Earlier text: THE BIRTH OF SAMUELTHOUGHTS ON DANIEL.
By Uriah Smith
CHAPTER VII.—THE FOUR BEASTS.
MEANWHILE, Zeno, the emperor of the East, and friend of the pope, was anxious to drive Odoacer out of Italy (Machiavelli, p. 6), a movement which he soon had the satisfaction of seeing accomplished without trouble to himself, in the following manner: Theodoric had come to the throne of the Ostrogothic kingdom in Moesia and Pannonia. He, being on friendly terms with Zeno, wrote him, stating that it was impossible for him to restrain his Goths within the impoverished province of Pannonia, and asking his permission to lead them to some more favorable region which they might conquer and possess. Zeno gave him permission to march against Odoacer, and take possession of Italy. Accordingly, after a three years' war, the Herulian kingdom in Italy was overthrown, Odoacer was treacherously slain, and Theodoric established his Ostrogoths in the Italian peninsula. As already stated, he was an Arian, and the law of Odoacer, subjecting the election of the pope to the approval of the king, was still retained. The following incident will show how completely the papacy was in subjection to his power. The Catholics in the East, having commenced a persecution against the Arians in 523, Theodoric summoned Pope John into his presence, and thus addressed him: "If the emperor [Justin, the predecessor of Justinian] does not think fit to revoke the edict which he has lately issued against those of my persuasion [that is, the Arians], it is my firm resolution to issue the like edict against those of his [that is, the Catholics]; and to see it everywhere executed with the same rigor. Those who do not profess the faith of Nicaea are heretics to him, and those who do are heretics to me. Whatever can excuse or justify his severity to the former, will excuse and justify mine to the latter." "But the emperor," continued the king, "has none about him who dare freely and openly speak what they think, or to whom he would hearken, if they did. But the great veneration which he professes for your See, leaves no room to doubt but he would hearken to you. I will therefore have you to repair forthwith to Constantinople, and there to remonstrate, both in my name and your own, against the violent measures in which that court has so rashly engaged. It is in your power to divert the emperor from them; and till you have, nay, till the Catholics [this name Theodoric applies to the Arians] are restored to the free exercise of their religion, and to all the churches from which they have been driven, you must not think of returning to Italy."—Bower's Hist. of Popes, vol. 1, p. 325. The pope who was thus peremptorily ordered not to set his foot again upon Italian soil until he had carried out the will of the king, certainly could not hope for much advancement toward any kind of supremacy till that power was taken out of the way. Baronius, according to Bower, will have it that the pope sacrificed himself on this occasion, and advised the emperor not by any means to comply with the demand the king had sent him. But Mr. Bower thinks this inconsistent, since he could not, he says, "sacrifice himself without sacrificing, at the same time, the far greater part of the innocent Catholics in the West, who were either subject to King Theodoric, or to other Arian princes, in alliance with him." It is certain that the pope and the other ambassadors were treated with severity on their return, which Bower explains on this wise: "Others arraign them all of high treason; and truly the chief men of Rome were suspected at this very time of carrying on a treasonable correspondence with the court of Constantinople, and machinating the ruin of the Gothic empire in Italy."—Id. p. 326. The feelings of the papal party toward Theodoric may be accurately estimated, according to a quotation already given, by the vengeance which they took on his memory, when they tore from his massive tomb in Ravenna the porphyry vase in which his Arian subjects had enshrined his ashes. But these feelings are put into language by Baronius, who inveighs "against Theodoric as a cruel barbarian, as a barbarous tyrant, as an impious Arian." But "having exaggerated with all his eloquence, and bewailed the deplorable condition of the Roman Church reduced by that heretic to a state of slavery, he comforts himself in the end, and dries up his tears with the pious thought, that the author of such a calamity died soon after, and was eternally damned!"—Baronius' Annals, A. D. 526, p. 116; Bower, vol. 3. p. 328. While the Catholics were thus feeling the restraining power of an Arian king in Italy, they were suffering a violent persecution from the Arian Vandals in Africa.—Gibbon, chap. 37, sec. 2. Elliot, in his Horae Apocalypticae, vol. 3, p. 152, note 3, says: "The Vandal kings were not only Arians, but persecutors of the Catholics; in Sardinia and Corsica under the Roman Episcopate, we may presume, as well as in Africa." Such was the position of affairs when, in 533, Justinian entered upon his Vandal and Gothic wars. Wishing to secure the influence of the pope and the Catholic party, he issued that memorable decree which was to constitute the pope the head of all the churches, and from the carrying out of which in 538, the period of papal supremacy is to be dated. And whoever will read the history of the African campaign, 533-4, and the Italian campaign, 534-8, will notice that the Catholics everywhere hailed as deliverers the army of Belisarius, the general of Justinian. The testimony of D'Aubigne (Reformation, p. 1, chap. 1), also throws light upon the undercurrents which gave shape to outward movements in these eventful times. He says: "Princes whom these stormy times often shook upon their thrones, offered their protection if Rome would in its turn support them. They conceded to her the spiritual authority, provided she would make a return in secular power. They were lavish of the souls of men, in the hope that she would aid them against their enemies The power of the hierarchy, which was ascending, and the imperial power, which was declining, leaned thus one upon the other, and by this alliance accelerated their twofold destiny. Those Rome could not lose by it. An edict of Theodosius II. and of Valentinian III. proclaimed the Roman bishop 'rector of the whole church.' Justinian published a similar decree." But no decree of this nature could be carried into effect until the Arian horns, which stood in its way, were plucked up. The Vandals fell before the victorious arms of Belisarius in 534; and the Goths, retiring, left him in undisputed possession of Rome in 538.—Gibbon's Rome, chap. 41. Procopius relates that the African war was undertaken by Justinian for the relief of the Christians (Catholics) in that quarter; and that when he expressed his intention in this respect, the prefect of the palace came very near dissuading him from his purpose; but a dream appeared to him, in which he was bidden "not to shrink from the execution of his design; for by assisting the Christians he would overthrow the power of the Vandals."—Evagrius Eccl. Hist., book 4, chap. 16. Listen again to Mosheim: "It is true that the Greeks who had received the decrees of the council of Nice (that is the Catholics), persecuted and oppressed the Arians wherever their influence and authority could reach; but the Nicenians, in their turn, were not less rigorously treated by their adversaries (the Arians) particularly in Africa and Italy, where they felt, in a very severe manner, the weight of the Arian power, and the bitterness of hostile resentment. The triumphs of Arianism were, however, transitory, and its prosperous days were entirely eclipsed, when the Vandals were driven out of Africa, and the Goths out of Italy, by the arms of Justinian."—Mosheim's Church Hist., cent 6, p 2. chap. 5, sec. 3. Elliot in his "Horae Apocalypticae," makes two enumerations of the ten kingdoms which arose out of the Roman empire, varying the second list from the first according to the changes which had taken place at the latter period to which the second list applies. His first list differs from that of Machiavelli, adopted by Adventists, only in that he puts the "Alemans" in place of the Huns, and the Bavarians in place of the Lombards, a variation which can be easily accounted for. But out of this list he names the three that were plucked up before the papacy in these words: "I might cite three that were eradicated from before the pope, out of the list first given, viz., the Heruli, under Odoacer, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths." Vol. 3, p. 152, note 1. Although he prefers the second list, in which he puts the Lombards instead of the Heruli, the foregoing is good testimony that if we make the enumeration of the ten kingdoms while the Heruli were a ruling power, they were one of the horns which were plucked up. By the historical testimony above cited, we think it clearly established that the three horns plucked up were the powers named; viz., the473 Heruli in A. D. 493, the Vandals in 534, and the Ostrogoths in 538. 1. He shall speak great words against the Most High. Has the papacy done this? Look at a few of his self-assumed titles: "His Holiness," "Vicegerent of the Son of God," "Our Lord God, the Pope," "Another God upon earth," "King of the world," "Kings of kings, and Lord of lords."
Said Pope Nicholas to the emperor Michael, "The pope, who is called God by Constantine, can never be bound or released by man; for God cannot be judged by man." Is there need of bolder blasphemy than this? Listen to the adulation the popes have received from their followers without rebuke: A Venetian prelate, in the fourth session of the Lateran, addressed the pope as follows: "Thou art our Shepherd, our Physician, in short, a second God upon earth." Another bishop called him "the lion of the tribe of Judah, the promised Saviour." Lord Anthony Pucci, in the fifth Lateran, said to the pope, "The sight of thy divine majesty does not a little terrify me; for I am not ignorant that all power both in heaven and in earth is given unto you; that the prophetic saying is fulfilled in you, 'All the kings of the earth shall worship him, and nations shall serve him.'" See Oswald's "Kingdom Which Shall not Be Destroyed," pp. 97-99. Again, Dr. Clarke, on verse 25, says: "He shall speak as if he were God." So St. Jerome quotes from Symmachus. To none can this apply so well or so fully as to the popes of Rome. They have assumed infallibility, which belongs only to God. They profess to forgive sins, which belongs only to God. They profess to open and shut Heaven, which belongs only to God. They profess to be higher than all the kings of the earth, which belongs only to God. And they go beyond God in pretending to loose whole nations from their oath of allegiance to their kings, when such kings do not please them. And they go against God, when they give indulgences for sin. This is the worst of all blasphemies. 2. And shall wear out the saints of the Most High. Has the papacy done this? For the mere information of any student of church history, no answer need here be given. All know that for long years the papal church has pursued its relentless work against the true followers of God. Chapter after chapter might be given, would our limited space permit. Wars, crusades, massacres, inquisitions and persecutions of all kinds,—these were their weapons of extinction. Scott's Church History says: "No computation can reach the numbers who have been put to death, in different ways, on account of their maintaining the profession of the gospel, and opposing the corruptions of the church of Rome. A million of poor Waldenses perished in France; nine hundred thousand orthodox Christians were slain in less than thirty years after the institution of the order of the Jesuits. The Duke of Alva boasted of having put to death in the Netherlands thirty-six thousand by the hand of the common executioner during the space of a few years. The Inquisition destroyed, by various tortures, one hundred and fifty thousand within thirty years. These are a few specimens, and but a few, of those which history has recorded. But the total amount will never be known till the earth shall disclose her blood and no more cover her slain." Commenting upon the prophecy that the little horn should "wear out the saints of the Most High" Barnes, in his notes on Daniel 7: 25, says: "Can any one doubt that this is true of the papacy? The Inquisition; the persecution of the Waldenses; the ravages of the Duke of Alva; the fires of Smithfield; the tortures at Goa—indeed the whole history of the papacy, may be appealed to in proof that this is applicable to that power. If any thing could have worn out the saints of the Most High, could have cut them off so that evangelical religion would have become extinct, it would have been the persecutions of the papal power. In the year 1208 a crusade was proclaimed by Pope Innocent III. against the Waldenses and the Albigenses, in which a million of men perished. From the beginning of the order of Jesuits, in the year 1540, to 1580, nine hundred thousand were destroyed. One hundred and fifty thousand perished by the Inquisition in thirty years. In the Low Countries fifty thousand persons were hanged, beheaded, burned and buried alive, for the crime of heresy, within the space of thirty-eight years, from the edict of Charles V. against the Protestants to the peace of Cateau-Cambresis in 1559. Eighteen thousand suffered by the hand of the executioner, in the space of five years and a half, during the administration of the Duke of Alva. Indeed the slightest acquaintance with the history of the papacy will convince any one that what is here said of 'making war with the saints' (verse 21), and 'wearing out the saints of the Most High' (verse 25), is strictly applicable to that power, and will accurately describe its history." See Buck's Theological Dictionary, Art., Persecutions; Oswald's Kingdom, etc., pp. 107-133; Dowling's History of Romanism; Foxe's Book of Martyrs; Charlotte Elizabeth's Martyrology; The Wars of the Huguenots; The Great Red Dragon, by Anthony Gavin, formerly one of the Roman Catholic priests of Saragossa, Spain; Histories of the Reformation, etc. To parry the force of this damaging testimony from all history, papists deny that the church ever persecuted any one; it has been the secular power; the church has only passed decision upon the question of heresy, and then turned the offenders over to the civil power to be dealt with according to the pleasure of the secular court. The impious hypocrisy of this claim is transparent enough to make it an absolute insult to common sense. In those days of persecution what was the secular power? Simply a tool in the hand of the church and under its control, to do its bloody bidding. And when the church delivered its prisoners to the executioners to be destroyed, with fiendish mockery it made use of the following formula: "And we do leave thee to the secular arm, and to the grace of the secular court, but at the same time do most earnestly beseech that court so to moderate its sentence as not to touch thy blood, nor to put thy life in any sort of danger." and then, as intended, the unfortunate victims of popish hate were immediately executed.—Geddes' Tracts on Popery. View of the Court of Inquisition in Portugal, p. 446. Limborch, vol. ii., p. 289. But the false claims of papists in this respect have been flatly denied and disproved by one of their own standard writers, Cardinal Bellarmine, who was born in Tuscany in 1542, and who, after his death in 1621, came very near being placed in the calendar of saints, on account of his great services in behalf of popery. This man on one occasion, under the spur of controversy, betrayed himself into an admission of the real facts in the case. Luther having said that the church (meaning the true church) never burned heretics, Bellarmine understanding it of the Romish church, made answer: "This argument proves not the sentiment but the ignorance or impudence of Luther; for as almost an infinite number were either burned or otherwise put to death, Luther either did not know it, and was therefore ignorant, or if he knew it, he was convicted of impudence and falsehood; for that heretics were often burned by the church may be proved by adducing a few from many examples." To show the relation of the secular power to the church, as held by Romanists, we quote the answer of the same writer to the argument that the only weapon committed to the church is "the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." To this he replied: "As the church has ecclesiastical and secular princes, who are her two arms; so she has two swords, the spiritual and the material; and therefore when her right hand is unable to convert a heretic with the sword of the Spirit, she invokes the aid of the left hand, and coerces heretics with the material sword." In answer to the argument that apostles never invoked the secular arm against heretics, he says: "The apostles did it not, because there was no Christian prince whom they could call on for aid. But afterwards, in Constantine's time, . . . . the Church called in the aid of the secular arm."—Dowling's History of Romanism, pp. 547, 548. In corroboration of these facts, fifty millions of martyrs—this is the lowest computation made by any historian—will rise up in the resurrection as witnesses against her bloody work. LESSON FOR PACIFIC COAST. — NOV. 5.
"JESUS' entrance into Capernaum was marked by an application to Peter by the local collectors of the temple tax, for its payment by his Master. Moses had provided funds for the erection of the tabernacle by the imposition of a tax of half a shekel on each male, payable at the 'numbering of the people,' and this, since the Babylonian captivity, had been required yearly. It was equal, nominally, to about one and threepence of our money, but really to at least six times as much, and was demanded from every Israelite of the age of twenty—even the poorest. "It was mainly from this heavy tax, paid as a sacred duty by every Jew, in whatever country, that the temple treasury was filled with the millions of silver coins which were so strong a temptation to lawless greed. Crassus, Sabinus, and Pilate, in succession, had laid violent hands on this unmeasured wealth, and the reckless greed of Florus in its plunder was the proximate cause of the last great war, which destroyed both temple and city. "The Shelihim, or 'messengers,' who collected this tax in Judea, used each town at fixed times. In foreign countries, places were appointed for its collection in every city or district where there were Jews, the chief men of their community in each acting as treasurer, and conveying the amounts in due course to Jerusalem. Three huge chests, carefully guarded in a particular chamber in the temple, held the yearly receipts, which served, besides providing the beasts for sacrifice, to pay the Rabbis, inspectors of victims, copyists, bakers, judges, and others connected with the temple service, and numerous women who wove or washed the temple linen. It supplied, also, the costs of the water supply, and the repairs of the vast temple buildings. "The collection began in the Holy Land on the 1st of Adar—part of our February and March—the month of the 'returning sun,' and the next before that of the Passover. By the middle of it the official exchangers in each town had set up their tables, and opened their two chests for the tax of the current and of the past year, for many paid the tax for two years, together. They supplied the old sacred shekel, coined by Simon the Maccabee, for a trifling charge, to all who required it, for only that coin was received by the temple authorities in homage to Pharisaic and national sentiment. At first everything was left to the good will of the people, but after the 25th, prompt payment was required, and securities, such as under garments, or the like, were taken even from the pilgrims coming up to the feast. "It was very likely, therefore, that the time of grace had expired before Jesus reached Capernaum, so that the collectors—apparently respectable citizens—felt themselves justified in broaching the question to Peter, whether his teacher did not pay the two drachmas? Perhaps they fancied he was of the irreconcilable school of Judas the Galilæan, who would pay no temple tax so long as the Holy City was polluted by the heathen Roman. His enemies, indeed, very likely had insinuated that this was the case, to bring him into suspicion with government. "Peter, ever zealous for his Master's honor, and, as usual, impulsive, no sooner heard the application than he answered affirmatively, on his own authority, and forthwith set off to find Jesus and report the matter to him. "The exact time for payment had passed while Christ had been away from Capernaum, and the collectors were, doubtless, anxious to gather all arrears, to take with them to Jerusalem at the approaching Feast of Tabernacles in September. As if to show that not even the most insignificant matter that concerned his disciples escaped his notice, even when not bodily present, Peter no sooner appeared than his errand was anticipated by asking him his opinion, whether, when kings levy taxes or tolls, they exacted them from their own children, or only from their subjects? " 'I think,' replied Peter, 'that only the subjects.' 'Then of course,' replied Jesus, 'the king's children are free.' "He wished to show that it would have been no failure of duty to leave the tax unpaid. Peter had already owned him as the 'Son of God,' and it was for the Temple of God the impost was levied. It might, therefore, be just and proper to collect it from the nation at large, but it was not fitting to ask it from him. 'I am a king's son; for I am the Son of God, as thou hast said, and this tax is for my Father—God—the Great King; for his temple, and thus I should be free.' "But while thus maintaining to his apostle his rightful immunity, he was too prudent to urge it in public. He was not recognized as the Son of God outside the little circle of his disciples, but was only an Israelite, like others, to men at large, and as such, was under the law. It would have given ground of accusation and misconception had he hesitated to pay what all Jews paid cheerfully, as a religious duty. " 'It would not do for me, nevertheless,' continued he, therefore, 'to seem to refuse. They would not understand what I have been saying to you. Take your line, and go to the lake; you need not wait till you catch a number of fish to make up the amount. Take the first that comes to your hook, and you will find in its mouth a stater, which is twice as much as is needed. With it you can pay for me and for yourself.' "The result is not given, but there can be no question that the command secured its own fulfillment. No lesson could have been given more suited to benefit Peter and his companions. It taught them that, though they were his apostles, they could not claim exemption from labor for their own support, but yet quickened them to a firm repose on his watchful care, which could help them in any extremity. "They remained for a short time in Capernaum, and, happily, we have a glimpse of their quiet private intercourse; doubtless the picture of many such occasions. He had delayed allusion to their hot discussion on the way till the quiet of evening and home. " 'Tell me,' said he, turning to one of them, 'about what were you disputing among yourselves on the road?' But the question received no answer, for all were alike ashamed of their unworthy jealousies and ambitions, and sat humbled and silent. "Jesus had sat down in the house and called the twelve before putting the question. As they stood round him—for disciples of a Rabbi always stood when their masters sat down to teach them—his first words scattered the whole unworthy dream of their hearts. " 'Whoever of you,' said he, 'it matters not which, seeks to be before the other, and would distinguish himself in my kingdom, can only do so by cheerfully stooping to render even the humblest services to all the rest. He must show himself the willing servant of all, by doing whatever he can to serve the others. He must seek and find his greatness in being the humblest, and, therefore, the servant of all.' "Calling to him a little boy of the household, lifting him in his arms, and pressing him fondly to his breast,—as if to show how much nearer such an one was to him than the twelve standing at a distance round,—he drew their attention to the child. Love of children and of their childish traits, had always marked him. A child, in his eyes, was a type of the grace so dear to him—humility. It raises no overweening claims such as men advance, and accepts all its relations in life as it finds them; it adapts itself unconsciously to the lowliest and most ungenial lot, and finds happiness in it. It is the embodiment of dependence and need; of having nothing, and yet looking with simple trust to a higher than itself. "The twelve noted his act with wonder, not knowing what it meant. He now proceeded to explain it. " 'You see this child,' said he; 'I tell you solemnly that unless you abandon your present worldly ideas and ambitious thoughts, and become as simple and humble as it, and as lovingly dependent on God as it is on man, you shall not even enter my kingdom, far less hold a high place in it. You see how this child has no thought but of perfect loving trust towards me; how it does not pretend to give the worth of what it receives, but opens its whole soul to me with artless innocence. Such sweet humility must be found in him who would seek to be greatest in my kingdom. To have the heart of a child is the fixed abiding condition of admission, of accepted service, or of honor. Self-denial, self-sacrifice; the surrender of person and goods for the sake of the brotherhood; unselfish love—are the only path to the highest place.'—Geikie's Life of Christ." Christian Manners
By Examiner; Chronicle
It is hardly going too far to say that no rude-mannered person, of whatever grade in society, can be a good Christian. For rudeness means at least this, that the rude person does not regard himself as bound to consider the feelings or rights of others, but only what his own temper and convenience may dictate; and selfishness and injustice are incompatible with Christianity.—Examiner and Chronicle. Kindly Affectioned One to Another
"Be kindly affectioned one to another." THE California Camp-meeting for 1881 was held in East Park Grove, just outside the city of Sacramento. The ground and shade were all that could be desired. Beside the large tents 95 family tents were on the ground. The arrangement was complete, and the camp presented a neat and inviting appearance. The 50-foot tent was divided into 15 rooms for lodgers ; this was unfortunate, as it was much needed for separate meetings. Street cars ran to the Park, affording good accommodations for a limited amount of travel, and the proprietors were courteous, and granted us favors. But the cars were insufficient for the multitude. The ground was a little too far out of the city for a large attendance—and especially for a regular attendance. The meeting commenced with a large number of our people present, which was partly owing to the chartering of cars. This is an excellent plan where it can be adopted. But it was unusually cold. By a strange freak of the weather the snow plows were called into use on the Central Railroad this side the summit, Oct. 14. In the morning ice was found in the camp. On Sabbath the weather changed, the wind blowing from the southeast—the rainy quarter. However, very little rain fell, but it thundered, and this seemed more of a surprise than the ice. After this the weather returned to its normal condition. The meeting started off in a very encouraging manner. Considering that the churches have had very little ministerial help during the year, their condition, as indicated by the interest in the preaching and social meetings, was gratifying. The preaching was very largely of a practical character. But it was hard work to reach the hearts of some. The most painful feature of the meeting was the trifling spirit manifested by some of the young people in the early part ; but by a well directed effort, this was changed, and a good work was wrought for the young. Sister White arrived upon the ground Thursday night, and all were agreeably disappointed in the amount of labor she was enabled to do. After her severe sickness it was anticipated that she would not be able to speak much ; but she spoke most of the afternoons until the last Sunday, the 23d. Some of her discourses deserve special mention. That of Sabbath, the 15th, on the duty of parents, was equal to the best efforts we ever knew her to put forth. Also that on Luke 10 : 27 ; considerable many from the city heard, and were deeply and solemnly impressed. By request she spoke on temperance on Sunday, the 23d. This was by far the largest meeting of all. The large tent would not nearly seat the people, and Sister White was in her happiest vein. We never heard her give a more clear and impressive discourse on the subject. And the people seemed to appreciate it. Beside this her counsel was of great value throughout the meeting. Besides Sister White the speakers taking part in the meeting were Elders I. D. Van Horn, S. N. Haskell, W. M. Healey, E. A. Briggs, J. D. Rice, and the editor of the SIGNS. Credentials were given to six ; Elders Van Horn, Healey, Rice, Briggs, and Israel, will constitute the ordained help for the year, no providence preventing. Ten received licenses, and we have reason to hope that most of them will engage actively in the work. Three of them are in some way connected with our publishing house in Oakland ; these, of course, cannot devote much of their time to laboring, except in local work. But there is opportunity for much work in Oakland and San Francisco. The business meetings in all branches were conducted harmoniously, and with excellent feeling. The financial condition of the Conference and the Tract and Missionary Society was found to be such as to give great encouragement to all friends of the cause. Two things are clearly proved to our mind ; the Seventh-day Adventists in this Conference are liberal in support of this good cause ; and, the management of the business matters of the Conference and the T. and M. Society has been exceedingly judicious. It has been well known that the churches of San Francisco and Oakland were largely in debt on their meeting-houses. These debts they were unable to pay. San Francisco is missionary ground ; those who embrace the truth there mostly leave the city, as it is difficult to keep the Sabbath and get employment there. This always keeps the church weak, though it is an important point, and must be held. The circumstances were considered at this meeting, and, though no public call was made, over $7,000 have been given up to this writing, Monday morning. This will be a great relief, and bring new courage to the workers in those churches. One enterprise of great importance was inaugurated at this time. Steps were taken to establish a school by Seventh-day Adventists in California. A committee was appointed to carry this intention into effect as soon as possible, to meet the present want, also to examine and report in regard to a permanent location. A vote was taken to invite Prof. Brownsberger to come and take charge of it. This is a matter over which the minds of the brethren have been much exercised for some time, and we cannot express our gratification that our desires in regard to it are likely to be speedily fulfilled. Prof. Brownsberger has experience as an educator, is enthusiastic in his work, and enjoys the fullest confidence of our people. The morning meeting, Oct. 24, was one of deep interest. Sister White gave instructions concerning the duties of church members, and pointed out some common wrongs, which have been the cause of the trouble in which some of the churches have been involved during the past year. She also gave a highly interesting account of the trials through which they passed in establishing the work in this State, and starting the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. She urged the duty of all who now embraced the truth to take hold and bear burdens in the publishing work and other enterprises, as those did who embraced it years ago. At 9 o'clock a meeting was held preparatory to baptism ; after some remarks a large number came forward to take their stand on the Lord's side. A long train of wagons was started for the water, about a mile and a half, while many people took a nearer road on foot. We found a body of clear, cold water, formed by artesian wells ; thirty-two were baptized. They were of all ages, from ten years to old age. Some who never before made a start were of this number. Several had been baptized by antinomian teachers, and were converted out of that faith and baptism by careful study of Romans 6 and 7. It was a good day to many souls. At 2 : 30 the S. S. Association convened. This was the last business up to the time of sending this report to the press, the Conference business remaining to be finished. It is due to the daily papers of Sacramento, the Record-Union and the Bee, that we make mention of the reports which they gave of our meetings. In every respect they were fair and liberal, and we could not have asked more than they were willing to do. In addition to daily reports in both papers, the Record-Union gave a comprehensive synopsis of our faith, our publishing interests, missionary enterprises, camp-meetings, etc. Also a complete census of the encampment, giving the name and residence of each camper on the ground. The arrangement of the camp, the order preserved, and the earnest but sober appeals to the people, were so strongly in contrast with most of the camp-meetings conducted by other denominations, that the entire meeting commanded the respect of all who came onto the ground, and all were faithfully presented by the city papers. By this means a wider influence has been given to our work, and a wider interest created in it, than ever before in this State. HIGH-SOUNDING NONSENSE.
By Editor
DENTON, the pseudo-professor of geology, was largely patronized in San Francisco. The mass of the people seemed to be delighted with his scientific facts and conclusions. We fear as a general thing they love to be humbugged; we know not how else to account for his success as a professed scientist. In his own estimation he is a very profound man; the wonder is how he impressed so many minds with a willingness to receive him at his own estimate. Such a statement as this was no doubt very pleasing:— "We can tell the fate of the world by our knowledge of geology, and our world will last for a hundred millions years to come." What is meant by the expression, "our world will last," is not easy to conceive. Whether it means that it will exist that length of time, or be fit for man's abode that length of time, we have no means to determine. In either case it is an absurd statement. Were we to grant his extravagant claims to knowledge of the length of time of its past existence, it would by no means follow that he could determine its future. Could we know that the same forces would operate in the same manner a million years hence that they have in some period in the past, we could not know that they would produce the same results in the same length of time under the modifying influence of different circumstances. There are more improbabilities in his calculations than he has given years for its consummation. We have no faith in, and but little patience with, such idle speculations, fully believing that this earth will abide forever. It was made, not to pass through countless ages of darkness, but as a habitation for man; and the divine plan will not be frustrated. The incorrigibility of man on probation may interfere with the desired end, but cannot prevent it; as probation will have an end. Our conclusions are not speculations drawn from "cunningly devised fables," but are based on the "sure word of prophecy," which never has failed, and never can fail. In prognosticating the future of the world, Denton said:— "When the oceans have dwindled to ponds, and the rivers to rills, and the air is so light that it will hardly support the wing of the bird, and when men have to sink deep wells for water, and are compelled to dwell in caves owing to the constant falling of rocks, look out." Oh, yes, we promise to look out, if we shall dare to put our head to look, in the midst of such a scientific muddle of mundane materials. But there is a more hopeful outlook than this. Hear:— "I believe the atmosphere of the globe will improve and be more favorable in the future than it is at present, and where there is one man and woman now there will be a hundred men and women. You say we can't do anything with an earthquake, but I believe the time will come when we shall harness the earthquake to our car of progress. The time will come when man will rule the planet, and what he don't want to stay he will throw out. Where man goes the animals depart, and we will do the same with every kind of vermin, only give us time." There are well-grounded fears that you will never have the time. Archimedes proposed to move the world if only a fulcrum were supplied on which to work the lever. And the difficulty of finding the fulcrum caused those interested in the enterprise to overlook the question of the length of lever required, or of the weight necessary to move one of such length as might be obtained. So in Denton's asking; the factor of "time" will be so important in the consideration that the question of ability will be entirely overlooked. At least we think it was quite forgotten by his "large and appreciative audience." Will somebody explain to us why this senseless twaddle uttered by Denton is called a scientific lecture? We should locate it in 2 Pet. 2 : 18, 19:— "For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption." Such is Denton and his fraternity. He thinks it a wise thing to speak against the Bible, but forgets that the Bible was written with more than human foresight, and it denounced him many years ago.