Earlier text: A BEAUTIFUL PICTURETHE MESSAGE FROM THE SANCTUARY.
By Uriah Smith
WE have now briefly noticed some of the more important chains of events that have brought us down step by step to the great work of our High Priest in the tabernacle above. We have seen the door of that inner temple thrown open before us, and have obtained a deeper insight into the mysteries of salvation, and the plan and work of redemption, while beholding the entrance of our great High Priest therein, and his last act of ministration for rebellious man. While this is accomplishing, a last and final warning goes forth to a guilty world. Solemn thought! How few will avail themselves of the privileges now within their reach, till they are forever past! The first two angels of Rev. 14, brought us down to the commencement of the second division of the Sanctuary work. But a third angel follows them, Verse 9. The mission of this angel therefore is accomplished while this last work of the Sanctuary is closing: an examination of his message will show us that it has for its foundation this very work. "And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb; and the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever; and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Rev. 14:9-12. A denunciation of wrath more terrible cannot be found in the sacred word. It becomes us every one therefore to examine it carefully, if we may ascertain against whom these threatenings stand. And hence the inquiries will arise, What is the beast? what is his image? what is his mark? and what is his worship? since it is the worshipers who will be the objects of God's unmingled displeasure; and further, why is there, in contradistinction to these, a little company spoken of, who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus? These are inquiries which will command our consideration. Upon the chronology of this message we need not here speak; for whatever determines the time of the first and second messages of Rev. 14, is equally applicable to any other which immediately follows; and upon their chronology we have already spoken. In order to an investigation of the other queries, the reader is requested to turn with us to the 12th chapter of Revelation. We have brought to view in this chapter, a power under the symbol of a great Red Dragon. From the part which this power acts in reference to the man-child [verses 4, 5] we understand it to be a symbol of Pagan Rome. Without any controversy Christ is brought to view by the man-child. It was Pagan Rome who stood before the woman to devour him as soon as he was born. It was Herod who sent forth and slew all the children in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under. It was Pagan Rome that did finally nail Jesus Christ to the cross. But says one, the dragon is said to be the devil. Verse 9. Very true; and we understand that Pagan Rome was represented by such a symbol for the very reason that it was so far controlled by and under the influence of that old serpent, the devil. In the following chapter we have another symbol brought to view; namely, a beast with the body of a leopard, feet of a bear, and mouth of a lion, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns. To this beast the Dragon gives his seat, his power and great authority. To whom did Pagan Rome give its seat (the city of Rome) and power, and great authority? Ans. To the Papacy. This fact alone is sufficient to prove to us that the Papacy is here introduced; but there are at least ten other specifications which furnish evidence to the same end. 1. The beast rises from the sea—the sea denoting "peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues." 2. It has seven heads, denoting the seven forms of government which have existed in the Roman empire. 3. It has ten horns, showing it to be identical with the fourth beast of Dan. 7, which all know symbolizes Rome. 4. The horns had each a crown, showing that the governments which sprung from the Roman empire would be monarchical. 5. This beast has the characteristics of the three first beasts of Dan. 7; namely, a leopard's body, a bear's feet, and a lion's mouth, showing its existence to be after those beasts had passed away, and making it again identical with the fourth of the series there presented. 6. It has power to make war with, and overcome the saints, the same as the little horn of Dan. 7:25. 7. It opens its mouth in blasphemy, which is also said of the little horn. 8 It was to continue forty and two months, 1260 days (years). Just this length of time the Papacy did continue from its establishment in 538, till 1798, when it was for a time suppressed by the French. 9. This beast has one of its heads wounded to death. Thus was the Papacy wounded in the event just alluded to, when Berthier, a general of Bonaparte, took prisoner the Pope then occupying St. Peter's chair, and carried him into exile, where he died. 10. The deadly wound was to be healed. This was accomplished in Bonaparte's restoring the Papacy, but not to its former power. These items are sufficient to fix the application of this symbol. But by reading on in the chapter [Rev. 13] from verse 11, we find another beast introduced, having two horns like a lamb. This beast is cotemporary with the one just spoken of; for it says [verse 12]523that he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him; the word, before, signifying, in the presence of, in the sight of; which is the literal meaning of enopion, from which it is rendered. Not to dwell at length on a subject which is explicitly treated of in our publications, we will only say that we have here a symbol of the United States of America. This will be apparent by considering, 1. Its location. 2. The manner of its rise. 3. The time of its rise. 4. Its character. 5. The form of its government; and, 6. Its acts. Its two horns may fitly denote the two great branches of power that exist in this country, commonly designated, Ecclesiastical and Civil, Religious and Political, Protestantism and Republicanism, or Church and State. These both are mild and lamb-like in appearance, but dragonic in their acts. In regard to the two beasts brought to view in Rev. 13, let one fact be born in mind; and that is, that the Papal beast is always called the beast, or the first beast, while the two-horned beast is never designated by the term, beast, except in verse 11, where it is introduced as "another beast." It it thenceforward represented by the pronoun, he. It is this two-horned beast which causes an image to be made to the first or Papal beast. The Papal beast was a church clothed with civil power, or authority to punish and correct heretics. An image to this beast must bear some resemblance to it. It would be carried out in every respect by a Protestant church endowed with similar privileges. Thus we gain a knowlege of some of the characters which act a part in the third angel's message. SABBATH IN THE EARLY RECORDS.
By John Nevins Andrews
IN our examination of the testimony of the early fathers relative to the perpetuity of the Sabbath, and to its observance in the centuries during which they lived, we now come to the so-called testimony of Ignatius. The longer form of the reputed epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians was not written till after Origen’s time, but, though not written by Ignatius, it is valuable for the light which it sheds upon the existing state of things at the time of its composition, and for marking the progress which apostasy had made with respect to the Sabbath. Here is its reference to the Sabbath and first-day:— “Let us therefore no longer keep the Sabbath after the Jewish manner, and rejoice in days of idleness; for ‘he that does not work, let him not eat.’ For say the [holy] oracles, ‘In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread.’ But let every one of you keep the Sabbath after a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law, not in relaxation of the body, admiring the workmanship of God, and not eating things prepared the day before, nor using lukewarm drinks, and walking within a prescribed space, nor finding delight in dancing and plaudits which have no sense in them. And after the observance of the Sabbath, let every friend of Christ keep the Lord’s day as a festival, the resurrection day, the queen and chief of all the days [of the week]. Looking forward to this, the prophet declared, ‘To the end, for the eighth day,’ on which our life both sprang up again, and the victory over death was obtained in Christ.” The writer specifies the different things which made up the Jewish observance of the Sabbath. They may be summed up under two heads. 1. Strict abstinence from labor. 2. Dancing and carousal. Now, in the light of what Origen has said, we can understand the contrast which this writer draws between the Jewish and Christian observance of the Sabbath. The error of the Jews in the first part of this was that they contented themselves with mere bodily relaxation, without raising their thoughts to God, the Creator, and this mere idleness soon gave place to sensual folly. The Christian, as Origen draws the contrast, refrains from labor on the Sabbath that he may raise his heart in grateful worship. Or, as this writer draws it, the Christian keeps the Sabbath in a spiritual manner, rejoicing in meditation on the law; but to do thus, he must hallow it in the manner which that law commands, that is, in the observance of a sacred rest which commemorates the rest of the Creator. The writer evidently believed in the observance of the Sabbath as an act of obedience to that law on which they were to meditate on that day. And the nature of the epistle indicates that it was observed, at all events, in the country where it was written. But mark the work of apostasy. The so-called Lord’s day for which the writer could offer nothing better than an argument drawn from the title of the sixth psalm (see its marginal reading) is exalted above the Lord’s holy day, and made the queen of all days! The Apostolic Constitutions, though not written in apostolic times, were in existence as early as the third century, and were then very generally believed to express the doctrine of the apostles. They do therefore furnish important historical testimony to the practice of the church at that time, and also indicate the great progress which apostasy had made. Guericke speaks thus of them:— “This is a collection of ecclesiastical statutes purporting to be the work of the apostolic age, but in reality formed gradually in the second, third, and fourth centuries, and is of much value in reference to the history of polity, and Christian archæology generally.” “The matter of this work is unquestionably ancient; since the manners and discipline of which it exhibits a view are those which prevailed amongst the Christians of the second and third centuries, especially those resident in Greece and the oriental regions.” These Constitutions indicate that the Sabbath was extensively observed in the third century. They also show the standing of the Sunday festival in that century. After solemnly enjoining the sacred observance of the ten commandments, they thus enforce the Sabbath:— “Consider the manifold workmanship of God, which received its beginning through Christ. Thou shalt observe the Sabbath, on account of Him who ceased from his work of creation, but ceased not from his work of providence: it is a rest for meditation of the law, not for idleness of the hands.” This is sound Sabbatarian doctrine. To show how distinctly these Constitutions recognize the decalogue as the foundation of Sabbatic authority, we quote the words next preceding the above:— “Have before thine eyes the fear of God, and always remember the ten commandments of God,—to love the one and only Lord God with all thy strength; to give no heed to idols, or any other beings, as being lifeless gods, or irrational beings or demons.” But though these Constitutions thus recognize the authority of the decalogue and the sacred obligation of the seventh day, they elevate the Sunday festival in some respects to higher honor than the Sabbath, though they claim for it no precept of the Scriptures. Thus they say:— “But keep the Sabbath, and the Lord’s day festival; because the former is the memorial of the creation, and the latter of the resurrection.” “For the Sabbath is the ceasing of the creation, the completion of the world, the inquiry after laws, and the grateful praise to God for the blessings he has bestowed upon men. All which the Lord’s day excels, and shows the Meditator himself, the Provider, the Law-giver, the Cause of the resurrection, the First-born of the whole creation.” “So that the Lord’s day commands us to offer unto thee, O Lord, thanksgiving for all. For this is the grace afforded by thee, which, on account of its greatness, has obscured all other blessings.” Tested by his own principles, the writer of these Constitutions was far advanced in apostasy; for he held a festival, for which he claimed no divine authority, more honorable than one which he acknowledged to be ordained of God. There could be but one step more in this course, and that would be to set aside the commandment of God for the ordinance of man, and this step was not very long afterward actually taken. One other point should be noticed. It is said,— “Let the slaves work five days; but on the Sabbath day and the Lord’s day let them have leisure to go to church for instruction in piety.” The question of the sinfulness of labor on either of these days is not here taken into the account; for the reason assigned is that the slaves may have leisure to attend public worship. But while these Constitutions elsewhere forbid labor on the Sabbath on the authority of the decalogue, they do not forbid it upon the first day of the week. Take the following as an example:— “O Lord Almighty, thou hast created the world by Christ, and hast appointed the Sabbath in memory thereof, but that on that day thou hast made us rest from our works, for the meditation upon thy laws.” The Apostolic Constitutions are valuable to us, not as authority respecting the teaching of the apostles, but as giving us a knowledge of the views and practices which prevailed in the third century. As these Constitutions were extensively regarded as embodying the doctrine of the apostles, they furnish conclusive evidence that, at the time when they were put in writing, the ten commandments were very generally revered as the immutable rule of right, and that the Sabbath of the Lord was by many observed as an act of obedience to the fourth commandment, and as the divine memorial of the creation. They also show that the first-day festival had, in the third century, attained such strength and influence as to clearly indicate that ere long it would claim the entire ground. But observe that the Sabbath and the so-called Lord’s day were then regarded as distinct institutions, and that no hint of the change of the Sabbath from the seventh day to the first is even once given. Thus much out of the fathers concerning the authority of the decalogue, and concerning the perpetuity and observance of the ancient Sabbath. The suppression of the Sabbath of the Bible, and the elevation of Sunday to its place, has been shown to be in no sense the work of the Saviour. But so great a work required the united action of powerful causes, and these causes we now enumerate. 1. Hatred toward the Jews. This people, who retained the ancient Sabbath, had slain Christ. It was easy for men to forget that Christ, as Lord of the Sabbath, had claimed it as his own institution, and to call the Sabbath a Jewish institution which Christians should not regard. 2. The hatred of the church of Rome toward the Sabbath, and its determination to elevate Sunday to the highest place. This church, as the chief in the work of apostasy, took the lead in the earliest effort to suppress the Sabbath by turning it into a fast. And the very first act of papal aggression was by an edict in behalf of Sunday. Thenceforward, in every possible form, this church continued this work until the Pope announced that he had received a divine mandate for Sunday observance [the very thing lacking] in a roll which fell from Heaven. 3. The voluntary observance of memorable days. In the Christian church, almost from the beginning, men voluntarily honored the fourth, the sixth, and the first days of the week, and also the anniversary of the Passover and the Pentecost, to commemorate the betrayal, the death, and the resurrection of Christ, and the descent of the Holy Spirit, which acts in themselves could not be counted sinful. 4. The making of tradition of equal authority with the Scriptures. This was the great error of the early church, and the one to which that church was specially exposed, as having in it those who had seen the apostles, or who had seen those who had seen them. It was this which rendered the voluntary observance of memorable days a dangerous thing. For what began as a voluntary observance became, after the lapse of a few years, a standing custom, established by tradition, which must be obeyed because it came from those who had seen the apostles, or from those who had seen others who had seen them. This is the origin of the various errors of the great apostasy. 5. The entrance of the no-law heresy. This is seen in Justin Martyr, the earliest witness to the Sunday festival, and in the church of Rome of which he was then a member. 6. The extensive observance of Sunday as a heathen festival. The first day of the week corresponded to the widely observed heathen festival of the sun. It was therefore easy to unite the honor of Christ in the observance of the day of his resurrection with the convenience and worldly advantage of his people in having the same festival day with their heathen neighbors, and to make it a special act of piety in that the conversion of the heathen was thereby facilitated, while the neglect of the ancient Sabbath was justified by stigmatizing that divine memorial as a Jewish institution with which Christians should have no concern. A Sermon Against Immortality
By Editor
THE strange spectacle was presented recently of a professedly Christian congregation assembling on Sunday in its own church and listening to a discourse the burden of which was that there was no such thing as immortality! Brooklyn was the city; the Second Unitarian church supplied the place and the people, and Professor Felix Adler was the speaker. If old Satan was present at the service, no doubt he went home greatly cheered and comforted. Pity and Need Make Kin
By Edwin Arnold
PITY and need make all flesh kin. There is no caste in joy which runneth of one hue, nor caste in tears, which trickle salt with all.—Edwin Arnold. Words Once Spoken
By Roscommon
WHAT you keep by you, you may change and mend but words once spoken can never be recalled.—Roscommon. “WE are in that deplorable condition of mind where we have just knowledge enough to doubt the first chapter of Genesis, and not faith sufficient to believe in the sermon on the mount. Before long we shall become so scientific and well-informed, that when a person dies there will be no funeral services. Some one will read comforting passages from the transactions of the American Scientific Association, and the mourners will go about with small hammers in their hands, chipping the rocks and assuaging their anguish by proving the antiquity of creation. Front seats at the scientific lectures will be reserved for the widow and the fatherless, and instead of looking up to Heaven for our consolation, we shall bore down a few feet deeper in the earth for our interesting facts. We have traded off all simple religious faiths for a few meager scientific facts, but there may come that day—when we think of bestowing our patronage on some undertaker—that we shall wish to trade back again, and in something of a hurry. “We recently saw a man who believed that the whale swallowed Jonah, and we were glad to see him, and to cling to this rare specimen of all faith and no intelligence. He was a much happier looking man than any of the advanced thinkers of the age that we have had the pleasure of seeing. Macaulay says that George Fox, although he possessed an intellect too much disordered for liberty, and not sufficiently disordered for Bedlam, was still able to convert men of ability, like Barclay and Penn, simply because Fox believed what he did believe. In close quarters, the man who really believes anything is more than a match for a man who entertains an intelligent doubt on all subjects. Shut Moody and Sankey in a room with Francis Abbott and John Weiss for a week, and at the end of that time you will find Abbott and Weiss on their knees reading that excellent little tract called, ‘What shall I do to be saved?’ with tears streaming down their cheeks, and all because Moody and Sankey are just ignorant enough to believe something, while Abbott and Weiss are so very knowing that they are not sure that they know anything. “In spiritual matters we want a man at the helm who has entire confidence in himself, if he really does not know as much as we do. What the world has gained in one direction in the last fifty years, it has lost in another. If we could retain the faith of our forefathers, with our present worldly comforts, how happy we should be. We live in better houses, we walk on better sidewalks, and we drink better water than did our ancestors; but we have not their reverence for sacred things, nor their belief in things eternal. They never saw the railroad, nor the telegraph, nor the last work of Professor Tyndal; but they all believed in the day of Judgment, and they all loved the sound of the church-going bell. They lived in contentment and died in peace, and they were more solicitous to know the final destiny of their own souls than the ‘origin of their species.’ We, their unhappy children, have relinquished the faith that cheers, without attaining to that knowledge that illumines, losing all our piety in our vain efforts to become profound.”—Providence (Rhode Island) Journal. MRS. WESLEY OUTSIDE OF HER FAMILY.
By Stephen Nelson Haskell
HISTORY affords but little information respecting Mrs. Wesley's influence and labors outside of her family, but sufficient to show that her interest and the watchful care were not wholly absorbed in it. To the management of her household, especially the training and education of her children, she gave her first attention, but even in the accomplishment of this, a breadth of thought and feeling is evinced which extended beyond the limits of the family circle. This principle, which led Mrs. Wesley to interest herself for the good of those around her, had a moulding influence upon her children, especially Charles and John, who, at an early age, possessed much of the missionary spirit and afterward transmitted the same to the denomination which they were instrumental in founding. In a work on Methodism we find recorded the following sentence, which, in her own words, expresses the sentiments of Mrs. Wesley's heart: "If comparatively to despise and undervalue all the world contains, which is esteemed great, fair, or good; if earnestly and constantly to desire Thee—thy favor, thy acceptance, thyself—rather than any or all things thou hast created, be to love Thee—I do love Thee." It would be impossible for a heart, thus aglow with divine love, not to reach out after the salvation of all for whom Christ died. Love to God and man are inseparably blended together, and both will find expression in the lives of those who possess them, and so they did in Mrs. Wesley's life. Abel Stevens, in his history of Methodism, records the fact of her having opened her doors, during her husband's absence, for public worship which she conducted herself. He says: "She read sermons, prayed, and conversed directly with the rustic assembly." That Mrs. Wesley was an active missionary in the community where she lived, this statement furnishes ample evidence. A step of this kind, so far in advance of the time in which she lived, could only have been prompted by an acquaintance with the spiritual and moral condition and wants of the people, such as could not be obtained excepting by personally laboring among them. A person of her judgment and foresight would not have ventured to thus violate the customs of society and the church without seeing and feeling a necessity for it. Even her husband revolted at the novelty of the move and advised her to desist, or to compromise the matter by getting some one else to read the sermons. Her reply to him was as follows: "I chose the best and most awakening sermons we had. Last Sunday, I believe we had above two hundred hearers, and yet many went away for want of room. We banish all temporal concerns from our society;525none are suffered to mingle any discourse about them with our reading and singing. We keep close to the business of the day, and as soon as it is over they all go home. And where is the harm of this? As for your proposal of letting some other person read, alas! you do not consider what a people they are. I do not think one man among them could read a sermon without spelling a good part of it; and how would that edify the rest? Nor has any of our family a voice strong enough to be heard by such a number of people." Very soon she assembled around her a larger assembly than had usually met at the church itself, and some of the leading parishioners, with her husband's curate, wrote to him against the assembly, which again called out a reply from her full of good sense and womanly feeling. She stated that the measure was reclaiming many of the common people from immorality; that it was filling the parish church; that some who had not attended the latter for years were now seen there, and prayed him to relieve her from the responsibility of ending these useful services by assuming it himself as her husband and pastor. From this reply it is easy to judge of the motives which led to what, at that time, seemed a singular course of action. It was because she saw a work to be done and no one to do it, because she felt the needs of the people and longed to see them meet, that she engaged in the work herself. It was the languishing cause of God that stirred her soul and nerved her to action. No personal interest had she to plead in her defense, but the people were receiving benefit, and for their sake she would not cease her efforts unless upon her husband's responsibility. Zeal like this in the work of God will meet with divine approval, and efforts however feeble, if prompted by such motives will be accompanied with the blessing of God. His blessing will make much of little, and bring great results from feeble means. RECONCILED TO GOD.
By W. N. Glenn
WHAT a thought! What could be more expressive of infinite forbearance and solicitude than the idea of the great and good Creator beseeching the sinful, rebellious creature to become reconciled to him. We can readily conceive how appropriately the sinner might implore the reconciliation of an offended God; but that the offending party should be made also the privileged party, is almost beyond human comprehension. How is it with reconciliation between man and man—the human code of honor, so to speak? With rare exception, and that where parental or filial love is unusually strong, the party offended is the one to be reconciled. For an individual to wantonly insult and dishonor even an equal, and then the injured one be expected to beg his enemy for reconciliation, would ordinarily be deemed absurd, from a merely human standpoint. But see how much higher and nobler, yet more condescending, are God's ways than man's. When man traitorously surrendered to the enemy the dominion which God had entrusted to his care, the pitying Father immediately began entreating the erring race to be reconciled to him. And notwithstanding for thousands of years the heavenly messages have been spurned and the messengers mocked and slain, not excepting the Son of God himself, he still beseeches us to be reconciled. Paul expresses it thus: "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation, to-wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God." 2 Cor. 5:18-20. Truly "the peace of God passeth all understanding." Greatest Grief and Greatest Joy
An old clergyman said: "When I come to die I shall have my greatest grief and my greatest joy; my greatest grief that I have done so little for the Lord Jesus, and my greatest joy that the Lord Jesus has done so much for me." THE immediate future of Russia is gloomy if the view taken by the St. Petersburg Golos is correct. The crops throughout the country are very generally a failure, and instead of exporting 40,000,000 quarters the Russians will be obliged to import grain from abroad. The government is already giving serious attention to the problem of feeding the peasantry during the coming winter. Thousands of destructive insects defied the efforts to exterminate them and are hidden beneath the snow, so that there is little prospect that the crops will escape them next year. During the past year the deficiency in the revenue has been $20,800,000, and these facts, taken in connection with the political situation, are sufficient cause for general uneasiness and depression.—Christian Union. THE ENGLISH BURIAL ACT.
By Editor
In a recent number we noticed the fact that the burial act which gives Nonconformists the right to bury their own dead had gone into operation in England without any of the threats previously made being executed. The following from the Oakland Times, Nov. 13, gives further particulars in regard to it:— "The British mind is just now much interested in the new "Burial Laws Amendment Act," which was approved Sept. 7, and is regarded by Dissenters as the forerunner of the disestablishment of the Church of England. The measure has been fought over in Parliament for many years, and not until 1875 did Gladstone become one of its advocates. In 1853, when the Liberals passed a cemetery act, enabling burial grounds to be laid in any town, it in every case prevented the interment of a Dissenter in consecrated ground, unless the Church of England burial service was used, even if his deceased wife and children had been previously buried there. In 1861, Sir Morton Peto brought in a bill to permit the burial of Dissenters with a simple religious service, but it was thrown out. In 1869 Mr. Hadfield introduced a similar bill, which was rejected. In 1870 Mr. Osborne Morgan's bill was referred to a select committee and subsequently withdrawn. It was re-introduced and again withdrawn in the following year. In 1872 it was brought up again and ultimately shelved, and in 1873 it was again re-introduced and once more withdrawn,—from all of which we can understand how obstinately this measure of liberal ideas was resisted by the churchmen. "Under the new act now in force the incumbent of the parish no longer has the exclusive right of officiating at interments in consecrated ground. It is not necessary that any service shall be performed at all, but if there is any it must be Christian and orderly. Liberty is given to the clergy to use the burial service in unconsecrated ground; and in cases where any service at all has hitherto been forbidden, as well as in those where the friends of the deceased wish for it, a service other than that of the Church of England may be used, with the approval of the ordinary. The act does not affect graveyards in trust where the express conditions of such trust are not performed. Interments on Sundays, Christmas Days and Good Fridays may be objected to for reasons given in writing. The person in charge of the funeral is held responsible for the maintenance of good order, and every person guilty of riot, obstruction, or contempt shall be held for misdemeanor. "It may seem strange to some that a measure so obviously just, reasonable, and Christian, should have been so long and obstinately resisted in this most enlightened of Christian lands; but the traditions of England are the structures of many centuries, and are not to be easily overthrown. "The first interment under the new Act took place on the 7th of October in the parish churchyard of Beckenham, when a Baptist was buried by his own minister without the rites of the Established Church. The first Roman Catholic funeral in a Protestant churchyard took place on the same day at Prittlewell in Essex, a priest of South-end officiating and performing all the rites of his church." This is a busy world—too busy for any one who has the ability to work to be idle. There is something for you to do—something that you can do—something exactly suited to your ability. There are whitening harvest fields all around you, inviting you to work—to work for God and humanity. The ignorant are to be instructed, the tempted to be warned, the faltering to be encouraged, the sorrowing to be comforted, the poor to be cared for, and the erring to be reclaimed. There are tears to be dried, hopes to be inspired, expectations to be excited, saving influences to be exercised, kind words to be uttered, looks of sympathy to be given, and helping hands to be extended. There is work in the office and in the store, in the shop and on the street, in the temperance society and in the Sabbath-school, in church and in the world—work everywhere and work of every kind to do. You are not required to abandon your lawful pursuits to do some great deed that will attract the attention of the world, but in connection with these to perform those little acts of kindness, to utter those sweet words of counsel, and to manifest that deep heartfelt sympathy for the ignorant, the erring and the sorrowing, that will bring sunshine to their hearts, and reclaim them from their wanderings, or lift them from their lowliness, and make them wiser and better. You are not required to do the work of another—perhaps you could not do it; but you are required to do your own work, and no one can do it so well as you. There are hearts that you can reach, there are influences that you can exercise, there are words of counsel that you can utter, and there are acts of kindness that you can perform better than any one else. You are the center of a little circle of attractions, activities and influences that you can control. You have the opportunity and privilege of doing much good, of performing "little errands for Jesus," of gathering out of the dust precious gems to be placed in a sparkling crown and laid at the Master's feet. Then resolve to do something—to do something that will tell—something that will tell for good. It may be but a little thing, but remember that the aggregate of little things is sometimes very great. The earth is composed of particles, the ocean of drops. Do not sigh for opportunities which you do not possess; employ the opportunities you have. If you cannot do some great thing, do some little thing. Do not be idle. Do something. Do what you can.—Methodist Recorder. HEALDSBURG, CAL.
By W. M. Healey; R. A. Morton
WE have just closed a meeting in this place, which has continued nearly two weeks. Two adults have taken a stand upon the truth, been baptized and united with us.
W. M. HEALEY.
R. A. MORTON. BLAIR, NEBRASKA.
By A. J. Cudney
I SPENT Sabbath and first-day, Oct. 30, 31, with the Decatur church. We had some good meetings, and the Lord was very near. Four united with the church. Fifty-seven copies of the SIGNS were taken. A. J. CUDNEY. EAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN
By A. Mead
I HAVE now returned to this place, where Bro. S. Fulton and myself have been laboring. The interest remains quite good. Twenty have signed the covenant, and a Sabbath-school has been organized. Twenty-two were present last Sabbath, and we had an interesting school. A. MEAD. A sad interest attaches to the island of Molokai, one of the Sandwich Islands, midway between Maui and Oahu. It is the leper settlement, and to it all the victims of this terrible, loathsome, and incurable disease, unhappily so prevalent in the Hawaiian Archipelago, are sent to prevent the spread of the contagion. A French priest has nobly devoted himself to the religious and secular instruction of the lepers, and up to the present time has enjoyed complete immunity from the disease; but even if he escapes this danger, he can never return to his country and friends.—Mrs. Brassey’s “Voyage of the Sunbeam.” Teetotal Newspaper in Shanghai
The teetotalers of Shanghai publish a weekly newspaper devoted to the advocacy of their cause. Make no more vain resolutions, but proceed at once to duty. Know your weakness, trust and pray. God will help you through, and give you patience. LIGHT! LIGHT!—Neither plants, nor animals, nor men can exist and enjoy health without an ample supply of light. Witness the vine that grows in your cellar; note the animal brought from the jungle and put in close confinement; witness the prisoner in his dungeon cell, the debased dwellers in your city cellars, and more especially the halt and crippled crowds of the Vaudois valleys who live under the dark shadows of the Alps and Apennines. Let in the light, if you would have pure air, good cheer, and a vigorous flow of the life-blood. Shame on our city churches that shut out the light of Heaven. It would seem that closed shutters and a gloom of dense darkness had become a very fashionable concomitant of a city church. Why this? Do they love darkness? Do preachers in their pulpits love darkness? and the people love it to? For our part we prefer the light of day, blazoned upon an audience when we preach to it.