Earlier text: General ArticlesTHE recovery of man from the effects of the fall of Adam, and of the sins incident to our fallen condition, is by forgiveness of sin and the resurrection of the dead. These means of divine grace have been quite fully noticed. But the work of grace is not completed in these, even as the curse of the transgression did not fall on man alone. Having been made of the dust of the ground, he was closely allied to the earth over which he was given dominion, and the earth was cursed for his sake. It is not necessary here to inquire into all the reasons why the earth was cursed for man's sake; it is sufficient to our present purpose to accept the fact as revealed in the word of God. To carry out the original counsel or purpose of the Creator, the work of redemption must include more than the recovery of man from sin and death; it must include the restoration of the earth. The curse must be removed, and the earth be restored to that state of freedom from evil in which it was when God pronounced everything "very good." Without the redemption of the earth, creation would never be entirely recovered from the foul blot brought upon it by sin. Satan would triumph thus far, that a reproach and a stain would not only be cast upon the work of the Creator, but it would be perpetuated; the evil would be immortalized. Or, to prevent that, the work itself would have to be destroyed. Destruction is but an act of justice where it falls upon an intelligent probationer, who chooses his own destiny, and refuses to fulfill the will of his Maker, and the object of his being. God can consistently permit evil, both moral and physical, for a season, in order that an intelligent agent may develop his character, with the provision for a Judgment wherein justice and truth shall be fully and certainly vindicated. And he may consistently destroy the willful transgressor of the divine law. But to destroy the work of his own hands, which had no volition in suffering the curse, would be a final victory for the enemy. To permit evil without reference to a Judgment, to perpetuate and immortalize it in the universe, would be an eternal reproach on the plan and work of the Creator. It would forever mar the beauty and purity of his work; forever prevent the carrying out of his original purpose, unless sin and misery were in his original purpose, which we cannot admit. It would not vindicate justice, because the eternity of evil bears no relation to the penalty of transgression originally announced. God's counsel shall stand. Whatever he may temporarily permit for the purposes of probation and of judgment, we cannot suppose that his original purpose will be finally thwarted, so that that which originated in the will of Satan and in rebellion, shall eternally prevail, and obscure that which originated solely in the will and mind of Jehovah. But, reasonable as is our proposition, we are not left to reason out the conclusion. The revelation of the mind of God in respect to man and to his inheritance is clearly made, and we therefore proceed to examine the Scriptures in regard to the It was remarked that the redemption of man did not contemplate merely a restoration to that state which he occupied when he was created; as he was then placed upon probation for life. But they who are redeemed from sin and death have passed through probation; they have secured eternal life; they are brought into that condition which God purposed that man should occupy when he had faithfully fulfilled his period of trial and received the boon of immortality. In like manner, the earth will be more than restored to its primitive condition. When man was created his dominion was not in the condition for which it was designed. He was told to "multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." The Lord "planted a garden eastward in Eden," and man was appointed "to dress it and to keep it." Had he remained innocent, and retained his position in the garden, as his descendants multiplied they would have extended the garden in the process of subduing the earth, until its surface had become one vast garden—a scene of surpassing loveliness. But sin at once arrested the work. The ground was cursed; the garden was removed; the tree of life was taken away; and in its stead thorns and thistles sprung up to increase man's cares and labors. The curse upon the earth, the growth of thorns and thistles, the absence of the tree of life, were no more a part of God's original purpose concerning the earth, than sin and misery were in his original purpose concerning man. And, of course, the full accomplishment of his original purpose will bring the whole earth to a state of beauty; when the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose, and the wilderness be like Eden, even as the garden of the Lord. Isa. 35:1; 51:3. Both man and his dominion must and will be placed beyond the reach of the curse; beyond the power and the danger of moral and physical evil. The wondrous mercy and love of God in providing a way of salvation at such an immense sacrifice as the gift of his own dear Son, was not appreciated by the fallen race. As men multiplied upon the earth they corrupted their way before God, and the land was filled with violence and iniquity. When they had gone astray almost without exception, the Lord determined to check this career of crime, and destroy the wicked generation. Noah alone, of all the millions living, had maintained his integrity. The purpose of mercy to the race was carried out in him. After the flood, as the inhabitants of the earth again increased, instead of humbling themselves before the Most High, who had so wondrously made known his justice and his power, they made the flood an excuse to justify their insane ambition, and they set themselves to build a tower by means of which they might defy the power of the Almighty! In this they showed as little regard for his authority and might, as they had faith in his promise of which the bow in the cloud was a token. But the Lord is not straitened in resources to frustrate the purposes of the rebellious. He confounded their language so that they could no longer plan and labor in concert, and they, of necessity, "left off to build it." As the people on the earth were now divided into nations, and all going astray from the Lord, it became necessary to separate one family, one people, to preserve the knowledge of God, and by whom to develop the plan of salvation and to identify the promised seed of the woman who was to bruise the head of the serpent. In the midst of all this perverseness, Abraham stood alone, a man of singular integrity and steadfastness in the right, inasmuch that he was favored with the remarkable title of "the friend of God." He was constituted the father of all the faithful who should live upon the earth, even to the end of time; and to the promise made to him we are directed to look for our hope. See Heb. 6:11-20. Also it is said, "And if ye be Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." Gal. 3:29. Our heirship is, therefore, directly related to the promise made to Abraham. What is the promise? Of what are we heirs? It has been said by some that the only promise given to Abraham in which we have any interest is that of "the seed," or of Christ. But that cannot be so, for the apostle in this same chapter, Gal. 3:16, says that the promises were made to Abraham and to Christ; not of Christ. If we are Christ's we are heirs of the same promises. This is further proved in Rom. 8:17, where it is said that if we are the children of God we are "heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ." Thus it appears that certain promises were made to Abraham and to his seed; that the seed is, primarily, Christ, and secondarily, they that are Christ's; heirs with him of the promises. According to the Scriptures it is an important consideration for us to be acknowledged as the seed or heirs of Abraham. Now it cannot be an important matter to be proved an heir of him who has nothing to bestow. What, then, was the promise, what the inheritance, which we may expect to receive from Abraham, our father? That the promise was of an inheritance, of a possession, or, so to speak, of a homestead, is abundantly proved in both Testaments. Thus Paul said of Abraham: "By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise." Heb. 11:9. And further in verse 13: "These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." As strangers and pilgrims they dwelt in the land of promise; although it was to be their inheritance, they dwelt in it as in a strange country, and died in faith of the promise yet to be fulfilled. This language is unmistakable in its import. In its obvious import it is fully sustained by the words of Stephen. The Lord said unto Abraham: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. . . . And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on; yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him, when as yet he had no child." Acts 7:3-5. And we learn by Heb. 11 that he died without receiving it; therefore the promise remains to be fulfilled; and if to be fulfilled to him, of course "to his seed,"—all that are Christ's. When we come to examine the original promises in the Old Testament, to which the writers in the New Testament refer, we shall find that "the land" is their chief burden. When the Lord called Abraham at the first he told him to go into a land which he would show him. And when he came into Canaan the Lord appeared unto him and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land; and there he builded an altar unto the Lord." Gen. 12:1, 7. After Lot was separated from him the promise was renewed. That the prominence of this point may be seen, we copy in full what was said to him on this occasion. "And the Lord said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward; for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth; so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered. Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee." Gen. 13:14-17. At the next repetition of the promise this point is made especially prominent, as follows: "And he said unto him, I am the Lord that brought thee out of Ur of the Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it." Gen. 15:7. And again, "I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God." Gen. 17:8. Thus the Lord has spoken the word that he brought Abraham out of his native245 land to give him the land that he would show him, and to his seed, for an everlasting possession. This was his purpose; but this purpose was never fulfilled; Abraham, with his posterity, died in faith of its fulfillment, and as God is faithful it will certainly be brought to pass. That this promise of the land was deeply impressed upon the minds of the patriarchs is proved by their references to it. When Abraham sent his servant to take a wife for Isaac, he said: "The Lord God of Heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, 'Unto thy seed will I give this land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence.'" Gen. 24:7. The Lord also appeared unto Isaac in Gerar, as he was on his way to Egypt, and said unto him: "Go not down into Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of. Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and I will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father." Gen. 26:2, 3. It is worthy of remark that in this, the only instance recorded of God speaking to Isaac, he commences with renewing the promise of the land, in fulfillment of his word and oath unto Abraham. And in the only instance recorded of Isaac referring to God's promises to his father, "the land" is the main subject of mention. He sent away Jacob to take a wife of his kindred in Padan-aram, saying: "And God Almighty bless thee, and make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, that thou mayest be a multitude of people; and give thee the blessing of Abraham, to thee, and to thy seed with thee; that thou mayest inherit the land wherein thou art a stranger, which God gave unto Abraham." Gen. 28:3, 4. And Jacob went on his way, and he lodged in Luz and the Lord appeared also to him in a dream, and said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed." Gen. 28:13. And again, after his sojourn in that land, the Lord appeared unto him as he came out of Padan-aram, and said unto him: "I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; and the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac to thee will I give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land." Gen. 35:11, 12. And finally, Joseph charged his brethren to carry his bones out of Egypt, saying: "And God will surely visit you, and bring you out of this land unto the land which he sware to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." Gen. 50:24. And thus it is clearly shown that the inheritance, the possession, the land, was the great object of promise in the Abrahamic covenant, without which the other promises could never be fulfilled. EDITOR.
(To be continued.) A SOLDIER was about to be brought before his commanding officer. He was an old offender and had often been punished. "Here he is again," said the officer; "flogging—disgrace—solitary confinement—everything has been tried with him." Whereupon the sergeant stepped forward and apologizing for the liberty he took, said, "There is one thing which has never been done with him yet, sir." "What is that, sir," said the officer. "Well sir," said the sergeant, "he has never been forgiven." "Forgiven!" exclaimed the colonel, surprised at the suggestion. He reflected for a few moments, ordered the culprit to be brought in, and asked him what he had to say to the charge. "Nothing, sir," was the reply, "only I am sorry for what I have done." Turning a kind and pitiful look on the man, the colonel, addressing him, said: "Well, we have tried everything with you, and now we are resolved to forgive you!" The soldier was struck dumb with amazement! The tears started in his eyes and he wept like a child. He was humbled to the dust, and thanking the officer, he retired—to be the old, refractory, incorrigible man? No! from that day forward he was a new man. He who told us the story had him for years under his eye, and a better conducted man never wore the Queen's color.—Pulpit Treasury. Civil Laws vs. the Law of Jehovah.
By A. K. White
A DISCIPLE minister, in a speech before the Legislature of Kentucky, Feb. 26, 1884, ostensibly in behalf of a Sunday law (legal rest-day) for Louisville, makes the usual plea of stores, shops, saloons, and theaters open every Sunday, corrupting the youth and disturbing public worship; and heartless individuals and corporations depriving the laborer of his much-needed "hebdomadal rest," etc. The argument is well calculated to mislead any who are not informed in the premises, but to those who have heard these arguments for some time, and understand their import, the effort shows prima facie an intent to prepare the minds of the people for the great National Reform movement. The "Sabbath reform" has no doubt made its way into the Bluegrass State, and this "defender of the word" grounds his legitimate weapon (the sword of the Spirit) and clamors for civil law. The true animus of the effort is made apparent in the following, from the Christian Standard of March 15:— "But we do not, upon our religious belief, ask that the civil law sanction Sunday observance. For then the Jew, believing that the letter of the fourth commandment is the only divine warrant for a rest-day, might with equal propriety demand that the seventh, rather than the first day of the week, be observed. And if a majority of the citizens of any State were Jews, or Sabbatarians, I see nothing in our State or national law to prevent their election of a Legislature that would enact a Sabbath rather than a Sunday law. Christians would then be compelled to acquiesce, at whatever inconvenience, as the Jew must do now in the establishment of a rest-day not sacred to them." It is very convenient, just now, to have the Jew in the land, over whose shoulders to whip the Sabbath-keeper who demands the right to worship God according to the Bible. We now have, before the Kentucky Legislature, the curious anomaly of a minister of a denomination claiming "the Bible and the Bible alone" as a rule of faith and practice, petitioning for a civil law in favor of a rest-day not enjoined in holy writ, in derogation of the Bible Sabbath, and to the prejudice of Christians who are its advocates. I would inquire if this professed minister of the word considers it the manifestation of a Christian spirit, when he invokes the civil law to oppress the minority-Christian simply because there is nothing in the State or national organic law to prevent it. Nothing short of absolute coercion will answer the end prayed for. He asserts that he does not ask it upon his religious belief, but that religion may derive incidental benefits therefrom, the same as might be derived from the granting of a charter of a new railway. The gauzy covering of such a plea fails to hide the effect of the legislation sought. The oppressive workings of such a law upon those who keep the Bible Sabbath (be they Jews or Christians), would be the same, whether procured through a plain declaration of intent or through the sophistry of an "incidental" plea. No amount of chicanery can conceal the fact that this is a religious question. If not, why compel the Sabbatarian to observe the first day of the week, thus obliging him to keep two days? Hear him further: "Even now, in many of our cities, religious assemblies are so disturbed that public worship is almost impracticable." How is this? Sabbatarians find no difficulty in worshiping, with all the business of large cities in full blast around them. They do not ask for civil law to compel others to observe the Sabbath, they only ask to be allowed the same rights of conscience as their fellow-men, as guaranteed by the fundamental law of the land. If the law of God will not compel men to keep his Sabbath, they do not invoke the interference of human law. THE OVERCOMERS.
By Uriah Smith
"And after this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." Rev. 7: 9. Not all who enter on the strife,
With foes unseen, and doubts, and sin,
Seeking for everlasting life,
Will fail the glorious prize to win.
The holy seer, on Patmos bound,
In visions of the world of light,
Beheld the throne of God around,
A countless throng in robes of white. And in their hands they bore on high,
While glory beamed from every face,
Majestic palms of victory,
As conquerors in the heavenly race.
Whence came this bright, triumphant throng?
They came through trials keen and sore;
Through tribulation deep and strong,
They struggled to the heavenly shore. Floods swept them from the scene of strife,
Flames stifled their exulting cry,
Dungeons wore out their lingering life,
And deserts saw them droop and die.
The keenest tortures fiends could frame,
The keenest mortals could endure,
They met; and through them all they came,
By suffering made white and pure. Then, fellow-pilgrim, lose not heart,
Though Satan and his hosts assail;
For others well have borne their part
'Gainst foes as strong, with arm as frail
The world, the flesh, their foes within,
They battled long with bated breath,
Full often mourned committed sin,
Yet fought the fight and kept the faith. Oh! never let the struggle cease,
While time is left, while life remains;
The end is everlasting peace,
On Canaan's fair and sinless plains.
A glorious throng will surely stand
Upon Mount Zion, glad and free;
And you may join, at God's right hand,
The peans of their victory. Heavenly Love and Human Infirmity
By Hare
WHEN we are fullest of heavenly love we are best fitted to bear with human infirmity, to live above it and forget its burden. It is the absence of love to Christ, not its fullness, that makes us so impatient of the weaknesses and inconsistencies of our Christian brethren. Then when Christ is all our portion, when he dwells with us and in us, we have so satisfying an enjoyment of his perfection that the imperfection of others is as it were swallowed up, and the sense of our own nothingness makes us insensible to that which is irritating to individual feelings and habits.—Hare. The Bible’s Influence on Character
UNDER Bible influence all the finer faculties are expanded, invigorated, and elevated; all the purest and best emotions of the heart are refined, exercised, and ennobled; all the highest, manifest, and most beautiful attributes and virtues of the character are moulded into symmetry, and assimilated to the likeness of Christ and of God. Guard Yourself Against Yourself
By Whately
Do you want to know the man against whom you have the most reason to guard yourself? Your looking-glass will give you a very fair likeness of his face.—Whately. The Sabbath-School.
By W. N. Glenn
LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST.—APRIL 26. The First Day of the Week.
ACTS 20: 7 is the seventh of the eight texts in the New Testament wherein mention is made of the first day of the week, and the only instance of its connection with religious services. From the facts that “the disciples came together to break bread,” and “Paul preached unto them,” it is argued that the apostles regarded the first day as the Sabbath. But neither of these facts establish this conclusion. When the Saviour instituted the Lord’s Supper, he did not specify any day for its observance, nor how often it should be done. Therefore his disciples might “break bread” upon any fitting occasion. And no one will deny that Paul would preach upon any day as the wants of the cause demanded, and opportunity was presented. TO LEARN whether Paul regarded this first day as the Sabbath or not, it is necessary to inquire what he and his companions did during the time not occupied in the church service. Remembering that the day was then reckoned from evening to evening, and that this service of the communion and preaching was during the night (verses 7, 11), we must conclude that it took place during the first part of the day, or what is now known as Saturday night. The inquiry as to what the apostle did the remainder of the day is answered by the historian, who was one of the company, in verses 11, 13. Paul talked even till break of day, and departed. Where did he depart for? “And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul; for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.” So it is plain that Paul himself traveled twenty miles during the daytime of the first day of the week, while his companions traveled by ship a much longer distance, around the cape to the same point. This could hardly be called observing the Sabbath. It is obvious that, this being the last time that Paul ever expected to visit Troas, the meeting on that night was a kind of farewell occasion, and would have been conducted in the same manner had circumstances placed the occurrence upon any other evening of the week. Paul’s Last Meeting with the Ephesian Elders.
THE third day after leaving Assos, the ship bearing Paul and his companions landed at Miletus, the ancient capital of Ionia, and about thirty miles from Ephesus. He was anxious to reach Jerusalem before the Pentecost. But the vessel would make a short stay at Miletus, and he sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church to come to him. The interview was a most pathetic one, and Paul’s counsel shows the deepest concern for their welfare. See verses 18–35. In view of some of his predictions, it is no wonder the elders “wept sore,” and sorrowed “most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.” A heavy responsibility was left upon them; the Holy Ghost had made them overseers to feed the church of God, which he had purchased with his own blood. Verse 28. And they were assured that after Paul’s departure grievous wolves should enter, “not sparing the flock;” and also that of their own body should men arise, “speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.” Verses 29, 30. FROM the beginning the church has been beset with persons who merely “seek their own, and not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.” Phil. 2: 21. Paul had had much bitter experience with “false apostles” at Corinth, and “false brethren” were enumerated among the “perils” he had passed through during his eventful career. 2 Cor. 11. No wonder the apostle wept as the Spirit showed him the dangers of the church which had been the object of his fostering care; and no wonder the elders wept as these things were pointed out to them, and they were assured that they would not have the long-trusted leader to guide them through their coming trials. The leaders of reform in the church, from that day to this, have invariably found their most perplexing difficulties arising from the work of those who were either false or self-sufficient and ambitious to lead rather than help. Just such dangers as were pointed out to the Ephesian elders beset the church at the present time, and the apostle’s injunction, “therefore watch,” should be diligently heeded. The apostle himself had warned night and day with tears. Verse 31. TEARS have acted a prominent part in the work of salvation. They have often been irresistible when words were of no avail. The Son of God came from Heaven to weep over fallen man. He was “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” He told his disciples, “Blessed are ye that weep now, for ye shall laugh.” Luke 6: 21. “Verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and ye shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.” John 16: 20. Paul tells the elders of Ephesus that from the first day he came into Asia, he had “served the Lord with humility of mind, and with many tears.” He had previously written to the Romans, and enjoined them to “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” Rom. 12: 15. His first epistle to the Corinthians was written “with many tears.” 2 Cor. 2: 4. Of those who “minded earthly things,” he had cautioned the Philippians, even with tears, that they were enemies of the cross of Christ. Phil. 3: 18, 19. And he was mindful of Timothy’s tears. 2 Tim. 1: 4. All workers for the Lord should remember the words of David, “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.” Ps. 126: 5. And remember also the final promise to the redeemed, “God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.” Rev. 7: 17. PAUL’s last injunction to the elders was to “remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Verse 25. This thought may be taken as the key-note of successful gospel work. It may be safely assumed that no real success has ever been achieved in the cause of God upon any other principle. It is the great bar to selfishness, which is man’s greatest obstacle. The exercise of this principle is not only a duty to our fellow-men in view of what our heavenly Father has done for us, but it is a duty we owe to ourselves as a necessary preparation for the kingdom of God. Charity is the only thing in our own power mentioned in the Scriptures that “covers” sin. 1 Pet. 4: 8. How important then that it be the leading principle of life. In this, as in all of his teachings, the Saviour enjoined nothing that he did not himself carry out in practice. He was not only a teacher, but he was a practical example of self-denial for the benefit of others. And in this respect the apostle was a true disciple. He had waived the rights of an apostle to support from those amongst whom he labored. He had toiled night and day, and had coveted no man’s gold or apparel. Despite his physical weakness, he could say, “Ye yourselves know that these hands [his own] have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.” Verse 34. THE sacrifice of this world’s prospects was much greater in Paul’s day than in our time. Those who have studied the Scriptures in the light of the third angel’s message know that the time is short; that, laying aside the liability to death at any moment, there is not time ahead to warrant the prosecution of worldly interests with the hope of long enjoying success even if attained; that every species of secular enterprise is growing more and more uncertain as the years roll round. There is to-day nothing sure but the word of God; no safe investment but in the gospel enterprise. In view of the present condition of the world, and the judgments of the Lord in the earth, it can hardly be called sacrifice; it is wise business policy, to divert one’s time and means to that charity which will “cover” sins in the Judgment, and secure everlasting possessions. “Who then is a faithful and wise servant?” Matt. 24: 45. DOES it ever occur to Sabbath-school teachers that, in the prosecution of the Lord’s work, there are some to sow the seed, and some to reap the harvests that spring from the seed? And have they ever formed any just idea of the comparative importance of the two works? It is to be feared that, because the teacher’s part is to scatter the little seeds, he is often tempted to undervalue the importance of his work, and to perform it without due care, or in a half-desponding mood, because no higher work is entrusted to him. The late Henry Moorhouse, the English evangelist, in his little work on “Ruth the Moabitees,” says a few words that may rouse teachers to a sense of the true importance of their work, and send them to it with a heart full of gratitude that they have the privilege to be the sowers of the seed; and of anxiety that they may do their work well:— “I once lived next door to a farmer, and I used to see him when he went out to sow his fields. I said to him one day, ‘Why do you do that yourself?’ “Because,” he said, “I have not got a servant that I can trust to sow. I had one once that I could trust, but he has left me. I must have one to sow the seed in whom I can put confidence.” “I have seen that very farmer go and hire the first Irish laborer that came along, to put in the sickle and reap. Who did the most important work? Not the man that reaped, but the man that sowed. So you, perhaps, who are toiling and laboring for the Lord Jesus Christ—you never see a soul won to the Saviour. Thank God for the great honor he is conferring upon you in making you a sower, even if he makes somebody else the reaper. Sow the seed beside all waters, and by and by, both sower and reaper shall rejoice together. When the Master winnoweth the barley, we shall all get the praise that is due to us.”—Geo. W. Anderson, D. D., in Baptist Teacher. Read the Bible.
By Interior
GOD'S word was intended to give light to the people, and it does give light in every human habitation where it is permitted to shine. It is a lamp to the feet, and a light to the path of every human being who will receive it as a guide, and then humbly walk by it. For the mind of youth, there is no such enlightener in the world. It not only gives the light of truth but the light of life and immortality. It creates new hopes when all earthly hopes perish. Its very entrance, as the psalmist says, gives light to the mind. Let it but once enter the mind of youth, in all its divine fullness, power, and beauty, and that mind is already more than half educated, because a moral and intellectual discipline is thereby inaugurated which can never cease, which must go on as long as life itself.—Interior. Charity Begins at Home.
By H. R.
A FEW years ago I was in San Francisco, and had been for several years there an active member of a private Society to Help the Poor, meeting once a week; those members who could afford to pay twenty-five cents per week, dues, did so; the workers paying fifty cents per month. Our work was very laborious. First, to look up the needy families, then to trace up all their possible claims upon charity, which would be so conflicting at times, as to put us on detective duty to find the truth. Abuse we were prepared to take in any form. We supplied in groceries—tea, coffee, rice, salt, sugar, beans, codfish, flour, smoked salmon, oatmeal, besides wood and coal, a physician in case of sickness, and cash if required. It is scarce necessary to add, I became discouraged often at the attempts to assist the families of drunkards, miserable curses to themselves and families. The poor children's clothing which we gave this week, were next week traded off at the saloon or corner grocery for whisky or beer. A woman would ask for clothing—we held sewing bees—it would be given her, and next week she would send word that she was sick in bed and starving, and sure enough she would be in bed, because she had no clothes to wear; they had followed others to the dram-shop, and she was in a fair way of starving; her children ran the streets shoeless and almost naked, to be fed by the neighbors, and her husband was in jail for a noisy drunk. There was nothing we could do for these poor children, as they were not orphans, and the “P. O. C. to Children's Society” was not yet in existence. To-day those children are our citizens of a “Noble Republic,” but too much debauched, morally and mentally, to be anything less than a curse to society, and a dangerous element in politics. —H. R., in State Prohibitionist. Tobacco Slavery.
By Editor
THE following remarks on the use of tobacco, from Hon. Neal Dow, in the New York Weekly Witness of Jan. 18, are very good on the subject:— The tobacco habit is to me a perpetual wonder, as it exists among gentlemen of education and culture. I can understand very well why coarse, ignorant, and brutal men should fall into the habit and continue in it, because they have no thought and no care for the rights and comforts of others, nor whether the habit makes them a nuisance among those who do not like the intolerable odor of tobacco. There is no habit or custom among barbarians or semi-barbarous people more absurd than the tobacco habit, I think. To be without the chew or the smoke is a torture fully equal to excessive hunger or thirst coming from long deprivation of food or drink. Then the customary indulgence allays the pain and soon dissipates it; that is the whole of the 'comfort' coming from tobacco. We wonder at seeing a gentleman when among others, even among ladies, with a cigar in his mouth, poisoning the air which others must breathe. We do not see how any one with the qualities of a gentleman can do it. But the reason of it is, that without the smoke he will be in torment. Then, if this be so, why should he not retire to some out-of-the-way place, so as not to annoy others with smoke? The reason of this is, that the tobacco habit dulls and deadens the moral sense. The slave of the tobacco habit does not see that tobacco and tobacco-smoke are poison. Where is the right of a man to poison the air that I must breathe more than to poison the water that I must drink? But we see this done many times every day by men who would shrink with horror at the suggestion that they were really doing so. I was once the guest of a gentleman living in a Western State. It was a charming day, and after dinner he proposed that we should have a drive—he, his wife, and I. There came to the door a handsome carryall with a very fine pair of horses. The wife and I were on the back seat, and my host, with a cigar in his mouth, was on the front seat to drive. It was a bright, balmy day, and the fields were covered with new-mown hay. 'How delicious is the smell of the hay; the atmosphere is full of its fragrance,' said the host. 'I suppose so,' was my reply, 'but we on the back seat can smell nothing but the smoke from your cigar!' 'I beg a thousand pardons; I did not think of it,' he said. Of course not; he did not think. Why? The tobacco had dulled his moral sense. THE Mendocino Beacon's San Francisco correspondent writes as follows:— A singular wave of intemperance is holding sway just now. Arrests of drunks have been very frequent, and in connection with this it is astonishing how many women have been led to the cells for the abandonment of their helpless children. Liquor seems to be the one thing that can conquer a mother's love for her children. It is amazing to what a depth of degradation some of our female poor have descended. Not a day has passed lately but what arrests have been made of these outcasts, and their children found starving. I stepped into a saloon the other day to wait for a train, and called for a glass of beer to appease my thirst. I took up a paper to kill time. It was a barren place, containing a bar, table, a few Police Gazettes, and one or two chairs. The proprietor was smoking a huge old pipe. Leaning over the counter was a miserable rough-looking man. He was begging for liquor, or for credit for some. He finally went away and returned in about ten minutes with six eggs. These he bartered for a drink. The proprietor reluctantly took the eggs and placed out the liquor. It was barely down when a woman entered the place. She was a worn, old-before-her-time woman. Her face was stern and pained; her dress was shabby and ill-fitting; her hair was disheveled, and her eyes full of despair; her voice was really full of pathos. "You had no right," she said, "to receive those eggs; my husband stole them from me; they are my food for myself and child. That man has not given me a cent of money for three years, but has eaten and drunk of my earnings. He lies in the house drunk half the time. He steals the very food out of our mouths, and you receive what belongs to me, and give him liquor." The barkeeper smiled; her husband growled to her to get out. She continued: "Last week he beat me because I had nothing for him to eat," and here she showed swells on her arm, and a bruise over her temple. "What can I do! for God's sake, what can I do for myself and child when everything is against me!" As the train moved away a crowd was watching a despairing woman on the sidewalk; a half-drunken man was cursing her; a stolid saloon man was smoking a pipe with an unconcerned air; on the window of a grocery store across the way one could read, "Liquors for family use."