Review and Herald, Vol. 43, No. 11. (2/24/1874)

Review and Herald

Feb 24, 1874

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Feb 24, 1874

ADVENTISM IN ENGLAND.

A CONFERENCE was held May 5th to the 10th, 1873, in St. George's Hall, London, to consider the subject of the second advent of Christ. Addresses were given by the most distinguished clergymen, and also by lords and noblemen, with others of less note, mostly of the Church of England. Many of the addresses have been printed in the Signs of the Times. The following is the substance of an address by the Chairman of the Conference, the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Shaftsbury, K. G. He said:—

“I have been requested to say a few words to express my sense of the value and importance of the subject of the second advent of Christ: and I do so with some hesitation, because, although I have had it much upon my heart, yet I have never studied the subject for dogmatic or didactic purposes. When the thought has arisen, ‘At what time will He come?’ the ready answer has been, ‘As a thief in the night,’ and when the question has been put, ‘In what manner will He come?’ the reply has presented itself in the words of the angels, ‘This same Jesus shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.’ With satisfaction I may say that this subject has been upon my heart for years and years; it has been much upon my inmost soul, I will not say every day but often every hour of the day: and although I cannot talk theologically upon the matter and enter into the arguments introduced to-night with so much force and piety, I may say, that in reference to the state of the times and the signs which are around us, I cannot see any remedy or solution but that suggested by the assured hope of the second coming of Christ.

“The social convulsions, national perplexities and troubles which are on every side in these days, have been pointed out by Mr. Baxter; and it is impossible to observe the condition of things and the aspect of society, without arriving at the conclusion that an event, no less than that of the second advent itself, must come to pass before the world can be brought to a condition of piety, and purity, and peace: and I do hope that these meetings may be the beginning of a constant, persistent course of practical preaching and faithful testimony and warning upon the subject; for hitherto we have had far too little said about it in the pulpits of our land.

“It is not enough to have occasional meetings and sermons in relation to this grand theme, and to read an odd book, or pamphlet, or tract; but it must be constantly and regularly preached by the clergy from every pulpit, and proclaimed everywhere, even at the corners of the streets. And I believe if this great matter were so treated, you might still produce a very practical result upon all classes, and especially upon the English people; upon the refined and educated classes, as well as upon the masses of our working population.

“From long-continued knowledge of the working classes, I believe there would be no one subject they would receive with greater delight—no one doctrine which would produce a greater effect upon their lives and their general conduct, than the bringing before them, in their miseries, sorrows, and sufferings, the grand consolations of the second advent.

“And I know of no ground upon which we can more readily overcome our religious differences—Church and Non-conformist—than this; to go forth and preach, day by day and night by night, the great and glorious truth of the approaching advent of our blessed Lord.

“Indeed what can there be more calculated to produce a powerful effect upon all, both great and small, than to assert, without ceasing, the necessity of constant watchfulness, and to proclaim the solemn admonition, ‘Be ye therefore ready, for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.’ Luke 12: 40.”

France and Germany.

The war-cloud still hovers over the eastern horizon. Although peace has been formally declared between the two late contending nations, France and Germany, another outbreak is imminent, and may at any time come. The nations are jealous and angry. The Chicago Daily Tribune of Feb. 14, 1874, is responsible for the following:—

“It is just possible that there may be a second, Franco-Prussian war. It would seem indeed that Bismarck, if not Germany, desires it, and is bent on forcing it if he can. He is evidently looking for a pretext to begin hostilities against the neighboring country; and so fertile is he in pretexts and other resources that we can see no reason why he should not succeed. France, spite of the drain of five milliards and the reverses of the war, is recuperating. She is growing stronger every day, and her continuous growth is an ever-increasing menace to Germany. Better strike France down now, thinks Bismarck, than to wait till she has grown again to be the peer of Germany as a military power. So, too, seems to think the Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, Bismarck’s reputed organ, although it does not say it in so many words. It has discovered a reason for interfering with France. The Catholic press and the Catholic clergy of France have decried Bismarck’s course toward their fellow-Catholics in Germany; and this is the casus belli. With the French Government as a Government, they—Bismarck and his organs—say they have nothing to do; no reason to complain of it. But with the French Government as the satellite or ally of Rome, Germany has everything to do. Germany is at present the avowed enemy of the Roman Catholic church. Therefore, the friends of Rome are its enemies, and in declaring war against Rome it must declare war against them.”

“While endeavoring, however, to bring on a war with France, Germany professes to be most anxious for peace. She professes to object to the course of the French clergy and French Catholics only on the ground that their course has a tendency to disturb the present comparative cordial relations between the two countries, and precipitate a conflict. To prevent such an event, Germany thinks she had better begin a war herself, and put France, while yet in a state of convalescence, in a position where she will not be able to take the offensive; in other words, that to discourage so ungodly a thing as a war, it had better commence one now. If France would only tell her bishops to hold their tongues, and not to whine in so unearthly a fashion over Bismarck’s treatment of their brother bishops in Germany, he avers he would have no fault to find with her; that he would allow her to recover from defeat, put her army on any footing she wished, and restore her war-material to a better condition than before 1870. If, however, she is not willing to bridle the tongues of these apostles of dissension, he must, in the interests of civilization and humanity, interfere. Such is Bismarck’s present attitude toward France. The recent elections have demonstrated that his power is not so great as it was, while that of the Catholic party in the empire and in France is on the increase. He knows, too, that a breach must occur sometime; and it is not at all improbable that he prefers that it should occur now, ere his own influence grows less or that of Rome greater.” J. W. B.

Financial Demoralization.

The condition of public morals, in relation to financial matters, is becoming such as to excite alarm in many thoughtful minds.

Dr. J. G. Holland, in Scribner's for February, speaking of “What Has Been Done about It,” in the case of Wm. M. Tweed, says:

“The special significance of Tweed’s conviction and condemnation, as a lesson in public morals, lies in its definition of theft. He entertained the same idea that thousands all over the country entertain, viz.: that everything that can be got out of a corporation or the public is legitimate plunder. The amount constantly stolen from railroad corporations in this country, by men who certainly would regard it as immoral to rob a neighbor’s hen-roost, is enormous. Somehow, poor men touch railroads in an official capacity, and get rich, while the railroads get poor, and stockholders are not only cheated out of dividends, but out of the railroads altogether. Picking and stealing are going on everywhere, in railroad managements, in municipal governments, and in all sorts of corporations, going on among, and by the hands of, men who regard themselves as doing an entirely legitimate business. The theft is disguised by the medium of some scheme like that of the Credit Mobilier; and it is unconfessed to the consciences of the thieves themselves. Men will consent to hold an office and do no duty, while the pay they receive is practically a theft. There are ten thousand thefts, only less gross and high-handed than that which enriched Tweed and his gang, that are practiced all through the community, unrecognized by the thieves themselves as thefts. There are whole States that seem to be demoralized on this subject. To a great multitude, to take anything from a private person is stealing, to take anything that can be got by any indirection from the government or a corporation is a matter of perfectly legitimate business.”

In an article on “Financial Integrity,” the Chicago Journal of Jan. 16, 1874, utters the following stirring thoughts:—

“The financial atmosphere of this country is poisoned with distrust—a financial distrust which is eating at the vitals of public morality. Defalcation has followed defalcation, embezzlement embezzlement, fraud fraud, bribery bribery, official ‘irregularity’ official irregularity, until the swelling has developed into a cancer of a malignant form. We presume it would be quite within the facts to say that the official frauds and defalcations of this country have averaged one a fortnight for the year 1873. It will not be denied that this is a retrospect of a discouraging nature, and suggests a prospect of anything but an encouraging description.

“For we must concede that this lamentable degeneracy in financial conscience is no longer confined to those who occupy positions of official responsibility and have the handling of the public money. It has touched and tainted commercial life. It has descended from some of the highest posts of the public service to some of the most secluded positions of the mercantile world. And why should it not? Much—indeed, we may say everything—depends upon example in public virtue. The weaker imitate the stronger; the lower the higher; the least responsible the most responsible. Not only is society ruled by an aristocracy, but in democratic communities, the common run of people act upon the axioms which govern those who, by reason of their political or social position, are regarded as constituting what is ordinarily known as ‘society.’ It is impossible to maintain integrity among the masses of the people, while their public servants and wealthy corporations disregard and repudiate it. They are not so nice in their discriminations as to see a difference between a fraudulent appropriation by their opulent neighbors, and a larceny of their own. Nor can they see even-handed justice in the imprisonment of the thief while the defaulter is allowed to go scotfree, or treated with consideration instead of reprobation. This is why and this is how this financial distrust is beginning to tell with alarming effect. The cancer is approaching the heart, for say what we will about the power of the wealthy and the glory of the great, it is, after all, the mass of the well-to-do and even hand-to-mouth people of this country to whom we are to look for its stability and order. They, and not their leaders or officials, constitute the heart of the commonwealth. Consequently, when they become venal and reckless of their financial honor, we may conclude that public immorality is waning, and society is in jeopardy.

“We really would be glad to be disabused of the fear we have that the public mind has become torpid with reference to this peril, and that one of these days the financial conscience of the country may be stricken with paralysis—cancer at the heart, and paralysis of the extremities. Certainly, if 1874 is to be a repetition of 1873, as respects the public estimate of public penalty, we may look forward to the future with grave apprehensions. For whether we go by short, quick steps, or long, slow strides, go we must, and go down, if we go at all in this direction. Whether the catastrophe be near or remote, it is inevitable as soon as we, as a community, believe that we may get money by any means, however infamous, and may use or keep in our possession other people’s money, whatever may be our obligation to return it, and however much its owners may suffer for the want of it.”

“To suppose that we can escape the disastrous results of this universal distrust, by any display of energy and enterprise in material civilization, is to shut our ears as well to the voice of reason as to the teachings of history. Miles of warehouses and acres of manufactories cannot compensate for the loss of confidence of man in man, of tradesman in tradesman, of merchant in merchant, of manufacturer in manufacturer, of people in officials.

“There is no substitute for it; nothing can take its place. It is not a question of opinion, or of theology, or of philosophy; it is a question of hard facts, and of cause and effect. If we will get rich, accumulate luxuries, and amass great possessions, openly and utterly regardless of common honesty and common integrity and common conscience, we may be absolutely sure that we shall be overtaken, sooner or later, by embarrassments far more disastrous than any mere panic in stocks, or losses in trade. Nothing is plainer than that we must awaken from our moral stupor respecting financial fidelity if we would preserve our prosperity from gradual decay, if not sudden collapse.”

Conundrum Christians.

By F. A. Noble

THE designation is not mine. It belongs to a man who is the author of a good many pleasant things—the Rev. Geo. P. Hays, D. D., president of Washington and Jefferson College—at least, the suggestion of it.

It came about in this wise: In an address, the other Sabbath evening, before the Young Men's Christian Association of Pittsburgh, he was defining and characterizing the various sorts of Christians which go to make up the church, when, having got through with the “working class,” he

turned and said: “Next to these is a very large class” who are very fond of singing a conundrum that has found its way into some of our hymn-books, beginning thus:

‘Tis a point I long to know, Oft it causes anxious thought, Do I love the Lord or no? Am I his or am I not?

It puzzles them to tell. It puzzles other people very much to tell. There is not much evidence that they are not; and there is very little evidence that they are; so, on the whole, the matter is a good deal confused.”

Now, that, boiled down, is just what stands at the head of this article. Those two words are the “for short” of it all, the whole thing in a nut-shell. And, instead of being at the trouble of this round-about phraseology, and calling this class the “conundrum-singing” Christians or the “I long-to-know” Christians, we may just as well dub them the conundrum Christians at once, and have done with it.

Putting it in this way, and remembering that, thus put, it stands for a fact, not at all uncommon and sometimes exceedingly perplexing and bitter, of actual experience, it seems a topic eminently worthy of a few moments’ very serious reflection.

At the outset, it may as well be confessed, not reluctantly, but heartily, that I have a large measure of sympathy with a certain portion of these habitually introspective and self-questioning souls; especially when the questions, as to whether they are really Christians, are all asked by themselves, and not by others.

This life of ours is awfully earnest. Many are the problems which rise up and vex the understanding. Great issues press. The earthly horizon is rapidly closing in. The outer bound draws near. It is a solemn thing that the heart be right with God, the hope assuredly in God. There are natures so constituted that they are tenderly sensitive to all this, and they cannot well help being troubled by it. Indeed, I am sometimes inclined to think that one of the reasons why there is not more misgiving among men, and more crying out for certainty of conviction, is not altogether because there is so much of serene and strong faith, but because there is so little impressiveness to the infinite import of facts without and facts within.

But, be this as it may, there are those whose mental and moral make-up is so peculiar, so delicate, so responsive, to every touch or hint of doubt, and withal so genuine, that they become easily distrustful, and of their own purity and security more easily than of anything else. To examine their own states, to probe and test every emotion, to take the feelings to pieces to see if they are what they pretend to be or ought to be, is an instinct with them. They move about perpetually in an atmosphere of self-consciousness. Their eyes are not lifted up unto the Everlasting Hills, but are turned inward. Their looking is not so much unto Jesus as unto themselves. What follows is inevitable. For no honest man can make honest inspection of his own spirit, can open the door and range through all the by-ways and secret chambers of his own heart, without making discoveries to the last degree alarming.

These men and women, however, are not to be wholly blamed; least of all to be unmercifully ridiculed. Their spiritual habits are not good, their spiritual methods are not wise; but their faults and shortcomings are just those we might have anticipated. They are following on in the line and swaying to the temptations peculiar to the human nature that is in them. And like others who have special infirmities, or easily besetting sins, or bad tempers, or tendencies of any kind to be overcome, they are to be patiently and lovingly helped.

This conundrum attitude of the soul is very far from being the ideal one. It is a condition which is neither desirable nor necessary, save, perhaps, in a very few rare cases, such as have already been instanced. The general statement of it, therefore, would be that it is both inexcusable and criminal. Ordinarily a man may know and he is bound to know, and he is under obligations as sacred as life and as solemn as eternity and as commanding as God so to walk his way and do his work that others may know whether he has been born again, whether he has passed from death unto life, whether he has been made a new creature in Christ Jesus.

Paul knew. How refreshing it is, and what a tonic virtue there is in that oft-recurring declaration of his: “We know.” Nor could men who saw and heard him for a moment doubt. His inner life manifested and accredited itself to their senses, often to their consciences. They might not believe themselves; but they were sure he believed. Old-time associates amongst the Jews, humble disciples of the Master, kings on their thrones, cultivated Athenians, fellow-prisoners, shipwrecked sailors, and all others with whom he came in contact, were persuaded beyond any question that, whether right or wrong, whether wisely or unwisely, this preacher to the Gentiles was a thoroughly self-denying and whole-souled follower of Jesus. Thence came his oppositions and persecutions, as well as his victories. His faith was vital, active, aggressive. It moved things; it challenged attention; it aroused men, so that they felt forced to take position either as enemies or friends.

So with Peter and John. They knew, and they made other people know. Recall this one record, and note exactly the sort of impression to which it testifies: “Now, when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled, and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus.” A distinct impression is given: of association, of discipleship, of impulse from and of conformity to the Christ. And these were not friends, but open enemies, who were thus impressed—“rulers and elders and scribes.”

Now the question comes how one may get up out of this state, where it is doubt to-day, and doubt more or less to-morrow, and real satisfaction and gladness never, into certitude and joy in the Holy Ghost; and where the life, instead of being a mere so-so life—flabby, listless, and without any special influence one way or the other in the world’s moral conflicts—becomes an unimpeachable “evidence” for Christianity. Just as Dr. Hays said, and as has been said a thousand times before—said by men inspired, and by men without any inspiration, save that of their good sense and honest hearts—IT IS BY GOING TO WORK. Let a sailor drift about in mid-ocean as many a Christian drifts, and he would surely lose his reckoning. Let a student deal with his duties as many a Christian does, and he would not only never graduate, but all faith in his own abilities would inevitably die out of him. Let an athlete take no more pains to keep his body in trim than many a Christian bestows upon his soul, and how speedily would he cease to have any agility or force. God’s blessing is on work. And activity, systematic and faithful, is the ordained law of health, of growth, and of this world’s advancement.

Prayer is good, illuminating, purifying, in every way strengthening. Meditation is good. There will be more of clear insight and apprehension when there is more of sober reflection. Reading, repeated and earnest, of the word is good. The secret of many a believer’s weakness is that he is not more mighty in the Scriptures.

As these are good and indispensable, so also is doing. Doing, indeed, when wise and sincere, is, like charity, always twice blessed. It is helpful to one’s own soul, and it is helpful to the world. There are natures to whose needs—those morbidly self-examining ones, for instance—nothing is so suited as regular outgoing activity. When the mists hang thick about one, and the stars fade out in the spiritual sky, and the way seems more and more obscure, and the passages of the soul are choked, and the pulse of aspiration beats low, and the divine is felt to be dwelling apart and a good way off from the human, let him at once give heart and hand to some sweet ministry, and speed his step into the chambers of the sick, into homes straitened with poverty, into homes where there is desolation and death, to the side of the tempted and the unfortunate and the discouraged; let him turn to any sort of endeavor which shall give but a finger’s lift to the great crushing burdens which men are bearing, and, my word for it, in nine cases out of ten, and quicker than by any other procedure, the fogs shall vanish, and the stars shine out, and the way grow luminous, and the Spirit have free play with his spirit, and truth-hunger and righteousness-hunger, and all hungers which go out in restless cravings after immortal nourishment, shall be felt; and Christ! no longer shall he seem afar and vague, but very, very near, and very, very real.

When men, like Christ and in the Spirit of Christ, shall go about doing good, instructing, healing, guiding, comforting, uplifting, casting out devils, helping wayward ones and prodigal ones to come to themselves, setting the hearts and feet and faces of those who know him not Godward, making, according to the measure of their abilities, these heavens which are about us now, and this old, groaning earth new; then shall it be amply verified to their experience that light is sown for the righteous, and that the path of the just is as the shining light that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.—REV. F. A. NOBLE, in Independent.

GOD'S BEAUTIFUL CITY.

By D. T. Taylor

Far, far away, amid realms of light, Hid deep in the azure beyond our sight, Stands a beautiful city so high and bright, Where is known no sorrow, nor death, nor night. Beautiful city!

O blest abode! O home of God! Whose streets by the feet of the sinless are trod. Beautiful city!

They roam through the gardens of endless spring; They crowd all thy portals on rushing wing; While the echoing domes of the palace ring; With the hymns of the angels that shout and sing. Beautiful city!

Hark! hark, again! the angelic strain, As gleams through the crystal that burnished train. Beautiful city!

There the life-fires brighten, and burn, and roll O'er diamonds that sparkle, o'er sands of gold; Where to breathe the sweet air yields a bliss untold, And the dwellers immortal shall never grow old. Beautiful city!

We pierce the skies with longing eyes, And yearn to inherit the golden prize.

It is said that the King, in his power sublime, When the last sands drop from the glass of time, And our world shall be robed in her Eden prime, Will bring down that city to gladden earth's clime. Beautiful city!

Bright capital where saints will dwell, And reign on the throne with Immanuel.

As jewels flash on the brow of a queen, As the jasper and ruby in crowns are seen, God's city, wrapped in its silver sheen, Will be set like a gem in the new earth's green. Beautiful city!

City of flowers and peaceful bowers! Come down and illumine this dark world of ours!

I have heard in that city they wait for me; That its gates stand open wide and free; That the ransomed the King in his beauty may see, And live in his presence eternally. Beautiful city!

In royal state blest mansions wait, And beckon us on through the pearly gate.

I shall go where the summers will always bloom; I shall walk no more amid trial and gloom; I shall bid farewell to the withering tomb; I shall deck my brow with the conqueror's plume. Beautiful city!

Let us enter in, a crown to win! Our words but half tell of the glory within. —D. T. Taylor.

Continue reading: Redemption—No. 1