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Signs of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 33.

General Articles

Signs of the Times

Aug 26, 1886

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Aug 26, 1886

General Articles.

By Mrs. E. G. White

Right Methods in Education.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THERE is at the present time an unparalleled interest in the subject of education. The wide diffusion of knowledge through the agency of the press, placing the means of self-culture within the reach of all, has awakened a general desire for mental improvement. But while we gratefully acknowledge our increased educational facilities, we should not ignore the defects in our present school systems. In many cases, physical as well as moral training has been neglected in the too eager desire to secure intellectual culture; and the youth have left school with morals debased and physical powers enfeebled, with no knowledge of practical life, and little strength to perform its duties.
As these evils have come under my observation, the inquiry has arisen, Must our sons and daughters become moral and physical weaklings, in order to have the advantages afforded by an education in our schools? This should not be; and it need not be if teachers and students will but be true to the laws of nature, which are also the laws of God. A right education will make the youth strong, well-balanced men and women, by developing and calling into active exercise all the powers of mind and body. It will make them a blessing to the world; for it will enable them to attain a true and noble manhood and womanhood.
Many times students are so anxious to complete their education that they are not thorough in anything that they undertake. They do not understand the true object of education, and so fail to take such a course as to secure this object. They apply themselves to the study of mathematics or the languages, while they neglect a study far more essential to happiness and success in life. Many who can explore the depths of the earth with the geologist, or traverse the heavens with the astronomer, take not the slightest interest in their own bodies. Others can correctly describe every organ of the body, and tell how many bones there are in the human frame, and yet they are as ignorant of the laws of health, and the cure of disease, as though life were controlled by blind fate, instead of definite and unvarying law.
Sound health lies at the very foundation of the student's success. Without it, he can never see the fruition of his ambitions and his hopes. Hence a knowledge of the laws by which health is secured and preserved is of pre-eminent importance. The human body may be compared to nicely adjusted machinery, which needs care to keep it in running order. One part should not be subjected to constant wear and pressure, while another part is rusting from inaction. While the mind is taxed, the muscles also should have their proportion of exercise. Every young person should learn how to regulate his dietetic habits,—what to eat, when to eat, and how to eat. He should also learn how many hours may be spent in study, and how much time should be given to physical exercise.
It is a duty which every student owes to himself, to society, and to God, to properly regulate his habits of eating, sleeping, study, and exercise; but there are few who have the moral courage and the self-control to act from principle. The student who studies hard, sleeps and exercises little, and eats irregularly of an improper or inferior quality of food, is obtaining mental discipline at the expense of health and morals, of spirituality, and, it may be, of life itself.
Young persons are naturally active, and if they find no legitimate scope for their pent-up energies after the confinement of the school-room, they become restless and impatient of control; they are thus led to engage in the rude, unmanly sports that disgrace so many schools and colleges, and even to plunge into scenes of dissipation. And many who leave their homes innocent, are corrupted by their associations at school. Much could be done to obviate these evils, if every institution of learning would make provision for manual labor on the part of the students,—for actual practice in agriculture and the mechanic arts. Competent teachers should be provided to instruct the youth in various industrial pursuits, as well as in their studies in the school room. While a part of each day is devoted to mental improvement and physical labor, devotional exercises and the study of the Scriptures should not be overlooked.
Students trained in this manner would have habits of self-reliance, firmness, and perseverance, and would be prepared to engage successfully in the practical duties of life. They would have courage and determination to surmount obstacles, and moral stamina to resist evil influences.
If young persons can have but one set of faculties disciplined, which is most important, the study of the sciences, with the disadvantages to health and morals under which such knowledge is usually obtained, or a thorough training in practical duties, with sound morals and good physical development? In most cases both may be secured if parents will take a little pains; but if both cannot be had, we would unhesitatingly decide in favor of the latter.
Where useful labor is combined with study, there is no need of gymnastic exercises; and much more benefit is derived from work performed in the open air than from indoor exercise. The farmer and the mechanic each have physical exercise; yet the farmer is much the healthier of the two, for nothing short of the invigorating air and sunshine will fully meet the wants of the system. The farmer finds in his labor all the movements that were ever practiced in the gymnasium. And his movement room is the open fields; the canopy of heaven is its roof, and the solid earth its floor. A farmer who is temperate in all his habits usually enjoys good health. His work is pleasant; and his vigorous exercise causes full, deep, and strong inspirations and exhalations, which expand the lungs and purify the blood, sending the warm current of life bounding through arteries and veins.
In what contrast to the habits of the active farmer are those of the student who neglects physical exercise. The student sits day after day in a close room, bending over his desk or table, his chest contracted, his lungs crowded. His brain is taxed to the utmost, while his body is inactive. He cannot take full, deep inspirations; his blood moves sluggishly; his feet are cold, his head hot. How can such a person have health? It is not hard study that is destroying the health of students, so much as it is their disregard of nature's laws. Let them take regular exercise that will cause them to breathe deep and full, and they will soon feel that they have a new hold on life.
Young ladies, too, should be taught how to work. Experienced teachers should be employed to instruct them in the mysteries of the kitchen. A knowledge of domestic duties is beyond price to every woman. There are families without number whose happiness is wrecked by the inefficiency of the wife and mother. It is not so important that girls learn painting, fancy work, music, or even the more solid branches of study, as it is that they learn to cut, make, and mend their own clothing, and how to prepare palatable and wholesome food. That was a wise father, who, when asked what he intended to do with his daughters, replied, "I intend to apprentice them to their excellent mother, that they may learn the art of improving time, and be fitted to become wives and mothers, heads of families, and useful members of society."
Every young woman should be so educated that if called to fill the position of wife and mother, she may preside as a queen in her own domain. She should be fully competent to guide and instruct her children, and to direct her household affairs. It is her duty to understand the mechanism of the human body and the principles of hygiene, the matters of diet and dress, labor and recreation, and countless other things that intimately concern the well-being of her household. Many ladies, accounted well-educated, having graduated with honors at some institution of learning, areshamefully ignorant of the practical duties of life. They are destitute of the qualifications necessary for the proper regulation of the family, and hence essential to its happiness and well-being. They may talk of woman's rights and her elevated sphere; yet they themselves fall far below the true sphere of woman.
Ignorance of useful employment is contrary to the design of God in the creation of man, and is by no means an essential characteristic of the true gentleman or lady. Idleness is sin, and ignorance of common duties is the result of folly,—a folly which the after-life will give ample occasion to bitterly regret.
"Whether ye eat or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God," will be the rule of life with students who desire to serve and honor God. Such students will preserve their integrity in the face of temptation; they will come from school with well-developed intellects, and with health of body and soul, and the world will be the better for their influence and labors.

HE LEADS HIS OWN.

HE leads his own! enough to know He marks the path, and bids me go; I'll trust him though the way seems long, And follow on with cheerful song.
He leads his own! not mine the choice, Content I listen for his voice; Gladly I hasten to obey, And journey where he leads the way.
He leads his own! I would not say That mine should be a pleasant way; Only to know he leads me on To perfect rest, and joy unknown.
He leads his own! though deep the wave, Mighty the arm reached forth to save; My heart shall know no doubt or fear, For Christ the Lord is very near.
He leads his own! when bade to go Through pastures green, where streamlets flow; And when the gloomy vale they tread, And clouds hang darkly overhead.
He leads his own! though oftentimes The sun and joy seem left behind; Just as of old he led his flock, And gave them water from the rock.

Blessed Are They That Do.

By R. F. Cottrell

THE religion of the Bible consists in believing what God says and doing what he commands. "Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man." Eccl. 12:13. "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." "But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed." "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." Jas. 1:22, 25, 27. To obey God's perfect law, honoring him and doing righteous deeds to our fellow-men, is religion pure and undefiled. The opposite kind of religion, of course, is impure and defiled.
The religion of many consists chiefly in feeling. They do what they feel it duty to do; but they do not always feel it duty to do what God says. They say they know that they are accepted of God; for they feel it so in their very souls. "The Lord saves me, and he saves me now," is a favorite form of expression. They know God answers their prayers, because they feel it so. On the contrary, an apostle has said, "And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." 1 John 3:22. Here it is again: "Blessed are they that do."
Now feeling is not faith. It is all right when it is founded in faith and obedience to the word of the Lord. When a man has an intelligent faith in what God has revealed, and does what that revelation requires, he has a right to feel and to rejoice in the Lord. What is it that distinguishes the true religion from all false religions? Is it not that the truth of God lies at its foundation? True feeling, then, will always be found in conformity to this truth. Then a person must be intelligent in the truth before he can depend upon his feelings.
Do not false religionists feel? Do they not manifest a religious zeal? What but the most ardent feeling of devotion could cause a heathen mother to cast her infant into the river Ganges to be devoured by the monsters of the deep? or to cast herself before the car of Juggernaut to be crushed to atoms? I think that there is feeling in every kind of religion, and therefore we will be deceived if we trust to feeling, unless we know that our faith and works are in harmony with the truth of God.
The first and most pressing want of the people in these days is instruction in the truth as revealed in God's word. They need a true foundation for their faith; and then they want a faith that will cause them to act—to do what that word requires. Their ears have been turned away from the truth to fables. This is as Paul foretold it would be.
Sensational preaching stirs the religious sentiments or faculties, producing certain emotions or feelings, and this passes for genuine Bible religion, though many of the duties therein revealed are neglected entirely, either from ignorance or unwillingness to obey. I repeat it: Truth is the thing which distinguishes true religion from every false way. The truth is in our Bibles; but in a land of Bibles the great need of the people is to be instructed in the truth. They talk of worshiping God in spirit; but they that worship him must worship him "in spirit and in truth."
The truth is the word of God. "Thy word is truth." John 17:17. "Thy law is the truth." Ps. 119:142. "All thy commandments are truth." Verse 151. This refers to the moral law, the ten commandments. Every word of them is true, every jot and tittle of this law shall endure till heaven and earth pass. Matt. 5:18. Yet the leading ministers and churches of to-day are treading the fourth commandment of that law under foot. God is now pleading with them, saying, "If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight; the holy of the Lord, honorable; and shalt honor him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Isa. 58:13, 14.
On the other hand, God is now sending a fearful message of warning to the nations of the earth, saying, "If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation." At the same time he is calling the attention of all to his patient, enduring, and obedient people, saying, "Here is the patience of the saints; here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." See Rev. 14:9-12.
Through the influence of apostasy, the Sabbath of the fourth commandment has been disregarded, and another institution has been put in its place, according to the prophecy of a wicked power that should "think to change times and laws." Dan. 7:25. This same power is the beast, against the worship and mark of which we are being warned. Rev. 13:1-10. The Roman popedom is the power thus foretold; and the Roman church to-day claims that their church changed "the Sabbath into Sunday," or "substituted the observance of Sunday, the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday, the seventh day, a change for which there is no scriptural authority." See their doctrinal works.
Now the question is, Shall we follow the changes and corruptions of the popedom, or shall we keep the commandments of God? Does it make any difference whether we have the light of God's word, and walk in that, or follow the traditions of an apostate church, which claims the power to change the law which God spake with his own voice, and wrote with his own finger, and to "substitute" something else in its place? In a land of Bibles, and in which God's voice is being heard in fulfillment of the last message of warning promised in his word, will it be just as well to walk on in darkness, following the dictates of a fallen church which blasphemously claims to make laws for God, "if the heart is only right"? We have the word of the living and true God; and Jesus says, "Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it." Luke 11:28.
Jesus said to the apostate Jewish Church, "Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." Mark 7:9. Is not this his voice to the professed Christian church to-day?
Let us hear Jesus. "Not every one," says he, "that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven." Matt. 7:21. Listen to his voice again, in his last benediction to his people, recorded in the Book of Revelation: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city." Rev. 22:14.

God, the Life of the Soul

By Luthardt

God is the whole life of our soul. All the powers of the mind do not find their aim till they find God. In him the heart finds its happiness, the reason its truth, the will its true freedom.—Luthardt.

Do It With Thy Might

“Do It With Thy Might”—This is the first injunction, and most needful. If Christians would put a tithe of the energy into their religion which they put into their business, what vast results would accrue! Somehow or other it seems almost discreditable, in the view of many of Christ's disciples, to be chargeable with an intense and vehement zeal for God. “Strike the iron while it is hot,” everywhere but in religion, there keep a cool and suitable respectability, is the voice of multitudes who call themselves the servants of Christ. But there is no welding on to cold iron, and there is no joining and assimilation between a cold church and penitent souls. If we would save men, we must serve the Lord with all diligence.—Sel.

"As Becometh Saints."

By New York Observer

THE people of God, in the Scriptures, are characterized as "saints." They are thus designated, because they are already holy in some measure, and because they will eventually be perfectly so. And, as saints, certain things become them. They should essentially differ from what they once were, and from what others still are.
In the first place, they should be saintly. They should be what the name signifies. This, as applied to them, should not be a misnomer. They should possess, in a large measure, that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. They should be both pure in heart and pure in life. They should abstain from all appearance of evil. They should be Israelites indeed, in whom there is no guile.
They should be heavenly minded. Their thoughts and affections should be chiefly on things above. They should be Christ-like. They should be characterized for all the excellence that adorned his character. Like him, they should be "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners." They should be meek and lowly in heart, benevolent and kind, patient and submissive, forbearing and forgiving, loving and sympathizing, humble and condescending, and eminent for everything that is lovely and of good report.
These, and the like things, are expected of all that belong to Christ. He himself expects it of them. When he washed the disciples' feet, he said unto them: "I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done unto you." And so should it be in respect to all imitable things. It is by thus doing, that they adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour.
And the world also expects these things of them. They reasonably expect that the disciples of Christ will conform their lives to his precepts and example. It is only then that they act becomingly. Those that profess to be saints should be consistent. They should be saintly.—New York Observer.

“Just As I Am Without One Plea.”

A FAITHFUL pastor of a small flock once met one of the young ladies of his congregation on the street, as she was on the way to her dress-maker’s to have a dress made for a ball. Stopping her, he frankly asked her her mission; she frankly told him.
“I wish,” he said, “you were a Christian woman; that you would forsake all these frivolities, and learn to live nearer to God. Won’t you stay away from this ball, if for nothing else, because I ask it?”
She replied, “I wish you would mind your own business, sir. Good-day.”
This young lady went to the ball and danced all night. She went home, and when her head was at rest upon her pillow, conscience began to do its work. She thought how she had insulted her pastor, the best friend she had perhaps in all the earth. This torment of conscience was kept up for three days, until she could endure it no longer.
Going to her pastor’s study she told him how sorry she was that she had said words that caused his heart to ache. “I have been the most miserable girl in the world for the past three days,” she said, “and now I want to become a Christian; I want to be saved. Oh, what must I do to be saved?”
The old pastor, with his heart full of compassion and sympathy and love for the contrite spirit before him, pointed her to the Lamb of God, and told her how she must give herself to God just as she was. “What! Just as I am, and I one of the most sinful creatures in the world? You surely do not mean to say that God will accept me just as I am?”
“I mean just that,” was the pastor’s reply. “God wants you to come to him just as you are.”
The young lady went home, and retiring to her room, kneeled beside her bed and prayed God to take her, just as she was. Reaching to a chair that stood by the bed, she took a piece of paper and a pencil that were there, and under these holy influences wrote the verses of that hymn so dear to the heart of every true Christian:—
“Just as I am without one plea, But that thy blood was shed for me, And that thou bids’t me come to thee, O Lamb of God, I come! “Just as I am and waiting not To rid my soul of one dark blot, To thee, whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of God, I come! “Just as I am, though tossed about With many a conflict, many a doubt, With fears within and foes without, O Lamb of God, I come! “Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind, Sight, riches, healing of the mind, Yea, all I need, in thee to find, O Lamb of God, I come! “Just as I am; Thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve; Because thy promise I believe, O Lamb of God, I come! “Just as I am, thy love unknown, Has broken every barrier down; Now, to be thine, yea, thine alone, O Lamb of God, I come!”
—Sel.

Faith.

By J. H. Meek

THE Scriptural definition of faith is found in Heb. 11:1: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We also find in the same chapter, which is truly a chapter on faith, that without faith it is impossible to please God. By it pardon and purity are obtained. It is therefore a subject of very great importance, and should be properly understood.
Perhaps many do not distinguish between an intellectual and a saving belief or faith. To believe the Bible, as you would what is recorded in history, would not secure to us salvation. A mere assent to the truths in God's word does not make any one a Christian. It requires heart-belief. “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Rom. 10:10. “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart.” Prov. 3:5.
The antecedents to the exercise of saving faith are renunciation of all sin and the world, true repentance and entire submission to God. When the conditions are fully met the exercise of faith becomes easy. When we hear the very common expressions, “It is hard to believe,” “I’m trying to have faith,” we are led to the conclusion at once that there is a defect somewhere else. If any one has really renounced sin and the world, and has fully decided to become a Christian, he is not far from the kingdom. There is no struggle or effort in faith. The struggle and effort of a seeking soul is in giving up sin, is surrendering to God.
It is certainly dishonoring to God to say, “It is hard to believe.” You would not treat a friend so. How would it sound for you to say to your truthful and affectionate wife or husband, “I am trying to believe what you say is true”? God cannot lie. He is faithful. His promises are sure. They cannot fail. Simply rest in them. Some one has said, “Faith is that thing we do when we cease doing everything else.” Then let go and trust. Some pray for faith as though it was a blessing to be poured upon them. Of course God will give grace and the ability to meet all requirements and to believe, but the act of faith is ours.
Let persons become intimately acquainted with the nature and character of God, and they will then find no difficulty in believing. Read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews and the promises on prayer carefully and prayerfully instead of praying for faith, and you will be more likely to obtain your heart’s desire. Try it, brethren. How often we have heard professed Christians pray for faith, and then immediately afterwards deprecate their unbelief. “According to your faith be it unto you.” We are justified by faith. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God.” Rom. 5:1. We are kept by faith. “Who are kept by the power of God through faith.” 1 Peter 1:5.—Rev. J. H. Meek, in Methodist Recorder.

The One Foundation.

By Thomas Monod

THERE is a word which is used more, I think, with us in France than with you in England, in reference to religious meeting,—it is the word, “edify.” We ask the question, often-times, “Have you been edified?” Now “edified” does not mean moved or interested, but built up. And if you want to know whether you have been edified here, I can tell you who has been and who has not. Only those have been truly edified who have been building on Christ. “Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” And no building is worth anything that is not built upon him. Suppose a man should lay a foundation at one corner of a street, and should go on building his house at another corner, that house would not be edified very quickly. Many people try to build themselves up on doctrines, or systems, or on their own emotions. But, brethren, we are learning here to build ourselves up on Christ. Let us, then, lay everything upon him, that goes to make up our building. If we get hold of a new truth, let us lay it on Christ. If God gives us joy we must lay it there, or if he gives us sorrow we must lay it there; whatever comes, sunshine or shadow, peace or conflict, lay it there. And there are small stones needed in a building as well as large ones, so you must take all the little things of your lives and lay them upon him. It is a blessed way to do, it grows wonderfully better every day, and thus we shall truly “build ourselves on our most holy faith.” —Thomas Monod.

Morality.

By S. S. Times

How prone even Christians are to separate morality from religion, in their ordinary speech concerning the character and conduct of their fellows. To say that a man is of good moral character, is commonly understood as meaning that he has never been in jail, and that the grand jury would have no ground for a bill of indictment against him. It is not supposed to include any reference to his recognition, or his performance, of his duty to God, but only to cover his relations to his fellows. Yet it is common, on the other hand, to speak of the ten commandments as “the moral law,” although the first four of these commandments look Godward, rather than manward. When our Lord was asked, Which is the great commandment in the law?—in the moral law—he answered unhesitatingly, that man’s duty to love God supremely was “the first and great commandment.” How, then, can a man be called a truly moral man while he makes no pretense of obeying the first and the greatest requirement of the moral law? It certainly is to a man’s credit that he is not a liar, a thief, or a murderer; but that, in itself, does not make him a truly moral man—S. S. Times.

Dividing a Bible.

An extract from a letter from Miss La Paz, a colporter of the Ladies’ Bible Society of Philadelphia, in Havana, gives the following interesting incident: “I went to the suburbs of Havana, and called at a very poor house. I did not know any one there, but was invited to go in. I found an old man and woman. After talking to them for fifteen minutes, I asked if they would allow me to read the New Testament to them, and whether they had a Bible in the house. The man, who was eighty-nine years old, went to his room and brought half of a Bible, commencing at the 51st Psalm. I asked them why they broke such a book as the Bible in such a manner, and he answered me as follows:
‘When I was twenty-five years old my mother died suddenly, and all her property was divided between my brother and myself. We got along very well in the division until we came to this Bible, which my mother brought from New York a hundred years ago. My brother and I both wanted it, and neither of us would give up, so there was nothing else to do but to divide it, and we broke it into two equal parts, and each took a part, and each of us read it every day. My brother went to Africa, and stayed there thirty years, and when he came back, we changed, he read my part and I read his, and both of us believed.’
Miss La Paz adds that these old Cubans had never heard about “Protestants,” and were not Roman Catholic, but upon questioning them closely she found that they were truly Christian people, and had got all they knew from this Bible, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.—Sel.

The Greatness of Prayerful Lives

By Leighton

THEY are great lives that fashion themselves in prayer. Their communion with God gives them somewhat of the dignity of their associations. All the belittling things of life are obscured and hidden under the august conceptions that engross the mind when it is holding fellowship with God. Outwardly, such a life is filled with the peace and warmth of the gospel, and it is fruitful in spiritual results that shall be counted among the treasures of Heaven.—Leighton.

Religion and Its Opposing Voices

By Montesquieu

The pious man and the atheist alike talk of religion: the one speaks of what he loves, the other of what he fears.—Montesquieu.

The Ostrogoths Enter the Western Empire.

By J.

Four years after the Saxons set their feet on the soil of Britain the Ostrogoths established their independence [A. D. 453] in the Western Empire, where they remained as long as they were a nation. It will be remembered that before the permanent separation of the Visigoths from their eastern brethren, the whole Gothic nation—both Ostro and Visi—was subject to the great Hermanric whose dominions extended from the Baltic to the Black Sea; that the great body of the united nations dwelt in the country drained by the river Dnieper; that in A. D. 375 the inundation of the Huns swept away the Alani who dwelt between the Volga and the Don, and poured like a mighty flood upon the dominions of Hermanric. We have already traced the Visigoths from there to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean; we now return to the Ostrogoths, of whom, at the attack of the Huns it is said:—
"The Ostrogoths submitted to their fate; and the royal race of the Amali will hereafter be found among the subjects of the haughty Attila."—Gibbon's Dec. and Fall, chap. 26, par. 12.
The power of the Huns steadily spread until the reign of Attila—A. D. 423-453—whose dominions extended from the Black Sea and the Lower Danube to the Baltic; and from the Upper Danube to unknown limits in the steppes of Scythia; over "an empire which did not contain in the space of several thousand miles a single city."—Id. chap. 34, par. 13. The capital—"an accidental camp which by the long and frequent residence of Attila, had insensibly swelled into a huge village"—seems to have been near, if not at the place, where Tokay is situated in Austria.
"In the proud review of the nations who acknowledged the sovereignty of Attila, and who never entertained, during his lifetime, the thought of a revolt, the Gepidæ and the Ostrogoths were distinguished by their numbers, their bravery, and the personal merit of their chiefs. The renowned Ardaric, king of the Gepidæ, was the faithful and sagacious counselor of the monarch, who esteemed his intrepid genius, whilst he loved the mild and discreet virtues of the noble Walamir, king of the Ostrogoths. The crowd of vulgar kings, the leaders of so many martial tribes, who served under the standard of Attila, were ranged in the submissive order of guards and domestics, round the person of their master. They watched his nod; they trembled at his frown; and at the first signal of his will, they executed, without murmur or hesitation, his stern and absolute commands. In time of peace, the dependent princes, with their national troops, attended the royal camp in regular succession; but when Attila collected his military force, he was able to bring into the field an army of five, or according to another account, of seven hundred thousand barbarians."—Id. chap. 34, par. 5.
In A. D. 451 Attila, with an immense army, made a raid into Gaul, and the Ostrogoths went with him; the way in which it was brought about was this: Theodoric was at that time king of the Visigoths, in their country in south-western Gaul; his two daughters "were given in marriage to the eldest sons of the kings of the Suevi and of the Vandals, who reigned in Spain and Africa." The one who married the son of the king of the Vandals, thus became the daughter-in-law of the terrible Genseric.
"The cruel Genseric suspected that his son's wife had conspired to poison him; the supposed crime was punished by the amputation of her nose and ears; and the unhappy daughter of Theodoric was ignominiously returned to the court of Thoulouse in that deformed and mutilated condition. This horrid act, which must seem incredible to a civilized age, drew tears from every spectator; but Theodoric was urged, by the feelings of a parent and a king to revenge such irreparable injuries. The Imperial ministers, who always cherished the discord of the barbarians, would have supplied the Goths with arms, and ships, and treasures, for the African war; and the cruelty of Genseric might have been fatal to himself, if the artful Vandal had not armed, in his cause, the formidable power of the Huns. His rich gifts and pressing solicitations inflamed the ambition of Attila; and the designs of Ætius and Theodoric were prevented by the invasion of Gaul."—Id. chap. 35, par. 4.
Thus it was at the request of Genseric that Attila poured his "hostile myriads" into Gaul. "The kings and nations of Germany and Scythia, from the Volga perhaps to the Danube, obeyed the warlike summons of Attila. From the Royal village, in the plains of Hungary, his standard moved [A. D. 451] towards the West; and after a march of seven or eight hundred miles, he reached the conflux of the Rhine and the Neckar; where he was joined by the Franks who adhered to his ally, the elder of the sons of Clodion. A troop of light barbarians, who roamed in quest of plunder, might choose the winter for the convenience of passing the river on the ice; but the innumerable cavalry of the Huns required such plenty of forage and provisions, as could be procured only in a milder season; the Hercynian forest supplied materials for a bridge of boats; and the hostile myriads were poured, with resistless violence, into the Belgic provinces. . . . From the Rhine and the Moselle, Attila advanced into the heart of Gaul; crossed the Seine at Auxerre; and after a long and laborious march, fixed his camp under the walls of Orleans."
"Orleans had been strengthened with recent fortifications; and the assaults of the Huns were vigorously repelled by the faithful valor of the soldiers, or citizens, who defended the place. The pastoral diligence of Anianus, a bishop of primitive sanctity and consummate prudence, exhausted every art of religious policy to support their courage, till the arrival of the expected succors. After an obstinate siege, the walls were shaken by the battering rams; the Huns had already occupied the suburbs; and the people, who were incapable of bearing arms, lay prostrate in prayer. Anianus, who anxiously counted the days and hours, despatched a trusty messenger to observe, from the rampart, the face of the distant country. He returned twice, without any intelligence that could inspire hope or comfort; but, in his third report, he mentioned a small cloud, which he had faintly descried at the extremity of the horizon. "It is the aid of God!" exclaimed the bishop, in a tone of pious confidence; and the whole multitude repeated after him, "It is the aid of God." The remote object, on which every eye was fixed, became each moment larger, and more distinct; the Roman and Gothic banners were gradually perceived, and a favorable wind blowing aside the dust, discovered, in deep array, the impatient squadrons of Ætius and Theodoric, who pressed forwards to the relief of Orleans."
"On their approach, the king of the Huns immediately raised the siege, and sounded a retreat to recall the foremost of his troops from the pillage of a city which they had already entered. The valor of Attila was always guided by his prudence; and as he foresaw the fatal consequences of a defeat in the heart of Gaul, he repassed the Seine, and expected the enemy in the plains of Châlons, whose smooth and level surface was adapted to the operations of his Scythian cavalry. . . . The nations from the Volga to the Atlantic were assembled on the plain of Châlons; but many of these nations had been divided by faction, or conquest, or emigration; and the appearance of similar arms and ensigns, which threatened each other, presented the image of a civil war."
"Cassiodorus had familiarly conversed with many Gothic warriors who served in that memorable engagement; 'a conflict,' as they informed him, 'fierce, various, obstinate and bloody; such as could not be paralleled, either in the present, or in past ages.' The number of the slain amounted to 162,000, or, according to another account 300,000 persons; and these incredible exaggerations suppose a real and effective loss, sufficient to justify the historian's remark, that whole generations may be swept away, by the madness of kings, in the space of a single hour. . . . The Huns were undoubtedly vanquished, since Attila was compelled to retreat. . . . It was determined in a general council of war, to besiege the king of the Huns in his camp, to intercept his provisions, and to reduce him to the alternative of a disgraceful treaty, or an unequal combat. But the impatience of the barbarians soon disdained these cautious and dilatory measures; and the mature policy of Ætius was apprehensive that after the extirpation of the Huns, the republic would be oppressed by the pride and power of the Gothic nation. [As Theodoric had been killed in the battle]. The patrician exerted the superior ascendant of authority and reason, to calm the passions, which the son of Theodoric considered as a duty; represented, with seeming affection, and real truth, the dangers of absence and delay; and persuaded Torismond to disappoint, by his speedy return, the ambitious designs of his brothers, who might occupy the throne and treasures of Thoulouse. After the departure of the Goths, and the separation of the allied army, Attila was surprised at the vast silence that reigned over the plains of Châlons; the suspicion of some hostile stratagem detained him several days within the circle of his wagons; and his retreat beyond the Rhine confessed the last victory which was achieved in the name of the Western Empire."—Id. chap. 35, par. 7, 9, 10, 11.
(To be continued.)
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