Signs of the Times, Vol. 12, No. 11. (3/18/1886)

Signs of the Times

Mar 18, 1886

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Mar 18, 1886

General Articles.

By Mrs. E. G. White

The Bible System of Tithes and Offerings.

BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.

“There is that scattereth; and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.” Prov. 11: 24, 25.

GIVING is a part of gospel religion. The foundation of the plan of salvation was laid in sacrifice. Jesus left the royal courts of Heaven, and became poor, that we through his poverty might be made rich. His life on earth was unselfish, marked with humiliation and sacrifice. And is the servant greater than his Lord? Shall men, partakers of the great salvation which he wrought out for them, refuse to follow their Lord, and to share in his self-denial? When the world’s Redeemer has suffered so much for us, shall we, the members of his body, live in thoughtless self-indulgence? No; self-denial is an essential condition of discipleship.

“I am the vine,” says Christ; “ye are the branches.” What a close union is this! The very vital principle, the sap, which flows through the vine, nourishes the branches, that they may flourish and bear fruit. The spirit of the Master will actuate his followers. Again Jesus said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” He leads the way in the path of self-denial, and requires nothing of his followers but that of which he has given them an example in his life.

Christ, as our head, led out in the great work of salvation; but he has intrusted that work to his followers upon earth. It cannot be carried on without means, and he has given his people a plan for raising means sufficient to make his cause prosperous. The tithing system, instituted for this purpose, reaches back to the time of Moses. Even as far back as the days of Adam, long before the definite system was given, men were required to offer to God gifts for religious purposes. They were thus to manifest their appreciation of the mercies and blessings they received.

These offerings were continued through successive generations. The principle was not unknown in the days of Job. Abraham gave tithes to Melchizedek, the priest of the most high God. Jacob, when at Bethel, an exile and a penniless wanderer, promised the Lord, “Of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee.”

God does not compel men to give to his cause. Their action must be voluntary. He will not have his treasury replenished with unwilling offerings. His design in the plan of systematic giving was to bring man into close relationship with his Creator and in sympathy and love with his fellow-men, thus placing upon him responsibilities that would counteract selfishness and strengthen disinterested, generous impulses. Man is inclined to be selfish, and to close his heart to generous deeds. The Lord, by requiring gifts to be made at stated times, designed that giving should become a habit, and be looked upon as a Christian duty. The heart, opened by one gift, was not to have time to close and become selfishly cold, before another offering was bestowed.

As to the amount required, God has specified one-tenth of the increase as his due; but other offerings should be made, and while the directions are definite enough for all to understand their duty, there is room for the judgment and the conscience to have free play. Says the apostle: “Let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him.” The tithing system is beautiful in its equality and simplicity. It gives all an opportunity to help carry forward the precious work of salvation. Every man, woman, and child may become a treasurer for the Lord.

Great objects may be accomplished by this system. If all accept it, there will be no want of means to carry forward the work of God in the earth. The treasury will be full, and the contributions will not be left to the poorer members of the church. Every investment made will draw out the heart to love the cause of God more and more; and the liberal, who are willing to sacrifice for the spread of the truth and the salvation of souls, will be “laying up in store for themselves, a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.”

The Christian church, as a general thing, disregard the claims of God upon them to give of the things which they possess to support the warfare against the moral darkness which is flooding the world. Every church member should be an earnest worker, a liberal, systematic giver. But some rich men feel like murmuring because there are demands for money. They say that one object after another is continually arising, and there is no end to the calls for means. They do not remember that they will have a debt to settle with the Master by and by.

Says the apostle, “Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with a price;” not with “corruptible things, as silver and gold,” but with the “precious blood of Christ.” In return he asks us to use his intrusted gifts to aid in the salvation of souls. He has given his blood; he asks our talents of means and of influence. It is through his poverty that we have eternal riches; and will we refuse to return to him the silver and the gold which are his own gifts? If men prefer to set aside the claims of God, and to hoard the means which he gives them, he will hold his peace at present. Frequently he will continue to test them by increasing his bounties, letting his blessings flow on; these men may pass on receiving honor of men, and without censure in the church, but soon it will be said to them, “Give an account of thy stewardship.”

God is not dependent upon man. He says: “The silver is mine, and the gold is mine.” “Every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills.” “If I were hungry, I would not tell thee; for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof.” It is for our own good that he has planned to have us bear some part in the advancement of his cause. He has honored us by making us co-workers with himself. He has ordained that there should be a necessity for the co-operation of men, that they may cultivate and keep in exercise their benevolent affections.

In the wise providence of God, the poor are always with us, that while we witness the various forms of suffering and necessity in the world, we may be tested, and may develop Christian character. God has placed them among us to call out Christian sympathy and love. They are here as Christ’s representatives. He identifies himself with suffering humanity. He makes their necessities his own, and takes to his bosom the woes of the children of men. “Inasmuch,” he says, as ye ministered not to “one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.”

The moral darkness of a ruined world also appeals to Christian men and women to put forth individual effort. They are required by the Scriptures to keep in constant exercise an interest in the salvation of their fellow-men. The condition of eternal life, as expressed by Christ himself, is supreme love to God and equal love to our neighbor.

The first disciples expressed their gratitude for the benefits of the Christian age in works of charity and benevolence. The outpouring of the Spirit of God, after Christ left his disciples and ascended to Heaven, led to self-denial and self-sacrifice for the salvation of others. When the poor saints at Jerusalem were in need, Paul, appealing to the Gentile Christians in their behalf, urged them to prove the sincerity of their love by their liberality. “Therefore,” he says, “as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.” Here benevolence is placed by the side of faith, love, and Christian diligence.

The gospel, as it extends and widens, requires greater provisions to sustain it than were called for anciently, and this makes the law of tithes and offerings a more urgent necessity now than under the Hebrew economy. The cause of God requires, not less, but greater gifts than at any other period of the world’s history. The principle laid down by Christ is, that the offerings should be in proportion to the light and blessings enjoyed. “Unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required.” But those who give in accordance with this rule will reap a proportionate blessing. “The liberal soul shall be made fat.” “The liberal deviseth liberal things; and by liberal things shall he stand.”

SOME ONE AT THE DOOR.

By Richard Gear Hobbs

AWAKE, O heart! and sleep no more! There's some one knocking at the door; His feet have come a weary way, And still abide your long delay.

Though chilling dews have wet his locks, He patient stands, and gently knocks. Your silence grieves him. Rise, O heart, Unbar the door lest Christ depart.

For Christ it is who deigns to stand And ask for what he might demand— An open door, a ready seat, A welcome for his presence sweet.

He comes to save you by his grace; He comes to bring you Heaven's peace. Awake, O heart! and sleep no more! There's some one knocking at the door. —Richard Gear Hobbs, in The Current.

Taking the World Along.

By Editor

IN the beginning of the gospel dispensation, to become a Christian was to renounce the world, and become an object of scorn and persecution. The original comprehension of the estate of a disciple of Christ was to forsake all, so far at least as to allow nothing to encumber the follower, and to have no earthly attachment that would interfere with a whole-hearted devotion to the Master. One that kept back a part while professing to give the whole, was rightly regarded with loathing, and as having no part in the great salvation.

But with the favor gained by the church in later years, came a danger that has wrecked untold thousands. Men and women have deceived themselves with the idea that they can sanctify the lust of the flesh by incorporating religion into their worldliness, and retain all, perhaps, but their grosser carnalities and outward allegiance to sin; in short, putting up a new sign while continuing the same business as before.

We are not of those who regard the Christian religion as intended to deprive its possessor of the blessings that were made for man; but the teaching of Him that spake as never man spake is, "Seek ye first [esteem most highly] the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things [necessary comforts] shall be added unto you." It is because so many seek other things first, that their supposed religion becomes a burden, and an obstacle to their enjoyment of worldly pleasures. In the light of the eternal realities there are no more pitable objects than men and women professing in words to follow Christ, and yet trying to lug this world along in their arms, which all the while shuts out from their view the Divine Leader and the heavenly Canaan to which he is bringing his people. Would that every one that names the name of Christ would put the world beneath him, and "run with patience the race, looking to Jesus!"—Sel.

Shall We Be Deceived?

By A. O. Tait

THE Saviour says (Matt. 24:4, 5): "Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." This caution to the followers of Christ was called from the lips of our Lord in answer to the question, "Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" The Saviour does not proceed to answer their question till he has first warned them against deception. "Take heed that no man deceive you," says the Son of God.

In 2 Tim. 3:1-13 we find a graphic description of the condition of things in the last days. It says (verse 1): "In the last days perilous times shall come." This is the direct opposite to that for which people generally are looking. They are talking of "good times coming," "the world converted, and a glorious temporal millennium." But Paul, speaking by inspiration, says: "In the last days perilous times shall come." Paul certainly knew best. Let us not be deceived in this. In verses 2-5 he gives us the cause of this peril. The word "for," commencing verse 2, signifies because. Then, because of what these verses contain, we shall have this last-days' peril. A list of eighteen sins of the darkest character stand out prominently to produce it.

We learn from verse 5 that those who commit these sins have a "form of godliness." The avowed worldling has no "form of godliness;" hence the ones here referred to must claim to be Christians. How they cause this peril we learn from verse 8: "As Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth." Some of the ancient Jewish records have preserved the names of Jannes and Jambres as two of the chiefs among the magicians who tried to overthrow the work of Moses, when he was about to lead the Israelites from Egypt. All are agreed that the work of those magicians, as recorded in Exodus, chapters 7, 8, is that to which Paul here refers. Those magicians made high pretensions, and were successful in counteracting some of the miracles performed by Moses. And we are informed that these last-days' professors of godliness, who deny the power, will work in like manner. The apostle tells us that although they profess to be followers of God, they "resist the truth." Then there will be those who, like Moses in his day, are presenting the truth; and these hypocritical professors will resist it, and that will make peril for the advocates of truth.

Now nothing can be plainer than that Paul teaches in these verses that when we are come down to the last days, we shall have peril; that this peril will be caused by the ungodly practices of persons professing godliness; and that they will "resist the truth" as the Egyptian magicians resisted it in Moses's day.

The above distinctly point out the manner and cause of these last-day deceptions. Other texts will more fully show their intensity.

We are informed (2 Thess. 2:9, 10) that the coming of the Lord is "after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." The arch-enemy is here said to work with "all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish."

There is nothing more reasonable than that Satan will work in this manner. He has been working ever since the fall of man to destroy the human family and overthrow the plan of salvation. And now, when he sees that his time to destroy human souls is about ended, and that the people of God are to be gathered from all parts of the earth to join in the song of redemption, he feels called upon to put forth all the maddened rage of despair in trying to overthrow as many as possible. And since his success has always largely depended upon his ability to deceive, he will use his subtle energies as much as possible in ensnaring the last generation of men.

Already the careful observer can see some of the drops of these deceptions that precede the deluge of delusions that is to follow. A short time ago, in the city of Chicago, there was a man making considerable stir by healing the sick in a miraculous manner. Chicago is not the only place where such things are done. "Faith cures," and miraculous healings of the sick by Spiritualist doctors, are becoming quite common.

But cannot God heal the sick by his miraculous power just as well now as when Christ was on earth as a man among men? Certainly he can. But there are other powers in the world besides God, as we have already learned, that are to work miracles, and that, too, for the purpose of deceiving. Then when a miracle is performed, it is not positive evidence that the power performing it is of God. And we should be careful to examine the matter, lest we be deceived. The Lord tells us: "If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods which thou hast not known, and let us serve them, thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul." Deut. 13:1-3. If miracles or wonders lessen our regard for the word of God, or any part of it, they are calling us to "go after other gods," and we may know that the Lord is not in them. The man in Chicago, referred to, said he had no use for the Bible, because he lived so near the Lord that he spoke directly to him. Then he must have been above the apostles, or even Christ himself; for in their teachings they very frequently referred to the word afore written by the prophets. When such pretenders arise, "beware!" for they are calling us to go after other gods, and are direct proof that we are approaching the great deceptions of the last days.

These lying wonders will doubtless be wrought in many instances to cause us to believe a false, pernicious doctrine, or else to shake our faith in a sound one. Already we see the world being rapidly filled with every form of error and corrupt doctrine, and we only await the miracles to enforce them.

Spiritualism, in its modern form, has arisen; Universalism has gained a prominent place in the minds of many; the devotees of evolution

are to be found everywhere, and especially among our learned ministers and college professors; false ideas and superficial notions upon the subject of conversion, which intoxicate men with excitement in order to draw them into the church, are prominent features in the religion of to-day. Any one of these, as well as many minor false theories that grow out of them, are subversive of the plain and positive principles of God's word. And it is altogether impossible for any one to hold to either of the above theories and still maintain a proper respect for the word of God. I know the evolutionist and the Universalist will talk very reverently of the Bible; but they want to throw away a large portion of it, and wrest the remainder to suit their false notions. Many who profess to carry the Bible with them in their work, talk so irreverently of its sacred themes that they constantly produce boisterous laughter instead of solemn reverence for its sacred words. The tendency of such work is to bring Christianity down from its pure and holy throne, and associate it so commonly with foolish jesting that it loses its power over the minds of men. And in a little while, when these miracles, prophesied of in the word of God, are wrought in favor of all these falsities, and more especially for the pretended proof of Spiritualism, it will be a very easy matter to deceive all who are not rooted and grounded on Bible truth.

Now the question arises, How, amid all the conflicting theories extant, will it be possible to determine which is right? And are we not liable to be deceived, no matter how earnestly we may desire and seek for the truth? We answer, No. The word of God furnishes abundant evidence to point out the right and expose the wrong. And if we lay aside our prejudice and willful skepticism, we can readily arrive at the truth. "Thy word is truth," says the Saviour; and if we desire to know the truth, it is necessary for us to search that word and find out what it teaches.

After speaking of the deceptions and perils of the last days (2 Tim. 3:1-13), to which we have already referred, Paul immediately adds (verses 14-17): "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them, and that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." Note his expressions: "Continue thou in the things which thou hast learned;" "The Holy Scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation;" "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God," "is profitable for doctrine . . . for correction, for instruction in righteousness," and it thoroughly furnishes the man of God "unto all good works." Paul only vividly states in these verses that which will enable us to escape the deceptions to which he refers in the first part of the chapter. He clearly instructs us that it is a knowledge of God's word that makes us wise enough to keep from being deceived.

The Saviour, speaking of the false christs and false prophets that should arise and show great signs and wonders, says that "if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matt. 24:24. Then it is impossible to deceive the elect. How is it that they cannot be deceived? The next few verses give us a clew to it: "Behold, I have told you before," etc. This is the important point; what the Lord has told us before, we can depend upon, and have no fears of being deceived so long as we give earnest heed to it. And again, there is no need of being deceived; for the psalmist states that "a good understanding have all they that do His commandments." Ps. 111:10. Thus it is that those who "do his commandments," have a "good understanding" and are by this means able to see and avoid the deceptions of the wily foe.

There are few who realize the importance of a knowledge of God's word, and, disregarding the light it affords, many are rushing headlong into the darkness of the deceptions before us, only to be swallowed up in the great final destruction. God is graciously holding out to us a means of escape; and let us heed the admonition of the Saviour to "search the Scriptures;" for they "are able," says Paul, "to make us wise unto salvation." A. O. TAIT.

Keeping the Commandments.

By S. P. Bollman

THE moral law (of which the ten commandments are a summary) comprises all the duty we owe to God, whom we are to love with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind; and also the duty we owe to man, in loving our neighbor as ourselves. Eccl. 12:13.

The intimate connection which exists between vital piety and the keeping of God's commandments is clearly seen by taking the ten precepts separately, and thus making manifest the intimate relation each one sustains to the development of a perfect Christian character. Let us examine some of them. We analyze the first: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." This requires a complete concentration of every adoring faculty possessed by man, upon the only proper object of worship—the living God. The second commandment intensifies the first, by prohibiting the worship of any other god, either real or imaginary, by any image or similitude whatever. And the third still further guards against any irreverence in the worship of the true God, or any profanity in the every-day walks of life. The fourth is, we might say, the seal of the law; because it alone defines the true God, showing that the Lawgiver is none other than the God of Heaven, the Creator of all things. The last six precepts cover every possible relation and obligation which can exist between man and man; the whole justifying the declaration of the psalmist: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."

True piety, then, is an aggregation of all that results from the keeping of the commandments of God. The purpose of every renewed heart is to keep the commandments. The purpose of every Christian is to "walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." How absurd, then, to assert that the decalogue is abrogated, nailed to the cross, taken out of the way—only intended for, and given to, the Jews, and is not obligatory in the gospel dispensation!

Heaven and earth shall sooner pass away than that one jot or one tittle of God's law should fail. The Saviour came to fulfill this law (which he did by keeping the commandments, John 15:10); and to magnify it (which he did by showing that it takes cognizance, not only of outward acts, but of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Matt. 5:21, 22, 27, 28). And in this same path of obedience must all his disciples walk, honoring the same law, and keeping the same commandments. Then will they be prepared to realize the grand consummation spoken of in Rev. 22:14: "Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

S. P. BOLLMAN.

The Prayer Barrel.

I FIRST met with prayer barrels on the borders of Thibet, when, traveling the narrow paths which wind along the face of majestic, precipitous Himalayan crags, we met native travelers from still further north,—traders driving flocks of laden goats, women with quaint head-dresses of lumps of amber and large, coarse turquoises fastened on bands of dirty cloth, and here and there a man holding in his hand a small bronze or brass cylinder which he twirled mechanically all the time he was journeying. It was some time before I succeeded in getting hold of one of these for a closer examination, as the owners are nervously afraid to trust their treasures in the hands of one who, albeit in ignorance, might irreverently turn them the wrong way, and so undo much of the merit acquired by perpetual twirling in the opposite direction. For, as we eventually discovered, not only is the sacred six-syllabled charm embossed on the metal cylinder, but the same mystic words were written over and over again on very lengthy strips of cloth or papyrus which are bound round the spindle on which the cylinder rotates, and one end of which forms the handle. It is therefore necessary to turn this little barrel of prayers in such a direction that the characters forming the holy phrase may pass in proper order before the person turning, and as Oriental books are read from the right side of each page to the left, the barrel is turned in the same direction. For the same reason the Thibetan walks in this direction round the great terraces and other buildings, on which the holy words are inscribed, in order that his eyes may rest on the words in due course, which can only be the case when he keeps his left hand toward the object round which he is walking. Happily this produces a doubly satisfactory result; for in Eastern lands, as well as in our West, it has ever been accounted lucky and meritorious to walk around sacred objects or places in this sunwise course—an act of homage to the sun which I have seen rendered in many lands. Just as our ancestors continued thus to circumambulate their churches long after they had nominally abandoned all paganism, so throughout the world we find survivals of the old homage.—The Contemporary Review.

Obedience.

By Herrick Johnson

God wants obedience rather than the fat of rams. He will be obeyed. That is the one absolutely fundamental condition of acceptable discipleship. We are not freed from this obligation in Christ. To think that we can have Christ as a Saviour without taking him as Master and Lord is a miserable delusion. God wants neither sighs nor rhapsodies, but righteous lives. God told Saul that "to obey is better than sacrifice;" for "rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." 1 Sam. 15:22. Christ said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15. The law is not our Saviour, but we cannot put our feet on the least law and keep a Saviour. Liberty in Christ is not liberty to trifle with God's will. We must fall into line with that or perish.—Rev. Herrick Johnson, D. D.

The Second Coming.

By R. F. Cottrell

CONVERSING with a lady friend, esteemed a teacher in Israel, or, as it is frequently expressed, in "one branch of our Zion," I said something about the fulfillment of the prophecies, and the signs of the second advent at hand. As is quite usual, she thought it of no importance to know anything of the time of Christ's coming, if we were only ready. Said she, "He will come to each of us as individuals, ere long; he will come to us at death." "But," said I, "I was speaking of his second coming. Paul says, 'He shall appear the second time without sin unto salvation,' and your view would make too many second comings." She replied that he came to each individual at conversion, and he came to them the second time at death.

It is surprising indeed that pious people can thus trifle with the word of God. The text referred to says that "Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin [or a sin offering] unto salvation." Did he offer himself personally, a sacrifice for sins? How, then, is his second coming to be anything but a personal coming? But they have no thought that they trifle with the word. It is owing to their early teaching and prejudices; they know not what they do.

There is radical error in the religious teaching of the present day. The reason why professed Christians have no love for Christ's appearing, do not wish him to come in our day, at least, and are indifferent as to whether he ever comes, is because they think they are going to Heaven at death, and, consequently, they see no need of the coming of Christ and of the resurrection. They have, by unscriptural teaching, made death, "the last enemy," their friend, and engaged him to ferry them directly over to the promised land, or, as they call it, "the spirit world;" hence the second coming of Christ and the resurrection are things not desired, and they do not care to hear of them.

Whether it is applicable or not, I am forcibly reminded of a people described by the evangelical prophet, who are represented as saying, "We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement." Isa. 28:15. Death is the great enemy of our race. The Lord would have us make no treaty with him. Sheol is the dark and silent prison-house of the saints. We should not be at agreement with it, but should ardently desire the coming of Christ, who has the keys, and will unlock the prison-house, release the prisoners, and lead a greater multitude of captives than he did when he ascended before. "Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave [hades or sheol], where is thy victory?" 1 Cor. 15:54, 55; Isa. 25:8.

Our Saviour made no compromise with these our enemies, but boldly met them on their own chosen ground. And though seemingly overcome for a little moment, yet he triumphed gloriously. He conquered death and the "under-world" for us; why should we make peace with them and call them friends? He triumphed; for God raised him from the dead. In his name we may triumph too. Death is not the voice that Jesus sends to call us to his arms. That voice is the voice of the archangel and the trump of God, which will be heard when the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven. The under-world is not the blissful paradise of the saints of God. Their glorious home is in those mansions in his Father's house which he has gone to prepare, and to which he will receive them on his return. John 14:1-3. The hope of the Christian points to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The crown of life is to be received in that day. Who would not love his appearing?

R. F. COTTRELL.

The Suevi, the Vandals, and the Burgundians.

AS WE now turn our attention to the North, it will be necessary for us to take a brief survey of the positions of the nations which dwelt there at this period—about A. D. 400-406.

The right bank of the middle and upper Rhine was inhabited by the Franks and the Alemanni. The Angles dwelt in what is now Southern Denmark, and the Saxons upon the lower Elbe. Eastward of the Elbe, and on the Oder, dwelt the Lombards; on the coast of the Baltic, between the Oder and the Vistula, were the Vandals; south of the Vandals, on the Vistula, were the Burgundians; east of the Vistula, toward the Baltic, were the Suevi; and over the whole country east of the Suevi, and stretching away to the River Volga, were spread the Sarmatians. In the southern country below the Sarmatians, from the Danube through the valley of the Dnieper to the coasts of the Caspian Sea, was the dominion of the Huns ruled by Rugilas. It was, as we have seen, this inundation of the Huns that drove the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths across the Danube into the territories of the Roman Empire. And we shall now find that it was a like movement of another people, further north, that crowded other tribes of the Huns upon the Sarmatians; these, in turn, were forced upon the nations of Northern Germany, which were thus displaced and driven across the Rhine upon Western Rome. Of this we read:—

“While Italy rejoiced in her deliverance from the Goths, a furious tempest was excited among the nations of Germany, who yielded to the irresistible impulse that appears to have been gradually communicated [A. D. 400] from the eastern extremity of the continent of Asia. The Chinese annals, as they have been interpreted by the learned industry of the present age, may be usefully applied to reveal the secret, and remote causes of the fall of the Roman Empire. The extensive territory to the north of the Great Wall, was possessed, after the flight of the Huns, by the victorious Sienpi, who were sometimes broken into independent tribes, and sometimes re-united under a supreme chief; till at length, styling themselves Topa, or masters of the earth, they acquired a more solid consistence and a more formidable power. The Topa soon compelled the pastoral nations of the eastern desert to acknowledge the superiority of their arms; they invaded China in a period of weakness and intestine discord; and these fortunate Tartars, adopting the laws and manners of the vanquished people, founded an Imperial dynasty, which reigned near one hundred and sixty years over the northern provinces of the monarchy.

“Some generations before they ascended the throne of China, one of the Topa princes had enlisted in his cavalry a slave by the name of Moko, renowned for his valor, but who was tempted, by the fear of punishment, to desert his standard, and to range the desert at the head of a hundred followers. This gang of robbers and outlaws swelled into a camp, a tribe, a numerous people, distinguished by the appellation of Geougen; and their hereditary chieftains, the posterity of Moko the slave, assumed their rank among the Scythian monarchs. The youth of Toulun, the greatest of his descendants, was exercised by those misfortunes which are the school of heroes. He bravely struggled with adversity, broke the imperious yoke of the Topa, and became the legislator of his nation, and the conqueror of Tartary. His troops were distributed into regular bands of a hundred and of a thousand men; cowards were stoned to death; the most splendid honors were proposed as the reward of valor; and Toulun, who had knowledge enough to despise the learning of China, adopted only such arts and institutions as were favorable to the military spirit of his government. His tents, which he removed in the winter season to a more southern latitude, were pitched, during the summer, on the fruitful banks of the Selinga. His conquests stretched from Corea far beyond the River Irtish. He vanquished, in the country to the north of the Caspian Sea, the nation of the Huns; and the new title of Khan or Cagan expressed the fame and power which he derived from this memorable victory.

“The chain of events is interrupted, or rather is concealed, as it passes from the Volga to the Vistula, through the dark interval which separates the extreme limits of the Chinese and of the Roman geography. Yet the temper of the barbarians, and the experience of successive emigrations, sufficiently declare that the Huns, who were oppressed by the arms of the Geougen, soon withdrew from the presence of an insulting victor. The countries towards the Euxine were already occupied by their kindred tribes; and their hasty flight, which they soon converted into a bold attack, would more naturally be directed towards the rich and level plains through which the Vistula gently flows into the Baltic Sea. The North must again have been alarmed and agitated by the invasion of the Huns; and the nations who retreated before them [the Sarmatians], must have pressed with incumbent weight on the confines of Germany. The inhabitants of those regions, which the ancients have assigned to the Suevi, the Vandals, and the Burgundians, might embrace the resolution of abandoning to the fugitives of Sarmatia their woods and morasses, or at least of discharging their superfluous numbers on the provinces of the Roman Empire.”—Chap. 30, par. 13, 14.

THE BURGUNDIANS.

By Alonzo Trevier Jones

“About the middle of the fourth century, the countries, perhaps of Lusace and Thuringia, on either side of the Elbe, were occupied by the vague dominion of the Burgundians; a warlike and numerous people of the Vandal race, whose obscure name insensibly swelled into a powerful kingdom, and has finally settled on a flourishing province. The most remarkable circumstance in the ancient manners of the Burgundians appears to have been the difference of their civil and ecclesiastical constitution. The appellation of Hendinos was given to the king or general, and the title of Sinistus to the high priest of the nation. The person of the priest was sacred, and his dignity perpetual; but the temporal government was held by a very precarious tenure. If the events of war accused the courage or conduct of the king, he was immediately deposed; and the injustice of his subjects made him responsible for the fertility of the earth, and the regularity of the seasons, which seemed to fall more properly within the sacerdotal department.”—Chap. 25, par. 20.

(To be continued.)

THE SUEVI.

“In that part of Upper Saxony beyond the Elbe, which is at present called the Marquisate of Lusace, there existed, in ancient times, a sacred wood, the awful seat of the superstition of the Suevi. None were permitted to enter the holy precincts, without confessing, by their servile bonds and suppliant posture, the immediate presence of the sovereign Deity. Patriotism contributed, as well as devotion, to consecrate the Sonnenwald, or wood of the Semnones. It was universally believed that the nation had received its first existence on that sacred spot. At stated periods, the numerous tribes who gloried in the Suevic blood, resorted thither by their ambassadors; and the memory of their common extraction was perpetuated by barbaric rites and human sacrifices. The wide-extended name of Suevi filled the interior countries of Germany, from the banks of the Oder to those of the Danube. They were distinguished from the other Germans by their peculiar mode of dressing their long hair, which they gathered into a rude knot on the crown of the head, and they delighted in an ornament that showed their ranks more lofty and terrible in the eyes of the enemy. Jealous as the Germans were of military renown, they all confessed the superior valor of the Suevi; and the tribes of the Usipetes and Tencteri, who, with a vast army, encountered the dictator Cæsar, declared that they esteemed it not a disgrace to have fled before a people to whose arms the immortal gods themselves were unequal.”—Chap. 10, par. 25.

THE VANDALS.

“A striking resemblance of manners, complexion, religion, and language, seemed to indicate that the Vandals and the Goths were originally one great people.” “The numerous tribes of the Vandals were spread along the banks of the Oder, and the seacoast of Pomerania and Mecklenburgh.”—Chap. 10, par. 8.

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