1. Its ministrations are the most effectual of all agencies in setting and keeping before the minds of men, that grand essential element of all piety, the character of the living and true God.
2. By separating a portion of time to sacred uses, it furnishes ample opportunity for that contemplation of divine truth, and that public and private worship of God which is so much needed by men, and which most effectually promotes the cause of true religion.
3. The holy Sabbath itself, as an institution of God, is a constantly recurring symbol of the divine authority, and by its regular return impresses a sense of that authority on the minds of men, and thus keeps in view the character and government of God.
4. Clear apprehension of the will and claims of God are indispensible to the nourishment of true piety in the soul. The Sabbath furnishes it by its services which constantly press on men's attention the duties they owe to their Maker.
5. The Sabbath furnishes constant and abundant fuel for the fire of piety in the heart, by the great variety of religious instructions it provides, such as those from the pulpit, in the family circle, in the Sabbath-school; and the opportunity it gives for the study of the Holy Scriptures, and other religious works.
6. The Sabbath, by its sacred stillness and repose, shadows forth the eternal rest of Heaven, and powerfully attracts the thoughts of men to that blessed world, and thus aids the soul in its preparation for it.
7. No fact is better established than that a faithful and conscientious observer of the Sabbath has always been accompanied by a flourishing state of piety, and the spirit of sincere and heartfelt devotion to God.
8. On the other hand, it is no less true, that with a declining regard for the Sabbath, there has always been a decline in the spirit and power of vital piety; the withered and decaying graces of Christianity showing that one of the grand agencies of their nourishment and strength has been taken away. A Sabbath-breaking community has always been characterized by mournful violations of other of the laws of God, and is most obviously a stranger to the spirit and power of true piety.
9. Multitudes of the most distinguished saints have recorded their experience of the well-kept Sabbath's powerful influence in sustaining the life and the vigor of piety in their minds, affirming that laxness or fidelity to Sabbath obligations, has depressed or raised the tone of religious emotion in the soul.
10. That the Sabbath powerfully sustains the cause of vital piety, appears from the fact that all who are enemies to such piety are hostile to the Sabbath, and spare no pains to level in the dust that holy institution, because of its power to sustain and promote true religion. Just as dear to us as are the interests of pure and undefiled religion in our world, so dear should be the holy Sabbath of the Lord. Vital godliness lives and flourishes with the honored Sabbath; languishes and dies with the disregarded day of the Lord.—Sel.
What to Give Children.
By Dudley Marvin Canright
Parents who wish to please and also benefit their children, are often perplexed to know just what to do for them. They are willing to work hard, and to deny themselves for the benefit of the children who are so dear to them. But yet sad mistakes are often made. I was forcibly impressed with the following words from a mother upon this point:—
“When my children were young, I thought the very best thing I could do for them was to give them myself. So I spared no pains to talk with them, to teach them, to read to them, to pray with them, to be a loving companion and friend to my children. I had to neglect my house many times; I had no time to indulge myself in many things which I should have liked to do. I was so busy adorning their minds and cultivating their hearts’ best affections, that I could not adorn their bodies in fine clothes, though I kept them neat and comfortable at all times. I have my reward now. My sons are ministers of the gospel; my grown-up daughter a lovely Christian woman. I have plenty of time now to sit down and rest, plenty of time to indulge myself in many ways, besides going about my Master’s business whenever he has need of me. I have a thousand beautiful memories of their childhood to comfort me. Now that they have gone out into the world, I have the sweet consciousness of having done all I could to make them ready for whatever work God calls them to do. I gave them the best I could—myself.”
“I gave them myself,” that is often the last thing a parent thinks of doing; but this is just what the dear little ones need the most, just what they will prize the most. Take time then, parents, and make this offering to your children when they are young and they will then give themselves to you when you are old.
D. M. C.
The Sabbath in China.
By James White
EVERY reader of the Review doubtless read with interest the extracts published a few months since concerning the Sabbath-keepers in China. To many of us it seemed almost like a romance; and especially to those who are somewhat acquainted with the Chinese in California, among whom the idea of moral obligation seems scarcely to be entertained. But there is room for much reflection on this subject. Doubtless most of those who come to America are of the lower classes, but even among them there is evidence of intelligence. They can all read and write, and they are all expert in figures, or numbers. Though they are slaves to custom, they show that they are able to adjust themselves to almost any situation.
While in Woodland, Cal., with the family of Bro. Saunders, they related to me the following: A Chinaman was one day doing a job of work for them, who understood that they kept the seventh day. He questioned them about it, and remarked, "My father studied law twenty years in China, and he kept the seventh day; he said it was right."
I regret that they did not further inquire into the matter, and learn more about it. With the facts recently developed in Europe, reported by Bro. Andrews, all these items become interesting. The remark above cited seems to be a link in the chain of evidence that the Lord’s ancient Sabbath has witnesses in the Chinese empire.—J. H. W., in Review and Herald.
Lake County.
By John Norton Loughborough
As APPOINTED in the SIGNS, I have spent the last ten days in Lake Co. I met Bro. Healy at Lower Lake, and we held meetings jointly there two Sabbaths and First-days, beside this he held several meetings in the week-time, while I was traveling through the mineral regions of the county, camping out, and obtaining some recreation from the mental pressure of the past few months. God has blessed even while resting, and I return with recuperated energies to take hold in the work where duty demands.
A number of those who embraced the truth during Bro. Healy's lectures last winter remain to meet together, while some have moved away. There are now in the county sixteen or eighteen Sabbath-keepers. These are not all so situated as to meet every Sabbath, although some of them hold their regular Sabbath meeting and Sabbath-school at Lower Lake. Several who have not yet taken their stand are much interested in the truth. Bro. Healy now designs to return to the county in July, and follow up the work there.
On Sabbath, June 12, I baptized three adults at Lower Lake. On Sunday, the 13th, s. B. was organized amounting to $106.60 per year. Sixteen names are now attached to the covenant to keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus Christ. A leader and clerk have been appointed and a resolution was passed requesting the watchcare of the Cal. Conference of S. D. Adventists.
J. N. L.
Infidel Writers.
We have had writers of that description who made some noise in their day. At present they repose in lasting oblivion. Who, born within the last forty years has read one word of Collins, and Toland, and Chubb, and Morgan, and that whole race who called themselves Freethinkers? Who now reads Bolingbroke? Who ever read him through? Ask the booksellers of London what has become of all these lights of the world. In as few years their few successors will go to the family vault of "all the Capulets."
Because half a dozen grasshoppers under a fern make the field ring with their importunate chink, while thousands of great cattle reposing beneath the shadow of the British oak, chew the cud and are silent, pray do not imagine that those who make the noise are the only inhabitants of the field; that, of course, they are many in number; or that, after all they are other than the little, shriveled, meager, hopping, though loud and troblesome insects of the hour. —Edmund Burke, "Reflections on the Revolution in France.
Conscience
CONSCIENCE.—A tender conscience is like the apple of a man's eye; the least dust that gathers in it affects it. There is no surer and better way to know whether our consciences are dead and stupid than to observe what impressions small sins make upon us. If we are not very careful to avoid all appearance of evil, and to shun whatever looks like sin; if we are not so much troubled at the rising up of sinful desires in us as we have been formerly, we may then conclude that our hearts are hardened, and our consciences are stupefying; for a tender conscience will no more allow of small sins than of great ones.
Persevering Holiness
By Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Persevering Holiness.— Holiness consists not in the rushing of intense resolve, which, like Kishon, sweeps everything before it and then subsides, but in the constant flow of Siloa’s waters, which perpetually make glad the city of our God. Holiness is no blazing comet, amazing nations with a transient glory; it is a fixed star, which, with still, calm radiance, shines on through the darkness of a corrupt age. Holiness is persevering obedience; it is not holiness at all if it be occasional zeal and sensational piety.—Spurgeon.
Gilroy, Cal.
By J. H. Waggoner
OUR meetings are well attended here by interested audiences. We gave five discourses on the Nature of Man, closing on that subject Wednesday evening. Thursday evening, no meeting. Last night, Sabbath evening, we commenced on the messages direct. As there was a school social and "an old-fashioned spell" advertised, we feared our congregation would be small, but we were happily disappointed. The number out was nearly as large as usual. This we take as a favorable indication of the interest.
Our greatest disappointment thus far is in the weather. Though we have had a few uncomfortably hot days, we have many uncomfortably cold nights, which we did not look for here.
We believe there are many deeply interested in the subjects presented. To-night we expect to commence on the Sabbath, which will soon bring them to a test. We still ask for the prayers of all that we may discharge our duty to the glory of God and to the salvation of souls.
As our divine Lord was closing up his work upon earth, as prophet and teacher, and was about to ascend to his Father, there in the heavenly sanctuary to enter upon his duties as priest, he gave his disciples this great commission: “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15. It is quite evident from the reading of the word of God that the human family should have the glad tidings of salvation preached to them before the second coming of the Son of man; and this commission given to his disciples was an unlimited one. The world was their field. It is the same today. The gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to those that hear, must be preached for a witness to all the world. As the third angel’s message of Rev. 14:9–12, is a portion of the word of God, it must be preached to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.
And who is to warn the world of the approaching judgments of God, and the second coming of Christ? Is this work committed to Elder J. N. Andrews only and a few other preachers, who are acting as missionaries for God? Is it into their hands alone that this work is given? No, thank God, dear reader, every disciple of Christ is permitted to be a co-worker with Jesus. And what did he do? He left the royal courts of Heaven, took upon himself the nature of mortal man, and by personal labors he came close to man, that he might pluck him as a brand from the burning. He withheld not himself. He gave all. He suffered intense agony, and deprivations, and reproach, and hatred from those whom he came to save.
Our Saviour says, I have done all this for you. What are you willing to do for me? I have set you an example; and who will follow the example of his divine Lord in self-sacrifice and disinterested benevolence to save his fellow-men? Nobly did these primitive believers follow the instructions of their crucified Saviour. Those, poor, despised and persecuted Christians consulted not with flesh and blood. They thought not of their own ease and comfort. They sought not for some pretext whereby to evade the command of Jesus their Lord; but they took their lives in their hands and went forth to execute the orders of the Captain of our salvation. They went forth and preached everywhere. This is precisely what the true missionary spirit leads men to do at the present time. It is said in the same verse that the Lord worked with them. He works with his missionary servants now. God has put his hand to this work. It must triumph, and those who act well the part assigned to them in this great work will witness the glorious triumph of the third angel’s message.
This commission, which Christ gave to his disciples nearly two thousand years ago, has never been annulled, and every Christian is a commissioned officer in the army of the Lord. Says Jesus, “Ye are the light of the world.” Who? All Christians are light in the Lord; Eph. 5:8; and must shine as lights in the world. Phil. 2:15. All their neighbors have an eye upon them. Some admire, commend, and rejoice in them. Others are filled with envy and hatred, and study to destroy them. But Jesus is with his servants to strengthen and sustain them. He leads in the work himself, and clings closer than a brother to his faithful harvesters.
And now, as repeated calls are being made for volunteers to work under his direction, to rescue souls from ruin, who will obey the call, and enlist under the banner of King Jesus—not for a day, nor for an hour, but for life? Who of us will manifest that true missionary spirit so heroically displayed by the primitive believers? There are thousands and thousands of precious souls who have not so much as heard the sound of the third angel’s message. And Paul says, “How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard?” Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Therefore, those who have the true missionary spirit say, The world shall hear the last notes of warning. The blood of souls shall not be found upon our garments. We will sound an alarm, and herald to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, the solemn announcement of Rev. 14:9–12.
Where is the Christian heart that can reflect unmoved upon the fact that in a few days millions of our fellow-creatures must stumble over the high mountains of darkness and be lost forever? Surely no person looking and longing for the second coming of Christ can reflect upon this without feeling a strong desire to extend a helping hand, and exert himself as God’s instrument in sending the advent message to the perishing sons and daughters of Adam. If we are truly converted to the truth we shall feel an individual responsibility resting upon us, and make earnest efforts for the salvation of others. We will not remain inactive nor indifferent to the dangerous position occupied by our relatives, friends, and neighbors, but will use every available means to present the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. We have books, periodicals, and tracts, which even a child may distribute to the saving of souls. May the Lord enable us, individually, to realize the responsibilities devolving upon us as a people intrusted with the most solemn message ever proclaimed to mortal man. May we with brokenness of heart seek God, learn to know his will concerning us, and then with humility, hasten to obey, remembering that those who know the Master’s will, and do it not, shall be beaten with many stripes.—M. Wood, in Review and Herald.
Improved Opportunities.
By James White
In a small upper room sat two persons. The one window was filled with plants; the one little book-case was filled with books. The elder lady was seated at a desk, the younger in a low rocker, leaning back, with her hands folded listlessly across each other.
"I have given up trying to find any way of helping, Elizabeth," remarked the occupant of the rocker.
"Have you? Why?"
The elder lady wiped her pen, laid away her writing, and turned around to contemplate the listless maiden.
"Well, if I had given up trying to help I would have a good reason for it; some reason that you will not be ashamed to give when Christ asks you about it, Marion."
Marion looked startled; she sat upright instantly.
"Elizabeth, I didn't really mean that. Tell me how to do some good in the world."
"That hath a good sound," replied Elizabeth, arising for her work-basket. "I am knitting stockings for our home missionary. You may knit while we talk, if you will."
Marion gave a quick little laugh. "You are taking me at my word. Well give it to me."
There was a pause. The only sound in the room was the clicking of two sets of knitting-needles. Then Marion spoke: "For some time I have been wishing I could do something for somebody, and really, Elizabeth, it may be a shameful thing to say, but I can't find out how. Tell me how you find out ways."
Elizabeth smiled. It seems odd to call my little doings, ‘ways,’ but they are ways nevertheless. I can tell you the story of my small experiences. Wait one moment—I’ll set the minister’s heel. I can help keep somebody’s feet warm—Western working feet—if I can’t go myself, Can I?"
After two minutes Elizabeth began the story of her “small experiences.”
"Two or three years ago I began to feel as you do. I wanted to be at work. I had been a lazy Christian long enough. I would say every day, ‘Oh! I wish I could do something for somebody,’ but the opportunity did not come, or, if it did, I did not see it. So a year passed and I found nothing to do outside of my own home. One day I was buying muslin for myself, and it occurred to me that I could afford to buy half a dozen yards of unbleached, and make two or three undergarments for a poor Irish neighbor. It was all I could afford—I have but very little money as you know, Marion. But I do hope to have more if I use well my little fund. That gave me great pleasure. Then I remembered a boy who was dying of consumption; he was sixteen, but he had been sick all his days, and was no older than a boy eight or nine. So I bought a bottle of mucilage and made him a scrap-book all of pictures. It was a very pretty thing, and amused him when he was too weary to read or think. Then I squeezed out money enough to buy him one of the ‘Oil Feather’ series; they were a wonderful pleasure to him—he read them again and again. Then—let me see—are you smiling at my small ways? Oh! then I heard of a poor woman, a widow, who was dying of consumption. I did wish I could make her comfortable, for she needed everything, and most of all I wanted to take her little child; but, instead, I gave her a night-dress and fifty cents, half a dozen lemons, and a pound of crackers. That wasn’t anything to what I wanted to do, but I did my share, the share God gave me to do, and if he has given some one else a larger share, that is all right, isn’t it? And then I was not well enough to do much—I knit several pairs of stockings for our missionary box. A friend sends me the Christian at Work occasionally. I remembered a friend who is not able to take it, so I sent it to her. She wrote only last week: ‘I am sure it makes me happier to read it.’ So I have set that down as one of my improved opportunities. Another thing I have found to do is to send all the religious papers I find here at home to people who need them. And then, Marion, there are letters—you love to write letters—and there is always something happy and hopeful to say."
"But I can’t do your good things."
"Of course you can’t," cried Elizabeth merrily; "I want to do them myself. Don’t do my share—do your own! Ask what your share is and keep your eyes open. Suppose you stop on your way home to call on Ella Ray, who will be kept on the sofa all winter. And there’s another way, Marion—lend all your good books."
Marion arose and laid down her knitting. She tied her hood with a considerably brightened face. "I’ll have to go now if I call on Ella. Set this down as another improved opportunity, Elizabeth."
The above from the Christian at Work is very suggestive, and can easily be adjusted to missionary labor in every department of our work. Read it thoughtfully. J. H. W.
Health Department.
By J. E. White
"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth." 3 John 2.
Flesh as Food.
THE greatest argument I can imagine against the use of animal food is the frightful disease and mortality existing among all classes of animals.
There was a good old time when man lived to nearly one thousand years of age. Then disease was hardly known, either among men or animals. But as man drew away from God, the curse fell again and again, heavier and heavier, upon man and upon everything on which he depended; not only upon the ground but upon the beasts of the field and the domestic animals. As far back as Moses' time we find a record of disease and blemishes among the domestic animals, from the fact that the priests were forbidden to offer any such as a sacrifice to God.
Now the life of man seldom reaches above eighty years, and the average is about thirty, and the amount of disease and suffering is truly appalling. A perfectly healthy person I have never seen; and among the nearly 1,300,000,000 inhabitants of this globe such a person would be a rare curiosity.
When we look at our domestic animals which we have been in the habit of using for food, we see among them the same declension from their original state, and the same universality of disease, as among man. In the terrible cattle plague which raged a few years since across the Atlantic we have one example. Indeed the ravages of the disease were so great that all Europe was startled. In our own country about two years ago the epizooty threatened to deprive us of that most useful animal, the horse. Then the foot-rot and scab among the sheep have frequently destroyed whole flocks.255Not only does this disease and mortality exist among our larger and more useful animals, but we frequently hear of epidemics among the fowls, in which whole barn yards were cleared of their feathery inmates; and we frequently read of plagues among the fishes, in which, in some localities, the whole finney tribe have perished and rose a stinking mass on the surface of the water.
In a recent number of the Voice of Truth we find the following extract which is to the point :—
"Turkey is at this time a deeply afflicted country. Besides the ravages of famine, a deadly disease is raging among the flocks and herds throughout the empire, from Bagdad to the Adriatic. In the province of Smyrna a kind of small-pox has broken out among the sheep, while there is a pulmonary disease among the cattle that is rapidly thinning the herds. On the plains of Troy, the skeletons of thousands and thousands of sheep cover the ground. Shepherds, stripped of their entire herds in many cases, have gone insane over the calamity. In the country about Adrianope fully thirty per cent of the horses and horned cattle have already died of disease. The entire pastoral regions of the empire seem smitten with the disorder which is said to greatly resemble the murrain spoken of in the Bible."
But to come nearer home, there is hardly an animal butchered for market without a degenerated or ulcerated liver, or some other organic disease. Just think of it. If we look the ground over carefully we will see sufficient disgusting evidence that disease is the rule, and health the exception, even among the animals that are daily bought and consumed by the million from our markets.
I have the testimony of butchers of experience, that they have seldom killed an animal for market which did not bear prominent marks of disease, which, of course, they were careful to remove before it should meet the eyes of the consumers.
A few years ago an epidemic prevailed among nearly all the sheep of Michigan. Immediately the owners began to forestall nature by a few days by killing the animals before they should die, and selling the carcasses for food. For days, at Detroit, Michigan, I have seen wagon after wagon take its stand on the street, loaded with dressed carcasses of sheep which were sold at twenty-five cents a carcass. Incidents of this kind could be obtained by the score, but these facts are so evident that more incidents are unnecessary.
All will agree that our bodies are made up of what we eat; therefore, in order to have a clean system, composed of healthy tissue, we must eat clean food and that which the system can take to the very best advantage. It is a fallacy to suppose that the system can take a heterogenous mass of whatever we may choose to send it, whether good or bad, and manufacture it in some way into good blood which will build up the system and keep it in the best kind of repair. If into the fountain which gives rise to numerous streams we cast mire, filth, and dirt, the streams issuing from the fountain will be discolored and filthy. If the material which we supply to the system is unhealthy, measly, scrofulous, the blood which pulsates throughout every minutest tissue of the body will carry the feverish mass to build up measly, scrofulous tissue, laying the foundation for disease and premature death.
The vegetable kingdom has not been subject to the same degeneracy as the animal. Among the grains and fruits which abound everywhere we find sufficient elements for food without preying upon the carcasses of unhealthy animals. Indeed, we prefer the bill of fare which God gave to Adam, to anything we have ever heard proposed since :—
"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." Gen. 1:29.
J. E. WHITE.
Oakland, Cal., June 10, 1875.
God's Love and Mine
By William Baxter
O LORD, I love thee, but how far
Is mortal love, from love like thine!
Mine like myself is poor and weak,
Thine like thyself is all divine.
To thine, mine only seems a drop
Compared with a vast, boundless sea;
Or like a single grain of sand
Compared with all immensity.
Mine like a faint, dim, twinkling star,
With little warmth, with little light;
Thine, like the glorious sun that floods
All worlds with splendors warm and bright.
Though weak my love, and strong thine own,
I know if I on thee believe,
Though I no love like thine can show,
Yet thy great love I can receive.
Just as our earth, though hard and cold,
Yet vernal suns and vernal showers
Can clothe it with an emerald robe,
And deck it with the sweetest flowers,
So my poor heart, though hard and cold,
Warmed by thy wondrous love to me,
Shall blossom with the brighter flowers
Of love and gratitude to thee.
W. BAXTER, Christian Monitor.
Work and Wait.
By M. Wood
"In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand; for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good." Eccl. 11 : 6.
We stretch forth our hands before we actually sow the seed. We want more faith in God and his promises. We want to work more and doubt less. God's hand is not shortened. And if we will but sow the seed, leaving it in the hand of God, in his own appointed time he will crown our labor with success. Paul planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. It is a great fault in many of us that we expect others to be convinced and brought to a knowledge of the truth all at once. We should consider how difficult it is for such a blind, proud creature as a man is to see the truth, and acknowledge himself a sin-polluted creature before God. And we should also consider by what slow degrees we arrive at the truth ourselves.
Dear friends, there is not a discouraging feature connected with the third angel's message, but everything to encourage us to circulate our books, periodical and tracts, with a cautious yet liberal hand, praying that God's blessing may attend our humble efforts to forward the work of God and lead soul's to Christ. Sow thy seed, and wait in patience until the rain drops on it from Heaven. The more arduous our labor the greater the glory. And the glory will be ours if we endure unto the end.
This is a work in which every one of us is permitted to do something. None so poor, none so weak, none so insignificant, but a place is assigned him in the T. and M. Society. May we be rooted and grounded in love, established and built up in Christ, and thus enabled to hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end.
M. WOOD
News from the East.
BRO. I. SANBORN writes that since his last report he has held seventeen meetings at Leon, Monroe Co., Wis., where he baptized nine, and organized a church of twenty-three members. From there he went to attend the quarterly meeting at Lyons, where he met fifty-seven Sabbath-keepers many of whom had never attended such a gathering before. A Sabbath-school was organized, three were baptized, and two more united with the church. All seemed to be encouraged to press on in the good work.
BRO. E. R. JONES reports that in company with Bro. J. O. Corliss he met with the friends at Eaton Rapids, Mich., Sabbath and first-day, May 22, 23. Of this meeting he says: "The brethren came in from Potterville, Springport, and other places around, until the large room built by Bro. Lewis for the purpose of holding meetings and the adjoining room were full, and there were some at the door and windows. Interest and solemnity characterized the meetings from the first. Sunday morning, after a discourse on baptism, we went out by the river side, and seven precious souls were buried with their Lord in this solemn rite. In the evening a church was organized, thirteen covenanting to walk together in fellowship. An elder was chosen and ordained. Systematic Benevolence was arranged to the amount of $47.00 a year. Since the tent was here last September several of those who then received the truth have moved away, leaving their number small. One more fully decided for the truth during these meetings, at the close of which the friends felt that they had received a blessing and were very much encouraged."
Bro. L. R. Long reports that for the last seven weeks he has been holding meetings in Brag's school-house in Decalb Co., Mo. As the result eighteen are now keeping the Sabbath. Seven have been baptized and a church of eight members has been organized.
Religious Miscellany.
By Editor
—At a recent meeting of the Buffalo Presbytery, at Dunkirk, two Seneca Indians were ordained to the ministry.
—The American Baptists Home Mission Society has about 700 young men in training for the ministry, among the freedmen of the South.
—A large Chinese idol, weighing several hundred pounds, has been sent on to Union College, New York, from China, by one of the alumni. It has had an idol existence of several hundred years in the Celestial Empire.
—The Wesleyan Methodist Commercial Record and Year Book gives the number of Methodist members throughout the world at 3,692,768, those on trial not included.
—The Jewish Messenger says that the Jews are more numerous in New York City than in any European city, exceeding the Jewish population of Warsaw, London, Berlin, and even Constantinople.
—The review of a year’s work by the Baptists of Great Britain shows a moderate progress. The Baptist Missionary Society expended £42,533, and entered on a new year without debt. Nine new missionaries have been sent out, and 3,546 baptisms were reported.
—Bishop Alfred Lee, of Delaware, has been to Mexico. He found three Protestant congregations in the City of Mexico, to which about three thousand persons are regularly attached, with three thousand more in occasional attendance. He ordained seven ministers, and confirmed one hundred and thirty members of the church.
—Mr. Oliver Johnson, managing editor of the Christian Union, in his testimony in the Beecher case the other day, admitted himself to be a spiritualist, and avowed that he had received communications from the spirit-world, the last about eighteen months ago. Cases like this are multiplying, where editors of Christian papers, and ministers in the desk are found to be thorough spiritualists; and yet they retain their positions.
—The receipts of the Bible Society for last year were $577,569, or $86,000 less than the year previous. Among other items of interest to be noted is the completion of the entire Scriptures in the Mandarin language, the general colloquial dialect of the Chinese. Every Chinaman who can read will thus be able to read this version.
—The question whether congregations should require of their pastors one or two sermons on Sunday is attracting a good deal of attention in religious papers. The inclination both of the people and the ministers seems to be more and more in favor of only one sermon. This indicates how little zeal for religion is felt by both priests and people.
—Alas! for the poor blinded Jews. One by one they are giving up the fundamental pillars of their forefathers. They declare that the story of a coming Messiah was always only a pleasing fancy. Few of them attend worship on the Sabbath any longer. Some of their doctors advocate the adoption of Sunday instead of the Sabbath as the only way to keep up any service. The Jewish Messenger laments that they have no Tract Society, no Historical Society, no anniversaries, nor much any way that shows life and zeal for the faith.
FOREIGN.
—The number of Israelites in London is about thirty thousand.
—The Archbishop of Canterbury, England, favors the Moody revival, and advises Episcopal ministers to assist him.
—Anarchy has already begun in parts of Mexico and a revolution is threatened in consequence of the action which the government took against the Sisters of Charity.
—The Jewish asylum for old persons at Rome has received 200 lire from the king, 400 lire from the National Bank, and 600 lire from the Minister of Education as subscription.
—An instructor in the family of the English Ambassador at Rome was present at a ceremony in the Vatican, and remained seated while every one else knelt in the presence of the pope. He was expelled by the guards, and the Ambassador dismissed him from his family.
—Lay preaching is becoming quite popular among the nobility of England. The Marquis of Cholmondeley has been preaching at St. George’s Hall, London, and so has the Earl of Cavan, who is also assisting regularly at the meetings of Moody and Sankey. Lord Radstock has also been preaching in England but has transferred his labors to St. Petersburg.
—Some wealthy Israelites in Rome are discussing the feasibility of erecting a Rabbinical Seminary in that city, and the indications are that soon, in the vicinity of the Vatican, a college for Jewish ministers will be established. What a revolution from former years! Who can deny that the prophecy is fulfilled which said of the pope, “They shall take away his dominion.” Dan. 7:26.
—It is stated that a Hindoo society has been formed at Lucknow, having for its object “the reading and explanation of the sacred books of the Hindoo religion, the publication of a Hindoo religious journal, and the promotion of the social and religious welfare of all classes of Hindoos. The leading Hindoo journal of that city warns parents against sending their children to Mission schools. The Mohammedans of Lucknow have also formed a society to employ itinerant preachers and support a journal in defence of Islamism against the attacks of Christian missionaries.
Quiet in a Sick Room.
In country places, when a neighbor is taken sick all the friends go to see him and offer to render assistance. They often do great harm by entering into conversation with the invalid, or other members of the family; no matter if they occupy another room and only whisper, the sick person is sensitive and hears it, and must suffer, no matter how slow he is to complain. The sick often need rest and quiet more than any treatment, and ought to have it. Never, when with the sick, do anything in haste, nor appear excited and anxious, for invalids notice these things and are pained by them. Never read to a sick person when he is too ill to read himself.—Ex.