“Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord; but this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel: After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jer. 31: 31–34.
The first covenant was made with the people of Israel at the time of their departure out of Egypt. This covenant no longer exists. The new covenant long since took its place. But a very serious error prevails in the minds of many persons respecting the points of difference between these two covenants. The old covenant was made with the Hebrew people. For this reason, whatever entered into it is supposed to be Jewish. Thus the law of God is summarily set aside as Jewish; and thus might the God of Israel himself be discarded as a Jewish God. But the new covenant is held up to our admiration, because it is, as they say, not made with the Jews, but with the Gentiles. The old covenant belonged to the Jews, and with it we have no concern; the new covenant is made with the Gentiles, and we, as Gentiles, are interested in it.
How can men thus carelessly read the Scriptures? The language of inspiration is very explicit in stating that the new covenant is made with the same people that were the subjects of the old covenant. Thus Jeremiah, speaking in the name of the Lord, says: “I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah.” And he further alludes to the fact that the new covenant is made with the Hebrew people when he adds: “Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.” And yet again he identifies the Hebrew people when he says: “This shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel.” And Paul quotes at length, in Hebrews 8, this entire statement of Jeremiah respecting the old and new covenants’ being severally made with the Hebrew people. And, as if this were not enough, he makes a statement in Rom. 9: 4, 5, that exactly meets the case. Thus he says of the Hebrews: “Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises; whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever.” Thus it appears that everything valuable God has given to the world through the instrumentality, or by the means, of the Hebrew people. Those who choose to do so can venture to despise the law of God because given to the Jews, and to reject Christ because he came of the Jews. But one thing they cannot do; they cannot say, “We accept the new covenant because it pertains to the Gentiles, whereas the first covenant, and the law, etc., pertained to the Jews.” No such distinction can be drawn. Both the covenants pertain to the Hebrew people, according to the explicit statement of Paul; and both are said by Jeremiah and Paul, or rather by the Spirit of inspiration speaking through them, to be made with Judah and Israel.
The fact being thus clearly established that the two covenants are both made with the Hebrews, it becomes a matter of interest to inquire into the reason of this thing. Why did God thus honor one nation and pass by all others? Undoubtedly there was a sufficient reason for this action, and that reason we shall find fully laid open to our view in the Bible. The first thing which Paul has enumerated as pertaining to the Hebrews, is “the adoption;” and if we can understand why God adopted this family, we shall readily understand why all the other things which he has named should also pertain to this people.
Know, then, that God did not adopt the family of Abraham as his first action in behalf of mankind. He attempted thus to make his own the family of the first man, Adam, the common head and father of the human race. But at the end of the antediluvian age, only eight persons remained upon the earth who feared the God of heaven. There was no alternative with him but to witness the extinction of piety in the earth, or else, by an awful lesson of judgment, to destroy every wicked man from the earth. And for this reason came the deluge. And now one family alone remains—the family of Noah, who is the second head of the human race. And this family, thus instructed in divine truth, and thus warned by God’s terrible judgments, might all have been, if they would, the heritage of the Almighty. But when men began again to multiply upon the earth, they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. They forgot God. They plunged into sin. They united under Nimrod to build Babel. As they set God at defiance, he placed his curse upon them by confounding their language. Gen. 10 and 11. In the fourth century after the flood, only a handful of godly persons remained. Abraham, in the midst of this dense moral darkness, for even his immediate ancestors were idolators (Josh. 24: 2), was so pre-eminent in virtue that he was called the friend of God. James 2: 23. God said that he knew Abraham, that he would command his children and his household after him, and that they would keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment. Gen. 18: 19. God had pledged himself at the time Noah and his family came forth from the ark, never again to drown the world. Gen. 9: 15.
But he must do something to save this one faithful family from ruin, and, by means of them, to preserve in the earth some degree of true piety, and to retain among men a body of faithful worshipers. To do this, he adopts this family of Abraham, his friend, and separates them by circumcision and the rites of the ceremonial law, from all the rest of mankind. Thus Abraham became the third grand father of mankind. Not the father of the whole race, like Adam and Noah respectively; but the father of the people of God. This was the adoption. He gave up the rest of mankind to idolatry and atheism, not because he was willing that they should perish, but because they would not hearken to his voice. Yet, though he thus adopted this one family, he did not so reject the rest of mankind that he did not make provision for any of them to be received among the Hebrew people if they would become circumcised and unite with the Hebrews in his service and worship. The adoption was just, and right, and necessary. By means of it God preserved his knowledge and his worship in the earth.
The Hebrew people being thus adopted, and by means of circumcision set apart from the rest of the world, found to their great profit that, though they were separated from the world, they were united to Him who made the heavens and the earth. They had the Lord for their God. They had much advantage “every way;” the adoption, the glory, the two covenants, the giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, the fathers, and the Messiah. And yet Paul says their chief advantage was that the oracles of God were committed to them. Rom. 3: 1, 2. It is not best to scorn the law of God because committed to the Hebrews. It is not best to despise the new covenant, as Jewish, because, like the old covenant, it is made with Israel. Nor is it best to reject Jesus as the Messiah, because he comes of that despised race; and, finally, it is not best to have some other God besides the God of Israel. Our God, indeed, bears that title; because he was for long ages worshiped by the Hebrews only, and by the Gentiles almost not at all. Yet that is not his fault, but ours. And so of all the sacred things committed to the Israelites. They were not Jewish, or Hebraic, but divine. In fact, we must have a part in these precious treasures which God gave to this people, for their preservation through the long period of Gentile darkness. They are of equal value to us, and we must share in them. “Salvation,” said our Lord to the woman of Samaria, “is of the Jews.” John 4: 22.
The opening work in the establishment of the new covenant must, at least, be as early as the closing hours of the life of Christ. In the last memorable evening of his life, as he was about to be betrayed into the hands of the Jewish rulers, our Lord gave the cup, representing thereby his own blood, into the hands of his disciples, saying as he did it: “This cup is the new testament [covenant] in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22: 20. Here is the first mention of the new covenant by our Lord. It is evident that the shedding of his blood, and the pouring out of his soul unto death, was that which should give validity to the covenant. Isa. 53; Heb. 9. The opening event, therefore, in the ratification of the new testament, or covenant, was on that memorable night in which the Saviour was betrayed, when he, the mediator of the new covenant on the one part; and the eleven apostles on the other part, as the representatives of the people of God, entered into solemn contract with each other. He, by giving them the cup representing his own blood, pledged himself to die for them; they, by accepting it, thus pledged themselves to accept salvation through his blood, and to fulfill the conditions connected therewith.
Indeed, we must date the preliminary acts in the establishment of the new covenant, from the opening of Christ’s ministry. Our Lord began to preach at the close of Daniel’s sixty-ninth week. Compare Dan. 9: 25; Mark 1: 14, 15. The remaining, or seventieth week, he was to employ in confirming the covenant with many; and in the midst of the week, he caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease, by being offered himself upon the cross, as their great antitype. Heb. 10: 5–10. We must, therefore, assign the ministry of Christ to the introductory work of establishing the new covenant, or new testament. His preaching was a public announcement of its principles. He assigned to the law of God its just place. He laid down the keeping of the commandments as the condition of eternal life. Matt. 5: 17–19; 19: 16–19. He revealed the ground of pardon, viz: the sacrifice of his own life. Matt. 20: 28. He also stated in distinct terms the conditions on which that sacrifice could benefit men; viz: faith and repentance. John 7: 24; Mark 1: 15. We cannot, therefore, deny that the ministry of Christ was the opening work in the establishing of the new covenant.
J. N. A.
Christian Resolution
RESOLUTION which springs from Christian principle, and is fortified by it, is fearless as well as unremitting. It is conclusive of good purposes and the pledge of their being executed effectively in noble sentiments and worthy deeds.
Church Building in Oakland.
The new Congregational church in Oakland was dedicated Jan. 21. It is the largest church building in the city, covering the entire front on Clay Street, from 12th to 13th. It corners on 13th diagonally across the street from the Seventh-day Adventist house. Its cost is about $100,000. No expense has seemingly been spared to make it attractive. Five churches now worship in that immediate vicinity; the Congregationalist and Free Presbyterian on 13th street, west of the Seventh-day Adventist. The Methodist and Central Baptist, on 14th street. The Baptists meet in Central Hall. Though the Adventist house is smaller than the others, it loses nothing by comparison with its larger neighbors; it is neat and simple in style, and a credit to the people who have struggled so hard to build it and keep it up.
The Advent Doctrine.
THE doctrine of the advent is being pretty well advertised. Even its enemies will not let it rest, and the people are becoming aware of its importance. A writer in the New York Evangelist, signing himself "Westminster," because, we suppose, he considers himself the defender of the "Confession," insists that it is heresy to believe in the second advent near, and that all who so believe, or who deny the hope of the conversion of the world, shall be disciplined as heretical, and excommunicated! But the Evangelist corrects his error in the following style:—
"Let it be clearly understood, that the real objection made to Premillennial views, is not against their interpretation of the prophetic Scriptures on the fact and nature of the Millennium; but against making 'the great crisis' to be expected the second advent.' Say these modern interpreters of the Standards, the world must first be converted before Christ will come. Do our Standards teach this? Luther pronounced this notion 'a falsehood forged by Satan, and a delusion.' Nor is it found in the Standards of any of the churches of the Reformation.
Calvin, who repudiates a Millennium, says:— 'The Scriptures uniformly command us to look forward with eager expectation to the coming of Christ,' and commenting on Matt. 24:30, he says 'There is no reason why any person should expect the conversion of the world.'
"John Knox in his letter to the faithful in London, on the Redeemer's advent, asks 'Has not the Lord Jesus carried up our flesh into heaven? and shall he not return? We know he shall return, and that with expedition.' And does not our Confession teach that Christ's second coming is always to be watched for, and because it is always imminent? . In the 'Directory for Worship' of the Church in Scotland, whose Standards are the same as ours, ministers are taught to pray for 'the fall of Antichrist, and the hastening of the second coming of our Lord, and for a 'watching for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.'"
Quoting the Bible.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
ONE of the most groundless and silly objections that our opponents raise to the work of our ministers in presenting the present truth relates to the manner in which we quote the Scriptures. Our ministers always use a great deal of scripture in their sermons, and this they should do; but in doing so they quote a verse here, two or three there, and perhaps a few verses in another place. Our opponents say this is not a fair way to quote the Bible, and they very foolishly affirm that we should read the whole chapter if we quote any of it.
Of course we can retort the same upon them, for the popular minister seldom takes more than one verse for a whole sermon, and if they have an occasion to preach against us, they take one text here, another there, skipping hither and thither, just as we do, only they do less of it, and frequently very clumsily because they are not used to it. But the real answer to this groundless objection is found in the fact that Christ and the apostles frequently quoted the Scriptures as we do. For an example of this, turn to Romans 15:9-12. Here we have in the ninth verse first a quotation from Ps. 18:49; next we have a quotation of a verse in Deut. 32:43. Then follows a quotation of the verse from Ps. 117:1; then comes another quotation from Isaiah 11:10.
Here are four quotations from four different places in the Old Testament, and all this in the space of four short verses. This is just as we Adventist preachers do. Turning again to Romans 10:15-21 we have about as many quotations as there are verses here, and each quotation is simply a verse or part of a verse from one book and a verse or part of one from another book. Scriptures of this kind can be found all through the New Testament so that when our opponents raise this objection they are only scoffing against the holy apostles.
D. M. CANRIGHT.
A Mother's Discipline.
By L. P.
ONE evening in March, at a late hour, I sat sorting, cutting and sewing, a pile of unsightly carpet-rags. This was the last of many burdensome and tedious jobs I had stinted myself to finish during the winter, and here March was at hand, and this distasteful work just fairly commenced. I was weary in body, and worn in spirit, with my early and late toiling, but I resolved that spring should not far advance till my work—at least the heaviest part of it—was off my hands, according to my plans.
The next day, however, my rags were banished to an out-of-the-way place in a promiscuous heap, for Maddie, the older of my two little girls, was quite sick, and lay moaning in the arm-chair. My hired help just then got sick, too, and had returned to her home, and I was left alone to attend to my child, whose malady grew more serious hourly, and with a large washing on my hands which had been put to soak over night.
None, save those who have passed through the ordeal, may know the heart-sinking, the weariness and dreariness of the days and nights that followed, as our little one grew steadily worse, until we thought she was going from us forever. Much sickness prevailing at that season in the community, my good, kind husband, unable to procure other help, took upon himself my care and work, that I might devote myself entirely to Maddie. Thus baby Amy was decoyed from the sick-room, where her prattle could not be endured, to see "papa" peel potatoes, set table, and prepare coffee.
But fainter and fainter grew my heart, as day and night our darling sufferer lay battling with the fierce disease, until her body could nowhere bear the softest handling without a cry of pain. I tried to pray, but I only repined. I could not even weep, though my heart seemed crushing beneath the stroke of her anguish. I thought since life was so fraught with sorrow and agony, I could not be thankful for my own, or for my children's.
The disease had reached its climax now, and though I lay by her side trying to soothe her with pet names and endearing words, she heeded it not, for she was delirious, and called pitifully to me: "Mamma, Amy is out in the snow, I must go after her." "Mamma, I can't tie her shoe." "Amy has my dishes." "O mamma, take them away, she will break them!" "See, ma, the horses will kick her." "Do, mamma, give me my doll, Amy is spoiling her."
During these ravings she would frequently attempt to rise, and then fall back with a moan. Then I remembered, in the heat and hurry of my work, the many burdens I had unconsciously placed upon my little six-year-old Maddie. This was present with her now; and the little incidents, at the time so trifling to me, so grievous to her, came back to me with many self-upbraidings, and her words were stinging arrows to my accusing conscience.
Truly, how many times her playthings had been devoted to the little destructive fingers of her baby sister, that I might, without interruption, compass my self-imposed tasks, and gratify my ambition to accomplish just so much. How many steps she had taken to save time for me and amuse Amy. Had they not both played in a cold room while I was too busy to note the fact, till they returned to me with blue hands and watery eyes, and I knew they were chilled through and through? Had they not, time and again, been turned off with a cold, unsatisfying lunch, instead of a carefully prepared dinner for childhood's appreciative appetite, that I might gain more opportunity to exhaust my strength and patience over some tedious piece of tucking, ruffling or trimming to adorn their apparel, and make them still more attractive to the eye of pride?
All this, and much more, in that dark hour I saw as exceedingly wrong; and I saw myself, whom I had before thought a tender, loving mother, "weighed in the balance and found wanting." I was a negligent, undutiful mother, unmindful of my child's best interests; and now God, whom I had complained of as "encompassing himself with a dark cloud, that our prayers should not pass through," seemed speaking to me through these circumstances of my life, and saying to me: "If I spare her, will you do your duty now?" I promised heartily, "I will, I will." More painful to me than the loss of the dear one was the thought of my neglect.
Slowly she began to recover; and the first time she was lifted without that heart-wringing cry, my heart overflowed with joy, my eyes with tears. The first time she knelt with us around the family altar, and the first time she sat in her usual place at the table, the smiles broke on my lips, while tears ran down my face. Oh, we were not sparing of pet names then; and and Maddie learned at last how inexpressibly dear she was to us. I had time then to prepare dainty food for her returning appetite. Her toys were no longer subject to the imperious will of her baby sister. Indeed, in many things they seemed to change places; and we might have been in danger of overdoing, had not Amy seemed to realize the situation, and quite naturally fell into our habit of tender concern for "poor sister." I had time now with patience and gentleness to correct the naughty habits formed, to teach Maddie not only a form of prayer, but its meaning. I thought I was the happiest woman in the world when she assumed her usual plays, and the music of her childish glee was unchecked, for it did not jar on disordered nerves or a discordant spirit.
One time early in her sickness she seemed depressed, and I said; "O darling, mother would let you run and play all you wished if you were only well."
She seemed thoughtful, but very sober, and finally said, while every word was to me a wound long in healing: "I am afraid ma, you will tell a lie."
"What!" said I, "ma tell a lie! Did my little girl ever know her ma to lie?"
She shook her head, but seemed unable to think I could allow her to run and play as she had often attempted to, noisily.
I was careful to see that my promise was fulfilled to the letter. But, oh, how many times during her sickness I feared I should never have cause to restrain those little feet, busy hands, and that prattling tongue more.
Now, for the sake of my family's comfort and welfare, I live and labor; but not as before. While I have time for every duty, I have none for needless ornament, or unseasonable work at midnight hours or before the dawn of day. If friends come in and find me cutting paper cats, or helping dress the children's dolls, when buttons come off, and strings fail and knot, I am serene, though my morning's work is not yet all done. They are serene and happy, too. Why should they not be so, where loving, cheerful sacrifice is the order of the day, instead of driving care?—L. P. in Arthur's Home Magazine.
Religion at Home.
It is a painful thought that the prevalence of impiety and infidelity must, to a great extent, be attributed to the defective exhibition of religion in so many of those who, according to their profession, ought to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world. The world is not what it might be, because so few Christians are what they ought to be. It is not that they do not shine on the Sabbath—that they are not devout worshipers in the sanctuary—that they are not the encouragers and supporters of works of faith and labors of love; but that they do not shine at home—that the dove-like spirit, the lamb-like behavior of the lowly Jesus is not apparent in the shop, in the counting-house, the warehouse, and the parlor. There is a preaching of the truth, a proclaiming of the excellency of the knowledge of Christ besides that which is listened to from the pulpit; and there is an eloquence without words, which, though it may not fire, yet enters deep into the soul of man—it is the preaching and the eloquence of Christian conduct. Every Christian, then, whether male or female, can preach the gospel; the humblest, the poorest, the most illiterate and obscure can do this; and daily and hourly preached it must be, if Christianity is to be presented in her beauty and brightness, and to allure, influence, and subdue the godless multitudes around us.
Religion, without a practical exhibition of it, is a mere nonentity, or at best but as a sapless tree, neither beautiful nor useful. There should be a striking contrast between a religious and worldly family—between those recognized as the followers of the Lord and those who live according to the flesh. The contrast should be as apparent, if not as striking, as is seen when we cast our eye on the cheerless and barren heath, and then on the verdant and flowery mead. The description given of believers and unbelievers in the Bible is very marked and forcible: the one is dead, the other alive; the one is darkness, the other is light in the Lord; the one is a forgiven child going to its Father's house, the other a rebel going his own way to perdition.
We readily know with whom we are in the family of unbelievers; a word from the lip, a book on the shelf, a picture on the wall, tell us pretty correctly that here God dwells not. But is the reverse of this true? Do we always as easily know when we are in the dwelling of the faithful? The children of this world do, by almost every word and work, plainly manifest that they are of the earth, earthy; do the disciples of Christ as manifestly evince that they are of heaven, heavenly? Those who serve in the families of the latter should, when departing from it, be able to say, "It was good for us to live there." Alas! how often has a different testimony been borne! There was the form of religion, but little of its reality; the words of prayer were heard, but the kind word of counsel and persuasion was music which seldom fell upon the ear; there was decorum and propriety of manners, but not much of the dissolving and dove-like spirit of Jesus; the voice of praise was heard, but too often the voice chiding, accompanied with severe looks and darkened brows.
Happily this is far from being true of every home; but is it not true of some? We speak that which we know, and testify that which we have seen. Oh! that it were not so, and that every Christian home were one of peace and love, like that of Bethany! then would Jesus come in spirit and abide there, and many would be constrained to exclaim, "How goodly are thy tents, O Israel!" Friends, remember that ye have a Master in heaven, whose all-searching eye is ever upon you. There are also other eyes upon you—the eyes of your unconverted servants, and the eyes of the world. They mark your character as it is daily exhibited in the retirement of your home and in the walks of busy life, and upon the holy traits of your character depend, to an extent beyond what you may imagine, the glory of God, the honor of his cause, and the salvation of men.—Christian Witness.
The Home Circle.
Tired Mothers.
A little elbow leans upon your knee—
Your tired knee that has so much to bear—
A child's dear eyes are looking lovingly
From underneath a thatch of tangled hair.
Perhaps you do not feel the velvet touch
Of warm, moist fingers holding yours so tight;
You do not prize the blessings overmuch—
You almost are too tired to pray to-night.
But it is blessedness! A year ago
I did not see this as I do to-day—
We are so dull and thankless, and too slow
To catch the sunshine as it slips away.
And now it seems surpassing strange to me
That while I wore the badge of motherhood
I did not kiss more oft and tenderly
The child that brought me only good.
And if, some night, when you sit down to rest,
You miss the elbow on your tired knee—
This restless curly head from off your breast,
This lisping tongue that chatters constantly;
If from your own the dimpled hands had slipped,
And ne'er would nestle in your palm again,
If the white feet into the grave had tripped—
I could not blame you for your heartache then.
I wonder that some mothers ever fret
At their precious darling clinging to their gown;
Or that the footprints when the days are wet,
Are ever black enough to make them frown.
If I could find a little muddy boot
Or cap, or jacket on my chamber floor—
If I could kiss a rosy, restless foot,
And hear it patter in my house once more;
If I could mend a broken cart to-day,
To-morrow make a kite to reach the sky,
There is no woman in God's world could say
She was more blissfully content than I!
But ah! the dainty pillow next my own
Is never rumpled by a shining head!
My singing birdling from its nest has flown—
The little boy I used to kiss is—dead. —Sel.
Reports from the Field.
By Editor
Bro. C. L. Boyd reports one baptism at Waco, Neb.
Bro. Geo. B. Starr, Albion, Neb., says:—Nine are now keeping the Sabbath, some of whom are already trying to win others.
Hanford, Tulare Co.
Bro. Wood has commenced a series of meetings here with encouraging prospects.
Colusa County.
Bro. J. D. Rice opened meetings at Willows, Colusa Co., and at last accounts was having full houses.
Michigan.
By H. M. Kenyon; M. S. Burnham
WE closed our labors at Douglas, Dec. 17. These brethren are of good courage. Less than three years ago, the church was organized with eleven members; they now number thirty-five. Through the labors of Brn. Jones and Daniels the past summer, quite a number have united with them; these new friends are zealous for the truth. All readily promised to pay the tithe and to help carry forward the missionary work. One was received into the church at this meeting.
H. M. KENYON.
M. S. BURNHAM.
December 31,
Nevada.
By B. A. Stephens
ST. CLAIR.—Closed meetings here Jan. 5. Wrongs, that had long troubled this church, were confessed, and all promised to take a higher stand for the observance of present truth. Several quit their tobacco, etc., and a spirit of harmony seemed to pervade the last meetings. We look for a brighter day for this church.
RENO.—Jan. 11 and 12, met with this church. The ordinances were celebrated for the first time in the State of Nevada by Seventh-day Adventists. Organized a church of seven members. W. E. Fricke was ordained elder, and W. E. Hand deacon, and C. M. Kinny was elected church clerk. We leave them greatly encouraged.
GENOA.—Have obtained the free use of the county court-house, and will begin a series of sermons on present truth here this evening. Pray for us.
B. A. STEPHENS.
January 15, 1879.
Temperance Colony, Fresno Co., Cal.
Bro. Morton remained here after Bro. Wood left, to carry on the work. The interest has been good, and the result good. Nine more have commenced to keep the Sabbath, and have signed the church covenant, and as many more have since promised to do so.
Mansfield, Minn.
By A. H. Vankirk
I CAME to Mansfield Dec. 9. Two weeks afterwards I was joined by Bro. Ells, whose timely help for a few days was appreciated by all. A few here were trying to live out the truth; now eighteen good souls have covenanted to obey God. I am now laboring in a school-house about six miles from Mansfield. January 8. A. H. VANKIRK.
East Norwalk, Ohio.
By H. A. St. John
Up to the present we have spoken twelve times in East Norwalk. The extreme cold weather has broken up our meeting twice, as our house is poor and could not be made comfortable. Bro. Wm. Beebe had held six meetings here before I came, with a fair interest. He assists me much by way of opening meetings, visiting, etc. Three persons have decided to obey the truth. We hope for others who are already convinced.
H. A. ST. JOHN.
January 8, 1879.
Newark, Ohio.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
We have just closed a three weeks' meeting at Newark. The brethren had completed a meeting-house, 28x46, eighteen-foot posts. As they are few and mostly poor, it required a great effort; however, they have a good little meeting-house. There was a debt on it of about $600; subscriptions were raised to the amount of about $500. Our wealthy brethren near this church should help them some upon it. Five or six embraced the Sabbath. Several of the children made a start in the Christian life. Seven adult persons united with the church.
We lately met with the church at Springfield, in their new hall. Three united with the church. All are in harmony.
In Dunkirk four have embraced the Sabbath within the past month.
D. M. Canright.
Ward, Wilson Co., Kan.
By L. D. Santee
I HAVE held meetings in Ward nearly three weeks, and the interest is great. People gather an hour before meeting time, and by the hour for service all the standing room is filled. Last week I preached ten times and filled up the days with visiting. Thus far, this is one of the most interesting meetings I have ever held.
Have sold some publications. An encouraging feature here is, that hardly ony one uses tobacco, and several who knew nothing of our faith are living out the health reform..
December 30. L. D. SANTEE.
Elivon, Kansas.
By Daniel T. Bourdeau
I CLOSED up my labors at Elivon last night, just four weeks after reaching the place. A church of twenty-two members was organized, and an elder was ordained. Two others were received as candidates for baptism.
Last Sabbath was a good day. Notwithstanding the unusually cold weather, seven were baptized. Bro. Cook remarked, "Just nine years ago yesterday occurred the first baptism in Kansas by Seventh-day Adventists." Hundreds have since been baptized in this noble field.
Bro. Enoch remains to teach some to read the Bible in French. He expects one of the new converts will soon help him in another field. Two of the French brethren purpose spending one year at our college, to prepare for the ministry. Others should follow their example. D. T. BOURDEAU.
Good Health.
Hygiene and Morality.
COMPARATIVELY few apprehend the close relation there is between the habits and manner of living of an individual and his moral status. But the more we observe this fact the more apparent it becomes. No class of people are more reckless of moral obligations than that class which gives but little or no attention to the laws which govern their being. They are generally found among the ignorant, and they acknowledge no law but that of self-gratification. They revere nothing but what tradition or superstition has taught them to dread. Not having taken the first measures in the contest with evil, and being under the control of wrong habits and misconceptions of their duties to themselves, they are often incapable of receiving good impressions except by the slowest degrees. And then the first step toward real virtue is in reforming their physical habits, for when in such a condition individuals are not susceptible to good and elevating influences.
On the other hand, one who, having gained a knowledge of the laws of life, properly relates himself to those laws by forming correct habits, gains the first great victory in overcoming evil and forming a moral character by denying selfish desires, and allowing in himself only those things which are for his physical well-being. The first steps in moral culture are thus taken by denying self, which is the first requirement that the Saviour makes of him who wishes to become his disciple. A good foundation is now laid for a Christian character. The mind is prepared to receive, and capable of comprehending, moral truths. The evil desires and habits being controlled, the individual reduces these truths to practice, the school of virtue becomes a delightful one, and its lessons are received with gratitude, and are readily appropriated. No one can attain to true culture and refinement without having learned these first principles, which are self-control and a proper relation to the laws of being.
G. T. in Health Reformer.
The Sick-Room.
By Christian at Work
PURE air in a sick-room is of the utmost importance. In illness, the poisoned body is desperately trying to throw off, through lungs, skin, and in every possible way, the noxious materials that have done the mischief. Bad air, and dirty or saturated bed clothes, increase the difficulty at the very time when the weakened powers need all the help they can get. Avoid air from kitchen or close closets. Outside air is the best, but, if needed, there should be a fire in the room to take off the chill. A cold is rarely taken in bed, with the bed clothes well tucked in, but oftener when getting up out of a warm bed when the skin is relaxed. Of course anything like a "chill" should be avoided, and it is not well to allow a draught or current of air to pass directly over the bed of the patient.
In disease less heat is produced by the body than in health. This decline occurs even in summer, and is usually most evident in the early morning, when the vital powers slacken, the food of the previous day having been exhausted. The sick should be watched between midnight and ten or eleven o'clock in the morning, and if any decline in heat is noticed, it should be supplied by jugs of hot water.
A sick-room should above all be quiet. Any rustling sound, such as that of a silk dress or shoes which creak, should be entirely avoided. If it is necessary to put coal on the fire, drop it on quietly in small paper sacks, or rolled in paper slightly dampened. Visitors should never be admitted to a sick-room. The necessary attendants are usually a sufficient annoyance to a weak patient, and many a tombstone might truthfully and appropriately be inscribed, "Talked to death by well-meaning friends." It is not generally the loudness of a noise that disturbs the sick, but the sound that produces expectation of something to happen. Some cannot bear any noise. Anything that suddenly awakens is injurious. Never awaken a sleeping patient unless ordered to do so by the physician. In sickness the brain is weakened with the rest of the body, and sleep strengthens it. If rest is interrupted soon after it is begun, the brain is weakened so much the more, and the patient becomes irritable and wakeful. If sleep lasts longer, he falls asleep again more readily. Never speak within the hearing of the sick in tones which cannot be fully understood. An occasional word, or murmur of conversation, or whisper, is intolerable, and occasions needless apprehension.—Christian at Work.
A Merry Heart
A MERRY heart doeth good like a medicine. Prov. 17: 22.
Are Shade-Trees Healthful?
A WRITER in the London Lancet takes the ground that the general custom of planting shade-trees in the streets and lanes of cities is to be deprecated since it undoubtedly interferes with the free circulation of air. It might be supposed that trees would aid in purifying the air by freeing it from carbon di-oxide; with which it becomes contaminated by the respiration of animals, the combustion of wood and coal, and vegetable and animal decomposition; but a moment's consideration will be sufficient to convince any one that for such a purpose the few trees which could be made to grow along the sides of narrow streets would be wholly insufficient. A few of the great furnaces in our cities would supply a whole forest with carbon di-oxide.
More than this, in all cities there are produced in large quantities numerous gases which are alike injurious to animal and vegetable life. Trees would certainly be no help in this regard.
Again, tall trees, with dense foliage, cast a shade upon the houses, and so prevent the entrance of sunshine into dwellings, thus depriving the inmates of one of the most potent of all disinfectants, and the most effective of tonics.
Furthermore, it is evident that a large number of trees in a city with narrow streets will very seriously obstruct the free circulation of air. The gentle summer breeze, as well as the stronger winds of fall and winter, is kept above the houses by the numerous obstructions, so that the city is not well ventilated. Town and city ventilation is a matter of as much importance as house ventilation. It is, indeed, of greater importance, since house ventilation is useless unless the outside air is free from contamination.
Cities located in a tropical or semi-tropical climate, should have wide streets; then they may also enjoy the luxury of shaded walks during the heat of summer.
The objections urged against trees planted along the sides of streets does not, of course, apply to trees in parks. The more parks filled with trees and other forms of vegetation a city can have, the better.—Good Health.