Earlier text: Northern Italy-The annual interest on the public debt is about $1.08 to each inhabitant. -Nearly 5,000 men are employed in the several shipyards in the vicinity of Philadelphia. -At Troy, N. Y., one of Barnum's elephants got away, and inflicted injuries from which three persons died. -The cholera scourge in the Philippine Islands is abating, although the deaths still number about 100 daily. -An engagement is reported near Kairvan, Tunis. The French loss is fifty killed, and the Arabs one hundred and fifty. -It is reported that gold-bearing quartz has been discovered about fifty miles north of El Paso, Tex., that assays $100,000 to the ton. -Texas is still suffering from storms. Closely following the terrible flood was a rain-storm of two days' duration. The damage was considerable. -The annual consumption of quinine in this country is stated at 1,600,000 ounces. Upon each ounce there is a profit to the retailer of from $4.00 to $6.00. -An exchange says that a man drove through Reno, Nev., the other day, who had come from Mendocino, Cal., intending to drive through to Cambridge, Mass., in his buggy. -The colored teachers of Louisville, Ky., are hereafter to be paid the same wages as white teachers, on the ground that they pass the same examinations and do the same work. -Assaults by roughs are becoming so common in Des Moines, Iowa, that the citizens contemplate forming a Vigilance Committee to take the place of the inefficient city authorities. -An experiment life-saving boat has been successfully completed. This boat is capable of being folded together, and, when expanded and put into use, is kept buoyant by cork and canvas. -A factory has been started in Brooklyn, N. Y., for the purpose of fusing the precious metals with glass. The discoverer of the method of uniting metals with glass is T. D. Farrell, a Californian. -Hon. George A. Reeves, Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, was bitten a few weeks ago by a mad dog, and died last week of hydrophobia. He was one of the most prominent men in Texas politics. -A dispatch from Laredo, Texas, Sept. 10, said that the Rio Grande had risen twenty-two feet at that place, and was still rising. A large part of New Laredo, on the opposite side of the river, was submerged, and houses were being swept away. -An English lady who sued for damages because of a fall when boarding a steam-boat, has just lost her case. The jury decided that her high-heeled boots had wantonly and willfully contributed to cause the injury of which she complained. -The Chinese boys who studied in America are not generally looked upon with favor by the Chinese officials, who think that they cannot be trusted, because they have become so much Americanized. They are all anxious to return to America. -July 22, there was completed at Marine City, Michigan, a well which passed through 115 feet of solid crystal salt. Salt was encountered first at a depth of 1,633 feet, and from that point to the depth of 1,748 feet the material removed was pure salt. -The S. F. Alta is the only paper we have seen that has denounced Ingersoll's blasphemous insult to Christianity, in his speech before the star-route jury. Ingersoll, like all men of little minds, mistakes vulgarity for wit, and a flashy eloquence for argument. -A convict says he was sent to prison for being dishonest, and yet he is compelled every day to cut out pieces of pasteboard which are put between the soles of the cheap shoes made there, and palmed off on the innocent public as leather.-Philadelphia News. -Even the careful Germans have railroad accidents. September 4, an excursion train running between Freiburg and Colman was thrown from the track. The train consisted of twenty-four cars, nineteen of which were smashed. About 100 persons were killed and 300 more or less injured. -A severe storm raged along the Gulf coast, Sept. 10. The velocity of the wind was fifty-three miles an hour. Much danger was done to shipping, and several lives were lost. The water from the Gulf was driven by the gale entirely over many of the rice fields of Louisiana, and the crops were destroyed where not gathered. -The New York Sun says: "It is unquestionable true that many of our women of fashionable society are given to drinking champagne, and even spirituous liquors. The practice, also, is growing. Within the last twenty years the freedom with which women drink wines and other liquors has become greater and greater." -The Democratic Convention of Illinois declared itself in favor of free whisky. It was resolved that "the prohibition by the constitution or by general laws, of the manufacture or sale of vinous, spirituous, or malt liquors would be a violation of individual and personal rights, and contrary to the fundamental principles of free government." -A severe earthquake shock occurred in Panama, Sept. 7. It was one of the severest ever known on the isthmus. Other shocks have been felt since. Many buildings were damaged, and in some places the railroad track was sunk. But little loss of life is reported, but the people are afraid to stay in their houses, and much sickness from fright and exposure is expected. -An effort was made in Mt. Vernon, Ind., to close the saloons on Sunday and at 11 o'clock every night. A mob of these law-abiding people was the natural result. The residence of the City Marshal was burned to the ground. The Deputy Marshal was terribly beaten by a gang of roughs. The telegraph and telephones were guarded, to prevent communication with neighboring towns. -The Italian courts have decided adversely the claims of the heirs of Pius IX., for 15,000,000 lires, which they alleged was due them from the Italian Government. Under the papal guarantees this money was granted to Pius IX. by Italy, but he always refused to accept it. Now the courts declare that the money was granted to Pius as Pope, and not as a private individual, and that his heirs have no legal claim upon it. -The Scientific American states that during a recent display of the aurora borealis an observer connected the two poles of his telephone, one with the water-pipe leading to a cistern near his dwelling, the other with the gas-pipe leading all over town, and that by so doing he heard the electric crackle, substantially the same as it is heard when the same connection is made during thunder-storms. The only difference was that the auroral crackle was more delicate than that caused by a thunder-storm. -The Independent is one of the few religious papers that do not advertise quack medicines. Replying to a charge that it has recommended Hop Bitters, it puts itself on record on the temperance question as follows: "We never used nor recommended Hop Bitters, and it is years since we advertised them. We believe not merely in temperance, but total abstinence; and when we learned that these 'Bitters' were nothing else than a private tipple, to be kept and used at home, disguised only as a medicine, we stopped the advertisement. We condemn and detest the whole thing, and will not allow it to be recommended even in our advertising columns to our readers." A BOOK FOR THE TIMES.
By Editor
The Religious Amendment to the Constitution: OR THE SABBATH, THE SUNDAY, THE CHANGE AND THE RESTITUTION.
THE object of the proposed Constitutional Amendment, together with the authority for it, is fully canvassed. The views of the leaders of the parties both for and against the Amendment are fairly given in this book. The present agitation of the Sunday Law makes this book especially interesting and instructive at this time. Bound in cloth, 380 pp. Price, $1.00. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. Signs Supplement.
By Editor
The first number of the Supplement, which was mentioned in our last week's paper, was issued bearing even date with that paper, Sept. 7. It is important to our people, and to others. What is now taking place in California will soon transpire in Eastern States. Our brethren everywhere ought to know what is being done in this religio-political excitement on the Pacific Coast. The following is the list of articles:— To the Public—showing our interest in the present Sunday movement. To our Brethren—explaining the reason why we made an effort to get the Republicans to favor our being exempted from Sunday penalties. Well Begun—on the Sabbath reform. Political State Conventions—a notice of the State Conventions of the two parties, with incidents of the Republican Convention, with our Address to that Convention. Who Will Circulate It?—giving the real object of our Address. Sunday Enthusiasm—a notice of the reception of the "Sunday plank" by the Republican delegates. A Word to Protestants—concerning the Protestant faith, and the Sabbath and Sunday; a good article by the editor of the Review and Herald. The Whole of It—containing sections 299, 300, and 301, of the Penal Code, or the "Sunday Law;" sections 7, 9, and 11, of the Civil Code, or the law concerning legal holidays; the Democrat and the Republican resolutions or "planks" on the Sunday question. This is an important article for reference. With several short articles, and advertisements of the books, "The United States in Prophecy," "Religious Amendment to the Constitution," and the "History of the Sabbath and the First day of the Week." As we expect and intend to circulate a large number, the price has been reduced. One copy, ten weeks, 25 cents; six copies, to one address, $1.00; $10.00 per hundred. If any have sent according to the terms first published, we will increase the number to correspond to the amount. Healdsburgh College.
By Editor
An important meeting was held in Oakland, Sept. 11, to take steps to incorporate Healdsburgh College. We are glad that the progress in our school work has been such that it becomes an absolute necessity to incorporate immediately. The proceedings will be given next week. Reports of Labor.
By Editor
ELDER ISRAEL informs us that he has received several very encouraging reports from the ministers of California, but they came too late for this paper. A word of explanation may be needed. The President of the General Tract Society, some time ago, requested us to get the paper into the mail earlier in the week for the convenience of the societies. Our arrangement with the presses is such that now the form containing the Missionary Department must be made ready for the press on Sunday. Reports ought to be in on Friday, though short reports might be inserted if received early Sunday morning. We are always pleased to receive reports from our laborers, and it is our desire to publish them fresh from the hands of the writers. By sending reports direct to the office some time will be saved. The reports from the tents running in the Eastern States are generally favorable. Stormy weather hinders in some places. Altogether the state of the work is encouraging. REV. A. S. FISKE, pastor of the Howard-street (S. F.) Presbyterian Church, in a recent sermon, made a comparison between the conduct of delegates to a political convention and church members. He spoke of the ease with which financial difficulties are overcome in a political campaign, and the promptness and enthusiasm shown by delegates. Speaking of the enthusiasm shown at Sacramento on the reading of the Sunday-law plank in the Republican platform, he said that if such excessive feeling were shown on a purely religious question, the enthusiast would be deemed insane. But when church and State are united, of which the Sacramento Convention is only a forerunner, the politician will impart enthusiasm to the church. It is, doubtless, in this way that the church is to be revived, and the millennium brought in. As for insanity, we are not sure that there was none of it manifested in the Convention. Healdsburg College.
By Sidney Brownsberger
NEARLY seven weeks of our fall term have passed and all the students are hard at work. If we may judge from the industry and apparent interest manifested by the students in their studies, surely this term’s work promises to meet our highest expectation of success. All the students, with but one or two exceptions, attend the tent-meeting now in progress at Healdsburg. The tent is pitched in the school-yard where there is preaching every night, except Monday night. The Bible classes in the College have been discontinued while the meetings last, to lighten the work of the students so that they might feel free to attend the course of lectures in the tent. Since Prof. C. C. Ramsey has joined us we feel much better prepared to do a special work for those who are preparing themselves for teaching in the district and village schools of California. Such will receive just the instruction and drill they most need to make them successful teachers.
S. BROWNSBERGER. Question—Melchizedek.
By Editor
1. Is there any evidence that the order of priesthood of which Melchizedek was priest existed before his time? ANSWER.—There is no evidence to that effect, but there are reasons for the contrary. Christ was called the son of David—not the son of Jehoshaphat, nor of Hezekiah, nor of Josiah—because David was the first of that line of kings. The priests under the Levitical law were priests of the order of Aaron—not after the order of Eleazar, or Zadok—because Aaron was the first of that line of priests. This method of counting lines or orders was never departed from to our knowledge. This would certainly determine that Melchizedek had no predecessor in office. 2. Some have asserted that Melchizedek was Shem, and some say that he was Christ himself. Is either true, and if so, which? ANSWER.—Neither is true. We have the genealogy of Shem, which forbids his being identical with Melchizedek, according to Paul's argument in Hebrews 7. To say that he was Christ himself is to say that Christ is a priest after the order of Christ, or that he was a type of himself. This involves an absurdity as great as to say that David was a king in the line of David, or that Aaron was a priest after the order of Aaron. These conjectures as to who was Melchizedek (for they are but conjectures) are unprofitable, because they are inquiries into that which is not revealed. There is a great truth set forth by Paul in his letter to the Hebrews, which would be utterly lost were it possible to identify Melchizedek. Though Aaron, in his priesthood, “served unto the example and shadow of heavenly things,” Heb. 8:5, Aaron was not a complete type of Christ. Paul points out as many as ten particulars wherein they differed. A few are these: Aaron had not a kingly priesthood; he died and left his office to a successor; the priests of his order must be able to show their genealogy; he had to offer sacrifice for his own sins; they were from different tribes. But we have just facts enough stated in regard to Melchizedek to supply the points lacking in Aaron to furnish a complete type of the priesthood of Christ. The expression that Melchizedek was without father, etc., was common among the Jews, of those whose descent or pedigree was not given. For more extended proofs, see “Refutation of the Age to Come,” for sale at the SIGNS office. Church and T. and M. Quarterly Meetings for California.
By Editor
As the camp-meeting is appointed at the usual time of our church quarterly meetings, it is thought best to have them a little earlier, that we may thereby have the opportunity more especially to draw near to the Lord, by searching our hearts, dethroning all idols, putting away everything that causes division among brethren, and separates us from God. As we come around the table to partake of the emblems of the Lord’s broken body and spilled blood, to express our union and faith in him, let it be a union in deed and in truth, that we may take the Saviour with us to the camp-meeting. If we do, it will be the best meeting we have ever had. We will appoint Sabbath, Sept. 23, for the church meeting, and the same evening, or the Sunday following, for the Tract and Missionary meeting. Church clerks and librarians please report promptly. The District Secretaries and Librarians, also the Church Clerks and Treasurers, are requested to bring or send their books to the camp-meeting at Healdsburgh. I STILL have names to furnish V. M. Societies or individuals, for missionary work. N. C. McCLURE, Pacific Press, Oakland, Cal. OUR COUNTRY'S FUTURE FORETOLD.
By Uriah Smith
THE UNITED STATES IN PROPHECY.
THIS is a full exposition of a portion of prophecy which applies to our own Government, showing the position the United States holds in prophecy, and the part it has to act in the closing scenes of time. Which is now attracting such general attention, is thoroughly canvassed, and abundant testimony is given to prove that in a few years this will be the In this country. Facts and statistics are largely presented, showing in the most conclusive manner that this government is the one pointed out in the prophecy quoted. 200 pages. Bound, 40 cents. Paper covers, 20 cents. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. A MINE OF INFORMATION.
By John Nevins Andrews
History of the Sabbath and First Day of the Week
THE Bible record of the Sabbath; the secular history concerning it; the successive steps by which the change to the first day was made; and the work of restoration, are given in detail. Concerning the Sabbath is commented on at length; and the COMPLETE TESTIMONY OF THE FATHERS
In regard to the Sabbath and first day is given. The comparative merits of the seventh and the first day Sabbaths are fully shown. A copious index enables the reader to find the comments on any text, or the statement of any historian. Should be read by everybody. 528 pp. Price, $1.25. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. SIGNS OF THE TIMES, WEEKLY SUPPLEMENT.
By Editor
The Supplement of four pages will be printed ten weeks, commencing September 7, 1882. Its object is to get before the people the position of Seventh-day Adventists on the Sunday question, and to present the claims of the true Sabbath of the Bible—the Seventh day. Terms: One copy ten weeks, 25 cents. Six copies to one address, $1.00. $10.00 per hundred. Two and three-cent postage stamps will be taken for single subscriptions. Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal. THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES,
By Editor
PUBLISHED WEEKLY, AT OAKLAND, CAL., FOR THE Missionary Society of Seventh-day Adventists.
A twelve-page Religious Family Paper, devoted to a discussion of the Prophecies, Signs of the Times, Second Coming of Christ, Harmony of the Law and Gospel, with Departments devoted to Temperance, The Home Circle, The Missionary Work, and the Sabbath-school. Price Per Year, . . . . . . . . . $2.00
in Clubs of five or more copies to one address, to be used in Missionary Work, . . . . . . . . . 1.50
Address, SIGNS OF THE TIMES, Oakland, Cal.
—OR—
REVIEW AND HERALD, Battle Creek, Michigan.
MISS ELIZA THAYER, Sec. N. E. Tract Society, South Lancaster, Mass.
ELD. J. N. LOUGHBOROUGH, Ravenswood, Shirley Road, Southampton, England.
W. L. RAYMOND, Gaston, Oregon. NEW YORK, Union Square, Oswego Co., Sept. 20-26.
NEBRASKA, Columbus, " 20-26.
MICHIGAN, Lansing, Sept. 27 to Oct. 2.
INDIANA, Marion, Oct. 2-9.
KANSAS, Moline, " 5-19.
KENTUCKY, Custar, " 4-10.
CALIFORNIA, Healdsburgh, " 5-15.
TENNESSEE, — " 12-17.
ALABAMA, Choctaw Co., " 18-24. It has become quite common with some people to speak of the original Sabbath, mentioned in Gen. 2: 3, and Ex. 16 and 20, and call it "Sunday." Yet they very well know that the Sabbath of the Bible is "the seventh day," and that Sunday is "the first day." And so well do they understand that fact that they claim that the Sabbath was changed from Saturday to Sunday—from the seventh to the first day. And those who keep the seventh day, or Saturday, they accuse of keeping "the Jewish Sabbath," thus admitting that the day which the Jews kept, which was the seventh day, was not Sunday. Knowing all this, and acting thus, can they honestly call the original Sabbath, the Sabbath of Eden and Sinai, Sunday? We have strong doubts. The seventh day was blessed and sanctified of Jehovah. Thus it became "a holy day." As Jehovah himself rested upon it from the work of creation, it was his rest or Sabbath, for the words are the same in meaning. It was "the holy of the Lord." He called it "my holy day." Isa. 58: 13, 14. Is the Sunday likewise a holy day? Did God ever sanctify it? Was the divine blessing ever placed upon the day? Do the Scriptures ever give it that honor, and the dignity of the Sabbath of the Lord? They do not. But we are not left in the dark concerning the origin of its consecration and supposed sacredness. The Bible does not speak on this subject, but history does. And in regard to it all the evidence of history is harmonious. There is nothing ambiguous or uncertain in the testimony. A late edition of the S. S. Union Bible Dictionary contains the following:— "Sunday was a name given by the heathen to the first day of the week, because it was the day on which they worshiped the sun." Dr. Webster said:—
"The heathen nations in the north of Europe, dedicated this day to the sun, and hence their Christian descendants continue to call the day Sunday." The Religious Encyclopedia says:—
"The ancient Saxons called it by this name, because it they worshiped the sun." The Douay Catechism says:—
"It is also called Sunday from the old Roman denomination of dies solis, the day of the sun, to which it was sacred." This was the origin of this festival day, and this its consecration. It was always and only the sun-day; its observance was entirely of heathen origin. How different from this the consecration of the seventh day by Jehovah himself! But was there no law given for the keeping of Sunday? There was. It is not found in the Bible. It was first put forth by Constantine, emperor of Rome, and confirmed and strengthened by the bishops or popes of Rome. Constantine's law was in the following words:— "On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrates and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country, however, persons engaged in agriculture may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not suitable for grain-sowing or for vine-planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of Heaven should be lost." This is a translation in Dr. Schaff's Church History. Of Constantine's decree Dr. Schaff says:— He "enjoined the civil observance of Sunday, though not as dies Domini, but as dies solis, in conformity to his worship of Apollo, and in company with an ordinance for the regular consulting of the haruspex (321)."—History of the Chris. Ch., vol. 2 p. 31. The haruspices were soothsayers who foretold future events by examining the entrails of beasts sacrificed to the gods. Dr. Schaff says "in company with." The Sunday edict was given on the seventh of March, 321, and that for consulting the haruspex was given the following day. Both were laws in honor of heathenism. Constantine's law was very much like the present law of California in reference to the venerable day of the sun. 1. His law forbade the townspeople to work, and ordered that workshops be closed. So does the Sunday Law of California. 2. He permitted labor to be performed on the farms and the vineyards. So does the Sunday Law of California. It does not secure "a legal day of rest" to the tiller of the soil. But they differ in this: Constantine called it only the venerable day of the sun. California calls it both Sun-day and "Christian Sabbath." The latter title for the sun's day was not known in the time of Constantine. THE following is an extract from our tract on the "Enforcement of the Christian Sabbath." This tract has been severely denounced by some who think less of the truth than they do of their own way; but the argument stands untouched. Christian institutions are peculiar to the gospel of Christ—they are institutions erected by Christ. We have gospel precepts for certain ordinances, such as baptism and the Lord's Supper. These are peculiar to the gospel, wherein they are plainly instituted. We might quote to a great length from the best of Protestant writers to prove their general agreement in this, that gospel duties are based only on plain and positive precepts. We cannot say, however, that they are all and always consistent with this declaration, for it is made to meet the Catholics in their argument for tradition. It does not seem to have been made strictly for home use! This principle, applied to Sunday, will rule it out, as not being a gospel institution. There is no precept for its observance; no reason was ever given why it should be observed; no instance of its having been observed. A few inferences, anything but necessary, are all that is ever adduced in its favor. But these can never institute an ordinance; nothing but an express precept will suffice for this. We have another principle to apply to it which must be decisive. While the gospel enforces morality, it does not originate it. Gospel institutions, therefore, are not moral but positive. This truth is, and must be, acknowledged by all. We do not mean that positive institutions are not obligatory; they are, but not in the same sense that moral duties are, because we are differently related to them. And this distinction is not merely one in theory; it is universally recognized in practice. This we will show. Christian ordinances are for the household of faith; not for infidels or disbelievers; while moral duties are of universal application. By a simple statement of facts, of ordinary occurrence, this may be made clear to every mind. Two persons—a young gentleman and a young lady—call upon a minister and ask to have the rite of marriage solemnized. As a matter of professional duty the minister may inquire if they are, or intend to become, followers of Christ. But this is not a requisite to marriage. He will marry them if they are unbelievers, because he recognizes the truth that marriage is not a Christian institution. Marriage was instituted before the fall of man; it was given to the race, and does not belong to any class or nation. It was never restricted to a class. If it were a religious institution there would be no legitimate children except those born in the church. But the Bible will not justify such a position. Doubtless the minister does right in marrying them, though they are not Christians. And for this reason it is proper for legislators to enact laws for the protection of the marriage rite and tie; it is in no sense religious legislation, or legislation for the church. It is for all classes—for the people at large. But suppose that the same couple return to the same minister and ask to be baptized. Now the question of their belief in Christ is relevant—it is a necessity. Suppose they both declare their entire disregard of Christ and his gospel—will he baptize them? Of course he will not. And why not? Because baptism is a Christian institution, and they are not competent to receive it. But if they cannot be baptized, may they not at least partake of the Lord's supper? Again they are refused. This too, is a Christian ordinance, and they who reject Christ have no right to observe the institutions of Christ.6 This being an accepted fact, we never find the pastors and their flocks asking the legislature to enact laws compelling all classes—believers and unbelievers—to be baptized and to partake of the Lord's supper. So far are they from this, they would reject as a monstrous innovation any legislation to that end by the civil government. As ordinances of Christ—Christian institutions—they may not be the subjects of civil enactments. No church would for a moment accept a law of the State which required infidels to observe these ordinances of Christ. No minister would comply with the terms of such a law if it were enacted. We repeat it: this distinction is clearly defined, easily recognized, and universally accepted in practice. And now we inquire, In this classification of institutions, where does the Sabbath belong? We have denied and repeatedly asked the clergy of the Protestant churches to make good their position, that the Sabbath is a Christian institution. But we have never succeeded in getting one to argue the position. We declare that there is no such thing as "the Christian Sabbath." It has no existence. We point to the chapter and verse where baptism was commanded; we can show the act of instituting the Lord's Supper; but who will show us when, and by whom, a "Christian Sabbath" was instituted? What are the terms in which it was enacted? It has no foundation in the Scriptures. And our Sunday-Sabbath friends virtually acknowledge their weakness on this point by acting inconsistently with their own position. They affirm that their Sabbath is a Christian institution, and then, in contravention of every principle which governs their actions in regard to Christian institutions, they ask the legislature to make and enforce a law to compel infidels and atheists to observe it! To be perfectly consistent they should unite in asking for "a police regulation" in behalf of baptism and the Lord's Supper, and thus place all Christian institutions on an equal footing! The Seventh Day and the First Day.
THEIR CLAIMS TO BE CONSIDERED THE DIVINELY APPOINTED WEEKLY SABBATH, COMPARED IN THE LIGHT OF THE SCRIPTURES. If God has a law binding upon us as his creatures, it is important that we understand its claims; for that law is not only a rule of right by which our actions are to be regulated in this life, but it is the instrument in accordance with which all decisions will be made affecting our eternal destiny. We are to be judged, says James, by the royal law of liberty. James 2. And ages before James wrote, Solomon put on record these impressive words: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into Judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." Eccl. 12: 13, 14.7 If, then, there is a divinely appointed Sabbath for the human family, it is important to understand it, to know the precise time to be thus used, and the duties which belong to it, lest in the scrutiny of the coming Judgment we shall be speechless under the charge of duty neglected; or, if we shall offer to God an unacceptable substitute in place of what his law enjoins, we shall meet the withering challenge, "Who hath required this at your hand?" The word Sabbath means rest. The Sabbath-day is the rest-day. But no rest-day can lay any claim to observance on the part of the human family except such as can show in its behalf the example of some divine being in resting upon it, and some divine law clearly enjoining it. Any man might fix upon a certain day in which to rest, and it would become his rest-day; but it would be of no binding obligation upon anyone else. The State might enjoin all its citizens to rest upon a specified day, but there would be nothing necessarily divine about this; and the duty of obeying the injunction would depend upon the question whether or not it involved the violation of any higher law. But there can be no rest-day of the Lord, except some day upon which he has rested; and the only Sabbath which can be of any divine obligation, and the only one which we are anywhere in the Bible required to observe, is the Sabbath, rest-day, of the Lord. We are thus thrown back upon historical testimony in reference to the first question that arises as touching the respective claims of the seventh day and the first day to be considered the Sabbath. The first essential fact in the institution of a sacred Sabbath being the rest of some divine being on the day of that Sabbath, we have first to inquire upon which of these days, if either, we have any record that any divine being ever rested. It is a simple matter of history, in regard to which there can be no dispute. What saith the record? 1. THE SEVENTH DAY.—Did any divine being ever rest on this day? Gen. 2:2 declares expressly that God, after laboring six days in the work of creation, did rest on the seventh day, devoting the entire day to cessation from labor and the contemplation of his glorious work. And from this point to the close of the Revelation, in the New Testament as well as the Old, the seventh day is everywhere and always recognized as the rest-day. After the crucifixion of Christ, the holy women "returned and prepared spices and ointment, and rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment." Luke 23:56. We have no instance in all the Bible in which any Bible writer, or any one approved of God, ever regarded it otherwise. 2. THE FIRST DAY.—Did any divine being ever rest on this day? In all the revelation of God to man, there is not an intimation of any such thing. On the other hand, wherever the first day of the week is mentioned in the Bible, it is mentioned as a day of labor. On the first day of the first week of time, God labored in the work of creation. On that first day when Christ arose, the women resumed the work they had suspended on the Sabbath, the day before. Luke 24:1. The other disciples were engaged as on other days. Two of them journeyed to Emmaus and back, a distance of fifteen miles. Luke 24:13, 33. On another first day, Paul went on foot twenty miles from Troas to Assos, on a long journey from Philippi to Jerusalem, joining his brethren at Assos, and proceeding thence by ship. Acts 20:6, 13. Once more the first day of the week is mentioned, and this time it is in the instruction which Paul gave to the churches of Galatia and Corinth to prepare their contributions on that day at their own homes; in other words, to engage in secular work, looking over their worldly affairs, which would be proper only on a secular day. These are all the times the first day is mentioned in the Bible; and the sum of the evidence is this: No divine being ever rested on that day; no inspired person, or any person acting under the direction of the Lord, ever rested on that day as a Sabbath; but, on the other hand, it is always spoken of as a working day, and such instruction given as would compel us to devote it to secular purposes. What a contrast between this and the record concerning the seventh day! Surely one can hesitate a moment in determining on which side the evidence lies in reference to the point now before us. 3. THE SEVENTH DAY.—The record in Genesis continues that "God blessed the seventh day." Gen. 2:3. This is another essential idea in the institution of a Sabbath. Some one competent to perform such an act must place a blessing upon the day, that is, make it blessed or holy time, and attach a blessing to its observance. This was done to the seventh day. 4. THE FIRST DAY.—Was any blessing ever placed on the first day of the week as a day of rest or Sabbath? There is not a syllable of the kind. Christ never mentioned the day, so far as the record goes, and the apostles spoke of it, as we have seen, only as a secular day. In this respect, also, it is wholly wanting. 5. THE SEVENTH DAY.—We read further in Gen. 2:3, "And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made." To sanctify means to set apart to a sacred or religious use. In case of a day of rest this could be done in only one way, and that is by telling how it should be used, by giving directions to use it in a sacred or religious manner. But any such direction, as the reader will see at once, constitutes a law. Then a law was given for the observance of the seventh day, just as soon as the two preceding steps essential to the institution of a Sabbath, namely, the resting and blessing, had been taken. Without this, it would not have been binding on the human family.
A very important fact is thus brought out, which we wish the reader to mark well. It is this: that although the book of Genesis gives us no copy of a Sabbath law, it does give us the record that such a law was given in the very beginning when the Sabbath was instituted. And when the time came for God to promulgate in a formal manner to the children of men the principles of his moral government, as he did on Sinai, twenty-five hundred years afterward, the Sabbath law appears in the very bosom of the decalogue, drawn out in explicit terms, and pointing back for its origin to the great facts of the creation week. For whose benefit this law was given, both in its original enactment and in its promulgation from Sinai, our Lord informs us when he says, "The Sabbath was made for man." Mark 2:27. 6. THE FIRST DAY.—We now raise the vital inquiry concerning the first day of the week, Was there ever any divine law given for its observance? And the most strenuous advocate of Sunday sacredness is obliged to admit that there was not. What claim, then, has it upon our regard? None whatever; for Paul says that "where no law is there is no transgression," Rom. 4:15; and again, "Sin is not imputed when there is no law." Rom. 5:13. True there is an effort, more or less persistently made, to manufacture in its behalf apostolic example, which does not exist, and to draw some philosophical conclusions from the work of Christ which some theological teachers would fain persuade the people to believe to be just as good as law. But it is of no use. No reasonable mind will be satisfied with any such flimsy pretext. There must be law openly promulgated, and definitely expressed, or there can be no obligation. But of law for Sunday observance there is not the first syllable in all the Bible. Under these circumstances, men have done what a moderately inventive faculty, uninfluenced by the fear of God, would suggest. Having an institution which they are determined to keep, and needing a law in its defense, when they find none in the Bible what must they do next? Make one themselves. And this is just what they have done; and this is the only kind of law Sunday can plead in its behalf. The first of this kind was one mentioned in another portion of this paper, namely, the law made by Constantine, in A. D. 321, while he was yet a heathen, in behalf of Sunday as a heathen festival, and which was baptized by pope Sylvester into a Christian ordinance. This was the great prototype of all Sunday laws which have been, or which may be hereafter, enacted. We have now examined the claims of the seventh and first days to Sabbatic sacredness under three heads: First, the rest of some divine being as necessary to the foundation of the Sabbatic institution; secondly, the blessing necessary to the day; thirdly, a law enforcing its observance. Under each we have found the seventh day abundantly supplied with evidence, but nothing whatever in behalf of the first day. Other points we reserve to a future paper.