Earlier text: CHRISTIAN PERFECTIONIt was an autumn day, and during my walk through the orchard and woods, many solemn and melancholy thoughts passed through my mind. I beheld the dying and decaying herbage on every side. These things seemed to silently whisper to me of a comparison between their life and my life. It was such a little while since I had seen these same leaves and plants just bursting into life. Soon the blossoms appeared, then quickly disappeared, leaving seeds and fruits to develop. How swiftly the glad spring and beautiful summer had passed away! Autumn had come and adorned the trees and plants with a richer robe. The fruit had been gathered, and now the leaves, some yellow, some crimson, some sere and brown, were dropping upon the ground to decay. Old age had come to them. Winter was fast approaching, and soon the trees would appear naked and gray. Suddenly I was aroused from my mournful meditations; a fitful gust of wind sent a little scrap of dirty yellow paper fluttering to my feet. I picked it up, and, carefully straightening it out, I managed to read from it the following beautiful verses:— “The tallest lilies droop at eventide;
The sweetest roses fall from off the stem:
The rarest things on earth can not abide;
And we are passing, too, away like them;
We’re growing old. “We had our dreams, those rosy dreams of youth;
They faded, and ’t was well. This afterprime
Hath brought us fuller hopes; and yet, forsooth,
We drop a tear now in this later time;
We think we’re old. “We smile at those poor fancies of the past—
A saddened smile, almost akin to pain:
Those high desires, those purposes so vast,
Ah, our poor hearts! they can not come again;
We’re growing old. “Old! Well, the heavens are old, this earth is too;
Old wine is best, maturest fruit most sweet;
Much have we lost, more gained, although ’t is true
We tread life’s way with most uncertain feet;
We’re growing old. “We move along, and scatter as we pace
Soft graces, tender hopes on every hand;
At last, with gray-streaked hair and hollow face,
We step across the boundary of the land
Where none are old.” Ah, thought I, the wind has brought this to me that I might pass it along to those who are ripe enough to possess gray hair and wrinkles; and may these words bring peace and consolation to such! Let the sunken eyes, that have grown dim with long watching, look from beneath the wrinkled brows upon these lines and take courage. Dear aged friends, you have traveled far; your journey has been rough and wearisome. The snow of time is upon your heads, and your perishing forms tell of coming decay; but soon you will reach the boundary line, and blessed be your hoary heads if they be found in the way of righteousness; for such may firmly grasp the strong hand of the Great Shepherd, and safely step away over into the glorious land of the beautiful beyond, where the lilies never droop, the roses never fall, “where none are old.” —Selected by a Correspondent. The memory of a kindly word
For long gone by,
The fragrance of a fading flower
Sent lovingly,
The gleaming of a sudden smile
Or sudden tear,
The warmer pressure of the hand,
The tone of cheer,
The hush that means “I can not speak,
But I have heard!”
The note that only bears a verse
From God’s own word—
Such tiny things we hardly count
As ministry,
The givers deeming they have shown
Scant sympathy.
But when the heart is overwrought,
Oh, who can tell
The power of such tiny things
To make it well!
—Philadelphia Press. CHILDREN catch cross tones quicker than parrots, and it is a much more mischievous habit. But when an impatient mother sets the example, you will scarcely hear a pleasant word among the children in their plays with one another. The discipline of such a family is always weak and irregular. The children expect about so much scolding before they do anything they are bidden, while in many a home, where the low firm tone of the mother, or the decided look of her steady eye, is law, they never think of disobedience, either in or out of sight. O mother, it is worth a great deal to cultivate that excellent thing in woman, — a low sweet voice. If you are ever so much tired by the mischievous or willful pranks of the little ones, speak low. It will be a great help to you to even try to be patient and cheerful if you can not succeed. Anger makes you wretched, and your children also. Impatient, angry tones never did the heart good, but plenty of evil. Remember what Solomon says of them, and remember that he wrote with an inspired pen. You can not have the excuse for them that they lighten your burdens in any way; they make them only ten times heavier. For your own sake, as well as your children's sake, learn to speak low. They will remember that tone when your head is under the green-sward. So, too, will they remember a harsh or angry tone. Which legacy will you leave your children? —Selected. Every Unnecessary Indulgence Pleads for the Poor
“As long as there are hungry ones in God's world to be fed, naked ones to be clothed, souls perishing for the bread and water of salvation, every unnecessary indulgence, every overplus of capital, pleads for the poor and needy.” EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE.
Several months ago a letter was received from which the following is quoted:— I need some advice, and I think you will be able to help me out of my difficulty. I am a young girl, and live on a ranch with my father and mother. We have been Adventists ever since I can remember; that is, father and mother have. What I want your advice about is this: I have wanted to take the training for a medical missionary nurse for a couple of years, but my mother does not want me to leave home. She is not satisfied unless all of us children are at home. My sister younger than I married, and I would have been, only mother told me if I would not get married, I could be a nurse. I would rather be engaged in the work than to get married, and so I broke my engagement; but now my mother still refuses to give her consent to let me go to Battle Creek. She does not want me to get married nor to be a nurse; and when I talk about going she will cry, and say I don't care for her. Now I do love her, but I feel that I just can't give up that work, and I don't want to leave home unless she is willing. What shall I do anyway?” I have read your letter with a great deal of interest, and appreciate the situation. I would advise you to take this matter carefully to the Lord in prayer, and as patiently as possible do your work at home; live your life there as conscientiously as you possibly can, doing whatever work you can find to do in your community such as will help to exemplify the truth, and then wait for developments. I do not believe that it would be right for you to ruthlessly tear yourself away from your mother under these circumstances and come to Battle Creek, or to go anywhere with the expectation of taking up any work for the Lord. Your first work is in the place where you are, and you should allow the Lord to open the way and lead you out. When he does that, it will be without needless friction or pain. Of course there are exceptions to every rule. There are some mothers who can never be reconciled to anything which does not suit their own ideas of things. I am not prepared to say whether this is so with your mother or not; but I should be very sure to have the mind of the Lord in this matter before taking any radical steps. Meanwhile you can correspond with the Medical Missionary Association, and so be ready for anything that may occur to open the way for you to come. If the Lord wants you to come, he can remove this bitter opposition upon the part of your mother, or in some way make you know how to move in spite of it. You have a work of patience and loving daughterly service to render to your mother. This is your first work, and afterward whatever the Lord will make clear to you. Remember the promise with the commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” There is no fun in taking up the work in this place or anywhere else. It is all work,—hard, self-denying work, such as will tax every bit of grace and patience that the Lord can give you; and if you cultivate these graces in your home life, you will be better prepared for this service when the way opens for you to take it up. It will not take the Lord very long to open the way for you when he sees fit to do so. Another letter has just been received from this young woman, in which she says:— I expect to leave in the spring to go to Battle Creek to take the nurses’ course. My mother is willing for me to go, and I am so glad that I took your advice, and did not leave home without her consent. I heard about the nurses’ course by correspondence, and so thought I would take it up, and perhaps my mother would be willing for me to go at the end of the year. I had only a few lessons by correspondence when she became as much interested as I, and now she wants me to go. Last summer my father’s name was sent as a special subject of prayer, and Sister Henry sent him a book in regard to the experience of intemperate men. Since that time a great change has come over him. He does not seem to care whether he gets the drink or not, and is talking of being baptized and joining the church this coming summer. I ask that prayer may be continued for him, that he may become truly the servant of God. TWO SINGERS.
By John Howard Todd
Two singers there were, and one was like
To a queen in her royal gown —
With a stately step, and pride agleam
In the deep of her eyes of brown;
And one's was a face with gentler grace,
And eyes that a heart shone through —
Eyes that borrowed the schoolday tint
Of a little sunbonnet of blue. One was a singer of great renown,
Now stirring the blood with a note,
Now charming the ear with the cultured tones
That came from her shapely throat;
And one was a singer of songs of love,
And she knew not the ways of art,
But she sang right on past the ear, and poured
Rich melodies 'round the heart. Two tributes of song — and one was lost
In the deafening volley of cheers;
And one throbbed on when the singer was gone,
And the answer was silence and tears.
Ah, many the day that has passed since then,
And the singers who sang are not;
But memory holds to a little song,
And the other — forgot, forgot! CHILDREN AND THE SABBATH.
By Mrs. W. C. Sisley
MRS. W. C. SISLEY.
(Battle Creek, Mich.) There is perhaps no question that has caused deeper solicitude on the part of Sabbath-keeping parents, or that has been more of a tax on the ingenuity of many mothers, than how to implant in the hearts of their children a proper regard for the Sabbath. Though feeling keenly the delicacy of the task of attempting to say anything on this subject, the hope that some word or suggestion may prove a “seed thought” to some anxious-hearted mother, is my only apology. Truly it is a vital question. Our best judgment tells us that this “regard” is something that we can not legislate into our children. What then? — First of all we must be sure that we have the real love of the Sabbath in our own hearts, and a knowledge of what constitutes real Sabbath observance. If it is to us in any sense a yoke of bondage and grievous to be borne, so it will most assuredly be to our children. But God wishes it to be a “delight;” therefore it is possible that it shall be such to both parents and children. The natural tendency on the part of parents is to take things easy for the first few years, allowing the little ones to amuse and shift for themselves, while waiting for the “age of accountability” to come; or waiting, as one woman frankly put it, till her children “knew something” before she took upon herself any burden as to their relation to the Sabbath. What idea could be more fatal! The very first impressions of the little ones concerning the Sabbath should be that it is holy, demanding our reverence. Should we attempt to explain to them the meaning of these words, we doubtless would fail completely; but they can, and do, catch the spirit; they are impressible beyond our expectation. How shall the love of the Sabbath be implanted? — By precept and example, especially the latter, in look, in word, in act, and influence. As the parents conscientiously walk softly before the Lord, hearkening unto the voice of his commandments, will not the little ones naturally imbibe the same spirit and walk with them? Remember the Sabbath day all through the week; and when the time of special preparation comes, let the children “help” in preparing for its coming. Have everything in perfect order, — clean homes, clean bodies, with clean, and if possible, different, clothing than that worn during the week. Show respect for the Sabbath. We should plan to have all the work and other needful preparations out of the way in good time, to be ready and waiting to welcome its sacred hours as we would a loved friend. And in what more appropriate way could we bid it welcome than with song and thanksgiving? Now that our children are literally children no more, we look back to those precious Sabbath evenings when, with the little ones on father’s and mother’s knees, we sat before the open grate singing the “sweet songs of Zion,” the words of which were known “by heart.” First of all came — “Safely through another week
God has brought us on our way;
Let us now a blessing seek,
Waiting in his courts to-day.” And as we look back, we now believe that the sentiment, “Day of all the week the best,” had its influence on those little minds and hearts, as the hymn was sung week by week and year by year, as did also the hymn that as regularly marked the Sabbath’s close. “The light of Sabbath eve
Is fading fast away;
What record will it for us leave,
To crown the closing day?” “Is it a Sabbath spent
Of fruitless time destroyed?
Or have these moments to us lent
Been sacredly employed?” “To waste these Sabbath hours,
O may we never dare;
Nor desecrate with words of ours
These sacred days of prayer.” “But may our Sabbaths here
Inspire our hearts with love;
And prove a blessed foretaste clear,
Of that sweet rest above.” I give the entire hymn that we may see how forcibly, yet pleasantly, may this exhortation to faithful Sabbath observance be instilled into the mind through song. Strange as it may seem, these two hymns have never grown old nor lost their charm. They preach the same forceful sermon to us to-day. But I was speaking of Sabbath evenings. After singing, have a helpful exercise in the repeating of choice texts of Scripture, the children, of course, sharing in the same, this to be followed by a prayer season, in which the children should be encouraged, but not forced, to take part. Some time might be profitably spent with Sabbath-school lessons, reading to or with the children; and when at an early hour the dear little ones are at rest in sleep, then are the parents free with undivided thought to pursue their own line of reading or study. Then comes the Sabbath day with its varied opportunities — Sabbath-school and meeting, if such privileges are available; or if otherwise, participated in at home. Often neighbors and their children may be induced, at a favorable hour, to join the home school, adding interest as well as affording a field for missionary effort. Then the reading, the singing, the resting, the lessons of instruction, which are to be taught “diligently unto thy children, . . . when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way.” Yes, when walking by the way is a most precious time to impress the youthful mind with the greatness of God’s love. Let them early become acquainted with their Creator through his wondrous works, — the budding trees and fragrant flowers, stones, brooks, singing birds, — all contributing their part to make the Sabbath indeed a “delight.” No doubt some will say, “Must children receive so much attention?” Bear in mind that we are dealing with a live question, “How to implant a love for the Sabbath in the hearts of our children.” It will take time, and it will necessarily demand some, yes, much, denial of self at times, on the part of parents to accomplish this, but it will pay. When this love is once implanted, the battle is more than half won. As the children grow older, they will naturally help to interest themselves and one another; but with these conditions, let there ever be union of interest and sweet companionship on the part of the parents. It can not be emphasized too strongly that the first years with the children are the ones that tell. But we can not go back to live one single day that is past; the present and the future only are ours. So we must bravely take up life’s duties just where to-day finds them; and armed with God’s strength and assured of his great mercy, go forward, saying, “Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Parents, let us in faith take to the Lord our children, and in faithfulness fulfill our part, that in him victory may be complete. “Why do these babies all cry so?” asked a wearied excursionist of his neighbor. “Every baby on this car is crying.” A little later in that same journey another family party entered the car. Here, escorted by mother, father, and nurse, was a baby enjoying a make-shift traveling seat in which it was kept during the whole journey. The makeshift seat was merely a carrying basket, a common bassinet. It was lined with soft pads; it was just long enough to hold the baby, which might have been anywhere from five to eight months old, and just short enough for easy carrying. As the car was crowded, the nurse sat with the basket on her knees until it could be placed in the seat beside her and opposite the parents. It was plain that the basket and the baby were old companions; for it was at home there as one in his own castle. When it wished to sit up, the curving basket-sides held it steady, as no arms could have held; and when sleep overcame the little creature, it tumbled its small heavy head over into the pads of the basket, and closed its eyes. The motion of the cars, broken by the unyielding basket, was to that baby but a pleasant lullaby. There was no unquiet in its easy resting-place; and when it woke, it was to still lie there placid and smiling, kicking its bare feet contentedly. Except when it was fed, and for a loving word and smile now and then, baby was let alone—that shibboleth of good nursing. It was showed nothing out of the window or in the car, and what was evidently the old accustomed rattle and favorite doll were its only playthings. Thus the unaccustomed excitement and motion, the new faces, and the strange place were279 nullified by the familiar belongings. The result was a perfectly placid baby doing its hundred miles without a cry, but with wood-pigeon cooings and kitten-like slumbers, and big restful eyes, which told of the quiet mind behind. The less a baby feels, sees, and hears in its journeyings, the less weary it is, and as a consequence the less it cries. Nor is a baby the only gainer by silence; for she whose baby cries least in traveling is indeed the one whose temporary neighbors rise up and call her blessed. TO CIRCLE MEMBERS.
By L. Flora Plummer
How often we hear people say, If I could only live my life over again, I would do very differently. While it is not possible in reality to “live over again” a single moment, we might profit by past experiences much more than we do. He who so studies and applies the lessons of the past that his present life is constantly strengthened and molded by the memory of reasons for past successes and failures, does not go on making the same mistakes over and over again. We have now come to the close of the first series of Berean Library lessons. We shall never again have the exact opportunity the past winter afforded us, but by the experiences we have gained, we should each be able to do better work the coming season. When the work began, the Reading Circle idea was a new one to many, and all were not ready to begin at the appointed time, so that the best part of the year for study and work had slipped by, before many were really awake to the situation, However, the growth in interest has been constant and steady, and we are assured that the blessing of God has attended every step that has been taken. We feel that there is much evidence of permanent success in a movement which, although it may start slowly, maintains a steady and ever-increasing interest. It has been decided to discontinue the Berean Library study during the summer months, taking it up again October 1. We hope that every member of the Circle will plan to begin the study of the lessons at the time appointed. ALCOHOL VERSUS FOOD.
By Winfield S. Hall
Winfield S. Hall, Ph. D., M. D., Professor of Physiology, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago. As Professor Atwater's polemics on the old alcohol-a-food dogma have been addressed to the laity, who are not generally in a position to detect the fallacies of which his arguments are constructed, it becomes the plain duty of members of the medical profession to expose these fallacies in the public press in order that the people may know the truth. The American people never make mistakes when they know the whole truth. A most efficient way to show up the fallacies in the statements about alcohol is to range the truths for alcohol and for food in two parallel columns. It is indeed a “deadly parallel” for alcohol, and any one of the antitheses would bar alcohol forever from the high and noble company of the foods. 1. A certain quantity will produce a certain effect at first, but it requires more and more to produce the same effect when the drug is used habitually. 2. When used habitually, it is likely to induce an uncontrollable desire for more in ever-increasing amounts. 3. After its habitual use, a sudden total abstinence is likely to cause a serious derangement of the central nervous system. 4. Alcohol is oxidized rapidly in the body. 5. Alcohol not being useful is not stored in the body. 6. Alcohol is a product of decomposition of food in the presence of a scarcity of oxygen. 7. Alcohol is an excretion, and, in common with all excretions, is poisonous. It may be beneficial to certain phases of disease, but is never beneficial to the healthy body. 8. All medical men advise healthy persons to avoid alcohol altogether. 9. All connoisseurs advise people to avoid taking alcohol into the empty stomach. 10. The young, developing individual is always advised to abstain from alcohol. [See Atwater’s Chicago address.] 11. The use of alcohol, in common with narcotics in general, is followed by a reaction. 12. The use of alcohol is followed by a decrease in the activity of the muscle cells and the brain cells. 1. A certain quantity will produce a certain effect at first, and the same quantity will always produce the same effect in the healthy body. 2. The habitual use of a food never induces an uncontrollable desire for it in ever-increasing amounts. 3. After its habitual use, a sudden total abstinence never causes any derangement of the central nervous system. 4. All foods are oxidized slowly in the body. 5. All foods being useful are stored in the body. 6. All foods are products of constructive activity of protoplasm in the presence of abundant oxygen. 7. All foods are formed by nature for nourishment and are by nature wholesome and always beneficial to the healthy body, though they may injure the body in certain phases of disease. 8. No medical men advise healthy persons to avoid food. 9. People are universally advised to take food into the empty stomach. 10. The young, developing individual is always advised to partake bountifully of food. 11. The use of foods is followed by no reaction. 12. The use of food is followed by an increase in the activity of the muscle cells and the brain cells. “If men would become temperate in all things, if they would touch not, taste not, handle not, spirituous liquors and narcotics, reason would hold the reins of government in her hands, and control the animal appetites and passions.” As I sit by my window this afternoon and look out, everything is dazzling white. Not a speck of dirt is to be seen. A mantle of pure snow covers all unsightly objects. But how the scene will change in a few weeks when the spring sun melts the snow, and reveals the accumulated filth in the back yards of many farmhouses. Many call themselves hygienic. They are careful what they eat, and when they eat. They pay attention to food combinations. This of course is right; but what about that awful back yard? All winter the wash water, mop water, and slops of every description have been thrown from the back door. Potato parings, apple cores, and cabbage stumps have been tossed out. Bark and chips have accumulated. The fowls have had full range to scratch and scatter. This is not a picture of imagination; would it were, but alas, it is a sad reality, and can be seen in the dooryards of some who are talking of and expecting translation into God's pure realm above. Brother, sister, be careful of the hygiene of your back door. God was particular with his ancient people. Their camp was kept clean. Nothing impure was allowed to be tossed from the back tent doors. No filth was permitted to gather within their camps. Study the law of hygiene from the camp of ancient Israel, and in this age of advanced hygienic light, do not be outdone by those ancients. Go to work and clean up. Make one grand bonfire and burn up the rubbish, if nothing else can be done with it; get it out of the way as quickly as possible. The dooryard is a good index to the heart, though of course there are exceptions to be made in case of ill health, or something of the kind. Some who are very zealous to work in the “cause” and to get the “truth” before the people, are bringing a reproach upon the cause they love by this slackness within doors and out of doors. The maxim, “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” if not in the Bible, is Bible truth, and a truth to be placed before the people by example. MAY STUDY OF THE FIELD: PART II.
- (Text-book, May Magazine.)*
1. What can you say of the elements of Chinese society? 2. How is the emperor regarded? 3. Who are the mandarins? By what means do they secure their offices? 4. Into what classes are the people divided? 5. State the position of the scholar, and his relation toward Christianity. 6. Give evidence of the high esteem in which the farmer is held. 7. What can you say of the mechanic? the trader? 8. Mention some of the professions. 9. State several reasons for the inefficiency of the doctors. 10. Upon what do the Chinese believe health and sickness depend? THAT part of the prophecy of Daniel which related to the last days Daniel was bidden to close up and seal "to the time of the end." In these Circle lessons even, we have the evidence that we are living in the time of the end; for have we not all been able to take this entire book, verse by verse, and gain an intelligent idea of its application and meaning, as well as to see the beautiful thread of harmony running through the whole? Never could we have done this with a "sealed" book. Let us praise the Lord for revealing to us his truth, and show that we believe it by carrying the blessed message to all the world. 1. What instruction was given Daniel concerning that which had been revealed? 2. Cite the evidences of the increase of knowledge, both Biblical and general, which characterize the present age. 3. Repeat the conversation which Daniel then heard. What definite and indefinite periods of time are mentioned? 4. What events and dates mark the beginning and the ending of the 1290 prophetic days? 5. When do the 1335 prophetic days begin and end? What was the particular blessing received at the end of that period? 6. What is meant by Daniel standing in his lot at the end of the days? 7. Of what particular benefit has the study of this book been to you? 2. Cite the evidences that the present age furnishes the fulfillment of Dan. 12: 4. 3. Note each of the prophetic periods mentioned in the chapter, giving the dates and events of each. 4. Review the proofs for the establishment of a definite date as the beginning of "the time of the end." THE THIRD ANGEL'S MESSAGE.
By their perversions of the truth, and accommodating themselves to the ways of the heathen, the self-exalted teachers referred to by Paul in his word to the elders of the church at Ephesus, had secured to themselves a host by reason of transgression. The lust for power was the secret of all this course, from the beginning; for no man can ever want disciples to himself except it be to obtain power. And, when this host had thus been gathered, in this was found the incentive to ambition, among these bad leaders and teachers themselves, each one to obtain for himself the position of supreme power. And Eusebius tells that “some that appeared to be our pastors, deserting the law of piety, were inflamed against each other with mutual strifes, only accumulating quarrels and threats, rivalry, hostility, and hatred to each other, only anxious to assert the government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves.” Nor was it only government in the church and over this host that had been gathered by reason of transgression that they were anxious to assert: it was government of all kinds—civil as well as ecclesiastical: state as well as church. And, at the beginning of the fourth century the political conditions of things in the Roman state was such as to open the way for these ambitious church managers to get control of the civil power, and thus assert the civil government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves, and to use it the further to enlarge, and more firmly to fix, their ecclesiastical power. In A. D. 308, it came about in the Roman state, that there were six emperors at once, each one holding a particular division of the empire: each one in command of an army, and each one ambitious to be himself sole emperor of the whole empire. But, there being so many of them, and each one having gathered to himself all the troops that he could, the military strength of the empire was exhausted. There being no more resources in military strength, it became a matter of interest to each emperor to secure the alliance, or the favor, of whatever other element of power there might be. And just at this time it was that Eusebius declares that those chief church men were “anxious to assert the government as a kind of sovereignty for themselves,” and when, as stated by another, “it was the hope of every bishop in the empire to make politics a branch of theology.” This ambition on the part of the clergy was detected among the emperors, and, with certain of them it awoke a desire to make theology a branch of politics. Maximin made advances to win to his interests the church element, but he was distrusted by the church managers, and so his design in that direction was frustrated. Constantine, however, a consummate politician in all phases of the term, and who, therefore, more than any of the other emperors, was able “to make theology a branch of politics,” succeeded in so gaining the favor of the bishops as to win to his cause the apostate church elements throughout the whole empire; and, what to his immediate purpose was more important, gaining to his interests such of the apostasy as were in the armies of his rivals. Maxentius was emperor in Italy and Africa, with Rome as his seat. He was so “cruel, rapacious, and profligate” that his reign recalled the times and acts of the worst emperors of the past. By this time also the bishopric of Rome had become a position of such possibilities of power and wealth, that in the times of the election of a bishop there were repeated all the chicanery, contentions, violence, and riot that characterized the political contests in Rome in the worst days of the republic. In A. D. 308 Marcellus was elected bishop of Rome. “His severity rendered him odious to the people, and caused divisions among the faithful. Discord degenerated into sedition, and the quarrel terminated in murder.” Maxentius blamed Marcellus as being the chief cause of these disturbances, “and condemned him to groom post-horses in a stable on the high-road.” After about nine months of this service, some priests succeeded in carrying off Marcellus. They concealed him in the house of a Roman lady named Lucilla. When the officers would have taken him again, the faithful assembled under arms to defend him. Maxentius ordered out his guards and dispersed them. He then commanded that Lucilla's house should be converted into a stable, and obliged Marcellus to continue in the office of groom. In January, A. D. 310, Marcellus died, and was succeeded by Eusebius, whom Maxentius banished to Sicily. He died there after a few months, and was succeeded by Melchiades, in the same year, A. D. 310. Because of these things, Maxentius was held to be a persecutor of the church, even equal to Pharaoh, to whom he was likened, while the church was correspondingly likened to Israel in Egypt, oppressed by this Pharaoh. Melchiades improved his opportunity to seek deliverance from this Egypt and the oppressions of this Pharaoh. Accordingly, in A. D. 311, Melchiades wrote a letter to Constantine, and by a delegation of bishops sent it to him at Treves, in Gaul, inviting him to come to the relief of the church, and to make the conquest of Rome. Constantine deliberated, and Maxentius became more and more tyrannical. In A. D. 312, an embassy from Rome went to Constantine at Arles, and in the name of the senate and people requested him to deliver the city from the despotism of the tyrant. Constantine now gladly embraced the opportunity thus afforded, and quickly set out toward Rome. At Turin he met and destroyed a strong body of the troops of Maxentius; and at Verona, after a considerable siege of the city, and a hard-fought battle in the field, which, beginning in the afternoon, continued through the whole of the following night, he vanquished quite a formidable army. Between Verona and Rome there was nothing to check his march. Maxentius drew out his army, and met Constantine on the banks of the Tiber, nine miles from Rome. He crossed the Tiber and set his army in battle array, with the river in his rear. The battle was joined Oct. 28, A. D. 312. Maxentius was soon defeated, and his army, broken to pieces, attempted to escape. In the confusion and by the terrible onslaught of Constantine's veterans, thousands of the soldiers of Maxentius were crowded into the river and drowned. Maxentius, endeavoring to escape on his horse across the Milvian bridge, was crowded off into the river, and being clothed with heavy armor, was drowned. Since Maxentius was Pharaoh, and the church in Rome was Israel in Egypt, oppressed by this Pharaoh, the system was completed by counting Constantine as the new Moses sent by the Lord to deliver Israel from this Egypt and this Pharaoh. When Constantine marched against Maxentius, it was the new Moses on his way to deliver Israel. When the army of Maxentius was defeated and multitudes were drowned in the river, it was the Red Sea swallowing up the hosts of Pharaoh. When Maxentius was crowded off the bridge and, by the weight of his armor, sank instantly to the bottom of the river, it was the new Pharaoh, “the horse and his rider” being thrown into the sea and sinking to “the bottom as a stone,” and “as lead in the mighty waters.” Ex. 15:9, 10. Then was Israel delivered, and a song of deliverance was sung by the new Israel as by the original Israel at their deliverance. Thus the story is told by one of the principal bishops of the time and of the dark intrigue with Constantine:— And now those miracles recorded in Holy Writ, which God of old wrought against the ungodly (discredited by most as fables, yet believed by the faithful), did He in very deed confirm to all, alike believers and unbelievers, who were eye-witnesses to the wonders I am about to relate. For as once in the days of Moses and the Hebrew nation, who were worshipers of God, He cast Pharaoh's chariots and his host into the waves, and drowned his chosen chariot-captains in the Red Sea, so at this time did Maxentius and the soldiers and guards with him sink “to the bottom as a stone,” when in his flight before the divinely aided forces of Constantine he essayed to cross the river which lay in his way, over which he had made a strong bridge of boats, and had framed an engine of destruction, really against himself, but in the hope of ensnaring thereby him who was beloved of God. For his God stood by the one [Constantine] to protect him, while the other [Maxentius], destitute of His aid, proved to be the miserable contriver for these secret devices to his own ruin. So that one might well say, “He made a pit, and digged it, and shall fall into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his iniquity shall come down upon his own pate.” Thus in the present instance, under divine direction, the machine erected on the bridge, with the ambuscade concealed therein, giving way unexpectedly before the appointed time, the passage began to sink down, and the boats with the men in them went bodily to the bottom. At first the wretch himself [Maxentius], then his armed attendants and guards, even as the sacred oracles had before described, “sank as lead in the mighty waters.” So that they who thus obtained victory from God might well, if not in the same words, yet in fact in the same spirit, the people of His great servant Moses, sing and speak as they did concerning the impious tyrant of old: “Let us sing unto the Lord, for He has been glorified exceedingly; the horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea. He is become my helper and my shield unto salvation.” And again, “Who is like to thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, marvelous in praises, doing wonders?”—Eusebius.