Review and Herald, Vol. 52, No. 4. (7/18/1878)

Review and Herald

Jul 18, 1878

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jul 18, 1878

SUNDAY NOT THE SABBATH.

By Dudley Marvin Canright

BY ELD. D. M. CANRIGHT.

Those who keep Sunday claim that the first day of the week should be observed in commemoration of the resurrection of Christ on that day. But there is no Bible authority for this claim. The first day is never called the Sabbath, the Christian Sabbath, the Lord’s day, or a holy day of any kind. There is not even a reference to such a thing nor an intimation of it in the Bible. Neither Jesus nor the apostles ever kept it. No command is given for any one to keep it. God never rested upon it, nor blessed it, nor sanctified it. There is no penalty for its violation, nor regulation for its observance.

Reader, think of these facts. What do they mean? Paul says, “Where no law is, there is no transgression.” Rom. 4:15. As there is no law of God for keeping the first day, there can be no sin in working on it; for Paul says again, “Sin is not imputed when there is no law.” Rom. 5:13. Then why keep Sunday? God does not leave men to guess at their duty, but he states plainly whatever he wishes done. Does he wish men to keep the seventh day? How plainly he has said so. Ex. 20:8–11. How plainly baptism and the Lord’s supper are enjoined. Mark 16:15, 16; 1 Cor. 11:23–26. So if the Lord wished us to keep the first day, would he not have plainly said so? Certainly; but he has said no such thing.

Let us examine every text in which the first day of the week is mentioned in the New Testament, and we shall thus learn all the Lord has said about it. There are but eight texts. Here is the first: “In the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, came Mary Magdalene and the other Mary to see the sepulcher.” Matt. 28:1. This is all that Matthew says about it. He relates that the angel opened the tomb; that the women saw him, ran to tell the apostles, and met Jesus on the way; but not a hint is given that there is to be any change of the Sabbath, not a word is said about keeping the first day in honor of the resurrection. Think of this.

Next, Mark mentions the first day twice. “And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulcher at the rising of the sun.” “Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene.” Chap. 16:2, 9. This is all the mention he makes of the day. He says that the women saw the angel; that they went and told the apostles; that the apostles doubted, verse 11; that two of them went into the country, and met Jesus; and that Jesus came in while they were eating supper, and reproved them for their unbelief. Verses 12–14. Here, again, there is a profound silence as to any change of the Sabbath or any sacredness for the first day. There is not the slightest intimation of any such thing. Read the whole chapter, and see for yourself.

Luke mentions the first day only once. “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.” Chap. 24:1. What does this say about the change of the Sabbath? Nothing. What intimation is there here that the first day then became a holy day? The candid reader will admit that there is not the slightest reference to such a thing. Yet these are the texts always relied upon by Sunday-keepers to sustain their position. Luke does state that two of the disciples went that day seven and a half miles, on foot, to Emmaus. Verse 13. What were they going there for? Evidently on business. Jesus walked with them, and made himself known to them. Verses 15–31. Then they ran back to Jerusalem to tell the others. Fifteen miles they walked that day. Not much of a Sabbath! It was nearly night when they got back, verse 29; yet as late as that few of the apostles believed in the resurrection of Jesus. Mark 16:12, 13. While they were eating supper, and doubting and disputing about the resurrection, Jesus came in and upbraided them for their unbelief. He took fish and honey from the table, and ate before them, to convince them. Luke 24:38–43. Certainly, then, they were not keeping that day to commemorate an event in which they did not yet believe! The absurdity of such a view is too evident to need further notice.

John mentions the first day twice, stating substantially the same facts as the others. “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher.” Chap. 20:1. She ran and told Peter and John. They then went to see if it were so. Later, Jesus appeared to Mary, and sent her to tell the others. Verses 11–18. “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.” Verse 19. This is all that John says of the first day. Reader, how much do you find here about the change of the Sabbath? Like the others, John is silent upon the subject. He makes no reference to it; he simply states the events that occurred at the resurrection of Jesus. There he leaves it.

But were not the apostles assembled together when Jesus met them? Yes, at their own home, eating supper. John 20:10; Mark 16:14. And where else should they be? Even then Thomas was off on business somewhere. John 20:24. So there is no evidence here of any religious meeting held on that day.

John mentions the first day twice, but does not call it the Sabbath, the Lord’s day, nor by any other sacred title. He says nothing about the disciples’ keeping it, nor records any intimation from the Lord that they should. There is not even an inference to that effect in the four gospels, and the whole argument in favor of it is pure assumption.

Another Sunday meeting is claimed from verse 26: “And after eight days, again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them; then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you.” This did not occur on Sunday, but as late as Monday evening. Verse 19. After eight days is not on the eighth day. Count from Sunday evening. After one day would take us to Monday evening; after two days, to Tuesday evening; and so on, till “after eight days” brings us to the next Monday evening. Hence this was on Monday evening. Just one week is “after seven days,” as the reader will see by 1 Chron. 9:25, 32. Then “after eight days” is one day more than a week.

But suppose it had been the first day of the week: that does not prove that it was the Sabbath, nor that there was any sacredness to the day. The disciples were not even holding a meeting. They were “within,” that is, at home. Verse 10: “Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.” This is where they were when the event occurred which is recorded in verse 26. See Acts 1:13. Jesus came because Thomas was there; but there is not a word, or even a hint, that the day was sacred.

The next time Jesus met them was on a fishing day. They all went fishing, and toiled all night, but caught nothing. In the morning Jesus stood on the shore, and told them where to cast the net to get a good draught. Was this on Sunday? Then it is a working day. If it was not on Sunday, then Jesus met with them on any day, just as it happened. So we see in Acts 1:1–4, that his farewell meeting with them was on Thursday. It was on the fortieth day after his resurrection. Verse 3. By a moment’s reckoning it will be seen that it fell on Thursday; as all agree, Thursday is ascension-day the world over.

So the claim that Jesus always met with his disciples on the first day of the week is utterly false. As we have seen, the day of his resurrection was one of the greatest confusion among his disciples; the next time he met them was on Monday evening, the next time was on a fishing day, and the last time was on Thursday. So much for the example of Christ.

A desperate endeavor is made to find evidence for Sunday-keeping from the day of Pentecost; Acts 2:1–4; but there is not the remotest hint of it here. “And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind.” Verses 1, 2. Then the Holy Spirit rested upon them. But what has that to do with Sunday-keeping? Sunday observance is not mentioned, nor even referred to. It is not stated what day of the week it was, as that was a matter of no importance. It was the Pentecost which was to be signalized, and not the day of the week. No: the best scholars, even among the observers of Sunday, admit that Pentecost fell that year upon the Sabbath, or Saturday.

Prof. Hackett says, “It is generally supposed that this Pentecost signalized by the outpouring of the Spirit, fell on the Jewish Sabbath, or Saturday.”—Com. on Original Text.

Barnes says, “If the views of the Pharisees were followed, then the day of Pentecost would have occurred on the Jewish Sabbath, our Saturday.”—Kuinoel, Lightfoot.*

Jennings, in Jewish Antiquities, says, “Since Christ ate his last passover . . . on the fourteenth of Nisan, which was Thursday, the next day, on which he was crucified, must be the feast of unleavened bread; therefore, the sixteenth day, the Saturday, was the first day of the seven weeks betwixt that and the Pentecost; consequently the fiftieth day, . . . which was the day of Pentecost, must fall on the Saturday, or the Jewish Sabbath.”

Olshausen says, “The fiftieth fell, therefore, it appears, upon Saturday.”

Dean Alford, in his New Testament for English Readers, remarks, “It appears probable, however, that it was on the Sabbath, i. e., if we reckon from Saturday, the 16th of Nisan.”

Next, Acts 20:7–11 is supposed to furnish some little proof for first-day observance. “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.” Then a young man fell down, and was restored by Paul. And when he “had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.” We notice, 1. The first day is not called the Sabbath, Lord’s day, or by any sacred title. 2. This is the only religious meeting upon the first day of the week of which we have any record in the New Testament. This is remarkable, if that was the common day of meeting. But we have a record of eighty-four Sabbaths which Paul kept, and on which he preached. See Acts 13:14, 44; 16:13; 17:2; 18:1–4, 11. 3. Nothing is said about its being their custom to meet that day. 4. There is no record that they ever met on that day before this occasion or afterwards. 5. But what settles the whole matter is the simple fact that it was only an evening meeting. When they assembled, Paul began to preach to them, and “continued his speech till midnight.” After breaking bread, he again talked “till break of day,” and then went on his journey. Evening meetings are frequently held on all days of the week. No one thinks of calling a day holy for this reason. So in the above case; this meeting does not furnish the slightest evidence that Sunday was a holy day. Moreover, this was not an ordinary meeting, but a very uncommon one. It was Paul’s farewell meeting, verse 25; hence it lasted all night. A dead man was raised. It was for these reasons that it was mentioned, and not because of any sacredness belonging to the day. Then there is not a particle of evidence here for Sunday observance.

Only one more text mentions the first day; viz., 1 Cor. 16:2: “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” From this a public meeting for Sabbath worship on the first day is inferred. But what is said here about keeping that day as the Sabbath, or even holding meetings that day? Not an intimation of such a thing is given. Paul does not say that when they came together for meetings they should bring their gifts, nor that they should put them into the public collection box, nor anything of that nature. “Let every one of you lay by him in store” is the direction; that is, at home, by himself. The original Greek term means by himself, at home, as the best critics say on this passage.

The “Lord’s day” of Revelation 1:10 is the seventh day, as may be seen by Ex. 20:8–11; Isa. 58:13; Mark 2:28.

Now, reader, you have before you every text in the New Testament that mentions the first day of the week in any manner. You must see that they do not intimate that the day has any sacredness, or that there is any example for keeping it, or any commandment that any one should observe it. In all

the Bible it is never called Sabbath, Christian Sabbath, Lord’s day, holy day, or sacred day. Neither Jesus nor his disciples observed it. No blessing is placed upon it, no law is given touching it.

But should we not, then, celebrate the resurrection of Christ? Yes; but the Lord never told us to keep Sunday for that purpose. Paul says the gospel embraces the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus, all of which we must “keep in memory.” 1 Cor. 15:1–4. The broken bread and red wine in the Lord’s supper commemorate his death. “As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.” 1 Cor. 11:26. Next Jesus was buried in the tomb, and then raised out of it. God has given us baptism, burial in water, as the fitting memorial of this. “Therefore we are buried with him by baptism.” Rom. 6:4. We are buried in the water just as Jesus was in the earth. Then we are raised up out of the water “also in the likeness of his resurrection.” Verse 5. Again, “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him.” Col. 2:12. Baptism, then, is the divinely appointed memorial of the burial and resurrection of Jesus. It is appropriate. To be buried in the water and raised out of it resembles the burial and resurrection of Christ, which it commemorates.

Then why do you keep the first day? It is simply because you have been brought up to do it. It is a Catholic tradition, without any foundation in the word of God. Be careful how you make void the law of God by your traditions.

THE CROSS.

By S. C. Foster

FATHER, I kneel to thee, Kneel and appeal to thee, Bowed by the cares and the burdens of life Meekly I pray to thee, Asking the way to thee, Seeking a rest and a shelter from strife.

Thoughts are distressing me, Sins are oppressing me, Darkness o’er-shadows the path to thy door: Lighten the way for me, Shed but a ray for me, Father of mercy, I kneel and implore.

Fly, O my doubting fears! See, ’tis a Cross appears! High in the heav’ns it is flooding the night; Shedding a ray for me, Marking the way for me— Marking the way with a halo of light.

What is more beautiful! Come, ye undutiful, Those of you torn by the pangs of remorse, Showing the road to you, Lifting the load from you, High in all glory is shining the Cross.

Hasten, repenting ones, Come, ye relenting ones, Come while the angels illumine the course: Waiting on high for you, Shining so nigh to you, Calmly is burning the light of the Cross.

—S. C. Foster, in Christian Union.

THE PLAN OF SALVATION.

By G. V. Kilgore

Ask any church member in our land if he believes in the plan of salvation, and he will say, Yes, certainly I do. But go among all the professors of Christianity and find the number that live strictly up to this plan, and how many will you find? Everybody will answer, “We should find comparatively very few.” But let us inquire again how many really know what the plan of salvation is. All know that it is Jesus who laid the plan, and that through him we must be saved, if saved at all; but what is Jesus’s plan by which he is to save men? How will he save them? Will he save them regardless of character? Does he promise to save all who profess to follow him, whether they really obey him or not? These are important questions. If Christ will not save men unless they do as he directs them to do, then we might just as well give up trying to be saved, if we will not submit ourselves to his requirements. Christ’s plan of saving men is given in plain words in the New Testament. Just read a few of his statements:—

“Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22. “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Matt. 19:17. “What is written in the law? . . . This do, and thou shalt live.” Luke 10:26-28. “He that doeth the will of my Father” “shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. 7:21. “Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” Rev. 22:14. “Whosoever shall do and teach them [the commandments], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of Heaven.” Matt. 5:19. In the face of all these plain statements of Christ, can men be saved who will not do the things that he says? There is no way of being saved only by following Christ’s directions, and he directs us to keep his Father’s commandments as well as his own. He says, Have faith in God, repent, be converted, &c.; but to do, or try to do, these, without doing the rest that he commands, is only to be an unfaithful and slothful servant, and to lose eternal life. “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” 1 John 2:4. Christ commands men to keep his Father’s commandments, and men that say they know him by an experimental knowledge, when they preach that “God’s old laws” are abolished, do really lay themselves under the condemnation of the ninth commandment. John says so. They may try to believe they are right before God, but the Bible says they are wrong.

Jesus’s plan of saving men will stand. He died to magnify and make honorable his Father’s law (Isa. 42:21), and he declares that men shall turn from the violation of that law in order to have life. He died to redeem the transgressions of that law, and the men whose transgressions are not redeemed will themselves have to die for their transgressions.

The commandments of God were the condition to be obeyed in the past dispensation, in order for men to obtain the promises of God. When God made his promise to Isaac he made it “because that Abraham obeyed my voice,” said God, “and kept my charge, my commandments, and my laws.” Gen. 26:5. And those same moral laws of God are the condition of salvation in this dispensation. God said, when he promised the new covenant, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts.” And when Christ, the mediator of the new covenant, came, he said, “If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.” Thus we see that the plan of salvation has always been that men should be saved by obeying God’s commandments. There is no other way. To repent of sin is to obey God, for he commands repentance. And to have faith and be converted are also to obey God; for he commands these things to be done. So the whole duty of man is just what the wise man says: “Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man.” Eccl. 12:13. And the plan of salvation is designed to bring man back to that obedience in which he would always have lived, had he never transgressed God’s commandments.

G. V. KILGORE.

THE QUESTIONS AT ISSUE.

No one who has watched the signs of the times can doubt that this year will see a great controversy on what the theologians call Eschatology, or the doctrine of last things. Questions relating to the second coming of Christ, the resurrection, the judgment, the final state of all men, are assuming a larger place in the thought of Christendom than they have had for a generation or two, at least. This being the case, it is well to understand what are the precise points at issue. Two questions have been raised thus far: 1. Is there a resurrection of the body? In other words, Is the resurrection-body, in a real sense, the same body—though not the identical body in all its particles—that is buried? 2. What is the nature and the duration of future punishment?

As regards the second question, which is at present the more prominent of the two, it is well to note that the opponents of the doctrine of eternal punishment have shifted their ground, so that the arguments that were effective a generation ago are most of them obsolete now. The line of battle must be formed over again, and the contest must be carried on with different weapons. The prevalent view among Universalists now is that sin is punished both in this world and in the next; but that punishment, being remedial in its object and effects, leads to a final reconciliation between God and the sinner—if not in this world, then in the next. The “orthodox” people of a generation ago were compelled to prove that there was such a thing as future punishment at all. Now they may spare themselves that trouble. That there will be punishment of the impenitent hereafter is not now denied by any considerable number of people; what the punishment will be, and how long it will continue, are the vital questions of to-day.

The questions connected with Eschatology are not barren speculations, but involve problems of the greatest practical moment to every man. There is no graver practical question connected with religion than the final destiny of men. These problems will, no doubt, engage the attention of the best minds and the profoundest scholarship of all denominations.—Examiner, Jan. 24, 1878.

Robin Hood’s Miracle.

By H. H. Butterworth

Fair, fair was the forest of Sherwood in the days of Robin Hood: long were the summers that robed the forests with green, and bright were the autumns that browned the thickets and coverts from which the merry hunters, clad in Lincoln-green, started the deer. The silver horns of Robin Hood’s merry men divided in the morning, and their notes were lost in the great deep forests, but they blended again at evening, echoing at first from afar and then drawing near.

Then merry were the tales of the hunters, as the red moon rose in the dusky shadows, and poured her light over the forest like a silver sea.

Robin Hood performed a most wonderful miracle in his day.

Perhaps, though, you may not think it so wonderful after all.

We will tell it to you as a very old ballad told it to us.

One day Robin, being in a merry mood, took it into his head to go into the king’s highway in the disguise of a friar. He put on hood, gown, crucifix, and beads, and walked off slowly, looking very demure and woe-begone.

He had not gone far, when he met two lusty priests, clad all in black, and riding gallantly along.

“Benedicite!” he said, “have pity on a poor friar; who has been wandering since morning, without meat or drink.”

“In the name of the Virgin,” said one of the priests, “we cannot help thee. We’ve been robbed, and haven’t a penny to help ourselves.”

Robin laid hold of the priest’s robes, and drew him from the horse. Robin was so stout a man that the priest could not resist, and when he commanded the other priest to dismount, he dared not disobey him.

“You say you have no money,” said Robin. “Neither have I.”

“You know how to pray?” said Robin.

“Yes,” said the priests.

“Then let us all fall on our knees, we three together, and for money we will pray earnestly, and we will see what Heaven will send.”

The priests knelt down.

“Now pray,” said Robin.

They prayed very dolefully. At last they began to weep and wring their hands. Then Robin began to dance.

The priests’ prayers became more doleful than ever. But Robin said,—

“Pray! Pray!”

They prayed a very long time.

“Now put your hands into your pockets, and see if you have received an answer to your prayers.”

The first priest felt in his pockets, then rolled up his eyes very solemnly and said,—

“Nothing.”

“Let me feel,” said Robin.

The priests now looked more troubled than ever.

Robin searched the pockets of one, and drew forth a purse heavy with gold.

“What an answer to prayers!” said Robin, and he searched the other, and found another purse.

The two priests were struck dumb—what could they say? If they had spoken truly at first, here indeed was a miracle! The old ballad says that they “sighed wondrous heavy.”

“You have prayed well,” said Robin encouragingly, seeing their dejected looks. “Here are five hundred pounds. Now we will divide it.”

And divide it he did. He gave each priest fifty pounds for praying so well, and kept the rest himself. But the two priests did not seem very much pleased with Robin’s division and liberal present, but rode away looking more woeful than ever.

“Always speak the truth,” said Robin to the two priests, as they departed; and we have a sort of suspicion that if they had spoken the truth about their money to the bold outlaw, as good priests ought, the miracle would not have been so great.—H. H. Butterworth, in January Wide Awake.

“HONOR THE SPIRIT.”

By Milton C. Wilcox

“A word fitly spoken,” says the wise man, “is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Prov. 25:11. The parting admonition of a good old brother brought this text to my mind very forcibly. “My boy,” said he, “honor the blessed Spirit.” And how often have I thought of those words since. Honor the Holy Spirit! How? By our conversation. Not in the way that the apostate people of God did (Isa. 29:13); but in a godly conversation. If we indulge in light, trifling conversation or foolish jesting, we grieve the Holy Spirit, and it is dishonored before those that look to us for better things.

Filthy conversation is one mark of the ungodly. 2 Pet. 2:7; Eph. 2:3. And if we are born of God we ought to put off the old man, and let our conversation be an example to those around us. We should be renewed in the spirit of our mind. Eph. 4:22, 23, 29, 30; 1 Tim. 4:12. The precious blood of the Lamb of God was shed to redeem us from the vain conversation of the world. 1 Pet. 1:18. We must give an account for every idle word. Matt. 12:36, 37. Read also Eph. 5:4, 19.

We can honor the Spirit by our daily life. Every act ought to count on the side of right. A kind word to an enemy, an encouraging smile to the toil-worn laborer, a prayer with the despondent, ministering to the wants of the needy,—all these glorify God and honor the Spirit. Paul could say, Thou hast fully known my manner of life. 2 Tim. 3:10. And his manner of life had been such that he could also say, “I have fought a good fight. . . . Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.”

We can honor the Spirit by improving the time. The time is fast passing away, and Satan realizes it whether we do or not. Rev. 12:12. Says the apostle, “Redeeming the time; because the days are evil.” And if the reason given was ever applicable in the past, it is tenfold more so now. How expressive the language of Peter, “Hasting the coming of the day of God.” (Margin, 2 Pet. 3:12.) “Go out quickly.” Luke 14:21. At the crossing of Jordan by ancient Israel, “the people hasted and passed over.” Suppose they had lingered. Speaking of the glories of the eternal state the Lord says, “I the Lord will hasten it in his time.” Isa. 60:22. Untiring zeal is required in the Master’s cause. There is no time to lose. There are no promises to idlers. “Work while it is day,” say the Scriptures. May the Lord help his people to so honor his Spirit that they may be honored of him when he comes. Ps. 91:14.

Milton C. Wilcox.

RAVAGES OF FAMINE.

The terrible ravages of the famine in China may be judged of from the following extract from a letter of a missionary:—

This day was the worst of all. I saw abundant proofs that men eat clay and stones. I bought three stone cakes. The stone is the same as our soft stone pencils. It is reduced to dust and mixed with millet husks, in different proportions, and then baked. It does not look bad, but tastes like what it is,—dust.

The dead seemed to-day to number more than on any previous day, for there were twenty-nine in eighteen miles along the road, and the circumstances were more frightful. In one valley the road branched into two, and my servant took one while I took the other,—one each side of the stream.

On this road the servant saw a woman lying in a ditch after having been robbed of all she had, and still moving though unconscious of any one passing by. Further on we saw a man's head cut clean from his body,—a cruel murderer's deed.

We saw, also, among the dead some wounded heads, but it was not done by the wolves, dogs, or birds. The dogs barked and howled at us when we drove them off from the dead.

The soft stone is sold at from two to five mills a pound, and bark from five to seven mills per pound, for food. The roots of sweet flags are dug, but they cause the face to swell. Grain is three or four times the usual price, and turnips and cabbage five or six times. Flour is seven, eight, and nine mills per ounce.

In every city through which I passed the report was twenty, thirty or forty dying daily. At Pingyang ten great pits had been filled, and two carts were daily employed in carting the dead. One innkeeper told us that one of his customers reported having counted two hundred and seventy dead on the road in three days' journey.

Whole families, old and young, die in their houses and lie unburied. In one district a third of the population is dead and the people maintain that in many towns fully one-half have perished, and they know villages where formerly dwelt three hundred, four hundred, and even five hundred people, of whom not more than a hundred now remain.—Selected.

Don't Be Deceived.

China is the devil's land. Containing one-fourth of earth's population, its millions are debased, godless, atheistical, and destitute of moral sense. Modern Protestantism thinks to win these millions. But while to-day the ratio of her missionaries is as one to the whole State of Massachusetts, it is not so with Rome. She has ten missionaries in China to our one, and spends ten dollars there to our one. The 120 missionaries on this hard soil have just told the world that the three native Christians there in 1840 have increased to nearly 13,000 in 1877—all Protestants. This is deemed very hopeful. But alas, inexorable figures assert that during the past five years Rome's missionaries in China and India have taken into her folds 165,522 of these pagans, of which army 11,600 were adults. Where is ground for boasting? Why deceive one's self? If a millennium is coming for China, the signs indicate it to be a Romish one. The early church, and Luther, and Calvin, and Knox knew better than does our Protestantism. They did not expect a converted world before the Lord comes again.

HOLIDAY AT THE PUBLISHING HOUSE.

By S. M. S.

Passing along the street by the S. D. A. publishing house not many days ago, a very unusual phenomenon arrested my attention. I instinctively listened,—because there was nothing to hear. The hush of perfect silence! What a strange thrill for those walls which have so long reverberated day and night with the clash, clatter, click, hum, and rustle of ponderous machinery, flying fingers, and hurrying feet, through all those busy apartments;—not to mention the hammer notes of the builder, toiling to secure more room for the work, while the business agent stands by with his head and hands full of more work for the room.

For many weeks and months the steady, increasing tide of business has hurried on almost resistless in its course. But now a pause,—a breathless pause, for not one living pulse beats within those piles of brick. Such an unusual stillness! it seems almost as if silence were listening to her own voiceless echoes, and as if deep, solemn thought had chased all sound away.

But this sudden pause is not an unmeaning suspense; it is only a brief holiday—rest for weary mind and muscle—a short pause to take breath for a fresh, bolder onset in the great battle for the progress of truth. May this short respite afford an hour for more calm reflection, for serious consideration of the important bearings of the present upon the future, hastening on with all its momentous interests. We bespeak for that faithful band of toilers glad and refreshing cheer during this brief rest-hour; but we reluctantly add: You must hurry to rest, for even now those burdened presses seem impatient of silent restraint, and must soon thunder on the louder notes of warning to a listening, dying world.

All ready, we respond,—at our posts again—all weariness forgotten! On to duty,—all this living mass of industry, doing for the Master. As truth finds utterance in words, the printed page and sheet must be the winged messenger to bear it to every land. Then the fingers must pick and the type click, like the quickened pulses of time; and as letters grow into words, sentences, pages, the presses roll on with their masterly strokes for the impress of truth, saying in unmistakable accents, “Delay not; delay not.” Next we listen to the whispers of the folding room;—the still, small voices of the rustling sheets, saying ever, “Haste! haste!” “Work while the day lasts;” and, repeated at intervals, the crashing knife adds, “For the night cometh.” Thus quickly, the accumulated sheets are folded, stitched, bound, and on their way to distant lands.

To a spectator there is something stirring and interesting in this busy round of harmonious labor. To one engaged in this work, these mingled sounds have a soothing power for the troubled spirit, giving inspiration for earnest work. Cheerful, willing hearts love a busy place in the vineyard of the Master. So it seems to man “who looketh on the outward appearance;”—how is it before God who “looketh on the heart”? To the All-searching Eye, each heart is uncovered, with every secret thought, desire, and motive. He alone knows how much of the pure love of the truth and the true spirit of consecration actuates this band of laborers. May God grant, that no impure motive or ambition, no youthful fancies and follies, may divert the mind from the high and sacred character of the work of the publishing house. In Israel’s time, polluted hands, put forth to touch God’s holy, moving ark were smitten with instant death! Only with clean hands and a pure heart, can one be accepted in this solemn service.

May the Heart-searcher find in our midst no guile, nothing to hinder the progress and power of truth; and may he speed on his glorious work till the loud cry of the last message shall resound from earth’s remotest bounds; and soon the blessed coming of the Lord bring the glad morning of eternal day.

S. M. S.

RAILROADS FORECLOSED.

The Railway Age of January 3 contained a complete compilation of the railway-foreclosure proceedings of the country in 1877. It states the number of roads sold and wound up to be 54, covering in all 3,897 miles of track. The bonds and debts of these roads amounted to $110,938,700, and the capital stock $79,045,700, making the total bonds, debts, and capital invested $198,984,400. This is a fearful record of loss, but it does not bespeak the total. During the year proceedings—which are still pending—were commenced against 44 roads covering 5,409 miles of track. Of these the bonds and debts amounted to $164,573,890, and the capital stock amounted to $156,108,040, making the total bonds, debt, and capital invested $320,681,930. These statistics add greatly to the appalling record, but there is still more. The courts ordered 16 roads to be sold at auction on various dates which have not transpired. They cover 2,388 miles, have bonds and debts to the amount of $128,833,400, and capital stock amounting to $126,921,960. The total bonds, debts, and money invested being $255,755,300. The Age closes its statistics with the following statements:—

“Eighty-four roads, with a completed mileage of 7,721 miles, or one-tenth of the entire railway system of the United States, and representing an apparent investment of $400,000,000, also about one-tenth of the total railway capital of the country, have in two years been sold under foreclosure, and have been ‘scaled down’ to perhaps something like fifty per cent of their original valuation. The figures for proceedings commenced, etc., are only given for the purpose of comparing the two years, as a number of the roads reported for 1876 under this head have during 1877 moved on to sale. But during the past year proceedings have been commenced against 44 roads, with a mileage of over 5,500 miles; and it is safe to estimate that as a result of the two years’ work at least 100 roads are soon to be sold, with an aggregate mileage of some 12,000 miles and representing something like $500,000,000. This fearful array does not by any means include all the roads already doomed to foreclosure; but still when these have passed through the ordeal and, like their predecessors, started anew on the basis of real values, the awful era of foreclosures, it is safe to say, will be practically over, and capital, even though invested in railways, will again receive some return.”—The True Citizen.

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