A FRIEND in the East sends us an article cut from some paper, written by some man in California, in which are comments on our statement that the law of God is declared to be a perfect law, in Ps. 19:7. The writer says:—
“There is one word in the marginal reading of this text which completely spoils this kind of reasoning. According to that, it is ‘the doctrine of the Lord is perfect,’ having reference to God’s word in general, or, as a whole.”
In regard to marginal readings we will state a fact which every intelligent Bible reader knows, but which the writer of the above probably does not know: When the translators had a rendering before them which they considered more literal than that selected for the version, they put it in the margin and marked it “Heb.” for “Hebrew.” When the version was literal, but they considered that another word would make the sense more evident, or improve the reading, they placed the other in the margin and marked it, “or.” Examples of both are found in Ps. 19.
The word “law” is translated from five different Hebrew words in the Old Testament.
1. Dath. This, as a Hebrew word, is used twenty-two times; translated law, nine times; decree, nine times; commandment, twice; commissions, once, and manner, once. It is also used twelve times as a Chaldaic word, rendered law, nine times; decree, three times.
2. Hok. This word is used 228 times; rendered mostly statutes, and ordinances; law, four times; commandment, once.
3. Mitzvah. This word occurs 180 times. It is the usual word for commandment, and is so rendered 174 times; precepts, four times; ordinances, once; and law, once.
4. Mishpat. This is the usual word for judgments, and is mostly so rendered; but it is quite variously translated, as ordinances, cause, right, measure, sentence, determination, manner, etc.; law once, and manner of law, once; is lawful, five times.
5. Torah. This may be considered the Hebrew word for “law.” It occurs 219 times. It is rendered manner, once, with the marginal reading—“Heb. law.” In every other instance it is translated law, namely, 218 times. This is the word used in Ps. 19:7, and is there correctly rendered “law.”
By this synopsis it will be seen that our critic has not a particle of reason for his statement. The translators made a literal rendering, but, probably, they had but a vague idea of the use of the law in the work of converting the soul. So they put, “or doctrine,” in the margin. “By the law is the knowledge of sin.” Only where the law is, guilt is imputed. Convict on is only by the law, and without conviction there is no genuine conversion. The text states an important truth, far too little considered in this age of superficial conversions and worldly religion. Only a superficial reader of the Bible would make the statement above quoted; a student could not fall into such an error.
Signs of Christ's Second Coming.
By E. J. Waggoner
BY E. J. WAGGONER.
In our brief examination of Scripture, we have found that the personal, visible coming of Christ is a fact that admits of no dispute. To deny it is to deny the plainest teaching of the New Testament. The next question that naturally arises is, Have any signs been given by which we may know something concerning the time? Is there any probability that this awful event may take place in our day? But we do not find people generally concerning themselves much in regard to the matter. By far the larger part of mankind desire to hear nothing of it. Some ignore it entirely; others say it is spiritual, or in the past; while others admit all the points which we have thus far examined, but they say that it is impossible for any body to know anything about it. They say that for a man to inquire concerning it, is prying into the secrets of the Almighty. Arguing from their own desires, they think that he will not come in their day at least, and imagine that ignorance or forgetfulness will excuse them from all responsibility in the matter.
But the Lord will certainly come, and no amount of indifference will cause him to delay. Moreover, some persons will be alive, and will see him come. Now it is not in accordance with God's dealings with men in the past, to spring any great event on them unawares. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." Amos 3:7. Every judgment has been preceded by a warning, and ample time has been given to prepare for it. It was so in the case of the flood, the destruction of Sodom, the Babylonish captivity, the destruction of Jerusalem, and other instances. Reasoning from analogy alone, we should conclude that this event, so vastly more important than any of those mentioned, should also be preceded by a warning. And we learn that this is so from 1 Thess. 5:1-4. "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. . . . But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." Paul is here speaking to those who shall be "alive and remain" to the coming of the Lord; see chap. 4:16, 17; and his language proves that such will know of that event.
But because this was addressed to the Thessalonians, some have argued that the apostles and early Christians expected the Lord in their day, and were disappointed—that we have no more duty to look for his coming than people have had in all ages since his first advent. "He may come to-day, and he may not come for a thousand years or more," they frequently say; but the Bible gives no authority for any such statement; and the actions of those who say so, plainly show that they themselves do not believe it.
It is just as contrary to the Bible to say that people might with propriety have expected Christ to come at any period in the past, since his first advent, as it is to say that he will not come at all. There were some in Paul's day who thought that the coming of the Lord was near, but he disabused their minds in the following language: "Now we beseech you brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. 1:1-4. All agree that this "man of sin" is the Papacy, which resulted from the "falling away" from the simplicity of the gospel. Until that power had arisen, and had run its course of blasphemy and oppression, it was not proper for men to teach that the coming of the Lord was at hand; it is, therefore, very important to the proper understanding of our subject, to know the facts concerning the rise and progress of the Papacy.
Without entering into any exposition of the prophecy, for lack of space, I will simply state that Bishop Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Scott, and other eminent commentators agree that Paul's "man of sin" is identical with the "little horn" of Dan. 7, and refers to the Papacy. In Daniel 7:25 its actions are described thus: "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." By comparing this text with Rev. 12:6, 14, we learn that the "time and times and the dividing of time" is twelve hundred and sixty days. This, if it were literal time, would be an insignificant length of time for the continuance of a persecuting power.
But we must remember that the power is represented under the symbol of a beast; and in order for the prophecy to be harmonious, the time must also be symbolical. Turning to Eze. 4:6 we find that in the prophecy a day is used for a year. Applying this rule to the prophecy in question, we have twelve hundred and sixty years. The Papacy then, was to continue with power to persecute, twelve hundred and sixty years.
We next inquire when the Papacy was developed sufficiently to fill the specifications of the prophecy. We find that in the year A. D. 538, Justinian's decree that the bishop of Rome should be the head of all the churches, went into effect. This gave the Bishop of Rome power to decide what was heresy, and to call people to account for manifestations of it. From that time onward, the most blasphemous assumptions were made by this self-styled "vicegerent of the Son of God," and persecutions without number were carried on in the name of Christianity. This meets the terms of the prophecy fully. Now can we find any event at the end of twelve hundred and sixty years that would mark the downfall of this system of oppression? In 1798 just twelve hundred and sixty years later, Berthier, a noted French general, took Pope Pius VI. prisoner and carried him into exile, where he died. Although another individual was soon after proclaimed pope, the power was broken, never to reach its former greatness. The power of the pope has gradually wasted away, until nothing remains to him now but a name; and although the will to persecute is as active as ever, the power to do it openly, ceased at that time.
Now as to the bearing of all this on the subject of Christ's coming. In answer to his disciple's queston, "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and the end of the world?" Matt.24:3, Christ gave a brief outline of the condition of the world to the end of time. After warning them in verses 15-21 of the destruction of Jerusalem, he spoke of a time of "great tribulation" that should shortly follow, "such as was not since the beginning of the world." The destruction of Jerusalem is not referred to here, for this reason: This tribulation was to come upon God's people, for he said: "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened." Verse 22. Now when the final destruction of Jerusalem took place there were no Christians in the city, for all had fled, according to the command of Christ. The time of trouble here referred to, then, must be the long period of papal persecution. And this corresponds with the statement in verse 22, for, as the result of the Reformation, the persecution actually ceased some years before the year 1798.
We now have the data for a sign that of itself should be sufficient if there were no other. Jesus said: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened and the moon shall not give her light." Matt. 24:29. As recorded by Mark, the language is still more definite. "But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light." Mark 13:24. A little while before the year 1798, then, this wonderful sign should have occurred. As a matter of fact, this prediction was fulfilled in the dark day of May 19, 1780. Of this day "Webster's Unabridged Dictionary," speaks as follows: -
"DARK DAY, THE. May 19, 1780—so called on account of a remarkable darkness on that day extending over all New England. In some places, persons could not see to read common print in the open air for several hours together. Birds sang their evening song, disappeared, and became silent; fowls went to roost; cattle sought the barn-yard; and candles were lighted in the houses. The obscuration began about ten o'clock in the morning and continued till the middle of the next night, but with differences of degree and duration in different places. . . . . . The true cause of this remarkable phenomenon is unknown."
And Herschel the astronomer said: -
"The dark day in northern America was one of those wonderful phenomena of nature, which will always be read of with interest, but which philosophy is at a loss to explain."
It has been well said that science is at a loss to explain this wonderful phenomenon, although numerous attempts to explain it have been made. But its value as a sign does not consist in its being unexplainable. Its value consists in the fact that it occurred just when our Saviour had said it would, more than seventeen hundred years before. If there had been a hundred other days equally as dark, it would not affect this testimony in the least. To illustrate: A man going on a journey is told that just before he reaches his destination he will come to a large tract of woods inclosed by a high fence, and on the other side of the woods, and just within the inclosure, he will find a log house. Now when he sees this house, just where he was told it would be, he is sure that he is on the right road, although he may have passed many similar houses. So in the case before us. It is a fact, however, that the dark day of 1780 stands alone and unparalleled.
"And the moon shall not give her light." This was fulfilled in the night following the dark day. Mr. Tenney of Exeter, N. H., said of that night: -
"I could not help conceiving at the time, that if every luminous body in the universe had been shrouded in impenetrable darkness, or struck from existence, the darkness could not have been more complete. A sheet of white paper held within a few inches of the eyes, was equally invisible with the blackest velvet."
Other testimony might be given, but it is unnecessary, as the facts are not doubted by any.
"And the stars shall fall from heaven." This is the next sign, and was fulfilled Nov. 13, 1833, in the wonderful display which many now living well remember. Professor Olmstead of Yale College said it was probably "the greatest display of celestial fireworks that has ever been since the foundation of the world."
If any one says that these phenomena have no significance, —no connection whatever with the coming of the Lord—then I ask what they will do with our Saviour's words? Are they not to be fulfilled? Christ was here answering an important question which his disciples had asked him, and we cannot think that he would deceive them or put them off with an evasive answer. His language is very simple and literal. Why can we not believe signs that our Saviour gave, as well as those which we receive from men? If one of our friends goes away and tells us of some event by which we may know when to look for him, we do not think of doubting his word. Our Lord has done this, and has placed his signs in the heavens, so that they may be known by all; and if we neglect them, shall we not be without excuse? The world was once condemned by the preaching of Noah; what then will be the condemnation of those who reject infinitely greater light?
But our Saviour does not leave the matter here. He says: "Now learn a parable of the fig-tree; when his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh; so likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it [margin, he] is near, even at the doors." This is a forcible illustration. Nobody has a doubt that summer is near, when the leaves put forth in the spring; and we may be just as certain, now that "all these things" have come to pass, that the Lord is near. There is no opportunity for doubt. It is indeed, a sin not to be certain of the nearness of the event.
It is true that we cannot tell just the day that summer will come. After the buds begin to swell, there may be bitter frosts, and summer may be delayed; but still we are sure that summer is not far distant. In this the parable holds good. Christ says, "But of that day and hour knoweth no man." For a wise purpose the exact time of the event is withheld from us, and it is idle for us to speculate in regard to it, but yet we may be just as certain that it is near "even at the doors." And to put the fact beyond all doubt he says: "Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." That is, the generation that shall witness these signs, or a portion of them, shall see the final consummation of all things. This is indeed a solemn thought. Many of those now living shall see the Lord come. What should be our position, then, at this time? Our Saviour himself gives the answer: "Watch ye therefore; for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cock-crowing, or in the morning; lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, WATCH."
That Sunday Yacht.
By Alonzo T. Jones
ON the subject of that wonderful (?) testimony to Sunday sacredness, the fate of the yacht Sabbath-breaker, as published in the SIGNS of Dec. 1, 1881, I would offer the following:—
Nearly three years ago I heard that identical story told (with the exception of any locality) by a man in Oregon, as a powerful argument in favor of Sunday-keeping. But it was wholly traditional with him; he did not even pretend to tell where it happened. And I am perfectly satisfied that no one will ever find the place in California, or anywhere else, where it occurred.
I should have no hesitation whatever in saying that it is altogether an invention of some over-zealous advocate of the Sunday institution, and they find it so well adapted to their purpose that it is passed on from one to another, and no questions asked lest it should prove false. Doubtless the person who put the story in that paper originally, thought that by placing the scene in California, he would get it so far away that no one would discover the fraud.
However I apprehend that this is only the beginning of what will become quite general ere long, and I do not know whether from the nature of things we should expect anything else. For when the people of this enlightened age wilfully shut their eyes, and turn their backs to the evidence of all history, and deliberately go back to the darkest period of the Dark Ages, for an issue (church and State), it is only to be expected that the methods of the Dark Ages will be employed for the success, and the defense of that issue.
And again the world is to behold the spectacle of the church defending by violence, the power that she has obtained by fraud.
ALONZO T. JONES.
Spangle, W. T.
General Conference.
We can give only a partial account of the proceedings, as the report is still incomplete. We give extracts of the most general interest, as far as we have received. The following were among the resolutions adopted:—
Resolved, That all candidates for license and ordination should be examined with reference to their intellectual and spiritual fitness for the successful discharge of the duties which will devolve upon them as licentiates and ordained ministers.
Resolved, That females possessing the necessary qualifications to fill that position, may, with perfect propriety, be set apart by ordination to the work of the Christian ministry.
WHEREAS, We recognize the manifestation of spiritual gifts, especially the spirit of prophecy, as one of the distinguishing features of the work of the third angel's message, and—
WHEREAS, We fully believe that the neglect of these gifts, and of the special instruction given us through them, will surely result in a decline of spirituality and true godliness among us as a people; therefore—
Resolved, That we urgently recommend to all our ministers that they frequently present before our brethren, in our older churches, as well as among those more recently brought to the faith, the plain teaching of the Scriptures concerning the perpetuity of these gifts, and the great importance of carefully heeding the precious instruction given us through this agency.—Adopted.
WHEREAS, Many calls for ministerial labor among our churches come in from every part of the field; and—
WHEREAS, In the past our method of labor has failed to meet the wants of many churches, on account of the unsystematic bestowal of said labor; therefore—
Resolved, That we recommend that all our Conferences so distribute the labor in their respective States as to give each ordained minister, at least, a certain portion of territory to which his labors may be confined for a stated period, with instructions to labor for the spiritual advancement of each church and company in his respective territory, and thus hold together and build up the work already started with so much expense and labor, before entering new fields.
Moved, That it be considered the rule that State Conferences pay their tithe to the General Conference quarterly.—Carried.
The Committee on Nominations reported as follows:—
For President, Geo. I. Butler; Secretary, A. B. Oyen; Treasurer, M. J. Chapman; Executive Committee, Geo. I. Butler, S. N. Haskell, U. Smith. These persons were thereupon elected to the offices named.
We present, also, the following brief synopsis of the meeting of the Publishing Association:—
WHEREAS, During the past year it has been our painful duty to chronicle the death of our esteemed brother, Eld. James White, President of this Association, under whose wise and judicious management, with the blessing of God, it came into existence, grew up, and has reached its present magnitude and importance in our specific work; therefore—
Resolved, That while we lament his death and mourn our loss, we will most earnestly seek the guidance of that Hand which led him in his work, and that Wisdom which alone will lead to such success as resulted from his efforts.
This resolution was unanimously passed by a rising vote of all present.
Resolved, That we recognize the importance and usefulness of the tract and missionary societies; that we appreciate their past labors in the circulation of our periodicals and books; and that we request them to continue to act as our agents for the sale of books, and in obtaining subscribers for our periodicals.
This resolution, which elicited quite general discussion, was also carried.
WHEREAS, We regard it of the highest importance that right influences be exerted in our houses of publication; therefore—
Resolved, That we request our ministers to recommend none as laborers in them, except such as are sound in the faith and firm in their principles of right.
The following-named persons were elected as officers of the Association for the ensuing year:—
For President, Geo. I. Butler; Vice-president, Uriah Smith; Secretary, M. J. Chapman; Treasurer, H. W. Kellogg; Auditor, C. W. Stone; Publishing Committee, Geo. I. Butler, W. C. White, G. W. Amadon.
Moved That U. Smith be elected editor of the Review.
—Carried.
Moved, That J. N. Andrews and J. H. Waggoner be elected corresponding editors of the Review.—Carried.
New Criminal Nomenclature
all, WATCH.”
A NEW nomenclature of criminal terms is coming into vogue among “high toned” rascals. Guiteau invented the term “removed” for murdered, and the defalcations of Palmer, the Newark Auditor, are termed by him “peculiarities.” Some folks’ peculiarities make them very obnoxious.
The Missionary.
By Frances Ridley Havergal
A WORKER'S PRAYER.
LORD, speak to me, that I may speak
In living echoes of thy tone;
As thou hast sought, so let me seek
Thy erring children, lost and lone.
O, lead me, Lord, that I may lead
The wandering and the wavering feet;
O, feed me Lord that I may feed
Thy hungering ones with manna sweet.
O, strengthen me, that while I stand
Firm on the rock and strong in thee,
I may stretch out a loving hand
To wrestlers with the troubled sea.
O, teach me, Lord, that I may teach
The precious things thou dost impart;
And wing my words that they may reach
The hidden depths of many a heart.
O, give thine own sweet rest to me,
That I may speak with soothing power
A word in season, as from Thee,
To weary ones in needful hour.
O, fill me with thy fulness, Lord,
Until my very heart o'erflow
In kindling thought and glowing word,
Thy love to tell, thy praise to show.
O, use me, Lord, use even me,
Just as thou wilt, and when, and where;
Until thy blessed face I see,
Thy rest, thy joy, thy glory, share.
—Frances Ridley Havergal.
Protestant Churches in Japan
The oldest Protestant church in Japan is scarcely eight years old, and most of the sixty-seven organized are less than four.
LENDING A PIE.
"Mother," said little Johnny, "haven't you a pie that you would like to lend to the Lord?"
"Why, Johnny, what do you mean?" she asked; for she thought at first it was a joke.
"Don't you remember," said he, "that the Bible says, 'He that giveth to the poor lendeth to the Lord?' I don't believe old Betsy has had a pie for a long time; I thought perhaps you would like to have me take one to her; then you would be lending to the Lord, you know."
One of mother's best pies went to old Betsy; only she was sorry she had not thought of sending one before. But if she had, she would have lost Johnny's way of "putting it."—Moravian.
Consecrated or Cursed Wealth
WE talk about the princely gifts of our age for religious objects. True, the past three years have witnessed over a dozen large gifts, of tens of thousands for mission work. But what is this in an age of such abundant wealth, and in a land of nearly nine millions of professing Christians! The actual increase of our national wealth last year over the preceeding year amounted to $50,000,000. There are congregations in New York, representing every Sunday morning more than $100,000,000. The theaters of New York alone take annually over $7,000,000 from the community, and the drinking-houses of this city over $60,000,000 a year—more than our nine millions of Christians have given in a quarter of a century to send the gospel abroad to a dying world. Let us suppose that these nine millions of Christians receive only an average income of $200 per annum, and give but one-tenth systematically to God, it would make a total sum of $180,000,000 per annum, more than four times as much as is given for all purposes by all the Christians of the land. This is for the life and power of our churches the very question of the hour. Money must either be consecrated or cursed.—Gospel in all Lands.
From the Field.
Bro. J. D. PEGG writes from Keota, Iowa, December 7, as follows:—
“Since my last report, our little company of Sabbath-keepers here have by a commendable effort, built a comfortable house of worship 20x32 feet, capable of seating 132 people, which was dedicated Sunday, Dec. 4. There will be a debt of something over $100, which will be met without trouble, if they are prospered.
When we pitched the tent here June 23, one lady was keeping the Sabbath. Now sixteen are walking in all the commandments of God, and the greater number give evidence of a growth in grace. The Sabbath-school is increasing in interest, and nearly forty are in attendance as regular scholars. Fifteen copies of the Instructor are taken, and we think more will be needed soon. They hold two prayer-meetings each week. The attendance is full, and the Lord blesses at every meeting.
M. M. Olsen reports a good interest among the Scandinavians in Dakota. At Turkey Creek six more have commenced to keep the Sabbath.
Temperance.
By T. L. Cuyler
An Enemy Hard to Conquer.
THERE are some enemies that it is easier to keep out, than it is to drive out when they become strongly intrenched. One of these deadly enemies is the habit of using intoxicating drinks. No delusion is so dangerous as the idea that it is easy for an habitual drinker to stop drinking. Out of my long connection with the temperance reform, let me draw a few examples, which may perhaps startle some good people who have a very "slip-shod" and shallow way of talking about the conversion of inebriates. This week I learn that a very kind-hearted man whom we received into our church several years ago has relapsed again into drunkenness. He had been a hard drinker, but gave good evidence, as we thought, of a change of heart. For some time he "ran well," and then stumbled and fell. We labored with him faithfully and he was restored. Several times since that he has fallen, and once we were obliged to place him in an inebriate asylum. I have known that man to offer the most penitential and pathetic prayers in our devotional meetings, and then stop for a drink at a dram-shop on his way home from the meeting! That man when he drank his first glass became a slave. Often has he cried out from the depths for deliverance; but I very much fear that in spite of our efforts and his own resolutions he will yet die a drunkard. His father was addicted to the same vice, and the hereditary taint is in his system.
The most remarkable case that I have ever dealt with was a young married man—of excellent family—who was received into my church in New York twenty-five years ago. He had been convivional in his habits, but we had strong hope that the grace of God had radically altered him and made him a "new man in Christ Jesus." After several years of sobriety he relapsed (under strong temptation) into intemperance. For a long time he remained a pitiable sot. Once, while his lovely wife was lying dangerously ill, I persuaded him to enter an inebriate asylum. But he leaped out of an upper window and returned to his home; the sight of the poor creature at her bedside gave his wife such a shock that she died in a few hours! Even this awful tragedy did not reform him, and he continued to drink as before. At length he was induced to sign a pledge, to attend the house of God, and claimed to be reconverted. He secured an excellent situation, and, well attired and happy, used to speak in our prayer-meetings with great fervor and declare that "by God's grace his feet were now upon the rock." So encouraged was I by his apparent reformation that I published (under a fictitious name) the narrative of his "conversion," for the encouragement of others whose cases were as desperate as his had been. But alas! he was on no "rock" that was out of the reach of the waves of temptation; and after two years he was swept off again into the horrible vortex. He attempted suicide during a debauch, and soon afterwards died—a drunken outcast. I might multiply these melancholy examples to prove that when any man or woman forms a habit of using alcoholic drinks, he or she becomes a slave. From that horrible bondage even apparent conversion does not always rescue them; for, as Dr. Hodge once said to me, "the thirst for liquor is sometimes a physical mania from which even the grace of God no more saves a man than from the poison of typhoid fever in the system." This is a fearful statement to make, and some may assert that that eminent saint, and the writer of this paragraph may be "limiting the power of the Divine Spirit." God forbid! But let us not shut our eyes to painful facts, although we may interpret them erroneously. The incontrovertible facts are that hundreds of persons who have regarded themselves as spiritually converted have relapsed into beastly drunkenness. The published biography of Mr. John Vine Hall (the author of the "Sinner's Friend") will occur to many readers as a striking example of this.
Are drunkards never permanently reformed? Yes; let us rejoice that a few of the vast number are saved, "yet so as by fire." They are an exceedingly small minority. Out of those who are received into church membership a very large proportion have their subsequent falls; and of these many are never restored to sobriety. I have spent a vast deal of labor upon the attempted reformation of inebriates. Quite a large number of those who have sincerely professed to be "renewed by the Divine Spirit," I have received into church membership. Out of all this number I can recall only one who has never had a single relapse into intoxication since he united with the church. Several have fallen often and been restored. Others have precipitated themselves into hopeless drunkenness, and sunk to rise no more! This is a painful statement to publish, but I do it under a very strong conviction of duty. I do it as a solemn warning to every one—within the church and without it—of the absolute peril of tampering with any and every intoxicant. I do it in order to emphasize the fact that the only absolute safeguard against drunkenness is entire abstinence. No living man, no, not even any minister of Christ, is completely safe from even the risk of being overcome, who is playing with this treacherous serpent.
I have designedly avoided any discussion about hereditary appetite, or "Bible wines," or the "removal of the appetite," or any other controverted question. My single aim is to state solemn facts, and let them carry their own weighty argument. They prove incontestibly that strong drink is an enemy hard to conquer. He who lets the enemy in has no assurance that he will ever drive him out. The only sure salvation is never to admit him at all.—Rev. T. L. Cuyler.
Drunkenness and the City Morgue
slandering their city?—Golden Censer.
THE New York Herald says that "four-fifths of the five thousand bodies that reach the morgue in this city every year are sent there by drunkenness."
Drunkenness in Paris
IN America it is constantly reiterated that in France where everybody uses light wines, no one is ever known to be intoxicated. It is stated in the Parisian police reports, that in the first four months of this year, over 20,000 people were arrested in Paris for drunkenness. One of these statements is false. Why don't they punish the police in Paris for falsifying their reports, and slandering their city?—Golden Censer.
Dottie's Temperance Sermon.
WELL, well! what did ail Dottie? She had positively refused to kiss her father for a whole week. He went to his work very early in the morning, long before her blue eyes were open, and did not come home till dark. Dottie always watched for him, and ran to meet him, and when he came in would sit on his knee; but when he tried to kiss her, she would shake her head so emphatically as to set the sunny curls dancing about her eyes, and then tuck her rosy face down on his shoulder.
At last he grew almost angry, and one evening he put her down saying sternly, "I won't have any little girl that doesn't love me."
Dottie went to her mother with a grieved look, and tears stealing into her eyes.
"I do love my papa ever so much—five bushels." And by her childish mode of measuring affection, this seemed immense.
"Then why did you treat him so?" asked her mother. "He does not see his little daughter all day; and when he comes home so tired she refuses to kiss him. Why is it?"
"Because, because—" and here Dottie stopped.
"Speak out, darling, don't be afraid; or suppose you whisper it to me; now—" and she bent down her head.
Dottie put both chubby arms around her mother's neck, and putting a rosebud of a mouth close to her mother's ear, and in what she supposed was a whisper, said:—
"He drink some medicine or somethin' in the even' time before he gets home, and it must be dreadful stuff, for it makes me feel sick to smell it when he puts her face close to mine—and that's all; and I do love papa." And she sobbed as if her loving little heart would break.
As the wife's glance met that of her husband, his face crimsoned with a flush of shame. The secret was out. For the week past he had been in the habit of stopping a few moments at the house of a friend, who had just returned from a voyage to Europe, and had a great many interesting things to relate. He always took a glass of something strong at night, and insisted that Dottie's father should drink with him; and that was how it happened. But he never touched a drop afterward; the pure caresses of his innocent child were of more value to him than even the good-will of his friend; and the little Dot never had cause to refuse him his evening kiss.—Good Words.
What Alcohol Will Do.
The Sanitarian tells "What Alcohol will do." Thus: "It may seem strange, but is nevertheless true, that alcohol, regularly applied to a thrifty farmer's stomach, will remove the boards from the fence, let the cattle into his crops, kill his fruit trees, mortgage his farm, and sow his fields with wild oats and thistles. It will take the paint off his building, break the glass out of the windows and fill them with rags, take the gloss off his clothes and polish from his manners, subdue his reason, arouse his passions, bring sorrow and disgrace upon his family, and topple him into a drunkard's grave. It will do this to the artisan and capitalist, the matron and the maiden."
HATES DRUNKARDS.
The drunkard-maker always hates his oldest and most liberal customers, and is proud of cursing them and kicking them out. How we should be surprised to hear a shoemaker slam the door against an old customer and say, "you villainous old scamp, I've made boots and shoes for you and your family for twenty years, and you have paid me for them, and here you are again after more shoes; get out, and don't let me ever see your face again." How funny it would look to see a tailor basting an old schoolmate into the gutter because after getting his clothes there for fifteen years, he wants to buy an overcoat. Or a minister assaulting an old standby because he has been twenty-five years a communicant and elder in his church; and therefore must be unfit company for anybody. But that is the way the League of Freedom and the Grocers Protective Union treat their old patrons. By the way, it is time the old drunkards were beginning to get ashamed of the drunkard makers, who are ashamed to call their own business by its own name.—Rescue.
A Denunciation of Strong Drink
By Dr. J. G. Holland
"I NEITHER drink wine nor give it to my guests. Strong drink is the curse of the country and the age. Sixty thousand men in America every year lie down in the grave of the drunkard. Drink has murdered my best friends, and I hate it. It burdens me with taxes, and I denounce it as a nuisance, on which every honest man should put his heel. I do not ask you to put your heel on the drunkard, but to make the spirit of your guild so strict and pure that no man of your number will dare to trifle with your opinion and sentiments on the subject."
Pledging Women Against Tobacco
REPLYING to an objection that it is needless to pledge women and young girls against the use of tobacco in any form, Dr. Barnett considers that the influence of women against tobacco-smoking is probably the "stone" of the future which will shatter and break the filthy idol; and thinks that the solemn engagement not to make use of intoxicants nor tobacco in any form, should invariably be signed by both boys and girls. He adds: The best forms of pledge include this clause in some form, and "will induce others to do the same"—i. e., to take the pledge against strong drink and tobacco. Thus every girl and young woman who signs, promises to use her influence against the use of tobacco.—Lever.
Grant Closes the Rum-Shops
At the close of the late civil war a grand review of the Union army took place in Washington. About two hundred thousand soldiers were in the city, and probably as many more residents and visitors. Notwithstanding this immense crowd the two review days were unusually quiet. Why? Because Gen. Grant ordered all rum-shops to be closed during those two days and the prohibition was enforced.—Liberator.
The Cost of Beer Drinking
The New York Tribune, in a recent editorial on brewery-strikes, says, “A regular beer drinker spends as much in a year to quench his thirst as would decently clothe a family.”
Stinting Children in Free Air
On the day of Judgment, says Jean Paul, God will perhaps pardon you for starving your children when bread was so dear; but if he should charge you with stinting them in his free air, what answer shall you make?
Hydrophobia and Delirium Tremens
For every death by hydrophobia, there are at least one thousand by delirium tremens, and the horrors of hydrophobia are fully equaled by the results of the intemperate use of liquor.