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Review and Herald, Vol. 53, No. 20.

THE EARLY FATHERS

Review and Herald

May 15, 1879

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 15, 1879

THE EARLY FATHERS.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

ARNOBIUS, A. D. 300.

This author, in his large work, “Against the Heathens,” shows that he still holds to the old faith; for he says that the wicked will “be thrown into torrents of fire, amidst dark caverns and whirlpools, where they shall at length be annihilated, and vanish in perpetual extinction.” He held that man was of a middle nature, neither mortal nor immortal, but capable of either condition.
Of Arnobius, Dupin remarks: “He takes occasion from thence to discourse of the nature of souls; he pretends that they are of a middle quality between a spirit and a body, that they are by nature mortal, but that God of his goodness immortalizes the souls of those who repose their confidence in him. He confutes Plato’s notions concerning the soul’s immortality, and its excellency, dignity, exile, or imprisonment in the body. He supposes that it is corporeal and extraduce; that man is but very little different from the beasts; that his soul is mortal by nature, but that it becomes immortal by the grace of God.”
So D. T. Taylor says: “This writer evidently held to the annihilation of the wicked; for he says, ‘They are hurled down and reduced to nothingness, they vanish away in the abortion of an eternal destruction;’ ‘they can die if they know not God;’ this ‘utter destruction’ he calls ‘the real death of man, which leaves him nothing.’ ‘Souls that know not God are consumed by long-continued torment by a fierce fire.’ That souls are immortal, he calls ‘a vain hope.’”
Thus he writes: “Wherefore we should not be deceived or deluded with vain hopes, by that which a new class of men, elated with an extravagant opinion of themselves, tell us: that souls are immortal, next in rank of dignity to the Supreme God, derived from him as Creator and Father, divine, wise, inspired with knowledge, and free from stain of gross matter.”
Here is a square condemnation of the whole doctrine of the soul’s immortality as now taught. Arnobius condemns it as an extravagant opinion of man’s nature. He says it was then being introduced by a new class of men, which shows that it was not the old doctrine of the church.
That he taught the annihilation of the wicked is admitted by that great scholar, Prof. Shedd. He says, “The annihilation of the wicked was taught by Arnobius.”
Thus we see the leading men in the church all through the first centuries denying the immortality of the soul, but teaching the annihilation of the wicked.
Dr. Beecher says of Arnobius, “We now come to Arnobius; but his case need not detain us long as to the historic fact; for it is denied by no one that he taught the doctrine of the annihilation of the wicked.”

THE FATHERS IN GENERAL.

Of the early fathers and their faith Dr. Priestley, LL. D., F. R. S., says: “It was the opinion of most of the early fathers that the world was to be destroyed by fire, and that all men were to pass through this fire; that the good would be purified by it, and the wicked consumed.” He further says: “The Gnostics are said to have maintained that the greatest part of mankind would be annihilated at the day of Judgment, which was probably the same thing that was meant by those who said that they would be consumed in the fire that was to destroy the world.” “The ancient fathers only thought that when this world would be destroyed by fire, that fire would purify the good, and devour the wicked.”
It was the faith of the early church, as this learned author says above, that the wicked will be destroyed by the fire that finally purifies the earth. This is the teaching of Peter.
Thus we have traced the history of the doctrine of the immortality of man, the sleep of the dead, and the annihilation of the wicked, from the days of the apostles down through the first, second, and third centuries, and even into the beginning of the fourth century. During these three centuries we have found many of the most noted Christian writers, fathers, and bishops of the church, holding these doctrines, and teaching them as the common faith of the church in those days. It is noticeable that the advocacy of these doctrines called forth no opposition or words of censure from any party, as being new or heretical. The effort of Origen against it is the first of the kind on record. No public disapproval of the doctrine is met with for several ages, though it was extensively held and taught, as we have seen. This shows that it was not regarded as heterodox in those days.

FROM THE THIRD CENTURY TO THE REFORMATION.

From the close of the third and the beginning of the fourth century, the doctrine of the immortality of the soul seems to have become quite generally established in the church as an orthodox dogma, though very many of the doctrines growing out of it were not at once seen and believed. Several learned historians say that Tertullian, A. D. 200–220, was the first Christian writer who expressly asserted the unending torments of the damned. He was originally a pagan in belief, and by birth an African. He was of a fierce, fiery, rigid temper,—a fit man to father such a doctrine. He thus exults over the prospect of the pagans’ burning in hell. “How shall I admire, how laugh, how rejoice, how exult, when I behold so many proud monarchs, so many fancied gods, groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness; so many magistrates who persecuted the name of the Lord liquifying in fiercer fires than they ever kindled against the Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing in red-hot flames with their deluded scholars.” After quoting this, Gibbon exclaims: “The humanity of the reader will permit me to draw a veil over the rest of this infernal description.” But even this description has been surpassed in modern times by believers in the same awful doctrine.
Cyprian, the disciple and successor of Tertullian, zealously advocated the same doctrine. By their authority it obtained a firm foothold in the church. Of them an eminent historian says: “In order to ascertain the degree of authority which the zealous African [Tertullian] had acquired, it may be sufficient to allege the testimony of Cyprian, the doctor and guide of all the Western churches. As often as he applied himself to his daily study of the writings of Tertullian, he was accustomed to say, ‘Give me my master.’”
Says Neander, “Indeed, in many respects Tertullian stands generally at the line of demarkation between the old and the new time of the Christian church.” This was certainly true with regard to the doctrine of the future punishment of the wicked, to which he gave an entirely new idea. Again Neander says, “Tertullian was the first who definitely and clearly proclaimed the doctrine of a proper human soul in Christ.” Origen, the great corrupter of Christianity, then took up this new idea, and had it fully established in A. D. 244, as an orthodox dogma. Our historian says: “By means of Origen, who wrought out this doctrine so systematically, the idea of a proper, reasonable soul in Christ received a new dogmatical importance. This point, which up to this time had been altogether untouched in the controversy with Patripassians, was now, for the first time, expressly brought forward in the synod held against Beryllus of Bostra, A. D. 244; and the doctrine of a reasonable human soul in Christ was settled as the doctrine of the church.” Thus we have the origin of that doctrine.
Augustine, A. D. 415, was the first writer who attempted to prove that the Greek word αἰώνιος, aionios, everlasting, strictly signified endless, and hence to conclude that sinners would be eternally tormented! Says the historian: “Augustine, who flourished about A. D. 400–430, was the first to argue that aionios signified endless.”
Dr. Edward Beecher says on this point, “Beyond all doubt, however, Augustine led the way in that style of reasoning on the subject which now prevails in the orthodox world.” Again: “It is also worthy of note that, although this [an African school] is a Latin school, yet it was in this that the argument, now so familiar, for eternal punishment, from the necessary meaning of the word aionios, was first distinctly propounded by Augustine.” He then gives the occasion which called forth this argument from Augustine. This was as late as the year 413. Strange to say, Augustine, the author of this famous criticism on the Greek word aionios, was almost wholly ignorant of the Greek, as he himself confessed! He says, “I am not so accustomed to the Greek language that I am at all competent to read and understand books on such subjects” (De Trinitate, iii., Proem); and again: “I have learned very little of the Greek language.” (Contra literas Petiliani, I., ii., c. 38.)
Thus, step by step, history points out the birth and growth of these heathen doctrines in the church of Christ.
From this time the fogs and mists of what deepened into the gloom of the Dark Ages began to settle down upon the church and the world. The light of Bible truth was almost wholly obscured. Errors and heathen doctrines grew luxuriantly. Hence for several centuries after this we find but few traces of the Scriptural doctrine of man’s nature and destiny. Here and there are historical references which show that there were some all along the ages who had more or less light upon the subject. But the church was now in the wilderness (Rev. 12:14), and God’s servants were hidden away in the mountains, where they were seldom heard from.
Gregory the Great (a pope), in A. D. 590, in one of his books, says Dupin, “undertakes to treat of the state of the soul after death, and to refute the opinion of some, who, without separating from the church, doubted whether the soul lived after its separation from the body.” By this we may suppose that numerous believers, in standing in the Christian church, held to the doctrine of the unconscious state of the dead. No names are given, and we are not told that the believers of this sort wrote books in defense of their views.
John of Damascus, who died about A. D. 750, refers to a sect who flourished in his day, called the Thnetopsychites, “who,” says Dupin, “believe men’s souls to be like the beasts, and that they die with them.” The name of these believers is one given by John himself, and it is not stated that they formed a sect. We have just seen that persons holding this view existed in the days of Pope Gregory.
Maimonides, a very learned Jewish doctor, A. D. 1131–1202, taught that the wicked would finally be cut off from life eternal, and suffer excision, or annihilation of being. This extermination of being is regarded as the greatest of all punishments. He denied the immortality of the soul, though he held that the righteous would live forever. Some of the other Jewish doctors believed in the eternity of hell torments; but Prof. Hudson asserts that this view was never “an accepted Jewish doctrine.” The Mishna makes no mention of the soul’s immortality, nor of eternal pain; on the contrary, the soul, body, and spirit of evil men were finally to be totally destroyed.
Averroes, a famous Arabian philosopher in A. D. 1160, “rejected,” says Ezra Abbot, in Alger’s “Future Life,” “the doctrine of individual immortality.” Further than this, we do not know his views. He was persecuted for his belief. His views may have been the fruit of the seed sown very early in the days of the Arabian soul-sleepers, won over by the learning and subtilty of Origen.
Pope Boniface VIII, chosen to the papal see in 1294, appears to have questioned the soul’s immortality. In June, 1302, at an assembly of prelates and nobility, in presence of the king of France, William Du Plessis and four French earls charged upon the pope “that he was a heretic; that he did not believe in the immortality of the soul, nor in eternal life; and that he doubted the reality of our Lord’s body in the eucharist.”
Pope Leo X. had, by the Lateran Council of 1513, declared the human soul immortal, and this belief to be an article of the Christian faith. All who rejected it were heretics.
These references all along show that some persons were teaching views contrary to the doctrine of the soul’s immortality, though no names are given.

NATURE'S HYMN

By Dr. Macduff

“Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord.” Ps. 150:6.
Praise Him, O praise Him, ye ministering Seraphim! Praise ye Jehovah, enthroned on high; Awake every harp, ye archangels, and tell of Him Shrouded in glory, yet graciously nigh.
Praise Him, bright Sun, in the glow of thy splendor; Praise Him, thou Moon, silver queen of the night; Ye Stars, who like virgin retainers attend her, O praise the great Lord who hath robed you with light!
Praise Him, O praise Him, ye soft-flowing fountains, Amid the lone valleys go murmur your song; Uplift the loud anthem, ye thunder-voiced mountains, Let peak answer peak and re-echo the song.
Ye forests—ye need no cathedral of marble, No Thurifer's censer to perfume your shrine; Your own winged choirs will His praises best warble, Your woodland flowers scatter sweet incense divine!
Praise Him, ye mists which on mountain-tops hoary, Like white wings of cherub the rock-clefts infold; Praise Him, ye sunset-clouds, piled up in your glory, Resplendent with amber, vermilion, and gold.
Praise Him, O praise Him, ye deeps with your wonders, Discourse of His glory to earth's farthest shore; In lullaby ripples, in hoarse-booming thunders, In stillness and storm, lend your voice and adore!
All Nature arise! the great anthem intoning; And from your vast storehouse a tribute-lay bring: No voice can be silent, let all join in owning Jehovah as Maker, Redeemer, and King!
—Dr. Macduff's “Gates of Praise.”

Happiness Is a Perfume

HAPPINESS is a perfume which we cannot sprinkle over others without spilling a few drops on ourselves.

TWO CAUSELESS WARS.

It must be somewhat discouraging to those who are prophesying that the world is about to merge into that happy condition when men will learn war no more, to find one of the nations which stand in the forefront of Christian civilization, and which ought already to be committed to that policy, if that is what Christianity is designed to secure, now waging two wars for which no sort of an apology can be given. A correspondent of The Religious Intelligencer, writing from Midnapore, India, under date of March 14, 1879, says:—
It is a sad comment on our Christian age that the first and most powerful nation of modern times is now prosecuting two causeless and ruthless wars in this eastern hemisphere. A war for the establishment of a scientific boundary is, in a Christian sense, a causeless and ruthless war. That it is greatly to the discredit of England, every unprejudiced mind must naturally, and, I was about to say, intuitively perceive. I have failed to hear of the first Christian man who has even an apology to offer for this wicked war now being waged on our northern borders. Weeks ago, Lord Beaconsfield said that the Afghan war was over, and its objects attained. Whoever has studied the history of the noble Lord from well-nigh the beginning of his public career, will not be in the least surprised to hear, what was to be expected, that diligent preparations are now being made for a brisk spring campaign. The second campaign will probably be a stiffer and bloodier piece of work than the first. Heaven save us from a policy that wages war on so slim a pretext as the scientific rectification of a mountainous frontier! We predict that before the end of the year but very few Englishmen will be found, of any party, who will not be convinced that the Afghan war has been a deplorable blunder; and a war in these days that is a blunder cannot easily be distinguished from a crime. I regret to say that the present Viceroy of India, unlike Lord Lawrence and his other distinguished predecessors, is thoroughly a war-man; and though it is said that he is deeply versed in the highest order of state-craft, I fear, should he continue long in office, that sober-thinking men both here and at home will be unable to face the future without the gravest misgivings.
The Zulu war is, in like manner, a discredit and a blot. I have somewhere read of a certain missionary who carried the gospel with fire and sword into the wilds of New Zealand. Some native teachers belonging to the reverend gentleman were killed and eaten by the savages around, whereupon our church-warrior, having first armed a number of his flock, marched upon the enemy at the head of his men. How completely he avenged the unfortunate teachers is shown in a long list of burning houses and slaughtered cannibals; nevertheless that philanthropic society from which our military missionary was accredited was grievously exercised by his proceedings, which certainly seem to have taken an untoward turn.
But judging from recent developments at the Cape, this reverend gentleman of military tastes would prove a useful addition to Sir Bartle Frere's government just now. He would be the right-hand man for the English government of Cape Colony in his determination to propagate Christianity at the point of the bayonet.
There being nothing new to write in the regular line must be my apology, should one be deemed necessary, for this reference to the wars now being waged by a Christian nation. We find it far from easy to explain these things to the Hindoos and Mohammedans of this British colony. And now that the question is being mooted in the public journals that the enormous cost of this bloody and unrighteous war will be charged to India, I do not wonder that the wealthy classes in native society begin to express themselves earnestly and plainly in opposition to the policy of the government. To be taxed for a war that brings neither fame nor treasure is naturally repulsive to the feelings of worldly men.

AN INSTRUCTIVE CONTRAST.

By Editor

In 1865 the President of the United States was assassinated at the capital of the country. It was at the close of a long and terrible civil war. The whole nation was at fever heat. No circumstances in the dramatic and terrible incidents of the tragedy, and in the public sentiment of the entire nation, were wanting to make the event a national calamity, and to lead from it to national convulsion and disaster. In fact, however, the government passed by an easy transition from the President to the Vice-President. Though the political character of the Executive was suddenly changed, the nation went on in comparative peace and quietness. Military law was not proclaimed, arbitrary arrests were not made, and no citizen was disturbed in the possession of his peace, liberty, or property.
The week before last, an assassin attempted to shoot the Czar of all the Russias. The attempt was a failure. He was pursued and instantly arrested. There was nothing in the incident, nothing apparently in the condition of the country, to cause a revolution, or to call for extraordinary measures of national precaution; but, in fact, all Russia is convulsed, from the center to the circumference. Arrests have been made by the thousand. Military law has been proclaimed in the six greatest cities of the empire, and in the provinces of which they are respectively the centers. This means that in every one of these provinces the life, and liberty, and property of every citizen are subject to the irresponsible decree of the Governor-General of that province. He may be at any moment torn away from his home, sent into Siberia, or consigned to a dungeon, or ordered to execution, without even the form of anything worth being called a trial.
What is the reason of the difference between the United States and Russia?
Russia is a despotism; the United States is a democracy. In the United States, if there are any grievances, the people are free to discuss them in the papers; they are free to assemble to take counsel with one another in respect to measures for their correction; they are free to elect representatives to Congress who have power to correct these grievances. In Russia, there is no freedom of the press, no freedom of assemblage; there is no political body answering to the Anglo-Saxon House of Representatives or House of Commons. The people are absolutely without any protection whatever from the absolute decree of the Czar and of the subordinate officers who act in his name.
Hence the Nihilists. We do not defend, nor exculpate, nor excuse this organization; we simply endeavor to account for it. It is a secret society, whose members are bound together by the most horrible oaths, indorsed by the most solemn sanctions. They pledge themselves to execute any decree of the central authority, though it may involve assassination, and though it may be perpetrated at the hazard of their own lives. This society extends throughout all Russia, and includes people of every caste and class. It is strongest in the higher class, and has representatives among the princes of the Imperial household, and among the nobility. Its strongholds are the colleges. It is not the child of ignorance nor of poverty. Where such an organization exists, there must be some secret reason for it. In Russia, the secret reason for its existence is the fact that it is the only mode of protection possible to a people absolutely without liberty. Thus far it has proved itself powerful; it has brought the police of the great cities under its terror; it warns every police magistrate that he proceeds in the execution of the Bureaucratic decrees at the peril of his own life. The magistrate who sends an accused person to Siberia without adequate cause, has reason to tremble for his own trial before the secret tribunal, his secret condemnation, and his own sudden and unexpected execution. Already one chief of the secret police has been driven from power, a second killed, and a third shot at and wounded. The police themselves, if not connected with Nihilistic societies—and it is charged that more than half of them are—are paralyzed by terror, and their inefficiency is the excuse for the Czar’s proclamation of martial law. Suspicion spares no one, not even the heir to the throne. The moment that such a society becomes powerful it becomes terrible, and the repressive measures which have been taken in Russia are themselves a demonstration that the Nihilists are powerful. The weakness of Nihilism consists not merely in its criminal methods, but even more in the fact that it formulates no definite demands for reform.
Americans do not need to be stimulated to guard their own interests; but we do need sometimes to remind ourselves what freedom really means to us. Recently a boy in a Russian college wrote to his father that he was being urgently pressed to join the Nihilists. He implored his father to hasten to the school and take him home, as he feared for his life. The father did hasten to the school, to find the threats of the Nihilists already executed, and to carry home to burial the corpse of his son. What consideration would make any reader of the Christian Union willing to exchange the inconveniences and discomforts of American political life, of frequent elections and bitter partisan strife, of a too truculent and sometimes pernicious press, for a state of civilization in which such an incident as this would be possible?—Christian Union.

POWER FOR GOOD.

By Adelaide De Yarmond

A light-house lamp, when so placed as to shed the greatest light, is itself invisible. We shall find that those persons who have the greatest influence in the world are the ones unrecognized. Those to whom are attributed the great achievements have only entered into the labor of almost unobserved workers. Fame and usefulness are not commonly united: or, surely, the most famous are those who have worked for the world most suffering; and those whose lives have poured light over many a stormy sea, and sent cheer to the soul of many a struggling seaman, are those whose names are not before the world,—those whose acts are recorded only in the one book, the Book of Life.
Was ever a one whose name is oftener on history’s pages than is Alexander’s? and did ever a one more shame the name he bore? Has ever a character more loathsome been lauded by civilized historian? Here, then, are the utmost credit and honor given to one who, while with his implicit power working sorrow and destruction world-wide, did in his life just one humane deed, so far as known;—he kindly cared for the body of one among the thousands destroyed in his wars.
See the reverse:—
“There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it: now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.” Eccl. 9:14, 15.
Yet God remembered that same poor man! and many of the lowly of earth will be of the high of Heaven.
There are many noble ones whose lives attest to their acceptance of these words: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven.” This calls for work which shall cause men to glorify the Father in Heaven, rather than man.
Oh! there are noble workers in every sphere of life,—humble and true, living lives pure and righteous: and these, though they have not renown, are not unappreciated; for, in the same degree to which we possess godliness, we are also earnest in our indorsement of God’s words of cheering approval to the faithful,—“Well done.” The love and sympathy of God’s true people—a type of the infinite love and good-will in his home in Heaven—is a motive to urge us onward in the right; and though, among the selfish of the world, “no one remember” the efforts the faithful make to attain to faithfulness, yet, if we are true to the truth, we shall be assured of the sympathy of our Saviour and his people; and no effort is lost, even though it does not accomplish its direct object.
“If you are too weak to journey Up the mountain steep and high, You can stand within the valley While the multitudes go by; You can chant in happy measure, As they slowly pass along: Though they may forget the singer, They will not forget the song.”
ADELAIDE DE YARMOND.

HOW IS IT?

By D. T. Fero

Do we believe that “God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”? Rom. 5:8. Do we believe that he left the indescribable glories of Heaven, and bore our griefs, and became wounded for our transgressions, until “His visage was so marred more than any man, and his form more than the sons of men”? Isa. 52:14; 53:4.
Do we believe that his agony while in the garden, the anguish which wrung from his breaking heart that soul-piercing cry while on the cross, the cruel laceration of his tender hands and feet, the piercing of his sacred side, were all suffered for us, because he loved us?
It is true. No wonder sinless angels were amazed. No wonder the sun refused to shine, and the earth shook and groaned in sympathy with the suffering of the sinless Lamb of God. How can we doubt such proofs of divine love? Still less can we doubt, when it is made plain that it was to give us “power to become the sons of God.” John 1:12.
If we believed with an active faith which would enable us to realize the great sacrifice he has made, we should “love him because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19. If we love him, we shall keep his words. John 14:23. Some may say, “We do this. We believe the Saviour’s words. We talk the truth to others; and, whenever we have opportunity, we do our duty in exhorting and praying.” So far as it goes, this is right; but the word says, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.” These two words, “deed” and “truth,” are definite ones. Our Saviour’s love was shown in deeds. It is true that gracious words fell like jewels from his lips; but, without the acts, he would not be what he is,—the complete Saviour, the perfect Pattern.
Such he is now; and with authority he says, “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart.” Here some will say, “I know I ought to do something. I ought to labor, and I feel it my duty to give something to the cause; but I can hardly get enough to live on and pay my debts.” Hold! Let me say to you that not the least of our Saviour’s acts were those of self-denial. He has gone to glory, to prepare mansions—for whom?—For those who listen to and heed the words, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself.” Luke 9:23. Some who cannot spare any means for Christ, pay from twenty to thirty cents a week for tea, which does no good, but positive harm. Now let us see. Say twenty-five cents a week; in one year this will amount to thirteen dollars. Some may be using other articles which simply gratify a perverted appetite,—“taste good.”
Then we may be using means in other ways, for things which, had we only a little of the self-sacrificing spirit of the Saviour, we would deny ourselves, and save, and by devoting it to the work Christ requires of us would show our love to him, and our appreciation of what he has done for us. Then the hours we spend in unprofitable visiting and in other ways,—hours which might be given to Jesus! Do we believe that the end of all things is at hand, and that the loving Saviour is coming for us? Oh! if we do, we shall deny self, and follow him.
“I love thee, I love thee, And that thou dost know; But how much I love thee, My actions must show.”
D. T. Fero.

HOLD FAST THAT WHICH IS GOOD.

By Bonar

This is the day of motion; history Fast and yet faster moveth; but all motion Is not advancement. Thought is now adrift, And who shall anchor it or hold the helm? The anchored barques are tugging at their chains, And the unanchored are all out upon A sea of tumult, striking each the other. Slow, and yet slower! for I hear afar The sound of the fog-signals—slower yet! The air is thick, and peril on all sides Warns us to watch and keep the helm in hand, The years are wiser than the days; let us Be still and wait; the mist will rise ere long.
Meanwhile in silence the recumbent earth Moves on, unconscious of the hurricane, Round its old self, and round the constant sun, Impelled by laws it knows not, yet obeys. So let us glide upon our tranquil path, Unswerving, with our eye upon the goal, And in obedience to a law which sweetly Draweth us onward, yet in doing so Keeps us unshaken,—says to us, Be still! —Bonar.

ABIDE WITH US.

By V. J. O.

No wonder that the disciples, when on their journey to Emmaus the blessed Jesus conversed with them concerning the prophecies, and the things concerning his kingdom, as the journey ended and the shades of evening fell, presented their request in the touching words, “Abide with us.” Blessed Jesus, who would not gladly receive him as a welcome guest?
How cheering and refreshing his presence to those who entertain him. Whether they are in sorrow, joy, or anxious care, his presence is always welcome to his true followers, and they will be found in no place where the Saviour cannot go with them. No less cheering is his presence now than in past ages; and whatever our trial or joy, still from a heart burdened with our petition should the prayer ascend to the courts of glory, “Blessed Jesus, Saviour of men, now and ever abide with us.” V. J. O.
Belmont, Wis.

“BE OF GOOD CHEER, IT IS I, BE NOT AFRAID.”

By A. Swedberg

The circumstance which called forth these cheering words was one of great peril to the disciples of Christ. They, with a large number of outsiders, had been together by the sea-side during the day, listening to the words of their Master. Five thousand people had been miraculously fed with five loaves of bread and two fishes. Christ had then sent his disciples away in a boat to the other side of the lake, while he dismissed the large congregation of eager listeners to his words of instruction. As evening drew on, Jesus went out into the mountain by himself to plead in humble prayer with his Father. The dusky shadows of night had already spread their gloom and darkness over the lake and the region round about, when a fearful storm arose, changing the calm waters into raging billows. In the midst of these the disciples struggled betwixt hope and fear to manage their boat, expecting every moment to be engulfed beneath the seething waves.
In this moment of peril and despair, the disciples no doubt thought themselves doomed to perish. Ah, had they forgotten the miracles Christ had wrought! and knew they not that he was able to save them in this hour of trial? The Saviour beholds them from the mountain, where he is pleading with God, and in tender pity and compassion he leaves his place of solitude to go to their rescue. He walks on the water; and as he draws near to the boat, the disciples, believing they see a phantom, cry out in fear. Their fears and dismal forebodings had now reached the highest pitch. But in the midst of these perils, when everything seems to doom them to a watery grave, the wind bears to their ears the cheering words: “Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid.” Lo, it is the Master, who is thus coming to them. In an instant their fears were gone, their sorrow and anguish turned to joy and gladness. Christ steps into the boat, and immediately the storm is over, and the sea restored to its former calmness, insomuch that the disciples were exceedingly amazed, and wondered at the power and authority of Jesus.
While reading this incident in the life of Christ, my mind was led to consider the struggles, darkness, and perplexity which the Christian must sometimes experience, while sailing over life's ocean. At times the waves of discouragement and the powers of darkness will almost overcome him, and it seems as though the Heavens were shut against his earnest pleas. He stands ready to give up the struggle in despair. Just then comes the still whisper, inspiring him with new hope and courage, “Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid.” Yes, Jesus is a friend that will always stand by us, if we put our trust in him. Then let us cast away all doubts and fears, and put our whole confidence in Him who is able and always ready to help in time of need.
Let discouragements fly away, and let us with cheerfulness, courage, and patience run the race set before us. And may we, when trials and darkness come upon us, ever remember these comforting and soul-inspiring words of our blessed Saviour: “Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid.”
“Soldiers of God, go forth, be strong! Through faith do works of great renown; Your toils and strifes shall not be long; Your Captain comes to bring your crown.” A. SWEDBERG.

THE KRUPP GUN WORKS.

One of the most wonderful manufacturing establishments in the world is the great cannon factory of Friedrich Krupp, at Essen in Rhenish Prussia. They were founded in 1810 by Friedrich Krupp, who died in 1826, and are now carried on by his son, Alfred Krupp, but under the father's name. The present Herr Krupp is a tall, fine-looking man of remarkably commanding presence, with white hair and beard, high forehead, bright eyes, and strikingly intellectual expression.
His father was a man of average means, who lost his money by unsuccessful inventions, and died leaving his son, at the early age of seventeen, with a small workshop, four workmen, and debts. By a life of incredibly hard work, amid many failures and disappointments, Herr Krupp has raised himself to the position of the richest man in Germany, the members of the Rothschild firm excepted. All his first efforts to make a career for himself were baffled by the persistent refusal of the government of the day to entertain his ideas for the improvement of guns and cannons.
At last, in despair, he offered his services to the French, who immediately desired to come to terms with him. Before concluding this arrangement, however, he wrote to Berlin to say that his offer had been accepted by the French, and that he was on the point of selling his inventions to that government; this opened the eyes of the Germans, and since that time the entire equipment of their army has been intrusted to his charge, with what brilliant results is shown by the successes of the late war.
Herr Krupp's house, a regular English mansion, is capable of containing one hundred guests and dining three hundred. Here the crown prince is a frequent visitor, the old emperor himself having more than once honored Essen with his presence. Dinner is served at six, after which a French play is read by Herr Krupp's faithful amanuensis, Dr. Pieper, followed by billiards, which is often played till two o'clock in the morning, the guests dropping off at any time that suits them. The master of Essen is not much of a card-player, so his visitors generally content themselves with dominoes and billiards.
Visitors are never admitted to the works unless personally known to the managers. Twelve thousand hands are employed, besides five thousand more at mines belonging to the establishment. The articles manufactured comprise axles, tires, car-wheels, springs, rails, shafts, cannon, gun carriages, etc. The establishment embraces 1,100 different furnaces, 264 forges, 240 boilers, 71 steam hammers (one of 500 tons power), 286 steam engines (over 1,000-horse power), and 1,056 machine tools. It contains also 300 miles of railroad, 15 locomotives, 800 cars, 3,154 dwelling houses, besides shops where supplies are sold to the employees at cost-price.
In the heart of the works stands a little house, carefully railed in and neatly kept. This is pointed out as the place where Herr Krupp's father died, and where he himself was born. Though it blocks up the way in just the busiest part of the manufactory, where every yard of ground is of value, he will on no account allow it to be touched or in any way interfered with.
A truthful anecdote is told in connection with Herr Krupp's marriage. One day, being in the theater at Cologne, he was struck by a girlish face in the box opposite; he begged one of his friends, who was acquainted with the family, to introduce him. Next day he was engaged, and in the following week the wedding took place. This marriage, concluded so hastily, has proved a most happy one, Frau Krupp being esteemed both far and near. A kind, polite hostess, and a most generous benefactress of the poor, there is not a person in the whole factory who does not brighten up at the sight of her face.
Herr Krupp's visits to the works are now few and far between, sometimes not twice in a twelvemonth, because, as he says, “I am getting old now, and they must learn to get on without me.” The work is carried on by a committee, at the head of which are his son and brother-in-law; the former, although not yet twenty-five years of age, is a worthy follower of his father. The Krupp guns are considered by artillerists the very best in the world.—Detroit Evening News.
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