THIS age of glory was followed by one of misery, called the Great Interregnum, which lasted twenty years.
"This was the saddest time that ever was in Germany. Every one did what he liked. The fist and the sword decided between right and wrong. The princes and the cities were in constant feud. The knights made themselves strong castles and lived in them on plunder and murder. From their fortresses they swooped down on the merchants traveling from town to town and robbed them, or levied on them heavy tolls. They went plundering over the level land; they robbed the farmers of their cattle, devastated their fields, and burned their houses. Moreover, the neighboring nobles and knights quarreled with each other and fought, so that the country was one battle-field."—The Story of the Nations, Germany, chap. 22.
This period of anarchy was turned to account by the Papacy through Pope Urban IV. Up to this time the election of the emperor was always virtually by the leading princes, although each election needed the sanction of the whole class of immediate nobles. Now, however, mainly by the influence of the Pope, the electorate was definitely settled upon only the archbishop of Mainz, the archbishop of Cologne, the archbishop of Treves, the margrave of Brandenburg, the king of Bohemia, and the princes of the House of Wittelsbach (Bavaria), and of the House of Saxony. Thus the electorate stood till 1356, when Charles IV. issued the Golden Bull, by which the office of electors was fixed to the three archbishops, the king of Bohemia, the margrave of Brandenburg, and only the duke of Saxony, and the palsgrave or count palatine of the Rhine, of the House of Wittelsbach. Thus the electorate was confined to seven personages—three archbishops, three lay princes, and one king—and ever afterward the emperor was chosen by these officials who are the ones so often referred to in the history of the Reformation, by the term "electors." Luther's protector, Frederick, was the "elector of Saxony" in his day.
At the beginning of the Great Interregnum, William of Holland received a nominal allegiance for two years, when he died; then, about 1257, there was a double election, of Alphonso of Castile in Spain, and Richard, earl of Cornwall, brother of Henry III. of England. Richard was crowned, but he only visited Germany three times in the seventeen years; while Alphonso never visited it at all, although claiming all the time to be its sovereign. The influence of none of these tended in the least degree to check the disorder of the times. When Richard died the princes showed no disposition to choose an emperor, for a condition of affairs that allowed every one to do as he pleased was exactly to their liking. But the northern revenues of the Pope were seriously falling off, and this with troubles at home caused a Papal longing for an emperor again who would be "the protector of the church." The Pope, therefore, informed the electors that if they did not choose an emperor he himself would appoint one.
Accordingly the electors met in 1273 and raised to the throne Rudolf, count of Hapsburg, of Swabia. During the interregnum Ottocar, king of Bohemia, had acquired by marriage and conquest, a great territory beyond his native possessions, and his acquisitions included the duchy of Austria and its dependencies, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola. This made Ottocar the most powerful prince in Germany, and he expected to receive the German crown at the election. When it was bestowed upon Rudolf, Ottocar refused to acknowledge him as sovereign. War followed, and in the battle of Marchfeld, near Vienna, A. D. 1278, Ottocar was defeated and slain. Austria, Styria, and Carniola were then granted in fief to Rudolf's son Albert. Thus Rudolf made himself memorable as the founder of the House of Hapsburg, which has ruled Austria from that time to this; which from his time has formed one of the most influential forces in the national life of Germany, and which gave sovereigns to Spain in the days of her greatest glory.
Rudolf of Swabia died in 1291, and was succeeded by Adolf of Nassau who ruled till 1298, when he was succeeded by Duke Albert of Austria, Rudolf's son. Albert reigned till 1308, and was succeeded by Count Henry of Luxembourg who reigned, as Henry VII., till 1313. Upon the death of Henry VII. the electors could not agree, and the result was a double election—Frederick the Fair, duke of Austria, son of Albert, and Louis, duke of Bavaria. War broke out and continued for nine years, when, at the battle of Muhlberg, A. D. 1322, Frederick's army was entirely routed, and in 1325 the two rivals agreed to rule in common. Frederick died in 1330, and Louis IV. reigned till 1347. At the death of Louis, Gunther, count of Schwarzburg was elected, but Charles, king of Bohemia, by liberal bribes, bought off his supporters, and Gunther resigned his claim, and Charles IV. reigned. It was he who issued the Golden Bull. He added the margraviate of Brandenburg, Silesia, and Lower Lusatia to the possessions of his House—the House of Luxembourg. He died at Prague in 1378, and was succeeded by his son Wenceslaus. Wenceslaus was deposed and the crown was given to Rupert, elector of the palatinate, A. D. 1400, who reigned till 1410, when he died and Sigismund, brother of Wenceslaus, and king of Hungary, reigned. This was the Emperor Sigismund who gave up John Huss and Jerome of Prague, to be burned by the Council of Constance, which brought on the Hussite wars. Sigismund was a spendthrift and never had enough money for his wants; and for 400,000 gulden he granted to Frederick, count of Hohenzollern, of Swabia, first as a pledge but afterwards as a permanent fief, the march of Brandenburg. With the death of Sigismund ended the Luxembourg dynasty, and the House of Hapsburg was restored.
Sigismund was succeeded by Albert II. duke of Austria, in 1438. Albert II. was succeeded in 1440 by Frederick IV. and he, in 1493, by Maximilian I., and he, in 1519, by Charles V., before whom Luther stood for the faith of Christ; and before whom the German princes read the famous PROTEST.
Although the German crown remained elective from the time of Albert II. forward, it was "always conferred on a member of the House of Hapsburg until the extinction of the male line;" and then it was taken up by the female in Maria Theresa, whose husband was elected emperor in 1745. He was emperor only in name, however; Maria Theresa's was the rule in fact. Maria Theresa's husband was succeeded in 1765 by her son, Joseph II. And in her line of the House of Hapsburg the imperial office remained till the Empire and the German Kingdom came to an end in 1806; and in her line the Imperial office of the empire of Austria-Hungary remains to the present day.
We referred above to the grant of the march of Brandenburg, by the Emperor Sigismund, to Frederick of Hohenzollern, of Swabia. Frederick thus became one of the electors of the empire. It will be remembered, too, that it was the Knights of the Teutonic Order who made the conquest of Prussia. At the time of the Reformation, Albert of Brandenburg happened to be Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. He became a Protestant, dissolved the Order, and received in fief, 1525, from the King of Poland, the duchy of Prussia. Albert left two granddaughters. Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg, married Eleanor, the younger, and his son, John Sigismund, married Anna, the elder, and thus the duchy of Prussia was secured to the family of the Elector of Brandenburg. Frederick William, called the Great Elector, was the grandson of John Sigismund and Anna. By the treaty of Wehlau, in 1657, the duchy of Prussia was declared independent of Poland. The Great Elector added largely to his territories, and in 1701 his son Frederick, who had succeeded him in 1688, having obtained the consent of the emperor, crowned himself king of Prussia. And thus, under the Alemannian House of Hohenzollern, arose the kingdom of Prussia, which, through Frederick I. 1701-1713, Frederick William I. 1713-1740, Frederick II. the Great 1740-1786, Frederick William II. 1786-1797, Frederick William III. 1797-1840, Frederick William IV. 1840-1861, has come down in direct descent to William I. king of Prussia 1861-1871 and Emperor of Germany from January 18, 1871, to the present day.
It is true that in tracing at such length the history of the Alemanni, we have had a double purpose, the full value of which will be appreciated when we come to consider the rise and growth of the Papacy, but even without that, we believe, and we think it must be admitted, that when it is realized that from the Alemanni sprung what is still the German nation; that under the rule of the Alemannian House of Hohenstaufen was the most glorious and prosperous period of medieval German history; that, with but a short interval, since the end of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, the Alemannian House of Hapsburg held the imperial office as long as the empire existed, and when it ceased to exist, still ruled in Austria and does yet rule the Austria-Hungarian Empire; that the Alemannian House of Hohenzollern made of Prussia one of the strongest States of Europe, and accomplished what had been the wish of ages,—the vital union of all the little States into which the German people had been separated,—and now rules the German Empire; that the Alemannian House of Guelf furnished to England the House of Hanover and by it her present and most illustrious Queen Victoria, and that Spain in her glory was ruled by princes of the Alemanni;—we say when this is realized, we think it must be admitted that Gibbon made no mistake when he described the rise of the Alemanni as the origin of "a great and permanent nation;" that the French, who have lived side by side with them since the time when together they were all savages in the German forests, likewise make no mistake when even to this day they call the Germans Allemands and Germany Allemagne; and we believe that we make no mistake when we number them as one of the ten kingdoms that arose upon the ruin of the Western Empire of Rome.
J.
(To be continued.)
Serving Christ.
By Theodore Ledyard Cuyler
I HAVE seen bankruptcies in every kind of secular business, but I never knew a man to become insolvent or be "sold out" while in the service of Christ. What an appetite it gives! How the dividends roll in, and the profits roll up! The richest man in England in these times was grand old Lord Shaftesbury, who was buried the other day with hundreds of shoe-blacks and coster-mongers mourning around his coffin. He was a man of few words, and never spent any time "telling his experience;" it told itself. Love of Christ kept his big Corliss engine running day and night; and it drove wheels and spindles all over London. Do you say that you are not a Paul or a Shaftesbury? Very well. Christ did not intend you to be, or he would have put you into their position. He put you where you are, and says to you, Serve me and I will give thee thy wages.—Theo. L. Cuyler, in Christian at Work.
Benefits of Affliction.
By J. H. Meek
God designs that the trials and afflictions which his people are called upon to endure, shall prove a blessing to them. Christians in all ages of the world have passed through fiery ordeals, which, in every case where they continued to trust in the Lord, have magnified the grace of God, and they have been greatly benefited thereby themselves. We only have to open the word of God to satisfy ourselves upon this subject. "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now have I kept thy word." Ps. 119:67. The benefit spoken of here is that it leads to greater faithfulness. "But now have I kept thy word." "It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes." Ps. 119:71. In times of sorrow we will look in some direction for comfort and consolation. One of the first things a true Christian will do will be to look into the word of God. Oh, how often we have been comforted and strengthened under trying circumstances as we have read the many precious promises contained in the Bible, and they have seemed to beam forth with luster and light, and we have a clearer understanding of them than ever before, and our faith claims them more confidently than hitherto. We cry out, "Oh, how love I thy law."
"For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Cor. 4:17, 18. Afflictions are of short duration, "but for a moment." "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." They seem light on the account of the wonderful grace of God afforded and the glorious benefits arising therefrom. "Worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." Let us remember, however, that this is upon the condition that we walk by faith and not by sight, "while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen."
"For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." Heb. 12:10, 11. The purpose of the Lord in chastening us is to profit us. So it is evident that afflictions are blessings in disguise. Then, instead of murmuring, we should be grateful at all times, and trust the Lord as fully through seasons of heaviness which are produced by manifold temptations, as when the afflicting rod is not upon us. If we would bear in mind the subsequent results, it would buoy us up in times of grief. "Nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby." "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." Jas. 1:2, 3. "My grace is sufficient for thee; for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong." 2 Cor. 12:9, 10. "Behold, happy is the man whom God correcteth; therefore despise not thou the chastening of the Almighty; for he maketh sore, and bindeth up; he woundeth, and his hands make whole. He shall deliver thee in six troubles; yea, in seven there shall no evil touch thee." Job. 5:17-19.
"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God." Rom. 8:28. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you. But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." 1 Pet. 4:12, 13.—J. H. Meek, in Methodist Recorder.
Burden Bearing.
THE idea of patiently bearing the ills and encountering the calamities of life as the dispensations of Providence intended for our good and of which we are to make a proper use, is something the worldly-minded cannot entertain, and against which even the Christian will sometimes revolt. But it is a truth, taught frequently and impressively in the word of God, and the experience of which has borne rich fruitage in the history of many of the most excellent of the earth. "All things work together for good to them that love God." It was a great attainment when the apostle was able to say: "I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."
But owing to the selfishness which is such a marked and strong feature of human nature, it is still more difficult to feel it a duty and make it a pleasure to exercise self-denial and to bear burdens for others. Yet this is the law of Christ, to be obeyed equally with all his other commands. In this he has given us in his own person the most illustrious example. He was wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities. He gave himself for us. He bare our sins in his own body on the tree. In this we are to imitate him in our conduct towards others. "Every man shall bear his own burden;" but we are also told, "Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ." In the "English Pulpit of To-day," Rev. A. Wallace Williamson, St. Cuthbert's Church, Edinburgh, truly says:—
"To this it is, my brethren, that the law of Christ calls you. You must renounce your own will, and bow to the will of God. You must give up your own freedom, and find it in a greater and nobler freedom. You must bear the burdens of others or you cannot bear your own. You must lose your own life if you would truly save it. And when the fire of divine charity burns within you, and you behold the need of your fellow-men by the light of that flame, then only are you born to the true life of man, showing that divine life which quenches the sense of suffering self in the ardors of an ever-growing love; a love which is within you as a mighty yearning, which can no more exist alone than the branch apart from the vine, or the member from the body; which sends you forth with a divine excitement to deeds of active love, to a growing sense of brotherhood, to bear the burden of your fellows, and so to live, if need be, to agonize and die, to rise to that higher life which throbs through your soul—as the life of the vine is shed through the branches and the life of the body through the members—and you are no longer a withered branch bearing no fruit, nor a useless member, nor a stone out of place, but a living stone in that living temple which is the type of glorified humanity, that temple of which Christ is the chief corner-stone, 'in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.'"
Here is comfort and encouragement for those who are often discouraged and almost cast down by the cares and perplexities in which they are often involved because of others, and when toiling almost to exhaustion in behalf of those whom they love, but who have been overtaken with disaster in some of its many forms. They are treading in Christ's footsteps and doing the work that he did; let them seek to feel and manifest the same spirit that filled his heart and shone forth in all that he did, notwithstanding the "contradiction of sinners" and the infirmities and weaknesses and shortcomings of his own followers.
And if we cannot deny ourselves; if we are unwilling to do our part in bearing the burdens of others; if we cannot mourn with those who mourn and weep with those who weep, we give strong evidence that we do not belong to Christ. If we do not the works which he did, and in the same spirit, how can we claim to be his?—Presbyterian Banner.
Doctrinal Preaching.
Much of the prejudice and open disparagement of doctrinal preaching now prevalent arises from misunderstanding of what it is. Doctrine is simply teaching. Aptness to teach is a primary qualification of a pastor, as defined in Scripture. The truth is the means of conviction, the means or the accompanying condition of regeneration, and of sanctification. It must inform and give substance and power to the effective proclamation of the gospel. As Dr. Cuyler has forcibly expressed it:—
"Sound doctrine is the backbone of truly successful preaching. The mightiest discourses that have shaken vast assemblies, and sent sinners trembling to the cross of Christ, have been vitalized by some stupendous doctrine, or revealed teaching of Almighty God. My brilliant neighbor has unwisely said that 'doctrine is only the skin of truth set up and stuffed!' Just imagine Paul writing to Timothy, 'Give attendance to the stuffed skin of truth!'"
But it will be said that here is the objection to it—that doctrinal preaching is dry, as dry as a stuffed skin, and that people for that reason will not bear it patiently.
The truth is that much which goes by the name of doctrinal preaching is not preaching at all, but only disquisition or discussion. But to true doctrinal preaching all definition and distinction, analysis and illustration, evidence and defense, are properly introductory to the work of impression and persuasion. Such logical preliminaries should be made as brief as is consistent with clearness, made as clear as possible by apt illustration, and then set on fire with love and longing for souls, sent home to the conscience and the heart. To God's truth so presented, hearts will respond.—Watchman.
I Have Nothing to Do with To-morrow
"I HAVE nothing to do with to-morrow,
My Saviour will make that his care;
Should he fill it with trouble or sorrow,
He would help me to suffer and bear.
"I have nothing to do with to-morrow,
Its burdens, then, why should I share?
Its grace and its strength I can't borrow,
Then why should I borrow its care?"
Peace in a Sinful Course
By John Bunyan
PEACE in a sinful course is one of the greatest of curses.—Bunyan.
The Shadow of the Almighty.
By Newman Hall
"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty."
WHAT strong consolation! Other helpers are finite; they may be sincere, yet there is a limit to their succor. But my Father is almighty! He who is from everlasting; who spake and it was done; who commanded and it stood fast; who doeth his pleasure in the armies of Heaven and among men—he overshadows me! The hand that spread forth the heavens and flung the stars abroad, that piles the mountains and sinks the sea, is stretched out for my defense. They whose home is the Most High must be safe, for they abide beneath the shadow of the Almighty.—Dr. Newman Hall.
The End Approaching.
By W.
"AND this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matt. 24:14. This language occurs in the discourse which the Saviour delivered in answer to the question: "What shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?" The entire chapter in which these words occur is an answer to this question. The question as to whether or not the Lord will come again is not mooted. There was no uncertainty in the minds of the disciples on this point. They very well knew that the Lord would come to reign over his people; all that troubled them was to know the signs which should precede his coming. These the Saviour proceeded to give. Besides the physical signs in the sun, moon, and stars, which have all been fulfilled, he gave the one which heads this paragraph, and which is now in process of fulfillment.
What is "this gospel of the kingdom"? It is that which our Saviour preached in all his earthly ministry. Matt. 4:23; Mark 1:14. "Gospel" means "good news." The gospel which is to be preached "in all the world," "to all people," is the good news of a Saviour, "which is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:10, 11. A Saviour must save people from something, and so we find that Jesus saves his people from their sins. Matt. 1:21. But the wrath of God (Rom. 1:18; Eph. 5:5, 6), resulting in death (Rom. 6:23), is visited upon all sin; so that the salvation of people from sin must also be salvation from the wrath of God, and so it is. Rom. 5:9. Being saved from sin may be equivalent to being justified by faith, but being saved from wrath is the final and complete salvation from sin and all its consequences. And this is the salvation of which Isaiah speaks when he says that "Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation." Isa. 45:17. It is that salvation which the apostle Peter says shall be brought unto us "at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:9-13.
This final salvation is the end or object of our faith. 1 Peter 1:9. People may talk as much as they please about doing right for its own sake, but the fact remains that if there were to be no future life there would be no incentive to right living. Paul says that "if in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (1 Cor. 15:19), and in harmony with this he continues that if there is no resurrection we would do well to eat and drink, and get all the enjoyment we can from this life while it is passing. 1 Cor. 15:32. What comfort would it be to a sinner to assure him that his sins are all forgiven, but that there is nothing for him beyond this present life? None at all. In such a case forgiveness of sins would profit him nothing. So then the preaching of the gospel comprehends not alone the announcement that Christ died for sinners, but that through his death he has brought immortality to light. We believe that no one who has ever professed to preach the gospel has omitted the fact that an eternal inheritance awaits the overcomers.
But this eternal inheritance is "reserved in Heaven," and is to be revealed only "in the last time." 1 Peter 1:4, 5. It is only when Christ comes "the second time" that salvation is brought to them that look for him. Christ himself told his disciples (John 14:1-3) that he would come again to receive them unto himself so that they might be with him, plainly indicating that they could be with him in no other way except by his second coming. Even though they should die they could not be with him unless he should return. Compare John 8:21 and 13:33. And in harmony with this Paul says, "by the word of the Lord," that "the Lord himself shall descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first; then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so [that is, by this means] shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thess. 4:16, 17.
Now what have we found? Just this: that the gospel brings to view eternal redemption, and that any preaching of the gospel which should omit the future inheritance of the saints would be very incomplete; and that there is no future inheritance for the saints unless the Lord comes again. Therefore we are justified in saying that the preaching of the gospel necessarily includes the preaching of the second coming of Christ, and that those who ignore or deny the second coming of Christ, do not preach the whole gospel. Still further: in the fourteenth of Revelation we read of three messages that immediately precede the second coming of Christ. Verses 6-14. The first of these messages announces the hour of God's Judgment come, and it and the two which follow give instruction how to prepare for that event. The Third Angel's Message includes both the others, and contains the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus,—the sum of all the instruction necessary to make "the remnant of Israel" a pure people, prepared for the coming of the Lord. It is the gospel in its simplicity and purity, and is therefore the gospel just as it was preached by Christ and his apostles. It announces the second coming of Christ, and tells how to be ready for that event. Therefore we confidently affirm that our Saviour's words in Matt. 24:14 may justly be paraphrased thus: "And the Third Angel's Message shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." We think that no one who has carefully followed this brief exposition can dissent from this conclusion.
This thing,—the preaching of the Third Angel's Message in all the world, to all nations,—is all that remains to be done before the coming of the Lord; and this work will be cut short in righteousness; "because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth." Rom. 9:28. And short indeed it must be, for we know from our Saviour's own words, that his coming is now so near that he is "even at the doors." Matt. 24:33. The generation now living upon the earth will witness the coming of the Lord with all his holy angels. There is no conjecture about this, no assumption. It is just as true as that Christ is the Son of God.
"But," some one will say, "it is impossible that Christ should come for many years if every nation must first hear the Third Angel's Message; because there are vast multitudes who have not even heard that there is such a thing." We have known many to stumble over this, even of those who believe in the soon coming of our Lord. Let us see what force there is in this objection.
1. It is not necessary to the fulfillment of our Saviour's words, that the Third Angel's Message should be preached to every individual in the world. Then will there not be partiality shown? No; and for this reason: There are thousands who have had, besides the light which comes from nature, a partial knowledge of the gospel, and have rejected it. They have deliberately rejected the light which they had, and have steeled their hearts to the influences of God's Spirit. Now of what use would it be to carry the Third Angel's Message to such?
None at all. It would be casting pearls before swine. If they have refused a little light because it condemned their evil deeds, they would certainly reject greater light for the same reason. We may not know who are and who are not worthy to receive the full light of the gospel, but God knows, and will direct the truth to all who are not already reprobate.
2. There are, no doubt, thousands of whom we have no knowledge, who are living out the truth of the Third Angel's Message. When Elijah thought that he alone of all the inhabitants of Israel worshiped the true God, the Lord said to him, "Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him." 1 Kings 19:18. We are too apt to think that nothing is being done except what we do, forgetting that God has infinite resources at his command.
3. It is not necessary that all who believe shall have heard the voice of a living preacher. The Bible contains everything necessary to make a man "perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works," and for years Bible societies have been scattering Bibles broadcast over the world. The Spirit of God can guide the reader of the Bible into all truth, even though he have no human preceptor. Add to this the reception of a tract or a paper which may start a new train of thought, and the reader can readily see how there may be thousands living out the Third Angel's Message, who are entirely unknown to the great body of believers.
4. Lastly we want to consider what progress is being made in the preaching of "this gospel of the kingdom,"—the Third Angel's Message,—in all the world. Here we must caution the reader against jumping at conclusions. He must not base his calculations simply on the comparatively few who are now known to be professing the truth. Some will reason thus: "This message has been preached for forty years, and there are only about thirty thousand who are known to be Seventh-day Adventists; therefore it will take perhaps as many years more to warn the whole world." This is very defective reasoning. We should consider, not simply the number who have been warned, but the improved facilities for warning the world.
(1) As a matter of fact every civilized nation has already received to a greater or less extent the knowledge of the Third Angel's Message. There is not a nation under heaven that is not known to contain Sabbath-keepers; and by the thoroughly-organized system of missionary work which has been adopted, every one of these Seventh-day Adventists is a center from which the truth may radiate. True, there are few of these as compared to the great mass of professed Christians; but the Bible does not say that the gospel shall be preached as a converter of all nations, but only as a witness either for or against them.
(2) Through the agency of the press it is easier to reach a million people now than it was to reach a hundred in the days of Paul. Let us note the progress that has been made in this branch of the message. About thirty-five years ago Elder James White published the first paper devoted to the dissemination of the last gospel message. It was a very small sheet, containing about one-eighth as much matter as the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, having no subscription list, and no prospect of support or of regular publication. The whole of the first issue was carried to the post-office in a small carpet sack. From that day the work has not taken a retrograde step. Now the Seventh-day Adventists have fully equipped houses of publication in Battle Creek, Mich.; Oakland, Cal.; Basel, Switzerland; Christiana, Norway; Great Grimsby, England, and Melbourne, Australia. These are all devoted to the spread of the Third Angel's Message. In these offices the truth is published in the following languages: English, German,7French, Italian, Spanish, Danish, Norwegian, Holland, and Romanian. We have not the facts at hand concerning all these offices of publication, and will therefore take as a specimen the central publishing house at Battle Creek, Mich., which we have just visited. The items which we have gathered are as follows:—
The amount of floor space occupied in the buildings is about 40,000 square feet. The number of hands employed is about 130. The institution issues the following periodicals: Review and Herald, a 16-page weekly; Gospel Sickle, an 8-page semi-monthly; Youth's Instructor, a 4-page weekly; Stimme der Warheit (German), an 8-page semi-monthly; Advent Tidende (Danish), a 16-page semi-monthly magazine; the Harold (Swedish), a 16-page semi-monthly. The circulation of these periodicals aggregates about one hundred and forty thousand copies a month. Besides this, there are sent out from this office books, pamphlets, and tracts to the amount of a ton for each day in the year.
These are simple, unvarnished facts concerning the central office of publication. Let the reader weigh them well, considering that other offices are putting out a proportionate amount, and that in every part of the world men and women are industriously circulating this reading matter, and then let him ask how long it will be before all people will have been warned of the speedy coming of Christ. Truly this thing is not being done in a corner. In a future article we shall show that within a space of time that may be reckoned by months, "this gospel of the kingdom," despised and hated though it may be, will be the all-absorbing topic of the day. The great newspapers of the land will herald it, and its bitterest enemies will assist in lifting it up as a witness to the people.
May the Lord help all to awake to the importance of the present time; may we not delay action until the prophecy is fulfilled, when it will be too late for action; but may we do our part in fulfilling the prophecy, thus saying by our actions as well as by our words, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus." W.