It has not been very long since, all over this land, the voice of professed Protestantism has been heard in notes of alarm against the military drills that for some time have been known to be carried on within the circles of various Catholic orders; and when the fact was noised abroad that those who are being thus drilled were liberally supplied with firearms, the protest grew more vigorous, and was regarded as conclusive evidence that it "foreboded no good."
But, for some unaccountable reason, this military spirit has of late taken possession of many of these very protesting Protestants, and all over the country, as if by magic, have sprung up within the Protestant churches military companies, uniformed, drilled, and armed in precisely the same manner as a company of soldiers would be who were preparing for the battle field. In this city there have been organized nearly a dozen such companies during the past year, and an inquiry as to the reason for this formation, from one specially interested, elicited the reply, "It is the most successful means we have found of keeping our young men within the pale of the church."
When our Saviour was here among men, he said to his disciples, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me." Is not the above excuse for these religio-military operations a sad, sad comment on the decline of godliness among the churches? Yet one of the characteristics of the professed church of God during the last days was that it would "have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof." "From such," the apostle says, "turn away."
But what is the inevitable result of this practice on the young mind? Does it inculcate the principles of peace for which the gospel of Christ is set? No, indeed, but the rather, as Mr. B. O. Flower, in an article in the Arena for August, says, "It is but the fostering of the savage in the young." Mr. Flower is not a Christian, and can hardly be said to be even a believer in the Bible, yet he sees the inevitable result of this course, as well as the inconsistency of professed Christians having anything to do with introducing such a thing into their organization, and says:—
The error they [the churches] committed lay in departing from the fundamental teachings of their own accredited Leader, whom they believe to be a God, and who, in life and word, emphasized in the most solemn and impressive manner the importance of driving from the brain every dream of war, every ideal that looked forward toward physical violence, every thought which comprehended the taking of human life.
But, aside from the antichristian idea of war that is sure to be inculcated in the minds of the young, through these military organizations, have not the Catholics, who have been charged with drilling their young men for an "evil purpose," as perfect and legitimate a right to believe that there is also an evil purpose on the part of Protestant leaders in thus arming and drilling their young men on these same lines? Can he who stands aloof and disinterestedly views the scene distinguish any difference? We have been told that we need not be surprised at the occurrence of anything from this time forward, but the thinking, observing man is surprised to a degree almost past comprehension at the developments on every hand in the moral and social world; and the idea of an armed militia, independent of the State; being carried on within the church, is one of the strangest and most incomprehensible of them all. It forebodes evil, and evil only.
Des Moines, Iowa.
MAN'S RELATION TO THE LAW.
By Mrs. E. G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
"THE law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." Before man was created, the heavenly intelligences were governed by the principles of the law of God. When man was created, God gave to Adam and Eve a knowledge of his ten precepts. When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy, God laid the foundation for marriage and for the Sabbath institution. In their happy innocency, the Lord placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, and gave them employment in dressing and keeping the garden which he had made for them. In activity of body and mind they had the means of obtaining good, and of glorifying their Heavenly Father. Like the angels of God, who are ever engaged758in doing good, in carrying out God's commands, man was ever to engage in earnest work.
Adam and Eve were placed upon trial, that it might be demonstrated as to whether they would obey the word of their Creator, or disobey his requirements. The Creator of man was his Father, and had an entire right to the service he could render. Body, soul, and spirit, man was the sole property of God. God revealed himself to the innocent pair in Eden, and conversed with them freely. God was their teacher, and instructed them in regard to their work. He made it plain to them that by obedience to his holy law they would retain happiness, and finally be blessed with immortality. Eternal life should be theirs if they regulated their conduct according to the principles of the law of God. Man was not left in uncertainty to suppose as to what course he should pursue, or to take any risk by venturing on some line of conduct which he might think a safe course. As children are educated by faithful parents, so Adam and Eve were instructed as to what was required of them as intelligent creatures of God. Every provision was made whereby blessings might be secured to the human race, and but one mild restriction was placed upon the sinless pair to test their loyalty to God.
The Lord had said unto them, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." In every matter God was to be obeyed; but the test of man's obedience in everything was to be found in his faithfulness in carrying out one particular command, in abstaining from taking of the forbidden tree. The result of obedience would be eternal life, and the outworking of disobedience would be death. Adam and Eve were tempted of Satan. The tempter came to them, saying: "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" And the woman said unto the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." And the serpent said unto the woman, "Ye shall not surely die; for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." They believed the words of the serpent, that were in contradiction to the words of God, their Maker. Falsehood was taken instead of truth, and the flood gates of woe were opened upon our world.
It was as Eve was standing near the forbidden tree that Satan gave utterance to the query of her mind, and thus the controversy on earth was begun. For when she saw that the tree was "good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." Satan presented to man the bribe of attaining to a higher position, of gaining knowledge and wisdom beyond that with which their Creator had endowed them, through an act of disobedience to his divine will. Satan had lost his derived power and glory, had lost heaven through pride and ambition, for he thought to place his throne above the stars of God, and to be like the Most High; and now, at a favorable opportunity, he presents the temptation which had originated with himself, in order to lead the creatures of God to doubt divine wisdom, and to cast reflection upon divine providences. Satan did not scruple at deception in order to gain his purpose and bring shadow over the life and character of the holy pair, to cause sorrow and grief in heaven, and to thwart the purpose of God in the creation of man. Pretending to be the friend of man, he placed himself as the enemy of God, and used all his power to prove that Jehovah had made a mistake in instituting the law to regulate the conduct of his creatures. But in casting contempt upon the law of God he was only seeking to further his hellish design of bringing the human race under his own control.
After Satan had induced man to sin against God, he claimed that man had chosen him as his leader in the place of God, and that his work from henceforth should be to unite with him in making void the law of Jehovah. It was his work now to enlist the beings whom God had created, to be the agents of Satan, and to coöperate with him in obliterating the moral image of God from the soul. Through all the ages he has worked upon the same principles that he worked upon in causing the fall of man. He presented the restriction of God in such a way to the mind of Eve as to create jealousy, and said to her, "God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." Satan cast reflections upon the character of God, representing him as selfish and oppressive.
Our first parents were without an experience for themselves; but, had they lived by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, they would not have disobeyed their Creator. The terrible and tremendous effects of their disobedience opened their eyes. They discerned that the holy covering of light that God had provided for them had departed from them, and that they were naked. Oh, if they had but heeded the instruction that God had given them,—to call upon him when they were threatened with evil from the fallen foe,—they would have had the presence of angels to shield them in the hour of temptation, and the fascinating charm of Satan would have been broken! But they did not look for the fallen foe to come to them with soft words and fair speeches, as a friend who would give them information fraught with weighty importance to them. Had Satan come to them with rough words, charging God with dishonesty, accusing him of being overbearing, and of giving them commandments that would require the degradation of their independence, they would have understood his attack; but in flattering their pride, in presenting to them a prospect of exultation, he caused them to forget God, and sin entered into the world. The beings that God had created placed themselves on the enemy's side. The human family was lost.
Will God abolish his law because Adam sinned? Had he done this, he would have immortalized sin, which is the transgression of his law. No, this would have been impossible. Wherever there is a kingdom there must be statutes and laws, and the law of God is the transcript of his character. But provisions had been made in the counsels of the Father and the Son to meet this emergency. It had been provided that, should Adam fall a prey to the tempter's power, a ransom should be found in the Son of God, who should become man's Redeemer. An opportunity should be given to man to repent of his sin, and, through faith in Christ as his personal Saviour, to be restored to the divine image and favor. After the fall, the Lord said unto the serpent, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."
The controversy was to wage between Christ and Satan throughout all time. The costly ransom that was provided reveals the value that God set upon man. Christ volunteered to become man's surety and substitute, and took upon himself the penalty of transgression, in order that a way might be provided whereby every son and daughter of Adam may, through faith in their Redeemer, coöperate with heavenly intelligences, and oppose the workings of Satan, and thus bring in everlasting righteousness. The Lord Jesus would take man into partnership with himself. Human intelligences have been endowed by their Creator with capabilities and powers, which, if surrendered to God, will promote his glory in building up his kingdom in the earth. Human beings can reach human beings through the imparted gift of the Spirit of God. Through faith man accepts the world's Redeemer as his Captain, and when standing under his blood-stained banner, he becomes a partaker of the divine nature, and in coöperation with God is to act an important part in revealing the glory of God to a world in the darkness of transgression. Unless man shall fully coöperate with Christ in the work of rescuing souls from evil, the plan of salvation can never be carried out. But through the scheme of redemption, notwithstanding the opposition of Satan's united agencies, the Lord will bring good out of the evil that Satan designed should exist. The counsels of God will stand before unfallen worlds, before heavenly intelligences, before the fallen world, and he will accomplish all the good pleasure of his will.
Man has the honor of being taken into partnership with God, and the secrets of the Lord are with them that fear him. God will give light and knowledge, so that, by conforming to his directions, man may become one with Jesus Christ; and the Father will love him who is conformed to his law, as he loves his only-begotten Son. Satan has laid his plans for the purpose of divorcing man from God, and causing him to break God's holy law. He has come to man in our day as he came to Adam in Eden, and through his agents is saying to-day that the law is not binding on man, but that it is abolished. Those to whom God has given reasoning powers should use them to better advantage than did Adam when he transgressed the law of God. We have the example of Adam before us to warn us from treading on the dangerous ground upon which Adam fell. Adam accepted the false suggestions and the foul misrepresentations concerning God, rather than a plain "Thus saith the Lord." Let not the presumptuous assertions and claims of men be reiterated as the voice of God. Let those who would serve God remember that it is written, "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."
General Articles.
“Having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth.” Rev. 14:6.
MAKE US THINE OWN.
By Fannie Bolton
BY FANNIE BOLTON.
Make us Thine own while still the shadows gloom,
While still we bear our loved ones to the tomb,
Till for our hands immortal roses bloom,
Make us Thine own.
Make us Thine own while, 'mid a world around,
We see and seek for great hearts never found,
To understand heart's mystery profound,
Make us Thine own.
Make us Thine own while still temptations press;
While sorrows sweep, leave us not comfortless;
While lone and weary, be Thou near to bless;
Make us Thine own.
Make us Thine own through youth's untested day;
Make us Thine own in our maturer way;
And, oh, when life is old, and paths are gray,
Make us Thine own!
Make us Thine own that still through life's brief span
We may be kinder to our fellow-man,
That we may know and carry out Thy plan,
Make us Thine own.
Like Thee, Thine own, not a possession only,
But like Thee, near Thee, never to be lonely,
Give us Thine heart of love for our hearts stony,
Make us Thine own.
Make us Thine own, that all that else debars
May urge us on, that else what sears and mars
May perfect us, and win us brighter stars,
Make us Thine own.
Through trial and weariness, and earth's sad fears,
Through anguish and the bitter cup of tears,
Through joy triumphant, through eternal years,
Make us Thine own.
Scientific Features Expressive of Facts in the Plan of Redemption
By E. W. Whitney
MUSIC. NO. 4.
Scientific Features Expressive of Facts in the Plan of Redemption.
BY ELDER E. W. WHITNEY.
THERE are mysteries in the plan of redemption that are to the heavenly angels subjects of continual amazement. And these will be the study of the redeemed through eternal ages. As they contemplate the work of God in creation and redemption, new truth will continually unfold to the wondering and delighted mind. As they learn more of the wisdom, the love, and the power of God, their minds will be constantly expanding, and their joy will continually increase.—Mrs. E. G. White.
The close relation of music to revelation and the work of God in its past history has been considered in preceding articles; it is designed in this to present a few of the more simple coincidences between facts connected with the plan of redemption and those in the science of music.
Considering the prominent elements of harmony existing in all nature—God's work—(excepting the seeming interruptions caused by sin), and the universal nature of the plan of God in saving men, we may approach the study of a science which is itself the real expression of harmony, and which in its influence and effects is also universal, and under all circumstances connected with the operation of the gospel plan, with a reasonable expectation, at least, that there may be a vital relation between them.
Why do we in our minds separate so widely between science and religion? May there not be in every science, when rightly comprehended, that which is expressive of and connected with the work of God as revealed in his word?
We notice first of all, then, certain numbers which are peculiarly significant in the plan of God in redemption, which in the science of music constitute the basis of its mathematical relations. The numbers seven and twelve are recognized at once as perhaps the most significant numbers in the Bible, a fact so familiar that it is not necessary to occupy space with references even. These numbers hold an equally prominent place in the mathematical construction of the musical scale, whether considered in the whole compass of appreciable musical sounds, or in the narrower limit of the octave, it being seemingly but a miniature, or contraction of the expanded scale.
The octave mathematically considered is a marvel of nature. A superficial study of it might give the idea of disorder and lack of design, rather than otherwise. It consists of seven tones (the eighth being a repetition of the first at a higher pitch, and becomes number one of another series of seven), arranged at peculiarly irregular intervals, in five of which occur other tones, making twelve in all and constituting what is known as the chromatic scale, in distinction from the seven, called the diatonic scale. The more carefully this arrangement is studied the more interesting and marvelous it appears. For instance, while the irregular arrangement referred to above, and the scale itself, is based upon thoroughly scientific principles, those principles alone are insufficient to explain certain peculiarities which are apparent in it throughout. Further reference will be made to this fact later.
The numbers seven and twelve, which are seen to enter into the octave, find a relative place in the expanded scale. Seven octaves is the average limit of the human ear to recognize musical sounds. We have the number seven again, corresponding to the seven tones of the diatonic scale. These seven octaves are naturally and exactly divisible into twelve-fifths (a fifth being the most natural interval in music smaller than the octave), corresponding to the twelve tones of the chromatic scale. Again the interval of the fifth (represented by the syllables do—sol) is made up of seven chromatic intervals, or semi-tones, constituting a sort of miniature of the octave, as the octave does of the expanded scale of seven octaves.
These illustrations (though others might be given) are sufficient to indicate the same prominence and importance of these two numbers in the science of music, as they are known to have in the plan of God. Now, is there a significance in their relations and occurrence in the two connections?
It is not a new idea that the number seven, used primarily in numbering the days of the week, originating at creation, represents the seven thousand years of time separated from the eternity before and after it, during which the plan of God should be fully accomplished, the universe perfected and forever freed from sin, and from its possible introduction again. This result will have been secured by the actual test of sin having been successfully met by every intelligence in the universe who has passed into the eternity beyond, and by the utter destruction of all who have not successfully met such test during the period of time. The Jews held something such a belief concerning the significance of the seven days of the week, as appears from the following taken from the "Encyclopedia Britannica," article "Millennium":—
The Talmud has no fixed doctrine on the point. The view most frequently expressed there is that the Messianic kingdom will last for one thousand years. [Then, quoting from the Talmud] "In six days God created the world, on the seventh he rested. But a day of God is equal to a thousand years (Ps. 90:4). Hence the world will last for six thousand years of toil and labor; then will come one thousand years of Sabbath rest for the people of God in the kingdom of the Messiah."
This extract is not quoted in proof of the idea at all, but simply as showing that it is by no means new. However, such a view does not seem unreasonable. That God, who from the beginning knew the end, in the creation of this world, which was to be the scene of the great controversy between Christ and Satan, which should test the loyalty of the universe, should embody in that work a sort of forecast of the real work of redemption resulting in the perfection and permanence of all his works, is neither unreasonable nor strange. Further, that he, as the Author of all science as well as of revelation, should at the same time with creation establish a science which should also embody in its construction and effects an expression of the prominent features of his plan and work, is no more unreasonable or strange. It is rather in keeping with his wisdom and character to furnish his creatures such a science to accompany them through the ordeal of trial which they are to undergo for their perfection.
The question may be asked, then, If music or the musical scale has such a significance, why has it not been understood in that light until the present? The same question might with the same propriety be asked concerning many things which God has provided for the help of his people which they may not understand, even when experiencing their benefits. But God and his wisdom are infinite, and what he prepares for those who love him is also infinite; and if he has given us in the science of music that which has, perhaps, but just begun to be comprehended in its true and far-reaching significance, this fact does not in the least detract from the rich and constantly increasing blessing which we have seen music to have been to his work through all the past. God's wondrous plan is ever unfolding, revealing more and more of his wisdom and love. So a science given to express the various features of such a plan should ever be developing new phases of beauty and perfection.
(To be continued.)
God's Original Design.
In Rev. 4:11 we read that God created all things for his own pleasure. It needs no argument to convince one who has any just conception of the character of God that the Creator cannot take pleasure in the death of his creatures. But the use of flesh meats daily sacrifices the lives of millions of God's creatures. Therefore the use of flesh is contrary to God's original plan. Indeed, death itself had no place in his design, for sin and Satan were its progenitors. Rom. 5:12. And when God's original plan is carried out, "there shall be no more death, . . . neither shall there be any more pain." Rev. 21:4. But if there were no death, there would be no consumption of the flesh of dead animals. It was not even designed that the lower animals should subsist on the carcasses of their fellow-creatures. When the Almighty spoke perfection upon his created work, no carnivorous beast was there, with thoughts of blood, to breathe defiance to his Maker's will that all should be in subjection to the power of man; for when, in that bright morn so soon to dawn, the earth shall again blossom as of old, and Eden be restored to the condition it enjoyed before marred by sin and death, "no lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon." But "the wolf and the8lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock. . . . They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord." Isa. 35:9; 65:25. Therefore when one eliminates from his dietary all forms of flesh foods, and teaches others so to do, he is simply working in harmony with God's original plans, and preparing himself to enjoy that life in the kingdom of his God, where mercy and peace shall reign supreme. The record in Gen. 1:29, 30 confirms the above position:—
"And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat; and it was so."
In his original and typical bill of fare no flesh meat was provided. Its arrangements contemplated not the taking of animal life. A strictly vegetable diet is the plan of the all-wise God. Can man improve upon his ways? Many have tried it but have made a miserable failure. To the question the words of inspiration give a most emphatic negative: "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isa. 55:9.
God certainly gave his creatures the food best adapted to their needs, and it is a matter of great satisfaction to know that science and human experience, in perfect accord with revelation, testify in no uncertain tones that grains and fruits contain all the food elements necessary to fully sustain and nourish the body, and that, too, in better proportion, and in a form more easily assimilated, than those found in flesh foods. If flesh foods were necessary or beneficial, God would have given them freely to man at the beginning; for "no good thing will be withheld from them that walk uprightly." Ps. 84:11. But God did withhold flesh meats from his people for the first two thousand years after creation. Therefore flesh meats are not among the "good things" that God desires his people to have. It was during this period, too, that men of giant frames and mighty intellects lived—men whose lives, not shortened by the stimulating poisons found in all animal tissues, lengthened out their days to almost a thousand years, men who, physically at least, were much nearer "the image of God" than the puny, short-lived, degenerate specimens of to-day, who, puffed up in their own imaginations, and supported by custom and tradition, bid defiance to their Creator's plans, and, following their own lusts, in the language of the illustrious Greek, "gorge the ungodly maw with meats obscene." Would not a just conception of the sixth precept of the Decalogue forbid the slaughter of animals except in cases of dire necessity, where one's life was at stake, in which case the destruction of inferior animals might be justified by the fact that man's life is worth more than that of the lower animals, and by the statement of Christ that "the life is more than meat"?
In Isa. 43:7 we are told that man was made for God's glory. The use of any article of food that poisons or stimulates the body, that breaks down the system, that beclouds the intellect, that causes sickness or premature death, cannot be for the glory of God. If, then, it can be shown that the use of flesh meats is responsible for all or any of the above conditions, it will be promptly discarded by all who heed the admonitions of the apostle recorded in 1 Cor. 10:31: "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." But that the use of flesh is inimical to the best interests of mankind physically and mentally is susceptible of the clearest proof; and, did space permit, many testimonies might be given from eminent physicians and scientists, who have given this subject careful thought and painstaking investigation, in support of this statement.
That the flesh of animals is a prolific source of various disorders common to man in this country is so well known that a simple statement of the fact is all that is necessary here. Newspapers frequently contain reports of persons suffering with trichinosis, tapeworm, consumption, etc., contracted by eating diseased meats. Gout, rheumatism, and various digestive and nervous disorders are commonly caused by the use of flesh meats. Can this be to the glory of God? "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" 1 Cor. 6:19. We cannot afford to use anything that will injure or destroy our God-given powers, physical or mental. God requires us to present to him our bodies in the very best possible condition, a living sacrifice. This is simply a "reasonable service." Rom. 12:1.
VEGETARIANISM. NO I.
By W. H. Wakeham
BY ELDER W. H. WAKEHAM.
In the sense in which I shall use the term, one who abstains from the use of flesh meats is a vegetarian. The number of those who are practically such, if not wholly so, is much greater than is commonly supposed, and is constantly being augmented by thinking men and women from every walk in life. As viewed from the standpoint of the advocates of vegetarianism, the subject is one of considerable importance; and while many arguments in favor of this practice may be presented from various sources, I shall confine myself in this paper to a few observations concerning the teachings of the Bible on this subject. And we come to the word of God with the full assurance that if this question be of importance to the human race, we shall find definite information concerning it, for we are assured that the Scriptures will furnish us “unto all good works.” 2 Tim. 3:17.
SEQUEL TO THE BIBLE READINGS AT BREWER’S.
By M. B. Duffie
BY M. B. DUFFIE.
FOLLOWING the Bible readings given by Mabel Brewer, and the many books, papers, pamphlets, and tracts that had been sold, loaned, or given away in the neighborhood by the colporters and other workers who came down to follow up the interest thus awakened, and so great was the desire upon the part of the people to hear the themes presented by word of mouth, that a corps of ministers came and began a regular course of meetings in the town hall. After several discourses had been given, and the variance between the themes presented and the preconceived ideas of the people became so apparent, the steady attendants began to take sides, and little knots of people could be seen congregated upon the street corners and elsewhere at almost any hour of the day or night with their Bibles open in hand, all engaged in earnest discussion of the subjects which were so visibly agitating the public mind. The village pastors also became very much wrought up over the frequent appeals made to them by the more spiritual-minded members of their flocks for some scriptural buoys by which to keep them afloat, being all at sea in the quagmire of uncertainty.
In the fold of the Rev. Mr. Bronson, was a young Mr. Draper and wife, who had become somewhat interested in the new doctrines that were being so industriously promulgated, and hence the good man was feeling no little troubled over it. Mr. Draper was a well-to-do merchant of the place, and he and his wife had been influential and active members of Mr. Bronson’s church, Mr. Draper occupying the official positions of deacon, superintendent of the Sunday school, and trustee. His wife held the position of secretary and librarian. So the prospect of losing one and possibly both of them was a very serious thing in the mind of Mr. Bronson.
Mrs. Draper had not gone so deep into the research as had her husband, and at first really looked with no little concern, if not alarm, at the interest and enthusiasm which Mr. Draper manifested in the matter, especially so when she thought he might consider it necessary to relinquish his lucrative business and step out and obey what he seemed to regard as truth, as required by the fourth commandment. She had always had a great and inherited regard for Sunday herself. Her mother, long since dead, had kept it religiously, and had taught her to do the same, and when Mr. Draper finally yielded to his convictions of duty, and stepped out, it looked more dubious to her than ever. In a frame of mind bordering almost on desperation she was passing down the street, when she chanced to meet Mr. Bronson, her minister. He noticed her agitation and redness of eyes, and tried to say something to comfort her.
“Oh, can you not come to our house tonight, Mr. Bronson,” she said, “and get Edward out of the terrible tangle in which he seems to be? I cannot, must not, have him keep Saturday when I keep Sunday. It is just too bad! I do wish those folks had stayed away, and not come here to stir us all up in this way, when we were all so peaceful and contented.”
Mr. Bronson thought, no providence preventing, he could call on them that evening, and do what he could for them, but, owing to engagements which had not, of course, occurred to him, he did not appear, and so Mr. Draper and his wife sat down and calmly investigated the matter for themselves. When they retired Mrs. Draper was not quite so sure as she had previously been that Sunday was the day the Lord referred to in the Sabbath commandment.
The next day Mrs. Draper met Mr. Bronson in the post office. He was profuse in his apologies for not having kept his appointment. He said that it was not so much the particular day that was required to be kept holy, as it was to devote one-seventh part of our time to devotion after any six days of labor.
“Do you mean to say, then,” queried Mrs. Draper, “that one day is just as good as another?”
“In a general way, yes,” said Mr. Bronson, “for Paul says, you know, ‘Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind.’ That means that one day in seven is just as good as another.”
“Well, if that is the case, I can keep the seventh day if I want to, and be justified therein, can I not?”
“You no doubt could, so far as the Sabbatic law is concerned, though you no doubt realize that public opinion must always have more or less of a bearing upon such questions. We must, of course, avoid doing anything to cause us to be regarded as odd, or eccentric, you understand, in the minds of our fellows. Of course, while one day is, perhaps, as good as another, it is no doubt better to keep Sunday in the spirit, which I am quite sure we ought to do.”
Mrs. Draper bade him good-day, and went slowly up the street towards home, soliloquizing thus: “Well, if one day is just as good as another, as Mr. Bronson admitted, and as Edward believes in keeping the seventh, and has chosen that seventh part of time, and as Edward has proved to me that that day is the seventh, or Sabbath, and that no other day is—I am now almost persuaded to keep it myself.”761
Nor was she alone in this decision, for, after a sermon by Mr. Bronson, in which he took the same position, that any day would do, and that Sunday was just as good as any, several other persons who had been connected with his church, some of them in prominent positions, asked for letters of withdrawal.
To the various committees appointed to wait upon them for the purpose of trying to induce them to remain in the fold, the almost uniform reply, in substance, was this: “Elder Bronson says that one day is just as good as another, and as the Bible chooses the seventh day, we think it will be fully as safe to keep that day.”
This was not just the result Mr. Bronson had looked for, and, seeing the bad break he had made, he tried to fix it up by saying that, on account of the rotundity of the earth, it was impossible to keep the Sabbath anyway. Then the committee again called upon the disaffected ones, but when they asked the said committee how it would be possible to know when Sunday got around if they could not tell when Saturday came, that seemed to be a question upon which the committee had not sufficiently pondered, and wished to have more light before committing themselves. So, after a few casual remarks about the weather, they gracefully withdrew to further consult with Brother Bronson. He said it was easy enough to answer that question, and that was by asking another, namely, how anyone could possibly know to an absolute certainty when the Sabbath actually does come, on account of a day being lost out of the reckoning, away back in the past somewhere, so long ago that he had about forgotten when, or just what day it was, even.
When the committee again called to unravel their tangles, and sprung this new impossibility in the way of obedience, the question was raised, “If it is true that a day has been lost, how are we going to determine but what that day was Sunday?” While the committee thought they could clearly see that the estrayed day was Saturday, it apparently had never dawned upon their minds that Sunday had ever had so narrow an escape.
When Elder Bronson became acquainted with the fact that so many of the main pillars had been withdrawn from the support of his church fabric, and that there was therefore a danger of collapse, he caught the echoes of a call from a more distant and peaceful field. As no one had been found who cared to take up the burdens he had so suddenly and gladly laid down, and as the few sheep who had not strayed from the pen found themselves without a shepherd, and were soon lost in the highway and byways of the world, the church property was finally bidden in by the seventh-day people, or commandment keepers, as they are sometimes called, who now occupy the premises for church and Sabbath school purposes. Quite a few of the other members of Mr. Bronson’s old flock, all heads of families, as well as several who have been prominent in the work in the other churches of the place, have also decided to cast their lot with this people, who, though poor in this world’s goods, many of them, are, it is hoped, rich in the kingdom of heaven.