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Review and Herald, Vol. 80, No. 27.

Publishers’ Page

Review and Herald

Jul 7, 1903

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 7, 1903

Publishers’ Page

By Editor

Conducted by the Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company
The Department of Circulation of the Review and Herald Publishing Company can supply any book Published by Seventh-day Adventists, or any trade book issued by any other publishing house in any country.

Librarian’s Journal

THROUGH some oversight the Librarians’ Journal was not listed in our last year’s catalogue, and on account of this some have supposed it to be out of print.
We have an ample supply on hand, and can fill orders promptly. Price, $1.25, postpaid.

Sabbath-School Lessons

THE International Sabbath-school Quarterly containing the Sabbath-school lessons on Ephesians, for the senior classes, for the third quarter of the present year, contains important lessons under the following headings: Blessings of God; The Fullness of His Power; Living in Christ; The Household of God; The Mystery of God; Glorious Privileges in God; The Unity of God; The Gifts and Their Purpose; The Godly Life; Children of Light; Practical Instruction; Home Instruction; The Christian Soldier.

Bell’s Series of Bible Lessons for Sabbath-Schools

Full Set Complete
THESE lessons are “progressive,” not only from their progression in the order of events, but from the fact that they are graded to correspond with the usual growth and advancement of the pupils intellectually as the study proceeds.
Prices
Volume 1, 15 cts.; Volumes 2, 7, and 8, 20 cts.; Volumes 3, 4, 5, and 6, 25 cts. The entire set, $1.75.

Special Offer

Mental Arithmetic for Twenty-five Cents
FOR a short time we offer to our church-school patrons, Prof. E. A. Sutherland’s “Mental Arithmetic,” for 25 cents, postpaid. This offer will afford all a favorable opportunity to secure this book for the fall and winter schools.
The great majority of the readers of the REVIEW are familiar with this book, and a detailed description is not necessary in this notice of the reduction of price. It is an excellent text-book for our church schools, and at the price we now offer it, it is easily within the reach of all.
The objectionable features found in other arithmetics that contain problems dealing in liquor, tobacco, drugs, tea, coffee, candies, false weights and measures, which have a tendency to poison the youthful mind, are eliminated, and the book presents the principles of mathematics to the pupils from an entirely new, original, and practical standpoint, yet in harmony with sound arithmetical principles.

Appreciated Tracts

Words of Truth Series, numbers 36, 37, 38, 39, and 40 have had a large sale, and are still being ordered by the thousands. At the present time some of these numbers have nearly reached the hundred-thousand mark.
These tracts contain the simple message for this day, and the people are sowing them nobly.
All one-cent tracts with usual discounts on large orders.

Education

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE
321 pages, beautifully bound in three-color cover design; price, $1.25.
EDUCATION in its entirety, covering all phases. Especially prepared for parents, teachers, and students. Excellent for all classes. The great principles of Christian education are clearly set forth, and invaluable counsel for the education of the youth is placed within the reach of all.

Friend in the Kitchen

A PRACTICAL vegetarian cook-book. It contains over 400 palatable and wholesome recipes free from flesh foods, also many suggestions on foods and their combinations, and miscellaneous instruction of practical value and importance to every housekeeper. Bound in two substantial bindings: oilcloth and oil-paper; prices, 50 cents and 25 cents, postpaid. Kept by all tract societies and publishing houses.

Meat in Due Season

AS the International Sunday-school Lessons for the last half of 1903 will be upon Old Testament subjects specially treated in “Patriarchs and Prophets,” the present time is very favorable for the sale of this book to thousands of Sunday-school attendants, teachers, and workers.
“Patriarchs and Prophets” contains the foundation principles of the message, and interweaves them in the biographies of the leaders of Israel mentioned in the coming Sunday-school lessons, in a manner that will guide those studying these lessons into the full gospel for this time. While the circumstances are favorable, a special effort should be made to give the people this “meat in due season.”
Send to the Review and Herald for free copies of “Helpful Hints,” which contains the topics of the International Sunday-school lessons, and the pages in “Patriarchs and Prophets” where these lesson topics are mentioned.
“Patriarchs and Prophets” is an elegant book in every particular. It is published in the English, Danish-Norwegian, Swedish, German, and Holland languages, and substantially bound in all the popular styles of binding. It contains 760 large pages; prices, $2.25 to $4.50.
Order of the State Tract Societies, or of the Review and Herald Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

The Nelson Bible

WE have a few of two very popular styles of the “Nelson Bold Type Series,” which we offer at special reduced prices. This series is printed on fine India paper, with maps and index; only ⅛ of an inch thick, and about six by four inches in size, a very popular size for ladies and young people.
No. 3258X, French morocco, divinity circuit, linen lined, silk sewed, round corners, red under gold edges; regular price, $2.50; reduced to $1.75, postpaid.
No. 3265X, levant, divinity circuit, calf lined to edge, silk sewed, round corners, red under gilt edges; regular price, $4.50; reduced to $3.25, postpaid.
Send all orders for the above styles of Bibles directly to the Review and Herald Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

The Place of the Bible in Education

BY A. T. JONES
248 pages, in paper and cloth bindings, 25 and 75 cents, postpaid.
ONE of the new books just out. An excellent volume to study in connection with “Education.” Its chapter divisions are as follows:—
Christian Education; The World’s Education; The Essentials of Knowledge; The Secret of the Great Apostasy; The Greek or “Scientific Method” To-day; The Separation of Christianity and the State; The Bible’s Right to Supreme Place in Christian Education; The Education of Daniel; What Was Taught in the Schools of the Prophets; The Study of Wisdom; The Study of Knowledge; The Study of Science; The Study of Mental Science; The Study of Moral Science; The Study of Physical Science; The Study of Physical Science—Anatomy; The Study of Physical Science—Healing; The Study of Physical Science—Physical Culture; Literature, History, Law, Logic; The Failures of Popular Education.
Order of the State Tract Societies, or of the Review and Herald Publishing Company, Battle Creek, Mich.

The Keynote

By Editor

Editorial

The Keynote

“God has called this people to give to the world the message of Christ’s soon coming.” “The return of Christ to our world will not be long delayed. Let this be the keynote of every message.”—“Testimonies for the Church,” Vol. VI, pages 412, 406.

The Keynote Means Victory

“As the end draws near, the work of God is to increase in strength and purity and holiness. The workers are to be filled with love for God and for one another. They are to cherish principles of the strictest integrity. When the true keynote is struck, God will reveal himself as a God of mercy and love. Angels of heaven will ascend and descend on the ladder of shining brightness, co-operating with human workers. The members of the church triumphant—the church in heaven—will be permitted to draw near to the members of the church militant, to aid them in their necessity. Let us ever remember that we are laborers together with God. In this heavenly union, we shall carry forward his work with completeness, with singing and rejoicing. In every soul will be kindled the fire of holy zeal. Company after company will leave the dark standard of the foe to come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.”—Mrs. E. G. White, June 9, 1903.

A Definite Work

THE people known as Seventh-day Adventists have been raised up for a distinct purpose. The time had come that the message of the second advent of our Lord and of the necessary preparation for that event should be given to the world. Human instrumentalities were needed through whom the message could reach humanity. The people who remained faithful to their experiences with God and his truth, even after they had been disappointed in the definite time for the return of their Lord, were entrusted with the final message of warning and salvation. And there is one keynote for this whole message. “The return of Christ to our world will not be long delayed. Let this be the keynote of every message.”

The True Message

THE third angel’s message is one grand harmony of truth, the keynote of which is that “there shall be delay no longer,” and that the Lord is coming in this generation. We are in the time of the promise. All definite periods of prophetic time are in the past. It only needs that “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” The degree of our faithfulness to the work to which God has called us will determine the time of the Master’s coming. We are to look for and hasten his coming.

Some Pointed Questions

Do we sincerely believe that “God has called this people to give to the world the message of Christ’s soon coming”? Have we responded to this call by a complete consecration to this work? Do we believe with an unwavering faith that “the return of Christ to our world will not be long delayed”? Do we testify in the plans which we make for the future that we expect the end of all things to come in our day? Are we sending our sins beforehand to judgment, and depositing our means in the bank of heaven, so that there shall be nothing to bind us to this world when the call is heard, “Come, ye blessed of my Father”? Have we that confidence in this message and this work that we are ready to risk all upon the altar of service? Are our feet firmly planted upon the Rock, so that we shall not be carried away by the strong tide of skepticism concerning this message which is already setting in even among professed believers in it? Are we prepared to meet the Lord? and are we devoting our effort to the one purpose of preparing others for his coming? Let us not pass over these questions lightly.

Striking the Keynote

THERE are some remarkable results which will follow when the true keynote is struck. Heavenly beings, who are waiting to hear the joyful sound, will then unite with human workers. The first love will be renewed in the hearts of the believers, and “in every soul will be kindled the fire of holy zeal.” Most blessed results will then be seen in the proclamation of the message. Not simply one by one will the converts come, but “company after company will leave the dark standard of the foe to come up to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty.” Are not these assurances most encouraging? Surely the one thing to do is to strike the true keynote. Let every preacher strike the true keynote in every discourse. Let every Bible worker, every canvasser, every physician, every nurse, every worker of every kind, make the soon coming of the Lord the inspiration and the basis of all his service in this glorious message, and the message will soon swell to the loud cry. But to strike the true keynote means more than simply to say that the Lord is coming, or to dwell upon certain texts which deal with the prophetic periods, and to show that they are now in the past. All this is good in its place, but the true keynote can not be struck apart from an experience of the life. We must confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, even in our own flesh. We must know the power of his coming as the power of the endless life which delivers from the dominion of sin. We must realize his personal presence in the Holy Spirit ministering to us all the benefits of his mediation for us in the heavenly sanctuary in this hour of judgment. Then we can say with the apostle Peter, whose inspired testimony assures us that “the day of the Lord will come as a thief,” “We have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” When the keynote is thus struck, we shall see of the salvation of God. O that every believer would strike the true keynote! “When God’s servants with consecrated zeal co-operate with divine instrumentalities, the state of things that exists in this world will be changed, and soon the earth with joy will receive her King.” Strike the true keynote.

Experiences in the Field

By William Warren Prescott

Acting under the counsel of the General Conference Committee, I have attended the camp-meetings in the Upper Columbia, the Western Washington, and the Western Oregon Conferences, and the Educational Convention at College View, Neb. Having now returned home, after an absence of six weeks in attending these meetings, I have thought that some report of my experiences might be of interest to the readers of the Review.
I will not attempt to give a detailed account of each meeting, but simply refer to the general spirit of the meetings, and the nature of the work done. As I met the people who had come from their homes to these annual gatherings, I was deeply burdened for them. It has seemed to me that our camp-meetings have too often failed to bring the spiritual awakening which might result from such an opportunity, because the one thing needful was obscured by the multitude of matters of secondary importance, and I felt like giving myself wholly up to the work of ministering to the spiritual interests of the people. Furthermore, it has seemed to me that it has been too generally taken for granted that our people knew the message for this time, and that for this reason “practical subjects” should be presented to them, while “doctrinal subjects” should be dwelt upon when there was an attendance from the town or city where the meeting was held. I have felt impressed, however, that the real message for this time needs to be proclaimed anew to all this people. The cares of this life and the apparent delay in the coming of the Lord have dimmed the brightness of the experience of some, causing them to lose their first love, and all need to have their hope and faith strengthened. When we remember that an understanding of the times, and deliverance from the evils of this hour, come only through a knowledge of this closing message for the world, we can more fully appreciate that “the everlasting gospel” presented in the very setting which is given to it in the prophecies for the last days is the one theme for all hearers.
The mighty truths of this message are certainly “practical subjects,” if they live in the heart of the preacher. The difficulty is that some have fallen into formal ways of presenting these truths to the people, so that those who have heard them a few times know their sermons fairly well, and are not fed by them. I do not advocate seeking after “new light” merely for the purpose of having some new theory as to the interpretation of a prophecy or of some controverted text, but I do sincerely believe that the preacher should have a message fresh and new for the people each time he meets them, and this can come only through an experience fresh and new in his communion with heaven. Such a ministry of the message will bless the people, whether they ever heard it before or not.
As we studied in these meetings the grand and solemn theme of the soon coming of the Lord, and the kind of persons we ought to be since we look for such things, the Spirit of the Lord rested upon us, and new views of the message opened up to us. Many laid hold upon the living experience which is the personality of the doctrine of the advent of our Lord, and found in it a new experience. Some aged believers, who have been loyal to this message for many years, testified with trembling lips and with tears of joy that their hope had been revived, and that they took new courage in the truth.
The last Sabbath of the Upper Columbia meeting was a most blessed day. Heaven seemed to be very near to earth that day, and many souls were refreshed with the dews of divine grace. At the close of the morning sermon the ministry of the conference united in a season of consecration and prayer for a fresh baptism for service, after which backsliders and open sinners were invited to turn to the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord broke down the barriers, and many sought the Lord with tears of repentance. The whole congregation seemed to make a decided advance under the Spirit’s leading.
I had only four days at the Western Washington meeting, but I was much blessed in the ministry of the message there. The last day brought much help and encouragement, as the practical benefits of the ministry of our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary were presented, and the real secret of the patience or steadfastness of the saints was brought out.
I was unable to remain until the close of the Western Oregon meeting, but decided progress seemed to be made while I was there. Nearly every day a special meeting was held at five o’clock, after the afternoon study, at which opportunity was given for asking questions, and a very personal application was made of the truths which had been presented. These meetings seemed to be especially helpful to the people. I feel sure that we need to come close to the people in the ministry of the truth. Much time is lost in preaching at the people instead of talking with the people. This message brings peace and assurance when the hearers are helped to appropriate it as a personal experience, instead of giving mere mental assent to some new articles of faith.
I very much enjoyed the sessions of the Educational Convention at College View, Neb. As my part of the work I endeavored to urge upon the teachers that the third angel’s message, as the living and saving truth, must be the dominating subject of all study, and that thus the science of salvation would ever occupy the students’ minds. A full report of this convention has already appeared in the Review, and I will only add my personal testimony that the meeting was a most profitable one.
I am encouraged to believe that decided progress has been made in reviving the hope and faith of this people in the soon coming of the Saviour. It only remains for all to enter upon active/service in imparting to others the light which they have received, and the light will thus increase more and more unto the perfect day. So may it be. W. W. P.

The Closing Message and the Schools

(Continued)
SATAN’S greatest triumph up to the time of the first advent of our Lord was to pervert the channels through which God intended to reveal light and salvation. When the Jewish worship became mere form and ceremony, Christ, instead of being revealed in it, was hidden from the people by it, and that was Satan’s greatest triumph up to that time. Christ came into the flesh that there might be a revelation in his person of that which was revealed in type and ceremony, and brushing aside that which hid him from the world’s view, he had revealed divinity in humanity that he might come for salvation into the world. He came into the world to make manifest the nature of God’s law for humanity, to reveal the character of God to humanity; and when Christ came in the flesh, the law of God was written in the heart of humanity. This experience was not a thing apart from humanity, not a thing so far away from us as to be unattainable, but he took sinful flesh, the same as we bear, without availing himself of any other power than is available for us. Christ, the man, stood forth to reveal the character of God, the nature of his law, and to provide that new leaven which must be cast into this mass of corruption in order to restore humanity.
Since that revelation the same perversion has been repeated, and we to-day are seeing in the world the result of the perversion of the gospel of God manifested in the flesh. That perversion is called in the Scripture the mystery of iniquity; and the mystery of iniquity, asit has been revealed to the world, has itself brought the Dark Ages upon the world, a more full revelation of what it means to reject God’s law, to change God’s law, to turn it aside from the hearts of men, to prevent its being revealed in humanity.
The light perverted becomes greater darkness. As great light had been revealed in Christ through the flesh, so when that had been perverted, darkness settled down upon the earth. The Reformation of the sixteenth century was the effort to break away from that experience.
What is the final conflict in the closing generation? what is the last message to do? The final conflict is between the truth of God manifested in the flesh, and the beast and his image, both in denying and in revealing the opposite in the life. And in our day we look at its climax, the controversy between the mystery of godliness, which is God manifested in the flesh, and the mystery of iniquity, which denies it, and reveals the opposite in the flesh. And in our day and in our generation, that is the controversy, that is the experience which faces us.
Just think briefly of the history of this message. There was the first message, the message of the judgment hour, “Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” The coming of Christ was placed at a definite time, but that time passed, and there came the second angel’s message and the midnight cry, and the time was again definitely fixed, and again the time passed.
I would like to emphasize the fact that after the time finally passed, the tenth day of the seventh month, the 22d day of October, 1844, those believers in the fulfillment of the prophecy at that time found that they had been mistaken. But, in deciding upon that time as the time for the personal coming of Christ to the earth, the believers in that message had such a personal experience with the message that their experience held them against the disappointment as to the time.
Now to me that is one of the wonderful things in the message; that there were those who had staked their all upon this, that Christ was coming on a certain day, and that the end of the world was to come on a certain day, and had told the world so, and had risked everything upon that definite belief that Christ was coming to this earth to take his people on a certain day, and although that time had passed, they did not give up their faith in that prophecy and in that message, because their faith was founded upon something deeper and stronger than a date. The message was to them such a power in a personal experience that they could not give it up.
Now there is a great lesson in that for us with reference to this message, that this message must be to us personal experience that will hold us even against apparent defeat, and we shall see the need of this as we go on in this message. We are facing that experience, even now, and we need to have such a personal experience in this closing message as will hold us against any apparent defeat.
After that time passed, light came to them further about the third angel’s message, and that message has been in the world, the threefold message, since that time.
Now notice these steps: the first message, the first time passed; the second message, the midnight cry; the third message, and that message of Revelation 18, which is in itself a mighty message, joins with this other threefold message, swelling to the loud cry, and says, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” But that message is given for a specific purpose; these messages are given to meet the needs of the people in this time, and this threefold, mighty message is altogether necessary to keep God’s people in their closing experience, and in the hour of temptation that is to come upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the face of the earth.
All the light of this threefold message is not merely that we shall have something to give to the world, but that we shall have something to keep ourselves, something to stay our own souls upon in the final combat with the beast and his image. And all this is nothing more than the return to humanity in this closing generation of the experience made possible for humanity when God was manifested in the flesh in Jesus Christ, a revelation of the nature of God’s law, and the whole controversy is over the question of God’s law and the law written in the heart. The law put into the mind of God’s own worker through the ministry of his Spirit in this generation is the experience of the truth manifested in the flesh. It is the experience of the science of salvation. But you ask, What has this to do with the schools? This may be the gospel message, but what has it to do with the schools?
I am intensely impressed with the idea that this truth to which we have referred must dominate our lives in every way. I can not think that the truth is to be held apart from the daily experience, the daily plans, the daily duties. If so, we shall be overthrown in the hour of trial. Nothing short of a full revelation of the presence and power and glory of God, the fullness of his law, as he interprets it, written upon the hearts of his people, will save them in this time. It is not something for us simply to preach to others; there is an experience in it such as we have not had that we must have.
But what has this to do with the schools? It must dominate the schools as it dominates our lives in everything else. Now let us read a scripture, and see if it does not mean more to us than it may have meant before. In the fourth chapter of the book of Deuteronomy, verses 1, 2:—
“And now therefore hearken, O Israel, unto the statutes and unto the judgments, which I teach you, for to do them, that ye may live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of your fathers giveth you. Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish aught from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.”
The fifth chapter, verse 1:—
“And Moses called all Israel, and said unto them, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and judgments which I speak in your ears this day, that ye may learn them, and keep, and do them.”
Then he recites the ten commandments. Then we come to the sixth chapter:—
“Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it; that thou mightest fear the Lord thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son’s son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, and that ye may increase mightily, as the Lord God of thy fathers hath promised thee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”
What is meant in this instruction? It is more than that certain words were to be written and committed to memory. It was that the veritable law of God in its fullness and breadth as the life, should be received, should be made the thing of life, the thing of experience, should be talked about, should be taught to the children, should be the thingkept before eye and mind constantly. Why? — Because that law kept that way was like a hedge about them, to protect them from evil, a power unto righteousness. It is the gospel revealed in humanity through faith in God’s provision, and that was simply teaching the law.
But any subject that is so broad as that will include all other subjects that need to be taught, in their relation to it. That is, the science of salvation, or the science of redemption, is that highest and all-inclusive science which includes within it all knowledge of any kind of science that a Christian needs to know.
This is true in its application to what we speak of as natural science, in which we study the revelation of God’s law and God’s thoughts for the universe about us; yet above that is the science of all sciences, and that is the science of salvation. Now to take that as the study, means to study every other science just so far as one is able to do it, but to study it as a secondary science, with reference to that highest of all sciences, in which those same principles, the same thoughts of God, will be more fully and more gloriously revealed unto salvation. And the study of the science of salvation, the study of the science of redemption, as a science, includes the study of all other sciences as contributory to the understanding of the science of salvation. But that will put a different mold upon the whole study of science. It will give a different view of the whole field of science. It will not shut out any fact which is useful, or a blessing to mankind, but everything will find its setting with reference to that highest of all sciences, and a study of these other sciences that are spoken of as the natural sciences will be contributory to one’s own experience with this highest of all sciences,—the science of salvation, the science of redemption.
(To be concluded)

The Spirit of Lawlessness

By L. A. S.

LEADING papers of the country are calling attention to the increase of that form of lawlessness which is commonly known as “lynch law.” It is safe to say that this is the worst form of lawlessness known in civilized lands.
The crime of the individual criminal who works by stealth and secrecy and is a fugitive from justice, is one thing; but the crime of a community, acting openly and ignoring or setting at defiance the officers of the law, is another and much more serious thing. The one is the act of an enemy of the government, which the power of the government is adequate to suppress or punish; the other represents the disintegration of the government itself.
The American people but faintly appreciate the serious significance of this sign of the times. No individual crime, however atrocious, can constitute such a menace to society as does the growth of the mob-law spirit. The remedy applied is far worse than the disease itself.
One of the worst features of the situation is to be found in the teaching which is being put forth on the subject by men occupying positions which make them molders of public sentiment. We note in the Chicago Tribune of June 29 a number of examples of this sort. Here, for instance, is a proposition to legalize lynching, coming from a Northern city, La Crosse, Wis. A dispatch to the Tribune says:—
Dr. George E. Powell, of this city, to-day gave out a remarkable statement favoring the legalizing of burning negroes at the stake. . . . Dr. Powell said in regard to lynching: “I believe that the burning of negroes at the stake for certain crimes should be legalized. If it is the consensus of opinion among the best people of this country that burning at the stake is the proper punishment of this particular crime when perpetrated by the negro, if the sentiment is so strong that the law as it exists can not be enforced, then the only salvation of the law is to legalize that which seems so desirable to the majority. A bad law respected is better than a good law violated.”
On the other hand, a negro clergyman of Wilmington, Del., calls upon the men of his race to arm themselves, and take the law into their own hands. To his congregation he is reported as saying, “Be a law unto yourself. You are taught by this lesson of outrage to save yourselves from torture at the hands of the blood-seeking public.”
Referring to the statements of Rev. Mr. Elwood, of Wilmington, a Presbyterian clergyman, who just prior to the recent lynching there advocated such action in case the prisoner escaped speedy punishment, the Tribune reports that some criticisms of his attitude “were answered by his congregation to-day when resolutions were read during the services expressing firm belief in the pastor’s honesty, integrity, and Christian character; appreciation of his ministerial labors in the congregation, and admiration of his manly Christian courage as expressed by his pulpit messages, and recording the belief that his message of last Sunday evening was both timely and true, sensible and Scriptural, and in nowise a cause for the actions of the citizens that followed.”
Another example reported in this issue of the Tribune is the following:—
Dr. W. A. Bartlett, preaching in the First Congregational church, Chicago, said he deplored lynching and burning, but wanted to suggest that in the denunciation of mobs the crimes which they sought to punish were forgotten. He said: “The indignant uprising of a community, and some of the best men in it, to avenge a wrong of such awful magnitude may be technically lawless; but the spirit which causes the uprising is the reflection of a higher civilization.”
Think of such an idea of higher civilization emanating from the pulpit!
Mention is also made of the sermon of a negro clergyman of Chicago, Rev. Ransom, who declared that the negro race in this country must develop more backbone and stand up for its rights. Curs get kicked, he said, but bulldogs and mastiffs are let alone.
People who participate in or encourage mob lawlessness do not stop to think of the results to which it will lead. It is like a little leaven which finally leavens the whole lump. Of late years the leaven of the mob spirit has been working with great rapidity. It has given rise to a situation of the most serious character, and which is almost national in its scope.
Lynching as a punishment for crime in this country was not many years ago comparatively rare, and was justified by some people as being the only adequate remedy for one particularly atrocious kind of crime. It began with one crime, but has now extended to almost every crime of a serious nature. It began with the people of one race, but now takes in those of every race, white as well as black. It began with one section of the country, but has now become common in almost every section. And to what will the situation grow, at this rate of progress, in a few years more?
“If anybody,” says the Chicago Tribune, “were to arise in a State legislature—that of Delaware or of Illinois—and were to propose that death at the stake should be the penalty for the commission of a particular crime or crimes, or should propose that the body of an executed criminal should be reduced to ashes in public, there would be an outburst of indignation. That man would be denounced in all quarters. Nobody would be venturesome enough to second his motion. Both suggestions would be branded as barbarous—utterly repugnant to the ‘spirit of the age.’ If the member of the legislature represented Wilmington, Del., or Belleville, Ill., there would be a mass-meeting of citizens to denounce him as an unfit representative.” Yet what the people would not allow to be done legally, they themselves do without recourse to the forms of government. This is indicative of the loss of self-control. Such acts, more than the forms of enlightened government which they set aside, show forth the real spirit of the age.
The struggle of race against race, and of labor against wealth, in this country, are two sources from which emanates a tide of lawlessness which threatens to submerge the beneficent institutions of free government. Mob law means the setting aside of the existing government and the substitutionin its place of what is worse than the worst government—that which no more represents justice than does the chase of its victim by a beast of prey.
Newspaper comments at the present time show that in some quarters the serious character of the situation is realized to a degree, but the people have so long been taught that a millennium of peace and righteousness is at hand, and have been led to trust so fully in the “enlightenment” of the present age as a safeguard against any lapse into barbarism, that they are slow to be warned by the direct evidence of their senses. The truth is we have reached a time the characteristics of which are explained only by the prophecies of God’s Word, which foretell what conditions are to exist upon the earth at the coming of the day of God.
L. A. S.
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