[The following is as forcible a comment on the fruits, and consequently the nature, of the teachings of such men as Ingersoll, as could well be presented. All history and observation testify that should such principles prevail, unalleviated by any of the influences which owe their origin to Christianity, the world would soon be in the condition of the city of Ingersollville after its six months' history. Study the picture and make up your verdict in regard to the desirableness of such men and principles, on the simple rule of Christ, “By their fruits ye shall know them.”]
I had a dream which was not all a dream. I thought I was on a long journey through a beautiful country, when suddenly I came to a great city with walls fifteen feet high. At the gate stood a sentinel, whose shining armor reflected back the rays of the setting sun. As I was about to salute him, and pass into the city, he stopped me and said:
“Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?”
I answered, “Yes, with all my heart.”
“Then,” said he, “you cannot enter here. No man or woman who acknowledges that name can pass in here. Stand aside,” said he, “they are coming.”
I looked down the road and saw a vast multitude approaching. It was led by a military officer.
“Who is that?” I asked the sentinel.
“That,” replied he, “is the great Colonel Robert I——, the founder of the city of Ingersollville.”
“Who is he?” I ventured to inquire.
“He is the great and mighty warrior, who fought in many bloody battles for the Union during the great war.”
I felt ashamed of my ignorance of history, and stood silently watching the procession. I had heard of a Colonel I——, who resigned in presence of the enemy, but of course this could not be the man.
The procession came near enough for me to recognize some of the faces. I noted two infidel editors of national celebrity, followed by great wagons containing steam presses. There were also five members of Congress.
All the noted infidels and scoffers of the country seemed to be there. Most of them passed in unchallenged by the sentinel, but at last a meek looking individual with a white necktie approached, and he was stopped. I saw at once it was a well-known “liberal” preacher of New York.
“Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?” said the sentinel.
“Not much!” said the doctor.
Everybody laughed, and he was allowed to pass in.
There were artists there, with glorious pictures; singers with ravishing voices; tragedians and comedians, whose names have a world-wide fame.
Then came another division of the infidel host—saloon-keepers by thousands, proprietors of gambling hells, brothels and theaters. Still another division swept by—burglars, thieves, thugs, incendiaries, highwaymen, murderers,—all marching in. My vision grew keener. I beheld, and lo! Satan himself brought up the rear.
High afloat above the mass was a banner on which was inscribed, “What has Christianity done?” and another, on which was inscribed, “Down with the churches! Away with Christianity—it interferes with our happiness!” And then came a murmur of voices that grew louder and louder until a shout went up like the roar of Niagara: “Away with him! Crucify him, crucify him!” I felt no desire now to enter Ingersollville.
As the last of the procession entered, a few men and women with broad-brimmed hats and plain bonnets made their appearance, and wanted to go in as missionaries, but they were rudely turned away. One zealous young Methodist exhorter, with a Bible under his arm, asked permission to enter, but the sentinel swore at him awfully. Then I thought I saw Bro. Moody applying for admission, but he was refused. I could not help smiling to hear Moody say, as he turned sadly away:
“Well! they let me live and work in Chicago; it is very strange they won't let me into Ingersollville.”
The sentinel went inside the gate and shut it with a bang; and I thought, as soon as it was closed, a mighty angel came down with a great iron bar, and barred the gate on the outside, and wrote upon it in letters of fire: “Doomed to live together six months.” Then he went away, and all was silent, except the noise of revelry and shouting that came from within the city walls.
I went away, and as I journeyed through the land I could not believe my eyes. Peace and plenty smiled everywhere. The jails were all empty and the penitentiaries were without occupants. The police in great cities were idle. Judges sat in court rooms with nothing to do. Business was brisk. Many great buildings, formerly crowded with criminals, were turned into manufacturing establishments. Just about this time the President of the United States called for a Day of Thanksgiving. I attended services in a Presbyterian church. The preacher dwelt upon the changed condition of affairs. As he went on, and depicted the great prosperity that had come to the country, and gave reasons for devout thanksgiving, I saw one old deacon clap his handkerchief over his mouth to keep from shouting right out. An ancient spinster who never did like the “noisy” Methodists, couldn't hold in. She expressed the thought of every heart shouting with all her might, “Glory to God for Ingersollville!” The country was almost delirious with joy. Great processions of children swept along the highways, singing,—
“We’ll not give up the Bible,
God’s blessed word of truth.”
Vast assemblies of reformed inebriates, with their wives and children, gathered in the open air. No building would hold them. I thought I was in one meeting where Bishop Simpson made an address, and as he closed it a mighty shout went up till the earth rang again. Oh, it was wonderful! And then we all stood up and sang with tears of joy,—
“All hail the power of Jesus’ name!
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem,
And crown him Lord of all.”
The six months had well nigh gone. I made my way back again to the gate of Ingersollville. A dreadful silence reigned over the city, broken only by the sharp crack of a revolver now and then. I saw a busy man trying to get in at the gate, and I said to him, “My friend, where are you from?”
“I lived in Chicago,” said he, “and they’ve taxed us to death there; and I’ve heard of this city, and I want to go in and buy some real estate in this new and growing place.”
He failed utterly to remove the bar, but by some means he got a ladder about twelve feet long, and with its aid he climbed upon the wall. With an eye to business, he shouted to the first person he saw:
“Halloo, there,—what’s the price of real estate in Ingersollville?”
“Nothing!” shouted a voice; “you can have all you want if you’ll just take it and pay the taxes.”
“What made your taxes so high?” asked the Chicago man. I noted the answer carefully; I shall never forget it.
“We’ve had to build forty new jails and fourteen new penitentiaries—a lunatic asylum, and an orphan asylum in every ward; we’ve had to disband the public schools, and it takes all of the revenue of the city to keep up the police forces.”
“Where’s my old friend, I——?” asked the Chicago man.
“Oh, he is going about to-day with a subscription paper to build a church. They have gotten up a petition to send out for a lot of preachers to come and hold revival services. If we can only get them over the wall, we hope there’s a future for Ingersollville yet.”
The six months ended. Instead of opening the door, however, a tunnel was dug under the wall large enough for one person to crawl through at a time. First came the bankrupt editors, followed by Col. I—— himself; and then the whole population crawled through. Then I thought, somehow, that great crowds of Christians surrounded the city. There was Moody, and Hammond, and Earle, with hundreds of other preachers and exhorters, and they struck up singing all together,—
“Come ye sinners, poor and needy.”
A needier crowd never was seen on earth before.
I conversed with some of the inhabitants of the abandoned city, and asked a few of them this question:
“Do you believe in hell?”
I cannot record the answers; they were so terribly orthodox.
One old man said, “I’ve been there on probation for six months, and I don’t want to join.”
I knew by that he was an old backslider. The sequel of it all was a great revival that gathered in a mighty harvest from the ruined city of Ingersollville.—Harrisburg Independent.
THE TIME TO LOOK!
By B. F. Merritt
How could the Jews consistently look for the Messiah at any other period than at the termination of the sixty-nine weeks from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem? See Daniel 9:25. How can they look for him yet, when it is written, “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come!” Gen. 49:10. Judah held the scepter with a trembling hand when Jesus appeared; but it was soon thereafter wrested from him forever. Why, then, look for Shiloh after the scepter has departed? It is just as inconsistent to look for the sun to be darkened, as a precursor of the second advent, at any other time than “immediately after the tribulation of those days” of papal persecution. That immediate period is passed.
In Mark 13:24, we read, “But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened.” The days of papal supremacy terminated in 1798. The “tribulation” ceased prior to that. Then the time to look for the sun to be darkened was after the tribulation ceased, and before the days ended. The sign was given in due time, and the prediction was exactly fulfilled. The time to look for the second advent is not until after the signs that were to be tokens of its approach are fulfilled. The sun, moon, and stars were to indicate the advent night; but before the Saviour is seen descending in glory, that other sign, the shaking of “the powers of heaven,” must be fulfilled. This will probably occur after man's probation has ceased, when the voice of God, which once shook the earth (when his law was proclaimed), shakes not only earth but also heaven. See Heb. 12:26.
Mercy's door of grace has been open long. Unmistakable tokens have been given that it is about to be closed forever. We know of nothing more to look for till it is proclaimed through Heaven and earth, “It is done!” That hour draws on. It is near. Let the trumpet be blown in Zion, not with an uncertain sound. Soon will the doom of a sinful world be forever sealed. Afterward we look for our Saviour's glorious appearing.
B. F. MERRITT.
MORNING HYMN
By Charles Fenno Hoffman
“LET THERE BE LIGHT.” The Eternal spoke,
And from the abyss where darkness rode,
The earliest dawn of nature broke,
And light around creation flowed.
The glad earth smiled to see the day,
The first-born day come blushing in;
The young day smiled to shed its ray
Upon a world untouched by sin.
“Let there be light.” O’er heaven and earth,
The God who first the day-beam poured,
Uttered again his fiat forth,
And shed the gospel’s light abroad;
And, like the dawn, its cheering rays
On rich and poor were meant to fall,
Inspiring their Redeemer’s praise,
In lowly cot and lordly hall.
Then come, when in the orient first
Flushes the signal-light for prayer;
Come with the earliest beams that burst
From God’s bright throne of glory there;
Come kneel to him who through the night
Hath watched above thy sleeping soul,
To him whose mercies, like his light,
Are shed abroad from pole to pole.
—Charles Fenno Hoffman.
“WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE?”
By A. Smith
“QUESTION. The fourth commandment requires the sanctification of the seventh-day as the Sabbath, it is true; but, as all days of the week are members of a common family, what difference does it make which we keep if it only be one of the seven?”
ANSWER. Perhaps it makes no difference; let’s see: the fifth commandment requires us to honor our father and our mother; but, as they have brothers and sisters, members of the same family, what difference does it make as to which we honor if it only be one of the family, an uncle or aunt for instance?
We think one of the foregoing arguments is about as good as the other, the advantage, if there be any, appearing in favor of the one based on the fifth commandment; for, whereas, the fourth commandment, evidently foreseeing the willing ignorance that would prevail, definitely points out the particular day of the week to be so observed, the fifth commandment seems to take it for granted that every child knows who its own parents are.
A. SMITH.
STRENGTH
By G. B. S.
“For it is God that worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.”
“For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.”
“He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”
“Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee.”
“Shall the ax boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him that shaketh it? as if the rod should shake itself against them that lift it up, or as if the staff should lift up itself as if it were no wood.”
“For he saith, By the strength of my hand I have done it.”
If we are disposed so to feel, let us remember the final sentence of Jesus: “Without me ye can do nothing.” G. B. S.
SABBATH-SCHOOL SCHOLARS,
By D. W. Reavis
ALL Sabbath-keepers from three to eighty years old should be Sabbath-school scholars. We are familiar with “Jennie is too young, and father is too old to attend Sabbath-school.”
It is much easier for parents to persuade themselves that their children are “too young” than it is for them to spend an hour every day teaching them.
Parents in Ohio, we especially call upon you to spend an hour each day instructing your little ones, and then bring them to our Sabbath-schools. You will find that they will not only answer all the questions, but will tell you all about their lesson in a complete story form. Your children that are three or four years old are not too young to have Sabbath-school lessons. All they need is your help.
An old man, tottering on his cane, came to one of our Sabbath-schools, and taking a seat by two little boys, began to help them sing their cheerful Sabbath-school songs. Though his voice was broken, neither he nor the boys seemed to notice it. During the recitations and the general exercises, the venerable old man remained with the boys, answering questions in his turn with them, and at the close gave a synopsis of the lesson in as happy, cheerful a manner as though he were a boy. The boys, of course, were delighted to have happy grandfather in their class. He claimed that he was as young, in feeling, as the boys with whom he had recited.
Let the fathers and mothers come to our Sabbath-schools, and take an active part with their children, and they will soon become young, so young that neither mud nor snow will keep them away. D. W. REAVIS.
Our Basket.
“A little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts and almonds.” Gen. 43:11.
—WHAT ought not to be done, do not even think of doing.—Epictetus.
—SEEMING difficulties generally vanish before faith, prayer and perseverance.
—FOR every sort of suffering save sin there is sleep provided by a gracious Providence.
—HE who receives a good turn should never forget it; he who does one should never remember it.
—THOSE are the best Christians who are more careful to reform themselves than to censure others.—Fuller.
WHEN MY heart is sad and heavy,
When my life is all misread,
Give not anger for injustice—
Give a gentle word instead.
—A GOOD conscience is a continual feast; and a mind at peace through Christ is the antepast of Heaven.—Bishop Reynolds.
—A WORKSHOP is not a bad place for preaching. If the heart of one workman is filled with the love of Christ, all the hands will hear of it.
—NEVER be sorry for any generous thing you ever did, even if it was betrayed. You cannot afford to keep on the safe side by being mean.
—NOTHING can be more painful to the feelings of a minister when he comes to water his flock than to find that many of them are not at the well.—Wm. Jay.
—THE meanest paymaster in the universe is Satan. He never yet employed a hand that he didn’t cheat. Young man, engage your services to a better Master.
—OUT of Christ as the way there is nothing but wandering; out of Christ as the truth, nothing but error; out of Christ as the life, nothing but eternal death.
The Lord's Tithe.
By James White
The Lord's tithe is not a sacrifice on our part, neither is it a gift to him. All is the Lord's. We are his workmanship. We, and all we have, are the Lord's. The gift is on the part of the Lord. He gives us nine-tenths, and reserves only a tenth to himself. With this view of the subject, we should feel the force of the words of the prophet, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.” Mal. 3:8.
Those who appropriate to themselves the Lord's tithe, rob God, and have reason to tremble before his word, “Ye are cursed with a curse, for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.” Verse 9. Rather than to rob God, and fall under his curse, we should rejoice before him that it is our privilege to obey and receive the blessing. “Bring ye all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground.” Verses 10, 11.
A double blessing is here promised to the obedient and faithful; first, the rebuke of the devourer, such as the grasshopper, the caterpillar, the weevil, and the chintz-bug, so that the ground may bring forth abundance for man and beast; and, second, the very windows of heaven will be opened to them, and spiritual blessings will be poured out to overflowing. And as surely as the blessing to the obedient is two-fold, the curse upon them who rob God of his tithe, will be the withholding of both temporal and spiritual blessings.
“Abraham,” the father of the faithful, “gave a tenth part of all.” Heb. 7:1, 2. And Jacob vowed to the Lord, “Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee.” Gen. 28:20-22. God's claim of the tithe is patriarchal, and no more Jewish than Christian. It is indorsed by Christ when he charges the scribes and Pharisees with omitting judgment, mercy, and faith, while strictly tithing such small products as mint, anise, and cummin. “These ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” Matt. 23:23.
“In the time of Moses, when everything was more definitely regulated by law, this system was very plainly enforced. Thus the Lord says: ‘And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s; it is holy unto the Lord.’ ‘And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord.’ Lev. 27:30, 32. All the tithe of the land, whether it grew from that which was sown, as wheat, corn, and potatoes, or was that which the tree brought forth, as apples, pears, and peaches, was to be given to the Lord. So also a tithe of the herd, that is, of the cattle, and of the flock, was to be the Lord’s. One-tenth of all that they raised or made in any manner was to be given for the support of the priests. If a farmer raised one hundred bushels of wheat, ten of these were the Lord’s. If he raised ten sheep, one was the Lord’s; or ten oxen, one was the Lord’s. If he made ten dollars, one was the Lord’s. One-tenth of all his income from every source was required.”
But here the questions arise in some minds, Does the word income mean the gross income of all that comes into one’s hands, as the product of all his sales? or, does it mean the net income, or the real increase, after the payment of hired help, or interest on notes and mortgages upon the very lands which the farmer cultivates?
It is said by some that the following statement on page 34 of the pamphlet entitled, “Systematic Benevolence, or the Bible Plan of Supporting the Ministry,” declares that a tenth of all that comes into one’s hands should be set apart as the Lord’s tithe, before deducting such expenses as the payment of hired help and interest money on lands:— “How much ought I to give for the support of the gospel? After carefully viewing the subject from all points, we answer, A tithe of all our income. This does not mean a tenth of our annual increase of property after the cost of food and clothing, and other expenses, are paid, but that nine parts of our income are to meet all these expenses, while a tithe of our income is the Lord’s, to be sacredly devoted to the support of the ministry.”
It is urged by these that the words, “and other expenses,” in the phrase, “after the cost of food and clothing, and other expenses, are paid,” embraces all expenses, including hired help, and interest paid on lands cultivated. But we see no necessity for this construction. It means other expenses like food and clothing, such as arise from giving our children educational advantages, or from sickness. The reader will please let the words “income,” “increase,” “and other expenses,” on page 34, be explained by the words, “we make,” in the following taken from page 15 of the same book: “The Lord graciously gives us nine-tenths of all that we make.”
We will here suppose an extreme case, to show that it is impossible for some men to give one-tenth of all that comes into their hands. One does a business where $10,000 comes into his hands annually for sales. He makes a profit of ten per cent, therefore he earns only $1,000. A tithe of what comes into his hands is just $1,000, a sum equal to all his earnings. In this case, where are the nine-tenths for the support of his family? The Lord requires no such inconsistencies. This brother earns $1,000 in his business, after the payment of hired help and, perhaps, interest money. One hundred is the Lord’s, and nine hundred are his.
Therefore, the declaration on page 15 of the book referred to in the foregoing, “One-tenth, therefore, of all our income and increase is the Lord’s,” means, a tithe of what we earn, after the payment of hired help, and interest or rents on land cultivated, with the addition of a tithe of that increase, which, under the providence of God, comes into our hands. J. W.
SUNDAY ABANDONED.
Strange as it may appear, Messiah’s Herald, a staunch advocate of the sacredness of Sunday, in its issue of July 2, 1879, prints the following from P. R. Russell, who is, also strange to say, a Baptist minister:—
“The common ground taken by theologians that the seventh-day Sabbath was transferred to Christianity, but changed to the first day of the week, is without authority, and based on mere assumption. The law designates the identical day of the week, as well as its design, and expressly says: ‘The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God;’ not that one seventh part of time is Sabbath, but the seventh day of the week. . . . The seventh-day Sabbath, as given to the Jews, was designed for universal and perpetual observance, or it was not. If it was of this character, then it is still in full force and binding, both in its letter and spirit, and Christian Sabbatarians are right. If their premises are correct, their logic is an iron chain, and all who observe Sunday as a decalogue Sabbath, are bound hand and foot in error, and if consistent, must and should come round and obey the law, which they admit has never been annulled or repealed.”
This is a frank admission that those who reject the seventh-day Sabbath, must likewise reject the whole decalogue. Fearful step! Why will men cling to a theory which leads to such terrible conclusions, for the sake of avoiding the Sabbath of the Lord!
Speaking of Sunday as the Lord’s day, Mr. Russell makes another confession which is fatal to the idea that any obligation attaches to the observance of Sunday. He says: “It was not the seventh-day Sabbath, changed and transferred. It was never so expressed or regarded by the apostles or the early church fathers. On the contrary it was a new institution, born of Christianity, and took the place, in some respects, of the Jewish Sabbaths.”
If then Sunday is a purely Christian institution, like baptism and the Lord’s supper, it is binding upon no one, and no one has a right to it, but professing Christians. But these same Christians are the first to try to enjoin Sunday-keeping upon all men alike, under the plea that it is one of the universal laws of God. “Consistency,” etc.
Baptism and the Lord’s supper were enjoined upon his people in the most express terms and acts, by Christ himself, as Christian institutions. If Sunday is likewise a Christian institution, is it not a little singular that Christ never said one word about it, never rested on the day, never gave his disciples any instruction in regard to it, never caused them to rest upon it, or legislate in its behalf, or leave one hint of its sanctification or sacredness? Shame on these attempts to establish this interloper as a Christian Sabbath in the Christian church, in behalf of which neither precept nor example can be found in all the Bible. Sunday-keepers in this age are finding the most tremendous task upon their hands that has ever fallen upon any people: it is nothing less than to find evidence where none exists, and show some support for an institution which is absolutely without the shadow of a foundation.
MATTERS IN OHIO.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
As the time of our annual Conference draws near, we wish to call the attention of our brethren and sisters to a few facts which we think will interest them.
During this Conference year we have made a special effort to advance the cause in Ohio, and by the blessing of God and the hearty co-operation of most of our brethren, considerable has been accomplished. Ten new churches have been organized, raising the number from fourteen to twenty-four, and raising our membership from 396 to 687. A good many have embraced the Sabbath who have not yet united with the churches. With perhaps two exceptions, additions have been made to every church in the Conference, and the membership of some of them has been more than doubled. Nearly all the trials throughout the churches have been peacefully and happily settled. We know of but little murmuring or fault-finding throughout the State.
There is no faction or division among us. The Sabbath-schools have been brought up from almost nothing, in a majority of the churches, until now most of them are in good working condition. I have personally visited every church in the State except one, and the rest of our ministers have spent a large amount of time with the different churches, so that none can complain of being neglected.
We have made a special effort to supply every church with all our blank books for the church, S. B., missionary work, and the Sabbath-school, and to instruct the officers how to use them. This we think is now quite thoroughly accomplished. In nearly every church we have raised from $15 to $25 to pay for these blank books, a set of Sr. White’s books, a club of Instructors, and other necessary outfits for the Sabbath-school. This alone, in twenty-four churches, is no small sum. The Review has now been placed in almost every Sabbath-keeping family in the State. In the missionary work only six of our churches owe anything, and these less than $300 altogether, and they have stock on hand to balance this. In a large number of these churches pledges have been made of from $50 to $200 to raise a fund for their own missionary work, to be paid by the first of January. This will place our missionary work on a solid foundation, out of debt and much ahead. We have promptly paid the Signs Office all we owed them, and owe the Review Office only $165; while we have $50, and $440 worth of stock on hand. Last year the Conference raised only $1400 S. B. Thus far this year they have already paid $2400, and we expect this will be raised to $2800 before Conference. Three times as many will pay tithes next year as in the past. We think these are encouraging facts.
Last spring we purchased two new tents, one fifty feet, the other forty, and have refitted two old ones at a cost of about a hundred dollars. We have bought two family tents for the use of the Conference at the camp-meeting, and two more for our preachers in the field. We have assisted our brethren in building their meeting-houses where they were very much in need of help. Several hundred dollars have been contributed to the foreign missions, the Tabernacle, the Oakland church, and other worthy objects. For all these sacrifices we pray the blessing of God upon our brethren and sisters who have cheerfully made them.
Last year only two tents were run in Ohio, and these but a part of the season. Some five or six ministers were all that were at work, I believe; but this year we ventured to start out six tents. Fifteen men are employed with these constantly, besides Bro. Reavis and myself who have traveled among the churches, making in all seventeen men constantly at work in the field.
We did not expect that our tithing money would be sufficient to meet all this expense, and it has not been. Counting at the lowest wages at which our preachers can possibly make a living, we should not have enough into $200 or $300 to pay them up to date; and by the time of camp-meeting, Aug. 21, we shall probably come out $500 behind, while each week will throw us more and more behind unless our tithing fund is greatly increased. Then there are several more promising brethren preparing to go out into the field after their summer’s work is over; and this will produce additional expense.
We lay these facts before the brethren, and ask them, What shall we do? You see what a rich field Ohio is, how successful your laborers have been, and how ready God is to bless the work in this Conference. Now we ask you, Must we say to those who are willing to go out as laborers that we cannot possibly support45them? and must we dismiss one-third or more of those already laboring successfully? Of course something must be done. We do not propose to ask our brethren to do anything unreasonable. Perhaps three-fourths of our brethren and sisters in the State have promptly and honestly paid a tithe of all their income into the treasury. We shall not ask them to do any more in that direction. They have done their duty, and we will dismiss some of our preachers before we will press them to do any more.
But there is another quarter of our brethren and sisters who have not done their duty. They have paid in very little on the tithing principle, and some of them have paid nothing at all. I am sorry to say that some of our wealthiest brethren in Ohio, those worth from three to fifteen thousand dollars, have stood back and scarcely lifted with their little finger, while others were doing so much. Some of the able brethren have paid from two to five dollars during the last year, while poor widows and day laborers have paid this, and some of them three times as much. Indeed, I can name half a dozen of our able brethren who have not paid a dollar into the S. B. fund during the last six months, and as many more who have paid but two or three dollars, while I know they are having a good income.
Brethren and sisters, what do you mean by such a course? Do you believe there is a God in Heaven, or do you not? Do you think you can get on in this way, and prosper spiritually and save your souls? If you do, selfishness must have blinded you terribly.
Now, we ask you, brethren, to respond to our appeal, and send in your means before or at our Conference. Here we must determine our fall and winter’s work, and the extent of this work will depend on the way our finances stand at this meeting. Let every Sabbath-keeper in the State make a special effort to pay up the tithes and send them in to our Conference. There are scores of scattered ones from whom we do not hear a word, nor receive a dollar. I have just received from our treasurers a list of every name, with every cent paid by them during the last quarter, so I know to a cent what every one has paid. At the last camp-meeting over $3,000 were pledged, to be used mostly in Ohio. Only about $1,000 of this has been paid in. The hundreds thus pledged were to be used to buy our tents, to pay up our tract and missionary debts, and to help wherever it was needed most. We shall have to use this to help us out. We therefore request all who have made these pledges to do the best they can consistently to pay something on them, and have it sent in at the time of our Conference, Aug. 21.
In conclusion we will say that we are anxious to have pledges on Sabbath-school work and general work paid up, and out of the way, so that early this fall we can turn our attention more especially to the missionary cause. We are preparing to do extensive work in this direction this fall and winter. We wish to start out canvassers, and to circulate our papers, tracts, and books by thousands in every direction throughout Ohio. We think the spring and summer are long enough to get everything else straightened up and out of the way, so as to start in with a clean record and make a grand effort in the missionary work this fall; and by the help of God we expect to do this.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
FALLEN IN THE STREETS.
Just before the time when there is to be no intercessor, when it is no longer of any use to offer mercy to man, and probation closes, the prophet complains that “judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” Isa. 59: 14. The following is the description which the Inter-Ocean of July 16, 1879, gives of the judicial laxness which prevails in our courts of justice to-day. It may well call it “a perilous state of things.” We call it a fulfillment of this prophecy. We extract from an article headed, “A Sample Case”:—
“When a man commits a cold-blooded and unprovoked murder, what is the programme, provided money can be obtained to employ eminent counsel?
“First there is, as in this case, a continuance, or perhaps two or three of them, provided they are desired by the defendant. Time softens crime as it does grief, and after a year or so has elapsed, it seems much more cruel and heartless to hang a man than in the earlier days of his crime, when the fresh blood of his victim cries for vengeance. These continuances are granted almost invariably in murder cases, and in almost every instance where the object of the prisoner is well known to be delay simply, and not to secure absent evidence or a fair hearing of his case.
“As a second preparation, the counsel go to work to invent some plausible pretense for the murder; and though the victim may be an entire stranger to the murderer, and have never spoken a word to him, there will be devised some provocation or insult on his part which it is alleged threw the prisoner into a paroxysm of passion. If the circumstances are such that no provocation can possibly be shown, then the insanity dodge comes in. A few days ago a young man belonging to one of the “first families” of Georgia, got drunk and went out on the street with a shot gun, bent on killing somebody. While a couple of acquaintances were parleying with him, assuring him that they were his friends, and ought not to be killed, a stranger came along and was immediately halted. He begged for his life, but the young gentleman insisted upon killing him, and did so. For hours afterward this brute marched the streets, threatening the lives of the people and keeping the town in a state of terror, and finally went away without arrest. The public is assured that he is a “very estimable young man when he is sober”; that his friends are rallying around him, and it is perfectly safe to say that he will never meet with punishment.
“But a murderer having been brought to trial at last, the farce begins in earnest. Witnesses are reviled, abused, insulted; and all the while the judge, who has been placed on the bench to execute the law, sits calmly by and permits the scandalous travesty to go on. A case which a day should abundantly suffice to try is made to occupy a fortnight; the jury, which has just been selected from persons who do not read and never have any opinions of their own, are worried and bewildered and cajoled until they know little or nothing about the real evidence in the case, and finally, on the principle that it is better that one hundred guilty men escape than that one innocent suffer, they bring in a verdict of acquittal or administer some slight punishment, and the case is ended. If by some accident a verdict of guilty is rendered, then come new trials and supersedeas, until justice retires beaten and discouraged.
“Such is the criminal jurisprudence of this country to-day, and it is a perilous condition of things. There comes a time when people become restive under such conditions, and take the law into their own hands. Once started in this direction, it is hard to stop the tide which sets in toward barbarism. Respect for law dies, and though punishment may at first be administered only where it is richly merited, it is not long till suspicion alone answers for proven guilt, and vengeance descends cruelly, unjustly, and without reason.”