGNS make up the list of periodicals visiting this company. One drawback is that they have no permanent place to hold their meetings, yet we think this will not be in the way long. Our expenses have been quite heavy, but the donations cover them all. The opposition has been blind, unreasonable, and persistently bitter, yet very many are friendly to us and wish us well.
PENNSYLVANIA, Youngsville, Sept. 5.—Bro. J. G. Saunders reports: The interest here has been good from the first. The attendance is not large, but those who do come attend regularly. Although this is a place of seven hundred inhabitants, when we came here there was only one church organization in the place,—a Methodist Episcopal church. Repeated efforts had been made to effect another church organization, but they had all failed. The people seemed to be established, and it was hard to move them. But from the first they have been very kind and generous, supplying nearly all our wants.
We have held eighty meetings, and have organized a church of twenty members, all of whom are adults. This church takes the name of S. D. A. church of Youngsville, Warren Co., Pa., and includes the scattered Sabbath-keepers in this vicinity and those who have embraced the truth here. Fourteen of these were baptized in the beautiful stream called Broken Strand, some over four hundred witnessing the ceremony. It was an affecting scene to see six persons over fifty years of age take up the cross, and follow their blessed Saviour.
DARKENED.
By Susan Coolidge
High in the windy light-house tower
The lamps are burning free,
Each sending with good-will and power
Its message o'er the sea,
Where ships are sailing out of sight,
Hidden in storm and cloud and night.
On the white waves that seethe and dash,
A ruddy gleam is shed;
Above, the lighted windows flash
Alternate gold and red.
Save where one sad and blinded glass
Forbids the happy light to pass.
The hungry sea entreats the light,
The struggling light is fain,
But obdurate and blank as night
Rises the darkened pane,
Casting a shadow long and black
Along the weltering ocean track.
Ah, who shall say what drowning eyes
Yearn for that absent ray;
What unseen fleets and argosies,
Plowing the doubtful way,
Seek through the night, and grope and strain
For guidance from that darkened pane?
Ah, Light Divine, so full, so free!
Ah, world that lies in night!
Ah, guiding radiance, shine through me
Brightly and still more bright,
Nor ever be thy rays in vain
Because I am a "darkened pane."
—Susan Coolidge, in S. S. Times.
MOSES AND AARON.
By S. S. Workman
Moses alone would doubtless have been but a poor leader at best, for he was "slow of speech and of a slow tongue." Aaron, by himself, was weak, though he could "speak well;" but when Moses was on the mountain of God, and Aaron below with the people, it was he who molded the golden calf and allowed the people to worship it. But Moses and Aaron, uniting their several gifts, and combining their strength, were well fitted and capable leaders of the children of Israel, thus verifying the adage "that in union there is strength."
Union of effort is well illustrated by the following, recorded of the early days of the Theological Seminary at Allegheny, when it was in great need of money. The Rev. Dr. Herron, President of the Board of Directors, the Rev. Dr. Swift, also a director, and the Rev. Joseph Patterson, met to devise some way of relief. With all their faith, the first-mentioned brethren were greatly dejected. "We have no one to help us," said one of them. "No one!" replied Mr. Patterson warmly; "why I know of a thousand here." The two looked astonished. He continued, is not Dr. Herron a cipher? is not Dr. Swift a cipher? am not I a cipher? But Jesus Christ is surely ONE. And if we put one before three ciphers does it not make a thousand?" They took new courage, went to that ONE, who is able to help, and did not pray in vain. United effort for Christ, with his blessing, will make us victors.—S. S. Workman.
MURMURING AGAINST GOD.
EVERY word of complaint at our lot in life, every whine at seeming ill-fate, every question of the goodness and personal care of God towards us is a far worse rebellion in us than the cries of Israel for bread and flesh in the desert; for we have accumulated proofs of God's ability to protect and feed us, and of his faithfulness to his promises. To doubt an untried leadership then was far different in its moral quality from doubting him whom all the saints have tested and who never was found faltering or untrue to the frailest or least worthy, trusting soul. He is a tried and proven friend, and failure to trust his providence now is in the face of thousands of mercies.
The object of leaving the Israelites so many weeks without the manna which it was apparent would be necessary for their sustenance, was probably to prove them, and to enlarge by exercise their faith and trust in the all-powerful arm and all-bounteous mercies of God; so the object of his leading us through the unknown wilderness and along barren wastes, where, to the human eye, there is nothing sustaining or delightful, but on the contrary disappointed hopes, a gloomy outlook, few friends, and a circumscribed field of labor, may be the same—to lead us to trust him for our daily bread, and look only to him for comfort and rest.
Had Israel found abundant supplies in the wilderness of Sin, like the rich men of to-day, they would probably have forgotten all about God. Not having to depend upon him daily they might have thought that they, the new nation, had done wondrously, and were able to do all things. Prosperity and success in the affairs of this world fatten and puff up our pride; while sorrows and felt dependence chasten the spirit and make it fit to companion with the pure and unselfish.—Golden Censer.
TEMPERANCE AS A BATTLEMENT.
WHEN Joseph Cook leaves the region of transcendentalism, and comes to that of plain, practical common sense, he has a terse and clear way of putting things. As an example we take the following from one of his sermons in London:—
"You send up a balloon from Hyde Park on a clear day, and with a glass you may see the homes of four or five millions of men. Send up a balloon from Central Park in New York City when the atmosphere is clear, and by the aid of a glass you can look upon the homes of two or three millions of men. Modern populations are massing themselves in cities. The misgovernment of great towns under representative institutions is a proverb. The faster cities grow, the more rapidly do we come into the need of this battlement around the edge of the roof of our new house. But it is a fact that on both sides of the sea the cities are growing faster than the rest of the population. London increases faster than England, Berlin than Germany, and Paris than France, as well as New York City than the State of New York, Boston than the State of Massachusetts, and Chicago than the State of Illinois. In the United States we had only one-twenty-fifth of our population in cities in 1800. Now we have more than one-fifth. Some of your statesmen look across the Atlantic, and say that there is not one American city of over 200,000 population that is well governed. I repel that accusation. Nevertheless there is too much ground for it. We are troubled by an ignorant and intemperate class, derived largely from immigration from all lands. We have learned that we must educate them, and make them sober, and that otherwise in great cities our form of government will be a farce. You will find ultimately in Great Britain trouble in managing your cities, unless you reform the perishing and dangerous population.
"Is there anything in the Bible to overturn the two great principles recognized by the ideal commonwealth of old, that the people are to be total abstainers, and that they should be led by a priesthood of total abstainers?
"Consider that distilled liquors were not known in the world till the year 1150. The process of distillation came into Europe at that date from the Moors. Suppose that you were to treat out of existence all distilled liquors, then you would bring the world into something of the condition in which it stood during the time of our Saviour. The absence of distilled liquors would make the more terrible form of drunkenness and alcoholic disease impossible. It was against the lighter drunkenness of a world which had in it no distilled liquors that the fearful biblical denunciations of drunkenness were launched. The Bible denounces wine as a mocker, and proclaims that the weak strong drink of ancient times, at the last biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. What would it say of the fierce and poisoned potations of our days?
"Without claiming that the Bible absolutely settles the question as to the point I am discussing, I do claim that you were not proved, if you are a moderate drinker, that it settles the custom on your side. You are far from showing that there is anything in the example of our Lord giving the remotest justification to your use of distilled liquors and brandied wines. I am grieved with an indignation which I dare not express to the full when I hear preachers and church members quoting the example of our Lord in support of the use of distilled liquors, which were not invented until the twelfth century. If our Lord were in London or New York to-day, face to face with our present drinking customs; if he were here in person as he is in spirit, listening to the cries of orphans and widows; if he could see how the best portions of our civilization are imperiled by those who fleece the poor and sell to them strong drink, I believe, on my soul, that he would again, as he did of old, knot up the whip of small cords, and purge the church of moderate drinking, and in doing that he would only be giving efficacy to the texts,—'It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor anything whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak,'
'Lead us not into temptation,' 'Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness,' 'Do not drink wine, that ye may put difference between holy and unholy,' 'If meat maketh my brother to offend, I will eat no meat while the world standeth.' He would knot up his whip of small cords, and use them in the name of those secular principles to which I have appealed,—the necessity of temperance as a battlement to keep blood-guiltiness from the roof of the new house civilization is building, in giving large and sometimes unlimited political power to the people."
A "BACCA" FED BABY.
By Gov. St. John
A VISITOR among some of the English poor, during one of the lockouts, when mills were stopped and labor suspended, gave the following account how one baby lived and grew fat through the hard times.
The wife of a laborer, while looking on at a game of "hop-scotch," in which her husband was engaged with other idlers, was describing their way of living. While she was speaking, there came toddling in at the door a splendid specimen of Suffolk infantine humanity, aged about four years, and with limbs like a baby giantess.
"There, sir," remarked the old lady, "she don't look much the worse for the lockout, do she?"
I replied that she did not, but rather as though a fair amount of the fat of the land fell to her share. "What do you feed her on?" I asked.
" 'Bacca, sir," replied the old lady, with a grin. "Tobacco!"
"Well, that's what they say about here. You see, sir, it's this way. She's my gran' young un, and her poor mother has seven of 'em, and the father is locked out like the rest; and so a month ago my old man—him as you see, making such a donkey of himself a minute ago—he says, says he,—"
" 'Old woman, dashed if I can enjoy my pipe,'—which costs ten and half pence a week—half an ounce of three penny a day,—'a cruel hard smoker he's allers been—' I can't enjoy my pipe,' says the old man, 'and see our Joe's young uns wanting a meal; so I'll make over my 'bacca money to help 'em, and put my pipe out till things mend a bit.'"
"And this is the young un that gets the benefit of it in milk night and morning."
A good many other babies and their mothers too, might be well fed and well clad, if they had the "bacca money," and whisky money, which husbands and fathers squander. And the secret of much of the suffering in the world is neither the low wages, the hard times, nor the high prices, but the wasteful vices of those who consume on their own ungodly lusts the money that should support their families, and make themselves independent and comfortable.—Christian.
PROHIBITION RUINING THE STATE.
By John St. John
THEY tell us prohibition is ruining our State; that is the position taken by the towns and cities of this State, where they bid defiance to the law. Leavenworth says it is infamous; that it is an outrage like the fugitive slave law. Let us see just a moment. The fugitive slave law was in the interest of human slavery; it was in the interest of all that was infamous and outrageous, while the prohibitory law is in the interest of human freedom; in the interest of the fireside; in the interest of the homes of the people, and in the interest of sobriety and good government. They are as different as midnight and noonday. But Leavenworth says that saloons are necessary for the prosperity of the city. Leavenworth twenty years ago was the commercial metropolis of the Missouri valley and held the key to the situation in this western country. It was the political power in this State. You could not get any man named for any office without first making peace with Leavenworth. There have been from fifty to one hundred and fifty saloons in that city during the past ten or fifteen years; the temperance people plead with Leavenworth; showed her citizens that these saloons were as a cancer eating into the vitals of her prosperity. They replied: "You are fanatics; we know our business; no town can prosper without them; it brings trade to the city, and business is livelier for their presence." Let us see.
In 1871 Leavenworth had 20,000 population and about one hundred saloons, and she has clung to the saloons ever since. In 1881 her population has declined from 20,000 to less than 17,000, notwithstanding the fact that she has had saloons enough to have given her a population of 100,000, if they are necessary for the prosperity of a city.
In 1871,—I wish to give the official figures so that it cannot be said that I misrepresent the facts,—the assessed valuation of the property of Leavenworth was $5,991,027. In 1881, after she had hugged her saloons for ten years in spite of the advice of her true friends to do otherwise, the assessed value of her property had declined to $3,281,863.66. A falling off in ten years, of $2,710,163.34. The only city in Kansas which has lost in population or wealth during that time; all the others have grown, but Leavenworth has clung to her saloons until they have nearly killed her.—From a Speech by Gov. St. John.
ONE OF MANY.
THE New York Graphic gives this pen picture of one of many: Well, the poor boy came into this world with a weakly body, for his mother was troubled with much household care and labor when she bore him, and his father, though a church member in good standing, was an inordinate tobacco chewer and kept his strength bolstered up through the stimulus of the weed. So long as the boy ran about loose with the other children and played in the sand with bare feet he was tolerably healthy. But when sent to school he pined. At the boarding-school he was counted a good scholar and made great progress in memorizing. At eighteen he was tall, “spindling,” and slightly stooping, always complaining, eating according to custom whatever was set before him, working and studying directly after eating, and complaining of a weak stomach. So he went on in life till the age of twenty-five. Then he married, was always in poor health and in frequent consultation with doctors. First, doctors at home; next, doctors abroad; then special doctors; now, regulation doctors, with reputations and diplomas, and then in despair applying to outside doctors; herb doctors; bush doctors; botanic doctors; and tramp doctors; doctors who said it was his liver; doctors who said it was his heart; doctors who said it was malaria; doctors who said he didn't make blood enough; doctors who starved him; doctors who stuffed him; doctors who chilled him in cold, wet blankets; doctors who parboiled him in medicated vapor baths; doctors who advised him to go North; doctors who advised him to go South; doctors who suggested springs; doctors who recommended mud baths; but never a doctor who told him that half the damage had been done before he came into the world and the other half through his own ignorance and that of the authors of his being afterwards. But he died all right, and the doctors then found out what ailed him, and they gave the complaint a Latin name, and it's now raging round seeking whom it may devour.