International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jan 6, 1887
General Articles.
By Ellen G. White
A LESSON IN HUMILITY AND LOVE.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
“And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matt. 18: 2-6.
THE disciples had been disputing among themselves which of them should be greatest, as we learn from the account of this incident given by Mark and Luke. The disciples did not understand the nature of the kingdom that Christ was to set up. They looked for an earthly kingdom, with an earthly rule; their ambition was aroused, and there was an anxiety for the first place. Jesus understood the thoughts and feelings of their hearts. He saw that they lacked the precious grace of humility, and that here was a lesson which it was essential for them to learn. He knew the subject of their conversation by the way, when they had spoken freely, thinking themselves alone. So calling a little child unto him, he said to them, “Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.”
Again Jesus said: “Whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea.” Here we have an expression of the care which our Saviour has for his people. Man is the crowning glory of the Creator’s works, and he has been redeemed at an inconceivable cost to the Son of God. None but he could restore to man the moral image of God, which had been lost through transgression. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. He is represented as the true Shepherd. Leaving the ninety and nine in the wilderness, he goes in search of the wandering, straying sheep. He continues to search under the most discouraging circumstances, shrinking not from hardships and peril, until he finds the wanderer; and then all the suffering, and trial, and peril endured for its sake are forgotten in the joy of finding the lost sheep. When through genuine repentance for sin, and faith in Christ, the sinner has been brought back to the fold of God, there is joy in Heaven.
Jesus here presents the duty of man to his fellow-man. Whatever his position in life, man is the purchase of the blood of Christ, and should not be treated with indifference or contempt. Satan opposes great obstacles to the salvation of the human family. There is a rugged path for them to tread if they would journey Heavenward, and each needs all the encouragement his fellow travelers can give him as he toils up the steep ascent. God’s word opens to us the wonderful conflict between light and darkness, good and evil, Heaven and hell. We are each on the battle ground, and Satan is striving for the victory. We should never lay a stumbling-block in the way of one who is fighting the battle with the powers of darkness and his own carnal heart; but we should help one another in the close, hand-to-hand fight with the deceiver of souls, in which we are engaged.
I wish we could see this matter in its true light. A man sees himself in slavery to sin, led captive by Satan at his will, and he tries to break the chain of sinful habits by which he is bound. He flees to Jesus as his helper; and our all-pitying Saviour undertakes his case, and enters the field of battle in his behalf. It is the Son of God combating the prince of darkness; and the prize for which they contend is the soul of man. If the sinner trusts implicitly to the mighty Helper, through his strength he becomes a conqueror, and wins the prize of everlasting life. Thus the battle is fought over and over again, and with what interest angels watch the warfare.
And when through earnest faith and prayer man obtains the victory, there is joy in the presence of God.
But too often man looks with cold indifference upon the conflicts through which his fellow-man is passing, as though these fierce struggles with the powers of darkness were nothing that concerned him. When we see the divine condescension, the sacrifices and sorrows, to which the Son of the infinite God subjected himself in order to accomplish the salvation of the fallen race, how can we remain indifferent? Should not the tenderness, pity, and love of Christ take hold of our very hearts, and lead us to manifest the same spirit toward every soldier in the ranks of our great Captain? Should we not remember that we too are weak, and that in the warfare we are waging we need help and sympathy?
Those who are co-laborers with Christ will exercise that carefulness, manifest that love, in dealing with their fellow-man, of which Christ has given us an example in his life, and which he has impressed upon our hearts by the lessons of his word. But our work does not end here. The poor, straying, lost sheep are to be hunted up, and brought back to the fold. They are to be cared for, strengthened, and encouraged. We each need a Saviour, and we each need the sympathy, watchcare, and love of our brethren. As we are brought together in church capacity, we pledge ourselves to be faithful one to another; and any failure in our duty here, any wrong done to our brother, is registered in the books of Heaven as a wrong done to Christ in the person of his saints.
If we had a true sense of the work of Christ, we should appreciate the worth of souls for whom he died. “Love one another, as I have loved you,” said Christ. “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” As we see the love which Christ has shown for fallen man, the divine compassion which he has manifested for the weak, the erring, and the most sinful, how it should humble our proud hearts, and awaken in them a deep, earnest, and far-reaching love for souls.
We are erring, and we shall see errors in those who are connected with us in the faith. They will have to bear with our perversities, and we must bear with theirs. But let us be careful to move with an eye single to the glory of God, and not to offend or grieve the souls so precious in his sight. If we see that a brother is wrong, if we see that he is pursuing a course that will bring darkness upon his own soul, and is imperiling the souls of others, there is one course that Christ has told us to pursue, and there is no other safe course for us to take.
If a brother has done you an injury, my Christian friend, you are not to seek revenge, nor even to harbor a desire for retaliation; but you should pity him; he has need of2your pity. Have the same feelings of compassion for him that you would have others manifest for you if you were enshrouded in darkness. Call to mind the many times that you have erred, and made mistakes in your life-work; and remember how hard it has been to find the right way when you had once left it. If you have the Spirit of Christ abiding in you, no unkind words will fall from your lips. You will not push your brother into greater darkness, but with a heart full of pity you will tell him of his danger. You will get down and pray with him, and perhaps save his soul from death, and thus cover a multitude of sins. What right have you to pursue any other course than this? If you do, you walk contrary to the rule given by God, and grieve his Holy Spirit.
Let us take the words of Christ. If the man has done you an injury, go to him, and between you and him alone seek to set the matter right. Do not go to any one but himself. If he refuses to hear you, then take two or three others, and go to him again; but do not publish it in the church or out of the church. When you have done your duty, if he still refuses to hear you, then let the church take it up; but let them deal gently with the erring. Do not even listen to the gossiping tongue. If one comes to you with an evil report, ask him if he has been to the offending brother, as the Bible directs. If he has not, refuse even to hear him. Nine-tenths of the church trials might be avoided, if all would, in the spirit of kindness and love, pursue the course marked out by Inspiration. This can only be done by breaking down everything like a spirit of self-righteousness.
We want love and mercy to take possession of our hearts, and be interwoven with our characters; for just as we deal mercifully with others, God will deal mercifully with us. Oh, for more of the tender love of Jesus, more of the spirit of true humility before God! These are the lessons we must learn individually, in order to preserve harmony and peace, and gain the approval of our heavenly Father.
What we need is to be obedient to the word of God. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”
Here is brought to view the work of purification that will be carried on by every child of God. Angels are weighing character. They are marking our errors and defects, and recording them in the books of Heaven. In a little time in the future these books will be opened, and every man will be judged according to his deeds, and according to the light that has shone upon his pathway.
Basel, Switzerland.
ABIDE WITH ME, DEAR SAVIOUR.
By Mrs. M. E. Miles
Abide with me; fast fall the shades of night,
And I am lonely unless Thou art near.
Dangers assail me, by Thy royal might
Protect me, guide my wayward feet aright.
If thou art with me nothing shall I fear.
Abide with me while darkness holds her sway,
And sleep enfolds me in her calm embrace;
And if, for me, there dawns the coming day,
May I be found treading the narrow way,
Sustained and guided by Thy sovereign grace.
All through the subtle labyrinth of life
Go with me, Lord, wherever I may go;
And if Gethsemane with anguish rife
Awaits me, in that hour of bitter strife
Abide with me, and I can meet it so.
Nor shall I trust in vain; for Thou hast said,
“Abide in me, and I’ll abide in thee;”
And though the earth, the sun and moon were dead,
And all the starry hosts in fear had fled,
Thy word shall stand to all eternity.
—Mrs. M. E. Miles.
SOUND ADVICE.
THE following advice which Abraham Lincoln gave to a young officer who had been court-martialed for a quarrel with one of his associates, is worthy of universal acceptance. It not only deserves to be written “on the walls of every gymnasium and college,” but on the walls of every private house and place of business:—
“The advice of a father to his son, ‘Beware of entrance to a quarrel, but, being in, bear it that the opposed may beware of thee!’ is good, but not the best. Quarrel not at all. No man resolved to make the most of himself can spare time for personal contention. Still less can he afford to take all the consequences, including the vitiating of his temper and the loss of self-control. Yield larger things to which you can show no more than equal right; and yield lesser ones though clearly your own. Better give your path to a dog, than be bitten by him in contesting for your right. Even killing the dog would not cure the bite.”
SUNDAY LAWS AND THE RIGHTS OF CONSCIENCE.
By C. P. Bollman
IT is a notable fact that in Sunday legislation the rights of conscience are very generally disregarded. Indeed bigotry and intolerance seem to be inherent in the Sunday institution; and from the published reports of the late Sunday convention in San Francisco, it appears that the spirit of the institution governed the majority of the members of that convention. It is safe to say that there was not a minister in that meeting who is not well aware that there is no divine law for Sunday observance. Indeed, we know that such is the case, for one of them, a Baptist, said:—
“There is no such thing as a Christian Sabbath. And if any one here has fixed upon the idea of a Christian Sabbath, he had better revise his scholarship. The term Sabbath has no place in Christianity, it is a Judaistic expression. The term Christian Sabbath, the Lord never used, nor his disciples.” But the same man showed his utter disregard of the rights of conscience by declaring: “I want a Sunday law. I believe in having a Sunday law.”
Nor was this man alone in such sentiment, for the convention decided by vote that what they demand is “a civil Sunday law.” Said a Disciple minister:—
“I come in simply as a citizen to work for a civil Sunday, not as a preacher to work for a law to enforce a religious institution.”
But if, as they declare, the Sunday is not the Sabbath, why do they seek to enforce the observance of it upon others? If it is not the Sabbath, and it certainly is not, then the keeping of it is not enjoined in the Scriptures; for if the Scriptures do not enjoin the keeping of the Sabbath, they do not require the observance of any day. But again, if the Scriptures do not require the observance of Sunday, and these men know that they do not, then the keeping of it cannot be with them a matter of conscience, and their desire to keep it, and to compel others to keep it, is not the result of right principle.
But though these men virtually say that with them Sunday-keeping is not a matter of conscience, they demand a law compelling all men to keep a day which they admit is not the Sabbath, a day of which the Scriptures say nothing except as a common working day. And not only so, but they propose to compel those who are conscientious in keeping another day, to violate their consciences by keeping a day which they feel in duty bound to devote to labor, according to the word of God, which says: “Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work.” A law requiring them to keep Sunday would virtually impose upon them a fine to the amount of one-sixth of the time which God has given them for the support of themselves and their families. This is manifestly unjust; and yet this is just what the advocates of the Sunday law propose to do, that they may have merely a “civil Sunday.”
But it may be urged that this is a religious question, and that it is a matter of conscience with those who desire the Sunday law. Then why did they not say so? But the majority of them did nothing of the kind; the expressed sentiment of the convention was that the question was one of political economy and State ethics, and not of religion at all. The preacher, they said, should be entirely separated from the question, and the law should be demanded by them as citizens.
But suppose that it were with every Sunday-keeper in the land, a matter of conscientious conviction, would that make Sunday laws right? Suppose that A keeps Sunday, but B feels that to preserve a conscience void of offense toward God, he must keep the particular day enjoined in the fourth commandment, and so keeps Saturday; has A the right, simply because he has the power, to compel B to violate his conscience in the matter of Sabbath rest? By no means; for no one has a right to force his conscience upon another.
Every man has the right to demand of his fellows all that God has guaranteed to him by the second table of the law (the last six commandments); but no one may constitute himself censor of another’s actions toward God. To his own master every servant must stand or fall. So far then as I owe any duty to a fellow-creature, he may exact the performance of that duty, but he has no right to exact from me the service that I owe to God. To go further than this is to justify the Inquisition; for if men may enforce upon others one religious duty, then they may likewise enforce upon them any and all religious duties. And, like the Church of Rome, they may even dictate to men what they shall believe.
This principle is recognized even by those Sunday advocates themselves. Said one of them (a minister) in the San Francisco convention:—3"If we can come in here this year as preachers and call on the State to enforce the observance of the Christian Sabbath, next year we may come in as preachers and ask the State to compel everybody to be baptized; and the next year ask the State to compel everybody to celebrate the Lord's Supper, and so we shall have Church and State. But none of these things are wanted. Therefore," said he, "a civil law is all that is wanted."
But a civil law for the enforcement of religion is a religious law, and no amount of sophistry can make it otherwise. Calling the first day of the week the "civil Sunday" does not alter the fact that a law requiring its observance may be made the instrument of religious persecution, as has very recently been the case in several of the Eastern and Southern States, where within the last six months nearly a score of conscientious observers of the seventh day have been arrested, and some of them fined and imprisoned for not keeping the "civil Sunday," and that after they had religiously and conscientiously observed the seventh day "according to the commandment" of God.
If these Sunday-law advocates are sincere in the declaration that they wish only a "civil Sunday," it shows that they place a very low estimate upon the rights of conscience, because in that case they exalt a mere "police regulation" above a conscientious adherence to the divine law; and if, as the writer believes, they are not sincere, and really desire to enforce their religious tenets by civil law, in what respect are they better than the minions of the Inquisition? and are they not part and parcel of the forces of antichrist?
C. P. BOLLMAN.
CHRISTIAN LIFE.
Christian life is life in Christ. He is our very life. "Not I, but Christ liveth in me;" and to the close we are dependent on him for everything, and do all things through Christ that strengtheneth us.
Christian life is life in the Spirit. Christ seals it, sustains it, and is the substance of it. We "live in the Spirit" and "walk in the Spirit." All our graces are "the fruit of the Spirit." We are illuminated by the Spirit, "strengthened" by the Spirit, and "filled" with the Spirit, and we are warned against grieving and quenching the Spirit.
Christian life is a life of separation from the world and sin. "It has crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." It can say, "The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." It must "seek the things that are above," and "mortify the members that are on the earth." It must "put off the old man with his deeds," and its "conversation is in Heaven," remembering ever that they who mind earthly things are "enemies of the cross of Christ."
Christian life is a life of conflict; "conflict with the flesh," which "lusteth against the Spirit;" conflict with principalities and powers—the rulers of the darkness of this world—wicked spirits in heavenly places. And the nearer we get to the gates of triumph, the thicker grow the opposing hosts, and the more trying the ordeal of temptation. But the panoply is sufficient, and the victory is sure.
Christian life is one of practical holiness; a life of working and suffering, of waiting and hoping for the coming of Christ and the glory of the resurrection; of looking for the blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God, our Saviour Jesus Christ; "pressing toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ."—Selected.
ONE ERROR LEADS TO ANOTHER.
By R. F. Cottrell
IN a discourse upon baptism, a Methodist minister said:—
"Taken in connection with the Scripture facts we have adduced, it would stand thus: 'Infants of believing parents were constituted members of the visible church 3,757 years ago, by a positive direction of Jehovah; but there is no express command in the New Testament touching their membership;' the Baptists say, 'Therefore they are excluded from the New Testament rite of admission.' But we say, Therefore they should be baptized. What would become of the Christian Sabbath under such meddling hands as the Baptists apply to infants? The New Testament nowhere expressly enjoins the observance of it, therefore it must not be observed. Will they abide the result? Candor would oblige us to say, that, as the law made under the old dispensation for the observance of the Sabbath has never been repealed, that law is still binding. Though it has been changed by apostolic use, from the seventh day to the first day, neither the Baptists nor ourselves believe that this change, together with the silence of the New Testament touching its observance, releases us from the obligation to keep it holy. And if the Baptists would use the same logic and the same honesty in reference to infants, they would say that neither the change of the ritual from circumcision to baptism, nor the silence of the New Testament respecting its application to infants, releases us from the obligation to administer it to them."
This argument is an attempt to engraft one error upon another, or to prove that because the Baptists observe one tradition concerning which the New Testament is silent, they ought to receive another of the same character. Carry out this principle, and all the traditions and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church would be fastened upon us, and how much more, is uncertain; for there are a great many practices about which the New Testament and the Old, too, are silent.
It is hard to see how the Baptists can answer this argument while they hold to the change of the Sabbath. And men are more inclined to add one human tradition to another, than to abandon those they have, for the truth.
R. F. COTTRELL.
THE TEN KINGDOMS IN THE DARK AGES.
By J.
WE have now shown not only the rise of the ten kingdoms foretold in the prophecy, but we have traced directly to the great States of modern Western Europe, the seven of the ten nations which remained after the uprooting of the three to establish the Papacy.
To form of these kingdoms an empire such as that of Rome, was the ambition of Charlemagne, and of others after him, "but the unity of the empire and the absolute power of the emperor were buried in his grave." In his grandsons the design of the mighty Charles was dissipated into a dream. It was this same ambition that led Otto the Great to Rome, to his compact with the Pope, and to the establishment of the Holy Roman Empire. But "the Imperial Crown was the most fatal gift that could have been offered to the German kings; apparently giving them all things, it deprived them of nearly everything. And in doing this, it inflicted on many generations incalculable and needless suffering." In theory, the Emperor was "the secular lord of the world," but in fact, he was but the servant and the tool of the Papacy. The Imperial office was the symbol of united power, but the nations which were connected with the empire were, in fact, the most divided of all the European nations. This was true of the empire as long as it existed, and when it was destroyed by Napoleon in 1806, it was only that he might establish, in reality, a great European Empire, with himself as Cæsar, Augustus, Constantine, Charlemagne, and Otto all in one.
"He pictured to himself the creation of feudal States, believing that he could make them acceptable, and preserve them from the criticism which was beginning to assail ancient institutions, by establishing them on a scale so grand that, as our pride would be enlisted, our reason might be silenced. He believed that once again he could exhibit what history has already witnessed—the world subject to a 'People-King;' but that royalty was to be represented in his own person. A combination of Eastern and Roman institutions, bearing, also, some resemblance to the times of Charlemagne, was to transform the sovereigns of Europe into great feudatories of the French Empire."—Memoirs of Madame de Rémusat, chap. 12.
The English newspapers had said:—
"If Bonaparte succeeds in accomplishing his system of Federal Empire, France will become sovereign arbiter of almost the whole continent. He was delighted at this prediction, and resolutely strove to realize it."—Id., chap. 20.
"The European phalanxes were gradually giving way before him, and he began to believe that he was destined to regulate the affairs of every continental kingdom. . . . He sometimes said: 'It is my intention to reach such a point that the kings of Europe shall be forced, each one of them, to have a palace in Paris, and at the time of the coronation of an emperor of the French, they shall take up their residence in it, to be present at the ceremony, and render it more imposing by their homage.'"—Id., chap. 16.
He had already, March 17, 1805, "laid the foundation-stone of this brain-built edifice," by uniting the iron crown of Italy with his own as emperor of France. It was to obtain, of his own blood, an heir to such an empire, that he divorced Josephine and married Maria Louisa, the Archduchess of Austria. And when she bore a son, March 20, 1811, the title of King of Rome was bestowed upon him as the first step in the succession to so grandly pictured an empire, which neither he nor his father ever saw, and which should never more be seen. For God had declared that although they should "mingle themselves with the seed of men," yet, "they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay." Dan. 2:43. And thus they will remain till the end of the world, for says the word of God by the prophet: "In the days of these kings shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed; and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever." Dan. 2:44.4In fulfillment of the vision of the great image, seen by Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel, we have seen the rise, the glory, and the fall, of Babylon, the head of gold; of Medo-Persia, the breast and arms of silver; of Grecia, the sides of brass; and of Rome, the legs of iron. We have seen the division of the iron kingdom of Rome into ten parts according to the number of toes of the image in the vision; we have seen the history of these divisions for more than fourteen hundred years; and we now live in the last days, not only of their history, but of all history. For when they fall it is at the establishment of the everlasting kingdom of God. Said the prophet, "Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them; and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth." Dan. 2:34, 35. The stone smiting the image upon his feet, is explained by the prophet to mean that "in the days of these kings [the kingdoms represented by the toes—the ten kingdoms] shall the God of Heaven set up a kingdom." Verse 44.
Notice, the stone smites the image, not upon his head, nor his breast, nor his sides, nor his legs, but upon his feet. The kingdom of God was not therefore, and was not to be, set up in the days of Babylon, nor of Medo-Persia, nor of Grecia, nor of Rome, but in the days of the kingdoms which should arise upon the ruin of Rome. These kingdoms did not arise till in the fifth century, therefore it is this side of the fifth century that this kingdom of God is to be set up. And when this kingdom is set up, all the others are broken to pieces and carried away as is chaff by the wind, and no place is found for them. Not one of these kingdoms remains when the kingdom of God comes, but it breaks in pieces and consumes them all, and then it becomes a great mountain and fills the whole earth, and stands forever.
The kingdom of God is to smite the nations that are now upon the earth. These are to be broken to pieces. In the days of these kingdoms it is that "the God of Heaven" shall set up this kingdom. Therefore in closing this sketch of the history foreshown in the prophecy by the great image, we can only use the words of the prophet of God as he stood before King Nebuchadnezzar in the pleasant palace of Babylon, two thousand four hundred and eighty-nine years ago; and we can use it with as much assurance as he, for it is the word of God. "Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter; and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." Dan. 2:45.
TRAINING UP LIARS.
THERE are schools (private, of course) in our large cities in which children are systematically trained to pick pockets and perpetrate other kinds of expert crime. But what shall be said of "respectable" parents who openly initiate their children into habits of dishonesty? The temptation to natural cupidity in the matter of half-fares develops a peculiar standard of ethics for railway-car travel which many would be ashamed to be charged with anywhere else; and there are fathers and mothers, claiming high moral character, who, for a little paltry saving of money, will corrupt the pure conscience of a child by teaching him to lie about his age. A correspondent of an exchange says:—
"We have, with pain, witnessed a humbling scene, both for mother and child, in their combined efforts to cheat the conductor. When the conductor comes round and receives from the mother a fare and half, he asks: 'Where is your child?' 'Here he is,' is replied. He looks amazed, as does everybody else, to learn that the half-grown youngster is under five. He asks the infant, 'How old are you?' to which it replies, 'Four years,' looking out for the future that still they may keep a margin to travel on.
I know a young boy who is being simply ruined in his education by his mother. He is eight years old, with all the noble instincts of probity and obedience which generally characterize a boy's nature. This tender parent has instructed him that whenever he gets on a car, the appearance of the conductor to collect the fare reduces his age under five. Last week a friend of the family was displaying his interest in the child by inquiring his age. The little fellow hesitated for a moment, and then looked up at his mother: 'Mamma, is he a conductor?' 'No, child.' 'Then I am eight years old.'"—Good Cheer.
IS ROMANISM TO RULE AMERICA?
THE astute and tireless agents of the Pope answer, Yes, and put forth all their energies to accomplish their designs. The American Protestants say, No, but make little or no effort to oppose the threatened domination. Monsignor Straniero, the Papal Ablegate who brought the beretta to Cardinal Gibbons last summer, has just returned to Italy to report to the Pope the state of his church in this country. In a communication that appeared in the New York Times, November 12 (the day before he sailed), he said:—
“I have spent the last four months in traveling through this country. I had been in all the principal countries of Europe, and believed that nothing could astonish me. I acknowledge now that there is only one really great country—the United States. And great as your country is at present, I see that there is a future before it such as never existed in the world. Your career is only just begun, and I was rejoiced to see everywhere I went that the Holy Catholic Church has influence, not only among her own members, but among Protestants. . . .
“Everywhere I went the hospitalities given to me were boundless, and it seemed as if people could not do enough to make my journey pleasant and profitable—I mean, of course, profitable mentally and spiritually. Boston impressed me greatly as an intellectual capital. History had informed me that Boston was the center where Protestant teachings flourished. It seems to me that Catholicity now has the lead there, and that in the future it will be even more powerful than now. . . .
“Of the wonderful prosperity and what I believe to be the destiny of America I have already spoken. Amid all, it seems to me that the ‘signs of the times’ point with an unerring hand to the prevalence of Catholicity. I had expected to meet with prejudice wherever I went because I was a Catholic priest. I met none. On the contrary, intelligent people of all sects acknowledged that, if Christianity and the institutions, the social relations which Christianity has created, are to be maintained, it must be by the influence of the Catholic Church. Many of the Protestant sects are rapidly reapproaching Catholicity—more rapidly, probably, than their leaders would be willing to own. . . .
“The church in Italy is laboring under many evils and great persecution. In America I see nothing but prosperity. The youngest child of the church is also her lustiest.”
These are not the idle utterances of an irresponsible priest, nor the vaporings of a wild Irishman like Bishop Ireland, but the deliberate conclusions of a trained diplomatist who surveyed the field and observed the “army of occupation”—bishops, priests, monks and nuns—already at work. If Rome’s hopes are realized, American liberty will give place to spiritual bondage.—Converted Catholic.
AN EDUCATED CONSCIENCE.
By Kate Livingston Hamilton
Few discussions concerning any question of right and wrong are concluded without some one’s saying, “Oh! that is as a person thinks. Of course, if you think it wrong to do this, it would be wrong for you. If I consider it right, there is no harm in my doing it.”
While religious liberty is a thing to fight for—to die for, if necessary—it would be well to ask if the remark just quoted signifies liberty, or license. No one person should ever rule autocratically another’s conscience; but conscience, like the body and the brain, needs training. It is not infallible, like animal instinct. If you think a certain course of action right because you have studied it carefully in its origin, its connections, its harmony with the Bible teachings as you understand them, it is well. You are responsible for your belief to God alone. If you say a thing is right, simply because you want to do it, and have never taken the trouble to think about it at all, that is altogether another matter. It would be quite as sensible to turn your back upon a certain article of furniture, shut your eyes, and deny that it is there, because you cannot see it.
It is so easy to do a convenient or a pleasant thing because a great many other people whom you know do it, apparently with no compunctions. There is such a plausible argument in saying: “They are better and wiser than I ever expect to be. It would be very presumptuous in me to declare a thing wrong, that they, by word and example, affirm to be right.”
But conscience, like some possessions of lesser value, is plainly marked, “Not transferable;” therefore the responsibility of living according to your own, and not your neighbor’s, is inevitable. Many actions involve absolute, inherent right or wrong. Others are simply questions of expediency,—right for some people under some circumstances, wrong for others differently environed. Pre-eminently must the latter class be decided each one for itself. Many of them can only be dealt with by a very sensitive, highly developed conscience, one keen-eyed enough to detect very delicate moral shadings, and brave enough to face the truth, even when arrayed against some darling indulgence.
A year ago you honestly thought a certain course of action right, to which to-day, with your broader knowledge, deeper faith, and truer living, you could not commit yourself. Only by boldly challenging every such question, sifting it to the very bottom, and resolutely living up to our decisions, can we have strong, growing, educated consciences; only thus can we “come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”—Kate Livingston Hamilton, in S. S. Times.