Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 2, 1882
General Articles.
By Ellen G. White
The Sons of Samuel.
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
SAMUEL continued to judge Israel all the days of his life. For many years he made an annual circuit to Mizpeh, Gilgal, and Ramah, for the administration of justice; at other times performing the duties of his office at his home in Ramah. With unremitting zeal and devotion he labored for the welfare of his people, and the nation prospered under his wise control. But with advancing years it became necessary to share with others the burden of judicial care. Hence while he continued to judge the people at Ramah, he appointed his sons to act for him at Bethel and Beersheba.
These young men had received faithful instructions from their father, both by precept and example. They were not ignorant of the warnings given to Eli, and the divine judgments visited upon him and his house. They were apparently men of sterling virtue and integrity, as well as of intellectual promise. It was with the full assent of the people that Samuel shared with his sons the responsibilities of office. But the characters of these young men were yet to be tested. Separated from their father's influence, it would be seen whether they were true to the principles which he had taught them. The result showed that Samuel had been painfully deceived in his sons. Like many young men of to-day who have been blessed with good abilities, they perverted their God-given powers. The honor bestowed upon them rendered them proud and self-sufficient. They did not make the glory of God their aim, nor did they seek earnestly to him for strength and wisdom. Yielding to the power of temptation, they became avaricious, selfish, and unjust. God's word declares that "they walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment."
In all this they were disregarding the will of their Divine Sovereign. The Lord had through Moses given special directions to his people that the rulers of Israel should judge righteously, deal justly with the widow and fatherless, and receive no bribes. It were well for the nations of the earth to-day, if these instructions were obeyed by the rulers and judges of the people. How important that all who are entrusted with the responsibility of government should be men who fear God, and labor unselfishly for the welfare of the human brotherhood. It is their work to judge with equity, maintaining the right of the stranger, relieving the oppressed, spurning every bribe to clear the guilty or punish the innocent. The well-being of society calls for men of moral integrity in legislative halls and courts of justice. Our churches are in need of those to minister in holy office who shall be men of honor, of piety, of purity; who shall be sanctified by the Spirit and by the word.
A corrupting power stands in prominent places. How often are we painfully startled at the announcement that men of talent, men in positions of usefulness and honor, have betrayed their trust, and appropriated to themselves the public money, or worse still, the treasured pittance of the widow and fatherless. Had these men made the word of God their guide, they would not thus have fallen. That word contains plain, definite instruction, adapted to every possible complication of social and public interests. Every plan and purpose of life should be subjected to this unerring test. The word of inspiration is the wisdom of God applied to human affairs. However advantageous a certain course may appear to finite judgment, if denounced by that word it will be only evil in its results.
It may be a difficult matter for men in high positions to pursue the path of undeviating integrity whether they shall receive praise or censure. Yet this is the only safe course. All the rewards which they might gain by selling their honor would be only as the breath from polluted lips, as dross to be consumed in the fire. Those who have moral courage to stand in opposition to the vices and errors of their fellow-men—it may be of those whom the world honor—will receive hatred, insult, and abusive falsehood. They may be thrust down from their high position, because they would not be bought or sold, because they could not be induced by bribes or threats to stain their hands with iniquity. Everything on earth may seem to conspire against them; but God has set his seal upon his own work. They may be regarded by their fellow-men as weak, unmanly, unfit to hold office; but how differently does the Most High regard them. Those who despise them are the really ignorant. While the storms of calumny and reviling may pursue the man of integrity through life, and beat upon his grave, God has the "well done" prepared for him. Folly and iniquity will at best yield only a life of unrest and discontent, and at its close a thorny dying pillow. And how many, as they view their course of action and its results, are led to end with their own hands their disgraceful career. And beyond all this waits the Judgment, and the final, irrevocable doom, Depart!
Samuel had labored earnestly to correct the erroneous customs introduced by the sons of Eli, and especially to counteract the spirit of greed and selfishness fostered by their course. The sons of the prophet should have employed their authority to carry forward the reforms instituted by their father. Instead of this, their own example greatly hindered the work of reform. Their promotion to office was the cause of their ruin. The love of gain controlled them. Bribes perverted their judgment, and smothered their protests against sin. How many, like these judges of Israel, enter upon their work with good purposes, but failing to make God's word their guide, they are flattered by worldlings, weakened by prosperity, until their moral power as reformers is gone, their hands nerveless to set things in order.
The Son of God has set an example for all his followers. They are not to court the praise of men, not to seek for themselves ease or wealth, but to emulate his life of purity and self-denial at whatever cost. While preserving the meekness of Christ, they are to wage war with iniquity, and to push the triumphs of the cross. Selfishness will not dwell in the Christian's heart. He will not manifest a disregard for the rights of others. God's law commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves, to suffer no evil to be instituted against him which we can hinder. But the rule which Christ has given extends still further. Said the world's Redeemer, "Love one another, as I have loved you." Nothing short of this can reach the standard of Christianity.
Universal Depravity.
By W. M. Punshon
THEY talk of the dignity of human nature. Alas, there is no such thing! There once was, when the nature was stainless; but they forget that the blight has marred its beauty, and has stricken its strength, and that the only moral dignity it can boast of now is the dignity of the criminal saved, by the monarch's clemency, from the doom of the headsman or the gallows. You may try the experiment in its varied aspects for yourselves.
You may take a child in what you call its innocence and its sensibility, and deeming, with some among us, that all children are born good, you assiduously instruct it in the principles of morals, and you may carefully seclude it from the contagion of evil example, and you may write upon its fresh young heart the benevolent affections, and the holy name of God; and, then, you may watch gradually for the development of the nature that you have thus started and trained. Ah! but you were too late in the field.
You deemed that your inscription was the first that was written there, but the enemy had been at work before you; the heart had been overwritten before you got to it. Let the passions play upon the opening mind, hold it up to the lamp of opportunity, and, in hell's dark cipher, you can trace the blurred and misshapen characters of crime; in the failure of your cherished experiment you discover that even prime ministers, how cleverly they may wield the destinies of empires, are but clumsy theologians, and that there is another attestation to the truth of the declaration of the Bible, that man goeth astray even from the womb, and that every imagination of the heart is only evil continually.
There are times, I know, when the evil nature will, as the chemist says, precipitate. You may look upon a lake as it sleeps beneath the summer's sun, and sparkles its beams where its blue depths are clear and calm, and you would never imagine that it could be lashed into a thing of storm; but let the blast of winter come, and there shall be a darkness, a swelling upon the turbid waters, and they shall foam out their own rage.50
The gospel proceeds upon the basis of universal depravity, the gospel assimilates all varieties of human nature into one common experience of guilt, and need, and helplessness, and this is just that which you do not like about it. I know that full well; it is just this part of the gospel against which the man of graceful generosity feels the most disposed to fret and to rebel. He cannot brook it that he should be put with publicans and harlots, with the skum and offscouring of mankind upon one common platform; he cannot brook it, that it should require just as much to redeem him as is required to redeem the foulest and the most abandoned of the race. And there is no help for it.—Rev. W. M. Punshon.
JESUS KNOWS.
THROUGH all the weary toil of life,
Through all the battles, all the strife,
Through all the hours with trouble fraught,
There's comfort, blessing, in the thought
That Jesus knows.
When troubles come, we cannot see
Why life should full of suffering be,
And tears come once, again, again,
'Tis comfort to the sufferer then,
That Jesus knows.
When in temptation—through God's love,
Through strength he gives us from above,
We feel our love for him still lives,
We conquer sin—what joy it gives
That Jesus knows.
And in temptation when we fall,
And feel ourselves despised by all,
And when we feel that we must sink
Deep into sin, ah! then we think
That Jesus knows.
When untold care gnaws at the heart,
And shows itself despite all art,
When others call us cross, unkind,
The sweet thought calms and soothes the mind,
That Jesus knows.
And when we feel that we should tell
The secret sins that in us dwell,
We scarce need speak; our heads we lay
On his dear breast, and weeping say
That Jesus knows.
Some sad disgrace is known at last;
Which happened in the weary past,
And friends pass with averted eye,
We know he will not pass us by—
Yet Jesus knows.
When love proves false, and friends untrue,
And leave the old friends for the new,
There's nothing left for us to love,
Ah! then the thought comes from above,
That Jesus knows.
And all our sorrows, doubts, and tears,
And all our longings, hopes, and fears,
All that we do which leads to shame,
All that we do for his blest name,
Our Jesus knows.
We'll pray to him who always hears,
We'll trust with him the coming years;
We'll trust our future to his care,
He'll show us what we have to bear,
For Jesus knows.
And when our feet have safely passed
All of this earthly road at last,
We'll take his hand and softly pray,
Lord, lead us home by the blest way
That Jesus knows.
—Selected.
Church Amusements.
In a former article, I have endeavored to show that ecclesiastical entertainments to raise money for the Lord are contrary to the precepts and examples of his word and therefore they cannot please him; that they are belittling, contemptible, and often positively dishonest; that they abate the spirit of gospel benevolence in the church, and bring it under bondage to the world; that they usually involve the desecration of our places of worship; that amateur dramatics silence the testimony of the pulpit against the stage, and even promote its interests; that they turn aside the church from its legitimate calling and fritter away its time, energies and spirituality; in fine, that they blight the spiritual life and usefulness, and open the door to almost every species of carnality and worldliness. All these points can easily be fortified with the sure word of God, and God will judge those who shut their eyes to this testimony.
It remains for me to present some gospel principles for the consideration of brethren in the Lord who approve of ecclesiastical entertainments on the ground that "they make the church and religion attractive to the world, and especially to the young." They tell us truly, that—
1. "Molasses catches more flies than vinegar."
But we are dealing with men, and not flies—men who have reason and conscience. Besides, molasses kills flies. Better use bitter medicine than honeyed poison. Wholesome truth is better than pleasing error. God's command and Christ's example teach us (Jonah 3:2; Matt. 11:20-24).
2. "We must correct the impression among the young that religion is gloomy and long-faced, and that it is a sin to laugh."
So far as this impression exists, it seems to me due chiefly to these play-people of the church themselves, who have no religion at all, or just little enough to make them miserable in it; who have no joy in God's salvation, but must resort to scenes of worldly and carnal mirth for all their pleasure, and only endure the formal yoke of Christ to escape something worse hereafter. Let these ecclesiastical pleasure-lovers undertake to carry on a social prayer and conference meeting in the presence of outsiders with whom they had joined the night before in the lascivious mazes of the dance, or the carnal mirth of a church fair, and see if they would not feel blue and make religion appear blue to these spectators. A worldling working at religion is in the gloomiest business in the world; but a Christian with the fullness of the blessing of the gospel in his heart, rejoices in the unspeakable privilege.
But it does not become us to cultivate irreverence, frivolity, and folly to attract the world. We are not to turn montebanks for the amusement of this world, cultivate the laughter of fools, and endeavor to attract the world by showing how Christians can be jolly. This policy of attraction has not unfrequently been carried a little too far in ecclesiastical meetings, to the shame and grief of the godly. Christianity gives joy to the heart; but while so many millions of souls are perishing, it also inculcates an earnest, a serious, and a useful life. When David Hume complained that the Christians he met looked sad, he was told that the sight of such a man as he, was enough to sadden any one.—2 Cor. 5:13; Acts 20:18-38; Luke 19:41-44.
3. "The young people must have recreations and amusements."
Yes, and they can invent them without ecclesiastical aid. The church is not to be made a bureau of amusements for the world. It is bought with the blood of Christ to witness for him and "rescue the perishing." Work and not play, is its mission.
Christ and the apostles never dreamed that the administration of the gospel could ever be made an entertainment for the world. Read 2 Tim. 4:1-8; Tit. 2:1-15.
4. "Bishop Simpson, before the Methodist General Council, advocated church entertainments to counteract the theater and the opera."
Yes, and he might as well have advocated wine-drinking, or petty larceny. These rude dramatis in the churches whet the appetite for the real thing and swell the throng at the play-house. Probably the attendance of church members at the theater and opera has doubled since these church dramatics began, and the testimony of the pulpit against the play-house has been silenced or multiplied. A Methodist minister lately made the following public statement: "Twenty-five years ago I used to hear the Methodist Church talk of converting the world; but I have to see the world convert the Methodist Church"—sad spectacle so far as true.
Instead of "Lyceums" in the churches to get up entertainments, and "train young people to have confidence before an audience so that they can be office bearers," would it not be better to revive the old Wesleyan class-meeting? We should overcome evil with good, and not with evil (Rom. 12:21).
5. "Well, such severe Puritan views might do fifty years ago, but this is an era of progress, and you cannot run churches in that way now."
Truth is as fixed as a star, eternally. There is no progress in it. We only discover new truths, but old ones do not change. Ruin, redemption and regeneration are the same as when Paul rung them out on the ears of a perishing world. Men are born, and born again, just as they were when Christ preached to Nicodemus. God does not want audiences drawn to the church by these unbelest entertainments, and he does not want the unconsecrated pelf of the uncircumcised. The intellectual and material progress of the times is unquestionably amazing, but for its moral and spiritual progress, see God's forecast.—Matt. 24:37-42; 2 Tim. 3:1-8.
6. "Still it does seem to me that these entertainments make religion pleasing and attract the young to Christ."
They make irreligion attracting and there is no Christ in them to attract any one. They make "lovers of pleasures" but not "lovers of God." It must be the worldly and carnal element in in them that attracts carnal hearts. The play-house employs this element and "studies to please;" but the church employs the truth and Spirit and "studies to save." When we remove the offense of the Cross and please men we are not the servants of God. We convert the world not by conformity but by contrast. Whenever the church has been most holy and separate from the world it has been most triumphant in the conquest. What pleases carnal hearts cannot please God nor convert the world.
And now let me close with this solemn declaration and testimony; the churches that are pursuing this policy of attracting the world by entertainments and converting it by conformity, are repudiating the fundamental principles of Christianity, going into final apostacy, and preparing to be spewed out of the mouth of the Lord. I utter this with profound convictions and heartfelt grief, present the clear confirmations of God's word, and leave to God's judgment all those who shun the light. See Rom. 12:2; Rom. 8:5-10; Gal. 1:10, 11; Gal. 5:11; 2 Cor. 6:14-18; 2 Tim. 3:4, 5; John 15:18-22; Rev. 3:14-22.—Rev. E. P. Marvin (Presbyterian).
Friendship of the World
"Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?"
Christ Our Support and Refuge
By St. Chrysostom
I HAVE a pledge from Christ, have his note of hand, which is my support, my refuge, and heaven; and though the world should rage, to this security I cling. How reads it? "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." If Christ be with me, what shall I fear? If he is mine, all the powers of the earth to me are nothing more than the spider's web.—St. Chrysostom.
Theater-Going.
WHY is theater-going sinful? The evil here is quite sufficiently marked to prevent one who wishes to lead a consistent Christian life from becoming a habitue of theaters. 1. The stage always caters to the lascivious and immoral classes of our cities—not in every play—but always in a sufficient number of them to attract those classes. We need not specify how this is done. Every habitual theater-goer knows how it is done. 2. The stage always, though not in every play, makes flings at religion. It is popular with the immoral classes who are to be attracted. 3. The stage teaches a maudlin and often a false system of morality. It sometimes teaches a pure and lofty morality, but the rule is the other way. 4. It gives false views of life, just as the sensational French novel does. Persons who have no prejudice against theaters from churchly education, know and admit that these objections are well founded. Therefore it is not well for Christians to give encouragement to such institutions, nor, by their example, to lead others into them.—Interior.
Power of Littles.
By Southern Workman
A single bitter word may disquiet an entire family for a whole day. One surly glance casts a gloom over the household, while a smile, like a gleam of sunshine, may light up the darkest and weariest hours. Like unexpected flowers which spring up along our path, full of freshness, fragrance and beauty, do kind words, and gentle acts, and sweet dispositions, make glad the home where peace and blessings dwell. No matter how humble the abode, if it be thus garnished with grace and sweetened with kindness and smiles, the heart will turn lovingly towards it from all the tumult of the world; it will be the dearest spot beneath the circuit of the sun. And the influences of home perpetuate themselves. The gentle grace of the mother lives in the daughter long after her head is pillowed in the dust of death, and the father kindly finds his echo in the nobility and courtesy of his sons, who come to wear his mantle and fill his place; while on the other hand, from an unhappy, misgoverned, and disordered home, go forth persons who shall make homes miserable, and perpetuate the sourness and sadness, the contentions and strifes and railings, which have made their own early lives so wretched and distorted. And what is here said of home life is only less true of school life.
—Southern Workman.
Afflictions as Friends
By Rev. D. Trueman
WHEN afflictions overtake us, we should recognize them as friends; for on some basis in the line of God's providence they are intended for our good. If as clouds they intervene between our souls and the Sun of the spiritual world, they may have originated in the impurity of our own hearts, and, as the atmosphere by which life is sustained, would become the reservoir of death if never agitated and purified by the storms. So must our tranquility be disturbed by affliction, lest inactivity and forgetfulness of God should end in spiritual death.—Rev. D. Trueman.
Blessed Is the Man
"BLESSED is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly."
Chasing Lies.
A LIE is a bad thing to run at large. It damages, rages, devours. More poisonous than a serpent, it often ruins not only health but reputation and usefulness. Every lie should be stopped. But whose business is it to chase a lie? Who let it loose? The man who let it loose is bound to catch it again; but a man of truth is under no obligation to chase and catch other people's lies. Suppose some man or a dozen men send forth a falsehood about me, am I obliged to spend my days and years in chasing it and contradicting it? By no means. Let those who made it attend to their own word or meet the responsibility of it in the reckoning day. Every man concerned in sending forth a false statement must purge himself of it, or give account to God for what he has done. God holds men to very strict accountability in these respects, and every man who thinks to dwell in God's tabernacle must look well to his words and "refrain his lips that they speak no guile."-The Safeguard.
Among the Mountains.
By Mrs. E. G. White
THE Health Retreat at St. Helena is situated upon a mountain side commanding an extensive view of the surrounding country. During my stay here, the sublime and beautiful scenery spread out before me, was a source of increasing interest and delight. In the valley are dwellings and cultivated lands. Beyond are the mountains, rising peak above peak until they seem to touch the blue ether of the heavens. There from age to age they have stood, like silent sentinels, directing our eyes upward, and telling us of the unchanging power and glory of the infinite God. His word of promise is more immutable than the everlasting hills. “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but his kindness shall not depart, neither shall the covenant of peace be removed from those that put their trust in him.” Oh that we could ever cast fear and anxiety from our hearts, and find secure, satisfying rest in Jesus! And we can do this, if we will look upward to God with constancy and faith, as the mountain heights forever look to the clouds and the sky.
The morning sun pours its new glories upon these mountains of God, while in the valley, mists and clouds are rolling like the billows of the sea. In the distance they appear white as the drifted snow in the noonday sun. Soon they roll swiftly up the mountain steeps, until they reach the summit, and shut out from us the bright rays of the sun. A few moments, and all is clear again, and the sunlight rests on the bald mountain tops. There is enough to feast the imagination in the scenes of nature. Surely, no one who loves the sublime and the beautiful could be lonely among these grand old mountains.
The mountain heights and rocky fastnesses have ever been the friendly refuge of God's people when oppressed and hunted by their enemies. For hundreds of years the Waldenses worshiped God amid the mountain solitudes, and there defied the armies of kings and emperors. On their rocky heights, in sight of their enemies, they sang the praise of Him who made the hills; and no opposing power could silence their hymns of lofty cheer:—
“For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!
Thou hast made thy children mighty
By the touch of the mountain sod.
“Thou hast fixed our ark of refuge
Where the spoiler's foot ne'er trod;
For the strength of the hills we bless thee,
Our God, our fathers' God!”
Among the blessings of the lot of Ephraim and Manasseh, Moses enumerated “the chief things of the ancient mountains, and the precious things of the lasting hills.” In his last prophetic words to the tribes of Israel, he dwelt with peculiar earnestness upon the precious things of the hills. While the chosen people were wandering in the desert, he encouraged them by describing their promised inheritance as a land of hills and valleys; a land that drinketh water of the rain of heaven; a land upon which the eyes of the Lord rest for good throughout the year. To those who have lived in a level country, there is something peculiarly inspiring in the sight of the mountains. And all who have dwelt amid their wild and romantic scenery must ever long for the high places of the earth. I have never enjoyed the privilege of gazing upon the hills of Palestine, but I can look upon the mountains of our own land, and behold the wisdom and love of the Creator.
As I stood among the hills, I thought how centuries ago our Saviour came to the groves and mountains to worship God. The most costly and beautiful structure which man can devise is not to be compared with the solemn grandeur of these mountain sanctuaries. To such retreats Jesus often led his disciples. With the beautiful scenes of nature, he associated lessons of divine truth. Afar from the bustle and strife of the haunts of men, he strove to turn the hearts of rich and poor from the perishable treasures of earth to the unfading glories of the world to come.
The hills and forests furnish a blessed retreat for those who, weary of the din and confusion of city life, desire to enjoy communion with nature. And the invigorating air and sunshine bring new life to the over-tasked and weary. In all my journeyings, east and west, north and south, I have seen no place which offered so many and so great advantages as are offered at St. Helena. Here the hills pour forth their treasures in streams and fountains of the purest water. The atmosphere is mild and balmy, the surrounding heights seeming to modify the temperature, shutting off storms and chilling currents. While in many parts of our country the trees are in winter stripped of their foliage, and the bare, skeleton-like frames speak of death and decay, the trees here are green throughout the year. The bright sunbeams, pouring their glory on the living verdure of the madrona, the manzanita, the fir, the pine, and the California laurel, delight the senses, and fill the heart with gratitude to God.
Many have gladly availed themselves of the advantages for rest and recreation afforded by the mountain home at this place. We found here one family, eight in number, comprising three generations, mother, daughters, and granddaughters. For five months they have here enjoyed freedom from the claims of society and the restrictions of fashionable life. All were indisposed when they left Oakland, some suffering from continual colds, and others from general debility; but during their stay in the mountains they have greatly improved in health. In the city they thought it a task to walk even a short distance; but as they enjoyed the fresh, mountain air, the pure water, and the restful quiet of this home, they were soon able to climb the steep ascents, and daily to walk miles without inconvenience.
I could but think of the large sums paid annually in doctors' bills, or in the purchase of hurtful or poisonous drugs. If the means thus often worse than wasted could be spent in visiting such a resort as is afforded in this delightful place, how many might be benefited physically and mentally. Our people should purchase this establishment, and make of it a Hygienic Institute, as was the original intention of its founders. New buildings ought to be erected, and all needed facilities added to make it in all respects a first-class institution. It should be opened in the spring for the reception of patients.
“The groves were God's first temples;” and still he speaks to us in the fields, the forests, and the mountains, as verily as in the house of prayer. The prophets and poets of the Bible were keenly susceptible to the beauty of the leafy woods. The psalmist calls upon the trees to praise the Lord; and the prophet Isaiah declares that all the trees of the field shall clap their hands in that day when the word of the Lord shall have accomplished its work of salvation among men.
When Israel marched out of Egypt, they made their first encampment under the shelter of green boughs at Succoth. And for more than fifteen hundred years the Hebrew nation by the command of God left their houses, and dwelt one whole week in tabernacles of green boughs, to commemorate the encampment of their fathers under the palm branches of Succoth. These seasons of sacred recreation were fraught with both physical and spiritual blessings to Israel. God's people still need seasons of quiet and reflection—seasons in which the soul may undisturbed commune with its Maker. The great work which has been committed to our hands cannot be best carried forward in excitement and confusion. That calm deliberation so essential to sound judgment can often be best secured in some quiet retreat where the thoughtful mind and pure heart can be prompted by the still, small voice. These forest and mountain homes have great blessings for those who are wearied physically or mentally. Wisely has an American poet counseled:—
“If thou art worn and hard beset
With trials that thou wouldst forget,
Go to the fields and hills; no tears
Dim the sweet look that Nature wears.”
MRS. E. G. WHITE.
"I Love Your Jesus."
An English lady writing from Syria, says that the Mohammedan girls there are singing our beautiful hymns in Arabic. "Safe in the Arms of Jesus," is a great favorite. A little Moslem girl accounted for her preference for the Christian religion by saying, "I like your Jesus because he loved little girls. Our Mohammed did not love little girls." With unerring instinct, she had seized upon at least one of the great differences between the two religions.
No better reason could be given by any one for loving Jesus. The Apostle John says: "We love him because he first loved us." He not only loved little girls, but he loved everybody.—Censer.
The Jew's Longevity.
"THESE are the beasts of which ye shall eat." So says the portion of the law and though the text be old and oft used there may yet remain something to be said.
That the Jews are the physical superiors of their neighbors is unquestioned. The best scientists admit the fact which, to skeptics, statistics will prove. The Jews are longer lived and less susceptible to contagious diseases than any other people. Subject as they are to the same climatic influences, "heated and cooled by the same summer and winter," liable, from without, to the same dangers of disease, there must be some point of difference between this people and others to cause the superior longevity. That it is not the result of accident is self-evident, for Nature works by law; and the very first principle of science teaches us to seek a cause for effects which we observe. The only physical point of difference between Jew and Gentile is the former's observance of the dietary laws, and with only this difference—the Jew outlives his neighbor. Is it not, then, the logical conclusion that this observance has caused the increased longevity?
It may be argued that within recent years these laws have been neglected, and that there has been no decrease in the average of Jewish life. True enough, but the steady growth of thirty-five centuries cannot be checked in one or even half-a-dozen generations. Those who to-day violate the dietary laws, sin less against themselves than against their descendants. Just as observers of the laws have been blessed "to the thousandth generation" by longer lease of life, freedom from disease and consequent increased happiness; just so will non-observers be punished. It will need no especial intervention of providence to bring the penalty. We can well foresee it for ourselves. By the same immutable law that attention to health laws brings health, will their disregard cause disease.
It is not true that these laws were designed for only a certain clime and time. They are eternal truths, as is proven in the two thousand years of Israel's dispersion through all lands, in which time and countries the laws have been observed and their observance rewarded, and it is for us to decide whether we will lengthen or shorten our children's lives by obeying or neglecting these laws of the "animals which we may eat."—American Hebrew.
A True Lady.
By Gail Hamilton
WILDNESS is a thing which girls cannot afford. Delicacy is a thing which cannot be lost or found. No art can restore the grape its bloom. Familiarity without confidence, without regard, is destructive to all that makes women exalting and ennobling. It is the first duty of a woman to be a lady. Good breeding is good sense. Bad manners in a woman is immorality. Awkwardness may be ineradicable. Bashfulness is constitutional. Ignorance of etiquette is the result of circumstances. All can be condoned, and not banish men or women from the amenities of their kind. But self possessed, unshrinking, and aggressive coarseness of demeanor may be reckoned as a State's prison offense, and certainly merits that mild form of restraint called imprisonment for life. It is a shame for women to be lectured on their manners. It is a bitter shame that they need it. Do not be restrained. Do not have impulses that need restraint. Carry yourself so lofty that men will look up to you for reward, not at you in rebuke. The natural sentiment of man toward woman is reverence. He loses a large means of grace when he is obliged to account her a being to be trained in propriety. A man's ideal is not wounded when a woman fails in worldly wisdom; but if in grace, in tact, in sentiment, in delicacy, in kindness she should be found wanting, he receives an inward hurt.—Gail Hamilton.
The Help of Opposition
By John Neal
A CERTAIN amount of opposition is a great help to man. Kites rise against and not with the wind. Even a head wind is better than none. No man ever worked his passage anywhere in a dead calm. Let no man wax pale, therefore, because of opposition.—John Neal.
The True Christian
By Sidney Smith
The true Christian, amidst all the diversities of opinion, searches for the holy in desire, for the good in counsel, for the just in works; and he loves the good, under whatever temple, at whatever altar, he may find them.—Sidney Smith.