p. 320 | Signs of the Times, Vol. 8, No. 27. (7/20/1882)

Good Reading for the Young.

By Editor

Probably few parents are aware of the pernicious influence exerted on the minds of the young by light, trashy reading. It is not merely a waste of time to read dime novels and story papers, not merely a failure to store the mind with that which is good and valuable, but it enervates the mind and disqualifies the person for critical study and close application. Many a parent has been deceived with the plausible declaration that there is nothing bad in such or such a novel or story; that it has no immoral or indecent allusions, and no horrifying scenes to arouse the blood of youth. But novels are open to this general objection, that they induce a dreamy state of the mind, leading the readers into a romantic or unreal world, unfitting them for the realities of life and its duties. We appreciate the evil by an unfortunate experience. We contracted the habit of novel reading in the Sunday-school in very early boyhood, and from the Sunday-school library we resorted to the "Circulating Library," and read everything in the line of novels which we could find, not excepting the flimsy nonsense of Captain Marryatt.

At the age of twenty-three we broke off the habit entirely, stopping in the middle of a popular novel which we never finished to this day. And now, after nearly two-score years we are sensible of the effect of this habit on our mind. It has been a detriment to us in our study from that day to the present.

We believe that the effects of habits formed before the age of twenty are never fully effaced from the mind. And believing this we urge the necessity of laying a foundation for a useful life—for strong manhood and womanhood—in the formation of right habits in early youth.

But children and youth want something interesting and entertaining to read. Of course they do; and in general they will have it. If it is not furnished by the parents they will procure it for themselves. If they do not find that which is useful they will find that which is useless or injurious. It becomes, then, an important duty for parents to see that the good is furnished before a taste for the bad is formed. We can recommend "Sabbath Readings," four volumes, as the very best reading for youth that we have seen. No bad taste or

wrong habit can possibly be formed by reading them. They are put up in neat boxes, and sold for $2.50, together with a beautiful picture—the most beautiful of the kind we have ever seen—as a premium. This picture has the Lord's Prayer as its central or main part, with a border containing the ten commandments illustrated. The ten commandments and the Lord's Prayer are the most fitting of all things for the parlor ornament of a Christian home.

Send to the office of the Signs of the Times and obtain these books and the valuable premium. Your children will thank you, and you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have conferred a real blessing upon them.

It is scarcely necessary to say that the parents will read the books with as great interest as do the young. You all want them.

"How is it?"

By D. A. Robinson

BY ELD. D. A. ROBINSON.

IN the following very summary manner a certain speaker disposed of that troublesome Sabbath, recently:—

"Is the old covenant abolished? Was the seventh-day Sabbath in that covenant? Are we under the new covenant? All must answer these questions in the affirmative. Is the seventh-day Sabbath still in force? Here we must just as surely give a negative answer, for as we have seen it was in the old covenant, that covenant is done away, therefore, the Sabbath is abolished, and we are under no obligations to keep it."

Without stopping to define what the old covenant was, we inquire, Is the old covenant abolished? Was "Thou shalt not steal" in it? Are we under the new covenant? All must answer "yes," according to this man's position. Is "Thou shalt not steal" still in force? Here our friend must give his negative answer, for as we have seen, this precept was in the old covenant; that is done away, therefore, the command against stealing is abolished, and we are under no obligations to keep it. If the first position is correct, the latter is also; and, hence, there is no crime in stealing, for "where no law is there is no transgression." Rom. 4:15. And this would apply to all the ten commandments if such reasoning as the above were correct. But we wish to raise the question "How is it?"

1. Was the old covenant abolished at the cross? All must answer in the affirmative, because Paul says, "For he is our peace who hath made both one and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby." Eph. 2:14-16. Again, in writing upon this point, the apostle adds, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." These statements show conclusively that the old covenant did end at the death of our Lord.

2. Was not the new covenant ratified at the same time the old was abolished? A few statements of inspiration emphatically show that it was. "Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that he may establish the second." Heb. 10:9. Again, "And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament [covenant] by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament [covenant] there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament [covenant] is of force after men are dead." Heb. 9:15-17. This shows that it was the Saviour's death that made of force the new covenant. It was sealed, confirmed, and ratified by his blood.

3. Was not the seventh-day Sabbath called the Sabbath by inspired writers this side of the cross? Let us see. "But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down." Acts 13:14. See also Acts 13:42, 44; 15:21; 16:13; 17:3. These words were written by Luke, thirty years this side of the cross. He can mean no other than the seventh day, because it was the day when the Jews met in the synagogue, and yet while writing by inspiration he repeatedly calls it the Sabbath. In Acts 15:21 he informs us that Moses was read in the synagogue every Sabbath day. Now the seventh day was either the Sabbath or it was not. If it was not, then Luke was mistaken, and the Spirit of God had nothing to do with his writings, or at least, with this portion of them; but if it was the Sabbath, as this writer positively affirms, it must be the Sabbath now, as we shall presently see.

4. Was not this Sabbath observed by Christ's followers this side of the cross? The only correct answer that can be given is that the proof of this is clear, positive, and entirely free from any ambiguity. In Luke 23:56, we read, "And they returned and prepared spices and ointments; and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." The next verse says, "Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulcher, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them." Luke 24:1. These were written more than a score of years after the Lord was crucified, and he declares that they kept the Sabbath according to the commandment, and then, as if to place the matter beyond all cavil, he tells us that the day following this one which they so carefully observed was the first of the week. Here again these disciples kept the Sabbath or they did not. If they did not, then Luke's statement should be so revised as to read in harmony with the facts, but if they did keep it, as we believe, and as inspiration unequivocally declares, then it was not abolished at the cross. And if it did not there end, what event since that time has occurred to terminate its existence? The simple fact that it was observed "according to the commandment" this side of the cross, proves beyond all controversy that the death of our Saviour in no way affected this Edenic institution which was "made for man," and hence, the Sabbath holds its position under the new covenant.

We have already shown that whatever was abolished—the old covenant, commandments contained in ordinances, middle wall of partition, in short, the shadowy system—was abolished at the cross, and that at the same point of time the new covenant was confirmed by the death of our divine Lord. Did a first-day Sabbath exist as early as that? Nobody claims such a thing. Did the Sabbath commandment exist after this new covenant was confirmed? We know it did, and was in force after that, because we read that they "rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." This they could not have done if the commandment had been abolished.

5. Since the first-day Sabbath did not exist when the new covenant was confirmed, and the seventh-day Sabbath did exist, has it been possible since that time to annul the latter and insert the former into the new covenant? We are well aware that a vital point is involved in the answer to this question. For an answer to it, we turn to the word of God: "Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto." Gal. 3:15. We learn from this testimony that a covenant once confirmed can have nothing taken from or added to it. The important act of confirming the new covenant by our Lord was performed at too early a date for the first-day Sabbath to find a place in that covenant; and since the seventh-day Sabbath existed after that act was completed, we are forced to the conclusion that "THE SABBATH ACCORDING TO THE COMMANDMENT" is still in force, and has a clear and undisputed title to a position in the new covenant, for "though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed no man disannulleth." And we are also compelled to conclude that the so-called first-day Sabbath is a usurper and an intruder when it tries to obtain a place in the new covenant after its confirmation; for Paul says "Though it be but a man's covenant . . . no man addeth thereto." The evident reasoning of the apostle here is, that if this is so of a covenant made by mortal man, it will be infinitely more true of a covenant between God and his people. In summing the matter up we are led to the following firm and undisputed conclusions:—

1. The old covenant was abolished at the death of our Lord.

2. The new covenant was confirmed at the same point of time.

3. When a covenant is once confirmed nothing can be taken from it, or added to it.

4. The first-day Sabbath had no existence when the new covenant was confirmed, and therefore, cannot be inserted into it at any subsequent time, for "no man addeth thereto."

5. "The Sabbath according to the commandment" did exist and was in full force this side of the confirmation of the new covenant, and must therefore be under it, and cannot be taken out, for "no man disannulleth or addeth thereto."

This attempt to insert the Sunday into the new covenant, reminds us of the last will and testament (or covenant) of the late poet Longfellow. It seems before his death, after his will had been made and witnessed, he desired to add another item involving several hundred dollars which should go to a member of his family. Mr. Longfellow being better versed in poetry and prose than in the technicalities of the law, thought to add this item by interlining it in the body of the will, which he did. After his death, when the law came to view the act, it would not recognize such proceedings. So with the Sunday institution; it can only be gotten into the new covenant by interlining, but Heaven will not recognize such an act. Reader, have you been brought into covenant relation with the Lord Jesus Christ? The new covenant is closely connected with the law of God, the ten commandments; the fourth of which enforces the keeping of Jehovah's rest day. Under the new covenant the Lord promises to write this law in the hearts of his people. Christian reader, what is it gives you pain when you hear God's name used irreverently? The reason is because that commandment, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain," is engraven upon your heart's tablet. And so with all these ten precepts so far as they have been written upon your heart, you can say with Paul, "I delight in the law of God after the inward man." Has the fourth commandment been written on your heart? If it has, then in the language of the prophet you can "call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable." Can you do this? How is it?

Which is the Gloomy Doctrine?

By John Nevins Andrews

THE sleep of the dead is often designated a gloomy doctrine, and many refuse to listen to the testimony of the Bible on this subject, choosing rather to remain "ignorant concerning them which are asleep" than to consider the stern realities of death and the grave. "Your doctrine," say they, "is chilling, repulsive, forbidding. The sleep of the dead! why, the very idea is enough to freeze one. But the immortality of the soul, and the reward of the saints at death, this, this is the very marrow and fatness of the gospel; this is indeed that blessed hope."

But stop, friends, a few moments. It may be that you are blinded by prejudice. Be not too hasty. If you are not willing to devote the needed time for weighing this subject in the balances of the Scriptures, will you not wait long enough to try the justice of this objection in the balances of reason?

You say that the doctrine is full of gloom, and that the departed saints have experienced a bitter disappointment in being consigned to the cold grave for long ages, instead of being received into glory. You think the idea full of gloom to the living, and dreadful to the dead. But you forget that, if the doctrine be true, there is no chill, no gloom, no darkness, no disappointment, no lapse of time, no waiting through long ages, to the dead. The interval between their decease and their resurrection will be to them no time at all. The twinkling of an eye, in which the righteous will be changed to immortality, will be as long to them as the whole period during which righteous Abel has slept in death will be to him. And to him, so far as his own knowledge of the case is concerned, it will be precisely as though he entered Heaven at the very moment he was slain.

You say that this helps the matter a little; but that, for all this, the sleep of the dead will no more compare in consolation with the soul's immortality and the reward at death than the desert of Sahara will compare in beauty with the garden of Eden. Do not be too hasty, friends. You may discover facts that will change this opinion. You find great consolation in the thought that the soul is immortal, and that men are rewarded as they die. Answer me a few questions. How large a part of mankind lead lives of holiness, and die with good evidence of their acceptance with God? Truth compels you to answer that a minority are all that can be said to do this. What becomes, then, of this great majority of men who have died out of Christ, and entered their reward? Oh! they have gone into the furnace of fire, where there is wailing and gnashing of teeth. What is the condition, then, at this very moment, of the greater part of the dead, according to this cheering doctrine of yours? You have to answer, They are in unspeakable torment. You admit that this dreadful fact somewhat abates the consolation you have hitherto found in this doctrine. But I want you to answer one question more. If the soul is immortal, as you affirm, how long are these impenitent men thus to suffer? You answer again, and this time surely with a shudder, THEY MUST SUFFER TO ALL ETERNITY. Before we part, will you not own that yours is the gloomy doctrine? Is it not a relief to your mind to think that men are to be judged BEFORE they are rewarded or punished? and that till the day of Judgment men wait for their reward? And is not that doctrine best which teaches that immortality is the gift of God, and that it is given only to the righteous?

J. N. A.

All Thy Commandments Are Righteousness

ALL thy commandments are righteousness.

Seaman's Mission.

By H. C. Palmer

ITEMS OF INTEREST FOR JUNE.

Ship P—. A man in the forecastle states that it was a question often argued, which is the Sabbath day, the first or the seventh day. He insisted that the seventh day is the Sabbath. He had not read any of our works on this subject. He had sufficient light on this subject to enable him to maintain his views.

Ship A—. The sailmaker of this ship knows the seventh day is the Sabbath. Gave some extra reading matter. He promised to write.

Ship B. Y—. Found a man in the forecastle who believes in the seventh day. He did not say he had decided to observe it.

Ship B. I—. A boy signed the temperance pledge.

Ship F—. The steward is much interested. He visited the tent-meeting in San Francisco twice. We gave him some extra reading to distribute among his friends in Scotland. He belongs to the "Evangelical Alliance," and they all discard tobacco and everything intoxicating. The names of the principal men in the organization were sent to Eld. Loughborough.

The captain on this ship says he will investigate when he goes to sea. He is not with the church, for he does not believe in unconverted persons joining a church; he thinks it weakens it spiritually. There is much hope here, for he has a reputation as a steady man of integrity, and has risen from the ranks. The conversation held with him was very encouraging. He promised to write. Three signed the anti-whisky pledge.

Ship H. F—. The captain, the second and third mates, and apprentice are interested. Thorough investigation was promised; also a letter on arrival at her destination.

Ship S—. Several apprentices were much interested. They were very inquiring and courteous, and promised to write when they arrived at home. The subject of tobacco was thoroughly examined; the light on this subject altered their views very much. We hope and pray for results.

Steamer C—. The steward was a man who discarded novels from his book-shelf. He wanted more light on the Bible. I gave him several tracts, and he promised to buy "Thoughts on Daniel and Revelation." He came up to the tent on Sunday afternoon, but as I was not there he did not make known his errand. His vessel sailed sooner than was expected, so he did not obtain them. We hope the light he has will lead him into the truth.

Steamer A—. The steward believes in the seventh-day Sabbath. He was never here before. He will read and let us know the result.

Ship R—. The captain and his wife are much interested. She lost her father a short time ago; he was a Universalist. This view of the Bible was reviewed. Works will be given her to show the incorrectness of that theory, and she promises a candid investigation. We pray the Lord to lead her into all truth.

Ship W—. The captain and a man in the forecastle believe in the seventh-day Sabbath. In this ship also the subject of the right day has been discussed. An apprentice promised to investigate and write.

Steamer R. de I—. The steward has only been one trip on this steamer. When the reading matter was given him the tract package seemed familiar. "Do you know," he said, "I found a package that was given by the steward who preceded me? When I came to read its contents I said, my sons must get this. So I put it in my trunk for them." Extra reading will be given, and he promised to lend it to the passengers and to report the interest. The address of his sons, in Los Angeles County, was taken, and they will be provided for.

The interest shown this month is encouraging. One thing is made certain; the question of the Lord's Sabbath is coming to the front among those who have no more than heard it casually mentioned, and the word of God has been examined to find evidence for the Sunday. But we know the result where there is an honest inquiry for the truth. How thankful ought we to be that we have the light to give to those who are in darkness. The seaman is not unwilling to be placed in the right way, and those of our faith can understand how blessed it is to come to a knowledge of precious truth. Our Heavenly Father is preparing the minds of the world to receive the last great truth, and if we will connect closely with Him, he will direct us in our labor for souls.

Health Reform is being adopted by some in the old country, and if they read our publications they may be attracted to the whole truth. The world generally seems to be looking forward to something startling. Admissions are made which betray anxiety to learn what is indicated by the "sure word of prophecy."

The number of steamers visiting San Francisco Bay is increasing, and our club of Signs for this mission is too small. If ever the mission work needed prayerful help it is now. May the Master watch over us, direct our steps, and increase our zeal, that the cause of the Third Angel's Message may be greatly advanced. H. C. PALMER.

Rooted in Love.

By G. M. Howe

THE apostle Paul, in the course of his letter to the Ephesian Christians, breaks forth into one of the most sublime and comprehensive prayers ever uttered by human lips: "That He would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the inner man; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God." If we turn to the natural world, and note carefully how all forms of plant-life grow, we shall get a clearer insight into the deep meaning of this remarkable prayer than we otherwise could. A healthy and vigorous plant is half under-ground. For every branch visible above the earth there is a root more or less deeply buried in the soil. If we wish to be exact in our statement, it will be to say that all real growth must begin at the root. The tiny rootlet feels its silent way through the dark mold, drawing therefrom those chemical properties which suck up in the sap, form new wood, foliage, blossoms, and fruit.

Every gardener knows very well that if a plant is not properly rooted, it becomes sickly and speedily dies. If a shrub is planted on top of a rock, or in a heap of sand, it may be ever so carefully nurtured, yet its leaves will droop and fall. Transplant it in a plat of ground suitable for its highest development, and it will strike its roots deeper and deeper, and send up strong, vigorous shoots, covered with rich foliage, and in due time flowers and fruits.

This law of plant-life furnishes us with the key to the apostle's prayer, and reveals to us the reason why he desires the Christian disciple to be thoroughly "rooted and grounded" in the love of Christ. He knows from the fullness of his own experience, that this is the only way in which the believer can grow and bring forth in his daily life the "peaceable fruits of righteousness." As in the case of the plant, the Christian must have a hidden as well as a visible life. He must have a deep and abiding experience of the love of God as manifested in his Son Jesus Christ. The roots of his spiritual life must constantly feed from the springs of love divine. From this one source it must derive all its nourishment. Thus, and only thus, can the believer become a "tree of righteousness." Some one has well said: "There is a piety, so called, that is like a Christmas tree—it is all for show." There is a profusion of leaves, but little or no fruit. If fruit does appear, it is far from being that perfect fruit which is required for the glory of our Father in Heaven. It is not enough that we should express sorrow for sin, and join some church, and engage half-heartedly in some Christian work. There is too much of this kind of Christianity in the world to-day, and it is for this reason that the church is no more aggressive as a power for the salvation of men. There never was more machinery employed than at the present time, but it needs vitalizing.

The individual members of our several communions need to be more firmly "rooted and grounded in love," in order to develop the latent power of the church. The life which is most completely hidden in Christ the Lord, will be the most potent for good in this sin-smitten world of ours. When every professing Christian is truly "rooted and grounded" in this love, then, and not till then, will the visible church of the blessed Redeemer become the mighty influence for the salvation of the race which it was designed to be. Then when believers say to dying men around them: "Come with us, and we will do you good; for the Lord has spoken good concerning Israel," they will accept their invitation because they believe it. Shall we not, then, as Christians, come in simple faith to the great Head of the church, who "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think," that we "may be filled with all the fullness of God."—Rev. G. M. Howe, Congregationalist.

Ostentation and Learning

I HAVE seldom seen much ostentation and much learning met together. The sun, rising and declining, makes long shadows; and at mid-day, when he is highest, none at all.—Hall.

Roses on Thorns

"Some people," says Alphonse Karr, "are always finding fault with nature for putting thorns on roses; I always thank her for putting roses on thorns."

Gonzales, Monterey Co., Cal.

By Isaac Morrison, F. T. Lamb

We pitched our tent in this place July 3, and commenced meetings the 5th. The attendance is good, and the people seem interested. Some have invited us to their houses and shown us favors.

We are of good courage in the Lord and wish the prayers of the brethren, that the Lord may bless our labors. ISAAC MORRISON, F. T. LAMB.

California

By M. C. Israel

SAN FRANCISCO.

The tent was moved to the corner of Jones and Eddy Streets last week. This brings our place of meeting within three blocks of Market, where it is intersected by Jones Street. To this point persons can come on the Hayes Valley, or Valentia Street cars. The Sixth Street, Turk Street, and Sutter and Larkin Street lines all come within one block of the tent. This place is central and accessible from any part of the city. Meetings commenced Friday evening. Nine persons signed the covenant before the tent was moved, and three were baptized. Quite a number more are on the point of deciding, and will still attend the meetings. Sister White gave the third discourse on Christian Temperance last Sunday, "How to Correct Evil Habits." It was listened to with great interest by quite a large audience.

SALINAS.

Bro. Ballou writes that four were baptized last Sunday, and that others will soon unite with the church. Eleven joined the Tract and Missionary Society. The meetings close at that place tonight, and the tent will be moved to Hollister, San Benito County, the first part of the week.

UKIAH.

Bro. Scott writes that sixteen have decided to keep all the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and six or eight others are almost persuaded, who, it is hoped, will fully decide to give their hearts to God. They expect to move the tent this week to Willetts, a place twenty-two miles north of Ukiah. We feel thankful for the evidence that the Lord is still working for us, and we hope to meet at our coming camp-meeting, many who have received the truth through the labors of our tent companies and missionary workers this season.

M. C. ISRAEL.

Bread Returning.

By Editor

L—, Ill., J— 15, 1882.

EDITOR:—I wish to procure a copy of "The United States in Prophecy," as noticed in the SIGNS OF THE TIMES, in an article entitled, "Enforcement of the Christian Sabbath."

Some one has been sending your paper to me gratuitously during a part of the last year. I wish to become a subscriber.

I am somewhat puzzled to know what is our duty here in Illinois in regard to the observance of Sunday for the Sabbath. I have always supposed that those who advocated the observance of the seventh day are fanatical; but this last article seems to show that you have just grounds for your peculiarities. Therefore I honor you for your firmness. Pray for us here in this State, that we may see our duty clearly, and seeing it, have strength to act in accordance with our convictions. Yours, etc., W. H. R.

The above, received in the office some time since, has just come to our notice. God bless the writer, and the worker who sent the SIGNS to him. The light is spreading; to God be the glory.

Temperance.

By N. Y. Tribune

Broken Laws of Life.

AN incident went the rounds of last week's papers as occuring in one of the interior towns of Pennsylvania, which was marked with peculiarly dark lines of tragedy. A young clergyman of exceptional talent and sensitive temperament, gave himself, during the last year, to hard study, setting extraordinary tasks for himself, such as committing the whole Bible to memory, etc. His brain suddenly gave way, and he became a violent maniac, and was carried to an asylum in sight of the sympathizing town, manacled hand and foot, and pleading wildly for his mother not to allow him to be taken from his home.

This is one of the hard problems of life which make skeptics inveigh most bitterly against the justice of God. Here was a man whose purpose doubtless was to serve his Master, to convert souls from death; but, because he overtaxed a physical organ, he drops, a useless wreck, by the wayside. There are plenty of similar instances about us in everyday life. In the colleges, for example, a young fellow becomes, by dint of natural ability and hard work, a first-honor man; his classmates applaud every triumphant step; his family, a mother and sisters, probably, dependent on his future success for support, hang eagerly on him, with proud devotion; his life is pure, his aims are high and pure; and suddenly he staggers, and falls to rise no more. Four such instances we recall now; two are in insane asylums, one is an imbecile, the other, knowing that his brain was hopelessly diseased, ended his life in the waters of the Potomac. Similar tragedies go on in every business and profession, though with different catastrophes. A man, let us say, is born with a peculiar talent, or gift, for music, art, literature; some capacity for the high, fine expression of the truth, which would make him a power for good in the world; but he cannot make money enough by it to keep wife and children in the social rank which he thinks they should hold. Hence he turns to some lower, but more remunerative work, or he degrades his art into the manufacture of salable wares; paints cheap, false pictures, writes popular, trashy books or plays. When he grows old, he tries, perhaps, to take up his real work again, but the magic power is lost forever. "The mill will never grind with the water that is past." Then he himself, and all his friends, bemoan a wasted life, regard him as in some way a martyr; and, invariably, in a vague way hold God accountable for it, and for the cruel injustice of the fact that a man cannot be Pegasus and a cart-horse at once, cannot carry grist to the mill for his family, and touch empyrean heights at the same leap. God, too, is held responsible for the failure of overworked brains, as in this last pitiable case.

Now the popular error in this matter is, that when a man's motive in life is good, the public expect God to work a miracle in his behalf to help him to accomplish it, and are aggrieved with a sense of the Divine injustice if it is not done. No man who was not a fool, if he had a delicate machine for weaving lace, would go to work to make carpets with it, or be surprised, if he did, that it would break to pieces with the strain. Or, if he had an instrument of tone and compass fit for rendering divine harmonics, and chose to jangle waltzes and discords on it for years, he would not be indignant at nature or God if it was out of tune, and forever incapable of echoing heavenly music. Yet every man of sense knows that his physical brain is a material machine, an instrument, subject to material waste and injury just as much as any Cremona. If he persistently maltreats it, he alone is responsible for its ruin. God is not accountable. He does not work material miracles for any man, however good his motive in life may be. Christ himself, would not throw himself down from the pinnacle, even to prove that he was the Son of God, in the hope that he would be miraculously held up. The man who puts an intolerable weight on his brain, throws himself down in such a hope; and the man who gives up his real, high mission for a while in the world in order to grub money, or to set his family on a fashionable basis, in the hope that he can go back to it at will, has thrown himself down a suicidal height, from which no angels will bear him up.

Each man and woman is set down here in the world with a stock of physical and mental capacity, subject to inexorable laws, to which ordinary common sense will enable him or her to submit. If he chooses to break them, not all the faith of the patriarchs and apostles will save him from the punishment. If the son of a saint tipples brandy every day, his father's righteousness, and his own late repentance may bring his pardon from God, but will not keep off delirium tremens. When Pattison, the African missionary, exposed himself to storm and tempest for years in preaching Christ, he doubtless won a heavenly crown, but he was racked no less with neuralgia and devoured with fever. God's mercy is infinite in dealing with the soul, but, oddly enough, it is the skeptic only that expects it to interfere with physical laws which are inexorable. The earlier in life we recognize their strength and unalterable fulfillment, the better we shall serve the purpose for which we are sent into the world.

A More Excellent Way.

A CORRESPONDENT in an exchange mentions the following incident, which seems to him to show that there is "a more excellent way" of helping to defray church debts than by fairs and festivals. The case is that of a Virginia church, which had for many years been in the habit of holding a week's fair in June, for benevolent purposes. He says:—

"It was a time much dreaded by the ladies who managed it, but each year they bravely put their shoulders to the wheel, and all day, and half the night, from Sunday till Saturday, they left their home-ships to flounder along without the gentle pilot, the husbands dutifully restraining (let us hope) their inclination to swear, and the little ones—ah, that was a trial. The result was handsome, about a thousand dollars generally, and the fair was looked upon as a necessity.

"One bright Sunday, the pastor set all his people agape by telling them, after the sermon, that he had resolved to ask them to give up their fair this year, and try a plan of his proposing, to effect their object. He knew, he said, that it would not be generally approved, but was sure his people would agree that it deserved a trial, after which, of course, they would use their own discretion. He then asked that each household should have a family council, and decide how much they would be likely to give to the fair this year. The housemistress was to say how many cakes, how much ice-cream, etc., she would have contributed, and then carefully count the cost of these articles. To these valuations the father was to add the sum he had intended to divide among his family to spend at the fair, and the children were to be asked to bring their pennies without getting goodies in return; because it was for Jesus. Also, if the family was able, all were not he knew, they might throw in an equivalent for the week's hard work. And the sum of these offerings was to be put in a white envelope, endorsed with their names, and carried to church the following Sunday. That Sunday brought a crowd; the white envelopes were collected, and the minister stated that to all who cared to wait, he would announce the result as soon after the benediction as the money could be counted. The Sunday dinners that were not already cold, got so, while the congregation waited in eager expectation. When the pastor ascended the pulpit steps, he felt obliged to quiet the excitement by saying very gravely that he hoped each one would utter a silent thanksgiving to God for the spirit of true Christian giving, now first shown among them—for the offering exceeded fourteen hundred dollars. And each June sees that prosperous church rejoicing in having found 'a more excellent way.'"—Messiah's Herald.

The Hope of the Church.

"The children are the hope of the church." There is a sense in which this saying is true, but also another sense in which it is not true. The children constitute the material from which the church of the future must be constructed. But natural increase is not the law of growth in the Church of Christ. If any sect or body of believers has lost its youthful vitality and the true spiritual generative power which springs from the love of God in the heart, then it may indeed be without a future except in its children. Then it may have to depend for growth upon baptismal regeneration, on the efficacy of sacraments, on the supposed generative power of the visible church, on traditional faith, the power of habit, social and filial attachments, etc., instead of Christ, Christianity, a sanctified ministry, and a working laity. "Without me ye can do nothing," says the Lord Jesus Christ. In him is the hope of the church. Nothing less than divine life and power will suffice—power that comes as it came on the apostles—a holy enthusiasm, a divine afflatus, and an overmastering passion for souls. By these "signs we should conquer" the world for Christ, and shall have the children in the bargain.—Evangelical Messenger.

More Pleasant Than Profitable.

Unto what shall we liken much of the fashionable preaching of this generation; and what is the effect thereof upon the consciences of the hearers? “Lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words and they do them not.” Ezek. 33 : 32.

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